As long as the Moon administration is in power I don’t see South Korea getting tough on Chinese aggression in the region:

The United States is raising pressure on Korea to participate in its anti-China alliance, with Washington seeking unity with its allies against Beijing’s assertiveness in the region.

Korea has been reluctant to adopt the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific strategy, aimed at containing China, despite repeated calls from its biggest ally, because a stand against China would come at a large cost, given that it is Seoul’s largest trading partner. 

On Tuesday, Adm. Philip Davidson, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, made a visit to Defense Minister Suh Wook and discussed the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, according to the Ministry of National Defense. 

However, the meeting was seen as unusual given that the 52nd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) was just held a week ago in the U.S., where Suh met with his American counterpart Mark Esper. Davidson also accompanied them. 

In that respect, Davidson’s visit raised speculation that the U.S. would pressure Korea to jump on the anti-China bandwagon although the Korean defense ministry denied it. 

“The U.S. badly wanted to be able to cite Korea’s participation in or support for the anti-China coalition in the joint communique (after SCM), but to no avail,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Considering how over populated South Korea is, it may be a good thing to have some population decline in my opinion:

The government should change its immigration policy drastically in the face of the declining population, experts said Monday. 

According to a paper titled “Searching for the Direction of Mid- and Long-term Korean Immigration Policy,” published in the latest issue of the journal entitled Multicultural Content Research by Chung-Ang University’s Institute of Cultural Contents, the establishment of a ministry in charge of managing immigration issues is necessary to implement comprehensive related policies.

Kim Yeon-hong, an official of the Human Resources Development Service of Korea who authored the paper, said, “The situation will become so serious that the nation’s population will see a significant decrease in 2020, and the country, by 2030 will face national-security challenges due to a shrinking active military.” 

“In order to maintain the current size of the economy, the inflow of immigrant workers will be inevitable.” Kim said. 

According to data from Statistics Korea, the number of deaths from January to July of this year was 176,363 while the number of births was 165,000. The difference between the birth and death rates is particularly notable this year, indicating that the nation’s net annual population has naturally decreased for the first time in history.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

DNA technology is continuing to help Korean born adoptees find their biological parents:

A 47-year-old Korean-born woman adopted by an American family 44 years ago has reunited with her biological family after conducting a DNA test through a South Korean mission in the United States, the foreign ministry said Sunday.

On Thursday, Yoon Sang-ae, now an American citizen, had a tearful video call with her 78-year-old biological mother, Lee Eung-soon, her twin sister, Yoon Sang-hee, and brother, Yoon Sang-myung. 

Yoon Sang-ae was three years old when she went missing while at a market in Seoul with her grandmother. She was flown to the United States months later. 

She registered her DNA information in search of her family when she visited South Korea in 2016. Her biological mother also registered her DNA the next year to find her daughter. (…………)

It was the first case where a Korean-born adoptee found the biological family after the government began providing a DNA test service for overseas adoptees to help them be tested and register their information without having to come to South Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration has been trying to find ways to get Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to resign since he will not go along with covering for corrupt ruling party politicians. This could be another attempt to pressure him to quit by going after his wife:

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae ordered the nation’s top prosecutor on Monday to take his hands off the ongoing investigations into a high-profile fund scandal in a move she claims is intended to ensure a “fair” and “independent” probe into those cases.

The unusual order came a day after the justice ministry raised speculation that Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl failed to conduct a thorough investigation into opposition politicians and prosecutors allegedly implicated in the case.

“It is necessary to guarantee a fair and independent investigation into the Lime case and the case involving the prosecutor-general’s family,” Choo said, directing the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office and the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office to not follow Yoon’s orders and only report the results of the investigations to him.

Lime Asset Management Co. is suspected of covering up massive losses and subsequently suspending fund redemption worth an estimated 1.6 trillion won (US$1.39 billion).

Kim Bong-hyun, a key suspect in the case, has alleged that he bribed a former senior aide to President Moon Jae-in, and also lobbied influential opposition politicians and incumbent prosecutors.

“The possibility of the prosecutor-general’s involvement in determining the truth behind the Lime case cannot be completely removed,” Choo said.

The Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) responded in a statement that Yoon has “become unable” to orchestrate the investigation into the Lime case.

On the case involving his family, the SPO said Yoon was never involved or briefed on the investigation and therefore had no comment to make.

The prosecution is looking into allegations that Yoon’s wife was involved in manipulating stocks in Deutsch Motors and that her company took bribes disguised as donations.

Choo’s directive calls on the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office to remove a prosecutor and investigator from the team in charge of the Lime case following allegations they were lobbied by Kim.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the people now running the investigation are all allies of Choo Mi-ae, so it is pretty clear how this “investigation” against Yoon’s wife will turn out.

Always remember that Korea is a rule by law country and not a rule of law country.

Here is a story about the “peaceful” protesters in Chicago and a Korean-American shop owner:

The crowd was growing impatient as Crystal Holmes fumbled with the keys to the store.

Dozens of people were swarming the street around Western Beauty Supply, the Chicago shop where Holmes works. She had persuaded some of them to let her open the store so they could rob it without breaking the windows.

“She’s taking too long,” someone yelled. “Let’s go in and get it.”

Western Beauty Supply sells products like wigs, hair extensions and combs mostly to Black women. Most of the employees, like Holmes, are also Black, but the owner is a Korean American man, Yong Sup Na.

When a few young men appeared outside the store earlier that evening in May, Na went out to speak with them. He offered some of them cash, and they walked away. At that point, Na told Holmes that he felt confident his business was safe. “They are not going to break into the store,” he told her.

A few minutes later, though, a larger group showed up. A woman snatched Na’s keys, but Holmes persuaded her to give them back. Then she ordered Na, her boss, to leave. “You don’t know what could happen,” she told him.

Even as Holmes tried to save the store from ruin that evening, when protests and looting followed the police killing of George Floyd, she understood what was causing the turmoil roiling Chicago and dozens of other cities.

“I understand where the rage is coming from,” Holmes, 40, said in an interview. “We don’t have any businesses in the community and we are getting killed by the police and killing each other, and we are just getting tired.”

New York Times

You can read more at the link, but I think there should be some self reflection here instead of blaming Koreans for being “insular” as described in the article.

How come a guy who came to the country in his late 20’s with no money and not speaking the language was able to become a successful shop owner who put his kids through college, but people with all the advantages of being born in the US could not? If you read the article there are some hints why.

Congratulations to Choi Ji-man and the Tampa Bay Rays:

 In just a few years, Choi Ji-man has evolved from a player seemingly no club wanted into a key member of a World Series-bound team.

The Rays defeated the Houston Astros 4-2 in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) at Petco Park in San Diego on Saturday (local time). The Rays won the first three games of this series before dropping the next three in a row. They just avoided becoming only the second team in major league history to squander a 3-0 series lead to lose a best-of-seven postseason round.

Choi played in five of the seven games and went 5-for-13 with a home run, an RBI, three runs scored and four walks. He was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in the clinching contest.

He is now expected to become the first South Korean position player to appear in a World Series game. The Rays will face the winner of the National League Championship Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will meet in their own Game 7 on Sunday. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.