Category: Korean Government

Yoon wants to make changes to the Constitution if he is reinstated and the changes are made he will step down:

Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday he will focus on revising the Constitution if reinstated, suggesting he could step down before the end of his single, five-year term.

Yoon made the remark in his final statement before the Constitutional Court, which is expected to deliver a ruling by mid-March on whether to uphold or dismiss his impeachment over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December.

“I will gather the will of the people and swiftly push for a constitutional amendment, doing my best to produce a Constitution and political structure that fit the changes in our society,” he said during the final hearing of his impeachment trial at the court.

“If a constitutional amendment and political reform are pursued correctly, I believe the separated and divided people will unite in the process,” he said.

“If that happens, there will be no reason to cling to the remainder of my term as guaranteed under the Constitution, and if anything, it will be a great honor,” he added.

South Korea’s Constitution limits presidents to a single, five-year term, but Yoon’s remark suggests he could accept calls to change the limit to two four-year terms and apply the rule to himself.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this seems almost like a last effort hail mary in order to sway the court to not uphold the impeachment.

It looks like South Korean lawmakers may be opening the door to having anchor babies in South Korea:

Lawmakers have proposed a bill requiring medical institutions to register the births of non-Korean babies in the government system, in a bipartisan bid to reduce the number of undocumented children and better protect their rights.

Last week, 11 lawmakers from both the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) jointly proposed a bill requiring hospitals and other medical institutions to report the births of children born to foreign nationals in the country, including undocumented residents. (………)

However, this policy has not extended to children born to non-citizens. As a result, some children born to undocumented foreign nationals in Korea remain unregistered, as their parents fearing deportation choose not to report the births. The exact number of such minors living in the country remains unclear. According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, at least 4,025 babies went unregistered between 2015 and 2022.

This is why the bill also seeks to ensure that government officials involved in birth registration are prohibited from reporting undocumented residents to the immigration office, providing a measure of protection for these families.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if a bank robber shows up at the hospital to have a baby do they get immunity from being arrested as well?

It seems like the consensus in South Korea to develop their own nuclear deterrent continues to grow:

Defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun said Monday that South Korea’s nuclear armament could be among the options considered to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats amid high public support for the idea of their country going nuclear.

“That is included among all possible options,” Kim said in a parliamentary confirmation hearing, in response to a question on the possibility of securing room for nuclear armament.

Speaking to reporters last month, Kim said that he was open to all means to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats, while stressing that the alliance with the United States remains the basis in dealing with such threats.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears the removal of the leadership of the NIS this week had nothing to do with ideological differences with the Yoon administration and instead it was simply people in the NIS not being able to get along:

This Nov. 1 photo shows Kim Kyou-hyun, director at the National Intelligence Service, attending an audit at the National Assembly in Seoul. Kim, a former diplomat who became the first chief of the spy agency under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, resigned, along with its first and second deputy directors, Sunday. Yonhap

After returning from an overseas trip on Sunday, the first thing President Yoon Suk Yeol did was to accept the resignations of the chief of the National Intelligence Agency (NIS) and his two deputies. Yet given the deep, long-running tensions between top agents over the past year, few believe their departure was voluntary.

Despite rising security threats from North Korea, which claims to have successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite last week, Yoon took the risk of leaving the spy agency’s top post ― held by Director Kim Kyou-hyun ― empty for the time being. Meanwhile, Hong Jang-won and Hwang Won-jin, veteran NIS agents, replaced Kwon Chun-taek and Kim Soo-youn as first and second deputy directors, respectively.

Speaking to The Korea Times on Monday, insiders refused to disclose details of how the infighting and feud within the NIS started and apparently aggravated under Kim’s watch. But one said the bone of contention had nothing to do with ideological differences suspected by some.

Conflicts over personnel affairs are known to have largely caused and deepened the division among NIS leaders ― particularly between Kim, a former vice foreign minister who became the first NIS director under Yoon, and Kwon.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The stock trading during work hours I think is fair criticism, but bringing up a school bullying claim from 2012 is ridiculous:

Adm. Kim Myung-soo, nominee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) chairman, was grilled at his confirmation hearing in the National Assembly, Wednesday, over stock transactions he made while on duty including days when North Korea launched ballistic missiles.

According to Rep. Jung Sung-ho of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Kim conducted 46 stock transactions from January 2022 until September this year, all during working hours. None were made during lunch breaks, the lawmaker pointed out, citing data submitted by the Korea Exchange (KRX).

Some of the transactions were made on Jan. 5 and 17, 2022, days when North Korea fired ballistic missiles toward the East Sea. Back then, Kim was a senior officer at the Ministry of National Defense.

Data revealed that Kim also conducted stock transactions on Sept. 8 this year, when North Korea unveiled its first tactical nuclear attack submarine. He was serving as the naval operations commander at the time.

During the confirmation hearing, Rep. Yoon Hu-duk of the DPK pointed out that a government official’s stock trading during work hours is subject to disciplinary measures. (…..)

The nominee was also questioned about his daughter’s school bullying allegations.

According to data submitted by the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education to Rep. Ki Dong-min of the DPK, Kim’s daughter was one of six middle school students accused of assaulting a fellow student at a school restroom in 2012.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is not a renewable energy issue, this is more an issue of government picking winners and losers and people in the government benefiting from the winners they chose:

A total of 251 officials at public institutions were found to have taken part in solar panel businesses to make money in violation of ethics regulations during the previous Moon Jae-in administration, the state audit agency said Tuesday.

The officials from eight institutions, including the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), ran solar panel businesses either under their own names or under the names of relatives, according to the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI).

During the Moon administration, solar power was considered not only as clean and environmentally friendly energy but also as a potentially lucrative investment opportunity, with stability and long-term prospects supported by strong government backing.

An example includes a KEPCO official who operated six solar power stations under the names of relatives after using insider information, reaping a combined profit of 880 million won (US$662,000), the BAI said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Yoon’s approval rating is now down to 30 points:

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating fell to a six-month low, raising alarms over his ability to handle state affairs.

A sense of crisis is spreading within the ruling People Power Party (PPP), forcing Yoon and the ruling bloc to focus on addressing rising living costs and other economic difficulties, which will affect the PPP’s campaign in the crucial general elections in April next year.

According to a Gallup Korea poll released on Friday, Yoon’s approval rating plunged to 30 percent, down 3 percentage points from a week earlier. His disapproval rating stood at 61 percent, also up 3 percentage points during the same period.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is just another example of how North Korea does not care about unenforceable UN resolutions:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, speaks to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, as they inspect Russian warplanes at the Vladivostok International airport in Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk Yeol in an interview published Sunday called the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia “illegal and unjust,” as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Vladivostok Saturday.  
   
“Military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is illegal and unjust as it contravenes UN Security Council resolutions and various other international sanctions,” Yoon said in a written interview with the Associated Press, warning that the “international community will unite more closely in response to such a move.”  
   
The remarks were made on the eve of Yoon’s trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly this week. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.