Nearly a year later it still seems surreal that the Korean authorities have caught the Hwaseong Serial Killer after all these decades:

Police on Thursday closed the country’s longest-standing cold case involving a series of brutal rapes and murders that began more than three decades ago.

Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency concluded in a briefing that Lee Chun-jae killed 14 women, most of them rape-murder cases, and raped nine others, wrapping up its one-year investigation into him and his killing and raping spree that terrorized the country in the 1980s and 90s. 

Lee was found responsible for all of the 10 killings of women aged 14 to 71 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, from 1986-1991 in what is known as the worst serial murder case in the country’s modern history, the police said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Cars and beer are taking the brunt of the boycott against Japanese products while other daily consumer Japanese products are actually expanding in South Korea:

The impact of a boycott movement against Japanese products that began in July 2019 is still visible in consumption patterns today, although some brands have shown signs of recovery.  
   
The “No Japan” boycott began after Japan last year introduced controls on exports of some key products to Korea.  
   
Consumer goods were the hardest hit. Japanese beer and cars, in particular, have seen sales drop dramatically, even as the boycott movement has waned in recent months.  (……)

However, there have been some signs that may suggest the impact is lessening. Japanese luxury brand Lexus saw sales increase in May with the sale of 727 cars, 266 more than April. The figure is still down on last year, when it sold 1,431 vehicles in May, but does show an upturn.  
   
“Lexus’ sales are recovering due to the brand’s positive reputation for its quality among consumers and the recent boost in promotions,” said an official in the imported car industry.    
   
Meanwhile, some Japanese consumer goods brands like Descente, a sportswear company, ABC Mart, a footwear brand, and Muji, a retail company, have been opening more stores in Korea and seeing sales increase. Industry analysts say consumers still shy away from products that are conspicuously Japanese, like cars and beer, but have been returning to Japanese brands for daily supplies and personal items. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I have always found it interesting that the Korean government wants to boycott Japanese products while at the same time wants to reopen the near slave labor production facilities at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea to sell those goods to Koreans.

It will be interesting to see if the Blue House wants to continue to not hold the combined exercises regardless of if it makes them less prepared to take over OPCON:

South Korea and the United States should continue to stage large-scale combined military exercises in the face of North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile capabilities, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander Gen. Robert Abrams said Wednesday.

In a speech during a forum held in Seoul, Abrams also noted that more work needs to be done for the planned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from Washington to Seoul. 

“Unfortunately, we had to postpone our theatre-level combined post command training this year due to the ongoing global pandemic. While we have been able to conduct important leader development training, that in no way replicates the rigor and realism of our semi-annual theatre-level training events,” Abrams said.

In February, Seoul and Washington announced their decision to indefinitely postpone their key springtime exercise due to COVID-19, and discussions are under way to fix the schedule and program for their summertime combined exercises.

“We must continue to conduct combined live trainings … with rigorous scenarios,” the commander said, vowing to further discuss with the South Korean side about ways to maintain a staunch readiness posture.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Dr. Tara O has another nugget on the appeasement of North Korea by the Moon administration:

At the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War commemoration event in South Korea, the North Korean anthem was played prior to the South Korean national anthem.  The annual event, which is usually held during the day, was held late at night for the first time on June 25, 2020, with Korean War veterans and foreign guests.  The U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accountability Agency (DPAA) sent the remains of 147 Republic of Korea (ROK) soldiers who died during the Korean War; the remains were initially returned from North Korea.  South Korean president Moon Jae-in, after skipping the event for the first three years of his presidency, attended the commemoration event for the first time.

East Asia Research Center

You can read much more at the link, but this is like playing verses from Horst-Wessel-Lied as part of the Star Spangled Banner during a Normandy Commemoration.

For some expats living in Seoul you may be getting a check from the City of Seoul soon:

Foreigners living in Seoul will receive a one-time Covid-19 relief payment, a city official confirmed Wednesday.  

During a plenary session Tuesday, the Seoul Metropolitan Council passed a supplementary budget bill that included plans to allocate 33 billion won ($27.4 million) for a program to dole out emergency funds to foreigners.  

But the city has been light on basic details, including the timing and payment amounts.  

Seoul’s decision to provide Covid-19 emergency payments to foreigners came less than a month after Korea’s human rights watchdog, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, issued a policy recommendation to the metropolitan government of Seoul and the provincial government of Gyeonggi not to discriminate against foreigners when providing Covid-19 relief. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.