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.
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.
ROK authorities need to put this guy away for a very long time to deter anyone else from leaking information like this. Hopefully none of these ROK agents were killed due to these leak:
The defense ministry’s prosecutors’ office on Tuesday indicted a military intelligence official for allegedly leaking information of South Korean espionage agents operating overseas.
The official at the Korea Defense Intelligence Command, whose identity is withheld, was arrested earlier this month on allegations of handing over personal information of “black agents” to a Chinese national of Korean descent, who is possibly an informant for North Korea’s intelligence agency.
The defense ministry said the prosecutors indicted the official on charges of aiding the enemy, bribery and violating the Military Secrets Protection Act, believing that the individual leaked confidential information in exchange for financial gains.
A feminist in South Korea has mapped out schools where deepfake child pornography was created by male students using photos of girls on Telegram. The map is being updated. https://t.co/qvAr4JvA6tpic.twitter.com/TriJE1nsQw
Presidential chief secretary fined Presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk answers reporters’ question at Seoul Central District Court on Aug. 27, 2024, after the court fined him 12 million won (approximately US$9,000) for defaming the late former President Roh Moo-hyun by stating that Roh’s suicide was caused by a quarrel with his wife (Yonhap)
In a new book written by H.R. McMaster he discusses his time working in the Trump administration and the friction with the Moon administration over the North Korea nuclear issue:
In the book, titled, “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House,” H.R. McMaster, who served as national security advisor from 2017-2018, revealed a series of anecdotes where the administrations of former Presidents Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump diverged on North Korea and other issues. (……..)
“Moon said that, just like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Khadafi, Kim believed that he needed nuclear weapons for defense,” McMaster wrote.
“Pence asked Moon, ‘Why does Kim Jong-un need nukes when he has conventional artillery in range of Seoul? We have to consider the possibility that Kim wants the weapons for offensive purposes,'” he added.
Why can’t it be both? Clearly Kim saw what happened to Khadafi and Saddam and does not want that to happen to him. His conventional artillery is enough to deter the ROK and the U.S. as long as USFK is in South Korea. However, if USFK is ever withdrawn that then gives the U.S. more flexibility to strike North Korea without fear of instant retaliation against U.S. troops.
Nucelar weapons combined with their missile program are clearly aimed to deter the U.S. by threatening to launch nuclear weapons against bases in Japan, Guam, and eventually the U.S. mainland if they develop a reliable ICBM. This is why the Kim regime has been wanting to sign a peace agreement with the U.S. during the Moon administration. If there is peace why is USFK still needed? North Korea strategy is to get USFK out and then deter the U.S. with nuclear weapons.
If North Korea feels the U.S. is deterred then tactical nukes could then be used during any offensive operation into South Korea. However, I believe this would actually be a last option for the Kim regime. During the Moon administration the Kim regime was trying to push a confederation policy with South Korea that ultimately failed, but would not be surprised if it came up again in the future.
Deep fake sex images are now the biggest story in South Korea and it is problem that is going to be highly difficult stop due to the spread of AI technology that makes this possible:
Police will carry out an intensive crackdown on deepfake sex images as a recent series of such crimes stoked fears that any woman could fall victim, officials said Tuesday.
During the seven-month crackdown set to begin Wednesday, police will aggressively hunt down those who produce and spread such images, especially those of children and teens, the National Police Agency said.
According to the police agency, 297 cases of deepfake sexual exploitation crimes were reported nationwide from January and July. Among 178 people charged, 73.6 percent, or 113 individuals, were known to be teenagers.
Political parties and rights groups also called for stern punishment and an active investigation.
“Fear is growing, with nearly 220,000 members estimated to have participated in these deepfake porn chat rooms on Telegram,” said Son Sol, a co-chair of the minor opposition Progressive Party’s task force on the issue.
You can read more at the link, but the AI deep fakes have also been linked to the ROK Army with a chatroom that specializes in passing images of female Soldiers as well. It makes me wonder how long before this becomes a problem in the U.S. military as well?
Joseon Dynasty diplomatic ship arrives in Japan A replica ship of the Joseon Tongsinsa, a diplomatic delegation sent by the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) of Korea to Japan on a dozen occasions over a 200-year period, arrives at a port in Japan’s Shimonoseki on Aug. 24, 2024, in this photo provided by the Korea Heritage Service. (Yonhap)
I would not be surprised if Kim Jong-un is developing and showcasing his suicide drones in hopes of selling them to Russia:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a performance test of various drones, calling for the development and production of more suicide drones to enhance war preparedness, state media reported Monday.
Kim supervised the test organized by the Drone Institute of the Academy of Defence Sciences on Saturday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
In the test, the drones flew along various preset courses and correctly identified and destroyed the designated targets, as they have missions to attack enemy targets on the ground and in the sea, the report said.
