Chosun Ilbo column says ROK is losing it's long term Jaanese supporters in Japan due to Moon Jae-in's anti-Japanism drive. It also says Japanese citizens even think economic sanctions on ROK are OK to proceed. It appears SKorea crossed line for no return.https://t.co/eV0LSyywsI
— bmk218 (@bmk218) August 25, 2019
To be fair President Moon’s job approval rating is still pretty high considering all the scandals and poor economy:
Public sentiment toward President Moon Jae-in is becoming noticeably negative in light of various setbacks at home and abroad, with negative assessments of his job performance exceeding 50 percent, for the first time since he took office in May 2017, in a weekly Realmeter survey.
The survey published Monday showed that 50.4 percent of respondents thought Moon was doing a bad job in the third week of August, marking a 4.1 percent increase from the previous week. The pollster said the biggest reason for this was the escalating political row over one of his most trusted aides, Cho Kuk. The rival parties agreed to hold a two-day confirmation hearing from Sept. 2 for the justice minister nominee who is at the center of a widening scandal over allegations of corruption and unethical behavior involving himself and his family members.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
Which have been greater: the anti-Abe or anti-Moon protests? I have heard there were massive anti-Moon demonstrations that the administration controlled broadcast media did not report. https://t.co/118yQUvhtZ
— David Maxwell (@DavidMaxwell161) August 22, 2019
It is pretty clear that the Blue House is going to take the Kang Kyung-hwa approach to getting President Moon’s Justice Minister nominee approved:
Cho Kuk promised Friday to donate all his family’s scandal-plagued wealth to society in an attempt to keep his justice minister nomination from being derailed.
Cho, however, remained silent about suspected academic fraud and other scandals surrounding his daughter, which have become the focus of public disquiet over his controversial nomination.
“My family and I have been loved by society, but I failed to have the humility to look back on myself,” Cho said in a press conference broadcast live Friday afternoon. He promised to quickly donate his family’s investments in a private equity fund and its ownership of a private school foundation to society at large.
Joong Ang Ilbo
You can read more at the link, but the current ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa had similar ethical issues as Cho and made face saving public statements like Cho is now making to get approved.
However, Cho’s ethical lapses are even worse than Kang’s:
He made clear, however, that he wouldn’t abandon his nomination to head the Ministry of Justice. “Please trust my sincerity and watch me till the end,” he said. “I will work with a humble attitude.”
Despite media reporting on suspicious wealth management, Cho insisted the family never used illegal means. While promising to donate the controversial family money and school foundation, Cho gave no explanation about any specific allegation.
After reading the brief statement about his family’s wealth, Cho ended the press conference without taking any questions. Conspicuously missing in his statement was any mention about the most volatile elements of the scandal surrounding his family, which involve his daughter.
Cho’s 28-year-old daughter, who currently attends Pusan National University’s Graduate School of Medicine, is suspected of having been wrongly cited as the first author of an English-language paper published in the Korean Journal of Pathology in 2008 and using that accomplishment to gain admission to Korea University in 2010.
The professor in charge of the controversial paper admitted Thursday that he had given special treatment to Cho’s daughter.
“She was responsible for experiments and editing of the paper,” Chang Young-pyo, a professor in the Department of Medical Science at Dankook University, told the JoongAng Ilbo on Thursday. “I was responsible for data analysis and writing the first draft of the paper. I cannot deny that a favor was given to her by crediting her as the first author.”
You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember that one of the reasons former ROK President Park Geun-hye was impeached was because the daughter of her friend Choi Soon-sil, received special treatment to get admitted to college as well.
It looks like another President Moon recommendation for a governmental position has a shady background:
President Moon Jae-in is facing growing calls to withdraw his nomination of Cho Kuk as justice minister due to a widening scandal involving one of his most trusted aides.
The allegations of irregularities regarding his daughter’s academic history, in addition to the possible evasion of military service and the dual nationality of his son, who also holds U.S. citizenship, have produced a huge public backlash. A recent poll showed that almost 50 percent of respondents thought Cho was an inappropriate choice for justice minister.
Even some ruling party lawmakers have started to voice concerns about the impact of the Cho scandal on Moon’s leadership. “The people who supported Moon in the presidential election and our party are more actively raising questions about this issue,” Rep. Park Yong-jin of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said in a radio interview, Wednesday. “If the nominee fails to give an explanation that is convincing to the public, the President will be faced with an inevitable decision.”
In particular, the younger generation of voters who have supported President Moon’s special focus on establishing a fair and just society, are feeling a sense of betrayal and expressing outrage on social media amid their own tough struggle to get into good schools and find stable jobs in the hyper competitive Korean society. Many angry citizens are questioning whether Cho is really the right choice to spearhead Moon’s cherished reform drive to promote transparency and fairness, the “core values” of the Moon administration, in the judiciary.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link, but Cho’s kids seem like they have the same shadiness following them that critics say is why President Moon is currently hiding his daughter overseas.
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
This is what the Japanese media is claiming that the Korean Blue House is claiming is not true:
The United States is committed to maintaining close relationships with both South Korea and Japan, the State Department said Friday amid reports that Washington’s top diplomat expressed his support for Tokyo’s view on the issue of wartime forced labor.
Japanese media have reported that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently agreed with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono’s assertion that all matters of compensation related to Tokyo’s past use of forced labor were settled under a 1965 deal normalizing ties between South Korea and Japan.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Why would the average Korean know what the emigrant experience is like?
— the oranckay (@oranckay) August 10, 2019
The kimchi and chopsticks thing tho. It’s one thing if they think I’m a tourist but it’s a whole nother level of dumb when I’ve already introduced myself.
Ruling party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok doesnt want people to sing #SouthKorean National Anthem, saying it was composed by someone in the "pro-Japan roster dictionary" made by Minjok Institute, which focuses on anti-Japan accusations.https://t.co/EAfC12Q60S
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) August 8, 2019
I think the Japanese are trying to derail the Moon administration’s WTO complaint by showing that their process for extra inspections on certain exports is doable and not a trade restriction:
Japan said Thursday it has granted its first permit for a South Korea-bound shipment of chemicals to produce high-tech materials under Tokyo’s new export requirement that has increased tensions with Seoul.
Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko made a rare announcement of the approval, saying that officials determined that the transaction raised no security concerns. The move is apparently meant to calm South Korean anger over Tokyo’s export curbs and show there is no trade ban in place.
Japan imposed stricter controls on three key materials — fluorinated polyimides, photo resists and hydrogen fluoride — that are used mainly by South Korea’s semiconductor industry as of July 4. The rules also downgrade South Korea’s trade status beginning later this month.
Japanese chemical manufacturers have expressed concerns that case-by-case inspections may prolong the approval process and hold up production for their customers.
The first approval came after about a month, faster than the standard 90 days.
“The permit merely demonstrates that export licensing by the Japanese government is not arbitrary, and is granted to any legitimate transactions that pass strict inspections,” Seko told reporters. “The step we took recently is not an export ban.”
Associated Press
You can read more at the link, but the message Prime Minister Abe could be sending is that these extra inspections are an annoyance to Korean companies just like the Moon administration’s attempt to seize the assets of Japanese companies in South Korea is an annoyance to them.
