Author: GIKorea

On Anniversary of the Korean War, North Korea Makes More Nuclear Threats Towards the U.S. and South Korea

This was a pretty typical statement from the North Koreans on the 73rd anniversary of the Korean War:

North Korea fires a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang, in this file photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 19, 2022, a day after the launch. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

North Korea fires a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang, in this file photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 19, 2022, a day after the launch.

North Korea’s foreign ministry on Monday accused Seoul and Washington of pushing tensions to “the brink of a nuclear war” akin to the 1950-53 Korean War, saying it will continue to bolster its self-defensive capabilities.

In a research report released by the foreign ministry’s Institute for American Studies, North Korea likened the current military tensions in the region to the night before the outbreak of the Korean War as it slammed the United States and South Korea for their “delusional anti-communist military confrontation” and “rhetorical threats.”

“Such bellicose moves of the U.S. have pushed the military tensions on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia already plunged into an extremely unstable situation closer to the brink of a nuclear war,” the ministry said in the English-language report released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

ROK Navy Announces It Will Conduct Naval Exercise with U.S., Japan, and Australia

South Korea is expanding naval cooperation with Japan and Australia in an upcoming exercise in the waters off of Guam:

This file photo, released by the South Korean Navy on April 17, 2023, shows three Aegis-equipped destroyers -- the South's Yulgok Yi I (front), the Benfold (C) of the U.S. Navy and the JS Atago of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force -- sailing in waters off South Korea's east coast. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

This file photo, released by the South Korean Navy on April 17, 2023, shows three Aegis-equipped destroyers — the South’s Yulgok Yi I (front), the Benfold (C) of the U.S. Navy and the JS Atago of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force — sailing in waters off South Korea’s east coast.

 South Korea’s Navy said Sunday it will participate in a U.S.-led multinational maritime exercise in waters off Guam next month to enhance combined operational capabilities. 

The Pacific Vanguard exercise is scheduled to take place from July 1-12, involving the naval forces from South Korea, the United States, Australia and Japan. 

The Korean Navy will send the 4,400-ton Munmu the Great destroyer to the exercise.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Tweet of the Day: Xi Has Eyes on Vladivostok?

Picture of the Day: Remembering the 73rd Anniversary of the Korean War

Defense minister visits nat'l cemetery on Korean War anniv.
Defense minister visits nat’l cemetery on Korean War anniv.
Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup visits Seoul National Cemetery to pay respect to the fallen soldiers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War, as the country marks the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the war, on June 25, 2023, in the photo provided by the defense ministry. (Yonhap)

Fake Marriage Scam for BAH Leads to Charges Against Air Force NCO

The good old BAH scam that just never seems to go away:

A former Air Force noncommissioned officer has been charged by federal prosecutors with wire fraud, accusing him of proposing marriage to scores of women to bilk the Pentagon out of more than $100,000 in housing benefits.

D’Montre Green, a former Air Force staff sergeant, was charged June 16 in the alleged scheme that targeted at least 93 women, according to court documents filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Prosecutors said Green propositioned the women for marriage in April 2017 in an effort to boost his Basic Allowance for Housing stipend, which was set to decrease after his divorce one month earlier.

Green served in the Air Force from December 2011 until May 2022, according to prosecutors. He was stationed at Royal Air Force Lakenheath in the United Kingdom with the 48th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron when he began his spree of marriage proposals.

Green told the women in “text messages and mobile applications” that he would pay them part of his increased monthly BAH payment in exchange for a legal marriage, prosecutors said. Service members with dependents are entitled to higher housing stipends than single troopers. 

In one exchange, published in the court documents, Green compared such an arrangement to being a “sugar daddy,” but added sexual favors would not be part of the deal.

“So basically I would get paid extra from my job by having a spouse/dependent, which in return I’d be paying you [$]500 every month for the next [four] years or however long we agree if you’re interested,” Green wrote to one woman. “And no, I’m not expecting you to live with me or do any favors, just a title as a wife.”

One woman from Abilene, Texas, who was not identified by name in the court documents, agreed to marry Green in April 2017 “for the purpose of obtaining increased military benefits, including BAH, to which he would otherwise not be entitled.” Green and the woman were married by proxy, while Green was still in the U.K., according to prosecutors.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what this idiot did was claim his fake wife lived in San Francisco, one of the highest areas for BAH. What these BAH fraudsters fail to realize is that any time you put a high income BAH location on your paperwork it will eventually get investigated. Sure enough Army investigators caught up this idiot. If he would have just put Abilene, Texas where his fake wife lived he would have likely never been caught.

Korean-Americans Fear Gun Violence More Than Any Other Asian Ethnic Group

The Korea Times has article published that Korean-Americans fear gun violence more than any other Asian ethnic group. Some Korean-Americans are now arming themselves because of the gun violence in America:

As fear escalates to new heights, some Korean Americans have decided to take their safety matters in their own hands. How? It’s simple. Owning your own gun.

While advocacy groups are firm in their belief that gun ownership is never the correct way to deal with fears, some Korean Americans feel it is the only way for them to feel safe in America.

Brian Kim is one of those people.

“I had returned home from visiting my parents and noticed my window was left wide open,” he explained. “I knew then I had to protect myself. Up until then, I had no idea how easy it was to obtain a gun.”

Kim states that with his gun, he feels much safer than before.

“Obviously, if I were living in Korea, I would never feel the need to own a gun because no one else has one, but in America, your safety is kind of up to you,” Kim said. “I was also threatened with a gun last year, so I’ve been thinking about purchasing another one for my car.”

Kim, however, does not agree with open carry, which refers to carrying a firearm in public in circumstances where the firearm is fully or partially visible to others.?He thinks there are simply way too many people that are unhinged for open carry.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but being a victim of a crime is much more likely than being a victim of a mass shooting. Having guns to deal with criminals was very beneficial to the Rooftop Koreans during the LA riots.

ROK Drop Open Thread – June 24, 2023

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

Tweet of the Day: Columbians During the Korean War

https://twitter.com/UN_Command/status/1671375773792616448

Picture of the Day: President Yoon Speaks to Korean Residents in Vietnam

Yoon meets S. Korean residents in Vietnam
Yoon meets S. Korean residents in Vietnam
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a meeting with South Korean residents in Vietnam at a Hanoi hotel on June 22, 2023. Yoon is on a three-day state visit to the Southeast Asian country. (Yonhap)

President Biden Calls Xi Jinping a Dictator

Instead of calling him a dictator maybe President Biden should have just called him an Emperor instead because that is essentially what Xi Jinping has made himself into:

China called President Biden’s suggestion that its leader is a dictator “extremely absurd and irresponsible” on Wednesday in an angry response that threatened to undo recent efforts by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to calm tensions between the two superpowers.

Biden referred to Xi Jinping as a dictator while speaking Tuesday at a campaign event, where he said the Chinese leader had been embarrassed by the U.S. downing of a spy balloon because he was unaware it had gone off course.

“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two boxcars full of spy equipment in it is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said. “That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators: when they didn’t know what happened.”

Washington Post

You can read more at the link.