Search Results for: journalists jail

The Moon administration continues to throw everything they can at Yoon Seok-youl whether it is true or not to smear him before the upcoming presidential election. Remember these are the same people who smeared their main competitor Ban Ki-moon before the last presidential election to get him to drop out:

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said Friday it opened a case on presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl.    
   
“We began our probe on Yoon to investigate him for possible power abuse, divulgence of official secrets and violations of the Personal Information Protection Act and the Public Official Election Act,” the CIO said in its statement on Friday.    
   
Yoon, prosecutor general at the time of the general elections on April 15, 2020, has been accused of helping Son Jun-sung, a high-ranking prosecutor working for Yoon, share drafts of criminal complaints against journalists and political figures affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party (DP) with Kim Woong, a prosecutor-turned-politician who was managing the general election campaign for the United Future Party (UFP), a predecessor of today’s opposition People Power Party (PPP).  
   
In short, the allegation is that Yoon encouraged a high-ranking prosecutor to work with his friend in the UFP to try to smear the campaigns of DP candidates by pushing the UFP to lodge criminal complaints against DP members and their friends.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but hopefully Yoon is not surprised by any of this and if he is then he clearly isn’t ready to be the next President of South Korea. He is up against people that took out and jailed a sitting President largely with fake news and then went and put a prior President in jail as payback for investigating corruption of his predecessor.

The Korean left has already been putting journalists they don’t like in jail and now want to expand their legal offense against their conservative critics even further:

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is planning to revise a law within the National Assembly’s February session aimed at requiring media to pay punitive damages for spreading “fake news”. While the DPK said that punishment is needed to prevent the distortion of information and the spread of fake news by not only conventional media, but also portal sites and YouTube, conservative critics raised concerns that the law could be used to tame the media in the name of cracking down on fake news.

The DPK’s askforce team said, Tuesday, that it would revise the law to apply punitive damages to newspapers, TV broadcasters, portal site operators, YouTubers and other one-person media users for spreading false information.

Before the team’s decision, Rep. Yoon Young-chan of the party proposed a revised bill to have YouTubers, other one-person media users and portal site operators to pay up to three times the damages caused by their fake news to the victims. The team also decided that conventional media, such as newspaper and TV, should also be subject to such punishment if they spread fake news.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is ironic that the Korean left that used a dubious tablet PC to take down the last Presidential administration is claiming these reactor papers are all lies by the political opposition:

The ruling bloc is going all out to defend itself against escalating suspicions that the Moon Jae-in administration attempted to initiate the construction of a nuclear power plant in North Korea in 2018. 

Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) are lashing out at the main opposition People Party of Korea (PPP) for raising the allegations ahead of the April 7 mayoral by-elections for Seoul and Busan, claiming it was re-engaging in the politics of “northern winds” often used by conservatives during election season.

President Moon called on the political circle to refrain from outdated political wrangling, in response to the rising calls from the opposition to clarify exactly whether there was any mention of a nuclear plant building project during his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Panmunjeom in April 2018. 

“At a time when the people are already struggling (from the coronavirus pandemic), we should not instigate conflict and make politics regress through outdated tactics. I urge the political circle to find better ways to cooperate in improving the peoples’ lives,” Moon said during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday.

Korea Times

The Moon administration is even threatening to take legal action against people criticizing the administration because of the reactor papers. We know this administration has a long track record of jailing journalists and now they may even try and jail a politician:

The presidential office said it would consider taking legal action immediately after PPP interim leader Kim Chong-in remarked Jan. 29 that the ruling bloc’s actions were “benefiting the North” when he first raised the suspicion about the nuclear power plant project. “It is a reckless political offensive meant to delude the people,” a senior presidential aide said Monday.

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the ruling party realizes that the end of the Moon administration is nearing which means the potential of the conservatives winning the next election. If that was to happen no doubt the conservatives would look to start locking up their liberal political adversaries just like the Moon administration has done to them:

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon is seeking to propose pardons for former presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who have been behind bars on corruption charges, to President Moon Jae-in.

“I will propose pardons for the two former presidents to President Moon Jae-in at an appropriate time,” Lee said during a New Year interview with local news agency Yonhap. Lee said the pardons of the two former presidents could be a way to promote reconciliation and overcome the ideological gap between conservatives and liberals.

“This year is the de facto final year for President Moon to practice policies, and this matter (of pardoning the two former presidents) needs to be solved at a right time,” Lee said. “I am seeking to propose it (to President Moon) apart from pros and cons from the supporters of the ruling bloc. … The party will have to play a more active role from now on.”

As former President Lee was sentenced to 17 years by the Supreme Court last October while Park is still on trial, a special pardon and suspension of sentence will be sought for each case, if President Moon pardons the two former presidents.

Korea Times

Something that is important to remember is that this is about more than just Presidents Park and Lee being locked up, there has been numerous journalists and conservative commentators prosecuted and locked up as well for speaking out against the Moon administration.

It was pretty clear that once the Moon administration came to power that the Korean left would find a way to put a true democracy activist like Park Sang-hak in jail:

Prosecutors have indicted the leader of an anti-North Korea leaflet campaign for alleged assault against journalists, officials said Thursday.

Park Sang-hak, 52, the head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, was charged on Nov. 25 with beating and throwing bricks at producers and crew from the broadcaster SBS on June 23. They visited his home in southern Seoul to interview him about the leafleting campaign but are said to have sustained injuries from his attack.

The North Korean defector is also accused of firing a tear gas gun at police officers who were dispatched to the scene following a report.

The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors Office charged Park on four counts, including assault and obstruction of justice.

Regarding Park’s complaints against the SBS employees over housebreaking, the prosecutors did not charge one of them and suspended indictment for three others. 

Meanwhile, Park is currently under a separate prosecution investigation on charges of violating the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act by sending propaganda leaflets into the North.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Kim Yo-jong complained about the balloon launches to the Moon administration and shortly after the balloon launches were criminalized. Then the reporters break into house late at night for a so called interview. ROK Heads may remember that Park Sang-hak has been the victim of multiple assassination attempts by North Korean agents and assaulted by Korean leftists. What was he supposed to do get tea for the people that broke into his property late at night?

It appears that the Moon administration wants to treat the balloon launch human rights activists like they do conservative journalists by threatening them with jail:

The unification ministry said Wednesday that it will file a complaint with police against two North Korean defector groups for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, a day after the North cut off all inter-Korean communication lines over such leafleting. 

The ministry said that it will also take action to revoke business permits granted to the groups, Fighters for Free North Korea and Keunsaem, accusing them of putting the safety of people living in border regions at risk by sending leaflets into the North.

“They have violated public interests by heightening tensions between the South and the North and by running squarely against the agreements reached by the leaders of the two Koreas, and also caused danger to the lives and safety of residents in the border regions,” the ministry said in a press release.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is once again another example of how South Korea is a rule by law nation and not a rule of law nation. These activists have been doing this for years and one of their leaders Park Sang-Hak has faced assassination attempts by North Korean agents and had leftist thugs assault him to stop his balloon protests. Now with a change of government and complaints from North Korea, what they are doing is suddenly illegal.

Notice that if the media speculates or even reports facts about the Moon administration they go to jail, but if the media speculates about Lee Jae-yong it is perfectly acceptable:

Samsung Electronics on Sunday appealed to the press not to release “groundless” or “speculative” reports centering on Samsung’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong, who is being questioned over possible legal violations in the controversial 2015 merger of two affiliates and an accounting fraud to cement his control over the group.

The appeal, which also highlighted Samsung’s contribution to the Korean economy, came a day before the court holds a hearing Monday to decide whether to issue the arrest warrant. Prosecutors on Thursday requested a warrant to detain Lee after he, along with other Samsung executives, requested that prosecutors convene a panel of outside experts to decide the validity of the investigation.  

“Samsung is in a crisis,” said the statement Sunday. “Recently, press reports that haven’t been confirmed or those based on suspicious sources continue to be released. Some of them are based on the premise Lee is guilty. Please refrain from immoderate reports that aren’t based on the truth. The damage imposed on Samsung, its executives and staff members from those reports is not small.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link. I have no idea if Lee is guilty of what he is accused of, but what I do know is that Korea is a rule by law nation instead of a rule of law nation. If powers that be want him guilty they can likely make it happen unless Lee gives them what they want.

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:

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.

The ruling left-wing Democratic Party of Korea is trying to silence a liberal university professor critical of their recent actions:

Lim, a professor at Korea University’s Center for Korean History, contributed a column to the Kyunghyang Shinmun on Jan. 29, urging the public to vote for parties other than the DP to hold it accountable for the current political tumult. 

Citing an internal power struggle in the criminal justice system and political strife between the ruling and opposition parties, Lim wrote that public loathing of politics is deepening. 

“The Liberty Korea Party [LKP] is somewhat responsible, but the DP is more responsible,” she wrote, “because it is serving the administration’s interests rather than the people’s desires, although it proudly defines itself as an administration backed by candlelight protesters.” 

At the end of her column, Lim urged voters to “tame the political parties” in the upcoming April general elections. “Let’s create political parties that are trying to satisfy the people,” she wrote. “I, therefore, propose, ‘Let’s vote for parties except for the DP.’” 

On Feb. 5, the DP asked the prosecution to investigate Lim and two Kyunghyang Shinmun officials, saying the column violated election laws. While the DP did not publicize that action, Lim said on Facebook Thursday that she was the subject of a criminal complaint.

“I recently got a phone call from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office that a complaint was submitted against me,” Lim said in an exclusive interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Thursday. “I was accused of conducting illegal campaign activity before the official campaign period and violating a ban on encouraging the voters to cast ballots [for a specific political party]. The complainant was DP Chairman Lee.” 

Lim, a modern history professor who specializes in student activism, did not hide her disappointment at the DP. “I am baffled,” she said. “The DP won power through a democratization movement. The key to democratization movements is freedom of speech. They used to fight for such freedoms, but they demanded a probe against me because I criticized them. It is shameful that the DP is using the word democratic in its name.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

Considering the Moon administration has put journalists in jail for reporting accurate information, why Professor Lim be surprised she had a complaint made against her? The only reason the complaint is being dropped is because she is a left-wing activist. If she was a conservative professor I doubt the complaint would have been dropped.

I do have to wonder if Professor Lim will come out in support of the journalists that were jailed?

ROK Drop favorite Dr. Tara O has a good and very detailed article published about the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. The crux of Park’s impeachment has always been the tablet PC which many people don’t even realize was likely a fraud and not even submitted as evidence during President Park’s criminal trial:

JTBC’s claims about the tablet have not been verified.  In fact, the government’s forensic report indicates many of the documents were put into the tablet after JTBC found the tablet.  The forensic report also showed that there were multiple users of the tablet, so it could not determine to whom the tablet belonged.  The forensic report did not surface until it was too late–a year later, which is a long time after Park was already impeached. Some continued to question the validity of JTBC and Sohn Suk-hee’s claims about the tablet, and the loudest were put in jail–journalists Byun Hee-jai, and later Hwang Ui-won, Byun’s journalist colleague at the same small media outlet called MediaWatch. 

Despite what the forensic report shows, the prosecutor for Byun Hee-jai maintains that the tablet belongs to Choi, and the judges have refused, thus far, to grant Byun’s request for further discovery of the truths behind the tablet–a violation of the principle of self-defense.  Many people do not even know that the tablet was not the “smoking gun” evidence for the impeachment that JTBC claimed it was. 

In fact, the court never even admitted the tablet as evidence for either Park Geun-hye’s impeachment trial or the criminal trials that followed.  JTBC later stated that “even if there was no such thing as the [insignificant] tablet PC…, [it wouldn’t have mattered]” after initially stating the tablet was the “smoking gun.”

East Asia Research Center

Here is the most suspicious part of Park’s impeachment, the rush to get rid of her:

The National Assembly impeached the nation’s president, Park Geun-hye, in a rush.  There was no hearing, no investigation, and the voting occurred only six days after the introduction of the impeachment bill.  This rushed and unreasonable, if not unconstitutional, impeachment process differs from the U.S. President Richard Nixon case, in which there existed two separate investigations totaling 1 year and 6 months.

I think it is arguable that the impeachment had to be rushed because a true investigation would have uncovered that the tablet PC was not the smoking gun the media made it out to be.

You can read much more about Park’s impeachment at the link.