Tag: politics

Woo Byung-woo a former Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs under the Park administration has been hiding from questioning for 47 days which caused a nationwide effort by average Koreans to located him.  It appears the pressure to find him has worked because he recently testified to lawmakers about his role in the Choi Soon-sil scandal where he denies everything:

Facing a series of condemning questions and mockery from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, Woo Byung-woo, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, denied Thursday any wrongdoing in the unprecedented abuse of power scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

Woo made his first public appearance in 47 days to attend a hearing by the parliamentary special committee into the Choi Soon-sil scandal, and his presence generated high media and public interest, reflecting rampant suspicions that the former prosecutor colluded with Choi and her circle to allow her to pull strings from behind the scenes in state affairs.

Woo’s position as civil affairs senior secretary empowered him to monitor any legal or ethical breach by public officials. He refuted all allegations against him, a response that drew ridicule from lawmakers.

“I do not personally know Choi,” Woo testified. “I first heard about her when media reports came out on her husband Chung Yoon-hoi [in November 2014].”

When asked if he refuted media reports that he had let Choi interfere in state affairs and colluded with President Park’s three most trusted aides, nicknamed “the three doorknobs,” he said, “I do.”

Aside from allegations that Woo turned a blind eye to Choi’s interference, he is also accused of tax evasion and embezzlement from a real estate company run by his family. He is also suspected to have obstructed an investigation into the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 that left 304 dead by ordering prosecutors to not raid offices of the Coast Guard in a probe of the botched rescue efforts.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but what I find surprising so far is the lack evidence presented.  If lawmakers are trying to prove that people like Woo were acting in concert with Choi you would think they would have emails to prove the connection?

The woman behind the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye decided to make a surprise appearance at a hearing that she did not have to attend:

The close friend of President Park Geun-hye who is at the center of an influence-peddling scandal that has led to the president’s impeachment appeared at her first court hearing Monday and denied all charges raised.

Choi Soon-sil attended the first preparatory hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul. It was the first time she has appeared before the public since she was called in by prosecutors in late October.

“When I first came from Germany, I thought I should submit to any punishment,” said Choi, who was indicted last month over a string of corruption allegations involving the president and aides.

“But since I arrived here, I have gone through a lot of interrogations,” she said, without finishing the sentence.

When the presiding Judge Kim Se-yun asked whether she meant she denies all suspicions leveled against her, Choi said “yes.”

Choi returned home on Oct. 30 after nearly two months in Europe, following criticism from the public to answer questions raised against her.

“Eight of the allegations raised by the prosecution are that she colluded with the president,” Choi’s lawyer Lee Kyung-jae said. “As she did not collude with the president, she cannot be found guilty of the charges made.”

It is not mandatory for defendants to attend the preparatory procedures, which are meant for the prosecution and defense to discuss how the upcoming court hearings should proceed.

Lee told reporters in a text message earlier in the day she has “expressed her willingness to sincerely go through with the trial proceedings.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if the prosecutors can prove that she bullied conglomerates into giving her non-profits money.  For all we know they could have been willingly giving her money because of her influence with President Park, much like corporations giving money to lobbyists in the US.

I think anyone equating Park Geun-hye to Kim Jong-un is a complete idiot.  They are as stupid as the people equating Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.  With that said this is another example of how Korea’s defamation laws do put limits on freedom of speech:

A South Korean appeals court on Friday confirmed a monetary penalty for a 48-year-old pop artist and his 38-year-old collaborator who distributed leaflets critical of President Park Geun-hye across the country.

Upholding the previous ruling, the Seoul Central District Court said the act of spreading the leaflets should be distinct from freedom of expression or freedom of art.

The court ordered the artist, Lee Byeong-ha, to pay 2 million won (US$1,700) in fines. Lee, who goes by the stage name Leeha, distributed a total of some 18,000 leaflets in Seoul and other major cities between 2014 and 2015.

A 38-year-old actor, identified only by his surname Han, was also ordered to pay 200,000 won for collaborating with Lee in May last year.

“The defendants said it was a fair expression of their political views, but considering the amount, the location and how the leaflets were spread, their actions cannot be justified,” the court said in the previous ruling.  [Yonhap]

This is pretty much the typical political platform from the Korean left, THAAD is bad and lets talk to North Korea:

“It is inappropriate for the THAAD deployment process to go on under the current political circumstances,” he said.

The commander of U.S. Forces Korea said last month the THAAD battery would be deployed to South Korea within eight to 10 months.

Moon held out the possibility of renegotiating the agreement to deploy the system, saying doing so would not damage relations with the United States. He said if elected, he would work to maintain strong ties with the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea.

Moon came top in a poll of possible presidential candidates released on Thursday by Realmeter, with 24 percent, compared with 19.5 percent for outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is widely expected to enter the race though he has yet to declare his intention to do so.

Moon, who is a liberal, criticized the conservative Park’s policy on North Korea for failing to end its nuclear program.

He said a two-track approach involving more talks would be more effective, adding he would be willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, if certain conditions were met.  [Reuters]

You can read the rest at the link.

I guess this guy figures he can ride out the ROK presidential scandal to its conclusion by remaining in hiding:

The National Assembly is getting close to tracking down Woo Byung-woo, the former presidential secretary for civil affairs who has been on the run to avoid questioning over his role in the abuse of power scandal that led to the impeachment of Park Geun-hye.

Its uncommon allies in the hunt: average angry Koreans.

Several people, including Woo and the presidential friend at the center of the scandal, Choi Soon-sil, did not obey summonses by a bipartisan special legislative committee that held a series of public hearings last week to grill key suspects in the scandal.

Former and current lawmakers have come together to offer a nearly 15 million won ($12,855) bounty for details on the whereabouts of Woo, who has earned the nickname “mikkuraji” (loach) in local media, a Korean term for someone hard to catch.

A personal aide of Rep. Sohn Hye-won from the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, who is one of the committee’s 18 members, said on a CBS radio show Tuesday morning that ordinary Koreans were eagerly hunting Woo down.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but the summons papers has to be handed to him in person to be legally binding.  This is why he is remaining in hiding so no one can hand him the papers that would legally force him to appear in public for questioning about the scandal.

It looks like it will be a few months before the ROK Constitutional Court rules on the legality of the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye:

The Constitutional Court said Monday it will scrutinize all grounds cited in the National Assembly’s motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye, indicating that the trial will be a long process, possibly as long as six months.

The court held its first meeting Monday morning to discuss how it will proceed with the trial. The National Assembly on Friday passed a motion to impeach Park for alleged constitutional and legal violations, as she gave a friend influence in state affairs.

Justice Bae Bo-yoon, spokesman of the Constitutional Court, said Monday that the court will review all grounds cited in the motion, rejecting speculation that the court would review only key charges to reach a speedy ruling.

“We cannot use our discretion to have selective hearings,” he said.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

It is just amazing to me that Choi Soon-sil would leave a tablet computer with so much sensitive information on it in her former office with no password protection for anyone to open up and check out:

In its evening news program on Thursday, JTBC refuted rumors concerning how its reporter discovered presidential friend Choi Soon-sil’s tablet PC in October before anyone else, which proved to be a crucial piece of evidence against her.

Ko Young-tae, former head of The Blue K, a shell company suspected to be headed by Choi, accused JTBC during the parliamentary hearing on Wednesday of changing its statement on how it came to possess the tablet.

“JTBC first said that it found the tablet in a trash can in Germany, and then changed its statement to say that it found the tablet PC among things that Choi threw out of her house after being informed by Choi’s household manager,” Ko said in the hearing. “And then it changed its statement once more to say the tablet PC was found at my desk at my company.”

JTBC Newsroom anchor Sohn Suk-hee and JTBC reporter Suh Pok-hyun on Thursday evening provided explanations to rumors surrounding how the tablet was first discovered by its reporter.

An explanation was provided the first time that JTBC reported on the case, which was on Oct. 24, when Suh said during Newsroom, “JTBC reporters searched one of the offices that used to belong to Choi, and in one of them we found her tablet among things Choi left behind.”

Sohn and Suh provided the same explanation during the program on Thursday evening, and added that the tablet was first obtained by JTBC reporter Shim Su-mi, who visited the office of The Blue K in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul, on Oct. 18.

According to JTBC, Shim found traces that both The Blue K and Widec Sports appear to be owned by Choi and found the former office of The Blue K before any other journalists. Shim received permission from the building manager and entered the office, finding a desk and the tablet there.

“The office was on sale for two months, and real estate agents could enter freely,” Suh said. “So the reporter entered an office that was not owned by anyone at the time.”

Shim, in finding the tablet, saw its charger was missing. She bought a charger for the tablet model, came back and opened six files, examined them and left the tablet there, according to JTBC.

She then returned two days later, for fear that the evidence inside could be destroyed by Choi or her confidants. She copied the files inside, and broke the news on Oct. 24. That same day, she handed the tablet over to prosecution.

At the parliamentary hearing Wednesday, a few lawmakers demanded JTBC reveal how it came to examine the tablet in the first place, as rumors that Ko or Choi’s ex-husband, Chung Yoon-hoi, chief of staff to Park from 1998 until 2004, gave it to JTBC.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

It is official President Park has been impeached:

The National Assembly passed the motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal, Friday.

Park was suspended from office at 7:03 p.m. immediately after the result was officially delivered to the presidential office, and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn began working as acting head of state.

The President’s fate is now in the hands of the Constitutional Court, which is expected to make a ruling on whether the impeachment was valid in a few months.

Park is the second Korean president to be impeached after the late President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004. Roh was able to return to office thanks to wide public support after the Constitutional Court overturned the Assembly’s decision.

The impeachment motion, signed by 171 opposition and independent lawmakers, passed overwhelmingly with 234 in favor, 56 against, two abstentions and seven invalid votes in the 300-member Assembly. Pro-Park lawmaker Choi Kyung-hwan of the ruling Saenuri Party was absent.

This well exceeded the necessary approval of two-thirds of the 300 lawmakers required for its passage. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but the most significant thing that has happened is that South Korea now has a new acting President which is Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.

So who is Hwang?  His a 59 year old lawyer who worked as a state prosecutor for 30 years before entering politics.  He is well known for being a close confidant of President Park.  In 2013 he served as the Justice Minister for Park before becoming the Prime Minister in 2015.  ROK Heads may remember that back in July Hwang was detained by protesters outside of the selected THAAD site and pelted with eggs.

I doubt Prime Minister Hwang will make any major policy decisions because of his close ties to Park that could lead to widespread public protests.  That is why I think he will probably just be keeping the seat warm until the Constitution Court reviews the impeachment.  The last impeachment of a ROK President occurred in 2004 with President Roh Moo-hyun.  The Constitutional Court took 63 days to rule that the impeachment was not legal and he was reinstated.  Considering the widespread public outrage against President Park I doubt she will be reinstated.  However, the court has up to six months to rule on the legality of the impeachment.  If they rule the impeachment is legal then an election will be held 60 days after the ruling.  I think the conservative party will want this to drag on so they can select a candidate and organize a campaign to run against the Korean left wing parties who have taken maximum political advantage of the Park Geun-hye crisis.

It will continue to be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few months.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but the Korean left may be overplaying their hand with including the Sewol ferry tragedy as part of the reason for impeachment:

South Korea’s National Assembly on Thursday officially set the date for the vote on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye who is at the center of the corruption scandal rocking the country.

The anonymous vote will take place on Friday during the parliamentary session at 3:00 p.m., with the fate of the president to be ultimately decided by the country’s Constitutional Court. Under the parliamentary law, an impeachment motion can be put up for vote 24 hours after being reported at the parliament.

The opposition parties handed in the motion to parliament last week, saying that Park violated the Constitution and other laws by allowing her confidante Choi Soon-sil to exert power in state affairs and enjoy unlawful benefits. State prosecutors have accused Park of being Choi’s accomplice.

A successful passage calls for approval from at least 200 lawmakers from the 300-seat National Assembly. Accordingly, at least 28 lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party must give it a nod, even if every single opposition and independent lawmaker votes for the impeachment.

A group of non-Park lawmakers in Saenuri said it has secured support from around 40 lawmakers, but uncertainties remain, with some casting doubts on the level of support.

While the group earlier asked the opposition parties to exclude the sinking of the Sewol ferry, which left more than 300 dead or missing, as one of the grounds for Park’s impeachment, the main opposition Democratic Party said it has no intention to do so.

The opposition parties claim Park failed to protect the safety of the people as stipulated by the Constitution.

The Park dissenters’ group said it will continue to persuade the opposition parties, adding the issue remains one of the major hurdles for Saenuri’s participation in the motion.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but like I have always said what does the political opposition think Park should have done when the ferry boat sunk?  Swim out into the ocean and rescue kids herself?  If they want to complain about lax safety regulations this has been an ongoing problem in Korea for decades long before Park ever took office.  It seems by trying to ram this into the impeachment proceedings will unnecessarily cause uncertainty now on whether the impeachment will pass.

Here is the latest on the Trump phone call with the President of Taiwan that the media was initially trying to frame as him bungling US foreign policy:

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan’s president shows the incoming administration believes China should work hard on North Korea as much as it cares about the cross-strait issue, a transition team official was quoted as saying Tuesday.

The official made the remark during a meeting with a group of South Korean lawmakers, pointing out that China has been unwilling to use its influence over Pyongyang even though Beijing provides most of the North’s energy and food supplies, according to the participating lawmakers.

They declined to identify the official.

On Friday, Trump spoke by phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, breaking the decadeslong diplomatic tradition that the U.S. has kept under its “One China” policy since severing ties with Taiwan and normalizing relations with Beijing.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland and rails against any support for Taiwan’s independence or the notion that the island is not part of the country. Despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. has maintained friendly relations with Taiwan.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.