N. Korea-China trade on steady rise despite sanctions @YonhapNews https://t.co/r0p8O33WWU pic.twitter.com/WNasj8JBPt

— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) November 25, 2016

This photo, provided by Korea Food for the Hungry International (KFHI), shows South Korean actress Park Shin-hye holding a plaque certifying her membership to the Philanthropy Club, runned by KFHI, on Nov. 23, 2016. (Yonhap)

The bird flu is back; I wonder if someone will try and blame Choi Soon-sil for it? 😉

The government is issuing a 48-hour temporary nationwide “standstill” order this weekend banning the movement of poultry in an effort to prevent the spread of bird flu.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs came to the decision at a meeting Friday as the bird flu alert status was raised from “caution” to “alert.”

The two-day standstill applies all day Saturday and Sunday.

Some 89-thousand poultry farms, slaughter houses, fodder plants and related vehicles registered with the Korea Animal Health Integrated System(KAHIS) are subject to the order.

The move comes amid outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of avian influenza(AI) at farms nationwide.  [KBS World Radio]

A Russian professor at SNU apparently had a bad experience with a student possibly trying to hit on her that led to her writing an open letter that has gone viral on Korean social media:

A female foreign professor at Seoul National University wrote an open letter to a man on campus who allegedly accosted her last month and became hostile after she refused to help him pronounce the word “coincidence.”

Olga Fedorenko, an assistant professor at the Department of Anthropology, whose nationality is Russian, wrote in a 1,402-word open letter that she was walking alone on a “dark, isolated street” at the school in Gwanak District, southwestern Seoul, at 9 p.m. on Oct. 5, when a man approached her, held out his cell phone and asked her how to pronounce the English word.

“I wondered if it was a really awkward pickup line,” Fedorenko recalled.

“I told you that I don’t want to talk to you. It was a weird request, the street was poorly illuminated, and there was no one around.”

When she turned to walk away, the man allegedly began to shout at her and use “aggressive” body language, evidently because she had used the word “weird.”

Fedorenko reportedly called security and walked to a main street, but the young man followed, lurking behind her and swearing in Korean, until three Korean women approached to help and try to reason with him.

“I was astonished to hear that this whole situation was actually my fault,” wrote the professor. “I apparently embarrassed you by refusing to engage with you.”

She also wrote, “To my utter disbelief, I think the three women even apologized to you on my behalf.”

According to the letter, the altercation came to an end when a security guard appeared, at which point the man claimed he was a computer science student at the school.

Fedorenko wrote that the security guard walked her home because she feared the man would follow her and take revenge for his “embarrassment.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I have been accosted before in Korea by a crazy guy outside of Jongmyo of all places that the security guard at the entrance to the shrine had to intervene to get the guy off of me.  I think if you live in Korea long enough as a foreigner you are bound to have somebody crazy eventually bother you at some point because of how much we stand out.  Considering how Ms. Fedorenko is a good looking female professor at SNU she probably has to deal with more than her fair share of crazy people as this incident demonstrates.

It sounds like this opposition party lawmaker is trying to stop the THAAD deployment to South Korea by linking it to the Choi Soon-sil scandal:

Rep. An Min-suk of the main opposition party said Thursday that Choi Soon-sil’s influence even extended to Seoul’s controversial decision to deploy the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system.

He went on to allege that the president’s close friend, who is at the center of an influence-peddling scandal known as Choi-gate, would have pocketed a large commission from the deal with Lockheed Martin, the American arms producer.

“To my knowledge, Choi met with the Lockheed Martin chairperson in June,” said An, a four-term lawmaker of the Minjoo Party of Korea and co-chair of his party’s special committee to investigate alleged manipulation of the Park Geun-hye administration’s affairs, on a radio interview with TBS.

According to An, Choi was linked to Lockheed by a foreign affairs and security field big shot in the Park administration. Seoul and Washington in July announced they will deploy Thaad in South Korea to counter Pyongyang’s missile threats.

When asked if this individual was currently in office or not, An replied, “I cannot reveal that here.” But this person was supported by Lockheed for two years during his time in the United States some six years ago, claimed An, who added, “The link between Choi Soon-sil and Lockheed Martin is being revealed.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but Lockheed Martin has nothing to do with the deployment of the THAAD battery to the ROK.  The US military has already purchased the THAAD battery from Lockheed Martin, thus they have already made their profit from the sale.  Why would they give Choi a commission for deploying THAAD to Korea?  It makes no sense.  If Lockheed Martin had sold a THAAD battery to the ROK and were meeting with Choi beforehand then his complaint would make more sense.

Lockheed Martin does have plenty of other systems that it has sold and is planning to sell to the ROK:

Over the past 40 years, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin have made Aegis the most capable combat system in the world. More than 100 ships and six international navies, including the Republic of Korea, rely on Aegis. In addition to Aegis, Lockheed Martin was awarded three new contracts in 2012 to support the supply chain needs for the Korean Air Force and Navy.  The Korean Air Force also is evaluating the F-35 to advance its force to the fifth-generation of fighter jets. Other programs include the T-50 trainer jet, F-16, C-130, P-3 Orion and FPS-117 radar.

At Lockheed Martin, we do more than deliver programs and capabilities.  We’re also invested where we live and work, adding fuel to the engine of South Korea’s economy.  For example, Lockheed Martin and Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) have co-produced the F-16 for more than 20 years.  We also partnered with Samsung Data Systems to modernize Korea’s air traffic management system with the Korean Area Control Center (KACC) system and, through a partnership with Korea Telecom, successfully produced several communications satellites.  Lockheed Martin is particularly proud of its partnership with Korean Aerospace Industries in the development of the T-50 Golden Eagle and is determined to make it the premier trainer in the world.

Lockheed Martin highly values its long-standing relationship with the Republic of Korea and its Korean industry partners.  The company is committed to helping Korea meet its desire to grow its industrial base and looks forward to extending the relationship with the F-35 as the centerpiece of the next 40 years of industrial cooperation.  [Lockheed Martin]

If the story of Choi meeting the Lockheed Chairman is even true then discussing Korea’s purchase of the F-35 would make more sense. Anyway Representative An’s claims have been expanded on by the Chinese media who are linking Choi to a noted arms dealer named Linda Kim:

Lockheed Martin financially supported the child of a “core figure” in charge of South Korea’s security policy when the child was studying abroad several years ago, said Ahn, who didn’t elaborate on whether the child was staying in the United States.

The opposition lawmaker raised a possibility for the core figure to introduce Choi to the Lockheed Martin side, saying he will try to find a truth when the National Assembly launches its own investigation into the scandal next month.

Ahn has claimed a collusive link between Choi and the U.S. arms company to peddle undue influence on the South Korean government’s weapons procurement contracts.

In an emergency parliamentary session on Nov. 11, Ahn inquired Defense Minister Han Min-koo about whether the defense chief was informed of the contacts of Jeong Yoon-hoe, Choi’s ex-husband, with arms lobbyist Linda Kim and the Lockheed Martin side.

Lockheed Martin is a manufacturer of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a U.S. military defense system which South Korea agreed in July with the U.S. to deploy in its soil by the end of next year.  [Xinhua]

So who is this lobbyist Linda Kim?  She is a former Korean actress who made her debut in 1970 under the name Kim Ah Ra. She went on to film cosmetic commercials and become an unsuccessful singer. She immigrated to the United States in 1979 and eventually ended up become a lobbyist linked to a sex scandal nearly 20 years ago to influence weapons procurement in the ROK:

California’s Supreme Court ruled that the company can be sued under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over the claims, which are denied by Lockheed and Ms Kim. The Korea Supply Company (KSC) alleges that it lost a $30m (£19m) commission after a Canadian business it represented was denied the contract due to “wrongful conduct”.

Robert Gates…via his 1996 memoir, From the Shadows: pic.twitter.com/p5yMkY6YY3

— Micah Zenko (@MicahZenko) November 22, 2016

A road is blocked near a subway station in Seoul’s Songpa Ward on Nov. 22, 2016, after a water pipe ruptured in the area around 1:45 p.m. the same day where construction was underway. (Yonhap)

Considering Kim Yu-na’s much higher profile of being a well known Olympic champion I think it was much easier for her to say no to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism compared to lower profile athletes like Son Yeon-jae who netizens are now angered with:

Suspicion is rising that the government disadvantaged Olympic champion figure skater Kim Yu-na because she would not cooperate with the scandal-ridden manipulative ties of President Park Geun-hye.

KBS TV reported Saturday that Kim had been on Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism blacklist for turning down a ministry invitation to attend a public trial of “Neulpum calisthenics” in 2014.

The exercise routine was developed by Cha Eun-taek, a commercial director and close acquaintance of the president’s confidant Choi Soon-sil. (……)

Meanwhile, Son Yeon-jae’s agency Galaxia SM website has crashed under high traffic volumes on Sunday evening, as the suspicion spilled over to Son, whom netizens suspect to have benefited from the minsitry for complying with the invitation. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

The Associated Press has an article published which looks at how each President of the Republic of Korea since its founding has had scandals of some kind mar the end of their presidencies:

 If there’s one thing that South Korean presidents dread more than the looming threat of rival North Korea, it may be this: becoming an ex-president.

Nearly all former presidents, or their family members and key aides, have been embroiled in scandals at the close of their terms or after leaving office. There have been corruption allegations, coups — even a suicide and an assassination.

Now, South Korean prosecutors say they believe current President Park Geun-hye, facing historic levels of unpopularity as she approaches her last year in office, conspired in the criminal activities of a confidante who allegedly exploited her presidential ties to force businesses to donate money to two foundations she controlled.

Here’s a look at the troubles faced by South Korean presidents over the years:  [Associated Press]

What is probably the most disappointing thing about President Park Geun-hye for many Koreans is that they thought she would at least be a relatively scandal free Presidency since she had few immediate family members to create corruption scandals like past presidencies.  However, her lack of immediate families members were replaced by cult figures that went on to do the same things that got past South Korean presidents in trouble.

It still amazes me that despite all the evidence to the contrary people still think North Korea will denuclearize if the US just makes the right deal:

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump should use his seasoned negotiating skills to cut a deal with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs, a U.S. expert Tuesday said after rare talks with a group of senior diplomats from the communist nation.

Joel Wit, a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s US-Korea Institute and founder of the website 38 North, made the suggestion in an article to the Atlantic magazine after returning from three days of meetings with North Korean diplomats in Geneva last week.

Wit called for opening negotiations with Pyongyang, saying that the North Korean nuclear issue, one of the biggest problems facing the incoming administration, might also be his biggest opportunity.

“Donald Trump could have an opportunity early in his presidency, if he follows his instincts instead of all the wrong advice he is likely to get on how to deal with North Korea, to prove his Promethean negotiating skills on one of the most serious national-security challenges the United States will confront over the next four years,” he said in the article written jointly with Richard Sokolsky, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

During campaigning, Trump expressed a willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying there is nothing wrong with talking, Wit said. However, the incoming leader appears, like his predecessors, appears to “want to dump the North Korean problem into China’s lap,” he said. (…….)

“No one believes that the North will agree to give up all its nuclear weapons and related infrastructure and abandon its development of ICBMs and missiles,” Wit said. “But there is a great deal that can be done to freeze and then maybe eventually reverse these programs, bringing the world closer to that ultimate objective.” [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but Mr. Wit can count me as one of the people who are non-believers in North Korea ever denuclearizing.  Considering what Kim Jong-un has seen happened to other leaders (i.e.: Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi) in recent years that did not have nuclear weapons why would he ever consider giving up his?  The best the US could hope for is a nuclear development freeze which would only last until the North Koreans found some reason to break the deal long after they received whatever benefits they negotiated for.  This is historically what they have done and blamed the US each time they broke the deal.

What in the nature of the Kim regime has changed to think that they will act in any other way this time?