Author: GIKorea

It looks like South Korea will not be providing any lethal military aid to Ukraine:

U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks during a press conference at the Korean press center in Washington D.C., Tuesday (local time). Yonhap

A discussion on the Ukraine war will be included on the agenda of the upcoming summit between Presidents Yoon Suk Yeol and Joe Biden, but the U.S. will not ask Korea to provide military aid to Kyiv, a high-ranking U.S. official said, Tuesday (local time).

“We absolutely had every expectation that the war in Ukraine will be discussed as a part of this state visit, but we certainly would not speak for President Yoon and for any additional support he may or may not be willing to provide,” U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said at a press conference with Korean press.

“Every nation has to decide for itself whether or not it will support Ukraine and to what degree it’s willing to support Ukraine. Some nations provide advanced lethal capabilities, some nations do not. We respect those sovereign decisions,” he said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is probably something that minors across the world should be allowed to do. If fact I would support raising the age to something like 21 to allow people to erase online content:

People dress up as cartoon and game characters at the 2022 Seoul Pop Culture Convention held at COEX in southern Seoul on Aug. 25, 2022. [YONHAP]

Young people now have the ability to erase digital records made when they were minors, the Personal Information Protection Commission said Monday.      
   
They can remove private information, such as names, addresses, ages and photos from internet searches and social media posts.  
   
People who started using smartphones at a young age will now be able to delete any shameful posts they uploaded as kids.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how the South Korean government and Samsung react to this request:

Samsung Electronics’ chip plant in Xi’an, China [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix should not sell chips to China to make up for the shortfall in supply following China’s sanctioning of Micron, the White House has told the Korean government.    
   
The Financial Times reported Sunday that the Joe Biden administration reached out to Seoul to ask for a cap on the chip sales, although neither government confirmed.  
   
If the Yoon Suk Yeol government acts on the request, the push could exacerbate weaknesses at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which have been hit hard as a result of oversupply. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

President Yoon reasons for pushing forward cooperation with Japan for security reasons make perfect sense considering the hostile neighbors South Korea is surrounded by. Why not make friends with the one neighbor that doesn’t want to destroy or subjugate your country?:

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (R), alongside first lady Kim Keon Hee, waves at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on April 24, 2023, as he embarks on a six-day state visit to the United States. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol reaffirmed his commitment to moving relations with Japan forward, saying in an interview published Monday that he cannot accept the notion Japan “must kneel because of our history 100 years ago.”

Yoon made the remark in an interview with The Washington Post, referring to Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea during which a series of atrocities were committed, such as mobilization of Koreans as sex slaves and for forced labor.

“Europe has experienced several wars for the past 100 years and despite that, warring countries have found ways to cooperate for the future,” Yoon was quoted as saying during the interview. 

“I can’t accept the notion that because of what happened 100 years ago, something is absolutely impossible (to do) and that they (Japanese) must kneel (for forgiveness) because of our history 100 years ago. And this is an issue that requires decision. … In terms of persuasion, I believe I did my best,” he said.

Yoon also said South Korea’s security concerns were too urgent to delay cooperation with Tokyo, though some critics would never be convinced.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The reality has set in with South Korea’s youth that North Korea has become such a different country that unification is not likely:

This file photo, taken March 13, 2023, shows the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint industrial park in the North’s border city of Kaesong. (Yonhap)

About 60 percent of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s said unification with North Korea is not necessary, a survey showed Sunday, amid a prolonged impasse in inter-Korean relations and denuclearization talks. 

The survey, commissioned by a civic media group called Barun Media Citizen Action, found that 61 percent of people in their 20s and 30s say Korean reunification is “not absolutely necessary.” 

In comparison, 24 percent of them say unification with North Korea is “absolutely necessary.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the good news from this survey is that 67% percent of Korean youths had a positive opinion of the U.S. For Japan the number was 63% had a positive view which shows that all the politically demagoguery towards Japan has not caused the majority of Korean youths to despise the country.

As long as President Emperor Xi is in charge, I don’t think the Chinese are interested in dialogue with Taiwan when they saw how effective blunt force was to crush Hong Kong and no one did anything to stop it. They are waiting for the right moment to use force against Taiwan as well when they feel like no one can stop them as well:

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the Department of State, is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on April 21, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

A U.S. state department spokesperson on Friday echoed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s recent remarks against China changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force.

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also said the United States will continue to work with its allies, including South Korea, to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in dialogue with Taiwan,” the spokesperson told a daily press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.