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President Moon’s Approval Rating Falls for 9th Straight Week, Now Below 50%

| November 30, 2018

President Moon’s approval rating continues drop despite near complete control of the government, media, and the ability to silence to critics through legal action:

President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating dropped below 50 percent for the first time since he took office in May 2017, the latest Realmeter presidential poll showed Thursday.

Moon’s approval rating hit 48.8 percent in its ninth straight week of decline.

Analysts blamed the decline on Korea’s stagnating economy and Moon’s preoccupation with inter-Korean relations. Denuclearization talks with the North have stalled recently.

The approval rating of the ruling Democratic Party also dipped to 37.6 percent in the same Realmeter poll, 1.6 percentage points lower than the previous survey. It also declined for the past nine weeks.

In contrast, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party reached its highest popularity rating since the infamous Choi Soon-sil scandal broke out in October 2016, which led to former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment.

The party had an approval rating of 26.2 percent in the latest poll, 3.3 percentage points higher than the previous survey and the highest since the third week of October 2016, when it was 29.6 percent.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Japan Unhappy with South Korean Court Rulings for Forced Labor Compensation

| November 30, 2018

Here is the latest dust up between Korea and Japan:

South Korean foreign ministry spokesman, Noh Kyu-duk, issues a statement on Nov. 29, 2018 in this photo provided by Yonhap News TV. (Yonhap)

The South Korean government urged Japan on Thursday to refrain from “overreacting” to Seoul court rulings against a Japanese firm for wartime forced labor.

“It’s very regrettable that the Japanese government is continuing to respond excessively to our judiciary’s ruling, and (we) call for its restraint,” the foreign ministry’s spokesman, Noh Kyu-duk, said at a press briefing.

He said it’s natural for an administration to respect a court decision in a democracy.

The ministry called in Japan’s ambassador to Seoul, Yasumasa Nagamine, to deliver a direct protest message.

The ambassador did not answer a reporter’s question while entering the ministry building in Seoul.

Hours earlier, the Supreme Court ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. to compensate 10 Koreans who worked at its shipyard and other production facilities in Hiroshima and Nagoya in 1944 with no pay and a bereaved family member of another on two separate suits.

The court upheld two appellate court judgments — one that ordered Mitsubishi to disburse 100-120 million won (US$89,000-109,000) to each of four female victims, and the relative, and the other that ordered it to pay 80 million won each to six elderly men.

In Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono immediately described the verdicts as “very regrettable and unacceptable.”

He argued that they run counter to the 1965 pact between the governments of the neighboring countries on normalizing bilateral diplomatic ties. He said all reparation issues related to Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea were settled through the accord.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but the 1965 pact signed saw $500 million from Japan given to South Korea.  The ROK government at the time could have compensated everyone back then with that money, however it was instead used for the overall development of the country such as improving infrastructure.  The money ultimately helped with the country’s economic development at the expense of direct compensation to those effected by Japan’s colonial rule.  This is why Japan is so strongly against the court rulings they feel they have already paid compensation.

With that all said when is the ROK government going to launch lawsuits on behalf of victims of North Korea’s kidnappings and provocations in far more recent times than Japan’s colonial rule that began over a century ago?

 

North Korea Claims It Will Allow Inspectors Into Yongbyon Nuclear Facility

| November 29, 2018

Here we go again with pretend denuclearization:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed a willingness to allow inspectors into the country’s main nuclear complex, a senior diplomatic source said Tuesday, citing a message sent to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Kim earlier expressed a willingness to permanently shut down the site in Yongbyon if the U.S. took “corresponding” measures, but his apparent offer to allow verification has not been reported.

If true, Kim’s offer would mark a significant step toward meeting U.S. demands for full and verified denuclearization, a position Washington has stuck to since a historic Trump-Kim summit in June.

“I understand that Chairman Kim told (South Korean) President Moon (Jae-in) during their summit in September that if the U.S. took corresponding steps he would not only be willing to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facilities but also allow verification,” the source with knowledge of U.S.-North Korea negotiations told Yonhap.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but if the sanctions are dropped the North Koreans will simply drag out closing down Yongbyon as long as possible until they can kick out the inspectors.  By the time they manufacture a reason to kick out the inspectors they will have received their cash infusion from the dropping of sanctions.

It is pretty clear this is a standard North Korean playbook move here, will the Trump administration fall for it?

Tweet of the Day: Over 500 Generals Gather to Oppose Inter-Korea Military Agreement

| November 29, 2018

Picture of the Day: Lil Hybrid

| November 29, 2018
KT&G releases e-cigarette lil hybrid
KT&G releases e-cigarette lil hybrid
A model shows off lil hybrid, a new e-cigarette manufactured by KT&G Corp., South Korea’s leading cigarette maker, during a publicity event in Seoul on Nov. 26, 2018. (Yonhap)

South Korea Successfully Test Launches Its Space Launch Vehicle

| November 29, 2018

South Korea’s test of its anticipated space launch vehicle was a success:

South Korea's single-stage 75-ton rocket lifts off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at around 4:00 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2018. (Yonhap)

South Korea successfully tested its locally developed rocket engine on Wednesday, officials said, taking a step closer to the full-fledged development of the country’s first space launch vehicle.

The test of the 75-ton thrust engine was conducted using a single-stage rocket that was launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at 4:00 p.m.

The rocket engine, designed and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), will be used on the three-stage Korea Space Launch Vehicle-2 (KSLV-2) currently under development.

The 75-ton thrust engine is considered a core technology behind the KSLV-2, which would make South Korea the seventh country in the world to build a space launch vehicle with homegrown technology.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and KARI said the critical rocket motor combustion time was maintained for 151 seconds, surpassing an initial goal of 140 seconds.

KARI said evaluating the performance of a liquid propellant rocket engine is determined by the length of the total combustion time.

The rocket flew for about 10 minutes after reaching a maximum suborbital altitude of 209 kilometers and hit the ocean 429 kilometers southeast of the country’s southern resort island of Jeju.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but what I am wondering is if the North Koreans will begin making demands to allow them to advance a so called peaceful space program like the South Koreans?  Much of the technology used for space launches can be used to perfect ICBM’s as well.

The biggest question would be is if the North Koreans make this demand would the Moon administration support them?

Prosecutors Raid Home and Office of Gyeongi Province Governor In Search of Wife’s Cell Phone

| November 29, 2018

The Moon administration continues to go after a political rival using the country’s libel laws:

Prosecutors on Tuesday raided Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung’s office and home, apparently to search for his wife’s old mobile phone believed to hold crucial evidence in investigations into her suspected role in political slander.

Prosecutors and investigators from the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office began the raid on Lee’s home in Seongnam, south of Seoul, at around 9 a.m.

About the same time, another group of prosecutors searched Lee’s office in Suwon in the presence of the governor and his lawyer.

The raid was apparently intended to retrieve an iPhone used by Lee’s wife, Kim Hye-kyung, from July 2016 until April this year, when allegations of her involvement in online slandering of Lee’s election rivals surfaced.

Kim, who is suspected of posting slanderous messages on social media sites via her mobile phone, changed her iPhone and phone number in April and told police investigators later that she was not aware of its whereabouts.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but what is ironic about this is that the Moon administration hushed up far worse conduct in the Druking Scandal that they are now going after a political rival’s wife for.

Chinese Spy Plane Flies Through South Korean ADIZ; Violating It for the 110th Time This Year

| November 28, 2018

It is pretty clear that China does not recognize South Korea’s ADIZ:

A Chinese spy plane entered Korea’s air defense identification zone (Kadiz) without notice three times on Monday, but Beijing didn’t respond to Seoul’s requests for an explanation over their military hotline.

The Chinese military plane first entered the Kadiz northwest of Jeju Island at around 11 a.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The plane initially flew out of the Kadiz about 40 minutes later toward Ieodo, an underwater reef controlled by Korea in waters that both Seoul and Beijing claim, and briefly entered Japan’s air defense identification zone (Jadiz).

The Chinese military plane appeared to be a Shaanxi Y-9JB electronic warfare and surveillance aircraft.  (……)

Chinese military planes entered the Kadiz without notice 110 times between January and September of this year, according to data submitted by the Air Force to the National Assembly’s Defense Committee on Tuesday. This includes both cases of prolonged flight time within the Kadiz and brief entries. The number of entries increased 11 times over last year, when Chinese aircraft entered the Kadiz without notice 10 times.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but if Seoul wants to send Beijing a strong message about their displeasure over this, then they should join the US in freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea against Beijing claims to the entire body of water.

However, Seoul will likely not be sending any strong messages to China because taking on Beijing has consequences, so strongly worded protests that Beijing will just shrug at appears to be all that will done.  Besides South Korea would rather spend its diplomatic energy finding another way to bash the Japanese which has no consequences.

Tweet of the Day: EBS Selling Kim Jong-un Dolls to Korean Kids

| November 28, 2018

Picture of the Day: College Exam Time in South Korea

| November 28, 2018
College exam
College examStudents exit Hanyang University in Seoul after taking an entrance exam on Nov. 25, 2018. (Yonhap)