This is a pretty significant development because a solid fuel missile on a mobile launcher would allow the North Koreans to launch with little to no indications or warning against targets in Japan with this missile:

South Korea’s military said Monday that North Korea appears to have employed technologies used in submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) to develop a new type of intermediate-range rocket, citing its analysis of a launch test carried out by Pyongyang a day earlier.

“North Korean leader Kim Jong-un likely ordered the task of developing a surface-to-surface Pukguksong-2 missile based on the successful SLBM test carried out in August. We have reached an assessment that the North is in the process of developing a ballistic missile with a greatly extended strike range,” an official from Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

Pyongyang called the new missile Pukguksong-2. The SLBM launched in August carried the name Pukguksong-1, a name which translates as the “North Star.”

The remark came after the JCS initially identified the type of missile fired from Bangyon air base in the western province of North Pyongan Province at 7:55 a.m. as a medium-range Rodong or modified Rodong, and then changed their assessment to a modified Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

The missile reached a height of 550 kilometers after being fired at a high angle and flew about 500 km before splashing down into the East Sea.

As the launch was conducted in a “lofted” style, it put the missile into a high trajectory rather than a lower one that would allow it to fly much farther.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I asked a few months ago if the progressive term “cultural misappropriation” would eventually makes it way to Korea and now it has arrived over the wearing of a hanbok which the vast majority of Koreans love to see foreigners wear:

Maria, 20, studies the Korean language in Seoul. In her post, she included a caption referencing SHINee’s Taemin, who wore a similar hanbok in KBS’ variety show “Hello Baby”.

Apparently, not everyone was pleased to see Maria donning the dress. According to Koreaboo, some angered netizens accused her of cultural (mis)appropriation. One reportedly called her a “White Devil.”  [Next Shark via King Sejong]

You can read the rest at the link, but I learned another new progressive term “white passing privilege”.  If this is what people in college are concerned about no wonder they have a hard time finding a good job in today’s economy.

Thae Yong Ho: unrealistic to preemptively strike NK hoping no consequence when 25k US troops in SK as cannon fodderhttps://t.co/7Vtq3b4Aps

— Noon in Korea (@NoonInKorea) February 11, 2017

This photo shows a satellite image seen on Google Earth of the Banghyon air base in North Korea’s North Pyongyan Province from which Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile presumed to be a medium-range Rodong or a modified version of it on Feb. 12, 2017. (Yonhap)

I think it is more than coincidence that the Kim regime decided to interfere with President Trump’s and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s golf game this weekend by firing off this missile:

Pyongyang fired a missile into waters off its eastern coast Sunday morning, the first test-firing by North Korea this year and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Launched from Banghyon Air Base in North Pyongyan Province at 7:55 a.m., the missile reached an altitude of about 550 kilometers (342 miles) and flew 500 kilometers before splashing into the East Sea, both figures which indicate that it wasn’t an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), said an official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

It appears that the missile was a Rodong medium-range class meant to target Japan, according to another South Korean military source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

The Rodong or Nodong missile is a missile developed primarily to target Japan which is further evidence that the Trump-Abe meeting this week is why they fired the missile when they did.  With that said it is important to keep things in perspective.  The Nodong is a missile they have fired plenty of times in the past and this test firing was on a known test trajectory that safely impacted in the Sea of Japan.  If it wasn’t for the fact that it was North Korea test firing this missile most people would not care.

Here is how President Trump and Prime Minister Abe responded during a hastily called news conference at Trump’s golf club:

United States President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have condemned North Korea’s latest missile launch.

Trump and Abe issued their statements on the North’s surprise ballistic missile launch on Sunday during an unscheduled joint news conference in Florida.

Abe said that North Korea’s most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable, urging the North to fully comply with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Trump said that he wants everybody to understand and fully know that the United States stands behind its great ally Japan 100 percent.  [KBS World]

Here is how the ROK has responded:

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) denounced North Korea for its latest ballistic missile launch.

Following North Korea’s missile launch Sunday morning, the JCS issued a statement, calling the military action a “grave threat to peace and safety of South Korea and the international community.”

The JCS warned that the Kim Jong-un regime will only see its collapse unless it wakes up from the delusion of nuclear and missile provocations.

The JCS said the missile launch is unacceptable and the military is prepared to immediately respond to any North Korean provocation.

The South Korean military stressed that the missile launch came in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.  [KBS World]

I think the response was handled well by everyone because on the scale of North Korean provocations this is very low and people should not over react to it in my opinion which so far no one is appearing to do.

I find it hard to feel sorry for this businesses that knew what they were getting themselves into in order to take advantage of near slave labor to make profits.  Their gamble ultimately did not pay off so why should the South Korean taxpayer be on the hook to completely bail them out of their losses?:

It will have been a year since they were forced to leave their workplace in North Korea’s border town of Kaesong this week, but nearly half of the firms that were once celebrated as symbols of reconciliation with the communist North are now struggling just to stay alive.

The 124 South Korean firms were told by their own government to leave the joint industrial complex a year ago Friday.

The unexpected shutdown of the joint complex followed a series of military provocations from the North that included a nuclear test in January 2016.  (……..)

He said the total damage suffered by all 124 firms came to at least 1.5 trillion won (US$1.31 billion).

The amount includes some 840 billion won in fixed and floating assets left behind in Kaesong, such as equipment and raw materials, as well as 150 billion won the firms had to pay in penalties or damage to their contractors and buyers for breached contracts.

Their combined losses stemming from reduced sales also came to 314.7 billion won in 2016 alone, the committee said.

The government, however, has compensated them 483.8 billion won, only 32 percent of the damage suffered by the firms, it added.

“The government has only provided some 359 billion won in compensation for investment assets in Kaesong and 125 billion won for floating assets, but refuses to provide any support for loss of business, the penalties the firms had to pay or any other damage stemming from the shutdown,” an official from the emergency committee said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

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

Can the U.S.-Japan alliance survive Trump? @rosenbergerlm explains. https://t.co/cOfFSAYzTh pic.twitter.com/wFN7qcduOQ

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) February 11, 2017

Actress Seo Hyun-jin poses with a Carlyn bag in a poster released by the manufacturer on Feb. 10, 2017. (Yonhap)

It looks like out of the all the world leaders so far that have interacted with President Trump, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seems to be the one that has developed the best relationship with him so far:

With a hug and a handshake, President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened a new chapter in U.S.-Japan relations on Friday with Trump abruptly setting aside campaign pledges to force Tokyo to pay more for U.S. defense aid.

The two leaders appeared to have established a quick friendship during a day of talks at the White House and a flight together aboard Air Force One to Florida for a weekend of golf.

At a joint news conference with Abe, Trump avoided repeating harsh campaign rhetoric that accused Japan of taking advantage of U.S. security aid and stealing American jobs.

It was a welcome affirmation for Japan in the face of challenges such as China’s maritime expansion and North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.

“We are committed to the security of Japan and all areas under its administrative control and to further strengthening our very crucial alliance,” Trump said. “The bond between our two nations and the friendship between our two peoples runs very, very deep. This administration is committed to bringing those ties even closer,” he added.

A joint U.S.-Japanese statement said the U.S. commitment to defend Japan through nuclear and conventional military capabilities is unwavering.

The statement amounted to a victory for Abe, who came to Washington wanting to develop a sense of trust and friendship with the new U.S. president and send a message that the decades-old alliance is unshakeable.

Japan got continued U.S. backing for its dispute with Beijing over islands in the East China Sea that China also claims. The statement said the two leaders affirmed that Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan security treaty covered the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.  [Reuters]

You can read more at the link.