Via a reader tip comes this CNN report about a Korean family in Baltimore that lost their business due to the criminals that some in the media like to make excuses for by calling them protesters or rioters:

You can read the rest at the link, but I always find it interesting how people who can even speak the language can come to this country, open a business, make a living, and be productive citizens while many American born here cannot.

Unfortunately for those that liked going to the Navy Club on Yongsan Garrison it is now closed as part of the USFK relocation plan:

The Navy Club ended the final chapter of its long four-decade run at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan on Thursday.

Rear Adm. Lisa Franchetti, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea, spoke to more than 100 military and civilian guests at a closure ceremony focused on the club’s history.

“Today, we salute the Navy Club employees, past and present, for their faithful service to generations of servicemembers and their families stationed in Seoul,” Franchetti said.

The closure is due to the relocation of U.S. Naval Forces Korea headquarters to Busan in July and the move by other naval personnel further south to Camp Humphreys.

The restaurant was established in 1969 as Parker’s Place. In 1975, it became an official U.S. Navy Morale, Welfare and Recreation outlet and was rechristened with its current name.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

The North Koreans seem to be building up to another provocation cycle over the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea:

Adm. Choi Yun-hee, the chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited the Navy’s western command headquarters on Saturday, vowing to defend the Yellow Sea border against possible provocations from North Korea.

Also on Saturday, North Korea test-fired three anti-ship missiles into the sea off its east coast in what was seen as its latest show of force against Seoul.

South Korean military officials identified the North’s anti-ship missiles KN-01 cruise missiles and said the missiles were fired off into the sea off Wonsan, a major port on the North’s east coast, in a span of one hour starting at 4:25 p.m.

The missiles with a range of 100 kilometers are believed to have been modified from Chinese Silkworm missiles, they said.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but all though the North Koreans test fired the missiles into the East Sea in was clearly intended to send a message to the South Korean Navy operating ships along the NLL.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

A South Korean boy celebrates with a U.S. soldier as he visits a U.S. Army air defense artillery unit in Suwon, just south of Seoul, on May 5, 2015, as part of a Children’s Day event. (Yonhap)

Like any of these reports from anonymous sources, treated them with a healthy dose of skepticism because who knows if they are true:

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has demanded that officials “go to South Korea if they have to” to arrest those who defected on his birthday, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).

The non-profit news outlet quoted internal sources as saying Kim was furious when told that 16 North Koreans defected on February 16.

“During Kim’s birthday, the nation was under a special warning period for defecting, and when reported by his officials, Kim ordered them to send out an arrest squad to catch the ‘fleed family,'” the source was quoted as saying.

The source also said officials were threatened with punishment if they failed to bring back the defectors from North Hamgyong Province.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

A group of bikini-clad bodybuilders poses for a photo during a bodybuilding competition in Incheon, west of Seoul, on May 5, 2015. (Yonhap)

The new submarine that the ROK is commissioning actually has some really good capabilities and range:

South Korea unveiled a new 1,800-ton attack submarine on Thursday amid its stepped-up efforts to cope with evolving maritime security challenges such as from North Korea.

The 214-class submarine, the country’s sixth, was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. and for the first time named after a woman ― Yu Gwan-sun, a venerated independent fighter during Japanese colonial rule.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Chung Ho-seop, other top military and industry officials and Yu’s families attended the launching ceremony held on Geojedo Island, South Gyeongsang Province.

“The submarine is equipped with antiship, antisubmarine and offensive mining operations capabilities and will be loaded with Korean cruise missiles capable of precision strikes against key facilities of the enemy,” the Navy said in a statement.

To be commissioned in November 2016, the diesel-powered sub has a maximum underwater speed of 20 knots (37 kilometers per hour), which makes it possible to travel between South Korea and Hawaii without refueling.

It will be operated by Air Independent Propulsion, which bolsters the vessel’s submerged endurance and allows the crew to carry out underwater missions for up to two weeks without access to atmospheric oxygen.

The Navy currently has 13 submarines: nine 1,200-ton, 209-class submarines and four 1,800-ton, 214-class submarines. By 2019, its fleet is slated to be expanded to 18 submarines with the addition of five 214-class submarines.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but this submarine may be why the North Koreans have been reportedly conducting their own submarine based missile tests.

It appears that the North Koreans may be ramping up to justify a provocation in the Yellow Sea:

South and North Korea exchanged barbs on Friday over Pyongyang’s claims of South Korean ships’ violation of the western sea border.

In what it called “an emergency special warning,” the communist country’s Command in Southwestern Sector of Front claimed that South Korean Navy speedboats made a “military provocation” by deeply intruding into the North’s territorial waters in the Yellow Sea two or three times a day between May 1 and 7.

“From this moment, it will make a sighting strike without any prior warning at any warship of the South Korean Navy intruding into the extension of demarcation line in the hotspot (of the sea),” said the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea also threatened to successively deal stronger blows to the South’s ships if South Korea makes counterattacks on the North, according to the KCNA.

Pyongyang does not acknowledge the border, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which was drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led United Nations Command when the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire. The North has long demanded that the line be drawn farther south.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I consider this more or less stupid than racist:

U.S. celebrity gossip channel TMZ is under fire over the “racist” comments of a reporter who mocked a K-pop star who spoke in English.

A video clip of the segment has gone viral among Koreans.

The TMZ segment, which mainly deals humorously with celebrity stories, aired last Saturday ㅡ showing K-pop girl group EXID member Junghwa greeting the TMZ crew in English, which the reporter mocks.

TMZ staff instantly show disgust at the reporter’s comments.

As of Wednesday, “TMZ racist” was among the top 10 searched words on Korean web portal Naver, with bloggers and news outlets blasting the U.S channel for its comments.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.