Tag: South Korea

As I have previously said, the Korean left is trying to make the pollster Myung Tae-kyun into Presidnet Yoon’s Choi Soon-sil:

Prosecutors on Monday requested an arrest warrant for Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed power broker, over allegations of interfering in candidate nominations in the 2022 parliamentary by-elections through his ties with then presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife. 

They also filed warrants for Kim Young-sun, a former lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), and two ex-candidates in the June 2022 local elections, citing risk of destruction of evidence, according to the Changwon District Court.

Myung, who runs a public polling agency, is suspected of receiving approximately 90 million won (US$65,200) from Kim on several occasions between August 2022 and December last year in exchange for his help in getting her nominated on the PPP ticket ahead of the 2022 by-elections.

He is also under suspicion of having secured Kim’s nomination in exchange for conducting customized polls in favor of then PPP presidential candidate Yoon for free. First lady Kim Keon Hee has also been suspected of involvement in the nomination process.

Myung has reportedly refuted the allegations, saying he never promised Kim he would help to get her nominated and that he was not in a position to do so.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this guy is basically a pollster who was paid to generate polls favorable to certain candidates. All the polls that were wrong about the U.S. Presidential election should be a reminder that polls are used to shape public opinion not reflect it.

The election of President Trump is what is likely pushing this arrest warrant now because the Korean left needs to get Yoon impeached so they can get a leftist in power to counter Trump. Remember that former President Park Geun-hye was impeached for abuse of power and that is what the Korean left will try and claim Yoon was doing to get him impeached.

Much of these controversies like handbag-gate were manufactured by his political opponents, but the fact his poll numbers have nosedived below 20% has pretty much forced President Yoon to make this public apology:

President Yoon Suk Yeol offered an apology Thursday for causing concerns to the people and vowed to revamp state affairs amid growing controversies surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Yoon stood up and bowed his head in apology during a televised address and press conference marking the second half of his term and providing an outline of the future policy direction. (….)

Yoon addressed the concerns over the first lady, who has faced criticism over allegations involving her acceptance of a luxury handbag, stock manipulation and involvement in government affairs.

“She should have conducted herself with greater caution, and the fact that she has caused concern to the public is unquestionably wrong,” he said.

Yoon said Kim should have acted more cautiously and it was wrong for her actions to have caused public concern, noting he appointed a secretary earlier in the day to prepare for the establishment of an office dedicated to supporting the first lady’s work.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but some of these controversies could have been prevented if the First Lady had an office initially to filter some of the nonsense that got here in trouble.

Trump’s election victory has led to much speculation in South Korea that he will return to direct diplomacy with North Korea, target South Korean companies with trariffs, cause turbulence in the US-ROK alliance, and cause a drop in the Korean won. So what do ROK Heads think will happen on the Korean peninsula over the next four years with Donald Trump as President?

Nothing new here, just the continuation of Biden’s policies:

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Saturday touted the South Korea-U.S. alliance as a “linchpin” of security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world, while underlining Seoul’s “sizable” contributions to the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

Vice President Harris made the remarks in a special contribution to Yonhap News Agency, reiterating America’s “ironclad” security commitment to South Korea, vowing to preserve its global leadership and accentuating the importance of the bilateral alliance forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Titled “Let’s Go Forward, Together: Creating a Prosperous Future for Korean Americans,” her exclusive contribution is the first of its kind to a South Korean media outlet in this year’s election cycle. It came just days ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

“In 2022, I stood at the DMZ and reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of South Korea. I know our alliance has been a linchpin of security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” she wrote, recalling her trip to the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

“Trump, by contrast, is demanding that South Korea pay $10 billion a year to host our troops despite its already sizable contributions — disparaging our alliance and disregarding America’s standing in the Indo-Pacific,” she added as she is set to face off against her Republican rival in Tuesday’s showdown.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is understandable that the public image of doctor’s in South Korea has taken a severe nosedive with their antics to try and stop the increase of students going to medical schools:

The conflict over the proposed increase in medical student quotas, which has persisted for more than nine months, continues to disrupt medical services nationwide. Despite ongoing discussions, doctors and the government have yet to find common ground. The ruling party’s proposal for four-way negotiations remains untouched, with no formal dialogue having taken place.

While the standoff has continued, Park has felt her understanding of what being a doctor means as a profession changing.

“I had thought of them as selfless heroes dedicated to public health, but now I see them as a privileged group driven by self-interest,” she said.

Park is not the only one who questions the profession’s long-standing reputation for public service.

“The latest tension between doctors and the government has given the public the impression that they are a selfish and (a group) that requires negotiations for everything,” said Lee Ju-yul, professor in the Department of Health Administration at Namseoul University.

Patients with chronic illnesses feel betrayed by doctors, with some complaining they have been treated as bargaining chips.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

One of the drones that flew over Pyongyang earlier this month carrying propaganda leaflets crashed and the North Koreans were able to extract information from it to determine it came from South Korea:

North Korea said Monday that its analysis of the flight log of a drone that crashed in Pyongyang earlier this month showed it took off from a South Korean border island in the Yellow Sea, insisting that the South Korean military is behind what it claimed were South Korea’s drone incursions.

South Korea’s military called the North’s latest claim “unilateral,” saying it is “unworthy” of verifying or responding to.

North Korea earlier claimed that South Korean drones carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets were detected in the night skies over Pyongyang three times this month and threatened to respond with force if such flights occur again.

Announcing the final results of its probe into the drone incursions, North Korea’s defense ministry said it has analyzed the flight control program from the remains of a drone that crashed after intruding into the North on Oct. 8, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The North said the drone took off from South Korea’s border island of Baengnyeong in the Yellow Sea at 11:25:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 and intruded into the territorial air of North Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Eventually the current conflict in the Middle East will once again end with a so called diplomatic solution before each side rearms and does it all over again a few years later:

South Korea expressed “deep concern” Sunday over Israel’s recent attack on Iran, calling on all parties to seek a diplomatic solution to the situation.

Early Saturday, Israel’s military conducted strikes against various targets in Iran, including missile manufacturing facilities, in response to Iran’s missile attack earlier this month, according to foreign media reports.

“Our government expresses deep concern over the series of tension-escalating acts, including Israel’s attack on Iran,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said.

Lee called on all the parties to break away from the “cycle of attack and retaliation,” calling diplomacy the only solution.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The big question is whether the ROK will provide advanced military weapons to Ukraine for free or for sale:

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday that South Korea could consider providing arms to Ukraine, depending on the extent of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, vowing not to “sit idle” in response to Pyongyang’s troop dispatch to Russia.

Yoon made the remarks after a summit with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Seoul, during which both leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s troop dispatch to Russia and agreed to strengthen joint responses to growing security threats.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

What is Russia going to do, fund the North Korean regime and assist them with their missile programs? They are already doing this:

 Russia’s foreign ministry warned Wednesday that South Korea could face “security consequences” if it gets involved in the war in Ukraine, as Seoul has vowed to take “phased” measures in response to growing military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokesperson, issued the warning as Seoul announced its plan Tuesday to take the measures following its spy agency’s confirmation that Pyongyang plans to dispatch around 10,000 soldiers to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, including some 1,500 troops that it has already sent.

“They should think about the security consequences if it gets involved in the Ukrainian crisis,” she said during a press briefing through an English-language interpreter. “The Russian Federation will react on those aggressive steps, if our citizens are under threats, under peril.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.