This is pretty dramatic how these once financially healthy public institutions are now losing huge amounts of money:

“Moon Jae-in Care,” as the president’s health policy has become known, is driving a major decline in the profits of state-owned institutions, as is his energy strategy.

According to a Ministry of Economy and Finance report released late Tuesday, the net profits of 339 public entities plummeted 84.7 percent from 7.2 trillion won ($6.1 billion) in 2017 to 1.1 trillion won in 2018.  

The net profits of these institutions have been on a steady decline, falling from 15.4 trillion won in 2016. 

The National Health Insurance Service was hit hardest. After reporting 368.5 billion won in net profit in 2017, it posted a 3.9 trillion won net loss last year.

The dramatic change is largely blamed on the president’s health policies, which went into effect in July 2018. Moon Jae-in Care increases the range of medical treatments covered by national health insurance.

The goal is to raise national insurance coverage from 63.2 percent of treatments in 2016 to 70 percent by the end of 2022.

President Moon in August 2017 promised to improve national health insurance coverage, as Korea’s coverage rate falls far short of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 80 percent.

Public energy company net profits shrunk as a result of the changes in energy policy.  

Korea Electric Power Corporation’s (Kepco) net profit fell from 7.1 trillion won in 2016 to 1.4 trillion won in 2017. Last year, it reported a 1.2 trillion won net loss. 

The five affiliates of Kepco all reported net profit declines.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power reported its first net loss in five years. In 2016, before the Moon administration began, the company reported 2.45 trillion won in net profit. Its net profit decreased to 861.8 billion won in 2017, and the company reported a net loss of 102 billion won last year.

The loss is considered to have been the result of the government reducing the use of nuclear power while increasing power generated from renewables, including solar and wind. Alternative energy is more expensive than nuclear power.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The big upgrade for the Aegis destroyers is the ability to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles. The Moon administration must have some doubts then that North Korea has peaceful intentions:

 South Korea on Tuesday approved plans to build next-generation Aegis-equipped destroyers and upgraded submarines to enhance the military’s operational capabilities, the arms procurement agency said. 
The Defense Project Promotion Committee passed the plans to construct the second batch of three destroyers, called Gwanggaeto the Great Ⅲ, by 2028 with a budget of around 3.9 trillion won (US$3.3 billion), according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
The new Aegis destroyers will be outfitted with an upgraded missile launch system which will allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. They will also represent a marked upgrade in detection and tracking abilities, the agency noted.
The committee also approved a plan to build the next-generation indigenous submarine, the Jangbogo Ⅲ.
The project calls for building three 3,450-ton submarines that will be equipped with ballistic missile launchers with its own technology, using a budget of 3.4 billion won by 2028, according to the DAPA.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Every time I watch any Western documentary about Korea – in this case, Netflix's "Street Food" – regardless of the subject matter, people always end up talking about "the tragedy of the Korean War," and it annoys me to no end. Just how many Koreans actually think about the war?!

— John Lee (The Korean Foreigner) (@koreanforeigner) April 28, 2019

It looks like the Moon administration is a step closer to further consolidating control of the government and getting additional powers to go after their political enemies. In a rare statement, South Korea’s Prosecutor General came out against the bill:

Highly contentious bills on electoral reform and the establishment of an independent investigation agency were fast-tracked at the National Assembly late Monday by two special parliamentary committees. 

After a week of bitter partisan fighting that, at times, turned physical, the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and three allied parties pushed the bills through two special parliamentary committees on political and judicial reform at around 11 p.m. in spite of vocal opposition by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).

In the process, the heads of both committees had to exercise their rights to send bodyguards into the meetings to restore order after LKP lawmakers tried again to physically obstruct votes from taking place. 

The bills included one on electoral reform, which would change the number of single-member districts and proportional representation seats in the legislature, and three on judicial reform, including a proposal to create a new agency to investigate corruption by high-ranking civil servants and another to adjust powers between the police and prosecutors. 

Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il on Wednesday openly voiced his opposition to the judicial reform bills in a rare show of disagreement with policy issues.

“Law enforcement procedures must function in accordance to democratic principles,” Moon said, according to a release by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. “But the bills that were fast-tracked at the National Assembly currently go against the democratic principle of checks and balances.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this bill moves indictment powers from prosecutors and moves them to a special unit. If this special unit is staffed with political allies this would allow the Blue House to control who gets indicted and thus why this bill is so controversial.

North Korea continues to vocalize that they want a “pretend denuclearization” deal by the end of the year:

A senior North Korean official on Tuesday warned of “unwanted consequences” if Washington does not shift its policy on North Korea’s denuclearization within this year, deepening the nuclear standoff with the U.S.
North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui did not elaborate on what she meant by “unwanted consequences” that she said the U.S. does not want to see. 
Choe also said “North Korea remains committed to achieving denuclearization and will denuclearize in due time. But it will be possible only when the U.S. changes its current way of calculation and reestablishes its stance,” according to the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency. 
Choe’s remarks come after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s interview with CBS last Wednesday. Pompeo said the U.S. would “change paths” if the denuclearization talks with the North do not succeed.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but as I said before the Kim regime is likely betting that the Trump administration will give them a “pretend denuclearization” deal in order to claim credit for a foreign policy victory before the 2020 presidential election. Additionally a “pretend denuclearization” deal would keep North Korea quiet during the 2020 campaign season.

It will be interesting to see if their strategy is going to work or not.

The UNC has a new Deputy Commander from Down Under:

Australian Rear Adm. Stuart Mayer has been named the new deputy commander of the U.S.-led United Nations Command in South Korea, according to a press release on Tuesday.
The U.N. Command, which is headquartered at Camp Humphreys, oversees implementation of the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War instead of a peace treaty.

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, has confirmed Mayer’s appointment, making him the first Australian to serve in the post, the Australian Defence Force said. Mayer will be promoted to the rank of vice admiral before taking up the appointment, it added.
He will replace Canadian Lt. Gen. Wayne Eyre, marking the second time in the command’s 69-year history that the post was offered to a non-American officer, it added. No date for the change of command was given.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

#SouthKorean economy contracted. Growth rate in the 1st quarter of 2019: -0.3%. 4th Q 2018:-0.2%. https://t.co/SjrC0sm3Ma

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) April 26, 2019