Tag: South Korea

Shouldn’t you had made peace in order to receive a peace prize?:

A wave of controversies has erupted between the two rival parties here following a recommendation on Tuesday by a main opposition lawmaker suggesting that U.S. President Donald Trump be considered a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the party’s senior spokesperson, Jo Seoung-lae, Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) recommended Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in facilitating dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. during former President Moon Jae-in’s administration.

“The recommendation was made on Jan. 30 to the Norwegian Nobel Committee and party leader Lee Jae-myung and senior DPK Rep. Kim Min-seok have been informed about this,” he said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if the DPK wants to get into the good graces of Trump recommending him for a Nobel Peace Prize may do it.

If Yoon was trying to arrest members of the Korean parliament, it was the most incompetent coup attempt ever:

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday he ordered sending troops to offices of the National Election Commission (NEC) during his martial law declaration as he has suspected election fraud allegations.

Yoon made the admission while attending the fifth formal hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, where he again denied allegations that he ordered military commanders to drag lawmakers out of parliament in an attempt to prevent them from blocking the martial law imposition. (……)

Yoon is also alleged to have sent military troops to the National Assembly to keep lawmakers from voting down the martial law declaration and to have planned to arrest key political figures.

“Nothing actually happened (during martial law decree) … I feel like we are chasing the moon’s shadow on a lake,” Yoon said. “You would know the true nature of this case if you saw it based on common sense.”

Yoon claimed that dragging lawmakers from parliament could not have been possible as there are thousands of civilians in the National Assembly compound and troops were withdrawn after martial law was lifted.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Maybe these Korean firms need to be lobbying the Mexican government to start cracking down on fentynal smuggling and human trafficking along the border to get these tarriffs removed:

South Korea’s economy has come under direct impact as US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Saturday imposing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, raising concerns about a prolonged global trade war.

Industry experts warned on Sunday that Korea, heavily dependent on exports, could face significant setbacks if Trump’s tariff war escalates. Major companies, including Samsung Electronics, have manufacturing plants in Mexico and additional trade restrictions could disrupt their supply chains and profitability.

Korean firms strategically expanded their production bases in Mexico after the first round of US trade sanctions against China under the previous Trump administration. Electronics giants such as Samsung and LG, as well as automaker Hyundai Motor Group, bolstered their investments, either expanding existing facilities or establishing new ones.

As a result, Korea’s investment in Mexico surged from $11 million in 2020 to $396 million in 2022.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It looks like South Korea has found another potential defense export market:

Acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho and Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the defense sector and the arms industry Monday, according to the defense ministry.

In the talks held in Seoul, Kim noted that the two countries’ cooperation in the cybersecurity sector has been advancing and suggested expanding such ties to other areas, according to the defense ministry.

Kim also briefed Pevkur on South Korean weapons systems, including the K9 self-propelled howitzer that Estonia has acquired.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but at this point the Korean defense industry should send Putin a gift basket because all of this aggression towards his neighbors has been a boon for weapons sales.

The CIO is making themselves look ridiculous at this point. Yoon has told them repeatedly that he is exercising his right to remain silent and yet they are playing this hide and seek game with him:

Oh Dong-woon, chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, speaks to reporters as he arrives for work at the office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on Jan. 22, 2025. (Yonhap)

Investigators failed Wednesday at their third attempt to forcibly bring in President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his botched martial law bid. (……)

Prosecutors and investigators with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) visited the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, south of Seoul, to question Yoon over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, but the president refused all forms of interrogation, including on-site.

“We plan to discuss and decide the next steps in the questioning and procedures,” the CIO said in a notice to the press.

The investigators withdrew after five hours while Yoon met with his legal team.

Yonhap

So basically when the CIO shows up Yoon has meetings with his lawyers or he is attending his impeachment trial or going to the hospital:

Investigators went to the detention center on Monday and Tuesday to forcibly bring him in but withdrew both times after Yoon’s side refused to cooperate.

Under human rights protection regulations, investigators cannot question a suspect without his or her consent after 9 p.m.

Yoon returned to the detention center past that time on Tuesday after attending his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court and stopping at a military hospital to get a health exam.

“It kind of turned out like a game of hide-and-seek,” Oh said when asked if he was aware of Yoon’s plans to visit the hospital. “(The investigators) waited at the detention center because it didn’t seem right from the perspective of human rights to go looking for him at the hospital.”

So why is the CIO continuing to play this hide and seek game with someone exercising their right to remain silent?

If Yoon’s failed martial law attempt achieved anything, it reminded the Korean public of the DPK’s obstructionism, ties to North Korea, and appeasement of China which must be what is causing them to slide in these public opinion surveys:

In this file photo, Kwon Young-se (R, front), chief of the ruling People Power Party’s emergency leadership committee, shakes hands with Lee Jae-myung (L, front), leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, during a memorial service for late former National Assembly Speaker Kim Soo-han at the parliamentary building in Seoul on Jan. 3, 2025. (Yonhap)

 The approval rating for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) surpassed that of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) without a margin of error for the first time in nearly six months, a poll showed Monday.

According to the survey by Realmeter on 1,004 people aged 18 and older conducted last Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the PPP stood at 46.5 percent, while that of the DP stood at 39 percent. 

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

The poll also showed that a gap between those who support the PPP for the next administration and a change in administration led by the DP has narrowed down to within the margin of error. 

According to the poll, 48.6 percent supported the PPP for the next administration, up 7.4 percentage points from the previous week.

Yonhap

Wouldn’t it be amazing if the DPK’s parliamentary obstruction that caused the martial law attempt leads to them losing the Presidential election if the Constitutional Court upholds Yoon’s impeachment?