I didn’t even realize this website was still active for people to report every Sea of Japan labeling they see in foreign media:

This week, a decade-old government hotline built to correct the world’s mistakes about Korea marks a milestone: roughly 20,000 error reports logged and answered since it opened.

The service, called Facts: Korea, launched Sept. 1, 2016, under a prime ministerial directive, initially run by the ministry’s now-defunct Korean Culture and Information Service before the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism took it over directly in 2024. Anyone — Korean or foreign — can flag an error about the country through the website factsaboutkorea.go.kr or via the mobile app in Korean or 10 other languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Vietnamese, Arabic and Indonesian.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

According to the article at least they are not spending all the increased tax revenue money, but doesn’t say how much:

South Korea will raise government spending by 12.8 percent to a record 820.9 trillion won ($599.5 billion) in 2027, the fastest increase on record, as surging tax revenue gives Seoul room to expand investment in artificial intelligence, strategic industries and social programs.

Under the government’s medium-term fiscal plan, annual spending is projected to surpass 1,000 trillion won for the first time in 2030, reaching 1,005.2 trillion won, while national debt rises to 1,734.1 trillion won. The debt-to-GDP ratio, however, is expected to remain below 50 percent at 49 percent.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

I guess John Bolton hasn’t started his jail sentence yet because he is still out publishing articles attacking Trump:

 Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton on Tuesday raised the possibility of President Donald Trump meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang for a new summit, while noting the “very high” risk of renewed summitry between them.

Bolton, who served as a top security aide to Trump from 2018-2019, made the remarks during an online forum as Trump has expressed his intention to meet Kim later this year. Trump held three meetings with Kim during his first term: the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.

“I think Trump would look at Pyongyang because … he’s had the first meeting with the North Korean leader (in Singapore). So doing it again breaks no new ground. It’s not a big PR stunt,” he said during the forum hosted by the Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS).

“He’s been to the DMZ and walked in North Korea, so he can’t do that again. So what else is there really except to go to Pyongyang?” he added, referring to the Panmunjom meeting inside the Demilitarized Zone where the two leaders briefly crossed the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas.

Bolton assessed that Trump seeks a meeting with Kim as he wants “pictures” and “distraction” from challenging issues at home and abroad.

“(Trump) wants something other than worrying about the war in the Middle East or prices in the United States, or the November election,” he said, referring to the U.S. midterm elections where control of Congress is at stake.

Trump is also looking for the “biggest welcome any North Korean leader has given a foreign leader,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Trump is going to have a long memory if President Lee looks for any favors from the U.S.:

U.S. President Donald Trump has once again singled out South Korea for not helping with his war on Iran, reiterating criticism he has voiced several times in recent months.

“We got very little help from other countries,” Trump said in a primetime interview with Fox News that aired Sunday, as he complained that the United States spends billions of dollars helping other countries without receiving enough support in return.

Trump then pointed specifically to South Korea.

“We helped them, but when it came to helping us, I didn’t put on a heavy sell, but I just said, ‘Would you like to participate?’ and they all said, ‘No, thank you,’” he said. “And I said, ‘I’m going to remember that to myself.’”

Trump went on to suggest the United States should reconsider spending money to help countries unwilling to reciprocate.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like serious talks to organize a summit are happening behind closed doors right now:

South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be held at any time, citing possible signs of dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) made the assessment during a closed-door briefing to the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, according to Rep. Youn Kun-young of the ruling Democratic Party and Rep. Yoo Yeong-ha of the main opposition People Power Party.

“Regarding a North Korea-U.S. summit, we should consider it possible at any time,” the NIS was quoted as saying. “No concrete facts of dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. have been confirmed, but there are signs of dialogue.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

With so many people turning up missing you would think this guy would have become motivated to do his job. Hopefully he ends up spending time in jail for this to send a message to other lazy policemen:

A police officer, center, who was detained on charges including dereliction of duty and forging public electronic records, is transferred to the prosecution at Jeju Dongbu Police Station in Jeju City, Tuesday. Yonhap

The Jeju Provincial Police said Tuesday that an officer who prematurely closed multiple missing person cases on the island admitted to closing them to avoid the extra workload involved in keeping the cases open.

The controversy erupted after it emerged that the officer had closed the missing person case of Jang Mi-ran, a 37-year-old woman missing for months, without confirming her whereabouts. Last week, police said they had removed all four officers in the chain of command at Jeju Seobu Police Station from their duties, pending an investigation.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.