Considering that former Presidents George Bush and Roh Moo-hyun’s last meeting ended in a testy exchange about North Korea, Poongsan Corp. must be providing him a pretty nice travel package to attend this memorial service:
Former U.S. President George W. Bush plans to visit South Korea next week to attend a memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s death, an official said Monday.
Bush is expected to participate in the memorial event to be held on May 23 at Bongha Village in Gimhae, some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, hometown of the late president, according to a foundation set up in honor of Roh.
Bush was Roh’s U.S. counterpart during the South Korean president’s presidency from 2003 to 2008.
“His attendance of the memorial service has been confirmed. We will reveal details later this week,” an official at the Roh Moo-hyun foundation said.
In May 2009, Roh jumped to his death off a cliff behind his retirement home amid a widening probe by prosecutors over allegations that members of his family accepted illicit funds.
Bush’s planned visit is believed to be arranged by local arms manufacturer Poongsan Corp., which has long ties with the Bush family.
He reportedly will visit Seoul for affairs related to the company. Bush’s side is believed to have expressed his intent to participate in the memorial service through the company.
12-mile ruck march, part of basic military training, maybe no more for #SouthKorean military, which is cutting basic training to 5 weeks.https://t.co/H0gMRNV1Wn
Ahead of nationwide strikeBuses are parked at a garage in Yongin, south of Seoul, on May 13, 2019, two days ahead of a planned strike by some 35,000 unionized bus drivers nationwide, who demand pay hikes and manpower increases in time for the implementation of a mandatory 52-hour workweek in the bus industry. The drivers complain that the 52-hour workweek, set to be enforced in July, will lead to a significant reduction in their earnings. (Yonhap)
I am very suspicious of this story because I find it hard to believe there is a population of Asiatic black bears living in a stretch of land 4 kilometers wide. This just seems very convenient when the Moon administration has been pushing to turn the DMZ into a so called “Eco-Peace Park“:
A rare Asiatic black bear cub has been photographed while crossing a stream in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
A rare Asiatic black bear cub has been photographed while crossing a stream in the Demilitarized Zone, highlighting the heavily fortified Korean border area’s role as a unique haven for wildlife. The photo of the bear, which was captured by a motion-sensor camera in October, emerged as the fate of the DMZ is in question amid efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas and persuade the North to abandon its nuclear weapons. The 2.5-mile wide, 155-mile long strip of land has been largely a no-go zone for more than six decades due to land mines and barbed wire-lined fences in place since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice instead of a peace treaty. Untouched by development, animals and plants have thrived with little human contact in the protected ecosystem that includes wetlands, forests, mountains and coastlines.
Remember how the Moon administration said they would get public opinion before agreeing to food aid to North Korea? Well as expected public opinion to them is getting their food aid plan agreed to by fellow leftist groups:
Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul discussed the issue of providing food aid to North Korea with civic groups here, Tuesday, as part of a first step in reviewing the project.
Seventeen people from three organizations, including the Korea Conference of Religions for Peace, participated in the discussion.
The three groups are favorable toward the government providing humanitarian aid to the North. In a joint statement, they said South Korea should never ignore the devastating food shortage there despite ongoing military and political tension between the two Koreas.
“As of now, the unification ministry is focusing on receiving opinions. We will decide on the project’s timing, method and scale afterwards,” a ministry official said.
You can read more at the link, but some how I doubt anyone from these groups asked the Unification Minister how come the Kim regime cannot purchase food for their people, but can buy $640 million of luxury goods from China?
This editorial in the North Korean state controlled newspaper is clearly intended to send a message to the Moon administration to violate international sanctions:
Pyongyang’s state media on Sunday condemned the South for citing humanitarian reasons for its plans to provide food aid to the North, saying Seoul is “playing with empty words” rather than attempting to tackle “fundamental issues” in their relationship.
The editorial from Arirang Meari – a state-run outlet in Pyongyang that mainly covers inter-Korean issues – criticized the South for being “entangled with an external environment” and putting off the implementation of their joint declarations from earlier summits. Calling the South’s references to humanitarianism “empty words” and “showing off,” the piece went on say that making a “big deal out of a few counts of humanitarian cooperation projects” was an “insult to public opinion and an act lacking respect and ethics.
“[The South] must not make a mockery out of the historic inter-Korean joint declaration with a trivial counts of goods trading or human exchanges,” the essay continued. “If [South Korea] is truly interested in improving inter-Korean relations as a primary party to national issues, it must boldly divorce itself from a policy of foreign dependence and fulfill its duty to the people by actively sticking by the inter-Korean declarations.”
You can read more at the link, but the Kim regime is trying to push the Moon administration to unilaterally restart joint projects such as the Kaesong Industrial Park that would violate international sanctions.
N.K. discloses missile launchThis photo, captured from Pyongyang’s Korean Central TV on May 10, 2019, shows a missile launch carried out during a strike drill “in the forefront area and on the western front” under the guidance of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
I had thought that maybe the Korean woman rescued by French commandoes was a missionary, but it appears she was simply an around the world traveler. I just don’t understand why people would put themselves and more importantly others sent to rescue them in danger needlessly like this:
The South Korean woman who was rescued from a hostage situation in western Africa had traveled to Mali, a country that the Seoul government has advised nationals to either not go to or to leave, before she was kidnapped, a foreign ministry official said Monday. The Korean woman in her 40s was freed in an operation led by the French military in Burkina Faso last week after near monthlong captivity by an apparent Islamic militant group. She was safely transported to Paris on Saturday (Paris time) and arrangements are being made for her return to South Korea at an early date. A foreign ministry official said the victim had been traveling to conflict-prone nations in the African region as part of a round-the-world trip that began about 18 months ago. She had visited Morocco, Senegal and Mali before arriving in Burkina Faso. She was said to be on her way to Benin when she was taken hostage, the official said. “Objectively speaking, it is true that the victim passed through fairly dangerous areas,” the ministry official said. Under South Korea’s four-level travel warning system, Mali and northern Burkina Faso have been designated “red alert,” meaning South Koreans are advised not to go or to leave such places, largely due to political unrest.
Someone should ask Mr. Beasley why there is a food shortage in North Korea?:
Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul (L) shakes hands with World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley ahead of their meeting in Seoul on May 13, 2019. (Yonhap)
e head of a U.N. food agency said Monday he is “very concerned” about food shortages in North Korea and called for donations to the impoverished communist nation, affirming that the agency will try to make sure aid will reach those intended. World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley made the remarks to reporters after he met with South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul to discuss North Korea’s worsening food situation. “We are very concerned about the situation there and we are hopeful that we can come up with some solutions,” Beasley said. “Whatever we do, we will assure the donors that the food or any assistance will meet their objectives. We’ll have monitoring systems in place.”
You can read more at the link, but any malnourishment in North Korea is sponsored by the regime. They have the money and resources to feed their people, but have made a conscious decision not to. Instead they have prioritized funding for nuclear weapons and missile programs.
