It looks like the Saudi money overcame what was clearly a better Expo site in Busan. Who is excited to go to Riyadh?:
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo shakes hands with a Saudi official after the final presentation for South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo at the 173rd general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions held at the Palais des Congres in Paris before its members their vote for the host city on Nov. 28, 2023. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s Busan came up short in its bid to host the 2030 World Expo on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh won a resounding victory over Busan and Italy’s Rome without a runoff vote.
Members of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the body responsible for overseeing the international fair with the potential to generate economic benefits and stimulate job creation, held a ballot in Paris after representatives from the three candidates made final presentations of their proposals.
In the first round of voting, the Saudi capital won 119 votes against Busan’s 29 votes and Rome’s 17 votes. Riyadh’s votes were more than a two-thirds majority needed for a candidate to win without a runoff.
The Saudi delegation celebrated as the results were displayed on an electronic board, concluding the anonymous voting held in Issy-les-Moulineaux, the southwestern suburban area of the French capital.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
This is something that people can expect to see more of in Korea as the technology continues to improve:
Dilly, a self-driving delivery robot developed by food delivery service Baemin’s operator Woowa Brothers, crosses a road while en route to deliver food on Teheran-ro in southern Seoul’s Gangnam District, which has been specially designated for robot delivery, Nov. 7. Courtesy of Woowa Brothers
Robots are gradually becoming part of daily life in Korea, as the country’s recent amendment to the act governing the use of robots has allowed outdoor autonomous robots to drive on sidewalks for delivery, patrols and other purposes.
This change has opened new avenues for related industries, as various advantages are expected for companies utilizing robots such as labor cost reduction, increased efficiency in last-mile delivery and improvement in safety, industry officials and experts said Thursday.
On Nov. 17, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the National Police Agency implemented the revised Act on Development and Supply of Intelligent Robots. Previously, robots were not permitted to operate on sidewalks, but the revised law allows for new businesses to utilize robot delivery and patrols in outdoor environments.
These outdoor self-driving robots are required to comply with the Road Traffic Act, just like pedestrians. Jaywalking or walking on roadways is illegal, and operators of these robots who violate the regulations will be fined 30,000 won ($23). Additionally, businesses seeking to use outdoor autonomous driving robots are obliged to have insurance coverage.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
It appears the removal of the leadership of the NIS this week had nothing to do with ideological differences with the Yoon administration and instead it was simply people in the NIS not being able to get along:
This Nov. 1 photo shows Kim Kyou-hyun, director at the National Intelligence Service, attending an audit at the National Assembly in Seoul. Kim, a former diplomat who became the first chief of the spy agency under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, resigned, along with its first and second deputy directors, Sunday. Yonhap
After returning from an overseas trip on Sunday, the first thing President Yoon Suk Yeol did was to accept the resignations of the chief of the National Intelligence Agency (NIS) and his two deputies. Yet given the deep, long-running tensions between top agents over the past year, few believe their departure was voluntary.
Despite rising security threats from North Korea, which claims to have successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite last week, Yoon took the risk of leaving the spy agency’s top post ― held by Director Kim Kyou-hyun ― empty for the time being. Meanwhile, Hong Jang-won and Hwang Won-jin, veteran NIS agents, replaced Kwon Chun-taek and Kim Soo-youn as first and second deputy directors, respectively.
Speaking to The Korea Times on Monday, insiders refused to disclose details of how the infighting and feud within the NIS started and apparently aggravated under Kim’s watch. But one said the bone of contention had nothing to do with ideological differences suspected by some.
Conflicts over personnel affairs are known to have largely caused and deepened the division among NIS leaders ― particularly between Kim, a former vice foreign minister who became the first NIS director under Yoon, and Kwon.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
From a national security perspective this is not good news because it means a smaller population of young men to conscript to defend the country. Hopefully North Korea, China, and Russia are not even greater threats than they are now in the next 30 years towards the ROK:
The number of young South Koreans is forecast to halve in 30 years amid a rapid aging trend and a record low birthrate, the statistics agency said Monday.
The number of people aged 19-34 came to 10.21 million in 2020, and the figure is forecast to tumble to 5.21 million in 2050, according to the analysis by Statistics Korea.
The proportion of the young population out of the country’s total came to 20.4 percent in 2020, but it is expected to fall to 11 percent in 2050, it added.
The number of young people has been on a steady decline over the past decades from 13.85 million in 1990, accounting for 31.9 percent of the total, to 12.88 million in 2000, 10.97 million in 2010 and 10.21 million in 2020.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
No surprise here, hopefully South Korea in response reimplaces all of their guard posts and fortifications that were removed during the Moon administration to better secure the DMZ:
North Korean soldiers are spotted near a guard post inside of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas in this photo provided by the South Korean defense ministry on Nov. 27, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
North Korea has begun rebuilding guard posts and bringing heavy firearms along the border with South Korea after effectively scrapping a 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction deal, the defense ministry said Monday.
Ministry officials disclosed photos showing North Korean troops installing temporary guard posts, carrying what appeared to be recoilless guns and standing guard at night inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.
These moves came after the North said last week it would restore all military measures halted under the 2018 tension reduction deal. That decision came after South Korea suspended part of the agreement in protest of the North’s successful launch of a military spy satellite.
“Before destroying the GPs, there were observation posts and they are presumed to be rebuilding them. It was made of white wood and painted with a camouflage pattern,” a senior military official told reporters on background, referring to a guard post seen in a photo released by the defense ministry on Monday.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
I am not sure what they are going to talk about because China is not going to stop their provacative activities in the region no matter what the ROK and Japan tell them:
Foreign Minister Park Jin departs from Incheon International Airport in Incheon, southwest of Seoul, on Nov. 14, 2023, to attend a ministerial meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco, in this file photo provided by the foreign ministry. (Yonhap)
Top diplomats of South Korea, China and Japan were set to hold talks in the southeastern port city of Busan on Sunday, with discussions on resuming the long-stalled three-way summit of the three countries’ leaders expected to be in focus.
The trilateral meeting among Foreign Minister Park Jin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa also comes after about a four-year hiatus as the three neighboring countries seek to deepen the tripartite cooperation despite many pending bilateral issues.
Wang and Kamikawa arrived in Busan on Saturday.
Park is joining the two ministers the day after returning from a trip to London and Paris, where he accompanied President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
