As critics continue to protest what they say is a major power grab and threat to national sovereignty by the leftist South Korean government, citizens have even resorted to calling an emergency espionage hotline to report President Moon Jae-In as a spy, a report said.
The man “was transferred around or asked to call other emergency numbers. It appears that those who answered the calls did not want to deal with this ‘hot potato’ issue,” Tara O noted in a Jan. 7 report for East Asia Research Center.
Communist North Korea, backed by China, invaded the South in 1950 and has continuously sought to infiltrate and subvert the democratic and free market system there since a truce ended the Korean War in 1953. Total American casualties in the War were 128,650 including 33,686 killed in combat.
Meanwhile, Moon’s newly appointed justice minister wasted no time, acting to replace senior prosecutors who were leading investigations into corruption scandals involving the president’s aides, the Korea Times reported on Jan. 8.
Last month, the opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) protested the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and its legislative allies for attempting to push through bills which would revise the electoral system and weaken the powers of prosecutors in a process that excluded opposition parties.
Thousands of protesters, many waving Korean and American flags, flooded the area in front of the National Assembly to challenge what they said was a power grab by President Moon and his Democratic Party. The international media have largely ignored the conservative uprising.
On Dec. 15, 2019, the Former Officials of the Korean Foreign Service issued a statement: “Reverse the direction of foreign and security policy” which demanded the reversal of policies the group claimed were submissive to China and North Korea and risked eliminating South Korea's national sovereignty.
Among other points the statement made the following demands:
- The talks between Korea and its allies regarding its participation in the missile defense system are under the sovereignty of the Republic of Korea, and not China’s.
- The discussions of a Korea-US-Japan security tri-alliance are exclusively between Korea and its allies, under our sovereign rights. We cannot condone any more intervention from China.
- The Moon government must recognize that the UN and all global human rights agencies are angered by the recent episode where two young North Korean defectors were forcefully repatriated. We urge the government to provide guarantee to those North Korean defectors who arrive in South Korea in search of freedom, all rights that our citizens currently enjoy.
- Korea is a member of the free world which respects freedom and human rights and condemns socialism, communism, and totalitarianism that undermine them. As a member state, we must actively participate in our allies’ Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP).
After the operator from the NIS asks for “evidence” that Moon is a spy, the man responds: “There are so many… In that case, a while back, met with China and transferred oil to North Korea. Have you heard of it? … ₩7 trillion ($6 billion) worth. It was about the oil transfer to North Korea on the orders of Mr. Moon Jae-In.”
The caller goes on to say: “What I’m curious, although that (I’m calling) NIS, a place to catch spies, and despite me reporting a spy, there probably isn’t a chance to catch Moon Jae-In as a spy, right?”
The NIS operator responds: “Well, that depends on what you report. If you can provide a proof (that he is) a spy, depending on what it is, there can be an inquiry or investigation. If it’s based on just news reports, then it needs to be verified, and whether there was a violation of the law or not, that depends on the department in charge to determine.”
The report noted that the video of the man’s call “may be censored at some point – e.g., video access denial, video removal, the infamous ‘yellow dollar sign’ that prevents the YouTuber from earning income, etc. – because these censorship activities have happened to other videos that do not reflect the same political views as the Moon administration and the ruling party.”
The report continued: “The ‘yellow dollar sign’ issue was not as wide-spread until Moon appointed Han Sang-Hyeok as the new Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) in August 2019. The Blue House and the ruling party have tried to censor YouTube videos, but it appears to have stepped up after Han became the KCC chair, a position that reports directly to the president. Han vowed to fight ‘fake news,’ which he has not defined, but the tendency of the Moon administration and the ruling party is to label any criticism of the Moon administration or different political views as ‘fake news.’ Han stated ‘fake news does not get the protection of freedom of speech.’ ”
Tara O noted that the caller to the NIS “was not the first time Moon Jae-In was accused of being a spy.”
On Feb. 23, 2017, two South Korean citizens filed charges with the Prosecutor-General’s Office, asking them to investigate Moon and 14 others. They accused Moon, then the leader of Deobureo Minjoo Party (Democratic Party of Korea), of espionage, abetting espionage, instigating a rebellion, treason-aiding the enemy, treason-joining with the enemy to destroy the country, and violating the National Security Law.
In September 2018, Doe Tae-Woo, a lawyer, filed a charge against Moon for the crime of treason - joining with the enemy to destroy the country. Doe pointed out that by signing the inter-Korea Military Agreement of September 2018, which is designed to implement the Panmunjeom Declaration of April 2018, Moon violated the constitution, specifically the duty of territorial preservation (Article 66, Section 2) and the duty of national security (Article 69). He further explained that by abandoning the existing boundary of the Northern Limit Line and giving the territorial waters to the North, Moon committed acts hostile to the Republic of Korea, which Doe says is treason.
Justice Minister Choo Mi-Ae replaced high-profile prosecutors Han Dong-Hoon and Park Chan-Ho and reassigned 30 others.
Han Dong-Hoon, the head of the anti-corruption department, who was looking into alleged illegal actions by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk. Cho was suspected of playing a role in ending an inspection into bribery allegations involving a former Busan vice mayor.
Han was reassigned to the No. 2 post in the High Prosecutors Office in Busan, 500 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the Korea Times report said.
Park Chan-Ho had been investigating the allegation that the presidential office helped Moon's friend win the 2018 mayoral election in the industrial city of Ulsan, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Park was reassigned to the prosecutors' office on Jeju Island.
Speaking to Yonhap News Agency, one prosecutor who requested anonymity said the new justice minister’s actions were excessively politically motivated. "For prosecutor Han, the reshuffle is virtually forcing him to leave the prosecution."
“Strictly following President Moon's wishes has become the first ‘achievement’ of Choo who was inaugurated just days ago with instructions to carry out prosecutorial reform,” Kim Se-Jeong wrote for the Korea Times.
The opposition vowed to fight the reassignments. The conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) said it would file a legal complaint against the justice minister.
Free Press International
