Condolences to the families and friends affected by this tragic helicopter crash:
This photo provided by the Marine Corps on July 17, 2018, shows the MUH-1 helicopter, the Marine version of the KUH-1 Surion. Dubbed Marineon, one MUH-1 chopper crashed at a military airport in Pohang, about 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on July 17, 2018. (Yonhap)
A Marine Corps helicopter crashed at a military airport in the southeastern city of Pohang on Tuesday, killing five of the six Marines aboard and injuring the other, officials said.
The helicopter was on a test flight in Pohang, some 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, after repair when it went down from a height of about 10 meters around 4:46 p.m. and caught fire, Marine Corps officials said. [Yonhap]
The English terms "liberal," "human rights," & "democracy" do not translate into analogous concepts in contemporary Korean society. https://t.co/ofAL4hT7q8
American actor Tom Cruise attends a publicity event in Seoul on July 16, 2018, to promote the 2018 American spy action film, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout.” The film will hit South Korean screens on July 25. (Yonhap)
It is bad enough that Russia and China actively undermine United Nations sanctions against the Kim regime, but now even South Korea is reportedly helping North Korea evade sanctions as well:
North Korea reportedly transported its coal to a third country via South Korea last year in violation of UN sanctions.
The Voice of America(VOA) issued the report on Tuesday, citing information released by an expert panel under the UN committee monitoring sanctions against North Korea.
The panel said that North Korea shipped its coal from Kholmsk Port in Russia to a third country two times via South Korean ports in Incheon and Pohang on October second and 11th last year.
Earlier this year, the panel said in its previous report that the South Korean ports were the final destinations of the North Korean coal. However, in the latest report, it said the shipments were likely headed to a third country, although it is unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, an official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry said that there is a need to confirm the findings of the report.
The UN Security Council Resolution 2371 adopted in August last year imposed a total ban on all exports of North Korean coal. [KBS World Radio]
In honor of the 65th anniversary of the Korean War armistice it appears the North Koreans are prepared to hand over a large number of remains:
North Korea has agreed to hand over as many as 55 sets of remains believed to be from American troops killed in the 1950-53 war, and to allow the United States to fly them out of the country next week, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
The preliminary details emerged after U.S. and North Korean officials held working-level talks Monday in the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone.
The Americans planned to send transit cases via truck to the DMZ, where they would be given to the North Koreans to use for the remains. “They’re going to use our cases for the remains and give them back to us,” the official told Stars and Stripes.
A U.S. delegation was expected to retrieve the remains in North Korea and fly them out on July 27, either to Osan Air Base in South Korea or Hawaii, the official said, adding that the date may change as the two sides planned to iron out final details during another meeting in the near future. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans according to the article are supposedly not asking for anything in return for the remains.
It looks like reality has set in for the Moon administration’s attempt to raise the minimum wage even further in South Korea:
Moon Jae-in
President Moon Jae-in admitted Monday he won’t fulfill his campaign pledge to raise the minimum wage to 10,000 won ($8.86) by 2020, after anguished protests about rising labor costs from small business owners and concerns voiced by at least one top member of his administration.
“As a result of the decision by the Minimum Wage Commission, it became difficult to achieve the target of raising the minimum wage to 10,000 won by 2020,” Moon said during a meeting with his senior secretaries at the Blue House on Monday. “I offer my apologies for being unable to keep my pledge.”
The president added that he respects the decision by the commission to keep next year’s minimum wage hike lower than expected and said the government will do its best to realize a 10,000 won minimum wage as early as possible.
Moon’s five-year term ends in May 2022. Moon expressed his appreciation to the commission for raising next year’s minimum wage by more than 10 percent. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Dr. Tyrone Krause recites the commissioning oath given by his daughter Ensign Laura Krause, the Assistant Chief Engineer aboard the USS Ramage (DDG 61) in Norfolk, Virginia during a commissioning ceremony on Friday, July 13, 2018. Krause was inspired to join the Navy shortly after his daughter’s commissioning in 2015.
When most people enter their 60s, they start thinking about retirement.
But Dr. Tyrone Krause decided it was the perfect time to start a new career.
At 63, the heart surgeon from Skillman, N.J., joined the Navy after receiving a waiver that permitted him to enter the Reserves a year past the typical age limit because people with his skills are in demand.
“Sometimes I say to myself, ‘How did I get into this? Why don’t I just relax and sit in my backyard and drink some beer?’ But that’s not my style. I’ve always been on the move. And hopefully I’ll always be on the move,” Krause said.
“I feel, surgically, I’m in my prime. I could still operate very well, and if I can give back and help some of our young men and women in the military, that’s what I want to do.”
Krause was commissioned as a commander Friday aboard the destroyer USS Ramage, where his 27-year-old daughter, Laura, is an ensign and performed the ceremony. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but I once rode on a plane into Afghanistan with a psychiatrist who was commissioned directly as a Colonel. He was much like this heart surgeon, just a guy that had a private practice and was looking to make a difference by joining the military for a short stint.
Engagers usually give this answer when I ask this question in class or at conferences. This strikes e as thin and begs the question what how this experience is making N Korea less dangerous to its own people and the world? Why do we care if they learn about more about commerce? https://t.co/JMHOP9MgpX
Defense Minister Song Young-moo (C) presides over a hastily convened meeting of top military officers at the ministry in Seoul on July 16, 2018. The meeting came after President Moon Jae-in ordered the military to submit all documents to his office that are related to an alleged proposal by the Defense Security Command, a military intelligence unit, to consider imposing martial law to deal with possible unrest from nationwide protests last year demanding the ouster of then-President Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)
Here is what came out of the general level talks with North Korea on the war remains issue:
The United States and North Korea have agreed to resume searching for the remains of thousands of American soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday.
The agreement came at a general-level meeting between the two sides earlier in the day, Pompeo said in a statement. On Monday the two countries will begin working-level talks to coordinate the repatriation of remains already found in the North, he added.
“This meeting was aimed at fulfilling one of the commitments made by Chairman Kim at the Singapore Summit,” Pompeo said in the statement, noting that it was the first general-level talks between the two countries since 2009. “Today’s talks were productive and cooperative and resulted in firm commitments.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if this so called search for remains in North Korea will require cash payments to the Kim regime as they demanded in past searches?
