Yoon Seok-yeol, "Singing the ideologically biased 'Chuk chang ga' (independence fighter song) has brought us to this point (state of affairs with Japan)."
Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol arranged to officially announce his campaign to be the next president of South Korea on June 29 at the Seoul, Seocho Gu, Yoon Bong-gil Memorial. Yoon Bong-gil was a famous independence fighter who attacked Japanese dignitaries in Shanghai in 1932 killing and wounding several Japanese diplomats and general officers. During his presentation Yoon made a derogatory reference to the independence fighters’ song “chuk chang ga” suggesting that such sentiments toward Japan were no longer relevant and their emphasis by the current Moon administration had brought relations with Japan to a new low. He also commented that the issues of the so called comfort women and forced labor problems with Japan harmed South Korean security and trade and needed to be resolved. He further asserted that the 2 plus 2 talks with the US needed to be expanded to include Japan. In other words 3 plus 3 talks should take place on a regular basis. Yoon said that South Korean needed to resolve it’s outstanding issues with Japan by putting everything on the table to achieve a “grand bargain.” As to what steps, compromises, or concessions South Korea needed to make to achieve such a “grand bargain” he failed to specify.
Yoon’s statements critical of the foreign policy of South Korea were not well received. It was pointed out that they were made inappropriately in the venue he had chosen for his partisan political announcement and press conference. The issue was raised almost immediately that the office of President of South Korea was not in position to overrule a legal determination by the Supreme Court regarding the forced labor ruling against Mitsubishi for its warcrimes against Korean workers. It was also questioned what view he must take of the previous Park government’s interference causing the delay in the administration of justice of the slave labor cases until the time of the Moon administration. The cases had been pending for years. So what exactly is the criticism of Moon Jae-in on this issue? The Park government’s agreement with Japan concerning the comfort women was made with no consultation with surviving victims of sex slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army nor with any of their survivors. Raising the current issues of trade and security with Japan have been consistently and rudely rebuffed by Japan since the democratic administration took power.
Yoon’s announced his candidacy and took the opportunity to adopt a pro-Japanese criticism of Moon Jae-in. Yoon’s presentation was poorly received and had an immediate negative impact on his public support. Yoon’s announcement and press conference was criticized by another opposition party presidential candidate who described Yoon as arrogant, acting like a boss, having poor political judgement, and other ad hominem criticisms without addressing the pro-Japanese issue, which is a minefield best avoided on the right. Other observers noted Yoon’s nervous twitch, (his constant back and forth neck rotation) and his general unresponsiveness to reporters’ questions. One pundit observed that Yoon is accustomed to deference from obseqious junior reporters on the judicial beat, and doesn’t know how to react to more senior reporters covering the national political stage where his arrogance ill serves him.
Unfavorable comments about Yoon in mainstream broadcast and press media have been unheard of until the last couple of weeks because of media’s overwhelmingly conservative bias. Yoon refuses to discuss allegations of corruption by his wife and mother in law and the conservative press rarely if ever mentions it. Yoon’s mother in law is currently subject to a impending verdict announcement in a medical fraud case expected in July. Issues concerning Yoon’s political bias while in office were confirmed by Constitutional Court decision last week. This judgement may perhaps be viewed as a moot political point and was not covered in the mainstream Cho-Joong- Dong conservative media. Yoon had avoided the committee’s decision by obtaining a temporary injunction from an administrative review court. Then he resigned from the Prosecutor General position to meet “cooling off” requirements for public officials under a new election law. The high court dismissed Yoon’s appeal of the adverse disciplinary decision against him. Yoon’s legal arguments against the disciplinary committee which sentenced him to a two month suspension for professional derelictions of duty failed. He was disciplined by an administrative committee formed by the justice ministry. The committee found Yoon had investigated judges illegally, failed to maintain a politically neutral posture as a public prosecutor, and interfered in a case involving his subordinate. Yoon’s appeal was found to be legally insufficient.
Yoon has little political experience outside his prosecutorial milieu. He has never held elective office and has no experience in economic affairs, foreign policy or military affairs. He recently donned a Chonan naval ballcap in a media stunt which received mainstream media coverage, but the fact is he is singularly unqualified on national security and foreign policy prompts observations he is unqualified to be president of South Korea.
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