This was a good idea by the Korean negotiators to really emphasize the manufacturing the ROK can help bring back to the U.S.:
During the interview, Kim also introduced a red baseball cap used by the South Korean negotiating team in talks with the U.S. The cap bears the embroidered slogan “Make America Shipbuilding Great Again” on its front, a message inspired by Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra.
“We designed this and brought about 10 of them to the U.S.,” he said, adding that the tariff negotiations would have been very difficult if South Korea did not have the shipbuilding card.
It is surprising they did not have a special team to handle these cases a long time ago:
The team was created to respond more effectively to crimes and security issues involving members of U.S. Forces Korea, Julie Song, an officer at the Pyeongtaek Police Station said by phone July 22. Sheβs one of two officers assigned to the unit.
They will oversee coordination on a range of incidents, including traffic accidents, allegations of assault and driving under the influence, she said. The unit will also investigate unauthorized drone flights and trespassing cases at U.S. military facilities, Song said, adding that there are no immediate plans to expand the unit.
Here is an interesting read about how a down on her luck American woman became a laptop farmer for North Korea:
Soon, more laptops arrived. Zhonghua got back in touch and told her sheβd receive $300 a month for each one she hosted. Her dream job had landed on her doorstep, or so it seemed.
Instead, it would prove to be the beginning of a long nightmare. Zhonghuaβs company wasnβt a company at all, but a front for agents of the North Korean government, who were using the laptops to work remote IT jobs for oblivious US businesses. And the promise heβd recognized in her was not as a software engineer. It was as a βlaptop farmerββan American providing geographic cover for North Korean IT workers, making it appear they were Americans working on US soil. All told, the United Nations estimates the wages paid to these illicit telecommuters generate $250 million to $600 million for the regime each year, much of which is funneled directly into its rocket program.
North Korea easily won the first Korean War. The US and 16 other countries bailed out the puppet state of South Korea by intervening. The US then tried to conquer the North in the second phase, an illegal war of aggression, and lost.
Russian student campers in N. Korea Russian student campers, who are participating in an international children’s camp with North Korean students, ride on an attraction at an amusement park in Pyongyang on July 29, 2025, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)
This is not surprising that the ROK would not further open up these markets. Long time Korea watchers may remember what happened back in 2008 with the U.S. beef protests. President Lee is not going to have that happen again on his watch:
South Korea’s markets for rice and beef will not be further opened under a tariff deal with the United States, a senior presidential official said Sunday.
Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, made the remarks during an appearance on a KBS news program amid lingering uncertainty over the details of the tariff deal.
