If the ROK is removing landmines which are part of their defenses along the DMZ, shouldn’t the North Koreans do something in return like withdraw large parts of their military away from the DMZ?:
South and North Korea will begin to implement the inter-Korean military accord signed during last week’s summit between their leaders in Pyongyang.
The two Koreas plan to remove mines and explosives in the Demilitarized Zone area located near Cherwon, Gangwon Province for two months from October first.
The removal is part of preparations for a joint excavation of remains of about 300 soldiers killed during the Korean War, including those of United Nations forces.
The two Koreas will also remove mines around the truce village of Panmunjeom from October first to 20th as part of a plan to disarm the troops in the Joint Security Area in the DMZ. [KBS World Radio]
Does anyone want to comment on the proposed US Constitutional changes proposed by Emanuel Pastreich in the Korea Times:
The rapid shifts in American politics demand that we revise our aged constitution so that it better reflects the reality of contemporary institutions. If we fail to take such a brave step, we run the serious risk that our politics and practices will grow so completely out of tune with the constitution that it will lose what remains of its tattered legitimacy. Here is a modest proposal for constitutional amendments that can be quickly ratified. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but he is right about Amendment 29.
I don’t see any angle on how this rise of illegal immigration into South Korea during the Moon administration gives him any political advantage, unlike in the US. Does anyone have any ideas why the Moon administration is allowing a rise in illegal immigration?:
The number of foreign nationals staying in South Korea illegally increased by nearly 100,000 on-year to surpass 330,000 this year, government data showed Sunday.
According to the data by the Ministry of Justice, 330,005 foreigners were staying in the country without a valid visa as of July, up 97,834 from 232,171 logged July of last year.
The data — which showed the number of illegal aliens over the past 10 years — was submitted to the National Assembly.
The annual average number of reported crimes committed by foreigners came to 43,635 over the past five years, the data showed.
The number came to 34,460 in 2013 and steadily increased to peak at 53,151 in 2016 and slightly down to 45,671 in 2017. [Yonhap]
I interrupt your exuberance to remind you that North Korea is not denuclearizing, is more oppressive & totalitarian than ever & has an unbroken history of international proliferation, crime, blackmail & terrorism. This is not leading to a lasting peace. It rhymes with 1938.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic clogs one side of a highway to the port city of Busan in Seoul’s Seocho Ward on Sept. 21, 2018, as the annual rush began of travelers heading to their hometowns and resort areas for the Chuseok holiday, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving. Chuseok falls on Sept. 24 this year. Transportation authorities say more than 36.54 million people are expected to commute between Sept. 21-26. (Yonhap)
Some valid points are raised in the below piece. Reminds me of the adage of the risks of sleeping with dogs. But Moon seems to be willing to tolerate a few fleas in his quest for a more sustainable peace and reduction in conflict. https://t.co/7OTj3ugTjf
You have to like how the former ROK Culture Minister was quietly released from jail during Chuseok:
Former culture minister Cho Yoon-sun was released from prison Saturday.
An appeals court sentenced her to two years on charges of ordering the blacklisting of cultural figures during the Park Geun-hye administration.
The third of three extended detention deadlines expired Friday at midnight, as she awaits a Supreme Court review of her case.
The blacklist she was convicted of ordering targeted individuals critical of the former president for exclusion from state support. [KBS World Radio]
It is interesting how she was tossed in jail for having a blacklist of artists the government would not give funding to, but the Moon administration has their own blacklist where they have cut funding to think tanks they don’t agree with and launched libel lawsuits to silence opposition media critics.
It is pretty clear that Kim Jong-un is doing everything he can to influence the South Korean public that he can be trusted:
Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju (left) with South Korean president Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook (R) on Mount Paektu, where Kim attempted to make ‘finger hearts’ sign. Photograph: Kcna Via Kns/AFP/Getty Images
During a joint visit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the top of Mount Paekdu, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un posed for cameras with the hottest photo gesture in South Korea: a finger heart.
Kim made the gesture, which crosses the thumb and the index finger to make the shape of a heart, when he posed for a photo with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, against the backdrop of Cheonji or Heaven Lake on top of the mountain Thursday, the South’s presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said.
The gesture has been one of the most popular photo poses in South Korea in recent years — perhaps as popular as the conventional V gesture — as a lot of actors, actresses and singers, including boy band BTS, have used it.
After trying to figure out how to make the gesture, the North’s leader approached the spokesperson.
“How do you do this?” Kim was quoted as asking. “I can’t make it in the right shape.”
Kim managed to make the gesture and his wife, Ri, put her hands under Kim’s hand as if she’s upholding the heart, according to the spokesman [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but this is all a carefully choreographed narrative being constructed of Kim Jong-un that I would not be surprised if the Moon administration is helping to craft.
