It looks like North Korea must have some confidence that they figured out what happened that caused the destruction of their last Musudan missile launch a couple of weeks ago because they are reportedly ready to try again:

North Korea appears to be readying to test-launch another intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) after the country botched its first attempt earlier in the month, government sources said Tuesday.

North Korea was initially detected to have loaded one or two IRBMs, known as Musudan, on the transporter erector launcher, near the country’s eastern port city of Wonsan, earlier in the month.

On April 15, one of the missiles was test-fired but reportedly blew up only a few seconds after lifting off.

“Signs have been detected that North Korea is trying to launch another Musudan missile after their failed launch that took place earlier on the birthday of (North Korean founder) Kim Il-sung,” one government source said.

“The remaining missile appears to be standing by for launch,” the source noted.

Another source added, “The military is picking up signs which indicate North Korea will likely launch the Musudan missile in the near future, and they are keeping close tabs on that.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I am wondering who is paying for all the food for all the refugees they have living in the airport:

Some 150 foreigners are trapped in a single room in Incheon International Airport after their attempts to enter Korea were blocked. They have access to toilets and showers, and are given one blanket each. They eat fast food sandwiches and Coca-Cola – three times a day.

They may be here for a while.

“There is no way we are going to return to our country, which is still at war,” said 28 Syrians caught at the airport in a lawsuit filed in the Incheon District Court last month. It called for a revocation of the immigration office’s rejection of their refugee-status applications.

The 28 Syrians are sharing the 470-square-meter (5,060-square-foot) deportation room with people from nine other countries who have been refused entry, including Thailand, China, Egypt, Kazakhstan and Pakistan. The room is designed for 30 people.

Omar Muhammad (a pseudonym) is one of the Syrians trapped in the terminal. Since leaving the Aleppo region last December, Omar transited through Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates and then flew on to Korea. All of what he has seen of Korea is the eastern end of Incheon airport.

The immigration office at the airport decided not to submit his refugee-status application to the Ministry of Justice for “lack of clear reason for entry” into South Korea.

“Often, we cannot determine the exact reason for the applicants leaving their home country, and the airport needs to filter these applicants out,” a Justice Ministry official said.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Chosun Ilbo: NKorean labourers protest in Kuwait. And in Qatar, two have taken refuge in police station.https://t.co/SSlgGlXIWf

— Sokeel Park 박석길 (@Sokeel) April 25, 2016

Here is the latest education reform being pushed in South Korea:

South Korea will reduce the size of high school classes to match international standards as part of an effort to provide a better educational environment, the government said Monday.

Under the envisioned plan, the class size of an average high school will be reduced to an average of 24 students by 2022 from last year’s 30, the Ministry of Education said.

Also, the ratio of high school students to teachers will be cut from 16.6 to 13.3, according to the plan.

The plan is in line with standards set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

The Korail-operated No. 1517 Mugunghwa train bound for Yeosu derailed near Yulchon Station in South Jeolla on Friday morning, killing the engineer and wounding eight, including the deputy engineer. [NEWSIS]

Here is the latest on the South China Sea front where the US is expanding efforts to demonstrate to China the US commitment to freedom of navigation:

Filipino fishermen say they’ve seen more Chinese coast guard ships than usual around the contested Scarborough Shoal, which China effectively took over in 2013 after a tense standoff with Philippine vessels.

Although fishermen have been complaining they’re being driven away by Chinese ships, the Philippine Department of Defense said it could not confirm an increase in Chinese presence at the shoal, 145 miles (230 kilometers) from Luzon island.

Meantime, the U.S. Air Force flew its first mission over the Scarborough area as part of a new Air Contingent force stationed in the Philippines. It involved four A-10C Thunderbolt jets and two Sikorsky HH-60 helicopters.

This just shows that even with all the sanctions on North Korea they still have enough money to complete large construction projects like this:

North Korea has completed the construction of its third hydropower station near its border with China, Pyongyang’s state media reported Saturday, in its latest effort to tackle a power shortage following heavy sanctions on the reclusive state.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accompanied senior officials to visit the hydropower station built by a river near Mount Paektu in Paekam, Yangang Province bordering China, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. It did not provide the exact date of his visit.

Kim praised workers for finishing construction four months ahead of schedule to present it to the Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), slated for May, the report said.

Two other power plants were built near the border area, but cracks shown shortly after opening the facilities in early October raised criticisms of its shoddy construction.

Completing three hydropower stations in a year was to “hit hard the heads of the U.S. imperialists and their followers hell-bent on their moves to ratchet up sanctions against the DPRK and stifle it on the principle of self-reliance and self-development,” the KCNA said in an English-language report.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

https://twitter.com/freekorea_us/status/724217327198306305

North Korea’s missile tests may get all the headlines, but here is what is even more deadly to South Korea is the new MLRS system they have fielded:

North Korea has deployed some 300 new multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) along its front line with South Korea, which can hit Seoul and surrounding areas, military sources said Sunday.

Local sources, citing intelligence findings, said Pyongyang has placed the 122 millimeter rocket launchers north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas.

These weapons systems have an estimated range of some 40 kilometers that can place large areas in and around the capital city within striking distance.

“The North has been deploying the new rocket launchers with regimental units along the DMZ since 2014,” said an official insider, who declined to be identified.

He said that there is a pressing need to counter such threats, adding that both Seoul and Washington have made joint threat assessments on these weapons systems.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

This is clearly an attempt by the North Koreans to try and create a wedge in the US-ROK alliance by ending the combined military exercises.  Maybe they see a chance with an exiting US President to get a deal like this done which leaves them with a nuclear deterrent and a weakened US-ROK alliance.  I would be very surprised if such a deal was ever agreed to. Even if the Kim regime thinks a deal cannot be done their offer is also a way to justify their nuclear test program to an international audience:

-The foreign minister of North Korea says in an interview with The Associated Press that his country is ready to halt its nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea.

He also defended the country’s right to maintain a nuclear deterrent and warned that North Korea won’t be cowed by international sanctions.

Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, in his first interview with a Western news organization, held firm Saturday to Pyongyang’s longstanding position that the U.S. drove his country to develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent. At the same time, he suggested that suspending the military exercises could open the door to reduced tensions.

“If we continue on this path of confrontation, this will lead to very catastrophic results, not only for the two countries but for the whole entire world as well,” he said. “It is really crucial for the United States government to withdraw its hostile policy against the DPRK and as an expression of this stop the military exercises, war exercises, in the Korean Peninsula. Then we will respond likewise.”

Ri, who spoke calmly and in measured words, a contrast to the often bombastic verbiage used by the North’s media, claimed the North’s proposal was “very logical.”

“Stop the nuclear war exercises in the Korean Peninsula, then we should also cease our nuclear tests,” he said, during the interview, conducted in the country’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations. He spoke beneath portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jung Il, North Korea’s two previous leaders.  [CBS News]

You can read more at the link.