Politics BAR: Politics: News: The Hankyoreh

On the afternoon of December 25, when 1,200 new corona 19 confirmed cases were recorded, citizens line up to undergo examination at a temporary screening clinic in Seoul Plaza. yunhap news

Corona is the first of the top 10 domestic and international news this year that each media recently selected. Corona is the issue that has the greatest impact on Korea’s politics in 2020. It was January 20 that the first patient of’new coronavirus confirmed’ occurred. The so-called conservative opposition party and the media used Corona as a tool of incitement to cut down the Moon Jae-in administration. Representative Hwang Gyo-an tried to confine the Moon Jae-in government in the’pro-China-anti-US-jongbuk’ frame with the expression’Wuhan pneumonia’. They denounced the 5th mask subtitle as a North Korean ration system. However, as the corona spread on a large scale in developed countries, headwinds blew. President’s job evaluation went up and opposition party support fell. The opposition party that rushed to take advantage of the national disaster was judged in the general election. How will the spread of the third coronavirus, which has swung along with the vaccine controversy, unfold? Unlike just before the general election, the government’s faults are gradually being revealed. It is the crisis of President Moon Jae-in. The so-called conservative opposition and the media are fueling public anxiety and resentment beyond criticizing the government for failing to secure a vaccine. However, it seems that the public will also evaluate the achievements of the Moon Jae-in administration after taking a cold look at domestic and overseas circumstances, not incitement from the opposition and the media.

Hwang Gyo-an, the representative of the Free Korea Party, makes a presentation at the National Reporting Conference for the publication of’Minburon’ held at the National Assembly Assembly Hall on the morning of September 22, 2019. Joint coverage photo

Few experts predicted an overwhelming victory in the ruling party ahead of the general election. The 21st general election was a clash of judgment. The Moon Jae-in government’s judgment theory and conservative vested interests judgment theory met. The result was a conservative vested interest judgment. I have warned many times that conservative opposition parties have to abandon former President Park Geun-hye and Taegeukgi units to gain the middle class. I often talked about the movie ‘127 Hours’, which saved his life by cutting his arm in a rock. But the conservative opposition went backwards. A former public security prosecutor and former Prime Minister of the Park Geun-hye government, Hwang Gyo-an, attempted to rebuild the party. Perhaps the defeat of the opposition party in the 4·15 general election was a natural outcome. The total of 163 seats from the Democratic Party and 17 seats from the Citizen’s Party, combined with 180 seats, is less than the amendment seats, but it is a number that can neutralize the National Assembly Advancement Act. Together with the 21st National Assembly, the Democratic Party is pushing for reform legislation such as the 3 Real Estate Act, the 3 Fair Economy Act, the amendment to the Airlift Act, and the North Korean Warfare Disposal Act. It is natural to obey the will of the voters who created the vast majority of seats. However, I think that consideration for the opposition party is also necessary. This is because the essence of politics is dialogue and compromise.

In addition, former lawmaker Geum Tae-seop, who left the Democratic Party, is giving a lecture in Mapo-gu on November 14, inviting’Everyone Participation Academy’ led by CEO Jo Jung-hoon of the transition. yunhap news

In addition, the case in which Democratic Party Rep. Tae-seop Geum was eliminated from the party’s primary election has no political significance. This is because it is evidence that the party’s owner is changing from party leadership to party members. As it is commonly known, the claim that “the Democratic Party expelled Rep. Geum Tae-seop who did not comply with the party’s opinion without giving a nomination” is completely untrue. The Democratic Party leadership, including Representative Lee Hae-chan, worked hard to nominate Assemblyman Tae-seop Geum. Former lawmaker Jeong Bong-ju, who tried to apply for nomination in the congressional district of Congressman Geum Tae-seop, was blocked, and lawyer Nam-guk Kim turned to another region. A candidate who seemed relatively weak was placed in the contest. It was consideration for Rep. Tae-seop Geum. Still, Rep. Tae-seop Geum was defeated by an overwhelming gap in both the rights party and the enthusiastic supporters. It is the fault of the Democratic Party leadership that failed to end the disciplinary action against Rep. Tae-seop Geum after the general election, but it is difficult to assess that the actions of Rep. Tae-seop Geum, who even left the party, were politically correct. Ahead of the general election, the same is true of the decision by asking party members whether the Democratic Party will participate in the Proportional Union Party or not. Representative Lee Hae-chan initially opposed the proportional party. However, they couldn’t break the will of the party members. Now, it seems that the party owners are the party members.

The late Won-soon Park, former mayor of Seoul. yunhap news

The former mayor of Busan Mayor Oh Geo-don took place right after the general election in April. Despite the impact of power-based sex crimes, the political impact was not large. This is because, no matter who wins the Busan mayor’s by-election a year later, it has no political significance. However, when the case of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon broke out in July, there was a huge political ripple. There are two reasons. First, former Mayor Park Won-soon was a former citizen activist and was the next influential presidential candidate. Disappointment and distrust in the current ruling powers has spread widely. Second, on April 7, 2021, the by-election was upgraded to a national election and emerged as an important political schedule. Since the former Mayor Park Won-soon incident, both the opposition parties have been betting on the 4·7 line. What is the political significance of the 4·7 election? Will the side that wins the 4·7 Seoul Mayor’s election win the March 9, 2022 presidential election? It doesn’t seem like that. However, the losing side cannot avoid considerable shock. If the ruling party loses, President Moon Jae-in could fall into a lame duck. If the opposition party loses, the people’s strength will go on a path of dissolution. What will happen?

Apartment. yunhap news

President Moon Jae-in said at a New Year’s press conference on January 14, “I will definitely catch the real estate. If it is judged that the current countermeasures have expired, we will endlessly come up with stronger countermeasures.” It was an expression of the will to maintain the consistency of real estate policy, and it suffered considerable political damage as it was accepted as a message to fight against the market. The rise in apartment and rental prices across the country is not declining. There may be a number of reasons why the Moon Jae-in government’s real estate policy is not working well. This may be due to incompetence of policy authorities, anti-government agitation by real estate vested powers, low interest rates and excess liquidity due to the corona crisis, and lack of apartment supply. I think the biggest problem is the government’s distrust of the real estate policy. In particular, if there are many people who make money from real estate among public officials who make policies and lawmakers in the National Assembly, will the people be able to trust the policies of the government and the National Assembly? The government’s ruling party recommends that people who have more than one apartment are excluded from high-ranking officials and sell their homes to lawmakers who have multiple homes, but it does not seem to be working well.

US President-elect Joe Biden is receiving Pfizer-Bioentech’s Corona 19 vaccine injection from nurse Tab Mays at Christiana Care Hospital in Newark, Delaware on December 21 (local time). Newark/AFP Yonhap News

The global reality is that the international situation is bound to fluctuate depending on the results of the US presidential election. In particular, the impact on the Korean Peninsula is absolute. The US presidential election was held while the normalization of North Korea-US relations leaned on the Trump-Kim Jong-un summit was hindered by a lack of mutual trust and interference from Neo-Con. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden was an enthusiastic supporter of President Kim Dae-jung’s Sunshine Policy. However, as vice president of the administration of Barack Obama, he was a person who participated in’strategic patience’, which is no different from’helpless on the Korean peninsula’. Which side is Biden’s policy toward North Korea? President Kim Dae-jung greatly contributed to overcoming the nuclear crisis by encouraging former President Jimmy Carter to visit North Korea in 1994. After becoming president, he took over the leadership of the policy on the Korean Peninsula from US President Bill Clinton and held the inter-Korean summit in 2000. President Moon Jae-in is also a very conscious person that “the fate of the Korean Peninsula is decided by the owners of the Korean Peninsula.” In 2007, when I was the chief of the Blue House, I hosted the inter-Korean summit between Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il. Based on that experience, we were able to hold an inter-Korean summit and organize a summit meeting between the two Koreas with the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. In 2021, we look forward to the great success of President Moon Jae-in, who will advance peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol is answering questions from reporters while attending the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-gu on the afternoon of December 1st. yunhap news

What is the real reason why Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol initiated a full-scale investigation with multiple seizure and search warrants issued ahead of the personnel hearing for the candidate of Justice Minister Cho Kuk in August 2019? Was it due to the instinct of the Special Department prosecutor to see the crime and reflexively, or was it the intention to stop the reform of the prosecution by hitting the Moon Jae-in government? Still a question. In any case, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol became the first person in the history of the prosecutors’ office in which the incumbent prosecutor general competed for first or second place in the next presidential candidate preference survey. It is also an opposition candidate. After receiving a decision to suspend execution for two months by the Seoul Administrative Court, President Yoon Seok-yeol, who went to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on December 25, went straight into the parking lot without getting off the car. This is different from what he said confidently in front of reporters, “I promise to do my best to protect the constitutional spirit and rule of law as a public official of the Republic of Korea as a public official in the Republic of Korea,” as he entered the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office after being released from the suspension of his duties on December 1st. Perhaps he was trying to avoid the appearance of confronting the president, who is the nominee. Looking at it, it seems that President Yoon Seok-yeol is not a person without any political sense. For the time being, it seems that the attention of President Yoon Seok-yeol will be focused on every step of the way.

Lee Nak-yeon, together with Democratic Party representative, is leaving the office after an emergency meeting with Park Tae-yeon Kim and members of the party’s legislative judiciary committee on December 25 at his office in the National Assembly Assembly Hall. yunhap news

Representative Lee Nak-yeon is a very calm and decent person. When I was young, my nicknames were’Meju’ and’Life inspiration’. Meju was given a nickname because of his appearance, and his life inspiration was a nickname because of his low voice. I met a lot of good teachers at school. If it weren’t for the teachers, there would have been no representative Lee Nak-yeon. The source of his sense of security is probably the teachers. Representative Lee Nak-yeon ran for the Democratic Party’s August National Convention and won the victory because the supporters of President Moon Jae-in overwhelmingly pushed him. Candidate Kim Bu-gyeom and Park Joo-min were no match. The’Time of Nakyeon Lee’ has begun. However, the support for the next presidential candidate is also being pushed back by Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myeong in the competition. I’m being chased by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. Why? His calm and decent strengths seem to have a side that acts as a disadvantage in the race for the presidential election. Our voters are complex and subtle. They demand not only the’capacity’ to become president, but also the’charm’ of the’bad man’ or’destroyer’. That’s why most politicians get out of the way during the presidential race. Can CEO Nak-Yeon Lee really show’charm’?

On the morning of December 15, Kim Jong-in, chairman of the People’s Power of the People, apologizes to the public for the mistakes of former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye at the Yeouido National Assembly in Seoul. Joint coverage photo

Sometimes people ask what is Chairman Kim Jong-in’s future political goal. It’s Woomun (愚問). Chairman Kim Jong-in is a happy and rewarding present-day politician right now. But he’s not a person who craves power. He put forward economic democratization as the topic of his life and worked out. Economic democratization can explain how he helped President Park Chung-hee, who was a dictator, Chun Doo-hwan, and that he served as a proportional representative five times across the ruling and opposition parties. He is an outstanding person enough to grasp the essence of President Park Geun-hye’s Gukjeong Nongdan case as’Samsung Gate’ rather than’Choi Soon-sil Gate’. The background of the ruling party’s ability to push the’Three Fair Economy Act’ in the National Assembly may have been due to the situation that the opposition leader was Chairman Kim Jong-in, an aid to economic democratization. Among the so-called conservatives, there are quite a few people who show blatant resentment to Chairman Kim Jong-in. It is not very wrong to see that it is the leading power of capital vested interests or the extreme right. How long can Chairman Kim Jong-in be the representative of the people’s strength? It seems to depend on the result of the by-election of the Mayor of Seoul on April 7 next year. If the opposition party wins, his space of action will be wide open until the March 2022 presidential election. If you lose, this time you’ll really have to exit.

Last September, I was shocked to see that Joo-Pil Sang-Hoon named the column titled “The Democratic (Non) Party, the Justice (Non) Party, and the Justice (Pan) in the Dominant Country.” I don’t know what my intention was, but to me, it was because it was read as an swearword by far-right municipal gangsters. At the beginning of the year, I frequently wrote articles about the media, such as “Conservative press and power commentators collapsing in front of the power of common sense”, “Battering Jo Jung-dong’s Moon Jae-in, which resembles YouTube bias,” “The media selling’hate and exclusion’ in the era of confirmation bias. This is because I thought the fall of trust in the Korean media was too serious. In particular, it is doubtful that the so-called conservative newspapers have forgotten their duty as a media because their resentment against the Moon Jae-in administration was so excessive. Reading articles, columns, and editorials in these newspapers makes me think, “Why won’t the Moon Jae-in administration with so many problems fail?” Of course it doesn’t mean that you are doing well. Also, I think that I often published articles, columns, and editorials that suit the tastes of confirmed bias audiences. I also received a lot of protests, “Isn’t it too biased towards the Moon Jae-in administration?” Yet, on the other hand, “Why don’t you help the Moon Jae-in government more clearly?” Restoring the trust of the press, it is a very difficult problem. Senior Reporter Seong Han-yong [email protected]