Category: Politics-Korea

It looks like that the next President of Korea will be former Mayor of Seoul Lee Myung-bak after he won his party’s primary over rival Park Guen-hye.  This isn’t surprising since Lee has had double digit poll leads over Park before the primary and has even larger poll numbers over all the other Presidential candidates from opposing parties.  His high poll numbers make it very likely that Lee Myung-bak will be the next President of Korea.  Here is what Lee had to say after winning the primary:

`From now on, I will work closely with my supporters and opponents to have the GNP win December’s election. I will place top priority on uniting all GNP members under one roof,” he said.

“I will incorporate key campaign pledges of other candidates into my policy vision. I will help the economy grow faster so that the country can become an advanced country in five years,” he said.

He definitely needs to Park Guen-hye to close ranks with him to keep a united front against the candidate’s from other parties.  The worst thing for Lee would be if Park leaves the GNP and joins another party to keep her bid for president alive because it would divide the conservative vote and open the door for another liberal like current President Roh Moo-hyun to become president. 

I understand Lee Myung-bak’s comments to improve the economy because it does need work, but his claim to turn Korea into an advanced nation I find interesting because Korea is already physically an advanced nation.  I hear quite often that Korea is a "developing nation".  Korea is physically an advanced nation that has hosted the Olympics, the World Cup, an APEC Summit, among a host of other international events.  What other "developing nation" has accomplished such things?  Korea is not a "developing nation", but the mindset of many Koreans thinks it is and when Lee talks about becoming an advanced nation I hope what he means is changing the national psyche to match the physical affluence of the country.  This is a change would bring out the true potential of the nation. 

More on Lee’s election win over at the Marmot’s Hole.

Nomad, Marmot, and OFK (especially funny) have great postings on President Roh’s number one fan.

This is why I tend to like Lee Myung-bak as the next President of Korea:

Lee Myung-bak, the early favorite for the December presidential election, urged North Korea yesterday to completely dismantle its nuclear weapons program, warning that it will otherwise gain nothing from the international community.  Mr. Lee made the remarks amid press reports that the North was prepared to freeze its only operational nuclear reactor in exchange for energy aid and other benefits during six-party disarmament talks set to open in Beijing on Thursday.  “I hope [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-il realizes that he doesn’t have anything to gain unless he dismantles his nuclear program and liberalizes the North’s economy,” Mr. Lee said in a news conference in with foreign correspondents in Seoul. “And even if North Korea agrees to freeze its nuclear facilities during the talks, they should ultimately comply with the precondition that they should be completely dismantled,” he said. “A freeze is not enough.” Mr. Lee, the leading presidential aspirant from the conservative opposition Grand National Party, indicated he would take a harder line on the communist North if he is elected as the next president.

It is good to see him take a hard line on the nuclear weapons program.  No aid should be given to the North Koreans until they verifiably dismantle their nuclear program. 

Lee was not done though:

“In essence, this government’s Sunshine Policy has failed,” Mr. Lee said, referring to President Roh Moo-hyun’s engagement policy with North Korea. “Even when our national security was under threat, they continued with unilateral engagement,” he added. “Incredibly, when North Korea tested ballistic missiles and exploded a nuclear device, the world was in shock. But this government responded as if nothing had changed; it was business as usual.”

The North Koreans could test a nuke off a Dokdo and the Roh government would still conduct business as usual with North Korea.  It is good to see that at least one contender is committed to shifting that paradigm.

It looks like what few members left of the Korean political party, the Democratic Labor Party that are not busy being indicted as spies for North Korea are now busy cozying up to Venezuela’s newly empowered dictator, Hugo Chavez.  Antti has the scoop:

Taking a look at the Korean Democratic Labor Party’s (DLP) homepage, there’s a photo of the Venezuelan president Chavez. Not surprised about that, as there haven’t been leaders whom the far left can regard as revolutionaries for some time. It turns out that in order to initiate exchange with the Venezuelan ruling party, DLP has sent a negotiation and a study group to the country, invited and paid (except for plane tickets) by the Venezuelan government. A writer of the DLP periodical Chinbo Chôngch’i (Progressive Politics) is accompanying the visiting group, and he will write a series for the magazine with the title "Going to the land of revolution, Venezuela." Not that I have much expectations for DLP anyway any more, but this is just one step down the slope.

I’m not surprised by this because as much as leftists claim that President Bush is dictator, they find it really easy to cozy up to a real dictator like Hugo Chavez.  I wonder what Chavez is going to teach them?  How to supply anti-government guerillas with money and weapons to over throw a democratically elected government, like what Chavez is dong with the FARC in Columbia?  Or will Chavez give them some pointers on how to rule by decree?

All you bloggers out there, you might want to read this before promoting or endorsing any South Korean political candidates.  How come I suspect this will be selectively enforced?

You have to love campaign promises:

Former Prime Minister Goh Kun is considering making the construction of an undersea tunnel linking South Korea and Japan as a key campaign pledge for the Dec. 19 presidential election, Goh’s aides said on Sunday.

The plan is construed as part of the presidential hopeful’s attempt to counter campaign pledges ranging from economic development to large-scale construction projects offered by other high-profile contenders such as former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak and Rep. Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP).

“An advisory group for Goh recently recommended the undersea tunnel project. But it has not been adopted as an official campaign promise yet,” a spokesman for Goh’s election camp was quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency.

First of all, is it even feasible to dig a tunnel to Japan? The Korea Strait is roughly about 200 kilometers wide between Japan from South Korea which means this tunnel would be a much longer than the tunnel under the English Channel which is 34 kilometers long. Also the waters of the Korea Strait are twice as deep as the waters that separate France and England thus making the construction of the Korea Strait tunnel that much more difficult. Plus is building a tunnel across a major fault line in a earthquake prone area really a great idea?

Secondly, shouldn’t you first find out if the Japanese even want a tunnel from Korea going to Japan? Can you imagine all the Korean left hand drive vehicles flooding into Japan’s roads that use right hand drive vehicles that drive on the left? The car insurance rates for everyone living in Kyushu would sky rocket. Could you imagine what would happen the first time ajushi gets into a car accident with a Japanese driver and tries to beat him up as is often done in Korea? I think it is best to keep the cars in Korea. Plus I’m assuming the Korean government would expect Japan to help pay for the tunnel. Is it worth it for them to finance this tunnel? It seems like Korea has more to gain from this tunnel than Japan.

There are so many obvious questions about the feasibility of this tunnel it is just amazing that a Korean presidential candidate is even contemplating making this a campaign promise, but that is the beauty of the Korean presidential system; it is just one five year term so you can make all the campaign promises you want, no matter how outrageous, and not worry about keeping them because you don’t have to worry about reelection.

Who is the next Abe Lincoln?  According to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, he is:

His decision to appoint Uri Party hopefuls Kim Geun-tae and Chung Dong-young as health and unification ministers was equally disappointing, he said. Roh compared himself to U.S. president Lincoln, saying his appointment of Kim and Chung to his Cabinet was motivated by “a similar engagement principle.” “I did the same as Lincoln. The difference is that I came under fire for doing so. It’s very depressing. I tried to copy Lincoln but it didn’t work. It’s no fun at all.”

Was this speech supposed to be his Gettysburg Address to unite the nation? 

I have to agree with Nomad, this guy has finally lost it.  Look at this quote:

He said the Korean military “is perfectly capable of taking wartime operational control of its troops.” “We make good mobile phones, cars and ships; why not wartime operational control?" he demanded.

WTF?  Please tell me this was a translation error.  If he wants operational control so bad than why does he keep doing everything possible to delay it to include delaying the USFK consolidation at Camp Humphreys?  If you make such damn good cell phones than give General Bell a call and let him know you want to take operational control in 2009 since you say you are ready. 

Could you imagine what would be said if President Bush just went off about his former cabinet members such as Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld or his political opponents like Roh just did to his?  It would be world news and President Bush would be instantly marginalized and condemned.  I guess this explains Roh’s 5.7% approval rating.

Anyway, if President Roh wants to be Abe Lincoln how about he starts by condemning slavery of North Korean refugees in China? 

Talk about a coincidence.  Earlier this week I criticized President Roh for not visiting and thanking US soldiers stationed in Korea after being in the Blue House now for over four years.  Now Nomad has linked to this Yonhap article which shows the South Korean Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook visited and thanked airmen at Osan Airbase. The Stars and Stripes has an article out as well. It is good to see one of the leading politicians in the country thanking US military personnel serving in Korea; it definitely doesn’t happen enough.  Now when will we see President Roh come out of hiding and visit a US military post? 

The new South Korean anti-Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung has called for what President Roh must think can be the only thing that would give him any symbolance of a legacy after his presidency ends next year:

 Senior government officials and politicians have been talking up the possibility of a second inter-Korean summit and are concentrating their energies on bringing it about. The new Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said Monday an inter-Korean summit was a long-pending issue. South and North Korean leaders agreed to hold one in 2000, and President Roh Moo-hyun has stressed the need for a second summit several times, he said. Speaking after his inauguration, the minister told reporters arranging the summit was a task for the leaders of both Koreas. But he added it remains to be seen when and how another inter-Korean summit will take place.

Is it any wonder now why the South Korean government would rather better fund North Korea than the US-ROK Alliance by sending a billion dollars of aid to the North next year.  Is it also any wonder why South Korea isn’t going to ignore North Korean human rights violations along with the ruling party doing everything possible to cover up the South Korean spy scandal:

More than half of the Korean public suspect that the government has been less than aggressive in hunting down North Korean spies, while a majority feels that there is a problem with the way that people here perceive national security issues regarding the North.

On a commission from the Chosun Ilbo, Korea Gallup conducted a telephone opinion poll Monday in which 60.3 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “Even though there have been many spies in the country the government has intentionally not caught them,” while only 26.4 percent thought that, “The government has caught every spy it found.”

Looking back, you have to Kim Dae-jung credit; it only cost him $500 million in bribes to Kim Jong-il to secure a summit.  President Roh on the other hand has steadily increased the aid to North Korea throughout his presidency to where now South Korea is giving over one billion dollars in aid to the North a year.  What does President Roh have to show for it?  Let’s see, a weakened US-ROK Alliance, a sluggish economy, a North Korean spy scandal, North Korean missile and nuclear bomb tests, along with a host of other issues that has made President Roh and his ruling Uri Party extremely unpopular in South Korea with a 5.7% approval rating.
Instead of choosing to do things that would leave him some sort of positive legacy after he is gone, President Roh has instead chosen that getting a photograph of him toasting Kim Jong-il is more important.

I have to agree with Nomad on this one:

“I am not a successful president and I am sorry to the people about this. I think it’s due to my lack of political capacity.”

It took 4 years, a sagging economy, the slow motion rupture of the US-ROK alliance, North Korean missile and nuclear tests, a spy scandal, and a 5.7% approval rating before South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has finally admitted the obvious, he is a failure.

Now since he has admitted he is a failure let’s see if he will make any course corrections over the last year of his presidency like holding the North Koreans accountable for anything, strengthening the US-ROK alliance by helping to complete the USFK relocation that has been delayed by North Korean sponsored anti-US groups, and completing the Free Trade Agreement with the US. If he is able to do those three thing over the next year he could earn some respect for his presidency in the long term though currently he is quite possibly the worst president in the short Korean presidential history.