Category: Politics-Korea

Even though this is about as minimal military support the Blue House could have provided to the U.S. for the Strait of Hormuz mission, the Korean left is still predictably upset about it:

The progressive Justice Party made clear its firm opposition to the government’s decision.

“The deployment of the Cheonghae unit to the Strait of Hormuz can lead to hostile relations with Iran, so I cannot agree with it. In addition, the decision means the unit’s mission has changed, so the National Assembly has to decide whether to approve the plan,” Justice Party Chairwoman Sim Sang-jeung said.

Party for Democracy and Peace Spokeswoman Rep. Park Joo-hyun also said, “The dispatch means Korea will join a war between the United States and Iran without any justification and it will eventually end up with hostile ties with traditional ally, Iran.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but when did Iran become an ally of South Korea? Iran has an important economic relationship due to its oil, but is hardly an ally that would defend South Korea. In fact Iran has had an important military relationship with North Korea for many years; the very country that tried to destroy the ROK during the Korean War and continues to be committed to the overthrow of South Korean democracy.

Then again to some members of the Korean left anyone assisting North Korea is considered an ally.

The Moon administration is claiming they are not socialists:

Many foreign experts, in particular, have criticized Seoul government for tipping the balance of economic policies toward socialism, which they claim violate free market principles and will eventually lead to an exodus of foreign capital.

The nation’s top economic policymaker, however, strongly refutes this criticism describing the Moon administration’s income-led growth policies as an inevitable choice to tackle the ever-deepening issue of polarization and to ensure sustainable growth.

“I would disagree with such an argument,” said Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times at the government complex in central Seoul, Jan. 10.

“I believe they have gone too far. In an era of per-capita income of $30,000, it will be difficult for Asia’s fourth-largest economy to move forward without addressing such issues as polarization and the fair distribution of wealth,” he added.  (…….)

This means that the government is pursuing a two-pronged strategy ― on one hand, boosting growth potential through innovation, and on the other hand, narrowing economic inequalities by enhancing social safety nets for the underprivileged. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I guess to President Moon reform means that prosecutors should not look into corrupt activities surrounding the Blue House:

President Moon Jae-in pressed Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to take more control of reform Tuesday, issuing a public warning that the right to appoint prosecutors belongs to the president and minister of justice. 

“Prosecution reform is only possible when the prosecutors themselves act as main agents,” Moon said in a New Year’s press conference. “And the prosecutor general must spearhead the reform in order to bring about changes in not only the customary way of conducting investigations, but also the organizational culture.” 

Moon’s remarks followed a series of unprecedented measures taken by the Blue House, Ministry of Justice and the ruling party on the previous day to chip away at the power of state prosecutors.

On Monday, the Blue House asked the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to consider a petition that the prosecution should be investigated for alleged rights abuses when it probed corruption allegations surrounding former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his family. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but it is amazing how no one in the media is challenging Moon on suppressing investigations into corruption inside his administration.

This should come as no surprise to people who have been following this issue:

Choo Mi-ae on Friday issued her first special order as justice minister, requiring the state prosecution service to get prior permission before establishing special investigative units.

The order, which comes after a controversial reshuffle of the state prosecution service by Choo last week, is the Moon Jae-in administration’s latest attempt to rein in the prosecution as part of a major reform drive. (…….)

Prosecutors have not taken kindly to Choo’s order, with rumors circulating around the agency that the measure banning them from creating special units is meant to preempt the agency’s forthcoming special probe into the Ulsan case.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the Ulsan special probe is referring to the prosecutors office investigation of the Blue House meddling in the election of Ulsan’s mayor in favor of a President Moon confidant.

I wonder if the court will look into the dubious PC Tablet used by JTBC News that kickstarted the whole impeachment drive against President Park?:

 A Seoul court is set to begin a review this week of its ruling over disgraced former President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in 2017 following a bribery scandal that rocked the country.

Park was impeached midterm in March 2017 on allegations she and her close friend abused their power and received billions of won in bribery from top conglomerates, including Samsung and Lotte.

The Seoul High Court is scheduled to begin the retrial Wednesday, roughly five months after the country’s top court ordered the appeals court to review the case, citing procedural issues.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but since Korea is largely a rule by law country and not a rule of law country, I figured President Park would sit in jail until another President from the Korean right is elected. I guess we will see what happens.

If anyone is wondering why President Moon is going after Korea’s prosecutorial system here is the supposed reason:

Moon, who once worked as a lawyer, saw the need for an institutional framework to end what he saw as a vicious cycle: The prosecution was used as a tool for “political retaliation” every time a government changed. 

Roh died by suicide in 2009, the year after he completed his term, after prosecutors under conservative President Lee Myung-bak questioned him over bribery allegations. 

“The conflict between the participatory (Roh Moo-hyun) government and the prosecution over the reform resulted in Roh’s tragic death,” Moon wrote in the book. 

Korea Herald

In reality the prosecutors were not responsible for Roh’s death, the corruption surrounding Roh was responsible for his death. Long time ROK Heads may remember that Roh used to go around claiming he was the “cleanest” ROK president ever; essentially attacking past Korean conservative Presidents as being corrupt. When President Lee Myung-bak took over after Roh Presidency ended, he had prosecutors look into Roh’s finances and found corruption involving family members and former aides. Roh had to eventually admit to his part in the corruption:

“I want to make public something in advance,” Roh wrote. “Right now, Chung Sang-moon, former Blue House secretary, is being questioned on charges of receiving money from Park. I am concerned that Chung might have testified that he had actually done so. The accusation should be directed toward us, not Chung.

“My home made the request, received money and used it,” the former president confessed. “We have done so because we still had outstanding debts.” 

Roh wrote that he will cooperate with the prosecution’s investigation and testify concerning details. “I will face legal action in accordance with the case. I apologize again,” he wrote. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

Instead of facing an embarrassing trial for the multiple corruption cases that surrounded him and his family he decided to commit suicide. His suicide effectively made him a martyr to the Korean left and protected his kids from being charged by the prosecutors.

So when President Moon Jae-in took over as President he immediately went after former President Lee for corruption and had him thrown in jail. So it is pretty ironic that Moon claims in his book that the prosecution system needs to be reformed because it gets used for political retaliation when he in fact did the same thing once in power.

Then last week he executed his “Wednesday Night Massacre” to stifle corruption investigations into his administration by Korean prosecutors. His administration also implemented so called “reforms” that will ensure that the current government can continue to cover up internal corruption.