Journalist Kim Jong-tae being investigated by Yoon administration

(Source-OhMyNewsTV youtube, 1.7.22) Kim Jong-tae investigated by police based upon accusations of Yoon presidential office staff.

Kim Jong-tae, a columnist and pundit, appears regularly on OhMyTV News, an independent media source. Kim is often critical of the Yoon administration. In this instance, Kim reports that the Yoon presidential office has filed a complaint about Kim's reporting, because it paints a suspicious relationship between Dosa Cheon Gong, allegedly a Taoist cleric, and the Yoon administration. Kim was subpoenaed for questioning by the police concerning his reporting that Cheon Gong was during the period proximate to Yoon's assumption of the presidential office, observed in the area of the official residences of the Army Chief of Staff and the Foreign Minister in Hannandong. At the time, the Presidential Office was in a temporary location, because Yoon refused to occupy the traditional presidential office and residence on the Blue House grounds. Cheon Gong's presence at the sites of the official government residences supports the contention, that the arbitrary decision of the current president not to move into the Blue House, and to move into the Ministry of Defense building, was prompted by Cheon's advice, and his undue influence over the president and his wife. As reported further below his observed presence near the MOD/JCS buildings on Yongsan also supports the contention that Cheon was involved in the president's decision to move into the MND building and find an official residence in Hannamdong. Ultimately, the office residence of the Foreign Minister was chosen.

(Source 열린공감TV 3.21 다시 주목받는 3년 전 천공의 용산시대 예언! 윤석열 멘토로서 그의 영향력은 어디까지? ) Teacher Cheon Gong says he isn't Yoon Seok-yeol's mentor but has been "coaching" him according to his conscience. The Yongsan era begins! How far does the mentor's influence extend?

Yoon's spiritual advisor considers Yongsan a place invested with metaphysical properties which will revitalize Korea and empower its future. Anonymous sources allegedly in the Yoon camp report that Yoon and his wife had met with "teacher" Cheon Gong whose religious organization "Right Way" (정법) is based in Seoul near the old Yongsan military garrison grounds. Cheon Gong is a you tuber with his own channel. Contrary to his followers and Yoon's protestations, the mystic leader of the syncretic religious group does believe in feng shui ( 풍수 ) and make predictions of the future. Besides his belief in the mystical qualities of Yongsan real estate, Cheon foresees that Korea will be unified before 2025. Since, as Yoon's relationship with the "spiritual leader" became controversial, the alleged monthly meetings are reported to have ceased. Anonymous sources allegedly within Yoon's camp report that Yoon and wife have been seen watching Cheon's youtube videos while traveling in his limo. Yoon's wife Kim Geon-hee has been recorded claiming that she also has spiritual powers and doesn't need spiritual advice.

In November 2022, Korea Times reported this in an article about the immediate aftermath of the Itaewon disaster:

In September, Lee (Cheon Gong) was spotted with Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee during their visit to the Korean community in New York. During a televised debate in October last year (2021), Yoon, who was running to become the People Power Party's presidential candidate at the time, admitted that he had "met with Lee with my wife a few times." In an interview with local news media YTN that month, Lee said that he is not Yoon's mentor but had nevertheless "advised him to resign as the prosecutor general" to join the presidential race.*

Kim Jong-tae said he was questioned by police for three hours. He reported that curiously the complaint from the presidential office concerning his alleged false reporting conerning Cheon's visit to government official residences in Hannamdong did not include his additional statement that Cheon was also observed going in and out of the Offices of the Chief of Staff of ROK Army during the same time period. He was not questioned about his report that Cheon Gong, an unauthorized private person was seen entering and leaving the highly security area about the MND and JCS buildings at that time. Kim refused to reveal his source other than to say that the source was a trustworthy one and a highly placed official within the Ministry of Defense. Kim appears confident that this omission from the presidential office complaint reflects their concern that that their complaint can be proven groundless.

*Gaffes over Itaewon tragedy anger public, Korea Times, 11.3.22, by Lee Hae-rin;
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/01/113_339153.html

12.26 Seoul Drone Incursion from North Korea

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 1.5.23)
Downward arrow on left shows contended flight route of four drones crossing the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) from North Korea heading southwest over Gangwha Island, South Korea. Red line on right shows southeast heading of one other drone which also crossed the MDL, passed near Kimpo and followed a course along the Han River, entered Seoul airspace, proceeding to Yongsan and skirting the P-73a shootdown prohibited airspace before returning toward NK on a reverse course.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 1.5.23) This second graphic also shows the contended route of the single drone which crossed the MDL, entering Seoul airspace and approaching P-73a before it turned back.


The actions of Yoon Seok-yeol have served to escalate military tensions on the Korean peninsula. His domestic public support is down at about 30 percent and stuck there. He is compensating with his faux military tough guy posturing (see our previous 12.28.22 post Screwing Up the Tension in Korea) and tit for tat retaliatory responses to North Korean "provocations." The truth is he’s incompetent in diplomatic and national security matters. His initial move of the Presidential Office from the Blue House to the former Ministry of National Building, has had a disruptive impact on domestic security as well contributing to the 10.29 Itaewon disaster. The terrain around the Blue where the prior prohibited "shootdown" airspace was centered was more conducive to early detection and interception because of its elevation and zoning (far less urban sprawl around the Blue House in the center). The presidential office move arbitrarily initiated by Yoon, had a cascading effect on emergency military readiness, by abandoning the already well organized and secure Blue House compound where the national command center was located. Moving onto the Yongsan compound where the MND building was located bumped the Ministry of Defense from their offices and caused the service chiefs of the armed forces to move from their building next door to other more remote locations. Movement of radars, ECM, and firing positions was required by the presidential move, which disrupted the preexisting air defenses. It also necessitated movement of the P-73a prohibited airspace over central Seoul to the south. That movement created a gap in the shoot down zone, that allowed the North Korean drone's flight to approach the presidential office in Yongsan and then return to North Korea.

Yoon has been lying about the situation and claiming that the shortcomings were caused by the previous administration not having a drone command nor practicing for such a contingency. Both assertions are untrue. The presidential office also blamed the Air Defense Command of the Army for the lapse. The ROK Army shot back with an argument similar to that above and a map of the critical airspace involved. At the outset of the presidential move, the Army ADC had objected to the movement of the prohibited zone to the south, recommended increasing its size from 3.7km radius to 5.7 km, and disputed contentions that new or different weapon systems could compensate for the gaps created over the critical national command center area by the move. While recent criticisms of the quality of North Korean reconnaissance had been made beforehand, particularly their photoreconnaissance, the flight path of the drone buzzing Seoul suggests they anticipated exactly where the gaps were.

So Yoon escalated by sending a drone into North Korea in retaliation and told his generals not to be afraid of nuclear war. The US never really supported the military agreements made by South Korea with North Korea to defuse tensions along the DMZ, the best that could be said was that they acquiesced at the time, reluctantly. The Yoon administration allowed propaganda balloons to be sent over the MDL into North Korea on at least two occassions, although this was made illegal after the military agreements were concluded with the north, and represented relevant provocations. It may be that some ROK/US military exercises, artillery firing near Paju, rocket-artillery firing in Cheoran County (both near the DMZ), air force exercises in the West Sea, etc., may have already violated the agreement, namely, in the buffer zones around the maritime Northern Limit Line and MDL restricting military operations. The joint use of artillery in Paju and rockets in Cheoran violates the spirit of agreement if not the letter. It's clear that the North regarded ROK and US artillery firing, and artillery rocket activities so close to the DMZ as provocations and responded with missile tests, artillery firings into the maritime buffer zones, and aircraft operations near the dmz all regarded as violations of the September 19, 2018, Comprehensive Military Agreement.

The Military’s Response to North Korean Drones Was “Altogether Incompetent,”
By Park Eun-kyung, Kyunghyung Sinmun, 1.6.23;
http://english.khan.co.kr/khan_art_view.html?artid=202301061304427&code=710100&utm_source=livere&utm_medium=social_share

S.Korea begins major Hoguk field training exercise amid N.Korea’s saber-rattling; Korea Herald, Oct. 17, 2022;
https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20221017000637

Explainer: What exactly is the inter-Korean military pact that might be suspended?
Hankyoreh, Jan.5,2023
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/1074576.html

Military Flight Restrictions Agreement Between Koreas Irks US, 10.13.18
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2018/10/military-flight-restrictions-agreement.html

"Screwing Up" the Tension in Korea, 12.28.22
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2022/12/screwing-up-tension-in-korea.html

Tigers

In Korea tigers used to roam the mountains, reportedly until some time in the 20th Century. Koreans claim during the Japanese imperial administration, deforestation of the peninsula and hunting encouraged by colonial officials resulted in their elimination.

Tigers played an important traditional role in fables and childhood upbringing. If children didn't mind their parents wishes, or wandered too far off, they were told the tiger might carry them away. Years ago I was fascinated with the cultural focus on tigers. They had many qualities in art, whimsical, fantastic, dangerous, and strong. It's bad karma I guess to have too many images of tigers in one's home, but I collected some anyway. Images of a tiger apparently have some shamanistic property. A lot of young US soldiers I saw in South Korea, had the ubiquitous ferocious tiger embroidered on black jackets. I actually wasn't too fond of this aggressive image, but what the hell, maybe it keeps the bad spirits away, I don't know.

Below are three differing styles, the traditional folk painting (min hwa) of a tiger with an animist, whimsical style; a "realistic" style painting from the 18th Century by Kim Hong-do, a famous court painter (a copy by my wife's aunt) ; and a modern realistic rendition of the tiger coming down the mountain on white celadon:

Years ago, I bought this contemporary watercolor minwha tiger painting (below) from a street artist in Itawwon for about 15 dollars. It's one of my favorites.

The band Lee Nal-chi does a performance of Tiger comes down with the Ambiguous Dance Company in a Modern folk fusion performance. I haven't taken time to do the translation yet, but I'm gathering that it comes from the myth of a sea turtle that called a rabbit down the mountain, for a deceptive purpose. He erroneously called the rabbit "Ho" (tiger) instead of "Do" (rabbit). As a result the sleek, powerful, tiger came down the mountain inspiring mortal fear in the turtle. Ah, found a translation:

이날치(LEENALCHI) - 범 내려온다(Tiger is coming) Kor-Eng sub
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sMzIJNF0Do