President Lee and Prime Minister Takaichi continue to appear to get along quite well. Hopefully this continues:

President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday he has emphasized the need for trilateral cooperation among Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing as he held summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, amid heightened diplomatic tensions between Japan and China. 

“I emphasized the need for the three Northeast Asian countries — Korea, Japan and China — to identify as much common ground as possible in order to communicate and cooperate,” Lee said in a joint press announcement after the summit. 

The summit talks with Takaichi came after Lee held summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this month, at a time when tensions have been running high between Beijing and Tokyo over Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it appears Lee is trying to position himself as a mediator between Beijing and Tokyo. I doubt Lee will influence China in anyway in regards to Japan. Taiwan is one of those issues where the CCP shows no flexibility and will always overreact on.

This would be a dream outcome for the Korean left if President Yoon receives the death penalty:

A special counsel team has requested the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed imposition of martial law, describing him as the ringleader of an insurrection who sought to stay in power by seizing control of the judiciary and legislature.

Special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team made the request during the final hearing of Yoon’s trial at the Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday, just over a year after the then president declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, with the stated aim of eradicating anti-state forces.

The court plans to hand down its ruling on Yoon’s case on Feb. 19.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I doubt the Lee administration flew these drones so it is likely civilians that flew them. Even if they are civilian drones, this shows North Korea has poor defenses against drones:

 Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday reaffirmed that South Korea has no intention of provoking or irritating North Korea, after Pyongyang again blamed the South for drone incursions into the North and demanded an explanation. 

In a statement, the Office of National Security at Cheong Wa Dae said, “The government once again confirms that it has no intention of provoking or irritating the North side.”

“The government will look into the latest drone incident through a joint military-police probe and promptly disclose its results,” the office said, also pledging continued efforts to ease inter-Korean tension and build trust. 

On Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, called on Seoul to provide a detailed explanation, a day after the North Korean military claimed that the South violated the North’s sovereignty by sending drones in September and on Jan. 4. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Regardless of the political party, I wonder how many political seats in Korea are influenced by bribery?:

A former member of Seoul’s Dongjak Ward Council (R) appears at an office of the Seoul Metropolitan Police in the capital on Jan. 8, 2026, to undergo questioning about his alleged delivery of cash to Democratic Party Rep. Kim Byung-kee. (Yonhap)

Police on Thursday questioned a former local council member over his claim that he delivered 10 million won (US$6,900) in cash to ruling party lawmaker Kim Byung-kee in the hopes of a nomination for the 2020 parliamentary elections.

The former member of Seoul’s Dongjak Ward Council was questioned as a suspect at an office of the Seoul Metropolitan Police after disclosing the apparent bribe in a petition submitted to former Rep. Lee Su-jin of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) in late 2023.

Lee recently mentioned the petition to the press amid a snowballing corruption scandal involving Kim and his family. Kim stepped down as DP floor leader last week to take responsibility for the various allegations of misconduct.

In the petition, the former council member reportedly claimed that his wife offered a Lunar New Year’s gift and 5 million won in cash to Kim’s wife ahead of the 2020 parliamentary election but that they were rejected for being “too much for a gift and too little” for a nomination.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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

I had not heard of this criminal case before, but it is really terrible. How can a pregnant woman kidnap and kill an 8-year old girl?:

Police drag Jeon Hyeon-ju, the kidnapper and killer of Park Na-ri, 8, to Seocho Police Station in southern Seoul on Sept. 12, 1997.[JOONANG ILBO]

On the evening of Aug. 30, 1997, a telephone rang inside an apartment in Seocho District, an affluent neighborhood in southern Seoul. 
  
The voice on the line was calm. 
  
“Is this Na-ri’s house?” the woman asked. “Na-ri is doing fine.”

The next day, the phone rang again. 
  
“Bring a bank card with 20 million won [$14,000] in it,” the woman said. 
  
“I only have cash,” the mother replied, her voice shaking. 
  
“Then you will not be able to see your child,” the caller said and hung up. 
  
Only later would the family learn that this was not a negotiation. Another call that night was traced to a cafe in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. 
  
With no leads, police made the investigation public on Sept. 3. The missing child was Park Na-ri, a second-grade student at a nearby elementary school. Her full name was Park Chorong Chorong Bitnari.  (……………..)

The day after her father came forward, police arrested Jeon at an inn in Sillim-dong, in Gwanak District, southern Seoul. Pesticides were found at the scene. Jeon later told police she had intended to kill herself. Her parents, according to reports, had urged her to do so before her arrest. 
  
She was about a month from giving birth. 
  
Based on Jeon’s testimony, police were dispatched to the basement office of her husband in Sadang-dong, Dongjak District. Her husband worked as a director of children’s theatrical productions. 
  
An officer at the scene later said he nearly slipped on the floor because it was covered in blood. 
  
Na-ri’s body was found inside a hiking backpack.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read the rest at the link, but Jeon was sentenced to life in prison and after giving birth her daughter was put up for adoption to the United States.

This guy sounds more like a mob boss than a CEO:

The head of Joyworks&Co, the Korean distributor for running shoe brand Hoka, has stepped down after admitting to assaulting subcontracted workers. 
  
CEO Cho Sung-hwan allegedly called subcontracted employees to an abandoned church building in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, where he verbally and physically assaulted them. According to reports, Cho repeatedly slapped employees while shouting, “Do you know who I am?”

He also reportedly kneed an employee in the face, with victims suffering fractured ribs, concussions and other injuries.  
  
Cho initially claimed that the subcontractors were spreading false information and that the altercation involved physical contact by both parties, but later apologized.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It is pretty amazing the staying power the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack has had:

The soundtrack for Netflix’s hit animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” has surged back into the top tiers of the Billboard 200 albums chart. 

Billboard said in a preview of this week’s chart Sunday (U.S. time) that the soundtrack jumped seven spots to No. 3.

The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States, measured by equivalent album units, comprising physical album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Despite an 18 percent dip in weekly consumption, the soundtrack earned 51,000 equivalent album units, fueled by steady streaming numbers.

Global pop star Taylor Swift’s latest studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” logged its 12th non-consecutive week at No. 1, further cementing Swift’s status as a chart juggernaut.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the K-Pop Demon Hunters movie continues to have major staying power as well continuing to rank in the Netflix Top 10 movies list.