Tag: South Korea

I guess Korean consumers are just not into Canadian coffee:

Canadian coffee brand Tim Hortons, operated in Korea by BKR, closed its Cheongna location in Incheon on Sunday, according to industry sources on Friday.

This marks the first closure of a directly operated store since the brand entered Korea, coming just over a year after the location opened in April 2024.

Industry experts attribute the decision to multiple factors, including declining profitability and the fierce competition within the saturated Korean coffee market.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

The easy access to various mountain trails is something very unique to Seoul that the government has done a better job of promoting and maintaining hiking trails. This has led to a large increase in foreigners hiking these trails:

Wearing hanbok (Korean traditional attire) and walking around Gyeongbok Palace, eating street food and shopping for K-pop merchandise and cosmetics used to top to-do lists for people traveling to Korea. 

Now, a new experience is climbing in popularity — literally. Hiking Korea’s urban mountains, often dubbed “K-hiking,” has quickly become one of the most unexpected yet popular activities among international tourists. 

Searching hashtags like #seoulhiking, #hikingtourism or #hikinginseoul on Instagram now turns up over 10,000 posts. No matter which mountain in downtown Seoul, it is now common to see foreign tourists exploring mountain paths or taking photos at the summits.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but K-hiking has definitely become popular with foreign tourists. I have seen way more foreigners on Korean trails today compared to 20 years ago.

I hope Yoon Suk-yeol has some good lawyers because the Korean left will not be satisfied until him and his wife are thrown into jail:

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea-controlled National Assembly on Thursday passed contentious bills mandating special counsel probes into charges and scandals surrounding former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

Three probe bills reintroduced by the Democratic Party were approved during a parliamentary plenary vote held in the afternoon. One pushes to launch a permanent special counsel to investigate 11 charges tied to Yoon’s failed martial bid in December; another seeks to mainly investigate Kim’s alleged inappropriate interference in the People Power Party’s candidate nomination process in previous general and by-elections as well as her luxury bag scandal; the third looks into the allegations that the Yoon administration interfered in the military’s investigation into a young Marine’s death in 2023.

All three bills were passed in a 194-3 vote with one abstention, in a package deal.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

I am assuming all the computers were pulled out of the presidential office as part of the martial law investigation. Additionally all the prior personnel that worked there were reassigned to other areas of the government when President Yoon was impeached:

President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday jokingly pointed out the lack of preparation for the handover by officials of the previous administration, saying that there was nothing prepared at the presidential office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

“I just came to the Yongsan office, and it’s like a graveyard. There’s nothing, not even an employee to give me something to write. No computers, or even printers,” he told reporters on his first day as the new leader of Korea.

Announcing the first batch of key nominations for key members of the administration, he stood where his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol stood on Dec. 3 to declare martial law, which ultimately was his downfall from the leadership position.

He joked about how the presidential office, which had ceased function after the parliament impeached Yoon on Dec. 14, did not have any system for him to sign off on key documents.Kang Yu-jung, the spokesperson of the presidential office, told reporters later that it had been “physically impossible” to conduct work at the presidential office on the first day. She said the office lacked basic infrastructure and tools such as an internet connection or even pencils and paper, not to mention that the previous administration did not leave transition instructions for the incoming administration.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the personnel reassigned after Yoon’s impeachment have been asked to return to work at the presidential office. Addtionally the article says that Lee Jae-myung expects to move the presidential office back to Cheongwadae in the next six months.

Here is a blast from the past, former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok has been selected to be the next director of the National Intelligence Service:

President Lee Jae-myung (C) delivers his first personnel announcement during a press conference at the presidential office in Seoul on June 4, 2025. (From L to R) National Intelligence Service chief nominee Lee Jong-seok, Prime Minister nominee Kim Min-seok, Lee, chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik and National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac. (Yonhap)

Later Wednesday, Lee nominated former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, a dove who favors greater rapprochement with North Korea, as his spy chief. The nomination is likely related to Lee Jae-myung’s hopes to reopen talks, as the National Intelligence Service previously played a behind-tene role to promote ties with North Korea, observers say. Lee Jae-myung also nominated his key political ally and veteran lawmaker Kim Min-seok as prime minister, the government’s No. 2 job. Lee is expected to nominate other top Cabinet members in coming days.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but Lee Jae-myung has basically put a Pyongyang cheerleader in charge of the ROK intellgence service. Kim Jong-un has to be thrilled by this selection. During his time as unification minister Lee Jong-seok was involved in establishing the quasi-slave labor Kaesong Industrial Complex that has since been shuttered. He was also helping the ROK government send more money to North Korea than they contributed to USFK cost sharing. He even said that due to all the money they were giving to North Korea that no one there was starving any more. Like I said Kim Jong-un is going to love this selection.

As usual Korea has a very impressive voter turn out for their Presidential election:

Voter turnout for South Korea’s presidential election on Tuesday hit a tentative 79.4 percent, the highest in 28 years, the election watchdog said.

Of the total 44.39 million eligible voters nationwide, 35.24 million cast their ballots until 8 p.m., the National Election Commission (NEC) said. 

This includes early voting that took place on Thursday and Friday with a turnout of 34.74 percent, as well as the ballots from overseas, shipboard and absentee voting.

The preliminary voter turnout marked the highest since the 80.7 percent tallied in the 1997 presidential election. Early voting was not held until the 2017 election. 

Tuesday’s vote to choose a successor to ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol began at 6 a.m. at 14,295 polling stations nationwide. 

By region, the southwestern city of Gwangju, a stronghold for the liberal Democratic Party, recorded the highest turnout of 83.9 percent, with the southern Jeju Island logging the lowest at 74.6 percent. Voter turnout for Seoul was 80.1 percent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.