March 22nd, 2013 at 8:44 am » Comments (0)

This is probably something the Park Administration should have considered initially in order to ensure good continuity in the Defense Department during a time of heightened tensions, such as what President Obama did by keeping Robert Gates as the US Defense Secretary when he took over in 2008: Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, who will stay in office under President Park Geun-hye after the resignation of the nominee for his successor, faces an escalation of troubles in handling North Korea as the recalcitrant neighbor is stepping up its missile and nuclear
Read the Rest…

February 25th, 2013 at 7:02 am » Comments (7)

It will be interesting to continue to watch the reaction of the North Koreans in the coming months as they are sure to try and test her to see what they can get away with: SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye took the oath of office Monday, pledging to revitalize the slumping economy and warning North Korea that the communist nation will be the “biggest victim” of its own nuclear programs. “As president of the Republic of Korea, I will live up to the will of
Read the Rest…

January 30th, 2013 at 7:15 pm » Comments (4)

The news of these pardons will pretty much assure that Korean President Lee Myung-bak will go down in history as just being another example of a President turning a blind eye to corruption: Outgoing President Lee Myung-bak issued special pardons to a long-time friend, close associates and dozens of others Tuesday, sparking angry complaints from his successor that he is abusing clemency power in his last days in office. The clash threatened to bring back deep-rooted bad blood between the two erstwhile rivals at a time when they need to
Read the Rest…

January 9th, 2013 at 3:09 am » Comments (15)

That is what the Japan Times is asking: To the extent that culture matters in politics, the recent spate of leadership changes in Northeast Asia suggests that Asian societies are more tolerant — if not supportive — of dynastic succession. South Korea’s recently elected president, Park Geun Hye, is the daughter of Park Chung Hee, who ruled the country from 1961 to 1979. China’s incoming president, Xi Jinping, is the son of Xi Zhongxun, a former vice premier. Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is the grandson and grandnephew of
Read the Rest…

January 3rd, 2013 at 9:09 pm » Comments (2)

The tax money being wasted on Congressional junkets is getting the attention of voters in South Korea: Public criticism mounted yesterday over news that a group of lawmakers who held secret negotiations on this year’s budget to shovel out pork hopped on airplanes shortly afterward for Latin America and Africa for what they called “research on appropriations.” Nine lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party and the opposition Democratic United Party left the country shortly after the National Assembly approved the 2013 budget at dawn on New Year’s Day, the JoongAng
Read the Rest…

January 2nd, 2013 at 5:36 am » Comments (12)

Despite the media’s so called “Fiscal Cliff” fearmongering a deal has been passed to avoid pending budget cuts: The House seemed on track to torch the legislation, a hard-fought bipartisan bill crafted by Vice President Joe Biden and  McConnell that sailed through the Senate by a lopsided 89-8 margin in a vote shortly after 2 a.m. The compromise bill averts the sharpest tax increase in American history. But it hikes rates on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for households, while exemptions and deductions the wealthiest Americans use to
Read the Rest…

December 27th, 2012 at 8:04 am » Comments (7)

Kushibo had a recent posting on this site that was quite interesting in regards to current Korean President-Elect Park Geun-hye speaking English at an event in Hawaii 40 years ago: She was speaking at the event because she was the acting first lady at the time for her dad President Park Chung-hee because her mom had been assassinated by a North Korean agent in 1974.  In response to the video the Marmot’s Hole has an audio clip posted of Park giving an English speech to the Seoul Foreign Correspondent’s Club
Read the Rest…

December 26th, 2012 at 3:54 am » Comments (2)

Over at the Marmot’s Hole he has an interesting post up about the possible inter-generational clash that the election of Park Geun-hye may be causing: In a story placed very prominently on both the Chosun’s and Dong-A’s websites, Yonhap warns that Park Geun-hye’s election may have sparked inter-generational tensions, with young folk expressing with discontent with online petitions calling for an end to welfare benefits for seniors. On the day after the election, a netizen started an online petition at Daum’s Agora calling for an end to seniors being allowed
Read the Rest…

December 22nd, 2012 at 2:47 am » Comments (10)

This election analysis I think is pretty accurate to explain how the masser voter turnout during the recent South Korean Presidential election led to a decisive Park Geun-hye win: Park Geun-hye won the presidential election on Wednesday partly thanks to the massive turnout of older voters, pundits say. Turnout of voters in their 50s was 89.9 percent and of those over 60 it was 78.8 percent, far higher than among voters in their 20s through 40s. Exit polls showed that 62.5 percent of 50-somethings voted for Park, making them the
Read the Rest…

December 19th, 2012 at 5:26 am » Comments (14)

Yonhap is reporting that exit polling is showing that conservative Korean Presidential candidate Park Geun-hye is likely to win the election by a small margin: SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Yonhap) — Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling conservative Saenuri Party, is expected to win this year’s presidential race by a slim margin Wednesday by securing approximately 50.1 percent of the vote, the nation’s three major broadcasters’ joint exit poll forecast, though other surveys predicted an extremely tight race or a possible win for opposition candidate Moon Jae-in. The joint
Read the Rest…