Category: International Headlines

No decision has been made but the ROK government is clearly considering it:

South Korea’s presidential office on Thursday rejected a report claiming the government is considering sending troops to the conflict-stricken Hormuz Strait.

“It is different from the facts. Details related to the issue have yet to be decided,” Cheong Wa Dae said in a notice to reporters.

The presidential office reiterated its previous stance that South Korea has been in discussions with other nations on how it could contribute to restoring peace and stability in the Middle East and inside the strait.

Earlier in the day, local broadcaster JTBC reported that the government is “leaning toward” dispatching troops to the Strait of Hormuz and is reviewing related details to submit a request for a parliamentary approval to the National Assembly.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link. However, sending a detachment of troops to the UAE for example, for a counter drone mission would help a key ROK partner in the Middle East and win favor with President Trump.

I guess John Bolton hasn’t started his jail sentence yet because he is still out publishing articles attacking Trump:

 Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton on Tuesday raised the possibility of President Donald Trump meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang for a new summit, while noting the “very high” risk of renewed summitry between them.

Bolton, who served as a top security aide to Trump from 2018-2019, made the remarks during an online forum as Trump has expressed his intention to meet Kim later this year. Trump held three meetings with Kim during his first term: the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.

“I think Trump would look at Pyongyang because … he’s had the first meeting with the North Korean leader (in Singapore). So doing it again breaks no new ground. It’s not a big PR stunt,” he said during the forum hosted by the Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS).

“He’s been to the DMZ and walked in North Korea, so he can’t do that again. So what else is there really except to go to Pyongyang?” he added, referring to the Panmunjom meeting inside the Demilitarized Zone where the two leaders briefly crossed the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas.

Bolton assessed that Trump seeks a meeting with Kim as he wants “pictures” and “distraction” from challenging issues at home and abroad.

“(Trump) wants something other than worrying about the war in the Middle East or prices in the United States, or the November election,” he said, referring to the U.S. midterm elections where control of Congress is at stake.

Trump is also looking for the “biggest welcome any North Korean leader has given a foreign leader,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

When I first saw the videos of these deadly flash floods in Nepal, it looked like it was AI-generated, but it wasn’t. The wall of water caused by the glacial collapse created an incredible wall of water that led to mass destruction:

President Lee Jae Myung called for using all available means in response to deadly flooding in Nepal that left nine Koreans missing, leading a government-wide effort during an emergency meeting, Thursday.

He also underscored cooperation with the Nepali government, urging the authorities to activate every diplomatic channel.

“We have convened this unscheduled emergency meeting because the lives and safety of our citizens are at grave risk,” Lee said as he presided over the gathering at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in central Seoul, a day after the disaster struck Nepal.

The nine missing Koreans are three employees of Korea South-East Power Co. and six from Doosan Enerbility, all of whom were working on the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Rasuwa region. They are among the more than 820 people missing. So far, the death toll has surpassed 270.

Another 10 Doosan Enerbility employees had been stranded in the affected area alongside about 200 Nepali and other foreign workers. 

Nine of them were evacuated to safety by a Nepali military helicopter later Thursday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The remaining employee, a site manager, reportedly chose to stay behind with two Korean Embassy officials until all local workers were rescued.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This seems like common sense to let people know you plan to launch projectile into airspace, but as we have seen recently certain countries could care less:

South Korea, the United States, Japan and 37 other countries issued a joint statement Tuesday calling on countries to provide sufficient advance notification of launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and space launch vehicles (SLVs).

The statement came after China carried out a surprise launch of an SLBM into the open waters of the Pacific on July 6, drawing criticism from the U.S. and other countries. The countries did not mention China by name in the statement.

In the statement, the countries called on all nations, particularly nuclear-weapon states, to provide notification of ICBM, SLBM and SLV launches no less than 24 hours in advance, noting that nuclear-capable missile tests without sufficient advance notice are “dangerous” and disrupt the peace of nations close to these tests.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Zelenskyy is probably in competition with the Arab countries to purchase Korean-made air defense systems. It seems his strategy is to scare the ROK with the North Korean threat in order to prioritize Ukraine for selling the systems to:

North Korea appears set to deploy an additional 30,000 to 50,000 troops to support Russia in its war with Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday.

Zelenskyy made the remarks in a post on X, quoting comments he made in an interview with the United News telethon. 

“North Koreans appear on the territory of the Russian Federation from time to time … At first, we were talking about hundreds, then thousands, and now a decision has been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia,” Zelenskyy said.

North Korea will certainly gain experience in modern warfare under Russia, the Ukrainian president also said, adding that Pyongyang will continue to build its experience in modern warfare, receive licenses from Russia and acquire various military tools.

Zelenskyy, in particular, said South Korea should have closer cooperation with Ukraine under such circumstances, adding that Ukraine seeks Seoul’s support for air defense systems, drones and other areas.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It could soon become much more expensive for Korean students who graduated in the U.S. to find a job:

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering imposing a $100,000 fee on foreign students seeking to work in the United States after graduating from American universities, a news report said Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the administration is weighing the idea of attaching the fee to an “optional practical training (OPT)” program that allows foreign university graduates to work in the U.S. for one to three years on student visas.

The proposed measure, if implemented, could affect U.S. universities keen on attracting foreign students, as well as Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms that hire international college graduates for technical posts, the newspaper said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I didn’t think this 20% fee idea was going to last very long and sure enough 24 hours later it is gone:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday dropped his proposal to impose a 20 percent “reimbursement” fee on cargo shipped through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, saying that he will replace it with trade and investment deals with Middle Eastern countries.

Trump made the remarks in a social media post, just a day after he announced that the United States will serve as the “guardian” of the strait and be “reimbursed” at a 20 percent rate on all cargo shipped through the waterway that Iran had all but closed amid the Middle East conflict.

“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20 percent United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. (……)

During a press availability, Trump said that he scrapped the proposed fee as Gulf state officials told him over the phone that they would like to “do it a different way” and invest in the U.S. “with billions and billions of dollars.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Lee is cleverly calling the $100 million recovery and reconstruction funds in order to not offend Moscow:

President Lee Jae Myung shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of their bilateral summit at a hotel in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday. Yonhap

President Lee Jae Myung had his first bilateral summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Wednesday. Lee announced a $100 million comprehensive support package for war-torn Ukraine, and they discussed how to handle North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) in the country in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.