• South Korean lawmaker from "United Progressive Party" gets 12-year prison term for pro-North Korea r
    26 replies, posted
[url]http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/02/17/south-korean-lawmaker-gets-12-year-prison-term-for-pro-north-korea-rebellion/[/url] [url]http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/17/us-korea-politics-idUSBREA1G0G920140217[/url] [QUOTE]A South Korean court sentenced a left-wing lawmaker to 12 years in prison and six colleagues to shorter terms Monday for plotting a pro-North Korea rebellion in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula. Lee Seok-ki from the small United Progressive Party was arrested in September for allegedly discussing attacks on national infrastructure with 130 colleagues during secret meetings in May. Tensions were especially high between North and South Korea following Pyongyang's third nuclear test last February and its repeated subsequent threats of nuclear war against Seoul and Washington. Lee, a first-time lawmaker, has denied the allegations. He said Seoul's spy service fabricated the charges to divert public attention from an investigation into allegations that its agents were engaged in illegal online campaigning to help President Park Geun-hye, then a ruling party candidate, win presidential elections in December 2012. The spy agency has said its agents were only trying to cope with possible North Korean cyber warfare and pro-North Korea online postings in the South. The Suwon District Court said in its ruling that Lee's punishment was inevitable because his plot posed a "substantial and apparent threat" to South Korea. [/QUOTE] I seriously doubt there are enough people in the South for a rebellion in North Korea's favor.
"I'm enjoying all the amenities and benefits of the developed world let's go back to being cavemen, who's with me!"
[QUOTE=EcksDee;44019888]"I'm enjoying all the amenities and benefits of the developed world let's go back to being cavemen, who's with me!"[/QUOTE] oh guys they have a skii resort, what do we have? oh ya first world lifestyles and 85+ year life expectancies
[QUOTE=Sableye;44019947]oh guys they have a skii resort, what do we have? oh ya first world lifestyles and 85+ year life expectancies[/QUOTE] North Korea: 1 Us: 0
1970 called, they want their controversy back.
And so went the long planned ultimate solution of glorious leader Kim-il-sung. Whatever shall we do now?
At what point in time did he ever think that that was a good idea?
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;44020293]At what point in time did he ever think that that was a good idea?[/QUOTE] I think its more likely that the South Korean government is getting pretty corrupt.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;44020293]At what point in time did he ever think that that was a good idea?[/QUOTE] They probably thought they would live the good life with Kim-Jong-Un in the unlikley scenario North Korea won
I dunno guys, considering the ROK government's track record, there could be some merit to the guy's counter-accusation.
His counter-accusation sounds way more plausible. a pro-North Korean revolution would be suicide. No idiot would or even could back that.
Jesus christ I understand that people can do a lot of things for money, but plotting against your own country so that it can turn from one of the most developed countries in the world into a totalitarian shithole is just something I can't imagine Unless they weren't corrupt at all and it's just some Rayhalo-level naiveness right there
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;44019967]North Korea: 1 Us: 0[/QUOTE] we never ended the war, we're still at war with north korea
[QUOTE=Sableye;44021462]we never ended the war, we're still at war with north korea[/QUOTE] Wars don't "go on" just because no one signed a paper saying there is peace. The war is over. If you're going to be dumbly technically like that, then we never went to war with them in the first place because we never declared war.
[QUOTE=EcksDee;44019888]"I'm enjoying all the amenities and benefits of the developed world let's go back to being cavemen, who's with me!"[/QUOTE] While they have the amenities of the developed world, South Korea doesn't have the government structure. Corruption is high level. There's evidence that the current president (daughter of former Dictator Park Chung-Hee) stole the election through massive amounts of voter fraud, and the journalists reporting on it are being thrown in jail and silenced. Free speech is restricted. Reading or sharing north korean propaganda is illegal, porn is illegal, and there's a very conservative non-government appointed organization that decides what is/isn't acceptable to view on the internet. A small group of monopolies call the Chaebol openly controls all the economic going-ons in the country and the government does nothing to stop it. Given all this, I wouldn't be surprised if one of two things were true about this story: 1. That nothing was plotted and President Park Geun-Hye is simply silencing political opponents through false, almost stalinist-like accusations of treason. 2. That this was indeed plotted, and the politician was simply hoping to secure a high-level position of authority with the communist government in case of war breaking out. South Korea has a very dysfunctional "democracy", and has only even had the semblance of one since the late 1980's [editline]23rd February 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Rangergxi;44020333]I think its more likely that the South Korean government is getting pretty corrupt.[/QUOTE] "getting"
[QUOTE=proboardslol;44023820] 1. That nothing was plotted and President Park Geun-Hye is simply silencing political opponents through false, almost stalinist-like accusations of treason.[/QUOTE] Calling your enemies communists and purging them is an American tradition.
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;44024781]Calling your enemies communists and purging them is an American tradition.[/QUOTE]There's a difference between this and what happened in the United States during the 50's, most of it was just McCarthy being obnoxious and people stopped taking him seriously after awhile. Especially when he had his ass handed to him publicly by some of the people he put on "trial." Those that were imprisoned were later freed when everyone stopped, took a breath, and realized the laws and charges were unconstitutional.
[QUOTE=proboardslol;44023820]While they have the amenities of the developed world, South Korea doesn't have the government structure. Corruption is high level. There's evidence that the current president (daughter of former Dictator Park Chung-Hee) stole the election through massive amounts of voter fraud, and the journalists reporting on it are being thrown in jail and silenced. Free speech is restricted. Reading or sharing north korean propaganda is illegal, porn is illegal, and there's a very conservative non-government appointed organization that decides what is/isn't acceptable to view on the internet. A small group of monopolies call the Chaebol openly controls all the economic going-ons in the country and the government does nothing to stop it. Given all this, I wouldn't be surprised if one of two things were true about this story: 1. That nothing was plotted and President Park Geun-Hye is simply silencing political opponents through false, almost stalinist-like accusations of treason. 2. That this was indeed plotted, and the politician was simply hoping to secure a high-level position of authority with the communist government in case of war breaking out. South Korea has a very dysfunctional "democracy", and has only even had the semblance of one since the late 1980's [/QUOTE] Wow, I had no idea this was the case. I always figured SK was sort of a "western country in the East".
[QUOTE=proboardslol;44023820]While they have the amenities of the developed world, South Korea doesn't have the government structure. Corruption is high level. There's evidence that the current president (daughter of former Dictator Park Chung-Hee) stole the election through massive amounts of voter fraud, and the journalists reporting on it are being thrown in jail and silenced. Free speech is restricted. Reading or sharing north korean propaganda is illegal, porn is illegal, and there's a very conservative non-govern ent appointed organization that decides what is/isn't acceptable to view on the internet. A small group of monopolies call the Chaebol openly controls all the economic going-ons in the country and the government does nothing to stop it. Given all this, I wouldn't be surprised if one of two things were true about this story: 1. That nothing was plotted and President Park Geun-Hye is simply silencing political opponents through false, almost stalinist-like accusations of treason. 2. That this was indeed plotted, and the politician was simply hoping to secure a high-level position of authority with the communist government in case of war breaking out. South Korea has a very dysfunctional "democracy", and has only even had the semblance of one since the late 1980's [/QUOTE] Banning porn? Those monsters! Honestly though it sounds pretty grim over there, is there a source on these things? Would be interesting to see why people are dying for democracy in the middle east when this crazy stuff is happening in SK.
[QUOTE=demoguy08;44026985]Wow, I had no idea this was the case. I always figured SK was sort of a "western country in the East".[/QUOTE] South Korea was defined in a time when the US would let even the devil run a country as long as he wasn't red.
A Pro-NK rebellion would never even start, everyone in SK hates the North and wants to be reunited under a proper democratic system that SK has had for years And if anything, NK'ers wouldn't like it, there's already a slow but increasing amount of resistance towards the Dictatorship over there thanks to the massive import of Western movies and TV shows that showed a better life style and how people can go around, speaking freely about what they think and standing up in their beliefs
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;44024781]Calling your enemies communists and purging them is an American tradition.[/QUOTE] Always learn from the best.
So... Does South Korea have a proper democracy then or not?
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;44027011]Banning porn? Those monsters! Honestly though it sounds pretty grim over there, is there a source on these things? Would be interesting to see why people are dying for democracy in the middle east when this crazy stuff is happening in SK.[/QUOTE] Sources [url=http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/02/economist-explains-3]Korean internet a dinosaur[/url] [quote]Every week portions of the Korean web are taken down by government censors. Last year about 23,000 Korean webpages were deleted, and another 63,000 blocked, at the request of the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), a nominally independent (but mainly government-appointed) public body. In 2009 the KCSC had made just 4,500 requests for deletion. Its filtering chiefly targets pornography, prostitution and gambling, all of which are illegal in South Korea. But more wholesome pursuits are also restricted: online gaming is banned between midnight and 6am for under-16s (users must input their government-issued ID numbers to prove their age). Sites from North Korea, including its state newspaper, news agency and Twitter feed, are blocked, as are those of North Korea's sympathisers. A law dating back to the Korean war forbids South Korean maps from being taken out of the country. Because North and South are technically still at war, the law has been expanded to include electronic mapping data—which means that Google, for instance, cannot process South Korean mapping data on its servers and therefore cannot offer driving directions inside the country. In 2010 the UN determined that the KCSC “essentially operates as a censorship body”[/quote] [quote]In 2011 Park Kyung-sin, a dissenting commissioner, posted a picture of Gustave Courbet’s “L’Origine du monde” on his blog, in protest at the KCSC’s order to block a picture of a man’s genitals—like that found in a science textbook—that he had previously posted on the same blog. He was convicted and fined, though the charges were later lifted.[/quote] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chung-hee]Former Dictator Park Chung-Hee[/url] [quote]Park seized power through a military coup d'état that overthrew the Korean Second Republic in 1961 and ruled as an unelected military strongman at the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction until his election and inauguration as the President of the Korean Third Republic in 1963. In 1972, Park declared martial law, suspended the country's constitution and made himself President for Life while ushering in the Korean Fourth Republic.[/quote] [quote]Park had promised after taking office for his second term in 1967 that in accordance with the 1963 Constitution, which limited the president to two consecutive terms, he would step down in 1971. However in the intervening years he backtracked on this assurance by successfully amending South Korean law to allow the incumbent president—himself—to run for three consecutive terms. Park achieved this constitutional victory because his Democratic Republican Party dominated the National Assembly of South Korea. Park used KCIA to torture and silence dissidents and influence domestic politics. ... In October 1972, Park dissolved the legislature and suspended the 1963 constitution in a self-coup.[/quote] [url=http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-931053]Park Geun-Hye's Election Fraud[/url] [quote]The majority of Korean people strongly believe that this election was not managed impartially and in accordance with current laws. Up until the day before the election Mr. Moon was beating Ms. Park by 2-3%. Even in the exit polls Mr. Moon was more than 2% ahead of Ms. Park, until 3:00PM. Then, all of a sudden the exit poll at 5:00PM showed drastically different results. After 5:00PM Ms. Park was ahead of Mr. Moon by 2%. Mr. Moon received overwhelming support among people in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s where as Ms. Park was supported by those in their 50’s and 60’s. It is very unusual for poll results to change so drastically between 3:00PM and 6:00PM on the day of the vote. Traditionally towards the end of the election day (6:00PM) there is a rush of young people getting out of work to go vote, not older people who most likely do not work during the day. The fact that the results changed so drastically after 3:00PM suggests that there was foul play involved in the ballot counting.[/quote] Most people think South Korea is a western country in the east for two reasons: they have the infrastructure and economic power of the west, and because cold war politics and history is always taught to us in highschool in the frame of "communism vs. democracy", but both south korea and south vietnam were highly repressive dictatorships with strongmen placed in by the CIA. [editline]25th February 2014[/editline] Also, whenever you hear anything about south korea's rigorous education system and relevant suicide rate, it has nothing to do with some ancient "korean cultural tradition of suicide when you shame your family" like in Japan. The Korean education system is such because of these monopolies. [quote=[url=http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21588373-there-are-perils-country-having-all-your-children-working-too-hard-one-big-exam]The Economist[/url]] The country’s manufacturers are more impressive than its service firms, although these now generate most jobs. And in manufacturing its big, family-owned conglomerates (the chaebol) do far better than their small, hard-pressed suppliers. Unsurprisingly, ambitious young South Koreans crave employment in the thriving bits of the economy. Medicine, law, finance and government remain popular, but the chaebol now take the cream. Like the civil service and the professions, Samsung, Hyundai and their peers tend to hire people straight from the best universities, with little chance of entry later in life. This creates a double bottleneck in the labour market. There are only a few appealing employers to choose from, and only one realistic chance to join them. So youngsters spend ages padding out their CVs and prepping for exams—especially for the test taken at 18 which determines your university. A lot of effort goes into costly credentialism, rather than deep learning. The system excludes late-developing talent: blossom at 25, and it’s too late. And in the very long term it means a smaller country. The expense of educating children for the test is one reason why South Korean women give birth to so few of them. With the lowest fertility rate in the OECD rich-country club, South Korea’s greying threatens to be as rapid as its growth. [/quote]
I've seen quite a few of their major news outlets use some bullshit Heritage Foundation study for economic analysis, rofl. Also, they've got that whole creepy Christian evangelism thing going on...
[QUOTE=ThreePennyJim;44038098]I've seen quite a few of their major news outlets use some bullshit Heritage Foundation study for economic analysis, rofl. Also, they've got that whole creepy Christian evangelism thing going on...[/QUOTE] South Korea is a VERY interesting country to study. If you read lonely planet travel guides or some other blog from some ignorant english teacher who's been in the country 2 months and made no efforts to learn to language and simply thinks Bar Culture is all there is, then you won't get an accurate picture. South Korea has some very modern cultural items like Kpop, Esports, and their fashion scene is probably one of the most futuristic and high quality in the world. But combine this with their political scene and it's the definition of bread and circuses. South Korea is trapped in a monopoly state in which everybody is not only controlled in some way, but also dependent on the Chaebol. This regressive leaning is can be traced back to the 1st republic under syngman rhee, or even further back into the dynastic periods if you want. Korea is a HIGHLY capitalist country.
[QUOTE=FlashMarsh;44030194]So... Does South Korea have a proper democracy then or not?[/QUOTE] As far as republics go, 6th times the charm.
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