Here is what General Abrams recently had to say about the readiness of US troops in South Korea:
Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, told a symposium audience in Honolulu, May 22, 2019, that the combined U.S.-South Korean military force has suffered no loss of readiness with the suspension of large-scale exercises last year.
Combined training and readiness have not flagged in South Korea despite suspension of large-scale exercises last year, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Wednesday. “I want to be crystal clear about it,” Gen. Robert Abrams said at the three-day Land Forces Pacific Symposium in Honolulu. “Combined training and readiness, it has hasn’t slowed down one bit. We are continuing to conduct very rigorous combined training at echelon, over 100 exercises thus far in 2019 alone. It happens at multiple levels.” Abrams fiercely defended the suspension of the large-scale exercises announced after President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June in Singapore. “This was a prudent action in support of diplomacy,” he said during a keynote speech followed by a question-and-answer session for an audience of primarily soldiers from the U.S. and Pacific partner nations.
This woman was lucky not only was this older man walking by, but he was fit enough to run down and catch the rapist:
An Indian man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to rape a Korean woman in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
The suspect, 31, whose identity is being withheld, was arrested on charges of attempting to sexually assault the woman in Seongsan-gu on May 15, police said.
The man dragged her into bushes while she screamed for help, police said.
A man, 59, surnamed Ha, who was walking with his wife and daughter, heard the scream and rushed toward the sound. When he got there, he saw the suspect running away. He gave chase and caught him 300 meters from the alleged crime scene.
“As a father of my daughter, I felt obligated to do so,” Ha said. “Anyone would have done the same if he faced such a situation.”
Police later gave him a plaque of appreciation and 500,000 won ($420) for his brave actions.
Fitness instructors demonstrate “Energy Flow 1.0,” a new indoor workout program developed by Stadion, at a gym in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. The program is designed to boost physical and mental energy by stimulating movement. Stadion is giving one-month free coupons to 100 people on a first come, first served basis at its studio. Korea Times
It appears the ROK foreign ministry is not very good at keeping state secrets:
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has come under fire once again for an ethical lapse among its staff after a diplomat leaked information from a telephone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Cheong Wa Dae and the ministry are considering legal action against the 54-year-old diplomat for allegedly leaking the confidential information to Rep. Khang Hyo-shang, a lawmaker from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).
The diplomat, working at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., is suspected of sharing some key details of the Moon-Trump phone conversation with his high school alumni Khang, the day after the two leaders held talks.
The presidential office said the diplomat admitted to the incident.
“The telephone conversations between leaders of two countries are identified and categorized as the third-highest level of state diplomatic secrecy,” a senior presidential aide told reporters in a briefing, Thursday.
US: “It can only range Seoul, so what do we care?” SK: “Missiles? What missiles? In the interest of inter-Korean comity, we prefer to see them as ‘projectiles for peace’ instead.” https://t.co/GY4dKpFeNy
Danish prince couple receives honorary citizenshipDanish Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, pose with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon after receiving certificates of honorary citizenship of Seoul at a Seoul hotel on May 21, 2019. The couple is visiting South Korea on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. (Yonhap)
Whatever dreams Roh Moo-hyun may have had, President Moon his former Chief of Staff is moving forward with them and considering the current poor economy and state of affairs with North Korea is not going so good:
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Roh, who jumped off a cliff behind his home in Bongha amid the prosecution’s widening probe into allegations that his family members accepted illicit funds.
In his memorial address, National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, who served as Roh’s first chief of staff, said bidding farewell to the late president was too much of a grief to bear.
[Sound bite: National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang (Korean)] “Your election on December 19, 2002 was itself the symbol of resolving regionalism. Three state tasks have yet to be accomplished: ‘The Era of East Asian Peace and Prosperity,’ ‘Democracy with the People,’ and ‘Balanced Development of a Co-prosperous Society’ We will march again for the dream of Roh Moo-hyun.”
Moon added that South Koreans overcame the anguish of his death and participated in candlelight vigils to create a new nation moving towards peace.
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said the late president embraced challenges no one had ever dared to take on and endured setbacks never before experienced.
Lee said Roh’s existence was hope for the ordinary people and his defiance was the people’s dream.
Also in attendance was former U.S. President George W. Bush, who was in office when Roh was South Korea’s president from 2003 to 2008, and First Lady Kim Jung-sook.
[Sound bite: Former US President George W. Bush (English)] “President Roh stood for what he believed was best for his country. And may we have some differences but no disagreement ever outweighed our shared belief of the U.S.-South Korea relationship.”
If the accusation is true, you would think the Chosun Ilbo would be more careful about not publishing fake news considering the political environment they are dealing with that would look for any excuse to shut them down:
On the left are three controversial articles from Chosun Ilbo. On the right is survey expert Bae Jong-chan’s text message denying contact with Chosun reporters. Courtesy of Lee Taek-soo
South Korea’s highest-circulating newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, is suspected of inventing the quotes of experts for three articles attacking a polling agency, which it claimed was “untrustworthy” because it is friendly to the ruling party.
Chosun removed the articles published on May 16 and 17 after the experts said they had never talked with the paper’s reporters. But Realmeter, the agency, has declared no mercy for “fake interviews and unfair reporting,” pledging legal action against the newspaper and the articles’ writers.
Realmeter CEO Lee Taek-soo said the articles had “seriously tarnished” the agency’s reputation.
The conservative daily has been at odds with liberal President Moon Jae-in and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on many fronts, especially North Korea and economic policies. The conflict deepened after Moon ordered the reopening early this year of some cold cases, including a sex/corruption scandal involving Chosun’s top executives.
The articles were published after Realmeter released the approval ratings of political parties for the third week of May. In the report, Realmeter said the ruling party was 13.1 percentage points ahead of the main opposition conservative Liberal Korea Party (LKP). A week earlier, the gap was 1.6 percentage points.
Chosun claimed the rapid gap extension was unrealistic. In the articles, the daily quoted media and survey experts as saying Realmeter “could have adjusted its opinion collecting method in a way producing results favorable to the ruling party.”
“I’ve never talked this way,” said Bae Jong-chan, one of the quoted experts. “Above all, I’ve never talked (on the issue) with Chosun reporters.”
The fact that the North Koreans are so strongly protesting the seizure of their ship at the UN demonstrates this is an area they are vulnerable:
Kim Song, the permanent representative of North Korea to the United Nations, speaks during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday. [XINHUA/YONHAP]
North Korea’s top envoy to the United Nations (UN) warned that the U.S. seizure of a cargo ship earlier this month could endanger future denuclearization negotiations in a rare news conference in New York on Tuesday.
“The United States should deliberate and think of the consequences that its outrageous act might have on future developments,” Kim Song, the North Korean ambassador to the UN, said at a press conference at the UN headquarters Tuesday. “And also, the United States must return our cargo ship without delay.”
The U.S. Justice Department on May 9 announced it had impounded the 17,061-ton Wise Honest bulk carrier and accused it of exporting North Korean coal in violation of U.S. and UN Security Council sanctions. Along with coal shipments, it was also used to import heavy machinery from Yantai Port in China’s Shandong Province to Nampo Port in North Korea, the Justice Department said.
You can read more at the link, but seizing ships involved in illicit shipments from North Korea is something I have long advocated. After being seized the cargo and the ship itself I believe should be auctioned with the proceeds going to families who have lost loved ones due to North Korea’s terrorism acts over the years.
