This photo, released by the (North) Korean Central TV Station on May 10, 2017, is a composite of satellite images which the North claims show a golf course in South Korea’s southeastern county of Seongju where an advanced U.S. missile defense system, dubbed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, has been deployed. (Yonhap)
Actor Lee Min-ho began working at a social welfare center in southern Seoul on Friday as a substitute for his mandatory military service.
Wearing a black mask and dressed in black pants and a gray jacket, he arrived at the Gangnam Ward Office around 8:45 a.m. Hundreds of fans were waiting for him.
He was ordered to fulfill his duty as a public service worker due to the injuries he sustained in two car accidents, in 2006 and 2011, according to his management agency MYM Entertainment. [Yonhap]
North Korea could be planning an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) strike on the US with two satellites already orbiting above the Earth, an expert has claimed.
Dr Peter Vincent Pry claims that Pyongyang may be secretly developing the ability to detonate a high-altitude nuclear weapon in space which would set off the pulse, wiping out electrical systems below.
The secretive kingdom is believed to have started a satellite programme during the 1980s and successfully launched two observation satellites in 2012 and 2016, which take an estimated 94 minutes to complete an orbit of the earth.
Dr Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security who sits a US Congress committee on EMPs, claimed North Korea is practising a “cyberage version” of battleship diplomacy so they can always have “one of [their satellites] very close to being over the United States”.
He said the North Koreans may use this as a bargaining chip if the US threatens to carry out military sanctions against the regime. Â [The Independent]
You can read more at the link, but North Korea in the recent months has actually claimed to have conducted a test run of using an electro magnetic pulse attack against US satellites.
If President Moon scraps the comfort women agreement with Japan it will be very interesting to see what the Japanese reaction will be. Â It seems to me the Japanese government would be furious if it was to happen considering the political capital Shinzo Abe used to get the deal completed:
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday hinted at possibly scrapping an agreement with Tokyo over Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, insisting that most South Koreans could not accept the deal reached by the former Seoul government.
“President Moon noted the reality was that most of his people could not accept the agreement over the sexual slavery issue,” Moon’s chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan said of the president’s telephone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The conversation came as Abe sought to congratulate the new South Korean leader on his election this week. Moon came into office Wednesday, only one day after winning the presidential by-election caused by the March 10 ouster of his predecessor Park Geun-hye over a massive corruption scandal.
The thorny issue of sexual slavery apparently took center stage of the conversation after the Japanese premier urged the new liberal Seoul government to honor the agreement signed by its conservative predecessor. Â [Yonhap]
You have got to like how the Korea Times equates President Trump with someone like Kim Jong-un who maintains a system of slave labor camps, regularly threatens to turn Seoul into a Sea of Fire, carries out mass executions of political rivals to include his own uncle and older brother, and is the chief person responsible for the suffering and poverty of North Koreans:
This is a house on South Korea’s southeastern Geoje Island where newly elected President Moon Jae-in was born. The house is currently used for storage by a neighbor. (Yonhap)
It is hard to believe that she is 44-years old, she looks great:
Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T’s fashion group
Samsung C&T’s fashion group President Lee Seo-hyun has been selected as one of the 10 most beautiful female billionaires in the world by Trendchaser, a U.S.-based outlet specializing in entertainment trends and news.
Lee is a daughter of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Her older brother is Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung, and her older sister is Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin.
Trendchaser introduced 10 female billionaires aged between 19 and 50 under the headline “Youth, Fame, Beauty, and Fortune: These Ladies Have it All.” It named Virgin Group heiress Holly Branson, Ralph Lauren’s daughter Dylan Lauren and Hearst heiress Amanda Hearst as well.
Trendchaser wrote that some of them made their fortunes on their own, while others inherited the family business.
Although the 44-year-old executive seems to be closer to the latter, the report noted she expanded the company’s business horizons into fashion and chemicals. She was also responsible for buying Italy-based fashion house Colombo Via Della Spiga. Â [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but she is reportedly worth $1.5 billion.  If anyone is wondering she is married with four kids. They could have easily added her sister Lee Boo-jin to the list as well.
Lee Boo-jin and her ex-husband Im Woo-jae.
ROK Heads may remember that Lee Boo-jin recently went through a billion dollar divorce fight with her ex-husband. Â So if there are any ROK Heads looking to marry a billionaire she is still available.
She was very pretty as well, but allegedly committed suicide because she was forbidden by her father from marrying her boyfriend because his class was too low in South Korea.
“Russia(has) begun quietly laying the groundwork that would strengthen its ties to North Korea, thus increasing its global political leverage should it need it,” analysts at political intelligence firm Stratfor explained in a May 5 report, referring to Putin’s strained ties with the West.
Both countries share a long history of ideological and economic relations — in 2014, Moscow wrote off 90 percent of Pyongyang’s $11 billion debt from the Soviet-era — but recent projects indicate an even cozier relationship.
A new ferry service between Rajin and Vladivostok is due to begin on May 8 that’s expected to carry up to 200 passengers and 1,000 ton of cargo six times a month. Meanwhile in April, Russian military hardware was seen transported to the country’s border with North Korea but the Kremlin claimed the action was part of pre-planned military exercises, Reuters reported. Â [CNBC]
You can read the rest at the link, but expect the North Koreans to also play the new ROK government against the United States as well in order to secure aid and political support while they continue their nuclear weapons development just like during the Sunshine Policy years.
