The Saudi Crown Prince received a very warm welcome in South Korea despite the controversy around his alleged ordering of the killing of a journalist:
President Moon Jae-in held a summit Wednesday with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, and agreed to diversify and expand bilateral cooperation.
The governments and companies from the two countries signed economic agreements worth over $8 billion.
The summit took place at the Blue House in the afternoon as a part of the crown prince’s two-day trip to Korea. During the summit, the two leaders discussed moving beyond traditional cooperation in energy and infrastructure industries, according to a joint press release.
Moon expressed support for Saudi’s Vision 2030, an economic and social reform initiative pushed by the crown prince. The two leaders agreed to strengthen a bilateral strategic partnership to promote the program, according to the statement.
Saudi Vision 2030, announced in April 2016 by the crown prince, is supposed to reduce the country’s dependence on oil while diversifying its economy. Korea is one of Saudi Arabia’s eight strategic partners in the project, along with the United States, Japan and China.
Saudi Arabia is Korea’s largest supplier of crude oil. It is also Korea’s most important economic partner in the Middle East.
Joong Ang Ilbo
You can read more at the link.
Effective today, the legal blood alcohol content limit in South Korea is .03 percent. The new law states drunk drivers can be imprisoned for 2-5 years and fined 10 million won ($8,950) to 20 million won if caught more than twice.
— U.S. Forces Korea (@USForcesKorea) June 24, 2019
Here is another crazy guy that slammed his car into the gate of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul:
A South Korean man was arrested Tuesday for crashing his sedan into the front gate of the U.S. Embassy in central Seoul, police said. No one was hurt in the incident.
Officials at the Jongno Police Station said the 40-year-old man, identified only by his surname, Park, suddenly turned his car toward the embassy gate and rammed into it. Some 20 cans of butane gas were found in the car.
Investigators are trying to find out about his motive for the crash. They plan to seek a warrant on Wednesday to formally detain him.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but last year another crazy guy slammed his car into the U.S. Embassy gate as well. At least we know it is a well constructed gate.
Considering that she is Kim Jong-un’s trusted sister, she has probably always been a national leader, but is now officially filling the role:
North Korean leader’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, has been elevated to the level of a national leader, an upgrade from her previous role as a protocol assistant to the leader, the main South Korean intelligence agency concluded Tuesday in its analysis of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s unprecedented state visit to the North last week.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Tuesday briefed Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the Bareunmirae Party, chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, about Xi’s visit to the North on Thursday and Friday. Following the briefing, Lee met with journalists and shared some of the NIS’s analysis, which dissected in detail Xi’s 27-hour stay in Pyongyang, including his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
According to Lee, Kim Yo-jong has been elevated to the level of a national leader.
“If you look at the photos [of last week’s summit], she was standing in the same level of Choe Ryong-hae, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and Ri Su-yon, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party,” Lee quoted the NIS as saying. “The NIS believes that Kim’s role has been adjusted and her weight has been increased [within the North’s regime].”
Joong Ang Ilbo
You can read more at the link.
Legally going after the people and organizations that break sanctions and freezing their assets like what happened with this guy should be vigorously pursued:
Taiwan’s justice ministry has expressed regret after a businessman convicted over illegal oil sales to North Korea leapt to his death.
Authorities launched a probe into Chen Shih-hsien last year after Seoul said it had detained a Hong Kong-registered ship suspected of transferring oil to a North Korean vessel, flouting UN sanctions.
Chen, 54, was later indicted on forgery charges for making a false declaration that a ship he had chartered was bound for Hong Kong when it actually sailed to international waters to sell the oil.
A district court in southern Kaohsiung city last month sentenced him to 119 days in jail, suspended for two years.
Chen’s assets were frozen after Taiwan’s government imposed a ban on all financial dealings with him and locked up his companies’ bank accounts due to the probe, which he was appealing against.
The justice ministry said in a statement it deeply regretted the passing of Chen, who jumped from a building on Friday in a suspected suicide.
Local media said Chen left a “suicide note” while prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.
Chen’s case revolved around a ship called the Lighthouse Winmore, which was impounded in late 2017 by South Korean authorities after it allegedly transferred 600 tonnes of oil to the North’s Sam Jong 2.
The vessel was chartered by the Billions Bunker Group, which is incorporated in the Marshall Islands and run by Chen.
Reports said Chen sold oil products through “a Chinese middleman”.
AFP
You can read more at the link, but China is always going to be the weak link when it comes to sanctions and probably all the more reason why the Trump administration has been putting economic pressure on them.
69 years ago today North Korea launched an all out attack on South Korea which ignited a conflict we call the Korean War. Sometimes referred to as “the Forgotten War” in the US, it is not forgotten here in the ROK. 1/5
— Robert Abrams (@DogFaceSoldier) June 25, 2019
I am not a fan of occupying Gwanghamun Square with tents, but would the government remove tents of their political allies if they set them up in Gwanghamun Square?:
The Seoul Metropolitan Government removed tents, Tuesday, which had been put up illegally by a far-right minor opposition party in Gwanghwamun Square protesting the imprisonment of former President Park Geun-hye.
However, the Our Republican Party, put up new tent on the same spot just five hours later, indicating a possible clash between it and the city government in the near future.
According to the city government, 500 municipal officials and 400 hired workers raided the spot at 5:20 a.m. to remove two tents and a canopy installed by the party.
The party, which changed its name the previous day from the Korean Patriots Party, set up the tents May 10 for sit-in protests calling for an investigation into the deaths of five pro-Park supporters who died during a 2017 rally against the impeachment of the former president. Seoul City has been sending letters of notification to the party to remove the tents set up without its permission.
The officials and workers clashed with 400 party members and supporters, who tried to protect the tents after a city official read out a notice on the execution of an administrative order.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
