The locals are concerned that these balloon launches could lead to a North Korean provocation against them which is why there has been so much pushback:
A South Korean activist group called off its plan to launch balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the North across the heavily fortified frontier on Thursday after facing local opposition and police prevention due to potential security risks to residents.
Choi Sung-ryong, head of the Association of the Families of Those Abducted by North Korea, announced that the organization would cancel its decision to scatter propaganda leaflets in the North during a press conference held at the National Memorial for Abductees during the Korean War in the western border city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
The group had initially planned to float some 100,000 copies of the leaflet made of plastic — containing photos and descriptions of six abductee victims — attached to large balloons along with one-dollar bills on this day.
You can read more at the link, but the activists are now saying they are going to instead fly drones into North Korea instead which will actually be more provocative than the balloons.
It appears the North Korean ICBM has been modified to have even greater range now:
North Korea fired what could be a new intercontinental ballistic missile toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, a day after South Korean defense intelligence authorities warned of Pyongyang preparing to stage large-scale provocations in the run-up to the US presidential election.
The missile flew for approximately 86 minutes, the longest time of any North Korean missile to date, traveling about 1,000 kilometers before falling into the waters between North Korea and Japan, according to South Korean and Japanese assessments. The missile was launched at a deliberately raised angle to reach a maximum altitude of 7,000 kilometers, a record height.
This ICBM is the first that North Korea launched since December last year, when it tested the solid-fueled Hwasong-18, which has a potential range of around 15,000 kilometers on a normal trajectory. The last ballistic missiles North Korea fired were multiple short-range ballistic missiles this September.
You can read more at the link.
It is understandable that the public image of doctor’s in South Korea has taken a severe nosedive with their antics to try and stop the increase of students going to medical schools:
The conflict over the proposed increase in medical student quotas, which has persisted for more than nine months, continues to disrupt medical services nationwide. Despite ongoing discussions, doctors and the government have yet to find common ground. The ruling party’s proposal for four-way negotiations remains untouched, with no formal dialogue having taken place.
While the standoff has continued, Park has felt her understanding of what being a doctor means as a profession changing.
“I had thought of them as selfless heroes dedicated to public health, but now I see them as a privileged group driven by self-interest,” she said.
Park is not the only one who questions the profession’s long-standing reputation for public service.
“The latest tension between doctors and the government has given the public the impression that they are a selfish and (a group) that requires negotiations for everything,” said Lee Ju-yul, professor in the Department of Health Administration at Namseoul University.
Patients with chronic illnesses feel betrayed by doctors, with some complaining they have been treated as bargaining chips.
You can read more at the link.
Here is the latest information being put out about the North Korean troops dispatch to Russia:
A contingent of North Korean troops, including high-ranking generals, deployed to Russia may now be positioned on the front lines of the Ukraine war, South Korea’s spy agency reported Tuesday, adding that the Kim Jong-un regime appears to be clamping down on information about the troop dispatch internationally.
“Troop movements between Russia and North Korea have been assessed as underway, with the agency examining the potential relocation of certain personnel, including high-ranking military generals, to the front lines,” Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party told reporters following the closed-door parliamentary audit of the National Intelligence Service.
“Russia has been training North Korean troops on around 100 Russian military terms, including terms such as ‘to the position,’ ‘artillery fire’ and ‘launch.’ However, there are indications that the North Korean military is struggling with these terms, leading to predictions that resolving communication issues will be difficult,” Lee conveyed in the NIS briefing.
Lee said the NIS also briefed that the Kim Jong-un regime has been “struggling to devise internal security measures in light of the spreading leak about troop deployments.”
The NIS, according to Lee, detected indications that “commissioned officers were banned from using mobile phones due to concerns over military secrets being leaked. Soldiers in the deployed units were ordered to remain silent, while families of the deployed were falsely told that they were merely participating in training exercises.”
You can read more at the link.
This was very predictable that North Korea would be preparing a provocation that coincides with the U.S. presidential election:
Military officials attend a parliamentary audit of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 30, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
North Korea has completed preparations to launch a long-range missile and has put a mobile launcher in place, South Korea’s military intelligence agency said Wednesday.
The Defense Intelligence Agency gave the assessment during a parliamentary audit, noting the launch could take place before or after the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.
“It appears that preparations are nearly complete for an ICBM-class long-range missile, including a space launch vehicle,” the DIA said, according to Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party and Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party.
“Preparations for a transporter erector launcher are complete, and it has been deployed to a certain area,” the agency added, though it said no missile has been mounted yet.
You can read more at the link.
