Author: GIKorea

It is pretty clear that the Yoon administration has declared war on the violent and pro-North Korean KCTU. Here is the latest front he has opened up on them:

Eradicating illegal practices at construction sites has been a central part of labor reform, one of the Yoon administration’s top three areas of reform along with education and pensions, the presidential office said.

Since late last year, the land ministry has run a designated team to respond to violence at construction sites while the police have operated a 200-day special crackdown period, it added.

The government’s hard-line stance comes as construction unions affiliated with the country’s two major umbrella labor organizations — the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions — have been accused of coercing employers to hire their union members for construction jobs.

“Militant labor unions with vested rights continue to overtly carry out illegal actions at construction sites, such as demanding money and goods, forcing hiring and obstructing construction,” Yoon said during the Cabinet meeting.

“As a result, workers are losing their jobs and construction is being poorly done. The damage is being passed on to the people, with delays in the opening of new elementary schools and move-ins to new apartments,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if the KCTU loses its government subsidies and has to give up their extortion practices this is going to greatly hinder them financially. On top of that the KCTU is being investigated for their part in a North Korea spy ring by the government.

I wonder if this a threat to fire missiles over Japan again into the greater Pacific Ocean?:

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, again blamed South Korea and the U.S. for fueling tensions on the peninsula with their plans for combined military exercises.

“The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the U.S.,” she said in a statement through KCNA. 

She added that North Korea is closely observing the movements of U.S. strategic assets, vowing to take “corresponding counteraction” to what it deems as a threat to its security.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Why is the Korean government giving subsidies to violent pro-North Korean labor unions in the first place?:

 President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Monday of “firm action” against labor unions that refuse to disclose their account books while receiving large amounts of government subsidies, his office said.

Yoon’s warning came during a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as they discussed ways to increase labor unions’ accounting transparency and regulatory reforms, according to presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

“The president stressed once again that the starting point for labor union reform is transparency of labor union accounting,” Lee said during a press briefing.

“There is no choice but to take firm action against behavior that uses hundreds of billions of won from taxpayers’ precious money in government subsidies, but denies the rule of law and refuses to disclose the details of their use,” Yoon was quoted as saying.

The hundreds of billions of won was an apparent reference to People Power Party Rep. Kweon Seong-dong’s recent claim that the country’s two largest umbrella unions — the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions — received 152.1 billion won (US$117.4 million) in subsidies from the labor ministry and regional governments between 2018 and 2022.

Meanwhile, only 120 out of 327 labor unions and groups with 1,000 or more members complied with the government’s request for accounting records from Feb. 1-15, according to the labor ministry.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Yoon administration says they will cut off all funding if these unions do not open their books for inspection. They are probably all furiously cooking their books now to try and cover up irregularities before any inspection.

China hopes that all parties of the Korean Peninsula issue will stay committed to seeking a political settlement. #cgtnamerica https://t.co/PyY3TkEvae

— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) February 20, 2023

North Korea has continued its war against the fish of the East Sea this weekend:

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Monday, Seoul’s military said, a day after South Korea and the United States staged joint air drills, involving B-1B bombers, in response to the North’s long-range missile launch.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Sukchon area in South Pyongan Province between 7 a.m. and 7:11 a.m., and that the missiles flew some 390 kilometers and 340 km, respectively.

Hours after the launch, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the artillery unit of the Korean People’s Army fired two shots from the 600-mm multiple rocket launcher during firing drills, and that they flew 395 km and 337 km, respectively.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Via a reader tip comes news that quite possibly the most infamous criminal in USFK history has passed away at age 50 in West Virginia:

Kenneth Lee “Kennet” Markle, III, 50, of Keyser, WV, died Tuesday, February 14, 2023 in Keyser.

Born on June 7, 1972 in Wurzburg, Germany, he was a son of Kenneth L. Markle, Jr. and Helen M. “Mickey” (Hickey) Markle, of Keyser. He was preceded in death by an infant brother, Jarrod Markle and his grandparents, Kenneth L. Markle, Sr., Wanda P. Markle and John and Edith Hickey.

Kennet was a 1990 graduate of Keyser High School and was employed as a project manager in the cellular communications industry. He was an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Tribute Archive

For those that don’t know who Kenneth Markle is, I recommend reading my below prior posting about him:

GI Flashbacks: The 1992 Private Kenneth Markle Murder Case

I also recommend reading the below prior posting where Markle’s alleged ex-girlfriends describe what he is like in the comments section:

Convicted USFK Murderer Speaks Out

I have actually met Markle before when he was still being held in the foreigner prison down in Cheonan. He was the person that used to pick up the mail from people that would go and check up on the prisoners there. He was actually very polite when I interacted with him. However, since his release from Korean prison in 2006 he went on to continue a life of crime in West Virginia:

Two Mineral County men were arrested Monday when they were served arrest warrants by Keyser Police at two locations.

Kenneth Lee Markle, 44, of Keyser, was charged with 24 counts of nighttime burglary and 74 counts of unauthorized use of a debit card, police said.

Markle was arrested at a North Water Street residence late Monday and granted pre-trial release after posting $15,000 bond, police said. 

Cumberland Times-News

Markle actually contacted me a few years after he got out claiming his innocence and that if I read the court transcripts I would understand he was not a murderer. I offered to post the complete transcripts on the ROK Drop and he never sent them to me. His side of the story is that he hit the victim in the head with a coke bottle after she attacked him and was alive when left the room. He claims someone else killed her and violated her body. He told himself that bogus story for so long he probably actually believed it after a while.

Judging by this collage of mugshots that ROK Drop commenter Chickenhead has put together, I would not be surprised that besides being a thief that Markle was a meth-head as well:

This officially closes the chapter on Kenneth Markle and hopefully those impacted by his crimes get some solace that he will not be able to victimize anyone else ever again.

I hope everyone who is getting a long weekend is enjoying it! Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

The North Koreans are continuing to make sure the world doesn’t lose attention on them:

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Saturday, Japan’s Defense Ministry said, with the weapon splashing down some 200 kilometers off Hokkaido’s Oshima Island, inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The missile, the first “ICBM-class” weapon to be fired by the North since November, traveled roughly 900 km, hitting a peak altitude of 5,700 km, the ministry said. With a flight time of 66 minutes, the missile was likely flown on a “lofted” trajectory, the ministry added, meaning it had been nearly shot straight up so as to avoid overflying neighboring countries.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan had protested the launch, calling it “an outrage” and escalation against “the international community as a whole.”

The Defense Ministry said the ICBM-class weapon was believed to have a range of over 14,000 km, depending on the weight of the warhead and other factors.

“In this case, that would put the entire United States within its range,” Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.

Japan Times

A camera from the city of Hakodate on Hokkaido appears to have even caught the ICBM reentering the atmosphere:

北朝鮮から発射された弾道ミサイルが北海道西方の日本海に落下したとみられるのとほぼ同じ時刻、NHKが函館放送局に設置したカメラには火の玉のようなものが落下していく映像が捉えられていました。https://t.co/UYEfF16kR9#nhk_video pic.twitter.com/JvOcNRHwTp

— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) February 18, 2023

This next graphic shows the trajectory of the ICBM that landed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone:

北朝鮮発射のミサイル「火星17型」か 防衛省 警戒・監視を継続 #nhk_news https://t.co/5LNwkBgO2p

— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) February 18, 2023

According to the article the launch is believed to be in response to a table top exercise next week between the U.S. and the ROK militaries where they will plan on how to defend against North Korean nuclear attacks.

This is definitely a sign of how bad the political discourse in South Korea has become:

Controversy is growing over an event arranged by a left-wing civic group, which allowed participants to shoot toy arrows at photos of President Yoon Suk Yeol, first lady Kim Keon Hee and Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon. 

Critics said the event encouraged excessive hatred that is already prevalent in Korean society, noting that it should be taken seriously as even children were welcomed to participate. 

The event was part of a rally held Saturday in central Seoul by a civic group calling for the resignation of the Yoon government and for a special counsel probe into stock manipulation allegations involving the first lady. Han, who was a senior prosecutor, is a close aide of Yoon. 

“The prosecutor-turned-president has abused the prosecution’s power all over the country, threatening the country’s democracy,” said Rep. Lee Su-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, who participated in the rally.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.