Author: GIKorea

The Chinese are busy making threats again in regards to their claims over Taiwan and almost the entire South China Sea:

China’s defense minister warned Sunday that its military will “resolutely take action” to defend Beijing’s claims over self-ruled Taiwan and disputed South China Sea waters.
Speaking at an annual security conference in Singapore, Gen. Wei Fenghe did not direct the threat at the U.S. but loaded his address with criticism of activities by Washington, including support for Taiwan and leading so-called freedom of navigation operations in the strategic waterways that China virtually claims as its own.
Wei said the People’s Liberation Army would not “yield a single inch of the country’s sacred land.”

China’s ruling Communist Party maintains that Taiwan is part of China, and has used increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward the democratic island, which split from the mainland amid a civil war 70 years ago. It opposes Taiwan’s independence and formally says it seeks a “peaceful reunification” while refusing to rule out the use of force if necessary to achieve that goal.
“The PLA has no intention to cause anybody trouble but it is not afraid to face up to troubles. Should anybody risk crossing the bottom line, the PLA will resolutely take action and defeat all enemies,” Wei said.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

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

A horrible tragedy has occurred in Hungary:

 South Korean and Hungarian workers carried out joint operations on Saturday to search for 21 missing victims of this week’s tourist boat sinking in Budapest, officials said, although high waters and strong currents remain tough challenges.
They conducted surface-level searches up to 50 kilometers down the Danube River from the site of Wednesday’s disaster that left seven Koreans dead and 21 people missing, including 19 Koreans. 
The South Korean team, consisting of staff from the Navy and fire agency, was to search the river three times on the day with four boats provided by the Hungarian authorities.
In response to requests by South Korea and Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria have also been conducting search operations in parts of the Danube River.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has traveled to Hungary and the Ukranian boat captain that struck the tourist boat has been arrested.

Here is what General Abrams recently had to say about the readiness of US troops in South Korea:

Combined training and readiness have not flagged in South Korea despite suspension of large-scale exercises last year, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Wednesday.
“I want to be crystal clear about it,” Gen. Robert Abrams said at the three-day Land Forces Pacific Symposium in Honolulu. “Combined training and readiness, it has hasn’t slowed down one bit. We are continuing to conduct very rigorous combined training at echelon, over 100 exercises thus far in 2019 alone. It happens at multiple levels.”
Abrams fiercely defended the suspension of the large-scale exercises announced after President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June in Singapore.
“This was a prudent action in support of diplomacy,” he said during a keynote speech followed by a question-and-answer session for an audience of primarily soldiers from the U.S. and Pacific partner nations.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This woman was lucky not only was this older man walking by, but he was fit enough to run down and catch the rapist:

An Indian man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to rape a Korean woman in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.

The suspect, 31, whose identity is being withheld, was arrested on charges of attempting to sexually assault the woman in Seongsan-gu on May 15, police said.

The man dragged her into bushes while she screamed for help, police said.

A man, 59, surnamed Ha, who was walking with his wife and daughter, heard the scream and rushed toward the sound. When he got there, he saw the suspect running away. He gave chase and caught him 300 meters from the alleged crime scene.

“As a father of my daughter, I felt obligated to do so,” Ha said. “Anyone would have done the same if he faced such a situation.”

Police later gave him a plaque of appreciation and 500,000 won ($420) for his brave actions.

Korea Times

It appears the ROK foreign ministry is not very good at keeping state secrets:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has come under fire once again for an ethical lapse among its staff after a diplomat leaked information from a telephone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Cheong Wa Dae and the ministry are considering legal action against the 54-year-old diplomat for allegedly leaking the confidential information to Rep. Khang Hyo-shang, a lawmaker from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).

The diplomat, working at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., is suspected of sharing some key details of the Moon-Trump phone conversation with his high school alumni Khang, the day after the two leaders held talks. 

The presidential office said the diplomat admitted to the incident. 

“The telephone conversations between leaders of two countries are identified and categorized as the third-highest level of state diplomatic secrecy,” a senior presidential aide told reporters in a briefing, Thursday.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

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

US: “It can only range Seoul, so what do we care?”
SK: “Missiles? What missiles? In the interest of inter-Korean comity, we prefer to see them as ‘projectiles for peace’ instead.” https://t.co/GY4dKpFeNy

— 🇰🇷Edward Oh🇺🇸 (@EdwardHBOh) May 22, 2019