It will be interesting to see if South Korea’s farm fields start getting covered in solar panels or not based on this research:

A solar panel array is installed at a green onion farm of Yeungnam University’s agrivoltaics demonstration complex in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of Hanwha Solutions

Seasoned green onions served at a cafeteria in Yeungnam University last Wednesday were no different from those made with ingredients from ordinary farms. However, these ones did differ in one major way: They were grown under solar panels installed at the university’s agrivoltaics demonstration complex.

Hanwha Solutions Q Cells Division, which hosted a media briefing at the university on dual land use for agriculture and solar power generation, dismissed any safety concerns regarding the crops from the complex.

“Our solar modules use eco-friendly wires that do not contain lead,” said Hong Sung-min, an employee at the solar module manufacturing unit of Hanwha Group.

Yeungnam University professor Jung Jae-hak, who is leading experiments at the complex, told the press that solar panels do not pollute the soil with heavy metals.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is just another example of how North Korea does not care about unenforceable UN resolutions:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, speaks to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, as they inspect Russian warplanes at the Vladivostok International airport in Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk Yeol in an interview published Sunday called the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia “illegal and unjust,” as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Vladivostok Saturday.  
   
“Military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is illegal and unjust as it contravenes UN Security Council resolutions and various other international sanctions,” Yoon said in a written interview with the Associated Press, warning that the “international community will unite more closely in response to such a move.”  
   
The remarks were made on the eve of Yoon’s trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly this week. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Analysts seems to be agreeing with my assessment that Russia will likely focus on providing assistance with improving North Korea’s space program in return for shipping artillery shells to help fight Ukraine:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is given a tour around Russia’s strategic bombers and other warplanes by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, second from left, and other Russian officials in Vladivostok, Saturday, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, Sunday. Yonhap

The recent burgeoning military cooperation between North Korea and Russia has sparked concerns about the potential transfer of nuclear weapons technologies from Moscow to Pyongyang, but that is unlikely to happen, according to analysts, Sunday.

Later in the day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un departed from the Russian Far East city of Artyom, completing his six-day visit to Russia, during which the two nations vowed to bolster partnerships focusing on military cooperation. 

A bulletproof train carrying Kim at the Primorsky-1 railway station was seen off by an honor guard of the Eastern Military District and the military band of the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. Since entering Russia last Tuesday for his first trip abroad in more than four years, Kim had met Russian President Vladimir Putin and visited key military and technology sites. 

“I think there may be some cooperation on space programs and lower-level military kinds of exchanges and assistance. I do wonder though, how much sensitive technology Putin is willing to give to North Korea,” Terence Roehrig, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, told The Korea Times, Sunday. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is a horrible crime that happened over in Yeongam. According to the article the 59-year old farmer was facing a sex crime charge before he and the whole family was found dead:

A couple in their 50s and their three sons with severe disabilities were found dead at their house in the southwestern county of Yeongam, police said Friday.

Police discovered the bodies of the 59-year-old farmer known by his family name Kim, his 56-year-old wife and their three sons in their 20s in the afternoon, after visiting the house following a report from a neighbor that blood stains were found near the windows.

The heavily bleeding bodies were found in two separate rooms and a weapon was found at the scene, according to officials.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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

Kim Jong-un is going on a long train ride through the Russian Far East. It does make me wonder when he is gone this long how does he maintain secure communications with his underlings back in Pyongyang? May he has a Starlink terminal on his train. 😉

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (rear) boards his special train after holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on Sept. 13, 2023, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. Kim invited Putin to visit his country.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s special train appears to be moving toward Russia’s Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk on Thursday, a day after his rare summit with President Vladimir Putin, according to sources. 

According to the sources, Kim’s olive green, bullet-proof train appears headed toward the Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he will visit an aircraft factory, following his meeting with Putin held Wednesday at the Vostochny spaceport where he pledged full support for Russia.

Putin earlier told a Russian media outlet that Kim will fly to Komsomolsk-on-Amur to visit an aircraft plant and travel to Vladivostok to view Russia’s Pacific Fleet after the summit.

But Kim appears to have taken his train to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, some 1,170 kilometers east of the space center.

Kim is expected to arrive in the Russian city late Thursday and stop by an aircraft plant that manufactures Sukhoi fighter jets the following day, according to the sources.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.