Free Republic

Footage showing the Stabbing Attack earlier against the Leader of the Democratic Party of South Korea, Lee Jae-myung while he was Speaking to a Crowd in the Southeastern City of Busan. VIDEO AT LINK..............

After it was reported on Thursday that Iran had transferred five Iranian Americans from prison to house arrest, it became clear that a deal between the Biden administration and the radical Islamist state had been reached — which would include billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets in exchange for the Americans.This again raises the question — which we’ll tackle later in the article: Should the United States pay ransom to rogue states and others for the release of captured Americans?Anyway, sure enough, the United States and Iran have reached an agreement in which the Islamist regime will free the...

Explosions reported after an air raid warning in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa... US politics a Reuters/Ipsos poll out on the Democrat and Republican Presidential contests... Changes in the French cabinet relatively minor... The "Wall Street Journal" reports Chinese hackers got into the email account of the US Ambassador in China... A US F-16 fighter targeting a Russian warplane in Syria... "Dame Alison Rose's apology is a start, but it is no more than that" British media host and political activist Nigel Farage... A tense situation in Baghdad following the early morning torching of the Swedish Embassy... Opponents of...

Presidents Joe Biden and Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday will sign an agreement that includes plans to have U.S. nuclear-armed submarines dock in South Korea for the first time in more than 40 years, a conspicuous show of support to Seoul amid growing concern about nuclear threats by North Korea, according to senior Biden administration officials. The planned dock visits are a key element of what’s being dubbed the “Washington Declaration,” aimed at deterring North Korea from carrying out an attack on its neighbor.

Seoul is standing firm against Washington's repeated pressure for a hefty increase in its share of the cost for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong United States Forces Korea (USFK) stationed here. Although the lack of deal has put thousands of Korean workers at U.S. military bases on unpaid leave, the government is not accepting the U.S. demand, but instead responding by setting up special laws to support the workers. "Korea and the U.S. are still in negotiations over the defense cost-sharing deal and nothing has been officially decided yet," the foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday. Cheong Wa Dae...

South Korea has been holding an election unlike any other. Voters wore masks and stood at least 1m apart. They had their temperature taken, disinfected their hands and wore plastic gloves. Only then were they given their voting slip and allowed to head into the booth to cast their ballot. These are just some of the measures taken to allow the scheduled National Assembly election to take place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Daegu (AFP) -- South Korea confirmed 52 more cases of novel coronavirus on Friday as the number of infections linked to a religious sect in Daegu spiked, making it the worst-infected country outside China. (Please see full article, at the link)

Police announced an investigation Monday after a doctor reportedly mistakenly performed an abortion on a pregnant woman in South Korea. The Vietnamese woman was six weeks pregnant when she went to a medical facility to obtain nutrient shots in Seoul on Aug. 7, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the New York Post reported. A nurse injected the wrong person with anesthesia, and a doctor performed an abortion, Yonhap reported. (RELATED: Over 2,000 Fetal Remains Found On Late Abortion Doctor’s Property, Sheriff’s Office Says) The lady went to the medical center the following day after bleeding and found out...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Friday his government plans to discuss with the United States the possibility of restarting joint inter-Korean economic projects to induce nuclear disarmament from North Korea. Moon's comments during a nationally televised speech came a day after a high-stakes nuclear summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed over what the Americans saw as excessive North Korean demands for sanctions relief in exchange for limited disarmament steps...(snip) ..."I vow to help usher in an era of a peace-driven economy on the Korean Peninsula," said Moon,...

From the main street, the Euljiro neighbourhood doesn’t look like much: some shabby retail stores, cold-noodle restaurants, a Starbucks. Enter one of the small alleys, however, and you’ll find yourself in a kind of manufacturing anthill: thousands upon thousands of shops, each crammed to the rafters with bolts, circuit boards, iron castings, gauges, wires, lights, switches, tools and innumerable tiny objects that defy description. This incredible warren of machinists is the manufacturing heart of Seoul. There are 10,000 shops here, with 50,000 tradespeople, many of whom have been working here since the 1950s and were integral to South Korea’s postwar...

Last week Pyongyang sent two rare Pungsans, Korean hunting dogs, to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, as a token of the growing friendship between the two countries. Named Songgang and Gomi, the dogs were transferred via the truce village at Panmunjom on the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the Koreas on September 27, along with three kilos (6.6 lb) of food to help them adapt to their new home. According to the Blue House, Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, suggested the gift to Moon at a dinner in Pyongyang during the South Korean leader's historic trip to North Korea...

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) opened its new headquarters in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on Friday, in a relocation project likely to broaden its security role long circumscribed by deterrence against North Korea. The USFK held a ceremony to celebrate the relocation from Yongsan, central Seoul, to Camp Humphreys, a sprawling complex about 70 kilometers south of the capital, after a delay caused by residents' protests, budgetary issues and massive construction work to prevent floods. "This headquarters building within the complex represents a significant investment in the long-term presence of the U.S. forces in Korea. Ladies and gentlemen, this was...

- South Korean President Moon Jae-in could make a trip to Singapore for a three-way summit with his U.S. and North Korean counterparts next month, depending on the outcome of ongoing discussions between Washington and Pyongyang, a ranking government official here said Monday. A three-way summit was originally proposed by Moon and the North Korean leader when they held their first-ever meeting at the border village of Panmunjom on April 27. The trip, if made, will likely be made around June 12 when U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are scheduled to hold their bilateral summit,...

Gordon Chang: North and South Korean leaders 'too cozy'

Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un hold surprise second summit: Blue House Leaders met at Panmunjom for the second time, Seoul says, with results to be announced tomorrow South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a surprise meeting at Panmunjom on the inter-Korean border on Saturday, according to a statement issued by the Blue House. The meeting is the second between the two leaders, with the first having taken place at the same location and resulting in the signing of the Panmunjom Declaration. “President Moon Jae-in held a second summit meeting with Kim Jong...

North Korea rejects South Korean media proposed to witness dismantling nuclear test site BY JOHN BOWDEN - 05/18/18 07:31 AM EDT North Korea's government has rejected a list of South Korean journalists invited to attend the planned dismantlement of a nuclear test site, according to South Korean officials. Reuters reports that South Korea's Unification Ministry announced Friday that North Korean officials "declined to accept" a list of the country's reporters slated to attend the event, which will take place next month. The decision is likely to raise doubts in South Korea about whether the North is serious about easing tensions...

Trump taps Pacific Command chief Harry Harris to be South Korea envoy ahead of Kim summit by Jesse Johnson Staff Writer U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Harry Harris, nominated to be ambassador to Canberra, will instead fill the long-vacant post of ambassador to South Korea, Australia’s top diplomat said Wednesday. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had been informed of the decision by acting U.S. Secretary of State John Sullivan on Tuesday. “While we would have welcomed Adm. Harris here as ambassador to Australia, we understand that there are significant challenges for the United States on the Korean Peninsula,”...

Kim Jong Un Is “All-In.” What’s Next for Korea? There’s a dark purpose in Kim Jong Un’s proffered moratorium on nuclear and ballistic missile testing announced over the weekend. Kim, with the apparent complicity of South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, seeks to eventually merge his state into the South – and drive out U.S. troops from the peninsula. Most pundits thought Saturday’s nuclear announcement was aimed at President Donald Trump, ahead of the planned Kim-Trump summit in June. Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim Jong Un as saying his drive for nuclear weapons is “complete.” “We no longer need...

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has agreed to further open its auto market to the United States as the two countries prepare to amend their 6-year-old trade agreement following complaints by President Donald Trump. ...It marks the first successful renegotiation of a trade deal for the Trump administration — which used the threat of 25 percent steel tariffs at the bargaining table — and comes as the allies sought to resolve disputes before planned meetings with Kim Jong Un.

Pro-American Rally in South Korea Denounces North Korea Appeasement SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Thousands of South Korean conservatives rallied in Seoul on Thursday to protest President Moon Jae-in’s Olympic outreach to North Korea, and in support of impeached President Park Geun-hye, who faces a possible 30-year prison sentence for corruption charges related to the scandal that ousted her from office. Moon’s opponents, many waving American flags, denounced his engagement policy to foster increased dialogue and cooperation with the North as appeasing the enemy and undermining the United States’ “maximum pressure” strategy. “Trying to promote false peace slogans such as, no...