President Trump is confirming that they did not pay North Korea any money for the release of Otto Warmbier:
Otto Warmbier
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States did not pay any money to North Korea as it sought the release of Otto Warmbier, a day after a report said Trump had approved a $2 million bill from Pyongyang for the American student’s care. “No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else,” Trump wrote in a tweet. The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had approved payment of a $2 million bill from Pyongyang to cover its care of the comatose college student, who was held in a North Korean prison for 17 months until June 2017. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student from Ohio visiting North Korea as a tourist, was imprisoned in January 2016. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly trying to steal an item with a propaganda slogan from his hotel, North Korean state media said. Warmbier died six days after his release from North Korea. An Ohio coroner said Warmbier died from a lack of oxygen and blood to his brain. North Korea, which has dismissed claims that it tortured the student, blamed food poisoning and a sleeping pill. The Treasury Department received the bill from North Korea and it remained unpaid through 2017, the Post reported. It was not clear whether the administration paid the invoice later.
You can read more at the link, but the real story is the media narrative being created by the Washington Post that originally published the article. Instead of getting a response from the Trump administration on if they paid for Warmbier’s release they write an article implicating that Trump paid “ransom” money for Warmbier’s release. Later after the news cycle has moved on and White House denies any payment, far fewer people see this news.
A #SouthKorean soldier lost his foot to mine. Senior military, trying to please #MoonJaein administration, created a "Foot for Peace" monument. And have the soldier there to celebrate the unveiling. Disgraceful, to say the least.https://t.co/wcVmlBNT3b
Logistics support ship for New ZealandA ceremony to commission a 23,000-ton top-of-the-line logistics support ship for the New Zealand navy is held at a Hyundai Heavy Industries quay in Ulsan, some 410 km southeast of Seoul, on April 24, 2019, in this photo provided by the shipbuilder. The New Zealand ambassador to Seoul, the New Zealand naval chief of staff and three New Zealand Korean War veterans attended the ceremony. (Yonhap)
Despite the sensational headlines, this story does not seem very well sourced:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the execution by firing squad of four foreign ministry officials after the failure of his Hanoi summit with Donald Trump, a report has claimed. The officials were reportedly executed after the February talks between North Koreaand the US came to an end without any deal being made. Pyongyang had accused the four officials of selling information to Washington before the Hanoi summit, according to a Japanese news agency. The executions, which included a diplomat from North Korea’s embassy in Hanoi, have not been verified.
Asia Press claimed its reporter spoke to a trade official who was told the rumour about the executions. It is claimed that the executions were watched by members of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and Korean People’s Army.
On April 19th, Michael Breen, who has been writing about Korea for years, wrote a column for the Chosun Ilbo, a conservative daily newspaper. He voiced his opposition to building a memorial for the victims of the Sewol at Gwanghwamun Square. https://t.co/9foBiYl5A7
— John Lee (The Korean Foreigner) (@koreanforeigner) April 23, 2019
Korea public procurement fairPrime Minister Lee Nak-yon (2nd from L) looks at displays at the 2019 Korea Public Procurement Expo at an exhibition center in Goyang, north of Seoul, on April 24, 2019. (Yonhap)
Is China trying to protect local businesses from international competition or does Amazon just suck at selling goods in China as Chinese critics claim?:
Amazon says it is curtailing business operations in China, the world’s biggest retail market, after struggling against better entrenched local players for more than a decade.
The company announced recently that as of July 18, it will no longer provide services through its Chinese website, Amazon.cn. The decision means Amazon will stop selling goods from China-based vendors to domestic consumers on the portal. Although it is moving out of the e-retail business in China, Amazon will continue with its cross-border business, bringing foreign brands and goods to China, the company said.
“Their demand for high-quality, authentic goods from around the world continues to grow rapidly, and given our global presence, Amazon is well-positioned to serve them,” the company said.
The announcement has raised questions about the extremely thin presence of foreign companies in internet-related businesses in China, while Chinese companies like Alibaba create market space for themselves across the world.
“I want a boat prepared” to take tons of trash back to Canada, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday. In this 2015 photo, Filipino activists wear shipping container costumes to call on Canada to remove the garbage from a port in Manila.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wants Canada to come get tons of trash that was wrongly sent to his country — and he’s threatening extreme steps if Canada doesn’t clean up the situation. “We’ll declare war against them,” Duterte said Tuesday. The president was referring to a large shipment of municipal trash that has sat in Manila since its arrival in 2013 and 2014. The more than 100 shipping containers had been declared to hold recyclable plastic. But when the doors were opened, customs officials found “household trash, plastic bottles and bags, newspapers, and used adult diapers,” according to Filipino news outlet ABS-CBN. “I will not allow that kind of s***,” Duterte said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that Canada has attempted to provide educational grant money to the Philippines — on the condition that it also accept the garbage. Duterte said he wants the trash gone within a week, even if he has to return it by force. (…..)
Duterte said he doesn’t care what Canada does with the garbage: “Eat it if you want to.” He jokingly suggested Canadians should prepare a gala reception to mark the repatriation of the refuse, which dates from the previous Filipino administration headed by President Benigno Aquino III. “Prepare and celebrate,” Duterte said, “because your garbage is coming home.”
You can read more at the link, but one obvious question is why is a country as big as Canada exporting garbage to a country as small as the Philippines? Secondly what would a war between the Philippines and Canada look like?
ROK cable network MBN's bureau chief on disciplinary action after station misreported FLOROK Kim Jung-sook as "First Lady Kim Jong Un," "North Korean president (instead of "President Moon") has message for KJU from President Trump." https://t.co/kq9pyOA3RC
