The spring is my least favorite time of the year in South Korea due to the yellow dust storms. These storms are a great reason to wear a mask:

Almost all of South Korea was shrouded Wednesday by a yellow dust storm originating in the Gobi Desert in northern China and Mongolia, the state weather agency said.

The yellow storm had spread to almost all of the country as of 7 a.m. and will affect the entire nation until Thursday, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

A fine dust advisory was issued for all parts of South Korea, authorities said.

The average hourly concentration of fine dust particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, known as PM 10, had risen to 192 micrograms per cubic meter in Seoul as of 7 a.m. and 494 micrograms in the city of Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the KMA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but past studies have showed that 55% of air pollution in Seoul comes from China and these dust storms makes it even worse.

Here is some more Dokdo nonsense, anyone care?:

 South Korea lodged a strong protest against Japan on Tuesday over Tokyo’s renewed territorial claim to Dokdo, a set of rocky islets in the East Sea, in its latest annual diplomatic book.

The claim, strongly disputed by South Korea that has long maintained effective control of Dokdo with the permanent stationing of security personnel there, was included in the 2023 Diplomatic Bluebook that was reported to the Cabinet by Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.

The Bluebook stated that South Korea has continued an “illegal occupation” of the area with no legal basis.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Another U.S. Soldier has self selected himself out of continued service it looks like:

An American soldier suspected of assaulting a South Korean bus driver was arrested over the weekend by police in Suwon city, according to a police official.

Police allege that a junior enlisted soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys boarded a tourist bus around 6:40 a.m. Sunday and “made a commotion” by yelling, a spokesman for the Suwon Seobu police station told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

South Korean law enforcement officials customarily speak to the media on the condition of anonymity and do not publicly identify criminal suspects until trial. Suwon is roughly 20 miles north of Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.

The bus driver was pushed to the ground while attempting to restrain the soldier, the spokesman said. The driver notified police, who apprehended the soldier at a convenience store about 330 yards from the bus.

The bus driver and police officers at the scene said they smelled alcohol on the soldier’s breath, the spokesman said. Police will review security camera footage from the bus and plan to interview the soldier at a later date.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This guy claims President Yoon has ruined the country and wants to kill him:

Police said Monday they were tracking a suspect who posted a terror threat online toward President Yoon Suk Yeol.

According to police, a 112 report was filed Sunday night that a terror threat had been posted to a moderate conservative online community.

he suspect uploaded the post at 10:22 p.m. on Sunday along with a photo of a pistol. The registration number of the pistol was covered.

“I bought the pistol with cryptocurrency and finally received it. The president has ruined the country and I will save the country by killing the president,” he wrote. The post was deleted some hours later.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

This is really horrible for everyone that lost their homes. Hopefully the firefighters can quickly get this under control:

Hundreds of residents and tourists evacuated from a wildfire that spread fast with strong winds blowing across Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Tuesday, amid growing concerns over additional damages due to high winds and dry weather.

According to the Gangwon Fire Headquarters, the forest fire broke out in Nangok-dong of Gangneung, Gangwon Province, at around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and the flames began to spread to houses nearby and other areas through strong winds. About 103 hectares of forest, the size of 144 soccer fields, were damaged and about 40 homes were destroyed. No casualties were reported as of 1 p.m., but authorities said they were having difficulties in extinguishing the fire as they were unable to dispatch helicopters due to strong winds.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Here is something both the PRC and DPRK do not want to see happen which means it is a positive development:

South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold a trilateral senior-level defense meeting in the U.S. later this week, an informed source said Monday, amid joint efforts to sharpen deterrence against North Korean threats.

The deputy minister-level Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) is set to take place Friday (U.S. time), according to the source who requested anonymity. The last DTT session was held virtually in 2020.

The three sides are expected to discuss ways to flesh out last year’s summit agreement by their leaders to share missile warning data in real time to counter the North’s nuclear and missile threats.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.