Usually overseas outlets don't really scoop SK sources regarding domestic or NK news. But HK's South China Morning Post is claiming NK may send Kim Yo-jong to Washington: "Right now, she is NK's most powerful weapon." https://t.co/NBtxd1W1Po
This could be a trial balloon by the ROK government to see what the US reaction would be to scaling down the upcoming joint exercises:
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo (R) talks with U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift in Seoul on March 8, 2018. (Yonhap)
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo “jokingly” said Thursday the United States does not need to send a nuclear submarine and other strategic assets to Korea for the upcoming joint military drills.
He made the remark during a meeting with visiting Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift amid speculation that Seoul hopes to scale down this year’s Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises in order to maintain the mood of inter-Korean reconciliation spurred by the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
“Lots of changes are expected in South-North relations and (security conditions) surrounding the Korean Peninsula going forward,” the minister told the admiral, who is retiring in a few months.
In particular, Song added, the two Koreas plan to hold their third summit talks in late April with South Korea and the U.S. scheduled to stage the annual exercises.
He asked Swift to keep doing his best for a firm defense posture through his retirement, reportedly slated for May.
“You need not deploy (defense assets) like nuclear submarines during the remainder of your tenure as commander,” the minister said with a slight smile in front of TV cameras.
Swift briefly replied that his troops will stay ready for deployment in case of an order from national leaders.
Ministry officials later played down Song’s remark as a joke. [Yonhap]
Allegedly an English teacher was behaving badly in Cheongju:
Amid the spreading #MeToo movement, a native English-speaking teacher at a girls’ high school was recently fired over allegations of sexually molesting students and calling the East Sea the “Japan Sea.” It was the victimized students who told the school of his misbehavior.
According to Yonhap News, the instructor, who worked at the school in Cheongju, was booked without physical detention on suspicion of sexually molesting students. The school also terminated his contract.
The former instructor is from Western Europe and worked at the school for seven years.
The school became aware of his misbehavior in May last year and asked police to investigate.
The school confronted him with its findings and he admitted making unwanted physical contact with the students, and racial and sexually offensive remarks. [Korea Times]
Here is his most shocking crime:
He also allegedly told the students that Korea and Japan should share Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo rather than fighting over them.
He should be exiled to live out his life on Dokdo after making a statement like that! 😉
It is stressful enough that Korean men have to do mandatory military service, but now they may have to continue to have a travel ban in place just to appease small business owners that profit from the travel ban:
The South Korean military is reconsidering its initial plan to completely lift the travel ban for soldiers following opposition to the move from representatives from military-heavy regions.
According to the ministry, Vice Minister Suh Choo-suk held a meeting on Wednesday with the mayors or county governors from the inter-Korean border areas and agreed to come up with an “improvement scheme” regarding the plan to abolish the restriction on the areas soldiers can visit during their leave.
The ministry plans to announce a revised plan within the year, considering various factors, including military readiness, military personnel’s basic human rights and economic impacts on the border regions.
Last month, the military accepted a proposal from an internal reform committee to lift the restrictions to guarantee soldiers their human rights. However, the governments and small business owners in the border regions have protested the measure, saying it will negatively affect the regional economies. [KBS Global]
The campaign to put former President Lee Myung-Bak in jail next to Park Geun-hye continues:
This photo, taken on March 6, 2018, shows a police officer walking around the residence of former President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul’s Gangnam Ward. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office subpoenaed Lee to come to the office for questioning as a suspect on March 14 over a string of suspicions of bribery and other irregularities. (Yonhap)
The prosecution will question former President Lee Myung-bak next Wednesday over a wide range of wrongdoings allegedly sanctioned under his administration. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it asked Lee to appear before the district office at 9:30 a.m. March 14.
The summons came amid intensifying investigation into members of Lee’s family and close aides, and their incriminating statements. Lee is facing abuse of power charges for managing hundreds of billions of won (hundreds of millions of dollars) in a slush fund through DAS, a car parts manufacturer ostensibly owned by his elder brother Lee Sang-eun. A key aide managing his assets said Lee owned land in Dogok, southern Seoul, under a borrowed name and the proceeds from the sale of the land were funneled into DAS, substantiating the prosecution’s supposition that Lee Myung-bak was the company owner.
The controversy concerning DAS nearly cost him his 2007 Presidential election as it was among the few entities that recovered its initial investment in full during his term unlike 5,500 investors who lost 100 billion won in a stock price manipulation scandal in 2001.
Lee is suspected of receiving 1.7 billion won in bribes from the National Intelligence Service through many of his key aides who recently confessed about their roles in delivering the money. Lee is also suspected of having Samsung Group pay about 6 billion won in a retainer to a U.S. firm, Akin Gump, of which Samsung was a major client in return for a presidential pardon for group chairman Lee Kun-hee in 2009. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but as I have long said this is all payback by the South Korean left against Lee Myung-Bak for exposing the corruption of former leftwing President Roh Moo-hyun. The exposing of the corruption led Roh to commit suicide.
Via a reader tip comes this news of how drinking is being banned in designated areas in South Korea’s mountain parks:
Trekkers at Daedunsan Provincial Park line up to buy liquor from vendors on Mt. Daedun. Provincial watchdogs have been reluctant to shut down the illegal traders, allowing the business to go on for years. / Korea Times file
Laws banning drinking on mountain tops and in other designated natural areas start this month.
The National Assembly passed the revised anti-drinking laws on Tuesday that affect visitors to mountains and parks under national, city or provincial management, the environment ministry said Wednesday. The laws begin on Mar. 13.
They include fines of 50,000 won ($46) for a first offence and 100,000 won for subsequent violations for people caught drinking in the designated areas.
The ministry’s latest bid reflects its intention to lower accidents in the regions. From 2012 until 2017, 64 of over 1,300 accidents on mountains and in parks were due to alcohol intoxication. Ten accidents were fatal. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the ban includes smoking as well. It seems like this is going to be incredibly difficult to enforce unless they plan to have police patrol every mountain.
Pretty horrible whoever did this, but in this day in age of fake racism you never know if it was in fact a racist who did this:
The Marine Corps is investigating after a racial slur was posted on a movie theater marquee over the weekend at Camp Hansen, Okinawa.
The Marine Corps is investigating after a racial slur was posted to a base theater marquee on Okinawa.
The incident happened Sunday at Camp Hansen — home to 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, 9th Engineer Support Battalion and 12th Marine Regiment — Marine officials said. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but you would think there would be security cameras around the theater that possibly recorded something to help catch whoever did this.
The Russian port of Kholmsk sounds like an excellent candidate for secondary customs inspections under section 314 of the KIMS Act. https://t.co/9Zuc42wFFR
