Tag: politics

Park Geun-hye’s Lawyer States Prosecution Mostly Using News Articles as Evidence

| May 24, 2017

I am not a lawyer so I am wondering if anyone who is a lawyer knows if news media articles can be considered evidence in a US court?  If so how strong of evidence would that be?:

Former President Park Geun-hye attended her first court hearing over the corruption scandal that removed her from office and denied all charges against her, Tuesday.

This is the first time in 53 days that she has made a public appearance since she was arrested, March 31.

Handcuffed and with her trademark hairstyle, Park arrived at the Seoul Central District Court before entering the courtroom at 10 a.m.

Park and her confidant of 40 years Choi Soon-sil saw each other for the first time in eight months since Choi left for Germany last September after the corruption scandal broke out.

Park entered the courtroom first and sat looking straight ahead not turning her head even the slightest, while Choi entered the courtroom and sat two seats away from her, next to her attorney Lee Kyung-jae.

When asked by presiding Judge Kim Se-yun, on her current occupation, Park said, “I don’t have an occupation.”

When offered a chance to speak, Choi whimpered and said, “I am a sinner for having Park whom I’ve been close to for more than 40 years stand trial.”

“I do not believe Park was involved in any criminal activities, bribery or otherwise. I think the prosecution is pushing this too far, and I wish the court would clear her of the suspected wrongdoings thereby letting her remain as the president who devoted her life to the country.”

Choi blamed her former associate Park Won-oh, a former head of the Korea Equestrian Federation, over allegations that Samsung offered financial support for her daughter, the former dressage competitor Chung Yoo-ra.

“My daughter already had her own horse when she was in Germany. Then Park asked Samsung for support and Samsung bought a horse and a car. I can take responsibility for that, but not the charges by the prosecution that the support for my daughter was in return for the government-backed merger of Samsung’s two units,” she said.

Park’s defense attorney Yoo Young-ha said the charges against her lacked foundation and largely relied on imagination, inference and media reports.

“Most of the evidence submitted by the prosecution is news articles. The prosecution determined news reports valid as evidence in a criminal case,” he said.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

President Moon Vows to Reform South Korean Business Conglomerates

| May 10, 2017

Good luck with this because chaebol reform has been something that Korean politicians have tried in the past and it never seems to create much change in how they are run:

Moon Jae-in, who is sure to be South Korea’s next president, is expected to focus on the country’s four biggest conglomerates as he pushes for a broad corporate reform drive, his economic aides said Wednesday.

The new Moon government has two major goals in reforming the business giants: one is to keep growth and wealth from being concentrated in large family-run companies known as chaebol, and the other is to improve their governance structure for transparency and fair competition, Moon’s chaebol policy adviser Kim Sang-jo told Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea’s four largest chaebol groups — Samsung Group, Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group and LG Group — currently account for half the assets held by the country’s top 30 companies.

In his campaign pledges, Moon vowed to “gradually but fully” achieve his reform goals during his five-year term in office that began Wednesday, a day after the people voted him in.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

As Expected Moon Jae-in to be Elected as the Next President of South Korea

| May 10, 2017

Koreans will be waking up with Moon Jae-in as their new President:

Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party, speaks to his supporters and party officials at the National Assembly after an exit poll showed him set to win South Korea’s presidential election held May 9, 2017. (Yonhap)

Moon was estimated to have garnered 41.4 percent of all votes, according to the exit poll conducted by three major local broadcasters — MBC, KBS and SBS.

The front-runner was followed by Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party with 23.3 percent.

The outcome of the exit poll was announced as the one-day voting came to an end at 8 p.m.

Apparently seeing no possibility of the actual outcome of the vote being any different from the exit poll, Moon said his election, if confirmed, would mark the people’s and the party’s victory.  [Yonhap]

What surprised me about this election was how far the software mogul and populist candidate Ahn Cheol-soo dropped by getting 21% of the vote when at one point in the campaign it appeared he was challenging Moon Jae-in’s polling numbers.  Something else surprising is how well the conservative candidate Hong Joon-pyo did considering the drag that the scandal plagued former President Park Geun-hye created for conservative candidates.

I think what this means that instead of conservative voters rallying around Ahn Cheol-soo to deny Moon an election victory, they instead voted for Hong.  Hong and Ahn’s numbers together would have been enough to defeat Moon.

Here is what Moon Jae-in had to say about his election victory:

Seemingly moved by the overwhelming support, he threw his hands up to the sky and gave his symbolic thumbs-up gesture, prompting thunderous applause from party members and supporters there.

“This crushing victory was expected and is a victory of longing,” Moon told jubilant party members. “‘I will achieve reform and national unity, the two missions that our people long for.”

He went on: “The results will come in hours, but I truly believe that today is the day that opens the gateway to a new Korea. I will embody the public’s passion. Your sweat and tears will never be forgotten within me.”  [Korea Times]

I am not sure what the new Korea is going to look like, but everyone will find out over the course of the next five years of Moon Jae-in’s presidency.

North Korea Sort of Endorses Moon Jae-in for ROK President

| May 9, 2017

The Kim regime is cheering for a liberal to win the upcoming Presidency likely in hopes they will get another pay day for little or nothing in return like during the Sunshine Policy years:

With South Korea’s presidential election just one day away, North Korea on Monday called for an end to the history of inter-Korean confrontation.

“The tragic North-South Korea relations today have been wrought by the conservative groups which, having been in power for the past 10 years, revived the foregone period of confrontation and maximized the political and military rivalry between the same race,” the leading ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in a column on its Monday issue.

On Tuesday, South Korea is to pick a new president to replace Park Geun-hye who was removed from her presidency in March over corruption charges.

The last poll before the election showed Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party leading the race by a wide margin. If elected as president, Moon is likely to tilt toward engagement with North Korea, a departure from the sanctions-focused policy under Park and her previous conservative administration led by Lee Myung-bak.

“Our people’s yearning for peace has been mercilessly trodden by the conservative groups, manic followers of confrontation,” the North Korean newspaper said. “The history of inter-Korean confrontation, led by the conservatives, should be put to an end and a new era of unification should open up in collaboration between our race .. To that end, the conservative groups’ scheme to seize power again should be resolutely shattered.”  [Yonhap]

Moon Jae-in Featured on the Cover of TIME Magazine

| May 8, 2017

It looks like TIME magazine has declared Moon Jae-in the winner of the upcoming ROK Presidential election already:

Appearing on the cover of the U.S. magazine TIME is sometimes more than just being a cover model — especially before important political events.

The news magazine used to wrap its front cover with a staged portrait of the most likely new leader of a country before his/her formal election (or victory by any means). And in recent memory, there was no case denying the accuracy of its model-winner matchup.

Four years ago, TIME bet on Park Geun-hye, not knowing that she — described as the Strongman’s Daughter in its cover story — would defeat Moon by a very narrow margin.

On Thursday, Moon appeared on the cover of TIME’s Asian edition, which indicates that the magazine firmly believes he will be South Korea’s next leader, replacing the ousted Park Geun-hye, when the presidential election is held on May 9.

The photo shows Moon glaring forward with his lips shut tightly -– somewhat resolutely –- against a black backdrop, under the headline “The Negotiator.”

The story covers Moon’s life, from a front-line commando who put his life on the line in 1976 for a deadly mission in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), to his family background, the time he served as a human rights lawyer, political philosophy (especially on North Korea and the United States) and how he made his way toward the nation’s top job.

Moon told TIME that his destiny is to bring the two Koreas closer together after seven decades being apart.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Leading ROK Presidential Candidate Refuses to Call North Korea Its Primary Enemy

| May 8, 2017

So what else does North Korea have to do to the ROK to gain primary enemy status?:

Yoo: “Is North Korea our primary enemy?”
Moon: “Such a designation must not be made by president. If you become president, Mr. Yoo, you yourself would also have to solve inter-Korean problems.”
Yoo: “This is nonsense the commander in chief cannot call North Korea our primary enemy.”

Bareun Party candidate Yoo Seong-min asked Democratic Party’s Moon Jae-in if North Korea is the primary enemy.

Moon responded that presidents should not label the North as such as the job requires solving inter-Korean problems.

As Moon avoided answering the question, Yoo said it was nonsense that a candidate for commander in chief cannot identify North Korea as an enemy.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link.