Tag: politics

Moon is correct that if he did not pick Yoon as his prosecutor general he would not have had the name recognition to compete for the Presidency:

Former President Moon Jae-in expressed regret over his decision to appoint President Yoon Suk Yeol as prosecutor general in 2019, a move that ultimately paved the way for Yoon’s rise to political stardom.

In a rare interview published on Monday, Moon, who has been critical of his successor’s governance, admitted that the appointment played a role in the formation of the Yoon administration.

“There are many things I regret throughout the (appointment) process, but ultimately, the fact that our administration led to the creation of the Yoon Suk Yeol government is something we cannot distance ourselves from. Of course, I bear the greatest responsibility for that. I sincerely regret any distress this has caused to the public,” Moon said in an interview with The Hankyoreh, a center-left daily newspaper in Korea.

“Even before the declaration of martial law, the Yoon government was performing poorly. I felt a deep sense of self-reproach for having handed over power to such individuals. And now, with the impeachment motion and the martial law crisis, the extent of this feeling is indescribable,” he said.

This interview marked the former liberal president’s first official media appearance since he handed power to Yoon in May 2022.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Former ROK intelligence commander Roh Sang-won apparently sought the advice of a Shaman based out of Gunsan over 20 times over the past two years:

Lee Sun-jin, a shaman known as “Vidan A” testified to the National Assembly on the 4th that former intelligence commander Roh Sang-won visited him and saw the fortune and fortune of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and military officials related to martial law.

Lee appeared as a witness at the Special Committee on the Investigation of State Affairs to Investigate Alleged Insurrection by the Yoon Suk Yeol Government’s Declaration of Emergency Security.

Lee said, “Former commander Roh created a problem with former minister Kim and said that if it goes well, he may work in the government again.”

“[Former commander Roh] brought Minister Kim Yong-hyun’s name and date of birth at first,” Lee said. So I said, ‘I don’t think this person is an ordinary soldier,’ he said. “That was before (former minister Kim) became a minister, and (former commander Roh) said this person would become a minister later.”

When asked by Rep. Han Byung-do of the Democratic Party of Korea, “Did former commander Roh bring a list of soldiers to search for traitors and request a fortune teller?” Lee replied, “That’s right.”

He then explained, “I asked a lot if I could follow him to the end when I (gave him) together, and I asked a lot of luck for each soldier.”

Maeil Business Newspaper

You can read more about how this fortune teller warned Roh before the martial law decree that Yoon would be impeached at this link.

Shouldn’t you had made peace in order to receive a peace prize?:

A wave of controversies has erupted between the two rival parties here following a recommendation on Tuesday by a main opposition lawmaker suggesting that U.S. President Donald Trump be considered a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the party’s senior spokesperson, Jo Seoung-lae, Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) recommended Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in facilitating dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. during former President Moon Jae-in’s administration.

“The recommendation was made on Jan. 30 to the Norwegian Nobel Committee and party leader Lee Jae-myung and senior DPK Rep. Kim Min-seok have been informed about this,” he said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if the DPK wants to get into the good graces of Trump recommending him for a Nobel Peace Prize may do it.

Is it really taking advantage of America by producing a product in your own country and selling it to the U.S.? If making the product in the U.S. was cheaper than manufacturing it in Korea for example, these foreign companies would do so:

President Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary accused South Korea and Japan on Wednesday of having “taken advantage of” America’s “good nature,” stressing the need to work together with the allies to bring their production to the United States.

Howard Lutnick, a preeminent businessman, made the remarks during a Senate confirmation hearing, pointing to steel products from Japan and appliances from South Korea, as he responded to a senator’s question over what he will do to foster an environment to encourage joint ventures with U.S. allies.

“Our great allies have taken advantage of our good nature, and they like steel in Japan and appliances in Korea … I mean, they’ve just taken advantage of us. It’s time for them to partner with us and bring that production back home,” Lutnick told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Its official the former Fox News host, Pete Hegseth is now the Secretary of Defense. He has absolutely no experience with the Korean peninsula or the Far East in general. Hopefully he is a quick learner:

The Senate voted Friday to confirm former Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth as the United States’ next defense secretary, after allegations of sexual misconduct and other issues had dogged President Donald Trump’s pick for the top Pentagon post.

The upper chamber approved Hegseth in a vote where Vice President J.D. Vance broke a 50-50 tie, clearing a hurdle to Trump’s efforts to fill his Cabinet to forge ahead with his America First policy agenda.

In November, Trump tapped Hegseth, an Army veteran with tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, to serve as his defense secretary, describing him as a “warrior for the troops and for the country.”

During a confirmation hearing earlier this month, Hegseth described North Korea as a “nuclear power” that poses a threat to global stability, while highlighting the need for U.S. allies to increase “burden sharing” in pursuit of what he termed “healthy” partnerships.

Hegseth is the author of the recent book titled “The War on Warriors,” which Trump said reveals “how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.”

He had been a host at Fox News for eight years. He is a graduate of Princeton University and has a graduate degree from Harvard University.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder what will happen if the legal system convicts Yoon of treason, but the Constitutional Court does not approve his impeachment?:

Attorney Yoon Gap-geun, legal representative for President Yoon Suk Yeol, speaks during a press conference held near Gangnam Station in Seoul on Saturday.

Attorney Yoon Gap-geun argued that the declaration of martial law by President Yoon could never constitute treason, stating, “Martial law is a constitutional authority granted to the president, and there has never been a case where the exercise of emergency powers by the president was punished as treason. This conclusion is supported by the majority of constitutional scholars.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

The CIO is making themselves look ridiculous at this point. Yoon has told them repeatedly that he is exercising his right to remain silent and yet they are playing this hide and seek game with him:

Oh Dong-woon, chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, speaks to reporters as he arrives for work at the office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on Jan. 22, 2025. (Yonhap)

Investigators failed Wednesday at their third attempt to forcibly bring in President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his botched martial law bid. (……)

Prosecutors and investigators with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) visited the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, south of Seoul, to question Yoon over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, but the president refused all forms of interrogation, including on-site.

“We plan to discuss and decide the next steps in the questioning and procedures,” the CIO said in a notice to the press.

The investigators withdrew after five hours while Yoon met with his legal team.

Yonhap

So basically when the CIO shows up Yoon has meetings with his lawyers or he is attending his impeachment trial or going to the hospital:

Investigators went to the detention center on Monday and Tuesday to forcibly bring him in but withdrew both times after Yoon’s side refused to cooperate.

Under human rights protection regulations, investigators cannot question a suspect without his or her consent after 9 p.m.

Yoon returned to the detention center past that time on Tuesday after attending his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court and stopping at a military hospital to get a health exam.

“It kind of turned out like a game of hide-and-seek,” Oh said when asked if he was aware of Yoon’s plans to visit the hospital. “(The investigators) waited at the detention center because it didn’t seem right from the perspective of human rights to go looking for him at the hospital.”

So why is the CIO continuing to play this hide and seek game with someone exercising their right to remain silent?

I wonder how many other world leaders are making jokes about the political crisis in South Korea as well?:

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has jokingly said “everyone calls me chaotic, but look at South Korea,” a news report said Sunday, in an apparent reference to the political turmoil sparked by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law bid.

His remarks were reported by U.S. broadcaster CBS based on interviews with a dozen people with knowledge of events at Mar-a-Lago in the weeks between Election Day in November and Inauguration Day, set for Monday.

“Trump cracked jokes — ‘everyone calls me chaotic, but look at South Korea,’ he said one day,” according to CBS.

“He said he’d meet with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ‘if they ever stop impeaching him,'” it said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.