Lee Jae-myung may have lost one legal battle, but he won this one:

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung was cleared, Monday, of charges of suborning perjury or soliciting false testimony.

The verdict marks a dramatic turnaround in his political career, as he was sentenced to a suspended jail term for a separate case just 10 days ago.

This ruling will slightly ease the legal burden on Lee, who is currently facing a total of five trials, as he remains the strongest opposition contender for the 2027 presidential election. Lee and the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) are expected to use the verdict as momentum to more actively assert that the charges against him are politically motivated and part of an effort to suppress the opposition, further solidifying the anti-government stance of the DPK’s campaigns.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It has been 14 years since the brazen attack on Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea:

South Korea’s Marine Corps chief vowed Saturday to never forget the sacrifices of two Marines killed in a 2010 North Korean artillery attack on a western border island.

Lt. Gen. Kim Kye-hwan, who doubles as the command’s head, made the remarks during an annual ceremony marking the 14th anniversary of the attack on Yeonpyeong Island near the western inter-Korean sea border, which killed two Marines and two civilians.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the November 23, 2010 attack was the first artillery attack on ROK soil since the Korean War.

Here we go again with historical issues preventing close cooperation between Korea and Japan when they both know it is in their national interests to cooperate:

Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister of Japan’s foreign ministry, lays a wreath during a memorial ceremony for the laborers who worked in the Sado mines at Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Sunday. Yonhap

Korean officials skipped Japan’s memorial service held near the Sado mine site, Sunday, in an apparent protest against Tokyo’s “insincerity” in addressing the dark history related to the site, where approximately 1,500 Koreans were subjected to forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.

Critics view that this latest incident, which could reignite historical disputes over the forced labor issue, could undermine the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s efforts to foster closer cooperation with Tokyo.

Diplomatic friction with Japan has been rare under Yoon, whose administration has prioritized mending ties with the neighboring nation after years of strained relations over historical grievances.

The memorial service, held at the Aikawa Development Center on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, was attended by Japanese government officials and members of civic groups, with no Korean officials present. Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister of Japan’s foreign ministry, represented the government.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the reason for the protest is that the Japanese representative, Akiko Ikuina visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo back in 2022. For Koreans if you visit Yasukuni it means you support Japan’s World War II aggression, but that is not how Japanese view Yasukuni, it is a place to remember Japan’s wartime dead. The reason for the boycott may be stupid, but the Japanese probably should of chose someone else to attend the memorial to prevent the boycott by Korea. It was more important to have the Korean representatives there than Ikuina.

Who knows how true this is, but this is what Ukraine is claiming a missile strike into Russia’s Kursk province has caused:

 A Ukrainian media outlet has reported that about 500 North Korean soldiers were killed in a missile strike by Kyiv in Russia’s western Kursk region. 

Citing Global Defense Corp., a defense news publisher, RBC Ukraine said the North Korean soldiers were killed “as a result of the Storm Shadow missile strike on the Kursk region.” 

South Korean and U.S. officials said North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in support of its invasion against Ukraine.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This CNN report from Ukraine is just another example of how much of a failure sanctions on the North Korean regime have been:

CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh visits a warehouse storing missile fragments in Kyiv, where investigators discover US circuitry inside North Korean missiles after a deadly strike.

CNN

You can watch the full video at the link, but sanctions are not going to work with North Korea as long as China continues to allow goods to be smuggled in to sustain the regime.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.