South Korea’s COVID situation continues to be pretty bizarre because across the rest of the world cases are dropping significantly while the ROK’s continues to skyrocket. Anyone have any guesses on why this is?:

 South Korea’s new COVID-19 infections hit a fresh high of over 176,000 on Tuesday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant across the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 176,786 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 6 p.m., up 58,786 from the tally posted at the same time the previous day, and marked an all-time high. The previous daily record was set on Feb. 23 at 171,451.

The total number for Tuesday is expected to rise further, as daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.

Earlier, the country reported 138,993 new coronavirus infections, including 138,935 local cases, raising the total caseload to 3,273,449, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Moon criticizes Japan in his March 1st speech to show a humble attitude towards its wartime past, but mentions nothing about North Korea and China to do the same. Those two countries most recently went war against the ROK and are responsible for more death and destruction on the peninsula than Japan ever caused:

“We will never again experience that pain from one hundred years ago,” Moon said. “We will safeguard the survival and raise the pride of all Koreans through peace and prosper in peace.” 

Moon also called for Japan to look squarely at history and show a humble attitude over its wartime past in order for the two countries to overcome historical feuds and move forward for cooperation.

“In this time of many difficulties, Korea and Japan — close neighbors — must be able to overcome the history of the once unfortunate past and cooperate for the future,” Moon said. 

“Beyond Korea-Japan relations, I sincerely hope that Japan will take leadership as an advanced nation. To this end, Japan must squarely face history and be humble before it,” Moon said. 

South Korea remains open to dialogue with Japan to work together on various regional and global issues, such as COVID-19 and supply chains, Moon said. 

Moon said Seoul “will always keep the door open for dialogue to join forces not only for regional peace and prosperity but also in responding to global challenges — ranging from COVID-19 and the climate crisis to the supply chain crisis and the new economic order.”

With North Korea showing signs of ratcheting up tensions by test-firing ballistic missiles, Moon said dialogue with the North must be resumed to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. 

Recalling heightened tension about five years ago, when North Korea conducted a nuclear test, Moon said his administration “was able to achieve peace through dramatic dialogue. However, dialogue has been suspended, making our peace tenuous.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is a good story about how 2ID Soldiers are preparing ROK military Cadets for an international skills competition being held at West Point:

Braving subzero temperatures, 10 South Korean Army cadets slogged through this week’s U.S.-led field training designed to gear them up for an annual international military academy contest slated for April.

The three-day training at Camp Humphreys, a sprawling U.S. base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, centered on honing their warrior capabilities in the runup to the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. 

But for the trainees, it also offered a rare foretaste of the unity — a pivotal element that has glued South Korea and the United States together in their alliance forged during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-US Combined Division, a unique unit emblematic of the alliance, trained the cadets through Thursday under a resonant rallying cry: “Second to None, Fight Tonight.” ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, Republic of Korea.

“It took some time to get the hang of different rules and stuff here, but U.S. instructors and other officers have been forthcoming and helpful,” Jang Su-hae, a freshman at the Korea Military Academy (KMA), said on the last day of the training open to the media. “I think this experience has had a positive effect on us in light of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The North Koreans are claiming that they are restarting their space launch program by launching a reconnaissance satellite:

North Korea conducted an “important test” of a “reconnaissance satellite” to verify the capabilities of its high-definition photographing and data-transmission systems, its state-run news agency said Monday. 

The country’s aerospace and military science organizations conducted the test, according to the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA’s report did not include photographs of the launch but had pictures of Earth from space that it said were taken by cameras “loaded on the reconnaissance satellite.”

“The test is of great significance in developing the reconnaissance satellite,” KCNA claimed in its report.

The communist regime on Sunday launched what South Korea’s military believes was a ballistic missile off its eastern coast around 7:52 a.m. The missile, according to the South’s military, flew about 186 miles at a peak altitude of 385 miles. The Japan Coast Guard also confirmed the launch and its specifications.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Not smart of Lee Jae-myung to be insulting President Zelenskyy who maybe the most popular leader in the world right now:

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has made an apology for his remarks about Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a TV debate Friday regarding the cause of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which drew a backlash both here and abroad. 

“Unlike my intentions, if my words caused misunderstanding to Ukrainians, I lacked the ability to express myself well,” Lee wrote on Facebook, Saturday, adding that his remarks were mainly aimed at pointing out the ill-founded diplomatic and security views of his main rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party rather than disparaging the Ukrainian president.

During the TV debate held, Friday, Lee said a novice politician with six months of political experience had become the country’s leader and caused a major clash by inciting Russia with a hasty promise regarding Ukraine’s admission into NATO. (……….)

Denouncing Lee as an international embarrassment, Yoon said he would make an apology to Ukraine on behalf of South Korea, citing posts critical of Lee’s remarks that have been uploaded on Reddit, a popular American online community.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.