Darryl Coote
darrylcoote.bsky.social
Darryl Coote
@darrylcoote.bsky.social
Jeju Island-based reporter for UPI
MFA candidate in nonfiction ‘27, University of King's College
The most telling line in Donald Trump's threat to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge is this:

"Prime Minister Carney wants to make a deal with China -- which will eat Canada alive. We'll just get the leftovers."

That's all you have to know.
February 10, 2026 at 5:38 AM
Remains of 7 #Jeju 4.3. victims identified, five sets of which were excavated on the mainland.

It's heartbreaking history that few people, even Koreans, know about. And for many on the island, it's not history -- it's their living days.
Remains of seven Jeju Massacre victims identified, returned to families after decades - UPI.com
Seven sets of remains belonging to victims of an early Cold War massacre were returned to their families on South Korea's resort island of Jeju on Tuesday, more than seven decades after they disappear...
www.upi.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:12 AM
Charles Victor Thompson, 55, was executed by Texas on Wednesday, the first U.S. death row inmate to be killed in 2026.

He was convicted of the 1998 double murder of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.

In 2025, executions surged to 47, the most since 52 in 2009.
January 29, 2026 at 3:41 AM
#Jeju police bust international crime ring trying to smuggle meth to mainland S. Korea via its resort island.

Jeju is visa-free. Conservatives have blamed Jeju for irregular immigration. Now, they may have more fodder.
Jeju police bust international drug smuggling ring, arresting 12 - UPI.com
Authorities on Jeju Island have busted a drug smuggling ring, arresting 12 people accused of trying to import methamphetamine into South Korea through the popular tourist resort island.
www.upi.com
January 28, 2026 at 12:57 AM
#jeju police arrest 12 in international drug smuggling ring bust.
Jeju police bust international drug smuggling ring, arresting 12 - UPI.com
Authorities on Jeju Island have busted a drug smuggling ring, arresting 12 people accused of trying to import methamphetamine into South Korea through the popular tourist resort island.
www.upi.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:17 AM
Today, former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was sentenced to 23 years in prison for abetting former President Yoon in his insurrection.

I photographed him in Jeju—at the Jeju Forum and at the April 3 memorial services—standing in for an absent president, repeatedly sent as Yoon’s surrogate.
January 21, 2026 at 11:17 AM
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi playing drums to a K-pop song.

I've watched it a dozen times now. I still have no idea if either know how the damn instrument.

#kpop #news #diplomacy

www.youtube.com/shorts/bdKpV...
日韓両首脳によるドラムセッション 高市総理 #shorts
YouTube video by 首相官邸
www.youtube.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:26 AM
The U.S. military has now killed 99 people in the strikes on vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean.

What will the consequences be when these are determined illegal? Domestically & internationally?

#trump #news #war #politics
U.S. kills 4 in latest strike on alleged drug-trafficking vessel - UPI.com
The U.S. military killed four people Wednesday in its latest strike targeting boats in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea.
www.upi.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:08 AM
S. Korea apologies for honoring Col. Park Jin-gyeong, who led a deadly repression operation during the Jeju Massacre.

During his 40 days on Jeju, he launched mass sweeps and arrests, terrorizing the island residents and paving the way for that massacres that followed.

#Jeju #southkorea #history
South Korea apologizes to Jeju for honoring colonel linked to massacre - UPI.com
South Korea's government apologized to the province of Jeju Island for honoring the late Col. Park Jin-gyeong, who led a deadly repression operation during the Jeju Massacre.
www.upi.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Florida is suing WPATH and the AAP over gender-affirming care.

The second paragraph states gender dysphoria was rare a decade ago, wasn't tracked until 2017, and the number of children diagnosed since has skyrocketed.

Yes. They didn't track it beforehand. The numbers need to catch up.
December 10, 2025 at 4:03 AM
This peace deal reminds me of the deal Trump made to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan: It's going to blow up in someone else's face.

Barring Ukraine from joining NATO will permit Russia to invade again, later. Possibly under the next Democratic president.

#news #Russia #Trump
Witkoff, Kushner hold 'constructive' talks with Putin on ending Ukraine war - UPI.com
Amid a renewed U.S.-led diplomatic drive to end the Ukraine war, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russia's Vladimir Putin for a sixth time.
www.upi.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:12 AM
UPDATE to Ryan Wedding investigation

#RCMP arrest associate of Wedding.

Wonder if this widening dragnet will result in Wedding's capture. There is so much to his story that I want to know.

#police #news #Olympics
Canadian man arrested in hunt for ex-Olympian-turned-drug kingpin - UPI.com
Authorities in Canada have arrested an associate of a former Olympian snowboarder accused by the United States of being a drug kingpin on the FBI's Most Wanted list.
www.upi.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:23 AM
The war in Sudan does not get enough attention. It's an awful atrocity that deserves everyone's attention.

We don't even have a precise death toll, yet there are accusations of genocide. Awful.

#sudan #war #EU #africa #sanctions #News
EU sanctions second in command of Sudan's RSF - UPI.com
The European Union has sanctioned the deputy leader of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces as the paramilitary group's bloody civil war against the country's military nears three years old.
www.upi.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:29 AM
It's wild that the president calls former military Democratic members of Congress traitors and for them to be jailed over speech and nothing will come of it.

#news #trump #military
Trump calls ex-military Dems 'traitors' over unlawful-orders video - UPI.com
President Donald Trump on Thursday called a handful of ex-military Democratic lawmakers "traitors" who should be jailed over a video they published online.
www.upi.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:37 AM
Florida on Thursday executed its record-setting 17th inmate of the year, and seventh military veteran.

A lot of death row inmates and those executed are former military.
Florida executes 17th death row inmate this year for 1988 murder - UPI.com
Florida on Thursday executed a death row inmate convicted of rape and murder of a convenience store clerk in 1998, a record 17th execution in the Sunshine State and the 7th military veteran it has kil...
www.upi.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Feels sort of like a prize fight.

The highly anticipated first bout between Mamdani, the democratic socialist, and Trump, the authoritarian-coded U.S. president.
Trump, Mamdani to meet Friday at White House - UPI.com
President Donald Trump announced he will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday.
www.upi.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:41 AM
The United States is strengthening its manhunt for an Ex-Canadian Olympian accused of being a modern day Pablo Escobar.
#news #drugs #crime
U.S. ups pressure on ex-Canadian Olympian-turned-accused drug kingpin - UPI.com
The United States on Wednesday intensified its manhunt for a former Canadian Olympian who U.S. law enforcement accuses of being a drug kingpin on the scale of Pablo Escobar and Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzm...
www.upi.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:11 AM
"Without the U.S., Canada doesn't have a country," U.S. President Donald Trump said as he signed a proclamation making Feb. 9, 2025, the first-ever Gulf of America Day.
February 10, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has presented U.S. President Donald Trump a trophy displaying a golden pager, seemingly in reference to the pagers and walkie-talkies that detonated in Lebanon in September, killing at least 37 people and injuring hundreds more.

This is repulsive.
February 7, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Texas has executed Steven Nelson.
Below is a copy of his final statement, sent to me by the Texas Department of Corrections.
#deathpenalty #capitalpunishment #exectuion #StevenNelson
February 6, 2025 at 3:55 AM
This is only the second time in seven decades that the remains of a victim of the Jeju Massacre who was killed on the mainland has returned home.

At the #Jeju 4.3 Peace Park there is a cemetery marking the thousands of people who went missing and are presumed to have died during the massacre.
Remains of Jeju Massacre victim killed on mainland Korea return home - UPI.com
The remains of a man who was arrested and sent to a mainland South Korean prison, where he died some seven decades ago amid the government's bloody crackdown on a communist revolt, have finally been r...
www.upi.com
December 18, 2024 at 5:59 AM
About 1,000 people were at Friday night’s march in Jeju City.

Last time Jeju, an island of fewer than 700,000 people, had protests that attracted more than 500 people were those demanding President Park Geun-hye step down in 2016.

www.upi.com/Top_News/Wor...
South Koreans on resort island Jeju march in call for President Yoon's resignation - UPI.com
Hundreds of South Koreans on Jeju Island converged on City Hall on Friday night to demand that embattled South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol resign and be arrested over his failed attempt to institut...
www.upi.com
December 6, 2024 at 11:28 PM
A woman protests against President Yoon Suk-yeol in Jeju City, Jeju Island, South Korea, on Friday night.
December 6, 2024 at 4:42 PM
Christopher Collings was executed by the State Missouri on Dec. 3, and was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. local time.

Here is his final statement.
December 4, 2024 at 3:21 AM