Daily Kor for January 16, 2011

I guess in Somali algebra, ROK = ATM. Yet another freighter (read: not a fishing boat that can be claimed to have been poaching in Somali waters) has been hijacked by Somali pirates. For once I'd like to see some ROK Marines take over the vessel (but not if it means getting the hostages killed... I guess it's not that easy... maybe that's why this hostage-taking and hijacking is so profitable, I s'pose).

Meanwhile, here's a bit of good news from the Korean War, which ended 57-1/2 years ago: two Filipino soldiers declared missing since the Forgotten War have been found, alive. They are 81-year-old Francisco Salac, 81 and 83-year-old Victoriano Manalastas. Not sure what to make of that.

1. 11,500-ton South Korean freighter with twenty-one crew aboard hijacked by Somali pirates in Arabian Sea (AP via WaPo, UPI, Reuters, Bloomberg, Joongang Daily)
2. Meeting in Seoul, South Korean and Japanese Prime Ministers present unified front against North Korea (AP via WaPo)
• Japanese FM Seiji Maehara urges North Korea to take concrete action and improve ties with Seoul (Yonhap, Korea Times)
• ROK National Security Adviser says North Korean regime faces "internal demise" unless it yields to global pressure (PBS, AP via WaPo) 
3. China reportedly to station troops in North Korea, for first time since 1994, to protect Chinese port facilities (AFP)
1. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warns of "disconnect" between China's military and civilian leaders (BBC)
4. North Korea to set up government body to fulfill strategy for new ten-year economic development plans (Yonhap, Reuters via CNBC, Economic Times)
5. Kim Jong-un steals dad's magic purple-flared jacket, runs country for one day (Chosun Ilbo)