That did not take long for President Yoon to enter negative territory for his approval rating:
President Yoon Suk-yeol’s disapproval rating surpassed his approval rating in a poll released Sunday.
The survey by Research View, conducted on 1,000 South Koreans aged 18 or over from last Tuesday to Thursday, was the latest in a series of national polls, in which those giving a negative assessment of Yoon’s performance outnumbered those who were bullish on the president.
This poll was conducted while Yoon was visiting Spain for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, his first overseas trip since taking office in May.
According to Research View, 51 percent of the polled said Yoon has been doing an inadequate job as president, while 45 percent said he is handling state affairs well.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but according to the article a month ago his approval rating was at 53%. The only thing I can conclude is that voters are now holding him responsible for inflation and economic woes and going to NATO summits is not addressing these issues.
You can always count on the Kim regime to making something up to justify provocations on their part. Here is the most absurd justification they have given yet:
North Korea suggested Friday its COVID-19 outbreak began in people who had contact with balloons flown from South Korea — a highly questionable claim that appeared to be an attempt to hold its rival responsible amid increasing tensions over its nuclear program.
Activists for years have flown balloons across the border to distribute hundreds of thousands of propaganda leaflets critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and North Korea has often expressed fury at the activists and at South Korea’s leadership for not stopping them.
Associated Press
You can read more at the link, but there is a domestic aspect to this as well that the Kim regime wants North Koreans to think the propaganda balloons, U.S. dollars, smuggled K-drama DVDs, etc. are all infected with COVID-19 to keep their citizens away from them.
I hope everyone that celebrates it, has a great 4th of July weekend.
An Inter-Korean agreement from 2009 stated that the North Koreans are supposed to notify the South when they release flood waters from their dam so they can warn residents along the Imjim River. Here is yet another agreement the Kim regime has decided to not abide by:
North Korea appears to have released water from a dam near the inter-Korean border, while remaining unresponsive to Seoul’s request for prior notice, a South Korean government official Thursday.
“It is presumed that North Korea has recently opened the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam,” the unification ministry official told reporters amid reports that the impoverished North is suffering torrential rains in many parts of the country.
It is regrettable that the North did not give any prior notice before releasing dam water near the inter-Korean border despite Seoul’s request for such notice, the official added.
Earlier in the day, an informed military source said the reclusive neighbor appears to have discharged dam water, while authorities here have been on high alert. The North has discharged dam water without notifying the South in advance in the past, endangering the safety of local residents.
The source, however, added the water levels of the Imjin River are currently stable, staying below 3 meters.
It usually takes four to five hours for water released from the dam located at the upper part of the Imjin River to reach the Gunnam Dam in the South’s border town of Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul. The distance between the two dams is around 56 kilometers.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The recruiting environment out there is tough right now and the Army is adjusting its recruiting requirements to adjust:
The U.S. Army is doing away with its requirement that enlistees have a GED or high school diploma, a move designed to help meet recruiting goals.
In what it described as “limited eligibility,” U.S. Army Recruiting Command said it is moving to a “whole of person” approach, “understanding some quality candidates may have just reason for being unable to complete their education.” The change means a high school diploma or its equivalent won’t be required, but applicants must score 50 or greater on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and meet all other standard enlistment criteria.
“This opportunity means that individuals who left high school prior to graduating due to uncontrollable circumstances, such as caring for a terminally ill family member or working to provide for their family, will not be considered ineligible for service solely because they were unable to graduate,” Recruiting Command said.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
This sounds like a positive encounter between President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida:
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol talked briefly with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a gala dinner for NATO summit participants in Madrid on Tuesday and expressed hope for the future-oriented development of relations between the two countries, officials said.
The encounter, which lasted three to four minutes at the dinner party hosted by Spain’s King Felipe VI, began as Kishida offered greetings to Yoon with congratulations on his inauguration and the local election victory of Yoon’s ruling party, according to Yoon’s office.
Yoon said in response that he wishes Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party good results in Japan’s upcoming upper house elections.
“After the upper house elections, I and my aides plan to resolve pending issues between Korea and Japan as early as possible and move forward in a future-oriented manner,” Yoon was quoted as telling Kishida.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
