It looks like there is not going to be much activity going on this summer at Kunsan AB as its runway goes through a complete overhaul:
The last U.S. Air Force fighter jets from Kunsan Air Base moved this week to Osan Air Base, about 75 miles north, ahead of a scheduled runway overhaul expected to last through the summer.
Around 30 F-16 Fighting Falcons of the 8th Fighter Wing will continue flight operations over South Korea from Osan while their 9,000-foot-long home runway receives a makeover, wing spokeswoman Capt. Kaylin P. Hankerson told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday.
Kunsan is on the country’s west coast about 115 miles south of Seoul and is home to around 4,200 U.S. troops.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
The opposition party controlled National Assembly has voted to arrest one of President Yoon’s PPP lawmakers. However, when the prosecution asked to indict opposition leader Lee Jae-myung for corruption they voted not to remove his immunity. Unsurprisingly there is a double standard going on here:
The National Assembly on Thursday voted to give parliamentary consent to the prosecution’s request to arrest ruling People Power Party lawmaker Ha Young-je on charges of receiving illicit political funds.
The motion was approved in a 160-99 vote in the National Assembly.
Ha has been under prosecution investigation on suspicion of receiving 70 million won (US$53,602) from a South Gyeongsang provincial council candidate ahead of last June’s local elections.
According to law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while the parliament is in session. The prosecution must obtain parliament’s consent to detain lawmakers.
Yonhap
For people staying in Korea for longer than 90 days, they will be getting a new ID card:
The Ministry of Justice said Tuesday a new type of identification card will be issued to foreigners staying in South Korea for more than 90 days, starting on Saturday.
This is the first time in 12 years the ministry will introduce a new design for a Residence Card, formerly known as an Alien Registration Card.
A new Residence Card will feature a full-color photo of the holder that is 35 percent larger than the current version. The current design has a black-and-white photo of the holder. Also, the holder’s photo will be moved from the left side to the right.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
If you want to be in the upper middle class of Korea a government job is a good way to go. However, I am willing to bet that much of their wealth is tied up in the high real estate prices in Seoul:
About one-third of the ranking public officials at the central government and state-run institutions have more than 2 billion won (US$1.5 million) in personal wealth, an annual government report showed Thursday.
A total of 2,037 senior public officials declared an average of 1.94 billion won in personal assets as of the end of last year, with 31.3 percent holding assets worth over 2 billion won, according to the gazette compiled by the Government Ethics Committee.
It was compiled for the first time after last year’s presidential and local elections.
By amount, 28.8 percent owned assets ranging between 1 to 2 billion won, followed by 18.8 percent whose assets were valued at 500 million won to 1 billion won and 17.1 percent whose assets were between 100-500 million won. Some 3.9 percent declared assets worth below 100 million won.
Seven in 10 officials said their assets increased from a year earlier, mostly due to a rise in property prices.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
