The article gives no specifics on what happened so it is impossible to determine if this was a preventable accident or not:

A 2nd Infantry Division soldier has died after suffering a “medical incident” during combat water survival training, the command announced Thursday. 

Spc. Brandon Martinez, 25, of Mesa, Ariz., died Saturday at Brian D. Allgood Army Community Hospital, 10 days after the June 9 incident at Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Vandal Training Center, a statement said. He was a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist assigned to 4th CBRN Company, 23rd CBRN Battalion who joined 2nd ID’s sustainment brigade on July 13.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the US embassy in Seoul will soon have a new location to call home:

A key administrative process to relocate the U.S. embassy building in Seoul was approved by city officials Thursday, opening the door for the beginning of the construction project that will close the embassy’s half-century-old presence in the heart of the South Korean capital.

The Seoul metropolitan government’s city planning and construction committee approved the district units plan of the U.S. embassy’s new site in Yongsan-dong of Seoul’s central Yongsan Ward.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is believed that this appointment came in response to the election of 36-year-old Lee Jun-seok to the leadership of the opposition People Power Party:

Cheong Wa Dae’s appointment of a 25-year-old as a presidential secretary has created stir among politicians and citizens. While the presidential office tried to demonstrate its efforts to meet young people’s needs by appointing the political rookie to the high-ranking position, many citizens ― especially young ones ― view the appointment as “unfair” amid the reality where it is difficult for the majority of young people to get a job despite years of struggle.

On Monday, Cheong Wa Dae announced Park Seong-min’s appointment as the secretary for youth-related affairs, a newly created position. 

Park was one of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s (DPK) spokespeople representing young members, and was picked as a member of the party’s Supreme Council last August by then-party Chairman Lee Nak-yon. Still studying at Korea University, Park plans to request a leave of absence from the university soon, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

She will get a salary and other perks equivalent to those of first-level government officials in the nine-tier public servant system, in which the first-level is the top level. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Lee Jun-seok was elected into Parliament a decade ago and worked his way up through the ranks to his current position. This is in contrast to Park Seong-min who has not been elected to anything and yet was appointed to her position.

This is good news if you are a property owner in Seoul, but not good news for anyone trying to find a place to live:

The average sales price of apartments in Seoul has nearly doubled under the Moon Jae-in government, a civic group said Wednesday.

The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice announced the results of its study that has tracked the prices of 115,000 units in 75 apartment complexes since President Moon took office four years ago.

The average price of a 99-square-meter apartment in Seoul rose to 1.19 billion won (US$1.04 million) from 620 million won from May 2017 to May 2021.

The rise in apartment prices was found to be 192 times the rise in net income, which grew by an average of 2.98 million won during the same period.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but a 99 square foot apartment is about 1,065 square feet that people in Seoul have to pay over $1 million dollars to afford. It is understandable why people in Seoul are upset about the high cost of housing.

Korean authorities plan to go after USFK personnel who decide to hold parties on Haeundae Beach in Busan:

U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea will be fined if they hold parties without wearing masks on and around a popular beach here during the coming U.S. Independence Day holiday amid the coronavirus pandemic, a local ward office said Wednesday.

The Haeundae Ward office in the southern port city of Busan said it will intensify monitoring of any unruly behavior on Haeundae Beach, together with local police and the U.S. Army Military Police, from July 2-4. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Someone must have told KEPCO to keep the lights on, the question is who:

South Korea’s state-run electric company supplied power to Kaesong in North Korea for several months after all South Korean personnel withdrew from an industrial complex in January 2020, according to documents obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday.  
   
The documents from the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), which were given to the newspaper by People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Yoon Young-seok’s office, show that electricity to the city was not cut off after the withdrawal — raising questions as to whether power was supplied even after North Korea blew up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office last June. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.