The Chosun Elbo

[Jay]

The Chosun Elbo (조선일보; 朝鮮日報) is a leading daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000.

President Kim Dae-jung’s first six months in office are a stagnant reminder of the authoritarianism that led to the military taking power in the 1950s. There is only silence in the face of the popular demands of the people to end this political retribution against the Grand National Party. No answers are given to the questions of the people over the corrupt and nefarious actions conducted by the communist government of Kim Dae-jung which people are much more concerned and interested about. Interested instead to use the independent offices to achieve political gains under the pretext of the baseless claims against Hannaradang in a bid to quash opposition to the slim majority held by the Millennium Democratic Party. Saecheonnyeon is much more interested in using the prosecutors office to indict and arrest numbers of former government officials, including President Yong Sochun. This discretion of the office of the presidency is unacceptable in a democratic state and while supporters of Kim call it a "healthy exercise of democracy.” It is anything but that, and is a leftist purge of the hardworking Koreans. Everyone knows the president set Justice Minister Baek onto Hannaradang, and that he became increasingly desperate bending of rules intending to halt investigations that were getting uncomfortably close to Kim and his cronies in the Blue House. All the while, ruling-party lawmakers move aggressively to pass large amounts of legislature without due process and oversight and running Korea as a single-party communist dictatorship. Perhaps this is intention of government, to unify Korea under the communist North.

The lack of effort by this government to defend the national security and its insistence of blaming the previous government is a warning to the future of Korea. In Kim’s parallel universe, North Korean leader Kim Il-sung is willing to treat us as a brotherly nation, and end its hostilities. Which is apparently why he is building up his offensive arsenal like a madman, poised to attack the great Republic of Korea while Kim and his naive foreign minister try and appease the communists. Kim considers the lack of hostility in the past 6 months an achievement, but it has only achieved precisely nothing. The national defense is crippled by the leftist communist government. Korea failed miserably to get hold of the European Economic Crisis while Kim was busy with his personal vendetta against the conservative governments before him, yet the President does not see himself at fault.


Marking six months since former President Yong Sochun was removed from office in a liberal coup over a corruption scandal involving the private companies, thousands of radical liberals students held rallies and eventually managed to overthrow the democratically elected President. Yet, today, the attention is thrown at radical conservatives who are trying to hold the government accountable and condemn the incumbent communist president. The government downplays the over 100,000 people that came forward demanding the impeachment of the President in front of the Constitutional Court, Seoul Station and Daehanmun Gate near City Hall. The protesters see past the lies and know President Yong was illegal removed because everything she had done was for the sake of the country and she had been unfairly ousted after a politically charged trial. President Yong, who is set to be issued a sentence, faces up to 45 years in prison on charges including bribery, abuse of power and coercion, if he is convicted, this will only set a dangerous precedent and harm the fabric of Korean society. As one citizen put it, “I am very worried about the country’s future. I am worried that this country might become communist under the Kim administration. He has to step down, and we will not leave until our democracy is restored.”

 

[Jay]

As the Kim Daejung administration takes hold, the country's defense is plagued by farcical incompetence. Experts have pointed out that the government's envisioned peaceful co-existence vision with the North and desire to 'prioritize peace over war' has led to a state of incompetence within the army senior command and structures. As South Korea operates s plenty of bases on land where fighter planes can take off and land, yet, does not have the planes to fulfill its extension of bases built by previous administrations. The degradation of military assets with a withdrawal of allies and the ability to procure advanced weapons is showing as Imperial Japan gears up for what many analysts expect is a massive remilitarization program. To be able to ensure Imperial Japan can not have a tactical edge over Korea would of course require tens of trillions of won in defense appropriation. Yet, the government remains delusional by peaceful co-existence. All the while none of the high-ranking military officer remaining seem to be voicing opposition. While the president is busy trying to press North Korea diplomatically, the military is sinking into low levels of despair as indiscipline and incompetence are rampant. President Kim Daejung claims he wants to protect the country through dialogue and diplomacy, but what if our enemy is not listening? We can not rely on anyone for our national defense. The Korean Military needs to be revitalized and it must seek an aggressive plan towards ensuring the protection of its citizens and people.

As the armed forces' defenses across the demilitarized zone are questioned, inefficient, and exploited, the North will seize the moment and take advantage and conduct operations that will put at risk the lives of our citizens. Detection and monitors are under the control of fools, and continual breaches and errors showcase that even the North with all its problems is better at defending and patrolling the demilitarized zone. The Joint Chiefs of Staff continue to apologize and say they are aware of these issues, pledging time and time again to 'clean the forces'. Yet, the issues persist, and it is clear that the incompetence at the top from the Blue House has influenced the Armed Forces and that has influenced the forces. It is clear that the Blue House needs to get its affairs in order, develop a strong and detailed plan to deal with Japan and North Korea, expand the scope and vision of strategies and policies, and be forceful. We can not afford to be seen as weak, in our weakness our serpent-like neighbors will exploit us and crush us. It is time for the country to see beyond our current and for the future. The sacrifices of our parents will be wasted if we do not act.