Author: GIKorea

It is kind of surprising considering how famous their music is that this group has never performed live before:

Audrey Nuna didn’t realize how far “KPop Demon Hunters” had traveled until she visited Korea. “I went to Korea a few weeks after the film started taking off,” she told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” that aired Tuesday evening. “I got off at Dongdaemun Station and this cute little grandpa was doing a street performance of ‘Golden’ on this Korean traditional instrument. He was so swagged out. I had to do a double take.”

The 26-year-old Korean American singer, who voices one of the leads in the hit animated film, said the moment stayed with her. (…..)

On Tuesday evening, the singers behind the characters — EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami — brought “Golden” to life for the first time on “The Tonight Show.” The performance zoomed close to 4 million views within 12 hours, adding another milestone to the film’s rapid crossover from animation to real-world pop culture.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

At this point Israel should just let these people stay in Gaza and see how much they enjoy Hamas’ hospitality:

Crew of “Conscience,” a Gaza-bound vessel which is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, sit aboard the boat as they are intercepted by Israeli security forces, in this screengrab obtained from a video released, Wednesday. Reuters-Yonhap

The foreign ministry said Wednesday it has requested Israel to promptly release a ship carrying a South Korean activist that was seized by the Israeli military while approaching Gaza.

According to local civic groups and foreign news reports, the Israeli military intercepted a nine- or 11-boat flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea early Wednesday (local time) trying to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and detained scores of activists aboard, and a South Korean national, named Kim Ah-hyun, was one of them.

The 145 activists, who were in good health, were being brought to shore in Israel for processing and are expected to be deported soon, they said, citing the Israeli foreign ministry.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Good luck trying to get the ROK to reorient any of their defense strategy towards China. The ROK received large economic retaliation from China just for hosting a U.S. THAAD. Could you imagine the retaliation if the ROK started reorienting defenses such as long range strike missiles towards China?:

Many South Korean defense capabilities could contribute to deterring an assertive China, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday, stressing that the United States’ defense priorities should focus on addressing the “most serious” military threat of the Asian superpower.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for East Asia John Noh, the nominee for assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, made the remarks in his written answers to advance questions from the Senate Committee on Armed Services, asserting the need for South Korea and other allies to “dramatically” increase their defense spending and take greater responsibility for regional security.

“While the ROK should focus primarily on leading the U.S.-ROK alliance’s conventional deterrence against the DPRK, many capabilities could also contribute to a deterrence of China,” Noh said. ROK and DPRK stand for the respective official names of South Korea and North Korea, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“Capabilities, such as long-range fires, integrated air and missile defense, space and electronic warfare capabilities, could provide a meaningful impact to strengthen deterrence in the region against both threats,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here will be the latest addition to the ROK military:

The South Korean military has chosen the U.S.-based defense firm L3Harris Technologies to supply surveillance aircraft in a $2.2 billion agreement Tuesday. The South Korean military expects delivery of the aircraft by 2032 and will employ them against “increasing aerial threats from North Korea and other regional countries,” according to a news release from the Seoul-based Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

An agency spokesman reached by phone Thursday declined to provide additional details on the agreement. The agreement revolves around four Bombardier Global 6500 jets modified with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment, South Korean news outlets Yonhap News and Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.