This accolade comes after leading the U.S. box office last week after a two day limited theater release:
The animated sensation “KPop Demon Hunters” has officially become Netflix’s most-watched movie of all time.
The film has amassed 236 million views since its release on June 20, surpassing the previous record holder, the action-comedy “Red Notice,” which had 230.9 million views, according to Netflix.
Produced by Sony Pictures Animation, the Netflix original film centers on Huntr/x, who live a double life, balancing their music careers with their duties as warriors who protect the world from demonic spirits, like the overlord Gwi-Ma and the soul-stealing Saja Boys.
The film’s soundtrack has also achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first ever to have four songs — “Golden,” “Your Idol,” “Soda Pop” and “How It’s Done” — simultaneously in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
You can read more at the link.
More good news on the birth rate issue in South Korea:
The number of babies born in South Korea rose at the fastest pace on record in June, government data showed Wednesday, a positive sign for a country struggling with an ultralow birth rate.
A total of 19,953 babies were born in June, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.
It marked the steepest on-year increase for any June since 1981 when the agency began compiling relevant data.
June also marked the 12th consecutive month of on-year growth, though the monthly number of newborns fell below the 20,000 mark for the first time in three months.
The country’s total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, went up by 0.06 from a year earlier to 0.76 in June on the back of increased childbirths among women aged 35-39.
You can read more at the link.
It would be interesting to learn what part of the trade deal that President Lee was trying to renegotiate:
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Seoul and Washington agreed to keep last month’s bilateral trade deal unchanged though there was a “problem,” as he held summit talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Washington the previous day.
Trump made the remarks during a Cabinet meeting, while touting a series of agreements that his administration has reached with countries to reduce America’s trade deficits and boost federal coffers.
“I heard there was a problem with South Korea, but we met yesterday, and they are done. We didn’t do it. We just kept the same deal. He honored the deal,” he said.
“They wanted to see if … well, I don’t even want to say it, but they wanted to see if they could do something. But they honored the deal, which is nice,” he added.
You can read more at the link.
It looks like the Lee administration will not be able to jail Han Duck-soo at least in the near term:
A Seoul court on Wednesday rejected a warrant to arrest former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched imposition of martial law.
The Seoul Central District Court denied the warrant sought by the team of special counsel Cho Eun-suk, saying there is room for legal dispute regarding key facts and the legal assessment of the suspect’s actions.
Han is facing charges of abetting the ringleader of an insurrection, falsifying and destroying official documents, perjury, and other offenses.
You can read more at the link.
If President Lee wants to stay on the good side of President Trump he should see what he can do to set up a meeting with Kim Jong-un:
U.S. President Donald Trump indicated his willingness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the end of the year, raising the possibility of a meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea later this year.
During his first summit with President Lee Jae Myung at the White House, Monday, Trump was asked by reporters whether he planned to meet the North Korean leader again. He responded that he hoped to do so, emphasizing that he “gets along great with him.”
“I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un in the appropriate future,” the U.S. president said.
Regarding the upcoming APEC Summit scheduled for the end of October in Gyeongju, South Korea, Trump said he’d love to come for the summit.
When presented with the possibility of meeting both Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC event, Trump described the idea as “interesting,” although he acknowledged it could be difficult to arrange.
“That’d be interesting. We’ll arrange a meeting between you and Kim Jong-un. Would you like that? I don’t know. That’s a very tough question right now. I don’t know where that question is leading. Anyway, look, I get along great with Kim Jong-un and whatever I can do, having to do with South Korea and getting people together, you should get together,” he said.
You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-un would never travel to South Korea for a summit because domestically it would like he is being subservient to the U.S. and South Korea. What Trump might be able to do is a meeting at Panmunjom with Kim Jong-un like he has did previously where they look of equal standing. Optics are very important to the Kim regime.
