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North Korea Reportedly Making Train Mobile ICBMs

Reports like this make think this could just be disinformation coming out of North Korea:

North Korea is building intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch pads on trains, the U.S.-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) said Wednesday.

“Technicians from the second economic committee have been building a mobile ICBM launch pad since May,” a North Korean citizen living in Gangwon Province said. “The factory makes six freight trains a month and will be used as ICBM mobile launch pads.”

The trains were customized to withstand missile launches, the source said. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

ROK Culture Minister Criticized for Spending Too Much of Her Own Money

If she earned her money legally what business is it of anyone on how she spends it?  If anything she is a walking economic stimulus plan!:

rok flag

Cho Yoon-sun, a nominee for the minister of culture, sports and tourism, was grilled at a confirmation hearing, Wednesday, over various allegations including her excessive consumption which opposition lawmakers said goes beyond common sense.

The hearing by the National Assembly Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee took place after President Park Geun-hye nominated Cho to be the minister on Aug. 16.

The morning session of the hearing was crippled due to wrangling between rival lawmakers over an issue of a supplementary budget. The afternoon session was held with only opposition lawmakers from the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) and the minor opposition People’s Party attending. Lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party refused to participate in the session.

One of major controversies facing Cho was her alleged extravagant lifestyle where she has spent about 500 million won ($448,000) a year.

Rep. Kim Byung-wook from the MPK, who estimated the amount of Cho’s annual consumption after reviewing her property details and tax payment, said it was also unclear where and how Cho and her husband have spent about 1.6 billion won from 2013 to 2015.

Rep. Kim said Cho currently has a property worth an estimated 5.2 billion won, noting that this has increased by 510 million won compared to her property worth 4.69 billion won reported in 2013 when she was serving as the minister of gender equality and family.

When the income of her and her husband was added up, the couple earned a total of 3.49 billion won from 2013 to 2015, Rep. Kim said, noting that the amount of her estimated annual expense is against the common sense of ordinary people.

Kim added that the couple provided the details of expenditures for the past three years only up to 230 million won, falling short of explaining how 1.6 billion won was spent.

Cho’s alleged excessive consumption also came into the spotlight during a 2013 hearing when she was a nominee to be the gender equality minister. At that time, she said, “My husband and I are generous when meeting friends and colleagues. So we were unable to manage our income well.”

But the public repulsion seems to have not been eased after it was known that the couple has spent only 1.1 percent of their income in donations for the past three years. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but it sounds like another one of these phony political scandals.

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Picture of the Day: ROK Culture Minister Attends Confirmation Hearing

Confirmation hearing for culture minister nominee

Cho Yun-sun (R), the nominee for culture minister, talks to an aide before her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul on Aug. 31, 2016. Cho is a close confidante of President Park Geun-hye, having served as her minister of gender equality and senior secretary for political affairs. (Yonhap)

Korea Finder 16-24

Welcome to Korea Finder.  The way this contest works is that each week a new image is posted and the first reader to accurately describe or locate the image gets a point.  At the end of the year the reader with the highest amount of points will win a Korea related book of their choice.

So who knows where this image is taken at and its recent significance?

2016 Korea Finder Leaders Board

  1. Comfortable Chairs – 9
  2. MTB Rider – 5
  3. Smokes – 4
  4. Dd – 2, Setnaffa – 2
  5. JoeC – 1, Nullscan -1

North Korean Vice Premier Executed for Showing Bad Posture

There is probably more to this story in regards to why Kim Jong-un would order his execution that has more to do with his bad posture at meetings:

North Korea has carried out the execution of a vice premier and punished two senior officials, a Seoul official said Wednesday, as the North’s leader is seeking to further strengthen his reign of terror.

The official said North Korea executed the 63-year-old Kim Yong-jin by firing squad last month after being branded as an “anti-party and anti-revolutionary element.”

He was investigated by the North’s intelligence agency due to his sitting posture shown at a key parliamentary meeting held in late June.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who took power in late 2011, is believed to have executed more than 100 government and military officials, including his once-powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek, as he seeks to consolidate his oppressive rule.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

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Picture of the Day: Illegal Fishing Drill

Coast guard, navy conduct drill against illegal fishing

Patrol boats from the Korea Coast Guard and Navy surround vessels simulating foreign boats illegally fishing in South Korean waters during an exercise in the West Sea on Aug. 26, 2016. A vast number of Chinese boats cross into South Korean waters to illegally fish every year. (Yonhap)

Army General Faces Punishment for Living Swinger’s Lifestyle for 11 Years

What was this guy thinking if he thought this could be kept under wraps:

Maj. Gen. David Haight, Army Ranger, combat veteran and family man, held a key post in Europe this spring and a future with three, maybe four stars.

He also led a double life: an 11-year affair and a “swinger lifestyle” of swapping sexual partners that put him at risk of blackmail and espionage, according to interviews and documents. Jennifer Armstrong, 49, a government employee, said she and Haight had been involved in the torrid love affair that began more than 10 years ago in Baghdad and ended this spring.

Badly.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see what rank this guy is forced to retire at considering how long we was living this lifestyle.

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