The Kim Hak-eui scandal and the "illegal ban" of his attempted flight from South Korea.

Kim Hak-eui ascended to the position of vice minister of justice during the Park Geun-hye administration. He was only in office for a few days when he had to resign because of accusations that he had earlier engaged in a course of conduct of sexual debauchery and accepting bribes in the form of sexual favors. During the Park administration, prosecutors nolle prossed ( 무혐의 ) the charges on two occasions.* They said Kim denied being in the video and the victim's specific identity couldn't be determined in a sex video recorded in a luxury country villa in Wonju. Charges of accepting bribes were also dimissed by prosecutors. One victim claimed that she and others had been drugged and raped repeatedly by Kim Hak-eui and another man at the villa. Another female victim allegedly committed suicide. The victim only identified as "Lee" claimed she was physically threatened to not disclose the incidents. She also claimed that the other male defendant threatened to publish the sex videos if she got any ideas.

* 김학의 별장 성접대 사건, https://namu.wiki, downloaded 2.26.2021

Police believed the evidence was sufficient when they made the referrals to the prosecutors office. Ms. Lee's attorney filed a formal criminal complaint which was basically ignored by prosecutors according to one press observer. At some point it was alleged that another victim prompting the second prosecution determination in 2015 accepted financial support from the suspect bribing Kim Hak-eui and the charges of all victims were thereby discounted by prosecutors and generally discredited in the press. Allegedly, Kim's home and accounts were never searched by prosecutors during the 2013 to 2015 investions. In 2019, the case was investigated again, and on May 16, 2019, Kim was arrested. At the first trial Kim was found not guilty and the case went up on appeal for rehearing. In October 2020, at the appellate court hearing, Kim was found guilty, and given a prison sentence of two and half years, for accepting different bribes during a later period. The appellate court ruled the statute of limitations had passed on the earlier crimes of receiving bribes and sexual favors.

Before his arrest in 2019, Kim Hak-eui attempted to flee from South Korea to Thailand. This came to the attention of a team of investigators appointed by the Justice Ministry to investigate the earlier prosecution mishandling of the case. Upon discovery of Kim's imminent plan to leave South Korea, a prosecutor assigned to the Justice Ministry team requested that Kim be detained at the airport. According to the supporters of the current Prosecutor General, Yoon Seok-yeol, the travel ban order and detention of Kim at the airport were unlawful because the legal documents prepared were defectively executed and without authority.

This is a version of the events according to the conservative Korea Herald:

Kim had resigned as the vice minister of justice after just six days on the job during the former Park Geun-hye administration in March 2013, due to allegations he had received bribes and sexual favors.

He was acquitted (emphasis added) of bribery charges in 2013 and 2015.

In 2019, under the Moon administration, a reinvestigation into Kim was launched over suspicions he received bribes and sexual favors from businessmen between 2006 and 2011.

On the night of March 22, 2019, Kim was stopped at the gate of a flight bound for Bangkok at Incheon Airport as a prosecutor named Lee Kyu-won in the fact-finding team of the SPO requested from the Justice Ministry an emergency overseas travel ban.*

*Controversial travel ban on ex-vice minister backfires, By Kim So-hyun Published : Jan 14, 2021 - 13:52 The Korea Herald, http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210114000731

(Source- YTN News file video rebroadcast 2.24.2021) Lee Seong-yoon, (이성윤) Chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Branch, Seoul, regarded as the "restraint" on Yoon Seok-yeol has been subpoenaed in an investigation "turnaround," in which he becomes the suspect. ( 이성윤, '피의자 전환' ) Ultimately, Lee could be a candidate for Prosecutor General, the top position now currently held by Yoon Seok-yeol when the latter's term ends.


So, improbably, the Suwon Prosecutors Office, is now currently investigating, Lee Seong-yoon, the Chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, for his alleged role in the "improper" issuance of a prosecutor's order to block the suspect Kim from fleeing South Korea while an investigative process was pending against him. While the conservative press supporters of the current Prosecutor General Yoon Seol-yeol, propagate this narrative of a so called miscarriage of criminal justice, by issuance of the "illegal prohibition" of foreign travel by Kim, there is an ulterior motive behind the investigation.* When Yoon's two year term in office ends this July, Seoul District Chief Lee is very likely to be appointed his successor as Prosecutor General by the Blue House. When this happens, cases currently being investigated by Lee, and other prosecutors assigned to his office are likely to proceed. As a result, in the near future, Yoon and his remaining followers in prosecution offices, will be unable to prevent investigations and indictments of Yoon, relevant subordinate prosecutors, or Yoon's family members from going forward. As in so many other cases, the investigation of Chief Prosecutor Lee is another episode of "civil lawfare" in the republic of lawyers.

While it is difficult to keep track of the laundry list of cases which have not yet run up against the statute of limitations, the Channel A News scandal pending against prosecutor Han Dong-hun allegedly involves Yoon. In addition, there is a new so called "mortuary fraud" case involving Yoon's mother in law along with the hospital fraud indictment filed against her last November. There is the Deutsche Motors stock options case against Yoon's wife, which is currently under investigation. Attorney Rim Eun-jeong, ( 임은정 ) a well known critic of the General Prosecutor's Office, has been appointed by the Minister of Justice as a special prosecutor assigned to Lee's office to investigate the political prosecution of former Prime Minister, Han Myeong-suk, which allegedly relied on perjured testimony solicited by prosecutors. Prosecutor General Yoon publicly criticized Rim's appointment and the granting of investigation powers to Rim by the Justice Ministry as "useless."

So the innuendo now disseminated in the conservative Korean media, is that Lee is not a fitting candidate for Prosecutor General, and that someone more to Yoon's liking should be appointed to fill the vacant office after his departure. The media script accompanying the Suwon office's investigation of Lee is criticized by progressives as accurately framing Yoon's desperation, if nothing else. Yoon's upcoming departure is eagerly anticipated by the ruling democratic party. In the view of the Justice Ministry it can't happen soon enough. It is quite unlikely that the Blue House would pick anyone sympathatic to Yoon after all of his political vendettas aimed at sabotaging the democratic Moon administration and the series of prosecution reform initiatives passed by the National Assembly in 2020, currently being implemented. Incredibly, Yoon is still regarded by conservatives as a viable presidential candidate for the so called People's Power Party in 2022.

*See: Hol Seu-hyung's 시사건건 youtube channel commentary interpreting these political events. His 2.26 youtube in particular: 너무 초라해진 윤석열의 현재상황. 윤석열의 처참한 말로가 보인다. 이성윤 검찰총장 가즈아; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4nluVmnZQA

South Korea: More corruption in the administration of justice

(Source- 타이거행크TV, 2.20 youtube; outtake orig source jtbc news) Prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun: "Yes sexual assault, but the meaning is rape."

In 2015 former prosecutor Jin Dong-kyun, raped junior prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun. The case was apparently thoroughly investigated at the time by the Seoul Southern District Branch Prosecutors Office. Jin was allowed to resign and take a job with a prominent company and the incident was covered up. Early in 2018, Seo appeared on JTBC to complain of her treatment by the male dominated prosecutors office and the handling of her case. In the conservative press, Seo was referred to in derogatory terms such as "gold digger," as her case became public. A task force of women prosecutors was formed in response, which found a detailed investigation report of the incident had already been accomplished in 2015. They proceeded to indict former prosecutor Jin. Jin's second trial, confirmed his guilt of "sexual assualt." His sentence of only 10 months was confirmed. The court placed him in confinement. The victim Seo has maintained consistently, that the crime is rape, and not a lesser offense.

(Source- 타이거행크TV, 2.20 youtube) Jin Hyung-ku, former prosecutor and defendant's father, (left); the defendant Jin Dong-kyun (center); and (right) prosecutor Han Dong-hun, ( a close associate of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol), who is currently under investigation for misconduct in the so called Channel A News scandal.


One would expect that a forcible sexual crime by a senior in an employment context, committed against a subordinate would get more serious punishment. The endemic problem among the "silver spoon" class of attorneys in South Korea, is the notion that they are above the law, and entitled to the perquisites of their rank. Sex discrimination and sex crimes are just another category of corruption and immorality in the so called "republic of lawyers." Prosecutors and many of their of their colleagues, stand along with their judicial, media, and chaebol partners above the law, decades after the putative demise of authoritarian government in South Korea. The conservative mainstream media in South Korea has given little attention to this trial outcome according to the source. The report alleges this is because defendant Jin Dong-kyun's wife is Han Dong-hun's sister. This according to critics makes the defendant part of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's "royal family."

(Source- 타이거행크TV, 2.20 youtube) Attorney Kim Jae-ryun (center) calls for democratic candidate for mayor of Seoul, Woo Sang-ho, to retire from the race because he said that Park Won-soon was a "role model."

The right wing faction of the Me Too movement in South Korean nominally led by private attorney Kim Jae-hyun, has been, not unexpectedly, silent about the sexual violence coverup by the Yoon faction in the justice world while renewing their proxy campaign against the deceased Mayor Park Won-soon as a form of noise jamming. This faction of the Me Too movement representing conservative elements, is the proxy for the Gook Min eui Him Dang's Na Kyung-won, who is a candidate for Mayor of Seoul. Na Kyung-won also called for the democratic mayoral candidate Woo Sang-ho to withdraw from the race because of positive statements about deceased Mayor Park. Kim Jae-ryun had accused the former Mayor Park of sexual assault and sexual abuse of his secretary while in office. No official investigation has found any wrongdoing by former Mayor Park.* Na tries to portray herself as the women and families' candidate as she literally has nothing to offer otherwise as the corrupt scion of authoritarian aristocrats from the days of dictatorship. She is a former judge, and her husband is currently a sitting judge who allegedly has stalled and diverted criminal complaints against Yoon's family. Prosecutors recently nolle prossed criminal cases against Na, otherwise she may have been rendered ineligible for office. Na failed at re-election to the National Assembly in April 2020, in large part because of her coordination of brawls and sit ins at the National Assembly designed to block legislation to reform administration of criminal justice in South Korea.

*Deceased Mayor Park Won-soon- Trial by Media in South Korea, Sept. 14, 2020; https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2020/09/deceased-mayor-park-won-soon-trial-by.html

South Korea: Civil "lawfare" continues in the Administration of Justice

President Moon Jae-in appointed Park Beom-gye as his nominee for Justice Minister after the disciplary debacle concerning Yoon Seok-yeol's unprofessional conduct as Prosecutor General of South Korea resulted in the resignation of former Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae. The democratic Justice Minister that President Moon appointed previous to Chu Mi-ae, resigned as a result of charges brought against his wife, and himself in 2019. So the unflappable Prosecutor General Yoon remains in office, with the help of judicial cronies, the conservative media, and the so called corrupt special interests in South Korea. A new adversary arises to take him on.

Yoon met with the new justice minister at a "neutral location." Apparently they met to discuss pending personnel changes in prosecution offices which are controlled by the Ministry of Justice. Ostensibly, the Prosecutor General's office is subordinate to the Justice Minister, but you'd never know it. Yoon brought charges against former Justice Minister Cho-guk's family almost immediately after Cho's appointment, allegedly with little or no prior investigation. Therefore the trials against Cho and his wife dragged on for almost a year and a half and are far from over. Cho's wife was recently sentenced to four years in prison for allegedly submitting false documents in support of her daughter's college admission years ago, using inside information illegally in a personal investment, and concealing evidence. Many observers regard certain aspects of the case against Cho's wife as completely fabricated. This while the Samsung heir, Lee Jae-yong, convicted of bribing Choi Son-sil, former President Park's aide and shaman, to the tune of a few million dollars, (to help secure control of Samsung) recently received a two and a half year sentence. The other millions Lee spent on buying Park Blue House influence, were held to be a legitmate corporate "sponsorship" upon review.

After filing disciplinary charges against Yoon, former Justice Minister Chu found herself subject to allegations of misconduct in the conservative mainstream media controlled by Yoon's close friends. She was accused of getting her son special treatment from the Army after he was injured in training which rendered him unfit for unlimited service. Nevertheless, Chu doggedly pursued reforms of the prosecutor's office and the establishement of a corruption office for high government officials independent of the prosecutor's offices. She propelled a disciplinary proceeding against Yoon which resulted in a disappointing administrative sanction of two months suspension from office, for acting with political bias in office, and conducting illegal investigations on sitting judges. An administrative court reversed the decision saying that the disciplinary board did not have a quorum because some members recused themselves for potential conflicts after the board convened. Chu then tendered her resignation.

Which brings us to the current Justice Minister Park Beom-gye. Park and Yoon met on February 5. The picture below is regarded as evidence of Yoon's insubordinate attitude and disrespect for his nominal superior the Minister of Justice.

(Source- 뉴스반장 2.5.2021) Again Yoon's revenge theater begins..."Investigate Justice Minister Park Beom-gye!" Same pattern, same objective. "There is one target, block prosecutorial reforms!" This time is the third time already.

Yoon (left) sits directly opposite Park, in a challenging disrespectful pose, with suit open, stomach hanging out and legs spread.


Accounts of the Yoon-Park dialogue suggest that Yoon desired to have Seoul Central District Prosecution Branch Chief, Lee Seong-yoon, transferred or promoted out of his current position. Lee's office is responsible for supervision of the so called "press-prosecution collusion" scandal in which Channel A News reporter, Lee Dong-jae, and prosecutor, Han Dong-hun, were involved. Han Dong-hun's Iphone was seized under a warrant, after it was reported that the Channel A News reporter had communicated with an imprisoned witness and his agent soliciting perjured testimony against Yoo Shi-min, a former minister of the No Mu-hyun administration and the director of the No Mu-hyun foundation, a progressive political institution. Yoo Shi-min is a prominent critic of the right and supporter of reforms in the administration of justice in South Korea.

So far, Lee's forensic team was unable to crack the security key on Prosecutor Han's Iphone. Allegedly, it's operating system was updated after South Korea had obtained the requisite software to decypher the digital lock. There has been pressure from the Prosecutor General's office and the conservative media to drop the case for lack of evidence, but there was a political and public backlash, after it was disclosed that a new software would be forthcoming to obtain the forensic key. Interestly enough, it is said that there are 2700 contacts of one sort or another between Prosecutor Han, Yoon Seok-yeol, and Kim Geon-hee, (Yoon's wife) recorded on Han's Iphone. It is conceivable that this may be a breakthrough that will ultimately bring down Yoon's network of corruption which extends into the judiciary, the media, and the corporate sector. Yoon's request to Justice Minister Park also called for the reinstatement of Han Dong-hun as a front line prosecutor. Yoon's request in that respect was also denied. Lee Seong-yoon is regarded as the agent of the Ministry of Justice inside the prosecutor's offices by Yoon and his followers.

(Source- 뉴스반장 2.5.2021) (left) Lee Seong-yoon, Seoul Central District Prosecution Branch Chief; (right) Han Dong-hun, currently in a holding pattern in the Prosecution research facility.


After Yoon's most critical requests were disregarded by Justice Minister Park, the Taejon District Branch Prosecutors Office, known to be close with Yoon, unexpectedly (sic) announced it was commencing an investigation of Minister Park's holdings in the Myeong Kyeong law firm of which Park was a founding member in 2012. It is alleged that Park retained a proprietary interest in the firm after assuming public office in the 19th National Assembly and derived large profits from his holdings in violation of government ethics laws. Park has stated the charges are false, that he has had no income from the firm while in office and that his actions are in compliance with government ethics rules. The source cited above, reported that Park gave up his current interest in the firm January 14. The Taejon District Office is also conducting an investigation against the Moon administration, particularly the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, allegedly for fabricating economic evidence that supported the decision to close the Wolseong Nuclear Reactor No. One.

Associated with the alleged improper Wolseong Nuclear Reactor shutdown charges is the absurdly incongruous and misplaced accusation that documents were destroyed within the agency or its subordinate departments which showed that the administration intended to deliver nuclear reactor parts to North Korea. So the goal here is actually a frontal assualt on the Moon administration. One critic has pointed out that there had been international plans to build reactors in North Korea, supported by previous administrations during the so called Agreed Framework and Six Party Talks days. So these charges fit into the ridiculous conservative assertion that President Moon "is a secret North Korean agent for Kim Jong-un." This accusation was disclosed by People's Power Party leader, Kim Jong-in. As a side note, after left of center candidates for office in the Pusan run off election proposed building a sorely needed new international airport for the city of Pusan, the same Kim Jong-in, not to be outdone, made the absurd proposal of building a tunnel to Japan from Pusan. In another absurd development on the conservative side, the shape shifting Na Kyung-won, a trusted ally of Yoon Seok-yeol running for mayor of Seoul, proposed bonuses totalling approximately one million dollars for any couple forming a household after marriage and having at least one child. Charges pending against Na for corruption were recently nolle prossed by prosecutors.

I have two previous articles posted on this blog on the press prosecution collusion scandal involving prosecutor Han and reporter Lee Dong-jae:

1) South Korea's Press-Prosecution Collusion Scandal: the audio transcript, JULY 23, 2020

2) Seoul Judge Cancels Lee Dong-jae Search Warrant, July 26, 2020.

The blog has over a dozen other articles on Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and the political corruption in the administration of justice in South Korea posted since March 2020.

The blog has one post on the leaky nuclear facilities at Wolseong, South Korea. Nuclear Contamination detected in underground water at Wolseong Nuclear Power site, Jan. 8, 2021.

US FON operations in the Chinese theater

This is a list from The Tufts University, Fletcher School, Law of the Sea Policy Primer, concerning the US dispute with China's "unlawful" claims to the South China Sea:*

Other Unlawful Coastal State Restrictions on Military Activities Within an EEZ

Eighteen States purport to regulate or prohibit foreign military activities in their EEZs, but of these only China, North Korea, and Peru have demonstrated a willingness to use force to impose their excessive EEZ claims. A list of the most common of these unlawful constraints is provided below:

• Restrictions on “non-peaceful uses” of the EEZ without consent, such as weapons exercises;
• Limitations on military marine data collection (military surveys) and hydrographic surveys without prior notice and/or consent;
• Requirements for prior notice and/or consent for transits by nuclear-powered vessels or ships carrying hazardous and dangerous goods, such as oil, chemicals, noxious liquids, and radioactive material;
• Limiting warship transits of the EEZ to innocent passage;
• Prohibitions on surveillance operations (intelligence collection) and photography;
• Requiring warships to place weapons in an inoperative position prior to entering the contiguous zone;
• Restrictions on navigation and overflight through the EEZ;
• Prohibitions on conducting flight operations (launching and recovery of aircraft) in the contiguous zone;
• Requiring submarines to navigate on the surface and show their flag in the contiguous zone;
• Requirements for prior permission for warships to enter the contiguous zone or EEZ;
• Asserting security jurisdiction in the contiguous zone or EEZ;
• Application of domestic environmental laws and regulations; and
• Requirements that military and other State aircraft file flight plans prior to transiting the EEZ*

*Military Activities in an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) https://sites.tufts.edu/lawofthesea/chapter-4/

Several of these "unlawful" restrictions as the US characterizes them are not so unreasonable. Is it really asking too much to have a US aircraft carrier or other foreign warship not conduct military flight operations within the contiguous zone? The US has a historical tendency to push these legalisms to their operational limit. The US Navy and US Air Force are accustomed to doing so. Maybe you can get away with it in the case of Cuba or Libya.

Should foreign warships be allowed to operate weapon systems with ranges capable of reaching the territory of China within the contiguous zone? Is this a good idea or gunboat diplomacy? If I were Joe Biden i would be leery of letting the Defense Department set these policies. These are a matter for civilian control, and discretion is the order of the day. Should the relevant state of the EEZ not be able to regulate the environmental laws in the EEZ? Would practice bombing, discharging munitions, fuel or waste in the South China Sea not damage the environment and ecology?

Military vessels and aircraft can always expect to encounter the armed forces of the ADIZ, EEZ, or contiguous zone state especially when intentionally entering the contiguous zone. I know that Chinese aircraft occasionally enter the ADIZ of S.Korea or Taiwan, without giving notice and it always referred to in the western media as some form of an "airspace incursion" or implied military aggression but when the US does it, it's under the rules of international law. (When i do it it's love, when you do it, it's adultery). As far as the relevant nation wanting to have some supervision of the use of pipelines or the passage of nuclear powered vessels or hazardous cargo in its EEZ, this doesn't seem unreasonable either.

One can make the case that military aircraft should be able to have free passage right up to the twelve mile limit, which is what the western powers do. I have read scores of reports of US military aircraft operating in the Chinese littoral in the East China Sea and South China Sea in the last few years WITHOUT incident. The Tufts article I linked to here, reports on about a half dozen incidents of what military flyers call "thumping" of US aircraft by Chinese interceptors over roughly a twenty year period. Admittedly it's a dangerous practice. When one flies a military aircraft in the contiguous zone of major power, this is an anticipated risk. Tufts is one of the academic headquarters for US military policy advocacy. They use the official Navy JAG source as their authoritative source for their write up on this subject. Another portion of the "policy primer" portrays the PCA compulsory arbitration on the Philippine claims as if it were the bible when international scholars have questioned the putative jurisdiction of the court over China under the the law and the facts of the case.

I have presented the argument elsewhere on why the ITLOS/PCA compulsory arbitration concerning the Chinese Philippine dispute is a nullity and legally void. The bottom line is there is no PCA/ITLOS jurisdiction over Chinese sovereignty claims:

…The overall obligation to submit to a compulsory conciliation procedure under 298(1)(a)(i) will however not apply in respect of a maritime boundary dispute which “necessarily involves the concurrent consideration of any unsettled dispute concerning sovereignty or other rights over the continental shelf or insular territory”.21 In other words, obligation contained in article 298(1)(a)(i) to submit a conciliation procedure is subject to three conditions: (i) the dispute should have arisen after the Convention entered into force; (ii) no agreement could be reached between the parties settling the dispute within a reasonable period of time; and (iii) that the dispute did not involve “the concurrent consideration of any unsettled dispute concerning sovereignty or other rights over continental shelf or insular land territory”.*

*The South China Sea Arbitration (The Philippines v. China): Assessment of the Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility Sreenivasa Rao Pemmaraju Author Chinese Journal of International Law, Volume 15, Issue 2, June 2016, Pages 265–307, https://doi.org/10.1093/chinesejil/jmw019 Published: 20 June 2016 https://academic.oup.com/chinesejil/article/15/2/265/2548386

The US position on FON is an advocacy position based upon the greatest extension of US national interests. The Chinese claims represent the greatest extension of Chinese historic national, economic, and military interests as well. FON itself except insofar as it affects core national security interests of China such as in US military operations in the contiguous zone of Hainan, or of the mainland, is not the main issue. The main issue concerns the EEZ claims of China associated with the various island groups. Likewise, the artificial islands confrontations are simply a wedge issue to shoehorn the US Navy into the claims of other states in the region to competing or overlapping EEZs. Other than for Japan and Australia, it isn't clear how welcome these unnecessary US provocations are. The US military flyovers and encroachments within twelve miles of artificial islands are going to provoke a military response from China, whether they are technically legal or not.

It seems to me that all these issues are ripe for negotiation with China. I don't think the US is really interested.

(Added notes Feb. 13)

This is the underlying US motivation:

Exxon's South China Sea oil project tests Chinese influence

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg) - An Exxon Mobil oil and gas project off the coast of Vietnam is becoming a test of Beijing’s growing power in the South China Sea.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry this month sought to shoot down rampant speculation that Exxon will sell its 64% stake in the country’s largest offshore energy project Ca Voi Xanh, or Blue Whale, a joint venture with state-owned Vietnam Oil & Gas Group some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the coast of Danang. While the project sits just outside of China’s claims in a nine-dash map of the waters, it would tap the same basin that Beijing is seeking to develop.

Vietnam has become increasingly isolated in its efforts to push back against China, which is nearing a deal with the Philippines for joint energy exploration in a contested area of the sea and just set up one-on-one talks with Malaysia to settle disputes in the waters. At stake are unexploited hydrocarbon resources the U.S. says could be worth $2.5 trillion.

https://www.worldoil.com/news/2019/9/23/exxon-s-south-china-sea-oil-project-tests-chinese-influence

U.S. sanctions China’s CNOOC on drilling in disputed South China Sea

CNOOC has been at the center of territorial disputes in the South China Sea since 2012, when it invited foreign drillers to explore blocks off Vietnam that Hanoi’s leaders had already awarded to companies including Exxon Mobil and OAO Gazprom. In 2014, the countries traded accusations that each other’s boats had rammed vessels, including around a CNOOC oil rig near the Paracel Islands.

The Philippines in October resumed oil exploration in the South China Sea for the first time since 2015, when the nation filed a case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration over the disputed waters. The resumption came after Manila and Beijing reached a framework agreement for joint exploration. Philippine firm PXP Energy Corp. has said it’s in talks with CNOOC for such a partnership.

https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/11/30/us-sanctions-china-s-cnooc-on-drilling-in-disputed-south-china-sea

Happy Birthday President Moon Jae-in!

(Source- 열린공감TV, January 24, 2021) It's still the 24th here EST, so I posted this in time. Great video on the Optimus Fund scandal and Prosecutor General Yoon's involvement in the coverup. Moon Jae-in's life long battle to reform the deep seated evils within the permanent beauracracy of the Korean government reveals that he is ultimately (just) a person. Happy 69th Moon Jae-in.

시사건건 also commented on the Optimus scandal today, giving the simple version of the story: Yoon's nolle prosse nothing to see here reports giving Optimus a clean bill of health cost government agencies with retirement funds and innocent investors victimized by the fraudulent scheme hundreds of millions in losses. How does Yoon Seok-yeol still have a job? According to both sources, it's a legacy of the tradition of corrupt personal networks (인맥) based upon school, region, profession and position. Loyalty is to one's colleagues and network of profitable relationships in deeply corrupt institutions (적폐기관) is the uppermost consideration, not society or the people. Prosecutors and judges look forward to the patronage of those in power rather than fulfilment of a public duty, or an ethical mandate. Financial and industrial elites are rewarded for patronizing these officials with protection from legal accountability for unlawful actions. Similarly, corrupt media conglomerates are protected by the corrupt judges and prosecutors (검언유착) for their assistance in concealing their own wrongdoing, and assisting in their resistance to reform.

Samsung's Lee Jae-yong goes back to prison

Given the widespread accusations of overtly political motivation on the part of judges and prosecutors in South Korea to protect corrupt corporate leaders and right wing politicians while targeting politicians, government officials, and progressive activists on the left with questionable investigations, prosecutions, and heavy sentences, the timing was right to put Lee back in prison. The sentencing guidelines had called for a sentence as long as five years. The first trial had resulted in a sentence of five years. Lee's second trial resulted in a reduced sentence of two and a half years. (The execution of this sentence was suspended for four years! This is why Lee was released by the court!).* Having served a year in prison after the first trial years ago, Lee, in effect, is now looking at eighteen months further in prison.

*이재용 실형 2년6개월 판결한 재판부의 머릿속을 해부해보자 - 곰곰이라이브 하이라이트 20210119; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_0p7EKNW9U

(updated 1.21.2021) According to this source the story is even more extraordinary. Under the facts found at the first trial, the mandatory minimum sentence for the 8 billion won in bribes paid by Lee to President Park's office was five years. When the trial was sent back by the Supreme Court, it took the view that the actual bribe and misappropriation by Lee was only 3 billion won, getting it below the 5 billion won threshold for a minimum mandatory prison term of five years for misuse of funds. The tortured reasoning was that 5 billion won of the 8 billion won spent for Choi Yu-ra's equestrian stable in Germany was a "sponsorship" reducing the misuse of company funds to 3 billion won. It was argued in mitigation that it was "hard to refuse" the monetary payments soliticited by the former President Park. Later, the Supreme Court upon review of the sentence at the second trial, found that there was insufficient evidence of mitigation to suspend the two and a half year sentence. The anticipated unfavorable public reaction to such a light treatment of Lee's offenses, described in critical commentary as a slap on the wrist, was a major factor in reinstating an actual prison term. It was observed in this critical report ( 곰곰이라이브 ) that a thief found guilty of stealing a bowl of ramen and goju (pepper) side dishes from a closed restaurant had received a three year prison term.

Other factors possibly considered included the deep seated desire of the right to pardon former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung Bak, which cannot take place as a practical political matter while the Samsung heir is a free man. If a new president is elected next April then the imprisoned former presidents Park Geun-hye, and Lee Myung-bak, would both in a better position to receive pardons, with Lee Jae-yong having served most of his sentence.

The administration of justice in South Korea is widely discredited among the general public and this decision contributes more fuel to the fire. Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and other leading political figures on the right wish to obstruct and discredit the pending reforms of the criminal justice system which will include investigating the activities of his office and its handling of multiple cases whether non prosecutions of right wing political figures and corporate chaebol, his own family's shady business dealings, or the patently political investigations and prosecutions of a number of political rivals on the left.

When the new Commission to Investigate Corruption by High Public Officials opens in the near future Yoon is expected to be one of its first targets. Consequently, Yoon has launched a series of prosecutorial counterattacks targeted against the administration, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office, the Justice Ministry, South Korea's Nuclear Regulatory officials, and the Blue House itself. The power struggle is slowly playing out, while the Korean public continues to suffer from Yoon's continuing arbitrary assaults on the rule of law.

Nuclear Contamination detected in underground water at Wolseong Nuclear Power site

(Image source: 포항MBC 화면 캡처)


On January 7, MBC Pohang reported that radiation is leaking at the Wolseong nuclear power site in South Korea. The Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (KHNP) conducted an internal investigation last year, upon which the MBC report was said to be based. Underground water at ten locations on the nuclear power station site were examined. Radioactive tritium was detected in the water at all ten locations. The highest level detected was 713,000 becquerels, said to be 18 times the acceptable manageable level in a ground water sump underneath the Number 3 turbine building. The source of the radioactive leak has not been determined. It was also reported a level of 924 bequerels was detected 300 meters north of the restricted area around the nuclear reactors at the boundary of the Nuclear Power site. Independent experts have suggested that the deteriorating condition of concrete from facilities more than 20 years old as a possible source and a water barrier failure is suspected. The reported findings were described as "shocking," and the contamination of underground water was described as "pervasive."

(Image source: 포항MBC 화면 캡처)

The potential for the nuclear contamination to spread to the surrounding area through the underground water was acknowledged but the KHNP said that such spread had not been confirmed. Reactor number one at Wolseong, which began operations in 1983 was scheduled for shutdown in November 2022. The Moon Jae-in administration shortened the operational life of the reactor by shutting it down in June 2018 in accordance with his policy to move away from nuclear power as an energy source. There had been complaints by local citizens and environmental groups since tests of local residents allegedly revealed evidence of accumulation of tritium in human tissue in 2015, and reports of thyroid tumors in the local population. The November 2022 service life extension on Wolseong reactor one was the result of a locally unpopular ten year extension on the original service life expiration in 2013.

Incidentally, prosecutors from the Daejon District had previously arrested officials in the Moon administration on suspicion of destroying approximately 500 official documents to conceal improper administrative procedures for early closure of the reactor. Among those charged is ( 백운규 ) Park Oon-kyu former Minister of Industry, Trade, and Energy and officials from the Hydro and Nuclear Power office. Officials allegedly responsible for destruction of evidence and obstruction of the criminal investigation have been jailed. The investigation began before investigatory powers were taken from the offices under the controversial Prosecutor General and vested by legislative reforms in the police and the new Senior Public Official Corruption Investigative Council. The prosecutor's investigation is allegedly politically motivated and bases its allegation of an improper early closure of the Wolseong reactor exclusively on the purported "manipulation" of economic considerations to satisfy President Moon's policy goal. Critics say it is unprecedented in a democratic government for criminal prosecutors to interfere in what is a fundamental exercise of discretionary powers by the executive offices.

South Korean political pundits on the left have observed that there has been a virtual news blackout of the Wolseong radiation leak report in South Korean media. The political bias of the reporting is evident, as the premise of the current investigation and prosecution of nuclear officials in the Moon administration now appears in an embarrassing context of a breakdown of both safety management and material maintenance at the Wolseong facility and the need for closure of the reactor on reasonable safety grounds. In contrast to the Moon administration's decision to timely shut down the reactor permanently, the criminal investigation into the decision appears to be "unreasonable."

References:

‘월성원전 수사’ 소설쓰는 언론들, 충격적 ‘방사능 누출’은 함구; 승인 2021.01.08 12:11:16 수정 2021.01.08 15:08:09; [출처: 고발뉴스닷컴] http://www.gobalnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=31586

월성원전 방사능 누출. 문재인정부의 조기폐쇄결정을 옳았다; 시사건건 youtube, Jan. 8, 2021

경주 월성원전 방사능 누출.. 추가 오염 우려 (2021.01.07/뉴스데스크/포항MBC) youtube

South Korea to boost nuclear power? Seoul (UPI) Feb 20, 2012; https://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/South_Korea_to_boost_nuclear_power_999.html


생수 마신 5세 아이까지 피폭, 더는 살 수 없다; 경주 월성원전 주민 40명 방사성 물질 노출, 근본적 대책이 절실하다; 최종 업데이트 16.01.24 10:51, 글: 양이원영(wawayang); http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002177075
At the time the article was published, activists had been conducting a sit in front of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Office continuosly for 500 days.

There are some interesting facts in the article which focuses on the inadequacy of the Korean government's effort or lack thereof, to conduct epidemiological surveys of radiation levels in the human body and frequency of relevant cancers in the local population and the compelling need for such research. What is the acceptable safe limit of tritium in the human body? Obviously it must be different for infants and children. Pronouncements of alleged findings of the Korean nuclear power regulatory authority are compared unfavorably to analogous German findings. There is a chart showing the levels of tritium found in 40 persons in the vicinity of the Wolseong facility in 2015 expressed in becquerels per liter. The "official" South Korean limit was apparently established at 30 bec/ltr which all but one of the 40 tested persons were beneath. Also an interesting chart in the article is said to show that when the Wolseong No. 1 reactor was shut down for a period of time, the number of radioactive emissions at Wolseong went down significantly (but still remained well above other South Korean nuclear power stations). It is reported anecdotally that there have been numerous thyroid cancers in the area near the Wolseong reactor site. Also, the article said 20 percent of Ulsan residents were found to have significant levels of tritium in their bodies.