Chun Doo-hwan’s authoritarian grip on power continues to reverberate today and it setback Korean democracy by a decade:

Former President Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power in a coup and governed the nation with a firm hand from 1980 to 1988, died, Tuesday. He was 90. 

According to Min Jeong-ki, a former presidential secretary, Chun, who had multiple myeloma ― a cancer formed in white blood cells ― died at his home in western Seoul at 8:45 a.m. After he collapsed in a bathroom, emergency services were called at 8:55 a.m. and paramedics who arrived at 9:12 a.m. then confirmed his death. His body was transferred to the Severance Hospital where a memorial altar was set up. Until recently, Chun had been receiving treatment at the medical center due to his worsening health.

“Chun’s last wish was for his remains be buried on high ground at the border overlooking North Korean territory,” Min said, adding the former president’s body will be cremated before being buried at a site to be determined later.

Chun’s death came almost a month after his successor and coup co-conspirator Roh Tae-woo died, Oct. 26. 

Cheong Wa Dae expressed regret that Chun died without offering an apology, but offered its prayers for the deceased and condolences to the bereaved family.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I think Chun Doo-hwan is going to missed by few outside of his family.

Australia has now begun the slow reopening of its borders:

Australia will allow foreign visa holders to enter the country from the start of December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, the latest step to restart international travel and support its economy.

Australia shut its international border in May 2020 and allowed only restricted numbers of citizens and permanent residents to enter in a bid to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

The rules were relaxed in recent weeks to allow foreign family members of citizens to enter, and Morrison said this will be scaled up from Dec. 1 to allow vaccinated students, business visa holders and refugees to arrive.

“The return of skilled workers and students to Australia is a major milestone in our pathway back,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra. Australia will also allow in vaccinated tourists from South Korea and Japan from Dec 1, he said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Having watched both Squid Game and Hellhound I found them both to be very violent though I would say Squid Game is more violent. Squid Game I found to be filmed and paced better while Hellbound is a bit slow at times, but gets better as the series builds. The CGI of the monsters in Hellbound are not very good when compared to blockbusters such as the Marvel movies. Both are decent shows, but would not make my own personal Top 10 list of best Korean series though the majority of Netflix viewers seem to disagree with me:

Writer-director Yeon Sang-ho’s fantasy drama, “Hellbound,” has topped the top 10 Netflix shows list only 24 hours after its official release last Friday.

The Korean drama was quick to rise to global stardom, generating quite a buzz in the Korean entertainment industry, with some hastily predicting that the fantasy drama could become another “Squid Game,” which has become the most-watched Netflix series ever. 

Despite sharing some parallels, the two Netflix original series are different in terms of their paths to success and audience reactions. 

“Hellbound” was quicker to top the global charts than “Squid Game.” It took only a day to rise to the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s top 10 most watched shows, while “Squid Game” won the same title eight days after its official release. 

The global streaming chart, uploaded by FlixPatrol, a website that updates daily VOD charts for 175 streaming platforms in 76 countries worldwide, shows that “Squid Game” has enjoyed more lasting popularity than “Hellbound.” 

“Squid Game” has continued to top the Netflix show chart for weeks, whereas “Hellbound” was overtaken by the animated series, “Arcane,” just a day after the former topped the chart.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I am concerned that with the Biden administration’s falling approval ratings that they would agree to a Korean War Peace Treaty just to get an easy foreign policy victory. The temptation of a Nobel Peace Prize might be enough to get the them to agree to it. The below comments from the Unification Minister has me worried that the Moon administration has been successful in getting the Biden administration to agree to the peace treaty:

 Discussions over an end-of-war declaration with North Korea will soon come to a close, a South Korean government official said.

The country’s Ministry of Unification chief, Lee In-young, made the remarks during an academic conference at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies’ campus in Seoul on Friday.

The Unification Minister said Seoul and Washington, D.C., “have been holding deep discussions very seriously” regarding a declaration to formally end the war, adding that it “is coming to a finish to some degree.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but a peace treaty is a bad idea for a variety of reasons I have explained before.

Instead of going the Chapter route to remove non-vaccinated Soldiers from the ranks, the Army has instead decided to flag them, deny them promotions, and bar reenlistments:

The Army won’t promote or reenlist troops who refuse the coronavirus vaccine and who haven’t requested an exemption, according to a memo from the service’s top civilian leader.

The new rules apply to active-duty, Reserve and National Guard troops, including those in at least one state where the governor doesn’t require the vaccine.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in a Nov. 16 memo lays out what will happen if soldiers refuse the vaccine and don’t have an exemption request pending. They will have their records flagged the day they make their final vaccine refusal, after a meeting with a medical professional and a second order to get vaccinated.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but an interesting stat in the article is that about 72% of the Army is completely vaccinated. With the end of the war in Afghanistan I would not be surprised if another drawdown is coming and the non-vaccinated is turning into a way for the Army to cut its numbers.

I doubt Korean voters even care much about he reunification issue any more to get worked up about Lee Jae-myung abandoning this principle in the ROK Constitution:

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has created a controversy by stating “it is too late to pursue the unification” between the two Koreas, as this challenges South Korea’s Constitution as well as the DPK’s manifesto. 

During a meeting with university students in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Saturday, Lee made the statement, adding “there is no need to elevate hostility by denying each other’s system and arguing over which can be absorbed by which.”

Lee made the remarks in answering a question about what would distinguish his North Korea policies from that of previous administrations.

The DPK candidate noted that he prefers a “de-facto unification status,” saying, “There is the argument that we should refrain from being too political and rather focus on practical approaches.”

Lee’s comments brought on a backlash as they go against South Korea’s Constitution, Article 4 which stipulates: “The Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall formulate and carry out a policy of peaceful unification based on a basic free and democratic order.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.