North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C, front) poses for a group photo with the officials who contributed to the North’s fifth nuclear test in front of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, in this photo released by the North’s Rodong Sinmun on Sept. 22, 2016. (For Use in S. Korea Only & No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

I really can’t blame South Koreans for wanting their own nuclear deterrent considering the threat they are facing on a daily basis from the Kim regime:

Nearly 60 percent of South Koreans support the country’s development of its own nuclear weapons, a poll showed Friday, amid the rising calls among hawkish lawmakers for Seoul to consider the aggressive option to curb Pyongyang’s provocations.

According to the data compiled by pollster Gallup Korea, 58 percent of the respondents agreed with South Korea’s nuclear armament scenario, while 34 percent expressed an opposition. The study was conducted on 1,010 South Koreans throughout the country this week.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

With all the recent major crimes being committed on Jeju island some resident want to see the visa waiver program ended to better ensure public safety:

In line with the rise, the number of foreign tourists who commit crimes at one of the country’s most popular tourist sites has also increased.

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency said 347 foreign offenders have been arrested on Jeju as of July. The figure is up by nearly 60 percent from the number tallied in the same period last year, which stood at 218.

Among the 347 foreigners, Chinese nationals accounted for the largest proportion of offenders with 240, or 69.2 percent, followed by Americans with 13.

Reflecting such trends, calls to beef up security by local residents have been rising.

More than 14,500 people have signed a petition filed at a bulletin board of local Internet portal Daum as of Tuesday since it was first proposed on Sunday.

“The country’s precious island of Jeju has turned into a lawless zone with Chinese tourists who enter without visas,” the netizen who first proposed the petition said. “The safety of South Koreans should be given top priority than what can be earned from tourism.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Tragic story out of Daegu involving the search for a 11-year old boy after his mother was found dead in the Nakdong River and his 26-year old sister was found dead at a park:

Police in Daegu have started a search for an 11-year-old boy who went missing after leaving his apartment with his mother on Sept. 15.

The mother, 56, surnamed Cho, was found dead in the Nakdong River earlier this week, as was his 26-year-old sister, whose body was found at their apartment.

On Friday, the police released three photos of the boy nationwide, Ryu Jeong-min, caught by surveillance cameras.

Taken at three different locations, the photos captured the 11-year-old leaving the apartment building, leaving an elevator and picking up groceries at a supermarket. He was last seen at his apartment lobby as he was leaving with his mother.

Police said the boy is estimated to be 140 centimeters tall and wearing a white T-shirt with blue sleeves, dark pants and a cap.

Finding him is crucial to unraveling the mysterious deaths of his sister and mother, but the police said they don’t rule out that the boy might have killed himself. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

In 2002, Guus Hiddink coached the South Korean football team. In 2016, Guus Hiddink Quantum Energy System™ bum patches are finally available pic.twitter.com/903P7R3KYd

— James Pearson (@pearswick) September 23, 2016

Workers retile the quake-damaged roof of a traditional Korean house in Gyeongju, some 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Sept. 23, 2016. The government has designated the historical city as a special disaster area after a recent series of earthquakes caused property damage. (Yonhap)

Yeah, good luck with this especially in South Korea where Internet mud slinging is almost a national past time:

Ahead of its official launch, a special interest group supporting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked similar groups linked with other potential presidential candidates to agree not to maliciously attack or slander each other.

The group, named Banditburi, or firefly in Korean (a play on the UN chief’s surname), is scheduled to hold its inaugural meeting on Nov. 10.

Banditburi has reached out to groups that support liberals Moon Jae-in, the former chairman of the main opposition Minjoo Party, and Ahn Cheol-soo, former chairman of the People’s Party, to agree to avoid any mudslinging ahead of next year’s presidential elections.

Kim Sung-hee, chairman of the preparatory committee to launch the group for Ban, told the JoongAng Ilbo over phone on Wednesday, “We asked other groups supporting key potential presidential contenders, including the opposition’s Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo, as well as the ruling party’s Kim Moo-sung [former chairman of the Saenuri Party], to forge a gentlemen’s agreement.”

He continued, “The political scene is messy as is, so we proposed that at least groups like ours should not engage in slander or malicious comments online, or muckraking of any kind.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

It just makes you wonder why action wasn’t taken against companies doing business with North Korea a long time ago?:

The option to impose a secondary boycott, which penalizes foreign companies trading with a target country, will be a very effective tool if it is imposed on North Korea for its latest nuclear test, a senior foreign ministry official said Friday.

“There’s a so-called secondary boycott which has not been mobilized yet,” Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said during his televised interview with Yonhap News TV, the broadcasting affiliate of Yonhap News Agency.

He was discussing what punitive actions remain available to use against North Korea, as the international community is working toward adopting another round of sanctions in response to the country’s fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9.

The secondary boycott, if adopted, would target any foreign companies that transact with North Korea, pushing the communist country further into isolation from the international economy.

If used, the approach would have the biggest influence on companies in China, by far Pyongyang’s No. 1 trading partner.

“If this is applied, it would have very significant impact … the U.S. may consider applying a secondary boycott if they judge North Korea’s nuclear program cannot be stopped without using it,” Cho noted.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the Rodriguez Range noise complaint issue:

The U.S. military agreed Thursday to address noise complaints and safety concerns about the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex near the border with North Korea.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, 8th Army commander, signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at forging a stronger bond between residents in the rural area and U.S. forces who train there.

The mountainous, 3,390-acre training complex is considered essential by U.S. Forces Korea and their South Korean allies for military exercises to maintain a state of readiness amid high tensions on the divided peninsula. It will remain operational even after most U.S. forces relocate south to an expanded Camp Humphreys.

But nearby residents have long complained about noise, fires and occasional mishaps. Training was temporarily halted after an anti-tank missile fired by U.S. Marines on Dec. 30 landed in an abandoned building about 650 feet outside the range’s boundary.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but the MOA is supposed to include guidelines on how troops will conduct safe training and respond to local noise complaints.

This deep-dive on China’s South China Sea expansion, via @tshugart3 + @CNASdc + @WarOnTheRocks worth reading in full https://t.co/ZTBeexeKHs

— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) September 21, 2016