Author: GIKorea

I doubt North Korea cares at all about this Joint statment because they know no one is actually going to take any real measures to stop their ballistic missile and nuclear programs:

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (L) and South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (R) attend the inaugural defense ministerial meeting of South Korea and the United Nations Command member states at Seoul’s defense ministry on Nov. 14, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

South Korea and the United Nations Command (UNC) member states adopted a joint statement Tuesday condemning North Korea’s “unlawful” nuclear and missile program and vowed a united response in the case of Pyongyang’s aggression.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, as well as senior defense officials and representatives from 16 other UNC member states, gathered for their first meeting at the defense ministry to evaluate its role and explore ways to deepen their security cooperation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is not a renewable energy issue, this is more an issue of government picking winners and losers and people in the government benefiting from the winners they chose:

A total of 251 officials at public institutions were found to have taken part in solar panel businesses to make money in violation of ethics regulations during the previous Moon Jae-in administration, the state audit agency said Tuesday.

The officials from eight institutions, including the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), ran solar panel businesses either under their own names or under the names of relatives, according to the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI).

During the Moon administration, solar power was considered not only as clean and environmentally friendly energy but also as a potentially lucrative investment opportunity, with stability and long-term prospects supported by strong government backing.

An example includes a KEPCO official who operated six solar power stations under the names of relatives after using insider information, reaping a combined profit of 880 million won (US$662,000), the BAI said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a good thought experiment, would all these university students and other anti-Israeli activists come out in defense of North Korea if South Korea responded to a Hamas like attack from the Kim regime?:

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul during a dinner meeting Sunday. 

“Even if North Korea miscalculates and commits any provocation, including a Hamas-style surprise attack, we will maintain a South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture that can immediately and resolutely punish it,” Yoon was quoted as saying, referring to the militant group’s attack on Israel last month.   
  
Austin conveyed U.S. President Joe Biden’s firm intent to further strengthen the robust South Korea-U.S. alliance more than ever, according to the presidential office.   
  
He reaffirmed his firm commitment to defend the South Korea by deploying the full spectrum of U.S. military capabilities.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The 52 hour work week is really just 40 hours like in the U.S. but has an additional 12 hours of overtime. I can understand how limiting workers to only 12 hours of overtime can constrain employers and workers in some industries:

The country currently adopts a 52-hour work week — 40 regular hours with 12 hours of possible overtime. It was introduced in 2018 by the liberal Moon Jae-in government to reduce the maximum week from 68 hours at the time to 52. 

Citing its latest survey, the ministry said the 52-hour workweek has substantially taken root, but some industries have still experienced management problems due to a lack of flexibility in working hours and difficulties meeting deadlines.

In the survey, 48.2 percent of the respondents said the 52-hour workweek has helped relieve matters stemming from work overload, but 54.9 percent said the existing system has failed to reflect the characteristics of some industries. 

In particular, both workers and employers in the manufacturing and construction industries as well as the medical, research and engineering sectors said overtime management of the current workweek needs to undergo changes.

Accepting these survey results, the ministry will maintain the 52-hour workweek, while at the same time beginning discussions with industries that have experienced difficulties abiding by the current rule, seeking to come up with complementary measures that could improve flexibility.

The ministry will also prepare measures aimed at resolving workers’ health concerns that could be affected by the long work hours at those industries.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Yet another example of increasing military cooperation between the ROK and Japan and this is a good thing:

(L to R) South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik; Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense; and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara hold trilateral talks on Nov. 12, 2023, in this photo provided by Seoul’s defense ministry. Minoru joined the session in Seoul via a video link. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Sunday to launch a real-time missile warning data sharing system next month to better detect and assess North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, Seoul’s defense ministry said.

The defense chiefs of the three nations reached the agreement during their meeting on the occasion of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Seoul for annual bilateral security talks with his South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik, slated for Monday. Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara joined the trilateral session via a video link.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Only a high trust society could pull this off. Could you imagine what would happen in parts of the U.S. that had staffless stores?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, unmanned shops drew interest as a way to prevent infection and cater to contact-averse customers. Now such shops are again in the spotlight as a means to help solve serious labor shortages. Research is underway on systems to run unmanned shops safely and efficiently, and such systems have been introduced by a wide range of businesses, including cosmetics companies and a bookstores.

In May, cosmetics company Orbis Inc., based in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, opened an unstaffed store in the Granduo Tachikawa shopping mall at JR Tachikawa Station. While the company has 93 directly managed shops across the nation, this is the company’s first unstaffed shop. The shop is small, about 7 square meters, and offers about 90 cosmetics, such as lotions and serums. When a customer picks up a product, several cameras installed in the ceiling and a weight sensor installed in the shelf instantly recognize the product. The customer then pays the amount displayed on a cash register screen, and a gate opens to let the customer out.

Yomiuri Shimbun

You can read more at the link.