This Soldier must not care much about whatever family he has in North Korea because they will assuredly be sent to work camps due to this decision:
One of the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine has expressed his wish to go to South Korea, a news report said Wednesday, in what would be the first known case for a North Korean captive to voice an intent to defect to the South.
A North Korean solider, identified only by his surname Ri, said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo that he never knew he would engage in combat against Ukraine as he was told that he would be sent to Russia for training as an overseas student.
“I have made up my mind 80 percent … Above all, I will seek refuge and am thinking about going to the Republic of Korea (ROK). If I apply for asylum, would they take me?” Ri said, when asked about his plan for the future.
You can read more at the link.
I think most people at this point agree with the Kim regime that trying to get them to denuclearize at this point is a hopeless endeavor:
North Korea on Tuesday criticized the United States and Asian neighbors for pursuing the “absurd” goal of denuclearizing the North and said it will push to expand its nuclear forces under the direction of its authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un.
The statement by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry came after the top diplomats of the U.S., South Korea and Japan met at a security conference in Germany and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening military cooperation and reinforcing an international sanctions regime to counter Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
You can read more at the link.
This is quite a turn over in restaurants when the number of closures is even worse than the COVID years:
South Korea’s restaurant industry is in the midst of its worst downturn in nearly two decades, with over 107,000 eateries shutting down in 2024 — the highest number on record.
For the first time in 16 years, more restaurants closed than opened, signaling a shift in a sector once known for its resilience and fierce competition. A combination of rising ingredient costs, slowing consumer spending, and post-pandemic economic struggles has created a perfect storm in the industry.
According to government data, 10.4 percent of full-service restaurants closed in 2024, the highest closure rate since 2005. In the capital city of Seoul, the rate was even higher at 13 percent, while Sejong City saw a staggering 14.6 percent closure rate. These figures reflect a growing financial strain on restaurant owners, who have faced mounting challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the dining industry.
You can read more at the link.
You would think by now people would realize any data you give to a Chinese company could eventually be accessed by the Chinese government. With DeepSeek the data is so far just been sent to ByteDance which can then be easily sent to the Chinese government if requested:
South Korea’s data protection regulator has confirmed that the DeepSeek chatbot, developed by a China-based artificial intelligence startup, sent the nation’s user data to a third party, the Chinese owner of TikTok, ByteDance, according to officials Tuesday.
The confirmation came a day after the regulator, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), announced it has temporarily suspended new downloads of DeepSeek in South Korea over concerns about its data collection practices.
“We confirmed DeepSeek communicating with ByteDance,” a PIPC official said.
You can read more at the link.
This is a pretty sick guy to not only kill his girlfriend, but continue to live in an apartment where he hid her body in cement on his balcony:
A 58-year-old man has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend 16 years ago, after her remains were discovered during construction work.
Geoje Police and the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency said Monday they had arrested the man on suspicion of killing his live-in girlfriend in 2008. The man is accused of fatally striking the victim, who was in her 30s at the time, with a blunt object during an argument on Oct. 10 that year, at their residence in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.
The suspect then put the body inside a suitcase and hid it on the outdoor balcony next to the rooftop of the building. He then covered the luggage with bricks and poured cement over it to evade discovery.
The crime was uncovered 16 years later when the landlord of the building found the suitcase containing the body while conducting demolition work to prevent water leaks.
You can read more at the link.
