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  • Your boarding pass and weight, please: Why airlines are asking passengers to step on the scales

    Your boarding pass and weight, please: Why airlines are asking passengers to step on the scales

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    Starting Monday, passengers flying on Korean Air may be asked to step on a scale before boarding their flight.

    The exercise, which will last about three weeks, is required by law and applies to all Korean flag carriers, a Korean Air representative told CNBC.

    The law requires airlines to weigh passengers and their carry-on luggage at least every five years and is “crucial for safety of flight operations,” the representative told CNBC.

    The announcement was met with backlash from the public, according to local media.

    A notice detailing the exercise — set to begin at Gimpo International Airport Monday, followed by Incheon Airport next month — has been removed from the airline’s website, due to “sufficient notice and media coverage,” according to the airline.

    Is it reasonable to weigh passengers?

    “Definitely not,” said Vance Hilderman, CEO of the aviation safety company Afuzion.

    At least not for the purpose of safety, he said.   

    “If you’re at a small Bombardier, a small Embraer jet, and we had 10 very obese people … it could make a small difference,” he said. “On commercial aircraft, anything from a 737 and above you know, 120 people, we have it built in.”

    Aviation software can adjust for weight changes, air density and other factors, which is why safety isn’t compromised even in situations where passenger makeup is atypical, such as an early morning flight of mostly businessmen, who tend to weigh more than the average traveler, he said.

    Overall, a significant weight increase per passenger would be eclipsed by the weight of fuel, cargo and the aircraft itself, said Hilderman. “Fuel is 20 times more than the passenger weight,” he said.

    Rather than focusing on passenger weight, it’s more important to adjust for additional cargo and the number of passengers on board, said Afuzion CEO Vance Hilderman.

    Casanowe | Istock | Getty Images

    But Shem Malmquist, an instructor at Florida Tech’s College of Aeronautics, said random weight samples are a good idea.

    “We use average weights of passengers, but people are getting a lot heavier,” he said. “Three hundred people that weigh more than average can put an airplane significantly over weight, and all of our performance calculations — runway length, climb, obstacle clearance, landing distances, altitude capabilities — all are dependent on weight, among other things.”

    Hilderman agrees that people are getting bigger, but he said passengers now differ in other ways too.

    “Americans are getting heavier. So are Chinese, so are Koreans,” he said. “But we’re also flying younger … so it’s actually offset the average human’s weight increase.”

    A study published in 2019 in the Journal of Transport & Health found that regions with higher obesity prevalence “may begin to see significantly compromised safety margins if increasing weight trends continue.”

    Jose Silva, an associate professor at Australia’s RMIT University’s School of Engineering and one of the study’s authors, told CNBC that he thinks airlines are reluctant to weigh passengers due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

    “There is also a lack of understanding of the safety gains which could be obtained if there were more accurate means to ascertain the passengers’ weight, instead of relying on standards,” he said.

    A whistleblower complaint filed in 2021 alleges that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has failed to recognize safety issues caused by relying on average passenger or baggage weights that no longer reflect the U.S. population.

    Where airlines weigh passengers

    Air New Zealand weighed passengers in June for reasons, it said, related to safety and fuel efficiency.

    Finnair did the same in 2017, and Hawaiian Air has conducted multiple passenger weight exercises on flights between Honolulu and American Samoa. (The now defunct Samoa Air used to charge passengers by their weight, according to Reuters.)

    Flyers in the United States likely won’t be weighed, said Hilderman, even though an FAA advisory circular published in 2019 stated that airlines can weigh passengers.

    It’s a different story in Europe, where carriers follow European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations.

    American airlines follow regulations set forth by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which does not require that passengers be weighed, said Hilderman.

    Simon2579 | E+ | Getty Images

    EASA weighed nearly 23,000 passengers in 2008 and 2009 and found that average passenger weight had increased by 3 to 5 kilograms (6.6 to 11 pounds). A subsequent report published in 2022 found that mean passenger weight increased slightly since 2009, for an average of 82 kg (181 pounds) for men and 68 kg (149 pounds) for women.

    Periodic weight assessments — of passengers and other items on board — can help airlines determine if weight estimates are still accurate to offset the amount of cargo they carry, said Hilderman.

    But “there’s a little more to this mystery,” he added.

    “In Europe, they’re a little more rigorous about individual rights with privacy,” he said. “With EASA, they want to protect the passengers and say: Look, the passengers are getting larger, so airlines, we want you to provide a minimum pitch distance on your seats.”

    Commercial airline seating is based on average passenger weight from the 1950s to 1970s, Hilderman said. Since then, people have gotten bigger, but airline seats have dwindled, he said — “29 inches in some cases, it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

    A hot-button topic

    Passenger size on planes is a controversial topic — with oversized flyers lodging discrimination allegations over Lilliputian plane aisles and seat sizes, and smaller travelers publicly venting about seat encroachment.  

    But unlike other industries that service heavy people — from makers of chairs to toilets to amusement park rides — the airline industry hasn’t enlarged seats.

    “Some have proposed that obese passengers be required to pay for two seats in order to not make other passengers uncomfortable, but that lets the airlines escape any responsibility,” said Nick Gausling, a consumer services business consultant and managing director of Romy Group LLC.

    Gausling noted that while other industries have been pressured to prioritize customer experience, “consumers have very little choice to take their business elsewhere” when it comes to airlines.

    Tigress Osborn, the executive director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, told CNBC that most major airlines have responded with three options for overweight travelers: pay for pricier tickets that come with bigger seats, purchase a second seat, or stay home.

    “Fat people deserve to travel for pleasure just like everyone else, and we also need to remember that air travel is for work, for family obligations, and for other responsibilities, too,” she said. “Our taxes help support this industry, and we deserve to be accommodated safely and comfortably, with access to accessible seating at all price levels.”

    Ideas to help larger passengers

    Hilderman said airlines can sell second seats to plus-size travelers at a heavily discounted rate.

    As people have gotten bigger, airline seats have gotten smaller, which has led to frequent complaints from air travelers of all sizes.

    Jodi Jacobson | Istock | Getty Images

    Or they can reserve half a dozen seats for larger people, which passengers could privately register for online, using height and weight details from their driver’s licenses, he said.

    Those seats could be sold at a small surcharge, and if not booked by qualified passengers the week before the flight, released to anyone willing to pay for them, he added.

    Any hope for wider seats?

    As to whether airlines will increase seat sizes for everyone, Hilderman said that while it’s mathematically possible, it’s not practical.

    “Fuselage diameters have been predetermined,” he said, referencing the main body of the aircraft. “We currently have 29,000 commercial aircraft flying, and we only make about 1,500 per year, so it would take 20 years to replace the entire fleet.”

    Refitting planes with wider seats means narrowing the aisle, which is already a tight squeeze, he said. To widen the aisle, one seat from every row would need to be removed, resulting in a 20-25% ticket price increase across the board, he said.

    “Most people don’t look at what kind of aircraft they’re flying, and they have no idea what the seat pitch or width is,” said Hilderman. “They’re simply buying on price — and the airlines know that.”

    Arnold Barnett, a management science and statistics professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, told CNBC that most flyers are willing to endure current seat sizes in return for lower fares.  

    If seating changed, “airfares would have to go up, and flying would become unaffordable to passengers on limited budgets.”

    For many, a tight airline seat is better than a seat on a bus, he said.

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  • Missiles aren’t the only threat from North Korea. Its conventional arms are just as deadly

    Missiles aren’t the only threat from North Korea. Its conventional arms are just as deadly

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    A fire assault drill by North Korean rocket artillery units at an undisclosed location in North Korea in March 2023 in this photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Around 6,000 of these units are located in range of South Korean population centers.

    KCNA | Reuters

    North Korea’s missile launches in the past month have ratcheted up tensions on the Korean Peninsula —but that’s not the only threat the reclusive state poses.

    While North Korea’s ballistic missile launches are the ones that grab headlines, the threat of conventional artillery strikes should not be ignored, warned Naoko Aoki, associate political scientist with the Rand Corporation.

    North Korea boasts the world’s fourth largest armed forces, according to the Council of Foreign Relations. In late 2022, CFR estimated North Korea had 1.3 million active military personnel, in addition to a 600,000 strong reserve force.

    Most military analysts acknowledge that North Korea’s armed forces are no match for the combined U.S. and South Korean forces, but they say that the country can still wreak immense damage on South Korea via conventional arms.

    Artillery threat

    North Korea has regularly threatened to turn Seoul into a “sea of fire” with its arsenal of weapons, and unlike most of its other threats, this one may not be pure hyperbole.

    Asked if such a threat was credible, Victor Cha, senior vice president and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, replied: “They could do that if they wanted to.”

    But he warned that Pyongyang will face a strong response if it ever carried out that threat. “There would be a response [from the U.S. and South Korea] very clearly if they did that. But they could do it if they wanted to.”

    A 2020 assessment from policy think tank Rand Corp found that North Korea maintains around 6,000 artillery systems within range of South Korean population centers, including the capital of Seoul which has a population of 10 million.

    Rand estimated that if the thousands of artillery systems were deployed and used against civilian targets, they could potentially kill more than 10,000 people in an hour.

    “Even brief, narrowly tailored attacks could destroy key industrial facilities and seriously harm the South Korean economy,” the analysts pointed out.

    Separately, a 2018 Rand report illustrates that one of the world’s largest semiconductor fabrication plants — Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek plant — is within range of North Korea’s long-range rocket systems, despite being about 100 kilometers from the border.

    A 2018 Rand assessment on how far various North Korean artillery systems can reach into South Korea. The longest ranged systems can reach as far as 200 kilometers from the border.

    Rand Corporation

    Display manufacturer LG Display’s largest OLED manufacturing plant is located in Paju, just nine kilometers from the border and can be reached by the North’s mid-ranged artillery.

    “This threat gives North Korea the power to coerce the South Korean government, or to retaliate against South Korean military or political actions, even without resorting to its chemical or nuclear arsenals,” the 2020 report pointed out.

    Is it credible?

    Rand’s 2020 assessment said it would be difficult for South Korean and U.S. forces to incur significant damage on North Korea’s artillery units, as these will be sheltered from counterfire in underground facilities.

    Daniel Pinkston, who lectures on international relations at Troy University in Seoul, said the constant artillery threat may be overlooked by most people, but not by military planners and senior national security officials in Seoul and Washington.

    “The missile launches have been high profile because they have been part of testing many new systems that give North Korea greater military capabilities and options,” he told CNBC.

    North Korea shows no interest in engaging in talks about its nuclear program, think tank says

    However, Pinkston disagrees with Rand’s report that such a threat can drive South Korea’s government to “do X” — or more specifically, force Seoul into a course of action.

    Should North Korea follow through on the threat to attack the South, “the gloves are off” and a response can be expected from South Korean and U.S. forces, he said, highlighting that North Korea will not do well in conventional warfare against the allied forces.

    Pinkston pointed out that North Korea is not the only one that can launch an attack at short notice. “Many people don’t seem to realize that a counterattack from the South can be launched on very short notice as well,” he added.

    North Korea’s goal, I think, is not simply to prevent an attack from the U.S. and South Korea. It is really to get the United States off the Korean Peninsula.

    Victor Cha

    Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies

    If the North were to fire on civilian targets, allied forces from the U.S. and South Korea will be able to retaliate quickly by destroying North Korea’s systems.

    “If I were the KPA, I’d want to use my munitions for military targets to suppress the counterattack, which would be very intense,” Pinkston added, referring to North Korea’s armed forces, the Korea People’s Army.

    Holistic perspective

    Why would North Korea need to develop missiles if it holds such a potent threat over South Korea — even if short-lived?

    That’s because North Korea’s missile program or its artillery forces cannot be seen in isolation, but need to be considered as part of a bigger threat, explained Cha from CSIS.

    The North Korean threat needs to be viewed in its entirety, and the full extent of the danger consists of: The conventional artillery threat over South Korea, its missile and nuclear program, as well as its cyber attack arm, he added.

    However, Cha pointed out that there have also been studies that have shown the damage inflicted by North Korean artillery is “not that effective.”

    North Korea and Russia think nuclear weapons can be a 'great equalizer' for them, says author

    “They may be able to do some damage initially, [but] that damage may be overestimated and that soon after their artillery positions become known, counter battery fire from U.S. and South Korean forces could neutralize that artillery pretty quickly.”

    As for North Korea’s missile program, it is designed to be more survivable in order to withstand a preemptive strike from the U.S, as well as to have the capability to strike the U.S., in order to create a so-called “decoupling dynamic” between Washington and Seoul.

    The ultimate objective of North Korea, Cha said, is to divide the U.S.-South Korea alliance by creating a homeland security threat, and long range artillery alone is not going to achieve that.

    Cha concluded: “North Korea’s goal, I think, is not simply to prevent an attack from the U.S. and South Korea. It is really to get the United States off the Korean Peninsula, and then have a have a nuclear advantage over South Korea. That is ultimately their goal.”

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  • UN nuclear agency chief says he’s satisfied with Japan’s plans to release Fukushima wastewater

    UN nuclear agency chief says he’s satisfied with Japan’s plans to release Fukushima wastewater

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    FUTABA, Japan (AP) — The head of the U.N. atomic agency toured Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Wednesday and said he is satisfied with still-contentious plans to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

    International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi observed where the treated water will be sent through a pipeline to a coastal facility, where it will be highly diluted with seawater and receive a final test sampling. It will then be released 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) offshore through an undersea tunnel.

    “I was satisfied with what I saw,” Grossi said after his tour of equipment at the plant for the planned discharge, which Japan hopes to begin this summer. “I don’t see any pending issues.”

    South Korea’s military says the satellite North Korea failed to put into orbit in May wasn’t advanced enough to conduct military reconnaissance from space as it claimed.

    Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, left, presents IAEA's comprehensive report on Fukushima Treated Water Release to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, at the prime minister's office Tuesday, July 4, 2023 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

    The U.N. nuclear agency has given its endorsement to Japan’s planned release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, saying it meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

    FILE - Children dressed as angels march during an Easter parade in Seoul, South Korea, on April 9, 2023. A new law that went into effect Wednesday, June 28, formalizes the international age-counting method as standard in administrative and civil laws and encourages people to tally their own ages accordingly. The country's previous age-counting method made people a year or two older than they really are. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

    South Korea has adopted a new law that changes how people count their ages. The country’s previous age-counting method made people a year or two older than they really are.

    In this photo provided by Japan's Finance Ministry, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, left, and South Korea's Economy and Finance Minister Choo Kyungho shake hands as they pose for a photo before their meeting at the finance ministry in Tokyo, Thursday, June 29, 2023. Japan and South Korea agreed Thursday to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis, in the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms dating back nearly a century. (Japan's Finance Ministry via AP)

    Japan and South Korea have agreed to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis. The move is the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms.

    The wastewater release still faces opposition in and outside Japan.

    Earlier Wednesday, Grossi met with local mayors and fishing association leaders and stressed that the IAEA will be present throughout the water discharge, which is expected to last decades, to ensure safety and address residents’ concerns. He said he inaugurated a permanent IAEA office at the plant, showing its long-term commitment.

    The water discharge is not “some strange plan that has been devised only to be applied here, and sold to you,” Grossi said at the meeting in Iwaki, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the plant. He said the method is certified by the IAEA and is followed around the world.

    The IAEA, in its final report on the Fukushima plan released Tuesday, concluded that the treated wastewater, which will still contain a small amount of radioactivity, will be safer than international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

    Local fishing organizations have rejected the plan because they worry their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn’t contaminated. It is also opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations due to safety concerns and political reasons.

    Fukushima’s fisheries association adopted a resolution on June 30 reaffirming its rejection of the plan.

    The fishery association chief, Tetsu Nozaki, urged government officials at Wednesday’s meeting “to remember that the treated water plan was pushed forward despite our opposition.”

    Grossi is expected to also visit South Korea, New Zealand and the Cook Islands to ease concerns there. He said his intention is to explain what the IAEA, not Japan, is doing to ensure there is no problem.

    In an effort to address concerns about fish and the marine environment, Grossi and Tomoaki Kobayakawa, president of the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, signed an agreement on a joint project to determine whether they are impacted by tritium, the only radionuclide officials say cannot be removed from the wastewater by treatment.

    In South Korea, officials said in a briefing Wednesday that it’s highly unlikely that the released water will have dangerous levels of contamination. They said South Korea plans to tightly screen seafood imported from Japan and that there is no immediate plan to lift the country’s import ban on seafood from the Fukushima region.

    Park Ku-yeon, first vice minister of South Korea’s Office for Government Policy Coordination, said Seoul plans to comment on the IAEA findings when it issues the results of the country’s own investigation into the potential effects of the water release, which he said will come soon.

    China doubled down on its objections to the release in a statement late Tuesday, saying the IAEA report failed to reflect all views and accusing Japan of treating the Pacific Ocean as a sewer.

    “We once again urge the Japanese side to stop its ocean discharge plan, and earnestly dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a science-based, safe and transparent manner. If Japan insists on going ahead with the plan, it will have to bear all the consequences arising from this,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

    Grossi said Wednesday he is aware of the Chinese position and takes any concern seriously. “China is a very important partner of the IAEA and we are in close contact,” he said.

    A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and contaminating their cooling water, which has leaked continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

    The government and TEPCO, the plant operator, say the water must be removed to prevent any accidental leaks and make room for the plant’s decommissioning.

    Japanese regulators finished their final safety inspection last week, and TEPCO is expected to receive a permit within days to release the water.

    Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after meeting with Grossi, said Japan will continue to provide “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency both domestically and internationally.”

    ___

    Associated Press video journalist Haruka Nuga in Tokyo and reporter Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

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  • In country with world’s lowest fertility rate, doubts creep in about wisdom of ‘no-kids zones’ | CNN

    In country with world’s lowest fertility rate, doubts creep in about wisdom of ‘no-kids zones’ | CNN

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    Seoul
    CNN
     — 

    For a country with the world’s lowest fertility rate – one that has spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to encourage women to have more babies – the idea of barring children from places like cafes and restaurants might seem a little counterproductive.

    But in South Korea, “no-kids zones” have become remarkably popular in recent years. Hundreds have sprung up across the country, aimed largely at ensuring disturbance-free environments for the grown-ups.

    There are nearly 80 such zones on the holiday island of Jeju alone, according to a local think tank, and more than four hundred in the rest of the country, according to activist groups.

    Doubts, though, are beginning to creep in about the wisdom of restricting children from so many places, fueled by concerns over the country’s growing demographic problems.

    In addition to the world’s lowest birthrate, South Korea has one of the world’s fastest aging populations. That has left it with a problem familiar to graying nations across the world, namely: how to fund the pension and health care needs of a growing pool of retirees on the tax income generated by a slowly vanishing pool of workers.

    And South Korea’s problem is more acute than most.

    Last year, its fertility rate dropped to a record low of 0.78 – not even half the 2.1 needed for a stable population and far below even that of Japan (1.3), currently the world’s grayest nation. (And even further below the United States, which at 1.6 faces aging problems of its own).

    With young South Koreans already facing pressure on multiple fronts – from sky-high real estate costs and long working weeks to rising economic anxiety – critics of the zones say the last thing the country needs is yet one more thing to make them think twice about starting a family.

    The government, they point out, should know this better than anyone. After all, it’s spent more than $200 billion over the past 16 years trying to encourage more people to have children. Critics suggest that, rather than throwing more money at the problem, it needs to work on changing society’s attitudes towards the young.

    With polls suggesting a majority of South Koreans support no-kids zones, shifting those mindsets won’t be easy. But there are signs opinions may be shifting.

    In recent weeks, a pushback against the zones has gained momentum thanks to Yong Hye-in, a mother and a lawmaker for the Basic Income Party who, in a show of defiance to mark Children’s Day, took her 2-year-old son to a meeting of the National Assembly – where babies are not usually allowed.

    “Everyday life with children is not easy,” she told the assembled lawmakers in an impassioned speech, during which she was pictured both cuddling her son and letting him wander around the podium. “Our society must be reborn into one where children are included.”

    That speech gained media coverage across the world, but it is not the only sign attitudes may slowly be changing.

    Jeju island – a tourist hotspot off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula – recently debated the country’s first-ever bill aimed at making such zones illegal (though if passed it would apply only to the island).

    The move by its provincial council comes amid growing concerns that the age limits imposed by many guesthouses and campsites on the tourism-dependent island may be damaging its reputation for hospitality.

    As Bonnie Tilland, a university lecturer who specializes in South Korean culture, puts it: “Families with children who travel to Jeju on holiday are disgruntled if they drive to a scenic café only to be told that their children are not allowed.”

    Other critics say the problem goes deeper than lost business opportunities. Some see no-kids zones as an unjustifiable act of age discrimination that runs contrary to the Korean constitution.

    South Korean lawmaker Yong Hye-in with her son on May 4, 2023.

    In 2017, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea judged that no-kids zones violated the right to equality and called for businesses to end the practice in what was the first official statement on the matter by a state institution. It cited clause 11 of the constitution, which bans discrimination on the basis of gender, religion or social status, and pointed to a UN convention stipulating that “No child should be treated unfairly on any basis.”

    The ruling came in response to a petition by a father of three who was turned away from an Italian restaurant on Jeju. But it is not legally binding and critics say the ongoing popularity of no-kids zones highlights how hard it will be to change people’s mindsets.

    South Korea’s embrace of no-kids zones is widely thought to date back to an incident in 2012, in which a restaurant diner carrying hot broth accidentally scalded a child.

    The incident caused a stir online, after the child’s mother made a series of posts on social media attacking the diner.

    Initially, there was much public sympathy for the mother as the case appeared to have parallels to other incidents in which establishments had been forced to pay compensation following accidents involving children.

    But the public’s mood began to change after security camera footage emerged showing the child running around moments beforehand, Tilland said. Many began to blame the mother for not reining in her child’s behavior.

    “Then discussion unfolded over the next few years on social media about the rights and responsibilities of parents and guardians of young children in public spaces and private businesses,” said Tilland, who used to teach at Yonsei University in Seoul but is now with Leiden University in the Netherlands.

    By 2014, she says, no-kids zones had become a familiar sight, “most commonly in cafes but also in some restaurants and other businesses.”

    Over the years, the zones have grown in popularity, with a survey in 2021 by Hankook Research finding that more than 7 in 10 adults were in favor, and fewer than 2 in 10 against (the rest were undecided).

    And it is not only childless adults who back them. In South Korea, so widely acknowledged is the right to some peace and quiet that even many parents see the zones as reasonable and justified.

    “When I’m out with my child, I see a lot of situations that may make me frown,” said Lee Yi-rang, a mother of a two-year-old boy.

    “It’s not difficult to find parents who don’t control their children, causing damage to facilities and other people. That makes me understand why there are no-kids zones,” she said.

    Mother-of-two Lee Ji-eun from Seoul agrees. She thinks it’s a decision best left “to the business owners” – and if a parent “doesn’t like that, then they can seek a kids-allowed zone.”

    Not all parents are so understanding. Kim Se-hee, also from Seoul, said she feels “attacked when I see a blatant no-kids sign like that posted at a shop.”

    “There’s so much hatred against mothers already in Korea with terms like ‘mom-choong’ (‘mother bug,’ a derogatory term for mothers who care only about their children to the disregard of others) and I think no-kids zones validate that kind of negative sentiment toward moms,” she said.

    A man looks at strollers at a baby fair in Seoul, South Korea, in September 2022. South Korea's fertility rate is the lowest in the world.

    Meanwhile, it would be wrong to suggest that it is only the youngest in society who are subject to such “zoning” requirements.

    On Jeju, it’s not unusual to see signs at camping grounds or guest houses stipulating both lower and upper age limits for would-be guests. There are “no-teenager zones” and “no-senior zones”, for example, and even plenty of zones targeting those somewhere in between.

    So numerous have the “no-middle-aged zones” become that they have collectively been dubbed “no-ajae zones,” in reference to a slang term for “uncle.”

    One restaurant in Seoul rose to notoriety after “politely declining” people over 49 (on the basis men of that age might harass female staff), while in 2021, a camping ground in Jeju sparked heated debate with a notice saying it did not accept reservations from people aged 40 or above. Citing a desire to keep noise and alcohol use to a minimum, it stated a preference for women in their 20s and 30s.

    Other zones are even more niche.

    Among those to have caused a stir on social media are a cafe in Seoul that in 2018 declared itself a “no-rapper zone,” a “no-YouTuber zone” and even a “no-professor zone”.

    But most such zones follow a similar logic – that of preventing disturbance to other customers. For instance, no-YouTuber zones became popular in response to a trend known as “mukbang” (based on words for “eating” and “broadcast”) in which some livestreamers would show up at restaurants without prior consent to film themselves eating.

    Tilland says the appeal of such zones is complex, but derives in part from the strong pro-business sentiment in the country. A common mindset is that it is only natural that business owners should have a say on who they accept as clientele, she says.

    As for no-kids zones specifically, she has another theory.

    “Koreans in their 20s and 30s, in particular, tend to have a strong concept of personal space, and are increasingly less tolerant of both noisy children in their midst and noisy older people,” Tilland said.

    But such mindsets need to be re-examined if the country is to get a grip on its population problems, Tilland says, arguing they “reflect a worrying intolerance for anyone existing in public places who is different from oneself.”

    “Deep-rooted attitudes that every category of people belongs in ‘their place’ – and for mothers this is home with children, not out participating in public life – are one of the reasons young women are reluctant to have children,” she said.

    south korea fertility vpx

    See why South Korea has the world’s lowest fertility rate

    Lawmaker Yong came to a similar realization after giving birth in 2021.

    She had suffered postpartum depression and stayed at home for the first nearly 100 days of her child’s life. When she finally felt well enough to take her child for a walk the experience was alienating.

    “When we tried to go into a cafe nearby, we were immediately denied entry because it was a no-kids zone,” she recalled in an interview with CNN. “I was helplessly in tears. It felt like society didn’t want people like me.”

    She says many new mothers feel this way, citing a case being investigated by the labor ministry in which a working mother, a computer programmer at a leading tech firm, killed herself and left a suicide note asking, “Is a working mom a sinner?”

    “I am doing politics to create a society where working working moms don’t have to (feel like) a sinner,” Yong said.

    Her ultimate aim is to make childcare the “responsibility of society as a whole, not of individual caregivers and parents,” which she believes is the only way to overcome the population crisis.

    One way she hopes to bring about this change is by pushing for an equality bill that would outlaw discrimination based on age.

    But legislation isn’t the only way, she says. She thinks the government and local authorities can achieve much simply by guiding businesses away from no-kids zones and learning from other countries where families with young children are fast-tracked through queues at public places like museums and zoos.

    There may be other ways to compromise too.

    Barista Ahn Hee-yul says he has faced situations in a cafe he once worked for where parents appeared unable to keep their children from causing a nuisance, yet he appreciates the need to strike a balance between the needs of parents and non-parents.

    “I suggest no-kids times, instead of no-kids zones,” he said, suggesting that venues for instance allow children until 5 p.m., after which it’s adults only.

    “In the end, they’re just kids. It’s the best middle ground I could think of.”

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  • North Korea says satellite launch fails, plans to try again | CNN

    North Korea says satellite launch fails, plans to try again | CNN

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    Seoul, South Korea
    CNN
     — 

    North Korea’s attempt to put a military reconnaissance satellite in space failed Wednesday when the second stage of the rocket malfunctioned, state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, adding that Pyongyang planned to carry out a second launch as soon as possible.

    “The new satellite vehicle rocket, Chollima-1, crashed into the West Sea ​​as it lost propulsion due to an abnormal startup of the engine on the 2nd stage after the 1st stage was separated during normal flight,” KCNA said.

    The report said “the reliability and stability of the new engine system” was “low” and the fuel used “unstable,” leading to the mission’s failure.

    North Korea’s National Space Development Agency said it would investigate the failure “urgently” and carry out another launch after new testing, KCNA reported.

    The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it identified an object presumed to be part of what North Korea claims to be its space launch vehicle in the sea about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Eocheong Island at around 8:05 a.m. and is in the process of obtaining it.

    Earlier, South Korea’s military said Pyongyang fired a “space projectile,” triggering emergency alerts in Seoul and Japan, weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered officials to prepare to launch the country’s first military reconnaissance satellite.

    Both countries later canceled those alerts when it became clear there was no danger to civilian areas from the North Korean launch.

    Analysts said Wednesday morning’s events illustrated problems for both North and South Korea, for Pyongyang in its space program and for Seoul in its public alert process.

    “North Korean space efforts have consistently failed, indicating that whereas its military ballistic capabilities are being developed, its space launch capabilities are not proceeding at the same pace of development,” said Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at The Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

    South Korea identified what it believes to be a part of a fallen North Korean space vehicle

    “That is curious because space launch capabilities and ballistic missile systems are essentially similar technologies in many respects, and North Korean testing of ballistic missile systems have been more successful,” Davis said.

    North Korea has performed dozens of ballistic missile tests over the past two years, which analysts have said have shown a maturation in the program.

    The test of a new solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in April showed that Pyongyang could launch the missiles more quickly in the event of any nuclear confrontation, analysts said.

    The North Korean launch sparked air raid sirens around Seoul about 6:30 a.m., causing confusion among residents who are used to pre-announced tests of the warning system in the middle of the day.

    The sirens were followed by a text sent to cell phones, telling people to prepare to seek shelter.

    The alert was canceled about 20 minutes after it was issued.

    Who implemented the alert remains uncertain. The Interior Ministry said it was issued by the Seoul city government in error.

    Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon apologized to the citizens for “causing confusion” over sending a citywide alert, adding that efforts will be made to refine the system to avoid similar situations.

    Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said any criticism of government leaders for the alert may be unwarranted.

    “The government would receive more criticism if it did not make every effort for public safety,” Easley said.

    In fact, he said the alert could help shake South Korean residents from complacency about the dangers posed by Pyongyang’s missile programs.

    “The Yoon administration will likely promise improvements to the alert system but may also expect that greater awareness of the North Korean threat will increase support for the government’s military deterrence policies,” Easley said.

    Both the South Korean and Japanese governments condemned the North Korean launch as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

    “Whether it was a success or not (it was) a serious provocation that threatens peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and the international community,” according to a statement from Yoon’s office.

    In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Tokyo “vehemently protested” to North Korea. He promised continued “vigilance and surveillance” from the Japanese government.

    Japan’s Defense Ministry had warned on Monday it would destroy any North Korean missile that entered its territory after Pyongyang notified the country of plans to launch a “satellite.”

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  • China chip stocks rally after Beijing said U.S. chip giant Micron is ‘major security risk’

    China chip stocks rally after Beijing said U.S. chip giant Micron is ‘major security risk’

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    Micron Technology Double-Data-Rate Synchronous Random-Access Memory (SDRAM) chip

    Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    China’s chip stocks rallied on Monday morning following Beijing’s announcement to bar some purchases of products from U.S. memory chipmaker Micron.

    China’s Cyberspace Administration barred operators of “critical information infrastructure” in China from buying products from the U.S. chip giant following a security review conducted by the Cyberspace Administration of China.

    Chinese authorities said Micron products have failed its network security review, and cited “serious potential network security issues.” The firm poses a “major security risk” to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain and affects [its] national security,” a statement said.

    Shares of Chinese chipmakers largely rose on Monday following the move: Hong Kong-listed Hua Hong Semiconductor rose as much as 3.14% on Monday, while SMIC rose 2.64%.

    Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

    Other memory chip producers in mainland China such as GigaDevice Semiconductor and Ingenic semiconductor jumped 3.74% and 8.08% respectively.

    In response to Beijing’s announcement, the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told the Wall Street Journal, “We firmly oppose restrictions that have no basis in fact.” The commerce department will engage with the Chinese government to “detail” its position and seek further clarity, he added.

    Raimondo said the U.S. will engage with its key allies to address Beijing’s actions, and that such measures will cause “distortions of the memory chip market.”

    This comes as the U.S. reportedly urged South Korean chipmakers not to fill the shortfalls in China if Beijing’s ban comes into effect, the Financial Times reported.

    Shares of South Korean chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, both Micron rivals, rose on Monday morning.

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  • Samsung union threatens first strike in company’s history as pressure mounts after profit plunge

    Samsung union threatens first strike in company’s history as pressure mounts after profit plunge

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    Samsung is facing a testing time with profit slumping due to weak demand for its memory chips.

    SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    An influential Samsung Electronics workers union on Thursday warned that its members could walk out over a wage dispute in what could be the South Korean tech giant’s first strike in its history.

    The National Samsung Electronics Union claims that Samsung management has cut the union out of wage negotiations.

    The NSEU, which says it represents around 10,000 staff, or around 9% of employees, staged a press conference outside one of Samsung’s buildings in Seoul and demanded the tech giant’s Chairman Lee Jae-yong join the discussions.

    Lee Hyun-kuk, a representative of the union, said it would go on strike after a consultation with its members but said it depends on the “attitude” of Samsung Chair Lee, and his willingness to negotiate, according to local media reports that were posted on the union’s website.

    “It depends on the attitude of chairman Lee Jae-yong. We sincerely ask him to come to the table for talks,” the NSEU’s Lee said, according to Bloomberg.

    Samsung was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

    If the walkout goes ahead, it would be the first strike since the founding of Samsung Electronics in 1969. Samsung Electronics encompasses Samsung’s consumer hardware, semiconductor, display and mobile carrier businesses.

    Tension with workers comes at a sensitive time for the world’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker, after its operating profit in the first quarter plunged to its lowest level since 2009. Samsung has been hurt by falling prices and demand for its memory chips, which is its biggest profit driver.

    The union is asking for a 6% wage increase for workers. Samsung management said last month it would increase wages by around 4%, according to the union.

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  • Planning a solo trip to Seoul? Here are some places that cater to singles in Seoul

    Planning a solo trip to Seoul? Here are some places that cater to singles in Seoul

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    A decade ago, a person who walked into a restaurant in Seoul and asked for “han myung-I” —a table for one — could be declined service.  

    That’s because restaurants in South Korea prefer groups of two or more, owing to a complex mix of local social dynamics, profit margins and simple logistics — a tableside grill has to be cleaned whether it serves one patron or four, after all.

    Solo rejections commonly occurred at family restaurants and barbecue outlets, two quintessential spots to sample some of the country’s best cuisine. Solo diners could circumvent it in two ways: by placing an order for two or agreeing to a minimum spend.  

    However, with the growth of one-person households in South Korea, more people are choosing to dine, drink and travel alone — embracing the “honjok” lifestyle trend that has visibly taken root in the country.

    Eating out

    Hongojib is unlike most barbecue places in Seoul.

    Located in the lively neighborhood of Yeonnam-dong, the restaurant — and its predecessors, such as Sinssi Express and Hongo — have swapped traditional communal dining for the growing trend of honbap, or eating alone.

    Diners eat at counters rather than round tables. And dishes aren’t served family style — each diner is given personal settings for condiments and cutlery along with their own grill.

    Sinsii Express’ solo counter, where the author ate, with a small grill and privacy divider.

    Source: Morgan Awyong

    Orders are placed and paid for with tablets. And food — alongside a cluster of classic banchan, or side dishes — is served within minutes.

    Marianne Lee, a Korean education consultant, said this style of eating is a change from the days when “everyone has to eat in teams, everyone has to drink together, everyone has to go for the same menu.”

    “If you wanted to have a Chinese meal, but if your manager says let’s go for Japanese noodles, you’d have no choice but to go,” she said. “But nowadays, people respect having their own time.”

    With a following of more than 40,000 on TikTok, Lee — who said she’s spent equal parts of her life in the United Kingdom and South Korea — is popular for her videos about Korean culture, from bus etiquette to the best time to visit the country.

    In her videos, she recommends solo travelers try restaurants such as Labap for fine dining, or Gimbap Cheongu and Pomato for their wide variety of Korean food.

    The latter two “are open 24 hours and sell tteokbokki, rice dishes, soup and other hot cooked meals,” she said, referring to Korean spicy rice cakes.

    South Korean tourist information helpers guide tourists in Seoul’s popular Myeongdong shopping district.

    Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images

    Lee suggests visiting the popular tourist spots first, such as Namsan, Myeong Dong, Insadong and Itaewon, where people often speak some English. Multilingual tourist guides dressed in red coats and hats are there to help with travelers’ questions too, she said.

    “It also helps when you add in a few Korean words, like hoksi (maybe) before you ask your question in English,” she adds. Koreans listen better than they speak, so she feels that it helps to “soften the approach and we really appreciate it.”

    Where to stay

    South Korea is popular with visitors from Asia, especially China and Japan, but visitors from Western countries, namely the United States, are on the rise. American travelers were the fourth-largest source market until 2019, but catapulted to the top demographic in 2022, according to Tourgo, a research initiative of the Korea Culture and Tourism Research Institute.

    Earlier this year, South Korea announced a new visa for digital nomads is in the pipeline. The visa, which would allow foreigners to stay in Korea while working remotely for an employer in another country, is slated to start later this year, according to The Korea Herald.  

    Luckily, it’s now far easier to find a place to stay than it was in the past.

    New co-living companies, like Episode and Mangrove, were created in response to the rise of single-person households seeking affordable places to live in Seoul. Some residential buildings allow short-term lodging, which solo travelers can book.

    The author, Morgan Awyong, in the communal kitchen of Mangrove Dongdaemun.

    Source: Morgan Awyong

    I stayed at Mangrove Dongdaemun for a month in a clean and compact room that came with a workstation, private bathroom and a view of Mount Namsan.

    Unlike hotels, there are communal kitchens and coworking spaces, plus a gym, yoga rooms, library and even free laundry self-service. An app links residents with chat boards and activities like “New Joiner Nights.”

    The concept is popular, said Mangrove staff member Kim Serin, who added that the building is full most of the year. She said short-stay requests are increasing, and that the company is working to meet this need with new projects coming in two other popular destinations, Busan and Jeju.

    Celib Soonra is another residence designed for solo residents and travelers. Stays under three months can be booked via Airbnb, which is how I booked my stay.

    Morgan Awyong in the communal tea room at Celib Soonra.

    Source: Morgan Awyong

    My room was less cookie-cutter and came with local touches like a traditional tea room, and the rooftop has panoramic views of Changdeokgung palace and Jongmyo Shrine.

    Its neighborhood, Gwonnong-dong, is more intimate too, and the hip cafe-filled Hanok village of Ikseon-dong is but a 10-minute walk away.

    Business hotels too

    Business hotels, like those from the hospitality brand Accor, are also working to create hybrid living spaces where travelers and locals can “live, work and play,” according to its website.

    An ondol room at Ibis Gangnam.

    Source: Morgan Awyong

    Accor’s Ibis brand offers an example of this. At the Ibis Styles Ambassador Seoul Gangnam, I could see how small changes can make a huge difference, such as the communal garden on the hotel’s 15th floor, where I worked on days I had tight deadlines.

    I also slept in an ondol room at the hotel, which had heated floors and traditional bedding, something that is usually found only in traditional houses and hanoks that caters to groups. Near Gangnam’s Coex Mall, it was also a steal at less than $55 a night.

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  • South Korean leader lands in Japan for first visit in 12 years for fence-mending summit | CNN

    South Korean leader lands in Japan for first visit in 12 years for fence-mending summit | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Japan Thursday for a fence-mending summit, the first such visit in 12 years as the two neighbors seek to confront growing threats from North Korea to rising concerns about China.

    Those shared security challenges were on stark display just hours before the trip when North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula – the fourth intercontinental ballistic missile launch in less than one year.

    Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno condemned the latest launch, calling it a “reckless act” that “threatens the peace and security of our country, the region, and the international community.”

    The summit between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is a crucial step to mend frayed ties after decades of disputes and mistrust between two crucial US allies in Asia.

    Yoon’s office has hailed it “an important milestone” in the development of bilateral relations.

    The two East Asian neighbors have a long history of acrimony, dating back to Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula a century ago.

    The two normalized relations in 1965, but unresolved historical disputes have continued to fester, in particular over colonial Japan’s use of forced labor and so-called “comfort women” sex slaves.

    In recent years the often fraught relations have undermined efforts by the United States to present a united front against North Korea – and the growing assertiveness of Beijing.

    Now, the region’s two most important allies for the US appear ready to turn a new page in bilateral ties.

    Much of that is driven by deepening security concerns about Pyongyang’s ever more frequent missile tests, China’s increasingly aggressive military posturing and tensions across the Taiwan Strait – an area both Tokyo and Seoul say is vital to their respective security.

    Before departing for Tokyo, Yoon told international media on Wednesday “there is an increasing need for Korea and Japan to cooperate in this time of a polycrisis,” citing escalating North Korean nuclear and missile threats and the disruption of global supply chains.

    “We cannot afford to waste time while leaving strained Korea-Japan relations unattended,” Yoon said.

    Analysts say this outreach is a break from the past.

    Under Yoon’s predecessor Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s relationship with Japan was “openly combative,” said Joel Atkinson, a professor specializing in Northeast Asian international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.

    “So this visit is significant, sending a strong signal that under the Yoon administration, both sides are now working much more cooperatively,” Atkinson said.

    The thaw in relations comes after South Korea took a major step toward resolving a long-running dispute that plunged ties to their lowest point in decades.

    Last week, South Korea announced it would compensate victims of forced labor under Japan’s occupation from 1910 to 1945 through a public foundation funded by private Korean companies – instead of asking Japanese firms to contribute to the reparations.

    The move was welcomed by Japan and hailed by US President Joe Biden as “a groundbreaking new chapter of cooperation and partnership between two of the United States’ closest allies.”

    The deal broke a deadlock reached in 2018, when South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered two Japanese companies to compensate 15 plaintiffs who sued them over forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule.

    Japan did not agree with the South Korean court’s 2018 decision, and no compensation had been paid by Tokyo.

    That led to rising tensions between the two sides, with Japan restricting exports of materials used in memory chips, and South Korea scrapping its military intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo during the presidency of Moon.

    But the Yoon administration has been striving to improve relations between Seoul and Tokyo – even if it means pushing back against domestic public pressure on contentious, highly emotional issues like the compensation plan.

    Apart from the growing North Korean nuclear threat, China appears to have been a big factor in Yoon’s willingness to face the domestic backlash over the compensation deal, said Atkinson, the expert in Seoul.

    “The administration is making the case to the South Korean public that this is not just about Japan, it is about engaging with a wider coalition of liberal democracies,” he said.

    “What South Koreans perceive as Beijing’s bullying, arrogant treatment of their country, as well as its crushing of the Hong Kong protests, threats toward Taiwan and so on, have definitely prepared the ground for that.”

    Even before the pivotal move to settle the historical dispute, Seoul and Tokyo have signaled their willingness to put the past behind them and foster closer relations.

    On March 1, in a speech commemorating the 104th anniversary of South Korea’s protest movement against Japan’s colonial occupation, Yoon said Japan had “transformed from a militaristic aggressor of the past into a partner” that “shares the same universal values.”

    Since taking office, the two leaders have embarked on a flurry of diplomatic activities toward mending bilateral ties – and deepening their joint cooperation with Washington.

    In September, Yoon and Kishida held the first summit between the two countries since 2019 in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, where they agreed to improve relations.

    In November, the two leaders met Biden in Cambodia at a regional summit, where they “commended the unprecedented level of trilateral coordination” and “resolved to forge still-closer trilateral links, in the security realm and beyond.”

    Closer alignment among the US, Japan and South Korea is an alarming development to China, which has accused Washington of leading a campaign to contain and suppress its development.

    Beijing is particularly worried about the involvement of South Korea in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue – better known as “the Quad” – an informal security dialogue among the US, Japan, Australia and India. It views the grouping as part of Washington’s attempt to encircle the country with strategic and military allies.

    Last week, a senior South Korean official said Seoul plans to “proactively accelerate” its participation in the Quad working group.

    “Although we have not yet joined the Quad, the Yoon Suk Yeol government has been emphasizing its importance in terms of its Indo-Pacific strategy,” the official told reporters during a visit to Washington, D.C., Yonhap reported.

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  • South Korea to build ‘world’s largest’ chip center in greater Seoul with $230 billion investment | CNN Business

    South Korea to build ‘world’s largest’ chip center in greater Seoul with $230 billion investment | CNN Business

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    Hong Kong/Seoul
    CNN
     — 

    South Korea says it will build an enormous facility to make computer chips in greater Seoul, with about $230 billion in investment from private companies.

    “We will build the world’s largest new ‘high-tech system semiconductor cluster’ in the Seoul Metropolitan area based on large-scale private investment of almost 300 trillion Korean won,” President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday. “In addition, we will grow the ‘semiconductor mega cluster’ to the world’s largest in connection with the existing memory semiconductor manufacturing complexes.”

    The Seoul Metropolitan area includes the capital Seoul, neighboring city of Incheon and surrounding Gyeonggi province.

    This is a developing story. More to come.

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  • North Korea tests long-range ballistic missile, Seoul says | CNN

    North Korea tests long-range ballistic missile, Seoul says | CNN

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    Seoul, South Korea
    CNN
     — 

    North Korea launched a presumed long-range ballistic missile Saturday afternoon, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, a day after Pyongyang warned of “unprecedented strong responses” if the US and South Korea go ahead with planned military exercises.

    Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the missile landed inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone west of the northern main island of Hokkaido, sparking condemnation from the United States.

    Japan’s Defense Ministry said the missile reached an altitude of 5,700 kilometers (3,541 miles) and flew a distance of about 900 kilometers (559 miles). It was launched from Pyongyang’s Sunan area around 5:22 p.m. local time Saturday, the South Korean JCS said.

    Japanese officials said the missile flew for more than 60 minutes.

    North Korea launched a missile last March with a slightly longer flight distance and time. That projectile was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its first test of such a missile since 2017.

    In November, after another similar launch, Pyongyang announced the “test firing of a new kind” ICBM, which it called the Hwasong-17.

    Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said at the time it had the potential to reach the US mainland. “The ICBM-class ballistic missile launched this time could have a range of over 15,000 km when calculated based on the flight distance of this ICBM,” Hamada said in a statement. “It depends on the weight of the warhead, but in that case, the US mainland would be included in the range.”

    North Korea tests its missiles at a highly lofted trajectory. If they were fired at a flatter trajectory, they would in theory have the ability to reach the US mainland.

    The US government described Saturday’s missile launch as “a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” according to a statement from White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.

    “While [the US Indo-Pacific Command] has assessed it did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies, this launch needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region,” Watson said. “It only demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people.”

    Watson said the US is urging other countries “to condemn these violations and call on the DPRK to cease its destabilizing actions and engage in serious dialogue.”

    Earlier this month, the Kim Jong Un regime showcased almost at least 11 advanced ICBMs at a nighttime military parade in Pyongyang in the biggest display yet of what its state-run media described as North Korea’s “nuclear attack capability.”

    Analysts said those missiles appeared to be Hwasong-17s.

    Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said on social media that if each missile in the parade were equipped with multiple nuclear warheads, they could represent enough volume to overwhelm US ballistic missile defenses.

    Saturday’s test came after the North Korean Foreign Ministry lashed out at the United States and South Korea on Friday over their plans for upcoming military exercises.

    Washington and Seoul are expected to hold nuclear tabletop drills next week at the Pentagon, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Friday. The allies are also expected to hold military drills next month in the Korean Peninsula.

    North Korea, in the same statement, also said it would consider additional military action if the UN Security Council continues to pressure Pyongyang “as the United States wants.”

    In January, Kim Jong Un called for “an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal” and highlighted the “necessity of mass-producing tactical nuclear weapons,” according to the country’s state media KCNA.

    Kim had called for the development of a new “Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system,” capable of a rapid nuclear counterstrike, according to the KCNA report.

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  • Why are South Koreans losing faith in America’s nuclear umbrella? | CNN

    Why are South Koreans losing faith in America’s nuclear umbrella? | CNN

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    Seoul
    CNN
     — 

    They have them, so we need them.

    That is the fundamental argument for South Koreans who want their country to develop its own nuclear weapons. It’s about the need to protect themselves from an aggressive northern neighbor that is already a nuclear power in all but name and whose leader Kim Jong Un has vowed an “exponential increase” in his arsenal.

    The counter-argument, which has has long stopped Seoul from pursuing the bomb, lies in the likely consequences. Developing nukes would not only upset the country’s relationship with the United States, it would likely invite sanctions that could strangle Seoul’s access to nuclear power. And that is to say nothing of the regional arms race it would almost inevitably provoke.

    But which side of the argument South Koreans find themselves on appears to be changing.

    Ten years ago, calling for South Korean nuclear weapons was a fringe idea that garnered little serious coverage. Today it has become a mainstream discussion.

    Recent opinion polls show a majority of South Koreans support their country having its own nuclear weapons program; a string of prominent academics who once shunned the idea have switched sides; even President Yoon Suk Yeol has floated the idea.

    So what’s changed?

    For supporters, Seoul developing its own nukes would finally answer the age-old question: “Would Washington risk San Francisco for Seoul in the event of nuclear war?”

    At present, South Korea comes under Washington’s Extended Deterrence Strategy, which includes the nuclear umbrella, meaning the US is obligated to come to its aid in the event of attack.

    For some, that is enough reassurance. But the details of exactly what form that “aid” might take aren’t entirely clear. As that age-old question points out, faced with the possibility of a retaliatory nuclear strike on US soil, Washington would have a compelling reason to limit its involvement.

    Perhaps better not to ask the question then. As Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute puts it, “If South Korea has nuclear weapons, we can respond ourselves to North Korea’s attack, so there is no reason for the United States to get involved.”

    There are other reasons for South Koreans to question their decades-old leap of faith in US protection, too. Looming large among them is Donald Trump. The former US president, citing the expense involved, made no secret of his desire to pull 28,500 US troops out of South Korea and questioned why the US had to protect the country. Given Trump has already announced his presidential bid for the 2024 election that’s an issue that still plays heavy on people’s minds.

    “The US simply isn’t perceived to be as reliable as it once was,” Ankit Panda of Carnegie Endowment for Peace said. “Even if the Biden administration behaves like a traditional US administration and offers all the right reassurance signals to South Korea… policy makers will have to keep in the back of their mind the possibility of the US once again electing an administration that would have a different approach for South Korea.”

    But the loss of faith goes beyond Trump.

    South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on August 17, 2022.

    More recently, President Yoon Suk Yeol floated the idea of US tactical nuclear weapons being redeployed to the peninsula or South Korea possessing “its own nuclear capabilities” if the North Korean threat intensifies. Washington’s rejection of both ideas has been conspicuous. When Yoon said this month that Seoul and Washington were discussing joint nuclear exercises President Joe Biden was asked the same day whether such discussions were indeed underway. He responded simply, “No.”

    Following Yoon’s comments, US Defense Department Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder reiterated the US’ commitment to the Extended Deterrence Strategy, saying that “to date, (the strategy) has worked and it has worked very well.”

    In a Chosun Ilbo newspaper interview published on January 2, Yoon said of these guarantees, “it’s difficult to convince our people with just that.”

    But in another interview, with The Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of Davos last week, Yoon walked those comments back saying, “I’m fully confident about the US’ extended deterrence.”

    An inconsistent message rarely soothes concerns on either side of the argument.

    On Thursday, US think-tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), suggested what might seem a middle ground – the creation of “a framework for joint nuclear planning” that could “help to develop stronger bonds of trust between the allies in the current environment.”

    It said this framework could be “similar to a NATO planning group for nuclear weapons use, with planning conducted bilaterally and trilaterally (with Japan) and control remaining in the hands of the United States.”

    But the CSIS made clear it did not support “the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula or condoning South Korea purchasing its own nuclear weapons.”

    Other experts too, like Professor Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear non-proliferation expert at Middlebury Institute in California, see joint planning and exercises as “more realistic options than either nuclear weapons or nuclear sharing.”

    For some in Yoon’s conservative party that is simply not enough. They see a nuclear-weapons-free South Korea being threatened by a nuclear-armed North Korea and want nothing less than US nukes redeployed to the Korean Peninsula.

    They seem destined to be disappointed. Washington moved its tactical weapons out of South Korea in 1991 after decades of deployment and there are no signs it will consider reversing that decision.

    “Putting US nukes back on the peninsula makes no military sense,” said Bruce Klingner of Heritage Foundation.

    “They currently are on very hard to find, very hard to target weapons platforms and to take weapons off of them and put them into a bunker in South Korea, which is a very enticing target for North Korea, what you’ve done is you’ve degraded your capabilities.”

    That leaves many South Koreans seeing just one option – and some are losing patience.

    Cheong, a recent convert to South Korea acquiring the bomb, believes the Extended Deterrence Strategy has already reached its limit in dealing with North Korea and only a nuclear-armed South Korea can avert a war.

    “Of course, North Korea does not want South Korea’s nuclear armament. Now they can ignore the South Korean military,” Cheong said.

    “But they must be nervous, (because if South Korea decides to pursue the bomb) it has the nuclear material to make more than 4,000 nuclear weapons.”

    Still, it’s not just fear of upsetting the relationship with the US that holds Seoul back from such a course. If South Korea were to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) the effect on its domestic nuclear power system would likely be swift and devastating.

    “First of all, the nuclear suppliers group would cut off fissile material to South Korea, which is reliant for all of its fissile material on outside suppliers. It could lead to international sanctions,” Klingner said.

    South Korean and US jets take part in a joint air drill on Nov. 18, 2022.

    Then there is the regional arms race it would likely provoke, with neighboring China making clear it will not tolerate such a build up.

    “Probably China is going to be unhappy and it’ll basically stop at nothing to prevent South Korea from going nuclear,” said professor Andrei Lankov, long time North Korea expert from Kookmin University.

    Given the likely fallout, Seoul might do better to take comfort in the guarantees already on offer from the US.

    “The 28,500 US troops on the peninsula have a very real tripwire effect. In the event of a breakout of hostilities between the two Koreas, it is simply unavoidable for the US not to get involved. We have skin in the game,” Panda said.

    Finally, there are also those cautioning that even if South Korea did acquire nuclear weapons, its problems would hardly disappear.

    “So the funny thing about nuclear weapons is that your weapons don’t offset their weapons,” said Lewis at Middlebury Institute.

    “Look at Israel. Israel is nuclear armed and is terrified of Iran getting nuclear weapons, so Israel’s nuclear weapons don’t in any fundamental way offset the threat they feel from Iran’s nuclear weapons.”

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  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vows to increase production of nuclear warheads “exponentially”

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vows to increase production of nuclear warheads “exponentially”

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    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vows to increase production of nuclear warheads "exponentially"

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  • Fire after highway crash in South Korea kills 5, injures 37

    Fire after highway crash in South Korea kills 5, injures 37

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    Firefighters work to extinguish a fire on a highway in Gwacheon, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. A freight truck collided with a bus on a highway near Seoul on Thursday, causing a fire that killed multiple people and injuring dozens of others, officials said. (Kim Jong-taik/Newsis via AP)

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  • South Korea stages drills simulating downing of North drones

    South Korea stages drills simulating downing of North drones

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    SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea staged large-scale military drills Thursday to simulate shooting down drones as a step to bolster its readiness against North Korean provocations, three days after the North flew drones into its territory for the first time in five years.

    South Korean warplanes and helicopters failed to bring down any of the five North Korean drones spotted south of the border Monday before they flew back home or vanished from South Korean radars. One of them traveled as far as northern Seoul. That caused security jitters among many people in the South, for which the military offered a rare public apology Tuesday.

    Thursday’s training involved land-based anti-air guns, drones playing the role of enemy drones, and a total of 20 fighter jets, attack helicopters and unmanned assets. While there was no actual live-fire, it was still the country’s first set of major anti-drone drills since 2017, according to military authorities.

    The drills near Seoul set up diverse scenarios of border infiltrations by small enemy drones, under which the mobilized South Korean military assets practiced how they could detect, track and shoot them down, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

    Also on Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reiterated his push to build a stronger air defense and get tough on North Korean provocations. The North’s drone flights followed its record number of missile tests this year that some experts say is part of an effort to pressure the United States and its allies to make some concessions like sanctions relief.

    “Whether they have nukes or whatever weapons of mass destruction they have, we must send a clear message to those who repeat provocations. We must not be frightened of (their nukes) and we must not hesitate,” Yoon said during a visit to a weapons development agency. “To obtain peace, we must prepare for a war that (we can win) overwhelmingly.”

    Yoon said Tuesday his government will advance the planned establishment of a military drone unit and introduce high-tech stealth drones.

    North Korea’s state media hasn’t commented on South Korea’s announcement of its reported drone flights. But some observers say North Korea likely sent those drones to test South Korean and U.S. readiness. They say North Korea also likely assessed that drones could be a cheap yet effective method to trigger security concerns and an internal divide in South Korea.

    In response the North’s drone flying, South Korea said it sent three of its surveillance drones across the border in a rare tit-for-tat measure. North Korea didn’t make any reaction, according to South Korean defense officials.

    This week, North Korea is under a key ruling party meeting to review past projects and determine policy objectives for 2023. During its third day Wednesday, leader Kim Jong Un expressed hopes that local Workers’ Party officials would report successes on their jobs and duties to live up to the party’s trust in them, state media reported Thursday, without elaborating what their tasks are.

    In an earlier session, state media cited Kim as setting forth new goals to solidify his country’s military power, an indication that he would continue his run of weapons tests.

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  • US stocks slide as economic data stokes rate hike worries

    US stocks slide as economic data stokes rate hike worries

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    NEW YORK — Stocks closed broadly lower on Wall Street Thursday as stronger-than-expected reports on the U.S. economy stoked worries about interest rates staying high.

    The S&P 500 fell 1.4% after having been down as much as 2.9% earlier in the day. The pullback brings Wall Street’s main measure of health back to a loss of nearly 20% for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1% and the Nasdaq closed 2.2% lower.

    The selling was broad, with all 11 industry sectors in the S&P 500 ending up in the red. Technology stocks were the biggest drag on the benchmark index. Chipmaker Nvidia slumped 7%.

    Usually, good data on the economy would be positive for markets, particularly when worries are high about a possible recession looming. But Thursday’s reports suggested the Federal Reserve may indeed follow through on its pledge to keep hiking interest rates and to hold them at a high level for a while in order to get inflation under control.

    The Fed is particularly worried about a still-strong job market giving more oxygen to inflation, which has come down a bit in recent months but remains close to its highest level in decades. One report on Thursday indicated employers laid off fewer workers last week than expected, while a separate report showed that the broad U.S. economy grew more strongly during the summer than forecast.

    The reports forced a reminder of a longstanding mantra on Wall Street: Don’t fight the Fed. When it’s raising interest rates, the Fed is intentionally slowing the economy and increasing the risks of a potential recession. Higher rates also drag down on prices for stocks and other investments.

    High-growth technology stocks have taken some of the year’s worst hits because they’re seen as some of the most vulnerable to rising rates. A discouraging profit report from chipmaker Micron Technology cast even more of a pall on the industry Thursday.

    Micron fell 3.4% after it gave a weaker forecast for upcoming earnings than analysts expected as it faces softening demand.

    Electric vehicle maker Tesla has also felt big pain from rising interest rates, though it’s also dealing with issues specific to itself and its CEO, Elon Musk. It tumbled 8.9%, bringing its loss for the year to around 64%. It’s taking the rare step of offering discounts on its two top-selling models through year’s end, an indication demand is slowing.

    Worries are rising broadly about corporate profits across industries, which are contending with the weight of higher interest rates, still-high inflation and rising costs rise due to payroll and other expenses. A drop-off in corporate profits in 2023 could knock out another support for stocks, after profits strengthened through much of 2022.

    Used-auto retailer CarMax dropped 3.7% after it reported much weaker profit for its latest quarter than analysts expected.

    The market’s slide eased toward the end of the day, leaving major indexes to finish off the day’s lows. The S&P 500 dropped 56.05 points to 3,822.39. The Dow, which had been down 803 points, finished down 348.99 points at 33,027.49. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 233.25 points to close at 10,476.12.

    Small-company stocks also fell. The Russell 2000 index dropped 22.85 points, or 1.3%, to 1,754.09.

    Trading has been topsy-turvy across Wall Street recently as reports paint a mixed portrait of the economy.

    The housing industry and other areas of the economy whose fortunes are closely tied to low interest rates have already shown sharp downturns. But consumer confidence has strengthened recently, offering hope for the biggest and most important part of the economy: consumer spending.

    Inflation has been moderating since peaking in the summer, which at times has raised hopes on Wall Street that the Fed may back off its tough talk on interest rates. But Fed officials continue to hammer the message that they’ll hike rates further in 2023 and don’t envision a cut to rates before 2024.

    The Fed has already hiked its key overnight rate up to its highest level in 15 years, after it began the year at a record low of roughly zero. That has a growing number of economists and investors are predicting a recession will hit the U.S. economy in 2023.

    And the Fed is just one of many central banks around the world hiking rates at an explosive clip. Even the Bank of Japan, which has been a holdout in keeping interest rates super-low this year, this week made moves that would allow some rates to rise a bit.

    The yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury, which tends to track expectations for Fed action, rose to 4.26% from 4.22% late Wednesday.

    The 10-year yield, which helps dictate rates for mortgages and other economy-setting loans, rose to 3.68% from 3.67% a day earlier.

    ———

    AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this report. Veiga reported from Los Angeles.

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  • North Korea says rocket launch was test of 1st spy satellite

    North Korea says rocket launch was test of 1st spy satellite

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    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Monday it fired a test satellite in an important final-stage test for the development of its first spy satellite, a key military capability coveted by its leader Kim Jong Un along with other high-tech weapons systems.

    The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also released black-and-white photos showing a space view of the South Korean capital and Incheon, a city just west of Seoul, in an apparent attempt to show the North is pushing to monitor its rival with its advancing technologies.

    The rocket carrying the test satellite was launched Sunday to assess the satellite’s photography and data transmission systems, KCNA said.

    The country’s National Aerospace Development Administration called the test results “an important success which has gone through the final gateway process of the launch of reconnaissance satellite.” It said it would complete the preparations for its first military reconnaissance satellite by April next year, according to KCNA.

    “From the images released, the resolution does not appear to be so impressive for military reconnaissance,” Soo Kim, a security analyst at the California-based RAND Corporation, said. “I’d note, however, that this is probably an ongoing development, so we may see more improvements to North Korea’s military reconnaissance capabilities over time.”

    South Korea, Japan and U.S. authorities had said Sunday they had detected a pair of ballistic missile launches by North Korea from its northwestern Tongchang-ri area, where the North’s satellite launch pad is located. They said the two missiles flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles) at a maximum altitude of 550 kilometers (340 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. This could mean North Korea might have fired a missile or two to send the test-piece satellite into space.

    A spy satellite was on a wish list of sophisticated military assets Kim announced during a ruling party meeting early last year, together with multi-warhead missiles, solid-fueled long-range missiles, underwater-launched nuclear missiles and nuclear-powered submarines. Kim has called for such high-tech weapons systems and an expanded nuclear arsenal to pressure the United States to abandon its hostile polices on North Korea, an apparent reference to U.S.-led sanctions and the U.S.-South Korean military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

    North Korea has since taken steps to develop such weapons systems. In February and March, North Korea said it conducted tests to check a camera and data transmission systems to be used on a spy satellite. In November, it test-launched its developmental, longest-range Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon believed to be designed to carry multiple warheads. Last week, North Korea said it performed a “high-thrust solid-fuel motor” to be used for a new strategic weapon, an apparent reference to a solid-fueled ICBM.

    Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that North Korea will likely make a proper orbital launch for a reconnaissance satellite next April — probably around April 15, the birthday of Kim’s late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung. The day is one of the most important state anniversaries in North Korea.

    Earlier this year, North Korea test-launched a record number of missiles, many of them nuclear-capable missiles with varying ranges to reach the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan. It also legislated a law authorizing the preemptive use of nuclear weapons on a broad range of scenarios, causing security jitters in South Korea and elsewhere.

    North Korea has avoided fresh U.N. sanctions for those moves, however, because U.N. Security Council permanent members Russia and China won’t support U.S. attempts to impose them.

    “Having codified his country’s nuclear law earlier this year, tested missiles of varying capabilities, and made it very clear he has no interest in diplomacy with the U.S. and South Korea, Kim has essentially paved the way for nuclearization,” Soo Kim, the analyst, said. “He’s lent the appearance that the only possible way out of this quagmire is for the international community to fold the conditions set forth by the regime.”

    She said a handful of other high-priority geopolitical concerns involving China and Russia “has allowed Kim to buy time and the grace of the international community to push forward with his plan.”

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  • US military creates space unit in SKorea amid NKorea threats

    US military creates space unit in SKorea amid NKorea threats

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    SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. military formally launched a space force unit in South Korea on Wednesday, a move that will likely enable Washington to better monitor its rivals North Korea, China and Russia.

    The activation of the U.S. Space Forces Korea at Osan Air Base near Seoul came after North Korea test-fired a barrage of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles designed to strike the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan in recent months.

    “Just 48 miles north of us exists an existential threat; a threat that we must be prepared to deter, defend against, and – if required – defeat,” Lt. Col. Joshua McCullion, chief of the new space unit, said during the activation ceremony at Osan. He apparently refered to North Korea, whose heavily fortified border with South Korea is just an hour’s drive from Seoul, the South’s capital.

    The unit belongs to the U.S. Space Force, which was launched in December 2019 under then-President Donald Trump as the first new U.S. military service in more than 70 years.

    The Space Force was seen soberly as an affirmation of the need to more effectively organize for the defense of U.S. interests in space — especially satellites used for civilian and military navigation, intelligence and communication. A previous Pentagon report said China and Russia had embarked on major efforts to develop technologies that could allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in a crisis or conflict.

    The U.S. Space Forces Korea is a subordinate of a bigger U.S. Space Force unit established within the Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii last month.

    Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said the U.S. Space Force was created to bring together diverse surveillance assets including space-based satellites in one organization to manage and develop them in an effective, systemic manner. He said its unit in South Korea would work like a field unit while the other one in the Indo-Pacific Command would be its headquarters.

    “The U.S. Space Forces Korea would maintain, operate and asses related equipment. Simply speaking, I would say the actual U.S. space operations will be done at Osan Air Base,” Jung said. He said the main role of the U.S. Space Forces Korea would be receiving, processing and analyzing tremendous amount of data and information transmitted by U.S. satellites.

    “The U.S. military is faster, better connected, more informed, precise and lethal because of space,” Gen. Paul LaCamera, commander of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, said during the ceremony. “Specifically, the activation here today, of U.S. Space Forces Korea … enhances our ability to defend the homelands and ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”

    Jung said the launch of a space unit in South Korea was primarily aimed at better monitoring North Korea, followed by China and then Russia.

    The United States and South Korea have expanded their regular military drills and pushed to further bolster their combined defense capability in the face of North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. North Korea has threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively in potential conflicts with the United States and South Korea, and the U.S. military warned the North that the use of nuclear weapons “will result in the end of that regime.”

    ——

    Associated Press video journalist Kim Yong Ho in Osan, South Korea, contributed to this report.

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  • 7 Buzzy Korean Fashion Brands Approved by Celebrities and K-Pop Stars

    7 Buzzy Korean Fashion Brands Approved by Celebrities and K-Pop Stars

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    In the past decade, Korea witnessed a boom, both economically and culturally, thanks to the “Hallyu wave,” which consists of everything from the estimated $13 billion K-beauty market, the appeal of K-pop idols and global attention to the nation’s film industry. Fashion’s role in this, though, has been a slower burn. 

    While you’ll most likely recognize a few brands from popular dramas, your favorite Korean celebrities or Seoul Fashion Week street style, many of Korea’s top designers are looking to cement themselves in the global market. On the cusp of international recognition, they’re pushing to advance K-fashion beyond the guise of the pop-culture craze. 

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    India Roby

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  • Seoul arrests ex-top security official over border killing

    Seoul arrests ex-top security official over border killing

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    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s former national security director was arrested Saturday over a suspected cover-up surrounding North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official near the rivals’ sea boundary in 2020.

    Suh Hoon’s arrest early Saturday came as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative government investigates his liberal predecessor’s handling of that killing and another border incident the same year, cases that prompted criticism Seoul was desperately trying to appease the North to improve relations.

    Former President Moon Jae-in, who staked his single-term on inter-Korean rapprochement before leaving office in May, has reacted angrily to the investigation into Suh’s actions. Moon issued a statement this week accusing Yoon’s government of raising groundless allegations and politicizing sensitive security matters.

    Judge Kim Jeong-min of the Seoul Central District Court granted prosecutor’s request to arrest Suh over concerns that he may attempt to destroy evidence, the court said in a statement. Suh didn’t answer reporters’ questions about the allegations on Friday as he appeared at the court for a review over the prosecution’s warrant request.

    A previous inquiry by South Korea’s Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that officials from Moon’s government made no meaningful attempt to rescue Lee Dae-jun after learning that the 47-year-old fisheries official was drifting in waters near the Koreas’ western sea boundary in September 2020.

    After confirming that Lee had been fatally shot by North Korean troops, officials publicly played up the possibility that he had tried to defect to North Korea, citing his gambling debts and family issues, while withholding evidence suggesting he had no such intention, the audit board said in an October report.

    Suh also served as Moon’s spy chief before being appointed as national security director two months before the killing. He faces suspicions that he used a Cabinet meeting to instruct officials to delete intelligence records related to the incident while the government crafted a public explanation of Lee’s death.

    Suh is also suspected of ordering the Defense Ministry, National Intelligence Service, and the Coast Guard to portray Lee as trying to defect in their reports on his killing.

    Critics say the Moon government went out of its way to paint Lee as unsympathetic as it tried to appease a nuclear-armed rival with a brutal human rights record.

    In June, the Defense Ministry and coast guard reversed the Moon government’s description of the incident, saying there was no evidence that Lee had tried to defect.

    Moon’s Democratic Party issued a statement criticizing Suh’s arrest, saying suspicions he might destroy evidence were unreasonable since “all the materials are in the hands of the Yoon Suk Yeol government.”

    “The Defense Ministry, Coast Guard, National Intelligence Service and other security-related agencies have made a judgment on the Western Sea incident based on an analysis of information and circumstances,” the party said in a statement. It called the investigation a type of political vendetta.

    Yoon’s government is separately investigating the 2019 forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen, despite their reported wish to resettle in South Korea.

    In July, the National Intelligence Service filed charges against Suh and his spy chief successor Park Jie-won for alleged abuse of power, destruction of public records and falsification of documents regarding the two cases.

    The agency accused Park, who served as its director until May, of ordering the destruction of intelligence reports on Lee’s death. It accused Suh of forcibly closing an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 2019 repatriation of the two North Korean fisherman captured in South Korean waters.

    Critics say Moon’s government never provided a clear explanation of why it sent the two escapees back to the North to face possible execution. Moon’s officials described the men as criminals who confessed to murder and questioned the sincerity of their wish to defect.

    Dozens of international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, issued a joint statement accusing Moon’s government of failing to provide due process or to “protect anyone who would be at substantial risk of torture or other serious human rights violations after repatriation.”

    Moon left office with little to show for his engagement efforts with the North and the investigations into the two incidents have further tarnished his legacy.

    Moon met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in 2018 and lobbied hard to set up Kim’s meetings with former U.S. President Donald Trump as part of efforts to defuse the nuclear standoff and improve inter-Korean ties.

    But the diplomacy never recovered from the failure of the second Kim-Trump meeting in 2019 in Vietnam. Talks collapsed when the sides could not agree on exchanging an end to crippling U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea for steps by the North to wind down its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

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