OhMyBlog

Kim Dae-Jung / Kim Young-sam

2005-11-08T23:52:00.000-08:00

Apparently Kim Dae-Jung is not happy with the way leftist radicals have turned his moderate appeasement policy into an anti-American pro-Kim regime movement.

Former president Kim Dae-jung on Tuesday told the Uri Party’s interim leadership the ruling party fell far short of public expectations for economic prosperity and improved living standards. The party failed because it "has not tried hard enough to convince the public and win its understanding."

The former president was also quoted as saying the party should have made it clear that Prof. Kang Jeong-koo's inflammatory pro-North Korean remarks "were wrong," and taken the firm position that without the Incheon Landing of 1950 led by U.S. general Douglas MacArthur, the Republic of Korea would not exist.

…Yet even against that background, the elder statesman berated the party leadership point by point, saying, "You've bungled your politics." Attacked as a "leftist" by his opponents throughout his decades in politics, Kim nonetheless noted that the ruling camp acted beyond bounds when they shielded Prof. Kang in the name of freedom of expression and defended activists who are trying to topple the MacArthur statue in Incheon.

And for those who like to think the Presidents before Kim Dae-Jung were mere puppets of the U.S. Government, think again. Another example has slipped out illustrating how little influence Washington has in Seoul at times. Read for yourself here.

The political spectrum. Plus the US and Korean positions

2005-11-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

The political spectrum can be viewed in many ways. A simple linear stratification from left to right is a common view. It could also be viewedd a circle with the extremes of left and right becoming an indistinguishable evil (i.e. Hitler’s fascism and Stalin's communism). I’m sure professional political scientists have many ways to stratify views.

The big question is what the neutral or middle point is. I say it the the point there is no extremism. The point where a view can be argued without lies, distortions or cherry-picking facts. When a person or group can accept ALL the facts without contradicting their position, they have reached the middle. As soon as the need arises to ignore or distort facts the person arguing has departed the middle.

By their nature “Right” and “left” are arbitrary designations. For political proposes of I use the following loose definitions.

Right: Believes in societal survival of the fittest. Power can be used as the holder see fit. The far right is comfortable with child labor, no public schools, and an every-man–for-himself mentality. The responsibility for an individual’s success or failure rests primarily on the individual.

Left: Believes in a completely balanced society. The government is obligated to ensure all power is used for the public good. The governbement is obligated to make the standard of living even for all, by any means possible. The primary responsibility for an individual’s success or failure rests on the government.

Note I did not mention things such as free speech, religion, or nationalism. Religion is not based on any logical thought process and can distort any good to evil or evil to good. Free speech and other basic human rights can be cherished or feared by people of most any political persuasion. Nationalism is almost as powerful as religion in it’s ability to pervert reason regardless of political ideology.

Based on this I would say South Korea is veering from the center heading left and the U.S. is veering right. Both countries have political parties using of fear and nationalism to drive the countries further to the extreme. The U.S. right-wing is pushing their theme the terrorist might kill Americans because they hate the “America and everything America stands for”. South Korea left wing is pushing the theme that the North Koreans might attack South Korea if they are not appeased. Also, this appeasement is acceptable because the ends justify the means if the result is a “proud, strong, and unified Korea”

Korea Can’t Spare 100 Troops for UN Peacekeeping

2005-11-07T23:38:00.000-08:00

How many soldiers does South Korea have? Oh, about half a million. It sure is strange that they can’t spare about 100 soldiers to help a UN peacekeeping operation. Yonhap is reporting that the UN asked and South Korea said no.

The United Nations has requested South Korea to dispatch a company-sized infantry unit to Haiti to help stabilize the violence-torn Caribbean country, a government official said Tuesday.

"The government, however, notified the U.N. of the fact that we lack the available troops to go abroad at this moment, citing the 3,200 Zaytun troops conducting a reconstruction mission in Irbil, northern Iraq," the official said, requesting anonymity.

Zaytun, meaning olive in Arabic, is the name of the South Korean contingent stationed in Irbil since 2003.

About 7,600 U.N. troops are currently deployed in Haiti, which has been beset by violence, such as shooting accidents, kidnapping and gang warfare, since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted following a rebellion in February 2004.

2005-11-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

The leftist Korea Teachers Union is reacting adversely to plans to have teachers evaluated by people other than their fellow teachers. I guess they really don’t want administrators, principals, students or patents interfering with their political indoctrinations of children.

For a little background this is what the Korean Teachers Union is.

The KTU is the most powerful interest group and the largest union in the country. One in every three teachers is unionized, or 250,000 in all. The union’s annual budget stands at W22 billion (US$22 million), four to five times that of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (W5 billion) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (W4 billion). Backed by that budget, the KTU maintains no fewer than 107 full-time officials at its Seoul headquarters and 16 city and provincial chapters, and they are engaged upon the task of coordinating the union’s struggle and developing its ideology. What they come up with are things like a satirical video full of four-letter words that is meant as a teaching aid for the APEC summit.

These radicals are very upset about the Ministry of Education (not exactly conservative under Roh) trying implement some common sense plans that focus on, believe it or not, teaching. Along with a strike the KTU plans on launching a wide spread special political “education” classes.

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union has decided to launch special classes nationwide on the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting and will produce and distribute related educational material.
The decision enlarges an earlier plan by the union to launch special classes only by the Busan chapter of the union. The decision comes as public criticism has been voiced that the special classes planned by the union are not appropriate for educational purposes, yet the union has decided to go ahead with its plan. Through these actions the people have been provided with an opportunity to clearly see whether this group really is an association of educators, or a political group that instigates conflict.
The decision to launch the special classes seems to be part of a political effort by the union's leadership to counter the government's recent decision to introduce a new teacher evaluation system. The evaluation system aims to judge the ability and quality of a teacher so that the quality of public education can be raised. As the positive public reaction in surveys shows, the evaluation system is something that needs to be introduced regardless of what the union thinks.

That a teacher's union insists upon launching a class that does not meet with reality and is illogical just to achieve its goals only means that the union is willing to take students as hostages for its own good. It means giving up being teachers. One has to ask if this is the real education and democratic education that the union has been preaching as its main goal. For parents who have to leave the education of their children in the hands of these people, this is truly sad.

President Roh has shown then when pushed by extremists on his side of the political spectrum he will keep them in check. Hopefully the Roh administration won’t buckle under pressure from the KTU.

On a note related to Roh, his Senior Secretary of Public Information, has been trying to distort the truth about anti-American activities in Korea. GI Korea Blog did a great job debunking some of her misleading propaganda.

Mac versus the pseudonym “Stovall”

2005-11-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

The pseudonym wins. To avoid confusion (own my own part mostly) I’m going to keep using my online pseudonym “Stovall”

Korean and American political Spectrums

2005-11-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Currently in America the majority of voters lean right-of-center. Currently in Korea the majority leans left-of-center.

In America it is the right-wing that does not want to talk about human rights because they fear it will interfere with the war on terrorism. In Korea it is the left-wing that does not want to talk about human rights because they fear it will interfere with unification.

In America it is the right-wing that wants to use schools to indoctrinate children with religious propaganda (like intelligent design) and to cover-up the truth about negative aspects of American history. In Korea it is the left-wing that wants to use schools to indoctrinate children with the belief that American has been abusing Korea and to cover-up negative aspects of Korean (especially North Korean) history.

The IRS as an Anti-Liberal Weapon

2005-11-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

Pat Robertson and the 700 Club, James Dobson and Focus on the family, just a few examples of tax exempt religious partisans. I guess the Bush administration thinks that's ok. However if a church starts talking liberal, and opposes violence (like Christ did), it is time to get the IRS involved.

The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election.

...In an October letter to the IRS, Marcus Owens, the church's tax attorney and a former head of the IRS tax-exempt section, said, "It seems ludicrous to suggest that a pastor cannot preach about the value of promoting peace simply because the nation happens to be at war during an election season."

Owens said that an IRS audit team had recently offered the church a settlement during a face-to-face meeting.

"They said if there was a confession of wrongdoing, they would not proceed to the exam stage. They would be willing not to revoke tax-exempt status if the church admitted intervening in an election."

South Korea Asks for Discount on Weapons

2005-11-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

The Roh administration wants favored weapons buyer status from the US. Now that the days of free or “loaned” weapons have past, South Korea is looking for the same discount provided to American allies buying weapons systems.

"Requests to raise Korea's status as a weapons buyer were submitted to the U.S. government in June last year as well as this June ... And we received a positive response from the US side,” the ministry wrote. "Due to the tight schedule, there was no discussion at the Security Consultative Meeting last month, but we made our position clear in working-level committee meetings in preparation for the talks.”
The immediate reason for the request is Korea’s defense reform plan, which hinges on massive purchases of high-tech weaponry and equipment by 2020. The budget needed is estimated to be some W272 trillion.

Under the 1976 Arms Export Control Act, congressional approval is required before key weapons and military technology can be exported, but NATO member countries, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand enjoy special status under the act.

…Korea then pays a contract administration services fee (CAS), which amounts to 1.7 percent on top of the purchase price. For favored nations it is only 0.2 to 1 percent. “Since the price of advanced weaponry can be astronomical, just 1 percent can make big difference and amount to hundreds of millions of won,” a military expert said.

Korea did not raise the matter earlier because at the time the law was enacted the U.S. donated or loaned -- rather than sold -- weapons to the country. Moreover, it has taken until now for experts to recognize the importance of the issue for the reform plan.

The US is already spending billions each year to beef up South Korean Defenses. Why would the US provide any additional perks to an “ally” with a senior Minister who backs North Korea during negotiations and unapologetically slanders the US with historical distortions and factual errors (lies)

No Checks or Balances on FBI Spying

2005-11-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

Disturbing reports keep emerging on the so called “Patriot Act” yet it does not seem to get much attention from the public. The following are excerpts from a Washington Post article on the FBI’s ability to spy on Americans with little to no outside oversight.

...Christian refused to hand over those records, and his employer, Library Connection Inc., filed suit for the right to protest the FBI demand in public. The Washington Post established their identities -- still under seal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit -- by comparing unsealed portions of the file with public records and information gleaned from people who had no knowledge of the FBI demand.
The Connecticut case affords a rare glimpse of an exponentially growing practice of domestic surveillance under the USA Patriot Act, which marked its fourth anniversary on Oct. 26.

…The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year, according to government sources, a hundredfold increase over historic norms. The letters -- one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people -- are extending the bureau's reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans.
Issued by FBI field supervisors, national security letters do not need the imprimatur of a prosecutor, grand jury or judge. They receive no review after the fact by the Justice Department or Congress.

…The burgeoning use of national security letters coincides with an unannounced decision to deposit all the information they yield into government data banks -- and to share those private records widely, in the federal government and beyond. In late 2003, the Bush administration reversed a long-standing policy requiring agents to destroy their files on innocent American citizens, companies and residents when investigations closed. Late last month, President Bush signed Executive Order 13388, expanding access to those files for "state, local and tribal" governments and for "appropriate private sector entities," which are not defined.

So there you have it. The FBI field supervisors, on thousands of occasions, has secretly investigated Americans with no judicial oversight or Congressional review.

As is that was not enough, President Bush now allows this data, acquired without oversight, to be stored and shared with anyone the government deems “appropriate”.

Don’t forget what your Senators and Representatives are allowing when you vote during the 2006 elections!

Bush Mandate: Ethics Training for the Unethical

2005-11-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

How is this for irony and political spinning?

President Bush has ordered White House staff to attend mandatory briefings beginning next week on ethical behavior and the handling of classified material after the indictment last week of a senior administration official in the CIA leak probe.

According to a memo sent to aides yesterday, Bush expects all White House staff to adhere to the "spirit as well as the letter" of all ethics laws and rules. As a result, "the White House counsel's office will conduct a series of presentations next week that will provide refresher lectures on general ethics rules, including the rules of governing the protection of classified information," according to the memo, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post by a senior White House aide.

Guys like Karl Rove are working at White House precisely because they have no ethics!

South Korea’s Million Dollar Deception Plan

2005-11-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

In as stunning move the South Korean government is looking to use $1,000,000 for a spin campaign targeting Americans.

Having decided to hire an American PR firm to put a positive spin on Korea's U.S. policies in America, the Foreign Ministry has asked the National Assembly for W1.2 billion (US$1.2 million) next year to pay for it. In a letter to the legislature, the ministry said it was necessary to "correct misconceptions of Korea's diplomatic and security policies vis-a-vis the U.S. among Americans and to turn U.S. public opinion about the Korea-U.S. relationship in a direction that is favorable to us." The Korean Embassy in the U.S., meanwhile, is said to have concluded a three-month experimental contract with a local firm of lobbyists to try and influence Congress.

What a crock of shit! There are no widespread misconceptions of Korea's diplomatic and security policies. First off, most Americans don’t even know where Korea is. Second, the only widespread belief among American familiar with Korea is that South Korea has decided that it will appease North Korea and anti-American views are becoming more mainstream. Both of these are absolutely true.

When Unification Minister Chung goes around spouting off anti-American propaganda without even a cursory check of facts the implications are clear. Anti-American lies and distortions are becoming part of the mainstream South Korean mindset.

If the South Korean government was sincere in wanting to show it is not anti-American it would not need to pay a a million dollars to a PR firm. They could merely take a public stance against the vilification of America based on lies and distortions. With stories like these available for free there is no need to hire a PR firm unless the intent is to deceive.

The car hit a taxi, then a guardrail on the overpass, causing the car to go off the bridge, according to Detective Kwon Chun-sik of the Dong Daegu Police Station’s traffic accident investigation division. Kwon said a blood test showed the hospitalized driver had been drinking alcohol, though it was unclear Friday whether any charges had been filed.

Chun, the Korean firefighter, said he hopes the Korean Ministry of National Defense will recognize the Americans’ efforts. Browne and Beseman said it was the Korean doctor who did most of the work.

After the victims were taken to a local hospital, Beseman, Browne and Wolken went back to wait another hour for a train. As they did, many Koreans came up to thank them, they said. One woman offered hand wipes to clean the blood off their hands.

“It makes me appreciate every day, and that we were wearing our uniforms,” Wolken said in a phone interview Friday. “They really went out of their way to say thank you.”

If Roh and the politicians in Seoul could stomach the thought of publicly praising Americans for actions like this, in the Korean Press, there would be no need to hire PR firms.

Radical Leftist Teachers in Korea

2005-11-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

Conservatives in America complain about “radical” teacher unions and associations. If they want to know what a radical teacher’s union is they should visit Korea.

The Teacher’s Union in Korea makes a concerted effort to ingrain anti-American and leftist propaganda into the minds of young children. Many teachers encouraged junior high and high school students to attend to attend anti-American rallies in 2002. Recently one union chapter produced an anti-capitalism anti-American propaganda video to be used in classrooms. The original video is avialable here. Good commentary on this issue can be read at The Marmot's Hole.

The teacher unions don’t feel principals or administrators should have any authority over them. The even want union say in the curriculum of private schools. Yet in a show of radical hypocrisy they are upset that parents may get a chance to rate teachers.

Already the evaluation system the ministry will implement is significantly moderated from its original plan. First, teachers will mainly evaluate one another, while parents and students are relegated to one or two questionnaires a year. Parents are not even allowed to give their opinions of individual teachers: they are merely to be asked if their children are satisfied with their school life. Under the original plan, by contrast, they would have observed classes and assessed teachers. In short, the immediate consumers of education are to be little more than bystanders.

The sole purpose of the evaluations will be to inform individual teachers how they are doing, so they can reflect and improve their performance, and the KTU insists even principals must be kept from seeing the results. In consultations, the teacher organizations extracted a promise from the ministry that the records will not be used in personnel decisions. All students and parents can hope for, then, is that the teachers really do reflect on their results.