This regime elites may be disillusioned, but will they actually do anything about it? It appears not really because very few have defected or spoke out against the Kim regime:

More North Korean elites are “disillusioned” with the Kim Jong-un regime, as they feel anxious on concerns that any small mishap could deprive them of their lives under his leadership, a former North Korean diplomat said Tuesday.

Ri Il-gyu, a former counselor of political affairs at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, made the remark in a session during the Global Korea Forum (GKF), a global forum hosted by the unification ministry and designed to garner international support for South Korea’s bid for peaceful unification.

“Perception by the North’s elite group toward the regime has changed a lot,” Ri said. “They are disillusioned with Kim’s impromptu behaviors. Even with doing something wrong a little bit, North Korea shoots them to death.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Former INDOPACOM Commander and Ambassador to South Korea, Admiral Harry Harris had some interesting things to say about North Korea recently:

Military readiness of the South Korea-U.S. alliance weakened “counterintuitively” during former President Donald Trump’s personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a former top U.S. envoy to Seoul said Tuesday.

Retired Adm. Harry Harris, who served as the U.S. ambassador to South Korea from 2018-2021, made the remarks, citing the suspension of major South Korea-U.S. military drills, which was aimed at facilitating diplomacy with Pyongyang during Trump’s time in office.

Harris’ remarks came amid speculation that the Republican presidential candidate might revive his leader-to-leader engagement with Kim should he return to the White House. In his recent stump speech, Trump said “getting along” with Kim is a “good thing.” (…….)

“Counterintuitively again during this time, I think our military readiness actually decreased because of the prohibition against military exercises — significant military exercises, large-scale military exercises on the peninsula,” he added.

Shortly after the first-ever summit between the U.S. and North Korea in Singapore in 2018, Trump unveiled a plan to stop “provocative” and “expensive” war games with the South, which Pyongyang has decried as an invasion rehearsal. Later, the allies suspended major combined exercises to back diplomacy to encourage North Korea’s denuclearization.

Yonhap

It only makes sense that readiness would decrease if joint exercises are canceled or downgraded. However, here is the most interesting Admiral Harris had to say:

The former ambassador also said that the North Korean leader is unlikely to renounce his regime’s nuclear weapons, while claiming that Kim has been sticking to four goals — getting sanctions relief, keeping his nuclear arsenal, splitting the Seoul-Washington alliance and “dominating” the Korean Peninsula.

“I think it’s naive to think he’s ever going to give up his nuclear weapons,” he said. “I think we have to adjust our thinking to this new reality.”

You can read more at the link, but I have been saying this for years that the Kim regime has reached a point where they will not give up their nuclear weapons. However, our government continues to stick to the fantasy that their nuclear weapons can be negotiated away.

The Korean Democratic Party continues to show what a bunch of hypocrites they are:

Ruling People Power Party floor leader, Choo Kyung-ho left, speaks during the party’s Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has decided to actively respond to the prosecution’s ongoing bribery investigation involving former President Moon Jae-in, condemning it as a “petty act of political retaliation,” party members said Monday.

In strong opposition to the investigation, the main opposition party is considering forming a countermeasures committee. (……..)

“When former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak were imprisoned, and numerous figures from the conservative camp were detained during the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration, the DPK fervently supported these actions, calling them ‘clearing deep-rooted evils.’ Now that they are the opposition, they label similar actions as ‘political retaliation.’ Few will sympathize with the party’s double standards,” Choo said.

The prosecution has been investigating allegations of a quid pro quo involving Moon’s former son-in-law, who was appointed to an executive position at a low-cost carrier founded by former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik despite lacking experience in the aviation industry. 

The prosecutional inquiry is focused on whether this appointment was linked to former Rep. Lee’s appointment as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency in March 2018 during Moon’s presidency. Moon’s son-in-law, surnamed Seo, was hired four months after Lee assumed leadership of the agency.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It seems like the consensus in South Korea to develop their own nuclear deterrent continues to grow:

Defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun said Monday that South Korea’s nuclear armament could be among the options considered to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats amid high public support for the idea of their country going nuclear.

“That is included among all possible options,” Kim said in a parliamentary confirmation hearing, in response to a question on the possibility of securing room for nuclear armament.

Speaking to reporters last month, Kim said that he was open to all means to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats, while stressing that the alliance with the United States remains the basis in dealing with such threats.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You cannot put anything pass the Korean left, so them trying another impeachment scheme is definitely plausible:

The presidential office lambasted the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Monday for spreading false rumors about the government allegedly planning to declare martial law.

Presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon condemned DP leader Lee Jae-myung for raising the allegations during a live broadcast meeting with ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon on Sunday.

“We are appalled that the leader of a major political party would spread fabricated rumors on live television,” Jeong said in a press briefing. “If there is even a shred of evidence, please present it.”

Jeong questioned whether the DP is spreading the rumors as part of a broader propaganda campaign focused on the radical idea of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, vowing to sternly deal with its attempts to manipulate public opinion with baseless claims.

“Is this part of a buildup to (Yoon’s) impeachment?” Jeong asked, adding that if there is no evidence, the DP should be labeled a “party of fake news.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but what is even stupider about this claim from the opposition party is that if martial law is declared by Yoon, by law the national assembly can overrule it with a majority vote. Currently the opposition party holds the majority of the seats in the national assembly.

This seems like a logical thing for the government to do in response to the strike by Korean doctors:

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo enters the venue of a briefing held in Seoul on Sept. 2, 2024. (Yonhap)

 The health ministry said Monday it plans to deploy military physicians to hospital emergency rooms amid growing concerns over a possible disruption of emergency care during the Chuseok holiday due to a prolonged walkout by junior doctors.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told reporters the government would send some 250 military and public health doctors to cope with emergency care before and after the holiday that runs from Sept. 14 through 18.

“We are reinforcing the staff by utilizing military and public doctors, while recruiting nurses and contract doctors,” Park said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.