https://twitter.com/KoreanTravel/status/670069785514897408
Heavy snow has covered Jeonju Hanok Village in North Jeolla Province in Thursday morning. / Yonhap
This is a pretty freak fire that has unfortunately taken the life of a Seoul firefighter:
The Seohae Grand Bridge, a major artery connecting southwestern cities and Seoul, was shut down after three of its cables were damaged in a fire Thursday evening.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on Friday that it will suspend use of the bridge through Dec. 24 to replace the cables.
Authorities said one firefighter was killed and two others wounded when they were hit by a snapped cable while battling the blaze.
An official of the ministry said lightning was the cause of the fire.
“Despite the inconvenience, our decision was made for the public’s safety,” the official said at a televised press conference. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link.
Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.
Senior North Korean official missing for three weeks shows up at Kim Jong Un’s visit to tree nursery. pic.twitter.com/5yF9WGZ3xE
— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) December 2, 2015
This photo, taken on Dec. 2, 2015, shows part of a makeshift tent on the premises of Seoul’s Dongguk University where a haggard Kim Kun-jung, vice chief of the General Student Association at the university, stages the 49th day of a hunger strike. He is demanding that Ven. Ilmyeon, head of the school’s board of directors, and Ven. Bogwang, the university’s president, step down over the alleged theft of a Buddhist painting and plagiarism of a paper, respectively. The school, founded by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, has been embroiled in the scandal. (Yonhap)
It will be interesting to see if the ROK will turn over this suspect if the Japanese government requests his extradition:
A Korean suspect was caught on surveillance cameras before an explosion outside a public restroom at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine on Nov. 23, Japanese media reported Thursday.
The shrine houses the remains of Japan’s war dead, including convicted World War II criminals.
Reports said the suspect was dressed in black and wore a backpack. He was spotted walking around the shrine around 30 minutes before the blast and then returned to his nearby hotel.
Police analyzed CCTV footage to trace the suspect’s movements.
The suspect left Japan and returned to Korea late last month, according to Japanese police. Debris from the blast, including pieces of a battery made in Korea. The suspect is in his 30s. [Chosun Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link.
When it comes to these anonymous sources from North Korea it is best to keep some skepticism of what is claimed:
Explosives found at North Korea’s refurbished Kalma International Airport at Wonsan in October caused the cancellation of leader Kim Jong-un’s planned inspection of the site, according to a U.S.-based nonprofit international broadcaster, Friday.
Citing a source in Pyongyang, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that 100 devices, each weighing 200 grams, were found in the ceiling of an interior counter of the airport on Oct. 6 by security staff, one day ahead of Kim’s visit. The explosives are normally used to create tunnels.
At the time, Kim was conducting a series of inspections of buildings and sites constructed to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party that fell on Oct. 10.
Citing another source, the report said that security staff are still investigating the case. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link.
This really shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that has been following this issue, it has been pretty clear this was going to happen for quite some time. So now when is the physical fitness test going to be equal as well?:
Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday opened all military jobs to women, a historic step that removed the final barriers to women in ground combat and special operations positions despite opposition from the Marine Corps that sought to keep all-male units on the frontlines.
“Everyone who is able and willing to serve their country, who can meet the standards should have the full and equal opportunity to do so,” Carter said during a news conference at the Pentagon. “The important factor in making my decision was to have access to every American who can add strength to the force. Now more than ever we cannot afford to have barriers limiting our access of talent.”
Carter gave the service chiefs 30 days to provide a detailed plan for integrating women into positions now closed. All jobs must be available for qualified women by April 1, he said. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link.
So does anyone agree with the Korean court that the KCTU can be trusted to hold a peaceful rally this weekend in Seoul?:
A court has ruled against a police move to ban a rally planned for Saturday in central Seoul by civic, labor and farmers groups that held a massive anti-government demonstration on Nov. 14.
The Seoul Administrative Court said Thursday that it had accepted the request from the groups to annul the police ban on their second rally.
The decision comes five days after police announced a prohibition of the Dec. 5 rally requested by the groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), citing a possible repeat of the violence between police and protesters at the previous demonstration.
“It is unreasonable to presume that the second rally will be violent only because the organizers are the same to the first one,” the court said. “The organizers have repeatedly said they will hold the second one peacefully.” [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link.
