It seems inevitable with the constant nuclear threats from North Korea plus the growing militarism of the Chinese that the Korean public would want its own nukes to defend itself with:

There has long been a desire among South Koreans for domestic nuclear weapons capability, but a poll shows that in the face of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and an assertive China, that view has ballooned to more than 70 percent of the population — most of whom want to go nuclear even when the potential drawbacks are explained.

The poll, released Tuesday by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, found robust support for nuclear weapons in South Korea: South Koreans want nuclear weapons even when they feel confident about the country’s alliance with the United States and about the strength of their own military. And those who support nuclear weapons now see a level of prestige associated with them.

Washington Post

You can read more at the link, but fortunately the poll showed that the Korean public did not view the Japanese as a military threat like they do the North Koreans and Chinese. You wouldn’t know that from past Korean media articles that make it sound like a Japanese invasion of Dokdo is ready to happen at any minute.

Lee Jae-myung has now really doubled down on slinging as much mud on Yoon as possible considering he even used a prop at a debate to help do this:

Lee accused Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, of participating in stock manipulation in 2010 by Deutsch Motors, a BMW car dealer in Korea, and pressed the PPP candidate on the origins of her personal assets, worth approximately 7 billion won, given her monthly income of 2 million won.  
   
Yoon retorted that his wife had traded in stocks around the time of the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation, but was not involved in the scheme, and that she had seen both profits and losses on her stock trades over the years. He added that his wife had already amassed “significant personal assets” before 2010.  
   
The DP candidate also accused Yoon of being guilty of unspecified crimes, and at one point even pulled out a board with a written transcript of a recorded conversation between Kim Man-bae, the owner of a small asset management company at the center of the Daejang-dong development corruption scandal, and another unnamed individual talking about Yoon’s alleged past misdeeds. 

Kim, a former reporter who interviewed Lee in 2014 when the latter was still mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, has been indicted of committing breach of trust and bribery in connection with the Daejang-dong development.  
   
His relationship with Lee gave rise to unproven suspicions that the DP candidate was behind the inclusion of Hwacheon Daeyu and its affiliates in the residential development.  
   
Hwacheon Daeyu’s outsized profits from the project sparked a months-long probe by prosecutors into those suspected of rigging the project’s shareholder composition and profit distribution scheme to favor the previously little-known company, its affiliates and their owners.  
   
However, Yoon was quick to return the fire at Lee, alleging that the recorded conversation also mentioned a “Lee-gate” scandal that the DP candidate had omitted from the transcript he showed debate viewers.  
   
“I believe that recording also includes something about a ‘Lee-gate’ scandal,” Yoon retorted. “Why don’t you show that portion of the conversation, too?”  
   
Yoon’s retort alluded to allegations of corruption by Lee’s former aide and acting president of the Seongnam Development Corporation, Yoo Dong-kyu, during the selection of investment bids for the development in Seongnam, which took off during the DP candidate’s term as mayor of the city.  
   
Yoo has also been indicted on charges of breach of trust and bribery in the case. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I think it is pretty obvious that these two despise each other.

Here is another poll showing different results from one taken just a few days ago where Yoon had a 5% point lead; who knows which of these polls are actually accurate:

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung are running neck and neck with 42.7 percent and 42.6 percent support, respectively, a poll showed Tuesday. 

The survey by Hangil Research was conducted on 1,027 adults from last Saturday to Monday. 

Yoon of the conservative People Power Party gained 0.3 percentage point from the pollster’s previous survey conducted Feb. 12-14, while Lee of the liberal Democratic Party gained 0.7 point.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Cases continue to rise, but the fatality rate from COVID has continued to plummet for ROK citizens; just three weeks ago it was .69% and now it is .35%:

South Korea’s new COVID-19 infections surpassed 150,000 for the first time Tuesday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant across the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 158,005 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 60,070 from 97,935 posted the same time the previous day. The previous daily high was set last Friday at 109,823.

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,508, up 58 from Monday. The fatality rate was 0.35 percent, according to the KDCA.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

With things escalating in the Ukraine it makes me wonder if North Korea will be asked by the Russians to start a provocation cycle to split U.S. attention between two theaters?:

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that Ukraine’s sovereignty must be respected and South Korea will join efforts for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Moon made the remarks during a National Security Council meeting convened after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions in Ukraine after recognizing their independence.

“Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” he said. “Countries around the world must come together and work for a swift and peaceful resolution to the situation in Ukraine. South Korea will actively participate in these efforts as a responsible member of the international community.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

USFK recently upgraded its firepower with the newest model of the Apache attack helicopter:

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) received deliveries of the latest Boeing Apache attack helicopters to the 4th Battalion (Attack) and 2nd Aviation Regiment (4-2 AB) at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, the force’s aviation unit said on Friday.  
   
In a Facebook post Friday, the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade said that it finished fielding the new Apache helicopters slated for Camp Humphreys, the main USFK base on the Korean Peninsula, two days earlier.  
   
This is the first unit outside the continental United States to receive the newest version of the helicopter, dubbed AH-64 Version 6 (V6).  
   
The U.S. Army said on its website last month that a total of 24 of the latest Apache helicopters would be deployed to South Korea through the end of February. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.