Author: GIKorea

Cho Hyun-ah just can’t stay out of the news:

Former Korean Air vice president and “nut rage” heiress Cho Hyun-ah was fined 30 million won ($2,460) for assaulting her husband but cleared of abusing her twin children by throwing a spoon at them and verbally abusing them.

Judge In Jin-sup made the ruling recently, the Seoul Central District Court said on Thursday.

While it’s not yet known if Cho will appeal, her husband, surnamed Kim, has appealed, arguing the court’s decision on the child abuse was wrong. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but she supposedly tried to choke the husband and then threw a Tablet PC at him.

This sounds like a pretty gruesome accident to get hit by the main blade of the helicopter:

A firefighting helicopter on a rescue mission crashed Friday into Mount Jiri in southern South Korea, killing two mountain climbers.

The chopper crashed into the Cheonwangbong Peak of the mountain in Sancheong County, South Gyeongsang Province, around 12:07 p.m., according to the fire authorities.

The crash occurred when the helicopter was flying low while carrying out a hoist rescue of a 65-year-old man who suffered heart failure while climbing.

The man fell down along with the chopper and his wife was struck by the helicopter’s main blade as she assisted the rescue on the mountain.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but all five rescue workers survived the crash.

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

As I have been saying, let this play out because these so called experts declaring him dead don’t really know what is going on with something as sensitive as Kim Jong-un’s health:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a fertilizer factory completion ceremony, state media reported Saturday, his first public appearance after 20 days of absence that sparked rumors about his health.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim cut the tape at the ceremony marking the completion of Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang, on Friday.

Photos released by KCNA showed Kim, dressed in a dark Mao suit, cutting the red ribbon during the ceremony and talking to accompanying officials with a smile on his face. They did not show any signs of an illness.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but my speculation was that he may have had some follow up surgery on his bad ankle that limited his mobility. Kim Jong-un is not the type of person that is going to go out and make a public appearance with crutches. According to the report Kim looked healthy and moving around just fine.

Here is what Taiwan’s intelligence chief had to say about the health status of Kim Jong-un:

Taiwan’s intelligence chief said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is “sick” but remains in control of the nuclear-armed nation.

Chiu Kuo-cheng, director of the National Security Bureau (NSB), said the North has contingency plans in the event of Kim’s sudden death, according to local reports.

The director revealed this at a government hearing by legislators. 

“My answer is from the intelligence that is available and it is not an opinion,” Chiu said.

He laughed and refused to reply when asked if Kim was alive, the report said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

President Moon has enough political capital after his party won the parliamentary elections decisively to hold his ground on this issue:

Seoul is standing firm against Washington’s repeated pressure for a hefty increase in its share of the cost for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong United States Forces Korea (USFK) stationed here. Although the lack of deal has put thousands of Korean workers at U.S. military bases on unpaid leave, the government is not accepting the U.S. demand, but instead responding by setting up special laws to support the workers.

“Korea and the U.S. are still in negotiations over the defense cost-sharing deal and nothing has been officially decided yet,” the foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday.

Cheong Wa Dae also said that the allies were still in talks, adding that there was nothing new to reveal.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I can see this dragging out for quite a while.

I am not sure how anyone can claim to be 99% sure of anything coming out of North Korea, especially something as sensitive as Kim Jong-un’s health:

 A North Korea defector elected as a lawmaker in South Korea claimed Friday that he is “99 percent” sure that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un died after surgery amid speculation over his health.

Unconfirmed reports about Kim’s ill health have mounted since he has not appeared in public for nearly three weeks. News reports described Kim as being in “grave danger” after surgery or hiding out at a coastal resort to escape the coronavirus pandemic.

Ji Seong-ho, who earned a proportional representation seat of a minor party in the April 15 elections, claimed that he is 99 percent sure of Kim’s death and North Korea may make the related announcement this weekend.

“I’ve wondered how long he could have endured after cardiovascular surgery. I’ve been informed that Kim died last weekend,” Ji told Yonhap News Agency.

“It is not 100 percent certain, but I can say the possibility is 99 percent. North Korea is believed to be grappling with a complicated succession issue,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I guess we will see what happens this weekend.