It was a big day recently for the Lee family that founded the Samsung group:

Founding family members of the Samsung Group gathered on Friday to witness the commissioning of Lee Ji-ho, the eldest son of Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong, as a Navy officer following his completion of an 11-week officer candidate course.

The commissioning ceremony was attended by Chair Lee, his mother, Hong Ra-hee; the honorary director of Samsung’s Leeum Museum of Art; and his sister Lee Seo-hyun, the president of Samsung C&T.

Lee Ji-ho’s mother and Chair Lee’s ex-wife, Lim Se-ryung, was also in attendance.

Lee served as the flag representative for the 139th class of officer candidates, a role the Navy says is given to those who show exemplary conduct by cooperating closely with fellow trainees and actively participating in drills.

The 139th class consists of 84 candidates, including Lee.

Born in the US in 2000, Lee held dual citizenship, which he renounced to enlist and serve in the Navy.

Lee’s decision to enlist has been viewed as significant, given how uncommon it is for members of the Samsung family to complete military service.

Chair Lee’s eldest son is expected to serve for a total of 39 months, including 36 months of mandatory duty after three months of training. The officer service period in South Korea is 39 months across all branches, compared to 18 months for Army enlistees, 20 months in the Navy and 21 months in the Air Force.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but good on Lee Ji-ho for doing his mandatory service. He could of easily gotten out of it by remaining an American citizen, but instead decided to commission as an officer and do extra time in service.

The American tourist was a former Marine Captain visiting Okinawa who was out past curfew which the military police had no jurisdiction over. The civilian could have defused the situation by showing his ID as requested, but when he refused the MP should not have body slammed him. I wonder if an assault charge could be filed with the Japanese police?:

Two Okinawa government officials urged caution amid a review of street patrols by U.S. military police in nightlife districts following a viral video of a U.S. civilian’s violent arrest. Two videos totaling four minutes show what appears to be a U.S. military police officer body slamming a man in civilian clothes onto the sidewalk along Gate 2 Street in Okinawa city outside Kadena Air Base early on Nov. 23. A patrol consisting only of U.S. military police stopped the civilian outside a bar in Okinawa city, according to U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Air Force Col. John Severns by email Wednesday. The civilian was not connected with the U.S. military, he said.

USFJ commander Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost ordered unilateral patrols by the U.S. military paused while an investigation of the incident takes place, Severns said. In neighboring Chatan town, Mayor Masashi Toguchi told reporters Thursday that “mistaken detentions like this should never happen, and we strongly urge a careful response,” a town spokesman said by phone Friday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what is even more concerning is that this MP was saying they can detain Japanese civilians if they wanted to. Clearly some retraining needs to happen. You would think simple things like who you can and cannot detain or body slam would have been clearly understood before sending these MPs out on patrol.

The only strategic asset I can think of is something nuclear related. However, it would make no sense for them to develop a strategic bomber when their current ballistic missile inventory is enough for deterrence:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a ceremony marking the 80th founding anniversary of the country’s air force, saying it will be given new strategic military assets and a “new important duty,” state media reported Sunday.

Kim made the remarks during the celebration event held Friday at Kalma Airport of the 59th Kil Yong Jo Hero Flying Group of the Second Air Wing, to mark the founding anniversary of the Air Force of the Korean People’s Army, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Delivering a speech at the anniversary celebration, Kim said, “The Air Force will be given new strategic military assets and entrusted with a new important duty,” although he did not specify what those strategic assets would be.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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

The Beijing bullies are now giving Japan the same treatment they have given to Korea over the THAAD deployment:

Wang’s experience appears to be tied to the latest fallout from an escalating spat between China and Japan over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments suggesting Tokyo would deploy its self-defense forces in the event of a Beijing attack on Taiwan.

China, which regards the self-ruled island as part of its territory, was infuriated and repeatedly called on Takaichi to withdraw her remarks. Beijing’s response covered economic measures, which have since increasingly spilled over to the realm of cultural events, including the freezing of Japanese movie releases on Chinese screens.

An informal tally by Chinese internet users shows that at least 20 Japanese concerts, live performances and fan meetings across major cities have been canceled or postponed since Takaichi’s remarks.

This has caused growing concern among Chinese consumers of Japanese pop culture that content will be limited or even face a full-fledged ban, reminiscent of the hallyu, or Korean wave, ban that started in 2016 in response to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Japan needs to stand tall and not give in to these bullies.