I guess this how you exchange pleasantries on the DMZ:

South and North Korea exchanged fire across the heavily fortified border on Sunday, but there was no report of South Korean casualties.

The incident took around 5:40 p.m. when South Korea fired warning shots against North Korean soldiers who were approaching the military demarcation line in Paju after broadcasting warning messages.

North Korea apparently fired back against South Korea, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, noting two marks from North Korean guns were found in a South Korean guard post.

South Korea also returned fired against North Korea, according to the JCS. [Yonhap]

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

Here are the latest postings in the ROK Drop Forums that is well worth checking out:

• Joe Biden’s Son Kicked Out of the Navy for Testing Positive for Cocaine
• How an Arizona Man Ended Up On the US Army’s Most Wanted List
• Japan Tops List for Safest Countries in the World, Korea Places 4th
• Dual Survival Star Caught Lying About Special Forces and Combat Background
• Soldier Caught Breaking Into Dry Cleaner to Try On Clothes
• 14 Fear Dead in Vent Collapse in Bundang
• Grandpa GIs Were Doing Crossfit Before It Was Cool
• US Military Chemical Weapons Finds Comes to Light In Iraq
• US Navy’s Role in the Western Pacific
• Montana Senator Has War College Degree Revoked for Cheating
• Edward Snowden Says to Stop Using Popular Web Services

Busan Haps has the scoop on when Apple fans can expect to purchase the new iPhone 6 in South Korea:

Image via Flickr user Pic-k-art.

Those looking to get their hands on the newest offering from Apple won’t have to wait much longer as they have announced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will begin sales on October 31st in 36 additional countries and territories, including South Korea, as well as across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa have been added by the Cupertino, California company in a press statement yesterday.

Pre-orders by Korea’s three mobile carriers — SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ — will begin October 24th.  [Busan Haps]

You can read more at the link.

8 exquisite photos of #TopStar's #SoYiHyun http://t.co/3BL9fVF4WH pic.twitter.com/OycPb8ZxTY

— DramaFever (@dramafever) October 18, 2014

(Image from KoreaBANG)

Saenuri lawmaker Rep. Kwon Seong-dong using company time and bandwidth to explore extracurricular pursuits.  [Via Marmot’s Hole]

You can read more about who Rep. Kwon is checking out at the link.

They have some really weird fetishes in Japan:

Three men in Japan were arrested Thursday for operating a prostitution ring in which clients paid to sniff the bodies of teenage girls, Now News reports.

Authorities charged the men for violating the labor standards law.

The trio set up their business in an apartment in Tokyo. They recruited some 30 teenage girls aged between 16 and 18 and had them dress up in school uniforms, bathing suits other costumes. Customers would pay to sniff their bodies. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Via the Marmot’s Hole comes this interesting story about a Korean superfan who has become the face of the fanbase for the Kansas City Royals baseball team that will take on the San Francisco Giants in the World Series:

The Irish have the Blarney Stone, the Chinese rub Buddha’s belly and the Kansas City Royals have Lee Sung-woo.

They have who, what, huh?

Okay, so the story goes that in the middle of the American major league baseball season the Kansas City Royals were just an average team in a small market with average talent, having yet another ho-hum average season in their bland 45 year history (playoff-less in the last 28 of those 45 years).  That was until a foreigner named Sung-woo Lee from far away South Korea came on the scene.  Through social media, Sung-woo was a regular fixture on Royals’ fan sites and blogs and exhorted Royals’ fans to persevere, which helped to inject much needed enthusiasm into the traditional fan base.  Interestingly enough, Sung-woo’s online participation started as an attempt to learn English by consistently conversing with American baseball fans. [Marmot’s Hole]

You can read more at the Marmot’s Hole link, but if they win the World Series this is a Disney feel good story in the making.  In fact a filmmaker is already making a movie about Lee:

That would be OK, but… what if SungWoo could come back for the World Series in Kansas City?

It appears to be happening. Due to a viral effort by bloggers and a filmmaker named Josh Swade – who is in Korea right now — wants to document the story, several people close to the situation are reporting that Lee will be returning for the first Fall Classic in Kansas City since 1985. Andy McCullough in the Kansas City Star reports that Swade is talking with Lee’s employer in South Korea to make it possible for him to get away. Announcements have been made elsewhere.   [Yahoo Sports]

Guess who's coming to game 1?! #SungWooSeries @30for30 @Royals @MLB pic.twitter.com/lKiofQKFr7

— Josh Swade (@JoshSwade) October 17, 2014

You can read more at the link, but what an incredible story.

South Korea tries to ease cyber surveillance fears http://t.co/nKiVFvsjlC #KoreaNews

— Korea News Summary (@ROKreport) October 16, 2014

This first McDonald’s franchise is currently being constructed in Dongducheon.  You can read more about it over at Korea Noodles.

Hopefully this conference is able to go smoothly in Korea without any ebola transmissions.  You would think though that the attendees from the three West African countries would voluntarily not attend conferences like this until the outbreak is under control:

Concern is mounting about a possible outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus just days before the opening of a global telecommunications conference in Busan.

The International Telecommunication Union is set to start next Monday in the southeastern port city and runs until November 7. More than 3,000 government officials and 600,000 attendees from 193 countries are expected to visit. More than 170 attendees hail from West Africa including Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, the epicenters of the current outbreak.

The government has placed a request to the three hardest-hit nations not to visit and has intensified quarantine and monitoring at the Gimhae International Airport, where most visitors are expected to arrive.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare staged a response-preparation drill on Thursday for conference personnel and health staff at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center meeting venue if a visitor demonstrates Ebola-like symptoms. Five fever detectors have been deployed at the venue.

Still, the precautions haven’t quelled fears over possible transmission. Over the past few weeks, local civic groups and politicians have called on the government to establish more thorough measures to prevent an outbreak.

In a meeting with relevant ministry officials on Thursday, Rep. Cho Kyung-tae from the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy party, urged the government to block the entry of African delegates from the three nations.

“Running an international event smoothly can’t take priority over public health,” argued Rep. Cho.

Another lawmaker from the same party, Rep. Bae Jae-jung, on Wednesday cited the lack of adequate medical facilities and experts at local hospitals as a primary concern.

“We don’t have a special ward to properly isolate a patient who might contract the disease,” Rep. Bae said.  [Wall Street Journal]

You can read more at the link, but this was mentioned in the Forums that isn’t it ironic that telecommunications conference cannot have participants from these three African nations participate via telecommunications?  Discuss more over in the Forums Ebola Open Thread.