If you ever wondered what former President Park was convicted of that landed here in jail for 33 years, Dr. Tara O has a really good write up about it that is well worth reading:

During the initial trial, the prosecutor wanted a 30 year jail sentence.  Seoul Central District Court Judge Kim Se-yoon (김세윤) judged that Samsung’s provision of three horses owned by Samsung and associated costs (insurance, fee) worth ₩7.29 million ($6.4 million) to equestrian Chung Yu-ra was a bribe, and interpreted that Park “received” the bribe.  The judge deemed that the total amount of “bribery” received or requested was ₩23.2 billion ($18 million).  As mentioned earlier, she did not receive any money, and there is no evidence that proves bribery occurred.  On April 6, 2018, Judge Kim sentenced Park to 24 years in jail and fined her ₩1.8 billion ($16.2 million), stating “she does not show remorse.”  In fact, she stopped attending the trials after October 2017, after she realized the court was rigged.

The prosecutor appealed the case and at the appeals court, the “bribery amount from Samsung” increased to $8.68 billion ($7.8 million).  The judge increased Park’s sentence to 25 years and the fine to ₩2 billion ($180 million).  The Supreme court returned the case to the Seoul High Court, instructing it to split the case.  She also received additional jail sentences of 8 years from other cases, for a total of 33 years of prison sentences.

East Asia Research Center

I recommend reading the rest at the link, where she compares Park’s treatment to the treatment of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s wife’s corruption trial. I have always said that Korea is a rule by law country and not a rule of law country and this is a perfect example.

This article claims the Patriot batteries removed from Saudi Arabia are heading to “Northeast Asia” which likely would mean South Korea:

On May 5, a report by imagery experts at Jane’s Intelligence Review and the Center for Strategic and International Studies confirmed in the unclassified space the existence of a near-completed missile assembly and storage facility large enough to accommodate all known North Korean ballistic missiles and launchers. It is an almost braggadocious representation of the missile modernization program North Korea has pursued over the past decade while simultaneously feigning sincerity about curbing its nuclear pursuits.

As such, the removal of Patriot batteries from Saudi Arabia should not be a surprise. They will once again be moved to Northeast Asia to guard against the more imminent threat from an unpredictable Kim Jong-un.

The National Interest

You can read more at the link, but the Patriot batteries in Saudi Arabia were deployed there from units based in the U.S. They are just not going to pick up and move to Korea. Their redeployment means they are going back to the United States. Sending them to South Korea would be a large troop build up and after the THAAD fiasco does anyone think the Moon administration is ready for more U.S. troops and missile defenses to be sent to South Korea?

What is likely going on is that returning the Patriots to the U.S. would give U.S. military planners flexibility to deploy them to augment missile defenses in Korea if a crisis was to occur. The batteries being deployed to Saudi Arabia reduces this flexibility. Additionally it is arguable that providing the missile defenses to Saudis also take the onus off of them to buy and equip their own missile defense to defend themselves.

Here is a name I haven’t heard from in a while that the Korean left is trying to rehabilitate, Han Myeong-sook:

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) is methodically moving to reinvent the political life of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, 76, who was sentenced to jail for two years for receiving money from the former CEO of a construction company in 2007 in return for favors. If the DP really attempts to rehabilitate such a convict, that’s a grave challenge to respect for the rule of law. Han, who served as prime minister in the Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-2008), was an iconic figure representing the liberal camp.    
   
She was indicted, convicted and served a jail term after the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling against her. She was indicted without detention in July 2010 on charges of taking 900 million won ($731,400) from Han Man-ho, the CEO, who died after serving a prison term in 2018.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but there was far more evidence of corruption by Han Myeong-sook than by former President Park Geun-hye and she is likely going to spend the rest of her life in jail unless another conservative gets elected President.

Democratic Party advocates are claiming that Han is the “victim of the prosecution’s coercive investigation and the court’s abuse of power.” With the new reform bill the Democratic Party passed earlier in the year, its new investigation agency could be used to pressure judges to relook Han’s case. One of the criticism about the so called reforms was that the new investigation agency could be used to protect ruling party officials and attack political rivals.

For people in the Seoul area, here is something to do in the coming weeks:

 The popular nighttime tours of royal palaces in South Korea will resume next week, months after their suspension due to novel coronavirus fears, the cultural heritage authority said Saturday.

The Gyeongbokgung Starlight Tour will start on Wednesday and go through June 8, while the Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour will open from Thursday until June 21, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA).

Tickets for the nocturnal programs are available for purchase at the e-commerce website Auction (ticket.auction.co.kr).

A special program named Gyeongbokgung Saenggwabang, which provides tourists a chance to experience a traditional tea ceremony and enjoy dessert, will start its one-month run on Wednesday.

Music concerts will be also held at the royal palace of Gyeongbok every weekend from May 30 to July 12.

At the same time, the changing of the royal guard ceremony at Gyeongbok Palace already restarted on Wednesday, the administration added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It figures this guy would get no jail time after being convicted of corruption:

Busan’s former vice mayor for economic affairs Yoo Jae-soo was convicted of taking bribes but will avoid jail time.  
   
The Seoul Eastern District Court convicted Yoo of taking bribes from four executives of financial companies when he worked at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) from 2010 to 2018.   
   
The court handed down an 18-month suspended jail sentence and a 90 million won fine ($73,000). The court also ordered Yoo to pay the 42.21 million won he took in bribes. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but what is significant about this case is not so much the corruption, but that the former Moon administration Justice Minister Cho Kuk is being tried for abuse of power in 2017 when as then Blue House Senior Civil Affairs Secretary tried to shut down an investigation into Yoo’s suspected corruption.