Author: GIKorea

Here is more on North Korea’s latest missile launch:

North Korea said Monday it successfully test-fired a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) carrying a hypersonic warhead the previous day as part of regular activities to develop powerful weapons systems.

The missile loaded with a hypersonic maneuverable controlled warhead was launched Sunday afternoon in a bid to verify the warhead’s gliding and maneuvering capabilities and the reliability of newly developed multi-stage high-thrust solid-fuel engines, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It did not disclose the missile’s flight details.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

North Korea must have found a more effective way to send orders to their spies in South Korea:

North Korea is pressing ahead with measures to disband its inter-Korean organizations, apparently stopping a radio station previously used to send encrypted messages to its spies in South Korea.

As of Saturday, the North appears to have stopped broadcasting the state-run Pyongyang Radio and cut off access to its website.

The latest move comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered “readjusting and reforming” its organizations in charge of inter-Korean affairs during a key Workers’ Party meeting last month amid growing cross-border tensions.

Pyongyang Radio is known for broadcasting a series of mysterious numbers, presumed to be coded messages, giving directions to its agents operating in South Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if China in the coming weeks or months tries to conduct military drills around Taiwan to pressure their new President:

The outcome of the presidential election in Taiwan is expected to pose significant diplomatic challenges for Korea, particularly in navigating relations with China and neighboring countries. Tensions in Asia could escalate in response to any sensitive rhetoric or actions, adding complexity to Korea’s diplomatic landscape.

In Saturday’s presidential election, Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, known for his U.S.-friendly stance, secured victory by garnering 40.05 percent of the total ballots. He outpaced Hou Yu-ih from the China-friendly opposition Kuomintang.

Viewed widely as a proxy battle between the U.S. and China, Lai’s campaign emphasizing self-determination, social justice, and resistance to China’s threats resonated with Taiwanese voters, earning their trust even in the face of increasing pressure from Beijing.

China’s foreign ministry promptly issued a statement following Lai’s election win asserting Beijing’s “One China” policy.

“Whatever changes take place in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change,” it said. “The Chinese government’s position of upholding the one-China principle and opposing ‘Taiwan independence’ separatism, ‘two Chinas’ and ‘one China, one Taiwan’ will not change,” it added.

Korea Times

Here is how the Yoon administration in South Korea has reacted to the election:

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has displayed a strong inclination towards the U.S., as the president stated in previous media interviews that Seoul opposes attempts to alter the status quo by force in reference to tensions in the Taiwan Strait, despite China’s displeasure. Simultaneously, Korea maintains its adherence to Beijing’s “One China” policy, refraining from reinstating diplomatic ties with Taiwan that were severed in 1992 when Seoul established diplomatic relations with Beijing.

An official at Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We hope for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and peaceful progress in China-Taiwan relations,” adding that the Korean government’s stance on Taiwan has not changed, while Seoul hopes for practical cooperation with Taiwan in various fields.

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think safe is the word; more like better behaved:

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday boasted his personal ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that he had built during his presidency, stressing America was “safe” then.

Trump made the remarks during a rally in Indianola, Iowa, on the eve of the first vote of the Republican Party’s nomination contest in the lead-off state. Hours earlier, Pyongyang fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea in its first missile launch this year.

“Kim Jong-un (is) very smart, very tough, but he liked me and I got along really well with him and we were safe,” Trump said during a live-streamed speech.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The testing of an IRBM is sending a message to the US and Japan that bases in both countries can be targeted with this missile:

North Korea fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) into the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, in Pyongyang’s first missile launch this year amid heightened tensions over its continued saber-rattling.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from an area in or around Pyongyang at about 2:55 p.m. and the missile flew around 1,000 kilometers before splashing into the sea.

The JCS strongly condemned the launch, calling it a “clear provocative act,” adding that it shared data on the North Korean missile with U.S. and Japanese authorities, with an analysis on its specifications under way.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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

The man who murdered a South Korean tourist on Guam has been found dead by suicide and the driver of the getaway vehicle has been arrested. I figured an island that small with all the cameras around the criminals would be found:

A man suspected of fatally shooting a South Korean tourist during a robbery last week in Guam was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and his alleged getaway driver was in custody, police in the U.S. territory said Tuesday.

Police said the first suspect was found dead inside a parked car Tuesday night, KUAM-TV reported. Police won’t release his name until his family has been notified. 

A second man believed to have been the driver of the SUV allegedly used in the deadly Jan. 4 robbery was found in a game room and taken into custody, police said.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link, but both were unsurprisingly long time criminals.

Expect Lee Jae-myung to play up his one centimeter puncture wound as much as possible:

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), speaks to reporters in front of Seoul National University Hospital on Jan. 10, 2024, eight days after he underwent surgery on a knife wound sustained in an attack. (Yonhap)

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung will not be able to attend hearings in his corruption trial for the time being because he has yet to recover from a stabbing attack, his legal representative said Friday.

“It seems it will be hard (for Lee) to attend the trials for now,” Lee’s lawyer said during a preparatory hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court. “On the face of it, he seemed to have trouble even speaking.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I am not a doctor, but I am not sure how a one centimeter wound to the juglar vein impacts the vocal cords?