"Beyond Utopia"

This week @IndependentLens features the documentary film Beyond Utopia produced by a former CIA agent and a right wing neocon about an evangelical pastor saving North Koreans. Deep thanks to progressive documentary filmmakers for this brilliant critique https://t.co/pOIc6HCYVg

— Christine Ahn (@christineahn) January 7, 2024

This is an excerpt from the open letter from Deeann Borshay Liem to the producer of the next US propaganda film about North Korea-

An Open Letter to Independent Lens about “Beyond Utopia”

We are concerned that Beyond Utopia presents an unbalanced and inaccurate narrative about Korean history and North Korean society. While the film’s verité sequences of the Roh and Lee families’ plight are compelling, noticeably lacking is any mention of the ongoing impact of the Korean War and U.S. policies that have destabilized the livelihood and well-being of North Korea’s people — factors that cause families like the Rohs and Lees to leave the country.

While an armistice stopped the fighting in 1953, a peace treaty was never signed. North and South Korea, as well as North Korea and the United States, are still at war. Ongoing hostilities have resulted in the hyper-militarization of North and South Korea and the remilitarization of Japan, threatening to engulf the region in renewed fighting. These factors contribute to North Korea’s siege mentality, nuclear weapons development, and the economic hardships faced by the civilian population.

(Source- 김어준의 겸손은힘들다 뉴스공장 2024년 1월 11일 youtube) Police washing away evidence (blood) at the scene of the attempted assassination of Lee Jae-myung soon after it happened

Very few people are doing any in depth coverage outside South Korea on the January 2 attempted assassination by Kim Jin-seong of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party. The coverage is superficial and the investigation by the Busan Police is disgraceful. The political assassinations of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X came to mind, as well as the assassinations of JFK and RFK. One South Korean youtube analsyt compared Lee's attempted assassination to that of one of Korea's most revered independence leaders, Kim Ku. Kim was assassinated June 26, 1949, by a young ROK army lieutenant during the administration of US installed strongman Syngman Rhee. Kim Ku's assassin was sentenced to life in prison, but was released after one year, restored to active service during the Korean War, rising to the rank of colonel. There were connections to US counterintelligence and Rhee's white terror organization. The assassin himself stated in his confession that he had been ordered to do so by Rhee's national security office.

Multiple South Korean opposition leaders and political analysts (on independent media) have pointed out the superficial nature of the current police investigation, which appears to be a coverup. Police washed away the blood from Lee's life threatening wound at the scene within minutes in attempt to support the media contention that the wound didn't bleed much and wasn't serious. The weapon used by Kim Jin-seong, in the attempted assassination, was a hunting knife which appears to have been filed down to a two edged dagger. Fortunately an alert democratic assembly member Jeong Cheong-rae took photos of the pool of blood with his hand phone before police washed it away. Lee was released from the Seoul National Hospital eight days after the January 2 attack. He hasn't fully recovered yet. There has been ridiculous media hype and excessive politically motivated recrimination concerning Lee's transfer from Pusan National University Hospital to Seoul National Universal Hospital for vascular surgery on the day of the attack. It's alleged that Lee received privileged treatment, that he shouldn't have been moved by the 119 helicopter, that his wound wasn't serious, that democratic party members defamed the reputation of the Busan hospital, and interfered with its operations. Typical of right wing motivated moves, a lawsuit has been filed. National Assembly representive Jeong Cheong-rae has publicly criticized the suit against him as one of the respondents and refuted the contentions as completely unfounded in fact.

There are so many loose ends and investigative irregularities that the opposition party has been openly criticizing it as a premature attempt unsupported by proper investigation to convince the public the attempted murder on Lee, characterized in the media as an "attack," was an individual crime rather than a conspiracy. The police effort appears to be directed from above which is not unexpected given the Yoon Seok-yeol's track record in this respect. The youtube analyst "Professor Kim," is predicting that the suspect will be assassinated in jail because he failed in the attack, and knows too much.

A Sincheonji supporter caught on video with the attacker on Jan. 1, made a throat cutting gesture with his hand while talking to the suspect.* When interviewed by police he obviously lied about their conversation and relationship. I'm basing this opinion on statements from two other witnesses which are inconsistent with Sincheonji witness's statement to police. Police also released a suspect in his 70s who agreed with the attacker to forward an 8 page document the attacker Kim Jin-seong, is said to have prepared to disseminate after Lee's murder was consummated. If this isn't aiding the assailant in his plot to murder Lee, nothing is. The police won't release the document. Even the reason the confidential evidence is not releassed is confidential (“비공개 이유도 비공개”).

* 출처: [단독] 李 암살 미수범, 범행 전날 신천지 신도 만났다-서울의 소리 - https://www.amn.kr/46566
서울의소리=윤재식 기자, 정병곤 기자 1.10.24

* Source OhMyNews youtube 1.09.24 이재명 대표 정치테러 진상 중대 증언 "무서웠다. 공범 있을 거라 생각" 살인미수범과 동승 1시간
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWE9UwFLw2U

Because the political opposition's back has not been broken as intended, there is a lot of concern that the Yoon administration will endeavor to raise military tensions with North Korea further to incite a crisis before the April 10 general election for the National Assembly. It's likely social media in South Korea are being manipulated by intelligence elements and radical conservative groups such as the Taeguki, to brand the opposition as internal enemies, communists and so on. Anyone who opposes Yoon is being branded as pro-communist in this effort. ( Yoon and his ministers have actually promoted this view by making statements to the same effect publicly in the recent past). The pro-US and pro-Japanese elements in South Korea are getting desperate as the election approaches. There is transparent manipulation of media polls to suggest Yoon's popularity is rising which is unlikely under the current circumstances. It is also suggested that public fear of the Yoon administration is affecting poll results.

Yoon's government may fall if a 200 seat opposition coalition forms after the April election (enough to overcome his vetoes). Even if the number of party assembly seats doesn't change much, the emerging authoritarian dictatorship will have to take further brazen moves in the open to secure its power. The US military structure in South Korea and northeast Asia may weaken somewhat, particularly the so called Trilateral Partnership if the conservative party PPP collapses in April. Lee is the architect of the potential return of a sovereign government by the people in South Korea, often associated with the independence movement in the public mind. Camp David is the Biden/neocon/mic "great accomplishment" which cannot be pushed back, so more bad developments may be anticipated.


note- I made minor changes to this original draft Jan 12, 12 noon EST, to identify Lee's attacker by name, and to clarify the Yoon administration's position.

Concerning the attempted assassination of Lee Jae-myung

Half way decent article from a few days ago (Hankyoreh)-

Opposition leader’s attacker switched parties 10 months ago after years of conservative affiliation

The real estate agent surnamed Kim who attacked Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday in Busan has been found to have been a member of the People Power Party (PPP) for several years before joining the Democratic Party 10 months ago.

Kim’s acquaintances have testified that he frequently joined the far-right “Taegeukgi rallies” and enjoyed watching political content on YouTube.

...

According to officials from both the PPP and the Democratic Party, Kim was a member of the United Future Party, the predecessor of the PPP, and joined the Democratic Party in March 2023 and remained a member until recently.*

https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1123030.html

The rest of the article is worth reading.

Because the campaign season is upon them, the two major political parties are under pressure internally to put up or shut up on their internal divisions. In the democratic party, the majority party in the legislature, that Lee represents as the party leader, the soobak faction or DINOs are the major problem threatening democrataic election prospects internally. Of about 30 of these National Assembly members, 5 or 6 members have publicly been threatening to split from the party because they hate Lee Jae-myung as a progressive. They've tried to get rid of him recently by voting with conservative PPP members (and Yoon's prosecutors) to remove Lee's legislative immunity. It didn't work. The judge at a subsequent pre-trial conflinement hearing ruled against Yoon's prosecutors. The soobak faction of the democratic party wanted wanted Lee Jae-myung (LJM) to step down from the democratic party leader position, and to appoint an emergency committee led by someone else to lead the democratic party in the nomination process. This way so they wouldn't have to leave the party to run for their seats again. Lee Nak-yeon (LNY) is their nominal leader.

LNY is the former prime minister under Moon Jae-in. Lee Jae-myung met with him last week to smooth over differences. LNY wouldn't play ball meaning "you need to step down as party leader." Other soobak were threatening to leave the party the morning of assassination if Lee Jae-myung didn't meet their demands i.e. step down. One LJM supporter characterized their position as an "ultimatum."

In the PPP conservative party, nominally the governing but minority party, a young leader, Lee Jun-seok aka Junstone, the former party leader who was instrumental in getting misogynist young males to vote for Yoon in the presidential election, ostensibly has split from the PPP and has his own party roster, trying to qualify for independent runs at National Assembly seats April 10. That's not a factor relating to the assassination attempt. The Yoon faction, and the party emergency committee chair Han Dong-hun run the party now. Yoon and Han have an intense hatred of Lee Jae-myung, and they are petty, spiteful, and vindictive as well. They have tried to put Lee in prison and have had him wrapped up in criminal litigation for years in an attempt to remove him from the scene. Lee had just led his party to pass a special investigation into the First Lady's corruption. Yoon of course, vetoed that. Their hostility toward Lee is palpable.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 01.02.04) Han Dong-hun celebrating something with colleagues a few hours later.

This is all speculation but would be familiar to students of American assassinations. Primary is the legend of the lone nut assassin. You have to get that out there first. So the patsy has to get sheepdipped as they say, and associated with political and psychological symbolism to sell the lone nut theory. So the suspect still unnamed in the press in accordance with the custom although he was filmed committing the crime also has to be protrayed as a nut. So he was wearing a paper crown on his head, like a kindergarten student.

The crown has several symbolic connotations which go to either sheepdipping, misleading the public or they could be a genuine clue. The crown is also a parody and mockery of Lee, in a sardonic fashion. It said on the front, "I am Lee Jae-myung."

President Yoon, on two occasions in presidential campaign appearances had the Chinese character for king written on his palm in dark black ink and was ridiculed for it. So there is a suggestion of sarcasm in the appearance of the assassin to youtubers who are familiar with the so called "apple apology" once generated by Yoon and his wife in photographs on social media. On the other hand, Lee Nak-yeon had criticized LJM for turning the democratic party into a private "fan club" and "bullet proof vest" among other things. Oddly enough, there is a bizarre cult similar to the Unification Church or Moonies in South Korea, in which the cult leader leader is regarded as "king" or something like that. In addition, on the crown is a green or blue silhouette of a butterfly which is contended to be a symbol of the Sincheonji (new heaven and earth) Church. (The leader lives in what resembles a palace.) Now the tie is that Lee Nak-yeon is alleged to have a significant political connection to the church. Sincheonji rank and file work as campaign workers for conservative candidates typically (like the Unification Church has been doing in Japan until the Abe assassination). The association with the Abe assassination is almost automatic when you watch the video of the attempt on Lee's life, but there are key differences.

Some of the press have already planted the idea that the suspect is mentally ill, and therefore, should be dealt with humanely when sentenced, "if he apologizes." In this regard critics of the police or other sources of this idea point out, the calculated movements of the attacker before the attack clearly indicate a carefully planned premeditated attack. the nature of the wound inflicted, said to be one mm from the internal carotid ( as I interpret one public medical statement and other statements on this topic). One observer suggested that inflicting this sort of wound quickly required some training. The jugular vein was lacerated to an extent of 60 percent.

A third factor is the behavior of the Busan police. They provided inadequate protection, which by law, they claimed they weren't obliged to provide. There were some officers in Lee's vicinity at the time of the attack. I've read that there were 41 police total in the area at the time. The fired Chief of the Ulsan (?) Police was with Lee's group at the time of the attack. This senior officer is a Lee supporter. He formerly was the national association of police rep, who opposed Yoon's reorganization of the police affecting its political and institutional independence. Yoon's bureaucratic move, put the National Police Agency under his minister of public order and the interior, as it was in the dictatorships. According to an interview of the former president of the police association on OhMyTT News, he took charge of the immediate scene, he made immediate efforts to provide first aid, restore security, and order an ambulance. The assailant was immediately apprehended. The press briefings from Busan police released a minimum of information which is understandable, but said from the start that the assailant was a democratic party member, and that a conspiracy was unlikely.

A day passed and someone leaked video showing the attacker arriving at a motel 11.5 km from the scene of the attack the day before. It was a distinctive vehicle, a silver late model, high end Mercedes sedan. Oddly enough the same or identical car model was photographed at the scene of the attack. After the release, the police admitted that someone drove the suspect to the scene of the crime. Their assessment, apparently already arrived at was "nothing to see here" and conspiracy highly unlikely. This is within 2 days of the attack. How is this possible without a complete and impartial investigation, including evaluation of forensic evidence of all circumstances, relationships, business and employment history, communications, movements etc?

The suspect's small real estate office in Asan was searched, and it was revealed he hadn't paid his rent, or was in arrears for the past 6 months. There were also notices photographed by the press on the door from banks allegedly showing multiple loans in default. Unofficial sources also reported they saw a wanted ad or sign from his office wanting to purchase for a building with 100 one room rentals. Adding to the picture, on Dec. 13, the suspect was seen wearing the same silly crown at a democratic party meeting to discuss the adverse impact of "jeonse" defaults by real estate investors to their lessees and investors. All of this is from independent media sources.

Allegedly, the suspect just happened to meet the Mercedes driver, whom he allegedly didn't know, who was also a democratic party member, who agreed to drive him to the scene where Lee was viewing the site for a planned airport from the motel 11.5 km away. The suspect was also been photographed at a memorial ceremony for former president No Moo-yeon at a cemetery on Jan 1. He also allegedly visited Ulsan a city in the same region, for unknown reasons.

At an unrelated event, the same day, just a few hours after the assassination attemp, Han Dong-hun, the de facto party leader of the governing PPP party, was observed with a phalanx of police bodyguards around him. It was reported that 240 police are assigned just to protect him.

Lee would, if elected president in the future, make efforts to return South Korea to the Moon Jae-in course on foreign policy. He had a conference with the Chinese ambassador to South Korea at one point, in his capacity as opposition party leader that drew some criticism. Lee would maintain good relations with China, and keep a safe distance, and make no concessions to Japan on outstanding issues without some reciprocity from Japan. There is no way he would have gone along with the Camp David nonsense, or joined a tri-lateral Indo Pacific alliance directed at China. Given the association of religious extremists with the WACL, an ostensibly international organization like Sincheonji, the latter probably does have intelligence and political connections, as does the Unification Church, so that potentially could lead simply to South Korea's NIS or to western agencies.

It's early to speculate but I'm not accepting the lone nut theory at this point. Also, because the South Korean administration itself and its police and prosecutors are notoriously political and far from impartial, an independent investigation with a special prosecution team is necessary.

There are tit for tat artillery exercises going on in the west sea in an area near some of the South Korean islands off the North Korean coast. Hope no one gets hurt. That's been in the US newsfeeds so I don't really have much to add. If I were the North I would have avoided this kind of military activity so close to the campaign season. It's counter intuitive. Raising the military tension during campaign season in the South especially hurts North Korean security interests, and is more hazardous to peace, but DPRK's internal agenda may be generating this.

note-made some edits to the original post 1.8.24 for grammar, style, and clarity.