If a second Trump-Kim summit happens, it appears that Vietnam will be the location:
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could meet in Vietnam’s capital for their second summit on Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, the South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo said. (…..)
U.S. officials have met their North Korean counterparts in Hanoi for discussions to adjust scheduling for the talks, the newspaper said, citing high-level diplomatic sources in Seoul and Washington it did not identify. Government officials haven’t commented on the report.
Former ROK JCS Ops Chief, Army Lt.Gen, Shin Won-sik said "Moon Admin agreed with the NK's denuke of peninsula plan not the CVID of NK that SK can withdraw of USFK in favor of NK(DPRK) as soon as this summer." #CFC#JCS#USFK#DPRK#MOON#Trumphttps://t.co/WxEQSFfKGN
Marathoners run shirtless in freezing weatherShirtless participants begin “a naked marathon race” on a road on Mount Songni in Boeun, North Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 6, 2019, in freezing conditions. (Yonhap)
The left wing South Korean newspaper, the Hankyoreh, has an editorial published saying that to move the peace process forward we all just need to learn to live with a North Korea with nuclear weapons:
Back Ki-chul, editorial writer
During a seminar last year, an expert on the North Korean nuclear issue said the end point of denuclearization talks would be “a situation where a peace regime is so firmly in place that it wouldn’t even matter if North Korea were hiding a few nuclear weapons.” We might describe it as an approach of “killing the North Korean nuclear issue through a peace process.” Quite a few of the participants vehemently objected. “Are you suggesting we accept a nuclear North Korea?” they asked, insisting that the North should not be allowed to have even a single nuclear weapon.
(………) Even if Kim’s “complete denuclearization” is a different proposition from the one the North put forth at the time of the Agreed Framework, we have no way of knowing the timeline or conditions. The least we can say is that it doesn’t appear to be the “swift surrender” envisioned by the West. (……….)
A world where North Korea does not possess a single nuclear weapon does not appear to be on the horizon for now. We need to practice somehow living with a nuclear-equipped North Korea. We will soon be facing a moment of truth where we will need to confront the reality of North Korea’s nuclear program.
You can read the whole thing at the link, but I think this is clearly a trial balloon by the Korean left. They realize that the Kim regime is not going to give up its nuclear weapons and now want to start socializing the concept of letting them keep some of their nukes to keep the peace process moving forward.
This all plays into the Kim regime’s confederation strategy where they can end the US-ROK alliance, withdraw US troops, remove the US nuclear umbrella, and then dictate terms of the confederation because they have the military advantage with their nuclear weapons.
I had a cab driver do this to me before and I got out and thanked him for the free ride after recording his driver information:
The tourist police helped British visitors ripped off by a cab driver. Courtesy of Busan Metropolitan Police Agency
A taxi driver has been fined for overcharging British passengers.
According to police, the driver picked them up at the International Passenger Terminal in Busan Port on Wednesday morning, drove about two kilometers with the meter off and charged 20,000 won ($18), nearly four times the proper fare.
When the passengers told their Korean guide about the incident, the guide reported the driver to the tourist police, a special unit committed to handling complaints from foreign visitors.
Police confirmed the offense after looking at the vehicle’s dash cam and CCTV footage. The driver admitted he had overcharged the passengers.
I would expect the US will keep this defection very quiet until a way ahead on a second Trump-Kim summit is figured out:
Jo Song-gil
The disappearance and alleged request for asylum by former North Korean defector Jo Song-gil are posing a challenge for North Korea and the United States as they prepare to meet, as the former acting ambassador to Italy is reportedly seeking asylum in the United States.
Washington remains mum over these reports from the Italian media, apparently wary of the fallout from the issue ahead of their possible second summit set to take place in the near future.
The U.S. Department of State declined to confirm anything on the reports on Friday that Jo, who has reportedly been in hiding for weeks, has expressed hopes to settle in the U.S.
The 44-year-old North Korean diplomat has been missing with his family since early November without prior notice. Jo’s specific whereabouts remain unknown.
You can read more at the link, but former diplomat defector Thae Yong-ho has request that Jo seek asylum in South Korea. Considering the Moon administration’s cozy relationship with the Kim regime I can understand why he doesn’t want to go to South Korea.
#China passed a five-year work plan to sinicize #Islam at a meeting on Saturday with representatives from 8 Islamic associations in China. They agreed to guide Islam to be compatible with socialism and implement measures to sinicize the religion. pic.twitter.com/usXq1EtiGC
Operation to rescue people from broken ski liftEmergency service officials try to rescue a person from a malfunctioning ski lift at Mount Deokyu Resort in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, on Jan. 5, 2019, in this photo provided by the North Jeolla Province police agency. (Yonhap)
Here is the response from the Finance Ministry about the claims of interfering in private companies and politics by a whistleblower:
Kim Dong-yeon
The current and former finance ministers finally broke their silence over controversial claims by a whistle-blower that the ministry issued deficit-financing bonds unnecessarily and tried to change the CEO of Korea Tobacco & Ginseng (KT&G), a private sector company.
Current Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that the whistle-blower, former Finance Ministry employee Shin Jae-min, misunderstood what was going on because he had limited information as a low-level employee. Decisions by his predecessor Kim Dong-yeon would have considered all economic factors, he said, suggesting that political influence or pressure were not part of the picture.
“When it comes to ‘facts’ there was no outside pressure,” Hong said.
“[Former Finance Minister] Kim would have made decisions considering the various factors.”
Hong said while whistle-blower Shin, who was working in the ministry’s treasury bureau, might have had his own thoughts on the issuing of bonds, former Finance Minister Kim had to make decisions with a long-term view with managing the government’s fiscal policy for the next five years.
