Author: GIKorea

Here is the latest headline from John Bolton’s book:

U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t want South Korean President Moon Jae-in to join him during his third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in June 2019, according to John Bolton, the former U.S. national security adviser, in his memoir.    
   
“The Room Where It Happened,” the Bolton memoir set to be published Tuesday, details the three Kim-Trump meetings and the considerable amount of energy expended by Bolton to thwart any U.S. concessions to North Korea.  
   
In a tweet on June 28, 2019, Trump — who was on an official trip to Japan and Korea — offered to shake hands and say hello with North Korean leader Kim, which led to the impromptu meeting days later on June 30 in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom. This marked the first time a sitting U.S. president stepped onto North Korean soil, and took place during Trump’s visit to Seoul for a summit with Moon.    
   
According to Bolton, “Trump wanted Moon nowhere around, but Moon was determined to be present, making it a trilateral meeting if he could.” Bolton had “entertained the faint hope that this dispute with Moon could tank the whole thing, because it was certain Kim didn’t want Moon around.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The Blue House is obviously very unhappy with former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton’s new book:

The office of President Moon Jae-in on Monday strongly criticized former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton for his “distorted” account of what happened in brisk summit diplomacy last year involving the leaders of the United States and the two Koreas.

Chung Eui-yong, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, said in a statement that “A considerable portion of it is distorted.”

He played it down as based on what Bolton had seen from his “own viewpoint,” not “accurate facts,” accusing him of unilaterally disclosing details of diplomatic consultations based on trust among relevant governments.

Chung said it represents a violation of the basic principle of diplomacy, which could harm the sincerity of future negotiations “very seriously.” (……..)

On Moon’s assessment of the North’s proposed dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear complex as a very meaningful first step” to enter an “irreversible stage of denuclearization,” Bolton, known for his hawkish approach on Pyongyang, even reportedly wrote in the memoir that it was “schizophrenic” idea.

The Cheong Wa Dae official said Bolton may be schizophrenic himself.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The fraud accusations against left wing parliament member Yoon Mee-hyang, who used to run the Comfort Women charity, is only getting worse:

Then came the suicide of a Korean Council employee responsible for the operation of its shelter for the survivors.

The director of the shelter, known only by her surname Sohn, was found dead, pushing investigators to expand the scope of its probe.

Then came another layer of unexpected information. 

A granddaughter of Gil Won-ok, another survivor who had stayed at the shelter until recently, made a new accusation against Sohn, and Yoon, of money laundering. 

“The shelter’s director laundered money by taking an enormous amount of money from Grandma’s account and sending it to another account. I am sure people around her knew what she was doing,” the granddaughter wrote on the internet in reply to a news article on the director’s death. 

The prosecution summoned Gil’s son who stood partly by his daughter’s accusation. 

In a previous interview with a local news outlet, the son who Gil adopted demanded the shelter explain a big chunk of money withdrawn from her account three times ― in amounts of 4 million, 5 million and 20 million. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but with Sohn dead the only person that can answer what happened with the money is Yoon Mee-hyang. However, since Yoon is now a member of parliament she can ignore any summons from the prosecution for questioning. It appears she will be able to get away with all this with no outrage from the Korean left.

Just a few weeks ago few Americans knew about Juneteenth and now everyone knows:

The celebration is the brainchild of Humphreys Middle School fifth-grade teacher Domenique Marie, who was inspired by civil unrest after the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill, suffocated while a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

“Juneteenth is important to everybody, not just Black people,” Marie told those in attendance. “Juneteenth is a tribute to strength, endurance and the faith of our ancestors, for we are our ancestors’ greatest accomplishment. We are their wildest dream.”

“For all Americans, it is a reminder that until all of us are free, that no one is really free,” she added. “Today we celebrate glory – we celebrate the breaking of chains.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here are some excerpts from John Bolton’s upcoming book which for people following Korean issues, at least from the excerpts appears to be nothing new:

U.S. President Donald Trump told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their June 2018 summit in Singapore that he was open to lifting United Nations sanctions on the regime and would think about it, Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, was quoted as writing in his upcoming memoir.

In his book, “The Room Where It Happened,” which is due to be published next week, Bolton writes that Kim told Trump as they were leaving the meeting that he was glad the two had agreed to follow the “action for action” approach in exchanging North Korea’s denuclearization for U.S. concessions, according to Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst who currently works for the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

Kim asked if lifting U.N. sanctions would be next, and Trump responded that “he was open to it and wanted to think about it,” Terry wrote on her Twitter account Thursday. “So Kim left with optimistic expectations.”

On South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, Trump repeatedly complained about how expensive and provocative they are, and how he viewed them as a waste of money, Bolton continues in his book, Terry said.

“So when Kim said he wanted the U.S. to reduce or eliminate exercises, Trump said he would override the generals and do so,” she tweeted.

“Neither Kelly, Pompeo, nor Bolton — who were sitting right there! — were consulted and of course not Mattis (who wasn’t there),” she added, quoting the memoir. “No consultations with S Korea either. Trump just gave in to Kim without consulting or notifying anyone.”

Yonhap

Here is what Bolton had to say about the Singapore summit:

Trump debated between a small deal and walking away.

He decided “walking away” was more dramatic and would give him leverage in other negotiations, Terry quoted Bolton as writing.

“Bolton confirms a deal was close in Hanoi but Kim had nothing to offer except Yongbyun,” she wrote, referring to North Korea’s main nuclear complex. “Trump pleaded with Kim to add something to his offer, but Kim refused. So Trump walked, knowing it would make him look good.”

I have been saying for years that North Korea is never going to give up their nuclear weapons. I can’t think from the Kim regime’s perspective one good reason to do so after what they have seen happen to both Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi.

Limiting the number of nuclear weapons and delivery systems seems like a more realistic goal which I wonder if anyone was advising President Trump on?

On PBS Frontline this week there is a really good show about the United States’ coronavirus response. Part of the show compares the U.S. to what South Korea did. ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was heavily featured in the show.

The major difference pointed out which has been discussed before on this blog is how quickly South Korea was able to ramp up the private industry to produce test kits. They did this in a week. The CDC in the United States decided to create their own test kits which were tainted due to poor manufacturing and caused a month long delay in ramping up testing, which it eventually turned to private industry to augment.

You can watch, The Virus: What Went Wrong at the link.