It appears this whole investigation of the fishery official killed by North Korea has turned political. I say this because there is really no way to prove definitively that this guy was trying to defect or not since he left no note or any other evidence stating he was doing so. That left the Moon administration to make an assessment on how this guy ended up in the water. Maybe there assessment was wrong, but it doesn’t mean it was criminal:
Former President Moon Jae-in said the state audit agency’s recent attempt to question him over a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020 is “very rude,” according to Rep. Youn Kun-young, his former aide.
Korea Times
The lawmaker of the main opposition liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) told reporters at the National Assembly, Monday, that Moon said it was “very rude” and improper for the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) to call him and send him an official email regarding the case.
After receiving the email on Sept. 28, the office of Moon’s secretary told the institution two days later that he will not answer any of its questions.
The 47-year-old fisheries official, who was unarmed, was killed in September 2020 by the North Korean military while adrift in the North’s territorial waters and his body was incinerated afterwards. It was initially concluded that he was killed during his attempt to defect to the North. But the story took a drastic turn as the military and police, under the Yoon Suk-yeol government, said there was not sufficient evidence that he was intentionally trying to cross the border. Over the past few months, the prosecution has been looking into who was involved in drawing that conclusion.
“The BAI appears to try to curry favor with the people in power despite its duty to maintain political neutrality. We should find the whole truth behind this,” Youn said.
More than 10 lawmakers, who worked for the previous administration, appeared at the press conference where they vowed to fight against what they described as “political retaliation” by the Yoon administration.
You can read more at the link.
It appears that President Yoon is not a big fan of the U.S. Congress:
South Korea’s presidential office defended President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday after he was caught on video using foul language to apparently refer to U.S. lawmakers.
In the video, Yoon is seen talking with U.S. President Joe Biden at a fundraiser for fighting infectious diseases in New York on Wednesday. As he turns away to leave, he appears to tell his aides with vulgar language that it would be embarrassing for Biden if the National Assembly did not approve of something unspecified.
The clip led to speculation and criticism that Yoon was referring to Biden’s pledge to contribute another US$6 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. His mention of the National Assembly was interpreted as a reference to U.S. Congress.
A senior presidential official said he did not pay attention to the remarks and did not remember them as he was following the president from behind.
“He wasn’t speaking publicly on the stage but in passing, and although I don’t know who recorded it and how, I actually think it should be verified,” the official told reporters in New York.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but this is just another self inflicted political wound that Yoon’s critics can now dwell on for a couple of news cycles. He is already dealing with another self inflicted wound by showing up too late to London to give condolences at Westminster Abbey prior to the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.
President Yoon’s popularity continues to slide in South Korea:
President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating was recorded slightly above 30 percent in a national poll conducted just before the Chuseok fall harvest holiday, a poll showed Saturday.
In a two-day poll conducted by Korea Research on 1,001 adults from Wednesday, Yoon’s approval rating stood at 30.4 percent, while his disapproval rating was recorded at 63.6 percent. Six percent said they were uncertain of their assessments.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It is going to be interesting to see how this turns out because can you imagine what would happen if politicians were indicted every time they lied during a campaign?:
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was indicted on Thursday for allegations that he violated the election law by making false statements related to two land development projects in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, while campaigning for the presidential election last year.
Korea Times
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office charged Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), with election law violations, one day before the expiry of the statute of limitations for his cases.
Lee is suspected of spreading false information related to a land development project in Seongnam’s Daejang-dong, in violation of the election law, by denying knowing a key figure of the project during his presidential campaign.
In a TV interview on Dec. 22 last year, Lee denied acquaintance with Kim Moon-ki, a former head of Seongnam Development Corp.’s project development team, during his time as Seongnam mayor between 2015 and 2016.
Kim was found dead the previous day amid an investigation into his alleged involvement in the Daejang-dong scandal. Civic groups filed complaints against Lee after photos were released showing Lee together with Kim and several others, including some from an extended overseas business trip in January 2015. But Lee has claimed that he did not know Kim because he was a low-level municipal employee.
You can read more at the link.
This was pretty dumb, you would think these politicians would know better than to have their phones out with cameras around:
The acting chairman of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) has apologized after a text conversation he had with President Yoon Suk-yeol was caught on camera, in which Yoon was seen backbiting about suspended party chief Lee Jun-seok.
PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong took over as acting leader of the party early this month after the party’s ethics committee suspended Lee’s party membership for six months over allegations of sexual bribery and a cover-up.
On Tuesday, Kweon was caught on press cameras writing a text message to Yoon on his mobile phone. The screen also showed earlier messages from Yoon saying he was happy with the change in the party’s leadership and took a swipe at Lee.
“Our party is doing a good job. We should keep this up,” Yoon wrote in the messages sent via Telegram. “Since the replacement of the party chair who used to shoot upon ourselves, our party has become different.”
Yoon was seen criticizing Lee for focusing on an internal fight rather than attacking the opposition party.
Kweon said in response, “We will uphold your wish, and show unity between the party and the government.”
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
He hasn’t been President very long, but a 32.5% approval rate is definitely something for the Yoon administration to be concerned about:
President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating fell to 32.5 percent, with his disapproval rating rising to nearly twofold of his approval rating, a survey showed Wednesday.
Korea Times
The Rnsearch poll of 1,045 voters conducted from Saturday to Tuesday showed 32.5 percent of respondents approved of the way Yoon handled state affairs while 63.5 percent gave a negative assessment.
Yoon’s approval rating, which came in at 52.5 percent four weeks earlier, has been trending lower in the past month. After falling to 42.6 percent in the same poll a week ago, it plunged 10.1 percentage points to 32.5 percent this week.
In the same period, those who were unhappy with Yoon’s performance jumped from 43 percent to 63.5 percent.
The latest poll comes amid growing concerns over the economy and political turmoil at the ruling People Power Party (PPP).
Korea has been grappling with rising inflation and global supply chain disruptions, which prompted the central bank to deliver an unprecedented 0.5 percentage point rate hike early Wednesday.
You can read more at the link.
It is looking like it is only a matter of time before ex-President Lee Myung-bak receives a pardon:
![Former President Lee Myung-bak [JOONGANG PHOTO]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2022/06/08/f3b4b615-d02b-4f21-b8c3-1aa2a70bb216.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
A high-level official in Yoon’s office told the JoongAng Ilbo Wednesday that the president will await the prosecutors’ decision. The head of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Hong Seung-wook, is known to be close to Yoon, who formerly served as head of the state prosecution agency.
Joong Ang Ilbo
Even if Hong green-lights Lee’s suspension, the former president’s jail term will remain valid. Some legal experts predict Hong will authorize Lee’s suspension and Yoon will follow up with a presidential pardon on Liberation Day to finally set Lee free.
Talk about a pardon for Lee has been going for months, especially after former conservative President Park Geun-hye was pardoned last December by former liberal President Moon Jae-in.
You can read more at the link.
