Author: GIKorea

Trilateral cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and the ROK continues to develop. I doubt President Biden even knows what Dokdo is, but if he can negotiate some kind of settlement on that issue it would greatly enhance bilateral relations:

An upcoming three-way summit between the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan will provide much-needed momentum for the two Asian nations to boost security cooperation, analysts said Wednesday, as Washington pushes to cement trilateral cooperation to tackle common challenges the three countries face.

U.S President Joe Biden invited President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minster Fumio Kishida for a three-way meeting at Camp David in Maryland on Aug. 18, which would be the first standalone trilateral summit. The three leaders have held joint meetings on the sidelines of multilateral gatherings until now, but have never held a formal trilateral summit. 

The three leaders are expected to announce a joint statement highlighting strengthened trilateral cooperation against North Korea’s aggression and closer economic ties. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration was not in favor of the THAAD deployment and made things hard on USFK to sustain the unit such as delaying the environmental assessment:

 A thorough investigation is necessary if there are suspicions that the previous Moon Jae-in administration deliberately dragged its feet in normalizing the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, a senior presidential official said Wednesday.

Allegations have arisen that the Moon administration deliberately delayed the publishing of an environmental assessment report of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery base, which was installed in Seongju, 214 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 2017. 

Since its installation, the unit has been kept in a temporary status pending the assessment.

“The normalization of the Seongju base is an essential measure for the Korea-U.S. combined defense posture,” the official said. “If there are suspicions this measure was deliberately delayed, I think we have to provide related facts to the people through a thorough investigation.”

Normalization of the THAAD base picked up speed after President Yoon Suk Yeol came into office. 

Earlier this year, the environment ministry concluded that the base poses no health hazards, saying the maximum amount of electromagnetic waves emanating from the THAAD base was just 0.2 percent of the legal safety protection standard.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Yoon administration should also investigate why the Moon administration allowed protesters to almost continuously break the law and block the road forcing USFK to move personnel and equipment to the THAAD site via helicopter.

This is the question being discussed in the Korea Times:

Will North Korea use King as a bargaining chip or perhaps a propaganda tool? The reality is, according to Washington experts, that the North is less interested in getting short-term gains by releasing him. However, another question is whether or not he should be viewed as a valuable asset given his low military rank. 

“King could either be a bargaining chip or a propaganda tool. If he desires to stay in North Korea for fear of punishment awaiting him in the U.S., he would probably become the latter. Once Pyongyang decides on an approach, they will reply to the United Nations Command’s (UNC) attempts to discuss the matter,” according to the Korea Society director. 

Over the years, there have been a number of U.S. citizens who have crossed the border separating the two Koreas. These people were mostly human rights activists, missionaries and, from time to time, soldiers. On occasion, based on the weight of each incident, the North Korean regime has used political tactics in its handling of border crossers.

The widely-known cases are the defection of Charles Jenkins and James Dresnok back in the 1960s, both of whom were featured in various North Korean films as “U.S. villains.” In Jenkins’ case, for example, he thought he would be traded to the Soviet Union and then back to the U.S., where he would serve time in jail ― which he preferred over possible deployment to Vietnam. He was held in North Korea for 39 years, where he was tortured and used in propaganda.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I think this decision is really dependent on King. If he is willing and enthusiastically embraces being a propaganda tool than North Korea will probably keep around while he is still useful. The minute he is no longer useful is when they will deport him.

It looks like if a young Korean person wants to have their college paid for, an ROTC scholarship is a very easy one to receive now:

Cadets of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) throw their hats in the air during a commencement and commissioning ceremony at the Army Cadet Military School in Goesan, North Chungcheong Province, Feb. 28. Newsis

The ROK military is facing a severe shortage in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) applicants as young people increasingly shun the junior officer position apparently because of pay rates and the long service periods.

According to the Army, the Korean Military Academy will announce an additional recruitment notice for ROTC candidates in August. The decision comes as the application rate for the ROTC program hit a record low this year, with the number of applicants falling short of the number of available spots. 

It is the first time the Army will seek additional recruitment processes for cadets since the ROTC system was introduced here in 1961. 

ROTC is a college-based officer commissioning program, under which cadets undergo physical and military education for four semesters and then serve for 24 to 36 months in the military after being commissioned.

There were about 16,000 ROTC applicants in 2016, but the figure steadily fell by 2,000 each year to mark 5,000 this year. The competition ratio, which stood at 4.8 to 1 in 2015, plunged to 2.4 to 1 in 2022. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I knew a ROK Air Force lieutenant who told me he went ROTC simply because he could guarantee going into the Air Force and receive better treatment compared to being a conscript. He said the extra time in service was worth the better treatment.

This is a tough spot the Pentagon is in because is they relent on the paid TDY for abortions this will signal to every other Senator that they can get what they want by following this same playbook:

President Biden is sharply escalating his criticism of Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, highlighting his blockade of military nominations and using him to criticize other right-wing Republicans he characterizes as extreme, obstructionist and willing to jeopardize the country’s national security.

Biden, who has often cited Republicans outside the congressional leadership as emblematic of what he calls their party’s radicalism, warned in harsher tones and with more specificity this week that Tuberville is undermining the servicemen and women who are putting their lives at risk.

“Something dangerous is happening,” Biden said Thursday night, speaking at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium. “The Republican Party used to always support the military, but today, they are undermining the military. The senior senator from Alabama, who claims to support our troops, is now blocking more than 300 military [nominations] with his extreme political agenda.”

For months, Tuberville has refused to let the Senate approve any senior military nominations by unanimous consent unless the Defense Department changes its policy of providing travel expenses for service women seeking an abortion. The policy is a backdoor way for the Pentagon to facilitate even late-term abortions, Tuberville argues, saying last week on the Senate floor that “anyone who calls themselves pro-life needs to stand up and be counted right now.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is one issue I really wish the Japanese would work out with the Yoon administration. Ties between the two countries will never be fully normalized until this issue is resolved:

South Korea issued a strong protest on Friday against Japan’s renewed territorial claim to its easternmost islets of Dokdo in an annual defense white paper, calling for its immediate retraction.

Earlier in the day, Tokyo adopted the security document during a Cabinet session, renewing the claim to the pair of rocky outcroppings in the East Sea in the paper for the 19th consecutive year.

“The government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) strongly protests against the Japanese government’s repeated inclusion of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the ROK territory historically, geographically and under international law,” Lim Soo-suk, the spokesperson of the foreign ministry, said in a statement, using South Korea’s official name.

“The ROK government urges the Japanese government to immediately withdraw such claims,” he said, adding that the claims do not and will not have any impact on South Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo and that Seoul will respond “firmly” to any provocation over the islets.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Japanese are likely not showing much flexibility on this issue because of their ongoing territorial dispute with the Russians over the Kuril Islands which are islands they actually care about.