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Tweet of the Day: Shut Up This is Japan

Picture of the Day: BTS Meets with Mexico’s President

BTS meets Mexican president
BTS meets Mexican president
South Korea’s K-pop megagroup BTS poses for a photo with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum (5th from L) at the presidential office in Mexico City on May 6, 2026, in this photo provided by BigHit Music. (Yonhap)

North Korean Troops March in Russia’s Victory Day Parade for the First Time

This is pretty significant for the North Korean military to be invited to march in this parade:

North Korean troops marched in Russia’s Victory Day military parade held in Moscow on Saturday, according to footage released by Russia’s Tass news agency, in a show of the growing military ties between the two nations. 

In footage posted on Tass’ social media accounts, North Korean soldiers were seen marching in formation through Moscow’s Red Square while carrying the North Korean national flag and a banner marking Russia’s Victory Day, which commemorates the Soviet victory over Germany in World War II.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

ROK Drop Open Thread – May, 08, 2026

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

Tweet of the Day: Chinese Flag Incident on Mt. Fuji

Picture of the Day: Star Wars Drone Show in Seoul

Star Wars-themed drone show
Star Wars-themed drone show
An image of Stormtroopers in the Star Wars film series is displayed in the night sky during a drone show marking Children’s Day over a park on the Han River in Seoul on May 5, 2026. (Yonhap)

South Korea Denies Trump’s Claim that Cargo Ship was Acting Alone to Cross the Strait of Hormuz

The Lee administration probably wants to drag out this investigation of the explosion on the ROK cargo ship in order to prevent having to answer hard questions on what to do in response to if it was an Iranian strike:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday rebutted U.S. President Donald Trumpโ€™s assertion that a Korean-operated vessel was attacked as it was acting on its own without U.S. protection in the Strait of Hormuz โ€” a focal point of the ongoing war between the U.S. and Iran.

โ€œThe corresponding ship, for several days before the fire broke out, had been anchored in the relevant waters near the United Arab Emirates on the inner side of the Strait of Hormuz,โ€ the ministry said in a statement.

The remarks followed an explosion of unidentified cause that triggered a fire aboard the HMM Namu, a Panama-flagged bulk carrier operated by Korean shipping company HMM, Monday.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Former Korean Prime Minister Prison Sentenced Reduced from 23 to 15 Years in Prison

With the sentence reduce to 15 years Han Duck-soo may at least has more of a chance to get out of prison before he dies:

An appeals court on Thursday reduced former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s sentence from 23 years to 15 years in prison over his role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief imposition of martial law.

The Seoul High Court handed down the sentence after finding Han guilty of playing a key role in an insurrection by aiding and abetting Yoon’s declaration of martial law in December 2024.

The eight-year reduction, however, appeared largely due to differences with the lower court over whether the former prime minister neglected his duties when he failed to stop the former president from imposing the order.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Tweet of the Day: South Korea the World’s 4th Most Religiously Diverse Country?

President Lee Makes Announcement that He Will Choose Special Counsel Who Will Have Power to Acquit Him of His Corruption Charges

Let me get this straight, President Lee gets to choose who the special counsel will be that will have the power to acquit him of all the corruption charges he previously faced before becoming President? Could you imagine if Trump did something like this, the left in the U.S. would be going crazy. However, in Korea you will hear nothing from the left there:

Hong Ihk-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, speaks at a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on May 4, 2026. (Yonhap)

Hong Ihk-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, speaks at a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on May 4, 2026. (Yonhap)

 President Lee Jae Myung has stressed the need for public input and careful deliberation, a presidential official said Monday, as the ruling Democratic Party (DP) pushes for a special probe into allegations that he was indicted in multiple cases based on fabricated evidence during the previous administration.

Hong Ihk-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, made the remarks at a press briefing, citing the president, after the DP proposed a bill last week to mandate a special counsel probe.

The bill calls for an independent investigation into suspicions that the prosecution under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration indicted Lee, then head of the main opposition party, in multiple cases, including a real estate development scandal, based on fabricated probes and evidence.

Lee was standing trials on various charges before proceedings were suspended or indefinitely postponed after he took office in June last year.

The bill allows a special counsel to take over Lee’s cases from the prosecution and decide whether to proceed with them, while giving the president the authority to appoint the counsel from among three recommended candidates. 

Opposition lawmakers have argued that the proposed bill would give the special counsel grounds to drop charges against Lee, calling it a move to acquit him in the cases.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but wouldn’t it be funny that if another Korean conservative takes power that they choose a special counsel to investigate the special counsel that dropped charges against Lee in order to reinstate them? We all know these charges will be dropped because otherwise President Lee would not be doing this.