This is a lot of meth that was interdicted in Busan:

South Korean prosecutors said Wednesday they have busted the nation’s largest-ever drug trafficking attempt with an arrest of a man in his 30s in the southern port city of Busan.

The Busan District Prosecutors Office said it has arrested and indicted a 34-year-old man on charges of smuggling over 400 kilograms of methamphetamine from Mexico.

The prosecution said the volume of methamphetamine seized from the suspect totaled 404.23 kg, the largest amount in the nation’s history of drug smuggling.

The seized drugs, which can be administered to 13.5 million people at the same time, is worth 1.3 trillion won ($1.12 billion) in terms of retail price.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth first made its presence known in the region by conducting a freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea, now it is off the coast of Korea promoting cooperation with the ROK Navy:

British Royal Navy Commodore Steve Moorhouse, commander of an aircraft carrier strike group on a seven-month world tour, has called for strengthening cooperation with South Korea as part of its efforts to boost his country’s involvement in the Indo-Pacific region.

Moorhouse made the remark as the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its fleet was in waters off the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday for a joint training with South Korea for humanitarian and disaster relief missions.

“The United Kingdom, like the Republic of Korea, is an outward-looking trading nation committed to contributing to maritime security, which underpins global prosperity,” he said in a video posted on Twitter on Monday.

“By sailing here, we make clear our determination to work with like-minded nations in support of an open and transparent system of international rules,” he said. “Our aim is to strengthen the ties between our two countries and to pave the way for closer cooperation in the future.” 

During the joint training, the South Korean Navy was expected to dispatch a 14,000-ton large transport ship, an Aegis destroyer and a submarine, among other assets. 

The 64,000-ton British aircraft carrier had planned a port call in the southeastern city of Busan, but the plan was called off due to the COVID-19 situation. The two sides agreed instead to conduct scaled-back exchange activities from Monday to Wednesday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I would be surprised if South Korea brings back the death penalty, but I have no sympathy for these two criminals if they do:

A series of atrocious crimes of late are once again sparking debate over capital punishment. 

South Korea is classified as “abolitionist in practice,” which means that the government retains the death penalty but has not actually executed a criminal in the past 10 years or longer. The last execution here took place Dec. 31, 1997, when 23 convicted of murder were hanged. 

However, the issue has been brought to the fore again following the homicide of a 20-month-old toddler by her stepfather in June and the murder of two women last month by a sex offender who removed his electronic monitoring anklet while on parole. 

The 29-year-old stepfather, identified as Yang, allegedly covered the baby girl with blankets because she would not stop crying and punched and stomped her to death. Furthermore, the parents hid the baby’s body in an ice box in their bathroom.

The crime has drawn public rage especially because Yang allegedly raped and sexually assaulted the toddler, according to autopsy results and the mother’s testimony. 

In the other case, a man surnamed Kang, who had 14 previous convictions, was released from prison in May after serving 15 years for sexual assault, but last Friday and Sunday he killed two women, one of whom was murdered after he destroyed his monitoring anklet.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is a horrible story:

Police on Monday arrested two teenage brothers for allegedly stabbing their own grandmother to death.  
   
According to Daegu Seobu Police, an 18-year-old boy stabbed his 77-year-old grandmother with a kitchen knife around 12:50 a.m. on Monday at their house in Daegu.  
   
Stab wounds were found all over her body, including on her face, shoulder, arm and hip.  
   
When the police asked for his motive, the boy said that he was angered by his grandmother’s nagging. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the murderers 16 year old brother later admitted to helping kill his grandmother as well.

If this was done for the U.S. military I am willing to bet there would be less convictions because of the higher standards to convict in a civilian court:

Military sex crimes will be tried in civilian courts, not in military courts, as the National Assembly on Tuesday approved a revision of the military justice system in the wake of suicide deaths of sexual harassment victims at barracks.

Under the revision of the Military Court Act, all sex crimes in the military will be tried at civilian courts from the beginning. Also to be dealt with by civilian courts, rather than courts-martial, include such violent crimes as homicide and crimes that service members committed before joining the military.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The COVID spread is getting worse in USFK:

 U.S. Forces Korea on Tuesday announced the fastest surge of new coronavirus cases among its personnel, surpassing a record set in July.

Forty people, including U.S. military family members and South Korean contractors, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and Friday, the command said in a news release. The previous record was 37 infections over a three-day span between July 5 and 7.

Fifty-one USFK personnel tested positive between Aug. 23 and Friday, which is, so far, fewer than the previous record of 58 cases during a weeklong period in July.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but according to the article half the cases are at Osan Airbase. It is unknown if the higher number of positives had anything to do with the maskless party recently held at the Enlisted Club.