The Stars & Stripes article doesn’t mention it, but this Marine lieutenant colonel had his O6 promotion pulled from him. That is a massive loss of pay and eventual retirement money each month lost because of his stupidity:

A Marine lieutenant colonel found guilty of stealing hundreds of dollars in merchandise from a base exchange in South Korea has escaped punishment, according to a published report.

Lt. Col. Samuel K. Lee, 47, was convicted Sept. 11 at Camp Foster, Okinawa, of two counts of violating Article 121 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or larceny of non-military property valued at $1,000 or less, the military news website Task & Purpose reported Thursday, citing court records.

Lee, a logistics officer for Marine Forces Korea, stole a 4K ultra high definition wire-free security camera system, Apple Airpods with a wireless charging system, Bose noise-canceling headphones and Estee Lauder ReNutriv Ultimate Diamond energy cream between Nov. 1, 2019, and March 8, 2020, according to the report, which cited Marine officials with knowledge of the charges.

A conviction for theft at or under $1,000 could bring a bad conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and confinement for one year, according to the manual on courts martial.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link as well as over at Task and Purpose that originally published this story.

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

I wonder if Kim Jong-un will follow these new regulations?:

North Korea has held a rare meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly to adopt an anti-smoking law, state media reported Thursday, amid questions whether leader Kim Jong-un, known as a heavy smoker, would kick the habit.

The plenary meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), held Wednesday, adopted the Tobacco-Prohibition Law and Revising and Supplementing the Law on Enterprises, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

The tobacco-prohibition law “stipulates the rules which all the institutions, organizations and citizens must follow in protecting the lives and health of the people and providing more cultured and hygienic living environments by tightening the legal and social controls on the production and sale of cigarettes and on smoking as required by the state tobacco-prohibition policy,” the KCNA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I doubt we will see public photos of Kim Jong-un smoking again.

These landmines could just as easily be used to keep people in than keeping people out:

North Korea has taken extreme measures to fend off the coronavirus, including laying landmines in border areas with China, Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers Tuesday.

During a closed-door session at the Intelligence Committee of the National Assembly, the spy agency said North Korea fears the spread of COVID-19 could bring catastrophic results to the country due to its poor medical infrastructure, according to Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the main opposition People Power Party.

“Since there is no physical or technical means to deal with the coronavirus, there is something like coronavirus trauma in North Korea,” Ha quoted the NIS as saying.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.