Tag: politics

Korean-Americans are beginning to have growing political influence:

Young Kim, a Korean-American Republican, won the U.S. House election in a Southern California district on Friday, U.S. media reported. 

The former state lawmaker joined three other politicians of Korean descent elected to the House of Representatives in the Nov. 3 elections.

Kim, 57, was born in South Korea and grew up in Guam. She won 50.6 percent of the vote to beat Democratic incumbent Gil Cisneros by a margin of 1.2 percentage point in the 39th Congressional District anchored in Orange County, reports said. It was a rematch from 2018.

She joined Marilyn Strickland and Michelle Park Steel to become the first Korean-American women to serve Congress in its 230-year history.

Democrat Strickland, former mayor of Tacoma, won the race in Washington’s 10th Congressional District, while Republican Steel claimed the 48th District in Orange County. 

Democrat Andy Kim, a Korean-American man, won the race in New Jersey’s 3rd District.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember that Young Kim was project to win the election two years ago to have it taken from her with the mail in ballots.

The article is right that Michelle Flournoy likely becoming the next Secretary of Defense was not a well kept secret:

On June 20, 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden delivered keynote remarks at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security, the think tank founded and, at that point, led by Michèle Flournoy.

Flournoy introduced Biden, praising him as a national security thinker and noting the ties between his staff at the White House and CNAS. Biden, in turn, acknowledged the little-kept secret of the defense world: that Flournoy was in line to become the first woman to serve as defense secretary under President Hillary Clinton.

“Well, madam secretary,” Biden said with a laugh as the crowd applauded. “I’m writing a recommendation for her, you know.”

The Clinton administration never materialized, following the election of President Donald Trump. But four years later, president-elect Biden is widely expected to fulfill his promise and tap Flournoy to lead the U.S. military.

Defense News

You can read more at the link, but supposedly Tammy Duckworth is interested in the position as well. Flournoy is way more qualified especially when you consider the difficulties Duckworth had running the Illinois VA. What creates confidence that she could run a much larger organization like the Pentagon?

The Biden administration has vowed to strengthen alliances with America’s allies and one way to do that with South Korea is quickly sign a cost sharing agreement:

The election of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden would mean a stronger alliance with South Korea and other allies, but tensions with North Korea could escalate because Pyongyang could try to test his administration, experts said Saturday.

“I think if Biden is elected, most American allies, including South Korea, will breathe a sigh of relief. He is likely to work much harder to strengthen our alliances,” said Gregg Brazinsky, professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University.

One of Biden’s key foreign policy advisers, Brian McKeon, said the Democratic candidate would immediately seek to repair the country’s alliances and reaffirm the United States’ commitment to improving its relations with its allies.

“(Biden) frequently says when he takes office, he will immediately get on the phone with some of our key allies in Europe and Asia, and centrally say, ‘America is back, and we have your back’,” McKeon said in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency.  (………..)

Brazinsky noted a Biden administration would likely treat U.S. allies with more respect.

“The U.S. will have severe economic difficulties due to the (COVID-19) pandemic, and it is possible that even under Biden, the U.S. will need South Korea to share more of the costs of maintaining American troops,” he told Yonhap.

“But I think if this is the case, Biden will attempt to negotiate this change in a manner that treats South Korea with the appropriate respect,” he added. (………………)

Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean studies at the Washington-based Institute for the National Interest, said that Biden would likely seek to quickly conclude the negotiations and at a much lower rate of increase.

“I would argue that a Biden Administration would quickly sign a new SMA with Seoul within the first 100 days of taking office, as Biden will not want to drag on talks any longer and likely ask for a 3-5 percent increase per year for a multiyear period,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I think Seoul would be willing to give the Biden administration a small increase because it would allow Biden to say he got the ROK to pay more when Trump could not.

Here is what the experts think a Biden administration means to U.S. diplomacy in Korea:

Joe Biden’s election as U.S. president could give South Korea more “room” in handling inter-Korean affairs, as he is expected to respect the alliance and listen more to what Seoul has to say on inter-Korean matters, experts said Sunday.

His “principled” diplomacy on North Korea, however, could raise tensions and fail to produce any immediate breakthrough in denuclearization talks, which experts said could make it hard for Seoul to pursue many of its envisioned cooperative and reconciliatory cross-border projects.

Biden has vowed to strengthen the alliance with its allies, including South Korea, in what appears aimed at differentiating himself from President Donald Trump, who has often derided friends and allies and denounced them as free riders.

“Respecting the alliance means turning his ears to the ally’s opinions on issues such as inter-Korean affairs, which has rarely been seen under the Trump administration,” Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.

“If South Korea says it wants to improve inter-Korean relations, Biden will listen to it. He could also take a more flexible approach in applying sanctions on the North than the Trump administration attempting to keep cross-border relations in check through sanctions,” he added. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised that if a few months into the Biden administration that the Kim regime will provoke a provocation cycle to see what Biden does. I believe they will probably not do anything decisive and just manage the problem like the Obama administration did.

Trump tried to do something decisive on the issue, but it just didn’t work because he didn’t understand that the Kim regime had no intention of denuclearizing.

The payback from the Korean left against former President Lee Myung-bak is now complete:

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 17-year prison sentence handed down by an appeals court for former President Lee Myung-bak on embezzlement and bribery charges.

In February, the Seoul High Court sentenced the 78-year-old to 17 years in prison, a fine of 13 billion won (US$10.9 million) and a forfeit of 5.7 billion won in a high-profile corruption case.

The former president, who governed the country from 2008-2013, was charged in April 2018 with 16 counts of criminal allegations, including embezzlement in connection with the auto parts company DAS and receiving bribes from various companies and individuals, including Samsung Electronics Co.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but President Lee after he took office had his predecessor Roh Moo-hyun investigated for corruption. Roh ended up committing suicide after the investigation disclosed the corrupt dealings of him and his family. The Korean left blamed Lee for Roh’s suicide and one of the first things after current left wing President Moon Jae-in did was to investigate Lee for corruption. Moon was the former Chief of Staff for President Roh at the time.

It appears that the Korean left is going all in to get Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl resign:

The gaping political rift between Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl widened further Monday, as the minister accused the top prosecutor of overstepping his bounds during a parliamentary audit of the Supreme Prosecutors Office held last week.

“For the prosecutor general who must maintain political neutrality, I believe some of his statements crossed the line. As a person in the supervisory position, I’m embarrassed,” said Choo during a parliamentary audit of the justice ministry held at the National Assembly.

Last week, Choo ordered the top prosecutor to recuse himself from the investigation into the high-profile financial fraud case surrounding Lime Asset Management, citing a failure on the part of Yoon to conduct a thorough investigation into opposition politicians and prosecutors allegedly implicated in the case.

Yoon instantly accepted the order but described it as “illegal” and “absurd” during a parliamentary audit session Thursday. He also claimed that President Moon Jae-in asked him to serve out his term via an “appropriate messenger” despite pressure from the ruling bloc for him to resign.

Yonhap

The article goes on to say how the Justice Minister is expanding her attempts to go after Yoon’s wife:

The prosecution is also currently looking into allegations that Yoon’s wife was involved in manipulating stocks in Deutsch Motors and that her art exhibition company took bribes disguised as donations.

What is incredible about this whole political strife is that President Moon is the one who appointed Yoon as the Prosecutor General to be a fair arbiter of justice. That is exactly what Yoon did when he decided to prosecute Moon’s BFF Cho Kuk for the corrupt activities that him and his family were involved in.

Everything that has been happening since then has been payback to try and get Yoon to resign which he has refused to do. Remember this is not the first time the Moon administration has been willing to go after someone’s wife to get their way.

Here we go again with the nuclear-free pipe dream; can anyone explain a good rationale of why Kim Jong-un should give up his nuclear weapons?:

 U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un only on the condition that the latter agrees to reduce his country’s nuclear capabilities.

“On the condition that (Kim) would agree that he would be drawing down his nuclear capacity. To get that,” Biden said when asked on what preconditions that he would agree to meet the North Korean leader.

“The Korean Peninsula should be a nuclear-free zone,” he added while speaking in the second and last presidential TV debate with his Republican rival, President Donald Trump.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration has been trying to find ways to get Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to resign since he will not go along with covering for corrupt ruling party politicians. This could be another attempt to pressure him to quit by going after his wife:

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae ordered the nation’s top prosecutor on Monday to take his hands off the ongoing investigations into a high-profile fund scandal in a move she claims is intended to ensure a “fair” and “independent” probe into those cases.

The unusual order came a day after the justice ministry raised speculation that Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl failed to conduct a thorough investigation into opposition politicians and prosecutors allegedly implicated in the case.

“It is necessary to guarantee a fair and independent investigation into the Lime case and the case involving the prosecutor-general’s family,” Choo said, directing the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office and the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office to not follow Yoon’s orders and only report the results of the investigations to him.

Lime Asset Management Co. is suspected of covering up massive losses and subsequently suspending fund redemption worth an estimated 1.6 trillion won (US$1.39 billion).

Kim Bong-hyun, a key suspect in the case, has alleged that he bribed a former senior aide to President Moon Jae-in, and also lobbied influential opposition politicians and incumbent prosecutors.

“The possibility of the prosecutor-general’s involvement in determining the truth behind the Lime case cannot be completely removed,” Choo said.

The Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) responded in a statement that Yoon has “become unable” to orchestrate the investigation into the Lime case.

On the case involving his family, the SPO said Yoon was never involved or briefed on the investigation and therefore had no comment to make.

The prosecution is looking into allegations that Yoon’s wife was involved in manipulating stocks in Deutsch Motors and that her company took bribes disguised as donations.

Choo’s directive calls on the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office to remove a prosecutor and investigator from the team in charge of the Lime case following allegations they were lobbied by Kim.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the people now running the investigation are all allies of Choo Mi-ae, so it is pretty clear how this “investigation” against Yoon’s wife will turn out.

Always remember that Korea is a rule by law country and not a rule of law country.

Is anyone surprised that the person who assigns prosecutors was not found of any wrong doing?:

The prosecution on Monday cleared Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae of allegations that she had abused her power to arrange special treatment for her son while he was serving the military in 2017.    
   
The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office announced Monday it found no grounds on which to indict Choo, her son or her former aide after a monthslong probe into the allegations.    
   
Choo and her family have been battling accusations that her son, surnamed Seo, had received special treatment when he was serving in the Korean Augmentation to The United States Army, or Katusa, from November 2016 through August 2018. At the time, Choo was the chairwoman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP).   (…….)

The prosecution added that Seo had asked Choo’s aide to inquire the military about the extension, not his parents.    
   
The prosecution also dismissed the suspicion that Choo or her husband had asked the Ministry of National Defense to arrange the extension. Although a document purported to be a military record created by Seo’s commander on June 15, 2017 said that Seo’s parents had made a request to the ministry, the prosecution said it failed to find any record from the ministry to corroborate it.   

Joong Ang Ilbo via a reader tip

You can read more at the link, but since Choo’s aid supposedly helped her son that makes it okay then?