With all the investigations going on involving the political opposition, the Justice Minister is unsurprisingly being closely watched by the opposition in effort to politically neutralize him:

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said Tuesday he will take legal action against Rep. Kim Eui-kyeom of the main opposition Democratic Party and a YouTube channel for spreading what he calls groundless allegations about a controversial drinking party.

Han said in a personal statement that Kim, YouTube channel “Citizen Press The Tamsa TV” and its officials will be held “criminally and civilly” liable for spreading obviously false information on him via YouTube and other methods.

Kim alleged in a parliamentary inspection of the justice ministry the previous day that Han had a late-night drinking party at a luxury bar in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, on July 19 and 20 with President Yoon Suk-yeol and 30 lawyers from Kim ＆ Chang, the country’s top law firm.

Citizen Press The Tamsa TV, which is now under police investigation for tailing Han for nearly a month on the minister’s way home from work, raised the same allegations on the day.

Han categorically rejected the allegations, saying he had never been to the luxury bar and felt insulted by Kim’s false accusations.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if people think politics in the U.S. is bad, it is arguably worse in Korea.

Who would have imagined that the bankruptcy of the Legoland Korea amusement park could lead to such negative economic impacts in South Korea:

Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-tae has been facing criticism from both the ruling and opposition parties for his “hasty” decision not to fulfill a payment guarantee for the developer of Legoland Korea, creating a liquidity crunch in the nation’s corporate bond and commercial paper markets. 

During the ruling People Power Party’s (PPP) emergency committee meeting, floor leader Rep. Joo Ho-young blamed Gangwon Governor Kim Jin-tae and warned of a butterfly effect.

“The Gangwon governor’s announcement not to fulfil the payment guarantee, despite its capability, has sowed distrust and created a big stir in the market,” Joo said.

He was also critical of Kim’s predecessor, former Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), saying Choi pursued the Legoland project “without considering the financial status of the province, whose financial independence stands at a mere 27.4 percent this year,” while adding that Governor Kim is also responsible for amplifying the market concerns. 

“We have to remember that a butterfly flapping its wings sometimes causes a storm,” Joo said. 

Joo’s remarks came a day after the government said it would expand the provision of liquidity to over 50 trillion won ($34.7 billion) hoping to ease jitters in the country’s bond market stemming from the “Legoland shock.” 

Gangwon Jungdo Development Corp. (GJC), the developer of Legoland Korea, established a special purpose company to fund the construction of the Legoland resort, but declared bankruptcy on Oct. 6 after missing a payment of a 205 billion won asset-backed commercial paper issued by the special purpose company. 

Gangwon Province had guaranteed the commercial paper’s payment, but on Sept. 28 it declared that it would file for GJC’s bankruptcy to a local court, instead of paying the debt.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I am not sure what the prosecutors are hoping to find with this raid because you would think any evidence would have long been removed if it existed at all:

An apparently tearful opposition leader Lee Jae-myung cried foul Monday after prosecutors raided the headquarters of his Democratic Party (DP) in a corruption investigation that is zeroing in on him after the arrest of one of his closest aides.

Investigators made their way into the DP headquarters to search the office of Kim Yong, a longtime confidant of Lee, over allegations that he took 847 million won (US$591,000) from property developers in the suburban city of Seongnam in violation of the political fund law.

Kim, who was arrested Saturday, is deputy head of the DP-affiliated Institute for Democracy think tank. It was the second attempt to raid the DP headquarters after an earlier attempt fell through due to protests from party officials.

“The central headquarters building of the opposition party was violated in the middle of a parliamentary audit,” Lee told reporters in front of the party headquarters. “A terrible incident unprecedented in the history of democracy in the Republic of Korea is happening now.”

While speaking, Lee apparently became tearful, looked up at the sky and wiped his eye.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is just another example of the rule by law in South Korea instead of rule of law. Whatever political party is in power uses the rule by law principle to go after their political enemies and this is just the continuation of this.

This is yet another attempt by the North Koreans to try and bait the ROK into canceling the Inter-Korean military agreement. They are going to continue these provocations until they get the reaction they want to justify conducting their long awaited nuclear test:

South and North Korea exchanged warning shots, Monday, accusing each other of border violations in the West Sea, in what is already a period of heightened tension. 

According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), a North Korean merchant ship invaded the Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 3:42 a.m. and the South Korean Navy responded with 20 warning messages and as many warning shots to repel the vessel.

However, nearly one hour after the North Korean ship retreated, the North’s military fired 10 artillery shells into the West Sea, claiming that a South Korean naval ship intruded into North Korean waters ― 2.5 kilometers to five kilometers ― with the excuse that South Korean authorities were cracking down on an unidentified ship when they made the alleged intrusion. (…..)

According to the South Korean JCS, it detected the North’s launch of 10 artillery shells, which started at around 5:14 a.m., in violation of the inter-Korean military agreement, signed in September 2018 to reduce border tensions. The JCS called it a provocation harming peace and stability not only on the peninsula but also in the international community.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think I have heard of a squadron commander getting fired this quickly:

The commander of the 8th Maintenance Group at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea has been fired after just four months on the job, a unit spokeswoman confirmed Saturday.

Air Force Col. Jay Bertsch was let go Oct. 11 and reassigned outside the unit due to a “loss of confidence” in his abilities, 8th Fighter Wing spokeswoman Capt. Paige Hankerson said in a statement emailed to Stars and Stripes. 

The Air Force Times was first to report on Bertsch’s removal on Friday.

“As a reflection of the importance of our mission and responsibility leaders bear to guide airmen, the Wolf Pack holds its leaders to a high standard,” Hankerson said, referring to the wing’s mascot. “Out of respect for the member and due to the legal process, no further information is to be provided at this time.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It takes many years of development and testing to field a missile defense system this is why THAAD as well as the Patriot batteries in South Korea remain so important to the defense of Korea:

South Korea’s Army said Thursday it is pushing to acquire an advanced interception system to defend against evolving missile and artillery threats from North Korea.

It unveiled the plan for the acquisition of the low altitude missile defense-II (LAMD-II) system that is intended to shoot down North Korea’s new ballistic missiles, such as the KN-23 and the KN-24, and its super-large artillery rockets in a report for an annual parliamentary audit.

LAMD-II will be an improved version of the LAMD system that Seoul seeks to develop by 2029.

The Army added that it is also planning for the early development of the Korean Tactical Surface-to-Surface Missile-II (KTSSM-II) as part of efforts to bolster the military’s Kill Chain preemptive strike platform against the nuclear-armed North. It aims to develop the KTSSM-II by 2030, earlier than its initial target year of 2034.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.