Author: GIKorea

It has been 70 years since the first U.S. battalion of troops entered the Korean War to fight for the freedom of South Korea. The unit was called Taskforce Smith, after Lieutenant Colonel Charles Smith who led the 1-21 Infantry Regiment into action against the North Koreans near Osan. You can read more about the battle and the monument constructed in its honor at the links below.

• Places in Korea: The Taskforce Smith Memorial
• Heroes of the Korean War: Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Smith

North Korea claims they have zero coronavirus cases, but Kim Jong-un is out calling for strict countermeasures to combat the virus:

North Korea’s main newspaper called Sunday for carrying out leader Kim Jong-un’s order that the country exercise “maximum alert” against the coronavirus pandemic.

Kim issued the order during a politburo meeting Thursday, warning that premature easing of anti-virus measures will lead to an “unimaginable and irretrievable crisis.”

The appeal was seen as a sign that the North’s COVID-19 situation could be serious, though Pyongyang claims there has not been a single case. It was the second time in three months that the North has convened a politburo meeting to discuss the coronavirus pandemic. 

On Sunday, the Rodong Sinmun said all people should rise up to carry out the leader’s order.

“In a situation where the prospect of resolving the risk is uncertain, we should be on maximum alert without becoming complacent or slackening,” the paper said in an editorial, calling for “absolute” obedience to anti-virus regulations and orders.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section. For all my American readers I hope you have a great Independence Day weekend!

Nearly a year later it still seems surreal that the Korean authorities have caught the Hwaseong Serial Killer after all these decades:

Police on Thursday closed the country’s longest-standing cold case involving a series of brutal rapes and murders that began more than three decades ago.

Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency concluded in a briefing that Lee Chun-jae killed 14 women, most of them rape-murder cases, and raped nine others, wrapping up its one-year investigation into him and his killing and raping spree that terrorized the country in the 1980s and 90s. 

Lee was found responsible for all of the 10 killings of women aged 14 to 71 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, from 1986-1991 in what is known as the worst serial murder case in the country’s modern history, the police said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Cars and beer are taking the brunt of the boycott against Japanese products while other daily consumer Japanese products are actually expanding in South Korea:

The impact of a boycott movement against Japanese products that began in July 2019 is still visible in consumption patterns today, although some brands have shown signs of recovery.  
   
The “No Japan” boycott began after Japan last year introduced controls on exports of some key products to Korea.  
   
Consumer goods were the hardest hit. Japanese beer and cars, in particular, have seen sales drop dramatically, even as the boycott movement has waned in recent months.  (……)

However, there have been some signs that may suggest the impact is lessening. Japanese luxury brand Lexus saw sales increase in May with the sale of 727 cars, 266 more than April. The figure is still down on last year, when it sold 1,431 vehicles in May, but does show an upturn.  
   
“Lexus’ sales are recovering due to the brand’s positive reputation for its quality among consumers and the recent boost in promotions,” said an official in the imported car industry.    
   
Meanwhile, some Japanese consumer goods brands like Descente, a sportswear company, ABC Mart, a footwear brand, and Muji, a retail company, have been opening more stores in Korea and seeing sales increase. Industry analysts say consumers still shy away from products that are conspicuously Japanese, like cars and beer, but have been returning to Japanese brands for daily supplies and personal items. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I have always found it interesting that the Korean government wants to boycott Japanese products while at the same time wants to reopen the near slave labor production facilities at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea to sell those goods to Koreans.