Headlines, December 26, 2019

Filibuster Ends, Electoral Reform Bill to be Put to Vote
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party's(LKP) filibuster aimed at blocking an electoral reform bill ended at midnight Wednesday as the extraordinary parliamentary session ended. The speech marathon wrapped up about 50 hours after LKP lawmaker Joo Ho-young began the filibuster on Monday night to block the passage of the ruling Democratic Party(DP)-led election law revision.

Xi 'Almost Certain' to Visit S. Korea in First Half of Next Year
A presidential official said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is "almost certain" to visit South Korea in the first half of next year. The official made the revelation to reporters on Wednesday, but added that final coordination is necessary on specific timing and other issues.

Moon Stresses No Intervention in Court Rulings on Wartime Labor
President Moon Jae-in reportedly stressed during this week's summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Seoul cannot intervene in court rulings on Japan's wartime forced labor. A top office official told reporters on Wednesday that Moon clearly and strongly explained his government's stance that it cannot meddle in Supreme Court rulings on the matter.

Why Moon needs to closely look at Chengdu's innovation
This southwestern city about four hours from Seoul by plane may not be the best-known Chinese city to Koreans. But President Moon Jae-in's visit here this week is sparking interest in the exciting capital of Sichuan Province that has quickly emerged as China's new tech hub. Many IT giants, such as IBM, Intel, Alibaba and Siemens, have flocked to Chengdu, home to almost 300 Fortune Global 500 companies. They're attracted to the city's young, skilled workforce and strong local government support, according to experts.

Moon to tackle THAAD retaliation, export curbs
President Moon Jae-in is expected to push harder for resolving pending diplomatic issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula including China's protests over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Japan's export controls, amid the three countries' efforts to take united action toward denuclearization and peace in the region. "We have agreed to work together for an early resumption of the U.S.-North Korea dialogue in order to achieve substantial progress on denuclearization and peace," Moon noted during a joint press conference after a trilateral summit in the southwestern Chinese city, Tuesday.

US says it stands ready amid threat of North Korea's 'Christmas gift'
The United States and its allies stand ready to defend themselves even on Christmas day, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday, as officials remained on alert for a threatened "Christmas gift" from North Korea. The "gift" was widely expected to be an intercontinental ballistic missile launch after Pyongyang twice conducted apparent rocket engine tests at its western satellite launch site earlier this month.

Moon and Abe have rekindled dialogue, but challenges remain
The summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Dec. 24 didn’t culminate in a specific agreement about rescinding Japan’s export controls. Even so, the two leaders agreed on the need to sustain the spark of dialogue, which hasn’t been easy to resume. For the time being, the two countries are expected to focus on discussing ways to resolve pending issues, including the victims of forced labor during Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea and Japan’s export controls on South Korea, but numerous challenges are still on the horizon.

Moon and Abe open path to “dialogue-based resolution” on export control, forced labor issues
South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for a swift rollback of the Japanese government’s export controls to their levels before July 1 in a Dec. 24 summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In his response, Abe proposed “resolving the matter through dialogue between export authorities.” While the two leaders continued to show difference on the matter of survivors of forced labor mobilization, they agreed in principle on “dialogue-based resolution.”

Busan resumes administrative exchange with Japan after 6-month hiatus
The city of Busan, which had been the first metropolitan or provincial government in South Korea to fully cut off administrative exchange with Japan to protest its economic retaliation, has resumed administrative exchange after a six-month hiatus. Hopes that this will trigger a thaw in chilly South Korea-Japan relations clash with concerns that the move is premature.

President Moon and President Xi “We Need to Keep the Momentum Going for Talks Between N.K. and U.S.”
On December 23, President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that “It is important to keep the momentum alive for dialogue between North Korea and the United States” in connection to heightening tensions between the two countries at a South Korea-China summit in Beijing. The two leaders also discussed the resolution to ease sanctions on North Korea, which China and Russia submitted to the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

South Korea’s First Defeat in an Investor-State Dispute Settlement: The Threat of Lawsuits by Foreign Companies Become a Reality
The threat of the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which was cited as a typical “toxic provision” in the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, has become a reality. A ruling was finalized in an investor-state dispute settlement that called for the South Korean government to pay the Iranian Dayyani family 73 billion won. This was the first defeat in an ISDS, and it can work to the government’s disadvantage in other pending settlements, so voices from within the nation are calling for the need of a government-wide strategy.