You know things are bad on the North Korea engagement front when former President Moon’s point man on Kim regime appeasement, Moon Chung-in has largely given up on bilateral talks:

Prospects for inter-Korean dialogue are even more constrained, Moon said, noting that North Korea has formally labelled South Korea a hostile state and cut off nearly all communication channels. Symbolic or technical measures, he added, are unlikely to alter Pyongyang’s broader strategy.

“Suspending loudspeaker broadcasts or softening rhetoric will not change North Korea’s strategic calculus,” Moon said, “The problem is structural, not tactical.”

When assessing the Lee Jae Myung administration’s North Korea policy, Moon said that the government’s intentions matter less than the external environment that shapes Pyongyang’s choices. He pointed out that North Korea currently has little incentive to engage, given that it can withstand pressure with the backing of Russia and China.

“It’s not that Seoul is unwilling to talk,” Moon said. “North Korea simply does not feel the need to respond.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I have been saying for months that these attempts to start talks with North Korea are pointless. They have no reason to pursue talks with the ROK when the Russians are currently filling all their economic and security needs.

It looks like South Korea will soon have a lot of people signing up to become “researchers” in order to get out of their mandatory military service. This sounds more like a way for the rich and privileged to avoid serving in the military:

 President Lee Jae Myung held a meeting with young researchers and science students Thursday and discussed ways to expand alternative military service options as part of a broader reform to the military system.

During the meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said his administration was reviewing an overhaul of the military, including measures to substitute mandatory military service for other forms of service.

“As young men are obliged to serve in the military, they unavoidably face career breaks for a considerable period, which can become a source of conflict and lead to a sense of frustration,” he said.

Responding to a student’s suggestion that young men should be given more research opportunities during their service, Lee said the administration was reviewing such measures.

“On top of that, I plan to carry out major changes in the military,” Lee added, stressing he will seek to provide opportunities for young men to acquire expertise in cutting-edge technology and weapons systems during their service rather than wasting it away.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korea’s F-15’s are going to continue to receive needed upgrades:

The Defense Department approved a $2.8 billion, 11-year hybrid contract with Boeing to modify F-15K Slam Eagle fighters for the South Korean air force, the Pentagon announced Friday. The contract calls for “design and development of an integrated suite of aircraft systems” as part of overall modernization of the Slam Eagles, the South Korean variant of the F-15 Eagle fourth-generation fighter.

The U.S. government, which acts as a go-between, paying the contractor and collecting from South Korea, advanced $540 million under the contract as part of the Foreign Military Sales program. Boeing delivered the first of 40 Slam Eagles to Seoul in October 2005. It contracted for another 21 aircraft in April 2008, according to a company news release in April 2012.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Korea may have found yet another foreign export market for its defense products:

This photo, taken on Feb. 3, 2026, and provided by Hanwha Aerospace Co., shows (from L) Son Jae-il, president and CEO of Hanwha Aerospace; Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s secretary of state for defense procurement; and Philippe Lafortune, Canadian ambassador to South Korea, posing during their visit to the company’s plants in Changwon, about 360 kilometers south of Seoul. 

Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s secretary of state for defense procurement, visited Hanwha Aerospace’s plants in Changwon, about 360 kilometers south of Seoul, following a visit to Hanwha Ocean Co.’s shipyard in Geoje the previous day.

The visit was aimed at assessing South Korea’s defense industry capabilities ahead of Canada’s large-scale military modernization program known as the indirect fire modernization (IFM) initiative, the company said.

Canada plans to deploy about 250 infantry fighting vehicles in its army by 2030, six years earlier than originally scheduled.

The Canadian delegation, consisting of about 30 members led by Fuhr, toured production lines for the K9 self-propelled howitzers and the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), and observed live mobility demonstrations of the K9, the Redback armored fighting vehicle and the K21 infantry fighting vehicle.

During the visit, Hanwha Aerospace proposed an integrated firepower and maneuver solution combining the K9 self-propelled howitzers, the MRLS and the Redback vehicle. The K9 howitzers are currently operated by more than 10 countries, including six members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears that President Lee has found X to be a good way to communicate directly to the public just like President Trump:

President Lee Jae Myung’s increasingly frequent social media posts warning of an end to a tax waiver for multiple homeowners have put his housing agenda — and his direct-to-public messaging — at the center of a widening political debate between rival parties.

The main opposition People Power Party said Monday that Lee’s posts urging homeowners to sell amount to “intimidation.” The party went further, asking whether Lee “learned it” from US President Donald Trump, who has made social media a key tool of governance and used it to deliver major policy announcements.

Following his New Year’s news conference on Jan. 23, Lee has stepped up his use of his official X account to weigh in on major policy issues. The approach aligns with his long-standing communications style: he relied heavily on social media while serving as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Housing policy has accounted for the lion’s share of his posts. Lee has posted about the issue 11 times: one post on Jan. 23, four posts on Jan. 25, three on Saturday, one on Sunday and two on Monday.

Lee’s posts largely reaffirm his determination to terminate the exemption for the higher capital gains tax on multihomeowners that began with the inauguration of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration on May 9 in 2022 and was extended each year.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.