I always figured a chaebol family figure would lead this ranking, but it ends up being a self made tech entrepreneur instead:

The self-made founder of Kakao has become the country’s richest person, backed by stock gains this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Bloomberg reported that Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su, 55, has a net worth of $13.4 billion (15.4 trillion won), which places him at the top of Korea’s wealth rankings. Following him is Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, with a net worth of $12.1 billion.

Kim’s assets ballooned by more than $6 billion this year as Kakao’s share price surged 91 percent from early January. The tech company’s stock gains were fueled by scheduled listings of multiple affiliates this year, including internet-based lender Kakao Bank, which will make its local stock market debut next month.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

With the growing COVID wave in Tokyo it was only a matter of time before this happened:

Japan’s capital city, host to the Summer Olympics, reported another 3,300 new coronavirus cases Friday, as U.S. military commands began restricting their populations’ access to the inner city.

Some U.S. commanders, alarmed at the all-time high rate of new infections in Tokyo, put the city off-limits altogether, even for fully vaccinated individuals. U.S. bases in Japan reported 20 new coronavirus patients on Friday.

Tokyo is experiencing its fifth and most extreme coronavirus wave, in sheer volume of new cases. It reported its one-day pandemic high, 3,865 new patients, on Thursday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like President Duterte has finally come around and realized that the CCP not about to make concessions to a country they consider poor and inferior to them:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has withdrawn a longstanding threat to cancel a defense agreement that allows U.S. military forces to train in his country.

The decision on the Visiting Forces Agreement, or VFA, was announced by Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at a joint press conference Friday with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, in Manila.

“The president decided to retract or rescind the VFA termination,” Lorenzana told reporters during the conference, which was streamed online. “We are back on track.” (……..)

Its reprieve is the latest swing for an alliance that has been on shaky ground since the strongman took office in 2016.

Duterte began his presidency by insulting U.S. leaders and stating his intention to move closer to China and Russia.

That hasn’t gotten much traction with China, which has continued to occupy and enlarge artificial islands in the South China Sea that belongs to the Philippines, according to a 2016 international court ruling.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

Here is the latest on the COVID guidelines for US troops in Korea:

USFK similarly extended its own “enhanced” COVID-19 mitigation measures until Aug. 27. Unit-level commanders are generally able to implement their own rules in addition to USFK policies, and all service members are instructed to follow local guidelines.

U.S. troops are allowed to leave their bases, but regardless of their vaccination status are banned from visiting bars and clubs and are prohibited from visiting the greater Seoul-area except for mission-essential duties.

Seoul continues to report a higher number of infections than any other area in the country. The capital city recorded 515 new cases Thursday, down from its record high of 638 daily cases earlier this month.

Over 80% of USFK troops and civilian employees have been inoculated and less than 1% of its active-duty service members tested positive for COVID-19. The command has maintained that it “remains at a high level of readiness,” despite the recent surge of infections in the surrounding communities.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but does anyone really think the protocols will end August 27th?

It looks like for a number of servicemembers it will be back to wearing masks indoors regardless of vaccination status:

The Pentagon on Wednesday announced it would once again require all individuals to wear face coverings when indoors at Defense Department facilities in locations deemed high risk by federal health officials for the spread of coronavirus.

The directive from Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks on Wednesday walks back guidance issued in May that allowed service members and others who had been fully vaccinated against the virus to forgo mask-wearing at Defense Department facilities worldwide. It comes one day after the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance encouraging vaccinated Americans to don masks indoors in certain locations where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but no word in the article on how this new policy will be implemented for troops stationed overseas.