It appears we may be beginning to see the playing of the anti-U.S. card by the Korean left:
Amid deteriorating inter-Korean relations, a South Korea-U.S. working group is taking flak for hampering progress in bilateral ties due to its excessively harsh standards adopted on North Korea.
Korea Times
Critics say unlike its initial goal of coordinating policy on the North, the group is obsessed with whether Seoul-driven initiatives to engage with Pyongyang violate economic sanctions on the reclusive state, with some even calling for its breakup.
The working group, co-chaired by Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs and U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun, was set up in November 2018 following three inter-Korean summits earlier that year.
Upon its establishment, the government had high hopes that it would be in close communication with the U.S. via the organization. But due to Washington’s stern stance that inter-Korean economic cooperation should proceed in step with significant progress in denuclearizing the North, the group has been more focused on whether inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation violate international and U.S. sanctions.
You can read more at the link, but the Moon administration has been holding off on playing the anti-U.S. card because of the efforts of the Trump administration to work out a deal with North Korea. However, no deal to end sanctions was ever reached. The Kim regime has lost patience thinks now is the time to pressure the Moon administration to unilaterally violate sanctions. This is because the Moon administration firmly won the April parliamentary elections and the Trump administration is bogged down with a number of issues.
To unilaterally violate sanctions the Moon administration will need to set conditions to blame the U.S. for the new tensions with North Korea. Sending out the activist groups to blame the South Korea-U.S. Work Group is just the start of this effort.
Just because major media didn't cover it, it doesn't mean a large demonstration calling for Moon Jae-in's ouster didn't occur. It did. And it'll likely continue. https://t.co/LpnwEJNDgL
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) August 18, 2019
Does anyone see the irony of these protesters at Incheon International Airport?:
They are calling for Prime Minister Abe to apologize for something he and other Japanese leaders have already apologized for. The irony of this is that after making a re-apology demand against Japan they then left to travel to China and Russia who have never apologized for their roles in the separation of the two Koreas, their attempt to destroy South Korea during the Korean War, and their continued support to the Kim regime who is committed to ending the ROK.
The only thing I find surprising about this article is that the U.S. State Department did not anticipate China resorting to so called “thuggish” behavior:
After weeks of escalating warnings alleging a covert U.S. role behind the protests in Hong Kong, the tone in Communist Party-backed media outlets is turning darkly acrimonious, with publications attacking a U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong and releasing her personal information.
The pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao on Thursday published a photo of opposition activists meeting in a hotel with Julie Eadeh, a political section chief at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, along with details of Eadeh’s State Department career and the names of her husband and teenage children.
The report, which was recirculated by Chinese state media, emerged as Beijing doubled down on a familiar strategy of framing the nine-week-long protests as a U.S. intelligence plot to spark a “color revolution” to destabilize China.
The publication of information about the diplomat drew a furious response from the State Department, which accused China of “thuggish” behavior. U.S. diplomats around the world often meet with opposition figures and groups, occasionally drawing rebukes from governments.
The unusual pinpoint attack on the diplomat in Hong Kong underscores China’s growing frustration over the protests and their anti-Beijing message.
Washington Post
You can read more at the link, but it was utterly predictable that China would turn to nationalism and blame foreigners for the unrest in Hong Kong. The U.S. diplomat meeting with protesters was just the optics they needed to “prove” their invented narrative.
ICYMI: A group of Korean students claiming to be "progressives" stormed into Fuji TV's Seoul office to protest criticism of Moon Jae-in. This is very shameful and there's nothing progressive about it. Would they want Korean journalists to be treated the same way in Tokyo? pic.twitter.com/FNtepVIQA0
— Sam Kim 김혜성 (@samkimasia) August 2, 2019
