Author: GIKorea

At least there was no tragic ending to this missing servicemember case:

A U.S. airman who went missing last week returned safely to Osan Air Base on Tuesday nearly a week after he was reported absent from his unit, the military said.

The Air Force launched a search for Staff Sgt. Tristin Blake Jarvis, 26, of the 51st Force Support Squadron on July 9, saying he was last seen in the vicinity of the Osan Fitness Center the day before, according to the 51st Fighter Wing.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like South Korea may end up fining TikTok, not for leaking user information to the Chinese government, but instead not getting permission from the parents of minor to use the app:

Korea is moving to join the ongoing boycott of Chinese video app TikTok, which has received criticism from countries including India and the United States over alleged mishandling of users’ personal information, according to a government official Monday.

An official of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said the country’s top telecom regulator recently completed an investigation into TikTok over suspicions that the internationally popular social media platform has sent user data to the Chinese government.

The KCC also alleged that TikTok has not obtained the consent of legal representatives of users in Korea under 14 years old.

“We will hold a meeting about whether to impose a fine on TikTok on Wednesday (June 15), and the results will be announced the same day,” an official in the KCC’s personal data infringement department told The Korea Times. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but people just need to understand that if they use TikTok they are allowing their personal information from their phone and user history to be compiled by the Chinese government.

It doesn’t take an expert to know that the cancellation of the US-ROK military exercise will not motivate North Korea to want to discuss denuclearization when they have no intention to denuclearize:

Amid growing speculation that joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States are likely to be called off in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and appease North Korea, diplomatic experts believe a cancellation as an olive branch to Pyongyang is not a good idea, saying there will be no “reciprocity” from the isolated country.

Currently, the government is in a quandary over whether to cancel the annual drills as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no sign of abating. The exercises will bring hundreds of American troops here, raising concerns over possible new infections.

In addition, further deepening Seoul’s calculations is the possibility of military retaliation from the Kim Jong-un regime, as the totalitarian state describes the exercises as hostile action by the U.S. against the North. 

The government also wants the exercises to be focused on assessing the Korean military’s relevant capabilities on its way to regaining wartime operational control (OPCON) from the U.S. by 2022. Either a delay or a cancellation of the drills could disrupt the timetable for that. 

“If the military exercises are canceled or postponed, it is possible North Korea will relent and agree to an eventual working level meeting, in response to recent U.S.-South Korea requests to resume negotiations. I doubt, however, that the cancellation or postponement of the exercises will motivate the North to resume working-level negotiations, given that it has refused to meet with the U.S. or ROK since late 2019,” Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. special envoy to the six-party talks, told The Korea Times, referring to South Korea by its formal name, the Republic of Korea.

Korea Times

You can read more expert opinions at the link.

It seems the ruling Democratic Party in Korea is just hoping that the sexual misconduct allegations against Mayor Park Won-soon will just go away with his death:

On the funeral day of late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Monday, the main opposition party launched what is likely to become an all-out campaign to press for a probe into allegations that the deceased sexually harassed his former secretary.

The pressure by the United Future Party (UFP) highlights deepening political division over the death of the late Seoul mayor.

Park was found dead at a mountain in Seoul after apparently taking his own life on Thursday. He was facing a criminal complaint on sexual harassment, filed by his former secretary.

With Park’s death, the police were to close the case against him in his absence, but opposition lawmakers are increasing calls to get to the bottom of the allegations raised against the three-term mayor who was a lawyer defending human rights and women’s rights. (……)

“I believe the DP, having been more proactive than anyone in the past ‘#MeToo’ wave, would doubtlessly join the efforts to find the truth,” he said, calling for a probe into the case.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if this is the end of the #metoo movement in South Korea? The movement pretty much ended in the U.S. once the #metoo people went after Joe Biden. Could the same thing happen in South Korea?

Some how the United States is not on this list?:

 South Korea on Monday started to require foreigners arriving from high-risk countries to submit a certificate showing they tested negative for the new coronavirus, as a steady rise in imported cases has strained its anti-virus fight.

All foreign arrivals from the four countries — Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan — are obligated to hand in health certificates proving they have tested negative for COVID-19 on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. 

South Korea has also ordered regular flights from such countries to limit the number of passengers to 60 percent of capacity. Those who depart for countries with large outbreaks will face strict entry processes when returning to South Korea, health authorities said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it looks like the 14 day mandatory quarantine is not working to stop new infections.

It looks like what was once called UFG will not happen again this year:

 South Korea and the United States appear increasingly likely to scale back or even call off a major combined exercise again due to the new coronavirus, after indefinitely postponing their annual springtime drill earlier this year, sources said Saturday. 

The repeated skipping of annual exercises, if realized, is feared to affect the joint combat posture between the two countries, as well as South Korea’s planned takeover of the wartime operational control (OPCON) of its forces from the U.S.

“Both sides share the need to stage the summertime exercise as planned, and we’ve continued consultations on the matter. But things are highly flexible due to the COVID-19 situation,” a defense ministry official said.

Seoul and Washington usually carry out major combined exercises twice a year — in around March and August. But they postponed this year’s springtime exercise due to COVID-19, and it has not been held to date, as the health crisis continues.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but basically it comes down to not being able to logistically test and quarantine the thousands of servicemembers who would come to Korea for the exercise.