Author: GIKorea

There are a lot of parks in Berlin, but it is pretty clear that the statue was put in this particular park to create diplomatic tensions with Japan:

South Korea voiced criticism Thursday over Japan’s call for the removal of a statue erected in Germany of a girl symbolizing Korean victims of wartime sexual slavery, calling it an act that goes against the spirit of its own apology. 

Last week, Tokyo expressed regret over the recent installation of the statue on a public site near the Japanese Embassy in Berlin. The statue was erected by Korea Verband, a Berlin-based civic group with South Korean ties. 

The issue drew attention as Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi requested it be removed when he held bilateral talks with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, in Berlin last week. 

“The installation of the statue is a voluntary move by the private sector. It is not desirable for the government to get diplomatically involved,” ministry spokesperson Kim In-chul said in a press briefing when asked about the statue. (…………..)

Korea Verband in Berlin said it received an order from the office of Berlin’s Mitte district on Wednesday to remove the statue by Oct. 14. According to the civic group, the office claimed that an inscribed epitaph as part of the installation has caused diplomatic tension between Germany and Japan.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You would think that there would be signs posted saying the park was closed, especially one like Kualoa Regional Park which is a very busy park during normal times:

The U.S. surgeon general was cited for being in a closed Hawaii park in August while in the islands helping with surge testing amid a spike in coronavirus cases, according to a criminal complaint filed in court.

A Honolulu police officer cited Jerome Adams after seeing him with two men “looking at the view taking pictures” at Kualoa Regional Park on Oahu’s northeastern coast, the citation said. The park in a rural area offers a picturesque view of Mokolii island, known as Chinaman’s Hat for its cone shape.

Adams told the officer he was visiting Hawaii to work with the governor for COVID-19 and didn’t know parks were closed.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Anyone with any measure of intelligence on defense issues on the Korean peninsula could of told Bob Woodward that a nuclear strike on North Korea is not feasible:

Although Bob Woodward’s latest book, “Rage,” disclosed last month that the Donald Trump administration had reviewed firing scores of nuclear weapons at North Korea in 2017, experts said Wednesday that such an attack would not be an easy option to implement due to various reasons including possible escalation involving other countries.

In the book, based on interviews with Trump, the writer said the United States studied “OPLAN 5027” for regime change in North Korea ― the U.S. response to an attack that could include the use of 80 nuclear weapons. OPLAN 5027 refers to a joint South Korea-U.S. military operation plan to respond to a North Korean invasion.

Experts on Korean Peninsula issues saw a low chance of the plan ever being carried out, because of concerns that a U.S. nuclear strike against Pyongyang could lead to accidental escalation in the region.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link about the issues a nuclear strike on North Korea would cause.

Both the Unification and the Defense Ministries believe that North Korea will not execute a high level provocation before the U.S. presidential election; instead they will display a new missile:

North Korea appears to be preparing a measured show of force at an upcoming military parade marking the 75th anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party, South Korea’s top inter-Korean official said Thursday.    

During a parliamentary audit hearing at the National Assembly, Minister of Unification Lee In-young presented a somewhat different forecast from Seoul’s military officials — as well as his own ministry — of what lay in store during Pyongyang’s big event Saturday, for which the regime has been preparing for months.  

“In the past, ahead of a U.S. presidential election, and to show off its nuclear or missile capacities, [the North] would actually fire or test [missiles],” Lee said. “But this time, we are getting indications that [Pyongyang] will conduct something on the level of lower intensity acts or shows of force.”  

Lee did not elaborate on what he meant by “lower intensity,” but according to his own ministry’s report to the National Assembly, Pyongyang was likely to unveil a new “strategic weapon” it has warned about for months, which could range from a new form of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to a submarine-launched ballistic missile.     

A similar prediction was made a day earlier by Seoul’s Minister of National Defense Suh Wook, who expressed agreement with a lawmaker’s assertion that the North was more likely to display a new missile than conduct an active provocation in the form of a weapons test.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I think this shows that the North Koreans believe if they behave it will improve their chances of a deal to reduce sanctions with the next President.

This is an unusual story involving a soldier at Camp Humphreys:

An Army soldier who is finishing his assignment abroad might be blocked from reentering the U.S., government officials said, in a dispute over his legal status stemming from his birth in New York while his father was a foreign diplomat there.

Army Pfc. Fadel Tankoano, 22, said he thought he was a dual citizen of Niger and the U.S., pointing to the U.S. passport he was issued as a toddler and a birth certificate from a Manhattan hospital.

But officials said Tankoano misrepresented his status when he enlisted in 2018 and on passport applications.

Tankoano’s Nigerien father enjoyed full diplomatic immunity as a counselor at the United Nations when his son was born, State Department officials said. That means that he was not subject to domestic law — and that Tankoano was exempt from birthright citizenship.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more a the link, but the soldier is being discharged for a fraudulent enlistment. Additionally since he doesn’t have a valid passport he may not even be allowed back into the United States where he was born.

It looks like BTS will eventually do their mandatory military service, but it may be deferred for a while according to the ROK Defense Chief:

The defense ministry is not considering granting South Korean K-pop boy band BTS an exemption of mandatory military service, but a deferral could be an option, Defense Minister Suh Wook said Wednesday. 

“Various social consensus should be formed, but at this stage, we are not considering an exception to the military duties,” Suh told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit. 

His remark came amid a growing debate over whether the seven-member group, with an unprecedented Billboard-topping hit, should warrant such special treatment for their worldwide achievements.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.