Author: GIKorea

It looks like Fighters for a Free North Korea are going to have a hard time continuing their activities under the new Lee administration:

Lee also directed the government to curb propaganda leaflets sent northward by balloon by activist groups in South Korea. The North characterized the balloons as an act of war. The balloons that sometimes carry rice, small radios and other essentials to aid impoverished North Koreans hinder diplomatic relations between North and South and “threaten the daily lives and safety” of border-area residents, according to a presidential office statement June 14.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if the Lee administration tries to jail the leader of Fighters for a Free North Korea Park Sang-hak. During the Moon administration they arrested him Park multiple times in an effort to stop his group from sending balloons to North Korea.

Kamakura is a beautiful area of Japan filled with various temples and shrines. It is not surprising to me that they would have a Korean shrine there as well. Good to hear the shrine is returning to its original home in Korea:

A building believed to be a royal shrine from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) has returned to Korea, about 100 years after it was taken to Japan.

The Korea Heritage Service (KHS) and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation announced Tuesday that they had received parts of the structure, known as Gwanwoldang, under an agreement reached a day ago with Kotoku-in, a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Japan. 

The return was made possible through the decision of Takao Sato, chief priest of the temple, who concluded that the shrine should be preserved in its original home — Korea.

It marks the first time an entire Korean building located overseas has been repatriated. Previously, in 1995, 110 tons of remains from Jaseondang Hall of Gyeongbok Palace, discovered in a garden path at Tokyo’s Okura Hotel, were returned. However, those remains consisted mostly of stone components, such as stylobates and cornerstones.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

As long as the Ukriane-Russia war continues there is no reason for Kim Jong-un to pursue any diplomacy with Trump. Kim is getting the money and military aid he needs from the Russians for now. If he started diplomacy with Trump it would look like he is backstabbing Putin:

Joseph Yun, the acting U.S. ambassador in Seoul, said Tuesday that any renewed talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hinge on mutual willingness.

“I have no doubt that President Trump considers his engagement with North Korea during his first term as unfinished business, and he wants to reengage with North Korea,” Yun said. 

“But it takes two to tango,” he added. “We have not really heard from the North Korean side whether they too want to reengage. And to me, that’s the bigger unknown.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The number of millionaires in South Korea continued to grow this year:

South Korea had the world’s 10th-highest number of millionaires globally last year, with 1.3 million individuals holding wealth exceeding $1 million, or 1.37 billion won, a report showed Thursday.

According to the Global Wealth Report 2025, released by Swiss investment bank UBS, the figure marked a slight increase from 1.2 million recorded in 2023, placing the country 10th among 56 countries surveyed.

There were about 60 million millionaires globally, holding a total of $226.47 trillion in wealth.

The US topped the list with 23.8 million millionaires, accounting for 39.7 percent of all millionaires worldwide.

The report noted that the millionaire population in the US rose by 379,000 throughout last year, meaning about 1,000 people joined the millionaire club each day.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully this guy receives the maximum punishment:

A former Army sergeant with an intelligence unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., pleaded guilty to charges that he tried to sell military secrets to China, according to federal authorities. Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, faces penalties of up to 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine for each count of retention of national security information and attempt to deliver national security information, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington said.

Stars & Stripes

Here is what this guy tried to do:

In his position, Schmidt had access to secret U.S. military information. He learned to speak Mandarin during his time in the Army and traveled at least once to China while off duty. After leaving the Army in early 2020, Schmidt contacted the Chinese Consulate in Turkey and visited Istanbul to interest Chinese intelligence officers in documents that he had taken from the Army. He also emailed Chinese security forces offering to turn over national defense information.

Schmidt moved to Hong Kong in March 2020 and contacted Chinese intelligence services again trying to pass classified information. He also offered to turn over a device that allows for access to secure U.S. military computer systems. In addition to the documents, Schmidt sought a position with the Chinese as an intelligence or security asset. During his time in China, he traveled to Beijing. Schmidt emailed information to news media in China affiliated with the government.

You can read more at the link.