South Korea Presidential Scandal

[Napper Tandy]

Anyone else following the recent political scandal in South Korea? Its the story that keeps on giving, gigolos, mind control, viagra, dressage, rigging school and university exams, petty feuds, extortion, shaman, fake foundations.

Korean Times

The prosecution's interim investigation results, unveiled Sunday, show President Park Geun-hye has consistently lied about the corruption scandal involving her and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.

To cover up the scandal and ease ensuing public outcry, Park stuck to false statements, using every means from daily briefings through her spokesman to a meeting with her senior secretaries and even two nationally televised apologies.

However, she has found herself an accomplice in the country's biggest political scandal in the end after the prosecution indicted Choi and Park's two former senior aides Jeong Ho-seong and An Chong-bum on criminal charges including extortion and abuse of official power.

In the wake of the JTBC news report, Oct. 24, that Choi had prior access to presidential speech drafts and edited them, Park issued the first public apology, the next day, apologizing for giving Choi the documents and explaining that she sought Choi's advice merely on the speeches and public relations issues.

However, the investigation showed that she lied in the national address.

According to the results, she shared a total of 180 presidential documents, including 47 classified ones, such as those concerning the appointment of ministers and vice-ministers.

While delivering the apology, Park also said she had asked for Choi's opinion in the early years of her presidency and stopped after the presidential office completed relevant systems ― although she did not specify when this came to an end.

Her explanation once again turned out to be false.

"From January 2013 to April 2016, confidential government and presidential documents were delivered to Choi under the President's directions," the prosecution said.

Jeong, a former secretary for private presidential affairs, handed over the documents that covered Park's schedules for her overseas trips and even diplomatic issues to Choi via emails, fax and courier, according to the prosecution.

Park was also found to have lied about the massive funds that were raised for the Mir and K-Sports foundations that Choi controlled.

When Mir and K-Sports were established in October last year and January this year, respectively, they raised a combined 80 billion won ($67.52 million) from the nation's major conglomerates with the help of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the country's biggest business lobby group.

Amid growing speculation that Cheong Wa Dae coerced the companies to chip in for the establishment of the foundations, Park said the firms voluntarily donated the money to the organizations in the Oct. 20 meeting with her senior secretaries.

She once again stressed in the second national address, Nov. 4, that the companies participated in the donation "voluntarily with good intentions"

"Choi and An Chong-bum, Park's former senior secretary for policy coordination, pressured 53 firms to donate the funds to set up the two foundations, abusing their official authority, and the companies followed the directions for fear of future retaliation against their activities," the prosecution said.

Park herself even met with Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin in March to ask for an additional donation of 7 billion won for the K-Sports Foundation, according to the prosecution.

Also, the President said she did not know that Choi profited, while having committed unlawful acts, but Park ordered An to help an acquaintance of Choi strike a supply deal with Hyundai Motor Group, it added.

[quinner]

Anyone else following the recent political scandal in South Korea? Its the story that keeps on giving, gigolos, mind control, viagra, dressage, rigging school and university exams, petty feuds, extortion, shaman, fake foundations.

Korean Times

Not me......Too busy laughing at those who thought Trump would lose.....

[Twobob]

Power and money [ greed ] , the ruination of many a any good potential politician .

[Napper Tandy]

Power and money [ greed ] , the ruination of many a any good politician .

The president "friend" was responsible for buying her official occasion clothes with a generous budget provided by the government. Choi pocketed most of the money, bought cheap standard clothes to dress the president with.

A film emerged of the Choi and her gigolo boyfriend eating chicken and rubbing their greasy hands on one of the outfits that the President was due to wear. Then they blew smoke on it. Bizarre is an understatement.

[Napper Tandy]

Now businesses are offering discounts or freebies if the President resigns....highly unlikely as she has preseidential immunity until she steps down.

Korean Times

This has raised the eyebrows of those who believe the businesses are trying to cash in on a political scandal that is rocking the nation. Others regard it as a unique way of venting their anger at the scandal-hit head of state and supporting the protesters.

But the bad news for them is that Park seems unlikely to step down anytime soon.

"If President Park resigns, all soju will be free for four days," read a banner in front of a Daejeon restaurant. "I apologize for not participating in the mass protest because I had to run my restaurant."

Restaurant owner Shin Sang-ho said: "Customers often say that Park should resign and I agree with them... For the future of our children, Park must quit the job and the current government must change its ways."

A shellfish restaurant in Ulsan also plans to offer soju at cost until Park resigns.

"I put up a banner (promoting the campaign) to remind us how the government is acting toward its citizens," said the restaurant owner Kim Young-sup. "The situation is so dire that I put up the banner even though the restaurant is not doing so well."

Several other merchants said they will have a huge sale on the day of the President's resignation.

A business hotel in Busan will open its rooms free of charge on the day Park resigns.

"All 51 rooms (except those that are reserved) will be free on the day President Park resigns," the hotel's owner said. "Please don't misunderstand this as a marketing scheme. Although I am unable to participate in the mass protest, I wanted to show my support as a father."

[Napper Tandy]

Now heading to jail, the Korean Times has already photo shopped her image




Korean Times

Former President Park Geun-hye was detained early Friday after the court accepted the prosecution's request to arrest her on multiple charges, including bribery, abuse of authority, coercion and leaking government secrets.

This came three weeks after Park was removed from office on March 10 in a historic impeachment ruling by the Constitutional Court and 10 days after she underwent lengthy prosecution questioning.

Park's arrest was needed to "hedge the risk of Park fleeing or destroying evidence," Judge Kang Bu-yeong of the Seoul Central District Court wrote in a ruling statement.

With the verdict, Park has become the third former South Korean President to be arrested -- after Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan who were imprisoned on corruption and mutiny charges in the mid-1990s.

Park, who was awaiting the ruling at a room of the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office, was taken to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, soon after the decision was announced. Park -- in prison garb -- is expected to travel back and forth to the prosecutors' office for additional questioning before being formally indicted.

Prosecutors suspect Park colluded with her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil to force dozens of local conglomerates to "donate" a total of 77.4 billion won ($70 million) to two dubious foundations -- Mir and K-Sports -- allegedly controlled by Choi.

Samsung's de facto leader Lee Jae-yong was arrested for giving or promising some 43.4 billion won to Choi, and in effect to Park, as kickbacks in return for business favors. Of the total, 20.4 billion won went to the two foundations.

If convicted of the bribery charges, Park can be sentenced to 10 years or more in prison.

Park is also accused of involvement in blacklisting cultural figures deemed critical of her policies and prohibiting government agencies from providing financial support to them. Her former close aides were arrested for their roles in creating and managing the list of more than 9,000 artists, writers, filmmakers and entertainment figures.

Prosecutors suspect that the former president abused her power by pressuring her aides to sack culture ministry officials who resisted discriminatory measures against those on the blacklist.

She is also accused of unlawfully intervening in the corporate management of conglomerates -- including Hyundai Motor, POSCO and KT -- by pressuring them into signing contracts with Choi's firms.

During a marathon interrogation session at the prosecution on Tuesday last week, Park reportedly denied all allegations.

[Eileen]

I spoke to someone who has spent many years in Korea and is married to a South Korean. This whole thing is so tragic. Park Geun-hye had so much potential but she decided to follow her father's path of corruption. Now the heir presumptive (yes, I know they will vote for a new President) has strong ties to China, causing concern with some South Koreans.

[quinner]

They would sell their Seoul to the highest bidder

[Napper Tandy]

I spoke to someone who has spent many years in Korea and is married to a South Korean. This whole thing is so tragic. Park Geun-hye had so much potential but she decided to follow her father's path of corruption. Now the heir presumptive (yes, I know they will vote for a new President) has strong ties to China, causing concern with some South Koreans.

Who is the heir presumptive who has close ties to China?

[Napper Tandy]

Moon Jae-in elected with over 40% of the vote, son of North Korean parents.

Korean Times

Nearly 65 years ago, on Jan. 24, 1953, a young couple from Hamhung, North Korea, celebrated the birth of their first son. They had come to the South Korean island of Geoje as refugees during the war, and like thousands of others who had fled the fighting, they struggled to adjust to their new home in the South. Yet, despite their poverty and hardships, they were thankful for their newborn son ― and their freedom.

Three years earlier, in late December 1950, the couple and their two-year-old daughter joined tens of thousands of North Korean civilians at the port city of Hungnam and boarded ships for the South. Fleeing from the advancing Chinese army, these refugees had promised their families they would return in "three days," or as soon as the Communists were defeated.

But this never happened. The Communists were never defeated, the couple never returned to North Korea, and many of the refugees never saw or heard from their families again.

The husband has since passed away. But yesterday the refugee couple's son, Moon Jae-in, became the new president of the Republic of Korea.

As the only American to interview 30 former refugees from Hungnam, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for those who lived through the "refugee experience" of the Korean War. Like Moon's parents and sister, these men, women and children spent days and sometimes weeks exposed to the bitter cold of one of the worst winters in decades before being rescued by U.S. Navy and Merchant Marine ships.

My grandfather, Colonel Edward H. Forney, USMC, was the evacuation control officer of the Hungnam Evacuation _ the largest U.S. military amphibious evacuation of civilians under combat conditions in U.S. history. I have spent nearly two years living in Seoul, researching and writing about him, his fellow U.S. and ROK soldiers, and the refugees, and during this time I have often reflected on the meaning of freedom for Koreans, Americans, and me.

With the world's recent focus on the refugee crisis in Europe, more people are aware of the ongoing plight of refugee families. Over the coming days and weeks, as news outlets and social media sites cover South Korea's newly elected president and his family background, Moon's story will be a bright spot in an otherwise bleak picture of civilians fleeing war-torn countries.

In a remarkable testament to South Korea's open and evolving democratic political system, the son of refugee parents, who as a young boy helped his mother sell coal to earn extra money for his family, has risen from a life of poverty to the highest elected office in his country.

More than ever, I am convinced that American, British, and ROK sacrifices made at Hungnam were not in vain. Their efforts to protect and rescue North Korean civilians have made a profound impact on Korean history and have helped create an environment where democracy and freedom flourish. Today, South Korea has a dynamic society and is an influential global player that has repeatedly shown its ability to overcome political and economic adversity.

Nearly 100,000 North Korean civilians were rescued from Hungnam during the 14-day operation, and it is estimated that over 1 million of their descendants now live in South Korea, the United States, and countries around the world. President Moon is one of them.

The next five years will undoubtedly bring new and unforeseen challenges to the people of South Korea, and as the new president takes the oath of office, people and governments around the world _ regardless of whether they agree or disagree with his political views _ will be wishing him well. But as many of his critics will quickly point out, with his rise from Geoje's refugee camps to Cheong Wa Dae completed, the most important phase of Moon's life is just beginning.

The writer is a grandson of the late Colonel Edward H. Forney, the evacuation control officer of the Hungnam Evacuation in December 1950. Ned Forney himself is a former captain in the USMC. He can be reached at ned.forney1985@gmail.com