This stunt and the government reaction is probably going to lead to a lot of new Youtube followers for this guy:
Police are investigating a man who drove a motorcycle without a shirt in southern Seoul over the weekend and a woman who was sitting behind him in a bikini, officials said Tuesday.
The Seoul Gangnam Police Station is mulling over the possibility of bringing the charge of overexposure against the “bikini biker couple” under the Minor Offenses Act, the officials said.
The police action came after various online communities were flooded Sunday with eyewitness accounts of a shirtless man and a bikini-clad woman riding in a motorcycle in the rain in southern Seoul and adjacent areas. Both were wearing helmets.
The man known to be a YouTuber with about 19,000 subscribers has reportedly told a local media outlet that he just wanted to show how he enjoys riding a motorcycle freely, adding the speed was maintained at 20 to 30 kph at that time.
Here is one theory on why the North Koreans have not had a massive loss of life due to COVID despite no vaccination campaign:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is surrounded by war veterans in front of a monument celebrating the country’s “victory” in the Korean War (1950-53) in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, the 69th anniversary of the end of the war, in this photo released July 28 by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap
Given the two undeniable reports from the North ― that fever cases spiked before falling and that leader Kim Jong-un recently appeared in the middle of a crowd of war veterans without masks ― experts have laid out two scenarios: either that enough North Koreans are now immune to COVID-19, thanks partly to their stronger immune systems, or that most of the fever cases were not COVID-related in the first place.
“North Koreans may have a stronger active immunity, given that they are exposed to all sorts of infectious diseases,” Choi Jung-hoon, a former infectious disease doctor from the North, told The Korea Times. “It is important to keep in mind that its official numbers should not be trusted. If it (herd immunity) was the case, this means that a lot more people died and suffered from COVID-19 in the process than the numbers claim … The progress has also been helped by its draconian measures, which would be politically impossible in democratic countries.”
1/ Against the backdrop of @SpeakerPelosi's arrival in Taipei, there are several events in motion. Proximately, Beijing appears to have begun responding through economic measures against Taiwan. There also are reports of cyber operations directed against Taiwan. (Thread).
N. Korea’s war veterans at spa resort North Korean veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War bathe in an open-air spa at Yangdok Hot Spring Resort in the North’s South Pyongan Province, in this undated photo released Aug. 1, 2022, by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. They came to the resort after taking part in a national conference of veterans in Pyongyang on July 27 to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the armistice that halted the three-year conflict. (Yonhap)
Here is what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to say during her visit to Taiwan:
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan Tuesday evening, marking a significant show of support for Taiwan despite China’s threats of retaliation over the visit.
Pelosi’s stop in Taipei is the first time that a US House speaker has visited Taiwan in 25 years. Her trip comes at a low point in US-China relations and despite warnings from the Biden administration against a stop in Taiwan.
The California Democrat is leading a congressional delegation on a tour in Asia this week, which includes stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. Although not included in her official itinerary, expectations that she was planning a visit to Taiwan have fuelled US-China tensions since reports of a potential trip emerged last month.
In a statement after landing, Pelosi and the congressional delegation that accompanied her said the visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy.
Pelosi, a forthright critic of Beijing, has previously said it is important for the US to show support for Taiwan.
China has lashed out at the visit. In a statement following Pelosi’s arrival, China’s Foreign Ministry said the trip would have a “severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations.”
“China will definitely take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the US Speaker’s visit,” the statement said.
A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defense said the People’s Liberation Army was “on high alert” and would launch “a series of targeted military operations to counteract the situation, resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely thwart the interference of external forces and ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist schemes.”
You can read more at the link, but the Chinese military says it will conduct air and sea exercises and live fires in the Taiwan straight in response. Has there ever been a military more scared of a 82 year old woman?
Mark your calendar because sometime after August 22nd when the UFS exercise begins is likely when the North Koreans will launch a major provocation such as a ICBM launch or nuclear test:
Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, left, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin inspect an honor guard before their bilateral talks at the U.S. Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., Saturday (local time). Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense
Plans to expand a combined military drill between South Korea and the United States against North Korea’s growing threats are expected to bring the Korean Peninsula back to a state of confrontation, ratcheting up cross-border tensions, Pyongyang watchers said, Monday.
The prediction comes as the allies seek to enhance their overall capabilities to deal with a possible all-out war on the peninsula through the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, scheduled for Aug. 22 to Sept. 1, according to Seoul’s defense ministry. In addition, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also threatened last week to annihilate the new South Korean administration he claimed is pursuing a U.S.-led hostile policy against the North.
“It is inevitable that inter-Korean confrontation will deepen as North Korea has strongly responded to the combined exercise,” said Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher of the Korea Institute for National Unification.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, also presented a similar view.
“North Korea has denounced the combined exercise, along with a dispatch of U.S. strategic assets, as a hostile policy toward the country, so the North is anticipated to vehemently respond to the drill in accordance with its leader’s pledge, which would greatly escalate tensions on the peninsula,” Park said.
This makes me wonder what the investigation would have determined if President Yoon had lost the election:
An undated file photo of First Lady Kim Keon-hee provided by Yonhap News TV.
A university on Monday cleared First Lady Kim Keon-hee of plagiarism after a monthslong probe into in her academic papers.
Kookmin University in Seoul conducted an investigation into Kim’s four research papers over allegations of misconduct raised last year.
Kim earned her PhD in design at the university in 2008.
The university said its investigating committee concluded her doctoral dissertation and two other papers “constitute neither plagiarism nor research misconduct that seriously deviates from the range normally accepted in the academic disciplines.”
As for the remaining paper, it was impossible to verify whether there had been misconduct, the school said.
Japanese activists oppose Korea-U.S. military drill A group of Japanese civic activists stages a rally near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on July 29, 2022, opposing a South Korea-U.S. joint military drill set for next month. (Yonhap)
It looks like the Yoon administration may be using what limited political capital they have on another unpopular initiative:
Activists call for withdrawal of the government’s plan to lower the school entry age by one year to 5 starting next year in front of the War Memorial of Korea in central Seoul on Aug. 1, 2022. (Yonhap)
Opposition is growing among teachers and parents alike to the government’s plan to move up the elementary school starting age by one year to 5 starting as early as 2025.
Reporting this year’s key policy plans to President Yoon Suk-yeol last week, the education ministry said it will soon begin discussions on the plan to lower the school starting age from the current 6 to 5 and implement it in 2025 at the earliest upon social consensus.
Through the plan, the government seeks to take on more child care for young children against the backdrop of low birth rates, close education gaps and eventually help school graduates land jobs and start their careers earlier than now.
Many teachers and parents are, however, voicing objections to the plan that they say could further deepen already fierce competition for grades and put the burden of schooling on the intellectually unprepared 5 year olds.
Teachers and parents point out the plan could put many students at competitive disadvantages, as the 5- and 6-year-olds who started school at the same time in the transition period will have to compete more for college entrance and job opportunities.
You can read more at the link, but according the article 94% of teachers oppose this and 36 activist groups have come out against it. Anything involving education in Korea becomes a hot button issue as the Yoon administration is finding out.
