The big guy in the coin circle is caught!
After fleeing for several months, South Korea's "currency circle boss" Kwon Do-hyung was arrested in Montenegro on the 23rd. Last year, Kwon Daoheng single-handedly detonated the "currency circle serial lightning case", which left many investors without return, causing a total loss of 40 billion US dollars, about 270 billion yuan.
Two US military bases were attacked one after another. According to Syrian national television on March 24, the US military base in the Umar oil field in the northeast of Syria's Deir ez-Zor province was attacked by several missiles. The day before, a U.S. coalition base near Hasakah in northeastern Syria was hit by a drone attack, killing one U.S. contractor and injuring five U.S. servicemen. Under the authority of US President Joe Biden, US military carried out airstrikes on targets in eastern Syria that night.
In addition, according to surging news reports, as the time draws closer and closer to the 2024 Indonesian national election, the electoral atmosphere in Indonesian society is becoming stronger and stronger. In order to attract the attention of more young people, some Indonesian political parties have added K-Pop elements to their election campaigns. Assessments of this are mixed.
The "big guy in the currency circle" was arrested
The popular South Korean "currency tycoon" Kwon Do-hyung was wanted by South Korea for his cryptocurrency crash that caused heavy losses to global investors.
On March 23, months after disappearing, Kwon was arrested in Montenegro, and U.S. judicial authorities disclosed criminal charges against him on the same day, including multiple counts of fraud.
Kwon Do-hyung, 31, became a figure in the "currency circle" of South Korea and even the world for founding Terraform Labs and creating the popular TerraUSD and its platform token Luna. But the two currencies, purported to be pegged to stable assets, plummeted in value last May, wiping about $40 billion in market value, leaving many investors with no return. The investors then filed a lawsuit against Kwon Do-hyung in a South Korean court.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro reported on the 23rd that Kwon Do-hyung and another South Korean citizen Han Changjun (transliteration) were arrested at the airport in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, on the same day, and were taken to the Montenegrin state procuratorate on suspicion of "forging documents".
The information stated that the two men were trying to board a flight to Dubai, were stopped during passport checks and, after verification with Interpol, were found to have used "forged Costa Rican travel documents". The inspection of the couple's luggage also revealed travel documents issued by Belgium and South Korea, of which the Belgian documents were confirmed to be forgery.
Montenegrin police subsequently seized three laptops and five mobile phones belonging to the two men. The Ministry of the Interior stated that Montenegro had found no entry records of the two men.
The South Korean National Police Agency confirmed on the 24th that after fingerprint comparison, the person arrested in Montenegro was indeed Kwon Do-hyung himself. South Korean prosecutors say they are prepared to discuss extradition with Montenegro.
Later that day, the Manhattan District Court in New York City issued eight criminal charges against Kwon, including two each for securities fraud, electronic fraud, commodity fraud, and conspiracy.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month launched a civil lawsuit against Kwon and his co-founded blockchain business, Terraform Labs, accusing Kwon of "directing a securities fraud scam involving billions of dollars in cryptocurrency assets."
From the glamorous to the notorious, the rapid fall of Kwon Do-hyung and TerraUSD is a microcosm of the turmoil in the global "currency circle". The lightning scandal of several well-known cryptocurrency platforms has triggered investigations and tightened regulations in many countries. U.S. cryptocurrency trading platform FTX and its sister institution Alameda Research declared bankruptcy last year, raising widespread questions about the long-term prospects of the cryptocurrency market.
US military bases were bombed one after another, and Biden authorized US air strikes to retaliate
According to CCTV news citing Syrian national television on March 24, the military base of the US illegal military stationed in Syria located in the Umar oil field in the northeast of Syria's Deir ez-Zor Province was attacked by several missiles, and thick smoke rose at the scene.
A day earlier, on March 23, another U.S. military base was hit by a drone attack, killing one U.S. contractor and injuring five U.S. servicemen and another U.S. contractor. Under the authority of US President Joe Biden, US military carried out airstrikes on targets in eastern Syria that night.
According to foreign media reports, the US Department of Defense announced on the evening of the 23rd local time that after a suspected "Iran" drone attacked the US coalition base in northeast Syria, the US Department of Defense ordered an air strike on the infrastructure of the militia group affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in eastern Syria.
NBC said that the Pentagon said in a statement that a suicide drone attacked a coalition base near Hasakah in northeastern Syria before 2 p.m. local time on the 23rd, killing a U.S. contractor and injuring five U.S. servicemen and another U.S. contractor. The statement also said U.S. intelligence agencies believe the drone came from Iran. Subsequently, the United States retaliated with airstrikes against Iranian-linked targets in the region.
The report mentioned that US Secretary of Defense Austin said that under the authorization of US President Biden, the US military carried out air strikes on targets in eastern Syria that night. According to Agence France-Presse, on the 23rd local time, the "retaliatory" air strike carried out by the US military in eastern Syria killed 6 people. The U.S. airstrike targeted a weapons depot in eastern Syria's Deir Ezzor province, in which six supporters of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed.
In addition, according to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, on the evening of the 23rd local time, the Syrian government army located in the western village of Aleppo in the Kefrey Aman area was attacked by the Syrian terrorist organization "Conquest Front", and then the Syrian government army responded and finally eliminated 11 terrorists, including some foreign terrorists.
Sending Korean girl group tickets to attract young voters?
According to surging news reports, as the time draws closer and closer to the 2024 Indonesian national election, the electoral atmosphere in Indonesian society is becoming stronger and stronger. In order to attract the attention of more young people, some Indonesian political parties have added K-Pop elements to their election campaigns. Assessments of this are mixed.
The Paper quoted Indonesia's Jakarta Post as reporting on March 21 that some Indonesian political parties have recently posted K-Pop-related content on social platforms to attract the attention of more young people. For example, the Indonesian Unity Party (PSI) posted on its Twitter account on March 4 to give away tickets to the concert of South Korean girl group Blackpink. Participants follow the party's Twitter account and retweet the tweet, and the winner will be randomly selected from among them.
Subsequently, the Greater Indonesia Action Party (Gerindra Party) also announced on its Twitter account on March 8 that the girl group Blackpink concert ticket giveaway. To receive the free tickets, people must wear designated Blackpink merchandise and post photos in front of billboards bearing the face of Prabowo Subianto, the chairman of the Greater Indonesia DAP and current defense minister, along with the labels "Greater Indonesia Movement" and "Prabowo". Currently, the tweet has been shared thousands of times and viewed more than a million times.
Indonesia, which reportedly has a large number of K-Pop fans, has ranked third in the world in 2020. Last year, the National Mission Party (PAN) invited the emerging K-Pop group Astro and a group of Indonesian artists to hold an event called "Birukan Langit Indonesia".
Zita Anjani, a member of the National Mission Party's central executive committee, said the party's aim was to attract the support of young voters ahead of the 2024 general election. "It's time for political parties to stop talking about their narratives and start mentioning the voices of young people." Zita said in an interview with local media.
According to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), an Indonesian think tank, millennials (those born between 1981 and 1995) and Gen Z (those born between 1995 and 2012) are expected to make up 60 percent of the voting population in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
Although these social platform strategies have increased the visibility of some political parties, the reviews have been mixed.
Responsible editor: Tactical Heng
Proofreader: Zhao Yan