Category: Politics-Korea

I wonder if there has ever been a political party formed with its main goal of revenge against a sitting President’s wife?:

Cho Kuk, the leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, which caused a sensation in the April 10 general elections, has continued his “half-yoon” (half-yoon Seok-yeol) stance every day.

On the 15th, CEO Cho said on his social networking service (SNS), “Tensions are rising in the president’s office and within the prosecution over the position of the next Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office,” adding, “Tensions and dark battles are unfolding between high-level prosecutors in Yoon Line.” Loyalty to President Yoon Suk Yeol and his position on handling allegations related to Geom Gun-hee are the key criteria for selection.

“President Yoon is looking for someone who will act as a brazen shield for himself and his spouse, who are destined to become a ‘dead-duck’ soon, and wield a more ruthless sword against his political opponent,” he said. “President Yoon’s interest in running state affairs, which is close to zero, is now all about himself and his spouse.”

On the 11th, Chairman Cho Kuk and proportional winners of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party held a press conference in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, and said, “I warn the prosecution for the last time. He also shouted, “Investigate Kim Gun-hee.”

On this day, he voiced his strong voice, saying, “I will propose the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act at the 22nd National Assembly.”

Maeil Kyeongchae

You can read more at the link, but ROK heads may remembe that when Cho was the Justice Minister for former President Moon, the then Chief Prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol indicted Cho’s wife. Cho’s wife was later convicted for document forgery in an effort to get their daughter into medical school. She was sentenced to four years in prison before getting paroled after about 1.5 years in jail. Their daughter would have to later give up her medical degrees as well.

So now Cho Kuk is back with his own political party that performed well in last week’s parlimentary elections. He is using his new political power to go after President Yoon’s wife over the dubious handbag scandal and try and put her in jail.

President Yoon needs to figure out how to decrease inflation and improve Korea’s overall economic outlook. I think that is what what voters were telling him with this election defeat for his political party:

President Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed to reform state affairs to reflect people’s will following the ruling party’s crushing defeat in the parliamentary elections, the presidential office said Thursday. 

“I will humbly accept the will of the people expressed in the general election, and will strive to reform the administration and do my best to stabilize the economy and enhance people’s livelihoods,” Lee Kwan-seop, presidential chief of staff, quoted him as saying during a press conference.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as well as three senior presidential aides, including Lee, offered to step down to take responsibility for the election defeat, according to the office.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but expected grid locked government for the next three years of Yoon’s term because he will need help from the DPK to get any legislation approved. This very unlikely to happen considering the hostile relationship between Yoon and the DPK’s leader Lee Jae-myung.

It looks like Cho Kuk has made his revenge politically against President Yoon for previously prosecuting him and his family for corruption:

One notable winner from the election is former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, the leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP), a major third party that is projected to win twelve seats. He was previously forced to resign as justice minister and sentenced to two years in detention (he has yet to go to prison) over a scandal involving allegations of him falsifying records. He returned to politics under his newly formed party just a month before this election.

The RKP gained support largely from middle-aged, progressive Koreans who strongly oppose the PPP but are also fed up with the ineffectualness and unceasing corruption scandals within the DP. Cho has set himself up to be an important kingmaker in the National Assembly and will most likely cooperate with the DP to obstruct Yoon’s agenda. He opposes Yoon not on ideological grounds but also bears a personal grudge against Yoon for prosecuting him on corruption charges. In addition, Cho had promised to investigate First Lady Kim Keon-hee for alleged stock manipulation if DP and his party won enough seats.

Council on Foregin Relations

You can read more at the link, but those his party was only formed a few weeks ago it looks like he could win up to 15 seats in the parliament making him a potential king maker for the Democratic Party who is in the majority.

The PPP has once again failed to make any strong gains in the Korean parliament:

This combined photo shows officials of the main opposition Democratic Party (L), including it leader Lee Jae-myung, clap at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 10, 2024. In contrast, officials of the ruling People Power Party, including its interim leader Han Dong-hoon, look gloomy at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 10, 2024. (Yonhap)

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) was certain to retain a majority in the National Assembly in Wednesday’s general elections in a major setback for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Contrary to TV exit polls, however, the broader opposition bloc was expected to fall short of a two-thirds majority or at least 200 seats as the PPP was expected to secure about 110 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.

With more than 90 percent of the ballots counted in 254 constituencies as of 3 a.m. Thursday, the DP was leading in 160 districts, including many in the Seoul metropolitan region, while the PPP was ahead only in 91 districts, mostly in its stronghold in the country’s southeast.

Up for grabs are 300 seats in the National Assembly, with 46 of them to be allocated to the parties according to their proportion of the vote. Of the votes cast for proportional seats, more than 60 percent have been counted.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if President Yoon was looking for any electorial mandate for his policies from the election he clearly did not get it.

I don’t understand how this guy even thought his joke was funny in anyway?:

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Chung Bong-ju declares his candidacy for the April elections at the National Assembly on Jan. 8, 2024. (Yonhap)

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Friday canceled the nomination of an ex-DP lawmaker over his past remarks ridiculing South Korean soldiers who lost their legs in a 2015 bloody land mine explosion are stirring up criticism weeks before the April parliamentary elections. 

Chung Bong-ju was selected as DP candidate for Seoul’s Gangbuk-B constituency but he has been criticized for the comments he made on a YouTube channel in 2017 about the highly publicized incident for which a South Korean probe later concluded North Korea was responsible. (….)

The panel on the YouTube channel was talking about ways that the two Koreas could use the ski resorts in the North ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games that the South was hosting. 

Appearing as a guest, Chung said: “We have great stuff in the DMZ, don’t we? Ankle mines. We could all go into the DMZ and give out prizes. Give a set of crutches to each of those who step on the mines.” 

Chung’s remarks have come into the spotlight since he won the party primary. 

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Chung issued an apology over the comments and said he also apologized to the victims over the phone and deleted the YouTube clip. 

But the soldiers told some local media that Chung has never contacted them, much less given an apology.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is an example of leftists defending leftists using these so called research groups. This group in Sweden claims autocracy is returning to Korea though Yoon replaced the left wing Moon administration that sent two prior conservative Presidents and numerous journalists to jail. I guess in the leftist world view sending political rivals and journalists to jail is a sign of democracy. Will this group upgrade South Korea’s democracy ranking if Yoon follows the lead of the leftists and sends his political rivals and journalists to jail?:

Korea has experienced a “downward slope” in its democratic process since President Yoon Suk Yeol took office, according to a Sweden-based political science research institute. The regression is attributed to the government’s measures to penalize figures associated with the previous administration, its assaults on gender equality, and its undermining of freedom of expression.

The Democracy Report 2024 released Thursday by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at the University of Gothenburg stated that Korea scored 0.6 on the Liberal Democracy Index (LDI) and ranked 47th among 179 countries in the world for its level of democracy.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

President Yoon’s strong stance against the doctor strike has the South Korean public beginning to rally around his administration with his approval rate now at 39%:

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s rising job approval ratings in recent weeks are bolstering the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and undermining the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s (DPK) strategy ahead of the upcoming general elections on April 10, which sought to exploit public dissatisfaction surrounding the president and his wife.

According to a Gallup Korea poll released on Friday, 39 percent of respondents positively assessed Yoon’s performance as the president, remaining flat from a week earlier.

In Gallup Korea polls, Yoon’s approval rating plummeted to 29 percent in the first week of February but climbed steadily to 39 percent by the end of that month. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Normally a 39.2% approval rating would be a bad thing, but for President Yoon it is actually a sign of improvement:

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating rose slightly to 39.2 percent from a week earlier, a survey showed Monday.

According to the Realmeter survey, the positive assessment of Yoon’s performance rose 1.9 percentage points from the week earlier, while the negative assessment fell 1.7 percentage points.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.