Author: GIKorea

Here are the Russians and Chinese being provocative in the region. If they think this is going to intimidate the ROK it is not working:

Six Chinese and Russian military aircraft entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) in the East Sea without notice Thursday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, prompting the South’s Air Force to send its fighter jets to the scene.

The JCS said that between 11:53 a.m. and 12:10 p.m., the two Chinese and four Russian aircraft entered the KADIZ and exited it. They did not violate South Korea’s air space, it added.

The JCS said it had detected the Chinese and Russian aircraft before their entry into the KADIZ and mobilized the Air Force’s fighter jets.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This guy is lucky to be alive and will likely be spending some time in jail for surviving this fall:

An inflatable jump bag is set up in front of an apartment building in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, on Monday after a man started engaging in a standoff while holding his ex-girlfriend hostage at knifepoint. [NEWS1]

A man in his 20s, who had been holding his ex-girlfriend hostage at knifepoint on Monday, jumped off an apartment building from a staircase between the sixth and seventh floors of the building. 
  
According to South Gyeongsang police, the incident took place in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, at around 2 p.m. 
  
The man engaged in a four-hour standoff with the police before jumping from the building.

He struck an exterior structure of the apartment on the third floor before landing on an air mattress laid on the first floor. 
  
He was taken to a hospital by first responders. 
  
The police said that the man was undergoing court proceedings for stalking his ex-girlfriend.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This arrest makes me wonder how many countries and how long these thieves have been pickpocketing people?:

Police arrest three Russian nationals suspected of pickpocketing at a subway station in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Nov.13. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

Prosecutors on Thursday indicted three Russian nationals suspected of pickpocketing subway riders for two weeks in Seoul, their office said Monday. 
  
The three Russian nationals, comprising two men aged 45 and a woman aged 38, entered Korea on a tourist visa on Nov. 1. 
  
The police said the three individuals focused on finding victims among subway riders during rush hour.

They mainly targeted women with handbags, approaching them in a coordinated manner, with one person standing in front of the victim to impede movement while another created distraction among the surrounding crowd so that the third person could pick up the victim’s purse. 
  
The three-member group was apprehended by the police on Nov. 13 who were on a stakeout. 
  
Authorities found that the three had collectively spent 45 hours riding the subway over nine days since their arrival in Seoul. 
  
The police estimated that the three stole a total of 7.13 million won ($5,400), including 5.6 million won in cash, in addition to three mobile phones.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I did not realize that the Netherlands had their own chipmaking capabilities:

 President Yoon Suk Yeol began his state visit to the Netherlands by meeting with a group of Korean residents and vowing to upgrade the two countries’ relations to a “semiconductor alliance.”

As the first official schedule, Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee attended a welcoming ceremony hosted by Willem-Alexander, king of the Netherlands, held at Dam Square in Amsterdam on Tuesday (local time).

oon arrived in Amsterdam on Monday on a four-day visit aimed at strengthening cooperation between South Korea, a leading chip manufacturer, and the Netherlands, home to chipmaking equipment companies such as ASML.

“Semiconductors are an important area not only for our industries but also for our security,” he said during the dinner meeting with some 100 Korean residents at an Amsterdam hotel. “Through this visit, the semiconductor cooperation between South Korea and the Netherlands will be upgraded to a semiconductor alliance.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the life most young South Korean couples have:

Korea’s newlywed couples were burdened with record-high amounts of debt last year while having the least number of babies in history. The number of married couples also decreased by 6.3 percent to 1.03 million in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Korea on Monday. 
  
The statistics agency polled the country’s newlyweds whose marriage registration is less than five years old as of November last year.   
  
The median debt for respondents came to 164.2 million won ($124,600), up 7.3 percentage points from a year ago, with 89 percent of the surveyed couples in debt.

More newlyweds in Korea are falling into the category of DINK (Dual Income No Kid). The majority, or 57.2 percent, of the newlyweds have a dual income, up 2.3 percentage points on year. 
  
The proportion of dual-income households is on the decline with many females quitting their jobs to concentrate on child-rearing. 
  
The average income of dual-income couples stood at 84.3 million won compared to a single-income household with 49.9 million won. 
  
As for children, 46.4 percent of the surveyed couples had no child, marking the highest rate since the data was collected.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but racking up records amount of debt before having kids is a sure way to keep the birth rate low because kids will greatly add to expenses. If the Korean government can find ways to relieve the debt crisis they will likely solve the birth rate crisis at the same time.

Guys like this need a swift death penalty for such a brutal crime:

Choi Yun-jong, the suspect behind the rape and murder of a woman in Seoul’s Sillim neighborhood, speaks to reporters at the Seoul Gwanak Police Station, in this file photo taken Aug. 25, 2023. (Yonhap)

Prosecutors on Monday demanded the death penalty for a 30-year-old suspect behind the attempted rape and killing of a woman on a hiking trail in southern Seoul.

Choi Yun-jong was indicted on charges of fatally beating, throttling and attempting to rape the victim he randomly picked on a hillside hiking trail in the Sillim neighborhood on Aug. 17.

In the final hearing at Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Choi, arguing that he poses a high risk to society if released without any sign of repentance.

Prosecutors also stressed that he caused irrevocable damage to the family members of the victim and said there is a need to show that anyone who causes such crime would face heavy punishment.

The victim, an elementary school teacher in her 30s, had been left unaided for around 20 minutes before being found by the police and moved to a hospital. She died two days later due to brain damage caused by the strangulation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.