UPDATE: I missed this before, but both parties are talking about getting the NEC to change its regulations.
ORIGINAL POST: I 
agree with the Korea Herald, this is dumb:
The National Election Commission has told the media to hold off on publishing interviews on candidates and likely candidates for the next presidential elections. In doing so, the commission cited articles 81 and 82 of the Public Official Election Act. According to the law, it is illegal to hold and report on in-depth interviews or debates involving presidential candidates until 120 days before the elections.
If this law were to be followed to the letter, no meaningful media interviews are possible until Aug. 21, 2007, 120 days before the presidential elections are scheduled to take place…
…Coming at a time when the ruling party candidates are at a serious disadvantage, the commission’s decision can be construed as putting a brake on the coverage of opposition candidates.
The role of the National Election Commission is to guard against illegal electioneering, not to endanger the proper functioning of democracy by threatening press freedom and the people’s right to information.
Both sides are going to pick their nominees long before August 21, so strict enforcement of this rule would be a disservice to Korean voters who may have a hand in the nomination process through primary votes or responses to public opinion surveys.
29 Comments
True enough, it’s a dumb rule. But the answer is not to keep the dumb rule but not enforce it — that’s a habit of Rule by Law. With the dumb rule still hanging around, it can be trundled out to selectively oppress someone for political purposes, as is posited to be the reason now. Better to revise the rule to recognize the current environment.
Rule BY Law, indeed. It would be interesting to know the provenance of the law. I suspect it goes back to the early days of the dictatorships and has its origins in a deliberate effort to stifle opposition views. Or it may go back even further to the Syngman Rhee regime (if so, adopted for the same reason)or even earlier to the chaotic days before Rhee’s emergence as strongman. In each case, the ostensible rationale for the rule would have been the chaos and confusion of politics among a people not deemed mature enough and its potential for distracting people from what’s important (as determined by the elites). Revealing of the character of Korean democracy that the authoritarian impulse is still so strong and has become embedded even in a body so ostensibly protective of the democratic process as the election Committee.
Today’s big news in every Korean newspaper is that President Rho went berjerk in public place. During his message to National Security meeting, he started to use unrefined language and attacked everyone, his former appointees, military generals, national dignitaries and even Korean history and Chosun kings.
He lost it. Man, he totally lost it. He will never be looked at as a president. He can never recover from today’s speech.
He is done.
Today’s Rho reminds me of Nixon’s last days. Nobody loved him. He almost went crazy. He locked himself in the white house and talked nobody.
Rho is there. Nobody likes him. He is going crazy.
I hope Rho quits as Nixon has done. When a president can not do the job, he must leave. The longer he holds on, the less people love him. He will go crazy from the weight of being hated by everyone.
I just wanted to thank you for continuing to post that picture of the lovely Miss Park Geun-hye.
Sperwer, years ago I recall reading that the campaign limit was to reduce the number of days of vote buying. I reckon there a several facets to this campaign limit, of which stifling opposition views is one.
Personally I’d like to see some type of limit to the way overdrawn US campaign season, especially in the presidential election years.
“Today’s big news in every Korean newspaper is that President Rho went berjerk in public place.”
Although I’d like to believe it, considering the source, I have my doubts. You must admit, Baduk, you have a very creative mind, to say the least.
Any links to a video of the breakdown, if it did occur?
Seouldout:
Limiting the time within which politicians can campaign is one thing - and may or may not act as a restraint on vote-buying (although I suspect that an outright prohibition of the latter, coupled with certainty of enforcement and a guarantee of punishment and deprivation of the right to run for office - instead of a guaranteed pardon - would be more effective). What we’re talking about here is a wholly indefensible wholesale restraint on freedom of the press. There may be various justifiable measures, such as restricting a paper’s right to accept advertising from politicians outside the stipulated campaign time, but when it comes to editorial freedom, it’s pretty clear that in addition to being intrinsically offensive any restraints enacted in Korea will only create new varieties of manipulation and corruption.
Someguyinkorea:
I think Baduk is in the money on this one:
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....20014.html
http://times.hankooki.com/lpag.....011990.htm
Heh… Apparently, President No’s mind is already a blank slate.
Cell phones and cars? Well, that’s obviously a superior qualification for making strategic decisions.
Erm… Hasn’t anyone pointed out to Prez No that bombing civilian facilities is generally frowned-upon these days? This has got to be a mistranslation. Nobody could be that stupid… Not even No.
Just remember that in Roh’s world, the United States is a primary evil force in the world. It’s the Yankee warmonger who delights in bombing civilian facilities — Roh wants Korean wartime control in order for right-thinking comrades to be able to restrain the blood thirst of US Forces Korea.
Rho and some of you do agree on one point. South Korea’s self reliance on defense.
Which I find highly ironic, and I think any suggestion that US forces withdraw from South Korea a stupid military tactic.
Sperwer, tell us more. Do you mean to say that actual, evenhanded and stern enforcement of the same sensible law applicable to all parties, instead of wink-wink, nudge-nudge non-enforcement of the law except later on, against political enemies, with a pardon–once the public has forgotten about the crime–for all who are unlucky enough to get caught, is a good idea? What a novel approach.
Looks like there is an alliance between China and SK, and not between the US and SK.
Anyhow, with the way some politicians shoot themselves in the foot (ala Roh’s idiocy yesterday) maybe the opposition should be happy they are a bit muzzled. And I would think Goh might be happy to be distanced from Roh as happened yesterday.
Well, I gotta appoligize to Baduk for thinking he was the loopiest person in South Korea.
The first article reads as if he’s a ranting drunk. I think he’s realized history won’t view him favorably, so he’s doubling up on his appeals to nationalism. But, he risks further painting himself in a corner…and he’s already standing on just one foot. He’s already burnt so many bridges, you have to wonder what’s going on between him and his advisors.
After reading that, I feel sorry for him but sorry for Koreans, the ones who are so easily manipulated by emotionalism. Koreans can not blame him for what is the fault of the Uridang as well. That is why such a ban on publishing interviews from candidates is pure garbage.
I can’t believe Koreans put him in office. Then again, I can. They made their beds, now they have to sleep in them.
If there were a military coup d’etat today, with the junta promising trustee military government and democratic election on schedule for December, would there be anyone in the streets protesting? Boy, this guy is really disappointing.
Brendon,
That may happen. He called all former defense ministers and generals nin-kan-poops. His exact quote was “What these guys do with tax money all these years? Buy rice cake with it? (=Waste it? Took it themselves?)
Generals are mad. They cannot sleep. This comment angered them more than anything said by Rho. All their lives, these true patriots have spent days defending Korea from possible NK attack. Then, this former private calls them dirty money stealers!
These generals are gathering as we speak now. They will demand appology from Rho and Rho will ignore them as he has done many times.
The next step will be fierce political campaign waged by former military men. They will not stop till Rho resigns.
Breaktrack,
Americans elected pres. Nixon for the second term. However, after watergate broke and Nixon did not appologize, people got mad. And, Nixon was isolated and he started to do strange things. Like calling red alert when there was no reason to do so. Also, he tapped into IRS record of his opponents. When supeonaed, his secretary said that she accidentally pressed “erase” button and lost Nixon’s conversation with his supordinates about watergate.
He smelled. He was not appologizing. He insisted “I am no crook”. He was a crook!
Reasonable people told him to go. Now some reasonable Koreans should rise up and tell this loser, Pres. Rho, that he has got to go.
In general, I agree with you Baduk. Nixon was no angel, everyone knows that. However, Nixon is dead and hasn’t been president for well over thirty years. Noh is still alive, still acting like a moron and still president.
I don’t know if all the generals were true patriots. I think during Kim Yong Sam’s reign, one ex general/politician who owned Sam Poong Department store, got exposed as a piece of shit of a human being.
Park Jung Hee, economic miracle, yes. Died while singing Japanese songs and playing with women 30 years younger, guilty. Killed by another military man, who had a beef with him. Both, Park and Kim Jae Gyu, pieces of shits.
Jun Doo Hwan, kept the economic miracle going. Sam Chung Kyo Yook Dae. Hmm. He did decide to give in to free elections, but his son proves that he made away with a boat load of unexplained cash. His sons claims his 70 year old grandfather was practically a investing genius. Wow. People who come out of Harvard MBA programs rarely match that return. Piece of shit.
Roh Tae Woo. Kept the economic miracle going. Pretty voluntarily ended military rule. My 4th grade school teacher who was from Kyong Sang Do praised the past Roh Prime Minister, who was Roh Tae Woo’s brother for being humble and loving the country, by not being wasteful. I think it had something to do with the Prime Minister Roh, who was President Roh’s brother not buying foreign cars and actually using public trans. Years later during Kim Yong Sam’s reign, both Roh brothers get exposed for taking astronomical bribes. Lying pieces of shit.
Kim Yong Sam, Kim Dae Joong. The bribes continue. All pieces of shit.
This discontent among the masses pretty much erupts to lead into support and possible and eventual election of Roh Moo Hyun, who was out of place and time in everyway. Too liberal, didn’t come out of college. Kyong Sang Do, but supported by Jun La Do. Served in the army as a private, just like the common folk. When he was impeaced, the masses saw this as the elite of South Korea putting down the self made working class man. Years later, it becomes clear that Roh Moo Hyun is also a piece of shit. KBS is like the Third Reich/Soviet propaganda machine. Roh Moo Hyun is so overtly socialist that he fails to grasp any meaningful economic concept that is good for Korea. Roh Moo Hyun is so socialist that one cannot question his ties to communism via his father in law. In the end, Roh Moo Hyun is singing his version of “My Way”. To some it’s a beautiful song. To others, he’s just an incompetent, commy, piece of shit, who is another disrespected South Korena President.
Let the days of Lee Myung Bak reign in. 1 more year.
Why don’t they cut the days short by trying to impeach him again? I’d like to see what happens. Just for the heck of it. Will Cha In Pyo come out again in vague verbal support, by saying, “something is definately not right”?
i dont know how it works, impeachment will make the analogy closer for Baduk’s sake, and also it might possibly be a good turn for the Uri Party as well.
By the way, I still don’t understand what “Cha-dda-ki” means with reference to Han Nara Dang.
I guess it’s a reference to Jiang Gi, or (Indian/Chinese/Korean/Japanese)Eastern Chess.
Does it have something to playing the policial game with the crucial advantage already taken away from the opponent? Because the Cha (Rook) is pretty much one of the valuable pieces in the game. Sorry for the rant and the spelling erros.
anyone who votes for Park Geun Hyae has no understanding of what he or she is doing. This lady has less credentials than Roh Moo Hyun.
people say Roh Moo Hyun is stupid, but remember that he passed the Korean Bar.
He’s smart. Just twisted.
Brendon Carr also passed the Korean bar. Smarter than the avg Joe, for sure.
“Chaddegi” means Hannara took a truck filled with bribes. Yes, these conservatives are no angels.
However, stealing changes here and there always happens, in any administration, Dick Cheny comes to my mind.
Politicians are liars. You’d better know that.
What bugs me most and the reason I come down on Rho baby so hard is that he weakens Korean defense. This is a lot worse than taking bribes. A lot worse. Once defense is weakened, it invites KJI to attack. Yes, KJI wants to rule both Koreas.
And, if you check out my website, it is not far-fetched for KJI to do so by beating SK forces provided that the US has left the peninsula. Yes, he can win.
Kim DaeJung and Rho intentionally weakened SK defense. Their idea is the unified Korea under China’s blessing. What they don’t know is that China is not a nice country as the US is. The Chinese will take everything. Everything! Women, cars, apartments, bank accounts, stocks, lands. Everything.
I did not pass the Korean bar. If a whitey passed the Korean bar examination it would surely be big news, but it won’t be me. One of my daughters, maybe, as they are both smart and have a heartless Korean mother driving them to study.
wjk from United States
Posted December 23, 2006 at 2:06 pm | Permalink
anyone who votes for Park Geun Hyae has no understanding of what he or she is doing. This lady has less credentials than Roh Moo Hyun.
If you are suggesting having a less qualified person with the correct convictions, I say bring her on! I think she would do a much better job than Rho and she would probably normalize relations with the U.S.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but are not all Korean law book written exclusively in hanja? And that is some brutal hanja at that. As Brendon said, plenty o’ obscurantism.
And as bad as I find the Korean law system (from my arrogant, Western imperialist point of view), I do believe it has made some reforms, at least compared to the Japanese legal system it was modeled on. As Brendon said, many more people can pass the exam now, compared to just a few years ago.
A view of Japan’s legal system is here). I gather Japan, like Korea, is undergoing an endless legal reform (i.e., talking about reform without changing much).
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[...] In the comments to Election Commission Wants Everyone’s Mind to be a Blank Slate Before August 21 here on the Marmot’s Hole, a tangent emerged which could hijack the thread, something which happens from time to time. The topic is, I think, of general interest, and so for purposes of classification and indexing (so that others might find it later), it seemed appropriate to put in its own thread. [...]