Author: GIKorea

This soldier’s commander must have gave himself a facepalm after getting the phone call about this:

Two people who live and work at Kadena Air Base are suspected of making off with nearly $65,000 in the armed robbery of a currency exchange shop on Okinawa.

The business, which isn’t far from Camp Foster’s front gate, was robbed by two mask-wearing perpetrators about 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to an Okinawa Police spokesman who spoke on a customary condition of anonymity.

One or both of the suspects went behind the shop’s counter while brandishing a knife-like object, threatened an employee and demanded money, the spokesman said. They ran out with $64,700 in Japanese and U.S. currency. No one was injured.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is yet another possible cluster infection that could be popping up in Bucheon:

The Bucheon city government is stepping up efforts to trace more than 250 people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 after finding out that a patient was with them at a nightclub earlier this month.

According to the city government and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Monday, the man, an undocumented Vietnamese immigrant, 32, went to the “Merit Night Club” with friends on the night of May 9. After spending about an hour there, they visited a pub and a noraebang (karaoke club) nearby.

Before testing positive for COVID-19 on May 16, the man, who works in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, also visited “Queen” club in Seoul’s Itaewon on May 1.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

You would think that with an issue as sensitive as the comfort women issue, that there would be checks to make sure the non-profit supporting those affected were credible and honest. Well that appears to have not been the case:

A civic group supporting victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery reportedly purchased a house in Anseong, Gyeonggi, for 400 million won ($324,000) over market value.    
   
The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan has been under fire for recently selling this facility, which was supposed to serve as a center for victims of the Japanese military’s sexual slavery during World War II. The facility, the House of Peace and Healing, was sold for 420 million won on April 24 at a reported loss.  
   
The Korean Council bought the two-story house in a residential area in Sangjung-ri, Geumgwang-myeon, in the city of Anseong in September 2013 for 750 million won — much more than the price of comparable properties in the area. Hyundai Heavy Industries at the time donated 1 billion won designated to building a healing center for “comfort women” victims.  
   
Yoon Mee-hyang, a lawmaker-elect and former head of the civic group, has faced various accusations of mishandling of the civic group’s donations. She put her father in charge of maintaining this facility, which had reportedly been used for church functions, workshops and retreats rather than for its original purpose.   
   
Lee Yong-soo, a 91-year-old comfort woman survivor and longtime rights activist, questioned Yoon’s integrity in a press conference earlier this month, which has led to a string of accusations against the Korean Council and Yoon on financial transparency. Yoon was elected as a proportional representative of the Citizen Party last month and had rebutted the various accusations.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Good news for USFK servicemembers:

The U.S. military said Monday it will lower its health risk level to moderate and lift most anti-coronavirus restrictions for bases except those in the Seoul area beginning Wednesday, citing “favorable” conditions in South Korea.

However, U.S. Forces Korea said bars, clubs and other adults-only establishments will remain off-limits on the peninsula following a recent outbreak in the popular Itaewon district.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is likely going to be the new normal in South Korea, dealing with periodic cluster infections:

 South Korean health authorities were put on edge again on Tuesday as yet another cluster case looms, at a major hospital in Seoul, following mass infections tied to nightclubs and bars in the nightlife district of Itaewon.

Four nurses working at Samsung Medical Center, one of the country’s five major general hospitals, were confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19, and more related cases are likely to come as transmission routes are unknown, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration has been doing a really good job flexing South Korea’s soft power during the coronavirus pandemic. Here is the latest example:

South Korea will provide thousands of face masks and other medical supplies to the Navajo Nation of the United States as gratitude for their participation in the 1950-53 Korean War.  
   
According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, 10,000 face masks and goods like hand sanitizers will be shipped to the United States to aid surviving Navajo veterans of the war.    
   
Around 800 Native Americans of the Navajo Nation fought in the war as part of the U.S. Armed Forces, around 130 of whom are still alive today.  
   
The Korean Consulate in Los Angeles, in consort with the Korean community in Arizona and Korean Christian missions in the United States, will deliver the medical supplies to the Navajo Nation. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I guess the fans were not mannequins after all:

Seoul’s K League football team apologized Monday over filling its stadium in western Seoul with sex dolls during its Sunday game with Gwangju FC but placed the blame on its supplier. 

“We tried to make sure the mannequins weren’t sex dolls multiple times,” FC Seoul said in an apology posted on Instagram, adding that it happened because of a mix-up by the suppliers. “We take the blame on this point. We should have paid attention to details (when communicating with the supplier).”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.