Just like back in the US, Disney’s “Finding Dory” is dominating the box office in South Korea:
The blue tang fish Dory swept the box office in Korea over the weekend.
“Finding Dory,” the much-awaited sequel to the 2003 hit “Finding Nemo” debuted third on its opening on Wednesday but climbed up the box office over the weekend to the No.1 spot.
“Finding Dory” sold 852,140 tickets between Friday and Sunday.
According to the Korean Film Council, the animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios has already sold an accumulated 1 million tickets since its release on Wednesday. None of Pixar Animation Studios’ work has achieved the feat this fast in Korea. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I have watched “Finding Dory” and I thought it was pretty good, but I think “Finding Nemo” was funnier. However, if you have kids they will love this movie regardless.
Like I said in my previous posting, I had a little confidence that the ROK would be able to keep the deployment location of the THAAD battery in South Korea secret if this report is accurate:
This photo taken on July 12, 2016, shows Seongju county from a mountain near the current South Korean Air Force surface-to-air missile battery site on Seongsan. (Yonhap)
South Korea and the United States are likely to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system to Seongju county in the south central region of the country, a military source said Tuesday.
As early as next week, Seoul and Washington are likely to announce where they will place the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, said the official source who declined to be identified. The source also said the Seongsan-ri region of the county, about 296 km south of Seoul, will be chosen as the site of the missile system.
The two countries evaluated that the location is optimal, given that the site is suitable for military operations and is sparsely populated, the insider said.
“The allies have reached an understanding that Seongju, which already has the Air Force’s Hawk surface-to-air missile battery, is the best location for the THAAD system,” he said, adding that they are awaiting final approval from their respective national military authorities. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but according to the article residents in the county are preparing to protest the decision. At this point I don’t even know if the residents even realize what they are protesting against? The THAAD is going on military land thus no civilian land will be taken and there is no danger from the radar as long as it is positioned 100 meters from homes which is assuredly will.
Plus there is already a Hawk radar at the location that the ROK Air Force is using and no one is protesting that?
I guess this guy felt like he had nothing to lose by committing another criminal act while serving time in prison already:
A former state correction officer and lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve was arrested Friday on charges that he collected wages from the state while serving a prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Dennis Dockery, 52, of Bloomfield, was charged Friday with first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and two counts of second-degree forgery. Dockery, who worked as a correction officer at the Enfield Correctional Institution, was incarcerated for 17 months at Leavenworth after he was found guilty of assaulting a woman in Hamden while on active duty with the Army, according to the warrant for his arrest.
As a military reservist, Dockery was still on the state payroll and entitled to a portion of his state salary while activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He was not entitled to any salary while serving time in a military prison, but forged his orders so that it appeared he was serving at Fort Leavenworth rather than incarcerated, according to the warrant. The state requires employees activated for military service to submit his or her orders to the agency they work for to confirm they are entitled to any wages.
According to the arrest warrant, Dockery fraudulently received $5,182 in salary from the state. [Stars & Stripes]
North Korea is once again threatening to turn Seoul into a Sea of Fire™ due to the decision to deploy a THAAD battery to the peninsula:
This photo carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on June 23, 2016 shows the country fired off the Hwasong-10 intermediate-range ballistic missile. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)’/>
North Korea on Monday warned it will take “physical” actions against South Korea and the United States over the allies’ decision to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the South.
North Korea’s military issued a strong warning that it will deliver military strikes from the moment the two countries decide on where to place the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“We once again warn the enemies that it is the steadfast will of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to make merciless retaliatory strikes to reduce South Korea to a sea of flames and debris once an order is issued,” the military’s artillery bureau was quoted as saying by the KCNA. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but President Park has come out to strongly defend the decision to deploy the THAAD battery to South Korea:
President Park Geun-hye on Monday mounted a strong defense of the recent decision by South Korea and the U.S. to station an advanced antimissile system here, stressing it won’t undermine the security interests of any other countries.
Park also underscored that the decision to station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea is a “purely defense measure” to cope with growing nuclear and missile threats from a provocative North Korea.
After some five months of consultations, Seoul and Washington announced Friday that they had agreed to deploy a THAAD battery in South Korea. The announcement riled Beijing and Moscow, which have argued THAAD would hurt their security interests.
“As (South Korea) has repeatedly said, THAAD will not target any country other than North Korea, and will not encroach upon the security interests of any third country. (We) have no reason to do so,” the commander in chief said during a meeting with her senior secretaries.
“The international community should understand that Seoul does not have any intention of targeting other countries or threatening other countries,” she added.
Pointing to Pyongyang’s relentless provocations, including its weekend test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, Park highlighted that the communist regime has been posing “explicit” threats to the South.
“Growing nuclear and missile threats are a very critical issue where the future of the Republic of Korea and the lives of our people are at stake,” she said. “As president, I have an obligation to protect our people and nation.”
The allies plan to determine where to place the THAAD battery in South Korea as early as later this month. They have faced strong opposition from local residents that are concerned about the electromagnetic waves emanating from the THAAD radar.
“(South Korea) will select the optimal site for the THAAD deployment that can certainly ensure military efficiency, and protect the safety and health (of the residents) from all problems, including the influence of electromagnetic waves,” the president said. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but North Korea making more threats to attack the country only strengthens her argument on why the THAAD battery is needed in South Korea.
I doubt these sanctions will do much considering how North Korea is skilled at avoiding sanctions largely because of Chinese aid, but it is always fun to watch the Kim regime squirm a bit:
North Korea said Monday it will end a diplomatic communication channel with the United States and hinted at harsher punishment for Americans detained in the country in retaliation for U.S. sanctions that target leader Kim Jong Un.
The U.S. government last week imposed penalties on Kim and 10 other top officials for alleged human rights abuses. North Korea is already sanctioned because of its nuclear weapons program, but it was the first time that Kim has been personally sanctioned. The North called the sanctions tantamount to a war declaration.
On Monday, the North’s state media said it told the United States it will terminate contact through a U.N. channel in New York that allowed diplomats to communicate.
The New York channel refers to a method for North Korea’s U.N. diplomats to communicate with U.S. diplomats in New York. This is needed because the countries don’t have diplomatic ties and their animosities have deepened because of the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
The North also said it informed Washington that it will handle all issues between the two countries according to an unspecified wartime law, including Americans detained in North Korea, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
South Korean media have suggested that North Korea might use the wartime law to hand out harsher punishments on Americans detained in the North. [ABC News]
You can read more at the link, but if they do increase the punishment on the two detained Americans that is once again the risk they took by traveling to North Korea in the first place. I feel bad for their families, but US foreign policy with North Korea should not be compromised because of idiots who decided to travel to North Korea knowing fell well the risk of being detained.
I wonder how the ROK military plans to keep the location a secret? I have no doubt the location will quickly be leaked to the media one THAAD deploys to South Korea:
South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo visits an opposition party lawmaker’s office at the National Assembly in Seoul on July 8, 2016. (Yonhap)
Han responded to China’s discontent over THAAD being placed on South Korean soil and concerns that it could worsen the relationship between South Korea and China, saying the two countries should strengthen their talks.
Han said that the site for the THAAD deployment will be announced soon, but the specific location will not be made public due to military secrecy. [Yonhap]
This would be an interesting to see how the US would respond to a provocation from North Korea if they did in fact ever shoot down or even attempt to shoot down a US satellite:
North Korea’s main propaganda outlet claimed Wednesday that the recent midair explosion of a ballistic missile was intentional, calling it a test attack on enemy satellites.
North Korea’s Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile was detected to have burst into pieces midair after flying some 150 km after its launch on June 22.
North Korea fired off another missile hours later, which soared to an altitude exceeding 1,000 km and flew some 400 km before landing in the East Sea.
The first missile launch seemed to have ended in failure.
Still, North Korea’s main propaganda website, Uriminzokkiri, claimed Wednesday that the midair explosion of the first missile was carried out by a control device installed in the missile and was not an accident.
The website also claimed that North Korea could render U.S. spy satellites lumps of scrap metal if Pyongyang detonates an electromagnetic pulse bomb at a high attitude after delivering it via one of its missiles. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but if they ever did detonate an EMP in the air it would render far more than US satellites ineffective and likely cause a global movement for regime change in North Korea as an aftermath. That is why I think if they do an EMP capability that it would only be a weapon of last resort.
