The other question that needs to be asked is if the Moon Jae-in administration wants to restart major bilateral exercises:
The United States will consider resuming military exercises with South Korea that have been suspended depending on North Korea’s next move, the Pentagon chief has said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper made the comment in an interview with MSNBC Thursday after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened in a New Year’s message to soon showcase a “new strategic weapon.”
Experts have said the strategic weapon could be an intercontinental ballistic missile intended to pressure the U.S. to make concessions in the two countries’ stalled denuclearization talks.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Here is the latest on the election meddling investigation in Ulsan that has been linked back to the Blue House:
Prosecutors raided the Ulsan government office on Saturday amid rising allegations that the city’s vice mayor colluded with the presidential office to help the president’s close friend in the 2018 mayoral election.
The raid of Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall, some 400 kilometers southeast of the capital city, came amid suspicions that Song Byung-gi, Ulsan’s vice mayor for economic affairs, conspired with several presidential aides to influence the city’s mayoral poll last year.
Prosecutors also suspect that the presidential office and the ruling Democratic Party intervened in establishing campaign pledges for the incumbent mayor.
The vice mayor is suspected of tipping off the presidential office to bribery allegations involving ex-Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon’s confidants, which led to investigations ahead of the 2018 election.
Kim, who was seeking reelection as mayor in June 2018 as a candidate of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, lost the race to current mayor Song Cheol-ho of the ruling Democratic Party, a longtime friend of President Moon Jae-in.
Kim claimed publicly that the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency deliberately raided his office a few months ahead of the election, with Cheong Wa Dae behind the move.
Yonhap
With the Blue House installing their new Justice Minister I guess we will see how long this investigation in Ulsan is allowed to continue.
That is what the Korea Times is recommending:
How young is too young to be prosecuted? In Korea, that legal threshold is 14 years old. But after a series of horrendous crimes committed by minors in recent years, there have been growing calls for change.
Korea Times
The latest controversy erupted last week when a fifth grader was found to have stabbed a peer to death at her grandparents’ home in revenge for “badmouthing” her and her family.
The attacker, who “was removing blood stains” at the crime scene when police arrived, later confessed to the killing and trying to cover it up.
Because she is under 14, she will not face trial. Instead, she was sent to a juvenile review center, where she will stay for about a month for medical observation.
Shocked by the news, hundreds of people have signed online petitions urging authorities to toughen laws against minors’ crimes.
Data from the National Police Agency show that 7,364 people under 14 were sent to juvenile institutions last year, up 12.4 percent from 2015. Four crimes ― murder, robbery, assault and larceny ― accounted for 77 percent of offenses. Sexual crimes numbered 410, up 32 percent during the period.
Under juvenile laws, perpetrators under 14 cannot be sent to prison and those under 19 are exempt from the death penalty or imprisonment longer than 20 years.
You can read more at the link.
This is typical behavior from the usually mentally handicapped or drug addicted homeless people in Seattle:
A Seattle man was charged Monday with a hate crime after police say he attacked two Korean tourists on Christmas because of their race, nationality and ancestry.
According to court documents, 30-year-old Aaron Charles Rowe followed a group of Korean men visiting Seattle and attacked two of them near the AMC movie theatre at Pacific Place.
The group told police they hid inside the theater until it closed, but were followed by Rowe when they walked out.
The Korean tourists told police Rowe punched one of them in the back and hit another one in the face. In court documents, they say he yelled, “I hate Chinese,” and “F***ing Chinese” and “Coward” at the group.
The four men were visiting Seattle from California, Missouri and Korea.
Rowe was arrested later that night after stealing two umbrellas from the valet station at the Hyatt Regency and trying to smash a hotel window.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, this was Rowe’s third booking into the King County Jail this month.
“Visitors to Seattle deserve to feel safe in the heart of our city,” said a spokesperson for the Downtown Seattle Association. “With a string of recent arrests, it’s clear this individual isn’t getting the help he needs. We need to fix a system that is failing both the community and the repeat offender.”
Rowe has had 16 warrants for his arrest since 2016. He was convicted of felony assault in 2004 and 2016. He has nine gross misdemeanor convictions.
When arrested, Rowe told police his address was at a nearby homeless shelter.
KOMO News
Anyone want to make any bets that this guy will be back out on the streets again?
