Gold price soarsThis photo shows gold bars at the Korea Gold Exchange in Seoul on Jan. 6, 2020. Spot gold rose 2.3. percent to US$1,588.13 per ounce as of 8 a.m. on the day amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. (Yonhap)
A ship that sunk off of Ulleungdo in 1905 that had previously fought in the Russo-Japanese has been discovered by Korean treasure hunters:
The wreckage of the ship. / Courtesy of Shinil Group
A Russian battleship that sank 113 years ago in waters off South Korea’s Ulleung Island ― allegedly carrying tons of gold coins and bars ― has been located.
The rusty hull of the Dmitri Donskoii was found on the seabed a kilometer from the island’s Jeodong-ri and 434 meters underwater, said Shinil Group, a South Korean company which has endeavored to find the ship for years.
“We found the body of the Dmitrii Donskoi 434 meters deep in seas 1.3 kilometers off Ulleung Island at around 9:50 a.m., Sunday,” Shinil Group said.
The vessel’s shape and details were “confirmed to be identical with the Dmitri Donskoii,” the company said. It inspected the wreckage with two manned submarines on Saturday. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but the ship was rumored to be filled with gold worth $133 billion today. The treasure hunters are in the process of trying to lift the ship to look for the gold. If a billions in gold is discovered, I think it may pose an interesting legal challenge from the Russians because it is technically their property.
I think everyone should be highly skeptical of the claims made by these two men:
Kim Ilsun and Jeong Choong-Je broadcast on TePyung TV youtube channel on June 1st, with Mr. Jeong holding his book Operation Golden Lily.
On June 1, 2018, Professor Kim Ilsun and Mr. Jeong Choong-je were featured in a live video broadcast about Operation Golden Lily on the TePyung TV YouTube channel. During that broadcast, Mr. Jeong, a nonfiction writer, talked about how there were hundreds of tons of gold ingots buried in the Moonhyun-dong neighborhood of Busan, South Korea. This gold, which was hidden there in 1945 by the Japanese empire, was found on March 2, 2002 by Mr. Jeong. However, Mr. Jeong was then robbed and falsely accused and imprisoned by a group of people who colluded with former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun and current occupier of the Blue House Moon Jae-in. [Tepyung.com]
You can read more at the link, but Professor Kim and Mr. Jeong is claiming that threats are being made against them in response to his book to try and silence him. The below Youtube video from their lawyer Eugene Kim lays out their claims:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsP8_wAJ4E4
I am highly skeptical of what these two men and their lawyer is claiming without evidence. For example where in the Moonhyun-dong neighborhood is this tunnel? Why haven’t third party experts been allowed to examine it? Did anyone take pictures of the so called gold when it was found? In 2002 smartphones had not been invented yet, but you would think people would have taken pictures of the gold. Finally what evidence do they have that Moon Jae-in was even involved if the heist did happen?
When people like this make such sensational claims without hard evidence this actually helps the Korean left make the Korean right look like a bunch crazies and that is what this group looks like right now.
Here is another case of people being caught smuggling gold into South Korea in their underwear:
The gold bars and the underwear two Vietnamese flight attendants working for Asiana Airlines attempted to smuggle into the country. /Courtesy of the Korea Customs Service
Two Vietnamese flight attendants working for Asiana Airlines, Korea’s second largest carrier, have been detained after trying to smuggle 19 kilograms of gold into the country, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Thursday.
According to the KCS Incheon office, the attendants were concealing 1-kilogram-gold bars ― 10 on one and nine on the other ― in their underwear when they arrived at Incheon International Airport on June 5 from Vietnam.
The KCS said this was not their first smuggling attempt, saying it has confirmed that the two succeeded in smuggling 13 kilograms of gold into Korea on three occasions in April.
They will face charges of attempting to smuggle 32 kilograms of gold, worth about 1.5 billion won ($1.33 million), into the country. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if the flight attendants were dressed like this?
Seen here are mini gold bars for sale at the Gold Exchange in downtown Seoul on April 17, 2017. Gold demand has sharply increased this month as it is deemed a “safe asset” amid widely circulated rumors on “an April Korean Peninsula crisis” accruing from North Korea’s military provocations. According to the exchange, about 400 bars are sold a day currently, compared to some 100 a day in previous months. (Yonhap)
Via a reader, this story just makes you wonder who the North Koreans are smuggling gold for or is gold some how being used to get around financial sanctions? That is the biggest questions that need to be looked at with this story:
Bangladeshi customs officers caught a North Korean diplomat trying to smuggle an estimated $1.4 million worth of gold into the country, a senior official said on Friday.
“We recovered the gold both in the form of bars and ornaments from Son Young Nam, the First Secretary of the North Korean Embassy in Dhaka,” said Moinul Khan, Director General of the Custom Intelligence department, adding the gold weighed about 27 kg (60 pounds) in total.
The diplomat was released after his confessional statement, but Bangladesh is seeking to press charges.
“What he did is beyond diplomatic norms,” Khan told Reuters, adding that a visitor can legally bring up to $1,282 worth of gold into Bangladesh.
Khan said the diplomat had passed through the green channel at Dhaka international airport on a late arriving Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore. Customs officials then asked to scan his hand luggage.
“He told our officials there was nothing to scan,” said Najibur Rahman, chairman of the National Board of Revenue.
“Later we informed our foreign ministry and he was released on Friday under the Vienna Convention,” Najibur told Reuters.
A case has been filed against him with the customs department, Khan said. “We have also initiated the process to file a criminal case against him.” [Huffington Post]
