The new ROK President has been inaugurated and as promised has begun his term by moving the presidential office to Yongsan:

President Yoon Suk-yeol will start his first day at the top job of the government very differently from that of his predecessors: his office is no longer in the secluded foothills of Mount Bugak. Instead, it’s at the center of Seoul’s crowded downtown Yongsan District near Samgakji subway station, an election promise emphasizing his willingness to make himself and his office open to the public.

With the start of his term at the former headquarters of the national defense ministry in the bustling district, Cheong Wa Dae, which has been the office and residence of the country’s presidents since 1948, becomes a public venue for tourists.

The Era of Yongsan begins at midnight on Monday with Yoon receiving a phone briefing from the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the commander-in-chief at an underground bunker beneath his office building. The briefing signals the transfer of the country’s military command from former president Moon Jae-in to Yoon. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Tying your legacy to North Korean denuclearization is losing proposition:

Outgoing President Moon Jae-in appealed for the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue Monday as he delivered a farewell address on his last day in office amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s repeated tests of weapons. 

“Peace is a condition of survival for us, a condition of prosperity,” Moon said. “I sincerely hope that efforts for denuclearization and institutionalization of peace will continue with the resumption of dialogue between the South and the North.” 

Taking a look back on his five years as president, Moon touted his role for converting the 2017 crisis, when North Korea conducted a nuclear test and fired ICBMs, into dialogue and diplomacy.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans learned from Saddam, Gaddafi, and most recently Ukraine why you never give up your nuclear weapons program. Does anyone think Ukraine would be getting attacked right now by Russia if they possessed nuclear weapons? The Kim regime is using this same calculus for developing their own nuclear weapons program.

This seems like quite a stretch to me because I doubt whether or not someone can have an abortion will play any role on whether someone wants to join the military:

U.S. troops could see their access to abortion severely curtailed if the Supreme Court overturns its landmark ruling on reproductive rights, potentially hurting military recruitment and the retention of women.

As employees of the federal government, doctors on military bases are already banned from performing abortions so female troops — and the female spouses of troops — must seek out the procedure on their own. That would become much more difficult if the Supreme Court overturns the precedent set in its Roe v. Wade ruling almost five decades ago, as a leaked draft ruling indicates it’s likely to do.

At least 26 states probably would place restrictions on abortion laws, including Texas, Florida and other southern states that have many of the nation’s military bases, according to Sean Timmons, a managing partner at Tulley Rinckey who specializes in military law.

The potential impact on recruitment and retention would come as the military is already struggling to find qualified troops. Women make up almost 20% of the 1.3 million-member active-duty force.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Lee Jae-myung and Ahn Cheol-soo are going to keep themselves relevant in South Korea’s politics by running for office again in the National Assembly:

Former presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung and Ahn Cheol-soo declared their bids, Sunday, for parliamentary seats in the June 1 by-elections, transforming the event to one of potentially high political stakes. 

Lee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is the former Gyeonggi Province governor who lost the March 9 presidential election to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol by a razor-thin margin, while Ahn Cheol-soo, the head of Yoon’s transition committee, also ran for president and merged his campaign with Yoon’s days prior to the election.

Lee will run for the seat representing Incheon’s Gyeyang-B district, which has been vacant since former DPK Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil resigned to run in the Seoul mayoral election in April, while Ahn will run for seat representing Bundang-A district of Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, left by the Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party (PPP), the former presidential transition committee spokesperson who is now running for the Gyeonggi provincial governor post. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

As predicted it seems like less and less of Yongsan Garrison will become a park:

The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government is planning to convert part of a U.S. Forces Korea base adjacent to the new presidential office in Yongsan into a cultural space reminiscent of a “Little LA” and open it to the public in September, officials said Sunday.

The 500,000-square-meter space is just outside the defense ministry headquarters, which is being converted into the new presidential office.

The USFK plans to return the land to the South Korean government at the end of this month as part of its ongoing relocation to Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul.

“We plan to let the people see it in its exotic state as much as possible,” an official involved in the project told Yonhap News Agency, noting the area features various religious, educational and sports facilities used by the USFK.

More facilities could be added, such as cafes and exhibition or concert halls, to evoke a sense of “America Town” or “Little LA.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I guess using this portion of Yongsan to create this “Little LA” area is better than just putting up more apartment buildings. Any predictions on how much of the old Yongsan Garrison actually becomes a city park?

It appears the submarine that North Korea used to fire a missile from this weekend has not been in the best working condition:

The North Korean submarine that fired a ballistic missile from underwater Saturday was the one that had to be towed ashore due to an engine problem following an earlier missile test-firing in October last year, sources said Sunday.

The North is believed to have repaired the Gorae-class vessel since the Oct. 19 test-firing that also took place in waters off the country’s eastern coastal city of Sinpo, where the North’s main submarine shipyard is located.

Due to damage to its engine from the impact of the firing at the time, the 2,000-ton-class submarine could not move on its own and had to be towed by a tugboat to the Sinpo shipyard, according to military and intelligence authorities.

“Though the extent of the damage was not exactly determined, it was not in a condition where it could move on its own. It had to be towed,” a source said on condition of anonymity.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.