I am sure it was sweet to beat Japan in the Asian Cup Finals, but the fact they don’t have to do their mandatory military service is probably the most satisfying part of this win for the players:
South Korea defeated Japan 2-1 to defend the men’s football title at the Asian Games in Indonesia.
In the final match at Pakansari Stadium in Cibinong on Saturday, the men’s football team finished the 90-minute main game in a scoreless draw.
During extra time, Lee Seung-woo scored the first goal and Hwang Hee-chan added another minutes later.
South Korea successfully defended its Asiad title following their victory at Incheon 2014 and came to hold the most Asiad titles in men’s football with five.
The victory also gave the 20 Taegeuk Warriors, including captain Son Heung-min, exemption from mandatory military service that usually takes about two years. [KBS World Radio]
Royal Australian Air Force to conduct joint training exercise with Japan Air Self-Defense Force in Japan for the first time, coming September 10-30. https://t.co/kcBTYWKl90
President Moon appears to be doubling down on his policies:
President Moon Jae-in (L) walks into a Cheong Wa Dae meeting room, along with Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon (R) and Rep. Lee Hae-chan, head of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, on Sept. 1, 2018. (Yonhap)
President Moon Jae-in called Saturday for an unswerving reform drive despite a falling approval rating and controversies over his economic policy.
He was speaking at an unprecedented gathering of all ruling party lawmakers, Cabinet members and presidential officials.
It came two days after Moon’s first Cabinet shake-up to replace five ministers, including the defense chief and the top education policymaker.
Late last month, the Democratic Party of Korea picked Rep. Lee Hae-chan, a seven-term lawmaker, as its new leader.
“The task of the times that we have to achieve together is clear,” Moon said at the meeting held at his office Cheong Wa Dae.
It’s to create a fair and just country through strong and constant reform measures, widely dubbed the “liquidation of past malpractices.” [Yonhap]
I wonder which malpractices is he referring to? Is the founding of the Republic of Korea one of the malpractices? It may be considering how President Moon has denied that the ROK was not founded in 1948.
He pointed out that South Korea is at a time of a “grand shift.”
He stressed the need for addressing the gap between the haves and have-nots via an appropriate distribution policy and promoting the co-prosperity between South and North Korea on the basis of denuclearization and a peace regime.
What is an appropriate distribution policy? The only distribution I have been hearing about is the ROK money expected to be redistributed to Kim Jong-un. Also notice the term “peace regime” being used by Moon. That is the preferred term now by ROK leftists to disguise their real intention of forming a confederation with North Korea.
To that end, the president said, Cheong Wa Dae, the ruling party and the government should make concerted efforts.
Moon, in particular, cited negative side effects from South Korea’s growth-oriented approach in the past, such as widening income disparity and misconducts by some vested powers.
Inter-Korean relations were once broken and the cloud of war was cast over Korea, he said. [Yonhap]
President Moon does not like South Korea’s growth oriented economy that has brought remarkable affluence to South Korea in an incredibly short time? Also by vested powers is President Moon referring to the United States?
This seems like something that should not be lifted until North Korea fully agrees to denuclearize and act like a responsible member of the world community:
A staff member stands at the reception desk of a hotel, backdropped by a world map, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 23, 2014. The U.S. Thursday extended until Aug. 31, 2019, a ban for its citizens to travel to North Korea.
The U.S. on Thursday extended the ban on Americans’ travel to North Korea for another year, saying it was too dangerous to go there.
“The safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas is one of our highest priorities,” a State Department official said. “The travel warning for North Korea remains in place — the Department of State strongly warns U.S. citizens not to travel to North Korea.”
The travel ban extension, in force until August 31 next year, comes as Washington’s efforts to negotiate the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula with Pyongyang have stalled [VOA]
A ROK Air Force general will now being taking over as the ROK Defense Minister. This is the first time a ROK Air Force veteran will be defense minister in 24 years. I wonder if this pick is to counterbalance the influence of the ROK Army that may not be as supportive of removing South Korean defenses along the DMZ as President Moon may like?:
General Jeong Kyeong-doo
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday nominated the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as defense minister.
Jeong Kyeong-doo, 58, a former fighter pilot, would take over the ministry as the government seeks to reduce tension and build trust with North Korea, and at a time of uncertainty over relations with main ally the United States.
Jeong, who is set to replace incumbent Song Young-moo, does not need parliament’s approval but must attend a hearing and answer legislators’ questions.
He would be South Korea’s first defense minister with an air force background in 24 years, media reported. [Reuters]
After firing the head of Statistics Korea who also happened to be a female, President Moon has replaced the female Labor Minister as well:
Seoul’s Labor Minister Kim Young-joo (R) speaks to President Moon Jae-in (L) during a financial strategy session at the presidential Blue House in May. File Photo by Yonhap
South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s relatively new administration is becoming synonymous with high turnover, as more women appointees are either being replaced or resigning after a year of service.
Seoul’s Labor Minister Kim Young-joo, one of the few women in government to occupy a high position, publicly disclosed her decision to “resign” on her Facebook page, the Korea Times reported Friday.
Kim has weathered several controversies as the Moon administration introduced a 52-hour workweek and raised the minimum wage. The latter policy drew the ire of small to medium-sized South Korean businesses. (………..)
Kim’s statement appears to be referring to the Moon administration’s decision to replace her with a newly appointed labor minister, Lee Jae-gap, who heads the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service, according to the Korea Times. [UPI]
You can read more at the link, but how much the economic numbers change will be interesting to see. Expect the now largely state controlled South Korean media to parrot whatever the new economic numbers are in the future.
Central Asian countries—tied to the umbilical cord of Chinese money—have to bite their tongue and not speak out in the face of human rights abuses China is committing in Xinjiang. https://t.co/cVECfvWVUO
Angry self-employed businessmen from across the country call for the government to revoke the recent sharp increase of the minimum wage during a rally amid heavy rains at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul on Aug. 29, 2018. Many self-employed persons gave up their businesses in the wake of the hike. (Yonhap)
So what do you do as President when you don’t like the economic statistics? You fire the person giving you the statistics and replace them with someone who will give you statistics you prefer:
Kang Shin-wook
The Moon Jae-in government is facing backlash for replacing the head of its economic statistics agency, whose reports have shown the economy spiraling downward amid hikes in the minimum wage and the government’s income-led growth strategy.
On Monday, lawmakers from opposition parties criticized the Blue House decision on Sunday to replace the Statistics Korea commissioner.
Floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Kim Sung-tae said the person that should be replaced is not the head of Statistics Korea but Moon’s top economic adviser Jang Ha-sung, one of the architects of the income-led growth strategy.
“It’s like scolding a person who shouted ‘fire’ instead of the person who started the blaze,” said the LPK floor leader Kim.
Ham Jin-gyu, head of the LKP policy committee, stressed that the sacking threatens the independence of the statistics agency.
“Statistics Korea is not a department that sets up policy but rather announces statistics,” Ham said. “It’s worrying to think of what future statistics releases will be, considering that the Statistics Korea commissioner is changed just because they are not happy [with the statistics showing the state of the economy].”
On Sunday, the Blue House announced it was replacing the commissioner of Statistics Korea, Hwang Soo-kyeong. This came as a surprise since she only served 13 months in the job, considerably shorter than the average two years of her predecessors.
There is widespread speculation that Hwang lost her job due to the recent unfavorable reports including the worst jobs report in eight and half years and several reports describing a widening income gap between the rich and poor. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but to make this look even worse is the fact that one of the few women in the ROK government was fired and replaced with a male. It will be interesting to see how much the statistics change.
