If Iran is not a threat to the UAE as Iran claims, then why are U.S. and ROK troops stationed there?:
President Yoon Suk Yeol’s description of Iran as the “enemy” of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has provoked protest from Tehran as it calls Yoon’s remark undiplomatic and asks for Seoul’s explanation.
Korea Times
The government is stepping up to prevent the issue from creating diplomatic problems with Iran.
Yoon made the remarks during his visit to the Akh Unit, which trains the UAE’s special operations forces, Sunday (local time), as part of his efforts to encourage its soldiers.
“You are here because the UAE is our brother nation,” Yoon told the troops. “And (defending) our brother nation’s security is as important as that of South Korea’s. The UAE’s enemy ― the most threatening nation ― is Iran and our enemy is North Korea… We are in a very similar position to the UAE.”
He was on a four-day state visit to the Middle Eastern country when he made the comment.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the ministry is looking into and following up on the comments of the Korean president on relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the UAE, which are neighboring countries with established diplomatic relations.
The spokesman also said Yoon’s remarks show he is totally unaware of the historical and friendly relations between Iran and the Persian Gulf littoral states, including the UAE, as well as positive developments quickly taking place in this regard.
You can read more at the link.
Some happy chaebol chiefs today in South Korea:
Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a total of 24 agreements worth $6.1 billion in traditional industries, such as energy and defense, as well as emerging businesses, including hydrogen, mobility, bio and digital transformation, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Monday.
Korea Times
The ministry said about 320 officials from business lobby groups, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Group and other Korean companies, who accompanied President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the Middle Eastern country, held the Korea-UAE Business Forum at the Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi hotel.
You can read more at the link.
This is just another example of how Koreans like to keep up with the Joneses:
Koreans were found to have spent the most per capita on high-priced bags and other luxury goods, according to a report by Morgan Stanley.
Korea Times
The global investment bank said it estimated that Koreans’ total spending on luxury items grew 24 percent to $16.8 billion (208.6 trillion won) in 2022 from a year ago, which is about $325 per person. The per capita figure is far more than the $280 and $55 spent by Americans and Chinese, respectively.
Morgan Stanley analyzed that the high demand for luxury goods among Koreans comes from their increased purchasing power over the years and desire to flaunt their social standing by wealth.
You can read more at the link.
This has pretty much been the consensus from most people is that the nuclear test is going to happen sometime soon. I believe the Kim regime is trying to goad the Yoon administration into doing something retaliatory to their other provocations to justify the nuclear test. Canceling the Inter-Korean Military Agreement could be one of those triggers to conduct a nuclear test:
A North Korean nuclear test might be inevitable while China, despite its perceived influence in Pyongyang, may be unwilling to help prevent such a test from taking place, former U.S. nuclear negotiator Victor Cha said.
Cha also insisted that Beijing may not have the means to prevent North Korea from conducting a nuclear test even if it wanted to in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency.
“I think it’s inevitable. I think it’s seventh nuclear test is inevitable and I think another Hwasong-17 (intercontinental ballistic missile) test using a solid fuel propeller, I think that’s inevitable because in the New Year speech, they said that,” said Cha, currently a senior vice president and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The Russians continue to make themselves look like clowns:
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and a senior security official in President Vladimir Putin’s administration, said Saturday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida should perform a ritualistic suicide by disembowelment to repent for what Medvedev called servitude to the United States.
Medvedev’s remarks were in response to a joint statement Friday by President Joe Biden and Kishida, in which the leaders said that “any use of a nuclear weapon by Russia in Ukraine would be an act of hostility against humanity and unjustifiable in any way.”
Russian military leaders have discussed the potential use of a tactical nuclear weapon should their invasion of Ukraine face more setbacks.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
Cutting “woke” may make for good politics in Republican right, but it is going to little to save money in the Defense budget:
A variety of social issues can fall under the “woke” umbrella, including diversity, equity and inclusion training, funding for women’s reproductive health and support for gender identity initiatives. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., Jordan and other Republicans have argued the military’s attention to “the left’s social agenda” has hurt readiness.
“If we’d focus on getting rid of all the ‘woke’ in our military, we’d have the money we need to make sure our troops get the pay raise they deserve, we’d have the weapons systems and training that needs to be done so that we’re ready to deal with our adversaries around the planet,” Jordan said Sunday on Fox News.
Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., insinuated last month that transgender service members were taking financial advantage of the Pentagon’s policy to provide hormone therapy, mental health care and surgeries for troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria. She said a cadet at Fort Sill, Okla., had told her that he enlisted in the military because he wanted the government to pay for gender reassignment surgery.
“It was shocking that he would actually verbalize that in front of all those officers and other cadets standing there,” Bice said in December during a House Armed Services committee hearing. “This is an issue, and I do think we should be looking at it.”
The cost of transgender care is minuscule when compared to the overall size of the defense budget. The Pentagon spent $15 million treating transgender troops from 2016 to 2021, including about $3 million for surgery, according to the Defense Health Agency. The parts of the spending plan dealing with personnel are so vast and expensive that carving out items targeting “woke” culture will have a negligible impact, said Michael Herson, president of the lobbying firm American Defense International and a former Defense Department official.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but if Congress wants to save money than look at wasteful military acquisitions programs which they probably won’t because they produce jobs in influential voting districts.
