Tag: South Korea

Even though this is about as minimal military support the Blue House could have provided to the U.S. for the Strait of Hormuz mission, the Korean left is still predictably upset about it:

The progressive Justice Party made clear its firm opposition to the government’s decision.

“The deployment of the Cheonghae unit to the Strait of Hormuz can lead to hostile relations with Iran, so I cannot agree with it. In addition, the decision means the unit’s mission has changed, so the National Assembly has to decide whether to approve the plan,” Justice Party Chairwoman Sim Sang-jeung said.

Party for Democracy and Peace Spokeswoman Rep. Park Joo-hyun also said, “The dispatch means Korea will join a war between the United States and Iran without any justification and it will eventually end up with hostile ties with traditional ally, Iran.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but when did Iran become an ally of South Korea? Iran has an important economic relationship due to its oil, but is hardly an ally that would defend South Korea. In fact Iran has had an important military relationship with North Korea for many years; the very country that tried to destroy the ROK during the Korean War and continues to be committed to the overthrow of South Korean democracy.

Then again to some members of the Korean left anyone assisting North Korea is considered an ally.

This is a great way for the Moon administration to make it appear they are contributing to the international coalition defending the Strait of Hormuz when in reality they just added a liaison officer:

South Korea’s decision to send troops to the tense Strait of Hormuz for “independent” naval operations drove home its desire to cement alliance cooperation with the United States and avoid straining ties with its trade partner, Iran, analysts said Tuesday.

Capping monthslong deliberations that pitted security cooperation with Washington against economic relations with Tehran, Seoul announced it would temporarily expand areas of operations for its anti-piracy Cheonghae unit to cover the passageway off Iran.

The naval unit, now stationed in the Gulf of Aden, will operate independently of the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), a U.S.-led military coalition to safeguard freedom of navigation in the waterway, though it would cooperate with the coalition if need be. Two South Korean liaison officers will be dispatched to the IMSC.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but basically the ROK ship on anti-piracy duty in the Gulf of Aden can be asked by the US coalition for help through a ROK liaison officer that is deployed to assist them.

Ambassador Harris has already spoke out against President Moon’s idea to restart tourism into North Korea and the State Department has now formally put the Moon administration on notice:

The U.S. State Department said Washington expects every member of the United Nations to abide by North Korean sanctions, apparently objecting to remarks by South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he could use inter-Korean projects to “broaden international support” for a partial sanctions exemption for Pyongyang.

In an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo last Friday in Washington, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said it was crucial for all UN members to abide by UN sanctions when asked about Moon’s recent remarks to possibly allow individual tourism to the North.

When the reporter pointed out that individual tours to the North are not subject to current sanctions, Ortagus, without clearly mentioning anything about Moon’s idea, stressed that the Donald Trump administration was hopeful Trump’s special relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would lead to a “diplomatic breakthrough.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this is all part of the Moon administration’s attempt to generate anti-U.S. sentiment prior to April’s legislative elections. Remember the ruling party cannot run on their record because of how poorly the economy and North Korean relations have been. Instead expect the Moon administration to create divisive issues with the U.S. and Japan to drive nationalistic voting in April. They likely hope this this combined with the new election law will be enough to maintain control of the legislature.

The four missing Koreans were teachers taking part in a program to teach kids in remote areas of Nepal:

Six people, including four South Koreans, remain missing in Nepal’s northwestern Himalayan region after an avalanche hit the area on Friday, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday. 

The Nepali authorities said they have mobilized an additional six to 10 specialized police officers for a search mission that is underway. But heavy snowfall and rough weather conditions are making the search difficult. 

Three search teams consisting of 13 locals who are familiar with the terrain and seven police officers have already conducted a land and air reconnaissance, but could not find the missing trekkers. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

This should come as no surprise to people who have been following this issue:

Choo Mi-ae on Friday issued her first special order as justice minister, requiring the state prosecution service to get prior permission before establishing special investigative units.

The order, which comes after a controversial reshuffle of the state prosecution service by Choo last week, is the Moon Jae-in administration’s latest attempt to rein in the prosecution as part of a major reform drive. (…….)

Prosecutors have not taken kindly to Choo’s order, with rumors circulating around the agency that the measure banning them from creating special units is meant to preempt the agency’s forthcoming special probe into the Ulsan case.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the Ulsan special probe is referring to the prosecutors office investigation of the Blue House meddling in the election of Ulsan’s mayor in favor of a President Moon confidant.

If anyone is wondering why President Moon is going after Korea’s prosecutorial system here is the supposed reason:

Moon, who once worked as a lawyer, saw the need for an institutional framework to end what he saw as a vicious cycle: The prosecution was used as a tool for “political retaliation” every time a government changed. 

Roh died by suicide in 2009, the year after he completed his term, after prosecutors under conservative President Lee Myung-bak questioned him over bribery allegations. 

“The conflict between the participatory (Roh Moo-hyun) government and the prosecution over the reform resulted in Roh’s tragic death,” Moon wrote in the book. 

Korea Herald

In reality the prosecutors were not responsible for Roh’s death, the corruption surrounding Roh was responsible for his death. Long time ROK Heads may remember that Roh used to go around claiming he was the “cleanest” ROK president ever; essentially attacking past Korean conservative Presidents as being corrupt. When President Lee Myung-bak took over after Roh Presidency ended, he had prosecutors look into Roh’s finances and found corruption involving family members and former aides. Roh had to eventually admit to his part in the corruption:

“I want to make public something in advance,” Roh wrote. “Right now, Chung Sang-moon, former Blue House secretary, is being questioned on charges of receiving money from Park. I am concerned that Chung might have testified that he had actually done so. The accusation should be directed toward us, not Chung.

“My home made the request, received money and used it,” the former president confessed. “We have done so because we still had outstanding debts.” 

Roh wrote that he will cooperate with the prosecution’s investigation and testify concerning details. “I will face legal action in accordance with the case. I apologize again,” he wrote. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

Instead of facing an embarrassing trial for the multiple corruption cases that surrounded him and his family he decided to commit suicide. His suicide effectively made him a martyr to the Korean left and protected his kids from being charged by the prosecutors.

So when President Moon Jae-in took over as President he immediately went after former President Lee for corruption and had him thrown in jail. So it is pretty ironic that Moon claims in his book that the prosecution system needs to be reformed because it gets used for political retaliation when he in fact did the same thing once in power.

Then last week he executed his “Wednesday Night Massacre” to stifle corruption investigations into his administration by Korean prosecutors. His administration also implemented so called “reforms” that will ensure that the current government can continue to cover up internal corruption.

Here is a very odd story of a son’s body being used as a bargaining chip for payment by a Seoul hospital:

An Alabama couple was locked in a web of bureaucracy as they fought for a week to retrieve their son’s body after he died Jan. 2 in a South Korean hospital, leaving a $24,000 bill for his care.

Gregory Allen, a 31-year-old civilian employee at the Child Development Center on the Army’s Yongsan Garrison, died during open-heart surgery after he arrived on Dec. 30 at Soon Chun Hyang University hospital in Seoul in a disoriented state.

Allen’s parents flew to Seoul as soon as they heard Gregory had fallen ill and found him on Jan. 1 the intensive care unit. The official cause of death was pulmonary embolism, his parents said.

“We were shocked,” said his father, Leroy Allen Jr., a retired soldier from Madison, Ala., who had served in South Korea.

He and his wife, Margie, had little time to grieve. They said hospital officials handed them the bill and demanded payment before Gregory’s body would be released.

They gave the hospital $3,000 but didn’t have the rest. Gregory Allen’s insurance policy covered 80% of the cost, but it took time to process the claim.

“This was like 3 o’clock in the morning and they’re asking me for $21,000,” Gregory’s father told Stars and Stripes in an interview Tuesday. “Now they’re charging 90,000 won (about $80) every day that he’s sitting in that freezer in that hospital until that $21,000 is paid off.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.