Category: Politics-Korea

South Korea’s Democratic Party Appears Set to Win Parliamentary Election; What’s Next for Korea?

This should come as no surprise to people following this topic that the ruling Democratic Party in Korea is expected to win the parliamentary election that just occurred:

Lee Hae-chan (2nd from R), chief of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), and officials from its sister Platform Party put “victory stickers” on the names of their candidates at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 15, 2020. (Yonhap)

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) is forecast to win a majority of parliamentary seats in Wednesday’s elections as voters apparently supported the government’s efforts to contain the new coronavirus.

South Korea held the quadrennial parliamentary elections to fill the 300-member unicameral National Assembly — with 253 directly contested seats and 47 proportional representation (PR) slots — in the midst of the country’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of 11:24 p.m. when 58.2 percent of the votes had been counted, the DP had taken the lead in 154 constituencies across the nation, followed by the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) with 94 districts, according to the National Election Commission (NEC), the state election watchdog.

If combined with potential PR seats to be distributed to the Platform Party, the DP’s satellite party that only targets PR slots, the ruling bloc may be able to secure around 170 parliamentary seats.

South Korea’s general elections have been closely watched from overseas as the country became the first major country to hold nationwide polls since the COVID-19 crisis began sweeping the globe.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ruling party had a number of factors going for them to ensure they won the election. The coronavirus response by the Moon administration is obviously the most prevalent. The administration overall did a good job handling the pandemic and even the areas where they obviously screwed up they did not have to worry about a partisan media continuing to hype it like what you see in the US with the Trump administration.

The Moon administration very early on in their tenure made sure to take control of most of the media in the country to include jailing journalists who publish articles they do not agree with. This led to largely positive domestic and then international press coverage even though the administration’s pandemic response was not as strong as other countries in the region.

The ruling party also passed an election law bill that ultimately allowed them to increase the amount of unelected proportional parliament members. The Democrat Party then went and created satellite parties that shared their same ideology to take these proportional seats. This effectively decreased the amount of seats their conservative rivals could win in the elections.

Then you throw in the online opinion rigging to include the Democratic Party reportedly being backed by China’s 50 Cent Army it should come as no surprise they were able to win the parliamentary elections. What we have to wonder about is what comes next? Will the Korean left use their political power to try and change the ROK constitution to give President Moon another term in office? Or will they also use it to advance their Kaesong and Gumgang Resorts projects and ultimately their confederation ideas with North Korea? I guess we will find out over the next two years of what will largely be an unchecked Moon administration.

President Moon’s Job Approval Rating Surges Due to Coronavirus Response

It looks like South Korea’s ruling party is going to do very well in the upcoming parliamentary elections, especially when you consider all the underhanded tactics they have implemented as well to ensure they win:

Senior officials of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) pose before a banner that read, “Let’s overcome COVID-19, let’s defend the people,” during a meeting to encourage medical and emergency workers at a regional party office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, April 1. / Yonhap

The official pointed out that President Moon’s approval rating rose to its highest level in more than a year at 52.9 percent in a survey released by pollster Realmeter, April 2. The disapproval rating was 44 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from a week earlier.

The survey result came after the President announced a massive financial aid package for low-income households and small businesses as part of his government’s efforts to prop up the coronavirus-battered economy.

Realmeter noted that the self-employed and other small-business owners were behind the rise in Moon’s approval rating.

Some 49.6 percent of them, up from 44.8 percent in the previous poll, said Moon was doing a good job.

The DPK also had 43 percent support, while the UFP had 28.2 percent.

The gap between the two parties had narrowed to just a little more than 5 percent in late February, when the government fell short of taking preemptive measures against the spread of the coronavirus.

Korea Times

The Korean public clearly has short memories about how President Moon initially refused to stop travel from China which helped lead to a surge of coronavirus cases in South Korea. Blaming the Shincheonji church for the spread obviously worked to blunt the Chinese travel criticism. Since then I agree the pandemic has been managed very well.

Korean Left Creates Satellite Political Parties to Increase Proportional Representatives in Parliament

Remember when the election law for proportional representation seats was passed to help the Korean left remain in power in the parliament. Well here is their next phase in ensuring they maintain power, make left wing satellite political parties to increase proportional representation seats for the Korean left:

Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, center, bangs the gavel to announce that the National Assembly approved the election revision bill on December 28th. Moon made his way to his seat despite a physical blockage by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party lawmakers. 

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has decided to take part in an initiative to form a liberal satellite political party designed to win more proportional representation seats in the April 15 general election. In a vote of all party members conducted last week, about 241,000 members cast ballots and 74 percent supported the move. (……..)

DPK Chairman Lee Hae-chan defended the party’s decision, saying it was an inevitable choice to stop the conservative opposition United Future Party (UFP) from becoming the largest party and blocking reform measures pushed by the Moon Jae-in administration. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but it is very clear that the Korean left will use every trick legal or illegal to win the parliamentary elections next month.

Former President Lee Temporarily Out of Jail for Health Reasons

Here is the latest on the status of former President Lee:

Former President Lee Myung-bak is set to be released from jail later Tuesday, six days after he was put into custody following a court ruling, as he reappealed against the recent ruling.

The release comes after an appellate court sentenced him to 17 years in prison last week on charges of bribery and embezzlement.

He was taken back into custody after he was released on bail on health concerns in March 2019.

Lee, who re-appealed last week‘s ruling, is known to have cited relevant law to get released.

The 78-year-old, who is currently held at a detention center in Seoul, is expected to be let go at midnight.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Tweet of the Day: Moon Administration More Dangerous Than Coronavirus?

Will ROK Government Crackdown on Anti-Government Rallies Using the Coronavirus as an Excuse?

The Prime Minister’s message here is making me wonder if they are going to use the coronavirus as an excuse to crackdown on rallies against the ruling government? :

 South Korea’s prime minister called the fast spread of the new coronavirus in the country a “grave” situation on Saturday and urged people to refrain from holding religious events in crowded places.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun issued a special public message to seek the people’s cooperation with the government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Chung urged people to refrain from holding religious events in crowded places and to devise other ways to carry them out.

“In accordance with law and principles, the government will sternly deal with acts that interfere with quarantine efforts, illegal hoarding of medical goods and acts that spark uneasiness through massive rallies,” Chung said in the nationally televised message.

Yonhap

If PM Chung is so concerned about religious services and massive rallies why doesn’t he ban all sporting events then? Better yet shouldn’t he be closing down all the subways and buses in Seoul as well where far many more people use every day than go to an anti-government rally.

ROK Justice Minister Says She Will Choose Different Prosecutors for Decision to Indict Moon Administration Officials for Election Meddling

The cover up of the Moon administration’s election meddling is continuing:

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae answers a question from a journalist during a press conference in the ministry headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. The conference took place to mark her first 40 days in the office./ Yonhap

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae defended herself Tuesday over her controversial decision to stop disclosing the full text of indictments involving President Moon-Jae-in’s close allies, saying it was necessary step.

During a press conference marking her first 40 days in office, the minister also explained her move to separate the investigation procedure from the indictment process. Choo is seeking to create a separate prosecution unit to decide on indictments after it reviews the results of investigations by subordinate prosecutors.

“What I did was a first step to correct wrong practices by giving defendants the benefit of the doubt and the right to a fair trial,” she said during the press conference held at the ministry headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.

On Feb. 5, Choo ordered the ministry to stop disclosing information to the National Assembly about the indictments of Moon’s allies involved in the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election-meddling scandal.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but don’t be surprised if no one is charged since the Justice Ministers plans to have prosecutors she picks be the ones to decide whether to indict the accused Moon administration officials.

Could you imagine the up roar in the U.S. if the Trump administration chose the prosecutors who would decide to indict anyone investigated by the Mueller investigation. That is essentially what is happening here with little care from the local or international media.

Prominent North Korean Defector Announces Run for South Korean Parliament

It is going to be interesting to see how this turns out because Thae Yong-ho only has two months to campaign for a parliament seat and he is running on an issue, North Korean defectors, that many in the Korean public are apathetic about:

Thae Yong-ho, former senior North Korean diplomat, announces his bid to run in the April 15 parliamentary elections at the National Assembly in Seoul on Feb. 11, 2020. (Yonhap)

A high-profile North Korean defector officially announced his bid to run in the April parliamentary elections Tuesday, vowing to work for inter-Korean unification if elected.

Thae Yong-ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat, joined the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and will run in a constituency in Seoul for the April 15 elections, not for a parliamentary proportional representation seat.

Thae, who defected to South Korea in 2016, said his potential victory could give hope to North Koreans aspiring for freedom and help the two Koreas move toward unification.

“I solemnly promise to devote myself in building a unified Korea through parliamentary activity,” Thae said at a press conference at the National Assembly.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.