Anniv. of commemoration day for fallen naval heroes President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) greets bereaved family members of the victims of inter-Korean naval clashes during a ceremony at a national cemetery in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 24, 2023, to mark the eighth anniversary of the commemoration day for 55 troops who died in three major clashes with North Korea in the West Sea, comprising an inter-Korean naval skirmish in 2002, North Korea’s torpedo attack on the corvette Cheonan in 2010 and its shelling of the border island of Yeonpyeong in the same year. Since 2016, the government has designated the fourth Friday of March as a commemoration day, known as West Sea Defense Day. (Yonhap)
I did not realize it has been this long since an official state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader:
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will make a state visit to the United States late next month, and hold a summit with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the two countries’ alliance and deepen political, economic, security, and people-to-people ties.
The South Korean presidential office said Wednesday that Yoon will travel to the U.S. for a state visit in late April and that a state dinner is slated for April 26. The White House said U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-han discussed preparations for the upcoming visit by Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee.
It will be the first state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader in 12 years. The last South Korean head of state to do that was former President Lee Myung-bak, who was invited by then U.S. President Barack Obama in October 2011. Also, Yoon will be the second state guest invited by Biden since his inauguration in January 2021.
Yoon leaves Switzerland President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) and first lady Kim Keon Hee wave goodbye at Zurich Airport on Jan. 20, 2023, before boarding a flight back to South Korea after a four-day visit to Switzerland. (Yonhap)
Yoon meets troops in UAE President Yoon Suk Yeol (C) speaks as he meets with South Korean troops of the Akh unit in the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 15, 2023. (Yonhap)
It is refreshing to hear a Korean president speak the truth about why the Japanese are increasing their military capabilities instead of demagoguing the issue for political benefit:
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at a joint policy briefing from the foreign ministry and the defense ministry at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Jan. 11, 2023, in this photo provided by the presidential office.
President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that Japan’s moves to bolster its defense capabilities are hard to stop in the face of the threat of North Korea’s missiles.
Yoon made the remark during a joint policy briefing from the foreign and defense ministers, referring to Japan’s recent increase in its defense budget and its inclusion of the “counterstrike” concept in its revised security documents.
“We can wonder how a country adopting a pacifist constitution can do such things, but if there are missiles flying over their heads and the possibility of a nuclear strike, it’s not easy to stop,” he said during the meeting at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae.
“Japan increased its defense budget because there are IRBMs flying over their heads, and decided to include the so-called ‘counterstrike’ concept in its defense plan,” he said, referring to intermediate-range ballistic missiles that North Korea fired over Japan. “How can anyone take issue with that?”
You can read more at the link, but DPRK apologists in the Korean left will take issue with anything the Japan does to defend themselves. At least the current Korean President is not one of them.
Via ROK Drop reader Korean Man comes this interesting article from Modern Diplomacy assessing that the impeachment of President Yoon next year is a possibility:
It is problematic to poke any other faults since Yoon has been running the country for a little over six months and has not had time to make any consequential decisions that could supply political ammunition against him. Blaming Yoon for the economic storm is risky as this could lead to questions about who had sowed the wind in the first place.
Technically, however, there is little to stop the Democrats from initiating the impeachment proceedings that could be announced if voted for by 200 out of 300 Members of Parliament and subsequently endorsed by the Constitutional Court. The Democrats already have 169 votes that could be beefed up to 200 by enlisting allies from other left-wing parties and Yoon’s enemies among the Conservatives like Lee Jun-seok’s faction. They have enough of their appointees in the Constitutional Court, and, as the Candlelight Vigil showed, public protests can be as effective as backdoor influence in terms of putting pressure on a public institution.
Lurking as yet another potential factor in the fray are the United States that may choose to assist in toppling President Yoon to replace him with a classic right-winger, given that the Democrats are as pro-American as the Conservatives anyway. If the United States are gearing up for a global confrontation, Washington would be better off with an amenable rather than pragmatic head of South Korean state.
You can read much more at the link, but it is very clear that the Democrat Party is trying to use the Itaewon crushing tragedy to attack the President with like they did the Sewol tragedy with former impeached President Park. However, they are not getting as much traction on Yoon as they hoped because his poll numbers continue to slowly rise after the tragedy. Also I am not sensing any unhappiness with President Yoon from the United States either so I don’t see any pressure on Yoon coming from that direction. As it is right now I don’t think impeachment will happen, but it is clearly the strategy I have been saying for weeks that the Democratic Party is trying to execute against President Yoon since the Itaewon crushing incident happened.
Yoon, first lady bid farewell to neighborsPresident Yoon Suk-yeol (2nd from L) and first lady Kim Keon-hee pose for a photo with children at an event to bid farewell to neighbors of their private home in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul, on Dec. 17, 2022, in this photo provided by the presidential office. Yoon and Kim moved into the new presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, in November, following months of renovation and preparation. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
How did someone like this ever become a priest in the first place?:
This photo released by the Daejeon Diocese of the Anglican Church of Korea on Nov. 14, 2022, shows a document on the disqualification of Father Kim Gyu-dong.
A priest of the Anglican Church of Korea has been disqualified for openly wishing for President Yoon Suk-yeol’s plane to crash during his ongoing trip to Southeast Asia.
The Daejeon Diocese of the Anglican Church of Korea announced the disqualification of Father Kim Gyu-dong as a priest Monday after he called for a nationwide prayer for the crash of the presidential plane in his social media post.
President Yoon Suk-yeol accompanied by first lady Kim Keon-hee began a trip to Southeast Asia on Friday to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Group of 20 summits, and they are scheduled to return home Wednesday.
Kim recently uploaded a social media post about Yoon’s Southeast Asia trip, saying he wants the presidential plane to crash and wishes the entire nation would pray for the accident. Kim deleted the post later after his church was flooded with protests, explaining that the post was intended as a personal memo but was disclosed by mistake.
This latest trip abroad for President Yoon has gone way better than his last one where he showed up late to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and was caught using an expletive on a hot mic initially reported to be directed towards President Biden:
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L), U.S. President Joe Biden (C) and South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee pose for a photo during a gala dinner for leaders attending ASEAN summits at the Chroy Changvar International Convention and Exhibition Center in Phnom Penh on Nov. 12, 2022, in this photo provided by the presidential office.
President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee briefly reunited with U.S. President Joe Biden at a gala dinner for world leaders in Phnom Penh the previous day, the presidential office said Sunday.
Yoon and Kim “met with U.S. President Joe Biden who entered the venue shortly after they arrived and happily exchanged greetings,” deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung said in a written briefing. “President Yoon and President Biden caught up with each other and fondly posed for photos.”
The couple also happily exchanged greetings with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko, Lee said.
The leaders are in Cambodia to attend regional summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On Sunday, Yoon, Biden and Kishida are scheduled to hold bilateral and trilateral summits on the event’s sidelines.
