It is a bit surprising that South Korea is holding on to North Korean operatives when they have aged into their 90’s:
Six former North Korean soldiers and spies who were jailed in South Korea for refusing to renounce their socialist beliefs have asked the Seoul government to repatriate them to the North, officials said Tuesday.
Yang Won-jin, 96, Ahn Hak-sop, 95, and four others have recently submitted the formal request to the unification ministry, seeking to return to North Korea, a ministry official said.
Known as “unconverted” long-term prisoners, they are former North Korean soldiers and spies who were arrested in the South before and after the 1950-53 Korean War, an ideologically driven conflict that left the Korean Peninsula divided into the communist North and the democratic South.
You can read more at the link.
For anyone curious what the former President and his wife are eating while in jail that menu sounds very familiar to what ROK Army Soldiers eat from my experience:
With former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee being held in separate Seoul detention centers, public curiosity has zeroed in on the couple’s daily life behind bars — particularly their meals.
According to the monthly meal plan from correctional authorities, Yoon is expected to have a 1,730 won ($1.25) jail meal consisting of beef and vegetable porridge with steamed potatoes for Wednesday’s breakfast.
The Justice Ministry revealed that three meals are provided per day for every inmate at the Seoul detention center, budgeted at 5,201 won. This amounts to approximately 1,730 won per meal.
Meals for lunch and dinner are served in a traditional Korean style, with rice, soup, side dishes and kimchi. The detained former president, who has been in custody at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, since July 10, is scheduled to have braised chicken with seasoned dried seaweed and stew with soft tofu for Wednesday’s lunch and dinner, respectively.
Meanwhile, sliced white bread with strawberry jam, salad and sausage are available for the former first lady’s breakfast on Wednesday, according to the Korea Correctional Service.
Kim will have pork kimchi stew with sweet and sour dumplings for lunch, like any other inmate at the Seoul Southern Detention Center. Wednesday’s dinner will be chilled cucumber and seaweed soup with rice and kimchi. Kim’s attorneys have relayed to media that she has not been eating well.
The inmates are provided with nutritious meals totaling over 2,500 calories per day. No outside food is allowed.
You can read more at the link.
If they can get this project to look like what it was projected to be it would actually be pretty cool, however right now it doesn’t even look like a tree:
A South Korean port city’s attempt to build a landmark attraction to draw visitors has run into public backlash, with critics calling its new 34.4 billion won ($24.8 million) “Big Tree” observation tower a costly disappointment.
The Big Tree, which rises 46.5 meters in Changwon, southeastern South Korea, was inspired by the towering Supertrees at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay. It was designed to anchor Daesang Park, a public-private partnership development worth about 1 trillion won ($720 million), and to serve as a draw for both domestic and international visitors.
You can read more at the link.
Does anyone really believe heat is what caused the downsize of UFS or the Lee administration trying to play nice with North Korea?:
South Korea and the United States began their annual large-scale military exercise Monday, with all eyes on whether North Korea will respond with warnings or provocations.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which aims to strengthen combined defense readiness against potential threats, particularly from North Korea, will be carried out for 11 days and concludes on Aug. 28.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said this year’s exercise would be held on a scale similar to last year’s, with about 18,000 South Korean troops taking part. The level of US participation is expected to be similar, though neither the JCS nor US Forces Korea disclosed an exact figure of the US troops.
Throughout the 11 days, troops will participate in both live and computer-simulated command post exercises and field training exercises (FTX). However, of the roughly 40 FTXs planned for this year, about half, or 20, have been postponed until September.
The JCS cited extreme heat, the need to ensure training safety and efforts to maintain a balanced combined defense posture throughout the year as reasons behind the postponement.
However, observers believe the postponement of some exercises is aligned with the Lee Jae Myung administration’s gestures for an inter-Korean thaw. The decision was made after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s influential sister Kim Yo-jong criticized the exercises, saying they have “no interest” in reviving talks with Seoul, in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s state media in July.
You can read more at the link, but the Kim regime was not impressed by the downsized UFS.
This is not a bad choice, Kang Kyung-wha is a bit naive about North Korea, but overall I did not have too many issues with her when she was the ROK Foreign Minister during the Moon administration:
Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is likely to be soon appointed as South Korea’s top envoy to the United States, sources familiar with the issue said Monday.
If confirmed, Kang, who served as South Korea’s top diplomat from 2017 to 2021 under former President Moon Jae-in, will become the Lee Jae Myung administration’s first ambassador to Washington.
“President Lee is soon likely to appoint ambassadors to the United States, Japan, China and Russia,” a ruling bloc official told Yonhap News Agency by phone. “Among these countries, I understand some have begun (appointment) procedures.”
You can read more at the link.
