The North Koreans are continuing to make sure the world doesn’t lose attention on them:

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Saturday, Japan’s Defense Ministry said, with the weapon splashing down some 200 kilometers off Hokkaido’s Oshima Island, inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The missile, the first “ICBM-class” weapon to be fired by the North since November, traveled roughly 900 km, hitting a peak altitude of 5,700 km, the ministry said. With a flight time of 66 minutes, the missile was likely flown on a “lofted” trajectory, the ministry added, meaning it had been nearly shot straight up so as to avoid overflying neighboring countries.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan had protested the launch, calling it “an outrage” and escalation against “the international community as a whole.”

The Defense Ministry said the ICBM-class weapon was believed to have a range of over 14,000 km, depending on the weight of the warhead and other factors.

“In this case, that would put the entire United States within its range,” Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.

Japan Times

A camera from the city of Hakodate on Hokkaido appears to have even caught the ICBM reentering the atmosphere:

This next graphic shows the trajectory of the ICBM that landed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone:

According to the article the launch is believed to be in response to a table top exercise next week between the U.S. and the ROK militaries where they will plan on how to defend against North Korean nuclear attacks.

This is definitely a sign of how bad the political discourse in South Korea has become:

Controversy is growing over an event arranged by a left-wing civic group, which allowed participants to shoot toy arrows at photos of President Yoon Suk Yeol, first lady Kim Keon Hee and Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon. 

Critics said the event encouraged excessive hatred that is already prevalent in Korean society, noting that it should be taken seriously as even children were welcomed to participate. 

The event was part of a rally held Saturday in central Seoul by a civic group calling for the resignation of the Yoon government and for a special counsel probe into stock manipulation allegations involving the first lady. Han, who was a senior prosecutor, is a close aide of Yoon. 

“The prosecutor-turned-president has abused the prosecution’s power all over the country, threatening the country’s democracy,” said Rep. Lee Su-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, who participated in the rally.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if this ruling leads to more Russian men trying to seek asylum in South Korea:

A local court on Tuesday ordered the Incheon Immigration Office to review refugee applications submitted by two Russian men who landed in Incheon International Airport last year after fleeing the military draft in their home country.

The Incheon District Court ruled in favor of the Russian men who filed complaints against the immigration authority, but dismissed a complaint filed by another man who was in a similar situation. 

The judge did not give a detailed explanation about the ruling during the hearing, saying that a detailed verdict will be issued later.

There are two more Russian men ― college student Vladimir Maraktaev and former football player Dzhashar Khubiev ― who are still stuck inside the airport waiting for their next hearing scheduled for late February.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like all the time General Abrams spent dealing with North Korea’s “Rocket Man” has inspired him to become a Rocket Man himself:

Retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams, the former commander of U.S. Forces Korea, has joined the “green” rocket engine manufacturer Vaya Space as a senior adviser, according to a company news release Thursday.

Abrams, who commanded roughly 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, also led U.N. Command and Combined Forces Command from 2018 until his retirement in 2021. He was succeeded by Army Gen. Paul LaCamera.

Florida-based Vaya Space manufactures rocket engines from recycled plastics and uses over 20 metric tons for each launch, according to its website. The company is scheduled to launch its first Dauntless vehicle later this year, which will be powered by ignited thermoplastics and liquid oxidizer.

Abrams said he chose to serve on Vaya Space’s board “because I became convinced that their technologies coupled with their excellent leadership team can make a tremendous difference for our country,” according to the company’s release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The Korean left are continuing their attacks on the first lady:

The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol again rejected stock manipulation allegations involving first lady Kim Keon Hee on Tuesday as the main opposition party stepped up its calls for a special prosecutor investigation.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has vowed to push for a special probe into the first lady after a court last week acquitted financiers in the stock manipulation scheme involving Deutsch Motors Inc., a BMW car dealer in South Korea, citing the expiration of the statute of limitations.

The DP has long accused Kim of playing the role of a financier and having her stock account managed and used in the manipulation. 

But the court’s acquittal of the financiers makes it unnecessary to look into related suspicions related to the first lady for dealings covered between December 2009 and September 2010, a period where the statute of the limitations has expired.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but according to the Presidential office the lead investor who made 455 stock trades during this timeframe was found innocent by the court while Kim Keon-hee made only 3 trades. So the logic is how can 3 trades be considered stock manipulation when 455 trades is not?

To me this all seems like payback for the prosecutors continuing their investigation into the opposition leader Lee Jae-myung for his alleged corrupt dealings as the Gyeongi province governor.

Apparently the family waited too long to file a claim after the Korean Supreme Court issued their initial ruling of compensation for forced labor victims back in 2012:

A Seoul court on Tuesday ruled against the family of a man enslaved to work for Japan during World War II in a damages suit they filed against a Japanese company.

The man, surnamed Kim, was mobilized to work at a construction site operated by Japanese company Nishimatsu Construction in North Hamgyong Province in what is now North Korea in 1942 while the entire Korean peninsula was under Japan’s colonial rule, his family said. 

Kim died two years later while working at the construction site, and a South Korean government committee in 2006 recognized him as a victim of Japan’s wartime forced labor. 

Five family members of Kim filed the civil suit against Nishimatsu in 2019 on behalf of him, seeking about 70 million won (US$55,183) in compensation. 

The Seoul Central District Court ruled the statute of limitations on the case already expired as it concluded the damages case against the plaintiffs.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is definitely an issue that needs to be resolved before bilateral relations between the ROK and Japan can move forward more collaboratively. Expect all the DPRK and PRC agitators to do all they can to stoke this issue with the Korean public in order to prevent Japan and the ROK from moving forward with bilateral relations.