The photo dated 1965 shows a car manufacturing factory operated by Shinjin Automobiles, which produced vehicles locally with complete knockdown kits brought in from Toyota. The National Archives of Korea released it and other old photos on Nov. 11, 2015 to give a glimpse of the country’s past 70 years. (Yonhap)
Since this report is coming from South Korean intelligence sources they tend to actually be pretty reliable. The real question that hasn’t been answered is why is he being re-educated?:
Choe Ryong-hae
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent his key confidant to the country’s top school for re-education, South Korea’s intelligence officials said Thursday, in an apparent lenient punishment that could set the stage for his political comeback in the coming months, if not years.
“Choe Ryong-hae is receiving education at Kim Il Sung Higher Party School,” an official said, referring to the top institution named after the country’s founder, Kim’s late grandfather.
The school in Pyongyang is the top institution where party officials are trained.
Choe, a senior secretary of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, visited China a couple of times and is widely seen as North Korea’s point man on China.
In 2013, Choe met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing as Kim’s envoy. In September, Choe also visited Beijing for China’s massive military parade.
Choe’s whereabouts have been under the intense spotlight among officials and analysts in South Korea and other regional powers as he was not named as a member of a funeral committee of a senior military official who died last Saturday.
Choe also did not show up for the state funeral ceremony of Ri Ul-sol, marshal of North Korea’s military, who died of lung cancer at the age of 94.
Choe’s conspicuous absence sparked speculation among some analysts that he might have been ousted from the party’s key post.
Still, the South Korean intelligence officials believe that Choe was not purged, though he is undergoing education at the Kim Il Sung Higher Party School for unspecified reasons. [Yonhap]
The return of the Americans follows a deal hammered out with the Philippine military last spring. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement grew out of concern here over China’s spread into waters just off the coast here, and China’s claim over more than 80 percent of the South China Sea that extends far below the Chinese mainland.
In Olangapo today, a city of 220,000, enthusiasm is strong for a US return. That’s due not only to the perceived China threat, but also because the Philippine armed forces, not the Pentagon, will govern the sprawling old base with new rules designed to curb off duty behavior.
After World War II, Subic gained prominence as the largest US naval facility in the Pacific, cherished for its deep water, sheltered spots to anchor ships, and elaborate repair infrastructure.
Yet during the heyday of Subic, US naval personnel gained notoriety for helping turn the area into a zone of hostess bars and prostitution that fostered local crime.
Now, the returning military must stay on approved parts of the base, which has added a well-groomed Harbor Point shopping mall with cinemas and some 200 stores including Starbucks, TGI Friday’s, and eventually Gold’s Gym. A midnight to 5 a.m. curfew will be enforced around the base.
To short-circuit charges of a new form of colonialism, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, a local governing body, is authorizing Philippine forces to oversee the former base and its returning inhabitants in segments of 15 years. [The Christian Science Monitor]
All the information is coming from any anonymous source so who knows how true this claim is? If it is true it should come as no surprise considering how badly people are treated by the Kim regime much less animals in a zoo:
Exotic animals, including Persian leopards that North Koreareceived from Russia as a gift, are languishing at Pyongyang Central Zoo, according to a source on the country.
A breakdown in ventilation or air-conditioning facilities, most likely due to frequent power outages in North Korea, has contributed to the suffocation of some of the animals, in addition to poor zoo management, South Korean news network Channel A reported Wednesday.
Pyongyang Central Zoo was one of many North Korean institutions that had received special instructions from Kim Jong Un ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers’ Party.
But a source, speaking to South Korea media on the condition of anonymity, said that the “self-designed” ventilation facilities devised by North Korean engineers were not suitable for the purposes of animal husbandry, and new construction could not be completed on deadline. Dozens of animals also suffocated when air-conditioning recently stopped running for four hours, the source said.
Aquatic animals scheduled to perform on Oct. 10, the Workers’ Party anniversary, also perished. Casualties included the zoo’s sea lions, seals and dolphins, according to the source.
The gift of animals from Russia to North Korea, delivered in May, included the leopards, African lions, striped hyenas and long-tailed parakeets and were sent to commemorate the North Korean anniversary. [UPI]
Yuju, a member of girl group GFriend, poses with her test identification slip in front of Gwanak High School in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo Ward on Nov. 12, 2015, before entering the school to sit for the state-administrated scholastic aptitude test. Some 630,000 students nationwide are taking the test to enter college in the spring semester that begins in March. (Yonhap)
I am not surprised how little US non-profit and corporate support the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC is receiving. It is called “The Forgotten War” for a reason. However, it is great to see how much South Korean corporations have stepped up to help the National Park Service maintain the memorial. With that all said shouldn’t this be something the government should be funding in the first place and not rely on private donations?:
The Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall is often considered one of the most striking of the war memorials, with the seven-foot-tall stainless steel statues of soldiers anticipating combat, and its dark gray granite wall etched with images of those who supported the troops.
While more than 36,000 Americans died in the combat mission in the Korean War, historians often call it the “forgotten war.” And now, with the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation struggling to set up a maintenance fund for the memorial, and to build a Wall of Remembrance, those looking for the necessary financing are feeling forgotten all over again — the only backing is coming from overseas.
“Our greatest support comes from corporate Korea,” said William E. Weber, the chairman of the foundation and a retired colonel in the United States Army who served in the Korean War. “American corporations — forget it.” He said no American corporate entities had committed to supporting the foundation’s efforts to meet its $5 million fund-raising goal. [New York Times]
How would you like to be the Company Commander for the unit this guy belonged to and got the phone call from authorities about what this guy did? The most frustrating part of the article is that the shooter says his military training took over to explain what he did. I’m not sure where shooting people driving by in a truck and holding a gun to a woman’s head was part of military training? I hope he enjoys the corrective training he is going to receive in a federal penitentiary:
Pierce County prosecutors said Monday they believe the man who was shot is in critical condition, in a medically induced coma, and they were not sure of his prognosis.
Spc. Jesse Suhanec, 22, of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, is charged with first- and second-degree assault, three counts of attempted first-degree robbery and one count of attempted first-degree burglary.
Suhanec is based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
He pleaded not guilty Monday, and Court Commissioner Meagan Foley set bail at $1 million. Court records did not list an attorney for Suhanec.
According to charging papers:
The 30-year-old victim was on his way to discuss a parenting plan with his ex-wife when she heard multiple gunshots near her house about 10:10 a.m.
The man was shot the 15100 block of Grant Avenue Southwest and drove to a nearby fast-food restaurant, where he sounded the horn of the truck.
Two soldiers found him with gunshot wounds to his head and shoulders. At the hospital, doctors took out one bullet and left others as they treated him.
Meanwhile, Suhanec, who had checked out a van from his military unit, left the vehicle behind and headed down the street from the shooting.
He put a gun to a woman’s head in her driveway and said he’d kill her if she didn’t give him her car keys. [News Tribune]
You can read the rest at the link, but it only gets worse.
There is probably plenty of more ill gotten funds that the Chun family has that hopefully prosecutors continue to go after:
U.S. prosecutors this week returned more than $1.1 million in seized assets linked to South Korea’s disgraced former president, Chun Doo-hwan, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.
The $1,126,951.45 was seized through forfeiture actions in Southern California and Philadelphia, where authorities found a tony white clapboard home in Newport Beach and a secured investment in a Pennsylvania company linked to Chun’s son, Chun Jae Yong.
The younger Chun has admitted to South Korean prosecutors that the funds came from his father, according to a complaint in the U.S. forfeiture case.
The sum seized by prosecutors here is a sliver of the $229 million of the criminal restitution Chun was ordered to pay by South Korean courts in 1996 for ill-gotten gains amassed through bribes from corporations such as Samsung, Hyundai and LG during his eight years as president in the 1980s. [LA Times]
