Author: GIKorea

Here is the latest on the targeting radar spat between South Korea and Japan:

South Korea’s defense ministry expressed “deep concerns and regrets” Friday over Japan’s release of video footage related to an ongoing military radar spat, accusing Tokyo of releasing “misleading” facts.
Japan released a 13-minute-long video clip showing the operation of its Maritime Self-Defense Force’s P-1 patrol aircraft to back up its claim that a South Korean naval destroyer targeted the warplane with fire-control radar on Thursday last week.
Seoul has rejected the claim, saying that its 3,200-ton Gwanggaeto the Great destroyer did not target the plane of the partner country and that it was on a humanitarian operation to trace a North Korean ship drifting into international waters of the East Sea.

Yonhap

Here is the video that was released by Japan:

Here is what the ROK is claiming happened:

The footage showed an operator of the aircraft communicating a message to the South Korean Navy about its alleged discovery of the destroyer’s radar directed at his plane in a relatively calm voice that observers say did not reflect a sense of urgency.
“This is the Japanese Navy … We observed that your FC (fire control) antenna is directed at us,” an operator said in a message sent to the Korean navy.
“What is the purpose of your act, over?” he added without demanding that the Korean Navy stop what Tokyo has characterized as a “dangerous act.”
A South Korean military official noted that the plane was flying only about 150 meters above the destroyer and around 500 meters away from its side — a flight that could be seen as posing a threat to a foreign Navy.
“The reason why we did not lodge an immediate protest against a low-flying plane was that we were focusing on the rescue operation with the thought of it being a friendly aircraft,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“The plane capable of carrying missiles and torpedoes can pose a threat even when it operates from a distance. But it was approaching the Navy ship,” he added.
Seoul officials also pointed out that Japan failed to offer a “smoking gun,” namely its analysis of the radar frequency which can verify whether the radar Tokyo claims was used against it was a targeting system.
While Japan’s aircraft was approaching the destroyer, the antenna of its fire-control radar, STIR 180, appears to have turned toward the plane, as the Navy tried to identify the plane with an electro-optical targeting system attached to the radar. But the radar did not send out any beam to the plane, Seoul officials have said.

Yonhap

The reconnaissance aircraft was clearly marked as being Japanese and had no missiles on it. The weather was very clear so claiming the aircraft was a threat is far fetched in my opinion. Does anyone have any opinions on who to believe in regards to this spat?

This is the first time I have heard of a female teacher in South Korea being jailed for having sex with her students:

A female teacher at a private cram school, or hagwon in Korean, was jailed for having sex with two teenagers she taught. 

A district court in Uijeongbu sentenced the teacher, 29, to 10 years in prison for violating the Special Act on Sexual Violence that provides tough punishment for adults who have sex with those under 13 in any circumstances. 

The court also ordered her to receive 80 hours of psychiatric treatment and banned her employment at an organization for children for 10 years. 

She was charged with having sex with two boys she taught ― an elementary student and a middle school student ― between 2016 and 2017. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I would love to see the Moon administration’s reaction if the US government made paying compensation to North Korea’s victims part of any deal to lift sanctions. I say this because the Moon administration has continued to go after the Japanese for compensation for events that happened over 75 years ago even though they have already paid compensation while Otto Warmbier’s death happened just last year and the Kim regime continues to make excuses for what happened:

 A U.S. court on Monday ordered Pyongyang to pay $501 million in damages for the torture and death of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier, who died in 2017 shortly after being released from a North Korea prison.
Warmbier’s parents sued North Korea in April over their son’s death. The 22-year-old student died days after he was returned to the United States in a coma, and an Ohio coroner said the cause of death was lack of oxygen and blood to the brain.
“North Korea is liable for the torture, hostage taking, and extrajudicial killing of Otto Warmbier, and the injuries to his mother and father, Fred and Cindy Warmbier,” Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said in her ruling.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

#China's military is itching to kill Americans. Rear Adm. Luo Yuan publicly urged attack on aircraft carriers, killing 10,000: https://t.co/iBUAOUJYbO. This is 2nd time this month a Chinese officer has advocated attacking #US vessels.

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) December 26, 2018

I think it is becoming very clear that if the ROK government does not pay more for the upkeep of the US-ROK alliance that it would not be surprising to see a reduction of troops in South Korea within the next two years or the removal of dependents to save money:

 South Korean and U.S. officials had significantly narrowed differences in recent negotiations over how to share the upkeep costs for American troops stationed here, but the working-level progress fell apart as the U.S. leadership rejected it, sources said Tuesday.
Seoul and Washington have held a series of talks since March over how much financial cost South Korea should bear for 28,500 troops of U.S. Forces Korea amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for a sharp rise in Seoul’s share.
Earlier this month, the two sides tried to reach a final deal on the issue during the 10th round of negotiations held in Seoul and narrowed differences to a gap of about 100 billion won, but the progress fell through as the U.S. leadership opposed the idea.
A government source said, “We are nearly back to square one.”
The two couldn’t even schedule the timing of the next round of meetings, as both apparently needed time for policy coordination and consultation within their own governments.

Yonhap

President Trump has apparently linked the reboot of cost sharing talks to the decision to replace Defense Secretary James Mattis:

On Monday, he wrote on Twitter that, “We are substantially subsidizing the Militaries of many VERY rich countries all over the world, while at the same time these countries take total advantage of the U.S., and our TAXPAYERS, on Trade. General Mattis did not see this as a problem. I DO, and it is being fixed!”
Although he didn’t pinpoint South Korea, it is understood that he directed the comment at Seoul, with which the U.S. is currently negotiating over defense costs.

You can read more at the link.

So how come the ROK government doesn’t have their military lock a weapons control radar on to one of these Chinese aircraft that continue to fly through the ROK’s ADIZ? They were more than happy to do this against a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft earlier this week:

A Chinese military jet entered South Korea’s air defense zone without notice three times on Thursday, prompting Seoul’s Air Force to scramble fighter jets in response, defense authorities here said.
The aircraft entered the country’s air defense identification zone, called KADIZ, at around 10:21 a.m. from an area near Jeju Island and Ieo Island and exited it half an hour later, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). 
It again crossed into the KADIZ at around 11:54 a.m. and flew out of the zone at around 12:51 p.m., the JCS said, adding that the aircraft made an another entry at 2:14 p.m. before leaving the airspace at around 3 p.m. 
A JCS official said the aircraft is believed to be a Y-9 type reconnaissance plane.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but before this recent flight the Chinese violated the South Korean ADIZ 110 times and yet no aggressive action has been taken. I think we all know the answer on why the ROK military gets aggressive against Japan, but not China. Getting aggressive with Japan has little to no consequences; getting aggressive with China will likely lead to real consequences.

I think this whole OPCON issue, just like the US-ROK cost sharing talks are all linked back to whatever the final outcome of the US and North Korea denuclearization talks are. Depending how that plays out the OPCON and cost sharing talks will get worked out as well:

 South Korea’s defense chief on Thursday said the coming year will be a starting point for the test of the country’s ability to command its own troops in the event of a war.
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo made the remark as he presided over a meeting to assess the preparations for the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States.
South Korea handed over operational control of its troops to the U.S.-led U.N. command during the Korean War. It retook peacetime OPCON in 1994, but wartime OPCON remains in the hands of the United States.

Yonhap

I wonder when the horrible air quality is going to begin to have an effect on South Korea’s life expectancy?  So far it appears it is not having much effect considering that the average life expectancy in Korea continues to climb:

Life expectancy at birth averaged 82.7 years in 2017, three months longer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The average life expectancy for South Koreans stood at 62.3 years in 1970 when South Korea began to compile relevant data.

Kim Rak-hyeon, a deputy director handling the issue at Statistics Korea, said improved public awareness of health and the policy on medical checkups have contributed to the dramatic hike in life expectancy in recent decades.

Baby boys and girls born in 2017 were expected to live 79.7 years and 85.7 years, respectively, with the male-female difference narrowing by one month to 6 years.

There is a cat-astrophic problem at Yongsan Garrison (sorry I couldn’t resist):

The population on this Army post has plunged since the U.S. military moved its headquarters south of Seoul over the summer. But one group is clawing its way up — stray cats.
They can be spotted running upstairs, hiding under cars, prowling around trash cans and even stuck in trees.
Nobody is sure where they all came from. But Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Robertson has a pretty good idea.
“People left their pets behind,” he said at a town hall meeting last month on Yongsan, which has been steadily emptying after U.S. Forces Korea and many other units moved to the newly expanded Camp Humphreys as part of a long-delayed relocation plan.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.