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

The moral of this story is that if you are a foreigner in Korea make sure you bring enough money to provide medical care for yourself if needed:

Sgt. Park Ah-ron, Korea’s only police officer dedicated to assisting the unhoused, took charge of the case. Park contacted 21 hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area but was met with refusals. Hospitals cited the 64-year-old’s foreign nationality and the high cost of surgery as reasons for rejection.

Efforts to reach his sister in Sweden were also unsuccessful, as she declined to cover the medical expenses.

Finally, with the help of the Seoul Homeless Support Center, Park identified a hospital in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province — Hyeogsin Seongmo Hospital — that agreed to perform the surgery after consultations with its director.

Using a translator to communicate with the Swedish national, Park obtained his consent for the surgery. On Dec. 16, the 64-year-old underwent a successful amputation. Despite the successful procedure, he passed away on Dec. 20 due to sepsis stemming from pneumonia. Hospital staff explained that his severely weakened immune system had contributed to his death.

Before his passing, the Swedish national, who had diabetes, requested and enjoyed a piece of chocolate as a small comfort in his final moments.

Exposing systemic gaps

Park expressed frustration over the lack of welfare support for foreign nationals in Korea. “I reached out to the local government for support with surgery costs, but foreign nationals are not eligible for medical aid as vagrants,” he said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The flying of the drone over Pyongyang is clearly not a secret any more:

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo voiced concerns Tuesday over a potential probe into allegations that the South Korean military flew drones over Pyongyang last year, citing the need to maintain ambiguity in responding to North Korea’s claim.

The JCS chairman made the remark as he dismissed suspicions raised by the opposition bloc that the military engaged in activities aimed at inducing North Korea’s provocations ahead of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law imposition last month.

The military has maintained its stance of neither confirming nor denying the alleged drone infiltration, which Pyongyang first made public in October, citing operational security.

“Saying that we cannot confirm is a strategy to pressure the counterpart, limit its options and cause confusion by keeping our secret,” Kim said in a special parliamentary committee session into Yoon’s martial law imposition.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Korean left seems more upset about the ROK military flying a drone over Pyongyang and doesn’t care about all the drones and shit balloons that North Korea has flown over the ROK in the recent past.

The Korean left got the further humiliation of impeached President Yoon they wanted. I think this whole CIO investigation is being used to humiliate Yoon and making him look guilty to influence the Constitutional Court. The court will eventually rule to determine if Yoon’s martial law decree was Constitutional or not:

President Yoon Suk Yeol was detained, Wednesday, for questioning over his botched imposition of martial law, becoming the first sitting Korean president to be taken into custody. 

The investigators are required to decide within 48 hours whether to file a formal arrest warrant to continue questioning him under custody or release him. 

Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and the police arrived at the presidential residence compound in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, at around 4:30 a.m. More than 3,000 police officers were mobilized to execute the warrant to detain him and maintain public order around the area.

Following a standoff with Presidential Security Service (PSS) personnel that lasted about two and a half hours, investigators managed to move forward by passing through three layers of makeshift barricades set up by the PSS, consisting of rows of guards and buses. To get past, the investigators had to climb over the buses using ladders.

The investigators then reached the nearest guard post to the residence. Several of them were allowed to pass, with presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk and Yoon’s lawyer Yoon Kap-keun, granting permission for them to proceed.

At 10:33 a.m., the CIO said they executed the warrant. The detention came 43 days after Yoon declared martial law.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Yoon released a statement saying he believes the CIO has no jurisdiction for insurrection cases, but agreed to be detained to avoid violence.

After this resignation Acting President Choi is calling for the National Assembly to pass a bill requesting an independent investigation of President Yoon. I highly doubt the DPK will agree to an independent investigation, but I guess we will see what happens:

South Korea’s acting leader on Friday accepted the resignation of the chief of the presidential security service, Park Jong-joon, as he faced police questioning over how his forces blocked law enforcement efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol last week. The acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, also expressed regret over the clashes between law enforcement officials and the presidential security service and called for lawmakers to reach a bipartisan agreement to launch an independent investigation.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials and police are planning a second attempt to bring Yoon into custody as they jointly investigate whether his brief martial law declaration on Dec. 3 amounted to an attempted rebellion. The presidential security service blocked an earlier attempt to detain Yoon at his official residence, which he has not left for weeks. It wasn’t immediately clear how Park’s resignation and Choi’s call for an independent investigation to take over the probe on Yoon would affect the push to bring Yoon into custody.

“The government has been deliberating to find a wise solution, but unfortunately, within our current legal framework, it’s difficult to find a clear resolution to end the conflict between the two agencies,” Choi said about the tensions between the anti-corruption office and presidential security service over Yoon’s potential detention. “We urge the ruling and opposition parties to work together to agree on a bill to launch a special prosecutor investigation that is free from constitutional issues. This will naturally resolve the ongoing intense standoff.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.