If you are going to try and have an affair with a military spouse just make sure not to do it in China, they actually have stringent laws against this:

All’s not fair in love and war. Sometimes, there is he who lies in wait, plotting to steal significant others when service members are off fighting. His name, of course, is Jody, and he exists everywhere.

In China, there are, in fact, consequences for such inhumanities. One Chinese man was recently sentenced to 10 months in prison for ruining the marriage of a People’s Liberation Army soldier after he dated — and moved in with — the soldier’s wife.

“China’s Criminal Law stipulates that anyone cohabiting or marrying another person knowing that he or she is the spouse of a PLA soldier will face imprisonment of up to three years,” according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

The man, identified as “Ma,” reportedly began an affair with a former coworker, named Yuan, who was also, unbeknownst to him, an Army wife. When Yuan told Ma of her marital status and the punishment associated with an extramarital affair, he broke it off.

But Ma just couldn’t stay away, and he and Yuan moved in together a month later. Yuan then filed for divorce from her husband, who was away serving with the PLA.

Yuan’s husband, however, became aware of the affair through home security footage and subsequently turned the pair in to the authorities.

Army Times

You can read more at the link, but does anyone think the U.S. military should have a similar law to prosecute civilians who knowingly have affairs with military spouses?

Another day and yet another taxi cab related incident involving a 2ID Soldier:

A U.S. service member stationed in South Korea pleaded guilty to assaulting a taxi driver in Seoul and was fined roughly $2,250 last month. The unidentified service member admitted to entering the taxi in the Gangnam district of the capital city at 4:11 a.m. Feb. 17, according to an Aug. 14 verdict sheet from the Seoul Central District Court.

South Korean law enforcement agencies and courts typically do not identify defendants except in extreme cases, such as homicide. After getting into the back seat of the taxi, the 52-year-old driver told the service member that another passenger had already reserved the taxi, according to the court document.

The service member then exited the taxi and walked toward the driver, at which point the driver also left the taxi. The service member then pushed the driver’s chest, choked him and punched him in the face several times, according to the court record.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the Soldier also paid a settlement to the taxi driver which was smart. Paying the settlement usually leads to much lesser punishment.

The ROK military claims stern measures will be taken if North Korea’s trash balloons start causing fires:

South Korea’s military on Monday vowed to take “stern” military measures should North Korea “cross the line” with its ongoing trash balloon campaign or inflict serious damage to the South Korean people.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) made the remark in a statement in response to the North’s repeated launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border, including those attached with timer devices that could potentially cause fires.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it sounds like an empty threat to me. Really what is the ROK going to do in response, launch their own balloons that start fires in North Korea?

Who would have thought having a bunch of kids in the classroom who don’t speak Korean would lead to stress for the teachers trying to educate them? Yes I am being sarcastic:

More than half of teachers at schools with a high number of immigrant students face challenges communicating with pupils from multicultural backgrounds due to their limited Korean language skills, a recent study shows.

According to a report released on Sunday by the Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI), a lack of policy support often exacerbates this problem, potentially increasing teachers’ workloads and undermining the quality of education they provide.

The report, which surveyed 342 teachers from 95 elementary and middle schools nationwide, revealed that 76.9 percent of respondents cited the increasing number of students from foreign families who do not speak Korean as the most challenging aspect of their work. Additionally, 59.1 percent reported heightened workloads and burnout due to the need to support these students, while 44.5 percent pointed to insufficient policy and institutional support as a significant issue.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Usually I do not have much sympathy with taxi drivers in Korea when they try and rip off Soldiers. But in this case a $50 fair for a ride from Seoul to Dongducheon is actually a pretty fair price:

Police plan to recommend assault charges against a U.S. soldier accused of throwing a 73-year-old taxi driver to the ground after complaining his fare was too high. On Sept. 1, a 21-year-old enlisted soldier from Camp Casey hailed a taxi with three other people in Seoul’s Map district, a Dongducheon police officer told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday.

South Korean officials customarily speak to the media on condition of anonymity and typically do not identify individuals suspected of crimes until they are formally charged. The taxi driver dropped the soldier’s companions off before heading to the final destination near Casey in Dongducheon, the officer said.

The soldier slept during the ride and was woken up by the driver upon arrival. After being asked for the $50 fare, the soldier complained it was too high and threw the driver to the ground by his neck, the officer said. The driver immediately reported the incident to police and said he suffered an orbital fracture and scratches to his face.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Basically what this ruling is telling everyone is that if you are a service member in USFK and are charged with child porn, just defect to North Korea and the charges will be dropped if you make it back:

Pvt. Travis King on Friday was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to deserting to North Korea. But he walked out of the courtroom a free man. “With time already served and credit for good behavior, Travis is now free and will return home,” said Frank Rosenblatt, an attorney for the soldier. Military Judge Lt. Col. Rick Mathew also sentenced King to reduction in rank to E-1 and a dishonorable discharge in a court-martial that lasted most of the day.

During the trial, King, 24, sat in his dress uniform between his attorneys and said it was his decision on July 18, 2023, to join a tour of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea and then bolt into North Korea. The soldier did so because he was “dissatisfied with work,” he told the judge. King also pleaded guilty to three counts of disobeying an officer on Oct. 7, 2023, and another charge of assaulting a noncommissioned officer the following day.

He pleaded not guilty to additional charges related to child sexual abuse material and making false statements. The judge dismissed the remaining charges.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but King played the predictable race card saying everyone in the Army is racist. I have seen people in the Army get more jail time for doing far less than what King did and yet prosecutors agreed to a plea deal that let King walk free after less than a year in jail.