This is why the ROK wants to conclude cost sharing negotiations before any potential Trump presidency:
Former President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States could pull out its troops stationed in South Korea if the Asian ally does not make more financial contributions to support them, U.S. magazine TIME reported Tuesday.
TIME’s release of its interview with Trump came as Seoul and Washington recently launched new negotiations over South Korea’s share of the cost for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) under a deal, called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA).
“We have 40,000 troops that are in a precarious position,” he was quoted by TIME as saying. “Which doesn’t make any sense. Why would we defend somebody? And we’re talking about a very wealthy country.”
He was apparently referring to the 28,500 USFK service members.
Based on the remarks, TIME said in an article that Trump “suggests” the U.S. could withdraw its forces “if South Korea doesn’t pay more to support U.S. troops there to deter (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un’s increasingly belligerent regime to the north.”
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if this becomes a major campaign issue or not this year.
Here is the latest numbers on North Koreans defecting to the South:
The number of North Korean defectors who successfully reached South Korea came to 43 in the first quarter, marking an increase from the same period last year, government data showed Tuesday.
Joong Ang Ilbo
According to the Unification Ministry, eight men and 35 women arrived in South Korea from the beginning of January to the end of March, bringing the total number of North Korean defectors who have arrived in the South to 34,121.
The latest figure was lower than 57 tallied in the previous quarter but was higher than 34 in the same period a year earlier.
You can read more at the link.
Some more interesting trails near the Korean DMZ are set to open this month:
Ten peace-themed trails near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), separating the two Koreas, will open to the public in mid-May, the government said Tuesday.
The trails are located across border towns and cities in the provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon, as well as the western border island of Gangwha, according to the defense and culture ministries.
The trails are set to open May 13. Visitors can sign up for trips on the government-run website (www.dmzwalk.com) and mobile app Durunubi, according to the ministries.
The DMZ, which is about 250 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide, is one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders, with the rival Koreas technically in a state of conflict, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The North Koreans could use drones and gliders for terror attacks, but why would they at this time?:
This file photo, provided by the National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s spy agency, on Jan. 8, 2024, shows an F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher manufactured in North Korea suspected to have been used by the Hamas militant group. Korean characters are engraved inside of the fuse (in blue circle) of the grenade launcher.
South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday it cannot rule out the possibility of North Korea staging attacks involving drones and motorized paragliders amid suspicions over Pyongyang’s ties with the Hamas militant group.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) issued the warning in its annual report on global terrorism, as the North has been ramping up weapons tests and verbal threats amid allegations of its illicit arms transfers.
In January, the NIS confirmed suspicions that North Korean-made weapons are being used by the Hamas militant group in its war against Israel despite Pyongyang’s repeated denial of such transactions.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It is amazing that doctors would just cancel appointments like this at the last minute. Who knows how long some of these patients have been waiting for an appointment before they were cancelled:
Some medical professors at the country’s three major hospitals, Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital and Korea University Hospital, suspended surgeries and outpatient clinics on Tuesday for one day, as previously announced, to protest the government’s plan to expand the number of new medical students by 2,000 a year.
The main hall at SNUH’s Cancer Hospital was without medical staff Tuesday, while a number of patients wandered around the ward, having just learned that the doctors wouldn’t be coming in. Some said they hadn’t been told that their appointments would be canceled or postponed; other said they had to wait in long queues, not knowing when their names would be called.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
I watched the season 2 and MAJ Kim did well, but he was not one of the main competitors featured on the show. Though he is fit, he was definitely not on the same level of the top competitors who’s fitness was extremly impressive. Overall though great job by MAJ Kim and I am sure it was a great experience for him:
An Army officer who competed in a South Korean reality show said he pushed beyond his physical limit to become one of the top 20 contestants battling in theatrical feats of strength for a chance to win roughly $220,000.
Maj. Gibson Kim of the 411th Contracting Support Brigade at Camp Humphreys was among 100 contestants on Netflix’s nine-episode second season of “Physical: 100,” which aired globally starting March 19. Kim, an avid powerlifter, said he was surprised to see his fellow contestants for the first time while filming in August at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Goyang city.
Male and female contestants this season ranged from mixed-martial arts fighters, rugby players, special forces soldiers, body builders, bobsledders, arm wrestlers and ballet dancers.
Stars and Stripes
You can read more at the link.
