You can tell the election is getting close considering the harsher rhetoric being used on the campaign trail:
“Why on Earth is the city of Ulsan seeing a renewable energy-based wind power project being erected which fishermen and other citizens had opposed it?” the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate said during his speech on Saturday. “I think you all know who will benefit from the project by getting orders for the project’s construction. I can tell you that none of those who oppose the DPK’s doctrines or who are not the party’s core supporters will get a piece of the pie from the project.”
Yoon’s harsh rhetoric against the DPK in his Saturday speech also targeted Lee’s alleged involvement in a controversial urban development project in Seongnam’s Daejang-dong, a case that has persisted for months without prosecutors having proven the allegations. “Think about Daejang-dong. Can’t you people smell something rotten from all the way over here? We must excommunicate the core members of the DPK who elected the evident suspect as their presidential candidate.” (…..)The project, approved under the Moon Jae-in administration, is part of the central government’s bid to build 11 wind turbines with a total capacity of 3.9 gigawatts in the waters flanking Ulsan, Busan and other cities in South Gyeongsang Province. The construction of the facility has been joined by a consortium of 10 firms.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
I don’t care how many windmills you make, it will never equal the energy output that nuclear power can generate. It seems more and more countries are realizing this especially as the world turns more to electric cars:
Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday vowed to scrap the current Moon Jae-in government’s nuclear phase-out policy, saying he will make South Korea a powerhouse in nuclear power generation.
“I will recover the ecosystem of nuclear power generation and advance safe nuclear technologies so that they can become a core engine to drive the country,” Yoon of the People Power Party wrote on his Facebook page.
Yoon emphasized that it is a global trend to use nuclear power generation along with other energy sources to reduce carbon and lessen the dependence on foreign countries for energy, adding that even the European Union Taxonomy recently labeled nuclear power as green energy.
“French President (Emmanuel) Macron reversed his words of ‘nuclear-phase out’ five years ago and declared ‘U-turn to nuclear power,'” Yoon said. “After nuclear phase-out, Italy lost its energy power and became a country that imports the most electricity in Europe.”
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Here is the latest on the ROK presidential election:
Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People’s Party said Sunday he is dropping his offer to merge campaigns with main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and will finish the presidential race on his own.
The decision is expected to add to uncertainties in the already tight race in which Yoon and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) have been running neck and neck at around 40 percent support each, with Ahn at around 10 percent support.
Ahn’s announcement came a week after he proposed the merger with Yoon of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), saying the two sides should field a single candidate to ensure a victory over Lee in the March 9 election.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but I think Yoon probably decided he didn’t need Ahn because he is currently ahead by 5% points over Lee Jae-myung in recent polling.
The Three No’s strategy is currently a point of contention in South Korea’s Presidential election:
In the wake of the THAAD retaliation, the Moon administration agreed with the Chinese government on so-called “Three-Nos” policy in order to assuage China. The policy includes no additional THAAD deployments, no participation in the U.S.-led strategic missile defense system and no trilateral military alliance with the United States and Japan.
Korea Times
Lee maintains that the policy is the right direction to go for economic cooperation with China.
“Considering economic cooperation with China, the policy is proper,” Lee said during a TV debate, Feb. 3.
However, Yoon strongly denounced the Three Nos policy, calling it a subservient and pro-China approach to diplomacy.
“The Moon government responded with overly accommodating gestures meant to placate China, declaring the ‘Three Nos’ policy. These pledges undercut South Korea’s sovereign right to protect its people. South Korea should never feel compelled to choose between the United States and China; rather, it must always maintain the principled position that it will not compromise on its core security interests,” Yoon said in a Feb. 8 contribution to Foreign Affairs magazine.
In the wake of controversial decisions by judges at the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics that favored Chinese athletes over Koreans, anti-China sentiment has been rising sharply, prompting political circles, including presidential candidates, to capitalize on the resentment.
However, some warn that politicians need to refrain from exploiting the populist strategy for the presidential election, which could hurt diplomatic ties with China.
You can read more at the link, but Yoon Suk-yeol’s has said that he wants South Korea to purchase their own THAAD battery to better protect Seoul. If that happens the Chinese reaction should be interesting to watch.
Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife has absolutely been getting hammered during this Presidential campaign and here is the latest example:
Musician An Chi-hwan’s newly-released rock number, “Lady Who Looks like Michael Jackson,” has caused presidential hopeful Yoon Suk-yeol to fume with rage, as the song allegedly satirized the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, who, facing multiple allegations of misconduct, has been at the center of a number of scandals in the lead-up to the March 9 election.
Korea Times
The song incensed Yoon, as it mocks his wife, Kim Keon-hee.
You can read more at the link.
Real estate prices continues to be possibly the hottest topic that voters in Korea care about:
While varying degrees of despondency among non-homeowners are clearly present in the country, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) infuriated voters in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, with an inadvertent comment during the four leading candidates’ second TV debate on Feb. 11. While discussing the country’s current real estate environment, he said that prices of apartments (the most common housing type in Korea) “with an area under 99 square meters in places like Gimpo are only around 200 million won to 300 million won” ($166,000 to $250,000).
Korea Times
While the average apartment in Seoul costs 1.2 billion won now ― a figure that the majority of low- to middle-income earners cannot afford ― Lee’s comment aroused objections that the range of 200 million won to 300 million won is way lower than what many members of the public thought. Lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) questioned whether the candidate is even aware of the country’s unstable housing market, which the current Moon Jae-in administration has been trying to control for so long.
You can read more at the link, but this is a rare misstep comment by Lee who is usually very polished in regards to what he says publicly.
Anyway President Moon has spent five years trying to do something about rising housing prices and has not succeeded so I would be surprised if either Presidential candidate will be able to do much to ease rising costs.
It looks like Yoon Suk-yeol’s comments about investigating the Moon Jae-in administration if elected had the desired effect of giving him a slight bounce in the polls:
A latest poll showed that the gap between the two leading presidential candidates Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung has shrunk since Yoon’s remarks that he will go after corruption allegations of the Moon Jae-in administration if he wins the March 9 election.
Joong Ang Ilbo
According to the survey released by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) on Monday, Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) scored 43.5 percent and Lee of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) scored 40.4 percent. Compared to the previous week, Lee’s rating went up by 2 percentage points, while Yoon’s dropped by 1.1 percentage points, narrowing the two candidates’ gap from 6.2 percentage points last week to 3.1 percentage points this week.
The latest poll was conducted on Friday and Saturday, shortly after an emotional quarrel between Yoon and President Moon Jae-in.
You can read more at the link.
This would be quite the odd couple if they do decide to combine their campaigns:
Minor presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo officially proposed merging candidacies with main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday to ensure an “overwhelming victory” against the governing party.
Ahn of the centrist People’s Party also proposed selecting a unified candidate between the two through opinion polls, just like he unified candidacies with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of Yoon’s People Power Party ahead of last year’s local by-elections.
“Winning is important, but in order to overcome the current crisis and carry out future-oriented reform tasks, there should be an overwhelming victory amid people’s trust. This can’t be done by any single person alone,” Ahn said during a press conference held via YouTube.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
