Who creates a building to barbeque in with a straw roof, one exit, and no fire extinguisher?  Well a guy in Damyang did with deadly results:

Four university students were killed and six others sustained injuries in a fire at a guest house in Damyang, South Jeolla Province, Saturday.

The fire erupted in a hut in the guest house compound, where some guests were having a barbeque.

A survivor said the fire began after one of the guests attempted to extinguish a charcoal fire by pouring water onto it, which caused sparks to reach the flammable ceiling.

Police said the hut was built with flammable materials ― dried grass for the roof, a wooden floor and plastic walls.

Twenty-six guests were inside the hut grilling meat at the time of the incident. All were students from Dongshin University in Naju, South Jeolla Province.

Another survivor said there wasn’t a fire extinguisher in the hut, which is used by guests for barbeques.

“I had to bring one from elsewhere, but even that stopped working after 30 seconds,” he was quoted as saying by a police officer.

Police suspect poor safety inspections are to blame for the fire which started at 9:45 p.m. and lasted 50 minutes.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but this is just another example of poor safety awareness in Korea. Hopefully the increased media attention on this subject in Korea will improve safety awareness to reduce incidents like this from happening.

It sounds like that someone in marketing over at IKEA wasn’t doing their job very well by not looking to avoid controversy with hot button issues such as this before their grand opening in Korea:

Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, which will open here for business next month, has already become a focus of controversy because of decorative world maps in its product range that identify the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan as the “Sea of Japan,” not the “East Sea.”

IKEA Korea said Tuesday that the maps, currently available at some of the company’s overseas outlets, won’t be shipped into Korea. The Korean unit of the international furniture retailer said the product was made based on Google Maps.

Korea and Japan have wrangled for decades over what to name the waters between the two countries.

“We are sorry for causing controversy,” IKEA Korea said in a statement. “We are fully aware of the seriousness of this case for the Korean people.”

The company said that the map in question had already been excluded from a list of products to be imported to Korea. But it didn’t suggest any solution such as replacing Sea of Japan with East Sea or including both names on the map.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I hope they scrubbed their website and promotional products to make sure that their is no reference to Takeshima as well.

RT @BuckTurgidson79: North Korean defectors speaking up about human rights abuses http://t.co/gzhUUYn6t9

— Liberty in NK (@LibertyinNK) November 19, 2014

C.B. Cebulski, Marvel Comics senior vice president of Creator and Content Development, speaks at the International Content Conference (DICON 2014) in Seoul on Nov. 18, 2014. (Yonhap)

The ROK Army already has a 100 of this tanks deployed and are set to double their number by 2017:

The military plans to complete the deployment of some 100 next-generation tanks equipped with an indigenous engine and transmission by the year 2017, according to the arms procurement agency, Wednesday.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the upgraded K-2 Black Panther will be deployed by the end of the year.

The decision came during a defense project committee meeting presided over by Defense Minister Han Min-koo.

The military has been postponing the deployment of the weapons system as it had failed Army requirements because of faulty components.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to lower the standard for its acceleration performance, enabling the deployment of the advanced combat vehicle.

DAPA spokesman Kim Si-cheol explained that the deployment of the vehicle will help the military to strengthen its combat capability as they will have upgraded mobility and firepower suitable for any future warfare environment.

He expressed confidence with the equipment the military will be able to maintain upper hand over North Korea. “We also expect the new battle tanks will be exported more actively,” Kim said during a press briefing.  [Korea Times]

This is actually a very good tank for what the ROK Army needs it to do.  However, their biggest goal with the K2 has been to keep a production line open to sell these tanks to international customers like Turkey which is working with the ROK to co-develop their new Altay main battle tank.

It looks like the North Koreans are still up to their old ways by kidnapping people in foreign countries:

A North Korean college student in Paris has been missing for more than two weeks, sources here said Wednesday, amid speculation that agents from the North are attempting to forcibly take him back to the communist nation.

The student, only identified by his surname Han, is a son of an aide to Jang Song-thaek, the once powerful uncle of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un. Jang was executed in December last year on treason charges.

Han’s father is known to have been purged recently as part of the Kim regime’s continued work to clear the remnants of the Jang era.

A senior official at Han’s school told Yonhap News Agency that, “I asked other students and faculty members about Han’s whereabouts but nobody has seen him at least for the past 15 days.”

Local police came to the school last week in search of Han, added the official.

A source said Han had been picked up by North Korean agents dispatched to Paris.

He dramatically escaped while being taken to an airport and he is now staying at a certain location, the source said.

If confirmed true, the case could cause a diplomatic rift between North Korea and France.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I really hope the French government takes a harsh stance against this type of activity in their country by foreign agents.

This resolution is highly symbolic since China and Russia would likely veto it at the UN Security Council, but it is still a very high embarrassing resolution for the ruling Kim regime:

A U.N. General Assembly committee on Tuesday passed a highly symbolic resolution calling for referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for human rights violations in a move sure to spark angry protests from the communist nation.

The Third Committee approved the resolution in a 111-19 vote. Fifty-five countries abstained.

The resolution’s overwhelming passage through the committee almost guaranteed its formal adoption at the U.N. General Assembly. It also represented a victory for the West in an intense diplomatic battle at the U.N. against North Korea and other authoritarian regimes sympathetic to Pyongyang.

Earlier Tuesday, the committee rejected a Cuban proposal to remove the call for the North’s referral to the ICC from the resolution.

“The General Assembly decides … to take appropriate action to ensure accountability, including through consideration of referral of the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the International Criminal Court and consideration of the scope for effective targeted sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible,” the resolution said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

#LunarMissionOne is serious about science on crowdfunded mission to the Moon http://t.co/rKQYLDfwFS pic.twitter.com/MffcVTCM5a” via @NatureNews

— neil (@4nks) November 19, 2014

South Korean President Park Geun-hye (R) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Nov. 11, 2014, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae released the photo on Nov. 17. (Yonhap)

It must suck to be these sailors stuck on a boat like because of the actions of one idiot:

Sailors on ships docked at Subic Bay won’t get shore leave while authorities determine the fate of a Marine accused of a slaying there.
“In consideration of recent events in Olongapo City, the United States has temporarily restricted shore leave for… U.S. forces [visiting] the Subic Bay area,” according to an official at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, who has been in custody in the Philippines for almost a month, is suspected of involvement in the death of Jeffrey Laude, 26, a transgender person also known as Jennifer whose body was found Oct. 11 in a motel bathroom.
The death, which prompted protests from family members and anti-American activists, comes at a crucial time for U.S.-Filipino relations as the countries prepare to implement an agreement that will see thousands of U.S. troops rotate through bases in the Philippines over the next decade.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman Robert Garcia told the AFP news agency earlier this month that nine U.S. Navy ships had canceled visits to the port. Ships were still scheduled to visit for emergency repairs, but crews wouldn’t be allowed ashore, he said. (Stars and Stripes)

You can read more at the link.