This is a major reason to stay away from crypto currency because it helps to fund criminal organizations and regimes like North Korea:

North Korean hackers purportedly stole an estimated US$6.36 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, in what would be the biggest cryptocurrency theft on record, according to a U.S. blockchain intelligence firm.

TRM Labs said Thursday’s attack against Binance was most likely carried out by TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group, which stole digital assets from Binance across 10 blockchain networks. Most of the funds were taken in about 20 minutes, it said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I wonder what special privileges a team of hackers in North Korea receives after bringing in a haul like this?

Judging from the pictures in the article huge crowds once again descended on to Itaewon during Halloween. Fortunately there were no reports of any major incidents happening:

How many years does it take a neighborhood to recover from tragedy? Four years ago, central Seoul’s multicultural Itaewon neighborhood suffered an unspeakable accident, when over 150 people were crushed to death in a crowded alley. 

In the two years following the disaster, there was an atmosphere of cautious commemoration under the watchful eye of a heavy police presence, as people worked through their trauma — and also feared judgment for being too celebratory. 

The area may never be the same again, but Halloween 2026 seemed a step closer back to business as usual.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween this weekend!

I think it is fair to say that this guy is probably not going to be on any future promotion list:

A court has upheld a two-month suspension imposed on an Army officer for repeatedly leaving his post without permission, verbally abusing soldiers and delaying approval of their leave.

The Busan District Court said Thursday it has dismissed the officer’s lawsuit against his unit commander seeking to overturn the disciplinary action.

Gate records showed the officer drove off the base 64 times during weekday working hours over 10 months without requesting leave or reporting his departures to a commander.

A guard commander testified that the officer frequently left, citing reasons such as “I need to feed my lizard” and “I need to wash my car.”

Between October 2023 and November 2024, he also delayed approval of 698 requests for outings, overnight passes and leave submitted by 26 soldiers. The delays prevented them from obtaining military-supported train tickets, forcing them to pay transportation costs themselves.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Here is how the Seoul city government is preparing for Halloween this year:

Visitors heading to Seoul’s popular nightlife districts for Halloween this weekend may face road closures and subway trains skipping crowded stations as authorities step up crowd safety measures.

Seoul’s special safety measures run from Oct. 23, with heightened monitoring from Friday through Sunday. Authorities are monitoring crowd conditions across 14 areas using AI-equipped surveillance cameras and real-time city data.

Eight areas have been designated for priority management: the Itaewon and Hongdae tourist districts, Ikseon-dong, Myeong-dong shopping streets, Seongsu-dong’s cafe district, the restaurant district near Konkuk University, Gangnam Station and Apgujeong Rodeo Street.

Joint on-site control rooms will bring together officials from the Interior Ministry, Seoul Metropolitan Government, district offices, police and fire services.

Six additional areas are also being monitored: Wangsimni Station, Yonsei-ro in Sinchon, Balsan Station, Sillim Station, Sharosu-gil near Seoul National University Station and Nonhyeon Station.

On Saturday, authorities plan to close Itaewon-ro to vehicles and convert one lane of Hongdae’s club street into pedestrian space. Itaewon-ro may also be closed on Friday depending on crowd conditions.

The designated section of Itaewon-ro runs from the entrance to the Itaewon area to the Cheil Worldwide intersection. The measures apply to the road rather than the entire Itaewon district.

Police will use three levels of traffic control depending on crowd density. The first involves managing illegal parking and obstacles. The second introduces partial vehicle restrictions while keeping an emergency access route clear. The third blocks vehicle entry.

Other roads subject to these measures include sections of Jandari-ro in Hongdae, Yeonmujang-gil in Seongsu-dong, Myeong-dong shopping streets and Donhwamun-ro 11-gil in Ikseon-dong.

Authorities will also separate pedestrian flows in narrow alleys and manage queues outside popular venues to keep walkways clear.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

I have saying for a while that North Korea right now has no reason to seek talks with South Korea. Their current alliance with Russia is providing for all their needs. The Kim regime only pushes for engagement with South Korea when they are in need of aid. They clearly are not in need now and rather be provacative towards the ROK to give their military something to do and see what they can get away with:

 North Korea fired about a dozen short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, the South Korean military said, in an apparent cold rebuff to Seoul’s offer for talks aimed at easing border tensions sparked by a recent land mine blast.

The missiles were launched from the Wonsan area on the North’s east coast at around 12:30 p.m. and flew about 250 kilometers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, adding that further analysis of other specifications was under way with coordination with the United States.

Short-range ballistic missiles have a range of 300-1,000 km. 

A military official said the latest missile launch is believed to have involved the North’s KN-25 super-large 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher, which Pyongyang claims can be fitted with its Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warheads.

There also exists a possibility that the North conducted a mixed-salvo drill combining various offensive assets alongside the ballistic missiles, such as cruise missiles, drones or rocket artillery systems smaller than the 600-mm launcher, according to the South Korean military.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.