Tag: politics

Is it really taking advantage of America by producing a product in your own country and selling it to the U.S.? If making the product in the U.S. was cheaper than manufacturing it in Korea for example, these foreign companies would do so:

President Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary accused South Korea and Japan on Wednesday of having “taken advantage of” America’s “good nature,” stressing the need to work together with the allies to bring their production to the United States.

Howard Lutnick, a preeminent businessman, made the remarks during a Senate confirmation hearing, pointing to steel products from Japan and appliances from South Korea, as he responded to a senator’s question over what he will do to foster an environment to encourage joint ventures with U.S. allies.

“Our great allies have taken advantage of our good nature, and they like steel in Japan and appliances in Korea … I mean, they’ve just taken advantage of us. It’s time for them to partner with us and bring that production back home,” Lutnick told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Its official the former Fox News host, Pete Hegseth is now the Secretary of Defense. He has absolutely no experience with the Korean peninsula or the Far East in general. Hopefully he is a quick learner:

The Senate voted Friday to confirm former Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth as the United States’ next defense secretary, after allegations of sexual misconduct and other issues had dogged President Donald Trump’s pick for the top Pentagon post.

The upper chamber approved Hegseth in a vote where Vice President J.D. Vance broke a 50-50 tie, clearing a hurdle to Trump’s efforts to fill his Cabinet to forge ahead with his America First policy agenda.

In November, Trump tapped Hegseth, an Army veteran with tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, to serve as his defense secretary, describing him as a “warrior for the troops and for the country.”

During a confirmation hearing earlier this month, Hegseth described North Korea as a “nuclear power” that poses a threat to global stability, while highlighting the need for U.S. allies to increase “burden sharing” in pursuit of what he termed “healthy” partnerships.

Hegseth is the author of the recent book titled “The War on Warriors,” which Trump said reveals “how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.”

He had been a host at Fox News for eight years. He is a graduate of Princeton University and has a graduate degree from Harvard University.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder what will happen if the legal system convicts Yoon of treason, but the Constitutional Court does not approve his impeachment?:

Attorney Yoon Gap-geun, legal representative for President Yoon Suk Yeol, speaks during a press conference held near Gangnam Station in Seoul on Saturday.

Attorney Yoon Gap-geun argued that the declaration of martial law by President Yoon could never constitute treason, stating, “Martial law is a constitutional authority granted to the president, and there has never been a case where the exercise of emergency powers by the president was punished as treason. This conclusion is supported by the majority of constitutional scholars.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

The CIO is making themselves look ridiculous at this point. Yoon has told them repeatedly that he is exercising his right to remain silent and yet they are playing this hide and seek game with him:

Oh Dong-woon, chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, speaks to reporters as he arrives for work at the office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on Jan. 22, 2025. (Yonhap)

Investigators failed Wednesday at their third attempt to forcibly bring in President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his botched martial law bid. (……)

Prosecutors and investigators with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) visited the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, south of Seoul, to question Yoon over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, but the president refused all forms of interrogation, including on-site.

“We plan to discuss and decide the next steps in the questioning and procedures,” the CIO said in a notice to the press.

The investigators withdrew after five hours while Yoon met with his legal team.

Yonhap

So basically when the CIO shows up Yoon has meetings with his lawyers or he is attending his impeachment trial or going to the hospital:

Investigators went to the detention center on Monday and Tuesday to forcibly bring him in but withdrew both times after Yoon’s side refused to cooperate.

Under human rights protection regulations, investigators cannot question a suspect without his or her consent after 9 p.m.

Yoon returned to the detention center past that time on Tuesday after attending his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court and stopping at a military hospital to get a health exam.

“It kind of turned out like a game of hide-and-seek,” Oh said when asked if he was aware of Yoon’s plans to visit the hospital. “(The investigators) waited at the detention center because it didn’t seem right from the perspective of human rights to go looking for him at the hospital.”

So why is the CIO continuing to play this hide and seek game with someone exercising their right to remain silent?

I wonder how many other world leaders are making jokes about the political crisis in South Korea as well?:

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has jokingly said “everyone calls me chaotic, but look at South Korea,” a news report said Sunday, in an apparent reference to the political turmoil sparked by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law bid.

His remarks were reported by U.S. broadcaster CBS based on interviews with a dozen people with knowledge of events at Mar-a-Lago in the weeks between Election Day in November and Inauguration Day, set for Monday.

“Trump cracked jokes — ‘everyone calls me chaotic, but look at South Korea,’ he said one day,” according to CBS.

“He said he’d meet with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ‘if they ever stop impeaching him,'” it said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If Yoon’s failed martial law attempt achieved anything, it reminded the Korean public of the DPK’s obstructionism, ties to North Korea, and appeasement of China which must be what is causing them to slide in these public opinion surveys:

In this file photo, Kwon Young-se (R, front), chief of the ruling People Power Party’s emergency leadership committee, shakes hands with Lee Jae-myung (L, front), leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, during a memorial service for late former National Assembly Speaker Kim Soo-han at the parliamentary building in Seoul on Jan. 3, 2025. (Yonhap)

 The approval rating for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) surpassed that of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) without a margin of error for the first time in nearly six months, a poll showed Monday.

According to the survey by Realmeter on 1,004 people aged 18 and older conducted last Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the PPP stood at 46.5 percent, while that of the DP stood at 39 percent. 

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

The poll also showed that a gap between those who support the PPP for the next administration and a change in administration led by the DP has narrowed down to within the margin of error. 

According to the poll, 48.6 percent supported the PPP for the next administration, up 7.4 percentage points from the previous week.

Yonhap

Wouldn’t it be amazing if the DPK’s parliamentary obstruction that caused the martial law attempt leads to them losing the Presidential election if the Constitutional Court upholds Yoon’s impeachment?

President Trump has been sworn in and interestingly there has been no provocations from North Korea yet to welcome him:

 New President Donald Trump vowed Monday to stop the United States from being “taken advantage of,” put “America first” and usher in a “golden age of America,” as he was sworn in as the nation’s 47th president. 

During his swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, Trump, 78, underscored his America First credo as his second four-year term is expected to see a major shift in the U.S.’ approach to alliances, trade and other key issues. Vice President J.D. Vance was also sworn in.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.