Here is a long, but interesting article that shows how China groomed a federal reserve economist to spy for them:

How Chinese spies used lies, romance and betrayal to target the Federal Reserve

John Harold Rogers was walking Prada, his tiny spaniel, past a school bus stop in his suburban Washington neighborhood when FBI agents surrounded him. They handcuffed the former senior Federal Reserve official and took him into custody to face charges of spying for China. 

An agent took Prada’s leash, and investigators from multiple federal agencies began an intensive search of Rogers’ house.

The now 65-year-old economist was arrested in January 2025, days before he was set to travel to China with his wife, a Chinese national, and their 6-year-old daughter. Investigators believed that Rogers passed information about the Fed to a Chinese government spy, who, over more than a decade, helped him with his career, his finances and his marriage to a woman 24 years his junior.

CNBC

You can read more at the link, but I find it hard to believe this guy did not know he was interacting with spies.

I listened to SecWar Hegseth’s speech today and it was actually pretty good. However, what caught my attention was his announcement that state governors can compete to host a new military base that will be home to 15,000 to 25,000 soldiers:

Hegseth invited governors to bidfor their state to be the home of the “next great American” base.

“We’re calling on every governor in the country and adjutant general, every tag across this great republic, to step up to the plate and bring us their best sales pitch,” the Defense secretary said.

“If your state wants the honor of hosting 15,000 to 25,000 of America’s great troops, show us why and how you’re going to do it, cutting through the red tape, offering up the land and rolling out the red carpet for our military families,” he said during the speech. 

Naval Station Everett in Washington state was the most recent base built inside the U.S., opening in the 1990s. The base is home to several guided-missile destroyers and Coast Guard ships.

Hegseth said the new base will not be a “soulless government installation,” arguing the Pentagon will “plan out and chart out a dynamic, self-sustaining power projection platform.” 

The Hill

You can read more at the link, but both the media and Hegseth are wrong about the newest base opened in the U.S., it was not Naval Station Everett. The newest base to open in the U.S. is Camp Blaz on Guam. The camp officially opened in 2023.

Besides people apparently not knowing Guam is part of the United States, what I found interesting about this announcement is what was not said which is where are these up to 25,000 troops coming from? They are not going to move from a base in the U.S. because that would force its closure which means they have to come from troops stationed overseas.

That means the main possibility to withdraw troops from overseas would be from Germany, Korea, or Japan. Fortunately for Korea the recent investment deal in the U.S. and the fact the ROK government built the new Camp Humphreys, makes it unlikely to be the place chosen for troop reductions.

Japan has few Army units and PM Takaichi has a great relationship with Trump. This leaves Germany as the likely target for future force reductions. For those looking for a future Europe assignment it is best get one in soon because in a few years there may be far fewer opportunities to get one.

Here is the ROK JCS and UNC’s response to the DMZ landmine explosion that seriously wounded two ROK Soldiers last week:

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the DMZ blast caused by mines planted by the North constitutes a breach of the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, and called on Pyongyang to immediately stop its border fortification work.

“This constitutes a blatant violation of the Armistice Agreement and undermines the spirit of existing inter-Korean agreements and must be halted immediately,” Lt. Gen. Kang Hyun-woo, chief director of operations at the JCS, said in a press briefing.

“We strongly demand an apology and responsible measures from the North,” Kang said. “We make it explicitly clear that North Korea bears full responsibility for any future consequences that may arise.” 

Kang also urged Pyongyang to “immediately cease” its border-hardening activities that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ROK will never get an apology from North Korea. From what I am reading it appears these landmines were not old ones which causes the obvious question of why were they placed now? Were they possibly in response to the Key Resolve exercise held in August? Or maybe it was just an overzealous local commander looking to make a name for himself by injuring ROK troops? Anyone have any other theories?

This should not be surprising to anyone. I would be more surprised if they didn’t have their own prison at their Beijing embassy to hold defectors in:

North Korea allegedly runs a secret detention facility in its embassy in China to interrogate and repatriate its nationals deemed threats to the regime, a report said Tuesday.

The claim was made in a report titled “North Korea’s Transnational Repression: China” released Tuesday by the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a Seoul-based human rights group.

Based on interviews with multiple sources, including a former North Korean diplomat, the report claimed North Korea operates the facility in the basement of its embassy in Beijing, where surveillance, pursuit and arrest, detention and interrogation, and forced repatriation take place.

The secret operation is overseen by a “security representative” who holds a consular post but is reportedly a North Korean intelligence agency officer on a temporary assignment. Cases are reported to Pyongyang within 12-24 hours, according to the report.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Just like all good leftists the Kim regime is good at lying and blaming their foes for the things they do themselves:

North Korea on Wednesday denied South Korea’s announcement that a North Korean mine likely caused a recent blast inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), accusing Seoul of fabricating the findings and warning of “immediate and merciless” retaliation if its troops are fired upon.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued the warning in a statement after the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Monday that North Korean land mines were “highly likely” to have caused the explosion on Sept. 21 that left three South Korean soldiers injured.

“What should not be overlooked is the fact that the armed gangsters of the ROK are now cooking up the groundless results and ‘justifying their conduct’ for political and military provocation against the DPRK, openly talking about ‘reasonable and corresponding enforcement of measures,'” Kim said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This must be pretty surreal for these Korean War to see what South Korea has become today decades after the Korean War:

Seventy-three years after fighting in a devastated South Korea, Marine veteran Patrick Finn returned this month to a country he could hardly have imagined while exhausted, dirty and frightened on the battlefield. Finn, of Minneapolis, served as a corporal with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines during the 1950-53 Korean War. “I couldn’t put a lot of things together until later,” he told Stars and Stripes in a Sept. 18 interview at the Ambassador Seoul hotel. “We were exhausted. We were tired, dirty, and I was scared.”

Finn was among six American Korean War veterans who toured South Korea from Sept. 14 to 19, visiting U.S. military installations and taking part in events commemorating the alliance between the two countries. Three former commanders of U.S. Forces Korea — retired Army Gens. Robert Abrams, Paul LaCamera and Burwell Bell — also participated. The group visited Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys on Sept. 16 and 17. Humphreys is headquarters for USFK, United Nations Command and Combined Forces Command.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if I will ever be an old veteran like this and return to Iraq and think the same thing? Afghanistan I know there is no such chance of that place getting their act together. In Iraq I still think it is possible if they can get Iran to leave them alone.

This sounds like someone from the ROK military invited this person to give gender awareness training that was hijacked into something that went well beyond gender awareness:

It has been belatedly confirmed that the Army conducted training criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump for recruits entering a training center last month, while joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises were in full swing. 27th of last month. Lee Hae-kyung, Director of the Gender and Human Rights Education Center and a board member of the Seoul Northeast Women’s Association, stood at the podium. The problem is that Director Lee used controversial remarks by Spanish actor Javier Bardem as lecture material during the session. Attending the Cannes Film Festival last May, Javier Bardem had criticized President Trump, Russian President Putin, and Israeli President Netanyahu, citing “toxic masculinity” as the cause of war. Director Lee filled the chapter titled “Toxic Men Are the Cause of War” in his presentation materials with articles suggesting that the “toxic masculinity” of leaders was the cause of major wars recently occurring around the world.

According to educational materials submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to People Power Party Rep. Park Sung-hoon on the 23rd, lectures titled “The Power to Lead a Strong Military! A Barracks of Trust and Social Respect” were held for 1,600 trainees at the Army Training Center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, on the 20th and 27th of last month. 

Maeil Shinmun

You can read more at the link.