It will be interesting to see if Canada decides to give in to Chinese intimidation and threats:

China warned Canada that it needs to be aware of the consequences of aiding the U.S. in an extradition case involving Chinese tech giant Huawei that is believed to have sparked the detentions of two Canadians in China.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang’s comments came after Vice President Mike Pence and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Both were arrested on Dec. 10 after Canada detained a Huawei executive wanted by the U.S. on fraud charges. While China has denied they were taken in retaliation, it has implied repeatedly that there is a strong connection between the cases.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

I guess we will see in the coming years if this actually happens or not since it is tied to the OPCON transfer that has been repeatedly delayed:

Seoul and Washington agreed Monday to name a Korean four-star general to lead the combined forces command (CFC) here, according to the defense ministry.

They also agreed to relocate the command’s headquarters, now in Seoul, to the U.S. Forces Korea’s Camp Humphreys base in Pyeongtaek, citing the operational efficiency of the military forces.

The agreements were reached between Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his counterpart acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan in Seoul, the ministry said.

Shanahan later visited President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae for talks on the alliance and issues regarding North Korea’s denuclearization, weeks ahead of the summit between Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump scheduled at the end of June. (………..)

Jeong and Shanahan also approved a plan to name the four-star South Korean general as a new leader of the CFC once the wartime OPCON transfer is completed, to take a separate role to lead in a combined defense, but not in assuming other duties. Currently a four-star U.S general heads the CFC.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Kim San-jo, #SouthKorea's Fair Trade Commission head, says #MoonJaein is like Steve Jobs #2. What? Kim & Moon both r busy over-regulating businesses, kicking out CEOs, investigating/harassing businesses non-stop, & stifle innovation. Where's the similarity? https://t.co/rXoxrJdIrz

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) May 28, 2019

My rule of thumb is if the Kim regime hates you, you must be doing something right:

North Korea sharply criticized U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton on Monday, calling him a “war maniac” and a “security destruction advisor” that should be gone as early as possible.
A spokesperson for the North’s foreign ministry unleashed the vituperation, bristling at Bolton’s denunciation of the communist nation’s recent missile launches as a violation of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
“When it comes to UNSC resolutions, as we have declared repeatedly before, they are an outrageous total denial of our right to survival and development. Never once have we acknowledged them or been confined by them,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
On Saturday, Bolton said during a press conference in Tokyo that there is “no doubt” that the North violated U.N. Security Council resolutions when it launched short-range missiles earlier this month. Bolton also characterized the missiles as ballistic missiles.
“Our military exercises did not aim at anybody, nor did it put anybody in danger, but Bolton surely has a different mindset from ordinary people in insisting that they are a violation of the resolutions,” the spokesperson said.
The North also said Bolton has long been known as a “war maniac” and that it would be right to call him a “security destruction advisor” working to destroy peace and security, rather than a security advisor trying to guarantee security.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Let’s hope that military action is the option of last resort which it appears to currently be considering how much of a chance the Trump administration is giving the Kim regime to change their ways:

 In an interview with “Axios on HBO,” McMaster argues North Korea could directly threaten “the United States, China, Japan, the world” with its nuclear arsenal and could also engage in “nuclear blackmail.”
“This regime could say [if U.S. forces] don’t go off the Korean peninsula, we’re going to threaten the use of nuclear weapons, for example.”
McMaster also raises the prospect of North Korea selling its nuclear secrets, or even weapons, noting Pyongyang “was developing a nuclear weapons program for the Assad regime in Syria.”
He also points to the risk of wider nuclear proliferation in Japan, South Korea and beyond, asking: “If North Korea gets a weapon, who doesn’t?”
Between the lines: North Korea already has a nuclear arsenal, and many experts doubt that leader Kim Jong-un will ever give it up. 
McMaster says the U.S. needs to “prepare for at least the option of the use of military force” to convince Kim to denuclearize. 
The Trump administration has sidelined the so-called “bloody nose strategy,” though, and the president speaks warmly of Kim and his intentions.

Axios

You can read more at the link.

I found the report of Kim Yong-chol being purged hard to believe considering he is the Butcher of the Cheonan which has been one of North Korea’s most successful operations in recent years:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched an art troupe’s performance, along with his top aides, including Kim Yong-chol, who was rumored to have been purged after the no-deal summit in Hanoi, Pyongyang’s media reported Monday.

The leader attended the show “given by amateur art groups of the wives of officers of units of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) selected in the seventh round of the second-term contest of art groups of KPA officers’ wives,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

He appeared with his wife Ri Sol-ju and other top officials, including Kim Yong-chol, the North’s counterpart to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in denuclearization negotiations with the U.S., the KCNA revealed.

Rumors have circulated that Kim Yong-chol might have been punished in the leader’s move to purge officials responsible for the no-deal summit with President Trump after the Chosun Ilbo, a major conservative newspaper, reported that Kim Yong-chol was punished with hard labor and another negotiator Kim Hyok-chol, a former North Korean envoy to the U.S. was executed citing anonymous sources last week.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The Chinese are busy making threats again in regards to their claims over Taiwan and almost the entire South China Sea:

China’s defense minister warned Sunday that its military will “resolutely take action” to defend Beijing’s claims over self-ruled Taiwan and disputed South China Sea waters.
Speaking at an annual security conference in Singapore, Gen. Wei Fenghe did not direct the threat at the U.S. but loaded his address with criticism of activities by Washington, including support for Taiwan and leading so-called freedom of navigation operations in the strategic waterways that China virtually claims as its own.
Wei said the People’s Liberation Army would not “yield a single inch of the country’s sacred land.”

China’s ruling Communist Party maintains that Taiwan is part of China, and has used increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward the democratic island, which split from the mainland amid a civil war 70 years ago. It opposes Taiwan’s independence and formally says it seeks a “peaceful reunification” while refusing to rule out the use of force if necessary to achieve that goal.
“The PLA has no intention to cause anybody trouble but it is not afraid to face up to troubles. Should anybody risk crossing the bottom line, the PLA will resolutely take action and defeat all enemies,” Wei said.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

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

A horrible tragedy has occurred in Hungary:

 South Korean and Hungarian workers carried out joint operations on Saturday to search for 21 missing victims of this week’s tourist boat sinking in Budapest, officials said, although high waters and strong currents remain tough challenges.
They conducted surface-level searches up to 50 kilometers down the Danube River from the site of Wednesday’s disaster that left seven Koreans dead and 21 people missing, including 19 Koreans. 
The South Korean team, consisting of staff from the Navy and fire agency, was to search the river three times on the day with four boats provided by the Hungarian authorities.
In response to requests by South Korea and Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria have also been conducting search operations in parts of the Danube River.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has traveled to Hungary and the Ukranian boat captain that struck the tourist boat has been arrested.