Author: GIKorea

The dates of this exercise, August 13-14 are one day before ROK Liberation Day which shows how this is nothing more than a political show instead of a defense drill:

South Korea will hold its largest military drill on a cluster of islets in the sea between South Korea and Japan, with the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard participating, a senior presidential aide confirmed.

“Yes, South Korea’s military will conduct a biannual defensive military dill on Dokdo. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will participate in the upcoming exercise. Cheong Wa Dae and other relevant ministries are working on it,” presidential National Security Office (NSO) chief Chung Eui-yong told lawmakers at a session of the National Assembly Steering Committee on Tuesday night. The presidential office confirmed the remarks Wednesday afternoon.

“South Korea plans to conduct a military drill on Dokdo twice this year,” Chung said. “Details of the exact timing of the drill will be announced once other relevant specifics have been decided on.” 

Military sources here said the drill would last two days, from Aug. 13 to Aug. 14, a day before the country marks the 74th anniversary of its liberation from Japanese occupation on Aug. 15.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but why didn’t the Moon administration hold a Korean peninsula defense drill one day before the anniversary of the ending of the Korean War last month? They should have immediately held a Dokdo defense drill last month when the Chinese and Russians violated not only the South Korean ADIZ, but the airspace over Dokdo.

The North Koreans and Chinese are the real threats to the peninsula, not the imaginary Japanese boogeymen the Korean left likes to promote.

Exactly. I do not understand why more people do not grasp this. https://t.co/r6tUBz2raD

— David Maxwell (@DavidMaxwell161) August 6, 2019

The newly appointed U.S. Secretary of of Defense is in Seoul and he has quite a full plate of issues to discuss with his ROK counterparts:

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrived in South Korea on Thursday for talks that are expected to focus on a series of requests Washington has been making to Seoul, including a greater financial contribution to the cost of stationing American troops here.

Also expected to be on the agenda for Esper’s talks with South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo are the U.S. initiative to secure the shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz and Washington’s wish to get a military information-sharing pact between the South and Japan renewed.

Esper landed at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, from Mongolia for a two-day visit as part of his five-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific region, which includes stops in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, according to defense ministry officials. It is his first overseas trip since taking office last month.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but trying to get the ROK to pay significantly more for US troop upkeep will be extremely challenging. Also getting the ROK to contribute any serious naval commitment to the Strait of Hormuz will likely be challenging as well considering the relatively good relationship the ROK has with Iran. The ROK could look at this issue as that Iran is not messing with their energy shipments so why give them excuse to by supporting the U.S. on this issue?

Other issues to be discussed is the GSOMIA that South Korea has threatened to end with Japan over the current trade dispute and Seoul OPCON transfer. I would think the OPCON transfer should not be contentious considering Seoul wants the transfer, but the GSOMIA issue may be challenging.

Like I said the Secretary Esper has a full plate working these challenging issues with the ROK.

It looks like the Moon administration is taking a strategic pause to assess what Japan’s intentions are after the recent approval of a chemical shipment to South Korea:

South Korea on Thursday held off its decision to drop Japan from its list of trusted trading partners as the neighboring country approved the first shipment of a key material under restriction to South Korea, in what appears be a pause in their mounting trade tussle.

In its countermeasure against Japan’s removal of South Korea from its so-called whitelist, the Seoul government has threatened to take Japan off its own list, upping the ante in the month-long trade haggling caused by Tokyo’s export curbs on three key industrial materials crucial for the production of chips and display panels.

South Korea said last week that it will create a new category in its export controls and put Japan in the lower-tier category.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I think the Japanese are trying to derail the Moon administration’s WTO complaint by showing that their process for extra inspections on certain exports is doable and not a trade restriction:

Japan said Thursday it has granted its first permit for a South Korea-bound shipment of chemicals to produce high-tech materials under Tokyo’s new export requirement that has increased tensions with Seoul.

Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko made a rare announcement of the approval, saying that officials determined that the transaction raised no security concerns. The move is apparently meant to calm South Korean anger over Tokyo’s export curbs and show there is no trade ban in place.

Japan imposed stricter controls on three key materials — fluorinated polyimides, photo resists and hydrogen fluoride — that are used mainly by South Korea’s semiconductor industry as of July 4. The rules also downgrade South Korea’s trade status beginning later this month.

Japanese chemical manufacturers have expressed concerns that case-by-case inspections may prolong the approval process and hold up production for their customers.

The first approval came after about a month, faster than the standard 90 days.

“The permit merely demonstrates that export licensing by the Japanese government is not arbitrary, and is granted to any legitimate transactions that pass strict inspections,” Seko told reporters. “The step we took recently is not an export ban.”

Associated Press

You can read more at the link, but the message Prime Minister Abe could be sending is that these extra inspections are an annoyance to Korean companies just like the Moon administration’s attempt to seize the assets of Japanese companies in South Korea is an annoyance to them.

Thanks to a ROK Head tip for this article about how the accuser of President Trump’s nominee as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has made prior unsubstantiated claims to advance her career:

Hyten, who leads the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), was nominated in April by President Donald Trump to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The nomination was delayed by an investigation of the claims but was approved last week in the Senate Armed Services Committee by a vote of 20-7. The entire Senate will vote on the nomination in the weeks to come.

The Air Force investigation found no merit to the dozens of unsubstantiated claims made by Col. Kathryn Spletstoser in the last couple of years, as well as a history of unsubstantiated claims levied against supervisors. Colleagues of Spletstoser say she had anger issues, bullied subordinates, and had an incredibly foul mouth. They say she’s lying. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has vocally opposed Hyten “given the disturbing allegations” against him, did not show up to the Senate Executive Session in which the Air Force investigation findings were confidentially revealed and discussed.

Spletstoser levied dozens of allegations against several supervisors following the loss of her job in 2018, but she had made unsubstantiated allegations previously as well. For instance, two years after a good, but not great, performance review in 2007 that she believed had kept her from being selected for battalion command, Spletstoser appealed and claimed the man who gave her the review had sexually harassed her throughout her tour of duty in Iraq.

The Federalist

You can read more about the unsubstantiated allegations she has made in the past to advance in her career. Of course the usual liberal suspects were out promoting her story and trashing General Hyten’s reputation. However, this is what is really disturbing is that COL Spletstoser claims that during one of the assault that General Hyten ejaculated on her yoga pants. However, DNA testing found no evidence it was General Hyten’s DNA:

While the reputation-damaging details were salacious, the Air Force had already investigated the claim and found it completely lacking. The U.S. Army Criminal Identification Laboratory tested the pants Spletstoser had provided. She said she was wearing the pants during the incident and the stain on the outside was Hyten’s semen.

However, testing excluded Hyten as a source of the DNA material detected on the pants. However, Spletstoser was one of the contributors to the DNA material on the pants. These facts didn’t make it into the New York Times report.

The journalism malpractice by the New York Times is not surprising, but I have to wonder if Spletstoser can be charged with planting evidence?

This is like the Brett Kavanaugh situation all over again. However, since the Vice Chairman position does not have the political consequences compared to a Supreme Court judge, I don’t expect the usual suspects to go all out and destroy General Hyten like they did Kavanaugh. That means he will likely get confirmed by the full Senate, but people that make false claims should be held accountable because of the reputations they destroy and most importantly how it creates suspicion of legitimate claims.

It only makes sense that Korean companies would try and cash in on the rise of Korean nationalism created by the current trade dispute with Japan:

Retailers are taking advantage of a recent wave of patriotism to increase sales ahead of Korea’s Liberation Day on Aug. 15.

As anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea grows following Tokyo’s restrictions on exports to Korea, retailers and brands have started promoting patriotic products.

Online shopping mall 11st started selling Monami pens released in time for Liberation Day. Sold as a limited edition, the pens feature an image of the Taegeuk symbol found on the Korean flag.

A total of 35,000 pen sets starting at the price of 6,000 won ($5.40) were on sale through 11st and on Monami’s own website. All the pens on 11st sold out.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I am still waiting for the rise in nationalism when the Chinese push around the Koreans with far worse retaliation than what the Japanese government is currently doing.

#SouthKorea's agitators are calling for candlelight protests ag #Japan, so expect protests akin to the #MadCow/anti US beef, #ParkGeunhye impeachment, Sewol Ferry, etc. All organized by the usual ones–militant KCTU, teachers union, etc, stoked by media.https://t.co/DxTsea4e8b

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) August 3, 2019