Another U.S. Soldier has self selected himself out of continued service it looks like:
An American soldier suspected of assaulting a South Korean bus driver was arrested over the weekend by police in Suwon city, according to a police official.
Police allege that a junior enlisted soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys boarded a tourist bus around 6:40 a.m. Sunday and “made a commotion” by yelling, a spokesman for the Suwon Seobu police station told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.
South Korean law enforcement officials customarily speak to the media on the condition of anonymity and do not publicly identify criminal suspects until trial. Suwon is roughly 20 miles north of Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.
The bus driver was pushed to the ground while attempting to restrain the soldier, the spokesman said. The driver notified police, who apprehended the soldier at a convenience store about 330 yards from the bus.
The bus driver and police officers at the scene said they smelled alcohol on the soldier’s breath, the spokesman said. Police will review security camera footage from the bus and plan to interview the soldier at a later date.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
This guy claims President Yoon has ruined the country and wants to kill him:
Police said Monday they were tracking a suspect who posted a terror threat online toward President Yoon Suk Yeol.
According to police, a 112 report was filed Sunday night that a terror threat had been posted to a moderate conservative online community.
he suspect uploaded the post at 10:22 p.m. on Sunday along with a photo of a pistol. The registration number of the pistol was covered.
“I bought the pistol with cryptocurrency and finally received it. The president has ruined the country and I will save the country by killing the president,” he wrote. The post was deleted some hours later.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
This is really horrible for everyone that lost their homes. Hopefully the firefighters can quickly get this under control:
Hundreds of residents and tourists evacuated from a wildfire that spread fast with strong winds blowing across Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Tuesday, amid growing concerns over additional damages due to high winds and dry weather.
According to the Gangwon Fire Headquarters, the forest fire broke out in Nangok-dong of Gangneung, Gangwon Province, at around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and the flames began to spread to houses nearby and other areas through strong winds. About 103 hectares of forest, the size of 144 soccer fields, were damaged and about 40 homes were destroyed. No casualties were reported as of 1 p.m., but authorities said they were having difficulties in extinguishing the fire as they were unable to dispatch helicopters due to strong winds.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
Here is something both the PRC and DPRK do not want to see happen which means it is a positive development:
South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold a trilateral senior-level defense meeting in the U.S. later this week, an informed source said Monday, amid joint efforts to sharpen deterrence against North Korean threats.
The deputy minister-level Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) is set to take place Friday (U.S. time), according to the source who requested anonymity. The last DTT session was held virtually in 2020.
The three sides are expected to discuss ways to flesh out last year’s summit agreement by their leaders to share missile warning data in real time to counter the North’s nuclear and missile threats.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
President Yoon is facing criticism to find out how the US collected intelligence on their internal discussions on providing artillery shells to Ukraine. I am willing to bet people were talking on their cell phones about it which anyone can tap and listen into. It could have additionally come from using non-secure email. Anything said over a cellphone or non-secure email you may as well concede that someone can tap into it if they want to:
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| The presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul / Courtesy of presidential office |
Revelations of alleged wiretapping of the South Korean government by U.S. intelligence is feared to overshadow President Yoon Suk Yeol’s scheduled summit with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden later this month.
Korea Times
Yoon is facing growing domestic pressure to demand the truth and seek an apology from Washington. But this also presents a tough choice for the president to make, since such demands could spoil the mood as the two countries are set to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their alliance during the summit.
According to The New York Times and other Western media reports, classified military and intelligence documents that have been trending online in recent weeks contain internal discussions of the South Korean government on whether to provide the U.S. with artillery shells to be used in Ukraine, violating Seoul’s policy of not providing lethal weapons.
In the documents, which were identified as being from the CIA, former presidential secretary for foreign affairs Lee Moon-hee ― referred to as Yi Mun-hui in the documents ― reported to former Director of National Security Kim Sung-han that Yoon and Biden should not speak on the phone before Seoul forms a clear stance on supplying ammunition to Ukraine.
Lee noted that Seoul cannot go against its own stance of not providing lethal weapons. Thus, the only option is to change its stance. However, Kim raised concerns that such a move could be interpreted as a compromise between Yoon’s state visit to the U.S. and the ammunition deal, while he “suggested the possibility” of selling munitions to Poland, according to the report.
After the alleged wiretapping was revealed, the presidential office said it will “have necessary consultations with the U.S.” and “explore measures by reviewing past precedents in other countries.”
You can read more at the link.
South Korea just reported their first locally transmitted case of the monkeypox:
Health authorities reported the nation’s first locally transmitted case of monkeypox Saturday, bringing the total number of infections to six.
The South Korean national, who has no recent overseas travel history, tested positive for the disease the previous day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The person visited a hospital with a skin rash Monday and was reported to health authorities as a suspected monkeypox case Thursday.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
