South Korean president says nuclear North Korea not sustainable as nuclear power https://t.co/NqZ6jSbeTO

— Elizabeth Shim (@GlobalAsianista) June 24, 2016

South Korean girl group Stellar poses in swimsuits at a water park in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, on June 17, 2016. (Yonhap)

Sort of good news for servicemembers stationed in Okinawa:

The period of unity and mourning that was imposed for U.S. forces on Okinawa following the slaying of a 20-year-old woman will end Monday.

Established U.S. Forces Japan liberty policies will continue in effect “with a few modifications,” according to a statement issued Friday by III Marine Expeditionary Force. All celebrations and concerts, including fireworks displays associated with the July 4th holiday, already had been canceled.

Cinderella Liberty went into effect May 27 after a U.S. civilian base worker, Kenneth Franklin Gadson, was arrested in connection with the death of Rina Shimabukuro. He has been charged with illegally disposing of her body, and police have recommended additional charges of murder and rape resulting in death.

“We are part of the Okinawan community, and share in mourning and honoring the victim, her family, and grieve with the people of Okinawa,” the statement said. “On behalf of all U.S. forces, we continue to stand united with the people of Okinawa during this time of mourning. Our prayers, thoughts and condolences are offered to the family, friends and loved ones who lost their family member tragically.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link, but basically servicemembers still have a 12AM-5AM curfew and cannot drink between those times.  They also need a battle buddy to go off post with.  So it is basically what the rules in the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea used to be.

It is amazing how interconnect the world has become when Britain leaving the European Union is having financial ripple effects across the entire world to include in South Korea:

Korea’s stocks and currency plunged as investors panicked over the possible fallout of Britain’s surprise vote to exit from the EU, dealers said.

Analysts said growing uncertainties on global financial markets, triggered by the Brexit, will overshadow the sluggish Korean economy. They ruled out any immediate huge direct impact on the real economy, but said it will weaken overall investment and consumer sentiment.

The benchmark KOSPI closed down 3.09 percent at 1,925.24 points. The tech-loaded KOSDAQ market plunged 4.76 percent to 647.16.

The won tumbled, closing at 1,179.9 won against the dollar, losing 29.7 won from the previous day.

Analysts said the Seoul stock market will remain weak for the time being on growing uncertainties in global financial markets. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

This could be taken as a sign that the sanctions are working at strangling the Kim regime if they are resorting to counterfeiting US dollars that are not as of high quality as the ones seen in the past:

Image via the Asia Sentinel.

Following initial reports last week that a North Korean agent was arrested in the border city of Dandong in Liaoning Province, northeastern China, multiple sources confirmed Wednesday that the official had been involved in distributing counterfeit U.S. dollars.

After years of circulating counterfeit $100 banknotes, North Korea’s so-called supernotes seemed to have disappeared in recent years. Pyongyang’s forged $100 bills, considered nearly flawless, were a major source of slush funds for the regime and date back to the 1970s. But a major crackdown by U.S. authorities and new security features on banknotes led to a decline in the trade.

The recent arrest indicates their possible resurgence.

One source familiar with Beijing-Pyongyang relations told the JoongAng Ilbo that the agent captured by Chinese officials earlier this month brought $5 million in cash into China from North Korea in order to make payments for household goods and home appliances.
These goods were supposedly distributed to the North Korean people during the April 15 celebration of the birthday of the country’s late founder, Kim Il Sung, as well as during its ruling Workers’ Party’s seventh congress held in early May, the first of its kind in nearly four decades.

Because of international sanctions on North Korea, including those in UN Security Council Resolution 2270 passed in March, Pyongyang is being blocked from financial transactions giving it access to U.S. cash.

“The $5 million was exchanged at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China for some 30 million yuan [$4.6 million] and then deposited,” the source said.

“But a number of the notes were found to be counterfeit $100 bills when they were run through the banknote counter by a bank employee, so Chinese authorities ordered the relevant account be frozen and arrested the North Korean agent.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but this does make me wonder if North Korea is the only country that traffics in state sponsored counterfeiting?

https://twitter.com/pearswick/status/745903052712976384

North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong-un (seated) and military officials are elated after watching what the country claimed as a successful launch of its ballistic missile Hwasong-10 in this photo released by the North’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun on June 23, 2016. The North claimed success in the June 22 launch of the missile, known as the intermediate-range Musudan in the outside world, saying it flew the targeted 400 km and re-entered the atmosphere after soaring to an altitude of 1,413.6 km. If true, it would mark significant progress in the North’s missile technology. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

I would like to see him try because Japan and Okinawa already have Patriot and Aegis missile defenses while THAAD was deployed to Guam specifically to defend against the Musudan missile threat.  I will be more concerned if they successfully develop an submarine launched ballistic missile capability:

Leader Kim Jong-Un threatened US military bases across the Pacific after North Korea’s test of a powerful new missile triggered emergency UN Security Council talks on curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.

Kim, who personally monitored Wednesday’s Musudan missile test, applauded a “great event” that significantly bolstered the North’s pre-emptive nuclear attack capability, the official KCNA news agency reported.

“We have the sure capability to attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theatre,” Kim was quoted as saying.

A Korean-language version of the same report had Kim referring to “the American bastards.”

The Musudan has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres (1,550 to 2,500 miles), with the upper estimate covering US military bases as far away as Guam.

After a string of failures in recent months, North Korea tested two Musudans on Wednesday, one of which flew 400 kilometres into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

KCNA said the missile had been fired at a high angle to simulate its full range, and had reached a maximum height of more than 1,400 kilometres.

The test “marked an important occasion in further strengthening the nuclear attack capacity of our state,” Kim said.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link, but this picture released by North Korea shows how much Kim Jong-un had invested in the successful development of the Musudan:

These two looked happier than Lebron James winning the NBA Championship.

Here is an update on the aftermath of the Gangnam murder case:

Korea on Wednesday unveiled a series of measures aimed at creating a more equal society for women, about a month after a woman was killed by a stranger in a high-traffic neighborhood in Seoul.

The murder sent a shockwave through a nation that has made strides in recent years but apparently leaves much to be desired in areas of gender equality.

The measures announced Wednesday focus on preventing hate crimes against women, better protecting victims of such crimes and raising awareness for gender equality in the country, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said. It held ministerial-level talks with the Ministry of Education and the National Police Agency.

The measures are a follow-up to the first batch announced earlier this month when Korea decided to seek the maximum default sentence for hate crimes against women and actively appeal sentences that fall short.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but the murder of the young Korean woman in Gangnam reminds me so much of the Orlando shooting debate.  The scale of the two murders is no where near the same, but both led to false national debates.  For the Orlando shooting the debate has centered on banning so called “assault rifles” though no one has shown any evidence the terrorist would not have shot up that night club if every AR-15 in the country was confiscated.  The real problem appears to be once again a person with a history of mental trouble that was easily influenced by radical Islamic extremism.

In the Gangman murder the national debate in Korea has been about hate crimes against women when the murderer for years was in and out of mental hospitals and became homeless because his family could no longer handle caring for him due to his mental illness.  In my opinion the national debate to respond to both murder incidents does not address the core problems, but instead have been hijacked by activists to push pet political causes.

This announcement by North Korea makes it pretty clear that they are deliberately organizing the Chinese fishing boats to intrude into South Korea as a form of asymmetric warfare against the South:

North Korea on Monday slammed South Korea for its operation with the United Nations Command (UNC) to repel Chinese fishing boats operating illegally in neutral waters between the two Koreas, calling the move a “military provocation.”

This marks the North’s first official reaction to South Korea and the UNC’s joint crackdown on Chinese fishing vessels operating in the neutral waters of the Han River estuary.

Fishing vessels that are officially registered with either South or North Korea are allowed into the neutral waters. Each side could send military police officers into the no man’s land to enforce rules under the armistice agreement.

South Korea’s move is aimed at “escalating the intrusion into the hotspot waters in the West Sea of Korea into the inland to secure a chance for military provocation,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English dispatch.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I continue to believe if the ROK seizes the illegal Chinese fishing boats and then auctions them off and gives jail time to the crew members that would end the incentive for these people to illegally fish in South Korean waters.