Author: GIKorea

I do not see this many Soldiers being sent to fight in Ukraine by North Korea, but it appears that the Russian propaganda apparatus is trying to will this into existence:

Korotchenko does not cite the source for his claim, which he made in a Thursday, August 4 broadcast, and there does not appear to be any public announcement by Moscow or Pyongyang to support it.

While some Russian outlets have repeated his claims after they were picked up by national and international news outlets, the only earlier mention of such “offer” and the “100,000” figure appears on report by the Russian news agency REGNUM, which the EU has accused of spreading “aggressive and biased propagandist narratives against Ukraine, and to promote a positive attitude to the annexation of Crimea and the actions of separatists in Donbas.”

The article, dated August 2, cites a Russian MP, who referenced North Korea’s “offer” to help in a speech in the Duma.

Newsweek

You can read more at the link, but North Korea has not publicly commented on any of these claims. North Korea definitely has the manpower, but this could be a huge embarrassment for the Kim regime if the Soldiers do not perform well or even worse start defecting. The Russian army has already lost massive prestige by being smacked around by an inferior Ukrainian military.

Part of Kim Jong-un’s deterrence strategy is the prestige of having a massive military that provides a legitimate threat to South Korea. Losing in Ukraine and having a bunch of Soldiers defect takes away from that deterrence factor.

Well hopefully she is not to seriously injured from this incident, but she was conducting an illegal protest prior to Nancy Pelosi arriving at the National Assembly:

Lee Yong-soo, a victim of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery in her 90s, was reportedly pulled out of her wheelchair by security guards while she was waiting to meet with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the National Assembly grounds on Thursday.  
   
A video released after the incident by media outlets including JTBC and YTN shows Lee on the ground by her wheelchair, while several security personnel attempt to lift her.    
   
One security guard can be heard repeating, “Lift up her leg,” while Lee, in apparent protest, says, “Let go of me, you’re going to kill someone here.” 

Lee was hospitalized afterward at the Catholic University of Korea Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital in western Seoul.    
   
A committee that she heads, which has been calling for the Korean and Japanese governments to settle the “comfort women” issue at the International Court of Justice, told the press that the security guards tried to move her despite her protest and that Lee fell out of her wheelchair in the process.    
   
“They pulled on her by her legs,” the committee said. “It was a traumatic experience for her.”  
   
The National Assembly Secretariat in a statement on Friday said that it “wishes well” for Lee’s health, adding however that “any attempt to meet up with an international guest at the Assembly without prior appointment is a disregard for diplomatic protocols. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It is good to see the ROK military continuing to take advantage of the world class training offered at the National Training Center:

About 150 South Korean Army commandoes will leave for the United States later this month for joint training with the U.S. Army at the National Training Center (NTC) in California, officials said Sunday.

The special forces troops from a front-line Army corps will conduct joint exercises at the Fort Irwin training center for about a month as part of an annual training program the two countries have carried out since 2020 to establish a firm readiness posture.

It was the second time this year the two countries have held joint exercises at the NTC after some 100 officers from the Army’s Special Warfare Command staged special warfare exercises with the U.S. military at the training ground between June and July.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It seems the U.S. and the ROK are getting their responses coordinated for whatever provocation the North Koreans have planned to execute during the upcoming Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise later this month:

South Korea and the United States are set to hold regular defense talks here next week, informed sources said Sunday, as the allies are striving to reinforce security coordination amid North Korea’s military threats.

The biannual Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) is expected to run from Aug. 16 to 17 in Seoul, the sources said, with the allies likely to discuss joint deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

The meeting comes amid speculation that Pyongyang has completed preparations for a nuclear test. It also comes ahead of the allies’ combined exercise, dubbed the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) training, set for Aug. 22-Sept. 1.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

There must be enough work for illegal immigrants on Jeju Island for 55 people from Thailand to disappear like this:

The whereabouts of 55 out of 280 Thai tourists who entered South Korea earlier this week through the airport on the southern island of Jeju are unknown, immigration officials said Sunday.

Out of 697 Thai nationals who arrived at the Jeju International Airport from Bangkok through a direct Jeju Airlines flight between Tuesday and Friday, 417 were denied entry and were flown home, according to the Jeju Immigration Service.

Of the other 280 people who have entered the country for a three-day tourism program, 55 have broken away from their tour groups and disappeared, officials said. The immigration office said it was trying to figure out where they went.

Officials said that many of the Thai tourists chose to enter South Korea through Jeju as they have a record of being denied entry through other airports, including the country’s main gateway, Incheon International Airport.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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