I hope the Russian rocket technology has a warranty the North Koreans can cash in on after this latest launch failure:

North Korea said Tuesday that its latest attempt to launch a new rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite ended in failure due to the midair explosion of the rocket during the first-stage flight this week.

The vice general director of the North’s National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) said the rocket carrying the satellite, the Malligyong-1-1, exploded after it lifted off from the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on the country’s northwest coast on Monday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The launch came just hours after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang held a trilateral summit in Seoul and reaffirmed their commitment to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea has another domestically developed defense system that not only upgrades their own defense, but can serve as an export as well:

South Korea has completed development of the homegrown Long-range Surface-to-Air Missile (L-SAM) system, the state arms procurement agency said Saturday, marking a major step in efforts to bolster the military’s air defense capabilities.

The L-SAM, which is designed to shoot down incoming targets at altitudes of 50-60 kilometers, was recently assessed as combat-suitable as it met the military’s technical requirements, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

With the completion of its development, the L-SAM is expected to begin production next year and be deployed for operations by 2028.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This really shouldn’t be very surprising to anyone that North Korea would take some kind of provocation prior to the U.S. election:

U.S. officials are bracing for North Korea to potentially take its “most provocative” military action in a decade ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, possibly at the urging of Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC News reported Friday.

Citing six senior U.S. officials, the broadcaster also said that the United States has contingency plans to respond in the event of Pyongyang taking aggressive action in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, or shelling South Korean border islands — belligerence unseen since 2010.

“We have no doubt that North Korea will be provocative this year. It’s just a matter of how escalatory it is,” a U.S. intelligence official was quoted by NBC News as saying.

It said that the U.S. officials believe the timing of the North’s provocation could be designed to “create turmoil in yet another part of the world,” as the presidential race is set to be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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

The few times I have gotten off the subway at Jamsil Station makes me believe this finding is accurate; it is a very busy subway station:

Jamsil Station on Seoul’s Subway Line No. 2 has replaced Gangnam Station of the same line as the capital’s busiest station, with over 150,000 passengers using the station per day, Seoul Metro said Thursday.

Jamsil Station in southeastern Seoul served a daily average of 155,229 passengers in the first four months of this year, compared with Gangnam Station with a daily average of 151,607 passengers, according to Seoul Metro’s analysis of traffic at all stations on Lines 1-9.

Gangnam Station in southern Seoul had long ranked as the capital’s busiest station.

Gangnam and Jamsil are traditionally crowded because the subway is faster and more convenient there than cars due to severe traffic congestion.

Other busy stations with a daily average of over 100,000 passengers include Hongik University Station on Line No. 2 (147,356), Guro Digital Complex Station on Line No. 2 (106,564), Seoul Station on Line No. 1 (105,265), Sillim Station on Line No. 2 (103,582) and Samseong Station on Line No. 2 (101,475), the operator said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a bit surprising that the Chinese have decided to join the ROK and Japan in a trilateral summit in Seoul:

Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will hold a long-suspended trilateral summit in Seoul next week for the first time in 4 1/2 years, the presidential office said Thursday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul on Monday, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said during a press briefing. 

Yoon will separately hold bilateral talks with Li and Kishida at the presidential office on Sunday. It will be Li’s first visit to South Korea since taking office in March 2023.

It marks the first trilateral summit among the Asian countries since December 2019, after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and strained Seoul-Tokyo relations over historical disputes.

Kim said the summit will cover six areas of cooperation, comprising economy and trade, sustainable development, health issues, science and technology, disaster and safety management, and people-to-people exchanges, which will be included in a joint statement.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if any tangible comes out of this.