To Change Direction in South Korea
To
Change Direction in South Korea
By: Erreh Svaia
Goat Dispersion
“From the early 1960s to the
mid-1980s - the era of military dictatorship when South Korea was rebuilding
itself from a postwar economic basket case to a humming, modern nation - military
schools were the track of choice for ambitious young men.”
Kim Young-ha
Besides Emmanuel
Macron monumental triumph in the French Elections last Sunday, another
candidate has won a presidential election these days, his name is Moon Jae-in
today has been elected as the new prime minister in South Korea, like Macron,
Moon Jae-in is a liberal from the Democratic Party of Korea, who also vows for
a more open country, a posture that might not please the conservative powers in
Washington, and considering also the more conciliatory attitude of Jae-in
towards the bellicose North Korea, is possible that Donald Trump might not be
too happy to lose the support of hardliners on his aggressive policies against
the so called “Hermitage Kingdom”, Jae-in was elected today as the new
president of SK with an expected vote percentage of 41.4% , ending the stronghold
of ten years by conservative governments on South Korea, which started losing strength
after the massive social protests known as the Candlelight Movement surged as a
consequence of the embarrassing affairs of ex-president Park Geun-hye (the first
woman to become prime minister in SK), removed and latter impeached from her
position by the national Assembly because of her involvement in a bizarre case
of corruption, abuse of power and influence peddling from a personal friend of
her, as Park Geun-hye was perceived as a “political princess” out of touch from
the people, Moon Jae-in, in contrast, is a human rights lawyer, apparently
closer to the people and leaning towards the left, possibly about to push a
more tolerant agenda towards NK which might mean an administration that could
be getting closer and looking to collaborate more actively by reactivating
economic ties with Kim Jong Un´s regime.
It seems that the
big loser in the elections was the conservative party known as Liberty Korea
(who distrusts Jae-in moderate stance against NK), severely punished for the
wrongdoings of Geun-hye which costed the elections for a conservative hardliner
like Hong Joon-pye who just managed to receive 23.4% of the total votes, Joon-pye,
saw the Liberty Korea´s base of voters deciding to better support the liberal
Jae-in, who was finally able to overcome the narrow defeat inflicted upon him
by Geun-hye in 2012, in an almost personal affair that goes back even decades
when Jae-in, then a student and an activist was imprisoned by Geun-hye´s
father, then a military dictator in the 70s, now it seems that Jae-in will put
an end to Geun-hye´s father, Park Chung-hee´s hardline policies against
Pyogyang´s regime and against the infamous anti-missile system which were strictly
followed by conservative administrations that included Park Geun-hye predecessor
Lee Myung-bak, it seems that at the time, Moon Jae-in is more worried about
Donald Trump than about Kim Jong Un, as his prioritized dialogue with North
Korea could undermine the country´s alliance with Washington, an already
complex situation considering Philippines president Duterte getting closer to
China and Russia authoritarian regimes, although Trump has recently invited Duterte
for a meeting, which might confirm Jae-in fears about Trump, which also recalls
Trump´s recent declarations about Kim Jong Un, describing the dictator as a “smart
cookie”.
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