Author: GIKorea

Here are what Korea experts are saying about the China spy balloon controversy:

Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said an intensifying U.S.-Sino rivalry is not favorable to the security situation on the peninsula, adding, “We would see China’s role regarding North Korea’s nuclear issue diminishing following the balloon saga.”

Cho said it is noteworthy that South Korea and the U.S. staged combined air drills involving strategic bombers and stealth fighters over the West Sea, which is right under China’s nose. 

“South Korea and the U.S. conducted combined air drills, involving B-1B strategic bombers, and F-22, F-35A and F-35B stealth jets, over the West Sea on Feb. 1. Two days later, another drill with the stealth fighters occurred, which is unprecedented,” he said.

“Given that the U.S. first detected the balloon on Jan. 28, the drills served as a U.S. warning to China in response to the spy balloon.”

Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said China has always been part of the North Korean problem rather than part of the solution. 

“Beijing would occasionally allow incremental stronger U.N. resolutions in response to egregious North Korean provocations only to subsequently turn a blind eye to violations of those resolutions by Chinese entities,” he said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Bruce Klingner is right, China has no intentions of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. They are more than happy to pretend to be trying to solve the issue from time to time without actually doing anything.

I think North Korea knows that China will more publicly have its back at the UN making it more likely they will go ahead with more provocative ICBM and nuclear tests in the future.

It was party time in North Korea:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a nighttime military parade in Pyongyang earlier this week to mark the 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces, photos carried by state media showed Thursday.

Flanked by top military and party officials, Kim took to the reviewing stand to watch the military parade held in Kim Il Sung Square on Wednesday to mark the Korean People’s Army (KPA) anniversary, according to photos released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Clad in a long black coat and wearing a felt hat, Kim smiled and waved to the crowd. His outfit was reminiscent of those of the country’s late founder, Kim Il-sung.

The KCNA has not released any report on the details of the military parade, including whether Kim delivered a speech.

According to satellite images from the U.S.-based space technology firm Maxar Technologies, the North appears to have paraded a range of new ballistic missiles, including its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on a mobile launcher.

Though many of the missiles remain unidentified, some observers raised the possibility that the list of the missiles on display might include a solid-propellant one that the North has recently been working on.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but with the parade over I guess we will see if the North Koreans decide to fire one of the ICBMs off or not.

President Yoon become the first president in seven years to chair the annual Integrated Defense Council meeting. He plans to chair the meeting every year while he is president:

 President Yoon Suk Yeol accused the previous administration on Wednesday of weakening the country’s defense posture by neglecting necessary drills and relying on a “fake peace.”

Yoon made the remark while presiding over the annual central integrated defense council meeting in an apparent reference to former President Moon Jae-in’s push for reconciliation with North Korea.

Critics have argued the Moon administration’s peace drive bought North Korea time to advance its missile and nuclear weapons programs.

“Under the previous government the meeting was downsized, and integrated drills between the civil sector, government, military and police were not properly implemented because of its reliance on fake peace,” Yoon said during the meeting held at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae.

“As a result, there was a weakening in combining all national defense powers into one and in the implementation of the nationwide all-out war for the defense of the nation,” he said.

The meeting, designed to assess the country’s overall defense posture, was attended by some 160 officials and experts from the central and local governments, the National Intelligence Service, the military, police, Coast Guard and national fire agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but to be fair the previous Moon administration is not solely responsible for the current nuclear and missile threats the ROK now faces from North Korea. Every Korean president since the Kim Dae-jung administration that has paid off North Korea is responsible for funding the military threat the ROK now faces.

Kim Jong-un seems to really be enjoying bringing his daughter around with him on these visits now:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the barracks of the country’s general-grade officers together with his daughter to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the armed forces, according to state media Wednesday.

In a speech at a banquet Tuesday following his visit, Kim praised the Korean People’s Army (KPA) as “the strongest troops in the world,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“For the everlasting peace, prosperity and development on this land, we’ve developed great and absolute power while enduring so many sufferings and pain,” Kim said, apparently pointing to the North’s nuclear force.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Kim did not make any comments towards the ROK and the United States.

It is amazing how far the Cho Kuk family has fallen for something likely many other Korean politicians and other in positions of power are guilty of as well:

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his daughter Cho Min have been facing criticism over their unrepentant attitude toward the high-profile corruption scandal involving their family. 

According to legal sources, Tuesday, the Seoul Central District Court reprimanded Cho Kuk while sentencing him to two years in prison last Friday, saying he has never reflected on his wrongdoings.

The former minister, who was indicted in 2019, was found guilty of multiple charges, including using his influence to help his two children gain entry into universities and graduate schools. The court, however, did not immediately incarcerate him, citing escape was not a concern. 

“Cho Kuk has continued to argue against objective evidence even after he stood before this court,” the court said in its ruling. “He has continued to turn a blind eye to his wrongdoings and never reflected on them. Consequently, imposing harsh penalties on him is unavoidable.”

The court said the corruption involving his children’s school admission was contrary to social expectations and obligation as a renowned professor, and that it damaged justice in the country’s school admissions system. 

Cho Kuk was an outspoken liberal law professor at Seoul National University until he served under the previous Moon Jae-in administration.

On the same day, the court gave another year in prison to the former minister’s wife Chung Kyung-sim ― who is already serving a four-year sentence for academic fraud ― on related charges. 

Despite their parents’ conviction, Cho Min said she did not feel ashamed of herself at all, during an interview with left-leaning broadcaster Kim Ou-joon.

The interview, filmed Friday, the day her father was convicted, was aired on Monday through Kim’s YouTube channel. It marked the first time that Cho Min had shown her face since the corruption scandal involving the family made headlines in 2019. 

“Prosecutors, media and political circles were so harsh to my family for the past four years,” Cho Min said. 

The younger Cho passed the state exam to become a doctor and graduated from the medical school of Pusan National University (PNU) located in the southern port city of Busan in 2021.

But the medical school decided to revoke her admission in the same year following her mother’s conviction over forging her daughter’s academic records to gain entry to the school.

Cho Min has filed a lawsuit, requesting the court to cancel this decision, with trials still underway. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I can under why the daughter is unrepentant because she has a lot to lose if she doesn’t win her court case by not becoming a doctor.

Add this to the list of things you can’t do in South Korea, sell a K-Pop star’s lost hat:

Prosecutors have summarily indicted a former foreign ministry employee on charges of attempting to sell BTS member Jungkook‘s lost hat online for 10 million won (US$7,950), legal sources said Tuesday.

The former government employee, whose identity has been withheld, allegedly shared a photo of the bucket hat on an online flea market, claiming the K-pop superstar had left it at the ministry building in Seoul when he visited to apply for a passport.

The seller further said he had acquired the ownership of the hat since no one came to claim it for six months after it was reported as lost property. Following controversies, he deleted the post and surrendered voluntarily to police.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office investigating the case has summarily indicted him, seeking a punishment of fines for embezzlement charges.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.