South Korean Speaker Chung Sye-kyun (R) poses with visiting Filipino boxer and Senator Manny Pacquiao at the National Assembly in Seoul on Dec. 22, 2016. (Yonhap)
I doubt the Kim regime is too concerned about new sanctions considering how they continue to evade sanctions through Chinese complicity:
Newly proposed sanctions on North Korea could have a significant effect on the isolated country’s already struggling economy, analysts said ahead of an expected U.N. Security Council vote on Friday, which will hinge on support from China and Russia. (……)
The draft U.N. resolution, seen by Reuters on Thursday, seeks to ban nearly 90 percent of refined petroleum product exports to North Korea by capping them at 500,000 barrels a year and demand the repatriation of North Koreans working abroad within 12 months.
It would also cap crude oil supplies to North Korea at 4 million barrels a year, as well as ban a number of North Korean exports such as machinery, lumber, and other products and resources.
“If they were enforced, the cap on oil would be devastating for North Korea’s haulage industry, for North Koreans who use generators at home or for productive activities, and for (state-owned enterprises) that do the same,” said Peter Ward, a columnist for NK News, a website that tracks North Korea.
The forced repatriation of foreign workers would also cut off vital sources of foreign currency and investment not only for the government but also for North Korea’s emerging market economy, he said.
“If such sanctions were enforced, they would thus impede and endanger North Korea’s economic development. [Business Insider]
You can read more at the link, but the big qualifier mentioned in the article is if they are enforced.
It will be interesting to see if through CCTV or witnesses that the US military investigators will be able to track down who left the propaganda on the US bases:
U.S. Forces Korea is warning servicemembers on the peninsula to stay alert to potential insider threats after North Korean propaganda appeared on American bases.
The 8th Army reported that propaganda leaflets were discovered at Seoul’s Yongsan Garrison Thursday, shortly after a North Korean soldier defected across the heavily fortified border just north of the South Korean capital.
In an alert posted later that day on USFK’s Facebook page, officials said a significant number of North Korean propaganda leaflets and CDs had been placed at strategic locations on multiple U.S. military installations in South Korea. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised if the propaganda was left by a sympathetic South Korean leftist with base access instead of a North Korean spy.
Hopefully this will be the last we hear about the Nut-Rage case:
Heather Cho
The top court upheld a lower court ruling that acquitted former Korean Air Executive Vice President Heather Cho, Thursday, of the “nut rage” case three years ago that triggered nationwide outrage over the rich and powerful abusing their positions.
Cho is the eldest daughter of Chairman Cho Yang-ho of Korean Air, the country’s largest full-service carrier.
In the first 13-member full-panel ruling deliberated by the 13 Supreme Court justices including chief justice Kim Meong-su after he took the top post, the court said she did not violate aviation law by ordering the plane to change its air route, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
“The air route, the point of contention here, should be interpreted as referring to the aircraft’s course when it is flying, not when it is taxiing on the ground,” the court said.
“The lower court’s ruling was apt in making such a determination, and there was no misinterpretation of the law that requires a review.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but this whole incident seemed to me to be all about over charging her to appease public sentiment and then quietly letting the appeals court over turn the conviction. Remember Korea is a rule by law and not a rule of law society. This case is a perfect example of it.
Here is the latest on the idea floated by President Moon to delay the annual Key Resolve military exercise:
South Korea and the United States may delay their joint military exercises only for the duration of the Winter Olympic Games to be held here next year and if the North halts its military provocations, a ranking South Korean official said Wednesday.
The remarks came one day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in an interview with U.S. broadcaster NBC he has proposed delaying the military drills, which North Korea accuses of a war rehearsal, as part of efforts to reduce tensions during the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.
Such a proposal, however, “is limited to holding the Olympic Games peacefully,” an official from the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, while speaking on condition of anonymity. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but Key Resolve is typically executed every March. Whatever the delay is cannot be too long because of the summer change over of personnel in USFK that begins in June plus the next military exercise UFG 2018 is typically executed each August.
Here is what USFK’s position on the delay is:
The United States forces stationed in South Korea said Wednesday it is committed to the two countries’ decision on whether to delay their annual military drills and announce their final decision in an appropriate time.
“We want the PyeongChang Olympics to be successful and have committed to our ally that we will aid their success,” the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) said in a short press release. The CFC is led by Vincent Brooks, the commanding general of the U.S. Forces Korea. [Yonhap]
I guess we will see what happens in the coming months.
Members of a Japanese organization that dislikes Korea stage a protest near the Korean Culture center in Tokyo on Dec. 19, 2017, when South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was visiting it to inspect a Korea-Japan photo exhibition there. (Yonhap)
This is a really horrible fire that killed 29 people and injured 20 more:
Firefighters battle a blaze at an eight-story fitness building in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday. / Yonhap
Twenty-nine people were killed and more than 20 injured Thursday in an afternoon blaze in a building in Jecheon, some 170 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The Chungbuk Fire Service Headquarters said the blaze began in the basement parking lot of an eight-story building at 3:53 p.m. The fire quickly spread through the building housing a fitness center, driving range, public sauna and restaurants.
Fire officials said most of the victims were in the sauna as they were trapped inside of the public bath on the second floor. They said 15 people, including a 50-year-old woman surnamed Kim, were found dead in the sauna.
Twenty people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. [Korea Times]
