Yoon will move his executive office into the MND building (확정)

국방부 이사 확정!!

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 4.6) The planned move of the Ministry of National Defense calls for the core offices of the Minister and Chairman to move out of the MND building into the adjacent Joint Chiefs building next door (left). In order to do this the JCS related military offices and departments, and units will need to diperse to ten different locations at existing military facilites. ROK Army offices inside the compound will need to move out. JCS elements are expected ultimately to transfer to the Seoul Capitol Defense HQ. Accessory offices and related elements of the JCS will be dispersed to other military facilities awaiting availability of the Capitol Defense HQ. The executive staff of the president elect Yoon Seok-yeol intends to move in to the MND building May 10.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 4.6) This graphic shows a map of the MND compound in Yongsan (striped area). The entrance to the South Post, and the Dragon Hill Lodge are on the right side of the MND compound. South of the MND and JCS buildings is a heliport on the compound. The dark shaded area on the perimeter of the MND compound is the proposed off limits area in front of the MND compound and on the Samgakchi circle (left- west) side. The off limits area for demonstrations and assemblies completely blocks off the street (Itaewonno) between the MND compound and the main post to the north and extends west into Samgakchi on the west perimeter on of the MND compound. Directly north of the MND compound is the War Memorial Building on the main post, and to the right of that (east) the US ROK CFC facility also on Yongsan main post.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 4.6) This graphic suggests that the existing flight prohibited zone currently around the Blue House (P-73a) will effectively be moved southward when it is centered on the new president's executive office after his staff moves into the MND building in Yongsan. It isn't clear what will happen to the wider radius (8.3 km) P-73b prohibited zone also centered on the Blue House which currently extends to the bank of the Han River (the graphic is not accurate) Movement southward to accommodate presidential security at the MND location would interfere significantly with flight operations in the region in the south part of Seoul below the Han River. The north (dashed) inner circle is the depiction of P-73a centered on the Blue House. The solid circle to the south is the same two mile radius no fly shoot down zone around the MND anticipated when the president's office it is moved. The outer circle 8.3km radius is P-73b a warning shot area. Currently, the South Bank area of Seoul is under the R-75 restricted area (not depicted). This graphic is for discussion purposes only and is not authoritative for any purpose. The diagram is not accurate.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 4.6) This graphic projects anticipated use of the ten above ground floors of the MND building when it become's the executive office of the new president. Ground floor press offices. Floors 2, 4, and 5 representative offices, aide offices, secretarial offices, etc., of the office of the president. Third floor, the President's office. Floors 6 through 10, offices of the committee for public private partnerships.

Yoon Seok-yeol, the new president elect of South Korea, didn't mention during his campaign that he wouldn't move into the Blue House but after he was elected one of his first announcements was that he would be moving his executive office into the Ministry of National Defense building located in the Yongsan garrison compound. In order to do this the MND would need to move out. It appears the plan is for the MND to move into the adjacent JCS building, and for JCS and related offices to vacate the facility and move to other defense facilities. Initially, resistance was expressed from various quarters of the outgoing Moon Jae-in administration and from a number of retired high ranking military officers. The main contention is that the defense of the Seoul capital area and South Korea as a whole would be jeopardized by moving the national command elements at the Blue House and in Yongsan at a critical time. In addition to the May 10 transition of power, there are the recent North Korean missile launches and the pending US- ROK springtime military exercises in April. Apparently a plan has been formulated to begin the move before May 10 when Yoon assumes office. This was inititally resisted by the outgoing administration. Collateral MND and JCS offices will move first as soon as the financial contracts are drawn up for making the necessary changes to the buildings involved. The MND minister and the JCS itself will not move until the US-ROK exercises are completed on or about April 28.

Note: primary source for this story is 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube channel as noted above. Any mistakes in interpetation and translation are my own.

Will Yoon's presidential "command group" move into MND building?

Source- 망신당한 윤석열, 김종대 뼈 때렸다! "이런 아마추어가 없다" - 뜬금없는 용산 시대 선언에 시민들 불만.. 김태년 "문재인 대통령과 윤석열 회동 불발.. 대단한 결례" March 16, 알리미 황희두 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Y1bVq6z_s
Yoon's inner circle on the march (top) oddly resembles a scene from a mob movie (bottom).


See also 김종대 "尹, 용산시대? 헛소리.. 실컷 검토하라" Mar 17, https://news.v.daum.net/v/20220317062057931

From the English language Hankyoreh article on the proposed transfer of the presidential staff to the Ministry of National Defense Building:

Will Yoon's Blue House office move into MND building?
Mar.18,2022 17:07 KST
Hankyoreh

According to Kim, the Yoon camp is telling the Ministry of Defense to empty their main building and move into the Joint Chiefs of Staff building next door. Although it would be theoretically possible for the defense minister himself to move there, “the policy departments of the ministry will reportedly be moved to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration building in Gwacheon,” Kim said, pointing out how Yoon’s plan would scatter these different departments around in different locations.

“The Ministry of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff are optimized as the last bastion and center of national security in case of an emergency,” Kim commented. “For example, if North Korea detonates a nuclear weapon in the air 60 kilometers above Seoul, it becomes an electromagnetic pulse — almost 100 billion won was spent on the construction of this defense facility alone [to defend it from such attacks]. And they want to send it all packing?” Kim asked.

“The Blue House crisis management center also spent a lot of money to build a system to manage terrorist situations, natural disasters, and national security situations, all of which are [now] useless,” Kim added.

Nevertheless, the Yoon camp still believes the move is a good idea.

https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1035426.html


The Yoon Seok-yeol "command group"

"Headquarters Command Risk," summarizing the previously known "wife risk," and "mother in law risk."

망신당한 윤석열, 김종대 뼈 때렸다! "이런 아마추어가 없다" - 뜬금없는 용산 시대 선언에 시민들 불만.. 김태년 "문재인 대통령과 윤석열 회동 불발.. 대단한 결례" youtube March 16, 알리미 황희두

Does the president elect Yoon Seok-yeol want to move into the MND building because he's a wanna be dictator or because his shaman told him the feng-shui of the old Japanese colonial outpost is favorable to his rule? His wife had said she wouldn't live in the Blue House. This preliminary annoucement is another example of his absolute incompetence as a leader. The communities of Yongsan and Gwacheon are opposed to the plan. They voted for him.

This is one of many surprises to come. Yoon told the present prosecutor general to resign. Yoon plans on investigating the outgoing current president Moon Jae-in; for what he did not say. Don't worry he'll make something up. Rumors are that he will nominate Na Kyung-won for Foreign Minister. Na's husband allegedly diverted criminal litigation against Yoon's wife and mother-in-law in the past. Yoon's last minute supporter from the National Party, Ahn Chul-soo, had said just a few weeks ago, that anyone who voted for Yoon would cut off the finger that pushed the button on the ballot for Yoon in a year. Will it take that long? Hong Jun-pyo a former conservative presidential candidate said the building where the first family and Blue House national command authority reside isn't the problem, it's the personnel, an oblique reference to Yoon's clique in the PPP party.

The estimated tax cost of moving the Blue House staff is approximately a billion dollars. That doesn't include the adverse impact on commerce in the affected communities. The military expert cited, who has advised former presidents, and the National Assembly, referred to Yoon as an "amateur" using the English term.

Yoon’s motivation has also been speculated to be a concern over alleged “lack of security” for him personally if he were residing at the Blue House. One couldn’t help but notice that the Blue House is located close to the Gwanghwamoon plaza where the largest demonstrations in Seoul took place in 2017. These huge “candlelight revolution” demonstrations ultimately resulted in impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye and brought down her administration. The plaza and the Blue House perimeter require a relatively large police commitment to contain the crowds and control access to the Blue House perimeter wall. One demonstration last fall by conversative opposition groups did result in the militant Taegukki group moving from Gwanghwamun plaza and attempting to scale the Blue House wall resulting in a number of arrests.

One can reasonably foresee that Yoon at some point will be faced with demonstrations similar to the candlelight movement which involved as many as a million people assembling in or near Gwangwhamun. If the Blue House command authority is moved to the MND the narrower rights of way in the former Yongsan garrison area will make blocking access to the Ministry of Defense building far easier. The Samgakchi plaza at the end of Itaewonno will not accommodate such large assemblies.

Given the communications capabilities of the Blue House bunker in times of national emergency, experts and other critics have remarked that the location of the national command authority isn’t just a matter of the president’s personal security but the security of the Republic of Korea and its people as a whole. Yoon’s capricious and arbitrary desire to move the Blue House staff to the MND building is an indicator not only of his lack of competence in such matters, but also his narcissism, and arrogant self centered focus on all issues. Yoon’s behavior in this context has been compared to the actions of a monarch during the Choseon dynasty period.

Addendum 3.20 Why is Arirang News trying so hard to sell this stupid move by Yoon? They uncritically just repeat the misrepresentations by the Yoon camp. Okay so Yoon won't move into the Blue House, and he's telling the MND in Yongsan to get out of their building, and that there will be two new buildings on the old Yongsan Garrison site. Where are the generals going to move? Who is going to pay for this? Other Korean news sources say the cost of the transition will be approximately 1 billion dollars not counting the adverse affect on commerce in the neighboring communities. Doesn't all this need to be authorized by the National Assembly or does the authoritarian Mr. Yoon just order this? The legislature is controlled by the Democratic Party. Yoon cuts the department of women and children, and is going to reduce civil service employment rolls to "save money," but he's doing this? Shouldn't the public health challenge of the covid surge be the government's first priority? It's pretty obvious that the move itself will be disruptive in terms of South Korean national security and diaster preparedness.

The ultimate Yoon misrepresentation on this issue is that this area will be more "accessible to the people." How many people have actually been in the Yongsan garrison- Samgakji area. This move is being chosen for exactly the opposite reason. It is easier to block public access to the MND building and its approaches. However, the zoning and building restrictions around the Blue House have been developed to provide better security for the national command center particularly from air and ground attack. This cannot be achieved as well around the MND building because of vertical building construction around the area. This is also a reason why developers and local businesses oppose the move.

South Korea: "Junstone" meets the Republic of Lawyers

"Junstone" is the popular nickname of the young representative of the People's Power Party, Lee Jun-seok (seok 石, is the hanja character for stone). Lee was taken on as the conservative party representative even though polls showed that Na Kyung-won was more favored in popular polls among conservatives. Na was the former conservative party leader in the National Assembly. It was hoped that Lee Jun-seok's popularity among young voters would result in a successful demographic formula for Yoon Seok-yeol's presidential campaign. Yoon is favored by large margins among the elderly (over 60 years of age) voters. PPP party members felt that an appeal by the party to the youngest generation of voters would give Yoon the votes for a successful election campaign. However, it became somewhat apparent during their meetings and their campaign stops together that the younger Lee Jun-seok was the subject of interest among young voters and not presidential candidate Yoon. "Junstone" is the youngest person to be selected as a party representative in South Korea. Yoon's inability to address social policy issues and provide proposals to remedy lack of opportunity in housing and labor issues, characterized by low pay and long hours, for the younger demographic has resulted in his image as old fossil (ggontae) being reinforced rather than lessened by the PPP's failing campaign formula.

(Source 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 12.27) (Right) Lee Kyung-jin, PPP election planning committee, chief of the standing public information group quoted by MBN Newswide: "If Lee Jun-seok doesn't return within two days, I don't know, he may have to spend a long time in a dark tunnel." Lee Jun-seok (left) quoted from CBS radio: "Whoever said that if I don't return within a few days, my political career will be over, rather than having an intention to solve a problem, is more intent on thinking of how to threaten me."

Worse for conservatives, the expanding media coverage of alleged corruption of Yoon's wife and mother in law in the respective areas of academic qualifications and real estate investment hit sore points with young voters. Recent disclosures alleged that twenty three Choi Eun-sun real estate properties were subject to collection by various jurisdictions.* Young voters might think "why do the privileged own many properties while I cannot afford one?" There seems to be a hard core of conservative voters who will vote for Yoon no matter what evidence comes out concerning his family's alleged corruption at about 35 percent of potential voters. Yoon appears to have recently lost his margin above that level because of a court verdict against his mother in law in a bank certificatation forgery case, and his wife's half hearted public apologies for repeated instances of "exaggerations" on her academic resumes submitted for teaching positions. It is not lost on the public that the latter issue is similar in nature to that for which Yoon had initiated prosecution of former Justice Minister Cho-guk's family. Cho's wife, Chung Kyung-shim, was charged with "forgery" of a certificate of voluntary service issued by a university to Cho Guk's daughter, Cho Min, along with unfounded charges of financial misconduct. The case appears to be faltering upon final appeal in the Supreme Court due to numerous irregularities in the investigation and prosecution. Cho's wife, professor Chung Kyung-shim, has already been convicted, and sentenced to four years imprisonment by lower courts. She was confined pending trial and appeal. So where does this leave Yoon's campaign, ostensibly based on the keywords, fairness, justice and common sense?

*Correction edit: These collection seizures appear to be mostly related to Choi's National health insurance fund criminal case rather than tax related. SBS News "윤석열 장모 압류 부동산만 수도권·충청·강원 23곳" 12.18.21, https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1006573704&plink=TOP&cooper=SBSNEWSMAIN

(Source 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 12.28) (quoted from YTN) Lee Jun-seok, "There is a suspicion that Yoon's election committee isn't trying to win the election but rather to reorganize the political world in accordance with some different plan with another political goal."

A rift has erupted between the putative party leader Lee Jun-seok and the so called core of Yoon supporter's on the "unified" party election committee. Yoon's "core" members on the election planning campaign committee consist primarily of former prosecutors. There are differences in how the Yoon "core" on the committee and Lee as PPP party representative wish to react to the increasing problem of Yoon's family, particularly his wife's "risk" to the success of his campaign. There had been up until now, rumors and leaks about disputes between Yoon's committee members and Lee. The committee doesn't want to hear any criticisms of Yoon or his family from party members. Lee threatened to leave the committee if leaks about his discussions with the committee weren't stopped and apologies issued. The Yoon faction's responses could be characterized as critical, if not openly hostile, to Lee. There is speculation whether Yoon's resignation from the party and campaign is even a possibility. Yet it is Lee's threat to leave the party election planning committee that elicited threats from the Yoon "core." Lee wants the party opened up to younger candidates on more competitive basis and less reliance on seniority and the status based system for selection of candidates. At first it was implied if Lee didn't come back to the committee, it would portend a dark future for his his political career. Lee implied he wanted to solve problems but was receiving only threats from the Yoon core on the committee. The aftermath suggests that Yoon supporters are only interested in silencing critics.

The latest episode in the PPP intraparty dispute now involves a leak from the so called "republic of lawyers" also known as "Yoon's division" from prosecution offices, associated with Yoon as a senior prosecutor, up to and including his position as South Korea's prosecutor general. Allegations from an old investigation of Lee Jun-seok (Junstone), have been leaked to the press, indicating that Lee was the recipient of favors and gifts on two separate occasions in August 2013 while he served as a committee man on the Saenuri Party committee. The alleged gifts and favors amounted to 1,300,000 won and 9,000,000 won respectively. Pundits believe this information could only have come from prosecution offices. So the option appears to be to drive Lee to play ball or drive "Junstone" out of the party. Whether there is evidence to support the allegations is not clear at this point. But this doesn't matter as a practical matter to Yoon supporters. This is the same tactic that Yoon engaged in as a senior prosecutor and prosecutor general by politicizing the office.

The tactic reflects those used against his opponent in the presidential campaign, the democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung. Yoon and the PPP made unfounded charges of corruption against Lee Jae-myung, in his former role as Mayor of Seongnam city, with respect to the Daejang dong real estate scandal. As it turned out, Lee appears to be clean, but multiple former politicians from the conservative ranks at the time were implicated and are now under investigation. The significant point is that the South Korean public now knows what to expect if Yoon Seok-yeol is elected president of South Korea. Rather than a military dictatorship, it can expect to be ruled by a campaign of intimidation and arbitrary arrests and prosecutions by the corrupt lawyers in the prosecution offices and their collaborators in the mainstream media in South Korea. There is a reason Yoon was disciplined by the Ministry of Justice for conducting unlawful investigations of sitting judges. Such investigations allow prosecutors the opportunity to improperly intimidate and coerce them on pending cases. Similarly, the practice can be used to intimidate, drive from office, and jail, elected or appointed officials not to their liking, regardless of whether there is a actual factual predicate for investigations or prosecutions. Yoon has said it is up to the electorate to decide if what his wife has done is a crime and whether her half hearted apologies are sufficient for her conduct. Ironically, after her second public apology, JTBC reported new allegations that her masters degree thesis submitted at Sukmyeong Women's University College of Education was also suspected to be "42 percent" plagiarized. One academic expert commented that the paper wouldn't have been accepted in an undergraduate program. This is in addition to more than ten mispresentations alleged on her academic resumes submitted in the past to obtain teaching positions, and the prior allegation that her doctorate thesis from Gukmin University was also plagiarized.

Yoon Seok-yeol's polling falters amidst family disclosures

Balgan Agae ( 빨간아재 ) independent news journalist on youtube in South Korea reporting live from the the Uijonbu court building, says that Choi Eun-soon, conservative candidate Yoon Seok-yeol’s mother in law was just found guilty in a separate case of submitting a forged certification of bank deposit document in the amount of billions of won as part of a business transaction. The court sentenced her to only one year in prison but apparently she was not committed to confinement. This appears to be the same courthouse where she was sentenced earlier this year to three years in prison for illegal receipt of medical insurance funds. At that time she had been taken into confinement. Then when the review court took her appeal under consideration she was released pending her appeal. It may be that this trial level court is now reluctant to confine her under the circumstances.

The latest NBS poll shows that Yoon’s popular support has fallen below 30 percent. So democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung now leads Yoon 35% to 29% breaking out of the typical margin of error of 3 percent on these type phone polls with approximately 1000 respondents. ( NBS 여론조사 Dec 22 reported by 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube ) Depending on the poll source, there will be different numbers, but this is the first time that Lee has taken such a substantial lead over Yoon in the polls in recent weeks. It’s fairly apparent that Yoon’s camp was trying to put the matter of the alleged corruption of his family on the back burner with the unorthodox visit with the ROK army unit at the DMZ but it may not work.* Yoon has said that his wife won’t be participating in the campaign, and that she won’t operate an office of the first lady in the Blue House as he seeks to distance himself from his wife and her family. Ironically there was a report yesterday, that Hong Jun-pyo the most popular conservative candidate whom the People’s Power Party convention did not select as their candidate, announced that he was giving up his desire to become president. What timing! There are reports of infighting and resignations on Yoon’s campaign committee allegedly over the matter of how to handle the recent disclosures of alleged misrepresentations on his wife’s resumes submitted in support of applications to colleges for teaching positions over the years.

*UN Command investigating alleged armistice breaches after presidential candidate’s DMZ trip, Korea Times Dec 22;
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/12/205_320990.html?tw

Korea times also criticized the democratic Moon administration today for not taking pro-democracy positions against China, relative to Taiwan and Hong Kong issues. Democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung’s position on foreign policy issues is similar to Moon’s. Yoon, the conservative presidential candidate, thus far has been the favored candidate by the US and Japan. The official cut off for registration of presidential candidates is February 13-14, 2022, for the March 9, election.

"Bro" Seok-yeol

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 11.30) Five gaffe's from Yoon Seok-yeol before he was selected by the "People's Power Party" to be their candidate for president of South Korea in the March 2022 election. Top left "But for its early emergence in Daegu, the covid pandemic would have resulted in a rebellion." Left bottom: "People must be able to work close to 120 hours a week." Right starting at top: "No radiation leaked from Fukushima;" "Poor people should be able to buy defective goods;" and "Feminism made politics worse."

After becoming known as "gaffe a day" Yoon, also styled as another day, another Yoon gaffe (망언) Yoon's political handlers tried to get him under positive control. Yet he went on to praise the former dictator Chun Doo-hwan in another public appearance, and then was forced to go to Kwangju and make a stilted and insincere apology to the people there, where Chun had massacred hundreds in 1980. After his appearance there, his spouse Kim Gon-hee, posted a series of sarcastic and disrectful respectful images and comments on Yoon's online account* to lampoon the "forced apology."

*Yoon Seok-yeol's "apple" apology and the Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2021/10/yoon-seok-yeols-apple-apology-and-chun.html

Yoon's handlers have been unable to gain control of Yoon's disastrously mismanaged campaign appearances which since have been recorded on video. In one episode recorded in a scheduled Yoon presentation on television, Yoon appeared onstage to give a speech, and stood nervously on the stage in the studio before a live audience for a full two minutes after his introduction, without saying a word, because the teleprompter was not displaying his speech. Even after the news media program host prompted Yoon to begin his presentation, he stood there saying nothing.

In another video recorded presentation, before a select body of students from Seoul University, one of the most prestigious educational institutions in South Korea, Yoon was fed softball questions from his "hoobae" ( 후배 junior) that had nothing to do with the pressing issues facing the Korean younger generation today. This revealed the "gold spoon" character of his audience of elite students from his alma mater. Yoon was wearing a colorful name tag for the occasion with his identity given as Seok-yeol eui hyung, ( 석열의 형 ) which translates as Bro Seok-yeol, an appellation no doubt designd to endear him to the young voters. In the embarrassing highlight of the event, Yoon was asked a question arising from the Chinese classics of the three kingdoms period. The question was who is your favorite character from the period? Yoon was nonplussed for some moments, twitched nervously, and then finally not knowing what to say, mentioned Russian history and started talking about the movie Dr. Zhivago. Needless to say this glaring lapse, brought up references by his critics to Yoon's notorious nine tries before he passed the Korean bar exam. The American equivalent of Yoon's performance would be if a college graduate had been asked who is their favorite character from Greek ancient history and not being able to name even one person from that period and add a sentence or two to say something positive about them. So the critical commentary is to the effect, is it possible that a person this ignorant, is considered suitable to become president of South Korea? Yoon at one point in his early campaign had made a derogatory comment about liberal arts education.

These embarrassing events, much like the emperor's new clothes, have for the most part gone unnoticed in the conservative media in South Korea. They are widely reported by independent media and discussed on social media. The latest installment in Yoon's ongoing campaign farce, was his non-appearance at a later youth media event designed to capture the hearts of the politically independent, frustrated and dissatisfied young voters who will decide the election. At first the live online event was said to have been postponed temporarily because of other events. For a period of 24 minutes, participants in the online event posted sarcastic comments about the teleprompter being broken, Yoon being unable to memorize his answers, and other critical remarks about his probable fear of the event. Apparently, he never showed up.

In another recent appearance to enhance "Bro Seok-yeol's" image with the younger generation, Yoon arrived at an event for aspiring new artists at the Seoul Art Center. Yoon arrived in a phalanx of bodyguards to visit the gallery. Some independent journalists had gotten wind of the event, and waited by the entrance to enter the lobby of the gallery which is open to the public to see if they could question Yoon. They were pushed aside by the bodyguards. One of the journalists kept asking Yoon why his spouse, Kim Gon-hee, wasn't present. She allegedly is a Ph.D. level expert in the arts, and organizes art exhibits for corporate sponsors for large commissions. Yoon blew off the question saying she was busy with other things. When the journalist persisted he was pushed aside while being repeatedly told "don't ask useless questions." The journalist who had a camera man with him, persisted, and was ultimately pushed back and kicked in the groin a couple of times by an unofficial "bodyguard" who wore a uniform type shirt with a label stitched on it saying "Patriot Patrol." Inside the gallery, Yoon posed for the cameras, contemplating an abstract painting in the gallery while his PR team moved the young people to stand next to him like mannequin props.

The police were called to do an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the assault and battery on the reporter, allegedly by someone who wasn't part of Yoon's official bodyguard detail. The reporter assaulted worked for 열린공감TV an independent investigative journalism organization that presents evidence concerning alleged corruption and fraud revolving around Yoon's wife and mother in law, and reports of alleged unlawful conduct of Yoon and his former close associates from South Korea's prosecutors' offices.*

See: South Korea: Yoon family cartoons, https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2021/11/yoon-family-cartoons.html

South Korea: Yoon family cartoons

(Source- 알리미 황희두 youtube 11.21 cartoon original source Cha Yoo-rak) "This is a normal country." Before the court addressing them, "defendant Yoon Seok-yeol" (the conservative presidential candidate, center), "defendant Kim Gon-hee" (Yoon's wife, the prospective first lady, left) and "defendant Choi Eun-seun" (Yoon's mother in law, right). All three depicted with the list of their alleged crimes on their backs. Kim Gon-hee: Stock price fixing, unlawful sponsorship, fraudulent credentials, Ph.D. plagiarism suspicion, fake life. Yoon Seok-yeol: Coverup of bribery investigation, negligent investigation of financial scandals, interference in former prime minister Han Myeong-suk's investigation, unlawful investigation of sitting judges, instigating private charges while in public office (against political enemies), and finally, insubordination and "coup d'etat." Choi Eun-soon: unlawful income, forged proof of financial status, stock price manipulation, memorial park fraud suspicion, and other financial fraud.

(Source- 알리미 황희두 youtube 11.21 cartoon original source Cha Yoo-rak) This cartoon depicts the difference in the South Korean media treatment of former Justice Minister Cho Guk's daughter, Cho Min, (top) as compared to the deferential treatment of Yoon Seok-yeol's wife (bottom). On the top, the group of angry journalists say, "You dare to call us journalist trash?* Our physical strength is enhanced by practicing often." On the bottom the journalists encountering Kim Gon-hee's falsified background, and her alleged involvement in the Deustche Motors stock price fixing scheme, choose to remain mute, while saying they are zealously engaged in deep meditation.

*Reporter 기자 + trash 쓰레기 = 기레기 journalist trash. The contraction is a relatively new word in Korean that is widely used in independent media commentary, particularly on the left. When encounting accusations such as these against Yoon and his family in independent media, the right typically refers to it as fake news ( 가짜 뉴스 ). Yet there have been very few successful defamation suits against the independent media that have reported on these accusations and the evidence supporting them.

Cho Guk's wife, Chung Kyung-shim, was convicted of forging her daughters voluntary service award certificate, allegedly destroying evidence, and investing under a false name at her first trial. Professor Chung is in prison, pending appeal, after a sentence of four years despite her obvious bad health. Cho Guk is also fighting criminal charges but is not in pre-trial detention. Cho Guk's daughter, Cho Min, was stripped of her degree by a university under questionable circumstances based upon the allegedly "forged" certificate. Charges were instigated against the family without prior investigation by Yoon Seok-yeol, described by critics as a "coup d'etat" designed to derail the democratic administration's judicial and electoral reform initiatives. In October 2019, after the charges were instigated, over a million people assembled in the streets of Seoul to protest. It is alleged that the chief witness against Cho Guk's wife, the former university president where she worked, was threatened and otherwise unlawfully induced to elicit false testimony. Because there was no prior investigation, the prosecutors issued an unprecedented eighty search warrants in an effort to find grounds to substantiate the politically motivated prosecutions. The protacted litigation is still underway. The press cooperated fully with prosecution efforts ( 검언유착 ) to defame and vilify Cho Guk and his family. Cho Guk has won several defamation suits on behalf of his family.

On the other hand, political actors in the prosecutors' offices and judicial branch until recently have stonewalled and derailed all lawsuits and investigations against Yoon Seok-yeol's family for years without comment by the South Korean media. Recently, Choi Eun-soon was convicted of unlawfully operating a medical rehabilitation facility and illegally receiving approximately 2 billion won in tax supported medical funds. She was imprisoned by the trial court but the reviewing court released her pending the appeal of her case. Charges against Yoon will be probably be referred to the newly formed Committee to Investigate High Public Officials. Typically, none of these allegations against the right wing candidate for president or his family had been reported in South Korean mainstream media nor their English language outlets. There has been some reporting of the General Prosecutor's office being implicated in the preparation of private lawsuits against political rivals. The election law violations have not been linked to Yoon as yet but only his direct subordinate. The English language press worldwide genarally avoids the topic as well. However, similar to the South Korean major media outlets, articles in the US press and VOA Korea broadcasts are critical of the democratic administration, its policies, and the democratic party's current presdidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung.

South Korea- the best presidential candidate the conservatives can offer ?

South Korean presidential debate hits rock bottom as Yoon Seok-youl probed over anal acupuncturist and Rasputin-like preacher*

Yoon Seok-youl, the main opposition People Power Party’s front-runner to fight next year’s election, faces growing questions about his alleged reliance on superstitious practices

The latest questions surround his links to the unlicensed anal acupuncturist Lee Byeong-hwan and the mysterious Rasputin-like preacher Cheongong.

*SCMP Park Chan-kyong, 8 Oct, 2021 (paywall) ; https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3151627/south-korean-presidential-debate-hits-rock-bottom-yoon-seok-youl


South Korean presidential candidate seen with 'King’ marked on his palm draws side-eyes all around*

Politicians have accused Yoon Seok-youl, the leading presidential candidate of the conservative opposition party People Power Party (PPP), of relying on shamanistic rituals after he was spotted bearing the Chinese character for “King” (王) on his left palm during a debate.

The “King” mark: The 60-year-old former prosecutor general was spotted with the Chinese symbol when he waved his left hand during the live televised People Power Party (PPP) debate on Oct. 1, Korea Times reported. Pictures of him with the same mark on his palm from two other debates surfaced soon after.

*Yahoo News Bryan Ke, October 5, 2021 https://www.yahoo.com/now/south-korean-presidential-candidate-seen-193320755.html

Two related political cartoons going around on South Korean social media:

(Image source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube Nov. 10) Graphic on the left shows Yoon in a prison jumper with his prison number on it, 504. 503 is the well known prison number for impeached and convicted former president Park Geun-hye. Yoon is comfortably ahead (convention bounce?) in currently reported polls in the race for president of South Korea. The final election will conclude March 9, 2022. Yoon, his family and former professional colleagues at the public prosecutors offices are under investigation for multiple allegations of corruption, frauds on the court, and other unlawful acts. His name given under 504 says Yoon Chun jang, (Yoon Black bean sauce) which is play on his former title as Yoon Prosecutor General (Yoon Jong Jang). Black bean sauce also refers to the food typically ordered (Ja jjang myun) when prosecutors treat suspects and informers to a meal. According to rumor, it is one of Yoon's favored noodle dishes.

On the right, is a portrayal of Yoon with a mustache (resembling Hitler) in the polygon trademark of the People's Power Party in a No Yoon representation. Yoon recently expressed praise for former military dictator Chun Doo-hwan. The poster is also an oblique reference to the NO JAPAN movement in South Korea. Yoon is "chin il" unequivocally partial to the governing right wing LDP party in Japan. NO ANAL is a reference to Yoon's alleged association with the anal acupunturist seen at his June 6 official campaign declaration to become the next president of South Korea. Underneath it says no support, no vote. Unfortunately Yoon has a comfortable lead in the polls at this point, and his political opponents are hoping that one or more of the pending criminal investigations will result in an indictment. If he is indicted, the People's Power Party rules would call for withdrawal of their nomination of Yoon as their candidate according to the source ( 언론 알아야 바꾼다 ).

Did the debate hit rock bottom or did the conservative PPP selection of Yoon as candidate reach rock bottom? His conservative rival Hong Chun-pyo was more popular in the official party popular polling results but the party members rejected his candidacy by a large margin resulting in Yoon’s selection.

Yoon Seok-yeol's "apple" apology and the Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol gave a presentation in Busan, October 19, during his presidential primary campaign, in which he expressed approval of the former dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan. He basically said that except for the ROK Army's slaughter of popular resistance to Chun Doo-hwan's coup d'etat, in Kwangju, (May 18, 1980), Chun's martial law regime administered South Korea well. His tactless remark went viral on the internet and social media throughout South Korea and met with widespread disapproval. People's Party leadership called on him to apologize to the many Korean people offended by his thoughtless remarks. Yoon then posted a somewhat lengthy and circuitous apology on social media, which basically said he was sorry for his shortcoming, that he didn't adequately perceive the sensitivity of affected South Koreans, who had suffered at the hands of the Chun Doo-hwan. Yoon asserted he would learn to be a better politician as a result of the learning experience.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 10.22-10.23) (Left) Yoon's "Dol" celebration picture; (center) "memorable Indian apple;" (right) Yoon's Jindo dog being offered an apple, Dori like his father likes Indian apples. All comments on the posts had been removed.

However, after Yoon's written apology was posted, 10 hours later at night, a photo attributed to Yoon's instagram address was uploaded, suggesting that Yoon took the matter lightly and was taunting his critics. The picture of Yoon's traditional Dol ( 돌 ) celebration picture at age one, show's him sitting at the ceremonial table of fruit, holding an apple. This was posted on October 20. Sa gwa ( 사과 ) means apology in Korean; it is also a homonym for "apple." The caption under the Dol photo of Yoon as a one year old baby said, that even today Yoon favored apples over other fruit. On October 22, two more photos with a sardonic "sa gwa" theme were uploaded on social media, one of an indoor plant from which an apple hangs by a thread. The caption underneath says "memorable Indian apple." Another picture uploaded shows Yoon's Jindo dog (a Korean dog breed) being offered an apple (apology). The caption underneath said, Dori (Yoon's dog) resembles his father in that he likes (an) Indian apple (apology). Indo sagwa ( 인도사과 ) can also mean, moral or humane apology or guided or obligated apology in this context. One political pundit compared this kind of inappropriate biting sarcasm as characteristic of the "Ilbe" internet hate sites frequented by right wing young males so popular in South Korea now.

Shortly after the pictures were uploaded and went viral on social media, Yoon had a pre-scheduled televised debate, one on one, with a minor PPP candidate, Yoo Seung-min, during the conservative party's primary campaign process. In the debate, Yoo Seung-min questioned Yoon extensively concerning the circumstances surrounding the uploaded pictures of apples in various contexts. At first Yoon appeared to be taken somewhat off guard and responded awkwardly attempting to dissociate himself from the uploaded pictures. Seeing that Yoo wasn't letting go of the subject matter, Yoon came around to admitting the authenticity of the photos attributing them to an unnamed employee in his campaign. He said the pictures were uploaded in an office "near his apartment," and that his wife Kim Gun-hee participated in the process. He admitted that he had approved of the photos being uploaded on his instagram account. Yoon claimed that the intent of the photos being posted is being distorted by critics. Clearly on the defensive, Yoon improvidently chose to double down on the gaffe which had brought on the political demand for his apology and then its apparent sardonic and disrepectful repudiation by uploading the related photos. Yoon insisted, digging himself into a deeper hole, that his original gaffe concerning dictator Chun Doo-hwan's martial law regime was correct, and that Chun ruled South Korea wisely and that this was widely understood, even in Honam, the region where the Kwangju uprising and massacre took place.

In his most recent public statements, Yoon has apparently acknowledged his culpability, admitting posting the photos was his fault. His campaign office floated the idea that Yoon would go to Kwangju next month to apologize formally and make a visit to the memorial site where those killed during the 5.18 uprising against martial law were buried. The schedule for Yoon's visit wouldn't be confirmed until November 5. One observer questioned what difference this would make in Yoon's campaign when the primary would be effectively over November 5 with final selection of the People's Party presidential candidate taking place that day.

Someone keeping track noted 14 major gaffes by Yoon since he announced his candidacy June 29. Among the more memorable ones, were his comments that Fukishima never blew up; that it's okay to work 120 hours a week; and that adulterated goods shouldn't be regulated or poorer people wouldn't have lower price choices in the market place. In another gaffe, Yoon, used a Japanese yakasu term for "turf" or dominion used by thugs extorting business owners to refer to the Honam region as "his." Critics contended Yoon's expression was akin to using the "F" word in a formal setting. Further, critics felt Yoon's use of the gangland expression, reflected on his demonstrated character as "boss," when serving as Prosecutor General, willing to use state power arbitrarily against his rivals and critics. Yoon on another occasion denigrated concerns about pay for manual laborers, saying that manual labor was something from Africa. Yoon also made televized appearances recently over a three day period with the Chinese character for king ( 王 ) marked on the palm of his hand, which raised questions again about his possible shamanistic beliefs, and whether he washes his hands.

One interesting developement in the online investigations and discussions of Yoon's latest public blunders, is that the photo of Yoon's dog being offered an apple, on close examination, reveals that the photo was taken most likely, in the Kobana Kontents office of Yoon's wife. The fixtures and dog's cushion are virtually identical. Also intriguing is that although Yoon publicly had denied direct participation in staging the photo, the reflection in a closeup of the pet's eye show's a man slouching in a sitting position with his legs splayed apart in the rude posture which is virtually a Yoon trademark. It should be noted that sending an apple or a picture of an apple as representation of an apology for some minor slight among friends is a practice now among young South Koreans. That Yoon would acquiesce to such a stupid gimmick with respect to comments he made concerning the mass murders and other criminal acts by Chun Doo-hwan, shows how poor his judgement is and who would really be running the administration, namely, Kim Gun-hee, his wife. Or would it be her Shaman? All this painfully similar in nature to the relationship between Choi Soon-shil and former President Park Geun-hye, both now in prison.

A Korea Gallup poll of 1000 persons over age 18 during period October 19 thru 21 showed the democratic presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung, leading Yoon Seok-yeol in a hypothetical presidential matchup, 34 to 31 percent. Range of error plus or minus 3.1 percent. So Yoon appears to have lost some support.

Addendum (6.23.2023) OhMyTV had a report on social media codes favored by far right supporters of Yoon. It's hard to know who started this practice, was it Kim Gon-hee? Yoon and his corporate supporters accuse just about anyone who criticizes or opposes their policies of being jongbuk 종북 or baljengies 빨쟁이 (pro North Korea or reds/commies respectively). One of their slogans in a play on words is myeol kong, the shortened social media code represented in pictures by Yoon and one time supporter Na Kyung-won, (since put out to pasture by Yoon),among others, buying Myeolchi 멸치 (anchovy) and Kong 콩 (beans) in videos at the market chain owned by Shinsegae. The supporters appear to be fascists or extreme right. Myeol Kong 멸콩 means exterminate communists. Recognizing such video and verbal cues serves as a kind of cult secret handshake. When chat groups or bulletin boards strike such posts, they are changed to myeol kyun, exterminate the virus. Allegedly, Chung Yong-jin, 정용진 of the Singsegae fortune, is the leader of a group, 정우회 (friends of Chung or 정치 우파 이사회 right wing politics council, just guessing on the play on words). Chung's golf business is patronized by some of the most powerful chaebol in South Korea according to the OhMyTV account. Allegedly, Sinsegae operates vineyards and a winery near the Chun Doo-hwan family vineyard in Napa valley.

정용진 “멸공, 나한테는 현실”…신세계 관련 주가는 ‘급락’ | 뉴스A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQR3zV7ADSs

정용진이 쏘아올린 ‘달파멸콩’…윤석열 이어 나경원도 “멸공” | 뉴스A 라이브
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBrWgUKxRw

Instigating Charges Affair in South Korea ( 고발 사주 사건 )

Follow up to our September 4 report: "Will the legal dam break on Yoon Seok-yeol's presidential campaign?"

(Source- MBC Newsdesk 9.15.21, youtube '고발 사주' 의혹, 대검도 수사 착수‥공수처와 투트랙 ) Choi Gang-wook and Hwang Hwi-suk, National Assembly Members from the Open Democratic Party deliver their charges against Yoon Seok-yeol, his wife Kim Gon-hee, Prosecutor Han Dong-hun, PPP National Assembly member Kim Woong, Prosecutor Son Chun-seong, and Chung Jeom-sik, UFP Legal Support Group Chief, and an unamed party. Charges include interference in elections, violation of the public election law, leaking confidential government information, abuse of powers of public office, and violations of the private information protection law.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 9.17.21 youtube 추장군, 충격 폭로!! "조국, 추미애 해임 건의한 사람은 이낙연..." etc.) This particular document pictured here was probably created in support of the democratic charge sheets filed by the victims. The video didn't identify the source clearly but posted this in the background while speaking on a collateral topic (former Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae's disgust with her rival Lee Nak-won, who is running in the democratic primary race for that party's presidential candidacy.) The document outlines a series of alleged communications laying out the alleged actors in a scheme by which public prosecutors in the Supreme Prosecutor's office arranged to distribute charges they had prepared for conservative party members to bring third party private lawsuits against political critics of the Public Prosecutors offices, proponents of legal reforms on the left,and certain critical reporters. The criminal complaints were prepared against democrats and transmitted to the conservative party during the election campaign cycle in April 2020 for them to file as private complainants.

The alleged parties involved in these communications are from the top, prosecutors Han Dong-hun and Son Chun-seong; then between Son and the representative of the Supreme Prosecutor's office at the time, Kwan Soon-jeong on April 2. At that time it is alleged that Han also spoke to Prosecutor General Yoon on the phone 17 times; Below that it says on April 1, 2020, Han, Kwan, and Son transmitted and received 45 messages in an exclusive chat room. The same day Han spoke to Yoon by phone 12 times. Previously on March 31, 2020, after the MBC investigative report on unlawful prosecution-press collusion to facilitate politically motivated prosecutions ( 검언유착 ), Han, Son, and Kwan exchanged 53 messages on KaKao talk chat message service. Han then spoke to Yoon 11 times by phone.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 9.17.21 youtube ) This is an early schematic of the alleged process in the preparation and transmission of charges by the Public Prosecutors' Offices to third parties for unlawful private and political purposes. Prosecutor Son (2nd from left) in the Supreme Prosecutor's Investigative Information Policy Office, prepares the charges and transmits them to UFP (now PPP) party candidate for National Assembly, Kim Woong (pictured center right). The graphic then shows party member Kim transferring the charge sheets and related documents to an unidentified informant (far right). This may have been United Future Party staff employee Cho Seong-eun, the informant, or another informant. Cho was privy to the document transfers in digital formats, one of which is identified as "Telegram." Prosecutor Son's name appears on at least one charge sheet. He denies all the allegations. Did then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, (far left in the graphic) instruct his subordinate prosecutor Son to do this? Yoon claims the entire story is a fabrication made up by his political enemies.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 9.17.21 youtube ) This wire diagram depicts the offices public and private allegedly involved in the scheme by prosecutors to have political charges brought by United Future Party figures against democratic party politicians and reporters, basically in retaliation for their efforts to expose corruption in prosecution cases, and advocate of legal reforms adjusting investigative powers of the prosecution. On the left side the top box is Yoon Seok-yeol, Prosecutor General/Supreme Prosecutor. Lower left highlighted is the Director of Public Investigations Office, which by highlighting suggests communication with the Investigation Information Policy Office, prosecutor Son Chun-seong (center). Son is alleged to have transmitted the charges and other confidential documentation to Kim Woong, former prosecutor and then National Assembly candidate (top right). In this depiction Kim (possibly ?) transmits the charge sheets and supporting documentation from the prosecutors' offices to Chung Jeom-sik, United Future Party Legal Support Group Chief (bottom right).

(Source- MBC Newsdesk 9.15.21, youtube '고발 사주' 의혹, 대검도 수사 착수‥공수처와 투트랙 ) The informant broke the story to independent digital news source Newsverse. This is former UFP staff employee Cho Seong-eun. She is a source of information and documents supporting the charges brought by the victims of this scheme. She is protected from prosecution by South Korea's public whistle blowers law. She has turned over her digital phone to authorities for forensic evaluation. The case is being investigated by the current Prosecutor General's Office and the new independent Office to Investigate Crimes by High Public Officials, in a "two track" investigation.

Evidence Problems?

There are other pending investigations in South Korea which may adversely affect Yoon Seok-yeol as one of the current leading South Korean conservative candidates for president. Yoon is running in the so called People’s Power Party primary campaign. The election is in early March 2022. Yoon Seok-yeol, the former Prosecutor General of South Korea is suspected of abusing his powers in office to instigate politically motivated investigations and prosecutions of legal reform advocates and political rivals on the left. His right hand man, allegedly was Prosecutor Han Dong-hun. Another suspect is prosecutor Son Chun-seong, who worked in the Supreme Prosecutor's Investigative Information Policy Office, subordinate to Yoon's office.

In late July 2020, Han’s Iphone, an 11XR, was seized under a warrant by a prosecutor from the South Central District Office. Han was suspected of conspiring with a Channel A News reporter to frame an outspoken critic of Yoon and Yoon’s family, Yoo Shi-min, who alleged they had been obstructing justice into investigations of Yoon’s mother in law and wife, for corruption. (Yoon’s mother in law is now in jail for what we would call medicare fraud. She is appealing).

When the warrant for the phone was served an altercation ensued. The phone was sent to forensics and the evaluation tools previously contracted from an Israeli company, Cellebrite, were unable to unlock the security on the phone. Of course, Han would not provide the password. It is believed that there many communications on the phone with Yoon’s wife, the Channel A reporter, and perhaps even Yoon himself. I just read a report within the last week or so, that the phone or a copy, ( I couldn’t determine which), would be forwarded to the Israeli company after a payment of about 15 thousand dollars to break the password and unlock the contents. The report said the password could have been decrypted if it were only ten characters, but the earlier Cellebrite program is having difficulty because allegedly Han used as many as 20 characters. Reportedly, Cellebrite now has the capability to decrypt this now.

South Korea has some defense contracts with Israel, one of which concerns its air defense systems, and more may be in the offing. It remains to be seen whether the Israeli company will unlock the phone and provides a true and accurate report of what is in the phone, because of the adverse political ramifications for the conservative presidential candidate Yoon Seok- yeol. Investigators also desire to obtain the cypher key on the phone of prosecutor Son Chun-seong, which may also prove to be problematic.

April 18 notes: Made some minor typographical corrections and parathentical notes to better explain the graphics. When I saw the detailed "metadata" on the alleged electronic communications in the second graphic, the precision and detail seems to lend veracity to the allegations although the source is not given. The interpretation above of the political scandal in the former Public Prosecutors' offices, goes into some detail, perhaps not desired by most readers. I suspect a few readers may appreciate it. The theory of the case is presented in a more easily appreciated fashion in the blog's September 4 entry. Mistranslated 고발 사주 사건 earlier based on homonyms. Oops!
夢

Hong Jun-pyo passes Yoon Seok-yeol in conservative poll

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 9.7.21) People's Power Party candidates suitability for office survey. Graph from left to right in percent surveyed: Hong Jun-pyo, 32.5; Yoon Seok-yeol, 29.1; Yoo Seung-min, 9.6; Choi Jae-hyung, 4.1.

While Yoon's public support is his strong point, the so called "Newsverse scandal" which presents documents suggesting Yoon privatized the public prosecutors' offices for his personal and political gain causes Hong's support which had been gaining lately to pass Yoon in the conservative poll. The results could be within the margin of error, but this the first real numerical sign that Yoon's campaign to become the presidential candidate of the People's Power Party is faltering.

See our earlier September 4 post: Will the legal dam break on Yoon Seok-yeol's presidential campaign?

South Korea: Some presidential campaign survey indications

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 8.28) Current fitness for presidential office survey among opposition party members in percent surveyed. People's Power Party candidates shown in red. Yoon Seok-yeol, 28.6; Hong Jun-pyo, 20.9; Yoo Seung-min, 9.3; Shim Sang-jung, (Justice Party), 5.5; Choi Jae-hyung, 4.1; Ahn Chul-soo, (independent) 2.8.

The first graphic of survey results above shows that Yoon is receiving a significant challenge from rival presidential candidate Hong Jun-pyo within the People's Power Party. Hong is making significant gains on Yoon's leading position. Hong has in the last few days made disparaging remarks about Yoon's lack of loyalty. One independent publication quoted him saying one "who has betrayed, can betray again." This is reference to Yoon's apparent opportunism. Yoon as prosecutor participated in the impeachment trial effort against former President Park Geun-hye, and lately has indicated that he feels some remorse for his role.

Another perspective might be that Yoon was appointed Prosecutor General by the Moon administration after the Park Geun Hye impeachment process, and then turned against the incumbent administration, in a series of allegedly politically motivated cases, including the prosecutions of the former Blue House secretary and Justice Minister, Cho Guk, and his family. Yoon is placed in a dilemna by Hong's critique, because as a prosecutor he was duty bound to remain impartial in the execution of official duties. A Justice Ministry disciplinary board in December 2020 found that he violated his duty of political impartiality as a public prosecutor in at least one case. This was the so called Channel A News case, aimed at framing former minister and well known democratic political pundit, Yoo Shi-min, for financial crimes.* Yoon could claim he is impartial, and that this is the reason he would support the prosecution of both Park Geun-hye, a conservative, but then later directed investigations and prosecutions of democratic party related figures. That claim won't endear him to some conservatives, still loyal to former president Park. In terms of Yoon's purported upright ethical stance, past and pending investigations of Yoon, his wife, and his mother in law, create the appearance of impropriety, which Hong can exploit in the future. If Hong doesn't get the PPP nomination, he could still run as an independent conservative candidate damaging Yoon's prospects in the final presidential contest.

*See our December 16 addendum to the December 15, 2020, post on this blog: Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol suspended for 2 months by Discipline Committee. See also: Yoon's petition concerning the alleged illegality of the disciplinary committee's actions were recently dismissed by the Constitutional Court on June 24 in a 6-1 decision, as legally insufficient. 윤석열 제기한 '검사징계법 헌법소원', 각하…어떤 뜻? 유영규 기자, SBS 뉴스 6.21; 원본 링크 : https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1006367683&plink=COPYPASTE&cooper=SBSNEWSEND; cited in this blog's post: Yoon Seok-yeol "X files" controversy growing, June 28, 2021.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 8.28) This graphic displays polling results among democrats (Minjudang) with August weekly results for the two top candidates up to August 21. Lee Jae-myung, a "populist" democrat, the current governor of Gyeonggido (province) is the leader with 46.7 percent over Lee Nak-yon, former party leader, former prime minister, and assembly representative, with 24.0 percent. Chung Sye-kyun, former prime minister and former Assmebly Speaker, with 3.8 percent; and Chu Mi-ae, former justice minister, with 2.7 percent. Chu Mi-ae, seems to be on the stump to make clear that Lee Nak-yon did little to support President Moon's reform agenda in the administration of justice while he was party leader and did little to support her when she was justice minister trying to reign in Yook Seok-yeol's politically biased actions as Prosecutor General. Number 2, Lee Nak-yon is the centrist candidate in the democratic party.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 8.28) Results of a hypothetical face off presidential election between democrat Lee Jae-myung, (left) 40.7 percent, and People's Power Party (conservative) candidate, Yoon Seok-yeol, at 45.5 percent (right). Yoon has an overwhelming advantage for the over age sixty voters, and with voters under thirty years old. Lee has made substantial inroads in the preference of voters in their thirties according to this poll. Democrats dominated in the forties and fifties (middle aged) demographic groups in prior elections. Lee's progress with voters in their thirties has to do with his practical proposals for economic development, housing and income support.

An MBN poll shows Lee Jae-myung v. Yoon at 33.3 percent v 37.1 percent respectively, in Yoon's favor. This is approaching the margin of the error so the results thus far are encouraging but still problematic for Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign. On the positive side for Lee are his substanitial policy proposals targeted at economic impacts of the pandemic and the housing shortage. With universal basic income proposals, tax incentives and subsidies on the table he can avoid the trap of simply criticizing his rivals. For this reason he is making some inroads on the 39 and under voter demographic. The 39 and under age groups supported Moon Jae-in's 2017 presidential election and the election of democrats in the National Assembly election in April 2020. But the younger voters swung heavily in favor of conservative candidates who won the their mayoral elections in Seoul and Pusan, in April 2021. Given the commitment of elder voters by a wide margin to the conservative candidate Yoon, seen thus far, the youth vote could still swing the upcoming presidential election in the first week of March 2022 in Yoon's favor.

Another problem for Yoon Seok-yeol is his gaffe-a-day image, which motivated his camp to avoid the scheduled televised policy discussion among prospective PPP candidates for president planned for August. Yoon appears not to have any concrete policy domestically other than opposition to President Moon Jae-in, opposition to legal reforms, and a poorly articulated, super conservative, Milton Friedman approach to economics. Essentially, Yoon represents the vested special interests, and the corporate chaebol that typically run the country behind the scenes. The longer Yoon is off a public platform being questioned by other campaigners the better he is likely to perform in polls. The point is also made in this 언론 알아야 바꾼다 video commentary, concerning the role of the conservative press and uncritical voters, that they were quite able to put a corrupt politician in the presidential office as demonstrated in particular by the election of former president Lee Myung-bak. Lee MB's financial corruption was blatant, but apparently did not receive enough public attention to have any effect on his rise to the Blue House. So the same may be possible for Yoon Seok-yeol, whose alleged corruption and the investigations pending against him are either blatantly ignored by the overwhelmingly conservative media, or treated as politically motivated charges without substance. It remains to be seen how the half dozen or so investigations against Yoon, his wife or mother in law, will turn out, or how they will affect the election process. Any investigation or proceeding, and particularly those against Yoon personally based upon his actions while a prosecutor, are likely to be challenged by his camp and the conservative media on the basis that they are "interference in the free presidential election process," by the incumbent adminstration.

South Korea Democratic Primary Schedule

( Source- 언론알아야바꾼다 youtube 8.16)
New democratic party primary campaign schedule dates: Sep. 4, circuit primary campaigns begin (previously Aug. 7); Sep. 12, party members caste votes in first round primary candidate selection; Oct. 3, second round balloting for presidential candidate; Oct. 10, final voting to confirm democratic party presidential candidate's nomination; Announcement mid-October.

( Source- 언론알아야바꾼다 youtube 8.16) South Korea's 2022 presidential election schedule. In 2022, official registration of presidential candidates begins Feburary 13-14, with the election activity officially beginning Feb. 15; Overseas balloting period February 23-28; Early ballots March 4-5 and final ballots March 9, 2022.

The important dates for the South Korean primary selection process for presidential candidates from an earlier 언론알아야바 video report had outdated information concerning the democratic party primary process. These two graphics are posted as an update/correction. These two graphics from the same source, are taken from the 언알바 youtube video on August 16. The changes in the schedule were secured by supporters of Lee Nak-won and Chung Sye-kyun. It was believed that a four to five week delay in the primary selection schedule would give them some more time to catch up to Lee Jae-myung, the leading democratic candidate and Gyeonggido governor. Lee Nak-yon is 12.9 percent in national polling, and Chung is less than 2 percent.

It was noted in the same program that Lee JM has a distinct advantage in the electoral race as the current governor of Gyeonggido which has more democratic voters than any other jurisdiction in South Korea. Competitors are unlikely to make inroads criticizing Lee JM's proposals for universal income payments to compensate individuals for the adverse economic effects of the pandemic. The reactionary ideological response from the right, that it isn't the government's responsibility to support the people economically is likely to fall flat. The "where are you going to get the money arguments" of centrist democrats like Lee Nak-yon aren't gaining much traction with democrats under the circumstances. As a governor, Lee Jae-myung can get the money right out of his own provincial administration budget and distribute it, while others carp about austerity. Another positive attribute of Lee JM's approach is that it is practical, and demonstrates a commitment to the public welfare and economic issues. Thus the focus of the election is directed away from a negative mandate on the Moon Jae-in administration, where centrists and conservatives without a policy program would like it to stay.

The source 언론알아야바 also noted the public policy discussion scheduled by the People's Power Party candidates for September 17 and 25th. Yoon's camp had indicated a reluctance to participate with a large slate of minor candidates. Hong Joong-pyo has criticized Yoon for his reluctance to debate characterizing it as fear. In another provocative and politically significant move, Hong has gone beyond general criticism of Yoon's politicization of the Prosecutor General's office, to a specific attack on the corruption of the law enforcement processes concerning his mother in law, who was recently convicted of fraud in the operation of a medical facility. Hong specifically raised the issue of whether or not there was political interference in the earlier investigation of the case when a nolle prosse determination was made concerning Yoon's mother in law, Choi. Recently, mother in law Choi, was found guilty at her first trial and sentenced to three years in prison. So Hong has taken the initiative here, firing a shot across the bow, indicating that he accepts the allegations of progressives on the left, and the prosecution reform faction of the democratic party, that Yoon compromised his former public office and the rule of law in South Korea. This is Yoon's achillee's heel. One could argue, that Yoon has to become president in order to protect himself and his family from further investigations and prosecution. There are currently several corruption investigations pending against Yoon, his wife, and mother in law. The conservative mainstream media is avoiding this subject matter as much as possible. They are stake holders in the Yoon political scheme referred to commonly as press-prosecution collusion (to protect corrupt special interests).

If matters related to the alleged corruption of the prosecutors' offices and Yoon's family are fair targets in a political campaign how will the press avoid the issue when they are debated on a televised debate? How will they avoid the issue if Yoon declines to participate? Hong wins either way, and democrats benefit from conservative infighting. Will Hong's scathing commentary on Yoon be limited to facebook posts and social media? Checking the English language media last night, the internal fissure in the PPP is described as a candidate Yoon- Party Leader Lee feud. This was covered in our prior post, but the Hong- Yong rivalry is likely to be more damaging, as Hong is an experienced and able campaigner.

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Lee Jun-seok, PPP party leader doesn't control anything

US media and leadership circles are celebrating the prospect of having the young Harvard alumnus, Lee Jun-seok, in a position of political power in South Korea. The reality is that the young media savvy demagogue has never won a political election, having failed three times to get elected to the National Assembly. The media personality Lee came to be selected for leadership of the so called "People's Power Party" ( 국민의 힘당 ) due to the conspicuous failures of prior conservative political leaders such as Na Kyung-won and Hwang Kyo-ahn to inspire the public. In the not too distant past Hwang was associated with the failed administration of the impeached former president Park Geun-hye. Na and Hwang both are linked to conservative presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol coverups which this blog has described in prior posts.* Additionally, Na is linked to college admission and paralympics corruption on behalf of her daughter which Yoon, allegedly, may have played a role in covering up.

*See: Yoon clings to Hwang Kyo-ahn for his survival, 4.1.20, https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2020/04/yoon-clings-to-hwang-kyo-ahn-for-his.html; and, South Korea's Top Prosecutor Embroiled in Family Scandals, Is Yoon Seok-yeol obstructing prosecution of Na Kyung-won? 3.15.20. https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2020/03/is-yoon-seok-yeol-obstructing.html

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 7.12) 36 year old Lee Jun-seok at a PPP party gathering.

Lee Jun-seok, the youngest person to lead a major political party, came to forefront because he appeals to poorly informed, bigoted young males in South Korea. This demographic from 18 to 30 years of age voted for conservative candidates by an overwhelming margin in the recent off cycle elections to select the mayors of Seoul and Busan. One leader from the so called "old order" on the conservative side is Kim Mu-sung. Kim is a long time conservative politician in the National Assembly. He, like several of the old order politicians are tainted, fairly or unfairly, with the pro-Japanese label. Kim's father was a notorious collaborator with the Japanese during WWII, actively supporting the war effort on behalf of the Japanese colonial administration. In keeping with the old Korean saying "ten thousand years is not too long to avenge a grudge," Kim's family history renders his personal prospects as a presidential candidate problematic. Kim is suspected to be the power behind Lee Jun-seok. The Bareun Dang, (Righteous Party) founder, Yoo Seung-min, is also believed to be a Lee supporter. Both Kim and Yoo, are former presidential hopefuls.

Lee Jun-seok, as a computer science type, was groomed by powers on the right. He was patronized by former President Park Geun-hye. His public persona is portrayed as a (Korean Andrew Yang or South Korea's own Ahn Chul-su) type of technocratic elite, falsely labeled as a "liberal conservative." Lee, for all of his political promotion by the right, serving in various party committees and roles, actually has very little academic understanding of history or politics. His business experience, aside from garnishing some lucrative government subsidies early in his career, isn't that extensive according to his critics. Lee's lack of hands-on polical experience is evident in a series of gaffes he committed in the last several days. Most visible in South Korea was a well publicized meeting with the democratic party leader, Song Yeong-gil, in which Lee agreed to a proposal for pandemic disaster relief payments to be distributed to the public. Less than two hours later the proposal was repudiated by the PPP assembly floor leader. Lee had to be told publicly that it wasn't his role to make agreements on behalf of the opposition party in the National Assembly without prior consultation and deliberation among party representatives in the National Assembly.

(Source- 시사건건 7.14) Pundit Hol Seu-yong's program shows a cartoon depicting Lee Jun-seok, as a child on a tricycle, while the PPP floor leader in the National Assembly rebukes the democratic party leader for taking advantage of a child, and ripping up the inter-party agreement on universal cash payments to pandemic strapped citizens.

Lee went on to make other public gaffes which are being covered mostly in South Korean opposition media sources. His misogyny manifested once again in a proposal to eliminate the Department of Women and Families in the South Korean government. While Lee claimed his proposal is aimed at reducing social discord concerning women's rights, the actual effect is exactly the opposite, fueling the social culture wars, the red meat of the South Korean "il be" misogynist movement on the internet, that Lee Joon-seok represents. This constitutency of angry young males might be compared to US "deplorables.*"

* Lee Jun-seok- a "deplorable" play for disaffected younger male voters, 6.13.21, https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2021/06/lee-jun-seok-deplorable-play-for.html

One prospect that has US and Japanese observers salivating is that Lee wants to also dismantle the Unification Ministry in South Korea which according to him, has no role in the South Korean government and has never accomplished anything. One has to wonder whether Lee ever studied his own nation's history or how well informed he is. It's almost as if his script was written in Washington, D.C. It was reported in one online South Korean media source, but not in the English language version of conservative Korean newspapers, that Lee said, that just as Taiwan and the PRC would never unite, neither would North and South Korea. Another is taking a stance critical of China. Lee has identified the "democracy movement" in Hong Kong, (a US-UK sponsored movement), with the Korean democracy movement, particularly that which opposed the Chun Du-won dictatorship. This is an absurd correlation that Joshua Wong, the Hong Kong separatist leader, has also made. The error being, that the US sponsored a series of three brutal dictatorships in South Korea, that the democracy movement opposed. The US supports the violent separatist movement in Hong Kong as part of its divide and conquer strategy against the PRC. SCMP recently reported that Lee actually participated in Hong Kong protests in 2019. Worse, he has raised the Hong Kong issue publicly in a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Seoul. This is a red flag in terms of who may be pulling Lee Jun-seok's puppet strings.* Is he just an opportunist? According to CGTN, the Chinese media source, PPP officials have tried to walk back some of Lee's ill considered remarks concerning China. According to the Joongang Ilbo account, Lee claimed in an explanation to be speaking "for the Korean people."

Lee Jun-seok, South Korea’s youngest ever party leader, vows to confront China’s ‘cruelty’, including policies in Hong Kong, SCMP, 7.12.21, https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3140718/lee-jun-seok-south-koreas-youngest-ever-party-leader-vows.

Lee Jun-seok, is cut from the same cloth as other US acclimated imperial proxies in Asian history. Western media again are creating a falsely based credibility for an incompetent demagogue. Because Lee has been educated at a US institution (Harvard) and speaks English, he shares the exploitable features of a character like the Japanese Baron Kentaro Kaneko, (Yale) with whom Teddy Roosevelt laid the foundation for the US and Japanese Pacific empires and WWII. Other similar figures in the history of US-Asian relations are T.V. Soong, (Harvard), and Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Mai-ling Soong, Wesleyan) in Nationalist China, whose family corruption led the Chinese Nationalists to defeat.* Syngman Rhee was another US proxy in South Korea with little political legitimacy by the end of WWII, who established with US support, the first South Korean dictatorship. Rhee and his cadre of Japanese trained Korean generals couldn't wait to instigate the final battle in the civil war in Korea and thought they would win with US support.* The US cultivation of figures like Lee Jun-seok gives Americans a false impression of the state of affairs in Asia, and is conducive to a harmful, undue and dangerous US influence over the internal affairs of its nominally sovereign ally.

*See the accounts in The China Mirage, The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia, James Bradley, and The Korean War, a History, Bruce Cummings; also, The Hidden History of the Korean War, 1950-1951, I.F. Stone.

내로남불=윤로남불 Yoon Seok-yeol's Hypocrisy

(Source- 알리미 황희두 youtube 7.10 ) So this political cartoon shows Yoon Seok-yeol, appearing to resemble Hitler as he sometimes does in these cartoons, saying the university decides whether his wife's Ph.D. was plagiarized. So he and his wife Kim Geon-hee appear in the frame suitable for the mainstream press reporting. Outside the scope of that reporting, Yoon wields his prosecutorial club (issuing warrants against multiple colleges) to destroy the former Justice Minister Cho Guk, and his daughter in the picture, because she is listed as an author of a professional paper.


내로남불 ne ro nam bul, a reference to hypocrisy and double standards is a favored saying in contemporary South Korea. Of course, here it is applied to Yoon Seok-yeol the leading conservative candidate for president in South Korea who just declared his candidacy formally on June 29. Literally, the phrase means "when I do it it's love, when someone else does it its adultery ( 내가하면 로맨스 남이하면 불륜 ). In this political cartoon, the phrase has been adapted to fit Yoon personally due to his special brand of duplicity. So the saying at the bottom of the cartoon says "Yoon ro nam bul," (윤로남불).

The latest embarrassing allegation about Yoon's wife, Kim Geon-hee, is that the Ph.D. thesis that was approved by her university is plagiarized in large part. It's alleged that substantial portions of the thesis are taken directly from another similar thesis article written by a different author without attribution. This came up because sensational allegations against Kim that have gone viral on social media. One of these as yet unproven allegations was that Kim was a "hostess" going by the moniker "Julie," at the former Renaissance Ramada in Seoul, where she formed relationships with prosecutor Yang Dae-taek, and later Yoon Seok-yeol, whom she married in 2012. The distilled version of these allegations is that "Julie" used her relationship with these prosecutors to unethically influence the outcomes of criminal and civil investigations affecting her mother Choi, and herself. Allegedly, family relatives of Choi have confirmed to investigative reporters that Yoon and Kim met by way of an introduction through the owner of the Renaissance.*


Kim made the mistake of publicly asserting that she was too busy as a post grad Ph.D. candidate to be working as a hostess as alleged. Some reporter took the initiative, perhaps by unlawful means, to obtain copies of relevant records related to the Ph.D. thesis. His investigation determined, allegedly, that Kim's thesis is plagiarized at least in substantial part. Yoon has threatened to investigate the reporter for posing as a law enforcement official to obtain access to the records. One of the pundits critical of Yoon has observed that Yoon's threatened criminal countermeasure against the reporter involves process rather than substance.

The university (국민대) says they will conduct a review to determine if the thesis merited the doctoral award and if they are any ethical breaches to be remedied. The irony of all this is that former Justice Minister Cho Guk, and his wife, Chung Kyung-shim, and their daughter and other persons have been relentlessly pursued by prosecutors (at Yoon's behest, in his former position as Prosecutor General) for over a year and half in court upon charges which began with an allegedly forged intern certificate, and whether or not, Cho's daughter should have been listed as a co- author on a scientific research paper. Cho's daughter apparently served as the English editor, translating the scientific nomenclature and terminology from the study, in Korean and English suitable for publication in a professional journal. Professor Chung Kyung-shim, Cho Guk's wife was sentenced to four years in prison, for allegedly creating the false internship certificate. Professor Chung Kyung-shim is currently confined in prison. The judgement and sentence are under appeal at the review trial level.

The conservative press has covered Cho Guk, his wife and daughter, relentlessly, publishing every baseless rumor and libelous allegation they can conceive. Failures of proof in court, unlawful procedures, and other developments embarrassing the prosecution, showing how the case was improbably crafted by the prosecution are never discussed except in independent media. Consequently, Cho Guk, a former law professor, as well as being a former aide to the Blue House for civil affairs, has literally brought dozens of libel suits against his family's tormentors in the media, which has proven somewhat effective in multiple cases. One problem is the relatively small judgements in defamation cases in South Korea. In the latest case to make the news, where Cho and his daughter are pictured as theives in a prostitution ring, Cho has threatened to sue the major media cartel Chosun Ilbo in the US where defamation judgements are much larger. ( Chosun Ilbo has an branch in LA). The conservative newspaper immediately printed a retraction and apology.


*열린공감TV is the main media source of these reports alleging corruption by Yoon's mother in law and wife. It is an independent investigative journalism channel on youtube. A live broadcast yesterday on this subject by 열린공감TV received over 360 thousand views. Their reports are sometimes supported by audio recordings of anonymous witnesses who claim to know or have had a familial relationship with Choi, Yoon's mother in law, and wife. Recordings of Choi herself, or admissions by Choi in former trials, and official documents, are also used to support the stories. The reports then go viral on social media. Evidence is largely circumstantial and 열린공감TV itself typically admits that further investigation is required to support the allegations. Nevertheless, the uproar is bleeding into the South Korean mainstream media, typically in a diluted or rebuttal form. 열린공감TV leads come from extensive recorded interviews with Jang Dae-taek, a former business partner of Choi, convicted years ago, of extortion in a business partnership with Choi. In a legal turn about, Jang was sentenced to two years in prison after he charged that Choi defrauded him of more than 2 million dollars. After this alleged injustice, Jang's legal pursuit of Choi in the courts has been ongoing for seventeen years. Jang accuses Choi and Kim of bribery, improper influence on public prosecutors, forgery, fraud, perjury, and obstruction of justice. None of his legal petitions or complaints have gained any results.