Tag: South Korea

Here is the Korean left’s latest attempt to silence the activists that fly anti-regime balloons into North Korea:

Materials believed to be anti-Pyongyang leaflets from South Korea are set on fire after being discovered in North Korea, in this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency on July 14, 2024.

The unification ministry on Wednesday struck a cautious note about opposition lawmakers’ legislative attempt to ban Seoul activists’ sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, citing the right of freedom of expression.

In September, the Constitutional Court ruled that a clause banning leaflet launches in the law on the development of inter-Korean relations is unconstitutional, saying it excessively restricts the right to freedom of expression.

The decision paved the way for North Korean defectors and activists to resume their leaflet campaigns toward North Korea. In retaliation, the North has sent more than 2,000 trash-filled balloons into the South since late May.

Several lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party have proposed revisions to the law to restrict such leaflet launches while taking into account the intent of the court’s ruling.

“When it comes to a revision to the law, there is a need for a cautious approach, given that the court’s ruling underscores freedom of expression as a constitutional value that is the basis of democracy,” the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said in a report to the National Assembly.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Since the political opposition controls the National Assembly the Yoon administration is going to have to continue to deal with these types of shennanigans:

The presidential office said Monday it will not respond to an opposition-led parliamentary hearing addressing an online petition for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.

The parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee voted last week to hold two hearings — on Friday and on July 26 — to deal with the petition, posted online on June 20, that calls for the National Assembly to propose an impeachment motion against Yoon over various allegations, including first lady Kim Keon Hee’s acceptance of a luxury handbag in 2022.

“We cannot respond to an unconstitutional and unlawful impeachment hearing,” a senior presidential official told Yonhap News Agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is the Korean lefts ultimate goal which is to impeach President Yoon.

South Korea has definitely has had its share of political violence to include recently the stabbing of the Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung:

DP spokesperson Han Min-soo also sent best wishes Trump’s way and echoed the PPP’s sentiment that political terrorism must never be justified.

“The Democratic Party suffered an act of terrorism against former leader Lee Jae-myung, and we’ve been battling to fend off the ghosts of such terrible politics based on hatred,” Han said. “We strongly condemn political terrorism that destroys democracy, and we will be on the front lines of the battle against the politics of hatred.”

Yonhap

The conservative People Power Party however condemned the attack and mentioned the recent politcally inspired attacks on both Lee Jae-myung and PPP member Bae Hyun-jin;

Ho Jun-seok, spokesperson for the ruling People Power Party (PPP), wished Trump a speedy recovery, after the Republican presidential candidate had a bullet pierce the upper part of his right ear during a Saturday rally (U.S. time) in Pennsylvania.

“Political terrorism is a threat to democracy and cannot be tolerated for any reason,” Ho said in a statement. “Political terrorism is a product of extremism and politics of hate. Politicians have the duty to unite society through understanding and harmony.”

Ho said South Korean people have also been affected by political terrorism, citing attacks on former presidential candidate and ex-Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung and PPP lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin.

You can read more at the link, but back in 2006 there was also the slashing of then conservative parliamentary member Park Geun-hye who would go on to become President and in 2015 U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert was slashed across the face as well. You can go even further back when Korean President Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979 as well.

South Korea despite not being a NATO member has become the key attendee at the NATO conference underway in Washington D.C.:

One of the most influential people attending the NATO summit in Washington leads a country that is not a member. Yet it holds vast stores of weapons sought by the bloc to help Ukraine fight off Russia, and perhaps tip the battle in Kyiv’s favor. Ukraine needs artillery shells. South Korea has millions, and there is a push to convince its President Yoon Suk Yeol to change a government policy that prohibits Seoul from sending lethal aid to countries at war. Yoon is attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit this week for the third time, but this visit is different.

Just weeks before it opened, his government said a defense pact signed between Russia and North Korea in June has made it consider whether it’s time to start sending weapons to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces. Zelenskyy, who has been seeking weapons from South Korea since Russia’s full-scale invasion started in 2022, will be attending the summit in Washington aimed at proving that NATO is as strong as ever in its 75th year.

He is expected to speak at a meeting of the Indo-Pacific Four partners — Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea — the Yomiuri newspaper reported, where he could again lay out his case for weapons. “The types of weapons South Korea can provide Ukraine are the ones that can make breakthroughs in the current stalemate on the front lines,” said Park Won Gon, a professor at South Korea’s Ewha Womans University specializing in international relations.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully everyone living on the southern tip of the Korean peninsula is keeping safe:

Heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods in the Korean Peninsula’s southern regions, Wednesday, leaving at least six people dead and two missing, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and regional fire headquarters.

Record-level downpours — up to nearly 150 millimeters in an hour — pounded the provinces of Chungcheong, Jeolla and Gyeongsang, causing casualties and property damage.

A man in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, was found dead inside an elevator at a residential building after apparently being trapped there.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Korean government is starting to wobble a bit on their initiative to increase the number of medical school students to address the ongoing doctor shortage in South Korea:

The government has decided to drop all punitive measures against striking trainee doctors as it refocuses efforts on swiftly restoring the operation of medical services disrupted by their absences nationwide for months.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday that it shelved its plan to enforce penalties, including the suspensions of their medical licenses, on more than 12,000 trainee doctors for their refusal to comply with its order to return to work.

This would put an end to a nearly five-month standoff between the trainee doctors and the ministry, which refused to approve the resignations of those who left hospitals in protest of its decision to increase the nation’s medical school admissions quota.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This just further shows what an important geostrategic, economic, and military power South Korea has become by being invited to attend a NATO summit:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea, plan to discuss resilience, support for Ukraine, disinformation, cybersecurity and emerging technologies during their summit in Washington next week, a senior U.S. administration official said Friday.

The NATO summit is set to take place in the U.S. capital from Tuesday through Thursday. The leaders of the alliance’s four Indo-Pacific partners (IP4) — South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Japan — have been invited to the summit that marks the 75th anniversary of NATO’s founding.

“We are bringing together some of our closest non-NATO partners to have a discussion around issues like resilience, cyber, disinformation, technology and the like,” the official said in a virtual briefing.

He added, “This particular grouping of IP4 as we call them in NATO lingo — Australia, Japan, New Zealand and ROK … These are some of our closest partners that we work with in the region.” ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

After the U.S. Presidential debate debacle, the ROK and Japan are probably accelerating the institutionalizing of various parts of their combined cooperation:

Former U.S. President Donald Trump caused friction with both allies during his time in office by demanding greater payment for their hosting of U.S. troops while holding one-on-one meetings with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Under Biden, Washington is seeking to solidify its system of alliances, both with increasingly sophisticated exercises and diplomatic agreements, Graham said. “It’s obviously a U.S. attempt to try and mesh their alliances as positively as possible, not just given the challenge of their adversaries, but also the uncertainty around a second Trump administration,” he said. “They’re trying to institutionalize as many of these habits of cooperation while they can.” Tensions with North Korea are at their highest point in years, with the pace of Kim Jong Un’s weapons programs intensifying, despite heavy international sanctions.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Considering how most of the fatalities from this deadly fire were foreign nationals, it is not surprising the company is being investigated for hiring illegal workers:

Police officers carry boxes confiscated from battery maker Aricell and workforce suppliers in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, as they, together with the labor ministry, ratcheted up the investigation into a deadly fire at the company’s factory that killed 23 workers on Monday. Yonhap

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has launched an investigation into lithium battery maker Aricell over suspected illegal hiring of foreign workers after Monday’s deadly fire at its factory killed 23 employees, including 18 foreign nationals, officials said Thursday.

In particular, the ministry is looking into whether Aricell had directly imposed work orders on foreign temporary laborers hired by subcontractors, which is an illegal practice.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.