This is the perfect example of how average South Koreans today view North Korea today more as an odd curiosity than an actual threat:

More than 13,000 people visited Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, over a 10-day period, to catch a rare glimpse of a North Korean self-propelled howitzer visible from the observatory.

Despite the heightened tensions between the two Koreas, a total of 13,243 people visited the park from Oct. 26 to Nov. 4, up 7.5 percent from 12,321 during the same period last year, according to Gimpo city, Sunday.

The increase came after images published by local media showing a North Korean self-propelled howitzer stationed along the North Korean coast, about 1.5 kilometers from the observatory, went viral.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

President Lee seems to be facing the same trend of just about every other Korean President where they have strong initial approval ratings that continuously become lower the longer they are in office:

President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating fell to 35.9 percent last week likely due to an intense political standoff over legislation and stock market volatility, a pollster said Monday.

Positive assessments of Lee’s job performance dropped by 1 percentage point from the previous week in the poll conducted on 2,528 adults from last Monday to Friday, according to Realmeter.

Negative assessments rose by 0.5 percentage point to 60.6 percent, while 3.4 percent of respondents said they were not sure.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The Chinese honeypot scheme works again;

Nvidia’s (NVDA) board is launching an independent investigation into reports that a woman CEO Jensen Huang was having an affair with was allegedly spying on him for the Chinese government.

In a email to employees Sunday, Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair.

“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry,” Huang wrote.

(……,, )

Last month, the New York Times reported the US intelligence service believed a Chinese national named Alice Huang, a former leader at Megaspeed, an Nvidia chip customer, and someone with a well-documented relationship with Huang himself, may have acted as an intelligence asset, sharing information with the ruling party in Beijing.

Yorkville Ives partner and senior managing director Dan Ives wrote in a note to investors on Sunday that the investigation is a “black eye” for Huang and will likely spark multiple congressional investigations.

Yahoo Finance

You can read more at the link, but you would think someone in Huang’s position would understand that any Chinese national he interacts with is an intelligence agent. I don’t see how you can keep someone as CEO with such bad judgment, but according to the article he will likely remain in his position.

The first snow of the season has arrived in Seoul:

Tourists walk along a snow-covered trail at Mount Balwang in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, Sunday. Yonhap

Seoul recorded its first snowfall of the season Sunday, nearly a month earlier than last year, with light flurries observed in the capital.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the first snow was observed at the Seoul Meteorological Observatory in Jongno District.

The snowfall came 26 days earlier than last year and 12 days ahead of the seasonal average. It marked the sixth-earliest first snowfall since nationwide weather records began in 1973. Seoul’s earliest first snowfall on record occurred on Oct. 23, 1981.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

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

If the Democrats stop this deal I think the real reason is because it is Trump’s idea so it must be bad:

Democratic control of the US Congress could make it harder for South Korea to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and limit President Donald Trump’s ability to reach a deal with North Korea, even as he may seek another summit with leader Kim Jong-un, according to experts Wednesday. (……)

Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Democrats could be more reluctant than Republicans to support South Korea’s efforts to acquire nuclear-powered submarines because of concerns about the spread of nuclear technology.

“Democrats may hold on to non-proliferation norms more strongly than Republicans, which may create obstacles to Lee’s path to acquire nuclear powered subs,” Yeo said, referring to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.