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Here is some more information about the ROK intelligence agent that was leaking the identity of undercover agents in China:

A military intelligence official indicted for allegedly leaking the identities of undercover South Korean agents has admitted to working for a Chinese operative since 2017, military prosecutors said Wednesday. 
  
The 49-year-old official, who worked for the Defense Intelligence Command before his suspension, initially denied leaking military secrets but eventually told investigators that he was recruited by Chinese intelligence in 2017 during a visit to Yanji, the capital of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, to meet his contacts. 
  
According to military prosecutors, the official claimed he was detained by Chinese officials at the Yanji airport and offered a chance to work for a Chinese intelligence agent in exchange for his family’s safety. 
  
Military prosecutors indicted the official on Tuesday on charges of bribery, aiding the enemy and violating the Military Secrets Protection Act by leaking classified information. 
  
While the official said he began selling military secrets in 2017, prosecutors said they were able to confirm he had received payments since 2019 and leaked classified information since June 2022, two years before counterintelligence officials caught wind of his suspicious activities.

Total payments to the suspect that have been tracked thus far by South Korean counterintelligence amount to 160 million won ($120,000). 
  
Prosecutors said the suspect gathered secrets by taking photos and screenshots of information on computer screens at the Defense Intelligence Command’s headquarters in Seoul, which he then uploaded to a Chinese cloud server at home.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I have to wonder how real the supposed threats to his family were? I would not be surprised if he was looking for money from the start. Considering he only got paid $120,000 he sold out his country for a paltry sum.

These have to be some strong horses to haul Kim Jong-il around on:

North Korea has reportedly imported more than 20 Russian horses, known as “Kim Jong-un’s Ama.”

According to the US Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the 27th (local time), Russia’s Primorsky Krai Agricultural and Fisheries Supervisory Service sent 24 Orlov Trotter horses to North Korea on the 25th. (….)

Orlov is known to be the preferred breed of the Kim family as a handsome, obedient, and patient Junma. Kim Jong-un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission, is also called “Kim Jong-un’s Ama” because he was seen climbing Mount Baekdu on an Orlov Junma at the end of 2019.

In February last year, a white horse appeared that Chairman Kim’s daughter Joo-ae was riding at a military parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Army.

Maeil Business Newspaper

You can read more at the link.

Maybe the Korean government’s focus on trying the raise the national birth rate might be having some success if this small statistical is an indication of things to come:

The number of babies born in South Korea rose for the first time in more than eight years in the second quarter of 2024, data showed Wednesday, as the country is grappling with its ultralow birth rate.

A total of 56,838 babies were born in the April-June period, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It was the first time since the fourth quarter of 2015, when the number went up 0.6 percent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Yoon administration has already used up so much political capital pushing through the increase in the medical school quota, I can understand why they are upset with the party leadership trying to get them to suspend it:

President Yoon Suk Yeol has postponed his planned dinner with ruling People Power Party (PPP) leaders until after the Chuseok holiday, his office said Wednesday, amid differences with the PPP leader over the issue of the medical school quota increase.

Yoon had planned to host a dinner Friday with PPP leader Han Dong-hoon, floor leader Choo Kyung-ho, five Supreme Council members and the party’s policy chief, but the presidential office said the meeting has been put off to prioritize the issues of people’s livelihoods. (…….)

The postponement comes after Han proposed deferring the medical school quota increase for 2026 to help break an impasse over the government’s medical reform plans.

The presidential office reportedly balked at the idea, saying the government stands by its plan to increase admissions by 2,000 seats every year for the next five years.

Han took to Facebook on Tuesday to publicly propose the deferral of one year, noting a sudden increase in the number of students, including the approximately 3,000 current students who need to retake classes next year, could put a strain on medical schools.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the medical school quota increase the government is implementing to increase the number of doctors in rural areas. However, current doctors have been protesting and striking to stop the quota increase which has put a strain on the nation’s medical system. They do not want the added competition from more doctors and are doing everything in their power to stop it and it appears the PPP’s leadership might be getting influenced by them.

The overtourism of Jeju Island must have gotten really bad in recent years for it to now drop below Gangwon-do as the most perferred domestic travel destination for South Koreans:

Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju is losing its luster as a leading travel spot for Koreans despite the post-pandemic recovery of domestic travel demand, a survey released Tuesday showed.

Instead, Gangwon Province on the eastern mountainous coast of the Korean Peninsula, known to offer similar travel purposes as Jeju, is emerging as a trending destination.

According to Consumer Insight’s monthly report Tuesday, Koreans’ interest in travel to Jeju Island stood at 29 percent in July, marking the lowest since the survey started in 2016.

“Interest” refers to the percentage of respondents who said their desire to visit a specific destination has grown compared to the year before.

After dropping 9 percentage points from 41 percent to 32 percent in May, the figure fell again by 4 percentage points from 33 percent to 29 percent from June to July. (…….)

However, the downward trend for Jeju is exceptional. Interest plunged by 18 percentage points between 2022 and 2023 and continued to fall from January to July this year from 41 percent to 29 percent.

The drop in Gangwon Province was relatively small, with decreasing by 12 percentage points from 55 percent to 43 percent during the same period.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.