26.02.2017.

KBS News

By Ee Seungjae

Video at link

On December 9, last year, the National Assembly voted in favor of the impeachment proposal [against President Bak Geunhye] and submitted a final proposal to the Constitutional Court. At the end of the three days of preparations, the first day of the debate took place on the 3rd of last month, and discussions were held twice or three times every week for 55 days. The President’s defence has applied for 29 witnesses and the National Assembly [ie prosecution] has applied for 12 witnesses, including three witnesses who both sides sought to call as witnesses. Of these, 27 were called to the witness stand.

After the fierce closing arguments of both sides, the last remaining issue is the final defence tomorrow (27th), which begins at 2pm.

When the final defence is held, the presiding judges will briefly ask if additional evidence will be adopted before entering the final statement immediately afterwards. The President and the President of the National Assembly will appear on both sides of the podium to make a final statement regarding the impeachment of President Park. The National Assembly plans to call four representatives every 15 minutes.

During today’s proceedings Kwon Sungdong, chairman of the National Assembly’s impeachment committee, first explained why impeachment is necessary. Then, lawyer Hwang Jungkeun, the head of the general assembly of the National Assembly, gave a concrete reason for impeachment. When the National Assembly statement ends, the President will make her final statement. There is also a high possibility that one of the President’s lawyers, whether it is Seo Seonggu or Kim Pyeongu, will make statements too. The President’s lawyers say that they represent the President individually, and that they will talk about what they want to emphasise, without any time constraints.

19.02.2017

KBS News

By Gim Yudae

Video at link

Ri Jeongcheol being led away by Malaysian police.

Detained suspect Ree Jeongcheol and other absconded North Korean suspects [in Gim Jongnam’s murder] entered Malaysia six months ago. They were sent to a safehouse where they prepared for the assassination.

Reporter: He was seized by police making a surprise raid and didn’t resist. The atmosphere at his apartment now is quiet, here in front of the spot where Ri Jeongcheol was seized by police. Entry into the apartment building is now controlled, but I was able to enter with the co-operation of a local resident. It looks like the police opened this door at the time of the raid. There seems to be no-one inside now. The door was firmly closed at first. These apartments are used by the middle classes and cost around ₩400,000 [£280/$347] per month. Through running an IT business Ree Jeongcheol maintained a high standard of living. Given that he maintained his family here with him [in Malaysia] it is not understood how he managed his living expenses. A person who lives in the same apartment block said: “He was living here with his wife. They appeared to be a normal, standard family.” [Yet] because the apartment here is not just an innocent family home, the local media see it as a safehouse for North Korean agents. Another resident of the block said: “There are a lot of restaurants and apartments [in the area? In Kuala Lumpur? In Malaysia?] and a lot of different ethnicities. A family from North Korea wouldn’t stick out as anything different.”

Ree entered Malaysia in August of last month. Just ten minutes outside of the city centre and 40 minutes from the airport, the apartment is conveniently located for local liaisons. It seems that [the assassins] used the cover of being IT company employees to disguise their identity, and they prepared the crime by attracting Vietnamese and Indonesian women in the field.

*Ree’s name, 리정철, follows North Korean orthographic conventions. The surname 리/李 (“Ree”) is typically written and pronounced as 이 (“Ee”) in South Korea.

12.02.2017.

KBS News

Gim Gyeongsu

Video at link

Last year in October in North Korea’s North Pyeongan province, in the area round Banghyeon, a satellite was photographed. A runway and flight facilities and an aeronautical factory were all captured on film, alongside more than 300 unmanned drones.

Particularly as the Banghyeon adjoins the West Sea [ie opposite China], it may have been chosen as a launching site to reduce the burden placed on North Korea’s east coast [by Japanese/US defence scrutiny]. The North Korean military fired two missiles in October last year, and so the South Korean military has been observing the North Korean east coast. Although the recent missile tests have involved flights of just 500km, it’s believed that they have been in preparation for the development of a more advanced class of missile which can fly 3,000km. Firstly these missiles have a higher speed than the Mach 9.5 of the earlier Nodong class. Additionally, our analysis is that the higher speed, altitude and range of these missiles is intended to reduce the time spent over Japanese territorial waters and lessen the chance of the missile being intercepted.

In particular South Korean military authorities will be looking to discren whether the new missile used solid or liquid fuels. Solid fuel, unlike liquid fuel, is much more of a threat as firing can be prepared clandestinely – there’s no need to expose the fuel injection process.

Our supposition is that North Korea is seeking to develop an ICBM in order to assert its dominance. Yang Uk, a Senior Research Fellow with the Korean Defence Security Forum, said: “There was a test on the engine [used today] last year, and I expect that there will be more firings to come this year.” Experts say that North Korea’s goal is likely to be to continue with similar provocations in the near future, in order to improve the performance and stability of their solid fuel engine.

05.02.2017

KBS News

By Ee Seungjae

Today the wife of the plastic surgeon Gim Yeongjae, Bak Chaeyun, was re-summoned for questioning by prosecutors, after having been transferred to hospital yesterday before her scheduled interrogation due to complaining of having breathing difficulties. Bak, who had not answered any questions during her [brief?] attendance [at the prosecutors’ office] yesterday, today responded to questions from crowds of reporters before heading into the prosecutors’ office.

“My breathing is okay now,” Bak said. “I admit that President Bak had plastic surgery. If I were not to admit that, myself, my husband and our staff would all have been arrested.” But a member of the prosecution team said “of course we discussed the investigation with Ms Bak, but we didn’t make any progress towards the truth. Her comments are groundless. Yesterday as soon as she began to have breathing problems she was brought to the hospital.”

The investigation into Ms Bak is focused on what role her close relationship with President Bak played in favours being [potentially] given [to the President]. They will also be asking whether Choi Sunshil had any influence. The source believes that Ms Bak provided ₩25,000,000 [around £17,900/$22,000] to former Blue House executive An Jongbeom, along with a luxury bag and free plastic surgery. It is suspected that in return Ms Bak and her husband Dr Gim received ₩1,500,000,000 [around £1,000,000/$1,300,000] in R&D funding for the development of special medical facilities.

Analysis: the issue here is ostensibly corruption around providing surgery to the President and her aides, but of course the prurient detail that President Bak has apparently had plastic surgery is the main point of interest. As she’s fairly notorious for a relatively shabby personal appearance (an appearance which may have been directly overseen by Choi Sunshil) it’s unsurprising that Koreans are fascinated by this latest revelation in a case which continues to provide shocking details. Expect media outlets to now devote coverage to analysing photos of President Bak in order to pinpoint when surgery may have taken place.