Author: GIKorea

It will be interesting to see how long it takes the North Koreans to rescue the people on this ship:

This file photo, taken Oct. 27, 2017, shows a South Korean patrol ship departing a port in Sokcho, 151 kilometers northeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

A South Korean patrol ship on Sunday spotted a North Korean vessel stranded near the de-facto inter-Korean sea border in the East Sea and provided humanitarian assistance, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The patrol ship was dispatched after a maritime patrol aircraft spotted the distressed vessel drifting in waters 200 kilometers east of the coastal town of Jejin and around 3 km north of the eastern Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 2:16 p.m., according to the JCS.

The South Korean ship initially deployed one inflatable boat to approach the vessel and confirmed it as a North Korean ship.

The North Korean vessel is suspected to be a small commercial ship some 10 meters long, according to an informed source. The military reportedly did not inspect the identities of those on board as the ship was in waters north of the NLL.

The people on board the North Korean ship said they have been adrift for 10 days and wished to return to their homeland, requesting assistance with food and water.

The South Korean military provided food and water “on humanitarian grounds,” and notified the North of the situation through the United Nations Command and international maritime communication channels for its assistance.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I also wonder what this so called commerical ship was transporting and where from?

It makes sense that people would not be in a festive mood only one year after the deadly Itaewon crowd crushing tragedy:

This photo, taken Oct. 28, 2023, shows safety fences set up in an alley of Seoul’s Itaewon to prevent a possible increase in people ahead of Halloween. (Yonhap)

 South Koreans avoided boisterous Halloween celebrations Saturday, the eve of the country marking one year after the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district that claimed 159 lives, with people mourning the death of the victims.

The crowd crush, the deadliest ever in South Korea, took place in the nightlife district of Itaewon on Oct. 29, 2022, a Saturday night when about 100,000 people flocked to the area for Halloween celebrations.

Late Saturday, Seoul’s crowded entertainment areas, including Itaewon and Hongdae, were bustling with citizens and foreign tourists, just like any ordinary weekend, but there seemed to be no uproarious Halloween celebrations.

“I used to enjoy Halloween parties, but I’ve decided to spend this year’s Halloween quietly due to last year’s accident. I think it would be difficult to enjoy Halloween in Itaewon,” said Kim Hyung-seok, 28, who visited Itaewon with his girlfriend.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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

Just when you thought you had heard it all then you read this:

Former Olympic medalist Nam Hyun-hee said Thursday that she had been deceived by Jeon Cheong-jo, who was engaged to the 42-year-old fencer before being revealed as a con artist.

Nam, who became the first South Korean woman to win a fencing Olympic medal by winning silver in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said in a media interview that she learned Wednesday that her boyfriend had swindled money from her acquaintances.

She said Jeon instigated everything in their relationship, including their marriage, and even tricked her into believing that she was pregnant.

Jeon supposedly showed her positive pregnancy tests, despite this being impossible as he was transgender.

In a subsequent interview with local media, Nam said that she had known that Jeon had had sex reassignment surgery. When asked why she thought she could get impregnated by a transgender man, who cannot produce sperm, Nam said she “thought it was strange.”

Korea Herald

Keep reading at the link because it keeps getting stranger.

Considering President Yoon’s very low approval rating, being seen with the ousted former President Park Guen-hye probably won’t help:

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday praised late President Park Chung-hee as he met with Park’s daughter at a memorial ceremony, a symbolic gesture amid calls for more unity among conservatives ahead of next year’s general elections.

It marked the first time that a sitting president attended the memorial ceremony for Park Chung-hee, whose legacy remains a subject of controversy in South Korea.

Yoon said that former President Park is recorded as promoting industrialization and rallying the nation under the slogan “it can be done.”

“He achieved a historic global accomplishment known as the miracle on the Han River,” Yoon said in his address at the ceremony at Seoul National Cemetery in southern Seoul, referring to South Korea’s economic rise from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

On a topic that everyone in Korea can agree on, the opposition party has go out and lie in an attempt to smear President Yoon by claiming he may give up Dokdo to Japan:

The ruling and the main opposition parties denounced Japan’s territorial claims over South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo on Wednesday as they marked “Dokdo Day.”

“While the reestablishment of a future-oriented relationship between South Korea and Japan has opened discussions for cooperation in fields such as security and economy, the territorial dispute issue is an independent matter,” Rep. Park Jeong-ha, chief spokesperson of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said.

Park said the government and the PPP will make legal and legislative efforts to protect the islets, and urged Japan to stop its “thoughtless words and wrongful claims” over Dokdo.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) also denounced Japan’s claims over Dokdo, but it also accused the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol of making too many concessions to Tokyo, including consenting to Tokyo’s release of radioactive water into the ocean.

“People are concerned that the government might even give up Dokdo. We urged President Yoon to become a president who safeguards the territory and national interests of South Korea,” Rep. Kwon Chil-seung, the DP’s chief spokesperson, said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is kind of funny, but I have to wonder where in Texas did they purchase jerseys from a Scottish professional soccer team?:

STAYC was seen wearing the wrong “Rangers” uniform during the girl group’s concert held in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday as part of its world tour.[JUN.DY]

STAYC was seen wearing the wrong “Rangers” uniform during the girl group’s concert held in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday as part of its world tour. 
  
Instead of wearing jerseys for the Texas Rangers baseball team — a Major League Baseball team — the group’s members wore uniforms of Rangers Football Club, a Scottish professional soccer club based in Glasgow, Scotland, during the performance, leaving fans to wonder whether the agency didn’t know they are two different teams. 
  
“We had a bit of a mix-up as we were purchasing the uniforms,” STAYC’s agency, Highup Entertainment told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Wednesday, admitting there was a mistake.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.