Tag: Korean Government

Now senior Korean political leaders know how the rest of us feel when the government and private businesses keep getting our personal information hacked and exposed:

The presidential office held an emergency meeting Tuesday to address the leak of personal information of President Lee Jae Myung and members of an entourage that accompanied him on his overseas trip in June.

The meeting, presided over by presidential chief of staff Lim Kwang-hyun, followed news reports that a computer file containing personal data of Lee’s entourage for his June overseas trip had been uploaded to a publicly accessible website that same month.

Those affected also included the first lady, then presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, government ministers, presidential officials and journalists, according to earlier reports.

A total of 168 people reportedly had their personal information exposed in the leak. 

The leaked personal information reportedly included dates of birth and passport numbers.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the presidential chief of staff called the leak a serious incident that cannot be overlooked, stressing the need to investigate the exact extent of the data breach and any damage related to it.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if they find out who leaked this information and how they obtained it.

I didn’t even realize this website was still active for people to report every Sea of Japan labeling they see in foreign media:

This week, a decade-old government hotline built to correct the world’s mistakes about Korea marks a milestone: roughly 20,000 error reports logged and answered since it opened.

The service, called Facts: Korea, launched Sept. 1, 2016, under a prime ministerial directive, initially run by the ministry’s now-defunct Korean Culture and Information Service before the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism took it over directly in 2024. Anyone — Korean or foreign — can flag an error about the country through the website factsaboutkorea.go.kr or via the mobile app in Korean or 10 other languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Vietnamese, Arabic and Indonesian.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

According to the article at least they are not spending all the increased tax revenue money, but doesn’t say how much:

South Korea will raise government spending by 12.8 percent to a record 820.9 trillion won ($599.5 billion) in 2027, the fastest increase on record, as surging tax revenue gives Seoul room to expand investment in artificial intelligence, strategic industries and social programs.

Under the government’s medium-term fiscal plan, annual spending is projected to surpass 1,000 trillion won for the first time in 2030, reaching 1,005.2 trillion won, while national debt rises to 1,734.1 trillion won. The debt-to-GDP ratio, however, is expected to remain below 50 percent at 49 percent.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully this disbandment doesn’t lead to a lack of enforcement against North Korean and Chinese intelligence activities within South Korea:

The Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC) will be dismantled and its functions will be dispersed among newly established organizations, as part of the Ministry of National Defense’s plan to reduce the unit’s unchecked power.

The ministry unveiled a sweeping reform plan on Wednesday, after the military intelligence agency drew criticism for being misused by former President Yoon Suk Yeol as part of his Dec. 3, 2024, martial law declaration.

The ministry said the overhaul is intended to prevent any future political involvement of military intelligence organizations by dismantling the concentration of power in the DCC.

“The reform plan goes beyond a simple organizational restructuring or adjustment of functions,” Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said during a press conference.

“This will serve as a historic watershed in rebuilding our military intelligence apparatus so that it can never again become involved in politics.”

Under the plan, the command will be dissolved and its functions split among three separate organizations.

A defense counterintelligence headquarters will be set up to oversee counterintelligence activities, defense industry-related intelligence operations and cybersecurity missions.

Military security functions, including security audits and investigations into security incidents, will be transferred to a new defense security support unit, while national security investigations and wartime joint investigative authority will be reassigned to an investigative body to be established within the ministry.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

When you think about it most of these senior public officials are likely older and have more time to accumulate wealth. $1.3 million in average wealth is not that outrageous, but it does show you can do well in South Korea working in government:

Senior public officials in central and local governments have more than 2 billion won (US$1.3 million) in personal wealth on average, data showed Thursday.

A total of 1,903 senior officials declared an average of 2.09 billion won in personal assets as of end-2024, up about 30 million won from the average figure a year earlier, according to the Government Ethics Committee data.

Of the total, 616 officials, or 32.4 percent, had assets exceeding 2 billion won, followed by 538 with 1 billion won to 2 billion won and 374 with 500 million won to 1 billion won. The rest had less than 500 million won.

President Lee Jae Myung reported 4.97 billion won in assets, up 1.88 billion won from his last disclosure, mostly due to book royalties, his salary and unrealized gains of his exchange-traded fund investment.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This shouldn’t be terribly surprising that the ROK President was against the deployment of USFK assets to assist with the war against Iran:

President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that a potential relocation of military assets owned by the U.S. military stationed in South Korea will not affect the deterrence posture against North Korea. 

Citing media reports that the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) might have recently shipped out some weapons, including an anti-missile defense system, Lee told a Cabinet meeting, “If you ask if our deterrence strategy against North Korea is severely affected (because of a possible shift of such assets), I can say absolutely not.” 

The remarks by Lee did not explicitly comment on the possible movement or repositioning of USFK’s military assets. 

However, South Korea has expressed its opposition against USFK’s possible shift of its military assets, but it is a “stark reality” that South Korea’s opinions would not be fully accepted, Lee said. 

“Our government expects the USFK to fully contribute to stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula, which I believe it has done so far,” Lee said.

“Depending on how the situation unfolds, however, the USFK may dispatch some air defense systems abroad in accordance with its own military needs. While we have expressed opposition, the reality is that we cannot fully push through our position.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Fortunately no one was hurt in this crash caused by the now former Forestry Service Chief driving drunk:

President Lee Jae Myung has dismissed the minister of the Korea Forest Service, Kim In-ho, after he was found to have committed an unlawful act, Lee’s office said Saturday, without further elaborating.

“We have found that the minister of the Korea Forest Service caused trouble by committing a serious violation to existing laws, and decided to dismiss him from the post,” Lee’s office said.

The presidential office did not elaborate on what specific law Kim violated but warned it will react sternly to any violations of law by high-ranking officials going forward.

Later in the day, police confirmed they have booked Kim on charges of driving under the influence.

Kim is accused of subsequently ramming into a bus and a car while drunk driving at an intersection in the Bundang district of Seongnam at around 10:50 p.m. on Monday, according to the Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the DPK now has their kangaroo court to jail all their political enemies with:

The ruling Democratic Party on Tuesday pushed through a bill to establish special tribunals for insurrection and treason charges linked to the Dec. 3, 2024, martial law declaration, ending a daylong filibuster by the main opposition People Power Party.

Lawmakers first adopted a motion to cut off the filibuster, which passed 185-1. The Assembly then approved the bill 175-2, including two abstentions, with 179 of 298 lawmakers voting. Lawmakers from the People Power Party boycotted the vote.

The revised bill requires the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court to set up at least two dedicated panels each to handle insurrection, treason and rebellion cases tied to the martial law declaration by ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

So now it looks like any conservative that made social media comments about the failed martial law plan is now subject to arrest as well:

A special counsel team detained former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn Wednesday on charges of inciting an insurrection following former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law.

Hwang, who served under former President Park Geun-hye, made Facebook posts following the martial law imposition Dec. 3 to call for the eradication of pro-North Korea forces and those involved in alleged electoral fraud.

He also called for the arrest of National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik and then People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon.

Investigators from special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team executed a detention warrant for Hwang at his home in Seoul’s Yongsan Ward after he ignored three summonses to appear for questioning.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Hwang was targeted by the investigation after an online news outlet highlighted his X post. There is probably a lot of conservatives scrubbing their social media accounts now that this can be used as an excuse to detain them.