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Mar 12 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Several days ago, Lieutenant Ken Rhee (이근 대위) - a South Korean Navy reservist, CEO of a private security consulting group, and YouTuber - announced that he and his team have left for Ukraine. By doing so, he violated South Korea's Passport Act. ImageImageImageImage
South Korea's Passport Act states: Any person who visits or stays in a country or region publicly notified as a country or region where visits or sojourn is prohibited shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding ₩10 million.
The Ukrainian government announced the formation of a legion of foreign fighters who are willing to volunteer to help defend Ukraine from Russian aggression. Since then, thousands of people have signed up. Lieutenant Ken Rhee is one of them.

time.com/6155670/foreig…
For his troubles, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has formally pressed charges against Lieutenant Ken Rhee for violating the Passport Act. Not only has his passport been invalidated, but he will also face arrest when he returns to South Korea.

yna.co.kr/view/MYH202203…
I want to say that I know nothing about Lieutenant Ken Rhee. I've only seen a couple of his YouTube videos, and I'm not sure how serious he is. I have no opinion about him whatsoever. But I believe it's wrong for the South Korean government to prosecute him.
Why should an individual - especially one who has already completed his obligation to serve in the military - be prevented from volunteering to fight for another country? He's not fighting under the South Korean flag. His participation doesn't represent the government's position.
George Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War for the POUM militia of the Republican Army. I don't recall ever reading about Orwell being prosecuted by the British government for that.

wsj.com/articles/homag…
Furthermore, Lieutenant Ken Rhee isn't fighting for a rebel army or a terrorist organization. He's fighting for Ukraine - a legitimate and sovereign nation state - which is defending itself from a Russian military onslaught that has indiscriminately targeted scores of civilians.
As an individual citizen acting on his own accord, the South Korean government doesn't owe him anything. No medals or honors or commendations await him when he returns. Nor should he be rewarded. But he doesn't deserve to be prosecuted either.
Not for the first or the last time, I find the South Korean government's actions shameful.

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John Lee Profile picture
Mar 15
Lieutenant Ken Rhee is still alive. He posted on his Instagram page a message before deleting it. His deleted message said:

1) I'm alive.
2) My men have safely withdrawn from Ukraine.
3) I'm by myself. There's a lot of work to do.

news.jtbc.joins.com/html/932/NB120…
4) Stop spreading fake news.
5) There will be no further updates until my mission is complete.
6) Don't contact me. I'm busy fighting.

Message will be deleted shortly.

Regarding fake news, there were rumors that Rhee had died.
In another post, Rhee continued:

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Police Agency, fellow citizens, thank you for thinking of me. However, I cannot return to South Korea now. The situation on the ground is grim. If every fighter withdraws, there will be nothing left here.
Read 8 tweets
John Lee Profile picture
Mar 15
I don't see any reason why President Moon Jae-in would pardon former President Lee Myung-bak. Pardoning former President Park Geun-hye was one thing. There were apparently health issues she was suffering from. Lee appears to be healthy.
Why would Moon pardon Lee and sully his reputation even further? Instead, he could just let the task of pardoning Lee fall onto President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol. That way, Moon would be able to put a stumbling block on Yoon's way right out of the gate. A final "fuck you."
The only way Moon would seriously consider pardoning Lee is, in my opinion, the result of some kind of backroom quid pro quo.

"If I pardon him, what would be in it for me?"
Read 4 tweets
John Lee Profile picture
Mar 14
When asked about the possibility of being chosen to become the prime minister, Ahn Cheol-soo said, "I don't have time to be distracted with other things now."

Ahn is currently in charge of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's transition team.
Ahn also that they are not looking at the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Ahn says that they are looking at many directions they can go and will choose the best course of action.

yna.co.kr/view/AKR202203…
This might be a repeat of 2008 after all when then President Lee Myung-bak also chose not to abolish the ministry but merely reduced its role via a reorganization of his cabinet and administration.
Read 6 tweets
John Lee Profile picture
Mar 13
President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol: "I think the Ministry of Gender Equality and Freedom has fulfilled its historical job."

In the Twitter space that I co-hosted with @AsiaAnalyst47 earlier today, I said that I doubted that he'd actually be able to abolish the ministry.
I said that I doubted he would do so because (1) the Minjoo Party still a majority in the National Assembly, and he'd have to deal with them, (2) a lot of women from their 20s to 50s overwhelmingly supported Lee Jae-myeong, and conservatives need to court female voters, and
(3) Former President Lee Myung-bak also considered shutting down the ministry in 2008, but he didn't end up doing so because it was politically costly. Instead, he reduced the role of the ministry.

I said that Yoon might follow in Lee Myung-bak's footsteps.
Read 4 tweets
John Lee Profile picture
Mar 10
Some people might be hoping that now that Yoon Seok-yeol will assume South Korea's presidency in May, South Korea and Japan might be able to take steps to improve relations. I am here to tell you not to hold your breaths because, you know, it takes two to tango.
Yes, a lot of South Koreans don't have a lot of love for Japan. But it's also true that a lot of Japanese don't have a lot of love for South Korea, too. But the Japanese sentiment toward South Korea is more tinged with apathy than resentment.
Combined with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's cabinet that is full of hardliners, Japanese apathy toward South Korea means that Kishida has no incentive whatsoever to make any concessions to South Korea regarding comfort women, historical issues, etc.
Read 14 tweets
John Lee Profile picture
Mar 10
Yoon just said that he would strengthen relations with the US. He said the door to talks with North Korea will always be open. He also said that he'd improve relations with Japan.

Well, at least one out of three is definitely achievable.
Yoon: To cooperate with the opposition (Minjoo) party, we need to make sure that every region and province develop together. I trust that we will cooperate as we are all working to serve the people.

That doesn't really answer the question about how he'd work with Minjoo Party.
Yoon: I promise that I will have many press conferences to answer questions from the news media.

We shall see.
Read 10 tweets

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