Tag: politics

It seems like the Korean left is getting desperate with the Presidential election just days away by comparing Yoon to Trump:

Is Yoon Suk-yeol the South Korean Trump?

That is what his opponents and critics seem to think for the many parallels the conservative candidate from the People Power Party has with former US President Donald Trump. 

Both have made remarks that would be offensive to other countries, praised heavily controversial political figures, gone after foreigners and shown a poor understanding of feminism. On top of using anti-China rhetoric, the two also like to speak to their base on social media and announce policies that read like slogans. For example, Yoon’s “Abolish the Gender Equality Ministry” could be compared to Trump’s “Build the Wall.” 

With just a week left before the election, the long list of similarities between the two outsiders who came to represent their respective countries’ mainstream conservative parties seems to be only growing.

Many voters in Korea seem to believe the March 9 presidential election is about the liberals and whether they should be allowed to stay in power after major missteps like their housing policies. But experts who talked to The Korea Herald said it may be about K-Trumpism, or the rise of the alt-right movement in Korea, as seen in the United States, United Kingdom and some other democracies around the world. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but this opinion piece also claims that the election of Yoon would be a blow to democracy. Notice how if a conservative wins its always a blow to democracy with the left? Just like Trump was voted out in 2020 there will be an election again in five years if Yoon some how wins this upcoming election. Democracy will continue in South Korea.

I don’t know what point Sim Sang-jung as trying to make because it appears she wants the ROK to not pursue new weapons programs because it would upset North Korea and China? If Ukraine did not have advanced anti-tank and aircraft weapons right now they would have already lost the war. Is this what Ms. Sim wants for the ROK if attacked? If anything should be learned from Ukraine it is that the ROK needs to be militarily advanced and have strong friends to deter the threats from China and North Korea:

South Korea could become “the Ukraine of Asia” in the event of conflict between its ally the United States and its neighbor China, the progressive candidate for South Korean president said during a recent televised debate.

Sim Sang-jung, a National Assembly lawmaker and a former leader of the minority Justice Party, explained her vision for South Korea’s foreign policy on Friday as Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine. Sim and three other candidates are competing in the election March 9.

In her remarks, Sim compared South Korea’s relationships with China and the United States to the ongoing instability in Eastern Europe. Seoul’s relations with Beijing are experiencing a “breakdown,” and talk by other candidates of bolstering South Korea’s weapons programs may cause “considerable tension on the Korean Peninsula,” Sim said during the debate.

“We should learn from what happened in Ukraine now,” she said. “So, to speak, we can be the Ukraine of Asia when some strategic balance in northeast Asia collapses.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Not smart of Lee Jae-myung to be insulting President Zelenskyy who maybe the most popular leader in the world right now:

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has made an apology for his remarks about Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a TV debate Friday regarding the cause of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which drew a backlash both here and abroad. 

“Unlike my intentions, if my words caused misunderstanding to Ukrainians, I lacked the ability to express myself well,” Lee wrote on Facebook, Saturday, adding that his remarks were mainly aimed at pointing out the ill-founded diplomatic and security views of his main rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party rather than disparaging the Ukrainian president.

During the TV debate held, Friday, Lee said a novice politician with six months of political experience had become the country’s leader and caused a major clash by inciting Russia with a hasty promise regarding Ukraine’s admission into NATO. (……….)

Denouncing Lee as an international embarrassment, Yoon said he would make an apology to Ukraine on behalf of South Korea, citing posts critical of Lee’s remarks that have been uploaded on Reddit, a popular American online community.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Lee Jae-myung is using the current war in Ukraine to claim the same thing can happen in Korea if Yoon Suk-yeol is elected:

Rival presidential candidates of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) clashed over their differing views of the lessons of Russia’s attack on Ukraine during their TV debate, Friday. The DPK’s Lee Jae-myung stressed a leader’s diplomatic capability, while the PPP’s Yoon Suk-yeol highlighted military deterrence to facilitate peace on the Korean Peninsula. 

“A novice politician who only has six months of political experience became the country’s leader and caused a major clash by inciting Russia with a hasty promise of Ukraine’s NATO admission,” Lee said of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was an actor and comedian before he was elected as the country’s leader in April 2019. 

“This is an example of a diplomatic failure. Yoon is too aggressive and rough in his diplomatic remarks, such as his pledge to establish South Korea’s capability to launch preemptive strikes (against North Korea).”

Lee’s comment came after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Sunday. Along with international condemnation of Russia’s moves, criticism is also mounting over Zelenskyy’s diplomatic miscalculation, which is being blamed for steering his country towards a clash with Russia.

Yonhap

Here is how Yoon responded to Lee’s remarks which criticized his attempts to sign an end of war declaration with North Korea:

On the other hand, PPP candidate Yoon criticized Ukraine’s reliance on diplomatic agreements to maintain peace and emphasized the importance of military power and strong alliances to guarantee national security.

“You can only prevent war when you have the capability for preemptive strikes and have the intent to do so … I believe the case of Ukraine shows that you cannot protect national security and peace with paper and ink,” Yoon said, referring to the Minsk agreements or a series of pacts that sought to end fighting with Russia-backed separatists in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

“Candidate Lee and the current DPK administration stress the importance of an end-of-war declaration with North Korea, which will be done only on paper with ink. With North Korea refusing to give up its nuclear program, pushing forward the end-of-war declaration is the same as the case of Ukraine.” 

You can read more at the link, but if Yoon really wanted to hit Lee even harder he should of mentioned how Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees back in the 1990’s. Look how that paper and ink agreement worked out for them. Does anyone really think that North Korea will abide by any paper and ink agreement as well?

You can tell the election is getting close considering the harsher rhetoric being used on the campaign trail:

“Why on Earth is the city of Ulsan seeing a renewable energy-based wind power project being erected which fishermen and other citizens had opposed it?” the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate said during his speech on Saturday. “I think you all know who will benefit from the project by getting orders for the project’s construction. I can tell you that none of those who oppose the DPK’s doctrines or who are not the party’s core supporters will get a piece of the pie from the project.”

Yoon’s harsh rhetoric against the DPK in his Saturday speech also targeted Lee’s alleged involvement in a controversial urban development project in Seongnam’s Daejang-dong, a case that has persisted for months without prosecutors having proven the allegations. “Think about Daejang-dong. Can’t you people smell something rotten from all the way over here? We must excommunicate the core members of the DPK who elected the evident suspect as their presidential candidate.”  (…..)

The project, approved under the Moon Jae-in administration, is part of the central government’s bid to build 11 wind turbines with a total capacity of 3.9 gigawatts in the waters flanking Ulsan, Busan and other cities in South Gyeongsang Province. The construction of the facility has been joined by a consortium of 10 firms. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the ROK presidential election:

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People’s Party said Sunday he is dropping his offer to merge campaigns with main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and will finish the presidential race on his own.

The decision is expected to add to uncertainties in the already tight race in which Yoon and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) have been running neck and neck at around 40 percent support each, with Ahn at around 10 percent support.

Ahn’s announcement came a week after he proposed the merger with Yoon of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), saying the two sides should field a single candidate to ensure a victory over Lee in the March 9 election.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I think Yoon probably decided he didn’t need Ahn because he is currently ahead by 5% points over Lee Jae-myung in recent polling.

It looks like Yoon Suk-yeol’s comments about investigating the Moon Jae-in administration if elected had the desired effect of giving him a slight bounce in the polls:

A latest poll showed that the gap between the two leading presidential candidates Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung has shrunk since Yoon’s remarks that he will go after corruption allegations of the Moon Jae-in administration if he wins the March 9 election.    
   
According to the survey released by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) on Monday, Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) scored 43.5 percent and Lee of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) scored 40.4 percent. Compared to the previous week, Lee’s rating went up by 2 percentage points, while Yoon’s dropped by 1.1 percentage points, narrowing the two candidates’ gap from 6.2 percentage points last week to 3.1 percentage points this week.  
   
The latest poll was conducted on Friday and Saturday, shortly after an emotional quarrel between Yoon and President Moon Jae-in. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This would be quite the odd couple if they do decide to combine their campaigns:

Minor presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo officially proposed merging candidacies with main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday to ensure an “overwhelming victory” against the governing party.

Ahn of the centrist People’s Party also proposed selecting a unified candidate between the two through opinion polls, just like he unified candidacies with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of Yoon’s People Power Party ahead of last year’s local by-elections.

“Winning is important, but in order to overcome the current crisis and carry out future-oriented reform tasks, there should be an overwhelming victory amid people’s trust. This can’t be done by any single person alone,” Ahn said during a press conference held via YouTube.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.