Is this just some kind of strange streak of bad luck or are these crashes a symptom of something else?:

Amid an “in-flight emergency,” a U.S. F-16 fighter jet crashed in waters off South Korea’s west coast Wednesday morning, the U.S. Air Force said in a statement, adding that the pilot had “ejected safely” and was transported conscious to a medical facility for assessment. (…..)

This is the second time in less than two months that the U.S. Air Force has experienced incidents with its F-16s. In December, another F-16 fighter jet from the 8th Fighter Wing crashed into the Yellow Sea off South Korea’s southeastern coast, with the pilot also having ejected safely before the crash. At the time, Gaetke ordered a two-day pause on flights for investigation and recovery of the aircraft. It’s unclear if that investigation has concluded.

Last May, another F-16 pilot ejected safely before the aircraft crashed into farmland near Osan Air Base.

TIME

You can read more at the link as well as over at the Stars & Stripes.

Here is the latest on the Dokdo front, just more of the same nonsense:

Foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk speaks during a press briefing in Seoul, Jan. 16. Yonhap

Korea “strongly protests” Japan’s repeated claims to its easternmost islets of Dokdo, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, after Japan’s top diplomat renewed the claim in a speech before the parliament.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa reiterated the claims to the islets, called Takeshima in Japan, during a speech on this year’s foreign policy objectives in a parliamentary session earlier in the day.

“The government strongly protests against the Japanese government’s repeated unfair territorial claims over Dokdo, which is clearly our own territory historically, geographically and under international law,” ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a commentary.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the Japanese government should put a gag order on their governmental officials making Dokdo claims. South Korea is never, ever going to give up Dokdo to Japan and to keep bringing this issue up publicly is not helpful when the Japanese government is trying to strengthen relations with the ROK.

Jewel in the Palace is one of my favorite Korean dramas, but I would be surprised that a sequel to the series after over 20 years will have the same charm as the original. With that said Tom Cruise pulled that off in Top Gun Maverick so maybe Lee Young-ae can do it in this sequel to Jewel in the Palace:

Actor Lee Young-ae pose at production press conference of “Maestra: Strings of Truth”, Seoul, Dec. 6, 2023. Courtesy of tvN

Actor Lee Young-ae will reprise the popular character Jang-geum again in a new TV series, a follow-up to the mega-hit MBC drama “Jewel in the Palace,” a local entertainment company said Tuesday.

Fantagio said it has recently sealed a contract with a writer for the series, seven months after it confirmed the casting of Lee in the new series, “Dae Jang Geum” (working title).

Shooting will begin in October, the company said, adding it plans to air the show early next year.

“Dae Jang Geum” will tell the life story of Jang-geum as the king’s first female physician.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The Yoon administration is probably calculating that a new investigation will not try and determine what caused the Itaewon crowd crush, but instead try to create a narrative to blame it all on Yoon to impeach him:

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday vetoed a special bill mandating a new investigation into the Itaewon crowd crush in 2022, his office said.

Yoon exercised his veto power by endorsing a motion demanding the National Assembly reconsider the legislation that the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) railroaded through the National Assembly earlier this month.

The motion was approved during a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day.

The legislation, which will now be sent back to the Assembly, calls for establishing a special investigation committee to reexamine the causes of the deadly crowd crush that claimed 159 lives in a narrow alley in central Seoul’s Itaewon during Halloween weekend in 2022 and to ensure the rights of the victims.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the legislation gives the special investigation committee too much power in a way that could potentially undermine constitutional principles and that fairness and neutrality cannot be guaranteed in the committee’s formation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the only questions I have remaining from the Itaewon crushing disaster is who started the pushing at the top of the hill that led to people falling on top of each other like dominoes? Finally why did it take a police station literally across the street from the Hamilton Hotel four hours to respond to overcrowding in the area?

It will be interesting to see how this safety law is enforced because you can have good safety practices and sometime things just happen:

An employee makes dough at a bakery in Seoul on Friday, one day before expanded implementation of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, a workplace safety law aimed at penalizing employers for serious industrial accidents, takes effect as scheduled. (Yonhap)

Expanded application of the workplace safety law is expected to have a substantial impact on the South Korean business community, as it holds employers with more than five workers legally responsible for deadly accidents. Concerns are growing as this change, which officially took effect Saturday, will cover 837,000 workplaces, including small neighborhood restaurants, bakeries, pubs, cafes and mom-and-pop stores.

Regardless of the size of the businesses and their financial capabilities, under the law, employers of small and large companies face the same criminal charges if a deadly accident happens during their operations.

“I am paying more attention to safety as the workplace safety law is expanded. But I am very concerned that if an accident occurs, the business will be forced to close,” said a business owner surnamed Kim, who has been running a timber company in North Chungcheong Province for 30 years. His company has 20 employees.

The food service industry argues that safety support should be provided before punishment is pursued.

“Many restaurant business owners are anxious because they think guidelines on the scope of responsibility are unclear. They are also worried since even with good safety training, accidents can always occur due to employee negligence. Some business owners are expected to reduce the number of employees they have hired for a long time to avoid the application of the law,” an official from the Korea Food Service Industry Association said.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It looks like South Korea has developed another defense product with export potential:

South Korea is mass-producing its own unmanned aerial vehicle, 14 years in development, to boost its reconnaissance capabilities against the North. Production began recently for the medium-altitude UAVs, according to a news release Thursday from South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

The agency signed onto the $353 million project with three defense contractors — Korean Air, the country’s primary airline, and Seoul-based firms LIG Nex1 and Hanhwa Systems — in December; development began in 2008. The UAV is expected to fly at an altitude of roughly six to seven miles for South Korea’s air force and coast guard, with the possibility of it being exported to other countries, according to the release.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.