In this July 8, 1951, photo, a North Korean solider, center, looks at Time magazine flanked by two U.S. soldiers in Gaesong during a ceasefire talks for the Korean War in Gaeseong. This is one of 14 Korean War-related photos at the National Institute of Korean History (NIKH) collected from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). / Courtesy of NIKH [Korea Times]
I think we can take this as a good sign that the Trump administration will not drop sanctions prior to North Korea taking irreversible denuclearization measures:
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday extended sanctions on North Korea for a year, citing the “unusual and extraordinary” threat posed by its nuclear weapons program.
The extension comes 10 days after Trump’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, during which the North committed to “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for U.S. security guarantees.
“The existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump wrote in a routine notice to Congress.
For this reason, Trump said, six executive orders that were issued under his and past administrations to sanction North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs must continue in effect beyond June 26.
“Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to North Korea declared in Executive Order 13466,” he wrote.
The action appears to underscore the Trump administration’s goal of keeping sanctions on North Korea until it takes concrete steps toward denuclearization. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the Kim regime must have been expecting this considering how muted their reaction has been so far.
What is most notable about this is that the Kim regime apparently did not demand bags of cash to make this happen. It appears to be simply a good will gesture in response to the cancelling of the UFG exercise:
North Korean soldiers hand over to United Nations troops standing at the inter-Korean border a casket containing the remains of one of seventeen U.S. servicemen who served in the Korean War during repatriation ceremonies at the treaty village of Panmunjom, North Korea, July 12, 1993. REUTERS-Yonhap
The U.S. military plans to send 215 empty caskets to North Korea via the inter-Korean border on Saturday to get back the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War, a South Korean military official said.About 30 U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) vehicles carrying the caskets were scheduled to depart from the Camp Humphreys base in Pyeongtaek for the border village of Panmunjom on Saturday afternoon, the official said on condition of anonymity.
“North Korea will repatriate the remains in the caskets,” the official said.
Recovering and repatriating the remains of U.S. troops killed during the 1950-53 war was one of the agreements that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached during their historic summit in Singapore earlier this month. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it is right now undetermined how the remains will be repatriated, but it is expected to happen in the next few days.
The Korea Times has the details on how Jeju Island became a haven for Yemeni refugees:
Jeju islanders were thrilled to hear the news in December that the budget airline Air Asia had just begun operating direct flights between the island and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, four times a week.
Airfare for return trips is just $200 to $300, depending on dates. To promote the nonstop flights, Air Asia began one-year hot deals for selected passengers where they could travel back and forth if they pay only 79,000 won ($70).
Besides the cheaper airfare, the shortened travel time is another plus; Jeju residents no longer need to transfer at Incheon International Airport to go to Malaysia.
The local government was excited as well in hopes that Jeju would attract more tourists from Southeast Asian countries amid a sudden decrease of Chinese tourists because of the fallout from the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployment. The local economy would benefit with an increase of foreign tourists.
Months later, such sweeping optimism has turned into worries.
The scenic southern island, which has long been a hot tourist destination for Koreans as well as foreigners, has experienced a rapid surge of unexpected visitors _ Yemeni refugees.
As of June 21, 486 Yemenis, who escaped from their war-torn country in search of hope and a better life, are staying on the island, seeking asylum. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but what the Korean government has done in response is removed Yemen from the visa waiver list to stop the refugees from coming.
ROK-US Combined Forces Command has a new Deputy Chief of Staff! ROK Army MG Cho, Young-Jin received the Legion of Merit before relinquishing responsibility to ROK Army MG Shin, Sang-Bum. MG Shin will work side-by-side with LTG Michael A. Bills, who serves both as the CFC Chief of Staff and the Eighth Army-Korea Commanding General. Welcome to the team MG Shin! [USFK Facebook]
Much like the closing of Yongsan Garrison, Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu is getting closer to closing as well:
Col. Brandon Newton, garrison commander of Camp Red Cloud and other bases north of Seoul, South Korea, stands in front of a color guard during the garrison’s inactivation ceremony, Thursday, June 21, 2018. KIM GAMEL/STARS AND STRIPES
Soldiers stood in formation as the garrison’s colors were cased Thursday in a ceremony officials said marked an important step toward closing this Korean War-era base and reducing the U.S. footprint north of Seoul.
The inactivation of Camp Red Cloud, which remains home to the 2nd Infantry Division, was a largely administrative move aimed at consolidating resources as the Army steps up much-delayed plans to move most forces to its new hub in the southern half of the country.
But Col. Brandon Newton, who served for the past two years as the final garrison commander of the area that includes Red Cloud and Camp Casey, stressed the process was well underway.
“The details of the way that we return bases are more complex than just the casing of the colors,” he said in an interview after the ceremony on the parade ground. “We’re certainly on the lead edge of what I would consider the vacating of Camp Red Cloud. Vacating and closing a camp is about a year’s process.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read much more at the link, but according to the article the 2nd Infantry Division headquarters is going to remain at Camp Red Cloud for quite some time due to (drum roll please)……… building delays at Camp Humphreys. Anyone shocked by that news?
By the way for those wondering how Camp Red Cloud was named I recommend reading the below link:
The U.S. military’s main command in South Korea will officially open its new headquarters next Friday in Pyeongtaek, 40 miles south of its current home in Yongsan District, central Seoul, marking a major milestone in the relocation of the U.S. Forces Korea.
Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense announced Thursday that the opening will be celebrated with a ceremony at the new headquarters compound, in which South Korean and U.S. military officials will participate. The ministry did not disclose the list of invitees, but U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis arrives in Seoul next Thursday for a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Song Young-moo, and local media assumes he’s on it.
The relocation of the headquarters follows a years-long process of moving the U.S. Forces Korea from the Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, a rural city in Gyeonggi. The 8th U.S. Army relocated its headquarters from Yongsan to Pyeongtaek in July 2017.
Seoul and Washington agreed to the transition in May 2003 and set a deadline for 2020. Local authorities plan to build an ecological park at the garrison site in Yongsan once the transition is complete, with the hopes of opening the park for public use by 2027.
The new headquarters is composed of a four-story main building and a two-story annex, taking up 240,000 square meters (59.3 acres) in total. A ministry official said some other buildings on Camp Humphreys were still under construction, but are most likely to be completed by the 2020 deadline. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but how much of Yongsan Garrison do people think will actually become an ecological park?
