Tag: Moon Jae-in

President Yoon is probably thinking ahead to when he exits office and I am sure he does not want a bunch of leftist protesters outside his retirement home:

Rallies around the home of former President Moon Jae-in will be banned starting Monday as the Presidential Security Service expanded the guard zone for the former president amid persistent noisy and menacing protests.

The decision to ban rallies within 300 meters from Moon’s home in Yangsan, about 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul, came after President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the secret service to consider strengthening security for his predecessor following a suggestion from National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.

Since Moon left office in May after a five-year term, his home has been plagued day and night by raucous loudspeaker demonstrations by right-wing protesters and YouTubers opposed to the way he ran the country. 

Last week, one protester was arrested after making threats with a box cutter in front of Moon’s home.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

In my opinion this is not a good look by these people protesting outside Moon Jae-in’s house and making a nuisance of themselves to people in the neighborhood. Whatever validity they have in their complaints I think is lost by how much of a nuisance they are making of themselves:

On early Sunday, the otherwise quiet village of Pyeongsan in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province was disrupted by sounds blaring from a minivan covered with insults about former President Moon Jae-in.

“My protest is for Moon to receive legal punishment for the crimes he committed, and be expelled from Yangsan,” said Choi Young-il, a Seoul resident and member of the group calling itself the Freedom-Justice-Truth-Revolution Party. 

A month had passed after Moon had stepped down as president of South Korea, but the series of protests at his Yangsan home had persisted throughout. The narrow road near the Pyeongsan town hall has become ground zero for conflicts surrounding the former president.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Moon Jae-in definitely did leave office on a much higher note than his predecessors:

“Thank you, thank you everyone,” Moon spoke into a microphone before boarding a KTX train around noon after attending the inauguration of Yoon Suk-yeol.  
   
“Who among past presidents could have had such a beautiful end? Thanks to all of you, I was a happy president until the end.”   
   
When the couple arrived in front of the Pyeongsan village hall, located only a few blocks from their retirement home, hundreds of people were wearing blue shirts or caps and holding blue balloons, Moon’s signature color since his 2017 presidential campaign.They erupted in cheers as the former presidential couple appeared.   
   
Moon is the first president to retire with an approval rating over 40 percent since direct elections were restored in 1987. His approval rating a year into his presidency was also the highest for a Korean president in history, 83 percent, according to Gallup Korea.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Tying your legacy to North Korean denuclearization is losing proposition:

Outgoing President Moon Jae-in appealed for the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue Monday as he delivered a farewell address on his last day in office amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s repeated tests of weapons. 

“Peace is a condition of survival for us, a condition of prosperity,” Moon said. “I sincerely hope that efforts for denuclearization and institutionalization of peace will continue with the resumption of dialogue between the South and the North.” 

Taking a look back on his five years as president, Moon touted his role for converting the 2017 crisis, when North Korea conducted a nuclear test and fired ICBMs, into dialogue and diplomacy.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans learned from Saddam, Gaddafi, and most recently Ukraine why you never give up your nuclear weapons program. Does anyone think Ukraine would be getting attacked right now by Russia if they possessed nuclear weapons? The Kim regime is using this same calculus for developing their own nuclear weapons program.

Despite all the outreach President Moon did over the past five years to North Korea, the only that has changed is that North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are more dangerous than ever:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in a recent letter to President Moon Jae-in that inter-Korean relations can improve as much as one wants if both sides make sincere efforts, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.

Kim sent the letter Thursday in response to a farewell letter that Moon sent the previous day as he prepared to leave office after a five-year term that included three summit meetings with Kim and two summits between Kim and then U.S. President Donald Trump.

In the letter, Moon called on Kim to swiftly resume talks with the United States and make efforts for dialogue with South Korea’s incoming government of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee told reporters.

“Holding the hands of Chairman Kim, I took one clear step that would change the fate of the Korean Peninsula,” Moon said in the letter, according to Park. “The era of confrontation should be overcome with dialogue.”

In the response letter, Kim said the two sides made “indelible achievements.”

“Though much is left desired, my belief remains unchanged that if the South and the North pour sincerity in based on efforts made so far, inter-Korean relations can move forward as much as one wants,” Kim was quoted as saying in the letter.

Kim thanked Moon for his peace efforts, saying he will continue to respect Moon after his retirement.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It didn’t take long for the Moon administration to begin to walk back their supposed cooperation with incoming President-Elect Yoon to move the presidential office to the Defense Ministry building:

Whether President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will be able to relocate the presidential office in time for his May 10 inauguration remains a question even though President Moon Jae-in has promised to look into the matter and render cooperation.

Moon’s remark, made during a dinner meeting with Yoon on Monday, was seen as a step forward for Yoon, because Moon’s office had effectively expressed opposition earlier, saying the envisioned relocation could leave a security vacuum, as it also involves moving the defense ministry in a short period of time.

Moon’s cooperation is key, because the Cabinet should approve a reserve government fund for the plan.

Despite the positive words from Moon, the prospect of finishing the relocation by May 10 as planned is uncertain, as Moon’s offer of cooperation is considered conditional on a “careful” review of the relocation plan. (……)

After initial reports of Moon’s willingness to cooperate on the relocation plan, Cheong Wa Dae insiders cautioned against distorting the president’s latest remarks, saying the emphasis was on a “careful” review of the plan.

Some even claimed there was no change in Moon’s stance, as he had left open the possibility of rejecting the budget proposal for the relocation if it failed to resolve his concerns about leaving a security vacuum.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it is going to be a surprise if this move happens on the timeframe that the incoming Yoon administration is pushing for.

President Moon has quickly changed his mind about helping the Yoon administration move the Presidential office:

President Moon Jae-in said he will “cooperate” with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plan to relocate the presidential office, Monday, during their first meeting that came 19 days after the presidential election on March 9. 

“President Moon said the decision over the location of the presidential office is fully up to the incoming government,” Yoon’s Chief of Staff Rep. Chang Je-won said during a press briefing held after the meeting. “As an outgoing president, he said he will thoroughly look into the budget related to the relocation plan and cooperate with the president-elect.”

His remarks came days after the two sides had clashed over Yoon’s bid to set up a new presidential office at the defense ministry compound in Seoul’s Yongsan District, and begin his presidency there. Moon had earlier dismissed Yoon’s proposal to finance his presidential office relocation plan from the state reserve fund.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.