Yoon snubbed in Madrid

Note: original post 6.29, edited and updated serveral times thru 7.3 11am EST; fuel price error corrected 7.5.

(Source- Seoul Story youtube 6.28) President Biden's "no look" handshake regarded as a symbol of the humiliating foreign policy of South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol.


One has to wonder why President Yoon Seok-yeol of South Korea bothered to go to the NATO get together in Madrid. However, Yoon is all about photo ops, with little on substance. In a short video clip taken inside the cabin of his flight to Europe, Yoon was asked by a reporter why he was going to Madrid. He deferred giving a specific answer. Maybe because he couldn't address the substantive issues. Other than this he spent most of his time shaking hands with the press entourage on his flight as if he were still campaigning on his deceptive man of the people platform.

The Europeans and Americans made it clear that the issues at the NATO meeting were to strengthen the alliance against both Russia and China in the ongoing cold war 2.0. So the question is, what is the point of aggravating China or Russia for South Korea? Yoon played his right wing pro-US, pro-Japan stance during the presidential campaign and just had a summit with President Biden in South Korea recently. After Yoon had already shown his hand during the presidential campaign, given away everything at the US-Korean summit, he lost any diplomatic leverage he could have exercised. So what's the point?

The "no look" video clip is just one of what was a series of diplomatic lapses in Madrid concerning Yoon and the "first lady" Kim Gon-hee, who were both obviously out of their element in the international diplomatic setting. A photograph of Yoon standing with the NATO Secretary General and the leaders of Japan, Australia and New Zealand with his eyes closed, was published on the NATO website and went viral in South Korea. Kim Gon-hee could not even be seen in one photograph of the NATO and partner leaders' wives, and was almost entirely out of view in others. Yoon's arrival in Madrid was evaluated as another humbling experience for South Koreans. There was no red carpet, no honor guard, apparently no official reception formalities of any kind when he arrived at the airport in Madrid. Each of these episodes were compared unfavorably to the "VVIP" reception afforded former president Moon Jae-in and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, in similar international settings.

(Source- News and people youtube 7.2.22) Foreign policy issues outlined during the presidential campaign earlier this year foretold outcomes of Yoon's declared positions. Blue column on the left shows the respective policy positions of former candidate Lee Jae-myung with respect to China, North Korea and US. The red column on the right shows the policies of current President Yoon Seok-yeol during the presidential campaign (click to enlarge to read English translations).

What's next a Japanese - South Korean military alliance?
Was this treatment by NATO just the result of incompetence on the part of Yoon and his foreign policy team? Former Chancellor of the Korea National Diplomacy Academy, Kim Joon-hyung suggested that Yoon's foreign policy is reckless and dangerous. Is South Korea really going to ally itself with a Japan which is aiming to become a great military power again with the prospect of joint US-Japanese offensive strikes against North Korea? Kim suggested that Yoon appears headed in that direction. Under what conditions would such strikes take place? Is South Korea going to play the role of puppet behind the US and Japan? The lack of reflection on the potential damage to South Korean national interests caused by such a loss of independence in setting its foreign policy is dangerous according to Professor Kim. It's evident that at some point during the campaign Yoon had considered the possibility of Japanese forces on the Korean peninsula in the event of a national emergency. Really?

Yoon wasn't even invited to the G-7 "plus" meeting and Japan had made it very clear that there would be no one on one summit with Kishida, impromptu or otherwise, until this and this and that, etc. The recent revelation concerning a South Korean committee that Yoon proposes to establish, would appear intended to set aside the Mitsubishi slave labor litigation judgement. The disclosure also reveals that Japan is not making any real concessions or apologies and that a package similar to the "comfort women" agreement reached with the Park Geun-hye administration is on the table. Frankly it's disgraceful. There was a command performance three way summit among South Korea, the US, and Japan, about regional security issues, but most observers understand that Japan would not have attended with South Korea but for the presence of the US President Joe Biden. Yoon was quoted at one point saying that Russia should be held accountable for its actions. What conceivable benefit South Korea could obtain by interjecting itself into a European conflict is unknown.

Allegedly, Yoon's deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo said that the agreement for the Yoon, Biden and Kishida to sit down wasn't reached until the "eleventh hour." This means Kishida was the hold out. Kim Tae-hyo is another who has made a comment showing that he could envison the presence of Japanese forces on the Korean peninsula in some future scenario. This apparently is where Yoon may have picked up this entirely impractical notion. Yet, Kishida wouldn't agree to an informal one on one summit with Yoon. Appearing to make concessions to Korea is bad for ones image in Japanese politics. This despite the fact that Yoon and his security advisor are both pro-Japan 친일 and hardliners 강경파 of the cold war variety. Korean Prime Minister Han Duk-soo ludicrously maintained that the South Korean president apparently joining in the NATO/anti-Sino front wouldn't have any significant economic repercussions on the South Korean economy. That economyy is already in the tank with 6.50 dollar a gallon gasoline (about 2200kw per ltr in Seoul), a growth rate projected at less than 2 percent, and a growing debt problem. China helped South Korea when Japan used retaliatory trade measures to damage its semi-conductor manufacturing sector. Is South Korea going to join efforts now to "decouple" from its largest trade partner in order to "safeguard its supply chain?"

The question is what did Yoon get for his humiliating experience in Madrid? Yoon got a photo op with Biden and Kishida (no one on one with Kishida); a deal for Samsung electronics in the Netherlands, apparently; and an opportunity to give a platitudious three minute speech about countries "governed by law." The latter hit a sore spot with critics given his effort to secure direct control of South Korea's police back home. That effort by Yoon is regarded by the political opposition as unlawful, and threatening a return to a police state. (See our previous post Police reforms point to authoritarian future for South Korea, June 28).


https://twitter.com/TimothyS/status/1541946177314324480

윤석열부부의 불안한 첫 외교; 시사건건 youtube 6.28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1xUKdQcGkA&t=212s

세계가 주목할 기발한 외교술! 손금외교! / 하나하나씩 들어맞는 미국 싱크탱크의 예견!; News and people youtube, 7.2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqIVzCl5YJc

김어준의 뉴스공장 youtube 6.29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnh0N-m9DwY

Police reforms point to authoritarian future for South Korea

Fortunately, the Hankyoreh English language edition has two recent reports on proprosed "reorganization" of the National Police Agency to place it under the supervision of the South Korean Ministry of the Interior and Safety by the new Yoon administration in South Korea. I had been listening to news commmentary on these developments and frankly, they were difficult to interpret. Salient excepts of these two articles are posted below for purposes of discussion.

S. Korean Interior and Safety Ministry blitzes through plans to establish control over police Hankyoreh
Posted on : Jun.28,2022 17:53 KST Modified on : Jun.28,2022 17:53 KST

The South Korean Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) plans to share an outline on July 15 for a new “police bureau” to oversee the police’s duties and organizations, along with a plan for internal regulations to serve as a basis for the National Police Agency commissioner general’s exercise of command authority.

The ministry sent a clear message that it would be wasting no time going ahead with its original plan, despite critics arguing it would be inappropriate for the administration to exercise direct control over the police. Police Commissioner-General Kim Chang-yong declared his intent to resign shortly before the announcement by the MOIS.The South Korean Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) plans to share an outline on July 15 for a new “police bureau” to oversee the police’s duties and organizations, along with a plan for internal regulations to serve as a basis for the National Police Agency commissioner general’s exercise of command authority.

https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1048844.html


Why Yoon is fuming over confusion about top-level police appointments
Posted on : Jun.24,2022 16:52 KST Modified on : Jun.24,2022 16:52 KST
Hankyoreh

...Many within the police believe Yoon is disciplining the organization for opposing his intent to deploy his close associate — Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min — to establish a “police bureau” akin to the Criminal Affairs Bureau that oversees prosecutors within the Ministry of Justice....

...However, the police and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety are two disparate organizations founded on distinct historical contexts, legal regulations, and organizational structures. First, the Interior and Safety Ministry is not in charge of public security and police affairs according to the Government Organization Act. This is because the National Security Headquarters of the Ministry of Home Affairs (currently the Ministry of Interior and Safety), which wielded enormous power during military dictatorships, was abolished following legal reforms after Korea’s democratization...

...Han Sang-hee, a professor of law at Konkuk University, commented, “What authorities a state institution has should be decided by law, and deviations from what the law states and means should be made passively.* Authority over public security is granted to the National Police Agency, and there’s no room to interpret that the Minister of the Interior and Safety can exercise [such an authority].”

https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1048403.html

Don't be confused by the administrative machinations described in the Jun 24 article designed to make the National Police Agency look like some kind of rogue operation "passing the president's authority." The actions taken by the MOIS are ultra vires as lawyers say. The effort to reduce the independence of the police as an institution, is intended to circumvent the Prosecution Reform bills enacted by the National Assembly before Yoon took office, drastically curtailing prosecution powers to investigate criminal charges. Those investigative powers were being abused by Yoon's former office of the Prosecutor General. Yoon left office under a cloud which he and the conservative media sought to cover up. He was sanctioned by a Ministry of Justice Disciplinary Committee for unethical and unprofessional behavior. That behavior included unlawful investigation of judges, interfering in at least one case in which he had a conflict of interest, and adversely affecting the political impartiality of the Public Prosecutor's Offices. Most of the investigative powers formerly held by the PPO were transferred to the nation's police agencies to cure the abuse of power in the PPO which used its investigative authority to initiate prosecution of political rivals of the right, dissenters and other critics.

As pointed out in the second article by the law professor, the organization of the National Police Agency is established by law, and can't be changed by regulation. This is actually an effort by Yoon to effectively give him total police power over South Korea.

*Changes to law should be made "conservatively" is a better interpretation of the professor's statement rather than "passively."
(...법률로 정해야 하고 법률에 명문된 의미를 벗어나는 건 소극적으로 해야 한다.)

Why Japan doesn't trust President Yoon Seok-yeol of South Korea

There is a certain irony in raising the issue of trust on Japan's part with respect to South Korea. This is viewed in South Korea from the perspective of being among the last countries in the world to be formally colonized in the modern era. Japan imposed it's imperial rule over Korea by force, formally annexing Korea in 1910, regardless of their revisionist contentions to the contrary. Substantial Japanese military interventions and other uses of force in South Korea began in earnest in 1894. This post is based, in large part, on Hosaka Yuji's June 25 youtube presentation on the issue of Japanese lack of trust in South Korea's new conservative President Yoon Seok-yeol.*

*[일본직격] 일본이 윤석열을 의심하기 시작했다
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOp2ng3DNQE

It is easiest to grasp the issue when the two-faced opportunistic quality of Yoon's behavior is understood. This point is made near the end of Hosaka Yuji's presentation when he discusses the Japanese right's perspective as explained by Professor Nishioka Sutomu. Nishioka Sutomu notes that although Yoon and his principal functionaries come from the legal world in South Korea, they have demonstrated a proclivity to engage in unlawful politically motivated prosecutions. Nishioka cites the cases of former president Park Geun-hye and former justice minister Cho Guk as examples of opportunistic use of the law by Yoon to achieve his own political objectives.

(Source- 이재명은 합니다 youtube 6.27.22 내 말이 틀렸어?) Right here, the culprit who carried out the impeachment, Yoon Seok-seol. Yoon Seok-yeol in photo op with former former president Park Geun-hye.


It is relatively easy to understand why the Japanese right looks unfavorably at the impeachment and prosecution of Park Geun-hye. She stood by the 1965 agreement normalizing Japan-South Korean relations, negotiated by her pro-Japanese father, former dictator Park Chung-hee. Park Geun-hye also agreed to a settlement with Japan of the so called comfort women dispute for a relatively small sum of about 9 million dollars. Additionally, her administration blocked progress and final judgement in litigation in South Korea brought against Japanese corporations for their use of Korean slave labor during the wartime period. Yoon was a principal player on the legal team that prosecuted Park Geun-hye after her impeachment. Yoon later directed the prosecution of Cho Guk and his wife. In the instance of the slave labor cases, it's arguable that the Japanese government was the party seeking to interfere in Korea's domestic judicial process.

(Source- 열린공감TV youtube 7.21.20) Former Justice Minister Cho Guk was expected to lead the reform of the administration of justice in South Korea, instead he was forced out of office by indictments against family members brought under the direction of Yoon Seok-yeol, then Prosecutor General of South Korea. Cho Guk’s wife is currently serving a four year prison term and he is undergoing criminal prosecution currently.


The Japanese legal observer Sutomu noted that former Justice Minister Cho Guk was politically targeted by Yoon and his "division" in the public prosecutors office because he was the flag bearer for the democratic party's effort to reform the administration of justice in South Korea. In other words, Yoon sought to protect the arbitrary political power of his office as Prosecutor General at that time with a politically motivated and unjust prosecution. So the gist of the Japanese LDP right's view of Yoon is that he is opportunistic and will likely conduct South Korean affairs in an "unlawful" manner, in other words, inconsistent with the Japanese legal positions on the various disputes now pending between South Korea and Japan.

Some signs of Yoon's unreliability and opportunism are evident in his announcemment of his presidential candidacy at the Patriot Yoon Bong-kil Memorial on June 29, 2021. Yoon Bong-kil is regarded as a terrorist in Japan. He brought a bomb to a park in Shanghai on Aprii 29, 1932, to kill Japanese officials at an event to celebrate the Emperor's birthday. A Japanese government official was killed along with an Imperial Army general who died from his wounds. Other Japanese dignitaries were seriously wounded. Patriot Yoon Bong-kil was arrested and later executed by the Japanese. In his candidacy annoucement, Yoon Seok-yeol tried to bridge the independence movement v. pro-Japanese rift in South Korean domestic politics by condemning the politics of the prior Moon administration as "Bamboo Spear Song" demagogy damaging to South Korean Japanese relations.* It appears that Japan didn't get the subtlety of Yoon's hypocrisy. As the prospective conservative candidate for president he had to placate the pro-Japanese collaborator legacy elites who traditionally have strongly influenced the conservative parties in South Korea since 1948. At the same time he used the venue to appeal to popular South Korean anti-Japanese nationalism. This sort of posturing by Yoon led to characterizations by otherwise knowledgeable observers that Yoon was a "centrist" and a "populist," when there is really nothing further from the truth, Yoon is far right.

*죽창가 Bamboo Spear Song
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2021/08/bamboo-spear-song.html

(Source- OhMyNewsTV youtube 6.25)
Then presidential candidate Yoon poses with a picture of independence movement patriot Ahn Jung-geun. Professor Hosaka Yuji (left) an expert in Japanese-Korean relations produces the program 일본직격 (Direct Hit Japan).

During his campaigning, Yoon posed with a picture of another Korean independence movement patriot Ahn Jung-geun, at his memorial site at Hyochang Park, August 15, 2021, Liberation Day (from Japan). Patriot Ahn is known for assassinating the former Governor General of South Korea, and first Prime Minister of Japan, Ito Hirobumi, in Harbin, China, October 26, 1909. He was arrested and later hanged by Japan for his act, perceived as terrorism in Japan. The humiliating Treaty of Eulsa had been forced on South Korea by Japan in 1905, making the Chosun dynasty a Japanese protectorate.

(Source- OhMyNewsTV youtube 6.25)

Next, on September 11, 2021, Yoon met with Lee Yong-su, a "comfort woman" survivor at the Comfort Woman Memorial Museum. Yoon promised to Lee that he would obtain an apology from the Japanese government for what they had done to Korean women as sex slaves for the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII. This pledge by Yoon on the campaign trail is completely contrary to the Japanese revisionist view of their WWII history in which the comfort women are described as prostitutes who volunteered to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers for pay.

Naturally, there are the other disputes between Japan and South Korea, including Japan's territorial claims on the Dokdo islets which are controlled by South Korea. There are also disputes over UNESCO designations of Japanese historical sites, such as Gunhamdo (Battleship Island), Japan, where mines were worked by Korean slave laborers "conscripted" during WWII. There are the relaively recent so called "maritime patrol" incidents,* and the trade disputes which evolved as retaliation by Japan against South Korea for raising the other issues mentioned, primarily the slave labor court judgement finding Japanese corporations liable for damages to the victims.

*South Korea Protests Repeated Naval Encounters with Japanese P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2019/01/south-korea-protests-third-naval.html

Yoon has demonstrated a pliable receptivity to US requests to improve relations with Japan. Unfortunately, Japan places all the blame on South Korea for their ongoing disputes, and claims it is the responsibility of the South Korean administration to apologize in respect to outstanding differences, admit that South Korea is wrong, and correct it ways. In a prior program, Hosaka Yuji characterized Japan's curt responses to South Korean overtures for direct discussions and a summit as "Yakusa like," reflecting a rude domineering attitude with no intention of engaging in negotiation or compromise, and demonstrating little respect for South Korea's sovereignty.

천상의꽃 Heavenly Flower

Lyrice 천진화 melody 강주현

인연 따라 왔다
By karma we arrive
인연 따라 가는 인생
By karma we leave life
나무아미타불 나무아미타불
Save us, merciful Buddha
목탁소리 도량을 휘 돌아나갈제
Moktak sounds float round the temple
보고파라 보고 파라
I miss you, I miss you
그림자처럼 머물다가신 님이시여
Like a shadow, you stayed and left, my beloved

빈손으로 왔다 빈손으로 가는 인생
Life came with empty hands and leaves empty handed
나무아미타불 나무아미타불
Save us, merciful Buddha, Save us, merciful Buddha
고요한 풍경소리 휘 돌아나갈제
The soft sound of the wind chimes goes round
그리워라 그리워라
Longing, longing
은은히 피어나는 천상의 바람
The indistinct pealing of a heavenly breeze

온들간들 세상사 무심하여라
Heedless to coming and goings of worldly affairs
마지막 미소 선물로 남기시고
Only your last smile remains as a gift
인연의 끈 놓으셨네
The bond of fate let loose,
보고파라 보고파 보고파라
I miss you, I miss you
그리워라 그리워라
Longing, longing
평화로운 모습으로 가신님
With a peaceful countenance, my beloved goes,
힘겨운 짐일랑 내려놓으시고
Lay down your heavy burden
이제는 편히 편히 가소서
Now, easily, easily go
이제는 편히 편히 쉬소서
Now, comfortably, comfortably rest
서방정토 극락세계 아미타 부처님
Western paradise, land of happiness, Amitahba Buddha-nim
해탈의길 열어 주소서
Please open the path to Nirvana
해탈의길 열어 주소서
Please open the path to Nirvana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VebX2TCvPlM

무생화(보현스님) Lifeless Flower - Bohyun Seunim

- 무생화(보현스님) 명사십리 해당화야 꽃 진다고 서러 마라
At Myeongsa beach, rugusa rose flowers fall, don't be sad
명년 3월 봄이 오면 너는 다시 피련만
In March, coming year, when spring comes, you will bloom again,
우리인생 한번가면 다시 오기 어려워라
Once our life goes, coming again is difficult,
빈손으로 나왔다가 빈손들고 가는 인생
Life emerged empty handed, with empty hands it leaves
어디에서 왔으며 어디로 가는가
From somewhere we came, but where do we go?
한조각 뜬구름이 모였다 흩어지는 것 Fragments of clouds gather and then disperse
풀잎에 이슬이라 공수래 공수거
On blades of grass, morning dew comes and goes, leaving nothing
물위에 거품이라 일장춘몽 꿈이로다
Bubbles on water, a spring fantasy scene we dream

어디에서 왔으며 어디로 가는가 From somewhere we appear, but where do we go?
한 조각 뜬구름이 모였다 흩어지는 것
Fragments of clouds gather and then disperse
풀잎에 이슬이라 공수래 공수거
On blades of grass morning dew, comes and goes, leaving nothing
물 위에 거품이라 일장춘몽 꿈이로다.
Bubbles on water, a spring fantasy we dream
물 위에 거품이라 일장춘몽 꿈이로다.
Bubbles on water, a spring fantasy we dream


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QGtOQsm1kQ

Han O Bek Nyun 한오백년 500 years sorrow

Sorrows are many in this world, a heartless lover
lets affection go and just leaves, so the tears flow
Naturally, it is like that,
Five hundred years sorrow in life they say- why are you troubled?
By a field of fine sand on the beach, the seven stars gather
I pray and plead for my beloved to appear.
Naturally, it is like that,
Five hundred years sorrow in life they say- why are you troubled?

In the flower of youth, love trampled and devastated
tears flowing, where could one go
Naturally, it is like that,
Five hundred years sorrow in life they say- why are you troubled?
Sorrows are many in this cold world,
without compassion, I don't think I can live.
Naturally, it is like that,
Five hundred years sorrow in life they say, why are you troubled?


This is my interpretation of some verses chosen by contemporary singers for their performances from the traditional Korean "minyo" or folk song. The original version depicts the abandoned lover, who laments her fate and describes the different ways she recalls her lost love. The original is substantially longer. My interpretation is entirely subjective. There is no consensus on the title's exact meaning in English, which is in the refrain, and subject to some dispute. The lyrics are archaic, or ambiguous in several parts. I hadn't seen any good translations. I think that perhaps due to the song being an oral tradition. Nevertheless, the song's popular appeal in South Korea causes many traditional and popular singers to perform Han O Bek Nyun.

First Lady Kim Gon-hee meets with former dictator’s wife Lee Soon-ja

(Source- Hankyoreh 6.16)

Birds of a feather flock together. Attempts by Yoon Seok-yeol and his wife, Kim Gon-hee to rehabilitate the image of the notorious former dictator Chun Doo-hwan and his wife are a telling indicator of the direction of the new South Korean administration.

Yoon post-election crackdown on political opponents underway

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 6.2) This political cartoon depicts the grim bias of the South Korean media in collusion with the justice system again under Yoon Seok-yeol's complete control. Korean mainstream media portray former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's wife, Kim Hye-kyeong, who is being investigated by police for suspicion of misuse of an office credit card while Lee Jae-myung was Governor of Gyeonggido. Police obtained warrants to search 129 commercial establishments including a number of restaurants and cafes. The graphic shows Lee's wife inside the red box apologizing for an alleged unauthorized purchase of meat made on the office credit card for around 100 dollars, while the mainsteam broadcast media on prime time produce numerous exclusive reports and news flashes, portraying horror and shock.

Outside the conservative media coverage (outside the red box), Yoon, his mother in law Choi, and wife, Kim Gon-hee, are portrayed in connection with their latest alleged financial derelictions. Yoon has never revealed what exactly his office expenses, as Prosecutor General, 14.7 billion won (over ten million dollars) were spent on. An accounting has never been released to the public. Choi's trials for fraudulent operation of a rehabilitation center resulting in two million dollars of state medical funds as income to her resulted in an acquittal on appeal after a belated trial. All other suspects received prison terms. Wife Kim Gon-hee was never investigated for her alleged involvement in an insider stock trading scandal (Deustche Motors) also where all the other suspects were given terms of confinement after trial. Kim was alleged to have profited by approximately 3 million dollars in that scheme. Her mother was also alleged to have been involved. Each family member contemplates the proverbial "gold spoon" 금수저 symbolic of the favoritism afforded Korean elites.

Recent news reports indicate that Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung himself is now under investigation for election law violations along with 48 officials elected to local or regional offices in the June 1 elections. Lee just won office as a National Assembly member from an Inchon district June 1, in a race to fill a vacancy, after having lost the March 9 presidential election to Yoon. The legal actions the day after the regional elections are widely regarded as "revenge investigations" but are also considered by some critics to reflect an attempt to establish authoritarian rule through Yoon's consolidated control of the administration of justice by eliminating political rivals from the public stage by prosecuting them.

Lee allegedly promulgated false information intending to affect the campaign outcome by circulating a facebook entry that affirmed he was against privatization of state assets including electric power, water works, airports and railroads. This is alleged by PPP to have been a factual misrepresentation of the conservative administration's position which had not considered "privatization." Lee published his position on facebook on May 18, the day after the Chief of Yoon's presidential secretarial office chief, Kim Dae-gi 김대기 stated, in a National Assembly steering committee hearing, that public assets including those mentioned by Lee, could be financialized by selling off 30 to 40 percent of the public entity in the form of stock to the public. He said it would be a large financial resource to the government. He argued that the fact that the government retained a 51 percent controlling interest and management rights of the state entity made characterizing the transaction as privatization untrue. Yet, this issue had come up in the Lee Myung-bak administration, in whose office Kim had served, where the same thing was tried with Korea Power, a state electric utility, and the failure to produce return for minority stakeholders resulted in repeated litigation, financial losses, and increasing utility bills for customers.

Also to consider is Yoon's avowed admiration for the policies of economist Milton Friedman, and that the top five floors of the so called "People's House" presidential office building on Yongsan garrison are devoted to "public private" partnerships. The investigation of Lee is clearly contrived and politically motivated. The winner of the Gyeonggi Province governor's race, another democrat is also targeted. Lee's election and the election of Kim Dong-yon as Geonggido governor were the high points in the otherwise poor showing of the democratic party candidates in the regional and local elections. Reportedly, in addition to a total of 48 elected candidates being investigated are hundreds of others for alleged election law violations.*

*878 under prosecution probe for alleged violations related to local elections; Yonhap News Agency, 1630 June 2;
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220602006851315

Also see: 인천공항공사 민영화 논란, 지분 40% 매각은 민영화가 아닐까? 김백겸 기자 vop.co.kr 5.20.2022;
https://vop.co.kr/A00001613323.html

"Populist" Yoon Seok-yeol

This Hankyoreh editorial* made some good points about the supply chain and South Korea and China:

Regarding Korea’s involvement in the IPEF, President Yoon Suk-yeol told CNN in an interview on Monday, “Even if we strengthen our alliances with the United States in security and technology, it does not mean that we think our economic cooperation with China is unimportant.”

Yoon also said that, since both South Korea and China depend on their mutual cooperation, he does “not believe it is reasonable for China to be overly sensitive about this matter,” revealing the very easy-going way of thinking of the president.

The IPEF is based on the US intention to exclude China from the global supply chain. A plan is needed that puts the characteristics of the Korean industry and the ecosystem into perspective. For Korea, which heavily depends on trade to keep its economy strong, fully excluding either the US or China is far too risky.

*Is Yoon prepared for the consequences of cold-shouldering China? Posted on : May.25,2022
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/1044370.html

Yoon is clueless. In fact, he’s on autopilot. He hasn’t changed his personal schedule or conduct to adjust for his new status as the president of South Korea. He appears to think he’s still on the campaign trail. The major Korean media are simply ignoring the problems with his personal life, such as disclosures that he appears to go right to his favorite drinking place right after work, where he ran up a 4000 dollar bill in one evening for himself and his security detail. This was on May 13, the day after North Korea launched three ballistic missiles. An investigative journalist recorded an unidentified witness who said President Yoon was a regular customer there. After he drinks at his favorite watering hole in Gangnam, he stops at another drinking spot close to his luxury apartment, in the Acrovista, in Seocho.

There are rumors that the bar hopping routine is stressful for the presidential security detail who begin working on the security deployments for Yoon’s wining and dining schedule at 2pm. (Yoon reportedly leaves the office at 6pm) The mission doesn’t wrap up until after 11pm. Yoon was quoted by one anonymous source as saying loudly at the end of the one documented drinking episode, “Let’s have just one more drink.” Needless to say, this went viral yesterday (on critical progressive social media).

The conservative media is focusing on photo shots of Yoon and his wife, Kim Gon-hee at his office in the old Ministry of Defense building in Yongsan. She and Yoon posed playing with their dog on the lawn outside the so called “People’s House,” and inside Yoon’s office. Kim was wearing her casual 1000 dollars plus dior sneakers. Presidential spokespeople tried to claim that the photos weren’t taken by presidential office personnel. His wife seems to be posting private photos of them together on her “Gon-hee Love” fan club social media sites.

After an explosion occurred at a Yeosu industrial site (a repeat occurrence apparently), in a separate incident, a mountain fire broke out on the morning of May 31 local time in Milyang. Hundreds of people needed to be evacuated from the surrounding community. Hundreds of fire fighters were committed to fight the fire. Rather than return to office for a National Security Council meeting Yoon was observed shopping in an outdoor market in Busan, posing for pictures having lunch with vendors. Critics complained that Yoon was, in fact, trying to influence the regional elections ending June 1, by campaigning while in office, a prohibited activity. It's rather obvious that Yoon continues his pose as a man of the people, while attempting to advance reactionary "privatizing and austerity policies," contrary to the public interest. Some of the photos emphasized the lunch menu for Yoon's group, going so far as to display the dishes served with labels identifying them. This harkens back to a PR policy adopted by the unpopular former US Ambassador Harry Harris, and the former "US Envoy to North Korea," Stephen Biegun, whose policy views were not accepted by the former South Korean administration, who then appeared in South Korean mainstream media cooking their favorite Korean dishes. This public relations strategy panders to the South Korean meokbang 먹방 food binging/food porn fad, ubiquitous in social media culture and broadcasting.

Meanwhile there are rising complaints from official security guards previously under duty at the Blue House, who now have to serve at Yongsan because of Yoon’s move of the Presidential office to that location. Apparently, there are no finished quarters for them to reside in, and they are quartered in an empty unused third floor of a military building on Yongsan. According to social media reports which appear to be from the guards themselves, the quarters smell (of urine), their isn’t enough furniture to sleep on, and there are no lockers or closets for personal use. Reports say that as a result they are showing up for duty tired, and in messy or incomplete uniforms. This is just one of the problems that was predicted by national security experts when Yoon insisted on moving into the MND building rather than the Blue House.

The South Korean regional elections will conclude on June 1. It is unlikely that Yoon’s performance (and that of his office and the “People’s Party”) will have substantial impact, as news unflattering to them is simply rarely reported. Right wing demonstrators have been demonstrating outside former president Moon Jae-in’s home in a small village in Yangsan, using loudspeakers to accuse Moon and his wife of being criminals, using abusive language and so on. This story gets lots of conservative media coverage. I saw a banner on one truck in a new video that accused Moon of being a “murderer.”