Some more interesting trails near the Korean DMZ are set to open this month:
Ten peace-themed trails near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), separating the two Koreas, will open to the public in mid-May, the government said Tuesday.
The trails are located across border towns and cities in the provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon, as well as the western border island of Gangwha, according to the defense and culture ministries.
The trails are set to open May 13. Visitors can sign up for trips on the government-run website (www.dmzwalk.com) and mobile app Durunubi, according to the ministries.
The DMZ, which is about 250 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide, is one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders, with the rival Koreas technically in a state of conflict, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It is amazing that doctors would just cancel appointments like this at the last minute. Who knows how long some of these patients have been waiting for an appointment before they were cancelled:
Some medical professors at the country’s three major hospitals, Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital and Korea University Hospital, suspended surgeries and outpatient clinics on Tuesday for one day, as previously announced, to protest the government’s plan to expand the number of new medical students by 2,000 a year.
The main hall at SNUH’s Cancer Hospital was without medical staff Tuesday, while a number of patients wandered around the ward, having just learned that the doctors wouldn’t be coming in. Some said they hadn’t been told that their appointments would be canceled or postponed; other said they had to wait in long queues, not knowing when their names would be called.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
It is amazing that President Yoon agreed to a meeting with Lee Jae-myung where he basically told Yoon he needs to agree to things to help put his wife in jail and help the oppostion impeach him:
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung asked President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday to agree to a special probe into suspicions surrounding a Marine’s death and to resolve suspicions surrounding his family in an apparent reference to first lady Kim Keon Hee.
Lee made the demands during his first-ever meeting with Yoon at the presidential office, which followed the ruling People Power Party’s humiliating defeat to Lee’s Democratic Party (DP) in the April 10 parliamentary elections.
Lee also asked that the president accept his election pledge to give 250,000 won (US$182) in cash handouts to the entire population and agree to a special bill aimed at determining the truth behind the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush that left 159 people killed.
Yonhap
And then for good measure Lee Jae-myung throws in some Dokdo nonsense where he actually tries to get people to believe Yoon would give up the islets to Japan:
Lee listed a series of other issues, including those related to foreign policy, saying he hopes Yoon will consider shifting to a “national interest-centered practical diplomacy” and make active efforts to ensure “the people’s pride is not damaged with regard to relations with Japan,” citing Tokyo’s territorial claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, the two countries’ shared history and the release of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
You can read more at the link, but I don’t see what the point of this meeting was? If Yoon thinks giving Lee Jae-myung this forum to attack him will help in future cooperation, I think he is mistaken. The only thing the opposition wants to cooperate with Yoon on is impeaching him like they did to former President Park. By the way is that not the two most forced smiles you have ever seen in the above picture?
Another sector of the Korean defense industry could be receiving some work in the near future in the United States:
The world’s largest shipbuilder, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. of Ulsan, South Korea, has signed a deal to seek U.S. government shipbuilding and maintenance contacts in alliance with Philly Shipyard Inc., which employs around 1,000 at the former Philadelphia Navy Yard site in South Philadelphia.
An agreement to “explore a potential business relationship” for government work was signed April 12 by Won ho Joo, chief executive of HD Hyundai’s naval and special ships unit, and Steinar Nerbovik, who has run the Philly yard since 2014 on behalf of its owner, Norway-based Aker ASA. The deal announced this week follows a February visit by U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro to Korean shipyards where he invited owners to invest in U.S. shipyards to build for military and civilian clients.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
The defense industry continues to be a major growth sector for the South Korean economy:
South Korean defense firm Hanwha Aerospace Co. is expected to export an additional batch of Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to Poland, a deal estimated at around 2.2 trillion won (US$1.6 billion), multiple sources said Tuesday.
A Polish delegation, led by Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Bejda, plans to observe a test-firing of the K239 Chunmoo MLRS at the state-run Agency for Defense Development’s Anheung testing site in Taean, 109 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Wednesday.
A successful test of the system, modified to fit a Polish military vehicle, is expected to lead to a deal, sources familiar with the issue said.
As Poland committed to buying 288 units of the Chunmoo and signed a contract to purchase 218 units in November 2022, the anticipated deal is likely to cover the remaining 70 units, they noted.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
