Don't get me wrong. I actually like soju. But "clean and neutral taste" are not words I would ever use to describe soju.
— John Lee (The Korean Foreigner) (@koreanforeigner) April 16, 2019
Maybe "a cheap drink that tastes of broken dreams and desperation, but, man, does it get the job done." https://t.co/uFNGaPOkCE
South Korea expresses its condolences to France for the fire that damaged the Notre Dame cathedral:
South Korea voiced regret Tuesday over the massive fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and announced plans to conduct emergency inspections of local cultural assets.
Yonhap
The flames damaged the 12th-century cathedral, located in the heart of Paris, the previous day, sending a shock wave across the world.
“On behalf of the South Korean government, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) expresses deep regret for the fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral,” the agency said in a press release. “South Korea has nearly suffered a loss of precious cultural property due to the fire at Sungnyemun Gate.”
In 2008, the wooden portion of the gate, designated as a National Treasure of South Korea, was damaged by arson, with restoration work completed five years later.
You can read more at the link, but like the Sungnyemun Gate, it will be interesting to see if the Notre Dame cathedral fire was cause by arson as well. However, Paris officials are claiming it is an “accident” though they are investigating where the fire started. I don’t know how you claim something is an accident if you don’t know what started it.
I guess we will see what happens.
Kim Jong-un promised that he would visit Seoul and Moon Jae-in doesn’t seem to eager to force his hand to make that visit:
President Moon Jae-in said Monday that he hopes to meet again with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as possible, welcoming Kim’s latest message on denuclearization talks.
Yonhap
Moon stressed that the venue and format of his fourth summit with Kim does not matter, as he seeks “concrete and substantive discussions” on ways to produce “fruits” to outdo those of two U.S.-North Korea summit talks.
“Now is the time to make preparations and push for South-North summit talks in earnest,” he said in a meeting with senior presidential aides here.
He added, “As soon as North Korea’s conditions are created, I hope the two Koreas will have another summit without being restrained by the venue and format.”
You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-un I think will not visit Seoul unless he receive a huge payoff. His dad needed $500 million to host a summit in Pyongyang, so I am sure Kim Jong-un’s price to go to Seoul will be much higher.
Who knows what this facility is?
Liu Xiaobo choose the right target, and that's why he is now dead. https://t.co/so7EdB5Sym
— Adam Ni 倪凌超 (@adam_ni) April 11, 2019
One of my favorite defector groups, Fighters for A Free North Korea have been quiet during the Moon administration which is not friendly to defector groups. The Korean police have been sent to stop their balloon launch operations while at the same time the Moon administration allows protesters to blockade the THAAD site which is there to defend the country.
However, it appears that with the steep drop in President Moon’s popularity and the fact more people are realizing that the Kim regime will not denuclearize has given them an opportunity to restart their balloon operations:
The group, Fighters for a Free North Korea, flew 20 balloons carrying 500,000 leaflets from Yeoncheon, north of Seoul, at around 2 a.m., it said.
Yonhap
The balloons carried leaflets slamming the Kim Jong-un regime, as well as one-dollar bills and booklets.
Park Sang-hak, the head of the organization, said earlier this month that it plans to send the leaflets because the North’s leader “did not keep his promise” to give up the country’s nuclear program.
The Seoul government has urged local activists to stop their leaflet campaigns, saying that they go against efforts to reduce tensions and improve ties with the North.
For those that don’t remember Park Sang-Hak is the leader of the group that has faced assassination attempts by North Korean agents and had leftist thugs assault him to stop his balloon protests.
There has been another horrible murder incident on Okinawa that will probably get the anti-US protesters riled up again:
A U.S. sailor fatally stabbed a Japanese woman and then killed himself on Okinawa, Japanese officials said.
Stars & Stripes
The two were found dead Saturday morning inside a six-story apartment building in the Kuwae district of Chatan, according to an Okinawa Prefectural Police spokesman.
The woman’s child was present when the incident occurred and called a relative, who then called police at 7:26 a.m., the spokesman said.
You can read more at the link.
Since they are left wing activists I would be surprised if anything significant happens to them for forcibly occupying the office of a prominent Korean opposition lawmaker:
Police on Saturday requested arrest warrants for two members of a progressive collegiate association for trespassing.
The two had occupied Liberty Korea Party Floor Leader Na Kyung-won’s office as part of a protest, Yeongdeungpo Police Station said Sunday. They are reportedly college students.They were among 22 members of the group who had occupied Rep. Na’s office at around 10 a.m. Friday to stage a protest demanding Na and Liberty Korea Party chief Hwang Kyo-ahn step down from their positions.
Korea Herald
The members are calling for Na and Hwang to resign based on claims that Na made an inappropriate remark on Korean history and Hwang tried to cover up Kim Hak-eui’s sex bribery scandal and hindered attempts to find the truth regarding the Sewol Ferry tragedy.
During the 40-minute protest, the members chanted and carried placards. They also formed a scrummage by lying down on the ground when the National Assembly’s security staff tried to stop them.
The members were dragged outside of the building some 50 minutes after the protest began. Police took the members to the police station after they continued their protest in front of the building.
You can read more at the link, but the police should have arrested all 22 of them for forcibly occupying the office and making a disturbance.
