Tag: South Korea

As long as the Moon administration is in power I don’t see South Korea getting tough on Chinese aggression in the region:

The United States is raising pressure on Korea to participate in its anti-China alliance, with Washington seeking unity with its allies against Beijing’s assertiveness in the region.

Korea has been reluctant to adopt the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific strategy, aimed at containing China, despite repeated calls from its biggest ally, because a stand against China would come at a large cost, given that it is Seoul’s largest trading partner. 

On Tuesday, Adm. Philip Davidson, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, made a visit to Defense Minister Suh Wook and discussed the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, according to the Ministry of National Defense. 

However, the meeting was seen as unusual given that the 52nd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) was just held a week ago in the U.S., where Suh met with his American counterpart Mark Esper. Davidson also accompanied them. 

In that respect, Davidson’s visit raised speculation that the U.S. would pressure Korea to jump on the anti-China bandwagon although the Korean defense ministry denied it. 

“The U.S. badly wanted to be able to cite Korea’s participation in or support for the anti-China coalition in the joint communique (after SCM), but to no avail,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Considering how over populated South Korea is, it may be a good thing to have some population decline in my opinion:

The government should change its immigration policy drastically in the face of the declining population, experts said Monday. 

According to a paper titled “Searching for the Direction of Mid- and Long-term Korean Immigration Policy,” published in the latest issue of the journal entitled Multicultural Content Research by Chung-Ang University’s Institute of Cultural Contents, the establishment of a ministry in charge of managing immigration issues is necessary to implement comprehensive related policies.

Kim Yeon-hong, an official of the Human Resources Development Service of Korea who authored the paper, said, “The situation will become so serious that the nation’s population will see a significant decrease in 2020, and the country, by 2030 will face national-security challenges due to a shrinking active military.” 

“In order to maintain the current size of the economy, the inflow of immigrant workers will be inevitable.” Kim said. 

According to data from Statistics Korea, the number of deaths from January to July of this year was 176,363 while the number of births was 165,000. The difference between the birth and death rates is particularly notable this year, indicating that the nation’s net annual population has naturally decreased for the first time in history.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is another example of how Korea’s libel laws are used to attack people for political reasons. In this example they were used by the Moon administration to attack a liberal political rival for the Presidency. The fact that the verdict has now been overturned is likely a sign that a deal has been struck that Lee will be the next Presidential candidate for the Korean left:

 Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung was acquitted on Friday of violating election law, winning a high-profile retrial that could have cost him his governorship. 

The Suwon High Court overturned its previous verdict and found him not guilty of spreading false information during televised debate shows in the runup to the 2018 local elections. 

In July, the Supreme Court remanded the case to the appeals court in a ruling that said Lee should not be punished for what he said during the debates, as they were not intended to deliberately disseminate misinformation.

“It is more important to guarantee freedom of expression (during a debate) to offer (debaters) room, free of legal responsibilities,” Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo said while delivering the livestreamed verdict, adding that it is impossible to hold a politician accountable for every inaccurate expression he or she makes.

In the retrial, the court echoed the view of the highest court, saying that Lee’s comments during the debates were no more than “answers to the questions” from a rival debater and that they were not seen as deliberate acts of disseminating false information, even if they might sound evasive and defensive.

You can read more at the link, but the libel laws were also used to go after his wife as well for posting supposed false information on Twitter. She was previously cleared of the allegations as well. Could you imagine if in the U.S. politicians and their supporters could be charged for libel for giving false information on Twitter and during debates? We would have no politicians left. 

Anyway this is just an example of how clever and ruthless the Moon administration was to win the Presidency. ROK Heads may also remember that they got Ban Ki-moon to drop out of the race by using what he called deliberate “fake news” against him. With Ban and Lee out of the race Moon then had a clear path to the Presidency after former President Park’s impeachment.

Considering Beijing’s territorial grab in the South China Sea, it is easy to imagine that they are setting conditions now to make similar territorial grabs from Korea in the future:

Activities by Chinese warships in waters near the Korean Peninsula have increased in recent years, military data showed Friday.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff data released by Rep. Kim Min-ki of the ruling Democratic Party, Chinese war vessels crossed the tentative median line in South Korea’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around 290 times last year.

An EEZ is a sea zone that a country has special rights over regarding the exploration and use of marine resources. It stretches out to 200 nautical miles from the shore.

Seoul has demanded that the EEZs of South Korea and China be demarcated by drawing a median line between the two countries’ overlapping areas. But Beijing has demanded that a proportional EEZ line be drawn by taking into account coastlines and the population along them.

Chinese warships crossing the median line accounted for nearly 80 percent of the total 370 tallied during the cited period, including 50 and 30 times by Russian and Japanese warships, respectively.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but despite these facts the Korean leftists want people to believe the Japanese are the real territorial threat to South Korea.

With the North Koreans not launching any provocations before the U.S. presidential election and President Moon continuing to pound the drum about a peace treaty it is pretty clear they think the next U.S. President will be open to a peace treaty deal:

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday echoed an earlier call at the United Nations for a formal declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War — despite a lack of interest in the idea by other parties like North Korea and the United States.  
   
In a filmed address to the U.S.-based Korea Society for its annual gala, Moon appealed for support for such a declaration, which he affirmed would “not only deter war” and “institutionalize peace,” but also strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance.  
   
The speech marked the second time in recent weeks Moon has beaten the drum for an end-of-war declaration, following his video address to the 75th UN General Assembly in New York last month. In that, he declared that such a declaration will “open the door” to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  (…….)

With his peace initiative toward the North now on life support, Moon has apparently put his bets on an end-of-war declaration as a means by which to end the deadlock in diplomacy with the North.  
   
“We can neither allow any backtracking on hard-earned progress nor change our destination,” Moon said in his address, according to an official English translation from Seoul’s presidential office.  
   
“Moreover, our two countries will continue the efforts to build trust with North Korea, one of the parties involved, by keeping our ears, mind and heart open toward it.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I have long chronicled what would happen if a peace treaty was agreed to.

The Democratic Party of Korea appears to really be enjoying the crackdown on their conservative critics:

Lee Nak-yon, the head of the ruling Democratic Party, said in a Facebook post Saturday that the police should work to prevent rallies planned for Hangeul Day, which falls Oct. 9. He thanked law enforcement for almost perfectly preventing illegal protests on Oct. 3.

“We are somewhat relieved at the moment, but some organizations have announced plans for more rallies on Hangeul Day,” Lee wrote, adding that preventing mass gatherings will help the country stay clear of the virus and shore up its struggling economy.

“Whatever the reason may be, illegal gatherings and deterring virus control measures are by no means acceptable. I hope the police do the same and block illegal rallies on Hangeul Day while preventing potential danger.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but it is clear they plan to use the coronavirus as an excuse to stop anti-government rallies for as long as possible.

I just love the irony of this, to stop a large gathering at Gwanghwamun, the police are instead having a large gathering:

Police stepped up their guard Saturday to prevent conservative activists from holding illegal rallies in central Seoul amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19. 

Several conservative groups planned rallies on the Oct.3 National Foundation Day to protest the liberal government’s policies despite the administrations strong warnings amid a resurgence in the coronavirus pandemic. 

Officers said they set up inspection points in 90 locations connecting to central Seoul and were checking vehicles entering the area

Police buses were parked in lines on the main streets linking Gwanghwamun and City Hall in central Seoul; while subway trains were not stopping at nearby stations.

Korea Times via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

A Korean court now says that Korean conservatives can hold a car parade with restrictions that make it nearly worthless to hold:

 A Seoul court has approved a drive-thru rally involving less than 10 vehicles amid worries that mass gatherings could undercut South Korea’s fight against the new coronavirus.

The ruling by the Seoul Administrative Court clears the way for conservative activists to hold a small-scale drive-thru rally in Seoul this weekend.

The court allows nine people — each in their cars — to hold a rally for two hours, but they are banned from lowering their car windows or chanting slogans during the rally.

The participants are also required not to have any face-to-face meeting or contact before and after the rally in a move to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but what they will probably do is put speakers on the outside of their cars and blare slogans that way. It will be interesting to see if the Moon administration that is desperate to squash dissent will try to arrest these people if they did that.

While the Moon administration is busy trying to arrest conservatives for holding a car parade, in other news Koreans are traveling home for the Chuseok holiday packing trains, buses, and the highways.

I think under the current government I just don’t see the U.S. being able to host ballistic missiles in the ROK:

The United States is not ready yet to talk with allies about deployment of its specific military capabilities, a senior US official said Monday, as Washington is considering deploying intermediate-range missiles in East Asia to counterbalance China’s growing capabilities.
   
Marshall Billingslea, special US presidential envoy for arms control, also said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency and other local media outlets in Seoul that North Korea’s recent apology for the killing of a South Korean fisheries official is a good first step toward resolving the issue.
   
Billingslea arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day visit. 
   
The trip came as the US has been considering deploying intermediate-range missiles in Asia to counter China after withdrawing from the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) last year amid speculation that South Korea could be one of the candidate sites.
   
Claiming that China test-fired missiles 225 times last year alone, which is more than the number of launches by all the other countries in the world combined, Billingslea called on China to come forward and discuss the matter with the US, which is not a request but its legal obligation.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.