This photo shows a car damaged after crashing into the main gate of the U.S. Embassy in central Seoul on June 7, 2018. (Yonhap)
A gender equality ministry official slammed his car into the front gate of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Thursday and claimed he wanted to seek asylum in the United States, police said.
The official, identified only by his surname Yoon, was immediately taken into custody after crashing his sedan into the steel gate of the embassy in central Seoul around 7:15 p.m.
Police said Yoon, 48, is a director-level official at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The ministry is located in Seoul’s main government complex building across the street from the U.S. Embassy.
Police said Yoon went to work in the morning and left early after taking a half-day off.
Witnesses said Yoon’s car was traveling on the boulevard in front of the embassy before it abruptly changed its direction toward the embassy.
As he was overpowered by police, Yoon shouted, “Help me!” several times.
Yoon later told police that he slammed the car into the embassy because he wanted to seek asylum in the U.S. due to reasons related to North Korea. No further details were immediately known. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but if you are wondering Yoon was not drunk at the time to explain this crazy story. On a positive note at least the US embassy now knows that their gate works at stopping speeding cars from smashing through it.
It seems there could have been easier ways to get a relief for cause Officer Evaluation Report (OER) than doing something like this:
A resident captured this image of the stolen armored personnel carrier in Dinwiddie, Virginia.
A Virginia National Guard soldier faces charges of driving under the influence of drugs and eluding police after authorities say he drove an armored military vehicle in a two-hour police chase.
Police on Tuesday night pursued the M577 armored personnel carrier along Route 460 and Interstate 95 before the chase ended with the driver’s arrest in downtown Richmond.
In Richmond, bystanders captured the slow pursuit on video. Onlookers gawked as the boxy armored vehicle moved down a commercial street and traffic stopped for a line of police cars that followed behind, sirens blaring. Overhead, a police helicopter tracked the chase’s progress.
The vehicle was taken from Fort Pickett, a National Guard base in Blackstone shortly before 8 p.m. The vehicle can only drive a maximum speed of about 40 mph and wasn’t equipped with any weaponry.
Joshua Philip Yabut, 29, of Richmond, was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs, and state police charged him with one felony count of eluding police and one felony count of unauthorized use of a vehicle, the Virginia National Guard said. [CNN]
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain who has had his various food and travel shows come to South Korea multiple times was found dead of suicide in France:
Anthony Bourdain in South Korea filming his show Parts Unknown.
“It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague Anthony Bourdain,” CNN said in a statement Friday morning. “His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us, and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time.”
President Trump also said he was shocked to hear of Bourdain’s death.
“That was very shocking when I woke up this morning,” Trump told reporters at the White House before heading to the G7 Summit. “I enjoyed his show. He was quite a character, I will say. But, so, I just want to extend my condolences and also to the family of Kate Spade.” Spade, the famed handbag designer, committed suicide earlier this week. [Yahoo News]
You can read more at the link, but Bourdain really enjoyed Korean food. Here is what he had to say about Korean chefs:
I have, for some time, believed that the chefs doing the most interesting work in America — chefs who are in fact redefining what “American food” means — are Korean.
When I go out for dinner with non-Korean chef friends, all they want these days is Korean food. They get excited by the deep, tangy, spicy funk of kimchi; thrilled by the little plates of pickles and snacks that accompany the main courses; intrigued by what is, to them, often a whole new spectrum of flavors.
Date night with my wife? Korean barbecue. And God help me, among a very small circle of friends — all of them sworn to secrecy, and on all of whom I possess horrifying and incriminating photographic evidence that ensures their eternal silence — I have, after much soju, actually gone to Korean karaoke. [CNN]
One of my favorite episodes of Bourdain’s original show No Reservations was when he traveled to South Korea with a Korean-American who worked in his office. They had a lot of fun in that episode. You can view the episode at this link.
Finally condolences to Bourdain’s family and friends.
Does anyone think this will be a fair and transparent investigation or is the fix in?:
Special counsel Huh Ik-bum (Yonhap)
President Moon Jae-in appointed a special counsel Thursday to investigate a opinion rigging scandal that involves one of his confidants.
Moon named prosecutor-turned-lawyer Huh Ik-Bum as a special prosecutor, his office Cheong Wa Dae said.
The appointment came three days after Huh was named one of two candidates by opposition parties as required by the law on the special counsel.
“President Moon will present special counsel Huh with a certificate of appointment on Friday,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a press briefing. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but the special counsel has 90 days to report their findings.
Kim Jong Un's envoy asked President Trump to support tourism development — including casinos — in the coastal North Korean city of Wonsan and the nearby ski resort of Masik Pass, according to South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo (link in Korean) https://t.co/uNunxvCKNHpic.twitter.com/WF0rKEdVZj
A hydrogen fuel cell concept vehicle is displayed at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO) at the Busan International Motor Show in the southeastern port city of Busan on June 7, 2018. (Yonhap)
I wonder if Dennis Rodman will be invited to Mar-a-Lago as well? Could you imagine President Trump, Kim Jong-un, and Dennis Rodman all playing golf together?:
U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly toying with the idea of offering North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a second summit at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, possibly in the fall if the first bilateral summit goes smoothly next week.
Citing several U.S. government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the White House wants Kim to commit to a timetable to surrender his country’s nuclear arsenal when they meet next Tuesday in Singapore, and that Trump has been advised not to offer Kim any concessions.
If the two men “hit it off,” the White House chief could suggest a second face-to-face meeting at his resort in the southern state of Florida, said the report, without further explanation. No North Korean leader has ever set foot in the United States. Kim has made only three known foreign trips so far since assuming power in December 2011, twice to China and once to South Korea.
“There could be more than one meeting, more than one conversation” between Kim and Trump, said Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s counselor. A nuclear deal, she continued, may take “two, three, four, five” meetings. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
This is pretty audacious whoever is committing these attacks on US diplomats:
The State Department is evacuating several Americans from China amid health concerns about mysterious symptoms arising after unusual noises detected by U.S. diplomats and their families working in the consulate in Guangzhou. U.S. DEPT OF STATE
The State Department is evacuating several Americans from China amid health concerns about mysterious symptoms arising after unusual noises detected by U.S. diplomats and their families working in the consulate in Guangzhou.
After initial screenings by a medical team dispatched last month when the first incident was reported, the State Department has sent “a number” of affected people to the United States for further evaluation, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
The evacuation was the first sign that the unexplained ailments previously known to have afflicted only one U.S. government employee in China has now broadened and threatens to become a full-blown health crisis like the one that affected at least 24 U.S. diplomats and their families in Cuba.
The latest round of evacuations began Wednesday in China, which was still Tuesday in the United States. More diplomats and their dependents are expected to be sent home in coming days. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but it is believed that the sonic attacks in Cuba were caused possibly by a flawed spying device. So whatever the spying device being used in Cuba was maybe it came from China and this same device malfunctioned while spying on US diplomats in Guangzhou as well?
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