It looks like Ahn Cheol-soo’s reward for ending his campaign and supporting Yoon Suk-yeol is that he will get to have a big vote on who joins the new government:

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol named his candidacy merger partner Ahn Cheol-soo chairman of the transition committee Sunday, making the first step to take over the administration and set the agenda for the next five years.

Yoon also tapped his campaign chief, Rep. Kwon Young-se of the People Power Party (PPP), as vice chairperson of the committee, and appointed former Jeju Gov. Won Hee-ryong, who served as policy chief of the campaign, as the committee’s planning chief.

Ahn, who heads the minor People’s Party, dropped out of the presidential race at the last minute to support Yoon under a candidacy merger deal. The two said at the time that they will work together in forming the transition committee and the government.

“We share the same values and philosophy about running state affairs,” Yoon said of Ahn’s appointment at a press conference at the PPP headquarters in Seoul. “Ahn has a will to lead the committee and I also believe he is the right person.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

With the election of conservative Yoon Suk-yeol in South Korea, it seems that North sees no reason to keep these symbols of prior inter-Korean reconciliation which were in reality just money grabs for the Kim regime:

North Korea appears to have begun to dismantle some of the South Korean-built facilities at the Mount Kumgang resort, a report has said.

Citing satellite images taken from March 5-9 by Planet Labs, the Voice of America said Friday (U.S. time) that the roof of the Haegumgang Hotel had become darker in the photos.

The images also showed that heavy machinery was located in front of the floating hotel.

The previous day, the South Korean government said it had detected similar moves at the resort complex but did not elaborate on which facilities were subject to the suspected dismantling.

The resort area, located on the southeastern coast of North Korea, houses a reunion center and other buildings for tourists from South Korea.

Pyongyang had announced that it would remove the facilities at Mount Kumgang, a rare symbol of inter-Korean collaboration, since its leader Kim Jong-un called for tearing down all “unpleasant-looking” facilities in 2019.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

It looks like US-ROK exercises will go back to Key Resolve and UFG level and diplomacy with Japan will be enhanced if I am reading the tea leaves correctly from President-elect Yoon’s recent statements:

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol vowed Thursday to strengthen strategic alliance with the United States, build a strong national defense to deter North Korean provocations and pursue a future-oriented relationship with Japan, hours after winning the nation’s closely contested presidential election. (…..)

He promised to reconstruct South Korea-U.S. alliance and strengthen comprehensive strategic relationship with Washington by sharing the core values of human rights, market economy and human rights.

Earlier, Yoon talked with U.S. President Joe Biden on the phone prior to his visit to the Seoul National Cemetery and they affirmed strong bilateral alliance and close cooperation, according to PPP officials.” (…….)

In relations between South Korea and Japan, it is important to find out what will be beneficial to both countries and to the people of both countries in the future rather than in the past,” the president-elect said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Yoon has promised to respond “sternly” to any illegal North Korean actions or provocations with the international community. It is almost certainty based on that statement that North Korea is going to launch some provocation to test Yoon once he is President.

The Japanese government is stepping up and providing defense aid to Ukraine:

 Japan dispatched an Air Self-Defense Force KC-767 transport aircraft to Poland on Tuesday night, to provide bulletproof vests and other SDF equipment to Ukraine.

To support the embattled country, which has been fighting invading Russian forces, the provision of defense equipment was officially approved at National Security Council ministerial meetings earlier in the day.

The equipment included bulletproof vests, helmets and cold-weather clothing.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.