Tag: politics

After this resignation Acting President Choi is calling for the National Assembly to pass a bill requesting an independent investigation of President Yoon. I highly doubt the DPK will agree to an independent investigation, but I guess we will see what happens:

South Korea’s acting leader on Friday accepted the resignation of the chief of the presidential security service, Park Jong-joon, as he faced police questioning over how his forces blocked law enforcement efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol last week. The acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, also expressed regret over the clashes between law enforcement officials and the presidential security service and called for lawmakers to reach a bipartisan agreement to launch an independent investigation.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials and police are planning a second attempt to bring Yoon into custody as they jointly investigate whether his brief martial law declaration on Dec. 3 amounted to an attempted rebellion. The presidential security service blocked an earlier attempt to detain Yoon at his official residence, which he has not left for weeks. It wasn’t immediately clear how Park’s resignation and Choi’s call for an independent investigation to take over the probe on Yoon would affect the push to bring Yoon into custody.

“The government has been deliberating to find a wise solution, but unfortunately, within our current legal framework, it’s difficult to find a clear resolution to end the conflict between the two agencies,” Choi said about the tensions between the anti-corruption office and presidential security service over Yoon’s potential detention. “We urge the ruling and opposition parties to work together to agree on a bill to launch a special prosecutor investigation that is free from constitutional issues. This will naturally resolve the ongoing intense standoff.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

If the CIO resorts to violence in its attempts to knab President Yoon this could spill over into street violence. Yoon has already said he would step down if the Constitutional Court approves his impeachment. The Constitutional Court should be allowed to do its trial and render a verdict without the sideshow CIO investigation that is clearly being attempted to influence the Constitutional Court:

 Acting President Choi Sang-mok renewed his call on government agencies Monday to avoid any physical clash while trying to detain President Yoon Suk Yeol or prevent his arrest over his botched martial law bid.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is investigating Yoon for alleged insurrection, is preparing to execute a court-issued warrant against Yoon, who remains inside his fortified compound. This follows an earlier attempt that ended in a five-hour standoff with the Presidential Security Service (PSS).

“All law enforcement actions must be conducted in a peaceful and restrained manner. Under no circumstances should violence be employed by any involved agencies,” Choi said in a press release. 

The PSS heightened security at Yoon’s residence by installing barbed wire, barricades and buses to block access to the compound in Seoul.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If the CIO wants the PSS to cooperate with them to arrest President Yoon, this latest legal action isn’t going to help:

The head of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) has been booked on suspicions of insurrection in an ongoing probe into President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law imposition last month, police said Sunday.

Park Chong-jun, chief of the PSS, has been additionally booked for insurrection charges, a police official told Yonhap News Agency.

Park is known to have called in Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, to the presidential safe house three hours before Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3.

Last week, Park was booked on suspicion of obstructing special official duties, as PSS officials, along with military personnel, blocked the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials from executing a warrant to detain Yoon.

Police have requested Park to appear for questioning on Tuesday after he snubbed an initial request made for Saturday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder who in the South Korean political establishment Senator Kim is directing his comments towards? The person taking the most advantage of this situation is clearly Lee Jae-myung who is set to become President if Yoon is impeached:

Andy Kim, the first-ever Korean American senator, underscored the need Wednesday for South Korea to focus on ensuring stability amid political uncertainty caused by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law bid, while cautioning against any move to use the situation to advance “political ambitions.”

Kim (D-NJ) made the remarks as South Korea has been thrust into a period of political turmoil following Yoon’s short-lived martial law imposition on Dec. 3 and his impeachment on Dec. 14.

“It’s really a critical time for stability, not for any particular person to try to use this to advance their own political ambitions,” Kim said during a meeting with Korean and Asian American reporters at the Capitol in Washington.

“It’s about stabilizing it first and foremost,” he added, noting South Korean politicians need to be “very careful and thoughtful” with their thoughts and actions as they are “under a microscope.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Yoon’s lawyers understand that the Constitutional Court impeachment trial is really the main event to be focused on. If the Constitutional Court does not approve of his impeachment and he remains President, the CIO is going to have a harder time justifying their case:

President Yoon Suk Yeol will comply with legal procedures if he is indicted or a formal arrest warrant is sought over his short-lived martial law, rather than the current warrant for temporary detention, his lawyers said, Wednesday. 

They also said the president is willing to attend his impeachment trial hearings at the Constitutional Court without restrictions, as long as the ongoing controversy over the removal of insurrection charges is resolved.

However, it remains to be seen if the president’s side will truly comply with the legal procedures, as he has not done so with the detention warrant issued at the request of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading a joint investigation with the police and the defense ministry.

The lawyers reiterated their stance of non-cooperation with the CIO’s detention warrant, which has been extended. A detention warrant is typically issued when investigators need to take immediate custody of a suspect for questioning before seeking a formal arrest warrant. This allows them to detain a suspect for 48 hours, and if they wish to continue questioning under custody, they must seek a separate arrest warrant.

Yoon has refused to cooperate with the detention warrant, arguing that the anti-corruption agency lacks legal grounds for investigating the insurrection charges.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Hersheys seems to having a bump in sales in South Korea due to the current political turmoil:

Hershey’s Kisses, a staple product of global chocolate company Hershey, have traditionally struggled to shine in South Korea despite their popularity abroad. Often seen as a “filler product” in convenience stores and supermarkets, they typically experience modest sales even on Valentine’s Day. However, a recent event has given the chocolate a surprising moment in the spotlight.

According to a report by a major convenience store chain on Monday, sales of Hershey’s Kisses at its stores nationwide increased by 8.4 percent compared to the previous week.

The company noted that this spike is unusual for Hershey’s Kisses, which typically see steady but unremarkable demand. The unexpected surge is attributed to a viral moment involving a protest group nicknamed the “Kisses Protesters.”

On Jan. 5, protesters gathered in front of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, calling for his arrest.

The group earned the nickname “Kisses Protesters” due to their appearance — many participants wrapped themselves in silver foil thermal blankets to endure the freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall. The blankets resembled the silver foil wrapping of Hershey’s Kisses, sparking the nickname.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the DPK is trying to set conditions to now impeach acting President Choi next:

 A special committee of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said Tuesday it will file a complaint against acting President Choi Sang-mok for alleged dereliction of duty.

Choi has been criticized by opposition lawmakers for not ordering the Presidential Security Service (PSS) to cooperate with attempts by investigators to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

During a press conference at the National Assembly, the committee slammed Choi for eventually allowing the PSS to block the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) from executing a warrant to detain Yoon.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but remember the DPK initially threatened to impeach Choi, now they are threatening this complaint instead. I think the rising approval rate for Yoon may make the DPK think twice about trying to impeach Choi. The Korean public seems to be losing patience with the DPK’s antics and increasingly siding with Yoon despite the martial law fiasco.

This is pretty incredible how quickly President Yoon’s approval rating has jumped despite being impeached for the martial law fiasco. The article is speculating that conservatives in Korea are rallying around Yoon because of how much they despite the opposition leader Lee Jae-myung:

In the first several months after his inauguration in May 2022, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating quickly fell below 40 percent in most polls and never recovered to that level again.

His controversial decision to declare martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, appeared to seal his fate as a failed leader rejected by the people including those who voted for him, with some surveys showing his popularity plunging to as low as 11 percent.

However, in an unexpected turn of events, his approval rating is now bouncing back — surpassing the levels seen before the martial law declaration.

A poll conducted between Jan. 3 and 4 by KOPRA found that 40 percent of respondents supported Yoon. In a poll conducted by the same pollster four months ago, 30 percent did.

In another survey released on Monday by Realmeter, his party also enjoyed a jump in support, with 34.4 percent saying they support the ruling People Power Party, up from 30.6 percent in a poll conducted a week earlier.

Meanwhile, the approval rating for the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) inched down to 45.2 percent from 45.8 percent in the Realmeter poll. The figure surged to 52.4 percent in the week that followed Yoon’s six-hour imposition of military rule, and has been decreasing since.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.