Author: GIKorea

Don’t swim with sharks. You *will* eventually get bitten. https://t.co/hDd2DjjKG0

— 🇰🇷Edward Oh🇺🇸 (@EdwardHBOh) July 5, 2019

The Blue House claims the First Lady was just wearing a simple butterfly pin, but as Dr. Tara O points out, this butterfly had far more meaning to anti-US groups in South Korea:

President Trump arrived in South Korea on June 29, 2019 after the G-20 meeting in Japan.  The next day, he visited the DMZ and met with Kim Jong-un. On the 29th, the South Korean First Lady is spotted wearing a light blue butterfly brooch near President Trump.  The light blue butterfly is a symbol adopted by anti-THAAD, anti-U.S. groups in South Korea.

First Lady Kim Jung-sook (김정숙) also wore the light blue butterfly pin the day before on June 28, 2019 in Japan at the G-20 meeting during the group photo session and the dinner banquet.

East Asia Research

You can read more at the link, but the First Lady was not the only one to wear the pin, other ROK officials did so as well during Trump’s visit. The blue butterfly has been become the symbol for all the anti-THAAD protesters in recent months.

Probably the most offensive thing about the anti-THAAD protesters is that it is based on lies that the electromagnetic waves from the radar are going to cause cancer and kill crops.

If the residents want to go measure electromagnetic waves they can do it right now.  They can purchase their own detection device and stand at their homes or farms and see what electromagnetic waves they detect.  They are not going to detect anything though because a group of Korean reporters were invited to the THAAD site on Guam and have already measured electromagnetic waves and found nothing.

This is simply not in my backyard protests that have been coopted by the usual anti-US groups that have little to do with the merits of the THAAD system and the ROK First Lady is apparently supporting this nonsense.

South Korea is already importing Muslim Brotherhood immigrants, they don’t need to have home grown ISIS members as well:

A South Korean man has been under investigation on charges of stealing a device used in military explosives while serving in the Army and collecting or uploading video clips related to the Islamic State (IS) militant group, defense ministry officials said Friday. 

The 23-year-old man, identified only by his surname, Park, allegedly stole at least one spark plug for explosives in October, 2017, when he was receiving training at an Army engineering unit as an explosive specialist, according to the officials.

Investigators also found a video clip on his cellphone on how to make homemade ammunition as well as a mobile app used by IS members and supporters. Also found at his home was a machete that looks similar to broad blade knives that have been used by terrorists, officials said.

The suspect had collected video clips and other materials related to IS and posted them online since 2016 until recently, the officials said, adding that he is suspected of exchanging emails with suspected members of the militant group.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but something I found interesting about this is that the FBI were the one that tipped off the ROK authorities about this guy contacting ISIS.

Well now we know what Australian Alek Sigley got in trouble for in North Korea, because he was “spying” for NK News:

KCNA said Sigley, who was caught “red-handed” by a “relevant institution” of the North on June 25, had abused his status as a student by “combing” through Pyongyang and providing photos and other information to news sites such as NK News and other “anti-DPRK” media, a reference to the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The news agency said the North expelled Sigley out of “humanitarian leniency.”

“He honestly admitted his spying acts of systematically collecting and offering data about the domestic situation of the DPRK and repeatedly asked for pardon, apologizing for encroachment upon the sovereignty of the DPRK,” the agency said.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link, but what Mr. Sigley was publishing articles at NK News about life in Pyongyang that were very innocuous. I suspect he did not get proper clearance for posting the articles and thus why he was detained. However, since he was spoken positively about North Korea for so long he did not get the Otto Warmbier treatment and was instead released. Here is a statement from NK News about Sigley’s detention.

It will be interesting to see if he ever turns up in Pyongyang again.

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

"Drunk" man in Korea beats up gf with fist, suspects she's interested in other man. She falls, hits head, dies 2 days later. He's sentenced to 6 yrs jail.

But 2nd trial released him: found his text messages, showed he loved her. Can now continue studies. https://t.co/VtAMOSJF4c

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) July 5, 2019

This is really nothing new because North Korea regularly uses the term “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” which to them means the removal of the US nuclear umbrella over South Korea.

North Korea has released a commemorative coin that emphasizes denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, an official from an inter-Korean cooperation body said Tuesday. 

Lee Sang-hyun, a member of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC), said he has obtained a commemorative coin issued by the North’s central bank this year.

The coin obtained by Lee was engraved with text reading, “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” and “protection of the world’s peace and security.” The center of the coin shows three hands squeezing a nuclear missile-like object with the letter “N.” 

The coin contrasts with North Korea’s commemorative coins issued in the past. Last year, Pyongyang’s central bank minted a coin with a picture of fist pressing a rocket printed with the letters “USA,” and the American flag. 

Pundits here said the North’s commemorative coin appears to have been designed with an intention to demonstrate Pyongyang’s denuclearization efforts.

Yonhap

The KCTU fresh after getting their leader released from jail is now out trying to increase their ranks by protesting to get contract workers designated as regular employees at the schools:

School workers across the country joined the first-ever general strike by public sector contract employees Wednesday, leaving thousands of children without lunches.

Around 2,500 contract workers at elementary, middle and high schools, which included bus drivers, cafeteria cooks and janitors, took part in rallies across Seoul on Wednesday calling for an increase in their basic incomes and an elevation of their status to workers on regular payrolls. 

The biggest was held in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, where around 40,000 contract workers gathered, according to the rally’s organizers. The Labor Ministry estimated the number of attendees at around 26,000.

The strike and rallies are set to continue until Friday.

This week’s rallies, organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) – an umbrella organization representing around one million members nationwide – are supposed to draw an estimated 100,000 contract workers in the public sector, with around half of them working at around 6,000 schools across Korea. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.