There is a need for a country to register a protest about stuff like this. I’ve been with Korean diplomats trying to get American school districts to stop calling a body of water the “Sea of Japan.” But at some point you’re just embarrassing yourself. https://t.co/0lk78sYcv6
This photo captured from North Korea’s Central TV on April 26, 2018, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) talking with Chinese Ambassador to Pyongyang Li Jinjun while seeing off a special train carrying the bodies of Chinese killed in a deadly bus crash and those wounded at a station in Pyongyang the previous day. The April 22 accident left 32 Chinese tourists dead and two seriously injured. Four North Koreans also died. (Yonhap)
In March of 1951 United States Forces Korea (USFK) was executing their annual Team Spirit exercise. Team Spirit was the major joint exercise held annually with the Republic of Korea (ROK) military from 1976 to 1993. Team Spirit ended in 1993 as part of the efforts to end the nuclear crisis with North Korea that began that year. Team Spirit exercised the logistics of supporting US warfighting units on the peninsula and joint operations between the US and ROK militaries.
In 1981 USFK held its largest ever Team Spirit exercise up to that point that featured 27,000 US military personnel stationed in Korea and 33,000 US military personnel from outside the peninsula. In addition to the US military personnel, over 100,000 ROK military servicemembers participated in the exercise as well. The April 8, 1981 Stars and Stripes called that year’s Team Spirit “the largest ground field maneuver exercise in the Free World”. This was the first Team Spirit exercise held during the Ronald Reagan administration where US and ROK ties had noticeable improved after much deterioration during the prior Carter administration.
The 1981 Team Spirit exercise featured a scenario where North Korea attacked southwest across the Han River which caused US and ROK forces to fight a delaying action southeast of the river. After completing the delaying action, US and ROK forces would then launch a counterattack to push the North Koreans north of the Han River again.
The Deadly Accident
On March 15, 1981 soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 31st Mechanized Infantry (C/1-31IN) from the 2nd Infantry Division stationed in South Korea found themselves participating in the counterattack portion of the exercise. Their unit was participating in a river crossing exercise where their armored personnel carriers would cross a pontoon bridge constructed on the Namhan River outside of the city of Yeoju, 35 miles southeast of Seoul.
City of Yeoju located on the far bottom right and Seoul on the upper left. The Namhan River can be seen flowing north from Yeouju and connecting with the Han River that flows through Seoul.
Due to the many large rivers in South Korea, river crossing exercises are an extremely important skill to master. To this day river crossing exercises are conducted on major rivers in South Korea to include the Namhan River:
However, for the soldiers of C/1-31IN, the river crossing exercise executed during the 1981 Team Spirit exercise quickly turned deadly. 12 soldiers found themselves fighting for their lives when two armored personnel carriers fell into the frigid water when the pontoon bridge broke apart. Eight of the soldiers were rescued, but the accident ultimately cost the lives of four USFK soldiers. Sergeant Harry Pickins, age 26 of West Memphis, Arkansas was the first body recovered on the same day of the accident. He was assigned to the 17th Field Artillery battalion:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 21, 1981
The Stars & Stripes newspaper reported five days later that the body of 18-year old, Private First Class Philip Pidgeon from Carbondale, Pennsylvania had been recovered about one mile downstream from the accident site:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 26, 1981
Two weeks later the Stars & Stripes then reported that the body of 21-year old Sergeant Vernon Cude was recovered from the river:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 12, 1981
Sergeant Cude reportedly helped others to find their life vests before the cold water and fast current washed him away. The only other body that had not been recovered was of 22-year old Sergeant Gary Schlecht. Much like Sergeant Cude, he attempted to help save soldiers without life vests before the swift current washed him away. I could not find any additional articles in the Stars & Stripes archive reporting on whether Sergeant Schlecht’s body was eventually recovered. However, the Find A Grave website does have a memorial marker for Sergeant Schlecht in Dayton, Ohio.
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 8, 1981
River Crossing Accidents in Korea
Unfortunately this accident would not be the last deadly river crossing accident in South Korea. The May 10th, 1985 Stars & Stripes newspaper reported that a US soldier lost his life when an armored personnel carrier fell off a pontoon bridge on the Imjim River. In 1998 four US soldiers and a Korean Augmentee to the US Army (KATUSA) lost their lives when once again an armored personnel carrier fell off a pontoon bridge on the Imjim River. It was this accident I remember being briefed to my unit when we conducted my first river crossing exercise on the Imjim River back in 2000. Safety was of the up most concern during every river crossing exercise I have ever done in Korea since then and fortunately there has been no other deadly accidents since 1998.
Remembering the tragic deaths during the 1981 Team Spirit exercise serves as a reminder of the importance of safety during potentially dangerous training and making sure all efforts are made to mitigate risk. I don’t know if everything was done to mitigate risk before this tragic accident in 1981, but leaders today owe it to the memories of those killed in tragic accidents like this to take all measures to prevent future accidents.
Here we go with another example of South Korean politicians scoring cheap political points during the upcoming summit with Kim Jong-un at the expense of Japan:
Japan has protested South Korea’s move to put dessert with a decoration featuring Dokdo on the table for the dinner planned for the upcoming historic inter-Korean summit, a local media reported Wednesday.
According to Japan’s broadcaster NHK, Kenji Kanasugi, the Japanese foreign ministry’s director-general of Asian and Oceania affairs, protested the Seoul government’s decision in his meeting with a senior South Korean Embassy official in Tokyo.
He is also reported to have expressed regrets and called on the Seoul government to drop the food from the dinner menu.
On Tuesday, the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae disclosed the details of the menu for the summit dinner that included the dessert capped with an edible map of a unified Korean Peninsula also showing the country’s eastern islets of Dokdo. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but notice the South Koreans did not put Ieodo on to the map which they have a territorial dispute with China over.
Also the fact the Japanese government is protesting this is just as juvenile.
Yonhap news is focusing on how Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in are getting along quite well:
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before their summit at the House of Peace, a South Korea-controlled building in the border truce village of Panmunjom on April 27, 2018. (Yonhap)
Off-topic ramblings, jests and quips during the historic encounter between the leaders of the two Koreas on Friday highlighted their growing rapport despite the security-heavy summit agenda.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un met for the third inter-Korean summit at the border truce village of Panmunjom at a time when their close bond is critical in charting a path for a lasting peace on the divided peninsula.
“When will I be able to go over (to the North)?” Moon said when he first met Kim near the Military Demarcation Line, with a throng of reporters jockeying to capture their greetings before their summit south of the inter-Korean border.
Kim, in turn, made a surprise proposal for the South Korean leader to walk into the North across the military demarcation line, a 50-centimeter-wide strip inside the Demilitarized Zone that has separated the peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Ice-breaking confabulations continued during their official tete-a-tete, where sensitive issues such as the communist state’s denuclearization and the establishment of a peace regime were up for discussion.
“I heard that you had tossed and turned early in the morning as you had to participate in National Security Council sessions … You should be accustomed to waking up early (by now),” Kim said, half in jest.
The young leader was referring to a series of top-level security talks Moon held last year with his security and foreign policy aides to discuss responses to Pyongyang’s unrelenting provocations, including the sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September last year. [Yonhap]
Here is a bit of a surprising admission by Kim Jong-un:
When Moon mentioned his wish to travel to Mount Baekdu via the North, Kim said he is worried about the traffic inconvenience in the North that Moon might experience — a rare admission of his country’s poor infrastructure.
“The high-speed train (in the South) appeared to be good … When you come to the North after living in such a condition, I may feel embarrassed (because of the inconveniences),” Kim said. [Yonhap]
The Korea Times is reporting that Kim Jong-un has offered to visit Cheongwadae in Seoul:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was willing to visit Cheong Wa Dae anytime if President Moon Jae-in invites him, during their summit at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Friday.
He also proposed the two leaders meet more often.
When the two leaders inspected a South Korean traditional honor guard before starting the bilateral talks, Moon told Kim that the ceremony was scaled down because of the limited space in the truce village, chief presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan said in a media briefing after the first round of talks in the morning.
“Moon told Kim that if he came to Cheong Wa Dae, he could show him a much better ceremony. Then Kim said, ‘Is that so? I would come anytime if you invite me,'” according to Yoon. [Korea Times]
The Joong Ang Ilbo has a report about the entourage that traveled to Panmunjom with Kim Jong-un:
Nine key aides of Kim Jong-un will accompany the North Korean leader when he crosses the border today for a first-ever summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The delegation is a wide-ranging entourage of party loyalists, cabinet members and military officers that reflects Kim’s ambition to discuss multiple issues related to his country’s long-strained ties with South Korea.
Im Jong-seok, Moon’s chief of staff, told reporters on Thursday at the summit’s main press center in Goyang, Gyeonggi, that Kim Jong-un’s delegation would include Kim Yong-nam, the nominal head of state who serves as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s rubber-stamp legislature; and Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party and director of the committee’s United Front Department.
Other high-ranking party members include Choe Hwi, vice chairman of the Central Committee who chairs the State Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission within the North’s powerful State Affairs Commission; Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the Central Committee and director of the committee’s International Department, which handles foreign affairs; and Kim Yo-jong, first vice director of the Central Committee’s Propaganda and Agitation Department and Kim Jong-un’s younger sister.
Military officials include Ri Myong-su, chief of the Korean People’s Army’s General Staff, the equivalent of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Pak Yong-sik, minister of the people’s armed forces, who plays the role of defense minister.
Other cabinet members include Ri Yong-ho, minister of foreign affairs; and Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, which handles relations with South Korea.
[Joong Ang Ilbo]
The Hankyoreh has an article discussing how President Moon is proposing a liaison office at Panmunjom:
During the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that is scheduled for Apr. 27, South Korean President Moon Jae-in reportedly intends to propose setting up and running a permanent deliberation and liaison office at Panmunjeom that would serve as an inter-Korean mission. Moon also reportedly means to propose establishing and operating inter-Korean joint committees to serve as permanent bodies for consultation in areas including politics, the military and the economy.On Apr. 24, multiple sources who are familiar with the preparations that are being laid for the inter-Korean summit said that South Korea would be proposing a liaison office at Panmunjeom during the summit. While it is too early to be certain, the sources said, an agreement was possible. [Hankyoreh]
Here is a Arirang News video of Kim Jong-un crossing the Military Demarcation Line:
Here is a Yonhap wrap up of the Inter-Korean Summit:
Overall I would say Kim Jong-un continues to skillfully execute his charm offensive in an effort to convince the ROK populace to once again give the Kim regime billions of dollars in aid for likely little to nothing in return. I guess we will see if President Trump will be as easily convinced as Moon Jae-in is that this time the Kim regime is different.
Recent commercial satellite imagery shows little activity at the #DPRK's Punggye-ri facility one day before Kim Jong Un announced a shutdown of the sitehttps://t.co/0a1YzVK8AH
This photo taken on April 25, 2018, shows the location for the April 27 inter-Korean summit at the House of Peace, a South Korean facility that sits about 130 meters south of the inter-Korean border. (Yonhap)
I don’t see what is so hard about putting together a profile of Kim Jong-un?:
U.S. intelligence experts are trying to build a profile of Kim Jong-un to give President Donald Trump a competitive edge in one of the most consequential summits since the Cold War, but they face a huge challenge – figuring out a secretive North Korean ruler few people know much about.
Following a long tradition of arming U.S. presidents with political and psychological dossiers of foreign leaders ahead of critical negotiations, government analysts are gathering every new bit of information they can glean about Kim and making adjustments to earlier assessments of what makes him tick, U.S. officials told Reuters.
They will rely in part on the impressions drawn by CIA director Mike Pompeo, who just weeks ago became the first Trump administration official to meet Kim. Pompeo, Trump’s pick to become secretary of state, came back from Pyongyang privately describing the young North Korean leader as “a smart guy who’s doing his homework” for the meetings, according to one U.S. official, who described Pompeo’s personal view of Kim for the first time. [Korea Times]
Here is what the experts appear to be settling on:
The emerging U.S. consensus on Kim is similar to what many outside experts have publicly concluded. He is seen as a “rational actor,” said U.S. officials – not the “total nut job” that Trump once branded him. He craves international stature but his main aim is “regime survival” and perpetuating his family dynasty, suggesting it will be hard for him to agree to full nuclear disarmament, the officials said.
You can read the rest at the link, but maybe the CIA should hire the ROK Drop for psychological profiles because myself and others on this site have been saying for years that Kim Jong-un is a rationale actor and not the crazy nut job that others have been concluding that he is.
Kim does not want to be the next Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi, dictators that were eventually executed by their own people. Kim’s inheritance is a mafia state which his father Kim Jong-il understood that only someone willing to be ruthless could run. That is why his oldest son Kim Jong-nam was passed over because he was simply too nice to run a mafia state. Kim Jong-un on the other hand was clearly the correct choice because he has shown he is willing to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the regime’s survival.
This South Korean farmer was lucky some US and ROK soldiers were nearby to assist him:
A team of South Korean and U.S. commandos participating in the Foal Eagle field training on Thursday provided assistance to an injured South Korean farmer south of Seoul, the allies’ command said.
The farmer in his 50s was injured and unconscious after an accident with his tractor, which turned over and caught fire, in the vicinity of Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province.
“The special operations professionals provided first aid and stabilized the man, as well as extinguished the fire and ensured the area was safe,” the Combined Forces Command said.
The U.S. service members were in Korea from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, participating in the joint Foal Eagle drill that started on April 1 for a four-week run. [Yonhap]
South Korea has custom made furniture for Friday’s summit between President Moon Jae-in and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un ― with chairs featuring Dokdo controlled by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo.
One thing the rival Koreas share is a resentment of Japan, which imposed brutal colonial rule on the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, and the gesture is likely to irritate Tokyo.
Japan and the South are both US allies but their relationship is strained by historical and territorial issues, including Dokdo, islands controlled by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo.
The new walnut chairs to be used by the two leaders’ seven-strong delegations at Friday’s summit at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) each feature a map of the peninsula.
The tiny islands are clearly marked, pictures released by the Blue House showed Wednesday. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but hatred of Japan is one thing that politicians from both North and South Korea can agree on.
City of Yeoju located on the far bottom right and Seoul on the upper left. The Namhan River can be seen flowing north from Yeouju and connecting with the Han River that flows through Seoul.
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 21, 1981
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 26, 1981
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 12, 1981
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 8, 1981
