It appears we may be beginning to see the playing of the anti-U.S. card by the Korean left:
A civic group stages a rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday, calling for a breakup of the South Korea-U.S. working group. / Yonhap
Amid deteriorating inter-Korean relations, a South Korea-U.S. working group is taking flak for hampering progress in bilateral ties due to its excessively harsh standards adopted on North Korea.
Critics say unlike its initial goal of coordinating policy on the North, the group is obsessed with whether Seoul-driven initiatives to engage with Pyongyang violate economic sanctions on the reclusive state, with some even calling for its breakup.
The working group, co-chaired by Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs and U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun, was set up in November 2018 following three inter-Korean summits earlier that year.
Upon its establishment, the government had high hopes that it would be in close communication with the U.S. via the organization. But due to Washington’s stern stance that inter-Korean economic cooperation should proceed in step with significant progress in denuclearizing the North, the group has been more focused on whether inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation violate international and U.S. sanctions.
You can read more at the link, but the Moon administration has been holding off on playing the anti-U.S. card because of the efforts of the Trump administration to work out a deal with North Korea. However, no deal to end sanctions was ever reached. The Kim regime has lost patience thinks now is the time to pressure the Moon administration to unilaterally violate sanctions. This is because the Moon administration firmly won the April parliamentary elections and the Trump administration is bogged down with a number of issues.
To unilaterally violate sanctions the Moon administration will need to set conditions to blame the U.S. for the new tensions with North Korea. Sending out the activist groups to blame the South Korea-U.S. Work Group is just the start of this effort.
Massive rally in Seoul despite coronavirusTens of thousands of people attend an anti-government rally at Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul on Feb. 22, 2020, despite the government’s ban on rallies at three major public squares in the city center to fight the spreading new coronavirus. (Yonhap)
A peaceful, anti-Moon Jae-in protest in Busan, South Korea on 2020-1-18 interrupted by a driver bent on violence, ramming people in crowd. https://t.co/HXgSOOENdA
Appeal against ruling party leader’s remarksMembers from the National Solidarity of Disabled against Discrimination hold a news conference at the National Human Rights Commission in Seoul on Jan. 17, 2020, announcing their appeal to the commission against Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party, for discriminatory remarks. Lee recently said “there is a saying that innate disabled persons are weak-willed.” (Yonhap)
Candlelight vigil-GSOMIAMembers of the Seoul Gyeore Hana group hold a candlelight vigil outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul calling for the scrapping of the General Security of Military Information Agreement between South Korea and Japan on Nov. 21, 2019. Protestors called on the government to disregard outside pressure and criticized the United States for interfering in internal affairs. (Yonhap)
Just because major media didn't cover it, it doesn't mean a large demonstration calling for Moon Jae-in's ouster didn't occur. It did. And it'll likely continue. https://t.co/LpnwEJNDgL
Does anyone see the irony of these protesters at Incheon International Airport?:
Calling for Abe to apologizeA delegation of South Korean citizens calls for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to apologize for his denial of Japan’s wartime atrocities and withdraw Tokyo’s retaliatory export curbs against South Korea at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Aug 17, 2019 before leaving for China’s Manchuria and Russia for a mission to follow in the footsteps of Korean independence fighters during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)
They are calling for Prime Minister Abe to apologize for something he and other Japanese leaders have already apologized for. The irony of this is that after making a re-apology demand against Japan they then left to travel to China and Russia who have never apologized for their roles in the separation of the two Koreas, their attempt to destroy South Korea during the Korean War, and their continued support to the Kim regime who is committed to ending the ROK.
The only thing I find surprising about this article is that the U.S. State Department did not anticipate China resorting to so called “thuggish” behavior:
After weeks of escalating warnings alleging a covert U.S. role behind the protests in Hong Kong, the tone in Communist Party-backed media outlets is turning darkly acrimonious, with publications attacking a U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong and releasing her personal information.
The pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao on Thursday published a photo of opposition activists meeting in a hotel with Julie Eadeh, a political section chief at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, along with details of Eadeh’s State Department career and the names of her husband and teenage children.
The report, which was recirculated by Chinese state media, emerged as Beijing doubled down on a familiar strategy of framing the nine-week-long protests as a U.S. intelligence plot to spark a “color revolution” to destabilize China.
The publication of information about the diplomat drew a furious response from the State Department, which accused China of “thuggish” behavior. U.S. diplomats around the world often meet with opposition figures and groups, occasionally drawing rebukes from governments.
The unusual pinpoint attack on the diplomat in Hong Kong underscores China’s growing frustration over the protests and their anti-Beijing message.
You can read more at the link, but it was utterly predictable that China would turn to nationalism and blame foreigners for the unrest in Hong Kong. The U.S. diplomat meeting with protesters was just the optics they needed to “prove” their invented narrative.
ICYMI: A group of Korean students claiming to be "progressives" stormed into Fuji TV's Seoul office to protest criticism of Moon Jae-in. This is very shameful and there's nothing progressive about it. Would they want Korean journalists to be treated the same way in Tokyo? pic.twitter.com/FNtepVIQA0
I would love to see someone in the media interview a victim’s family member from the Cheonan attack about this protest in support of Kim Jong-un in downtown Seoul:
South Koreans stage a rally praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in front of the KT building in Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, on Sunday. The rally was organized by the Paektu Praise Committee, a radical activist group. Participants in the rally wear flower headpieces as they hold up signs welcoming Kim’s possible visit to Seoul. [NEWS1]A pro-North Korean group staged a rally praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, on Sunday, despite being reported multiple times for violating the National Security Act.
The rally was organized by the Paektu Praise Committee, a radical activist group. It was not stopped by police even after conservative groups filed complaints against the organization for praising the North Korean leader, which is a violation of South Korea’s National Security Law.
About 50 members of the Paektu Praise Committee participated in Sunday’s rally. During the protest, members praised Kim in speeches and dedicated a dance performance in his name. Some of the speakers were children and teenagers. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but what a disgrace the Korean far left is praising a ruthless killer like Kim Jong-un.
