Tag: politics

Here we go again with the NIS reportedly meddling in another election:

An alleged power abuse and election meddling scandal linked to a leading presidential contender is taking a new turn as speculation is mounting over the possible involvement of the state-run spy agency. 

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) insists that National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won is the mastermind behind the allegations, while the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is counter-claiming that the rival party is trying to avert blame for the issue.

Yoon Seok-youl, a former prosecutor general and now one of the most favored opposition presidential hopefuls, has been accused of pushing the now-defunct United Future Party (UFP), a predecessor of the PPP, to lodge criminal complaints against several pro-government figures ahead of the general election in April last year, in what could have been an attempt at influencing the polls. To this end, Yoon allegedly ordered high-ranking prosecutor Son Jun-sung to hand over written criminal complaints to Kim Woong, a prosecutor-turned-politician who managed the party’s election campaign at the time and was eventually elected as a lawmaker. 

The allegations were first reported by an internet-based media outlet, Newsverse, Sept. 2, after receiving information from Cho Sung-eun, a former deputy chief of the election committee of the UFP during the general election.

However, Cho has recently placed the NIS chief under suspicion, as well as herself, that they had come up with the media report in an attempt to discredit Yoon’s election campaign.

“The release date (of the Newsverse report) was not the one that Park or I wanted nor discussed,” Cho told local broadcaster SBS, Sunday. 

“It was a date that the reporter decided on.”

In the wake of her remarks, the PPP, which had been plagued by the allegation, mounted a counterattack, trying to frame the scandal as political meddling by the spy agency.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but like I said before the Moon administration will do everything they can to destroy Yoon. He is up against people who smeared their main competitor Ban Ki-moon before the last presidential election to get him to drop out.

The Moon administration continues to throw everything they can at Yoon Seok-youl whether it is true or not to smear him before the upcoming presidential election. Remember these are the same people who smeared their main competitor Ban Ki-moon before the last presidential election to get him to drop out:

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said Friday it opened a case on presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl.    
   
“We began our probe on Yoon to investigate him for possible power abuse, divulgence of official secrets and violations of the Personal Information Protection Act and the Public Official Election Act,” the CIO said in its statement on Friday.    
   
Yoon, prosecutor general at the time of the general elections on April 15, 2020, has been accused of helping Son Jun-sung, a high-ranking prosecutor working for Yoon, share drafts of criminal complaints against journalists and political figures affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party (DP) with Kim Woong, a prosecutor-turned-politician who was managing the general election campaign for the United Future Party (UFP), a predecessor of today’s opposition People Power Party (PPP).  
   
In short, the allegation is that Yoon encouraged a high-ranking prosecutor to work with his friend in the UFP to try to smear the campaigns of DP candidates by pushing the UFP to lodge criminal complaints against DP members and their friends.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but hopefully Yoon is not surprised by any of this and if he is then he clearly isn’t ready to be the next President of South Korea. He is up against people that took out and jailed a sitting President largely with fake news and then went and put a prior President in jail as payback for investigating corruption of his predecessor.

Two ROK opposition candidates appear to be trying to tap into part of the male voting demographic that have been unhappy with supposed preferential treatment given to females:

Campaign pledges to abolish the gender equality ministry by two presidential contenders of the main opposition party are sparking a major backlash from in and outside the party.

Former four-term lawmaker Yoo Seong-min and three-term lawmaker Ha Tae-keung, both competing to win the People Power Party (PPP)’s ticket to run in the March 9 presidential election, pledged to dissolve the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family earlier this week as part of their campaign promises.

Posting a message on his social media account Tuesday, Yoo said, “There’s no reason to maintain a separate ministry on gender equality and family when half of the population are female and all the other government ministries are (already) related with women’s issues.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest update on the Korean presidential race:

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and People’s Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo had their first meeting on Wednesday and agreed to work together for the opposition’s victory in next year’s presidential election.   
   
Yoon, who announced his presidential bid last month, met with Ahn, a two-time former presidential candidate in 2012 and 2017, for an almost 2 hour luncheon. According to their spokesmen, Yoon and Ahn agreed to continue their political and policy alliance.    
   
Yoon and Ahn agreed that they will work together to deter the Democratic Party’s (DP) victory in the March 2022 presidential election, their spokesmen said in a joint press briefing. They confirmed that they are rivals in good faith as well as partners.    
  

This is actually a really brilliant move by the conservative opposition party in Korea because it demonstrates that the old guard many Koreans are fed up with is transitioning power to the younger generation:

The election of a young new leader is giving a boost to the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), with it seeing the highest gains in support in years and positive signs of a potential “conservative big tent” to counter the liberal ruling bloc ahead of next March’s presidential election. 

Public attention to the rise of the 36-year-old Lee Jun-seok and his victory at the party convention is pushing the party’s support rate. According to a survey of 2,512 adults conducted last week by local pollster Realmeter, and released Monday, 39.1 percent of respondents said they supported the PPP, while 29.2 percent said were behind the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK)

Political watchers believe the PPP has succeeded in responding to the growing public calls for change and innovation in politics by electing the youngest-ever party chairman, and it is now being recognized by the public as an alternative political force that could hold the supermajority DPK in check. Even before Lee’s rise, the DPK was already losing public support due to corruption and land speculation scandals involving high-profile government officials and party members.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Apparently some residents don’t want President Moon to retire to their small community in South Gyeongsang Province:

Construction of President Moon Jae-in’s post-presidency residence has been halted recently faced with resistance from residents of the area, according to Cheong Wa Dae sources Thursday. 

Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook plan to relocate to Habuk, a small town in the rural city of Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, after retiring in May 2022. They purchased a 2,630-square-meter property in the area for 1.06 billion won ($870,000) last year. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but supposedly the villagers are concerned by increased traffic from his residence, but I suspect the opposition is more for political reasons.

It wasn’t all that long ago when the ruling Democratic Party were smug and seemed unbeatable. That is no longer the case:

 After his Democratic Party (DP) suffered an election rout, President Moon Jae-in stated Thursday that he takes it as a “reprimand” from the public.

He said he will carry out his duties with a “humble demeanor and heavy sense of responsibility,” according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.

Moon was quoted as adding that he will concentrate efforts on meeting the people’s “desperate demands,” including overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, revitalizing the economy, stabilizing the people’s livelihoods and the real estate market, and rooting out corruption.

The liberal DP was overwhelmingly defeated by the conservative main opposition People Power Party in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections the previous day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Despite the best efforts by the Korean left to destroy Yoon Seok-youl he continues to lead presidential polling despite not even announcing himself as a candidate:

Yoon Seok-youl, a former prosecutor general who recently resigned from the post over a prosecutorial reform drive, ranked first in a survey of who is fit to become South Korea’s next president.

In the survey conducted on 1,001 eligible voters by Ipsos, an opinion research firm, Yoon came first with a public support rate of 26.8 percent.

He, however, was closely followed by Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung with 25.6 percent, which was within a margin of error.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is how politics work, you accuse your rival of something they did not say and let the media repeat it:

A Seoul mayoral candidate’s recent remarks related to the issue of rights of the LGBTQ community have rekindled debates on the matter in political circles. 

Conservative minor opposition People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, who is running in the April 7 by-election for Seoul mayor, brought about the controversy after saying that the rights of those who oppose an annual parade held in central Seoul by LGBTQ community members should also be respected, during a televised debate with his rival candidate and former ruling party lawmaker Keum Tae-sup, last Thursday.

LGBTQ community members here and activists supporting them have been staging the Seoul Queer Culture Festival every year since 2000 in central Seoul to call for rights for the community. Since 2015, the parade has set off from the main festival site at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall, with the city government under former Mayor Park Won-soon granting permission despite a continuous strong backlash from some conservative Christian groups who claimed Park encouraged homosexuality.

During the debate, Keum introduced the issue to the discussion, saying it would be a “small but significant change” if a third-party candidate took part in the pride march in Seoul. Keum then asked Ahn if he would be willing to participate if elected as the mayor of the capital.

Ahn replied, “Of course I oppose discrimination. Individual human rights deserve to be respected.” But then Ahn continued to say, “If an LGBTQ festival is held in Gwanghwamun (in central Seoul), there will be some people who want to come to watch it, but the rights of others who are against it should also be respected.”

Keum criticized Ahn’s remarks in a radio interview with local broadcaster KBS the following day, saying he was disappointed as they lacked consideration for the basic human rights of the LGBTQ community. “Ahn’s advocating for the rights of those who do not want to see a queer festival is no different from hate and discrimination,” Keum said.

Korea Times

I am no fan of Ahn Cheol-soo, but it is pretty clear that he was not hating on LGBTQ groups. All he is saying is that the conservative Christian groups have a right to free speech to criticize the parade. He didn’t agree with this position he just said they had the right to express it.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon is backing down from his idea to pardon former Presidents Park and Lee because of the Korean left is unhappy with the idea:

However, Rep. Lee’s comments, which weren’t consulted on with party colleagues beforehand, have prompted ricocheting reactions throughout politics, stoking fierce objection from the DP’s base supporters, as well as suspicious reactions from opposition parties, raising questions of motive and rationale in light of the DP chief’s falling approval ratings. 

Amid the political fallout from the pardon suggestion spiraling out of hand, the DP leadership came up with what many see as a dubious cop out position on the matter — stating that Lee’s remarks came from his “heart” free from political rationale and that the showing of sincere remorse by the ex-presidents is a prerequisite in potential pardons.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I doubt either ex-President is about to admit guilt to get a pardon. According to the article the ruling party is apparently throwing out this pardon suggestion as a trial balloon to judge public sentiment. If it is something popular with the public then President Moon Jae-in may move forward with the idea.