Tag: politics

This here is a perfect example of a lawmaker passing on fake news to attack the President’s wife with for political gain:

The presidential office filed a complaint with the police against main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Rep. Jang Kyung-tae for “spreading false information” about photos taken earlier this month during first lady Kim Keon-hee’s visit with a Cambodian child suffering a congenital heart disease. The presidential office complained that Jang had described the first lady’s photo shoot as a “concept shoot using at least two or three lights and other on-site studio-level equipment.”

Rep. Jang had stirred up debate over his remarks that Kim’s photo shoot amounted to “poverty porn,” or the exploitation of people in impoverished conditions to garner sympathy or support for a cause, and that it was a diplomatic discourtesy as she met the child instead of attending an official program organized at the same time for spouses of visiting world leaders. He is now under investigation by the National Assembly’s ethics committee. 

The presidential office said it filed a complaint against Jang with the police for his remarks during a Nov. 18 DPK Supreme Council member meeting and subsequent Facebook posting. (……)

During the meeting, Jang supported his claims, saying that “foreign media and photography experts analyze the photo of Kim Keon-hee as having been taken with at least two to three lights to create an on-site studio, as a concept photo shoot, rather than being a photograph taken of the natural volunteering process.” It later turned out he was citing a posting on the U.S.-based global web forum Reddit, which had since been deleted.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is the first time I have read of a direct accusation against Lee Jae-myung from someone directly involved with the Daejang-dong real estate investment scandal:

Lawyer Nam Wook, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development corruption scandal, is surrounded by reporters as he walks to his trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

A key figure in the Daejang-dong corruption scandal said Monday he heard that Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung held a hidden stake through one of the investors in the project.  
   
Lawyer Nam Wook made the allegation at his trial on the Daejang-dong case at the Seoul Central District Court, hours after he was released from jail at midnight Sunday after his detention period expired. Nam is charged with breach of trust and bribery in the case.  
   
His case is believed by prosecutors to be part of a larger conspiracy concerning astronomical profits raked in by Hwacheon Daeyu, a previously obscure asset management company, and its Cheonhwa Dongin affiliates, from minuscule investments in a 2015 real estate development project in the Daejang-dong area of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, as well as suspicions about their true ownership. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The bodies were not even cold yet from the Itaewon Crushing Disaster before the political opposition decided to use them to demand the President and other government officials resign:

Only a few hours after the news broke last month about a deadly crowd crush in central Seoul’s Itaewon, Nam Young-hee, vice chief of the Institute for Democracy, a think tank of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), concluded that President Yoon Suk-yeol and his safety minister were to blame and demanded they step down immediately.

The comment, which she made when police and emergency workers were still scrambling to gather the facts, was a grim sign of how the tragic incident, which killed 156 people and injured 197 others, could be used ― and exploited ― politically.

Two days after the end of a national mourning period for the victims and their families, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the DPK, called for the resignations of all relevant top officials, including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

“The president, who is responsible for this disaster and all state affairs, should apologize sincerely to the people and the victims,” Lee said during a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. “Taking responsibility comes with action rather than words … There should be a sweeping reshuffle, including the resignation of the prime minister.” 

Lee also called for a new investigation into the case under an independent counsel, saying that police and prosecutors under Yoon cannot be trusted.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I guess the DPK expected the President to be out there personally conducting crowd control in Itaewon.

With all the investigations going on involving the political opposition, the Justice Minister is unsurprisingly being closely watched by the opposition in effort to politically neutralize him:

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said Tuesday he will take legal action against Rep. Kim Eui-kyeom of the main opposition Democratic Party and a YouTube channel for spreading what he calls groundless allegations about a controversial drinking party.

Han said in a personal statement that Kim, YouTube channel “Citizen Press The Tamsa TV” and its officials will be held “criminally and civilly” liable for spreading obviously false information on him via YouTube and other methods.

Kim alleged in a parliamentary inspection of the justice ministry the previous day that Han had a late-night drinking party at a luxury bar in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, on July 19 and 20 with President Yoon Suk-yeol and 30 lawyers from Kim ＆ Chang, the country’s top law firm.

Citizen Press The Tamsa TV, which is now under police investigation for tailing Han for nearly a month on the minister’s way home from work, raised the same allegations on the day.

Han categorically rejected the allegations, saying he had never been to the luxury bar and felt insulted by Kim’s false accusations.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if people think politics in the U.S. is bad, it is arguably worse in Korea.

I am not sure what the prosecutors are hoping to find with this raid because you would think any evidence would have long been removed if it existed at all:

An apparently tearful opposition leader Lee Jae-myung cried foul Monday after prosecutors raided the headquarters of his Democratic Party (DP) in a corruption investigation that is zeroing in on him after the arrest of one of his closest aides.

Investigators made their way into the DP headquarters to search the office of Kim Yong, a longtime confidant of Lee, over allegations that he took 847 million won (US$591,000) from property developers in the suburban city of Seongnam in violation of the political fund law.

Kim, who was arrested Saturday, is deputy head of the DP-affiliated Institute for Democracy think tank. It was the second attempt to raid the DP headquarters after an earlier attempt fell through due to protests from party officials.

“The central headquarters building of the opposition party was violated in the middle of a parliamentary audit,” Lee told reporters in front of the party headquarters. “A terrible incident unprecedented in the history of democracy in the Republic of Korea is happening now.”

While speaking, Lee apparently became tearful, looked up at the sky and wiped his eye.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is just another example of the rule by law in South Korea instead of rule of law. Whatever political party is in power uses the rule by law principle to go after their political enemies and this is just the continuation of this.

It appears this whole investigation of the fishery official killed by North Korea has turned political. I say this because there is really no way to prove definitively that this guy was trying to defect or not since he left no note or any other evidence stating he was doing so. That left the Moon administration to make an assessment on how this guy ended up in the water. Maybe there assessment was wrong, but it doesn’t mean it was criminal:

Former President Moon Jae-in said the state audit agency’s recent attempt to question him over a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020 is “very rude,” according to Rep. Youn Kun-young, his former aide.

The lawmaker of the main opposition liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) told reporters at the National Assembly, Monday, that Moon said it was “very rude” and improper for the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) to call him and send him an official email regarding the case.

After receiving the email on Sept. 28, the office of Moon’s secretary told the institution two days later that he will not answer any of its questions.

The 47-year-old fisheries official, who was unarmed, was killed in September 2020 by the North Korean military while adrift in the North’s territorial waters and his body was incinerated afterwards. It was initially concluded that he was killed during his attempt to defect to the North. But the story took a drastic turn as the military and police, under the Yoon Suk-yeol government, said there was not sufficient evidence that he was intentionally trying to cross the border. Over the past few months, the prosecution has been looking into who was involved in drawing that conclusion.

“The BAI appears to try to curry favor with the people in power despite its duty to maintain political neutrality. We should find the whole truth behind this,” Youn said.

More than 10 lawmakers, who worked for the previous administration, appeared at the press conference where they vowed to fight against what they described as “political retaliation” by the Yoon administration.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It appears that President Yoon is not a big fan of the U.S. Congress:

South Korea’s presidential office defended President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday after he was caught on video using foul language to apparently refer to U.S. lawmakers.

In the video, Yoon is seen talking with U.S. President Joe Biden at a fundraiser for fighting infectious diseases in New York on Wednesday. As he turns away to leave, he appears to tell his aides with vulgar language that it would be embarrassing for Biden if the National Assembly did not approve of something unspecified.

The clip led to speculation and criticism that Yoon was referring to Biden’s pledge to contribute another US$6 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. His mention of the National Assembly was interpreted as a reference to U.S. Congress.

A senior presidential official said he did not pay attention to the remarks and did not remember them as he was following the president from behind.

“He wasn’t speaking publicly on the stage but in passing, and although I don’t know who recorded it and how, I actually think it should be verified,” the official told reporters in New York.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is just another self inflicted political wound that Yoon’s critics can now dwell on for a couple of news cycles. He is already dealing with another self inflicted wound by showing up too late to London to give condolences at Westminster Abbey prior to the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.

President Yoon’s popularity continues to slide in South Korea:

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating was recorded slightly above 30 percent in a national poll conducted just before the Chuseok fall harvest holiday, a poll showed Saturday.

In a two-day poll conducted by Korea Research on 1,001 adults from Wednesday, Yoon’s approval rating stood at 30.4 percent, while his disapproval rating was recorded at 63.6 percent. Six percent said they were uncertain of their assessments.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is going to be interesting to see how this turns out because can you imagine what would happen if politicians were indicted every time they lied during a campaign?:

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was indicted on Thursday for allegations that he violated the election law by making false statements related to two land development projects in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, while campaigning for the presidential election last year.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office charged Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), with election law violations, one day before the expiry of the statute of limitations for his cases.

Lee is suspected of spreading false information related to a land development project in Seongnam’s Daejang-dong, in violation of the election law, by denying knowing a key figure of the project during his presidential campaign.

In a TV interview on Dec. 22 last year, Lee denied acquaintance with Kim Moon-ki, a former head of Seongnam Development Corp.’s project development team, during his time as Seongnam mayor between 2015 and 2016.

Kim was found dead the previous day amid an investigation into his alleged involvement in the Daejang-dong scandal. Civic groups filed complaints against Lee after photos were released showing Lee together with Kim and several others, including some from an extended overseas business trip in January 2015. But Lee has claimed that he did not know Kim because he was a low-level municipal employee.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.