I still can’t believe how the ROK media continues to obscure her face when everyone related to the Park Geun-hye impeachment had their face splashed all over the news media:

 State prosecutors filed additional charges against the arrested wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk on Monday as they apparently prepare to summon Cho for questioning in connection with alleged irregularities by his family.

Chung Kyung-sim, a professor, was indicted on 14 counts related to her daughter’s college admission and her dubious investment in a private equity fund (PEF).

Her detention, originally set to expire at midnight, will be extended with the indictment.

Chung was arrested last month on 11 charges relating to alleged irregularities surrounding academic favors and a financial investment.

The prosecution added three charges, including fraud and violation of the real-name financial transaction law.

She is already standing trial on alleged forgery of a presidential citation for her daughter.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I will be highly surprised if the Moon administration keeps the GSOMIA in place because they need to feed anti-Japanese sentiment for next year’s parliamentary elections. Plus the Moon administration can use the GSOMIA as a bargaining chip with the US in the ongoing cost sharing negotiations:

Against this backdrop, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Sunday, Korea can’t cooperate with Japan “as long as they deem us an untrustworthy partner and continue to impose export curbs.”

Speaking before the National Assembly, Friday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, also said Japan’s removal of the export control should be a precondition for Korea’s possible change concerning the GSOMIA decision.

On whether Beijing and Pyongyang will benefit most from the termination of GSOMIA, Kang said “Such assessment is possible.”

Shin speculated the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul from Nov. 15 to 16, and G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Nagoya, Japan, from Nov. 22 to 23 may be the “last chance” to settle the GSOMIA dispute.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Yes it is probably a good idea to plan for a provocation cycle after the New Year because it is does not appear any denuclearization deal is close to being negotiated:

The United States is trying hard to coax North Korea into restarting nuclear talks, as South Korea is also quite “serious” about the year-end deadline set by Pyongyang, a top Cheong Wa Dae official said Sunday.

The North has emphasized that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump should change tack and put forward fresh offers based on a “new calculation method” by the end of this year or face an end to the already troubled dialogue process itself.

Regarding the North’s own deadline, “The South Korean government is also keeping an eye on (relevant situations) quite seriously,” Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential security office, told reporters. (…….)

South Korea is also coordinating closely with the U.S. so that denuclearization talks can proceed smoothly, getting “various contingency plans” ready for use, he said without elaborating.

The South Korean government’s position is that security conditions on the peninsula should never return to the level before 2017.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised if the Moon administration’s response to a North Korean provocation would be to unilaterally violate sanctions to pay off the Kim regime and say it is for humanitarian reasons.

Not a good look for the U.S. Marine Corps in Japan:

Japan-based Marine Corps aviators’ antics — including reading, hair grooming and letting go of aircraft controls while posing for in-flight photos — are detailed in an accident report that sparked outrage among Japanese officials who recently learned of its contents.

The report says a pilot’s inexperience conducting nighttime, in-air refueling and toxic leadership contributed to the midair collision of an F/A-18 Hornet and KC-130 air tanker late last year that killed six crewmembers from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.

Investigators determined that Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242 suffered from “inadequate oversight of training and operations” and an “unprofessional command climate.” Four Marine officers — the unit’s commander, its executive officer, its operations officer and its aviation safety officer — were fired as a result.

The report, which said officers engaged in wrongful use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, includes in-flight selfies taken by the squadron’s aviators while performing antics like grooming facial hair with a switchblade comb and reading “The Great Santini” by Pat Conroy. It also quotes from an online chat group where Marine officers used inappropriate language to describe some of their colleagues.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like a new owner for Asiana Airlines is getting closer to becoming a reality:

The stock prices of Asiana Airlines Inc. and its affiliates advanced Friday after three consortia joined a final auction to acquire the country’s second-biggest airline. 

Asiana shares jumped 9.6 percent to 5,820 won, information and technology solutions provider Asiana IDT Inc. soared by nearly the daily limit of 30 percent to 22,650 won and low-cost carrier Air Busan Co. soared 12 percent to 7,150 won.

The broader KOSPI erased earlier gains to end in negative territory, falling 0.3 percent to 2,137.23.

On Thursday, the Aekyung-Stone Bridge Capital consortium, the consortium of Hyundai Development Co. (HDC) and Mirae Asset Daewoo, and the consortium of the Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI) and BankerStreet private equity funds submitted their final bids to Credit Suisse, the sole lead manager of the deal. 

Aekyung and HDC reportedly presented the acquisition prices of around 1.5 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) and about 2.5 trillion won, respectively, for the country’s second-biggest airline after Korean Air Lines Co.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.