Besides expelling the North Korean ambassador the government of Malaysia should close the embassy entirely:

The Malaysian foreign ministry has cited North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol’s refusal to accept formal summons as the reason for its decision to expel him, official sources said Sunday.

On Saturday, Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced its decision to kick out North Korea’s ambassador, ordering him to leave the country by Monday 6 p.m.

The decision was the latest in a series of punitive actions Malaysia has taken in response to North Korea’s assassination of leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half brother Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13.

Kang was told to show up for a meeting with a Malaysian foreign ministry official on Saturday evening, but neither he nor the North Korean Embassy responded, the Malaysian foreign ministry said in its statement. It said this failure to respond to the summons as the reason for Kang’s expulsion.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

Trump Inherits a Secret Cyberwar Against North Korean Missiles https://t.co/LM2GBKDdAt

— KingSejong (@KingSejong) March 4, 2017

Here is Breaking Bad South Korean edition:

A 32-year-old unemployed university graduate chose to run a drug lab rather than to find a job to make a living. However, his sweet dream did not last long as his underground business was uncovered by police about ten months later.

The man surnamed Hwang was arrested for manufacturing and selling 500 grams (17 ounces) of meth worth 1.6 billion won (1.4 million US dollars) from cold medicine, commonly found in drug stores, at his lab in Itaewon, a famous traveling spot in Seoul.

Hwang, an art university graduate, gave up his furniture workshop to go for a more profitable underground business in May last year by self-educating himself to make methamphetamine commonly known as ice from the scratch. He used a simple method by mixing the cold medicine and chemicals to produce pseudoephedrine, the basic material for ice.  [Aju Daily]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest retaliation from the Chinese for the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:

China’s government ordered travel agencies to stop selling tour packages to Korea starting March 15 in the latest retaliation against the deployment of a U.S.-operated anti-missile system in Korea.

Under the ban, all travel agencies in China will be barred from selling travel packages to Korea, both group and individual, from March 15, a move certain to harm the local tourism industry.

It was reported that the China National Tourist Office summoned executives of travel agencies Thursday to a meeting at which the government instructed them to halt all tour packages to Korea to rebuff Seoul’s decision last July to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) anti-missile system.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

As everyone has seen the US government has been filled with leakers ever since President Trump took office and here is the latest leak:

A White House internal review of strategy on North Korea features the possibility of both military force as well as regime change in order to thwart Pyongyang’s nuclear-weapons threat, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing sources familiar with the process.

The strategy review, reported to have begun a fortnight ago, combined with U.S. President Donald Trump‘s January vow to prevent North Korea from ever testing intercontinental ballistic missiles. The report – which could not be verified by CNBC – hints at a possible shift in U.S. foreign policy which could potentially rattle allies of both nations.  [CNBC]

A strategy review is just that, a review of different strategic options to address the North Korean threat which military strikes and regime change has long been potential options.  I am sure there are other options in the report to include negotiations or the strategic patience option the Obama administration followed.  Just because a report has military options does not mean he is going to use them.  I bet the Obama administration had similar reports that looked at the viability of military options as well.

This looks like another example of media sensationalism to me.

It looks like the Trump administration will at some point demand a renegotiation of the US-ROK FTA:

The U.S. Trade Representative said Wednesday the free trade agreement with South Korea resulted in a “dramatic increase in our trade deficit,” stressing it’s time for a major review of how the U.S. approaches trade deals.

“The largest trade deal implemented during the Obama administration — our free trade agreement with South Korea — has coincided with a dramatic increase in our trade deficit with that country,” USTR said in President Donald Trump’s 2017 Trade Policy Agenda.

Compared with before the deal went into effect in 2012, the total value of U.S. goods exported to South Korea fell by $1.2 billion, while U.S. imports of goods from South Korea grew by more than $13 billion, USTR said.

“As a result, our trade deficit in goods with South Korea more than doubled,” it said. “Needless to say, this is not the outcome the American people expected from that agreement. Plainly, the time has come for a major review of how we approach trade agreements.”  [Korea Times]

I think what would be interesting to see is a report on any artificial barriers making it difficult for US companies to compete in South Korea which may contribute to the trade deficit.

Meth labs smell (& sometimes explode). There's no way the regime doesn't know. If it knows, it takes a cut. https://t.co/ohyp1U0owk

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) March 3, 2017

This unique home for a young pilot and his family in South Korea is one of the funnest homes we’ve ever seen. The Flying House was designed by IROJE KHM Architects, who drew inspiration from traditional Korean architecture to create a delicate balance between sky and land. [Inhabitat]