South Korea

On July 29, 2021, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol officially announced his intention to run in the 2022 presidential election. Speaking at a press conference, he promised to “restore free democracy and the rule of law,” accusing the current administration of “privatizing power.” In his opinion, “the country must stand up and oppose the rule of a corrupt and incompetent…

In one of his articles on how South Korea is arming itself, the author mentioned a fighter aircraft project called KF-X (Korean Fighter eXperimentalDahJTkfw in Korea and IF-X (Indonesian Fighter eXperimentalDahJTkfw in Indonesia. Jakarta agreed to become a partner in the South Korean KF-X project, which is aimed at developing a new fighter by 2026, and has pledged to shoulder…

The foreign policy activities implemented by the South Korean president often evoke a mixture of irony and tender feelings in this author, and Moon’s trip to Europe – the highlight of which was his presence at the G7 summit as a guest of honor – is a good indicator of the level of work performed by South Korea’s foreign ministry. Back on June 8, speaking at a meeting…

On June 11, 2021, elections were held for the leading position of the most prominent opposition party of South Korea – the People Power Party, an outcome of which was both significant and interesting. Now the party has a new leader, who is nothing like a classic conservative opposition candidate. Lee Jun-seok is 36 years old and has never been a member of parliament…

In previous texts, we have mentioned a strong anti-Chinese trend in contemporary South Korean propaganda, especially coming from “social organizations” that portray the full-time Voice of the People. At the same time, the propaganda aims to foster domestic disgust toward the Chinese, and any attempt to show something Chinese positively becomes an occasion for public criticism. The most…

After one well-known story about “mass rapes in the DPRK Army,” the author is trying to keep track of how a similar situation looks occurring in the South Korean Army, and thankfully when describing that he does not have to solely rely on the tearful and unreliable stories told by defectors, but on more valid sources. Scandals related…

The author has repeatedly pointed out that one of the serious factors destabilizing inter-Korean relations is the activities of anti-North Korean NGOs that send obscene and inappropriate leaflets across the border. This is mostly done by the “Fighters for a Free North Korea,” led by the controversial defector Park Sang-Hak. Following the events…

Having described the general results of the visit of the President of South Korea to the United States, we would like to take a closer look at what was the reaction of Beijing to the clearly visible anti-Chinese visit and how in Seoul they diligently pretend that “there was nothing like this and we will not get anything like that.” You may recall that, although…

According to the author, the main outcome of the South Korean president’s visit to the United States in May was not agreements on economic or medical cooperation, but the lifting of ballistic missile range restrictions on the ROK. Indeed, actions aimed at limiting South Korea’s military capabilities by the United States have a long…

On March 15, 2021, Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, issued a statement condemning the staging of scheduled joint military exercises by the United States and ROK. She stated that whether or not relations between the DPRK and South Korea “return to the new starting point of peace and prosperity as witnessed in those spring days three years ago” depended on the attitude…

In May 2021, South Korea’s President paid a scheduled visit to the United State where he met with the recently elected US leader. The trip took place at a time when a number of internal political issues plague the ROK and the confrontation between the US and PRC continues. Prior to the visit, South Korean journalists and experts outlined quite a number of points that were supposed…

On April 20, 2021, South Korea completed the ratification process for three key International Labor Organization (ILODahJTkfw conventions. ILO Director-General Guy Ryder welcomed the ratification as an important step forward in the development of the nation’s labor relations. However, one needs to understand that the path towards…