Considering the Blue House’s very strong response to Yoon’s comments I think it is an indication they are worried about being investigated if he does win the Presidency:
This file photo shows President Moon Jae-in (L) and Yoon Suk-yeol moving to a ceremony to appoint Yoon as prosecutor general at the presidential office in Seoul on July 25, 2019. Yoon was elected as the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party at the party’s national convention on Nov. 5, 2021. Yoon’s camp provided this photo. (Yonhap)
President Moon Jae-in on Thursday demanded an apology from main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol for remarks that he will launch a probe into alleged corruption of the current administration if he is elected.
Moon expressed “strong resentment” over Yoon’s remarks and criticized the candidate for attacking the current administration with “groundless” allegations, according to Park Soo-hyun, senior secretary for public communication.
It was rare for Moon to directly respond to remarks by Yoon. To maintain political neutrality ahead of the March vote, the presidential office has kept a low profile over allegations raised by Yoon or other presidential candidates.
Yoon made the remark in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo daily published Wednesday, saying he will launch an investigation into “deep-rooted evils” of the Moon Jae-in administration if he wins the March 9 presidential election.
You can read more at the link, but Yoon is clearly trying to rally the conservative base before the election that is upset that the Moon administration jailed the two former conservative Presidents. For the good of the country though Yoon if elected needs to stop the political prosecution of former Presidents.
“Creative” is likely a code word for how do we get around sanctions and send free goodies to the Kim regime to behave?:
The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan pose prior to their talks in Washington on Oct. 20, 2021, in this file photo provided by Seoul’s foreign ministry. From left are Noh Kyu-duk (South Korea), Sung Kim (U.S.) and Takehiro Funakoshi (Japan). (
South Korea will have in-depth consultations with the United States and Japan in the upcoming three-way ministerial talks to explore “creative” ways of engagement with North Korea, Seoul officials said Tuesday.
The foreign ministry reaffirmed its commitment to diplomacy with Pyongyang, as South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is set to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Hawaii on Saturday following the North’s recent missile tests.
“In light of the meeting, South Korea and U.S., as well as Japan, plan to have in-depth consultations on creative and various ways to engage with North Korea,” ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a press briefing.
The THAAD controversy has now become a major political issue in the ROK presidential campaign:
A sign protesting the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, anti-missile system appears during a demonstration in Seoul, South Korea, March 11, 2017. (Stars and Stripes)
Yoon, the statement said, believes the sole battery in Seongju has limited capabilities to defend the Seoul metropolitan region.
“Peace is not a thing which clamors by mouth but shows by doing actions,” the statement said. “We will build peace through power.”
Lee, the Democratic Party candidate, cautioned against deploying an additional THAAD battery, during a presidential debate with Yoon and two other challengers on Thursday.
Lee has described the existing system, deployed under South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s conservative administration, as a harsh “reality,” and on Thursday said he would judge its usage based on future circumstances.
Lee, in a recent campaign statement, accused Yoon of “escalating tension and intensifying confrontation.” Yoon’s pro-THAAD stance would “ruin our economy” by way of provoking China, Lee said during Thursday’s debate.
You can read more at the link, but someone should grill Lee on what he means by future circumstances? Does that mean he will demand THAAD be withdrawn and expose South Korea more to a missile attack as part of North Korean negotiations?
Something the Stars & Stripes article does not point out is that Yoon wants Korea to purchase their own THAAD battery just like they have purchased Patriot missile defense batteries:
Concerning North Korea’s continued missile tests, People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said on Tuesday that, if elected, he would “establish a multi-level missile defense system that includes Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)” in order to “ensure the safety of the Korean people against the threat of nuclear missiles from North Korea, from the greater Seoul area to northern Gyeonggi.”
In a press conference Monday, a subsidiary of Yoon’s election committee in charge of the candidate’s foreign and security policy platform stated that under a Yoon presidency, the South Korean government would purchase THAAD from the US with 1.5 trillion won and directly operate the system through the South Korean military.
The THAAD base in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, was established with US government funds and is being operated by US Forces Korea (USFK). As the THAAD interceptor in Seongju has a maximum range of 200 km and thus cannot reach missiles attacking the greater Seoul area, the Yoon campaign is arguing for an additional THAAD battery to protect the 20 million residents of Seoul and its surrounding areas from the threat of North Korean missiles.
You can read more at the link, but I think Yoon should be more clear in his argument that THAAD can better protect the Seoul area from certain ballistic missile threats, however it does nothing against the artillery and short range rockets that can easily range Seoul. THAAD is not a magic bullet that can stop all threats to the Seoul area.
At some point the case rates need to stop being the metric to judge how effectively governments are handling the pandemic:
This photo taken on Jan. 31, 2022, and provided by Chilgok County shows people performing a formal Korean bow, called “sebae”, to their mother at a nursing home in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, with the glass door closed due to the spreading omicron variant.
South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases exceeded 18,000 for the first time Tuesday, since the first local case emerged two years ago, due to spread of the omicron variant during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The country reported 18,343 new COVID-19 infections, including 18,123 local cases, raising the total to 864,042 the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Daily infections jumped after reporting more than 17,000 cases for the past three days through Monday. (…..)
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,772, up 17 from the previous day. The fatality rate was 0.78 percent.
The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was 272, down five from a day earlier.
South Korea has not reached its peak yet for COVID cases and this latest record will likely only grow:
A medical worker carries out a COVID-19 test on a man at a makeshift testing station at Seoul Station in Seoul on Jan. 28, 2022. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases reached yet another record high Friday, as the country grapples with the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant with a new nationwide virus response system set to come into force.
The country reported 16,096 new COVID-19 infections, including 15,894 local cases, raising the total to 793,582, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The daily count broke the record for the fourth consecutive day, spiking from 8,570 on Tuesday. The per day figures have more than quadrupled since Jan. 17, when the tally hovered around 3,800.
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,678, up 24 from Thursday. The fatality rate stood at 0.84 percent.
You can read more at the link, but the fatality rate is remaining very low and the .84% number is probably even lower when taking into account the new of COVID cases that are not detected in the population.
Just like nearby Japan, South Korea has reached a new record for daily new COVID cases:
A COVID-19 testing station in Seoul’s eastern district of Songpa is crowded with people waiting in line to get diagnostic tests on Jan. 25, 2022. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases hit a record high of 8,571 on Tuesday, driven by the fast spread of the new dominant omicron variant, as the country is set to put in force revised virus curbs to rein in the highly transmissible variant.
Tuesday’s cases, including 8,356 local infections, took the total caseload to 749,979, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
It marks the first time the daily caseload has surpassed the 8,000 mark since the country reported the first COVID-19 infection on Jan. 20, 2020. The previous all-time high was 7,848 on Dec. 15 last year.
South Korea has seen the daily counts skyrocket over the past week, from 3,857 on Jan. 17 to 7,513 reported Monday.
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,588, up 23 from Monday. The fatality rate stood at 0.88 percent.
This is an unusual deal, good on South Korea for being trusted to do important work like this:
Kim Hyun-mo (L), the chief of the Cultural Heritage Administration, poses for a photo with Mostafa Waziry, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, after signing a memorandum of understanding for exchanges and cooperation in Cairo on Jan. 21, 2022, in this photo provided by his office.
South Korea said Sunday it has signed a deal with Egypt to dismantle and restore the gateway of an ancient temple in the Egyptian city of Luxor.
South Korea plans to begin restoring the pylon and refurbish the access road of the Ramesseum, a mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramses II, starting next year, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration.
The move came as Mostafa Waziry, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, requested the Cultural Heritage Administration to restore the Ramesseum during senior-level talks on Thursday.
On Friday, the two sides inked a memorandum of understanding during President Moon Jae-in’s visit to Cairo.
It looks like the omicron variant has become the dominant strain in South Korea now judging the by the increasing case numbers despite enhanced social distancing measures being implemented:
A person receives a COVID-19 test at a makeshift clinic near Seoul Station in Seoul on Jan. 23, 2022, as South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases spiked to the second-largest figure since the pandemic outbreak amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases on Sunday spiked to the second-largest figure since the pandemic outbreak, putting health authorities on alert amid the fast spread of the omicron variant.
The country added 7,630 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,343 local infections, raising the total caseload to 733,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Sunday’s figure marks the second-largest tally since the daily record high of 7,848 on Dec. 15.
The daily tally surged at a fast pace last week from the 4,000 level to over 6,000 on Thursday and above 7,000 on Saturday, nearly doubling in less than a week.
You can read more at the link, but despite the increasing cases the Korean government has decided to lower the quarantine period from 10 to 7 days. This is arguably because too many people are being put out of work for too long thus impacting the economy.
Who would have thought that of all things that Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife is what will probably cost him getting elected President of South Korea? This is another major unforced error by Yoon’s wife:
People at Seoul Station, Monday, watch the news coverage about the recordings of Kim Keon-hee’s phone calls. Newsis
Comments made by Kim Keon-hee, the wife of main opposition People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, have backfired as some #MeToo victims and gender experts demand an apology.
Kim Ji-eun, who worked as a secretary for the former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung and who exposed the fact that she was sexually assaulted by him, issued a statement via the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, Monday.
“I heard her sarcastic comments on TV where she was speaking about my case. Her words are baseless and contradict the court’s judgment regarding the guilty verdict,” Kim said in the statement, urging the presidential candidate’s wife to deliver a sincere apology for her “reckless remarks.”
“Your thoughtless words resulted in secondary victimization and internet users are now harassing me with malicious comments,” she said.
The Supreme Court handed down a sentence of three years and six months to former Governor An on the charge of sexual assault by exploiting his position of power at work against Kim Ji-eun, Sept. 2019. The case was viewed as a symbolic event in the #MeToo movement here at the time.
In the recordings of Kim’s private phone calls, revealed on Sunday by the local broadcaster MBC, Kim was heard saying, “Conservatives make sure they pay. They never use someone free of charge.”
Kim was also heard claiming that #MeToo victims reveal sexual assault allegations because they didn’t get paid, referring to several sex scandals within the ruling democratic bloc. She went on to say that she felt sorry for the former governor and she and her husband were on An’s side.
In a letter sent to MBC to clarify her position, the presidential candidate’s wife said that she made some inappropriate remarks while criticizing some people who were involved in sexual exploitation and she was sorry for that.
You can read more at the link, but the recording and releasing to the media the private conversation is actually illegal in South Korea. So it will be interesting to see if anyone gets charged with this.
