Category: Politics-Korea

Lee Jae-myung if he does become the Korean President in the futre he can exchange stories with Trump about he was also convicted of breaking election laws and had an assassination attempt against him:

A rift appears to be forming within the Democratic Party of Korea after a Seoul court sentenced party leader and previous presidential candidate Rep. Lee Jae-myung to a suspended jail term Friday for election law violations.

The Democratic Party has officially denied that Lee’s conviction — which, if confirmed by higher courts, could cost him his legislative seat — would divide the party or necessitate a leadership shake-up.

The party’s secretary-general, Rep. Kim Yun-duck, told reporters Sunday that the party “stands united behind” Lee. “We are not at all considering instating a new party leader,” he said. “There is absolute consensus about that among our party.”

The Democratic Party leader, who was narrowly defeated by President Yoon Suk Yeol in the 2022 election, is still the widely favored pick for the next president, according to recent polls.

If Lee ends up being unseated and loses his shot at running for president, however, the Democratic Party will have no choice but to look for another candidate to run in the next presidential election, now less than three years away.

Beneath the surface, the non-Lee faction is slowly rallying around other liberal figures who served in the last Democratic Party administration under former President Moon Jae-in.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

As I have previously said, the Korean left is trying to make the pollster Myung Tae-kyun into Presidnet Yoon’s Choi Soon-sil:

Prosecutors on Monday requested an arrest warrant for Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed power broker, over allegations of interfering in candidate nominations in the 2022 parliamentary by-elections through his ties with then presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife. 

They also filed warrants for Kim Young-sun, a former lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), and two ex-candidates in the June 2022 local elections, citing risk of destruction of evidence, according to the Changwon District Court.

Myung, who runs a public polling agency, is suspected of receiving approximately 90 million won (US$65,200) from Kim on several occasions between August 2022 and December last year in exchange for his help in getting her nominated on the PPP ticket ahead of the 2022 by-elections.

He is also under suspicion of having secured Kim’s nomination in exchange for conducting customized polls in favor of then PPP presidential candidate Yoon for free. First lady Kim Keon Hee has also been suspected of involvement in the nomination process.

Myung has reportedly refuted the allegations, saying he never promised Kim he would help to get her nominated and that he was not in a position to do so.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this guy is basically a pollster who was paid to generate polls favorable to certain candidates. All the polls that were wrong about the U.S. Presidential election should be a reminder that polls are used to shape public opinion not reflect it.

The election of President Trump is what is likely pushing this arrest warrant now because the Korean left needs to get Yoon impeached so they can get a leftist in power to counter Trump. Remember that former President Park Geun-hye was impeached for abuse of power and that is what the Korean left will try and claim Yoon was doing to get him impeached.

Much of these controversies like handbag-gate were manufactured by his political opponents, but the fact his poll numbers have nosedived below 20% has pretty much forced President Yoon to make this public apology:

President Yoon Suk Yeol offered an apology Thursday for causing concerns to the people and vowed to revamp state affairs amid growing controversies surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Yoon stood up and bowed his head in apology during a televised address and press conference marking the second half of his term and providing an outline of the future policy direction. (….)

Yoon addressed the concerns over the first lady, who has faced criticism over allegations involving her acceptance of a luxury handbag, stock manipulation and involvement in government affairs.

“She should have conducted herself with greater caution, and the fact that she has caused concern to the public is unquestionably wrong,” he said.

Yoon said Kim should have acted more cautiously and it was wrong for her actions to have caused public concern, noting he appointed a secretary earlier in the day to prepare for the establishment of an office dedicated to supporting the first lady’s work.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but some of these controversies could have been prevented if the First Lady had an office initially to filter some of the nonsense that got here in trouble.

The latest manufactured scandal the Korean left is coming up with is that President Yoon helped to select someone in his own party to run for office:

Opposition parties have been intensifying their protest against President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee amid a swirling election meddling scandal surrounding the presidential couple and a political broker.

Their upgraded offensive, which even includes calls for Yoon’s impeachment, came as the president’s job approval rating plummeted to the lowest level since his inauguration in May 2022, at 19 percent.

The ruling party, however, is struggling to counter the offensive as new allegations involving the first couple — particularly Kim — continue to surface. The presidential office is reiterating its position that the first couple does not bear any legal responsibility even if the allegations are proven true, which falls short of public expectations for higher moral standards.

On Saturday, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) held a large rally in central Seoul, demanding a special counsel bill to investigate allegations against Kim, including stock manipulation, her receipt of a luxury bag and interference in the party’s candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections and the April 2024 general elections.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, this has always been the Korean left’s plan ever since Yoon was elected, make accusations real or imagined and then use the media to drive down his approval ratings to impeach him. It worked with former President Park Geun-hye and they are attempting the same playbook now. They are trying to turn this election operative Myung into Yoon’s Choi Soon-sil. Remember Park Geun-hye was impeached for abuse of power and that is the narrative the Korean left is once again attempting with Yoon.

It looks like the Korean left has found a new angle to go after President Yoon’s wife after all their previous efforts failed. This one seems pretty weak as well if the only evidence they have is a innocuous text message exchange with the First Lady and testimony from a disgraced pollster:

The presidential office flatly denied claims by an election broker Tuesday that he frequently communicated with President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee during Yoon’s campaign for the People Power Party (PPP) presidential nomination in 2021.

Myung tae-kyun, a shadowy figure who ran a public opinion polling agency, claimed in media reports that he met Yoon and his wife in June 2021 and advised them regularly for about six months until the end of the presidential primary in November of that year.

“It is an absurd claim that Myung spoke to the president and first lady on speakerphone every day for six months,” a senior presidential official said in a release.

The official also clarified that the text messages exchanged between Myung and Kim were part of a private conversation before Yoon joined the PPP in July 2021.

One message shows Kim saying, “Please forgive our brother (oppa in Korean) for speaking carelessly.” 

The official explained that the “brother” referred to in the message was Kim’s biological brother, not Yoon.

Myung has been implicated in a political scandal involving allegations of the first lady’s interference in PPP candidate nominations ahead of the April general elections.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if Myung was have speakerphone conversations every day for six months you would think he would have more evidence of such a close relationship.

It looks like Handbag-gate is officially over. The Korean leftists will need to find some other issue to try and jail the first lady for:

Prosecutors decided Wednesday not to charge first lady Kim Keon Hee in connection with her acceptance of a luxury bag from a Korean American pastor in 2022. 

The prosecution announced the decision following a monthslong investigation into allegations that the first lady illegally received a Dior handbag worth 3 million won (US$2,275) and other expensive items from the pastor at her office in 2022 in exchange for favors. 

Korean American pastor Choi Jae-young secretly filmed the meeting with a hidden camera, and the video was later published by an online news media outlet in November last year, prompting the main opposition party to push for a special counsel probe.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office made its final decision Wednesday to clear Kim of charges that she violated the anti-graft law, concluding that the gifts she received were not related to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s official duties and that no favors were given in return.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The doctor crisis appears to be crushing President Yoon’s approval rating:

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating fell to 20 percent, marking its lowest level since he took office in May 2022, a poll showed Friday.

The survey, conducted by the polling agency Gallup Korea, showed that the positive assessment of Yoon’s performance plunged 3 percentage points from the previous week, while his negative assessment reached an all-time high of 70 percent, up 3 percent from a week earlier.

Yoon’s handling of medical school quotas, the economy and lack of communication were cited as reasons for the negative assessment.

The approval ratings of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), the main opposition Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party came to 28 percent, 33 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if the Yoon administration stands firm on the medical school quota issue the current short term pain of the current doctor strike will ultimately lead to more doctors in the long term.

The Korean Democratic Party continues to show what a bunch of hypocrites they are:

Ruling People Power Party floor leader, Choo Kyung-ho left, speaks during the party’s Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has decided to actively respond to the prosecution’s ongoing bribery investigation involving former President Moon Jae-in, condemning it as a “petty act of political retaliation,” party members said Monday.

In strong opposition to the investigation, the main opposition party is considering forming a countermeasures committee. (……..)

“When former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak were imprisoned, and numerous figures from the conservative camp were detained during the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration, the DPK fervently supported these actions, calling them ‘clearing deep-rooted evils.’ Now that they are the opposition, they label similar actions as ‘political retaliation.’ Few will sympathize with the party’s double standards,” Choo said.

The prosecution has been investigating allegations of a quid pro quo involving Moon’s former son-in-law, who was appointed to an executive position at a low-cost carrier founded by former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik despite lacking experience in the aviation industry. 

The prosecutional inquiry is focused on whether this appointment was linked to former Rep. Lee’s appointment as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency in March 2018 during Moon’s presidency. Moon’s son-in-law, surnamed Seo, was hired four months after Lee assumed leadership of the agency.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

You cannot put anything pass the Korean left, so them trying another impeachment scheme is definitely plausible:

The presidential office lambasted the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Monday for spreading false rumors about the government allegedly planning to declare martial law.

Presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon condemned DP leader Lee Jae-myung for raising the allegations during a live broadcast meeting with ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon on Sunday.

“We are appalled that the leader of a major political party would spread fabricated rumors on live television,” Jeong said in a press briefing. “If there is even a shred of evidence, please present it.”

Jeong questioned whether the DP is spreading the rumors as part of a broader propaganda campaign focused on the radical idea of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, vowing to sternly deal with its attempts to manipulate public opinion with baseless claims.

“Is this part of a buildup to (Yoon’s) impeachment?” Jeong asked, adding that if there is no evidence, the DP should be labeled a “party of fake news.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but what is even stupider about this claim from the opposition party is that if martial law is declared by Yoon, by law the national assembly can overrule it with a majority vote. Currently the opposition party holds the majority of the seats in the national assembly.

The only thing surprising about this news is that it took prosecutors four-months to figure out this was a political hit job and charges should have never been sought in the first place:

A prosecution investigation team has decided to acquit first lady Kim Keon Hee of charges related to her acceptance of a Dior handbag from a Korean American pastor in 2022, legal officials said Wednesday.

The team from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office (SCDPO), which is in charge of the first lady’s case, has recently reported the decision to Lee Chang-soo, the head of the SCDPO, and Lee plans to report it to Prosecutor General Lee One-seok soon, the officials said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.