Author: GIKorea

Hopefully this effort to arrest people reporting fake news isn’t just against conservative media outlets:

Police on Tuesday applied for an arrest warrant for an internet media reporter over a controversial report alleging that 99 Chinese spies were apprehended at a National Election Commission (NEC) facility during former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived imposition of martial law on Dec. 3.

The reporter, whose identity is withheld, is accused of obstructing the NEC’s official duties by publishing a false article, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

The January 16 article claimed that the 99 Chinese nationals captured during a South Korean-U.S. joint military operation were transported to a U.S. base in Japan’s Okinawa and confessed to all charges of election interference during the interrogation process.

The NEC rejected the claim as “clearly false” and filed a police complaint against the media.

The police said they will continue to strictly investigate similar online fake news articles.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Bill Clinton was touring the sites in downtown Seoul and what I found of interest is who I did not see with him, which is Hillary Clinton:

Photos and videos of former U.S. President Bill Clinton apparently sightseeing in central Seoul have been shared online, raising speculation over the nature of seemingly his first visit to South Korea in decades. 

The posts, shared on social media and online communities, showed the former U.S. president reportedly visiting the Gwanghwamun and Insadong areas, popular tourist destinations in the South Korean capital, on Sunday. 

Some posts showed Clinton taking photos with locals and exchanging conversation. 

During his presidency, Clinton visited South Korea in November 1998 for a summit with then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The USFK commander makes it sound like that US war planners should consider using US troops on the peninsula for defending against more than just North Korea:

The top U.S. commander in South Korea likened the peninsula’s strategic location in the Indo-Pacific to a “fixed aircraft carrier floating in the water” near China, during a keynote address Thursday in Hawaii. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson, who leads U.S. Forces Korea, delivered remarks at the Army’s Land Forces Pacific Symposium in Waikiki Beach, urging attendees to rethink the significance of land-based power in the region.

“What immediately stood out to me as I looked at the map was the position of the Korean Peninsula and the fact that it’s on the Asian continent, has a sizable U.S. force posture, is inside the first island chain, and is the closest allied presence to Beijing,” he said. Brunson added: “At night, from a satellite image, [South Korea] looks like an island or like a fixed aircraft carrier floating in the water between Japan and mainland China.” He emphasized the need for military strategists to go beyond conventional north-oriented map views and consider regional geography when assessing strategic positioning.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but this sounds a lot like the strategic flexibility strategy that South Korea has been concerned about.

This would be very interesting to see what would happen if Ukraine did in fact attempt to file war crime charges against Putin and Kim Jong-un. However, I don’t see that happening any time soon because such actions would definitely negatively impact any ceasefire negotations:

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could face a war crime probe at the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, a former chief of the ICC said Monday, adding that it is the right time for Kim to be brought to justice. 

Song Sang-hyun, former president of the ICC, made the remarks at an international conference in Seoul, as North Korea confirmed for the first time last month that it has deployed troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine. 

Kim has not yet been referred to the ICC despite his human rights violations in North Korea, but legal standards have been met now for Ukraine to pursue a case against him at the ICC over the North’s assistance in the Russia-Ukraine war, the former ICC president noted.

“The time is right to bring Kim Jong-un before the ICC,” Song said in his keynote speech at the event, adding that Pyongyang’s military assistance to Russia provided Ukraine with the legal standards to file a complaint against North Korea as a victim.

“There is an opportunity for Ukrainian authorities, as the victim, to file a complaint against North Korea with the ICC,” Song said. “While a complaint filed by Ukraine would be very ideal, the ICC also has the authority to initiate an independent investigation.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The DP must be really concerned that this judge will not be in favor of convicting Yoon if they are going through all this trouble to remove him:

The Democratic Party (DP) on Monday disclosed photos it claims show a judge overseeing the insurrection trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol at a hostess bar, shortly after the judge denied allegations in connection with such a hostess bar.

Jee Kui-youn of the Seoul Central District Court has been at the center of the allegations, but flatly denied such allegations of being treated to multiple visits to the hostess bar.

However, Rep. Noh Jong-myeon, the spokesperson for the DP’s election committee, presented images of Jee seated alongside pixelated two individuals at the bar, in what he claimed was taken inside the bar in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam district.

“The interior patterns and props in the two photos are identical,” Noh said, without elaborating on when the photos were taken. “We cannot entrust an insurrection trial to a judge who blatantly lied despite clear photographic evidence.”

Noh called for Jee’s immediate removal from the bench, saying that the party is considering filing the case with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is amazing how fast her run times are at her age:

At 76 years old, Jeannie Rice is still setting age group world records and altering what we thought we knew about aging and running. She currently owns the world record for every distance between the 1500 meters and the marathon. It’s not just that Rice is fast for her age—and just plain speedy, full stop. She’s also not seeing the decline in speed you’d typically expect for a septuagenarian runner. That’s why, when UK-based researchers learned that Rice would be racing the London Marathon last April, they pounced on the opportunity to study what biomarkers and physical characteristics set her apart from her peers.

Six days after she set a new age-group world record in the marathon, running a time of 3:33:27 (averaging 8:08 miles), Rice agreed to visit an exercise lab in England where she underwent body fat measuring, treadmill testing, and other running and jumping assessments. In the resulting case report, which was published last month in the Journal of Applied Physiology, the authors shared that Rice has the highest V02 max (47.8) ever recorded for a woman aged 75 years or older, and a surprisingly high max heart rate of 180.

Runner’s World

You can read more at the link, but even more amazing is that she started running at age 35 to lose weight after a visit to her native South Korea. Since then she progressed to being able to run 50 miles a week to maintain her current fitness level.