I guess you can add this to the something I did not know about Korea category:

Going to the restroom is a basic need. But for some, it is a daunting task even though they have access to restrooms nearby. At department stores and duty free shops, sales people are banned from using the same restrooms as customers.

They are told to use one of the limited number of “workers-only” restrooms, leading to long lines and added discomfort.

Members of cosmetics companies’ labor unions and the Korean Federation of Service Workers’ Unions (KFSWU) rallied in front of the National Human Rights Commission building in downtown Seoul on April 22 to call for the right to use restrooms that the department stores and duty free shops designated as “customers only.”

The unionists mainly belong to luxury brands such as Shiseido Korea, Bluebell Korea, ELCA Korea and LVMH. 

“The department store prohibited sales workers from using restrooms on every floor of the building, saying those are only for customers,” Kim Yeon-woo, head of the Shiseido Korea union, said during a press conference in front of the commission.

“Many workers have a hard time using the designated staff toilets because they’re not located close enough to the sales counters and there are not enough of them.”

According to the laws on public toilets, there is no mention of “customer-only” restrooms. Washroom facilities at large commercial buildings over 2,000 square meters, such as department stores and duty free shops, are considered to be public toilets, meaning they are available for use by the public as well as store employees, according to Kim.

“However, department stores go as far as to give regular education to the workers not to use customers’ restrooms, because consumers may feel uncomfortable when they encounter sales workers there,” Kim said. “I can’t believe we have to demand such basic rights in the 21st century.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is just me or does this girl that went missing from Camp Humphreys and was later found looks like the oldest 14-year old girl I have ever seen?:

A Camp Humphreys soldier’s teenage daughter who was reported missing, “has been located and reunited with her family,” according to an Army notice posted on social media on Saturday.
A post on the U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys Facebook page said the girl is “doing fine” and added. “Thanks everyone for your assistance.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I would not be surprised if the person receiving the bribe was actually organizing the protests in order to get a bribe to stop them:

Major Korean builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction has admitted bribing an Indonesian politician for a coal-fired power plant construction project in West Java.

Following repeated Korea Times inquiries, a spokesman at Hyundai’s headquarters in Seoul said it gave a large sum of money to Cirebon Regent Sunjaya Purwadisastra through a broker to calm protesting residents in the area over the construction.

“The regent approached us through the broker and offered to resolve the issue,” the official said. “For us, it is critical to finish the construction on time; otherwise, we could face a heavy fine. So we gave him money.” 

According to local media, Sunjaya demanded bribes from Hyundai, which gave him 6.5 billion rupiah ($460,000) out of a requested 9.5 billion rupiah.

“For a project as big as that, I thought that the district chief should have a share (of the pie),” Sunjaya was quoted in Indonesian as saying.

“Rudiyanto’s (a subcontractor) trucks could not enter the area because they were blocked by people who were staging protests. Thanks to our intervention, they were allowed access and he paid us.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

#KimJongUn should, in light of the impending emergency, divert cash from his dangerous weapons programs and buy food. He has enough cash so that every person in #NorthKorea can eat well. There is, consequently, no need for UN or other aid. https://t.co/Wf5Ruj13bV

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) May 3, 2019

After being called a missile test, the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff is now saying it appears the North Koreans fired off “projectiles” that were probably from a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS):

North Korea fired a barrage of unidentified short-range projectiles into the East Sea on Saturday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, in apparent saber-rattling amid stalled nuclear talks with the United States.
The JCS had earlier said the North fired multiple short-range “missiles” but later revised the announcement to portray what were fired only as “projectiles.” The projectiles were fired from areas near the east coast town of Wonsan between 9:06 a.m. and 9:27 a.m., the JCS said.
The change suggests the firings could have involved multiple rocket launchers, not missiles. 
“What the North fired this time is not a ballistic missile,” a military officer said.
The projectiles flew about 70 kilometers to 200 kilometers, the JCS said, adding that South Korean and U.S. authorities are analyzing details of the projectiles and the intention behind the firings.
“Our military has been closely watching North Korea’s movements and has maintained a full-fledged posture in close coordination with the U.S.,” the JCS said.
Last month, North Korea test-fired what it called “the new tactical guided weapon,” which, according to Seoul authorities, appeared to be a guided weapon for ground combat.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but what is interesting about this test is that it was fired out of Wonsan which happens to be an area that Kim Jong-un wants developed into an international tourism area. Conducting military provocations out of Wonsan does not help create an image of international tourism for Wonsan, which makes me wonder if the Kim regime is cooling on this idea?

If this was an MLRS test, it was likely their new KN-09 system. The KN-09 has a range of 190 kilometers which means from frontline positions North Korea can target the US military’s main bases in Korea, Osan Airbase and Camp Humphreys. This test firing is likely a reminder to the Trump administration of the artillery capability the North Koreans possess to target US troops in South Korea in hopes of pressuring them to agree to the “pretend denuclearization” deal they want.

Judging by the picture it appears that the THAAD soldiers are simply doing training on how to reload their launchers which is hardly provocative. However, when North Korea is looking for an excuse to raise tensions they will always find one:

North Korea has condemned a recent anti-ballistic missile defense drill by the United States Forces Korea (USFK), calling it a rash act of military provocation, the North’s propaganda media outlets said Friday.

The criticism came about a week after the USFK revealed it staged an exercise last month using the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system deployed in South Korea, at its Camp Humphreys garrison in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

“The drill is a military provocation that breaks the atmosphere of peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Uriminzokkiri, the North’s propaganda website, said.

“It would be a stupid misjudgment for the U.S. to believe that the country can achieve its impure intention by testing and threatening the North with power.” 

Pyongyang also stepped up pressure on Seoul, urging it to “behave discreetly” over the U.S.’s military exercises on the peninsula.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this is all standard North Korea playbook that we are seeing here.

This article makes me wonder if this is just more fake news or John Bolton signaling to North Korea that the US is serious enough about North Korea denuclearization to consider a military strike:

John Bolton, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, still believes that a military strike on North Korea is a viable option as denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang are stalled, The New Yorker reported earlier this week.

Citing unnamed U.S. government officials, the magazine said in its profile of Bolton published on Monday that Bolton privately told White House aides that the second U.S.-North summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, was unlikely to succeed.

Despite months of engagement with the North and Trump’s bragging about falling in “love” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Bolton, according to the article, still believes that a strike is possible because the United States knows where most of North Korea’s nuclear weapons are.

“We can still do it,” a U.S. administration official cited Bolton as saying. “We know where most, if not all, of their weapons are. We could destroy their nuclear capability. There are ways to deal with their artillery.”

When asked about potential casualties, Bolton said he “wishes we weren’t at this point. But the military option remains viable.”

Other White House officials, on the other hand, are realizing that military force is not a realistic option, the source added. 

“I think we could have destroyed the North’s nuclear program in the 1990s. It was more concentrated and we knew where everything was,” the official said. “Not anymore. It’s too big and too dispersed.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Security specialists described how the Blue House petition gets fake "agree" clicks. Get imaginary foreign phone numbers on line. Use them to create fake fb & Twitter acts. Then access the BH website and click for each acct. Then use hidden browser and click again. Voila! https://t.co/VhrH9o01UZ

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) April 30, 2019