There is a number of C2, ISR, and missile defense capabilities that the ROK should be pursuing if they really want to take over OPCON from USFK, but instead they want to build an aircraft carrier:

The military has decided to push ahead with its plan to develop an indigenous light aircraft carrier despite questions over its effectiveness. 

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) decided on the need for the aircraft carrier during a meeting presided over by JCS Chairman Gen. Won In-choul last Wednesday.

The decision came despite the project budget being largely reduced. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) had initially planned to spend 10.1 billion ($9.3 million) won this year for the basic design of the carrier but the Ministry of Economy and Finance reduced the amount to only 100 million won for contracts covering research and holding debates.

The military is planning to establish basic strategies for the development project and complete a feasibility study this year, and begin basic design work next year to finally secure one light aircraft carrier with a 30,000 tons standard displacement and 40,000 tons full-load displacement by 2033. The military is also expected to push ahead with acquiring F-35B stealth fighter jets which can be carried by the vessel.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I believe this has more to do with keeping up with the Japanese than off setting any capability from North Korea.

Here is another example of the effectiveness of the test and quarantine strategy implemented by USFK on newly arriving personnel:

 Seventeen American service members and six others affiliated with the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival in South Korea from the United States, the U.S. military said Monday. 

The latest cases among the USFK-affiliated population rose to 509, most of whom have tested positive upon arrival in South Korea from the U.S.

Of the newly reported cases, eight service members and one dependent arrived at Osan Air Base in the city of Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on U.S. government chartered flights from the U.S. between Dec. 16 and 29, according to USFK.

Nine service members, three dependents, one contractor and one retired service member arrived on international commercial flights at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, between Dec. 16 and 31, it added.

Nine of them tested positive on their first mandatory COVID-19 test prior to entering quarantine. Two of them were confirmed to have been infected in a subsequent test while in quarantine, and the remainder tested positive in their mandatory test required to exit quarantine, the U.S. military said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Another week and another record low for President Moon’s approval rate:

 President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating has reached an all-time low, while public disapproval of his performance also has hit its highest point, a poll showed Sunday.

In a Realmeter survey of 1,000 people aged 18 and over, conducted over Friday and Saturday, 34.1 percent of respondents supported Moon.

It’s the lowest approval rating since Moon took office in May 2017. The figure in the previous Realmeter poll released last Monday was 36.7 percent.

In the latest survey, 61.7 percent of respondents gave a negative assessment of Moon’s presidency, up from 59.7 percent from last week.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is probably smart to continue to enforce social distancing measures until the winter is over and the vaccine has time to be distributed:

Daily coronavirus cases dipped to 657 Saturday, but health authorities said current social distancing measures will remain in place for two more weeks across the country as several clusters continue to grow.  
   
Korea registered 824 new cases last Friday on New Year’s Day, markedly fewer than most recent days when the nation was seeing over 1,000 cases. Health officials, however, barely celebrated the decline, noting it was the result of fewer tests conducted over the weekend and holidays.    
   
A smaller number of people get tested on weekends compared to weekdays because private medical facilities offering Covid-19 testing usually close on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays. Public facilities offering Covid-19 tests, on the other hand, are normally open throughout the week.  
   
With daily cases still showing no signs of drastically falling, the central government announced Saturday that current social distancing measures will be extended for two more weeks until Jan. 17. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest boycott Japan initiative to come out of Korea:

Retailers around the world including Target and Superdrug face pressure to cut ties with DHC as the Japanese cosmetics company refuses to apologize for its CEO’s racially discriminatory remarks against Koreans.

Activists have launched a campaign to boycott DHC products after CEO Yoshiaki Yoshida’s use of the term “Chon” — a racial slur for Koreans — came to light earlier this month.

“By selling DHC products, they are supporting the business of an openly racist company,” Tommy Hasegawa, the leader of student-led anti-discrimination group Moving Beyond Hate, told The Korea Herald.

Moving Beyond Hate is among the activists urging corporations to cut ties with the cosmetics brand. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the ruling party realizes that the end of the Moon administration is nearing which means the potential of the conservatives winning the next election. If that was to happen no doubt the conservatives would look to start locking up their liberal political adversaries just like the Moon administration has done to them:

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon is seeking to propose pardons for former presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who have been behind bars on corruption charges, to President Moon Jae-in.

“I will propose pardons for the two former presidents to President Moon Jae-in at an appropriate time,” Lee said during a New Year interview with local news agency Yonhap. Lee said the pardons of the two former presidents could be a way to promote reconciliation and overcome the ideological gap between conservatives and liberals.

“This year is the de facto final year for President Moon to practice policies, and this matter (of pardoning the two former presidents) needs to be solved at a right time,” Lee said. “I am seeking to propose it (to President Moon) apart from pros and cons from the supporters of the ruling bloc. … The party will have to play a more active role from now on.”

As former President Lee was sentenced to 17 years by the Supreme Court last October while Park is still on trial, a special pardon and suspension of sentence will be sought for each case, if President Moon pardons the two former presidents.

Korea Times

Something that is important to remember is that this is about more than just Presidents Park and Lee being locked up, there has been numerous journalists and conservative commentators prosecuted and locked up as well for speaking out against the Moon administration.