This should come as no surprise that J.D. Vance to echoing Donald Trump’s call for U.S. allies to do more for national defense:

Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate has vowed to ensure U.S. allies share the burden of promoting world peace, and warned them against what he called “free rides.”

Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio made the remarks during a speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday amid concerns that Trump, if reelected, could put pressure on South Korea to increase its financial contributions for stationing the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

“Together, we will make sure our allies share in the burden of securing world peace,” he told a cheering crowd at the convention. “No more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

There has been a lot of concern in South Korea that a second Trump presidency would see him asking the ROK to pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces, instead it appears Trump will be targeting Taiwan instead:

“Tariffs are great economically and good for negotiations. U.S. President Joe Biden’s policies to foster electric vehicles have only added to inflation with subsidies.”

Former President Donald Trump hinted in an interview with U.S. economic media Bloomberg Business Week that there will be an upheaval in overall economic and industrial policies if he takes power. The interview was held at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at the end of June before the shooting, but it was relentless as if it had already been elected. In fact, attention is drawn to the disclosure of the sketch of “Trumpnomics.”

In an interview released on the 16th (local time), former President Trump said, “The interest rate should remain as it is until the economy recovers,” and stressed, “The interest rate level is high now, so (the Biden administration) may want to cut interest rates, but it should not be done before the election.”

Maeil Business Newspaper

Here is where Trump discusses Taiwan:

Former President Trump attacked Taiwan for taking the U.S. semiconductor industry and saying it should be returned as defense expenses. Asked if he would defend Taiwan against China, he replied, “Taiwan has taken the U.S. semiconductor industry, so I think it should pay us for defense.” Former President Trump said, “Taiwan gives us nothing. But the United States is giving them billions of dollars to get them to produce semiconductors in the United States,” he pointed out. 

You can read much more about Trumpnomics at the link.

Here is some good news for South Korea nuclear industry:

A view of the new Dukovany nuclear power plant site in the Czech Republic. [YONHAP]

The Czech Republic picked Korean companies as the preferred bidder to build two nuclear reactors in Dukovany, an estimated 24 trillion won ($17 billion) project that could serve as a catalyst for the country’s renewed drive to export nuclear power facilities.

The decision marks the first overseas nuclear power deal for local firms in some 15 years since securing a contract to build nuclear power reactors in Barakah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2009.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This report is sourced from one anonymous South Korean government official so who knows how true this claim is:

North Korea executed around 30 middle school students for watching South Korean dramas, as shown in a report from TV Chosun. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

North Korea has reportedly executed around 30 teenage students for watching South Korean dramas.  
  
Citing a South Korean government official, local cable channel TV Chosun reported on Thursday that the North Korean authorities publicly shot the middle school students last week for allegedly watching South Korean dramas stored on USBs. 
  
These USBs allegedly had been sent via balloons by North Korean defector groups from Seoul last month.

Joong Ang Ilbo

What has been confirmed is that North Korea does harshly punish those who are caught watching South Korean dramas:

The North’s Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act, enacted in December 2020, mandates the death penalty for those distributing South Korean media and up to 15 years in prison for viewers.  
  
The law also targets books, songs and photos, with a clause that imposes up to two years of forced labor for using South Korean speech or singing styles. 
  
Last month, to curb the spread of South Korean culture within their borders, North Korean authorities sentenced some 30 teenagers, around 17 years old, to life imprisonment and death. 

You can read more at the link.

Here is the Korean left’s latest attempt to silence the activists that fly anti-regime balloons into North Korea:

Materials believed to be anti-Pyongyang leaflets from South Korea are set on fire after being discovered in North Korea, in this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency on July 14, 2024.

The unification ministry on Wednesday struck a cautious note about opposition lawmakers’ legislative attempt to ban Seoul activists’ sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, citing the right of freedom of expression.

In September, the Constitutional Court ruled that a clause banning leaflet launches in the law on the development of inter-Korean relations is unconstitutional, saying it excessively restricts the right to freedom of expression.

The decision paved the way for North Korean defectors and activists to resume their leaflet campaigns toward North Korea. In retaliation, the North has sent more than 2,000 trash-filled balloons into the South since late May.

Several lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party have proposed revisions to the law to restrict such leaflet launches while taking into account the intent of the court’s ruling.

“When it comes to a revision to the law, there is a need for a cautious approach, given that the court’s ruling underscores freedom of expression as a constitutional value that is the basis of democracy,” the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said in a report to the National Assembly.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Sue Mi Terry is very smart and I have linked to various articles she has been featured in before. I have not always agreed with her, but she is definitely well informed on North Korea issues. With that all said, it appears she has shattered her creditability and is facing criminal charges for really a pultry amount of money:

 A renowned Korean American expert on North Korea has been charged with having acted as an agent for the South Korean government in return for expensive dinners and handbags, a U.S. newspaper reported Tuesday, citing federal prosecutors in New York.

Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former analyst of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has been indicted on the charges, according to The New York Times. Her lawyer called the charges “unfounded.”

She began operating as a foreign agent in June 2013, five years after leaving the CIA, the newspaper said.

She was first contacted by a person posing as a minister for the Korean mission to the United Nations in New York. In return for her work over the ensuing decade, she received handbags, clothing and at least US$37,000 in covert payments, according to the report.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.