Author: GIKorea

As far protests go, only getting a supposed 20,000 people to show up in the middle of Seoul is pretty weak. Maybe the supposed anti-Japan sentiment in South Korea is not as great as the media and politicians lead people to believe:

The weekly protest rally demanding Japan’s apology to victims of its wartime sex slavery marked its 1,400th edition Wednesday amid an escalating diplomatic and trade row between Seoul and Tokyo.

Nearly 20,000 activists, students and other citizens assembled to participate in the 27-year-old protest in front of the former compound of the Japanese Embassy in central Seoul at noon.

Politicians, including Rep. Sim Sang-jung, head of the progressive Justice Party, and Rep. Nam In-soon for the ruling Democratic Party also attended the historic event.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I am still waiting for an anti-China protest in regards to their destruction of the Korean peninsula during the Korean War which was more recent than Japan’s World War II offenses against Korea.

Sanctions, what sanctions? Chinese traders and investors on the border with North Korea are preparing for a boom. It's just a matter of time, they think. Our report from Dandong: https://t.co/LceVmqwEat

— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) August 9, 2019

Pretty soon the MRE’s may need to change their name from Meals Ready to Eat to Meals In a Bar (MIB):

Soldiers of the future may be eating bacon and egg breakfasts via tiny food bars, due to a new process that shrinks meals to a fraction of their normal size.

Think sous vide, but for tactical quiches that may end up in your next Meal, Ready to Eat.

One dish begins with bacon, egg, cheese and heavy cream. The ingredients are inserted into a vacuum microwave dryer for 80 minutes of shrinkage and then squeezed by a machine. The result: a bar that’s smaller than a Snicker’s candy bar but with twice as many calories — and much more nutrition.

“A complete meal in a bar, that’s my goal,” said Tom Yang, senior food technologist at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Ruling party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok doesnt want people to sing #SouthKorean National Anthem, saying it was composed by someone in the "pro-Japan roster dictionary" made by Minjok Institute, which focuses on anti-Japan accusations.https://t.co/EAfC12Q60S

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) August 8, 2019

It is being reported that President Moon’s trial balloon specialist, Moon Chung-in who has spoke about ending the US-ROK alliance and has advocated for helping North Korea evade sanctions may be picked to be the next ambassador to the United States:

Conservatives squawked Thursday about the possibility that President Moon Jae-in will send special adviser Moon Chung-in to Washington as Korea’s ambassador. 

“How can you possibly send a destroyer of the Korea-U.S. alliance to be ambassador to the United States?” Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) said Thursday during a meeting of the party leadership.

Hwang was reacting to media reports saying that the president’s special adviser for foreign affairs and national security would be named to replace current U.S. Ambassador Cho Yoon-je. 

“This is the worst example of the president’s arrogance and high-handedness,” Hwang said. “[Moon Chung-in] even argued that the Korea-U.S. alliance must end. What will he do if he is appointed ambassador? We can never agree to such an appointment. The people won’t accept it either.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the best to think of Moon Chung-in is as the anti-John Bolton of South Korea.

Great job by these U.S. Marines who immediately helped this Japanese man impaled with a spear gun:

Two Iwakuni-based Marines were lauded Tuesday for aiding a Japanese man who was injured while spear fishing near the air station on July 27.

Cpls. Jose Castrobaez and Raekwon Johnson — C-130J engine mechanics from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 — were flying drones on the bank of the Nishiki River near the Kintaikyo Bridge when a friend of the injured man asked the Marines for help, the pair told Stars and Stripes on July 31.

“We met these guys who were having their own barbecue,” Castrobaez said. “They invited me to go swimming with them. I believe they were practicing how to spear fish, and the next thing you know I was doing my own thing and they told me, ‘Hey our buddy needs help.’”

Castrobaez walked over to investigate and saw a spear sticking out of the man’s torso.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Like I have always said, the Kim regime was just using the joint US-ROK exercise as an excuse to test their new short range ballistic missile:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his will to restart negotiations on its nuclear program with the United States “as soon as” the joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington is over.

The North Korean leader also pledged to stop missile launches when the combined exercise ends, according to the president.

“In a letter to me sent by Kim Jong Un, he stated, very nicely, that he would like to meet and start negotiations as soon as the joint U.S./South Korea joint exercise are over,” Trump said on Twitter. 

On Friday, the president told reporters that he had received another “very beautiful” letter from Kim the previous day, in which the leader expressed his displeasure with the allied exercises.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it appears that talks will restart and probably center on what a “freeze deal” will look like because the Trump administration seems to have realized that Kim Jong-un will not denuclearize.

The ROK Minister of Unification, Kim Yeon-Chul, & distinguished guests visited the Joint Security Area, hosted by UNC Deputy Commander, Vice Admiral Stuart Mayer. The visit included additional stops in the DMZ & a tour of the Paju Peace Trail which officially opens today. pic.twitter.com/uUlxV5BWuA

— United Nations Command (@UN_Command) August 9, 2019