Author: GIKorea

The Korean left are continuing their attacks on the first lady:

The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol again rejected stock manipulation allegations involving first lady Kim Keon Hee on Tuesday as the main opposition party stepped up its calls for a special prosecutor investigation.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has vowed to push for a special probe into the first lady after a court last week acquitted financiers in the stock manipulation scheme involving Deutsch Motors Inc., a BMW car dealer in South Korea, citing the expiration of the statute of limitations.

The DP has long accused Kim of playing the role of a financier and having her stock account managed and used in the manipulation. 

But the court’s acquittal of the financiers makes it unnecessary to look into related suspicions related to the first lady for dealings covered between December 2009 and September 2010, a period where the statute of the limitations has expired.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but according to the Presidential office the lead investor who made 455 stock trades during this timeframe was found innocent by the court while Kim Keon-hee made only 3 trades. So the logic is how can 3 trades be considered stock manipulation when 455 trades is not?

To me this all seems like payback for the prosecutors continuing their investigation into the opposition leader Lee Jae-myung for his alleged corrupt dealings as the Gyeongi province governor.

Apparently the family waited too long to file a claim after the Korean Supreme Court issued their initial ruling of compensation for forced labor victims back in 2012:

A Seoul court on Tuesday ruled against the family of a man enslaved to work for Japan during World War II in a damages suit they filed against a Japanese company.

The man, surnamed Kim, was mobilized to work at a construction site operated by Japanese company Nishimatsu Construction in North Hamgyong Province in what is now North Korea in 1942 while the entire Korean peninsula was under Japan’s colonial rule, his family said. 

Kim died two years later while working at the construction site, and a South Korean government committee in 2006 recognized him as a victim of Japan’s wartime forced labor. 

Five family members of Kim filed the civil suit against Nishimatsu in 2019 on behalf of him, seeking about 70 million won (US$55,183) in compensation. 

The Seoul Central District Court ruled the statute of limitations on the case already expired as it concluded the damages case against the plaintiffs.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is definitely an issue that needs to be resolved before bilateral relations between the ROK and Japan can move forward more collaboratively. Expect all the DPRK and PRC agitators to do all they can to stoke this issue with the Korean public in order to prevent Japan and the ROK from moving forward with bilateral relations.

It looks like the Chinese are now violating the territorial waters of Japan for spy purposes as well:

Tokyo lodged a diplomatic complaint with Beijing on Sunday after a Chinese navy vessel entered Japan’s territorial waters off the southern tip of its main islands, according to Japanese government statements.

A Shupang-class survey ship crossed the 12-mile territorial limit around Yakushima, an island 40 miles south of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that day.

The vessel remained for slightly less than two hours before exiting to the southwest of neighboring Kuchinoerabu island, the statement said.

The survey vessel’s intrusion was the first of the year by the Chinese navy, according to the Ministry of Defense website. Shupang-class survey vessels made five intrusions in 2022, according to the ministry.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This would be a huge development if it comes to fruition:

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says he’d consider a reciprocal military access agreement with Japan to guard his country’s fishermen and sea territory amid tension with China.

“If it will be of help to the Philippines in terms of protecting, for example, our fishermen, protecting our maritime territory, if it’s going to help, then … I don’t see why we should not adopt it,” Marcos said, according to an official transcript of an interview with reporters on his flight back Sunday from a five-day official trip to Tokyo.

Philippine officials are assessing whether such an agreement would help their country or worsen tensions in the South China Sea, Marcos said.

“We have to be careful also because we do not want to appear provocative,” he said. “That instead of calming the situation in the South China Sea, we would heighten it, right? That’s not what we want.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida “briefly” discussed the concept of a defense pact when the two leaders met on Thursday, Marcos said. That day, the pair signed an agreement that allows Japan to deploy its forces for humanitarian missions and disaster response in the Philippines, The Associated Press reported Friday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but any military agreement the Philippines signs with Japan will be taken as provocative by China However, isn’t the Chinese forcibly claiming Philippines territory even more provocative?

Well if the U.S. is supposedly flying these balloons over China why didn’t they shoot them down and show the world the evidence?:

China on Monday said more than 10 U.S. high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace during the past year without its permission, following Washington’s accusation that Beijing operates a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world. The United States denied that it operates any surveillance balloons over China.

The Chinese allegation came after the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had crossed from Alaska to South Carolina, sparking a new crisis in bilateral relations that have spiraled to their lowest level in decades.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin gave no details about the alleged U.S. balloons, how they had been dealt with or whether they had government or military links.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but this sounds like more Chinese lies that is intended for their domestic audience that can’t get any other information other than from the government.

These so called room cafes also exist in Japan where they are called Manga Cafes. They largely provide a cheap place to stay for people who miss the last train home from work. In South Korea it appears they have become very popular with minors:

A growing number of “room cafes” that do not comply with regulations has sparked debate on teenagers’ sexual activities ― a taboo subject in Korea ― after the government vowed to crackdown on these facilities where underage students were found to be having sex.

Room cafes, which began appearing in the early 2000s, offer a private space with basic amenities to visitors. But in recent years, many of these establishments have evolved into hotel-like facilities. 

Unlike the past, when curtains or partitions were installed to offer privacy, some cafes now provide separate rooms with lockable doors. Many rooms are also equipped with a screen, bed and even a bathroom in some cases.

Although these room cafes look no different from motels or DVD rooms ― where minors are prohibited from entering under the Youth Protection Act ― these facilities have been able to circumvent the law, as they are registered under general business or restaurant licenses. 

As an increasing number of teenagers have been found to be drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and having sexual intercourse at these facilities, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has been urging local governments and the police to launch a crackdown on “illegal” room cafes.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.