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[Sheb]

Article 5 is kinda vague though (speaking only of "appropriate response" or something). Is there anything in the US nuke policy about this?

Edit: Apparently yes, that's coming from the 2010 Nuclear Posture thing. " "The fundamental role of U.S. nuclear weapons, which will continue as long as nuclear weapons exist, is to deter nuclear attack on the United States, our allies, and partners.""

[wierd]

A little outdated, because the policy has changed over the years, but for historical purposes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_retaliation

[Starver]

Ah, I knew there was a thread for this, that I'd read in part but not yet posted to (cheers TBF, if you're reading...)

Death of the Disneyland brother...

[TheBiggerFish]

(I'm always reading.)

[Sirus]

What was this "Disneyland incident", again?

[TheBiggerFish]

Apparently he was caught on a fake passport, and his excuse was that he wanted to go to (Tokyo) Disneyland.

[Sirus]

...Huh. I expected much worse than that, to be honest. Dude just wanted to visit the happiest place on Earth

[Starver]

Well, possibly the happiest one in Japan.

(Though devotees of the Cat Island or the one with the Poison Gas Museum may argue about that.)

[IronyOwl]

I seem to recall the incident was taken to imply he thought the West was more awesome than Best Korea, or something, though like most turning points it was probably a specific example of a much deeper problem.

[Culise]

Samsung Heir Faces Arrest on Charges of Bribing South Korea’s President

He~ey, remember this?  Guess what just happened...the prosecution finally got its act together.

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong arrested for bribery

Samsung Group’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong was arrested with physical detention early Friday morning on charges that include bribery to President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil.

The arrest of Samsung Electronics vice chairman came shortly after a court issued a warrant in the second attempt by the special counsel to arrest him. 

“It is acknowledged that there is a need and reason for the arrest, given a newly added criminal charges and additional evidence," the Seoul Central District Court said. The same court last month rejected the counsel team’s earlier request, citing lack of evidence.

Upon the ruling, the special counsel looking into the scandal involving President Park and her close confidante Choi immediately placed Lee behind bars at a detention facility in Uiwang, southwest of Seoul, where he had been awaiting the court's decision. 

Lee, the 48-year-old Samsung Electronics vice chairman, is charged with bribery, embezzlement, perjury, concealment of criminal proceeds and illicit transfer of assets abroad.

The court, however, rejected an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics President Park Sang-jin. Park was allegedly the key party in facilitating support for Choi.

"Given the suspect's status, authority and the actual role he played, it is difficult to recognize the necessity and reason for the arrest," the court said.

Lee is suspected of offering bribes worth 43 billion won ($36 million) to Choi in return for the Park administration’s backing of a merger of two Samsung affiliates. The merger was a crucial step for the ailing chairman Lee Kun-hee’s power transfer to his only son Jae-yong.

The team also suspects the Fair Trade Commission and the Financial Services Commission of pushing for policies in Samsung Group’s favor to help its founding family tighten its grip on its affiliates and smoothly transfer power.

Looking tense and grim-faced, Lee left the courtroom at around 7 p.m. on Thursday after the hearing ended at around 6 p.m., taking an unusually long time for a warrant review hearing.

Lee has denied all charges, saying he was forced to make donations to entities controlled by Choi, including the K-Sports and Mir foundations, and did not seek any business favors in return.

Samsung Group said Friday in a brief statement that it will do its best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings.

The arrest of the Samsung executive is a severe blow to global electronics giant Samsung Electronics, which has suffered from a leadership vacuum in recent weeks due to the de facto leader’s involvement in the alleged bribery.

President Park will also likely take a hit, as the alleged Samsung bribery is a key charge under review at her impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.

Lee is the first high-ranking businessman to be arrested over the scandal.

Several other Korean conglomerates also made donations to Choi’s foundations, although the investigation has not extended to them yet.

By Ock Hyun-ju

[smjjames]

Isn't Samsung the one that made the Galaxy 7 (or 6 or something) and had to do a massive recall because the batteries kept exploding? Might not be connected to all that though.

[Culise]

They do make the Galaxy among other things.  Very many other things: they're a chaebol, or rather, a massively-diversified, typically multinational conglomerate.  Various companies in the Samsung umbrella make consumer electronics of all sorts, buildings ranging from resorts to refineries, ships, textiles, and provide services in IT, medicine, advertising/marketing, insurance, and so forth.  In fact, Samsung Group is the ROK's single largest chaebol and had a gross revenue in 2014 of $305 billion USD.  For comparison, the gross domestic product of all of South Korea in 2014 was apparently $1,411 billion USD.  So, it could be a bit of a big deal, if only because there's a huge amount of cynicism regarding any ability by the government of South Korea in the past to bring them to heel.  Just the fact that he was actually arrested could be significant, especially considering suspicions (EDIT: unsubstantiated ones, I should clarify) regarding how he ducked out from under the first warrant in this case already. 

But no, his arrest has nothing to do with exploding Galaxy 7s.  It's more "bribing the impeached (but not sacked) president for economic and political favors."

[smjjames]

If you think Trump is nutty, get a look at this: Malaysian officials demand Kim family DNA sample before they hand over the body. I rofled over how absurd the situation is.

Though actually, it's routine procedure in some circumstances, but in this situation, it just seems so bizarre because of all the politics surrounding it. They know the identity of the person, so, the only reason to ask for a DNA sample here is pure politics.

[Starver]

Imagine if the paternity doesn't match between the deceased and the <Whichever Honorific It Currently Is> Leader, though...

[alway]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39010244
When you outsource your assassinations to a temp agency.

Indonesia's national police chief said one of the women, named as Siti Aisyah, claimed to have been paid to perform what she thought was a prank.

Tito Karnavian, Indonesia's most senior policeman, said the two women had already performed the prank on other men. It involved convincing them to close their eyes before spraying them with water.

"Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong-nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer," Mr Karnavian told reporters.