With the number of protesters dropping to just 950 this shows that the government’s vow to investigate what happened with the ballot shortage must have helped defuse the situation. It will probably be blamed on incompetence of some kind and someone being fired:

Hundreds of protesters rallied for a fourth straight day Monday outside a vote-counting facility in Seoul, demanding a new election over ballot shortages during last week’s local elections.

As of 9:30 a.m., approximately 950 protesters surrounded SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa Ward, according to an unofficial police estimate. Protesters blocked the stadium’s 10 entrances to prevent the removal of ballot boxes.

It marked a sharp drop in the number of protesters after around 8,000 people gathered around midnight Sunday.

The protests have continued after voting was temporarily suspended at 22 polling stations nationwide on Wednesday due to a lack of ballot papers, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If Kim Jong-un wants to improve relations with Xi, strongly stating support for the One China Policy is a way to do it:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Monday deepening ties with China is his country’s top policy priority, as he held summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang, according to a report.

The Kim-Xi talks came hours after the Chinese leader arrived in Pyongyang for his first state visit in nearly seven years.

Developing friendship between the North and China is “the people’s choice and the calling of the times,” China’s Xinhua News Agency quoted Kim as saying during the talks with Xi.

Kim said Pyongyang viewed the development of mutual ties as the country’s “most important strategic priority.”

With the international community “going through unprecedented, grand change,” he reaffirmed Pyongyang’s support for Beijing’s “One China” principle and pledged to keep helping safeguard China’s core interests, according to the report.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Some more advanced weaponry may be coming to the ROK military:

The U.S. government has authorized a potential sale to South Korea of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) precision bombs and related equipment, the State Department said Monday, noting the proposed sale will help enhance the Asian ally’s defense capabilities.

The department announced its decision on the potential government-to-government Foreign Military Sale (FMS) estimated to cost US$106 million. The proposed sale requires congressional notification and review.

South Korea has made a request to buy 708 KMU-557 JDAM tail kits, 58 KMU-572 JDAM guidance sets and other items, including weapons support equipment and U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services, according to the department.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The North Korean regime has been saying this for years and feel the need to say it yet again:

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said her country’s status as a nuclear-armed state is absolutely irreversible, calling it a “line of no retreat” and vowing not to tolerate any threats against it, the North’s state media reported Sunday.

Kim Yo-jong made the remarks in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), in which she reiterated Pyongyang’s position that its nuclear weapons program is nonnegotiable while rejecting international efforts aimed at denuclearization.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

How do you not print enough ballots for an election? Screwing up something as basic like this is what causes people to question the legitimacy of elections. If something like this would have happened during the Park Geun-hye administration what would the Korean left have done in response?:

Protests over ballot shortages entered their second day Saturday, with thousands encircling a vote-counting facility in eastern Seoul and demanding a new election.

By 12:35 p.m., approximately 2,000 people had gathered around SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa Ward, according to police, claiming Wednesday’s local elections were fraudulent.

Protesters blocked entrances, trapping an estimated 20-30 officials inside. About 400 police officers were deployed to the scene. No clashes have been reported.

The unrest stemmed from the shortage of ballot paper at more than a dozen polling stations across Seoul on Wednesday, including in Songpa and Gangnam, forcing temporary voting suspensions. Some voters are believed to have left without casting their ballots.

Authorities managed to move the ballot boxes to the gymnasium Friday morning. Since then, protestors have surrounded the facility, preventing officials from removing the boxes or leaving the site.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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

The U.S. may be open to dialogue, but North Korea has said repeatedly they will not denuclearize and don’t want to talk about it:

The United States remains open to dialogue with North Korea “without preconditions,” and committed to the “complete” denuclearization of the recalcitrant country, a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.

The spokesperson’s remarks came after Pyongyang’s state media reported Thursday (Seoul time) that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a newly launched nuclear material production facility earlier this week, vowing to “exponentially” strengthen the country’s nuclear arsenal.

“The United States remains open to dialogue with North Korea without preconditions,” the spokesperson said in response to Yonhap News Agency’s request for comment. “The United States remains committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.