soryang
soryang's JournalSouth Korea: Yoon post-election crackdown on political opponents underway
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(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. Former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's wife, Kim Hye-kyeong, 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
South Korea: the drinking 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 at any time 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 ballistic missile 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 occasion. Nevertheless, he appears drunk the next day. Is Yoon really "on call 24-7" to deal with national security matters or national disasters?
the US unilaterally abandoned the nuclear negotiations at the Hanoi summit
where the negotiating team officially adopted the "one bundle" approach to denuclearization in North Korea. This is also known as the all or nothing approach, and the "Libyan approach." North Korea didn't need any more examples of US unwillingness to negotiate. The national security sector of the US economy, and the associated think tanks, academic endowments, and their spokesmen in the media, know that any success or rapprochement with North Korea jeopardizes the US alliance with Japan, which contrary to their public statements is adamantly opposed to negotiations with North Korea that are anything short of a total surrender. Therefore, no intermediate "step by step" process that relies on reciprocity and trust building among the parties can be allowed. Russia, China, South Korea, and North Korea, all favored the step by step approach.
The US military complex in northeast Asia has no raison d'etre without the ongoing 70 year conflict with North Korea. Proposals for negotiations with North Korea are just not taken seriously in the US. Claims that the US is open to negotiations with no conditions are just posturing for public relations purposes. Efforts by South Korea's Unification Ministry were vilified in US media during the entire Moon Jae-in administration while they were threatened with sanctions and told to get in "lock step" with the US and Japan which have zero consideration for Korean national aspirations. Regardless of the improvidence of the recent North Korea ICBM launch, the recent US-Japanese carrier strike force operating in the East Sea/ Sea of Japan merely cements North Korean perception of the hostile intent of both nations toward them. It's the same old gunboat diplomacy from both countries during the imperialist era of the 19th Century that they know so well after it culminated in two million or more deaths in Korea during the Korean conflict, and a brutal and oppressive Japanese occupation long before that.
Koreans didn't need Ukraine to remind them of anything. Japan wants to forget its past. The US ignores any Korean history before June 25, 1950, and its saturation bombing campaigns thereafter that destroyed virtually everything in North Korea. US diplomats ask stupidly "why can't they get over it?" Koreans will never forget.
South Korea: Lee Jae-myung slightly ahead of Yoon Seok-yeol in presidential poll
(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 12.1.2021) Channel A News commissioned presidential polling 11.27- 11.29 results nationwide: Democrat Lee Jae-myung 35.5%, PPP (conservative) candidate Yoon Seok-yeol 34.6%, Justice Party Shim Sang-jung 4.9%, National Party Ahn Chul-soo 6.0%, Independent Kim Dong-yon 1.6%, others 2.8%, reserved judgement 14.6%. Lee's slight lead over Yoon is within the margin of error for polls of this nature which is usually 3 percent. Just over a thousand people were surveyed. The poll is believed to carry probative weight by the source democratic analyst as Channel A News is a conservative DongA media outlet.
(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 12.1.2021) Who will you vote for in next year's (3.9) presidential election? By age group, percentage of prospective votes for Lee Jae-myung on the left and Yoon Seok-yeol on the right. Voters in their thirties favor Lee by a significant margin. Voters in their forties overwhelmingly favor of the democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung. Voters in their fifties are about evenly split between the two candidates. Voters in the sixties or older favor the conservative candidate Yoon Seok-yeol by a wide margin. Lee Jae-myung has apparently changed the momentum among the voters 18 to 29 somewhat in his favor. Yoon's "talk concert" campaign at youth campaign venues may have been counterproductive (see my previous post "Bro" Seok-yeol, Nov. 30). Yet many of the youngest voters appear to be reserving their choice at this point. Not happy with their social and economic prospects during the current five year term of democratic President Moon Jae-in, they may not like what they're hearing from the conservative Yoon campaign either, particularly concerning housing, wages, and labor conditions. Yoon's polling bounce after his nomination at the PPP convention appears to be over. Democratic pundits believe the more campaign exposure Yoon and his family receive the more support he could lose because of multiple allegations of unlawful acts currently under investigation.
On the other hand, conservative media sources had accused Lee of spouse abuse after a recent incident in which his wife lost consciousness and fell injuring her head. She was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The accusations appear to be unfounded but probably caused Lee to lose some votes among young women. Equal opportunity for women, and feminist issues have been a stumbling block for both parties in recent elections. A power struggle is under way in the conservative PPP between Yoon's camp and the party leader Lee Jun-seok. The struggle for control of the party's central committee involves both the youth vote and women's issues, as Lee Jun-seok is regarded as representing young male backlash against women's EEO issues. Democrats lost the mayoral campaigns in Seoul and Pusan in April this year in part because of deceased Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's improper office affair with his young secretary. This led to the democratic mayor's suicide when he was publicly accused of rape and sexual assault and allowed the right to pose as defenders of women's rights.
*See Reality Check in Seoul and Busan, 4.7.2021
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2021/04/reality-check-in-seoul-and-busan.html
and Deceased Mayor Park Won-soon- Trial by Media in South Korea 9.14.2020 https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2020/09/deceased-mayor-park-won-soon-trial-by.html
(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 12.1.2021) Prospective presidential voting survey results by region, with democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung, left, and conservative PPP candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, right. From top to bottom. Seoul where Yoon has a substantial lead; Incheon and Gyeonggido (where Lee is governor presently) Lee leads; Daejeon, Sejong, and Choongcheong, Lee has a significant lead; In Kwangju and Cholla, Lee has a huge lead ( because of Yoon's Chun Doo-won gaffes* ) ; In Daegu and Gyeongbok, Yoon has a huge lead (this is the center of conservative regional dominance); In Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, Yoon has a significant lead, and finally Yoon has a small lead in Gangwon and Jeju Island.
*Yoon Seok-yeol's "apple" apology and the Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship, 10.23.2021;
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2021/10/yoon-seok-yeols-apple-apology-and-chun.html
Prime Minister Kishida said he would support increased defense spending
Some of the other more extreme proposals by right wing factions in the LDP he had to negotiate with to become prime minister I don't think he favors. I noticed that Abe's faction, the largest in the LDP, supported him and that Abe's brother Kishi is still Defense Minister after the election. Don't think that Kishida supports constitutional revisions to "unleash the military" or proposals to allow deployment of nuclear weapons in Japan. I think he wants to avoid even the mention of these controversial measures. He is from Hiroshima (as I recall). Abe is viewed as the Shogun behind the scenes at this point. Reports about striking progress against the covid epidemic (for whatever reason, this is still unclear) may strengthen Kishida's hand from the far right elements in in LDP that he had to bow to in order to become PM. This is a fortuitous development I don't think Abe and Aso anticipated. We'll see.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Wednesday that nothing has been decided on whether he will accept his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi's invitation of an official visit to China.
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has taken a cautious stance on the request as the two countries remain at odds over territorial and human rights issues.
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/11/8557cfaa94c6-japan-foreign-minister-says-no-decision-made-on-china-visit.html
Hayashi is really the only Kishida man in the cabinet. I read an assessment a couple of weeks back, that he has some positive ties with China and South Korea, that I think Kishida would potentially like to take advantage of. The political factions allowed the Hayashi appointment as Foreign Minister after they lost some seats in the last election, but Kishida's base is too narrow to get out from the right wing factions's control of LDP policy and the major cabinet positions. This is primarily the Abe and Asa factions.
South Korea: Yoon family cartoons
(Source- 알리미 황희두 youtube 11.21 cartoon original source Cha Yoo-rak) "This is a normal country." Before the court addressing them, "defendant Yoon Seok-yeol" (the conservative presidential candidate, center), "defendant Kim Gon-hee" (Yoon's wife, the prospective first lady, left) and "defendant Choi Eun-seun" (Yoon's mother in law, right). All three depicted with the list of their alleged crimes on their backs. Kim Gon-hee: Stock price fixing, unlawful sponsorship, fraudulent credentials, Ph.D. plagiarism suspicion, fake life. Yoon Seok-yeol: Coverup of bribery investigation, negligent investigation of financial scandals, interference in former prime minister Han Myeong-suk's investigation, unlawful investigation of sitting judges, instigating private charges while in public office (against political enemies), and finally, insubordination and "coup d'etat." Choi Eun-soon: unlawful income, forged proof of financial status, stock price manipulation, memorial park fraud suspicion, and other financial fraud.
(Source- 알리미 황희두 youtube 11.21 cartoon original source Cha Yoo-rak) This cartoon depicts the difference in the South Korean media treatment of former Justice Minister Cho Guk's daughter (top) as compared to the deferential treatment of Yoon Seok-yeol's wife (bottom). On the top the group of angry journalists say, "You dare to call us journalist trash?* Our physical strength is enhanced by practicing often." On the bottom the journalists encountering Kim Gon-hee's falsified background, and her alleged involvement in the Deustche Motors stock price fixing scheme, choose to remain mute, while saying they are zealously engaged in deep meditation.
(*Reporter 기자 + trash 쓰레기 = 기레기 journalist trash. The contraction is a relatively new word in Korean that is widely used in independent media commentary, particularly on the left. When encountering accusations such as these against Yoon and his family in independent media, the right typically refers to it as fake news ( 가짜 뉴스 ). Yet there have been very few successful defamation suits against the independent media that have reported on these accusations and the evidence supporting them. )
Cho Guk's wife, Chung Kyung-shim, was convicted of forging her daughters voluntary service award certificate, allegedly destroying evidence, and investing under a false name at her first trial. Professor Chung is in prison after a sentence of four years despite her obvious bad health. Cho Guk is also fighting criminal charges but is not in pre-trial detention. Cho Guk's daughter, Cho Min, was stripped of her degree by a university under questionable circumstances based upon the allegedly "forged" certificate. Charges were instigated against the family without prior investigation by Yoon Seok-yeol, described by critics as a "coup d'etat" designed to derail the democratic administration's judicial and electoral reform initiatives. In October 2019, after the charges were instigated, over a million people assembled in the streets of Seoul to protest. It is alleged that the chief witness against Cho Guk's wife, the former university president where she worked, was threatened and otherwise unlawfully induced to elicit false testimony. Because there was no prior investigation, the prosecutors issued an unprecedented eighty search warrants in an effort to find grounds to substantiate the politically motivated prosecutions. The protracted litigation is still underway. The press cooperated fully with prosecution efforts to defame and vilify Cho Guk and his family. Cho Guk has won several defamation suits on behalf of his family.
On the other hand, political actors in the prosecutors' offices and judicial branch until recently have stonewalled and derailed all lawsuits and investigations against Yoon Seok-yeol's family for many years without comment by the South Korean media. Recently, Choi Eun-soon was convicted of unlawfully operating a medical rehabilitation facility and illegally receiving approximately 2 billion won in tax supported medical funds. She was imprisoned by the trial court but the reviewing court released her pending the appeal of her case. Charges against Yoon will be probably be referred to the newly formed Committee to Investigate High Public Officials. Typically, none of these allegations against the right wing candidate for president or his family had been reported in South Korean mainstream media nor their English language outlets. There has been some reporting of the General Prosecutor's office being implicated in the preparation of private lawsuits against political rivals. The April 2020 election law violations have not been linked to Yoon as yet but only to his direct subordinate. The English language press worldwide generally avoids the topic as well. However, similar to the South Korean major media outlets, articles in the US press and VOA Korea broadcasts are critical of the democratic administration, its policies, and the democratic party's current presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung.
Yoon Seok-yeol Wins Conservative (PPP) Nomination for Presidential Candidate (ROK)
(Source- JTBC News 11.5) The final selection for the People's Powers Party candidate for president of South Korea was announced last night 1:45am EST. Yoon Seok-yeol, the former Prosecutor General, was selected as the conservative opposition party's candidate, over Hong Jun-pyo. The formula for selection was based on a 50/50 formula of party representative votes averaged with the results of a popular poll among voters. The above graphic shows that Yoon won the party member vote by an overwhelming 58 percent (approx) to 35 percent margin over Hong, despite the popular vote in the poll going to Hong over Yoon by a 10 percent margin (48 to 38 percent approx).
(Source- JTBC News 11.5) This graphic shows the relative percent of People's Power Party member votes garnered by each party candidate participating in the final stage of the nomination race. Yoon Seok-yeol placed first with almost 48 percent; Hong Jun-pyo, second, with 41.5 percent; Yoo Seung-min with 7.47; and Hwan Hui-ryong with 3.17 percent.
While some polls show that Yoon can beat the Democratic Party candidate for president Lee Jae-myung, the presence of a strong third party conservative candidate in the final race for president could make Lee Jae-myung the winner in March 2022. Yoon and the PPP will apparently engage in "unification" discussions with potential candidate Ahn Chul-soo, who has his own political party to prevent conservative votes from being diluted in the final race for president.
On an editorial note, it is sad for South Korea, that the constellation of vested interests in South Korean politics, particularly those in the PPP have rallied around Yoon despite the fact that Hong is more popular. Hong's policy positions are no more attractive than Yoon's. The difference lies in the several investigations currently pending against Yoon's family members, colleagues in prosecution offices, and Yoon himself based upon credible allegations of corruption, misuse of public office, fraud on the courts and so on. Yoon's wife is under investigation for stock manipulation, his mother in law was already convicted in a lower court of what Americans would call "medicare fraud," and Yoon himself left the office of Prosecutor General while under a cloud of accusations of ethical violations, including politicizing the office, interfering in investigations, and unlawful investigations of sitting judges. Yoon was suspended from office by a disciplinary committee which he challenged in court. The disciplinary committee's decision to suspend him from office for two months was ultimately upheld by a court which noted that Yoon had no grounds for appeal, and that he could have been dismissed from office for his misconduct. Yoon's former office (The Supreme Prosecutor's Office) is currently under investigation for preparing politically motivated private charges against his critics and democratic politicians. Those judges and prosecutors who have investigations or prosecutions of persons in Yoon's "network" or their critics and opponents put before them, cannot help but be intimidated by the prospect of Yoon potentially becoming the president of South Korea. Yoon as a candidate represents the worst of the so called "corrupt special interests" in South Korea, He is dull witted, superstitious, and arbitrary in disposition and will, if elected, become an authoritarian despot in all but name.
(South Korea) Yoon Seok-yeol's "apple" apology and the Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship
Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol gave a presentation in Busan, October 19, during his presidential primary campaign, in which he expressed approval of the former dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan. He basically said that except for the ROK Army's slaughter of popular resistance to Chun Doo-hwan's coup d'etat, in Kwangju, (May 18, 1980), Chun's martial law regime administered South Korea well. His tactless remark went viral on the internet and social media throughout South Korea and met with widespread disapproval. People's Power Party leadership called on him to apologize to the many Korean people offended by his thoughtless remarks. Yoon then posted a somewhat lengthy and circuitous apology on social media, which basically said he was sorry for his shortcoming, that he didn't adequately perceive the sensitivity of affected South Koreans, who had suffered at the hands of the Chun Du-won. Yoon asserted he would learn to be a better politician as a result of the learning experience.
(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 10.22-10.23) (Left) Yoon's "Dol" celebration picture; (center) "memorable Indian apple;" (right) Yoon's Jindo dog being offered an apple, Dori like his father likes Indian apples. All comments on the posts had been removed.
However, after Yoon's written apology was posted, 10 hours later at night, a photo attributed to Yoon's instagram address was uploaded, suggesting that Yoon took the matter lightly and was taunting his critics. The picture of Yoon's traditional Dol ( 돌 ) celebration picture at age one, show's him sitting at the ceremonial table of fruit, holding an apple. This was posted on October 20. Sa gwa ( 사과 ) means apology in Korean; it is also a homonym for "apple." The caption under the Dol photo of Yoon as a one year old baby said, that even today Yoon favored apples over other fruit. On October 22, two more photos with a sardonic "sa gwa" theme were uploaded on social media, one of an indoor plant from which an apple hangs by a thread. The caption underneath says "memorable Indian apple." Another picture uploaded shows Yoon's Jindo dog (a Korean dog breed) being offered an apple (apology). The caption underneath said, Dori (Yoon's dog) resembles his father in that he likes (an) Indian apple (apology). Indo sagwa ( 인도사과 ) can also mean, moral or humane apology or guided or obligated apology in this context. One political pundit compared this kind of inappropriate biting sarcasm as characteristic of the "Ilbe" internet hate sites frequented by right wing young males so popular in South Korea now.
Shortly after the pictures were uploaded and went viral on social media, Yoon had a pre-scheduled televised debate, one on one, with a minor PPP candidate, Yoo Seung-min, during the conservative party's primary campaign process. In the debate, Yoo Seung-min questioned Yoon extensively concerning the circumstances surrounding the uploaded pictures of apples in various contexts. At first Yoon appeared to be taken somewhat off guard and responded awkwardly attempting to dissociate himself from the uploaded pictures. Seeing that Yoo wasn't letting go of the subject matter, Yoon came around to admitting the authenticity of the photos attributing them to an unnamed employee in his campaign. He said the pictures were uploaded in an office "near his apartment," and that his wife Kim Gun-hee participated in the process. He admitted that he had approved of the photos being uploaded on his instagram account. Yoon claimed that the intent of the photos being posted is being distorted by critics. Clearly on the defensive, Yoon chose to double down on the gaffe which had brought on the political demand for his apology and then its apparent sardonic and disrespectful repudiation by uploading the related photos. Yoon, digging himself into a deeper hole, insisted that his original gaffe concerning dictator Chun Du-won's martial law regime was correct, and that Chun ruled South Korea wisely and that this was widely understood, even in Honam, the region where the Kwangju uprising and massacre took place.
In his most recent public statements, Yoon has apparently acknowledged his culpability, admitting posting the photos was his fault. His campaign office floated the idea that Yoon would go to Kwangju next month to apologize formally and make a visit to the memorial site where those killed during the 5.18 uprising against martial law were buried. The schedule for Yoon's visit wouldn't be confirmed until November 5. One observer questioned what difference this would make in Yoon's campaign when the primary would be effectively over November 5 with final selection of the People's Party presidential candidate taking place that day.
Someone keeping track noted 14 major gaffes by Yoon since he announced his candidacy June 29. Among the more memorable ones, were his comments that Fukishima never blew up; that it's okay to work 120 hours a week; and that adulterated goods shouldn't be regulated or poorer people wouldn't have lower price choices in the market place. In another gaffe, Yoon, used a Japanese yakasu term for "turf" or dominion used by thugs extorting business owners to refer to the Honam region as "his." Critics contended Yoon's expression was akin to using the "F" word in a formal setting. Further, critics felt Yoon's use of the gangland expression, reflected on his demonstrated character as "boss," when serving as Prosecutor General, willing to use state power arbitrarily against his rivals and critics. Yoon on another occasion denigrated concerns about pay for manual laborers, saying that manual labor was something from Africa. Yoon also made televised appearances recently over a three day period with the Chinese character for king ( 王 ) marked on the palm of his hand, which raised questions again about his possible shamanistic beliefs, and whether he washes his hands.
One interesting development in the online investigations and discussions of Yoon's latest public blunders, is that the photo of Yoon's dog being offered an apple, on close examination, reveals that the photo was taken most likely, in the Kobana Kontents office of Yoon's wife. The fixtures and dog's cushion are virtually identical. Also intriguing is that although Yoon publicly had denied direct participation in staging the photo, the reflection in a closeup of the pet's eye show's a man slouching in a sitting position with his legs splayed apart in the rude posture which is virtually a Yoon trademark. It should be noted that sending an apple or a picture of an apple as representation of an apology for some minor slight among friends is a practice now among young South Koreans. That Yoon would acquiesce to such an inappropriate gimmick with respect to comments he made concerning the mass murders and other criminal acts by Chun Doo-hwan, shows how poor his judgement is and who would really be running the administration, namely, Kim Gun-hee, his wife. Or would it be her Shaman? All this painfully similar in nature to the relationship between Choi Soon-sil and former President Park Geun-hye, now in prison.
A Korea Gallup poll of 1000 persons over age 18 during period October 19 thru 21 showed the democratic presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung, leading Yoon Seok-yeol in a hypothetical presidential matchup, 34 to 31 percent. Range of error plus or minus 3.1 percent. So Yoon appears to have lost some support.
South Korea- Lee Nak-yon suffers early primary loss to progressive candidate Lee Jae-myung
(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 9.5.21) Democratic presidential candidate contender Lee Nak-yon suffers serious loss to Lee Jae-myung in early Sep. 4-5 regional primaries by a 2-1 margin. Lee Jae-myung, far left, 54.81 percent; Lee Nak-yon, second from left, 27.41 percent. Jung Sye-kyun, (3rd place) 7.84 percent; Chu Mi-ae (4th) 6.67 percent.
Lee Nak-yon's greatest blunders? Stalling the reforms sought by the candlelight revolution when they put the democratic party in power after the impeachment of Park Geun-hye. Lee Nak-yon served as Prime Minister to Moon Jae-in and later as Democratic Party leader in the National Assembly. He is perceived as having stonewalled prosecution and press reforms sought by democratic voters. Worse, he later called for the pardon of corrupt conservative authoritarian presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak. Additionally, he was critical of former Justice Minister Cho Guk who led the reform movement. Cho Guk, as a consequence, found himself and his family persecuted in the courts by the dictator in waiting, conservative presidential candidate, Yoon Seok-yeol. Yoon was Prosecutor General at the time.
Lee Nak-yon also failed to support former Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae, (fourth place at 6.67 percent) who replaced Cho Guk in the office, in her efforts to restrain out of control Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's abuse of power and her efforts to discipline him, and remove his supporters from prosecution offices across South Korea. Lee Nak-yon's true colors exposed, his public support has plummeted. Virtually half of Lee Nak-yon's supporters say they will vote conservative if he is not the democratic candidate for president in the coming March 2022 election. These conservatively oriented Lee Nak yon supporters are probably about 5 percent of the general electorate at this point as his support has dropped to about 9-10 percent of the overall electorate.
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(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 9.5.21) Democratic Party presidential candidate primary schedule in South Korea. Daejeon/Chungnam 9.4: Sejong/Chungbuk 9.5; Daegu/Gyeongbuk 9.11; Gangwon 9.12; Gwangju/Cheonam 9.25 ; Cheonbuk 9.26; 10.1 Cheju; 10.2 Busan, Ulsan/Gyeongnam; 10.3 Inchon; 10.10 Seoul.
South Korea Democratic Primary Schedule
( Source- 언론알아야바꾼다 youtube 8.16) New democratic party primary campaign schedule dates: Sep. 4, circuit primary campaigns begin (previously Aug. 7); Sep. 12, party members caste votes in first round primary candidate selection; Oct. 3, second round balloting for presidential candidate; Oct. 10, final voting to confirm democratic party presidential candidate's nomination; Announcement mid-October.
( Source- 언론알아야바꾼다 youtube 8.16) South Korea's 2022 presidential election schedule. In 2022, official registration of presidential candidates begins Feburary 13-14, with the election activity officially beginning Feb. 15; Overseas balloting period February 23-28; Early ballots March 4-5 and final ballots March 9, 2022.
The important dates for the South Korean primary selection process for presidential candidates from an earlier 언론알아야바 video report had outdated information concerning the democratic party primary process. These two graphics are posted as an update/correction. These two graphics from the same source, are taken from the 언알바 youtube video on August 16. The changes in the schedule were secured by supporters of Lee Nak-won and Chung Sye-kyun. It was believed that a four to five week delay in the primary selection schedule would give them some more time to catch up to Lee Jae-myung, the leading democratic candidate and Gyeonggido governor. Lee Nak-yon is 12.9 percent in national polling, and Chung is less than 2 percent.
It was noted in the same program that Lee JM has a distinct advantage in the electoral race as the current governor of Gyeonggido which has more democratic voters than any other jurisdiction in South Korea. Competitors are unlikely to make inroads criticizing Lee JM's proposals for universal income payments to compensate individuals for the adverse economic effects of the pandemic. The reactionary ideological response from the right, that it isn't the government's responsibility to support the people economically is likely to fall flat. The "where are you going to get the money arguments" of centrist democrats like Lee Nak-yon aren't gaining much traction with democrats under the circumstances. As a governor, Lee Jae-myung can get the money right out of his own provincial administration budget and distribute it, while others carp about austerity. Another positive attribute of Lee JM's approach is that it is practical, and demonstrates a commitment to the public welfare and economic issues. Thus the focus of the election is directed away from a negative mandate on the Moon Jae-in administration, where centrists and conservatives without a policy program would like it to stay.
The source 언론알아야바 also noted the public policy discussion scheduled by the conservative People's Power Party for its presidential candidates on September 17 and 25th. Yoon's camp had indicated a reluctance to participate with a large slate of minor candidates. Hong Joong-pyo has criticized Yoon for his reluctance to debate characterizing it as fear. In another provocative and politically significant move, Hong has gone beyond general criticism of Yoon's politicization of the Prosecutor General's office, to a specific attack on the corruption of the law enforcement processes concerning his mother in law, who was recently convicted of fraud in the operation of a medical facility. Hong specifically raised the issue of whether or not there was political interference in the earlier investigation of the case when a nolle prosse determination was made concerning Yoon's mother in law, Choi. Recently, mother in law Choi, was found guilty at her first trial and sentenced to three years in prison. So Hong has taken the initiative here, firing a shot across the bow, indicating that he accepts the allegations of progressives on the left, and the prosecution reform faction of the democratic party, that Yoon compromised his former public office and the rule of law in South Korea. This is Yoon's Achilles' heel. One could argue, that Yoon has to become president in order to protect himself and his family from further investigations and prosecution. There are currently several corruption investigations pending against Yoon, his wife, and mother in law. The conservative mainstream media is avoiding this subject matter as much as possible. They are stake holders in the Yoon political scheme referred to commonly as press-prosecution collusion (to protect corrupt special interests).
If matters related to the alleged corruption of the prosecutors' offices and Yoon's family are fair targets in a political campaign how will the press avoid the issue when they are debated on a televised debate? How will they avoid the issue if Yoon declines to participate? Hong wins either way, and democrats benefit from conservative infighting. Will Hong's scathing commentary on Yoon be limited to Facebook posts and social media? Checking the English language media last night, the internal fissure in the PPP was described as a candidate Yoon- Party Leader Lee feud. This was covered in our prior post, but the Hong- Yong rivalry is likely to be more damaging, as Hong is an experienced and able campaigner.
The above supplements my earlier August 14 polling update at the link below which has more discussion about the early presidential campaign maneuvering in South Korea:
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2021/08/south-korea-august-12-polls-in.html
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