Category: Politics-Korea

I wonder how many other world leaders are making jokes about the political crisis in South Korea as well?:

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has jokingly said “everyone calls me chaotic, but look at South Korea,” a news report said Sunday, in an apparent reference to the political turmoil sparked by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law bid.

His remarks were reported by U.S. broadcaster CBS based on interviews with a dozen people with knowledge of events at Mar-a-Lago in the weeks between Election Day in November and Inauguration Day, set for Monday.

“Trump cracked jokes — ‘everyone calls me chaotic, but look at South Korea,’ he said one day,” according to CBS.

“He said he’d meet with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ‘if they ever stop impeaching him,'” it said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

At least Yoon was allowed out of jail to finally attend the impeachment trial:

President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared for the first time at his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, speaking of his long-held belief in “liberal democracy” and asking the bench to consider him favorably.

Yoon arrived at the court in a convoy escorted by the Presidential Security Service from the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of the capital, where he has been held in custody since last Wednesday.

At 2 p.m., he entered the courtroom, dressed in a suit and red tie, and sat waiting for the eight justices to arrive for the third hearing of the trial deliberating his impeachment over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If Yoon’s failed martial law attempt achieved anything, it reminded the Korean public of the DPK’s obstructionism, ties to North Korea, and appeasement of China which must be what is causing them to slide in these public opinion surveys:

In this file photo, Kwon Young-se (R, front), chief of the ruling People Power Party’s emergency leadership committee, shakes hands with Lee Jae-myung (L, front), leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, during a memorial service for late former National Assembly Speaker Kim Soo-han at the parliamentary building in Seoul on Jan. 3, 2025. (Yonhap)

 The approval rating for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) surpassed that of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) without a margin of error for the first time in nearly six months, a poll showed Monday.

According to the survey by Realmeter on 1,004 people aged 18 and older conducted last Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the PPP stood at 46.5 percent, while that of the DP stood at 39 percent. 

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

The poll also showed that a gap between those who support the PPP for the next administration and a change in administration led by the DP has narrowed down to within the margin of error. 

According to the poll, 48.6 percent supported the PPP for the next administration, up 7.4 percentage points from the previous week.

Yonhap

Wouldn’t it be amazing if the DPK’s parliamentary obstruction that caused the martial law attempt leads to them losing the Presidential election if the Constitutional Court upholds Yoon’s impeachment?

Congresswoman Young Kim was born in Incheon and has a long history in the U.S. House of Representatives being an expert on Korean affairs. She makes a great point on how the DPK’s first impeachment motion was to condemn Yoon for diplomacy atagonizing China, Russia, and North Korea. They ended up having to remove this motion after criticism, but shows who they favoritism towards:

“If the factions behind the impeachment in South Korea continue to steer the current situation, North Korea and China will seize this opportunity to weaken the U.S.-South Korea alliance. I say this based on my over 20 years of experience witnessing the threats posed by North Korea and China in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

In a written interview with The Chosun Ilbo on Jan. 14, Young Kim, a U.S. congresswoman (Republican, California), said, “The forces behind President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment prefer appeasement toward North Korea and accommodation of China, which could lead to a major disaster for the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region.” (…….)

In U.S. political circles, there has been growing concern over the phrase “diplomacy antagonizing North Korea, China, and Russia,” which was cited as a reason for impeachment in the first motion proposed by South Korea’s Democratic Party last month. After the first motion was defeated and controversy intensified, the opposition removed this clause from the second motion.

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The information operations to influence the Constitutional Court’s impeachment decision continues:

Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is taken to the Seoul Detention Center after being questioned over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on Jan. 15, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

 Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was formally arrested early Sunday after a court issued a warrant to detain him for an extended period over his botched martial law bid last month, marking the first such detention of a sitting South Korean president in the country’s modern history.

Citing the risks of destroying evidence, a judge at the Seoul Western District Court granted the warrant on charges Yoon led an insurrection and abused his power when he declared martial law on Dec. 3 and allegedly sent troops to the National Assembly to stop lawmakers from voting down the decree.

With the warrant’s issuance, investigators can keep Yoon in custody for up to 20 days, including the days he has already spent at a detention center following his apprehension at his residence in Seoul on Wednesday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

After this resignation Acting President Choi is calling for the National Assembly to pass a bill requesting an independent investigation of President Yoon. I highly doubt the DPK will agree to an independent investigation, but I guess we will see what happens:

South Korea’s acting leader on Friday accepted the resignation of the chief of the presidential security service, Park Jong-joon, as he faced police questioning over how his forces blocked law enforcement efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol last week. The acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, also expressed regret over the clashes between law enforcement officials and the presidential security service and called for lawmakers to reach a bipartisan agreement to launch an independent investigation.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials and police are planning a second attempt to bring Yoon into custody as they jointly investigate whether his brief martial law declaration on Dec. 3 amounted to an attempted rebellion. The presidential security service blocked an earlier attempt to detain Yoon at his official residence, which he has not left for weeks. It wasn’t immediately clear how Park’s resignation and Choi’s call for an independent investigation to take over the probe on Yoon would affect the push to bring Yoon into custody.

“The government has been deliberating to find a wise solution, but unfortunately, within our current legal framework, it’s difficult to find a clear resolution to end the conflict between the two agencies,” Choi said about the tensions between the anti-corruption office and presidential security service over Yoon’s potential detention. “We urge the ruling and opposition parties to work together to agree on a bill to launch a special prosecutor investigation that is free from constitutional issues. This will naturally resolve the ongoing intense standoff.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

If the CIO resorts to violence in its attempts to knab President Yoon this could spill over into street violence. Yoon has already said he would step down if the Constitutional Court approves his impeachment. The Constitutional Court should be allowed to do its trial and render a verdict without the sideshow CIO investigation that is clearly being attempted to influence the Constitutional Court:

 Acting President Choi Sang-mok renewed his call on government agencies Monday to avoid any physical clash while trying to detain President Yoon Suk Yeol or prevent his arrest over his botched martial law bid.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is investigating Yoon for alleged insurrection, is preparing to execute a court-issued warrant against Yoon, who remains inside his fortified compound. This follows an earlier attempt that ended in a five-hour standoff with the Presidential Security Service (PSS).

“All law enforcement actions must be conducted in a peaceful and restrained manner. Under no circumstances should violence be employed by any involved agencies,” Choi said in a press release. 

The PSS heightened security at Yoon’s residence by installing barbed wire, barricades and buses to block access to the compound in Seoul.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.