Category: Korean Politics

Just when I thought that the Il Shim Hue story had been successfully buried by a quick switcheroo of NIS chiefs, we have this intriguing report from the Donga Ilbo: It was confirmed on November 26 that among the documents found at Jang Min-ho’s residence, the name of a Cheong Wa Dae secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Security, was brought up several times. Jang, the key member of the “Ilsimhoe” spy case, was arrested by the...

The Blue House has announced the new appointments for the Foreign, Defense, and UniFiction ministries, plus the new head of the National Intelligence Service. With the exception of Defense — to be filled by the Army Chief of Staff — the appointees look like a bunch of political hacks. I’ll update as I find out more. This post is adapted and updated from previous posts, including the scorecard I presented the other day. UniFiction

I know I speak for everyone when I say just how thankful I am that the Democratic Labor Party’s head  defied the wishes of the National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Justice (both overruled by the UniFiction Ministry) to go to Pyongyang while his party’s leadership is under investigation for spying for North Korea.   True to  the DLP’s  promise, the North Koreans have put the issue to rest.  They call it “false and a  scheme of the U.S. and...

The Chosun Ilbo spoke with  Kim Seong-Kew, who  just resigned as Chief of the National Intelligence Service. Read this and see what you make of it: Asked who will succeed him, Kim told the Chosun Ilbo it was “very important” who becomes the next NIS chief. “Some of the candidates are unsuitable due to concerns that they tend to do what [politicians] want them to do. Considering the presidential election next year and the operations of the NIS, the right...

Here, as foreshadowed in Update 6 to this post.   Like Lee, NIS  Chief Kim Seung-Kyu  must be  resigning to celebrate the success of his tenure. Following Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who expressed his wish to quit in mid-November to prepare for his new job as the U.N. secretary-general, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung and Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok offered to resign earlier this week, holding themselves responsible for “confused” policies on the North Korean nuclear crisis and the Seoul-Washington military alliance....

More linkage between South Korea’s radical left and North Korean intelligence. Police raided the homes and offices of three activists, seized electronic files and photos, and obtained arrest warrants. One of those arrested is Lee Jung-Hoon, 42, a former leader of the far-left Democratic Labor Party. That’s not all he was the leader of, apparently: Lee was a leader of Sammint’u, or the Struggle Committee for Liberation of the Masses, Attainment of Democracy and Unification of the Nation, and was...