The more the native English-speaking waygook thinks these (admittedly horrible) slogans are horrible the more it’s apparent the waygook in question doesn’t know what he’s talking about, because he obviously thinks that if it’s in English he’s the target audience. https://t.co/RJYm35kr6n
— the oranckay (@oranckay) January 3, 2019
In response to Japan’s video about the claimed use of a fire control radar against a patrol plane, the ROK Ministry Defense has now released their own video disputing the claims:
The first criticism in the video is that the Japanese aircraft flew at a low and threatening altitude. Here is a screen capture from the ROK perspective of the patrol plane. Does this look like a threatening aircraft?:
The next claim is that Japan is wrong about being in compliance with international law. The ROK video shows that the altitude and distance level the Japanese aircraft maintained was applicable only to civil aircraft according to international law:
This actually discredits Korea’s criticism because then the Japanese patrol aircraft could then fly at whatever altitude it wanted if there is no international standard military aircraft are held to. If there was a military standard between the ROK and Japan I would think they would have included it in the video.
The next claim in the video is that the Korean ship did not use its fire control radar against the Japanese plane. The video says the ship only had its search radar on. To counter the Japanese claim of the use of a fire control radar the video focuses on the fact that no guns from the ship were pointed at the aircraft. This is a completely separate issue that the Japanese side has never claimed. The issue was the use of the fire control radar.
The video also asks that if the fire control radar was used why didn’t the plane use emergency measures to escape. Watching the Japanese video it is clear the crew knew no weapons were pointed at them and thus likely did not feel threatened by the Korean ship.
The next claim is that the Japanese radio communications were unclear. The video had just one short snippet of audio which was unclear. However, there was much more broadcasts by the Japanese plane. I can understand though how trying to understand English spoken with a Japanese accident over a radio could be difficult for the crew on the ROK ship to understand.
Regardless the whole radio issue is really not important compared to the fire control radar issue. The ROK video concludes demanding that the Japanese release their radar data. The technology that nation’s use to collect radar frequency data is sensitive information that I would be surprised is released. However supposedly the Japanese are now considering it:
The South Korean video is “awful,” a senior Defense Ministry official said, adding, “We have to keep rebutting.”
Japan Times
The official noted that the South Korean video did not include radio messages sent by the Japanese patrol plane to the South Korean destroyer, which had been on the Japanese video.
Depending on the responses of South Korea, Tokyo is considering releasing radar wavelength data, usually a military secret, as additional evidence for its claim, sources familiar with the situation said.
Frustration is growing among an increasing number of Japanese government officials at South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s failure to act to resolve tensions over the incident.
Overall in my opinion the ROK video is not convincing, but will likely serve well for the domestic audience in Korea. Does anyone else have any other opinions on the ROK video?
Finally what is really amazing about this whole issue is that between most other countries this would likely be resolved internally between defense ministries instead of being fought over on Youtube. However, as we have seen with so many issues between ROK and Japan domestic politics get involved. As I have said repeatedly the Chinese and the North Koreans are loving this.
It is not surprising that the Kim regime would have someone with strong ties to the regime elite serving as the ambassador to Italy because you would think they would have a higher level of loyalty:
According to an informed source who spoke to Asia Times on condition of anonymity, Jo – described as “more important than the ambassador” – is the son of the late deputy head of Pyongyang’s Organization and Guidance Department, or OGD.
Asia Times
The OGD, an ultra-select body of the Korea Workers Party’s Central Committee, was seen by inside sources as the most important state organ under the regime of the late Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011. Defectors such as Hwang Jang Yeop, the highest-level North Korean official ever to come to the South, and Jang Jin Sung, a former regime propaganda officer, considered the OGD of critical importance to state affairs.
Though it is not clear if the OGD is as central to Kim Jong Un’s governance as it was to his father’s, Jo, given his family connection, would be extremely well acquainted with Pyongyang’s top-level elites and the inner workings of and processes of the regime.
His present whereabouts are unknown, but he is thought to be under the protection of Italian authorities.
You can read more at the link.
This is why the Russians hurried to seize the Kuril Islands after World War II and have refused to give them back, it is all about keeping the Sea of Okhotsk a giant Russian lake:
A Russian government source said the document obtained by Kyodo News was drawn up sometime after this summer. It remains unknown whether the plan was approved by Putin. Russian media recently reported on the envisioned military buildup in the area.
Japan Times
By setting up a defense line around the islands in the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia is aiming to keep foreign vessels out of the waters where its nuclear submarines are deployed, while also securing the free navigation of the Russian Pacific Fleet, which is headquartered in Vladivostok.
According to the document, new shore-to-ship missiles systems called the Bastion, with a range of more than 300 kilometers (over 180 miles), and the Bal, with a range of over 130 km (over 80 miles), will be deployed on six islands and on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Missile systems were deployed in 2016 on Etorofu and Kunashiri, two of the four islands and islets off Hokkaido that are claimed by Japan.
You can read more at the link.
No way. This is a joke, right? https://t.co/SNkVqtAwCT
— Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) December 31, 2018
My guess would be is that North Korea is sending out the telemetry data not as a test of anything but rather as a warning to the Trump administration to hurry up and drop sanctions or testing will begin again:
North Korea has continued its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles despite declaring a halt to launches, having conducted a missile-linked radio wave experiment early this month, it has been learned.
Yomiuri Shimbun
Despite sanctions limiting the North’s petroleum supply, the North Korean military is continuing to train at its usual levels. In response, the Japanese and U.S. governments plan to increase their surveillance of smuggling and other activities on the high seas, according to military and diplomatic sources.
North Korea conducted a launch test of its radio telemetry, which is transmitted from equipment in a missile’s components such as a warhead. When a ballistic missile is launched, telemetry provides essential information about the missile’s angle, location, speed and other factors to observers on the ground.
In 2016 and 2017, North Korea launched about 40 missiles, including ICBMs. Ground-based telemetry tests are often conducted prior to an ICBM launch, and are considered an important sign of an impending missile launch.
You can read more at the link.
There may be a lot of internal infighting in the White House that has led to a number of personnel changes, but at least no one is being sent to a concentration camp or shot which is what happens with senior leader disputes in North Korea:
Kim Yong-chol visited the White House early last June. Trump provided him with state-of-the-art security, including a number of trained bodyguards and his own Cadillac. Satisfied with the letter from Kim Jong-un’s letter that Kim Yong-chol delivered, Trump went so far as to walk him back to his car to see him off.
Joong Ang Ilbo
A couple of weeks later, Kim’s political profile hit an all-time high during the North-U.S. summit in Singapore, in which he stood next to leader Kim Jong-un.
According to the source that leaked Kim Yong-chol’s secret meeting with Andrew Kim, “Meeting Pompeo when he visited North Korea and his visit to Singapore with leader Kim were Kim Yong-chol’s way to solidify his position as a negotiator.” This was most likely the reason why he tried to strike a deal with the United States.
That meeting with Andrew Kim may have been a step too far, and it was only a matter of time before Kim Yong-chol’s request reached the ears of high-ranking North Korean officials, namely Choe Ryong-hae – who is far more frequently described as the second most powerful man in the North. According to an official who recently visited North Korea, “The Workers’ Party is looking into Kim’s recent request and the problematic issues that occurred because of it.” This “looking into” could be interpreted as Choe’s attempt to eliminate or at least curb Kim Yong-chol’s boosted political influence.
Experts are pointing out how Choe’s recent actions mirror the steps he took to eliminate Hwang Pyong-so, then director of the Army’s General Political Bureau. In October 2017, Choe implemented an internal investigation of Hwang and the political bureau he was in charge of. This investigation uncovered the supposed fact that Hwang disregarded orders and fabricated reports that were sent to Kim Jong-un. Hwang had to step down from his position as second in command and was ordered to spend time in a concentration camp. Experts say Choe was exacting revenge from Hwang, who took his position in 2014.
You can read much more at the link.
This could get ugly very quickly if the South Korean government decides to forcibly seize assets from Japanese companies to pay for these court rulings:
South Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule have begun taking steps to seize the assets held in South Korea by a Japanese firm implicated in the Japan’s wartime crime.
KBS World Radio
The lawyers for Lee Chun-sik and three other South Koreans forced to work for Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation recently asked a local court in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province to issue a writ of execution to have the company’s assets in the country seized.
The company reportedly holds eleven billion won worth stocks of PNR, a joint venture with POSCO.
In late October, South Korea’s Supreme Court had ordered the Japanese firm to compensate the four victims 100 million won each.
Following the top court’s decision, the victims’ lawyers requested that the company answer how it will compensate, but has yet to give a reply.
The major issue here is that the Japanese government says that all compensation claims were paid for with the 1965 pact that saw $500 million from Japan given to South Korea. The ROK government at the time could have compensated everyone back then with that money, however it was instead used for the overall development of the country such as improving infrastructure.
The money ultimately helped with the country’s economic development at the expense of direct compensation to those effected by Japan’s colonial rule. This is why Japan is so strongly against the court rulings they feel they have already paid compensation for.
With that all said when is the ROK government going to launch lawsuits on behalf of victims of North Korea’s kidnappings and provocations in far more recent times than Japan’s colonial rule that began over a century ago?
