Kakao is now in the cross hairs of the Korean government:

KakaoTalk, South Korea’s most-used messenger app, has once again become the center of national attention, stirring up controversy over its announcement that it would not accede to laws allowing authorities to inspect its user data.

The issue over the platform’s privacy policy has split the nation, with some people posting online comments that its new security measures have been long overdue, while others accused it of arrogance and believing that it can operate above the law.

The legal community, however, seemed to be adamant that Daum Kakao’s outright defiance of the law would simply be illegal, and that it would face charges for obstruction of justice.

Although legal sources said that no company executives had been sent to jail for not immediately responding to prosecutors’ warrants, they had faced mounting charges as no prosecutors had shown to walk away that easily from any case or investigation.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but Kakao has been losing users to foreign companies because of the fear the government will be accessing user data.  Kakao probably thinks they have to take this tough stand to defy warrants in order to try and keep the users they currently have even if it means violating Korean law.  ROK Heads may remember that this whole issue began because the Park administration has started to crackdown on online rumors.  So to find out who is passing false rumors the government wants to access Kakao data of those passing them around.

It looks like Samsung and Facebook may be trying to come up with some kind of partnership to take on their business rivals:

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Samsung Electronics Co. headquarters in Seoul on Tuesday, Samsung officials said, in an apparent bid to discuss new business models for the two firms.

A Samsung spokesman said Zuckerberg had visited the headquarters, without revealing other details including people he met with and the purpose of the visit. He is believed to have met with Samsung’s heir-apparent Lee Jay-yong, who was spotted entering the building shortly ahead of the spokesman’s remarks.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if Samsung is trying to better integrate Facebook services into other Samsung products like their TVs or appliances? Anyone have any other ideas on what partnership they could be forging?

So much for all the “coup” talk, Kim Jong-un has reappeared. He was seen walking with a cane which confirms he likely was recovering from a surgery of some kind possibly to his ankles or knees:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made his first public appearance in more than a month, giving a “field guidance” at a newly built housing complex, according to Pyongyang’s state media.

The visit to the Wisong Scientists Residential District marked the first time Kim has appeared in public since he attended a musical concert on Sept. 3.

“Watching the exterior of the apartment houses and public buildings nicely decorated with diverse color tiles, he was very pleased to see them. He said they looked very attractive, presenting fantastic scenery,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim’s prolonged absence from public view, including his failure to show up at important national events, has spurred speculation and rumors ranging from health problems to a military coup, though the U.S. has dimissed rumors of a coup as “false.”  [Yonhap]

I wonder if the next time Kim Jong-un drops out of view for a while the same people will be publishing sensational articles again of a coup?  Unfortunately when it comes to North Korea it seems a lot of people’s wishful thinking is mistaken as analysis.

Yongbyon centrifuge enrichment plant expands while 5 MWe reactor possibly shut down http://t.co/5UqtdDQB8l

— Nautilus Institute (@Nautilus_Inst) October 14, 2014

Over at Korea Noodles they have old pictures of Dongducheon and the TDC Ville posted for everyone to checkout.

You can view pictures of what the modern day TDC Ville looks like at this link.

The ROK military is reporting that the North Koreans have their nuclear reactor up and operating again:

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) believes that North Korea’s five-megawatt nuclear reactor in Yongbyon is in operations.

Cho Bo-keun, chief of the JCS’ national defense intelligence department, presented the assessment Monday in response to lawmakers’ questions during a parliamentary audit of the JCS.  [KBS World]

You can read more at the link, but it is pretty clear that the North Koreans are eager for some kind of pay day to once again shutdown their nuclear reactor.  The problem the North Koreans have is that no one wants to fall for this trick again and pay them to shutdown their reactor to only have them turn it back on again when they need more money.

I guess one way you can look at this is that there was no talks about not deploy it either:

South Korea and the United States exchanged information on key features of the THAAD missile defense system, but there were no discussions on deploying the system to South Korea, Seoul’s ambassador to Washington said Saturday.

“I am aware that there were consultations on the weapons system itself,” Amb. Ahn Ho-young said in response to questions from lawmakers during a parliamentary audit of the embassy. “But there were no discussions at all about deploying a THAAD battery to the Korean Peninsula.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the controversy with THAAD has to do with the left wing view that the deployment with antagonize China because the radar can look into China.  Interestingly enough these same leftists don’t seem to mind that the ROK military already has the Super Green Pine as well as the SPY-1 radars on their Aegis ships that can also have the range to look into China.  This is clearly just another example of the usual suspects on the Korean left trying to demagogue what should not be a controversial issue; protecting South Korea from a ballistic missile attack and instead twisting it into an anti-US issue.

I think we can all guess what happened in regards to this story:

A Marine has been detained following the suspected murder of a transgender Filipino at Subic Bay.

Media outlets in the Philippines, quoting a police report, said Monday that the victim, Jeffrey Laude, 26, also known as Jennifer, was found dead on a floor inside the Celzone Lodge in Olongapo City.

A witness said he saw Laude enter the hotel with a short-haired male foreigner, aged 25-30, around 10:55 p.m. on Saturday, the reports said.

Later, Laude’s naked body, partially covered with a blanket, was found in a bathroom at the hotel.

The incident comes at a sensitive time for U.S.-Philippine relations.

The close allies are getting ready to implement an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement — signed by President Barack Obama during a state visit in April — that will see large numbers of U.S. troops rotate through bases in the Philippines over the next decade.

Patricio Abinales, a University of Hawaii expert on the Philippines, said in an email Monday that Filipinos are likely to be angry about the alleged involvement of a Marine in Laude’s death, but that the incident won’t cause widespread opposition to a greater U.S. troop presence.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link, but since the Philippines is eager to host US troops again as a security guarantee against growing Chinese aggression I doubt the Filipino government will try and demagogue this incident for political advantage.  I guess we will see what happens, but it will interesting to see if the US government turns him over or not to face trial in the Philippines.

Anyway, this incident reminds of a transgender story I have from my days in Dongducheon.  The majority of the transgendered Koreans I have seen in Korea were in Dongducheon.  They would flock to the clubs up there to hit on drunk GIs.  I was at the infamous Rendezvous Club one time and saw this soldier hanging all over what was obviously a transexual, but he was too drunk to tell the difference.  I sat by him and then pulled him a side to explain to him his folly.  He got pissed and wanted to throw down because he thought I was trying to steal his chick.  Since he was so enamored with his new girlfriend, I left him to his folly. I never saw that soldier show his face ever again in that club.

New interview with Moon Chung-in, who says deep divisions behind appearance of consensus in China-ROK relations http://t.co/VRjl9IQOYK

— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) October 12, 2014

President Park Geun-hye and young venture company owners use a monopod to take a photo during a ceremony marking the launch of a creative economy and innovation center at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, central South Korea, on Oct. 10, 2014. (Yonhap)