Author: GIKorea

I doubt Raytheon and Lockheed are selling any military equipment to China so it seems these sanctions are just symbolic:

China said Monday it will impose new sanctions on U.S. defense contractors Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin due to their arms sales to Taiwan, stepping up a feud with Washington over security and Beijing’s strategic ambitions.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the move at a daily press briefing, citing a newly passed Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law that took effect in 2021. It was in response to a $100 million deal approved by the U.S. for maintenance of Taiwan’s missile defense systems by the two companies. 

“China once again urges the U.S. government and relevant parties to . . . stop arms sales to Taiwan and sever military ties with Taiwan,” Wang said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I don’t care how many windmills you make, it will never equal the energy output that nuclear power can generate. It seems more and more countries are realizing this especially as the world turns more to electric cars:

 Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday vowed to scrap the current Moon Jae-in government’s nuclear phase-out policy, saying he will make South Korea a powerhouse in nuclear power generation. 

“I will recover the ecosystem of nuclear power generation and advance safe nuclear technologies so that they can become a core engine to drive the country,” Yoon of the People Power Party wrote on his Facebook page. 

Yoon emphasized that it is a global trend to use nuclear power generation along with other energy sources to reduce carbon and lessen the dependence on foreign countries for energy, adding that even the European Union Taxonomy recently labeled nuclear power as green energy. 

“French President (Emmanuel) Macron reversed his words of ‘nuclear-phase out’ five years ago and declared ‘U-turn to nuclear power,'” Yoon said. “After nuclear phase-out, Italy lost its energy power and became a country that imports the most electricity in Europe.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here we go again with the leftists wanting to tear down the MacArthur Statue in Incheon:

During the Korean War, Ahn Hag-sub was a devoted 22-year-old communist serving in a North Korean militia unit. Seven decades later, he still hates the Americans, and their wartime leader, Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

At age 91, he says his last act of resistance against MacArthur will be lighting on fire a statue of the general that has stood in Incheon since 1957.

“MacArthur is the enemy of our people,” Ahn said in an interview at his home near Incheon, a South Korean port city located an hour’s drive west of Seoul. Ahn has lived there since the late 1990s, when he was released from a South Korean prison on humanitarian grounds, after spending 40 years behind bars. “I will resist for as long as I can,” he added, tightening his lips.

In South Korea, declaring loyalty to North Korea — as Ahn did, something he still refuses to rescind — is a serious national security crime that can land violators in prison for life.

As a free man, Ahn joined a small but dedicated far-left nationalist group calling itself the Peace Treaty Movement. (It’s with several younger colleagues in that group that Ahn said he’d set alight the MacArthur statue.) The movement’s dislike of MacArthur, who died in 1964, reflects a minority opinion in South Korea, but a heated one.

At a time when the statues of historical figures are being reexamined (and in some cases removed) in the United States and Britain, they are trying to bring attention to a debate over this pivotal — and foreign — figure in modern South Korea’s history.

South Koreans with similar views to Ahn’s see MacArthur as a ruthless commander whose forces killed Korean civilians. MacArthur’s statue should be removed, they say, and sent to the war museum in Seoul. Or, better, it should be dismantled.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but this has been a long time goal of the Korean radical left to tear down the MacArthur Statue. They even attempted to do this on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Unsurprisingly it was found that past attempts to tear down the statue were led by a North Korean spy.

Meanwhile in China:

The man, identified only by his surname Li, was kidnapped by a gang and used as a “blood slave” for months, reported South China Morning Post. 

Since August 2021, the gang reportedly took 27 ounces (800 milliliters) of blood from the 31-year-old man each month, leaving him just enough time to replenish his blood supply. It is believed that the gang sold the blood online to private buyers.

Next Shark

You can read more about at the link, but what a horrible experience for this guy before one of the gang members felt bad enough to help him escape from this situation. It makes me wonder how many more people in China are being held against their will as blood slaves?

Here is the latest on the ROK presidential election:

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People’s Party said Sunday he is dropping his offer to merge campaigns with main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and will finish the presidential race on his own.

The decision is expected to add to uncertainties in the already tight race in which Yoon and Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) have been running neck and neck at around 40 percent support each, with Ahn at around 10 percent support.

Ahn’s announcement came a week after he proposed the merger with Yoon of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), saying the two sides should field a single candidate to ensure a victory over Lee in the March 9 election.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I think Yoon probably decided he didn’t need Ahn because he is currently ahead by 5% points over Lee Jae-myung in recent polling.

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