With how small cameras are getting today this guy wasn’t trying very hard to hide his spy cameras with something this obvious:

This photo shows a spy camera found at an early voting polling station in Yangsan, 301 kilometers southeast of Seoul, provided by the South Gyeongsang Province police authority on March 29, 2024.

Police said Saturday they have requested an arrest warrant for a YouTuber suspected of installing spy cameras at some 40 early voting stations ahead of the April 10 parliamentary elections.

Officials at Incheon Nonhyeon Police Station said the suspect, a man in his 40s, allegedly placed hidden cameras at about 40 early polling stations in major cities, including Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Ulsan and Daegu.

The interior ministry earlier said spy cameras had been found at 26 early voting stations as of Friday.

The suspect reportedly told the police that he wanted to monitor the National Election Commission’s manipulation of turnout rates for early voting.

The man is also under suspicion of having installed hidden cameras in polling stations during the 2022 presidential election and the by-election for the mayorship of Gangseo District in Seoul in October, according to officials.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I have seen the Yale, National Geographic, and Discovery apparel in Korea, but never CNN or BBC. Lockheed Martin has got to be the weirdest fashion branding. Has anyone else seen any other weird fashion branding in South Korea?:

On Seoul’s streets today, seeing someone clad in a CNN hoodie, Kodak pants, Yale socks, a Discovery jacket, a National Geographic backpack and a BBC Earth baseball cap may not seem out of the ordinary.

The presence of logos from global non-fashion brands, spanning academia, media and sports, in Korean everyday wear seems to be only growing, now including unexpected entrants like arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin. (…..)

In the case of Yale, its apparel line was launched by the Korean fashion company Words Corporation in 2020 through such a licensing deal. The same goes for the recently launched Lockheed Martin streetwear collections, manufactured by the local firm Doojin Yanghang Corp.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but basically clothing manufacturers license logos from corporations that have brand appeal in South Korea. They find putting them on clothing sells in the Korean market. When it comes to Lockheed Martin they are the manufacturer for both the F-35 and THAAD which explains why they have brand recognition in South Korea.

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

Good luck with enforcing sanctions on North Korea as long as they share land borders with China and Russia who will continue to enable them:

South Korea and the United States have launched a task force to effectively block North Korea from financing its unlawful nuclear and missile programs, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The inaugural meeting of the South Korea-U.S. bilateral Enhanced Disruption Task Force was held at Washington, D.C., on Tuesday (local time) with over 30 officials in areas of diplomacy, intelligence, sanctions and maritime interdiction, according to the ministry.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to counter illicit efforts by North Korea to circumvent sanctions concerning the procurement of refined petroleum, stressing that importing refined oil in excess of the U.N.-mandated cap violates U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

They also highlighted the need for close cooperation to counter the North’s ability to procure petroleum, including from Russia, saying it directly contributes to the reclusive country’s military readiness and its weapons development.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears the Japanese government is seeing the economic benefits the ROK is receiving from their growing defense industry and wants to get their own piece of this growing market:

Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project and part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The power bill for USFK bases has just shot up dramatically this year:

The United States Forces Korea (USFK) will see its utility bills soar, after the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) raises electricity rates for them amid surging production costs, according to the state-run utility company, Tuesday.

The USFK has agreed with the Korean government to increase its power usage rate to 152.8 won ($0.11) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this year, a 26.8 percent jump from last year’s 120.5 won, KEPCO said. 

The power usage rate is determined by the electricity fee and base rate. KEPCO raised its electricity fee for the USFK to 133.5 won, up by 26.9 percent from last year’s 105.2 won per kWh, and its base rate to 7,830 won, up by 24.3 percent from 6,300 won per kilowatt.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.