I have been very critical about the claim of altitude sickness being the cause of the crash that killed two Japanese civilians by a U.S. naval officer. After reading this really good article from Military.com about the accident, I am more convinced then ever he just simply fell asleep at wheel:

Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis was driving his car, filled with his wife and their three children, down from the heights of Mount Fuji on May 29, 2021. It’s an iconic destination for both Japanese and foreign tourists alike, a peak that serves as a sentry over much of central Japan.

Alkonis and his family had taken the trip at the request of his second daughter, spending an hour near the summit before planning to go to a dairy farm in the foothills that sells pizza and ice cream.

As they descended the mountain, Alkonis felt something was wrong but chose to keep going because they were very close to the next town, he would later testify at his trial.

He lost consciousness right as the vehicle approached a roadside noodle restaurant, swerving into the parking lot and hitting three parked cars, pushing one into a fourth vehicle, before crashing into a fifth and final car. Between the layers of metal, two Japanese nationals, an 85-year-old woman and her 54-year-old son-in-law, were crushed. They both died.

Two members of the Alkonis family were taken to a local hospital, but the sailor himself did not receive medical attention. All have made a full recovery. Today, Alkonis sits in a Japanese prison, serving a three-year sentence after being convicted of negligent driving.

That’s the part of the story that no one disputes. It’s the other parts — why Alkonis lost consciousness, how he’s been treated in Japanese custody — that have drawn in lawmakers, led to accusations of a “false” conviction, and even put pressure on the legal agreement that governs U.S. service members’ presence in Japan.

Military.com

The big thing to take from this passage is that he did not even go to the summit of Mt. Fuji which has an altitude of over 12,600 feet. Instead he just drove to one of the stations where hikes begin at about 7,000 feet. People travel to cities like Colorado Springs in the U.S. that is near 7,000 feet every day and you don’t see them crashing vehicles due to altitude sickness.

Additionally the accident happened in Fujinomiya which is almost near sea level. Altitude sickness gets better when losing altitude not worse. I think he got up early to drive to Mt. Fuji from his home in Yokosuka and simply feel asleep at the wheel after a long day of driving.

I highly recommend reading the rest of the article because the claims made by his wife and her Congressional supporters conflict with the facts of the case. The Japanese put a big emphasis on self responsibility and all the excuses is probably why he will not be released early.

President Obrador actually brings up good points, but it is laughable to think his letter is going to stop the fentanyl exports from China. I personally believe the fentanyl exports from China is part of their grand strategy to weaken the U.S. from within. They saw this happen to them during the Opium Wars and it was a widely successful strategy for the British to weaken China in the early to mid 1800’s. They are simply implementing this same strategy on the U.S. now:

On Tuesday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked China for help curbing Mexico’s production of fentanyl, despite his claim last month that Mexico neither produces nor consumes the drug.

López Obrador has previously expressed outrage with lawmakers from the U.S. putting the blame at Mexico’s feet and suggesting U.S. military intervention. He continued to vent his frustrations Tuesday in a letter to Chinese president Xi Jinping.

“Unjustly, they are blaming us for problems that in large measure have to do with their loss of values, their welfare crisis,” he wrote to Xi, as quoted in the Associated Press. “These positions are in themselves a lack of respect and a threat to our sovereignty, and moreover they are based on an absurd, manipulative, propagandistic and demagogic attitude.”

However, López Obrador also brought up Chinese exports of fentanyl precursors that are ending up in the hands of the cartels.

National Review

You can read more at the link.

Never accept drinks from random people you meet no matter the setting:

A 49-year-old woman has been arrested on charges of handing over drinks spiked with drugs to random high school students in Seoul after duping them into believing they were good for concentration, police said Wednesday.

At least six reports were made of students exhibiting abnormal symptoms after drinking beverages given to them by a group of people in Gangnam Ward, southern Seoul, on Monday night, according to Gangnam Police Station. 

Police said the suspect, whose identity has been withheld, allegedly handed over the drinks with three other accomplices in areas where there are many private tutoring academies for students, known as hagwon.

An investigation revealed that the bottles contained methamphetamine, and false labels were attached claiming that they were intended to improve memory and concentration.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it seems this group was simply trying to get these kids hooked on meth so they can keep selling it to them.

It is great to see the growing trilateral cooperation between the ROK, U.S., and Japan:

South Korea, the United States and Japan kicked off a trilateral naval exercise, involving an American aircraft carrier, in waters south of the Korean Peninsula on Monday, Seoul’s defense ministry said, amid joint efforts to reinforce deterrence against growing North Korean threats.

The two-day anti-submarine and search-and-rescue exercise, featuring the USS Nimitz carrier, got under way in the international waters south of the southern island of Jeju.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Seems pretty extreme to murder someone over a $61,000 investment loss in cryptocurrency considering how volatile everyone should know by now investing in crypto is:

Three people were arrested on Monday in suspected connection with the recent murder of a 48-year-old woman who lived in Seoul’s Gangnam District. 

Judge Yoo Chang-hoon at the Seoul Central District Court said the decision was made to grant warrants for their arrests “due to concerns they are flight risks or could try to destroy evidence.”

According to police, the three were suspected of conspiring to force the woman into a vehicle in front of an apartment complex in Yeoksam-dong in Seoul’s Gangnam District at 11:46 p.m. on Wednesday, and murdering her the following day in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul. Her body was dumped on a mountain near Daecheong Dam on the outskirts of Daejeon.

The three were caught by police some 42 hours after the woman’s abduction. 

Police have secured a testimony that one of the three suspects, identified only by his surname Lee, invited the second suspect to participate in the crime, while the second one invited the third suspect. 

The case is believed to be related to disputes between Lee and the victim over cryptocurrency investments, according to legal sources and media reports.

Lee, 35, who worked at a lawyer’s office in Seoul, testified during the initial police questioning that he had suffered a loss of some 80 million won ($61,000) after investing money into the cryptocurrency company that the victim was working for. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Not much of a surprise that the DPK would criticize President Yoon for not attending the Jeju Uprising Ceremony:

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on Monday slammed President Yoon Suk Yeol for not attending a commemoration ceremony for the Jeju April 3 Uprising and Massacre, which killed tens of thousands of people amid ideological conflicts on Jeju Island in the late 1940s and early 1950s. 

The DPK held its Supreme Council meeting on the southern island and accused the Yoon administration of disrespecting the spirit of the uprising.

“The president’s promise for a complete resolution to April 3 has gone sour,” DPK Chairman Lee Jae-myung said. “Due to the administration’s retrograde movements, there are far-right activists who are disavowing the April 3 Uprising.”

The uprising began on the island on April 3, 1947, when ideological conflict was in full swing in Korea after it was liberated from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. In protest against elections, which were to be held only in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, controlled by the United States Army Military Government in Korea, protesters, including members of the Workers’ Party of South Korea (WPSK), attacked police stations, killed people they deemed as right-wing supporters and burned polling stations.

Seeking a speedy resolution to the insurrection, the mainland authorities sent thousands of soldiers and members of the Northwest Youth Association, a violent anti-communist group, to the island to suppress them. Tens of thousands of people died as a result.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.