Tag: Korean Government

This is probably not the economic advice that most Koreans want to hear, that they need to leave their country and move to Southeast Asia:

President Moon Jae-in’s economic adviser Kim Hyun-chul resigned Tuesday after drawing public ire for saying that young, unemployed Korean language graduates who can’t find a job here should stop blaming “Hell Joseon” and move to Southeast Asia to become Korean language teachers.

Hell Joseon is a term often used to describe how tough Korea can be on its students and graduates looking for jobs amid fierce competition.

Kim, who also teaches international marketing at the Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies, made the remark on Monday in a speech to local CEOs at a luncheon hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul. The gathering was meant to promote the New Southern Policy, Moon’s ambitious vision of expanding Korea’s influence in Southeast Asia with the promise of treating members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as diplomatic and economic partners as important to Korea as the United States, China, Japan and Russia. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The economy is continuing to slump in South Korea and President Moon appears to be trying to show he is doing something to address it:

President Moon Jae-in sacked the finance minister and his chief policy adviser Friday after the two top economic policymakers openly displayed a serious rift over how to handle the slumping economy.

Moon named Hong Nam-ki, an economic technocrat who is currently serving as chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination under the Prime Minister’s Office, to replace Kim Dong-yeon as finance minister and deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Moon also sacked Jang Ha-sung, presidential chief of staff for policy, and named his senior social affairs secretary Kim Soo-hyun to succeed him. Jang is the architect of Moon’s trademark “income-led” growth policy.

Kim and Jang have publicly displayed wide differences over how to revitalize the sluggish economy, with Kim voicing a need to alter the “income-led” growth policy and Jang insisting on sticking to the distribution-centered policy.

Their replacement was seen in part as aimed at revamping the economic team as they failed to produce tangible results in revitalizing Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Their sacking was also seen as a measure to hold them responsible for failing to work in concert with each other.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Moon administration has found another governmental figure from the former Park government timeframe to go after:

It has come to this: *Breitbart* just did a better job of describing the cast of extremists in Moon Jae-in’s cabinet than “respected” publications with correspondents in Asia.https://t.co/NbdJMjz8PL
I don’t read Breitbart; saw the link in my traffic stats.
But I know who does.

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) May 18, 2018

Moon Jae-in's proposal to give service credit for membership in "civic groups" looks suspiciously like a scheme for politicizing the civil service by packing it with hard-left activists. https://t.co/9DZ80hhdWS https://t.co/9DZ80hhdWS

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) January 7, 2018

Under blistering attack from former DA, Cho Yoon-sun admits artists have been blacklisted based on political belief https://t.co/artbxPvt3x

— All News Korea (@AllNewsKorea) January 11, 2017

I just don’t get why any South Korean would sympathize with North Korea and send threatening packages like this to ROK officials?:

A parcel containing a knife, suspicious powder and a threatening letter has been sent to South Korea’s defense chief, prompting authorities to launch a probe, the ministry said Friday.

The package addressed to Defense Minister Han Min-koo contained a 32.8-centimeter kitchen knife and some 20 grams of white powder with a two-page letter, according to the ministry, noting that the suspicious powder was later found to be flour.

The letter sent by the “International Peace Action Corps” reads, “Why are you bringing a fire cloud of a nuclear war to the Korean Peninsula by wagging your tongue?”

“I’ve decided to punish him out of concern that just leaving you like this would kill the whole people,” the letter said, warning to “get rid of” him and his family members.

On one side of the knife, the sender wrote in a red pen, “Han Min-koo,” and on the other side, “punishment,” the ministry noted.  [Yonhap News]

You can read more at the link, but this guy will likely be caught soon since they have video footage of him mailing the package as well as a fingerprint they pulled off the box that may be his.