Author: GIKorea

Kim Jong-un was going to build his nuclear arsenal further regardless of the military cooperation between the ROK, US, and Japan:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said an elevated U.S. security partnership with South Korea and Japan poses a grave threat to his country and vowed to further bolster his nuclear weapons program, state media reported Sunday.

Kim has previously made similar warnings, but his latest statement implies again that the North Korean leader won’t likely embrace President Donald Trump’s overture to meet him and revive diplomacy anytime soon. In a speech marking the 77th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army on Saturday, Kim said the U.S.-Japan-South Korea trilateral security partnership established under a U.S. plot to form a NATO-like regional military bloc is inviting military imbalance on the Korean Peninsula and “raising a grave challenge to the security environment of our state,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

“Referring to a series of new plans for rapidly bolstering all deterrence including nuclear forces, he clarified once again the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces,” KCNA said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully no one is surprised by this announcement from the ROK NIS:

The Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) model DeepSeek provided different answers to sensitive questions depending on the language — for example, defining kimchi’s origin as Korea when asked in Korean, but claiming it is Chinese when asked in Chinese, Seoul’s spy agency said Sunday. 

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it has also found the AI service provides its advertisers with unlimited access to users’ personal data and such information is subject to submission to the Chinese government upon its request under Chinese law. 

The NIS released its assessment of the technological verification of DeepSeek amid growing controversy over security concerns surrounding the service, which has prompted South Korean authorities to block access to the site.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

It looks like the difference between Yoon getting impeached and possibly going to jail is two similar sounding Korean words:

A former military commander involved in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law bid confirmed Thursday that the people Yoon ordered to be removed from the National Assembly were lawmakers, not agents, a claim that Yoon again rejected.

Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, the then chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, made the remark as a witness during the sixth formal hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.

Yoon was also in attendance.

“I obviously thought and understood the part about dragging people out from inside as referring to lawmakers because there were no operation agents inside the main (parliamentary) building at the time,” Kwak said, referring to a phone call he received from Yoon on the night martial law was imposed on Dec. 3.

Kwak was confirming testimony he has previously given in parliament, as former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has disputed the claim, saying Yoon had in fact ordered the removal of agents, not lawmakers.

In Korean, the words for agent and lawmaker are similar in pronunciation.

Yoon once again denied the claim — saying he has never used the term “agent” — and accused Kwak of plotting against him.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the North Korean troop dispatch to Russia:

This image, captured from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s X account on Jan. 12, 2025, shows a passport he said one of the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces was possessing. (Yonhap)

North Korean troops deployed to support Russia’s war against Ukraine appear to have been absent from combat in the front-line Kursk region since mid-January, the spy agency said Tuesday. 

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) disclosed the intelligence, confirming a recent report from The New York Times that North Korean soldiers who fought alongside Russian troops in battle against Ukraine have been pulled from the front lines in mid-January due to heavy casualties, citing Ukrainian and U.S. officials.

“Since mid-January, there have been no signs showing North Korean troops deployed to the Russian Kursk region engaging in battle,” the NIS said. 

The spy agency echoed the news report, saying that heavy casualties appear to be one reason for the absence of North Korean troops, adding that efforts are under way to determine the exact reason.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is an update on the embattled daughter of former President Moon:

Prosecutors on Wednesday indicted former President Moon Jae-in’s daughter without physical detention over alleged drunk driving and illegally operating a house-sharing business.

Moon Da-hye collided with a taxi in Seoul’s Itaewon district while trying to change lanes on Oct 5. Her blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.149 percent at the time, exceeding the 0.08 percent threshold for driver’s license revocation.

She is also accused of running an Airbnb business without official registration at three locations, comprising a studio apartment and villa in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo district, and a house on the southern resort island of Jeju.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.