I agree they may not be preparing for a missile launch in the near term, but they are definitely reconstructing the launch site to prepare for a future launch if needed to pressure the Trump administration:

 South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Monday that he does not view North Korea’s recent activities at its long-range rocket launch site as preparations for a missile launch.
Recent media reports and U.S. think tank analyses on activities at the North’s west coast Dongchang-ri launch site and the Sanumdong missile research center near Pyongyang have fueled the speculation about a possible missile or satellite launch.
“Describing them missile-related activities is a hasty judgment,” Jeong said during a session of the National Assembly’s defense committee. “Though Dongchang-ri is a launch site, we don’t judge them as activities in preparation for a missile launch.”

he communist regime has been seen rebuilding the Dongchang-ri missile launch facility it partially dismantled last year. Some analysts said that it might be a negotiation tactic following the breakup of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi last month.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

All this stuff coming out of Pyongyang is test-balloon launching right now…

But maybe it’s time for @TheBlueHouseENG to finally use Moon’s hotline to KJU and actually make a call?

(I understand this has never actually been used).

Maybe Moon cld share the line w/ Trump, too.. https://t.co/TqbqhKtmxN

— Chad O'Carroll (@chadocl) March 15, 2019

Isabu, a Silla general famed for his conquest (AD 512) of the islands of Dokdo and Ulleungdo, will soon have a bridge in his honor. The city of Samcheok, Gangwon Province, will be building a bridge that will frame the island of Dokdo when viewed from the city, a symbol of the “eye” of Kim Isabu. The “Isabu Dokdo Peace Bridge” is expected to be completed in 2020 and will connect the city of Samcheok with Obun Port. A memorial hall for Kim Isabu and an observatory to view the port will be constructed nearby. A memorial stone honoring Isabu’s voyages was constructed along the harbor in 2010. (provided by the city of Samcheok)

This is probably another reason why the Kim regime is busy courting Russian support, in order to influence members of the United Nations to not strongly implement sanctions against North Korea:

The US government appears to be tightening the reins on the international community’s implementation of sanctions against North Korea. After the second North Korea-US summit ended without a joint agreement, the US first articulated the tough stance that it won’t lift sanctions until the North has completely denuclearized and then pushed the UN to keep member states on board with the tough sanctions.

On Mar. 13, the US State Department announced that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Washington, DC, that same day. During the meeting, the State Department said, the two leaders had discussed a range of issues, including the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, developments in Venezuela and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

In regard to the Korean Peninsula, Pompeo appears to have told Guterres about the results of the North Korea-US summit and asked for his cooperation in implementing the UN Security Council’s sanctions against North Korea. A yearly report by a panel of experts that was released by the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea the previous day addressed North Korea’s violations of the sanctions, including ship-to-ship transfers. In recent days, Pompeo has been emphasizing that sanctions on North Korea were the decision not of the US but of the UN Security Council and that the US has built a completely international coalition to implement those sanctions.

Hankyoreh

You can read more at the link.

I can only imagine what criminal schemes the Russians and North Koreans are discussing to skirt United Nations sanctions:

A group of Russian senators is visiting North Korea, the latest in a series of talks between the two countries following the collapse of the U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Sergei Kislyak, the first deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Committee for Foreign Affairs and one of the Russian delegates, said the visit from March 16 to 21 will be “an absolutely natural, normal practice” to continue dialogue between the two countries.

But speculation is rampant it results from Pyongyang’s desperate bid to woo support from Moscow, following the collapse of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The failure of talks apparently clouds the North Korean leader’s plans to rebuild the country’s economy by convincing the U.S. to lift nuclear sanctions against his regime.

China, the North’s closet ally, is believed to be remaining prudent in its stance over the summit collapse.

“The goal of the visit (to North Korea) is to continue the dialogue with a country that is friendly to us and that is solving most difficult problems in the foreign and domestic policies,” Kislyak told Russian news agency TASS after arriving at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, March 16. “We have things to discuss, we wish to better understand the aspirations of our North Korean neighbors, and I think that this dialogue is an absolutely natural, normal practice that we will continue in our relations.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

#MoonJaein poses a grave threat to free expression. He is not only encouraging personal attacks on this reporter, he is also jailing journalists and intimidating media outlets. He is allowing pro-North Korea thugs to harass reporters. Should we call him #KimJongUn Jr? https://t.co/bcF2D8zUgW

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) March 16, 2019

Here is some news about health care coverage changes that expats in South Korea need to be aware of:

Stricter terms will be applied to foreign residents to prevent possible abuse of the national health insurance system, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced, Sunday.

According to the changes, effective from July, all foreigners who have continuously resided in the country for at least six months must subscribe to the state healthcare program through a non-employer-sponsored plan and pay monthly premiums. 

Previously, mandatory registration was only applied to salaried workers, leading to cases where foreigners who needed high-cost medical procedures signed up for the program because those covered by the insurance get around 62 percent of essential medical costs reimbursed.

Such cases of opportunism ― mostly found in temporary visitors rather than settled residents ― led the ministry to raise the minimum period of residency to make one eligible for the state insurance from three months to six months last December. 

Those who leave Korea for 30 continuous days are dropped from the system and must reside another six months here to be eligible for the insurance coverage again.

The monthly premium for foreign subscribers has also become higher than before, about the average of all Koreans, while it used to be the average of Koreans registered with the non-employer-sponsored plan only. This year’s figure was set around 103,000 won ($90).

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but $90 a month for the national health care plan is really affordable even if it only covers 62% of medical costs.

The KCTU is acting like a bunch of spoiled little kids again:

In a democracy, violence is strictly forbidden. When people’s lives and a nation’s security are endangered, the government can exercise state violence — in a limited way. Yet in Korea, even when labor union violence exceeds a permissible level, the government sits on its hands without taking any action to punish it. 

On Wednesday, union members of the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in Geoje, South Gyeongsang — a local chapter of the militant umbrella Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) — occupied the office of Mayor Byun Kwang-young and turned violent to protest the government’s selling of the insolvent shipbuilding company to Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), one of its competitors. 

The union members threw out couches, tables and documents, and plastered the office walls with leaflets and stickers reading “No to the government-enforced merger!” and “We cannot accept the merger with our rival!” What makes us dumbfounded is the attitude of Mayor Byun and city officials, both of who simply looked on with folded arms. 

The unionists raided the mayor’s office on the grounds that he did not clearly express opposition to the sale. Last August, the government-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB) decided to hand over its entire 55.7-percent stake in DSME to HHI. DSME has so far been bailed out with 13 trillion won ($11.5 billion) of government funding. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but could you imagine what would happen if someone raided the Mayor’s office like this of a medium sized city in the US? The SWAT team would probably be called in.

Since the KCTU knows the Moon administration is in charge they have been emboldened to do things like this because they know they can get away with it with little to no repercussions.

I have been reading about this K-Pop sex scandal over the past week and can’t help but wonder why anyone is surprised this was going on?:

Police booked a serving police lieutenant as a suspect and are questioning an elite senior officer as a key witness in the mushrooming sex, drugs, celebrities and police protection scandal surrounding the Burning Sun nightclub.

Following the questioning of an elite police officer on Friday, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Sunday that it booked a lieutenant at the Gangnam Police Precinct as a suspect for criminal negligence related to illegal activities at the club in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, which was partly owned by K-pop megastar Seungri. 

The club was located in the precinct where the lieutenant, only identified by his surname Kim, worked. This is the first time that a current police officer has been identified as a suspect in the scandal. 

Kim was accused of criminal negligence in his handling of a complaint against Burning Sun in July last year. A complaint was filed that an underage guest entered the club and drank alcohol, but Kim closed the case, saying there was not enough evidence. Kim also allegedly advised the prosecution that there was no case to pursue.

It appears that the police are speeding up their investigation, as the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office was assigned to investigate a separate but related case concerning several illicit activities discussed in KakaoTalk chat rooms by Seungri, his business partner and other celebrities. The suspected crimes include sexual assault, taking and sharing sex videos without the consent of women in them, prostitution, using drugs, bribing police and tax evasion.

“The scandal seems to be going on for a while, and it is uncomfortable that the police keep being mentioned,” a police official told the JoongAng Ilbo. “We want to quickly and sternly investigate the urgent issues.” 

One of the urgent issues concerning the police is the suspicion that an elite member of the police, who once served at the Moon Jae-in Blue House, was involved in the crimes. The senior superintendent of the National Police Agency, only identified by his surname Yun, was suspected of having maintained a close relationship with Seungri, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, and his business partner, Yu In-seok. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.