We will see in a couple of years where his approval rating is at because new Presidents usually do have a honeymoon period when it comes to approval ratings:
President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating rose for the fifth consecutive week to 64.6 percent, a survey showed Monday.
According to the survey by Realmeter and commissioned by a local news outlet, the positive assessment of Lee’s performance rose 2.5 percentage points from the previous week, while the negative assessment fell 1.4 percentage points to 30 percent.
The pollster said Lee’s approval rating has continued to rise for the fifth straight week since taking office on June 4.
You can read more at the link.
Considering the revolution in drone warfare going on in Ukraine right now, every servicemember should learn how to fly and operate a drone:
The Pentagon wants more small, cheap, easily replaced drones in the hands of troops as quickly as possible, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he is cutting red tape to make that happen. Hegseth, dressed in a dark-colored suit, took to the Pentagon’s parade field on Thursday to record a video announcing his policies on new small drones — officially, unmanned aerial systems — and promoting his memorandum on the matter as an American Flag-bearing drone was flown to him by a service member. Hegseth said the memo would build off a June 6 executive order issued by President Donald Trump meant to boost America’s commercial drone manufacturing and integrate them into the nation’s transportation and military sectors. “This is the future,” Hegseth said over the buzz of the small drone and the blasting of Metallica’s 1991 hit song “Enter Sandman.”
“We’re in the fight. We’re in the fight to win it, and I’m never going to back down.” Hegseth’s new policies aim to cut through bureaucratic policies that limited the military’s ability to quickly purchase and field small drones with vast capabilities ranging from gathering intelligence to dropping small supplies to troops all the way to delivering lethal munitions on enemy positions. “Lethality will not be hindered by self-imposed restrictions, especially when it comes to harnessing technologies we invented but were slow to pursue. Drone technology is advancing so rapidly, our major risk is risk-avoidance,” Hegseth wrote. “The department’s bureaucratic gloves are coming off.”
You can read more at the link, but the biggest problem I see with this initiative is that American drone manufacturers make expensive drones with less capability than China’s DJI drones. They are way ahead of U.S. manufacturers right now, but the U.S. appears to now finally acknowledge it is time to catch up.
If proven that Yoon Suk-yeol was trying to get North Korea to launch a provocation against South Korea to justify martial law, this seems like it would be an abuse of power:
![This image, provided by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 19, shows the remains of a drone that Pyongyang claims was sent from South Korea. The drone was described as the same type that was publicly displayed on Armed Forces Day in Seoul earlier in the month. [YONHAP]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/07/14/0f661529-6e75-4cd0-9493-a19c5dd76043.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
This image, provided by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 19, shows the remains of a drone that Pyongyang claims was sent from South Korea. The drone was described as the same type that was publicly displayed on Armed Forces Day in Seoul earlier in the month. [YONHAP]
“The search warrants are being executed at 24 military-related locations,” the special counsel team said. “We cannot disclose the exact sites due to military security concerns.”
Investigators are probing whether Yoon, as commander-in-chief, directly ordered the drone command in October 2024 to carry out a drone operation over Pyongyang to manufacture conditions justifying a martial law declaration. The investigation is also examining whether the military engaged in a systematic cover-up.
A recorded testimony from an active-duty officer — already questioned as a witness — claims that Kim told subordinates the order came from “V,” and had to proceed without notifying the Defense Ministry or Joint Chiefs. The officer said the operation included dispersing propaganda leaflets and intentionally exposing drones to North Korean detection. “V” is a designation used by the South Korean military to refer to the sitting president, and is used especially when dealing with matters of national security or covert operations. It is shortened from “VIP,” which is also used to refer to the president.“The search warrants are being executed at 24 military-related locations,” the special counsel team said. “We cannot disclose the exact sites due to military security concerns.”
Investigators are probing whether Yoon, as commander-in-chief, directly ordered the drone command in October 2024 to carry out a drone operation over Pyongyang to manufacture conditions justifying a martial law declaration. The investigation is also examining whether the military engaged in a systematic cover-up.
A recorded testimony from an active-duty officer — already questioned as a witness — claims that Kim told subordinates the order came from “V,” and had to proceed without notifying the Defense Ministry or Joint Chiefs. The officer said the operation included dispersing propaganda leaflets and intentionally exposing drones to North Korean detection. “V” is a designation used by the South Korean military to refer to the sitting president, and is used especially when dealing with matters of national security or covert operations. It is shortened from “VIP,” which is also used to refer to the president.
You can read more at the link.
Some people have no sense of shame if they think ordering employees to do chores around their house is okay:
Gender Equality Minister nominee Kang Sun-woo apologized Monday for having legislative aides perform her household chores, such as disposing of food waste at her home, amid opposition criticism and calls for her resignation over alleged abuse of power.
Kang offered the apology during a parliamentary confirmation hearing on her nomination, when she was pressed by opposition lawmakers, including Rep. Lee Dal-hee of the People Power Party, who actually brought a plastic bag of food waste to the hearing to make her point.
“I sincerely apologize for the controversy I’ve caused. I offer my heartfelt apologies to the aides who may have been hurt in the process,” Kang told lawmakers at the National Assembly.
“I humbly accept my shortcomings and will take this as a lesson to be more mindful in my words and actions, and to move forward with greater care and consideration,” she said.
Kang, a two-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, was nominated for gender minister late last month.
The controversy arose after some of her staff members raised allegations that she ordered her aides to do her household chores and repair her toilet, claiming that her abusive behavior amounts to “gapjil” — a Korean term used to describe a power-abusing workplace practice by a superior.
You can read more at the link.
I once saw Mt. Kumgang through a telescope along the DMZ on South Korea’s east coast. It looked like a pretty amazing mountain. I hope to visit it one day when the Kim regime is no longer around:
North Korea’s Mount Kumgang, noted for its striking natural beauty, has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site on Sunday.
During the 47th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Paris, the decision was made to inscribe the mountain and the historical relics in and around it on the list of protected landmarks and sites of internationally recognized cultural, historic or scientific value.
For more than a thousand years, Mount Kumgang (Geumgang in South Korean romanization) has enchanted artists, lyrists and travelers alike with its breathtaking panorama of craggy granite peaks, tumbling waterfalls and mist-veiled gorges.
You can read more at the link.
The Pentagon is putting both the Japanese and the Australians in a difficult spot because it is in both countries interest to keep things ambiguous considering their business ties to China. It is even more complicated for Japan considering their pacifist constitution. However any conflict with China will likely lead to U.S. bases in Japan being attacked that would draw the Japanese into the conflict regardless:
The Pentagon is urging Japan to make clear the role it would play in the event of a U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan, a media report said Saturday, with the U.S. Defense Department’s No. 3 official later appearing to confirm the push.
U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby has been broaching the sensitive issue in meetings with Japanese and Australian officials in recent months, the Financial Times (FT) quoted unidentified sources as saying.
You can read more at the link.
