Author: GIKorea

It seems to me being effectively exihiled to Ghana is quite a bit of punishment already to go along with whatever jail sentence he gets in Korea:

A man in his 80s, suspected of transporting more than 5 tons of narcotics aboard a fishing vessel in waters off South America in the early 2000s, has been repatriated to South Korea after spending 22 years on the run, police said Monday.

The Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) said the man, whose identity was withheld, was brought back home on Oct. 20 in coordination with the Busan Coast Guard after being deported by authorities in Ghana, where he had been hiding for about 22 years.

The man is accused of transporting narcotics on behalf of a drug trafficking organization on five separate occasions in international waters off South America between 2002 and 2004, when he was serving as a supervisor of a deep-sea fishing vessel, and receiving payment for the shipments.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is what North Korea has always done, play off the Chinese and Russians to their advantage:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un lays a flower basket at the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea in Dandong, China, Saturday. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s trip to the Chinese border city of Dandong, made days before the anniversary of Chinese troops entering the 1950-53 Korean War, was aimed at reaffirming the historic blood ties between the two countries at a moment when Pyongyang’s alignment with Moscow has drawn Beijing’s attention, experts said. 

North’s state-run Rodong Sinmun on Sunday reported Kim’s visit to the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea in Dandong the previous day. The state media repeatedly emphasized Kim’s paying tribute to fallen Chinese troops, remembering their shared history of fighting alongside North Korean forces and preserving ties forged in blood.

Kang Dong-wan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dong-A University, said the focus on China’s role in the war was deliberate, coming after a period in which the Beijing relationship had weakened relative to Pyongyang’s deepening partnership with Moscow, including the North’s troop deployment to Russia.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This was a predictable response from the same group of people that lied about not torpedoing the Cheonan:

North Korean soldiers work on what appears to be a mission to construct tactical roads and fences near a border area, seen from South Korea’s western border island of Ganghwa, Oct. 22. Yonhap

North Korea has sent a letter to the president of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) calling last month’s land mine blast near the border an incident “fabricated” by South Korea, Pyongyang’s state media reported Monday.

The North’s move came less than a week after South Korea sent to the council its own letter calling on North Korea to apologize for the Sept. 21 mine blast that injured three South Korean soldiers and take responsibility for its violation of the Armistice Agreement.

The letter, sent Sunday by Pyongyang’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said Seoul “fabricated” the mine blast in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as a “sinister” attempt to “impede” the North’s border fortification work, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

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

These slap on the hand sentences will do nothing to deter future illegal protests. These people should be jailed to send a message:

A court on Thursday found 34 student activists guilty of trespassing on the then presidential compound and a U.S. military base between 2022 and 2024.

The Seoul Western District Court sentenced a senior leader of the Korean Progressive University Student Union (KPUSU) to a suspended four-month prison term and ordered 32 other members to pay fines ranging from 1 million won (US$756) to 6 million won. One other member received a deferred sentence of a 1 million-won fine.

Two others were indicted but acquitted.

The students faced multiple charges, including trespassing on a U.S. military installation in South Korea in August 2022 and March 2023 to stage rallies against joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

In January and October 2024, they attempted to illegally enter what was then the presidential compound in Seoul’s Yongsan Ward to demand the resignation of then President Yoon Suk Yeol and a special counsel investigation into then first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This will go no where because China and Russia will do nothing in response:

South Korea has sent a letter to the president of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) over last month’s land mine explosion incident near the inter-Korean border that injured three South Korean soldiers, calling for North Korea to apologize and take responsibility for the incident, according to officials Thursday.

South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Cha Ji-hoon sent the roughly two-page letter to his Greek counterpart, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency, outlining the findings of an investigation into the Sept. 21 explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), according to the South Korean mission to the U.N.

The letter is said to emphasize that the explosion was caused by a land mine planted by North Korean troops and constituted a violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement.

It also called on Pyongyang to take responsible measures and engage in dialogue to prevent further escalation and restore trust.

A South Korean government official said the letter was expected to be circulated among Security Council members following approval by the council president. It is expected to be posted on the UNSC website.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but a strongly worded letter on a UN website will do nothing to deter North Korea on this issue.

I agree with this retired admiral that Japan should be the country that takes the lead in defending their own homeland from China’s gray zone tactics:

“The fact that Japan and the U.S. — the U.S. military and the Japan Self-Defense Force are frequently holding joint exercises, joint drills — is something that China will be watching,” Yamamoto said. “This is something that is a strong deterrence, especially on the level of the military practitioners.” However, Japan should take the lead responding to Chinese gray zone activities, Yamamoto said. “It needs to be a Japanese response,” he told reporters. “You can have the U.S. as supporting the Japanese response, but … I don’t think we need something where the U.S. is on the front line.”

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link about the gray zone tactics being used by China around Japan’s southwest islands, including Okinawa. Another interesting recommendation the admiral makes is that Japan should mobilize not only its military to counter these tactics, but also its government and civilian sectors. He discusses how the Chinese use fishing boats as part of a maritime militia, and it appears the Japanese admiral thinks Japan should do the same thing in response.