Here is what the ROK military had to say about North Korea’s recent missile launch:

North Korea’s ballistic missile launched Tuesday flew at a top speed of Mach 10, South Korea’s military said, taking note of “improvement” compared with what it claimed to be a hypersonic missile test six days ago.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North fired the missile from its northern province of Jagang into the East Sea, and that it flew more than 700 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 60 km and at a top speed of Mach 10, 10 times the speed of sound.

The launch was detected at 7:27 a.m, the JCS said. It followed the test-firing of the North’s self-proclaimed hypersonic missile, which the JCS said traveled less than 700 km at a top speed of Mach 6.

“We assess that it has improved compared with the ballistic missile launched on Jan. 5,” the JCS said in a text message, calling the regime’s continued launches of ballistic missiles a “clear” violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the improved speed to mach 10 does not necessarily mean this was a hypersonic missile. The ROK JCS says they are still doing analysis of the launch.

This should not really be surprising to anyone that has been following North Korea that they have underground facilities to hide their aircraft in:

North Korea’s fighter jets are heading to its mountains, where its concealed air bases are located.  
   
The JoongAng Ilbo confirmed in a report Monday through satellite imagery from Google Earth that North Korea’s Air Force bases are either built in mountains, or its taxiways and runways link underground bases.    
   
The exceptions are the Sunan Airport near Pyongyang and Kalma Airport near the Wonsan in Kangwon Province.  
   
The Uiju airfield located in North Pyongan Province, near the border with China, which has recently been equipped with quarantine facilities in preparation for North Korea to open up trade with China, is also connected to the mountains through a taxiway. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out because if Yoon and Ahn merge their campaigns they have a better chance of defeating Lee for the presidency:

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) faces growing pressure to form a coalition with Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party for the March 9 presidential election, as surveys show that an alliance offers a greater chance for the opposition bloc to beat ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. 

So far, the PPP has been downplaying the recent rise in Ahn’s support rate, saying it is a “temporary phenomenon” stemming from infighting in the main opposition party between its presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and party Chairman Lee Jun-seok throughout last month. However, anticipation is growing that the main opposition party may make a decision in the coming weeks in order to grab the public’s attention before the Jan. 31-Feb. 2 Lunar New Year holidays. 

According to a Realmeter survey released Monday, the DPK’s Lee was leading the pack with a 40.1 percent support rate, followed by the PPP’s Yoon with 34.1 percent and Ahn with 11.1 percent. It was the first time that Ahn logged a double-digit number in the weekly survey conducted by the poll agency at the request of OhmyNews. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but what is even more interesting about the polling is that not only is a combined opposition ticket outpoll Lee Jae-myung, but if Ahn Cheol-soo is the lead the ticket polls even better than if Yoon was the lead candidate.

Unfortunately Mr. O was not able to accept the award in person because there was no Golden Globes award ceremony this year because the HFPA that puts on the event is now considered racist:

O Yeong-su has won best TV supporting actor at this year’s Golden Globe Awards for his role in “Squid Game,” becoming the first South Korean actor ever to secure an acting trophy at the American awards show.

In the winners list of the annual awards event thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) on Sunday (U.S. time), the 77-year-old actor won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role on TV for his role in the Netflix original series.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Mr. O is the first Korean actor to win a Golden Globe award.

It will be interesting to see how long this vaccine pass system lasts:

Criticism is mounting over the COVID-19 vaccine pass mandate for large supermarkets, discount outlets and department stores, which came into effect from Monday, with critics calling on the government to justify the scientific grounds for implementing the new measure. 

The vaccine pass system, which requires either proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test result to be presented to enter multiuse facilities, has been expanded to shopping malls, retail outlets, department stores and bookstores measuring 3,000 square meters or more in floor space.

These large stores have been freshly added to the list of multiuse facilities subject to the vaccine pass system, including eateries, cafes, libraries and indoor gyms. 

But criticism is escalating over the system, among people who find it unscientific and excessive. 

According to government data, 427 and 327 infections occurred at large retail stores and department stores, in 2021, respectively, whereas 7,491 cases were linked to churches. But religious facilities still remain excluded from the vaccine pass since it was introduced on Dec. 6. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but oddly the employees at these stores do not have to get vaccinated due to work place laws. Additionally it seems like at this point if the government wants to discourage the spread of the omicron variant than they should be requiring people to get a booster which has more efficacy against the virus. They of course will not do this because that would inconvenience the ~80% of the population that is vaccinated before this Spring’s elections. This means the vaccine pass system arguably an inconvenience imposed on the ~20% of the population that hasn’t been vaccinated yet to encourage more of them to get vaccinated.

The Moon administration is in desperation mode to get a Korean War peace treaty signed before they office this Spring:

It is the right time to declare an end to the Korean War, as an unprecedentedly favorable environment for the implementation of the declaration has been set up among relevant countries, according to Unification Minister Lee In-young.

In this regard, he also believes the first half of the year could be a “golden time” to make strides in frayed inter-Korean ties and stalled nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States, citing a heap of political events in the second half of the year that could disrupt efforts toward Pyongyang-related issues. 

Strongly believing such an agreement could serve as a catalyst for negotiations on the denuclearization of North Korea, President Moon Jae-in resurrected his proposal of declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 conflict in a speech at the United Nations last September. 

Since then, South Korean and U.S. diplomats have been meeting frequently with each other to discuss the proposal, while National Security Director Suh Hoon also drew support from China following a meeting with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in December.

Korea Times

Look at what some people want to give up to North Korea to entice them to meet to discuss a peace treaty that is a favorable action towards them anyway:

The lasting silence is fueling speculation that Seoul and Washington should offer something to entice North Korea into responding to the end-of-war issue, and the suspension of combined military drills and partial sanctions relief are being mentioned as possible incentives among others.

You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans want this peace treaty in order to question the legitimacy of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. If there is peace why are U.S. troops and by extension the UN Command needed?

If the Kim regimes wants a peace treaty they should agree to actions that actually makes it look like they want peace. For example removing all their artillery off of the DMZ would show the seriousness of their peace overtures. If they want peace why do they need artillery to target Seoul and other metropolitan areas?