Author: GIKorea

Well it looks like we know what North Korea’s next provocation is going to be:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) and his daughter, known as Ju-ae, visit the North’s space development agency on April 18, 2023, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Pyongyang has completed building its first military spy satellite and ordered final preparations to launch the satellite as planned, the North’s state media reported Wednesday, in a move that is expected to further heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim made the remarks during an on-site inspection to the North’s space development agency a day earlier, as Pyongyang has vowed to complete preparations of the launch of a military spy satellite by the end of this month, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a very unfortunate accident that cost the life of a Japanese Army Division Commander who was doing his first battlefield circulation around Japan’s southwest islands:

An X marks the spot where a section of the crashed Japanese army helicopter’s fuselage and five bodies were discovered north of Irabu Island on Thursday, April 13, 2023. (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)

Search parties recovered two more bodies Monday from the submerged wreckage of a Japanese military helicopter that crashed in the East China Sea nearly two weeks ago with 10 aboard, including a lieutenant general.

Four victims’ remains have been brought up since Sunday from the site in 350 feet of water just offshore of Irabu Island, southwest of Okinawa. The UH-60JA Black Hawk of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force disappeared from radar at 3:56 p.m. April 6 during a reconnaissance flight 11 miles northwest of Miyako Airport.

Japanese divers recovered one body Monday morning and the other several hours later, a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. Japanese authorities have yet to identify any of the recovered bodies. 

Just one body remains in a section of the Black Hawk’s fuselage discovered Sunday morning, the spokesman said. The remaining five individuals aboard the helicopter are unaccounted for.

The Black Hawk was on a reconnaissance flight 11 miles northwest of Miyako Airport when it went down with a mixed crew aboard, including Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force’s 8th Division; five members of the division’s headquarters staff; four members of the Air Self-Defense Force’s 8th Wing; and a member of Camp Miyako’s security force.

Sakamoto, 55, was appointed division commander March 31. He previously served as commander of the 12th Brigade.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is horrible that this rental scam has caused three people to commit suicide. Hopefully no one else loses their lives over this fraud:

The woman is the third victim of a recent rental scam to have apparently taken their own life.

She had reported herself as a victim of a massive swindle case by a local builder, who was arrested in February for failing to return a combined 12.5 billion won (US$9.518 million) in rental deposits he had received for 161 apartment units in Michuhol between January and July last year.

The deceased was unable to retrieve her deposit of 90 million won after the apartment she was living in was put up for auction in June last year, according to a group of tenants who fell prey to the scam.

Two other victims also died by apparent suicide in the same ward on Feb. 28 and last Friday, respectively.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The IRA may have the intended effect of forcing foreign manufacturers such as Hyundai to increase U.S. based manufacturing and getting rid of their Chinese batteries:

Hyundai Motor Group is facing an uphill battle in the U.S. market for electric vehicles (EV), because its car brands ― Hyundai Motor, Kia and Genesis ― were not included on a list of EVs eligible for up to $7,500 in subsidies granted by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), according to industry officials, Tuesday.

Previously, EVs could qualify for the tax credit as long as they were assembled in North America, but they had to meet stricter battery requirements.

However, detailed guidance measures released last month guarantee only a $3,750 subsidy for EVs that use at least 50 percent of battery components manufactured and assembled in North America, even if the vehicles were assembled in the region. Another $3,750 is available when at least 40 percent of key minerals used in the batteries are mined and processed in the U.S. or its free trade agreement partners.

Under the detailed guidelines of the IRA, EVs manufactured by Hyundai did not make the list. The Electrified GV70, an SUV model of the group’s luxury brand Genesis, was also excluded as it is equipped with Chinese batteries.

In addition to Hyundai Motor Group’s EVs, other brands such as Nissan, which was eligible for the subsidy because it has factories in North America, were also dropped from the list. The eligible cars are made by American brands such as Tesla, Ford, GM and Stellantis.

In response, Hyundai Motor Group said it plans to increase EV production in the U.S. over the long term, aiming to become a leader in the market for such vehicles. The group added it will actively utilize lease sales that qualify for tax credits.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Who would have thought an idiot 21 year old National Guardsman trying to win Internet arguments in a Discord chatroom would cause a massive slide in President Yoon’s approval ratings?:

Kim Tae-hyo, deputy national security director, speaks to reporters at Incheon International Airport, Saturday, after returning from his Washington trip. Yonhap

Expectations were high among presidential aides and ruling party politicians only two weeks ago when it was announced that President Yoon Suk Yeol would address the U.S. Congress on April 27 during his trip to Washington. 

Many thought that his state visit to the United States ― the first by a Korean head of state in 12 years ― would help him recover his image as a trusted leader and put a stop to his declining approval ratings following his hasty and controversial push to improve relations with Japan.

Yet skepticism is now growing that his visit will do little to achieve those goals. A mix of U.S. surveillance allegations, Washington’s irresponsible response and ― most importantly ― the Yoon administration’s poor handling of the situation has put the president in another political bind.

On Saturday, nearly 20,000 protesters gathered in the streets of central Seoul, denouncing the administration for its “humiliating diplomacy.”

“Despite the thief who stole our secret safe before the U.S. trip, [the administration] claims that it was a good thief and had goodwill,” activist Kim Min-woong said during the protest. “Shouldn’t the U.S. apologize? This country (Korea) has become a global pushover, which does not complain even when its sovereignty is violated. Humiliating.” (……)

With the U.S. offering no public apologies or promises to stop spying on Korea, the public has been upset, and they’re taking it out on Yoon. According to a poll released by Gallup Korea Friday, the president’s approval rating dropped to 27 percent from 31 percent a week ago, with 28 percent of the respondents disapproving of his diplomatic activities as their main reason. It was the first time his approval rating fell below 30 percent since November 2022 following the Itaewon crowd disaster, which killed at least 158 people.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but it is no surprise that the Korean left is demagoguing this issue acting like the ROK doesn’t collect intelligence on the United States.

I hope what is going on in Ukraine right now is motivating the Taiwanese to do more to improve their own defensive posture because these leaked documents make it sound like they have a lot of work to do:

Taiwan is unlikely to thwart Chinese military air superiority in a cross-strait conflict, while tactics such as China’s use of civilian ships for military purposes have eroded U.S. spy agencies’ ability to detect a pending invasion, according to leaked Pentagon assessments that contain troubling details about the self-governed island’s ability to fend off war.

The assessments state that Taiwan officials doubt their air defenses can “accurately detect missile launches,” that barely more than half of Taiwan’s aircraft are fully mission capable and that moving the jets to shelters would take at least a week – a huge problem if China launched missiles before Taiwan had a chance to disperse those planes.

The classified documents addressing a potential conflict suggest China’s air force would have a much better shot at establishing early control of the skies – a strategy that Taipei itself believes will underpin an attack – than Russia did in Ukraine.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.