The purge in the ROK military continues with these 120 investigators arguably being the equivalent of political commissars ensuring ideological purity within the ROK military:

The Defense Ministry has dismissed 14 generals under its toughest levels of military discipline over the Dec. 3 martial law declaration, as further proceedings remain underway, Seoul’s ministry said Wednesday.

The dismissals follow a six-month investigation by the ministry’s task force, conducted as part of a pangovernmental effort. The task force deployed about 120 personnel to examine 24 military units and institutions and question roughly 860 individuals.

A total of 35 military personnel, all colonels or above, received heavy disciplinary actions. Sanctions ranged from suspension and demotion to dismissal and removal from service.

Of the 14 generals disciplined under the harshest penalties of military law, 12 received the most severe sanction, expulsion, which strips them of military status and reduces their retirement benefits.

The group receiving the toughest punishments included five three-star lieutenant generals, four two-star major generals and three one-star brigadier generals.

Two others, a lieutenant general and a major general, were dismissed from office — the second-highest penalty. The two were removed from their posts and forced into retirement.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Why do the Russians keep coming if the ROK isn’t giving them refugee status? It makes me think they are using the refugee process to buy time and once it is denied fly to another country to start the process all over again to buy more time:

This file image, provided by Yonhap News TV, shows the justice ministry’s headquarters in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

Russians made up the largest share of asylum seekers in South Korea for the third consecutive year in 2025 amid the war in Ukraine, justice ministry data showed Wednesday.

According to the annual data of asylum seekers, 2,026 Russians applied for refugee status in the country last year, accounting for 13.8 percent of the total 14,626 applicants, followed by 1,462 Indians and 1,216 Kazakhs 

The 2025 tally marked a sharp drop from 4,546 Russian applicants the previous year, but Russians have held the largest share of asylum seekers by nationality since 2023.

In 2023, Russia recorded 5,750 applicants — a fivefold increase from a year earlier — in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

A ministry official said the conflict is believed to have had an influence on the number of Russian applications, noting the country’s conscription efforts due to the war.

But no Russians were granted refugee status last year, the official said. South Korea granted the status to 135 people, including 75 Burmese in 2025 alone.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Notice how this is currently one sided appeasement because the North Koreans have not indicated whether they will comply with the no fly zone that South Korea is implementing. Additionally I am still waiting for the North Koreans to apologize for their drone incursions into South Korea which will likely never happen:

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks to reporters at a press briefing on Feb. 18, 2026. (Yonhap)

South Korea will seek to reinstate a no-fly zone over the border with North Korea under the suspended 2018 inter-Korean military pact aimed at easing tensions, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Wednesday. 

Chung disclosed the plan at a press briefing after expressing regret earlier this month over drones sent into North Korea by South Korean civilians, which the North denounced as a violation of its sovereignty.

“In cooperation with our military authorities, (the government) will preemptively review and seek to reinstate the September 19 inter-Korean military pact, including the designation of a no-fly zone,” Chung said. 

The minister said the action is aimed at preventing any unintended military clash and building trust between the two militaries.

The no-fly zone under the 2018 pact prohibits the operation of planes and drones within 15 kilometers of the Demilitarized Zone in eastern areas and 10 km in western parts.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The way I look at it, is that I have no issues with a Chinese automaker selling their cars in the U.S. if they use American labor, follow American labor and environmental laws, and are not subsidized by the Chinese government:

Aerial view of new vehicles waiting for shipment to overseas markets in a port in Lianyungang in eastern China. – FeatureChina/AP

Chinese cars could be at an American dealership sooner than you think, and that’s good news for US consumers.

Chinese car companies make more vehicles than anyone else on Earth and export more as well. But high tariffs and hostile US-China trade relations have kept them out of the American market.

That’s likely to change, according to experts, with Chinese autos hitting US showrooms in the next five to 10 years.

“The ambition is there,” said Lei Xing, an independent auto analyst and former chief editor of China Automotive Review magazine, even if companies have to build factories here rather than ship cars here from China.

He said multiple Chinese automakers have shown “readiness to come to the US, to build in the US.”

That would be helpful for American car buyers. Greater competition means more choices, especially for EVs, which in turn should lower prices. But it would also squeeze the profits and market share of the car companies already selling in the US, likely affecting the nearly 1 million people who work for them.

Chinese cars shipped to America come with a 100% tariff, by far the highest tariff rate for any import. But President Donald Trump, a critic of most Chinese products, recently seemed welcoming of Chinese brands if they build plants in the US.

CNN

You can read more at the link.

I have to give President Lee credit, he has been governing smartly since taking office and his approval rating continues to show this:

President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating rose to 56.5 percent last week, a survey showed Monday, driven by the government’s efforts to stabilize the property market.

The rating was up 0.7 percentage point from the previous week, while the negative assessment fell 0.2 percentage point to 38.9 percent, according to the survey by Realmeter, commissioned by a local business news outlet.

Realmeter attributed the increase to Lee’s ongoing push to curb home prices by ending an exemption from the heavy capital gains tax for owners of multiple homes and the stock market’s rise.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.