@Sima @Sima @Sima

Hope you are feeling better soon. First thing I had to do this am was check on the ongoing coup effort in South Korea. Were Alex Wong and Kim Tae-pyo really discussing military affairs yesterday when they met? I doubt it. You can't make this up.

South Korea's top court rules against presidential frontrunner, potentially upending election

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s Supreme Court overturned on Thursday an earlier ruling that had cleared election frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of violating election law, throwing into doubt his eligibility to run for the presidency.

Lee, the candidate of the liberal Democratic Party that controls parliament, leads opinion polls to win a snap presidential election set off by the ouster of conservative former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his imposition of martial law.

The election law violation case against Lee had been closely watched since a ruling that removes him from the ballot could further deepen divisions in society, after months of political turmoil that has hampered efforts to steer Asia’s fourth-largest economy through the choppy waters of U.S. tariffs.

In March, an appeals court had cleared Lee of violating the election law, but prosecutors had appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.

Never has the Supreme Court convened en banc and made a decision so quickly on an appeal. This basically gives the Lee's Democratic Party executive committee one day to consider what to do before it becomes too late to make ballot changes. Will the appellate court below that acquitted Lee in the appealed decision also make a decision to find Lee guilty at what is (in judicial terms) lighting speed to get rid of the people's choice for president and in effect completely overthrow the election process? The dictatorship of prosecutors in South Korea continues and the rolling coup d'etat and "attempted" overthrow of the republic continues. This below occurs at virtually the same time, it's obviously coordinated:

South Korea's acting leader Han resigns amid reports he will run for president

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s acting leader, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, said Thursday he is resigning to take on “heavier responsibility” amid expectation he will run in next month’s presidential election.

Han has emerged as a potential conservative standard bearer as the main conservative People Power Party remains in disarray over the recent ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Observers expect Han to officially launch his presidential campaign on Friday.

“I have two paths ahead of me. One is completing the heavy responsibility that I handle now. The other is putting down that responsibility and taking a heavier responsibility,” Han said in a nationally televised announcement. “I’ve finally determined to put down my post to do what I can and what I have to help overcome the crises facing us.”

What a crock of you know what. Kim Min-seok, A reliable source from the democratic emergency executive committee (formed after Lee JM left his official party leader post to run for president) the same source who predicted the Yoon martial law coup effort months before it occurred, says that Han and his staff violated election laws by surreptitiously preparing his election campaign while Han was still in office, as a civil servant.

김민석 민주당 최고위원은 "한덕수 대행이 직을 유지하고 있는 상태에서 국정원 출신으로 상황실을 구성해서 운영했다는 믿을 만한 정보를 가지고 있다"며 "누구인지도 때가 되면 밝히겠다"고 말했습니다. Kim Min-seok, the Democratic Party's supreme member, said, "I have credible information that a situation room was formed and run by someone from the National Intelligence Service while Acting Director Han Duck-soo was still in office," adding, "I will reveal who that is when the time comes." MBC News today.

According to these allegations, several members of Han's staff all civil servants resigned and began organizing his election campaign. This means Han, or someone acting in his behalf were recruiting election campaign staff and making efforts to set up the personnel assignments and campaign organization while all were still civil servants, a clear election law violation. The same source also reports that the entire effort was orchestrated on Han's behalf while he was still in office as prime minister and/or acting president, by "someone from the National Intelligence Service" whose identity will be publicly disclosed later.

I'll note that Lee's former perennial rival within the Democratic Party, Lee Nak-yeon, the former Prime Minister during the Moon Jae-in administration, is apparently a major supporter of a Han Deok-soo "independent" campaign for president. Lee Nak-yon was the leader of the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction inside the democratic party which consistently opposed every thing he tried to do until Lee Nak-yeon was forced out of the party. This was the so called anonymous voting, pro-Moon faction. In another item in the you can't make this up category: Moon Jae-in the former president of South Korea who raised Yoon's status by making him prosecutor-general in his administration (which he only recently said he regretted in a public statement) has been indicted on a sketchy bribery charge by the "dictatorship of political prosecutors" aka Yoon's clique.

I'm sure there will be more truth is stranger than fiction in this ongoing labyrinthine political plot.

Thanks for the OT today Sima. Love the flowers. It's so dry here, the Florida drought continues. I have to water the orchids and plants here and at the house every two days. I hope none of them die. Ms. So isn't going to like it.

(edit: executive committee not emergency committee, a PPP term; and minor typos.)

Hope the day is going well for everyone. I think I'm getting over the ... whatever it is ... I probably have another few days of healing. And sleeping constantly. Nikko is bored, but doing his best . Got the car back from the repair shop two days ago. It's running great.

Everyone, be well! Let us know what's up!

@QMS

...and when I got back found this Raphael Rashid X post: Total chaos

BREAKING: Choi Sang-mok resigns as finance minister just before parliament could vote to impeach him.

With Han Duck-soo also resigning as acting president at midnight, power passes to next-in-line Lee Ju-ho, education minister, who becomes acting president.

Total power chaos. https://t.co/61XQK228qq

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) May 1, 2025

His thread there follows all the astounding developments in the last 24 hours or so. Three acting presidents in 24 hours!

Thank you for the updates on east Asia politics.
Corruption and power plays are probably nothing new.
Having the US involved is not surprising. Full spectrum
dominance is a silly notion but seems to work on weaker
global players. Perhaps BRICS will change that?

Good luck with the orchids.
花木
旺

@on the cusp

be well and have a good one

So sorry you have "something" and feel awful. My grandpa, who made shit up, called all illnesses that hadn't been diagnosed "the epizudee." I may have it as well. My customary coughing, sinus and allergy induced, sounds and feels more like bronchitis this morning.
Today is my birthday. I am at my home office attending an online webinar on all things probate, so talking about dead people's affairs is really no way to forget that you are an even older fuck today than you were yesterday. It will continue for 7 hours. THEN, let the games begin!
So glad you could soldier on for us, chica! Thanks so much.