Day: June 28, 2024

SEOUL: A memoir by former National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo has sparked political debate with the claim that President Yoon Suk Yeol speculated the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush may have been manipulated.

In his memoir revealed Thursday, Kim recounted his private conversation with Yoon during a breakfast prayer meeting, held a week after 159 people were killed in a crowd crush during Halloween festivities in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood on Oct. 29, 2022.

During their meeting, Kim advised Yoon that Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min needs to voluntarily step down to take responsibility over the deadly incident and prevent a political deadlock that could delay the passage of the 2023 budget bill.

At the time, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) had proposed an impeachment bill against Lee over the government’s mishandling of the incident.

In response, Yoon said he had not decided regarding Lee due to “strong suspicions” about the incident, saying he could not “rule out the possibility that it mi
ght have been induced and manipulated by certain forces.”

If this were the case, Yoon said it would be unfair to make Lee step down, according to Kim.

The presidential office flatly denied Kim’s claims, criticizing the former DP lawmaker who served as parliamentary speaker from July 2022 to May 2024.

“It is deplorable that a former National Assembly speaker would distort a private conversation with the president and reveal it to the public,” the presidential office said in a release Thursday.

The office did not go into details of the memoir, instead emphasizing Yoon had ordered related agencies to thoroughly investigate all allegations and had approved a special law to support the victims of the Itaewon tragedy.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) slammed the opposition for politicizing disasters.

“It is truly deplorable that the former National Assembly speaker from the DP is behaving in this manner,” PPP spokesperson Park Jun-tae said. “We urge (Kim) to immediately withdraw the baseless record and apo
logize.”

The memoir is not yet officially published.

In contrast, the DP called on Yoon to explain his remarks in Kim’s memoir.

“If the content of Kim’s memoir is true, it is very shocking,” DP floor leader Park Chan-dae said in a party leadership meeting on Friday. “The president himself should clarify his position.”

Bereaved families of the victims also urged Yoon to clarify his comment on the Itaewon tragedy.

“It is hard to believe that the president of a country made remarks at the level of conspiracy theories raised on YouTube,” an association of the Itaewon tragedy said in a statement.

“If that’s true, Yoon should apologize to the 159 victims, their bereaved families and survivors who are still living in pain,” it added.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

MANILA: Repatriation efforts for the 27 Filipino crew members of the M/V Transworld Navigator are underway, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Arnell Ignacio said Friday.

‘Sa direktiba ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., agad na kumilos ang DFA, DMW at OWWA upang mabilis ang pagpapabalik sa bansa ng 27 seafarers (Upon the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Migrant Workers and OWWA immediately took action to quickly repatriate the 27 seafarers),’ Ignacio said in a press statement.

The Liberian-flagged and Greek-owned and operated cargo carrier M/V Transworld Navigator was attacked by Houthi rebels on Sunday, using an uncrewed surface vessel, while traversing the Red Sea.

DMW Secretary Has Leo Cacdac said it was the fourth attack on a shipping vessel navigating the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with Filipino crew members. The others were M/V Galaxy Leader, M/V True Confidence and M/V Tutor.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels owned the attac
k on M/V Transworld Navigator, and on another ship, Stolt Sequoia, in the Indian Ocean using cruise missiles.

‘Sa kabutihang palad, ligtas ang lahat ang 31 crew nito, kabilang ang 27 Pilipinong seaman (Fortunately, its 31 crew, including 27 Filipino crew members, are all safe),’ OWWA said, adding they were in constant communication with the families of the 27 seafarers.

Source: Philippines News Agency

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Senior diplomats of South Korea and Japan reaffirmed Friday their commitment to closely working together to deter North Korean threats amid the growing military cooperation between Russia and the North, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano reached the understanding during a bilateral strategic diplomatic dialogue in Tokyo, the ministry said.

They voiced “grave concerns” over Moscow and Pyongyang pledging mutual military assistance in a new treaty signed between their leaders at talks in Pyongyang last week.

“The two ministers shared the need for close coordination between South Korea and Japan, as well as trilaterally with the United States and together with the international community, to work to deter North Korean threats amid the serious security situation posed by the North’s deepening military cooperation with Russia,” the ministry said.

They also discussed bilateral issues, including Japa
n’s push to inscribe its Sado gold and silver mine complex on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

South Korea has expressed concern over Tokyo’s reluctance to reveal the mine’s history as once being the site where thousands of Koreans were forcibly mobilized to toil during World War II, and called for Japan to reflect the “full history” of the mine.

“The ministers agreed to make efforts to continue the momentum for the development of their bilateral relations,” the ministry said in relation to the Sado mine, without elaborating.

The ministers also discussed efforts to further improve ties as next year will mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations.

Following the talks, Kim paid a courtesy call on Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

MANILA: The local index and currency continued to strengthen on the week’s last day of trading, following the central bank’s statement that inflation is expected to ease by second half of the year.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) on Friday rallied for the fifth day, closing at 6,411.911, up by 0.33 percent, while All Shares also increased by 0.26 percent to 3,486.66.

‘(I)nvestors cheered the BSP’s (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) signal of a possible rate cut by their August meeting, as well as its downward revision of the inflation forecast for this year and next year to 3.1 percent, within the government’s target of 2 to 4 percent,’ Philstock Financials, Inc. research associate Claire Alviar said.

‘The market returned above the 6,400 level, with a strong net market value turnover at PHP5.92 billion, higher than the PHP4.4 billion average this month,’ she added.

Among indices, Mining and Oil and Financials recorded losses at 0.86 and 0.51 percent, respectively.

The biggest winner for the day was
Holding Firms index, with shares up by 0.93 percent; followed by Property (+0.50 percent); Services (+0.49 percent); and Industrial (+0.10 percent).

Advancers led decliners at 109 to 85, leaving 52 unchanged.

Meanwhile, the peso closed the week strong gaining 0.14 to close at 58.61 to the US dollar from last day’s 58.75 finish.

The local currency started the day strong at 58.70 from Thursday’s kick off at 58.88 to a dollar.

The exchange rate ranged between 58.58 and 58.72, with an average rate of 58.66 to the greenback.

The volume of trade decreased by USD39 million to USD1.166 billion from USD1.205 billion.

Source: Philippines News Agency

SEOUL: Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming is expected to leave his post after more than four years on the job as Beijing has decided to replace him, according to diplomatic sources Friday.

The Chinese government reportedly instructed him to return home and Xing is expected to depart this weekend or early next week, the sources familiar with the matter said.

Xing took office as the top Chinese envoy to Seoul in January 2020. Xing is known for his extensive knowledge and experience in Korea-related affairs, including his fluency in Korean.

But he has made little public appearance since his conversation last year with South Korea’s main opposition party leader drew heated criticism in South Korea.

In the meeting with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, Xing warned that South Korea will “definitely regret it” if it “bets on China’s loss” in the strategic rivalry with the United States.

Xing has since reportedly been experiencing difficulties meeting with government officials in South K
orea.

Some observers say that Xing’s expected departure indicates Beijing’s effort to improve ties with Seoul amid signs of the two sides trying to better manage their bilateral relations amid North Korea’s close alignment with Russia.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

MANILA: Foreign portfolio investments registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) through authorized banks recorded net inflows of USD43 million in May this year.

BSP data released on Friday showed that the net inflows during the month resulted from the USD1.1 billion gross inflows and the USD1.0 billion gross outflows for the month.

The net inflow in May was also a reversal from the USD312 million net outflows posted in April 2024.

Foreign portfolio investments are also called hot money due to the speed with which they come in and out of the economy.

The BSP said the USD1.1 billion registered investments for the month rose by 15.2 percent from the USD914 million recorded in April 2024.

During the month, 65.0 percent of registered investments were in Philippine Stock Exchange-listed securities, most of which were investments made in banks, holding firms, property, transportation services and mining.

The 35.0 percent were in peso government securities while the remaining less than one percent w
ere in other instruments.

Investments for the month mostly came from the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Luxembourg and Norway.

Gross outflows, meanwhile, declined by 17.6 percent compared to the USD1.2 billion outflows in April.

For the first five months of the year, hot money yielded net inflows of USD108 million, a turnaround from the USD805 million net outflows noted for the same period in the previous year.

Source: Philippines News Agency