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Is ROK Military Really Seeing a Rise in Sexual Misconduct Complaints?

I argue the ROK military is not seeing a rise in sexual misconduct, but instead a rise in females willing to report it:

The number of reports of sexual misconduct against female service members has surged in recent years, increasing by more than sixfold from 2020 to 2023, a lawmaker said Wednesday, citing data from the defense ministry.

The number of such reports stood at 135 in 2020 before reaching 366 in 2021, 673 in 2022, 867 in 2023 and 604 as of September this year, according to the data submitted to Rep. Hwang Hee of the main opposition Democratic Party. 

Of the total 2,645 cases over the period, 1,730 were reports of sexual harassment, while 915 were those on other sexual violence, such as rape and sexual assault.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

North Korean Flag Appears in Russian Held Ukraine

A few years ago who would have imagined that North Korean troops and their flag would be flying over a Eastern European country?:

A pro-Russia Telegram account has posted a photo showing the Russian and North Korean flags side by side on a Ukrainian battlefield, indicating that North Korea has likely sent troops to support Russia in its prolonged war with Ukraine.

The image, shared by a blogger named @rvvoenkor_bot on Monday, showed the two flags raised together over a mine in Pokrovsk, one of the strongholds on Ukraine’s eastern front.

The blogger said that the North Korean flag has recently been raised on a hill at the mine near the city, which is one of the suspected locations where North Korean soldiers are believed to be stationed.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

South Korean Propaganda Loudspeakers Inform North Koreans of Troop Deployment to Ukraine

The ROK is informing North Korean Soldiers along the DMZ that they could potentially become cannon fodder in Putin’s war in Ukraine:

The South Korean loudspeakers blaring at the Demilitarized Zone are causing pain for the residents of the nearby Unification Village, the village chief told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. Since Monday, the South Korean armed forces’ “Voice of Freedom” has been broadcasting around-the-clock to North Koreans that their troops are deployed to Russia to support the invasion of Ukraine, Lee Wanbae said.

“Not only me but also my villagers have been hearing the anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts all day long every day,” he said. “The military broadcasts it from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. … and it is very loud. So, our ears are starting to hurt.” Unification Village, in a buffer zone just outside the DMZ, is just over a mile from the no-man’s land dividing the two countries.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

South Korea Considering Sending Small Contingent of Intelligence Troops to Assist Ukraine

This would be bold of South Korea to send troops to Ukraine when even the U.S. hasn’t officially sent any American troops to Ukraine yet:

 South Korea is considering sending a team of personnel to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops being deployed to support Russia, a government source said Tuesday.

Last week, Seoul’s spy agency said North Korea sent some 1,500 special forces to Russia this month to take part in the war in Ukraine. The North is expected to dispatch a total of 12,000 troops from an elite special forces unit, according to an intelligence source.

“There is a possibility that personnel will be sent to Ukraine to monitor the tactics and combat capabilities of North Korean special forces dispatched in support of Russia,” the source said.

If deployed, the team is expected to be composed of military personnel from intelligence units, who could analyze North Korean battlefield tactics or take part in interrogations of captured North Koreans.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ROK sending Ukraine artillery shells seems to clearly be on the table now as well.

Tweet of the Day: North Korean Soldiers Being Issued Gear in Russia

Picture of the Day: BTS Member J-Hope Completes Military Service

BTS' J-Hope completes obligatory military service
BTS’ J-Hope completes obligatory military service
J-Hope, a member of the K-pop supergroup BTS, salutes upon his discharge from the 36th Army Infantry Division boot camp in Wonju, about 85 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 17, 2024, after completing 18 months of mandatory military service, becoming the second member of the band to do so, following the oldest member, Jin. (Yonhap)

44% of Deaths of Foreigners in South Korea are Undetermined

If you are a foreigner and pass away in South Korea, there is a high probability your loved ones will not know how you died:

The government has failed to establish the causes of more than 40 percent of deaths of foreign nationals who died in Korea in recent years, a Ministry of Justice report shows.

According to the report disclosed Saturday by Rep. Cha Gyu-geun of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party, 15,325 foreign nationals died in Korea between 2018 and 2022.

A total of 7,698 of them, or 50 percent, were confirmed to have died of disease, followed by car accidents (211), natural causes (177), falling (155), self-harm (152), natural disasters (71), drowning (61), homicides (19) and addiction (10).

Most notably, a staggering 44.2 percent, or 6,771 deaths, were attributed to “other” causes, meaning the reasons were unclear. This figure is significantly higher compared to the number of deaths among Korean nationals.

According to data released by Statistics Korea, the No. 1 cause of death of Koreans in 2022 was cancer, followed by heart disease, COVID-19 and pneumonia. “Others” are not among the top 10 causes listed.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

North Korea Calls Out U.N. for Double Standards After Criticism for Destroying DMZ Roads

North Korea kind of does have a point, it can do what it wants with things on their sovereign territory:

North Korea accused U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of “double standards” Sunday, saying he urged Pyongyang to exercise restraint following its destruction of inter-Korean roads while remaining silent about South Korea’s alleged drone infiltration into the North.

Kim Son-gyong, North Korea’s vice foreign minister for international organizations, issued the statement after Guterres called for efforts to ease tensions and resume dialogue after the North blew up roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border on Tuesday. 

“I express deep displeasure over and categorically reject the remarks of interfering in the internal affairs” of North Korea, Kim said in the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

Kim claimed the destruction of roads and rail lines within its territory falls under North Korea’s “sovereign right from A to Z” and should not be subject to interference from the U.N. secretary-general.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.