The fish in the waters around Korea were under extra attack yesterday from both North and South Korean missile launches:

The Korean Peninsula was the site of dueling launches on Wednesday as North Korea fired two tactical ballistic missiles around mid-day, followed by South Korea testing a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) later in the afternoon.  
   
The North fired first on Wednesday, sending two ballistic missiles into the waters east of the Korean Peninsula around 12:38 p.m. and 12:43 p.m., according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).  
   
The JCS said the missiles flew a distance of approximately 800 kilometers (500 miles) while reaching an altitude of 60 kilometers (37 miles).  
   
Less than three hours later, in the afternoon, South Korea followed with a scheduled submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test, according to the Defense Ministry.  
   
In addition to the SLBM, the South tested two different types of missiles on Wednesday: a long-range air-to-surface missile and a supersonic anti-ship missile, according to military authorities. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I think it is likely the North Koreans are just making a statement that if the ROK’s are allowed to fire ballistic missiles then we are going to as well. Additionally the Kim regime is probably trying to take away headlines from the ROK for successfully testing their SLBM which is a feat the North Koreans have not been able to master yet.

Here is the latest on Korea’s vaccination efforts:

Debate is arising over the government’s plan to allow COVID-19 vaccinations for children aged 12 to 17 starting next month. 

Some parents say the inoculations will ensure their children’s safety and allow them to be more active, while others say they are concerned about potential side effects

The health authorities said, Monday, they plan to start offering vaccinations for children in that age group in the fourth quarter and will announce details within this month after consulting with the education ministry.

They are considering providing the Pfizer vaccine as recommended by the Korea Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, adding the vaccine has been proven safe for use for the age group in various countries including Japan and the United States.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This CNBC article says Google makes $426k a minute. So it will take Google about 7 hours today to make enough money to pay this fine:

 South Korea’s antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has decided to fine global tech giant Google 207.4 billion won (US$176.8 million) for pressing smartphone makers into only using its Android mobile operating system.

Since 2016, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has been looking into Google over allegations it obstructed local smartphone makers, such as Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., from using operating systems developed by rivals.

Google has hampered market competition by requiring smartphone makers to clinch an “anti-fragmentation agreement (AFA)” when they sign key contracts with Google over app store licenses and early access to OS, according to the regulator.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here we go again with the NIS reportedly meddling in another election:

An alleged power abuse and election meddling scandal linked to a leading presidential contender is taking a new turn as speculation is mounting over the possible involvement of the state-run spy agency. 

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) insists that National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won is the mastermind behind the allegations, while the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is counter-claiming that the rival party is trying to avert blame for the issue.

Yoon Seok-youl, a former prosecutor general and now one of the most favored opposition presidential hopefuls, has been accused of pushing the now-defunct United Future Party (UFP), a predecessor of the PPP, to lodge criminal complaints against several pro-government figures ahead of the general election in April last year, in what could have been an attempt at influencing the polls. To this end, Yoon allegedly ordered high-ranking prosecutor Son Jun-sung to hand over written criminal complaints to Kim Woong, a prosecutor-turned-politician who managed the party’s election campaign at the time and was eventually elected as a lawmaker. 

The allegations were first reported by an internet-based media outlet, Newsverse, Sept. 2, after receiving information from Cho Sung-eun, a former deputy chief of the election committee of the UFP during the general election.

However, Cho has recently placed the NIS chief under suspicion, as well as herself, that they had come up with the media report in an attempt to discredit Yoon’s election campaign.

“The release date (of the Newsverse report) was not the one that Park or I wanted nor discussed,” Cho told local broadcaster SBS, Sunday. 

“It was a date that the reporter decided on.”

In the wake of her remarks, the PPP, which had been plagued by the allegation, mounted a counterattack, trying to frame the scandal as political meddling by the spy agency.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but like I said before the Moon administration will do everything they can to destroy Yoon. He is up against people who smeared their main competitor Ban Ki-moon before the last presidential election to get him to drop out.

This is another example NIMBYism is South Korea:

A conflict is deepening over the construction of a two-story mosque in a residential district of Daegu, the nation’s third-largest city located in the southeastern region of the country. 

Some residents, worried that the mosque would lead to stronger Islamic influence in the area, have been strongly opposing the construction, whereas the Islamic community and civic groups supporting it believe the mosque should be built to guarantee the freedom of religion.

The construction of the place of worship in Daehyeon-dong, Buk District, was launched in December 2020 by the local Islamic community, mainly consisting of international students studying at Kyungpook National University in Daegu. They received a construction permit from the local district office in September of that year. 

But it was met with heavy backlash among some residents and members of conservative Protestant groups in the area. They staged rallies in front of the construction site and filed multiple petitions with the district office calling for a halt to the construction, citing loud noise and infringement of property rights. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is another useful system the North Koreans have now added to their arsenal:

North Korea has successfully test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend, state media reported Monday, a low-level provocation amid stalled talks with the United States.

The test-firings, which took place Saturday and Sunday without leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, came right after the North held a scaled-down military parade, and appeared to be intent on demonstrating its military power in a low-level provocation without violating U.N. sanctions.

The North is banned from using ballistic technology under multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions. Cruise missiles, however, are not subject to the sanctions as they are considered less of a threat than ballistic missiles.

The missiles “traveled for 7,580 seconds along an oval and pattern-8 flight orbits in the air above the territorial land and waters” in North Korea and “hit targets 1,500 km away,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.