Tag: politics

Police Raid Seongnam City Hall to Look for Evidence Against Former ROK Presidential Candidate

It looks like a consequence of narrowing losing the ROK Presidential is that Lee Jae-myung is now open to being investigated:

Bundang Police Precinct [Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency]
Bundang Police Precinct [Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency]

Police raided Seongnam City Hall Monday over allegations that former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, who was mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018, took donations from companies via the city’s football club, Seongnam FC.  
    
The Bundang Police Precinct announced Monday that they raided five divisions of the city government, including the planning and policy planning divisions. Lee’s home and other locations related to the case were not raided.  
   
“We cannot confirm specific investigation details such as what kind of documents were secured through the raid,” a spokesperson from the Bundang Police Precinct said. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

President Moon Signs into Law Prosecution Reform Bill Shortly Before Leaving Office

Critics are saying that President Moon has passed this bill in order to protect himself and others in this administration from prosecution after they leave office:

President Moon Jae-in bangs the gavel to open a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. It was the last Cabinet meeting of Moon’s presidency, and he approved two prosecutorial reform bills which are aimed at limiting prosecutors’ investigative powers. Yonhap

President Moon Jae-in signed into law bills aimed at limiting prosecutors’ investigative powers, snubbing protests from prosecutors and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).

During a Cabinet meeting, Tuesday, Moon approved revised bills of the Prosecutors’ Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act, which were passed by the National Assembly on April 30 and Tuesday, respectively.

“Despite the government’s achievements to help authorities to be faithful to their roles, there are concerns about the prosecution’s political neutrality, fairness and selective justice,” Moon said during the meeting. “I believe this is why the National Assembly took a step forward to separate prosecutors’ investigative powers from their authority to indict.”

Korea Times

Here is what the critics are saying:

The main opposition PPP has condemned the prosecutorial reform bills, claiming they are aimed at protecting Moon and former officials of the Moon government from possible investigations by prosecutors. But proponents of the reform bills claim they will limit prosecutors from abusing their authority for political purposes.

“President Moon should convince the public of the reason why he seeks to pass the bills at the end of his presidency, and what are the benefits for the people,” PPP floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong said during a rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday.

“We should think of why the DPK is striving to pass the bills despite using mean tricks. … While persuading lawmakers, a DPK member said at least 20 members of the party may go to jail (if the bills are not passed). This is the nature of the party’s effort to strip prosecutors of their investigative rights.”

To pass the bills, the DPK used the so-called “salami tactic,” which is cutting the plenary session into shorter one-day sessions. Due to this, the PPP’s efforts to stop the dominant ruling party from unilaterally passing the bills through filibusters ended in vain.

You can read more at the link.

Reports Claim that Yoon & Ahn Political Alliance is Crumbling

I always said these two were an odd couple to be campaigning together because the only thing they could unit around was their dislike of former political rival Lee Jae-myung:

Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition team, is missing from a meeting of the special committee on Covid-19 response held at their office in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, Thursday. Ahn canceled all public activities that day. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition team, is missing from a meeting of the special committee on Covid-19 response held at their office in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, Thursday. Ahn canceled all public activities that day. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The alliance between President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and software mogul-turned-politician Ahn Cheol-soo is crumbling.  
   
What began as a campaign alliance was supposed to lead to some form of power sharing if Yoon won the presidency.  
   
But just 36 days after that victory, the two men seem to be parting ways after Yoon ignored Ahn, chairman of his transition team, in the selection of his Cabinet.    
   
Ahn, head of the minor People’s Party, abruptly canceled his whole public schedule Thursday. He was scheduled to visit the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters that morning. He skipped a transition committee Covid-19 response meeting later that afternoon. He also did not attend a “dosirak (packaged meal)” dinner with Yoon and other members of the transition team Wednesday evening. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

President Moon and Yoon Suk-yeol Meet; Moon Vows to Help with Relocation of Presidential Office

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

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol talks with President Moon Jae-in during their meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Yonhap

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.

Yoon and Moon to Have “Heart-to-Heart” Talk About Presidential Pardon for Lee Myung-bak

It appears the reason that Yoon Suk-yeol is asking President Moon to pardon former President Lee Myung-bak when Yoon could just do it himself when he takes office is to promote national reconciliation. If that is what Yoon wants to promote have Moon give out the pardon to the man he personally went after to humiliate and put in jail is a very symbolic way of doing this:

This file photo, taken July 25, 2019, shows President Moon Jae-in (R) presenting new Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol with a letter of appointment at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. Yoon, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, who won South Korea’s presidential election on March 10, 2022, is set to take office on May 10 and serve a single five-year term. (Yonhap)

 President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will hold a one-on-one lunch meeting with President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday with no aides in attendance for a “heart-to-heart” discussion, his spokesperson said.

Yoon plans to use the meeting to ask for a special pardon for imprisoned former President Lee Myung-bak, spokesperson Kim Eun-hye told reporters during a press briefing. Lee has been serving a 17-year prison term for embezzlement and bribery.

“The meeting will serve as an occasion where they can hold a heart-to-heart discussion,” she said. “President-elect Yoon has long thought that he would ask for a pardon for former President Lee Myung-bak, and we hope this meeting will serve as a chance for national unity and reconciliation.”

Multiple sources in Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling bloc said chances are high that Moon will pardon Lee.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Protesters Demand that President Elect Abolish His Pledge to Disband Gender Ministry

It will be interesting to see if President Elect Yoon moves forward with this campaign promise or not because he will get huge push back from not only protesters, but likely from the media as well:

Women’s rights activists called on President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to withdraw his campaign pledge to close down the Ministry of Gender, Equality, and Family.

Meanwhile, Yoon reconfirmed his intent to keep the campaign promise, Sunday, as he said the ministry “has fulfilled its historical calling.”

On the future of the ministry, Yoon said, “We should plan a more effective government branch to deal with injustice, human rights violations, and protection of people’s rights more effectively.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

President Elect Yoon to Ask President Moon to Pardon former ROK President

This should be a very interesting meeting considering how much Moon and Yoon reportedly dislike each other:

In this file photo, a group of former lawmakers holds a news conference near the presidential office in Seoul on Jan. 24, 2022, calling for the release of former President Lee Myung-bak. The 81-year-old is serving a 17-year sentence for embezzlement and bribery convictions at the Anyang Correctional Institution, 23 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is likely to ask President Moon Jae-in to grant a special pardon to jailed former President Lee Myung-bak when they hold a meeting this week, a senior official close to Yoon said Monday. 

Moon and Yoon are scheduled to meet at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday, according to political sources.

They will discuss a range of issues, including government transition, coronavirus responses and North Korea’s likely long-range missile test, during the meeting, which will be their first since June 2020, when Yoon was prosecutor general, they said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it is probably going to be a tough sell to pardon Lee Myung-bak who the Korean left despises for investigating former president Roh Moo-hyun. The investigation uncovered corruption around Roh who ended up committing suicide. The Korean left has long blamed Lee for the suicide and investigating him and putting him in jail was a form of payback.

President Elect Yoon Announces that One Time Rival Ahn Cheol-soo Will Lead Transition Committee

It looks like Ahn Cheol-soo’s reward for ending his campaign and supporting Yoon Suk-yeol is that he will get to have a big vote on who joins the new government:

This composite photo shows People’s Party chief Ahn Cheol-soo (L), who was named the chairperson of the presidential transition committee, and Rep. Kwon Young-se of the People Power Party, who was appointed as the vice chairperson. (Yonhap)

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol named his candidacy merger partner Ahn Cheol-soo chairman of the transition committee Sunday, making the first step to take over the administration and set the agenda for the next five years.

Yoon also tapped his campaign chief, Rep. Kwon Young-se of the People Power Party (PPP), as vice chairperson of the committee, and appointed former Jeju Gov. Won Hee-ryong, who served as policy chief of the campaign, as the committee’s planning chief.

Ahn, who heads the minor People’s Party, dropped out of the presidential race at the last minute to support Yoon under a candidacy merger deal. The two said at the time that they will work together in forming the transition committee and the government.

“We share the same values and philosophy about running state affairs,” Yoon said of Ahn’s appointment at a press conference at the PPP headquarters in Seoul. “Ahn has a will to lead the committee and I also believe he is the right person.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Ahn Cheol-soo Drops Candidacy and Joins Yoon Suk-yeol’s Campaign

It will be interesting to see what Ahn gets in return for joining the campaign of Yoon wins the Presidency. They do seem like quite the odd couple to be joining campaigns:

Ahn Cheol-soo, the chairman of the minor opposition People’s Party (left), looks at Lee Jun-seok, the chairman of the major opposition People Power Party extending his hand for a handshake, at the March 1 Independence Movement Day commemoration event on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok on Friday dismissed rumors of a co-chairmanship with Ahn Cheol-soo as various rumors about Ahn‘s next steps arose since his stepping out of the race. 

Ahn, the chairman of the minor opposition People’s Party, conceded his candidacy to the People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday. There were rumors about Ahn‘s next moves, including one about him possibly becoming a co-chairman of the main opposition once the two parties merged after the election. 

As local reports raised the possibility of Ahn undertaking a co-chairman position in the merged party, Lee dismissed the idea, saying he has not considered such an option. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.