Fortunately no one was hurt in this crash caused by the now former Forestry Service Chief driving drunk:

President Lee Jae Myung has dismissed the minister of the Korea Forest Service, Kim In-ho, after he was found to have committed an unlawful act, Lee’s office said Saturday, without further elaborating.

“We have found that the minister of the Korea Forest Service caused trouble by committing a serious violation to existing laws, and decided to dismiss him from the post,” Lee’s office said.

The presidential office did not elaborate on what specific law Kim violated but warned it will react sternly to any violations of law by high-ranking officials going forward.

Later in the day, police confirmed they have booked Kim on charges of driving under the influence.

Kim is accused of subsequently ramming into a bus and a car while drunk driving at an intersection in the Bundang district of Seongnam at around 10:50 p.m. on Monday, according to the Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

I am very curious to know what the ROK Defense Minister was protesting to the USFK Commander about?:

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back checks the readiness of the military, in this file photo taken on Feb. 15, 2026, and provided by the Ministry of National Defense. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s defense minister has lodged a protest with the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) early this week over its brief standoff with Chinese fighter jets during a rare air exercise, military sources said Saturday.

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back has delivered a complaint in a call with Gen. Xavier Brunson, the commander of the Combined Forces Command and the United States Forces Korea, immediately after he received a report of the incident on Wednesday, according to the sources.

Gen. Jin young-sung, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also lodged a complaint in a call with Gen. Brunson, they added.

On Wednesday, U.S. and Chinese fighter jets engaged in a rare standoff over the Yellow Sea during a training operation of the U.S. Air Force, which involved some 10 USFK F-16 fighter jets. 

The F-16 jets reportedly flew to an area between the respective air defense identifications zones of South Korea and China, prompting the Chinese military to dispatch its own fighter jets to the scene, but no clash occurred.

The USFK had notified the South Korean military of its plan ahead of the exercise but apparently did not elaborate on the details, including the purpose of the drills, officials have said.

Yonhap

The U.S. planes were flying in international airspace. Is there some kind of policy agreed to between the ROK and USFK that they will not fly military aircraft in international airspace in the Yellow Sea? According to this Korea Herald article the exercise near the Chinese ADIZ was unusual and could be signaling that USFK was transforming towards deterring China which is what the ROK Defense Minister may be upset about:

The deployment of a significant number of USFK Air Force assets near the Chinese ADIZ is considered unusual, prompting interpretations that the exercise may have been aimed at signaling deterrence toward China.

The drills come amid growing speculation that Washington may seek to adjust USFK’s role as it shifts focus toward countering China and encourages allies to assume greater responsibility for regional security.

Korea Herald

It is interesting that the ROK government is this upset about an air exercise in international waters near China when the Chinese and the Russians have flown aircraft straight through the the ROK ADIZ on multiple occasions. The last time they did it was just this past December when nine Russian and Chinese aircraft violated in the ROK ADIZ to the South and East of the peninsula. Where was the ROK government’s protests to China and Russia over those incursions? Yet it is going to complain to Gen. Brunson about flying USFK aircraft in international waters?

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

It is going to be very interesting to see if this Board of Peace can actually accomplish the rebuilding of Gaza. It appears the funding will be there for reconstruction, but the real question is going to be who is going to disarm Hamas and provide security? You can’t rebuild anything until security is reestablished in Gaza:

 U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned South Korea among the countries that will join a fundraiser to support the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip, as he convened the first meeting of a new U.S.-led international peace organization in Washington on Thursday.

Trump referred to South Korea, the Philippines and other countries, which he said would contribute to the reconstruction efforts for the Palestinian enclave, during the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, which was launched last month to promote peace efforts around the world.

“Japan has just committed to an aid fundraiser, which will be a very big one. It’s already successful. We know some of the numbers that are being talked about, which will be attended by other nations in the region, including South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and others,” he said.

“China is going to be involved, and I think Russia is going to be involved,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I really cannot feel bad for Yoon when he was stupid enough to launch such an incompetent martial law bid that got him impeached. When former President Park Geun-hye was imprisoned I felt bad for her because the reasons she was jailed were very suspect. I doubt Yoon will do life in prison because he will eventually get pardoned whenever another conservative leader becomes President, but he will be sitting in jail for quite a number of years until that happens:

A court on Thursday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison for his failed bid to impose martial law in 2024, casting the attempt as an insurrection marked by the deployment of troops to the National Assembly.

In the first ruling on the case, the Seoul Central District Court convicted Yoon of leading an insurrection through the martial law bid but handed down a sentence lighter than the death penalty recommended by special prosecutors.

he ruling came 14 months after the former president made the surprise declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, with the stated aim of eradicating anti-state forces, though the order was lifted six hours later following a vote by the National Assembly.

“It is difficult to deny that former President Yoon inwardly aimed to make the National Assembly unable to function properly for a considerable period by blocking and paralyzing the National Assembly’s activities by means of sending troops to the National Assembly to seal it off and arrest key politicians,” Jee Kui-youn, the presiding judge, said during the hearing attended by Yoon and broadcast live on national television.

“It is also recognized that he staged a riot by sending the military.”

Under the Constitution, an insurrection is defined as an act aimed at removing state authority from part or all of the country or the staging of a riot with the purpose of subverting the Constitution.

The court said the declaration of martial law in itself cannot constitute an insurrection, but that in Yoon’s case, the charge held because he aimed to paralyze the functions of a constitutional body.

It also stressed that at the core of the case was Yoon’s deployment of troops to the National Assembly.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

These two Marines stationed in Japan were are walking crime spree between Hiroshima and Tokyo:

Japanese authorities are investigating two U.S. Marines for possible thefts totaling $65,000 or more since last fall, according to Japanese police and media reports recently. Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday forwarded to Japanese prosecutors their case against two Marines, ages 20 and 26, for stealing 27,000 yen, or $175, in cash from two restaurants in Kabukicho, a nightlife district near Shinjuku, between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Dec. 24, The Mainichi newspaper reported Friday.

The newspaper cited the police as a source, although a Tokyo police spokeswoman declined to confirm the report by phone for Stars and Stripes on Tuesday.  The Marines may be linked to multiple thefts last fall with losses exceeding $65,000, The Mainichi reported, citing an unnamed investigative source. Two Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and under suspicion by Japanese authorities of “criminal misconduct” are in Marine Corps custody, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing spokesman Maj. Joseph Butterfield said by email Tuesday.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.