Kamakura is a beautiful area of Japan filled with various temples and shrines. It is not surprising to me that they would have a Korean shrine there as well. Good to hear the shrine is returning to its original home in Korea:

A building believed to be a royal shrine from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) has returned to Korea, about 100 years after it was taken to Japan.

The Korea Heritage Service (KHS) and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation announced Tuesday that they had received parts of the structure, known as Gwanwoldang, under an agreement reached a day ago with Kotoku-in, a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Japan. 

The return was made possible through the decision of Takao Sato, chief priest of the temple, who concluded that the shrine should be preserved in its original home — Korea.

It marks the first time an entire Korean building located overseas has been repatriated. Previously, in 1995, 110 tons of remains from Jaseondang Hall of Gyeongbok Palace, discovered in a garden path at Tokyo’s Okura Hotel, were returned. However, those remains consisted mostly of stone components, such as stylobates and cornerstones.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

As long as the Ukriane-Russia war continues there is no reason for Kim Jong-un to pursue any diplomacy with Trump. Kim is getting the money and military aid he needs from the Russians for now. If he started diplomacy with Trump it would look like he is backstabbing Putin:

Joseph Yun, the acting U.S. ambassador in Seoul, said Tuesday that any renewed talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hinge on mutual willingness.

“I have no doubt that President Trump considers his engagement with North Korea during his first term as unfinished business, and he wants to reengage with North Korea,” Yun said. 

“But it takes two to tango,” he added. “We have not really heard from the North Korean side whether they too want to reengage. And to me, that’s the bigger unknown.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The number of millionaires in South Korea continued to grow this year:

South Korea had the world’s 10th-highest number of millionaires globally last year, with 1.3 million individuals holding wealth exceeding $1 million, or 1.37 billion won, a report showed Thursday.

According to the Global Wealth Report 2025, released by Swiss investment bank UBS, the figure marked a slight increase from 1.2 million recorded in 2023, placing the country 10th among 56 countries surveyed.

There were about 60 million millionaires globally, holding a total of $226.47 trillion in wealth.

The US topped the list with 23.8 million millionaires, accounting for 39.7 percent of all millionaires worldwide.

The report noted that the millionaire population in the US rose by 379,000 throughout last year, meaning about 1,000 people joined the millionaire club each day.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully this guy receives the maximum punishment:

A former Army sergeant with an intelligence unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., pleaded guilty to charges that he tried to sell military secrets to China, according to federal authorities. Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, faces penalties of up to 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine for each count of retention of national security information and attempt to deliver national security information, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington said.

Stars & Stripes

Here is what this guy tried to do:

In his position, Schmidt had access to secret U.S. military information. He learned to speak Mandarin during his time in the Army and traveled at least once to China while off duty. After leaving the Army in early 2020, Schmidt contacted the Chinese Consulate in Turkey and visited Istanbul to interest Chinese intelligence officers in documents that he had taken from the Army. He also emailed Chinese security forces offering to turn over national defense information.

Schmidt moved to Hong Kong in March 2020 and contacted Chinese intelligence services again trying to pass classified information. He also offered to turn over a device that allows for access to secure U.S. military computer systems. In addition to the documents, Schmidt sought a position with the Chinese as an intelligence or security asset. During his time in China, he traveled to Beijing. Schmidt emailed information to news media in China affiliated with the government.

You can read more at the link.

I don’t know why the ROK military would come under scrutiny when they are the reason the martial law attempt failed. The rank and file did not want to implement the Presidential order:

This composite photo shows Defense Minister nominee Ahn Gyu-back (L), Unification Minister nominee Chung Dong-young (C) and Foreign Minister nominee Cho Hyun. (Yonhap)

President Lee Jae Myung on Monday named five-term lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back as defense minister, the first time in 64 years that a civilian defense chief has been nominated for the post, the presidential office said.

Lee’s pick of Ahn is seen as carrying out his election pledge to reform the military, a key promise from his presidential campaign to rebuild a nation fractured by the brief imposition of martial law in December last year under his predecessor, the ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol. 

The military has come under scrutiny since Yoon deployed troops to the National Assembly when he declared martial law on Dec. 3, allegedly to block lawmakers attempting to stop his brief imposition of martial law decree. Yoon was removed from office in April over the martial law debacle.

Yonhap

Lee Jae-myung also brought another Roh Moo-hyun administration retread into his cabinet as well by naming Chung-Dong-young as his unification minister:

Lee also nominated Chung Dong-young, a journalist-turned-veteran DP lawmaker, for unification minister, responsible for inter-Korean affairs. Chung previously served as the unification minister under the Roh Moo-hyun government from 2004-05.

“Chung has unmatched experience and a firm commitment to peace on the Korean Peninsula. He’s the right person to help create conditions for dialogue with North Korea and to find a breakthrough in easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Kang said.

Chung just like President Lee’s spy chief nominee Lee Jong-seok is also a pro-North Korea cheerleader. He was the Unification Minister during the Roh administration when South Korea was giving more money to North Korea than what was being paid for the upkeep of the US-ROK alliance. Back then the Roh administration foolishly believed all the aid they gave to North Korea would be used to improve their economy. Instead the funding was poured into building their nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The selection of Chung for the Unification Minister position shows that the new Lee administration has learned nothing from past leftist mistakes, instead they are doubling down on them.