1. A comprehensive parliamentary audit is underway today (October 26). The ruling Democratic Party criticized the judiciary, taking issue with Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's refusal to re-nominate a Supreme Court justice candidate and last week's acquittal of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in his second-trial appeal regarding allegations of a paid-for public opinion poll. In response, the People Power Party defended the Chief Justice, claiming that the ruling party's attacks are a "build-up for impeachment," while countering with demands to resume trials related to President Lee Jae-myung.
2. During the National Assembly's comprehensive audit of the Ministry of National Defense, Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul remarked regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's whirlwind one-day visit to China the day before yesterday that the trip was intended to check North Korea-China relations as well as pursue various intentions regarding North Korea-U.S. dialogue and the management of the Korean Peninsula. Minister Kang also addressed the timing of the wartime operational control (OPCON) transition—which has recently shown a temperature difference between South Korea and the United States following remarks by USFK Commander Brunson—stating in principle that the allied authorities are in close consultation to determine the target transition year, the so-called "X-year."
3. The Brazilian presidential election went to a runoff, with incumbent President Lula da Silva securing victory to become Brazil's first four-term president in history. Running as the left-wing Workers' Party candidate, President Lula achieved a comeback win by defeating right-wing Liberal Party candidate Jair Bolsonaro by a 3.56 percentage point margin in the runoff. While this victory is seen as putting the brakes on the recent right-wing political shift in Latin America, temporary government turmoil is expected in Brazil as the defeated candidate Bolsonaro has expressed refusal to accept the election results.
4. A group of seven individuals has been apprehended by the police for using artificial intelligence to infiltrate the internal systems of around 90 domestic companies and stealing over 8.2 million pieces of personal information. Over a one-year period starting in September of last year, they hacked into the systems of operators such as private academies, hospitals, and golf courses to steal personal data. They then allegedly threatened the companies, warning that if the leaks became public, it would damage their corporate image and lead to heavy fines, thereby extorting a total of 360 million won. The ringleader, a man in his 30s surnamed A, was found to have used the AI autonomous penetration system previously utilized in a recent financial sector data breach. This marks the first time in South Korea that suspects of large-scale hacking crimes utilizing generative AI have been arrested.
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