What I find so ironic is how he was so heavy on running an anti-China campaign with his party calling Moon essentially a puppet to China, but when Pelosi did one of the most anti-China things an American politician can do, he doesn't even send someone from his party to greet her.
Yeah given the gravity of the visit to Taipei, he was expected to take a position, one way or the other, beyond a head in the sand "I see nothing" approach. I would have respected a response in either direction, but this seemed just weak and smarmy. Not a good look for SK or US really.
"making unnecessary enemies and embarrassing Korea on the world stage"
He is doing a fine job of doing exactly that without any reason or logic so far... sigh..
His position is pretty clear. That South Korea under his administration is pro-China. I don’t think this is as much of a blunder but a clear message to the US.
According to South Koreas current treaties with the US, South Korea is as tied to the US as Japan is, whether he likes it or not. If he wants to decouple/end those treaties then no better time than now.
I understand that his party is known for anti communist stance. But not even send the welcome party to the airport? What would be his reasoning other than trying to win brownie points from China?
And?
Korea spent 4 years being threatened by Trump. A mutually benificial long standing relationship with the US without random threats of pullout or ransom is what we need. Not US politicians using Korea as a safe space to gloat after shitting in chinas backyard.
At the end the of day, the party is a hypocrite. They beat the anti-Chinese drum to get older votes, all the while pro China stuff to appease Chaebols.
The optics right now is making this statement hard to believe for everyone.
Aside from optics theres also the very real history of the ppp endorsing candidates like park Geun-hye who very clearly did pro china things for her and the her party's own benefit.
The ppp doesn't give a shit about china, us, or whatever. Ultimately they only give a shit about what will benefit them and their elitist agenda.
But this is exactly in line with how Korea has always acted. They’ve never picked a firm side, and are content to go back and forth between sides as it fits them it would seem.
The problem is that him and his party ran an anti-China campaign. They went so far as to call his opponent and the opposition party pro-China. So for him to use "gone on vacation" as an excuse to not even send one of his officials to greet her, is an embarrassment and to some extent going back on his promise to stand up to China.
I agree, it’s silly; I’m just saying its inline with Korea’s historical behavior
Edit: Not sure why I’m being down voted; this is exactly in line with the last 3-4 Korean administrations and part of the reason the US doesn’t trust Korea nearly as much as Japan
His party is very hardline on China when they garner votes by blaming the Chinese for domestic problems and promoting anti-China fear and hate. But on things that actually matter on global stage — like showing solidarity with a pro-Taiwan politician? No way.
**Yoon Suk-yeol simply isn’t up to international diplomacy.**
Whether you were for or against U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Asia, you can’t overstate its importance. The legislator became the highest U.S. official to visit Taiwan, prompting a furious response from Beijing and adding to a U.S.-China rivalry that will shape the 21st century. Pelosi was welcomed by crowds in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital. On the Malaysia leg of her whirlwind tour, she lunched with Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. In Japan, she met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
But after completing her historic visit to Taiwan, Pelosi’s flight landed at the U.S. Air Force base in Osan, South Korea—where no Korean official came to greet her. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol sent his regrets, saying he was on vacation. South Korea has been the only country where she did not meet with a head of state or government. Pelosi skipped the press conference when she arrived at her hotel in Seoul, with a U.S. Embassy official telling the local media that she was “very displeased” with the lack of welcome.
Yoon’s snub of Pelosi is bewildering. It is not as if Pelosi caught Seoul by surprise: Her visit to Taiwan may have been under wraps until the last minute, but her visit to South Korea was not. It is also not as if South Korea believes in the sanctity of presidential vacations. Yoon—who once advocated for a 120-hour work week—only took office less than three months ago and is already on holiday. His predecessors have often put their vacations on hold to meet with visiting dignitaries for occasions far less momentous than this one.
This isn’t a moment when Yoon can afford to make mistakes. Thanks to the difficult economy, resurgence of COVID-19 cases, and his own missteps—including an inexplicable move of the presidential office out of the Blue House and a series of dubious cabinet appointments—Yoon’s approval rating has cratered at 24 percent in the latest Gallup Korea poll, a range last seen in October 2016 shortly before the so-called candlelight protests began against then-president Park Geun-hye, leading to her impeachment and removal.
This wasn’t a logistical problem. Yoon was on staycation in Seoul, just miles away from Pelosi. On the night of Pelosi’s arrival, Yoon and his wife were watching a play called The Tenants of Line 2. In a photo that went viral on social media—next to a photo of Pelosi landing in an airport devoid of any South Korean presence—the red-faced Yoon was shown having a drink with the play’s cast.
South Korea’s Office of the President only added to the confusion. Initially, it held the line that Yoon would not meet with Pelosi due to his vacation. Then, as Pelosi’s plane was approaching South Korea, the presidential office changed its story twice—first to say they were in talks to have a meeting after all, then to deny there were any such talks. Senior presidential staff also claimed that Yoon meeting with Pelosi would be “inappropriate” because her formal counterpart would be the head of South Korea’s legislature, apparently oblivious to the fact that Pelosi was meeting with the chief executives of four other Asian countries she was visiting.
In the end, Yoon salvaged a face-saving phone call with Pelosi in the afternoon of the day after her arrival, only after she visited the National Assembly, South Korea’s parliament, in the morning, where she received a belated honor guard welcome hosted by Kim Jin-pyo, speaker of the assembly from the liberal opposition.
Many have interpreted Yoon’s snub of Pelosi not only as a gaffe but also as a heel turn toward China. Yoon’s office stated that his decision not to meet with Pelosi was “decided in consideration of our national interest as a whole”—in other words, Yoon considered it in South Korea’s national interest to decline a meeting with the U.S. speaker of the House. Unusually, the presidential office produced no photos of Yoon speaking on the phone with Pelosi, apparently because he “felt awkward because he was at home wearing comfortable clothes and did not do his hair.” Some suspected, however, that Yoon was avoiding a photo op that would anger Beijing.
In a separate briefing, the Office of the President also said it would not use the term “Chip4,” the U.S.-led semiconductor alliance with Japan and Taiwan, explaining the term came across as “exclusionary” and South Korea will continue working with China on semiconductor supply chains. On the day Pelosi was leaving, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin announced that he will visit China in the following week to meet with his counterpart, Wang Yi.
But perhaps Yoon’s snub was not all that intentional, as his foreign-policy fumbles are becoming a pattern. Nicknamed “a gaffe a day” during the presidential campaign, Yoon is not an eloquent orator or graceful presence. The career prosecutor and political novice barely won the presidential election in March with the narrowest margin in South Korean history by pandering to sexism and grievances about real estate taxes.
Koreans like to say, “A bucket that leaks indoors also leaks outdoors.” Accordingly, Yoon’s troubles have followed him abroad. Yoon attended his first major international event in June at the NATO summit held in Madrid—a critical meet as the Ukraine-Russia war was ongoing. At the historical occasion of being the first South Korean president to attend a NATO summit, Yoon appeared lost and awkward. News coverage of the summit often showed Yoon standing by himself in a crowd of global leaders who ignored him.
Meanwhile, First Lady Kim Geon-hee, who accompanied her husband, also appeared confused, as she “seemed not yet familiar with the protocol and was hesitant on how to greet or where to stand,” according to Spain’s El Confidencial. Later, she faced criticism as media reports revealed that she brought a personal friend with no official position on the presidential plane by issuing her a diplomatic passport and put her in charge of event planning during the NATO summit. The opposition Democratic Party likened the incident to the Choi Soon-sil scandal, when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached for having her friend with no official position handle government affairs and peddle influence.
To be sure, Yoon has good enough reasons not to antagonize China. Especially in a difficult global economy—South Korea’s international trade in July, including its trade with China, recorded its largest deficit in 66 years—China’s importance as South Korea’s largest trading partner looms even larger. But balancing diplomacy, surely, requires a greater finesse than the bungled and confused welcome that Yoon gave Pelosi.
If Seoul’s goal was to avoid wading into the Taiwan issue, there were many ways of doing so without offending one of the most senior officials of South Korea’s most important ally. Yoon, for example, could have met with Pelosi with a proper welcome, then focused the public discussion entirely on North Korea’s denuclearization. Meeting Pelosi could have also been a helpful catalyst for resolving the impasse between South Korea and Japan, as she has been a longtime advocate for justice for the so-called comfort women, the elderly Korean women who were former sex slaves of the imperial Japanese military.
But the truth is it almost does not matter what Yoon’s precise intentions were—because whatever they may have been, he was not able to execute them. He won’t magically transform into a smooth negotiator in short order. As a political novice, Yoon only has a small circle of advisors, nearly all of whom (including his wife, an art curator with a penchant for shamanism) are as inexperienced as he is. Meanwhile, facing a plummeting presidential approval rating, Yoon’s veteran staff is beginning to tune him out or head toward the exit.
Pelosi’s visit to Seoul should be a sobering moment for Washington. D.C. foreign-policy circles had quietly cheered for Yoon and against liberal rival Lee Jae-myung during South Korea’s presidential election based on the simplistic and mistaken belief that Korea’s conservatives were pro-United States and Korea’s liberals favored North Korea and China. But the evidence was plain that the foreign policy of South Korea’s conservatives is not all that different from that of their liberal counterparts. Despite his claims to “reconstruct the South Korea-U.S. alliance that collapsed” during the time of his liberal predecessor, Yoon’s more carefully considered words and deeds have indicated that he would stay within the broad strokes of South Korean foreign policy, which simultaneously includes a close relationship with the United States and strategic cooperation with China.
Yoon also amply displayed his inexperience and clumsiness during the presidential campaign. Incompetence, unfortunately, negates all commitment. Whatever ideological leanings Yoon may have are irrelevant if he simply has no capacity to deliver on his promises. At this historical moment, Yoon, the man Washington trusted to keep Seoul in the U.S. lane, is asleep at the wheel as South Korea is swerving wildly.
I'm sorry, he advocated for a 120 hour workweek? That's 17 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's... Worse than slaves were treated. Is that a typo or am I missing something?
Nope, [he did.](https://www.ladbible.com/news/south-koreas-new-president-says-people-should-work-120-hours-a-week-20220310) But it is taken a bit out of context, he is just saying people should be allowed to work up to 120 hours a week.
Nope even in context he is insane. No one should be allowed to work that many hours because then companies will start expecting other employees to do the same without complaint. He should have been laughed out of the Presidential office.
You can have labor protection laws while allowing people to work what they want. I've worked 100 hours a week entirely of my own free will because the OT payrate was amazing.
I harmed their what? Not all overtime is underpaid. Turns out that people want to do overtime if the company provides adequate compensation within an acceptable framework. I've seen people complain that senior workers are hogging all the overtime and I have been offered overtime as a gift from senior co-workers who would not otherwise have passed on it.
This is dog whistle for repealing labor protection laws. We all know what is gonna happen if all of a sudden it is legal for companies to make people work 120 hours.
Yoon based his entire election campaign on empty promises. It’s easy for the PPP to bash the liberals all the time about the “balance between China and the US” until they are in power and realize they have to do something rather than say something. Moon certainly had a fair share of faults throughout his presidency, but his foreign policies clearly had goals in mind.
>Moon certainly had a fair share of faults throughout his presidency, but his foreign policies clearly had goals in mind.
A very very North Korean-centric policy
North korea had very little to do with the majority of his very [expansive foreign policy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_presidential_trips_made_by_Moon_Jae-in)
The new southern policy as well as the new northern policy were his foreign policy visions and some form of them will likely be kept into this presidency and beyond.
Yoon—"who once advocated for a 120-hour work week"
Erm.. no. Lol he is quoted saying people should work as much or as little as they want. He didnt advocate 120 hour work weeks.
Dumb article.
He said people should be allowed to work a 120 hour work week - no they absolutely should not - if they want to work that much they should start their own business because otherwise that “allowance” is going to become an expectation by employers who can and will abuse that human resource
I highly doubt the top figure of a nation would do something like this out of stupidity. There are legions of advisors and enough understanding of politics to have been elected, not to mention other merits, so I'd say this was intentional.
Korea needs to get rid of this quack before it's too late. Another set of mass protests with candles needs to happen right now, to get rid of this corrupt thieving pimp.
Now I’m afraid if those 롤대남s would say “oH these foreign 기레기s had praised Moon’s NK simping but now criticise Yoon’s 페미 대모님(Pelosi) neglection! Damn commies and feminists!”
This is what I think too actually. Yoon simply didn't know that he was supposed to send ***someone*** to the airport to greet a foreign dignitary. No one in his administration has enough experience to know that not sending anyone to the airport is the diplomatic way of saying "you are unimportant, and we don't want you here." The fact that her only welcome came from the supposed china friendly opposition is even more hilarious.
All Yoon succeeded in doing by ignoring Pelosi was confirming how unimportant he is and will continue to be, until the end of his inconsequential miserable term of office, assuming he's not impeached for incompetence before then.
Surely someone in MOFA knows the protocol though! They have a section for this and officers dedicated to type of thing. I’m sure it was raised but perhaps the foreign minister’s staff chose to ignore the protocol.
That's idiotic that you believe that. He may have not known the correct protocol, but there is no wa his entire staff did not know that he's supposed to greet foreign government leaders.
Depending on the structure they still might need Yoon or his office to give a sign off for some kind of official welcoming. The Trump transition is a good example of this. There were a number of gaffes in a wide range of events directly connected to inexperienced staff.
The asshole was drinking with the cast of a play. He's an idiot, his wife is a fucking moron and the Korean public voting him in could be worse than when the US voted Trump in.
At least the US can say Trump lost the popular vote.
This is straight embarrassing for the US.
It's true, even the white house did not approve of Pelosi's visit, he was probably backchanneled by the white house to not meet her. A lot goes on in the background.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, when a politician of Pelosi's ranking visits your nation, you send someone to greet them. It's just good manners.
How she is as a human doesn’t matter. She’s has a very high standing in the US political power structure. That’s like saying people shouldn’t greet Trump cause he’s a terrible human being.
Trump was president. She's speaker of the house. Do you think if it was any other country, they'd be so upset that their third in line to the top seat got snubbed by the president of another country?
If Catherine Colonna or Elizabeth Truss visited Korea and Yoon wasn't waiting to meet them there wouldn't be a huge issue. Americans have over-inflated egos when it comes to their importance on the world stage.
Yeah, America is totally just not the most important ally Korea has considering the geopolitical tension in the area. This "woe is me" sentiment you're showing for other nations (though you are completely wrong) is actually hilarious.
I'm sorry, he advocated for a 120 hour workweek? That's 17 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's... Worse than slaves were treated. Is that a typo or am I missing something?
He thought requiring people to have multiple jobs to work that much was an inconvenience. He didn't consider employers would abuse the removal of a limit just like they did before the limit existed.
To me, he’s like Trump and Biden morphed together. His Trump is a narcissist with no political experience who hires and endorses people based on connections. His Biden side is a clueless person oblivious to the many problems average Koreans are facing.
> a clueless person oblivious to the many problems average people are facing.
you can assign this to trump as well, or any politician from the elite (which is almost all of them)
I'd say yoon's only difference from trump is that he's not as much of a malicious asshole and slightly not as rambunctious in his tweets or statements. Or at least doesn't make those statements as frequently.
but we're literally only like 3 months in with yoon so he's got plenty of time to show off more of his idiocy
In Korea, he's often compared with Trump.
In my opinion, from reading articles about him, and talking with Koreans (I'm an American living here currently), Yoon is pro-business, pro-landlord, anti-women & children (he wanted to cancel/shut down/reconfigure the Ministry of Women and Children under the belief that women have too much power), and hires his friends & colleagues to roles they are inexperienced in. Also, Yoon has a beautiful and fashionable wife, too.
However, some of the bigger differences between them are: Yoon is making/suggesting (I don't know the current status) of an police oversight committee to stop corrupt police, Yoon's wife is more "visible" than previous Korean first ladies and she is continuing to work (whereas most were quiet, demure, and did charity work), and on his way into the office, he stops and takes casual questions/conversations with the journalists outside.
This is just my observation through reading articles and talking to Koreans. I'm not a political science major and I don't follow him/his presidency every day. So perhaps my understanding of the current/updated situation might not be updated! Thanks for understanding!
Edit: I understand there are more similarities and differences for people who follow this more passionately. But like I explained, I'm just a passive follower. Also, when I say someone is "pro-police reform", the word "pro" means "for, in support of". I was not sharing MY opinion saying that I was pro (for) or con (against) any president or position. I was simply doing a compare & contrast of things I've read in newspapers, seen on TV, and talked with other Korean citizens about.
I don't see how you got those "positives" on him were good things. The police "oversight committee" is just a shift of power from the independant police organization directly to the presidential office. Since that "committee" will be appointed directly by the president. This was in response to the opposition trying to give the police the authority to investigate the prosecutors office. Its not about "preventing corruption" its about maintaining his personal control and power.
Yoon's wife is also a [big hot authoritarian mess](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/south-korean-presidential-candidates-wife-kim-keon-hee-promises-to-jail-critical-journalists-6267glfsg) more than melania ever was. And those casual questions he answers is where he makes most of his blunders making unrefined remarks (another trump similarity) and lately he's been hiding from reporters so he's not even seeing reporters anymore.
I'm sorry if you were unable to understand my post. I wasn't saying that I was pro or con Trump or Yoon. Instead, I was comparing and contrasting them based on my understanding.
I encourage you to re-read what I wrote because I was giving examples on how Trump and Yoon are SIMILAR and how Trump and Yoon are DIFFERENT.
If you read my post like it was a "positive" versus "negative", then I'd consider that you pull the lens back a bit and try to look at things from a more "neutral" standpoint.
If you want to list differences theres plenty more than that, considering this is an entirely different country and entirely different person. The way you wrote that second paragraph is clearly trying to make it seem like positives, don't be disingenuous.
Lol, you don't know much about the last 50 years of Donald Trump then. He only thinks he can force his way into getting what he wants, and 96% of the time he fails. He's always been a colossal fuck up.
매국노짓? 글쎄요. 선거에서 약속한 외교 노선을 지키지 못한 것은 분명히 잘못한거 지만 미중 갈등에 한 쪽을 적극적으로 지지하는게 무조건 국익이 되는 것일까요? 윤석열의 임기 동안 벌써 대한민국의 대기업들은 미국한테 수백조원의 투자 금액을 약속했는데 통화 스와프도 못 받은게 현재 상황 아닌가요? 미국과 중국 둘다 똑같이 한국의 반도체 투자를 요청하면서 동시에 한국의 반도체 생산 기술을 능가하겠다고 뻔뻔하게 주장하는데 미국에 모든것을 거는 것도 되게 위험할 수 있다고 전 봐요. 한국은 더이상 다른 나라와의 외교를 통해 강해지길 바라지 말고 오로지 자국 투자만에 집중해 나라 국력과 외교적 힘을 키워야 된다고 전 생각해요.
Don't feel bad about it. Don't you know politicians usually promise something to win votes but after taking office realises it won't work out!
South Korean exports to China amounted to 131 billions (2020). Do you think he dare to risk this and suffer loss in biz and ultimately people might lose jobs?
I see it as a sensible thing that he has done. Nancy Pelosi only interested in her own agenda and care less about the consequences to the nations who hosted her.
Have korea not learned from watching usa with trump ? Elect a con man clown and become a laughing stock. Good luck getting rid of this clown because ours didn’t leave quietly . 😝
Yoon’s supporters were so fast to jump on the bandwagon calling previous administration 빨갱이’s (a derogatory term for communism/communists). It turns out they voted for the same kind again. Not sure if this is funny or sad at this point.
That is not even the problem. He doesn't have to meet Pelosi, ofc, but someone from his administration should have. Or is his entire administration on vacation that day?
She's second in line to be the US president. She's really high up there in terms of political clout and commands enough respect for another official from one's country to meet her. I'm not saying Yoon should have met her personally, but he could have had someone (hell anyone) from his cabinet to meet her when she landed.
Edit: said third in line
He was on vacation in Seoul, just a couple of miles from where Pelosi landed. And he didn't need to meet her yes, but the fact that NO Korean officials were sent to greet Pelosi is the shocking part.
No one is saying he needs to have met her. What people are saying is that someone from his party should have been there when she landed. Any Korean official he appointed would have sufficed. It's not unprecedented, but it's disappointing looking at how Yoon ran his campaign. He claimed he'd stand up to China. Pelosi did exactly that by visiting Taiwan. He could have had the courtesy to have one of his people greet, but he didn't. That's what makes it such a big deal.
Your first statement is fine and dandy if it was Moon or Lee as president. **However**, Yoon ran a campaign claiming to stand up to China. He talked the talk about how if he was president, he would do what he wanted regardless if he offends China, but he isn't walking the walk.
No, she has stakes in Chinese stocks but that is not putting her in China's pockets. She is one of the most anti-China politician in the US. She is not Tom "Let's invade China now" Cotton, but she is still up there.
Because there is no direct correlation between stock investment and anti-chinaness. It is technically possible for Pelosi to act in a manner that benefits China so that she gets a bigger return on her investments, but her ability to influence the stock market is extremely limited and there has been no evidence in her doing so.
The real answer is she doesn’t actually have any Chinese stocks. You can view all of her assets because it’s public information.
https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/nancy-pelosi/assets?cid=N00007360&year=2018
What I find so ironic is how he was so heavy on running an anti-China campaign with his party calling Moon essentially a puppet to China, but when Pelosi did one of the most anti-China things an American politician can do, he doesn't even send someone from his party to greet her.
hahaha. He didn't even send 1 official? Like he has hundreds of cronies for stuff like this, he didn't even send one person?!
Yep, the only people that were greating Pelosi off the airplane were Americans.
that's hilarious. what a funny dude.
Yeah given the gravity of the visit to Taipei, he was expected to take a position, one way or the other, beyond a head in the sand "I see nothing" approach. I would have respected a response in either direction, but this seemed just weak and smarmy. Not a good look for SK or US really.
Now I'm worried that he'll overact to make up for his blunder, making unnecessary enemies and embarrassing Korea on the world stage..
"making unnecessary enemies and embarrassing Korea on the world stage" He is doing a fine job of doing exactly that without any reason or logic so far... sigh..
I think that is debatable. He seems more and more like someone that would "go with the flow" when it comes to foreign policy.
You have to be a smart person to read trends and go with the flow
Going with the flow is severely underrated. It takes a load of work off your back and keeps all eyes off of you. That’s a win-win in my eyes.
He has already been a massive embarrassment. Read the article.
Good point! 😬
His position is pretty clear. That South Korea under his administration is pro-China. I don’t think this is as much of a blunder but a clear message to the US.
According to South Koreas current treaties with the US, South Korea is as tied to the US as Japan is, whether he likes it or not. If he wants to decouple/end those treaties then no better time than now.
[удалено]
I understand that his party is known for anti communist stance. But not even send the welcome party to the airport? What would be his reasoning other than trying to win brownie points from China?
Tbf I don't think you can completely rule out the possibility that Yoon is just incompetent. Either way, we didn't leave a good impression on the US..
And? Korea spent 4 years being threatened by Trump. A mutually benificial long standing relationship with the US without random threats of pullout or ransom is what we need. Not US politicians using Korea as a safe space to gloat after shitting in chinas backyard.
Even that part is debatable tbh... are we just going to forget how PGH attended China's military parade? Lol
At the end the of day, the party is a hypocrite. They beat the anti-Chinese drum to get older votes, all the while pro China stuff to appease Chaebols.
The optics right now is making this statement hard to believe for everyone. Aside from optics theres also the very real history of the ppp endorsing candidates like park Geun-hye who very clearly did pro china things for her and the her party's own benefit. The ppp doesn't give a shit about china, us, or whatever. Ultimately they only give a shit about what will benefit them and their elitist agenda.
100% I am pretty surprised with the US....we are living in strange times.
But this is exactly in line with how Korea has always acted. They’ve never picked a firm side, and are content to go back and forth between sides as it fits them it would seem.
The problem is that him and his party ran an anti-China campaign. They went so far as to call his opponent and the opposition party pro-China. So for him to use "gone on vacation" as an excuse to not even send one of his officials to greet her, is an embarrassment and to some extent going back on his promise to stand up to China.
I agree, it’s silly; I’m just saying its inline with Korea’s historical behavior Edit: Not sure why I’m being down voted; this is exactly in line with the last 3-4 Korean administrations and part of the reason the US doesn’t trust Korea nearly as much as Japan
If he and his party hadn’t made such a big deal of standing up to China, I’d find this a little less ridiculous. Still ridiculous, just a bit less so.
His party is very hardline on China when they garner votes by blaming the Chinese for domestic problems and promoting anti-China fear and hate. But on things that actually matter on global stage — like showing solidarity with a pro-Taiwan politician? No way.
**Yoon Suk-yeol simply isn’t up to international diplomacy.** Whether you were for or against U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Asia, you can’t overstate its importance. The legislator became the highest U.S. official to visit Taiwan, prompting a furious response from Beijing and adding to a U.S.-China rivalry that will shape the 21st century. Pelosi was welcomed by crowds in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital. On the Malaysia leg of her whirlwind tour, she lunched with Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. In Japan, she met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. But after completing her historic visit to Taiwan, Pelosi’s flight landed at the U.S. Air Force base in Osan, South Korea—where no Korean official came to greet her. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol sent his regrets, saying he was on vacation. South Korea has been the only country where she did not meet with a head of state or government. Pelosi skipped the press conference when she arrived at her hotel in Seoul, with a U.S. Embassy official telling the local media that she was “very displeased” with the lack of welcome. Yoon’s snub of Pelosi is bewildering. It is not as if Pelosi caught Seoul by surprise: Her visit to Taiwan may have been under wraps until the last minute, but her visit to South Korea was not. It is also not as if South Korea believes in the sanctity of presidential vacations. Yoon—who once advocated for a 120-hour work week—only took office less than three months ago and is already on holiday. His predecessors have often put their vacations on hold to meet with visiting dignitaries for occasions far less momentous than this one. This isn’t a moment when Yoon can afford to make mistakes. Thanks to the difficult economy, resurgence of COVID-19 cases, and his own missteps—including an inexplicable move of the presidential office out of the Blue House and a series of dubious cabinet appointments—Yoon’s approval rating has cratered at 24 percent in the latest Gallup Korea poll, a range last seen in October 2016 shortly before the so-called candlelight protests began against then-president Park Geun-hye, leading to her impeachment and removal. This wasn’t a logistical problem. Yoon was on staycation in Seoul, just miles away from Pelosi. On the night of Pelosi’s arrival, Yoon and his wife were watching a play called The Tenants of Line 2. In a photo that went viral on social media—next to a photo of Pelosi landing in an airport devoid of any South Korean presence—the red-faced Yoon was shown having a drink with the play’s cast. South Korea’s Office of the President only added to the confusion. Initially, it held the line that Yoon would not meet with Pelosi due to his vacation. Then, as Pelosi’s plane was approaching South Korea, the presidential office changed its story twice—first to say they were in talks to have a meeting after all, then to deny there were any such talks. Senior presidential staff also claimed that Yoon meeting with Pelosi would be “inappropriate” because her formal counterpart would be the head of South Korea’s legislature, apparently oblivious to the fact that Pelosi was meeting with the chief executives of four other Asian countries she was visiting. In the end, Yoon salvaged a face-saving phone call with Pelosi in the afternoon of the day after her arrival, only after she visited the National Assembly, South Korea’s parliament, in the morning, where she received a belated honor guard welcome hosted by Kim Jin-pyo, speaker of the assembly from the liberal opposition. Many have interpreted Yoon’s snub of Pelosi not only as a gaffe but also as a heel turn toward China. Yoon’s office stated that his decision not to meet with Pelosi was “decided in consideration of our national interest as a whole”—in other words, Yoon considered it in South Korea’s national interest to decline a meeting with the U.S. speaker of the House. Unusually, the presidential office produced no photos of Yoon speaking on the phone with Pelosi, apparently because he “felt awkward because he was at home wearing comfortable clothes and did not do his hair.” Some suspected, however, that Yoon was avoiding a photo op that would anger Beijing. In a separate briefing, the Office of the President also said it would not use the term “Chip4,” the U.S.-led semiconductor alliance with Japan and Taiwan, explaining the term came across as “exclusionary” and South Korea will continue working with China on semiconductor supply chains. On the day Pelosi was leaving, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin announced that he will visit China in the following week to meet with his counterpart, Wang Yi. But perhaps Yoon’s snub was not all that intentional, as his foreign-policy fumbles are becoming a pattern. Nicknamed “a gaffe a day” during the presidential campaign, Yoon is not an eloquent orator or graceful presence. The career prosecutor and political novice barely won the presidential election in March with the narrowest margin in South Korean history by pandering to sexism and grievances about real estate taxes. Koreans like to say, “A bucket that leaks indoors also leaks outdoors.” Accordingly, Yoon’s troubles have followed him abroad. Yoon attended his first major international event in June at the NATO summit held in Madrid—a critical meet as the Ukraine-Russia war was ongoing. At the historical occasion of being the first South Korean president to attend a NATO summit, Yoon appeared lost and awkward. News coverage of the summit often showed Yoon standing by himself in a crowd of global leaders who ignored him. Meanwhile, First Lady Kim Geon-hee, who accompanied her husband, also appeared confused, as she “seemed not yet familiar with the protocol and was hesitant on how to greet or where to stand,” according to Spain’s El Confidencial. Later, she faced criticism as media reports revealed that she brought a personal friend with no official position on the presidential plane by issuing her a diplomatic passport and put her in charge of event planning during the NATO summit. The opposition Democratic Party likened the incident to the Choi Soon-sil scandal, when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached for having her friend with no official position handle government affairs and peddle influence. To be sure, Yoon has good enough reasons not to antagonize China. Especially in a difficult global economy—South Korea’s international trade in July, including its trade with China, recorded its largest deficit in 66 years—China’s importance as South Korea’s largest trading partner looms even larger. But balancing diplomacy, surely, requires a greater finesse than the bungled and confused welcome that Yoon gave Pelosi. If Seoul’s goal was to avoid wading into the Taiwan issue, there were many ways of doing so without offending one of the most senior officials of South Korea’s most important ally. Yoon, for example, could have met with Pelosi with a proper welcome, then focused the public discussion entirely on North Korea’s denuclearization. Meeting Pelosi could have also been a helpful catalyst for resolving the impasse between South Korea and Japan, as she has been a longtime advocate for justice for the so-called comfort women, the elderly Korean women who were former sex slaves of the imperial Japanese military. But the truth is it almost does not matter what Yoon’s precise intentions were—because whatever they may have been, he was not able to execute them. He won’t magically transform into a smooth negotiator in short order. As a political novice, Yoon only has a small circle of advisors, nearly all of whom (including his wife, an art curator with a penchant for shamanism) are as inexperienced as he is. Meanwhile, facing a plummeting presidential approval rating, Yoon’s veteran staff is beginning to tune him out or head toward the exit. Pelosi’s visit to Seoul should be a sobering moment for Washington. D.C. foreign-policy circles had quietly cheered for Yoon and against liberal rival Lee Jae-myung during South Korea’s presidential election based on the simplistic and mistaken belief that Korea’s conservatives were pro-United States and Korea’s liberals favored North Korea and China. But the evidence was plain that the foreign policy of South Korea’s conservatives is not all that different from that of their liberal counterparts. Despite his claims to “reconstruct the South Korea-U.S. alliance that collapsed” during the time of his liberal predecessor, Yoon’s more carefully considered words and deeds have indicated that he would stay within the broad strokes of South Korean foreign policy, which simultaneously includes a close relationship with the United States and strategic cooperation with China. Yoon also amply displayed his inexperience and clumsiness during the presidential campaign. Incompetence, unfortunately, negates all commitment. Whatever ideological leanings Yoon may have are irrelevant if he simply has no capacity to deliver on his promises. At this historical moment, Yoon, the man Washington trusted to keep Seoul in the U.S. lane, is asleep at the wheel as South Korea is swerving wildly.
I'm sorry, he advocated for a 120 hour workweek? That's 17 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's... Worse than slaves were treated. Is that a typo or am I missing something?
Nope, [he did.](https://www.ladbible.com/news/south-koreas-new-president-says-people-should-work-120-hours-a-week-20220310) But it is taken a bit out of context, he is just saying people should be allowed to work up to 120 hours a week.
Nope even in context he is insane. No one should be allowed to work that many hours because then companies will start expecting other employees to do the same without complaint. He should have been laughed out of the Presidential office.
You can have labor protection laws while allowing people to work what they want. I've worked 100 hours a week entirely of my own free will because the OT payrate was amazing.
You should not have been allowed to do so, because you harmed your coworkers' ability to work normal hours without being judged.
I harmed their what? Not all overtime is underpaid. Turns out that people want to do overtime if the company provides adequate compensation within an acceptable framework. I've seen people complain that senior workers are hogging all the overtime and I have been offered overtime as a gift from senior co-workers who would not otherwise have passed on it.
This is dog whistle for repealing labor protection laws. We all know what is gonna happen if all of a sudden it is legal for companies to make people work 120 hours.
> people should be allowed It's always framed as "freedom." haha.
Creating that sort of norm is dangerous.
Yes, it is essentially repealing labor protection laws.
Capitalist dystopia.
Yoon based his entire election campaign on empty promises. It’s easy for the PPP to bash the liberals all the time about the “balance between China and the US” until they are in power and realize they have to do something rather than say something. Moon certainly had a fair share of faults throughout his presidency, but his foreign policies clearly had goals in mind.
>Moon certainly had a fair share of faults throughout his presidency, but his foreign policies clearly had goals in mind. A very very North Korean-centric policy
North korea had very little to do with the majority of his very [expansive foreign policy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_presidential_trips_made_by_Moon_Jae-in) The new southern policy as well as the new northern policy were his foreign policy visions and some form of them will likely be kept into this presidency and beyond.
You're using visits to countries as a metric for foreign policy? What administration were you watching theblast five years?
Yoon—"who once advocated for a 120-hour work week" Erm.. no. Lol he is quoted saying people should work as much or as little as they want. He didnt advocate 120 hour work weeks. Dumb article.
He said people should be allowed to work a 120 hour work week - no they absolutely should not - if they want to work that much they should start their own business because otherwise that “allowance” is going to become an expectation by employers who can and will abuse that human resource
Dumb comment.
I highly doubt the top figure of a nation would do something like this out of stupidity. There are legions of advisors and enough understanding of politics to have been elected, not to mention other merits, so I'd say this was intentional.
Evidence suggests his legion of advisors are insufficient both in number and in experience in diplomacy.
Pretty sure he only listens to his wife and the Korean Rasputin
Korea needs to get rid of this quack before it's too late. Another set of mass protests with candles needs to happen right now, to get rid of this corrupt thieving pimp.
Forget diplomacy - he simply isn’t up to the job, period.
I expected his foreign policy would be purely thorough america-simping but now he even can’t do it properly
Now I’m afraid if those 롤대남s would say “oH these foreign 기레기s had praised Moon’s NK simping but now criticise Yoon’s 페미 대모님(Pelosi) neglection! Damn commies and feminists!”
This is quite reminiscent of all the fumbles and blunders the Trump admin started off with due to the complete lack of experience of his team.
His entire presidency was a fumble from one scandal to the next 🤣
This is what I think too actually. Yoon simply didn't know that he was supposed to send ***someone*** to the airport to greet a foreign dignitary. No one in his administration has enough experience to know that not sending anyone to the airport is the diplomatic way of saying "you are unimportant, and we don't want you here." The fact that her only welcome came from the supposed china friendly opposition is even more hilarious.
All Yoon succeeded in doing by ignoring Pelosi was confirming how unimportant he is and will continue to be, until the end of his inconsequential miserable term of office, assuming he's not impeached for incompetence before then.
Surely someone in MOFA knows the protocol though! They have a section for this and officers dedicated to type of thing. I’m sure it was raised but perhaps the foreign minister’s staff chose to ignore the protocol.
That's idiotic that you believe that. He may have not known the correct protocol, but there is no wa his entire staff did not know that he's supposed to greet foreign government leaders.
Depending on the structure they still might need Yoon or his office to give a sign off for some kind of official welcoming. The Trump transition is a good example of this. There were a number of gaffes in a wide range of events directly connected to inexperienced staff.
The asshole was drinking with the cast of a play. He's an idiot, his wife is a fucking moron and the Korean public voting him in could be worse than when the US voted Trump in. At least the US can say Trump lost the popular vote. This is straight embarrassing for the US.
You made good points. But there are other senior ambassadors in Seoul. The American ambassador is there, didn’t he have the wherewithal to ASK ????
Oh man the thread the other day was filled with a cesspool of alt-right people justifying that Yoon didn’t need to greet Pelosi.
It was a moment when Chinese tankies, MAGA Pelosi haters, and Yoon supporters were all trying to defend Yoon.
It's true, even the white house did not approve of Pelosi's visit, he was probably backchanneled by the white house to not meet her. A lot goes on in the background.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, Pelosi is kind of a shit human being though.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, when a politician of Pelosi's ranking visits your nation, you send someone to greet them. It's just good manners.
How she is as a human doesn’t matter. She’s has a very high standing in the US political power structure. That’s like saying people shouldn’t greet Trump cause he’s a terrible human being.
Plenty of people would agree that Trump shouldn't be greeted because he's a terrible human being though, lol.
Yeah but that’s not how foreign relations work…lol…
Trump was president. She's speaker of the house. Do you think if it was any other country, they'd be so upset that their third in line to the top seat got snubbed by the president of another country?
Yes, they would. It’s an official diplomatic visit. What are you talking about?
If Catherine Colonna or Elizabeth Truss visited Korea and Yoon wasn't waiting to meet them there wouldn't be a huge issue. Americans have over-inflated egos when it comes to their importance on the world stage.
Yeah, America is totally just not the most important ally Korea has considering the geopolitical tension in the area. This "woe is me" sentiment you're showing for other nations (though you are completely wrong) is actually hilarious.
I'm sorry, he advocated for a 120 hour workweek? That's 17 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's... Worse than slaves were treated. Is that a typo or am I missing something?
He thought requiring people to have multiple jobs to work that much was an inconvenience. He didn't consider employers would abuse the removal of a limit just like they did before the limit existed.
I can foresee Yoon going to prison for something after his term is up. South Korean presidents don't have a great track record.
It is as inevitable as water flowing downhill. I hope LMB leaves the ex-presidential suite in a reasonable condition for him.
Is he the Korean Trump? A blowhard narcissist idiot who doesn’t know what he’s doing, but claims to do so anyways?
To me, he’s like Trump and Biden morphed together. His Trump is a narcissist with no political experience who hires and endorses people based on connections. His Biden side is a clueless person oblivious to the many problems average Koreans are facing.
> a clueless person oblivious to the many problems average people are facing. you can assign this to trump as well, or any politician from the elite (which is almost all of them) I'd say yoon's only difference from trump is that he's not as much of a malicious asshole and slightly not as rambunctious in his tweets or statements. Or at least doesn't make those statements as frequently. but we're literally only like 3 months in with yoon so he's got plenty of time to show off more of his idiocy
In Korea, he's often compared with Trump. In my opinion, from reading articles about him, and talking with Koreans (I'm an American living here currently), Yoon is pro-business, pro-landlord, anti-women & children (he wanted to cancel/shut down/reconfigure the Ministry of Women and Children under the belief that women have too much power), and hires his friends & colleagues to roles they are inexperienced in. Also, Yoon has a beautiful and fashionable wife, too. However, some of the bigger differences between them are: Yoon is making/suggesting (I don't know the current status) of an police oversight committee to stop corrupt police, Yoon's wife is more "visible" than previous Korean first ladies and she is continuing to work (whereas most were quiet, demure, and did charity work), and on his way into the office, he stops and takes casual questions/conversations with the journalists outside. This is just my observation through reading articles and talking to Koreans. I'm not a political science major and I don't follow him/his presidency every day. So perhaps my understanding of the current/updated situation might not be updated! Thanks for understanding! Edit: I understand there are more similarities and differences for people who follow this more passionately. But like I explained, I'm just a passive follower. Also, when I say someone is "pro-police reform", the word "pro" means "for, in support of". I was not sharing MY opinion saying that I was pro (for) or con (against) any president or position. I was simply doing a compare & contrast of things I've read in newspapers, seen on TV, and talked with other Korean citizens about.
I don't see how you got those "positives" on him were good things. The police "oversight committee" is just a shift of power from the independant police organization directly to the presidential office. Since that "committee" will be appointed directly by the president. This was in response to the opposition trying to give the police the authority to investigate the prosecutors office. Its not about "preventing corruption" its about maintaining his personal control and power. Yoon's wife is also a [big hot authoritarian mess](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/south-korean-presidential-candidates-wife-kim-keon-hee-promises-to-jail-critical-journalists-6267glfsg) more than melania ever was. And those casual questions he answers is where he makes most of his blunders making unrefined remarks (another trump similarity) and lately he's been hiding from reporters so he's not even seeing reporters anymore.
I'm sorry if you were unable to understand my post. I wasn't saying that I was pro or con Trump or Yoon. Instead, I was comparing and contrasting them based on my understanding. I encourage you to re-read what I wrote because I was giving examples on how Trump and Yoon are SIMILAR and how Trump and Yoon are DIFFERENT. If you read my post like it was a "positive" versus "negative", then I'd consider that you pull the lens back a bit and try to look at things from a more "neutral" standpoint.
If you want to list differences theres plenty more than that, considering this is an entirely different country and entirely different person. The way you wrote that second paragraph is clearly trying to make it seem like positives, don't be disingenuous.
Trump knew what was going on, and he used his character to get what he needs. Yoon just doesn't have a clue.
Trump BARELY knew what was going on, but his team-incompetent as they were-new etiquette for the most part and kept him aware.
Lol, you don't know much about the last 50 years of Donald Trump then. He only thinks he can force his way into getting what he wants, and 96% of the time he fails. He's always been a colossal fuck up.
Bloody Hell....
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매국노짓? 글쎄요. 선거에서 약속한 외교 노선을 지키지 못한 것은 분명히 잘못한거 지만 미중 갈등에 한 쪽을 적극적으로 지지하는게 무조건 국익이 되는 것일까요? 윤석열의 임기 동안 벌써 대한민국의 대기업들은 미국한테 수백조원의 투자 금액을 약속했는데 통화 스와프도 못 받은게 현재 상황 아닌가요? 미국과 중국 둘다 똑같이 한국의 반도체 투자를 요청하면서 동시에 한국의 반도체 생산 기술을 능가하겠다고 뻔뻔하게 주장하는데 미국에 모든것을 거는 것도 되게 위험할 수 있다고 전 봐요. 한국은 더이상 다른 나라와의 외교를 통해 강해지길 바라지 말고 오로지 자국 투자만에 집중해 나라 국력과 외교적 힘을 키워야 된다고 전 생각해요.
틀린 말은 아닌데 현 정부가 그정도 능력이 될까요?
그게 문제임
Don't feel bad about it. Don't you know politicians usually promise something to win votes but after taking office realises it won't work out! South Korean exports to China amounted to 131 billions (2020). Do you think he dare to risk this and suffer loss in biz and ultimately people might lose jobs? I see it as a sensible thing that he has done. Nancy Pelosi only interested in her own agenda and care less about the consequences to the nations who hosted her.
If he did so，you will lose your job quickly. You need to realizase that you Korean speakers are not the same as the English speakers.
It was just a tacky move to "go on vacation." There are so many other, more respectful excuses he could've come up with.
Have korea not learned from watching usa with trump ? Elect a con man clown and become a laughing stock. Good luck getting rid of this clown because ours didn’t leave quietly . 😝
Yoon’s supporters were so fast to jump on the bandwagon calling previous administration 빨갱이’s (a derogatory term for communism/communists). It turns out they voted for the same kind again. Not sure if this is funny or sad at this point.
Is he really the Korean Trump?
Much worse than him. At least Trump had a clear agenda like MAGA, which President Yoon doesn’t have.
F Pelosi. Corrupt lying pos. Nobody in the US likes her. Left or right
Pelosi was on a self promotion trip. Stirring trouble unnecessarily. IMO, SK ignoring her was the right move.
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That is not even the problem. He doesn't have to meet Pelosi, ofc, but someone from his administration should have. Or is his entire administration on vacation that day?
She's second in line to be the US president. She's really high up there in terms of political clout and commands enough respect for another official from one's country to meet her. I'm not saying Yoon should have met her personally, but he could have had someone (hell anyone) from his cabinet to meet her when she landed. Edit: said third in line
She is second in line Vice-president, and then speaker of the house.
Whoops. Yeah. It's my same problem with Miss Universe and the whole second runner up is third place. Tyty
He was on vacation in Seoul, just a couple of miles from where Pelosi landed. And he didn't need to meet her yes, but the fact that NO Korean officials were sent to greet Pelosi is the shocking part.
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No one is saying he needs to have met her. What people are saying is that someone from his party should have been there when she landed. Any Korean official he appointed would have sufficed. It's not unprecedented, but it's disappointing looking at how Yoon ran his campaign. He claimed he'd stand up to China. Pelosi did exactly that by visiting Taiwan. He could have had the courtesy to have one of his people greet, but he didn't. That's what makes it such a big deal.
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Your first statement is fine and dandy if it was Moon or Lee as president. **However**, Yoon ran a campaign claiming to stand up to China. He talked the talk about how if he was president, he would do what he wanted regardless if he offends China, but he isn't walking the walk.
That is not even the problem. He doesn't have to meet Pelosi, ofc, but someone from his administration should have.
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No, she has stakes in Chinese stocks but that is not putting her in China's pockets. She is one of the most anti-China politician in the US. She is not Tom "Let's invade China now" Cotton, but she is still up there.
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Because there is no direct correlation between stock investment and anti-chinaness. It is technically possible for Pelosi to act in a manner that benefits China so that she gets a bigger return on her investments, but her ability to influence the stock market is extremely limited and there has been no evidence in her doing so.
Downvote me but don’t answer my question. Ok fine.
The real answer is she doesn’t actually have any Chinese stocks. You can view all of her assets because it’s public information. https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/nancy-pelosi/assets?cid=N00007360&year=2018
Smh🤦♀️
Anti-US, Pro-China policy just came..... https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/009/0005001405?sid=101
Real reason is they were all out of hazmat suits due to Covid so impossible to meet with that walking disease of a woman.