Tag: Korean Government

President Yoon has named a new Defense Minister among other cabinet positions he announced changes for:

People Power Party Rep. Shin Won-sik leaves his office at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday named ruling People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Shin Won-sik, former culture minister Yoo In-chon and former ruling party emergency committee member Kim Haeng as new defense, culture and family ministers, respectively.

The nominees are familiar faces in Korean politics, with Shin and Yu having the reputations of hardline conservatives. Pundits are saying this is in line with the conservative wing of Yoon, who has been stressing ideology and anti-communism ideas in recent public remarks.  

Korea Times

The North Korean regime and the South Korean leftists are really going to dislike Shin as the new Defense Minister since he is pro-strong ROK military and anti-Communist:

Shin is a retired three-star general and former deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has been spending most of his military career in key posts. During his discharge ceremony in 2016, Shin said the military should prepare for “unification through northern advancement,” meaning unification through toppling the North Korean regime. (……)

Shin is also one of the first people who triggered the ongoing controversies over assessing independence fighter Hong Beom-do, who was involved with the Soviet Communist Party, spearheading campaigns that resulted in Hong’s bust being removed from the Korean Military Academy. 

You can read more at the link.

It looks like President Yoon is actually trying to be a conservative who actually wants to reduce spending unlike U.S. conservatives who only seem to care about cutting spending when they are not in charge:

President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Tuesday to stick to a sound fiscal policy, strongly criticizing the preceding Moon Jae-in government for increasing national debts with reckless spending.

Yoon made the remark during a Cabinet meeting, pledging to reject temptations of spending for political purposes, as the government proposed a national budget of 656.9 trillion won (US$495 billion) for 2024, the slowest on-year growth since 2005. 

“Due to the previous administration’s lax fiscal management, the national debts rose by 400 trillion won, and reached over 1,000 trillion won for the first time last year,” Yoon said in opening remarks at the Cabinet meeting. 

Thanks to his administration’s efforts to achieve fiscal soundness, Yoon said the growth of national debts has markedly slowed, and the government will continue to stick to a sound fiscal policy for the sake of external credibility and price stabilization.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Yoon gave some blunt advice to some new vice-governmental ministers:

Yoon gave the instruction during lunch with 13 new vice minister-level officials after presenting them with certificates of appointment, according to Lee Do-woon.

“Fight ruthlessly against cartels with vested interests,” Yoon was quoted as saying, repeating a mission he gave to several presidential secretaries last week after they were nominated as vice ministers.

“Our government is an anti-cartel government,” he said. “What topples a democratic society from the outside is totalitarianism and socialism, but what topples it from the inside is corrupt cartels.”

Yoon called on the new vice ministers to be loyal to the spirit of the Constitution, saying both domestic and foreign affairs should be conducted in the spirit of the liberal democratic Constitution.

“Be loyal to the state, the nation and the constitutional system,” he said. “I am not saying you should switch horses, but that you should ride your horses properly in the spirit of the Constitution.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The opposition party controlled National Assembly has voted to arrest one of President Yoon’s PPP lawmakers. However, when the prosecution asked to indict opposition leader Lee Jae-myung for corruption they voted not to remove his immunity. Unsurprisingly there is a double standard going on here:

The National Assembly on Thursday voted to give parliamentary consent to the prosecution’s request to arrest ruling People Power Party lawmaker Ha Young-je on charges of receiving illicit political funds.

The motion was approved in a 160-99 vote in the National Assembly.

Ha has been under prosecution investigation on suspicion of receiving 70 million won (US$53,602) from a South Gyeongsang provincial council candidate ahead of last June’s local elections.

According to law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while the parliament is in session. The prosecution must obtain parliament’s consent to detain lawmakers.

Yonhap

For people staying in Korea for longer than 90 days, they will be getting a new ID card:

The Ministry of Justice said Tuesday a new type of identification card will be issued to foreigners staying in South Korea for more than 90 days, starting on Saturday.

This is the first time in 12 years the ministry will introduce a new design for a Residence Card, formerly known as an Alien Registration Card.

A new Residence Card will feature a full-color photo of the holder that is 35 percent larger than the current version. The current design has a black-and-white photo of the holder. Also, the holder’s photo will be moved from the left side to the right.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

If you want to be in the upper middle class of Korea a government job is a good way to go. However, I am willing to bet that much of their wealth is tied up in the high real estate prices in Seoul:

About one-third of the ranking public officials at the central government and state-run institutions have more than 2 billion won (US$1.5 million) in personal wealth, an annual government report showed Thursday. 

A total of 2,037 senior public officials declared an average of 1.94 billion won in personal assets as of the end of last year, with 31.3 percent holding assets worth over 2 billion won, according to the gazette compiled by the Government Ethics Committee.

It was compiled for the first time after last year’s presidential and local elections. 

By amount, 28.8 percent owned assets ranging between 1 to 2 billion won, followed by 18.8 percent whose assets were valued at 500 million won to 1 billion won and 17.1 percent whose assets were between 100-500 million won. Some 3.9 percent declared assets worth below 100 million won.

Seven in 10 officials said their assets increased from a year earlier, mostly due to a rise in property prices.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is likely the reason Lee Jae-myung sought leadership of the political opposition despite being a failed presidential candidate; so he could claim any charges against him were politically motivated:

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) decided Wednesday to allow party leader Lee Jae-myung to retain his position despite his indictment on corruption charges. 

Earlier in the day, the prosecution charged him with bribery and breach of trust stemming from his time as mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, years ago.

Under Article 80 of the DP charter, the party is supposed to suspend those indicted on corruption charges from duty. But the rule does not apply when the indictment is deemed politically motivated. 

The DP’s party affairs committee convened after Lee’s indictment was announced, and made the decision to exempt Lee from suspension, according to DP spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Korean left has struck back at the Yoon administration which is trying to reel in the violent and pro-North Korean KCTU:

Business associations expressed deep concern, Tuesday, over the opposition-led passage of the so-called “yellow envelope” bill, which limits employers’ claims for compensation against losses caused by labor strikes. 

Critics say the bill will encourage irresponsible and reckless collective actions by the country’s labor unions.

Korea’s militant labor unions have been and will continue to be the primary and strongest deterrent to foreign investors who otherwise would not hesitate to commit to long-term investments in Korea, the lobby groups said.

The bill will be made into law, if it is tabled and passes with a majority vote during a plenary session.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the opposition parties are likely setting the stage for the KCTU to conduct large strikes in the future to damage the Korean economy. This is likely to put pressure on the Yoon administration to stop the investigations into the KCTU.

It will be interesting to see if this ruling leads to more Russian men trying to seek asylum in South Korea:

A local court on Tuesday ordered the Incheon Immigration Office to review refugee applications submitted by two Russian men who landed in Incheon International Airport last year after fleeing the military draft in their home country.

The Incheon District Court ruled in favor of the Russian men who filed complaints against the immigration authority, but dismissed a complaint filed by another man who was in a similar situation. 

The judge did not give a detailed explanation about the ruling during the hearing, saying that a detailed verdict will be issued later.

There are two more Russian men ― college student Vladimir Maraktaev and former football player Dzhashar Khubiev ― who are still stuck inside the airport waiting for their next hearing scheduled for late February.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.