Trump has brought back up the issue that South Korea should pay more for defense from U.S. troops however with the cost sharing deal recently concluded that extends to 2030, this seems like campaign rhetoric at this point. Trump is once again using a lot of hyperbole to make his greater point that allies should pay more for international security provided by U.S. troops:
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that America “cannot be taken advantage of any longer in trade and in the military,” reinforcing speculation that he could demand renegotiation of a recent defense cost-sharing deal with Seoul if he returns to office.
The Republican presidential candidate made the remarks during a televised town hall event hosted by Fox News, falsely claiming that South Korea does not pay for the stationing of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).
“40,000 soldiers and we never get paid. South Korea, they don’t pay,” Trump said, apparently referring to 28,500 USFK service members.
“I made them pay. Everyone raised hell, and Biden took the deal, and he said they don’t pay anymore, and they’re a rich country. No … we have to start. We cannot be taken advantage of any longer in trade, in the military,” he added.
You can read more at the link.
That is a question the Korea Times was asking people recently in Itaewon:
Nearly two years have passed since a deadly crowd disaster during Halloween weekend shocked the world on Oct. 29, 2022. That traumatic event led to 159 deaths and left permanent scars in central Seoul’s multicultural Itaewon area. As Halloween 2024 approaches, many are questioning whether the neighborhood will see a return to what was once one of the most vibrant and profitable weekends for local businesses.
Yet business owners and event organizers in the area said they are not yet prepared to resume Halloween celebrations as they did in the past.
“I think Halloween is naturally going to be slightly toned down for a while, particularly in Itaewon,” Ali Zahoor, co-organizer of Seoul Drag Parade, said.
“Seoul Drag Parade has a couple of Halloween-themed shows planned,” Heezy Yang, another co-organizer, added. “But we tried to choose dates and locations for them cautiously and respectfully, considering what happened in Itaewon.” (…………..)
“It hasn’t been discussed yet because we’re still a while away,” he added, “but I imagine everybody is sort of waiting to see what everyone else does, and talk to the other bar owners — ‘What are you planning on doing?'”
Last year, there was a widespread fear among foreign residents of Korea, as well as Itaewon business owners and anyone else who enjoys Halloween, about being singled out and made out to seem insensitive over Halloween.
Once again, Walsh acknowledged this fear is still a concern this year.
“Nobody wants to be in the media at the club,” he said. “We know that the wounds are still sore with the families, and I’m sure the media are gonna be looking for somebody that’s sticking out. And as a foreigner, I don’t want to be sticking out. Even the Koreans don’t want to stick out either.”
You can read more at the link.
It looks like the Korean left has found a new angle to go after President Yoon’s wife after all their previous efforts failed. This one seems pretty weak as well if the only evidence they have is a innocuous text message exchange with the First Lady and testimony from a disgraced pollster:
The presidential office flatly denied claims by an election broker Tuesday that he frequently communicated with President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee during Yoon’s campaign for the People Power Party (PPP) presidential nomination in 2021.
Myung tae-kyun, a shadowy figure who ran a public opinion polling agency, claimed in media reports that he met Yoon and his wife in June 2021 and advised them regularly for about six months until the end of the presidential primary in November of that year.
“It is an absurd claim that Myung spoke to the president and first lady on speakerphone every day for six months,” a senior presidential official said in a release.
The official also clarified that the text messages exchanged between Myung and Kim were part of a private conversation before Yoon joined the PPP in July 2021.
One message shows Kim saying, “Please forgive our brother (oppa in Korean) for speaking carelessly.”
The official explained that the “brother” referred to in the message was Kim’s biological brother, not Yoon.
Myung has been implicated in a political scandal involving allegations of the first lady’s interference in PPP candidate nominations ahead of the April general elections.
You can read more at the link, but if Myung was have speakerphone conversations every day for six months you would think he would have more evidence of such a close relationship.
In my opinion the blowing up of the two roads by North Korea is more performative for the ROK and international media than anything of substance between the two Koreas. I doubt President Yoon is going to lose any sleep over this:
North Korea blew up the northern sections of two inter-Korean roads, Tuesday, in an apparent attempt to sever all ties with South Korea and formalize a hostile, two-state system on the Korean Peninsula.
“North Korea exploded parts of the Gyeongui and Donghae roads north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) at around noon,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a message sent to reporters.
Gyeongui Road, which linked the two Koreas in the western part of the country, was primarily used by businesspeople operating factories at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North. Meanwhile, Donghae Road along the east coast was utilized by tourists visiting North Korea’s Mount Geumgang.
The JCS said it fired several shots south of the MDL after the road explosions, adding it has intensified its readiness and surveillance posture. South Korea’s military had already observed on Monday that Pyongyang was preparing to destroy the road.
You can read more at the link, but these two roads have not been used for many years after the closing of the Kaesong Industrial Complex near Panmunjom and the ending of tours to the Kumgang Resort on the east coast. So blowing them up is meaningless and if for some reason one of these two inter-Korean projects were to get restarted the road can easily be repaired probably with ROK money.
North Korea had nothing to lose from this provocation and gained yet again wide media attention which means they achieved thier objective with this stunt.
Has anyone read or seen these movies from South Korea’s recently awarded Nobel Literature award winner Han Kang? Are they worth reading or watching?:
Two films based on the works of Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang will receive special screening sections later this week, CJ CGV said Monday.
The films, “The Vegetarian” and “Scars,” will be shown on Thursday, in celebration of the Korean novelist’s recent Nobel literature award, according to the multiplex cinema chain.
Directed by Lim Woo-seong, the films are adaptations of Han’s novels — “The Vegetarian,” which won the International Booker Prize in 2016, and her 1999 novel, “Baby Buddha.”
The former was invited to the Panorama section of the Busan International Film Festival’s Korean Movie Today in 2009 and the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000.
Although neither film gained significant attention from the general public at the time of their release, they have attracted renewed interest following her prestigious win last week.
You can read more at the link.
I have to wonder what job these two Filipinas were illegally working at in Busan?:
Two Filipinas, who were apprehended after leaving the Seoul metropolitan government’s pilot program for foreign domestic helpers without permission, have returned home, the South Korean justice ministry said Monday.
The workers were forced to leave Thursday following several weeks of unauthorized absence from their jobs, according to the ministry.
They reportedly did not contest the immigration authority’s notification of deportation and expressed a desire to return home during the investigation.
After their departure, the workers were banned from reentering South Korea for a specified period.
They arrived in South Korea on Aug. 6 as part of a six-month project led by the Seoul city government to assign foreign nannies to households with kids or newborns to help with child care and housework, and began working on Sept. 3 after about a month of training.
They, however, left their quarters on Sept. 15, the second day of a five-day Chuseok holiday. They were supposed to return to work by Sept. 18 but did not.
The Busan immigration office and police found they illegally got jobs in Busan and arrested them at their residences early this month.
You can read more at the link.
