North Korea’s newly selected leadership team is ready for action

Photo from today’s Rodong Sinmun pic.twitter.com/nYA1v2YqQT

— Chad O'Carroll (@chadocl) April 13, 2019

I guess besides people becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses they can now eat their way out of their mandatory military service:

A man accused of putting on weight by eating fried chicken to avoid mandatory military service was acquitted of breaking the law on conscription, Incheon District Court said Sunday.

The 22-year-old college student reportedly underwent a physical examination for military service in August 2016. The test showed that the man, who weighed 106 kilograms and was 169.6 centimeters tall at the time, had Body Mass Index of 36.8. 

People with BMI of 33 and higher can be exempted from full-time military service and work as a public service worker. 

The prosecutors indicted the man for violating the military service law, arguing that he deliberately gained weight by eating fried chicken and drinking alcohol ahead of the physical exam to avoid the conscription. They also accused the man of stooping when getting his height measured so as to increase his BMI. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Due to the slow economy more Koreans are turning towards learning trade skills than trying to pursue white collar jobs:

A growing number of people of all ages are learning blue-collar skills like building maintenance and landscaping, even if they have degrees from top universities or have previously worked for big conglomerates. 
The reason is that they feel that blue-collar jobs offer more job security than office work in a recession. 
At the city-run Seoul Institute of Technology and Education, the most popular class just five years ago was cooking, favored by people who wanted to open their own restaurants. But now it is landscaping and grounds-keeping, perhaps because there seems to be a growing appetite from condos and municipalities for clean, well-designed open spaces. 
Building and electrical maintenance are also in high demand. Courses are free and last from six months to a year . 
Choi Sung-cheol, an instructor at the institute, said, “In tough economic times the popular classes are not entrepreneurship but skills that guarantee work past the average retirement age.”

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I think it is good that more people are learning trades. Going to college and working a white collar job is not for everyone and many trades do offer a good income.

It is truly amazing how eager the Korean left is to fund North Korea’s military and nuclear weapons program that can be used against them:

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that conditions must be fostered to carry out inter-Korean economic projects and that Seoul will make internal preparations to do so.

Hong spoke to reporters at the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington during his visit to the U.S. capital to attend a meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors.

He said he believes that sanctions on North Korea need to be eased or lifted in order for inter-Korean economic projects to begin in earnest.

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link, but the last time the cross border projects were operating the money was not used to better the lives of ordinary citizens, instead the Kim regime made extensive advances in their nuclear and ICBM programs.

What evidence does anyone have that this time will be any different if sanctions are eased and the cross border projects are allowed to restart?

#KimJongUn to regional Party officials & military late-March: "The unification of the fatherland is the greatest task of our ethnic nation, which cannot be delayed any further. The unification of the fatherland shall be completed by 2020 no matter what." https://t.co/vQTlF8sArZ

— Sung-Yoon Lee (@SungYoonLee1) April 13, 2019

Is it just me or does two years to reconstruct the main gate at Osan Airbase seem like a really long time? I have seen Koreans put up apartments and shopping centers quicker than that:

Years of planning has paid off for the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron, which designed and advocated for funding the complete overhaul of the installation’s main gate that begins Friday.
The two-year project by Korean contractors will bring the main access control point, constructed over three decades ago, up to standards for anti-terrorism force protection implemented after 9/11.
“The way it is set up now is just not hitting the mark,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Fryar, commander of the 51st Civil Engineers. “The gate is too close to the perimeter, so our defenders don’t have enough time to determine if someone is trying to run the gate or not.”
An ideal control point setup consists of serpentine entry roads that force drivers to slow down to an acceptable speed, and a deployable barrier system that prevents potential threats from reaching the base perimeter.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

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

While millions of North Koreans are starving in this 21st century, this monster keep getting fatter and fatter. Soon, justice will be served at last. #northkorea #HumanRights #realDonaldTrump https://t.co/ZgWfM7Tv6Z

— Yeonmi Park (박연미) (@YeonmiParkNK) April 10, 2019