Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.
N. Korea FM in Moscow
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 19, 2026, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency on July 21. (Yonhap)
This is just a bizarre story. Apparently the diners knew they were eating ants, but the ants being served were not authorized to be sold in South Korea. Seems like a dumb reason to send a guy to possibly send a guy to jail over:
Prosecutors on Monday sought a one-year prison term for the owner of a two-Michelin-starred restaurant accused of serving ants that are not approved for use as food ingredients in South Korea.
The owner, whose identity has been withheld, is accused of violating the Food Sanitation Act. Prosecutors also sought a fine of 20 million won ($13,525) for the restaurant’s operating company.
The owner and the company were indicted for allegedly importing dried ant products from the US and Thailand and using them as garnishes on dishes served at the restaurant for about four years beginning in 2021.
You can read more at the link.
I would hope there would be some kind of paper trail to import a crocodile into South Korea. Fortunately the crocodile was spotted before winter came which would have assuredly killed the reptile:
Police in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, have launched an investigation into how a critically endangered Siamese crocodile ended up in a local stream and who previously owned it.
Yeoju Police Station is reviewing surveillance camera footage from around Soyang Stream, where the reptile was captured Saturday, and interviewing nearby residents. Investigators are also checking whether anyone in the area previously registered a Siamese crocodile or a similar wild animal.
You can read more at the link.
Here is the latest twist in the Trump administration’s tariff war:
This file photo, released by Reuters, shows U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer arriving for U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 24, 2026.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday announced its final decision to impose up to 12.5 percent tariffs on South Korea, Japan and other trading partners over forced labor concerns.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) unveiled the new tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 12.5 percent on dozens of countries after conducting investigations into 60 economies under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act to determine whether they had taken sufficient steps to ban imports made with forced labor.
The announcement came as the administration’s temporary 10-percent global tariffs were set to expire on Friday. The across-the-board duties were rolled out after the Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s country-specific “reciprocal tariffs” in February.
You can read more at the link, but apparently this forced labor angle is a way to get around the ban the Supreme Court issued on the Trump administration’s sweeping global tariffs earlier this year.
If you are an American who has been dreaming of planning a holiday to North Korea, you will have to wait at least another year:
The United States will extend its ban on its citizens’ travel to North Korea for another year, a State Department notice showed Tuesday, citing “serious” risks associated with travel to the reclusive state.
The department posted the notice on the Federal Register on Monday, announcing the decision on the extension, which will make the restriction valid from Sept. 1 this year to Aug. 31 next year, as the current measure is set to expire on Aug. 31.
Under the measure, all U.S. passports are to be declared invalid for travel to, in or through the North unless specially validated for such travel.
You can read more at the link.
N. Korea-China-Russia children’s camp
North Korean, Chinese and Russian children take part in a ceremony at the Songdowon International Children’s Camp in the North’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan on July 19, 2026, to mark their entry into the camp as part of deepening their friendship, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Fortunately firefighters were able to get the Coupang warehouse fire under control before it spread to the floor with the lithium ion batteries:
A massive fire at a Coupang logistics center in Incheon was brought under control at around 8 p.m. Monday, about 61 hours after it broke out Saturday morning.
Incheon Fire Headquarters said the blaze at Coupang’s No. 32 logistics center in Seoknam-dong, Seohae-gu, had been contained. The fire began at 6:54 a.m. Saturday on the sixth floor of the eight-story facility, which has a total floor area of about 299,000 square meters, before spreading to the seventh floor.
You can read more at the link.
