The PPP knows that the Supreme Court ruling is the only way they have any chance of beating Lee Jae-myung in the upcoming Presidential election:
The conservative People Power Party criticized the liberal Democratic Party on Sunday for remaining “a one-man system” after its former leader, Lee Jae-myung, was chosen as the party’s presidential candidate, calling for a court ruling on Lee before the June election.
The criticism came just hours after Lee secured the party’s presidential nomination. He is currently the front-runner in opinion polls for the upcoming presidential election, which follows the ouster of PPP-affiliated former President Yoon Suk Yeol for his shocking martial law imposition in December.
“There is no courage or system left within the DP to put the brakes on the Lee Jae-myung party. All that remains now are countless risks,” PPP spokesperson Shin Dong-wook said in a release.
Claiming that the DP is “displaying arrogance as if it has already seized power,” the PPP urged the Supreme Court to deliver a verdict on Lee before the June 3 presidential election to “let the people know the truth and make the right choice.”
The top court has expedited its review of alleged election law violations involving Lee, referring his election law violation case to the full bench last week and holding deliberation sessions.
The case has posed a major legal hurdle for Lee, and the timing and outcome of the ruling could affect his eligibility.
You can read more at the link.
Not that there was ever any doubt, but Lee Mae-myung is the official Democratic Party candidate now for the Korean Presidential election scheduled for June 3rd:
Former Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung, who has made economic recovery and talks with North Korea his top priority, won the party’s presidential nomination Sunday and solidified his stance as front-runner for the June 3 presidential election.
Lee, a human rights lawyer-turned-politician, won 89.77 percent of all votes cast in the party’s primary, becoming the party’s formal presidential candidate for the second time, after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his failed martial law bid.
This marks the highest figure ever recorded in a presidential primary among DP-affiliated candidates since South Korea achieved its full-fledged democracy in 1987.
You can read more at the link.
Here is where the real Korean Presidential election will happen. If the Supreme Court makes a ruling on this before the election it could possibly prevent the front runner Lee Jae-myung from becoming President:
The Supreme Court said Tuesday its full bench will deliberate on former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung’s election law violation case after initially assigning it to a smaller panel.
The decision came after prosecutors appealed an appeals court ruling last month that acquitted Lee of lying as a presidential candidate during the 2022 election and overturned a lower court’s sentence of a suspended prison term.
The Supreme Court had first assigned the case to a four-member bench earlier in the day, but Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae decided on the full bench, consisting of 12 other justices, to oversee the case.
Cho reportedly made the decision after considering opinions from the court’s justices.
Court Justice Roh Tae-ak, however, requested to be withdrawn from the case due to potential conflict of interest as he doubles as the head of the National Election Commission.
The case has posed as a major legal hurdle for Lee, who is considered the front-runner for the upcoming June 3 presidential election.
You can read more at the link, but out of all the things Lee Jae-myung has been accused of his conviction of lying to the media has to be flimsiest. The conviction was overturned by an appeals court and is now being looked at by the Supreme Court.
As expected it looks like Lee Jae-myung is going to win the Korean presidency in a landslide because of his name recognition, the PPP being tarnished by Yoon’s impeachment, and the fact the PPP is fractured and cannot rally around a single candidate:
This undated composite photo shows Lee Jae-myung (L), former leader of the Democratic Party, and former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo. (Yonhap)
A former leader of the Democratic Party (DP), Rep. Lee Jae-myung, is leading the race for the presidency of South Korea with nearly 49 percent support, a poll showed Monday.
South Korea will hold a presidential election on June 3 as the Constitutional Court removed former President Yoon Suk Yeol from office over his failed martial law bid.
According to the survey conducted by Realmeter on 1,506 adults aged over 18 from Wednesday to Friday, Lee topped the list with 48.8 percent.
Former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo, who joined the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and declared his bid last week, came next with 10.9 percent, down 5.4 percentage points from the previous week.
Acting President Han Duck-soo made his first appearance in the survey with 8.6 percent, though he has not officially announced his presidential run.
Former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon received 6.2 percent, and Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo garnered 5.2 percent, followed by Lee Jun-seok, a lawmaker of the minor opposition New Reform Party, at 3 percent. Support for other potential candidates was below 3 percent.
You can read more at the link.
Impeached President Yoon continues the tradition of if you are a conservative President in South Korea you will be prosecuted afterwards and likely jailed:
Disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to stand trial Monday on charges of orchestrating an insurrection through his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, marking his first formal court appearance since being removed from office by the Constitutional Court early this month.
The first hearing, at which Yoon is required to appear, is to take place at the Seoul Central District Court and has drawn criticism for shielding the ousted leader from public view — a departure from the manner in which former presidents were tried in criminal court. (…….)
With his appearance at the Seoul Central District Court’s pretrial hearing of his criminal trial in February, Yoon became the first sitting president to go on trial for criminal charges.
But Yoon is far from the first former president to stand trial, as prior to Yoon, Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye all faced criminal charges after their respective presidencies.
According to the Criminal Act, those convicted of leading an insurrection can face either the death penalty or life imprisonment.
You can read more at the link.
Anyone surprised by this news that Lee Jae-myung now that he is favored to win the Presidency is now no longer interested in limiting Presidential powers?:
The People Power Party on Monday backed National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik’s proposal to hold a referendum on amending the Constitution to reduce the president’s power on the same day as the early presidential election, highly likely slated for June 3.
Rep. Kwon Young-se, the People Power party’s leader, said the public consensus on reforming the country’s power structure was ripe in the wake of the impeachment crisis.
“We have witnessed the risks of a president having all the powers of the state,” Kwon said, alluding to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law in December last year.
But Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party chair remains convinced that the Yoon’s “insurrection” is still ongoing, and countering it should take priority.
Lee, who has a clear lead in the polls for to be the next president, said that while amending the Constitution and developing democracy were important, “putting an end to Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection should come first.”
“I think we all recognize the necessity of having a revised Constitution. But right now, nothing takes precedence over the task of stopping Yoon’s bid to destroy democracy,” Lee said.
This has to be the lamest excuse that Lee could come up with because Yoon has had no power for months and was officially removed from office last week. There is no more Yoon to oppose.
We all know the real reason that Lee now is uninterested in limitiing Presidential powers now that Yoon is gone:
A People Power Party lawmaker on the Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Democratic Party, thinking it has a better chance at winning the coming election, might be less willing to accept a constitutional amendment that would take away some of the president’s powers.
“Lee Jae-myung himself has spoken on the need for constitutional reform several times in the past. But now with the presidency in sight, he would be less willing to embrace a reform plan that could limit his powers if he is elected,” he said.
You can read more at the link.
I was never a big fan of moving the Presidential office to Yongsan and it appears who ever the new Korean President ends up being, it will move yet again:
Following the removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, many are wondering if the next administration might relocate the presidential office, currently located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, back to the previous location of Cheong Wa Dae, also known as the Blue House, or to a new site.
“Regardless of which party takes power, I think the majority of the public is unlikely to agree with the presidential office remaining in Yongsan in the long term,” said Rep. Kim Min-seok, a senior leader of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, appearing on a radio program Tuesday.
He added that the ousted Yoon had not allowed sufficient public discussion when he moved the top office out of Cheong Wa Dae to Yongsan.
You can read more at the link, but I believe they should just move it back to Cheongwadae. It is a beautiful complex in the heart of Seoul, but would need to have a major security scan done since it has been open to the public for so long. When it opened to the public I made sure to go and visit Cheongwadae because I figured the Presidential office would eventually move back there. It was pretty cool to be able to mostly freely walk around an area that had for the longest time been closed to the public. I will need to post pictures of the visit when I get a chance.
It sounds like this really was a good phone call considering the positive spin President Trump has put on it:
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he and South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo discussed Seoul’s payment for the United States’ “big time” military protection of the Asian ally as they held their first phone call since Trump took office in January.
In a social media post, he said he had a “great” call with Han, during which they touched on a range of issues, including South Korea’s “tremendous and unsustainable” trade surplus with the U.S., the purchase of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) and bilateral shipbuilding cooperation.
Their conversation came four days after South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office over his short-lived martial law imposition in December.
“I just had a great call with the Acting President of South Korea. We talked about their tremendous and unsustainable Surplus, Tariffs, Shipbuilding, large scale purchase of U.S. LNG, their joint venture in an Alaska Pipeline, and payment for the big time Military Protection we provide to South Korea,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“They began these Military payments during my first term, Billions of Dollars, but Sleepy Joe Biden, for reasons unknown, terminated the deal. That was a shocker to all! In any event, we have the confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries.”
Trump added that South Korea’s “top” team is on a plane heading to the U.S. for negotiations.
“Things are looking good,” he said. “We are likewise dealing with many other countries, all of whom want to make a deal with the United States.”
You can read more at the link, but the problem Trump will need to deal with is that if an agreement is reached with the interim government, the new government in 60 days could change it all.
The DPK leader Lee Jae-myung has a clear advantage going into the snap election caused by former President Yoon’s impeachment due to his name recognition. It will be interesting if any member of the PPP can consolidate support to effectively take him on in such a short campaign timeframe:
Rep. Lee Jae-myung, left, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, shakes hands with floor leader Rep. Park Chan-dae at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday, after the Constitutional Court’s decision to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office. Newsis
The date for the election has not yet been decided, but acting President Han Duck-soo is expected to designate the date during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. It is most likely to be held on June 3, exactly 60 days after Yoon’s ouster was finalized.
Amid this tight schedule, the country’s major rival parties — Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) and the more liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) — are expected to launch election preparations this week, setting up respective election committees that will decide on a road map for their primaries and campaign plans.
If the election date is set for June 3, the parties must determine and register their candidates by May 11, a day before the official campaign period launches. Those currently serving as local office chiefs or ministers have to resign at least 30 days before the election if they want to join the race, meaning by May 4.
You can read more at the link.
