The fact that the pro-North Korea Minbun group is involved shows how these lawyers plan to use the Itaewon crush tragedy to politically attack the Yoon administration:

The bereaved families of some Itaewon crowd crush victims held a news conference Tuesday, calling for the punishment of those responsible for the tragic accident.

The conference was organized in southern Seoul by Minbyun-Lawyers for a Democratic Society, an organization of progressive lawyers, which it says legally represents the families of 34 of 158 people killed during and after Halloween celebrations in Seoul’s Itaewon district on Oct. 29.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Minbyun for those that don’t remember has been used to legally attack North Korean defectors, one of the groups behind the US beef riots, and have long attacked the USFK relocation plan. They have recently been calling for the signing of a peace treaty to end the Korean War so US troops can be withdrawn:

You would think higher apartment buildings with more apartments in them would help with the affordable housing issues in Seoul:

Seoul’s skyline is set to rise higher as residents push to have their buildings demolished and taller buildings put in their place.  
   
A union representing owners of Sinbanpo 2-cha apartment complex in Jamwon-dong, southern Seoul, wants to raze the existing 12-story apartments and have 49-story structures built.    
   
The apartment complex, completed in 1978, is one of the oldest in Seoul. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but buildings on the Han River are currently capped at 15 floors and other buildings in Seoul are capped at 35 floors with two exceptions for the 56-story high Raemian Caelitus in Ichon-dong, Yongsan and the 47-story Seoul Forest Trimage in Seongsu-dong.

The former police officer interviewed for the article believes budgetary constraints are stopping a crackdown on prostitution in South Korea; I think it is more like a lack of will of wanting to crackdown hard on it:

Prostitution is illegal in Korea. The country’s ban on the sex trade was introduced in March 2004 and went into effect later that year.

Despite nearly two decades of law enforcement, the nation still has brothels and red-light districts operating at night in almost all big cities and provinces, albeit at a somewhat diminished scale.

Before the introduction of the Special Law on Sex Trade in 2004, there were 35 red-light districts nationwide, according to figures compiled by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The number declined to 15 in 2021. Gyeonggi Province has four, Seoul, Busan and other provincial cities have at least one or two each. About 900 women are involved in prostitution for a living in those areas, according to ministry data, although a far larger number of people are believed to be part of that profession in other parts of the country that operate under the radar of law enforcement.

Kim Kang-ja, a retired police officer best known for her role behind the crackdown of a major red-light district in Seoul when she was head of Jongam Police Station in the early 2000s, said the remaining red-light districts are a chilling reminder of a policy failure driven by budgetary constraints.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is the first time I have read of a direct accusation against Lee Jae-myung from someone directly involved with the Daejang-dong real estate investment scandal:

Lawyer Nam Wook, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development corruption scandal, is surrounded by reporters as he walks to his trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

A key figure in the Daejang-dong corruption scandal said Monday he heard that Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung held a hidden stake through one of the investors in the project.  
   
Lawyer Nam Wook made the allegation at his trial on the Daejang-dong case at the Seoul Central District Court, hours after he was released from jail at midnight Sunday after his detention period expired. Nam is charged with breach of trust and bribery in the case.  
   
His case is believed by prosecutors to be part of a larger conspiracy concerning astronomical profits raked in by Hwacheon Daeyu, a previously obscure asset management company, and its Cheonhwa Dongin affiliates, from minuscule investments in a 2015 real estate development project in the Daejang-dong area of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, as well as suspicions about their true ownership. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Good luck trying to help diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy by 2030:

President Yoon Suk-yeol sent a letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday pledging close cooperation between the two countries following his visit to South Korea last week, his office said.

Yoon sent the letter in response to Prince Mohammed’s note thanking the president for his hospitality during his visit to Seoul last Thursday.

“The crown prince’s visit became an important milestone in taking the bilateral relationship one step farther,” Yoon wrote in his message, according to deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung.

“We will cooperate closely for the realization of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030,” he added, referring to the crown prince’s road map for moving the country away from an oil-centric economy.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Army is gearing up for what is expected to be a very challenging year of recruiting after missing last year’s recruiting numbers by 15,000 troops:

Some of the recruiting troubles, such as declining trust in military institutions, have been known for years, defense officials have said. Others, like the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, are new.

“Only 9% of young Americans are interested in serving in the military,” Wormuth said, referring to a recent Defense Department survey that found only about 23% of young Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 years old meet all eligibility requirements without a waiver. Nine percent is the lowest amount since 2007.

Wormuth, 53, who has been Army secretary since May 2021 and was formerly undersecretary of defense for policy under President Barack Obama, identified many problem areas – but also detailed a series of new changes that are intended to solve them.

A key component, she said, is refuting negative perceptions about the Army, particularly when it comes to Generation Z Americans, who were born between the latter half of the 1990s and the early 2010s. (……….)

“They want community. They want purpose. They want what they’re doing to matter,” said Wormuth, who was director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center before she became Army secretary. “I think we really need to reintroduce the Army to the country, to young people, to their parents, to influencers.”

In September, officials from four military branches also told a Senate panel that recruiting is becoming more difficult and they underscored many of the same challenges that Wormuth pointed out.

“We anticipate the recruiting environment to be even more challenging in 2023 and beyond,” Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Some of the most serious problems, Wormuth said Friday, are the change in lifestyle that comes with joining the Army and the negative perceptions in the public psyche, particularly among parents.

“[Parents are] worried that if [their] kid joins the Army they’re going to suffer psychological harm or they’re going to be sexually harassed,” she said. “So we have to put our money where our mouth is — actions speak louder than words. We have got to show results in this area and not just talk about it.”

“Life in the Army is not easy,” she added. “So, we have got to take care of our soldiers. We have to make sure they have safe workplaces where there is good morale.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.