We now know likely why a fire was started by one of North Korea’s trash balloons that landed on a building in South Korea:

Timer devices on some North Korean trash-carrying balloons could cause fires, South Korea’s military said Tuesday, amid a series of fires in the country suspected to be caused by the balloons.

On Monday, firefighters put out a blaze that began on the rooftop of a warehouse in Paju, 27 kilometers northwest of Seoul, after a North Korean trash balloon landed there, renewing concerns whether the balloons or the substances they drop could be a fire hazard.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson said some North Korean balloons have dropped bundles of trash using devices that heat up and disconnect the garbage after a certain period of time, noting they could lead to fires if they land on surfaces without properly separating.

Korea Times via a reader tip

You can read more at the link, but clearly this incident shows how the trash balloons can be weaponized to become a more provocative gray zone weapon. Similar to the Imperial Japanese using balloons to start forest fires in the Pacific Northwest during World War II, these trash balloons could easily be used to start forest fires in South Korea.

Even worse would be if these balloons were launched during conflict to complicate aviation and integrated air and missile defense targeting over South Korea. These balloons clearly have a lot more military potential than just the nuisance they appear to be today.

The Malaysian prime minister says his country is not going to give in to Chinese demands to stop drilling for oil in the South China Sea:

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday that Malaysia will not bow to demands by China to stop its oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea as the activities are within the country’s waters. Anwar said Malaysia would continue to explain its stance following China’s accusations in a protest note in February to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing that Kuala Lumpur had infringed on its territory.

Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it was investigating the leak of the diplomatic protest note that was published by a Filipino media outlet on Aug. 29. “We have never intended in any way to be intentionally provocative, unnecessarily hostile. China is a great friend, but of course we have to operate in our waters and secure economic advantage, including drilling for oil in our territory,” Anwar said in a televised news conference from Russia, where he is on an official visit.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer published the diplomatic note in which Beijing reportedly demanded that Malaysia immediately halt all activities in an oil-rich maritime area off Sarawak state on Borneo island. The report said China had accused Malaysia of encroaching on areas covered by its 10-dash line, Beijing’s controversial map showing its claims to sovereignty in the South China Sea. The diplomatic note also expressed Beijing’s displeasure over Malaysia’s oil and gas exploration activities near the Luconia Shoals, which is near to Sarawak, it said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This should suprise no one that a cheaply produced Chinese made battery likely caused the recent massive EV fire in South Korea:

The burnt  Mercedes EQE sedan is transferred for a thorough investigation in Incheon. [NEWS1]

Mercedes-Benz‘s ties with an obscure Chinese battery maker came under heavy scrutiny in Korea over the revelation that its EV at the center of a massive explosion in an underground parking garage used the supplier’s battery. 
  
The supplier is Ganzhou-based Farasis Energy, which was founded in 2009 and has a history of issuing recalls due to fire risks.

Mercedes EV owners claim that the German luxury carmaker deceived consumers by marketing some particular EVs as powered by batteries from Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest battery maker in terms of shipments. 
  
“It’s definitely an intention to deceive customers. How could a luxury brand like Mercedes use batteries from a brand that no one has heard of and never notify us?” said Jeon Kang-hwan, an owner of a Mercedes EQE 350+ who also heads an emergency committee of around 300 Mercedes owners who are preparing for a class-action lawsuit against the German luxury marque for consumer fraud.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The Korean left is of course trying to appeal to anti-Japanese sentiment because Prime Minister Kishida did not give yet again another apology for things that happened 80+ years ago:

The main opposition party slammed President Yoon Suk Yeol of “flattering” his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, accusing him of making consecutive concessions to Tokyo without securing a formal apology or compensation for its historical grievances.

A day after the Japanese prime minister left Seoul, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday pledged to revise rules to stop comfort women statues at home and abroad from being defaced or meddled with, without disclosing details. It also promised to elicit Japan’s formal apology and compensation for its past wrongdoings.

“The Japanese government has been constantly pouring in diplomatic efforts to take down the comfort woman statues in Germany and Italy, but the Yoon administration is merely repeating the disastrous pro-Japan flunkeyism, much less a strong reaction to them,” the women’s club of the party said in a statement.

Korea Herald

Here is what Kishida did say:

Kishida on Friday repeated his remarks from his previous visit to Seoul in March 2023 that he had inherited “all of his predecessors’ recognition of history,” including a declaration between former Korean President Kim Dae-jung and former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in 1998 — under which Japan recognized its past suffering inflicted on the South Korean people when Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula.

Kishida also reiterated his 2023 remarks, saying it was “heartbreaking that many South Koreans went through difficult and sad experiences in the past,” in an apparent reference to Japan’s abuse of Korean forced labor, though delivered in an informal and personal tone.

Japan clearly has apology fatigue and what Kishida did was just reemphasize the apologies of previous Japanese leaders instead of making yet another new apology. According to this Joong Ang Ilbo article Japan has made 63 apology statements to Korea. However, according to the same article 85% of Koreans think Japan is not sincere in their apologies. This is why the Korean left continues to jump on this issue because it is good politics for them to bash Japan and attack Korean conservatives on.