It has come to this: *Breitbart* just did a better job of describing the cast of extremists in Moon Jae-in’s cabinet than “respected” publications with correspondents in Asia.https://t.co/NbdJMjz8PL I don’t read Breitbart; saw the link in my traffic stats. But I know who does.
This really shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, the only thing surprising is how open this South Korean diplomat was about how pro-American diplomats have been marginalized in the Moon administration:
New Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Do-hyun
The Foreign Ministry Tuesday admonished the new ambassador to Vietnam, Kim Do-hyun, for his critical remarks about the United States during an interview with a vernacular Korean paper.
The remarks in question are as follows: “The reason why the inter-Korean summit was successful is because pro-United States diplomats were not put in charge. … a majority of Korean diplomats have thought they could get promoted if they were close to Americans and if not, they would have no future.”
A ministry spokesman said, “Ambassador Kim went to his post several days ago. Since he will have many chances to have interviews with media, we have internally taken necessary steps.”
He said that he didn’t reveal what steps were taken but didn’t object when asked whether it was tantamount to a “verbal warning.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but I infer from Kim’s remarks that the Moon administration has marginalized diplomats considered pro-US and are only using North Korean sympathizers to interact with the Kim regime. This is not surprising considering the Moon administration has many left wing North Korean sympathizers. For example President Moon’s Chief of Staff, Im Jeong-seok is a former supporter of North Korea’s juche philosophy.
Over at One Free Korea here has a very interesting posting up about how liberal South Korean administrations target certain think tanks to fire employees or lose funding:
Robert Gallucci
Contemporary press reports alleged that Roh’s people directed the funding cut because they didn’t care for what TAE wrote, and because they really didn’t care for Nicholas Eberstadt (interviewed at this blog eons ago). One of the TAE authors called for an “amicable divorce” of the U.S.-Korea alliance, something that even most anti-American South Koreans fear. If this were to happen prematurely, it could cause capital flight, crash the KOSPI, and undermine the political support left-wing politicians build by profiting from the anti-American demagoguery of their simpaticos without openly propagating it themselves. Clearly, these issues are important matters of public policy for Americans. [One Free Korea]
Here is the most recent example of a liberal administration trying to influence a think tank:
Paradoxically, USKI is best known for publishing the reliably soft-line, anti-anti-North Korean, pro-“engagement” 38 North blog. It’s the last outlet you’d think Moon Jae-in’s people would mess with. (…………)
Not surprisingly, USKI and the KIEP have different explanations for KIEP’s funding decision, and by the end of this post, you’ll see why. KIEP says the National Assembly demanded the cut over questions about the transparency of USKI’s budget. But Robert Gallucci, the Director of USKI, says the real reason is that the Blue House wanted him to fire Jae Ku, one of the few right-of-center thinkers at USKI. (Mr. Ku gave an interview to this blog way back in 2005. I hope I’m not doing him any more harm by calling him a friend.) Later, Gallucci says the Blue House also told him to fire Jenny Town, a co-founder of 38 North. [One Free Korea]
I highly recommend reading the whole thing at the link, but it looks like the people at the Blue House involved in cutting the funding have ties to the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) organization.
Hong and his boss Jang spent 6 years at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy: it's an activist group ostensibly opposed to abuses of power by government & chebols. But it also put on anti-US beef (mad cow disease) demos and called for alternative Cheonan investigations pic.twitter.com/f4OW0Vay6u
So who is PSPD? They are a group that has long championed anti-US causes to include opposing the US-ROK FTA, the Camp Humphreys expansion, exploiting the No Gun Ri issue, wanting SOFA changes, and closing the Kooni Bombing Range. The most ridiculous issue they helped to lead was the 2008 anti-US Beef Riots. Most recently PSPD has been one of the major groupsbehind the anti-THAAD protests in Seongju.
The way I look at it the Korean government has every right to cut funding to think tanks they support. However, then they should release from jail the people imprisoned for the so called cultural blacklist during the Park Geun-hye administration. If the Park administration could not blacklist certain cultural organizations than shouldn’t the Moon administration not be able to blacklist certain think tanks?
I wonder if the ROK government will replace South Korean astronauts with undeserving North Korean astronauts if the Kim regime demands it like they did for the Winter Olympics?:
South Korea unveiled a long-term plan Monday to secure indigenous space technology with the aim of successfully landing a spaceship on the moon by 2030, the science ministry said.
Under the roadmap crafted and finalized by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the government will secure the necessary basic technology to send a spacecraft into lunar orbit by 2020 and to land it on the surface of Earth’s satellite a decade later.
In order to meet the goal, the ministry will begin analyzing critical related technology starting in 2019, officials said.
It marks the first time that the Moon Jae-in administration, which took office in May 2017, has mapped out a long-term strategy for space exploration. In the past, the country has mostly been busy with narrowing a technology gap with powerhouses such as the United States and Russia, the ministry said.
Under the latest plan, South Korea will also begin an era of private companies launching orbital space programs in 2026. [Yonhap]
Moon Jae-in's proposal to give service credit for membership in "civic groups" looks suspiciously like a scheme for politicizing the civil service by packing it with hard-left activists. https://t.co/9DZ80hhdWShttps://t.co/9DZ80hhdWS
I believe this when I see it happen since the ROK has literally vowed to take over operational control from the US military for decades to only keep putting it off:
President Moon Jae-in salutes during the 69th Armed Forces Day parade in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Thursday.
He vowed to strengthen the Korea-U.S. alliance while beefing up domestic military capabilities in order for the country to command its own troops in the event of a conflict.
“My administration is pursuing the early takeover of wartime operational control,” he said. “The handover on the basis of our independent defense capabilities will ultimately lead to a remarkable advancement in the fundamentals and abilities of our military. When the South has wartime operation control, the North will fear us more, and the people will trust our armed forces more. With elevated self-esteem, our military will become stronger, and the Republic of Korea will emerge as a security hub in Northeast Asia. I am convinced that our military is equipped with such capabilities. The people and I have confidence in our armed forces.”
Recovery of wartime operational control of the Korean forces from the United States was a presidential pledge of Moon. During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, Seoul and Washington agreed that the transfer would take place in 2012, but the plan was delayed by the succeeding conservative presidents. Moon said he will complete it during his presidency, which ends in May 2022. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I think this may have a real chance of happening this time since President Trump reportedly wants the same thing. Anyway this whole OPCON issue has historically had little to do with military strategy and more to do with being a reactionary response to Korean nationalism. I had reach way back in the archives, but ROK Heads can read how President Moon’s mentor former President Roh pushed this same issue from this 2005 posting.
I think President Moon is telling these ROK military leaders something they already know all to well:
South Korean President Moon Jae-In warned Wednesday there was a “high possibility” of military clashes along the border with North Korea as tensions mount over Pyongyang’s weapons ambitions.
Moon, who was sworn in last week, warned that the North’s nuclear and rocket programs were “advancing rapidly”, days after Pyongyang launched what appeared to be its longest-range missile yet.
“I will never tolerate the North’s provocations and nuclear threats,” he said on a visit to the defence ministry, urging the South’s military to adopt a “watertight defence posture”.
“We are living in the reality where there is a high possibility of military clashes” along the disputed sea border off the Koreas’ west coast or along the heavily-fortified land frontier that divides them, he said. [Korea Herald]
