Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.
This is the only legally cultivated marijuana in #SouthKorea … A lemon haze hybrid with about ~10% thc. Grown with an R&D licence so it must be destroyed when mature. This could be just the start of exciting things here (hint)! pic.twitter.com/LxnznJMG5i
— Matt Lamers (@matt_lamers) July 31, 2019
South Korea has its own Jim Jones wannabe, just without the Kool-aid:
The leader of a South Korean doomsday cult who held 400 people captive in Fiji and subjected them to violent beatings has been sentenced to six years in jail.
Shin Ok-ju, founder of the Grace Road Church, convinced her followers to move to Fiji in 2014, which she said was the “promised land”, pointed to in the Bible, where they would survive coming apocalyptic events.
Once they arrived on the island their passports were confiscated. Those who left the group reported brutal rituals, called “threshing floors” in which people were beaten as punishment for sinful actions or to drive out evil spirits.
On Monday a South Korean court found Shin guilty on multiple criminal charges including violence, child abuse and fraud.
“The victims suffered helplessly from collective beatings and experienced not only physical torture but also severe fear and considerable mental shock,” said the Anyang sub-court of the Suwon district court.The leader of a South Korean doomsday cult who held 400 people captive in Fiji and subjected them to violent beatings has been sentenced to six years in jail.
Shin Ok-ju, founder of the Grace Road Church, convinced her followers to move to Fiji in 2014, which she said was the “promised land”, pointed to in the Bible, where they would survive coming apocalyptic events.
Once they arrived on the island their passports were confiscated. Those who left the group reported brutal rituals, called “threshing floors” in which people were beaten as punishment for sinful actions or to drive out evil spirits.
The Guardian
You can read the rest at the link, but I look forward to the day the greatest cult leader of them all located north of the DMZ is put in jail.
Anyone closely following North Korea knows they are not going to give up their nuclear weapons. The below article explains some of the reasons why:
“There seems to be a very subtle debate going on,” said Town, citing articles in North Korean press “that are really questioning the value of why are we giving away our nuclear deterrent, why are we working with these capitalists?” Other articles have pushed back, stressing “the value of diplomacy.”
Kim has expressed skepticism. In a speech in April, he said President Trump “continuously observes” that the two leaders are friendly. But Kim added that the U.S. is making one-sided demands and using the wrong “political calculations.”
Analysts say Kim’s own political calculations have made it hard to give up nuclear weapons.
Jean Lee, a former Associated Press correspondent who spent much time in Pyongyang, said North Korea’s propaganda described the nuclear program as “the one thing that he has told his people is protecting them from a foreign invasion.”
Giving up the nuclear program would undermine Kim’s legitimacy as a ruler, said Ken Gause, who studies the North Korean leadership for CNA, a research group based in Arlington, Va.
“I think he can dismantle parts of the program,” Gause said, but only in ways that are “not verifiable and not irreversible,” and “probably not near as much as we would want.”
To accept even a partial dismantling, Kim would need concessions from the United States, such as the lifting of economic sanctions against North Korea. “Kim is not moving an iota unless the U.S. put stuff on the table,” said Gause, “which means money going into the pockets of the elite because that’s the people he has to satisfy.”
NPR
You can read more at the link, but this is why North Korea wants a “freeze deal” in return for sanctions relief. With a freeze deal they give up nothing, they just suspend testing and get sanctions relief, probably the re-opening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Kumgang mountain tours. These were huge money makers for the regime before their closure.
If these projects are reopened, the North Koreans will behave for a while and cash up their regime and at a time of their choosing they will start another provocation cycle. However, every provocation cycle they feature better and better military capabilities due to the prior sanctions relief that has allowed them to pour money into weapons development.
President Trump appears to want to stop this cycle, but some in the administration appear to just want the problem to go away with a freeze deal and let someone down the road deal with the problem which has been the US policy for decades and that is what Kim Jong-un is counting on.
Kim Jong-un is making up for lost time testing his shorter range systems:
North Korea launched what appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), Friday, in its third test in just over a week.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said two unidentified projectiles were launched ― one each at 2:59 a.m. and 3:23 a.m. ― from the Yonghung area in South Hamgyong Province into the East Sea.
The projectiles had a lower than usual altitude at 25 kilometers, and travelled 220 kilometers at a maximum speed of Mach 6.9.
The JCS did not specify whether the projectiles were SRBMs; but some officers said their flight characteristics were similar to that of two launched July 31.
Citing the South Korean and U.S. military intelligence, Cheong Wa Dae said the projectiles were likely newly developed SRBMs the North has been testing in recent weeks.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link, but President Trump did say that he had no problems with the tests since they did not violate the agreement him and Kim Jong-un made to not test ICBMs.
I learn something new every day, the importation of sex dolls in South Korea used to be illegal until a recent Supreme Court ruling allowed their importation. Now activists are protesting to stop their import:
More than 200,000 people have signed a petition against the import of life-size sex dolls into Korea.
As of Wednesday, more than 210,000 people signed the petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, a month after the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to allow the import of such dolls.
“They are not ordinary sex toys,” the petitioner wrote. “A life-size sex doll resembles a woman’s body in every detail. It can even be customized to fit an individual’s needs for hairstyle, facial structure, birthmarks or anything.
“Nowadays, deepfake celebrity porn videos can easily be found online. There’s no guarantee that sex dolls won’t be used for such purposes. People may be shocked to find sex dolls that look just like them. If that happens, who will take responsibility for the damage?”
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
#SouthKorea's ruling party's think tank Institute for Democracy published a report stating not reaching an agreement w Japan is advantageous to the party in next year's election.https://t.co/G0yhvRg2ol
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) July 31, 2019
North Korea says they did not test a missile, but instead a large caliber rocket system this week:
North Korea said Thursday it tested a new rocket system in launches conducted the previous day, raising questions about South Korea’s assessment that the communist nation is believed to have fired short-range ballistic missiles.
Leader Kim Jong-un “guided a test-fire of a newly developed large-caliber multiple launch guided rocket system on July 31,” the Korean Central News Agency said.
“The test-fire scientifically confirmed that the tactical data and technical characteristics of the new-type large-caliber guided ordnance rocket reached the numerical values of its design, and verified the combat effectiveness of the overall system,” the KCNA said.
“After learning about the result of the test-fire, (Kim Jong-un) said that it is very great and it would be an inescapable distress to the forces becoming a fat target of the weapon,” it added.
The KCNA did not mention any country as its potential target, but the report appears to be referring to Seoul, which is apparently within the range of the weapon.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but the “fat target” North Korea is referring to could not only be Seoul, but Camp Humphreys as well.
