Tag: Park Geun-hye

Something I really like about Korean political leaders is how much they focus on setting quantifiable goals to improve their economy:

President Park Geun-hye started off her New Year’s address wishing all Koreans a healthy and happy 2015, in the Year of the Sheep. She said her top priority over the coming year was reinvigorating the economy.

“The government will endeavor to change the fundamentals of the economy so that it is centered on creativity and innovation, ushering in an era of $40,000 per capita GDP.”

President Park also addressed national security matters, promising to open an era of unification for the two Koreas.

“I will work to put an end to the 70-year-long division by building up trust with North Korea and urging change. The government will establish substantial and specific groundwork to achieve unification.”

She also promised to root-out irregularities in society to make Korea a safer place to live.
President Park said due to the spirit of the Korean people, she was confidant that Korea would be able to overcome any difficulty or challenge in the new year.  [Arirang News]

When was the last time you heard prominent American politicians set quantifiable economic goals like this?  And even if they did how many Americans even know what per capita GDP is?

What could possibly be going on is that some in the Park administration may be resentful of Jung having influence over President Park and leaked this document in an attempt to sideline him:

President Park Geun-hye on Monday condemned the disclosure of documents regarding Chung Yoon-hoi, a former aide, calling for a thorough investigation.

“(I) do not know what the intention behind leaking the documents was, but it is an act that damages national order,” Park said at a meeting with senior presidential staff.

Saying that real and false information accumulated at the presidential office, the president said that the country will fall into “major chaos and social discord” if information gathered by her office is released to the public without verification.

Going on to say that simple fact-checking could have determine the claims, veracity, Park said similar “groundless incidents” should not recur.

“Who leaked the documents and for what purpose must quickly be made known. The prosecution should investigate and leave no suspicion unexamined.”

On Nov. 28, a local daily reported that Chung was manipulating state affairs as a core member of an unofficial group of advisers to the president citing documents compiled by Cheong Wa Dae’s office for public servants’ discipline.

The presidential office has filed a criminal complaint against a police superintendent identified as Park for allegedly removing concerned documents from Cheong Wa Dae when he was reassigned back to the National Police Agency in February.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but Jung is also the person that Park was rumored to be having a private relationship with that is the source of another libel suit against a Japanese reporter.

President Park Geun-hye (L) plays a carbon fiber guitar at an innovation center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, on Nov. 24, 2014. (Yonhap)

President Park Geun-hye (R) shakes hands with U.S. ambassador Mark Lippert after receiving his credentials at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Nov. 21, 2014. (Yonhap)

South Korean President Park Geun-hye (R) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Nov. 11, 2014, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae released the photo on Nov. 17. (Yonhap)

Then South Korean President Park Chung-hee (C) arrives in Canberra in 1968. At Park Chung-hee’s right is incumbent South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The junior Park accompanied her father to Australia at that time as a high school sophomore. (Photo courtesy of the National Archives of Korea)

President Park Geun-hye and young venture company owners use a monopod to take a photo during a ceremony marking the launch of a creative economy and innovation center at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, central South Korea, on Oct. 10, 2014. (Yonhap)

Japan PM Abe seeks summit with South Korea's Park amid frosty ties http://t.co/uGa49VWlKd #KoreaNews

— Korea News Summary (@ROKreport) September 19, 2014