East Asia News & Politics Thread: China, South Korea, Japan...

The internal logic of that is just coherent enough to show how assholish it is (since people who need childcare assistance the most are the ones who can't afford it easily).

Of course, the idea of spending government money to bridge the gap between "affordable for the poor" and "living wage for the workers" would be heresy.

The Korea Times: Overseas voter turnout hits record high of 62.8%

The National Election Commission, the agency that runs elections in South Korea, announced that for this year's general elections, the overseas voter turnout broke the record for general elections, since overseas voting was introduced in the 2012 general elections.

In South Korea, overseas voting is done at polling stations set up by diplomatic missions. Once voting is completed, the ballots are flown back to Korea in diplomatic bags, after which they are mailed to the election commission in charge of each voter, and counted on election day.

During each election season, there are stories of people who drove hundreds of kilometers or even had to catch a flight to vote.

Edited by minseok42 on Apr 4th 2024 at 1:11:50 AM

Reminds of the recent elections in Taiwan.

South Korea's National Election Commission gave instructions saying that people who bring green onions to polling stations will be asked to keep the veggie outside. In an internal document, the National Election Commission said that green onions could be considered a political expression, and thus, voters who attempt to bring a green onion to the polling station should be asked to store the vegetable outside.

This is because Yoon's government is facing criticism for inflation, including the price of groceries. Yoon visited a supermarket, and for some reason, the price of groceries was significantly lowered at that supermarket on the day of the visit. He picked up a bunch of green onions and said, "875 KRW (about 0.65 USD) seems like a reasonable price." This became a meme, as 875 KRW is less than a third of the price that a bundle of green onions go for at other supermarkets.

I hope the voters make him cry for that stunt.

Wearing Hatsume Miku shirts into the voting booth would be a big flex.

Edited by RAlexa21th on Apr 5th 2024 at 2:51:17 AM

”I bought that green onion for 802 won, so it’s fine.”

I admit I don't follow Korean politics that much, but this Yoon guy sounds like a POS. He's only been in office since 2022? Does he have any followers in South Korea or is he universally disliked?

He didn't get elected because people liked him; rather, people voted for him to spite people they hated. He promised to get rid of the ministry of gender equality, and thus, men in their 20s voted for him in droves. Some supporters of the opposition Democratic Party voted for Yoon because they didn't like the guy who won their own party's primary election. And then you have the usual suspects who always vote conservative: rich people, landlords, and old people

Now one might wonder how bad gender relations are in the ROK for someone to win the presidency by promising to get rid of gender equality.

They're pretty bad.

And then said men wonder why no woman will give them the time of day. Must be those feminists poisoning the minds of the women who should be falling at their feet. Hey, Daddy Yoon, can you make marriage mandatory or something? /s

These are the kind of men who freak out about Godzilla making what they see as a pinching motion and get women fired from their jobs for an imaginary swimsuit picture. It’s horrific that they hold so much power.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3257850/young-taiwanese-urged-remember-roots-chinese-nation-islands-former-leader-ma-ying-jeou

Ma Ying Jeou's in China now. He says that everyone (especially the young people) back in Taiwan should remember their Chinese heritage.

I find it... a bit laughable. He can say this to those who chose to be raised/living with family in Southeast/South Asia/Africa (to an extent)/Americas/Europe.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240407_04/

Taiwanese Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim was secretly tailed by a vehicle registered to the Chinese Embassy in Prague. The Policie stopped it and found out that the vehicle was used by the Chinese Embassy's diplomat from the CE's military section.

Embarrassing for them to get caught, mostly.

And desperate. This happened after ex-President Ma (KMT) visited Beijing to see Xi Jinping.

And from what I heard, the diplomat wasn't detained on the spot aside from being briefly stopped.

Edited by Ominae on Apr 7th 2024 at 3:32:24 AM

"Journey of peace."

Xi removes the "peacefully" proviso from "we will reunite with Taiwan"

They may have had a degree of diplomatic coverage which would limit what could be done short of declaring them persona non grata.

That is true.

Was it a diplomat or a “diplomat”?

NHK wasn't clear on it. Neither is the Policie.

It gets complicated because its pretty much an open secret that all diplomats pull double duty and are employed by there home nations intelegence offices as well.

They may not be able to reach as far as other operatives, but all the tools available to diplomats let them operate with relative immunity.

Basicly the likley answer is "both"

Edited by Imca on Apr 8th 2024 at 6:48:53 PM

What Imca said.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/04/0d877658d0f4-taiwans-vice-president-elect-followed-by-chinese-official-in-prague.html

According to Jakub Janda, director of the European Values Center for Security Policy (The research center the VP visited), he mentions via X that surveillance is being done on VP Bi-khim at her hotel.

In the South Korean general election, exit polls predicted the Democrats taking over 180 seats, the threshold required to override a filibuster, and if they can unite with friendly parties like the Rebuilding Korea Party, they could potentially cross 200 seats, the number required for impeachment, veto overrides, and constitutional amendments.

All the votes are counted, and the election results are as follows:

• Democratic Party of Korea (liberal~centrist): 175/300 seats
• People's Power Party (conservative~far-right): 108/300 seats
• Rebuilding Korea Party (center-right~conservative and strongly anti-Yoon): 12/300 seats
• New Reform Party (alt-right): 3/300 seats
• New Future Party (centrist): 1/300 seats
• Progressive Party (progressive): 1/300 seats

Some highlights so far:

• Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the alt-right New Reform Party, is expected to win a seat in the Gyeonggi Hwaseong-B constituency.

• The Rebuilding Korea Party, founded by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, is expected to win over 10 seats. Cho was appointed Justice Minister during the Moon administration, but resigned as then-chief prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol investigated allegations of college admissions fraud against Cho's family. He started a party and ran because of his vendetta against Yoon, and he will not be arrested as long as he is a lawmaker.

• The Green Justice Party is expected not to win any seats, an unfortunate setback for progressive politics.

• Former PM Lee Nak-yon's political career is over, as the New Future Party, the party he formed after leaving the Democratic Party is expected to only win one seat, with Lee losing. Lee Nak-yon left the Democratic Party as he lost the presidential primary to current Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung. Lee Nak-yon's supporters voted for PPP candidate Yoon to spite Lee Jae-myung; Lee Nak-yon tried to troll Lee Jae-myung by starting his own party and running in the general elections.

Edited by minseok42 on Apr 10th 2024 at 7:39:05 AM

Looks like Yoon will avoid impeachment. Barely.