That is what think tankers are advocating for:
If the Army is serious about countering the Chinese military in the Pacific, it needs to permanently stationan Armored Brigade Combat Team on Taiwan, according to some think tankers.
That type of basing decision would likely abandon the current policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan, which intentionally leaves it unclear as to whether Americans would defend the island in a cross-strait conflict. Uncertain about their superpower backers, Taiwanese leaders are less likely to unilaterally declare independence and China is less inclined to hurry to war.
Army Times
You can read more at the link.
I am surprised this hasn’t happened before now, but congratulations to these two officers on their marriage:
South Korean army Capt. Ha Neul laughed as she recalled meeting her husband, U.S. Army Capt. Miles Gabrielson, last year.
“We have a very different memory over that,” she said during a recent interview with the newlyweds at this base 40 miles north of Seoul. “He thought I was smiling at him.”
While relationships between Americans and Koreans are not uncommon, the couple’s Feb. 20 union became the first of its kind: a marriage between active-duty officers in the U.S. and Korean armies, according to the 2nd Infantry Division.
The bond between Ha, 31, and Gabrielson, 29, both artillery officers, formed in May 2020 after the pair was tasked with one of the most mundane duties in the military: creating a PowerPoint presentation.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
The article gives no specifics on what happened so it is impossible to determine if this was a preventable accident or not:
A 2nd Infantry Division soldier has died after suffering a “medical incident” during combat water survival training, the command announced Thursday.
Spc. Brandon Martinez, 25, of Mesa, Ariz., died Saturday at Brian D. Allgood Army Community Hospital, 10 days after the June 9 incident at Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Vandal Training Center, a statement said. He was a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist assigned to 4th CBRN Company, 23rd CBRN Battalion who joined 2nd ID’s sustainment brigade on July 13.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
It looks like the US embassy in Seoul will soon have a new location to call home:
A key administrative process to relocate the U.S. embassy building in Seoul was approved by city officials Thursday, opening the door for the beginning of the construction project that will close the embassy’s half-century-old presence in the heart of the South Korean capital.
The Seoul metropolitan government’s city planning and construction committee approved the district units plan of the U.S. embassy’s new site in Yongsan-dong of Seoul’s central Yongsan Ward.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It is believed that this appointment came in response to the election of 36-year-old Lee Jun-seok to the leadership of the opposition People Power Party:
Cheong Wa Dae’s appointment of a 25-year-old as a presidential secretary has created stir among politicians and citizens. While the presidential office tried to demonstrate its efforts to meet young people’s needs by appointing the political rookie to the high-ranking position, many citizens ― especially young ones ― view the appointment as “unfair” amid the reality where it is difficult for the majority of young people to get a job despite years of struggle.
Korea Times
On Monday, Cheong Wa Dae announced Park Seong-min’s appointment as the secretary for youth-related affairs, a newly created position.
Park was one of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s (DPK) spokespeople representing young members, and was picked as a member of the party’s Supreme Council last August by then-party Chairman Lee Nak-yon. Still studying at Korea University, Park plans to request a leave of absence from the university soon, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
She will get a salary and other perks equivalent to those of first-level government officials in the nine-tier public servant system, in which the first-level is the top level.
You can read more at the link, but Lee Jun-seok was elected into Parliament a decade ago and worked his way up through the ranks to his current position. This is in contrast to Park Seong-min who has not been elected to anything and yet was appointed to her position.
