South Korea

So, the elections have finished and a winner has been declared! The election results have been discussed in detail in the Korean media, with breakdowns of the results by region and in terms of the age and sex of voters. According to data published by the Korean Electoral Commission following the counting of votes, elector turnout was…

After publishing the materials about the traces of shamanism in Yoon Suk-yeol’s case, the author received many comments asking him to clarify this case in more detail. Therefore, it was decided to offer some more insights on such issues as shamanism and politics in South Korea. Despite traditional role and popularity in the society, the social status of a shaman…

The South Korean presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol recently stated that he thought a preemptive strike against the DPRK would be justified, since, if the latter were to launch a rocket armed with a nuclear warhead against Seoul, it would be almost impossible to intercept itю The only option would be to forestall the attack. This statement triggered a great deal…

For only so long, the author did not pay attention to the third candidate, but now the time is ripe to talk about Ahn Cheol-soo. This is already the third election that this 59-year-old former doctor and software entrepreneur takes part in. In 2012, he ran for president as an independent candidate but dropped out of the race less than…

As the author has written many times, the 2021-22 election race in South Korea is breaking records in terms of the amount of mud slung at both candidates, and clearly whoever saves the tastiest stuff for last has a better chance of success. It seemed that the scandals surrounding Yoon Seok-yeol’s wife drew attention to the Conservative candidate…

In his previous material about the tricky relations between China and South Korea this author already mentioned how a demonstration of the traditional Korean clothes was viewed in South Korea. However, this is worth telling in greater detail as this story illustrates the conceptual difference between the two countries’ national policies. So, South Koreans took offence…

The closer to the end of Moon Jae-in’s rule, the bolder the judiciary confirms the verdicts and charges personnel from the president’s entourage, and these stories also pour water into the mill of conservatives. Completion of the Chung Kyung-sim Case 60-year-old Chung Kyung-sim is the wife of ex-Minister of Justice and Senior Secretary of the President for Civil Affairs of the Republic…

After describing the Conservatives’ internal party problems, it is time to talk about the scandals accompanying Yoon, because as the election nears, the author gets the impression that the 2022 election is unprecedented in terms of mudslinging by the candidates on each other. On the one hand, Yoon and his family have been spared…

On February 4, 2022, the Winter Olympic Games opened in Beijing, where 63 South Korean athletes will compete for medals in six sports. On December 6, 2021, Jen Psaki said that the United States is “diplomatically boycotting” the Beijing Winter Olympics because of human rights violations in China. The next day, on December 7, the South Korean Government…

The showdown in the Conservative camp took place on a far greater scale for a number of reasons. First, within the logic of factional struggle and partly due to Moon’s policies, “People’s Power” has in part become an alliance of all who oppose Moon, making the division between factions deeper and more acute. There are classic conservatives like…

With just a month or so until the presidential elections in South Korea, this bulletin in our series of “dispatches from the front” focuses on Lee Jae-myung, the candidate from the ruling Democratic Party. The partnership with Lee Nak-yon, and the changing of the guard at the electoral committee In order to avoid being associated…

One of the most common tactics in Korean politics since the Middle Ages has been to smear a family member. It is understood that political leaders cannot control their relatives and fail to be aware of their bad transgressions. This means that they could be done with his knowledge, or at least cast a shadow on his reputation as a worthy…