"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.

Who is the criminal?

(Source- Lee Jae-Myung channel youtube, 2.10) "(Prosecutors) have yet to produce one clear piece of evidence." Lee Jae-Myung, Democratic Party leader, symbol of the political opposition to the Yoon Seok-yeol adinistration, outside prosecution offices 2.10.


The historic theme was announced in Lee Jae-myung's press briefing outside the prosecutors' offices to which he was summoned Friday, for his third interrogation.

유권 무죄 무권 유죄
有權 無罪 無權 有罪
If one has power they are not guilty;
If one does not have power, they are guilty.

(Source- KBS 1 History Journal, ep. 199) Ito was assassinated by Korean patriot Ahn Jung-geun, October 26, 1909 in Harbin, China.

There was a remarkable performance by a musical stage group at the 26th candlelight assembly in downtown Seoul the next day. The performance was an adaptation of the song Who is the Criminal, from the musical Hero, about one of Korea's great patriots in modern history, Ahn Jung-geun. Ahn was a leading member of the Righteous Army, a militia organization that opposed Japanese occupation and colonization of Korea. Ahn assassinated Ito Hirobumi, the former Resident General of Korea during the early stages of Korean colonization by the Japanese. Ito also had been a former prime minister of Japan. Ahn shot and killed Ito and then was tried by Japan and executed. The song from Hero, Who is the Criminal, is the dramatic rendition of Ahn's listing of the 15 Korean grievances against Japan in 1909 which justified Ito's assassination.

The fifteen reasons can be read here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Jung-geun

The original lyrics to hero and a video of the stage performance (in Korean) are posted at:

https://culture-ing.tistory.com/60


My interest concerns the lyrics of this contemporary adaptation of the musical performance at the candlelight demonstration February 11, in Seoul. Below is a rough translation. The performers asked that the audience spread the word world wide, but only the Korean subtitles were provided.

First, this large scale candlelight assembly interferes with the traffic of Seoul citizens for which we sincerely apologize.
Yet, as citizens of Korea we must cry out "Yoon Seok-yeol, step down!" and boldly transmit the reasons.

The crime of avoidance of responsibility for the Itaewan disaster.
The crime of quashing the voices of the survivors by force.
The crime of compelling the reduction of budget items for the greater welfare of the Korean people, one after another.
The crime of allowing prices of heating oil and electricity, essential to the citizens' livelihood, double, ruining their lives.

Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?

The crime of stigmatizing the voice of the people as unlawful assembly.
The crime of using the National Security Law to stigmatize organized labor as spies.
The crime of using your overseas tours to degrade the national dignity of Korea.
The crime of blaming others for your overseas blundering and humiliation.

Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?


(Against Kim Gon-hee, First Lady, whom Yoon is protecting from prosecution)
The crime of violating laws against stock price manipulation to make a million dollars in less than a year.
The crime of passing yourself off as someone of presidential status to deceive the people.
The crime of abusing your power to elevate cult leader Jeon Gong over goverment authority.
The crime of fabricating false credentials and plagiarism.

Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?

The crime of desiring US protection for Korea, at the same time bringing large quantities of modern weapons into Korea aggravating the threat of war.
The crime of advocating pre-emptive attack repeatedly, calling for war.
The crime of subordinating Korea to Japan, paving the way for the Japanese armed forces.

Because you are thoroughly destoying peace on the Korean peninsula, you sin against heaven and humanity.

Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?

Avoiding the wellbeing of citizens, incompetent, ignorant Yoon Seok-yeol
The completely manufactured fraudulent life of Kim Gon-hee.

The president and his wife, this is why we say our country is completely screwed.
It is a true honor to fight this without hesitation.
We were born citizens of Korea, to serve our country,
We raise up the candle's light.
This is true glory, we intend to fight without hesitation.

All people, don't be fooled by Yoon's lies and ambitions.
Let the world know-
Yoon Seok-yeol, step down!
Special prosecution for Kim Gon-hee!

Those who fight and serve the nation, is it right to call them criminals?
Who causes the nation to fail?
We raise up the candle lights!
Shall those who serve the country be punished?

Shall we know the suffering of losing our country?

Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?


The South Korean democracy movement uses traditional culture and art forms to advance their goals. Kim Min-jung also performed, including the democracy movement unofficial theme, Morning Dew. What yesterday's demonstration lacked in numbers compared to the prior demonstations, was more than compensated by quality.

12.26 Seoul Drone Incursion from North Korea

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Screwing Up" the Tension in Korea

The US and its allies, Japan and South Korea, had publicly discussed "preemptive attacks" on North Korea, whether "de-capitation attacks" or "pre-emptive strikes on missile bases." So the North Korean launch of two ICBMs in November represented an expected continuation of the North Korean response. The discussion of this essentially US strategy by the right in South Korea has been ongoing for some time. South Korean president Yoon Seok-yeol appears to have adopted it. Prime Minister Kishida has promoted a "counterstrike" policy which is essentially the same thing but the wording is different because the notion of pre-emptive strike is politically unpalatable in Japan.

The return of so called strategic US assets to the South Korean region, featured B1-b strategic bombers, in operation Vigilant Storm in late October and early November and fighter aircraft from both South Korea and the US in major air operations involving hundreds of aircraft. Earlier in September, aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its associated strike group visited Pusan, South Korea ahead of joint exercises. On Sep 8 Kim Jong-un adopted a policy of an automatic nuclear response, if the leadership of North Korea was subjected to an attack. This announcement by the North's leader was preceded by US-ROK joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield, described as the largest in five years in an August 29th report of Stars and Stripes. The ROK air force exercised jointly with two B-52s and 4 F-22s on December 20. The return of US strategic assets including strategic bombers and the USS Ronald Reagan to South Korea after a five year hiatus are a violation of the understandings reached at the Singapore Summit. Likewise North Korean, ICBM testing is a violation of that summit agreement as well. North Korean ballistic missile tests and nuclear tests are generally proscribed by UN resolutions 1874 (12 June 2009) and 2387 (22 December 2017).

North Korea regards the return of large joint US-ROK military exercises as a threat and preparation for war. It has launched an unprecedented number of ballistic missile tests so far this year. Three of these launches were ICBMs, one in March, and two in November. The earlier November ICBM launch was considered a failure. The North Korean missile program is regarded as cost effective compensation by North Korea to offset its inferiority in conventional military capability.

A South Korean defector group launched helium balloons across the DMZ on July 6 and October 2, despite the new law passed during the Moon Jae-in administration prohibiting such activities. The Moon administration was criticized for curtailing "free speech," by conservatives, including Yoon Seok-yeol supporters and VOA Korea. The criticism is absurd as pointed out in prior posts. No one has the right to shout fire in a theater or provoke the North Korean or UNC guards at the Joint Security Area. No one has the right to fly things over the DMZ or its continuation, the Northern Limit Line (NLL) into the East or West Seas. As part of the military agreements between North and South Korea, loudspeaker propaganda from the North had stopped as well. The North Koreans felt that not only were the prohibited balloon flights regime change propaganda, but that they also represented a biological threat (covid-19). Ironically, at least one expert commentator has noted that the five un-intercepted drone flights this week from North Korea over the DMZ into South Korean airspace potentially represented a" weapons of mass destruction" threat, in addition to their apparent mission of reconnaissance, and harassment.

The Unification Ministry had requested the defector group to stop their balloon activities before the October 2 event. This is somewhat ironic considering the minister's "free speech" position expressed before the Yoon Seok-yeol administration took office.

On October 4, a North Korean intermediate range ballistic missile was fired into space over Japan and landed in the Northern Pacific. The South responded with a Hyunmoo II ballistic missle firing, which failed catastrophically and frightened the public near the scene of the accident. The US and South Korea each fired two ATACSMs; one of the South Korean launches failed.

When three North Korean missiles were fired across the MDL into the East Sea on November 2, this was a violation of the military agreement between North and South Korea which established buffer zones where military exercises are prohibited. A KF-16 intended to respond by firing 2 SPICE missiles, after the first firing, the aircraft returned to base, for low fuel reasons. A sortie by an F-15K, planned to launch two SLAM ER missiles. Only one missile fired, the other missile was defective. A second F-15K in reserve fired the second SLAM missile.

So there has been a considerable escalation in military and propaganda activities in the tense military zones in and around the Korean peninsula, which has led up to the December 26 launch of 5 (unmanned) drones by North Korea into South Korean territory. A KA-1 light attack aircraft taking off from Wonju as part of the ineffective South Korean military response crashed with both crew members surviving. As the drones meandered around the area south of the DMZ near Paju and Gangwha island, and one ventured over northern Seoul, the public was left uniformed about what was happening for several hours resulting in much social media speculation as to whether the south was under attack. This also occurred in the immediate aftermath of the Hyunmoo II failure and explosion in early October.

As late as November 10, the Unification Minister submitted a statement to the South Korean Supreme Constitutional Court that restrictions on balloon flights were a violation of "free speech."

The unification minister also stressed that terms in the law, including those banning any acts at border areas that could trigger "harm to the lives and bodies of people and grave dangers," is so vaguely worded that the law could be enforced "arbitrarily."

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20221110004400315

Earlier in late September a spokesperson for the ministry had asked the defector groups to refrain from such acts:

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification ministry urged local activist groups to refrain from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border amid lingering concerns that such a campaign could lead to the escalation of tensions on the peninsula.

The ministry also made clear Seoul will take a "strong and stern" measure in case Pyongyang carries out its threat of retaliatory action against those who seek to spread those leaflets, usually using large-scale balloons.

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220923003951325


During the Hoguk training exercise, South Korea conducted artillery exercises near Paju, and the US fired tactical missiles in Cheoran county, also close to the DMZ. If not violations of the Sep 2018 military agreement between North and South Korea, they violated the spirit of the agreement, and were part of a pattern of escalatory military moves by North and South Korea and and the United States. S.Korea begins major Hoguk field training exercise amid N.Korea’s saber-rattling, Oct. 17 Korea Herald, https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20221017000637

South Korean First Lady's Audrey Hepburn pose

Kim Gon-hee wife of South Korea's President Yoon Seok-yeol, poses in Cambodia, Audrey Hepburn style as a woman with compassion. This staged photo shoot, no doubt, was arranged in a fruitless attempt to reverse her unpopularity.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 11.14.22)

Notice she isn't wearing her jewelry for the occasion valued at tens of thousands of dollars.

Kim is allegedly a con artist and vindictive person according to her critics. It is alleged she worked as hostess at the Volcano nightclub at the former Renaissance Ramada years ago. The Volcano was frequented by Seocho's powerful prosecutors including Yoon Seok-yeol. Critics also allege, she changed her name, and used her relationships with prosecutors to help her mother escape conviction in various fraudulent business deals. Kim has changed her identity once, and has also been accused of plagiarism and falsifying her academic resume.  After Yoon was elected his mother in law's conviction and attendant prison sentence in a medicare fraud type scheme worth millions was reversed on appeal.

Allegedly, more recently, Kim and her husband have steered no bid contracts related to her husband's unprecedented move of the presidential office (into the former Ministry of Defense Building, and the associated takeover of the former Foreign Ministry official residence), to friends and cronies. Total cost of the unnecessary move of the president's offices out of the Blue House has been estimated by one legislator at approximately a trillion won, at a time of economic hardship in South Korea. The move also resulted in an extraordinary security burden being placed on the Yongsan-gu police, which directly led to public safety lapses and the unprecedented Itaewon (crowd crush) disaster on the Saturday night before Halloween due to inadequate police presence.

This is just one of Kim's prior Jacqueline Kennedy style outfits:

(Source- Sisain Today 9.14.22)

Yoon was once asked how he as a public employee had managed to accumulate a net worth in excess of ten million dollars. He responded, "it's my wife's, not mine."


Addendum (11.15) More- Saint Kim Gon-hee

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 11.15.22)


Responsibility for the Itaewon disaster is clearly the result of two moves by the Yoon administration. The first moving the official Presidential Office to Yongsan, and placing the National Police organization under the control of the Minister of Interior and Public Safety, removing its independence from political control, and placing it directly under the so called Yoon clique. Keep in mind that this was done by Yoon without National Assembly authorization although the National Police Command Structure was designed by statute to be an independent agency. Second, on the day of the incident, the bulk of Yongsan's police were assigned to watch a demonstration against the administration and therefore were not assigned later to monitor larger crowds (over 100,000) in the tight streets and alleys of the popular Itaewon district. Yet Yoon and the Minister of Interior place the blame on local officials even though there were 4 hours of prior warnings of what was happening in Yongsan and local police did ask higher authorities to dispatch more police support in a timely manner. But could the leader of an incompetent and authoritarian government be married to a saint? Yes according to the public relations handlers at the presidential office who arranged for another "mise en scene" of the first lady in Cambodia and released it to conservative media in South Korea.

Notes on Kim Jong-un's Victory Day speech published at KCNA Watch.

I noticed a couple of things about Kim Jong-un's speech published at KCNA Watch. Most notably:

"I have already made it clear that we should be ready both for talks and confrontation and more fully for confrontation in particular in order to reliably guarantee the security of our state."

Criticism of the new Yoon Seok-yeol administration in South Korea, in Kim Jong-un's speech is not too far off the mark. How does one strike a nuclear North Korea preemptively with conventional forces? There is no conventional military solution to the unresolved war in North Korea. South Korea is conventionally superior. North Korea compensates for its relative weakness with new missile designs capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Yoon's openly provocative approach to the North is off the mark. Yet, North Korea has itself to blame because it conducted extensive missile testing during the South Korean presidential campaign earlier this year, lending credibility to Yoon's outdated and impractical cold war approach. This contributed to Yoon's election victory by a razor thin margin, substantially comprised of the overwhelming vote in favor of Yoon by the elderly (over 60 voters).

Another portion of the speech that directly deals with "nuclear weapons" threats:

They are brazen-faced enough to advocate "peace based on strength" and "security based on strength," and have put up a bold front, claiming that they would not hesitate in launching a "preemptive strike" to neutralize the war deterrent of our state.

At this very moment, south Korea is growing more frantic to develop weapons and strengthen its defence industry in a bid to recover, even a little, its military inferiority as compared with ours, and it is planning to bring in nuclear strategic weapons of the United States in large numbers and expanding war drills under various pretexts.

However, we should see that the more frequent vainglorious remarks and various hues of shameful conducts recently made by the south Korean authorities with regard to their security come from their inevitable sense of uneasiness that they have to live under the very nose of a nuclear state.

https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1659013975-413691703/respected-comrade-kim-jong-un-makes-speech-at-celebration-of-69th-anniversary-of-great-victory-in-war/

It's interesting that the AP article on the Victory Day "speech" finds it necessary to refer back to an April speech to find more threatening remarks from the North Korean leader. I tend to agree with the analysis of this Korean Herald article:

No saber-rattling for N.Korea ‘Victory Day,’ but US repeats warning over nuke test
By Ji Da-gyum
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220727000697

North Korea held a politically charged event to mark its “Victory Day” in the Korean War, though its celebrations were notably absent of saber rattling and bellicose rhetoric from the country’s leader.

Last comment: This remark was made by academic expert quoted in the AP article:

.“Kim’s rhetoric inflates external threats to justify his militarily focused and economically struggling regime...”

Kim threatens to use nukes amid tensions with US, S. Korea
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-seoul-south-korea-nuclear-weapons-e285be60ef404092fe3324748fa60707

The same can certainly be said for the struggling Yoon Seok-yeol administration in the south, which is remarkably absent of any meaningful policies to address the current economic hardships there. Yoon's policies thus far consist of red baiting, persecuting political rivals, constructing an authoritarian state, pursuing privatization of state assets, and blindly deferring to US and Japanese policy. He is widely regarded as an amateur statesmen. The prior administration's policy toward North Korea might be summarized as putting South Korean national interests first while strengthening its military and the alliance with the US. The Yoon faction's policy might summarized as a default mode opting for outdated cold war rhetoric and unilateral concessions to the US and Japan damaging to South Korean interests. As one former South Korean four star general put it, "Yoon is driving forward while only looking in the rear view mirror."

South Korean police resist return to the past

(Source- MBC News, 7.24) Police Chief Ryu Sam-yeong, Ulsan Central District Police Commander. organized a meeting of senior police officials to publicly oppose the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's move to subject the National Police Agency to direction, supervision, and management by the Ministry of Interior and Safety. This is a relationship that prevailed during the dictatorship period of South Korean governance and was eliminated by legislation in 1991 making the National Police Agency an independent non-political organization. Ryu said:

"Such a move is unacceptable. That's the gist of it. A return to the mistakes of the past, is clearly what this talk is about. During the prior era when the Command of the National Police was within to the Ministry of Interior, many democratic martyrs were sacrificed at the hands of police. Why was it like that? Because the police were subordinated to the political power of the Ministry."

"The establishment of a new police bureau doesn't act a restraint on police power, rather it is the opposite of restraint. Retraint must be democratic in nature. Now, It is the National Police Committee that operates as a check on the police institutionally. If that is insufficient, upgrade it, ensure its members are politically independent, realizing true contraint must be realized democratically. However, to remove this system of democratically accepted regulation of the police by the National Police Committee, is to impose ministerial control. This is far from the customary democratic practice."

Commanders and other ranking police officials who participated in the Police Commanders Meeting July 23 were swiftly subjected to disciplinary procedures by the Interior Ministry. Reportedly, 50 officers attended the meeting directly, and more online. Later, it was reported that hundreds of officers sent Mugunghwa floral wreaths in support of the meeting. Commander Ryu was informed he was removed from his post on the way home from the meeting and to clear his personal effects from his office. It was later clarified by the presidential office chief that Ryu faces expulsion from the police force.

The Minister of the Interior and Safety, Lee Sang-min, claimed Ryu had violated a prohibition on gathering an assembly of public employees but was unable to specificy the specific law violated. The officers met off duty and traveled at their own expense. He characterized Ryu's action as an unconstitutional coup d'etat. This was an interesting reversal as it is the change in government organization by executive fiat without legislation that is unconstitutional according to those opposed to the move by the presidential office. The minister was questioned at a legislative hearing if a meeting of attorneys (a reference to a meeting called by Yoon as prosecutor general to defy the authority of the Minister of Justice?) had been illegal. Lee Sang-min denied this. Then he was asked if private assemblies of prosecutors for meetings were prohibited. "That's different" was the response. On a police social media net an officer asked, "Is a meeting of the National Public Prosecutors Association illegal?".

Prosecution reform legislation passed during the previous session of the National Assembly removed the monopoly of investigative powers from the Public Prosecutors Offices and transferred those investigation powers to police agencies. The effort by the Yoon government to subject the National Police Agency to the control of the Ministry of Interior and Safety is regarded as an attack on the independence and political neutrality of police offices and a "Chu Doo-hwan like" effort to subject police nationally to a an oppressive political monopoly dominated by President Yoon's office.

Another meeting of lesser ranking supervisory police personnel in support of those higher ranking officers subject to review or discipline concerning the July 23 meeting is scheduuled for July 30.


"대기발령 오히려 잘됐다" 류삼영 총경 작심 인터뷰
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2WCWSk0xOY

Yoon post-election crackdown on political opponents underway

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Populist" Yoon Seok-yeol

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yoon "술에 취한 대통령" under the influence of alcohol president

술에 취한 대통령 Presdent Yoon Seok-yeol's new nickname among critics is 술통령, drinking president.

(Source-열린공감TV youtube 5.25) Image taken May 13, 2022 at about 11:00 pm, inside restaurant adjacent to the luxury Acrovista apartments where President Yoon Seok-yeol still lives. His collar is unbuttoned and his tie askew.

(Source-열린공감TV youtube 5.25) These images were taken on Friday night (May 13) a day after the North Korean missile launches on Thursday evening which took place between six and seven pm. The red circle highlights Yoon's loosened belt.

(Source-열린공감TV youtube 5.25) The hands of his escorts which appear to be steadying President Yoon on his feet are visible. Their faces are blurred out for privacy and/or security reasons. Typically, identity of non-public figures are protected on Korean media for privacy reasons.

The spokesperson for the so called People's Power Party, has claimed that the images are photoshopped. The original publisher of the images (열린공감TV), who obtained them from an unidentified source, has directly contradicted the photoshop claim by the accuser who threatened legal action against the Democratic Party for disseminating copies or derivatives of these images on social media. A recorded discussion with a worker at the restaurant confirmed that Yoon had been there drinking.

The public policy issue here revolves around the fact, that President Yoon Seok-yeol, is clearly a drinking man. Can the commander in chief of South Korea's military be drunk while its northern neighbor is actively engaged in carrying out missile launches which may occur at any time? Should the commander in chief be under the influence of alcohol at any time? There is also the possibility that North Korea may be preparing to test another nuclear weapon. After the three North Korean missile launches on May 25, Yoon arrived at the office more than an hour after the launches began. The National Security Council had been convened on May 25 in contrast to the security lapse surrounding the May 12 launches, when the NSC wasn't convened and Yoon didn't even return to the office. Images of Yoon coming to the office at about 7:30 am, March 25, were quickly reported on South Korea's major media to show he was on the job, on the latter occassion. Nevertheless, (on the prior occasion) he appears drunk the next day. Is Yoon really "on call 24-7" to deal with national security matters or national disasters?
Note: See my June 1 post, "Populist" Yoon Seok-yeol, for more commentary about Yoon's drinking.

Biden moves into foreign policy void created by President Yoon in South Korea

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 5.16 ) Cartoon lampooning President Yoon Seok-yeol's press coverage inside and outside mainstream media. (Above in a suit) Inside, known for his taste for rich foods, in fact his visits to restaurants and markets to purchase foods (and liquor) are widely reported in the media. The reference to 화장실 hwa jangshil (bathroom) is probably a play on words, reflecting his tendency to go off on people ( 이봐! 응?,응? ). (Below- dressed as a Shaman or Mudang) Outside (unconventional) media focus on Yoon's superstitious beliefs in wizardry and cults, his partronage of shamanism, his general hatreds (working class, political dissent, media critics, Africans, political rivals), and his characterization as the K-Trump.

CNN summarizes US objectives during President Biden's visit to South Korea:

.…Biden has sought on his trip to link the parallel sets of economic and security issues that have emerged in his discussions with leaders. His trade outline, viewed as a scaled-down alternative to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact scrapped by his predecessor, is expected to place heavy emphasis on resilient supply chains decoupled from Chinese parts — a message he conveyed at multiple points in Seoul.

Among the other myriad issues he hopes to raise — which include regional security, trade, the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine war — is the question of improving ties between the two countries he is visiting this week. Relations between Japan and South Korea have worsened over recent years, a combination of long-simmering historical resentments and more recent trade actions.

Biden told reporters in Seoul on Saturday “it’s critically important” the US, South Korea and Japan have a “very close trilateral relationship.*

*Biden set to wrap up South Korean leg of his first Asia trip as President with visit to US troops, CNN by Kevin Liptak, 5.21.22;
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/21/politics/joe-biden-south-korea-japan-sunday/index.html

In addition to his numerous other character flaws, President Yoon Seok-yeol of South Korea, again demonstrates his incompetence in foreign affairs and national security by agreeing in principle to new directions in South Korean foreign policy after only ten days in office. The summit with President Biden took place without an opportunity for ministerial level studies of the impact of any “decoupling” from China on South Korean economics, nor the security implications of totally repudiating the tacit agreements the US made at Singapore with North Korea, and adopting what is in essence an anti-China policy by widening the scope of the alliance with the US. There was virtually no prior opportunity for negotiations at the working level. Yoon and his national security staff are “amateurs” who have virtually conceded to every US demand with no clear assessment of the consequences. In fact, Yoon telegraphed his positions before he even took office. The notion that the US and Japan know better how to handle South Korean national interests is dubious at best.

The CNN article, along with others in western media, refers to Yoon’s presidential office in the former MND building on the old Yongsan military base as the “People’s House.” Isn't the National Assembly Building in Yoido the "People's House?" What the western media miss is former Ministery of National Defense building's unsuitability to replace the Blue House as the national command center. Yoon’s refusal to move into the Blue House has resulted in extensive costs and disrupted command and control of South Korea’s emergency response system in the event of military provocations or national disasters. Yoon’s transition team made clear before he assumed office that the so called “People’s House” would in fact be largely dedicated to “public private partnerships,” installed on the top five floors which would allow lobbyists from the private sector to bargain with Yoon’s staff, over how to carve up South Korea’s state owned assets, including airports, railways, power companies, and other public assets for their own benefit. One of the lower floors will be reserved for the conservative media which will continue its role as a publicity organ for the conservative party and its corporate backers. Hypocritically, Yoon's office had police establish a 100 meter peripheral no public assembly zone around the Yongsan Garrison near the MND location on Itawwonno and the Samgakchi area which was struck down, in part, by two court decisions thus far, which nevertheless placed substantial constraints on such assemblies. There were small demonstrations against Biden and the US military at various points during the Biden visit to South Korea. The general thrust of the demonstrations was that Biden and the US military were creating a crisis that would lead to war.

Here’s a paragraph from the joint statement posted at the official US government web sites:

President Yoon and President Biden emphasize that the path to dialogue remains open toward peaceful and diplomatic resolution with the DPRK and call on DPRK to return to negotiations. President Yoon outlined his vision to normalize inter-Korean relationship through an audacious plan aimed at a denuclearized and prosperous Korean peninsula and President Biden expresses his support for inter-Korean cooperation. Both leaders underscore the importance of ROK-U.S.-Japan trilateral cooperation for responding to the DPRK’s challenges, protecting shared security and prosperity, upholding common values, and bolstering the rules-based international order.

Yoon has no such “audacious plan,” and neither does Biden. President Biden like hia predecessors intends to provide no support for “inter-Korean cooperation,” in fact, the US and Japan are consistently opposed to it. The policy is regime change in North Korea, and no amount of misleading verbiage or dissimulation is going to change that. The consistent mischaracterizations of prior president Moon Jae-in as an appeaser, weak on national defense, a "pinko" and other McCarthyite smears in US media are likely to widen the domestic rift in South Korean politics. Biden reportedly made a ten minute courtesy call to former President Moon which appears to be an effort to offset some of the negative reaction and ill will fomented by US and Japanese policies toward the former administration and Korea in general. Yoon’s support is the lowest of any South Korean president at the outset of his administration. In other words, there is no honeymoon period for the candidate the US obviously preferred to take office, and the US visit is unlikely to help.



惑世誣民 혹세무민

Who's minding National Defense in South Korea?

Apparently, it's not the new president, Yoon Seok-yeol. Earlier today, Associated Press published this headline and article about North Korea:

N. Korea fires 3 ballistic missiles amid 1st virus outbreak

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Thursday, its neighbors said, in the latest of a series of weapons demonstrations this year that came just hours after it confirmed its first case of the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

The launches could underscore North Korea’s determination to press ahead with its efforts to expand its arsenal despite the virus outbreak to rally support behind the leader, Kim Jong Un, and keep up pressure on its rivals amid long-dormant nuclear diplomacy.

Thursday’s launches were the North’s first weapons fired since the inauguration of new conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday.

https://apnews.com/article/seoul-south-korea-north-327a81d1281f2fadeb430e4c632458b7

The headline should have been: "North Korea fires 3 ballistic missiles at six thirty in the evening (Seoul time), President Yoon not available?" One pundit asked why didn't the president convene a National Security Council meeting per the normal government protocol? Has the NSC been replaced? President Yoon had probably already left the office for the day, and his executive office staff and their security office chief pieced together a national security situation evaluation meeting to issue a statement which addressed the threat North Korea's continuing missile launches posed to South Korean and international security. The office of the Chairman Joint Chief's issued a very similar statement. The presidential office is now located in the former Ministry of National Defense building on the old Yongsan garrison site.

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 5.12 윤석열 안보 패싱! NSC도 폐지? ) Graphic shows the route to and from the former Ministry of National Defense Building on Yongsan base (north of the Banpo bridge across the Han River) to President Yoon's private residence in Seocho on the south side of the Han River. It also shows the location of the former Foreign Minister's official residence in Hannamdong, (right, north of the Han River) which Yoon and wife intend to use after it is renovated (in one month?). The Blue House (top center) former site of the president's office and also the location where the president's official residence has traditionally been located is shown north of the Yongsan base.

A critic joked, the president probably left the office to do some drinking. He likes to drink somek ( 소맥 ), a boilermaker made with soju and beer. President Yoon isn't even in office three days and the security gap created by his refusal to move into the Blue House where the South Korean presidents traditionally lived and directed NSC meetings from the national command center underground is already on display. Why? Because some wizard guru, Gosa Jeon Gong, a youtube figure, apparently informed him and his wife, that the Blue House had bad feng shui ( 풍수 ) and that Yongsan military base where the former MND building is located had better geomancy. No joke. No comment from the conservative South Korean media. The new president is a Milton Friedman privatizer and anti-labor, that's all that matters to them. Yoon said during the campaign it was okay for employees to work 120 hours a week, but it seems he treats the Presidential office as a nine to five job and isn't available in a threat situation. The president's constitutional authority and responsibility for national security was apparently delegated to subordinates. So much for the notion promoted during the campaign that the conservative candidate with no foreign policy or national security experience whatsoever would be better for national security.


Note: 5.19 박정호의 핫스팟] 김병주 "NSC 열지 않은 윤석열 정부, 그게 바로 안보 공백" 쓴소리 Democratic National Assembly member Park Byung-chu (former four star general) elaborated in this OhMyNews TV youtube, additional details on the implications of Yoon's Security Office's failure to arrange for the meeting of the NSC on 5.12 in response to the triple ballistic missile launch by North Korea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgec3BIl-Rg

On ROK cooperation with NATO cyber defense center

Only 5 states in Asia support sanctions against Russia, those are Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. ASEAN is opposed. India is opposed, among others. With Indian opposition, the poor efficacy of the Quad as a new cold war mechanism against China and Russia is highlighted. This is why the AUKUS arrangement was developed. Japan, is not really committed to oil and gas sanctions on Russia, not wishing to lose its position in the international consortium with Russia in the Sakhalin gas project. Chevron and Exxon pulled out, Japan didn’t.

South Korea tends to view intelligence cooperation agreements, such as that with the US and Japan, as necessary to its security needs particularly against North Korea, but not as provocative to China as commitments as “boots on the ground” or other hard military asset commitments.

It is true that with the election of Yoon Suk-yeol who represents the legacy Japanese collaborator and military dictatorship elites in the conservative party, South Korea will become more compliant with Japanese and US anti-China initiatives. The fact is that this will hurt South Korean national interests which are similar to those of ASEAN countries who need to maintain a more ambivalent posture toward the new cold war in order not to damage their trade relations and security interests vis a vis their largest trading partner China.

With the election of Yoon Suk-yeol as president of South Korea, it is more likely to take unwise positions damaging its relationship with China. These would include abandoning the “three noes policy” adopted by the Moon Jae-in administration. No further disposition of any ABM system designed to be used against China, no participation in an anti-China alliance anti ballistic system, and no participation in a military alliance directed against China. The other trip wire for South Korea-China relations would be for it to make some statement of commitment to the security or independence of Taiwan that goes beyond its recent boilerplate and vague commitment to security in the Taiwan Strait which can be taken as merely a statement of support for freedom of navigation in the East China Sea region.


The publicized announcement of a NATO military commitment against China is a substitute for a failed effort by the US to raise an actual regional block against China that goes further than Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, the so called “white countries.”

Will Rasputin be advising the new first family in South Korea?

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


There could be serious problems ahead for South Korea's new administration which takes power May 10. One of the independent journalism channels in South Korea ( 열린공감TV ) has been making the case for the last couple of days, that the Guru, holy man, wizard, shaman whatever you want to call him, Cheon Gong, has been advising either Kim Gon-hee, (the new first lady) and/or President Elect Yoon Seok-yeol, on matters of state policy. Examples: 1) not moving into the Blue House, but the Ministry of National Defense Building in Yongsan disrupting the national security chain of command; 2) advising the president and his transition committee, to not accept the compromise brokered in the National Assembly on prosecution reform and the administration of criminal justice in South Korea which is corrupt and highly politicized; 3) recommending that the Blue House become an “exhibition hall” for the public or museum of sorts (the first lady’s business is booking and managing “art exhibitions” usually paid for by powerful commercial interests). The latter is regarded as a means of illegal sponsorship or cover for influence peddling. Trading in works of "fine art" is actually not uncommon among highly placed conservative politicians’ wives.

So this is a Rasputin type relationship with a first family that has a few screws loose. Imagine a newly elected US president that would not move into the White House but will instead move into a wing of the Pentagon, and demand that the Secretary of Defense or Joint Chiefs move their offices to make it possible. This guru has said that the legislature doesn’t embody the people’s will, but the question of reforming the criminal justice system should be put on a referendum to the people. This in fact, is what the transition committee announced one week later when Yoon's party filed his petition for an injunction against the legislature. This is bizarre to say the least.

Preview of the "dictatorship of prosecutors" in South Korea

It's only been recently that any decent article has appeared in the English language media about the concentration of power in the Public Prosecutors Office which readily enables political abuse and corruption. This article in the Hankyoreh opinion section does a nice job of describing the problem:

[Guest essay] S. Korea’s last chance to prevent a “republic of prosecutors”
Posted on : Apr.20,2022 17:52 KST Modified on : Apr.20,2022 17:52 KST by by Suh Bo-hack, professor at Kyung Hee University Law School,

The Democratic Party must quickly pass legislation that will separate the prosecutors’ powers of investigation and indictment
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/1039742.html

The "republic of prosecutors" presents an even greater threat with Yoon Suk-yeol taking office as South Korea's new president on May 10. South Korea will remain a republic in name only. "Republic of prosecutors" is a euphemism for dictatorship enforced by prosecutors.

Yoon Suk-yeol, the former Prosecutor General, has nominated his former right hand man and political fixer, Han Dong-hun, for Minister of Justice. Their conservative backers in the so called People's Power Party in the National Assembly are attempting to stonewall any reform of the criminal justice system. Once Yoon takes office it is unlikely that substantive prosecutorial reforms will become law.

Yesterday, the PPP repudiated the compromise proposal reached in the National Assembly on prosecution reform measures. The negotiations were apparently just a stalling tactic.

An agreement had already been signed by the two major party floor leaders in the National Assembly, Park Hang-Geun, for the democratic party, and Kwan Seon-dong, for the conservative People's Power Party. The compromise measure was mediated by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Park Byung-seok. Amazingly, President-elect Yoon's transition committee released an initial statement saying it respected the mediated proposal. The compromise had been approved by both parties in separate party assembly member meetings. When Yoon Suk-yeol and Hang Dong-hun got wind of it, it was immediately repudiated. PPP party leader Lee Jun-seok said that the PPP minority party won't accept a "legislative monopoly in the legislature." What does that mean? One democratic assembly member referred to the events as a "preview of the dictatorship of prosecutors."

So the compromise proposal was agreed to on Friday and repudiated by the PPP executive committee over the weekend at the direction of Yoon, probably through Han Dong-hun, who is the current Yoon nominee for Justice Minister. There is a report that Yoon directly contacted PPP floor leader, Kwan Seon-dong, instructing him to withdraw his party's support for the compromise reform proposal that he had just signed on behalf of his party's national assembly representatives. Han is now known as the "little president," pejoratively meaning the real president or power behind the throne, who will displace the prime minister, the presidential chief of civil affairs, and the prosecutor general, because of his special personal relationship with Yoon. The PPP members in the legislative assembly are now known as "yes men." It remains to be seen whether Han and a number of other Yoon cabinet appointments will get through their confirmation hearings unscathed with the ethical and financial irregularities alleged in independent media.


(Source MBCNEWS youtube 5.25)
2.12M subscribers
0:00 여야 중재안 합의..검찰, 부패·경제범죄 외 직접수사 불가 (2022.04.22_뉴스데스크_MBC)
02:41 '검수완박' 합의 뒤집어..사흘만에 '파기' (2022.04.25_뉴스데스크_MBC)
05:12 민주당, 법사위 단독 소집 "이번주 처리" (2022.04.25_뉴스데스크_MBC)
07:58 국민의힘, 돌연 왜? (2022.04.25_뉴스데스크_MBC)

한동훈 전화에 합의 파기? 국민의힘 뒤집은 '검찰의힘'[뉴스.zip/MBC뉴스]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns1V6-zU8jg

South Korea...Yoon's justice minister pick as "appointment terrorism"

S. Korean Democrats excoriate Yoon’s justice minister pick as “appointment terrorism” Hankyoreh by By Song Chae Kyung-hwa, Apr.14,2022 17:23 KST

The announcement appears to have lent momentum to the Democratic Party’s push to strip prosecutors of their authority to conduct investigations.

The Democratic Party issued a blistering criticism of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s announcement Wednesday that he was nominating Han Dong-hoon, a close associate of his during his time as a prosecutor, to serve as minister of justice.

The party lambasted the selection as an example of “appointment terrorism” meant to “install a loyal servant rather than achieving fairness.”

Following its decision Tuesday to make the separation of the prosecutors’ investigative powers part of its party platform, the party appears likely to use Han’s selection as an impetus for speeding up its efforts to pass related legislation.

In a public meeting of confirmation hearing officials at the National Assembly that day, Democratic Party floor leader Park Hong-keun said, “This isn’t just an appointment catastrophe — this is an act of ‘appointment terrorism’ against the public.”

*
* https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1038973.html

The article goes on to refer to Han's recent "unreasonable acquittal" on charges of "blackmail." Actually Han was charged with conspiracy to frame a political opponent of Yoon, Yoon's wife, and Han. It wasn't an "acquittal" but an ordinary declination to prosecute, which does not preclude charges against Han in the future. The reference to appointment terrorism and "privatizing" the prosecutorial function is an indirect way of saying Yoon will be a dictator, if the appointment goes through, and the democratic party's attempted reform of prosecutorial powers and organization fails. The democratic party was attempting to expedite the reforms by using a 180 vote super majority to overcome the expected filibuster by the conservative PPP party. For unexplained reasons the small Justice Party is refusing to cooperate with the democratic party, which has an estimated vote count of 179 votes at this point. Even if the reform bill were expedited, the appointment and confirmation of Han as Justice Minister would probably serve to neutralize the impact of the bill.

Yoon's wife has admitted communicating privately with Han on a regular basis. Yoon himself was disciplined a year ago by Ministry of Justice professional disciplinary board for unlawfully investigating judges, and intervening in the Channel A News case, (in which Han was alleged to be involved), and politicizing prosecution offices. Yoon's wife and mother in law, have been under investigation for various alleged unlawful acts. His mother in law, was convicted and then acquitted upon review of what we would call medicare fraud. His wife, Kim Gon-hee, is under investigation for insider stock trading where all participants but herself have gone to jail. A small group of demonstrators were thrown out of the Prosecutor General's Office annex yesterday for demanding prosecution of Yoon's wife. She is also alleged to have plagiarized her PhD thesis and falsified her academic resume.

At least two of Yoon's other nominations, those for Minister of Health and Welfare, and Prime Minister, are also alleged to raise ethical issues. The appointment of multiple ethically challenged appointments as alleged by critics, is seen as an effort to steam roll the appointment hearing process. In other words, there won't be enough hearing time to address these issues adequately.

The concentration of investigation and enforcement power in the South Korean centralized prosecutors' offices compares unfavorably to that of other governments such as the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan. By combining the power of President Yoon, Minister of Justice Han, and the Prosecutor General's Office, South Korea will become a defacto authoritarian state. This is something that people are afraid to say. No one wants to admit that Yoon is a potential despot, and that South Korean democracy is in jeopardy.