South Korea

Every spring and autumn, inter-Korean relations are notoriously tested by the annual US-South Korea joint military exercises. Pyongyang has long criticized the South Korea-US military exercises, calling them a “rehearsal for an invasion of the North”, while Seoul and Washington emphasize their regularity and defensive nature. The level of escalation may vary…

During a meeting with the country’s top military leaders on August 4, 2021, South Korean President Moon Jae-in stated that the Republic of Korea’s armed forces must work to regain the people’s trust. The armed forces have been undermined by several recent incidents, most notably a high-profile sex scandal. Recall that it all began on May 25, 2021, with the suicide…

Moon Jae-in’s administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea face a new political threat after it was revealed that a group of activists accused of spying for the DPRK had repeatedly contacted Moon and the party even before he was elected president. The conservative bloc is already calling the incident a “spy scandal,” demanding an explanation from the government…

On July 1, 2021 the government of South Korea requested police to investigate how a map of Pyongyang came to be included in a videoclip introducing Seoul at a conference of global climate change, held in May this year. The request was made after an internal investigation within the Foreign Ministry failed to determine whether subcontractors had deliberately…

Another event is approaching that may turn out to be a new reason for inter-Korean aggravation or at least a marker of the current state of inter-Korean relations. Yet another US-ROK joint exercise. Let’s recall: The United States and the ROK usually conduct major joint exercises twice a year in March and August and smaller-scale activities…

In previous articles we have already noted that anti-Japanism is a key part of South Korea’s political narrative, and commented on the country’s determination to erase “inconvenient persons and events” from its national history. But each time this issue is discussed we see comments from people who are unable to accept that South Korea’s preoccupation…

The Republic of Korea’s intelligence agency has changed its name and motto several times, but this has not boosted its reputation.  The scandals associated with its previous leadership have not gone away, and new ones have piled on top of those. Let’s start with the old ones, because the “case of trolls in uniform”, and other stories about…

At the end of July 2021, two events occurred in South Korea that could be conventionally called “the return of the political boomerang” – especially for those who remember the high-profile events surrounding the circumstances in which the current President Moon came to power. On July 19, 2021, police arrested a former special prosecutor in charge of investigating the corruption scandal involving…

A short while back, we covered Yoon Seok-yeol’s entry into the presidential race. This long-awaited event aggravated various law enforcement squabbles, most notably the confrontation between the Blue House and the prosecutor’s office, and which way the newly-formed Office of Investigation of Corruption Among…

The author has repeatedly told his readers about the complexities of Japan-ROK relations and the role that militant nationalism and President Moon’s policies play in them. Here’s another story of how, on the eve of the Olympics, the South Korean President, pinned down by the situation, made an unsuccessful attempt at reconciliation and how it shattered…

On June 30, 2021, former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk filed a lawsuit against the influential conservative newspaper The Chosun Ilbo for 1 billion won ($890,000DahJTkfw in damages.  The thing is that in an article about one trio convicted of molesting a prostitute, an illustration was attached depicting Cho Kuk and his daughter Cho Min. Although the newspaper apologized for the inappropriate use…

On July 3, 2021, prosecutors concluded a high-profile criminal investigation into the premature shutdown of the nation’s second oldest nuclear reactor. Charges of abuse of power have been filed against former Blue House and Energy Ministry officials, including former Minister Baek…