Tag: politics

It looks like the usual suspects from the Korean left such as the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has given up protesting the THAAD deployment and moved on to the Choi Soon-shil issue that seems to have more traction with the Korean public:

Thousands of citizens took to the streets in downtown Seoul on Saturday, demanding President Park Geun-hye step down, in protest of an ongoing influence-peddling scandal surrounding her confidante.

Groups, including the country’s largest umbrella labor union, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), which had been at odds with the president on a host of issues in the past, jointly held a candlelight rally in Cheonggye Stream Square.

About 20,000 took part in the demonstration, according to the organizers, although the police put the number closer at 9,000, with 8,000 officers mobilized to deal with contingencies.

Police and politicians have been casting watchful eyes on the rally as it was the first mass movement after the president apologized in a nationally televised address over allegations raised against her confidante, Choi Soon-sil.

In the apology delivered Tuesday, Park admitted to the leak of dozens of presidential speeches to Choi before they were made public, acknowledging her ties.

Still, the scandal has only been snowballing as a series of media reports claimed Choi’s possible intervention in other state affairs, including some related to sensitive policy issues. Choi holds no governmental post.

A 24-year-old college student, who asked not to be named, said he joined a demonstration as he was “so frustrated and disappointed” about the latest scandal.

Others like Chris from Australia who works as an English teacher here said it seemed very meaningful that the public came out to send a message to the government. He asked for his last name not to be used for privacy reasons.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the Australian quoted in the article may want to stay out of Korean political affairs because foreigners have been deported before in the past for this.

Good lord: video of Kirk's racist comment to Tammy Duckworth even worst than the transcript. pic.twitter.com/ETLc6X11TK

— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) October 28, 2016

President Park’s long-time friend, Choi Soon-shil who is at the center of the current political influence scandal in South Korea has spoken out about the issue from a hotel in Germany:

Choi, who has known the president for some 40 years, is the fifth daughter of Park’s late mentor Choi Tae-min, a leader of a questionable religious group who died in 1994. Observers said Park developed a friendship with the Choi family after her mother and then-first lady Yook Young-soo was assassinated in 1974.

The South Korean public has been casting watchful eyes on the scandal, with some even claiming that the case may have a religious connection, although Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn ruled out such assumptions. Choi’s father reportedly founded a religion in the 1970s that combined Buddhist, Christian and indigenous faith practices.

“Choi is ready to receive punishment if investigations reveal any lawbreaking activities,” he said, adding Choi has no intention to flee or hide.

She, however, asked for “mercy” concerning her daughter through the lawyer. She earlier said in the interview that she traveled overseas to “protect” the daughter, who is also embroiled in controversy on speculations that she was unfairly accepted to Seoul-based Ewha Womans University. Some of the university’s students argued that Choi’s daughter received relatively higher grades compared to her actual achievements.

The emotionally appealing remark by Choi’s legal representatives came amid mounting anger among the South Korean public.

Reflecting the sentiment, local pollster Gallup Korea said Friday that Park’s approval rating was at 17 percent from Tuesday to Thursday this week, marking an 8 percentage point drop from a seven-day period earlier. It marks the lowest rating since she took office and a decrease for the sixth consecutive week.

A whopping 74 percent of the respondents were negative about Park’s achievements in state affairs, soaring 10 percentage points on-week.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but it looks like President Park is continuing the trend of South Korean presidents entering office with high approval ratings and then leaving office with incredibly low ratings.

South Koreans Call for President’s Impeachment Over Influence Scandal https://t.co/0IOMI6jClk pic.twitter.com/wGqe8ddm8M

— The Diplomat (@Diplomat_APAC) October 28, 2016

This seems to be much to do about nothing and simply partisan politics:

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday apologized to the nation over a leak of dozens of presidential speeches to an acqaintance who has been at the center of an escalating corruption scandal that has roiled politics over the past month.

“Regardless of the reasons involved, I am sorry that (the scandal) has caused national concerns,” she said. “I deeply apologize to the people.”

Park’s apology came a day after local broadcaster JTBC revealed that Choi Soon-sil had received dozens of presidential speeches, including Park’s election campaign remarks, before they were delivered by the president.

The broadcaster said it found the speeches from about 200 files obtained from a computer that was left to be thrown away in Choi’s office in southern Seoul. Among the speeches was Park’s so-called Dresden address on reunification delivered in Germany in March 2014.

The president acknowledged that Choi had helped her prepare for public speeches during her presidential election campaign and the early part of her presidency.

“During the last presidential election campaign, she (Choi) has offered me personal comments about my campaign activities, mostly speeches and publicity efforts,” Park said.

“For some period of time after my inauguration, I had asked for her opinion over some materials, but after the secretarial staff at Cheong Wa Dae was fully established, I stopped (asking for her help).”  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but Park’s political opposition wants her cabinet ministers who gave Choi the speeches to resign and possibly face prosecution.  According to the legal experts quoted in the article the speeches were drafts and thus not official Presidential correspondence thus no legal ramifications.

I wonder if in the US there are any legal ramifications for giving the text of a Presidential speech to someone to look at before it is given?

Personally I kind of like the Korean Presidential system to where it cycles out leaders quicker.  I think leadership changes are a good thing that brings renewed energy and ideas to the Presidency:

South Korean President Park Geun Hye on Monday (Oct 24) called for constitutional reform that could allow future presidents to serve two terms – a sensitive issue for a country tainted by memories of long-term, autocratic rule.

While its Constitution grants enormous power to the executive, South Korea is one of the only economically advanced liberal democracies to restrict the presidency to a single five-year term, with no possibility of re-election.

The limit was set back in 1987 as South Korea transitioned to democracy after decades of military rule, and sought to preempt any return to extended periods of authoritarian control.  [The Strait Times via a reader tip]

You can read the rest at the link, but President Park says that the Constitutional change would not apply to her presidency.  This is definitely a wise move because if she tried to run for reelection the Korean left would be claiming she is trying to begin a dictatorship just like her father Park Chung-hee.  Speaking of dictatorships has there even ever been one in modern times led by a female?

This has to be one of the weakest sexual harassment claims I have seen yet:

Rep. Han Sun-kyo has become the target of opposition criticism after making what female lawmakers claimed was a “sexually harassing” remark to Rep. Yoo Eun-hye during National Assembly audit sessions on Thursday.

Han, a ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker, was addressing sessions held to question the Education, Culture and Tourism Committee, of which he is a member. As he mentioned the rising controversies of the Mir and K-Sports foundations, he caught some of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) lawmakers, including Yoo, laughing.

Apparently angered, Han, a former MBC news reader, asked Yoo, “What is so funny? Do you find me attractive or something?”

Yoo, offended by the comment, demanded Han apologize. MPK’s poet-turned-lawmaker Do Jong-hwan and Park Kyung-mi joined Yoo in criticizing Han.

Han apologized, saying he and Yoo are from the same alumni circle.

“I guess I might have lost grip since I perceived her as my colleague,” Han said during the audit’s follow-up session in the afternoon. “If she is still uncomfortable about what I said, I will make further apologies.”

Yoo was not moved by his apology.

“Before I am your colleague, I am a lawmaker representing my citizens and we are in the middle of an Assembly audit session,” Yoo said. “Your comment embarrassed me and neither is it appropriate to the committee.” [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I find it ironic these opposition lawmakers are claiming that Han’s comment was inappropriate during a committee meeting when they were the ones giggling and disturbing the meeting in the first place.

I will never understand how these leftists continue to think that the Kim regime will ever denuclearize?  How does he plan to do this?  By more talks and negotiations with the North Koreans:

Rep. Moon Jae-in, a former leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and presidential aspirant, called on the government Sunday to temporarily suspend ongoing procedures to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system to the Korean Peninsula, demanding diplomatic efforts resume to denuclearize North Korea.

In his Facebook post, Moon also pointed out that the agreement between Seoul and Washington to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to the peninsula by end-2017 needs parliamentary approval.

“Rather than arguing that only the THAAD deployment serves the national interests, there should be discussions about national interests from a more comprehensive perspective,” he wrote, apparently alluding to President Park Geun-hye’s defense of the deployment plan.

But he added it would not be easy to reverse the agreement with the United States, South Korea’s top security ally, to station a THAAD battery in a golf course in the southern county of Seongju, about 290 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Moon, then, said that South Korea has already shown to the world a “strong resolve” against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs through the deployment decision, and that a delay would not cause any big change in the allies’ efforts to install the THAAD in Seongju.

“The fundamental resolution of North Korea’s nuclear problem is through the realization of (the goal to) denuclearize the Korean Peninsula,” he said. “A freeze on the North’s nukes is urgent, and then we should go in a direction towards a complement dismantlement of the North’s nuclear arms.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Considering how Trump has repeatedly said that he is going to make Koreans pay more for their defense and increase taxes on imports to protect American businesses is it any wonder why Hillary Clinton is polling so high in South Korea?:

If South Koreans could vote in the U.S. presidential election next month, Hillary Clinton would win by a landslide. More than 8 in 10 would throw their weight behind the Democratic candidate, who is surging in popularity both domestically and abroad, a survey released September 30 suggests.

In the poll of over 44,000 adults in 45 countries from August to September, WIN/Gallup International found that 82 percent of South Koreans would have voted for Clinton as the next U.S. president, compared to 3 percent backing her Republican opponent Donald Trump and 15 percent undecided or declining to answer.

South Koreans were Clinton’s third-strongest supporters behind only Finland and Portugal, which backed her 86 and 85 percent, respectively. The former first lady, senator, and secretary of state found support across the board, with Russia the only surveyed country preferring her business mogul rival and China nearly split on the candidates.  [The Diplomat via a reader tip]

You can read more at the link.

Lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party visit Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, the party head who has been carrying out a hunger strike, at the National Assembly headquarters in Seoul on Oct. 2, 2016. Lee has said he will end the strike after National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun resigns over backing the opposition bloc’s move to sack a Cabinet minister. (Yonhap)