Author: GIKorea

This makes sense, with worsening youth unemployment in South Korea the ROK government has decided to cancel a job fair just because it features Japanese companies:

A job fair for Japanese companies has been scrapped amid worsening ties between Seoul and Tokyo, according to the labor ministry, Monday.

The Seoul Career Vision, a job fair hosted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and co-organized by the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, was scheduled to be held on Sept. 24 in Seoul and Sept. 26 in Busan.

It is a fair for young people seeking jobs at foreign companies, and Japanese firms have taken up a large portion in recent years, with last year’s events only for Japanese firms. 

However, the ministry has decided to cancel the event, citing the strained diplomatic relations following Japan’s economic retaliation against the Korean Supreme Court’s rulings over compensation for surviving South Korean victims of wartime forced labor.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I am still waiting for the ROK government to cancel a Chinese job fair because of the economic retaliation from China over the THAAD dispute.

This is all very predictable that President Moon would make the claim that Japan’s trade restrictions is about trying to stop South Korea’s economic development:

Last week, Tokyo removed Seoul from its “white list” of more than two dozen nations eligible for simplified customs procedures in buying strategically sensitive materials. Moon has characterized the move as part of Japan’s attempt to prevent South Korea from further developing its economy.

“Japan can never block the leap of our economy,” Moon said. Its export curbs will rather serve as a “catalyst” for South Koreans’ resolve to build economic power, he added.

Moon pointed out that the Japanese economy is superior to South Korea’s in size and domestic market. If a peace economy is realized through economic cooperation between the two Koreas, South Korea would overtake Japan at a stretch, Moon said.

Despite tumults in inter-Korean relations or Pyongyang-Washington talks, he added, South Koreans shouldn’t be easily pessimistic about a peace economy or give up efforts toward it.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the only reason Japan imposed the trade restrictions was because of the Moon administration’s cancelling of the comfort women agreement and threatening to confiscate assets of Japanese companies. None of trade restrictions would be in place by Japan if the Moon administration abided by past agreements signed between Japan and Korea resolving financial liability for past Imperial Japanese actions.

As far North Korea being an economic growth engine that can replace Japan’s importance to the South Korean economy, good luck with that because that will only happen after the Kim regime is gone.

As every Korean politician knows, you can’t exploit anti-Japanese sentiment without sensationalizing the Dokdo issue. Some needs to tell the Blue House this is 2019 and not 1941:

In a move to protest Japan’s decision to remove it from a list of trusted trading partners, South Korea plans to hold a joint military exercise on a cluster of islets that sits in the sea between the neighboring countries, a government source said Sunday.

“The Ministry of Defense is considering conducting a joint defense drill on Dokdo this month,” the source said, Sunday. However, he was reluctant to provide specifics as the ministry has not confirmed the details of its plan. 

Military exercises were first conducted near the tiny land mass in 1986 and they were made a biannual practice since 2003 with naval ships, marines, military aircraft, maritime patrol boats and relevant combat personnel participating. A 3,200-ton of naval destroyer, maritime patrol vessels, P-3C anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft and F-15K fighters are typically mobilized during the drill, according to the ministry. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but you have China also claiming Korean territory and flying bombers over it and the Russians have actively violated Korean airspace over Dokdo with their war planes and there was never a rush to conduct a military exercise in response.

The worse the Japanese have done with Dokdo is threaten to have a research vessel of scientists enter into Dokdo’s exclusive economic zone. This of course set off a full scale crisis in South Korea and threats of war and even talks of assistance from North Korea. Japan never did send the research vessel, but Russian and Chinese warplanes are flying over Dokdo and Ieodo with no military drill in response.

The hypocrisy of the Korean left comes into full display every time they are in power when it comes to their anti-Japan agenda.

😐

Is this wise? I mean, wrongs should be righted. But SKorea is going to be taken off Japan's white list tomorrow. China and Russia are literally encircling SKorea. Is this the right time or wise to pick a fight with the US? Is the SKorean government TRYING to isolate itself? https://t.co/Ud8UZY9Kgd

— John Lee (The Korean Foreigner) (@koreanforeigner) August 1, 2019

There will probably be more missiles being fired by North Korea next week as the joint exercise between the ROK and South Korea is scheduled to begin:

South Korea and the United States will stage joint military drills as scheduled despite warnings from North Korea, the South Korean military authority said Sunday.

The joint drills will begin Monday with a computer-simulated command post exercise (CPX) to cope with any emergency on the Korean Peninsula and last for half a month, according to the authority.

After the CPX, the allies will spend the remaining 10 days intensively verifying Seoul’s capabilities for its envisioned retaking of wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops from Washington.

But many watchers say the joint military drills could prompt further provocation from the North.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is good news for the families of Korean War veterans that were missing in action. Some of them may be notified this week that their family member has been identified:

Defense Department officials have identified 25 more missing servicemembers from the cases of remains turned over by North Korean officials last year, a major advance for dozens of families who have waited decades for closure in the deaths of their loved ones.

The identifications were first announced by Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday afternoon and later confirmed by officials at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency during their annual briefing to families of the Korean War, held in Washington D.C.

On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the news “A promise kept from the agreement between (North Korean) Chairman Kim (Jong Un) and President Donald Trump … to return all of our fallen heroes.”

DPAA officials said specific identifications will be made public in coming weeks, after family members have received formal notification from the individual services. Most of the service members identified are from the Army.Defense Department officials have identified 25 more missing servicemembers from the cases of remains turned over by North Korean officials last year, a major advance for dozens of families who have waited decades for closure in the deaths of their loved ones.

The identifications were first announced by Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday afternoon and later confirmed by officials at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency during their annual briefing to families of the Korean War, held in Washington D.C.

On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the news “A promise kept from the agreement between (North Korean) Chairman Kim (Jong Un) and President Donald Trump … to return all of our fallen heroes.”

Military Times

You can read more at the link.

It is horrible what happened to this spouse, but if the military had to pay $5 million to everyone that was sexually assaulted there would not be a military for much longer:

Then-Amn. Justin S. and his wife, Bethany, arrived at Kadena Air Base in Japan Oct. 6, 2017, for his first duty assignment. They were excited to begin their life in the Air Force, and eager to meet their fellow airmen at Kadena, Justin’s top pick for his initial assignment.

But all that ended the next day, when their official, assigned sponsor — then-Senior Amn. Steven Newt — coaxed them to a booze-soaked barbecue at his house and pressured Justin to drink. After Justin, Bethany and most of the other party-goers had gone to sleep, Newt was caught groping and kissing Bethany’s unconscious body.

Newt pleaded guilty last October to Bethany’s sexual assault and is now serving time in jail, but the events of that night traumatized her and left her suffering from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress requiring therapy, she said. (……)

So far, Bethany has been fighting an uphill battle with the Air Force. Last November, she filed a personal injury claim seeking $5 million from the Air Force. But in May, the Air Force Legal Operations Agency denied her claim.

Air Force Times

You can read more at the link, but I would be surprised if the Air Force did not look into how the perpetrator’s command chose unit sponsors for newly arriving airmen. Did the perpetrator have past misconduct that should have raised red flags? Having a substandard airman be a newly arriving airman’s first impression of their unit is probably not a good thing. Also was there any unit policy to not take new airmen to drinking parties after arrival? Simple policies like this may have been able to prevent what happened.

Here is another power tip which will be called “victim blaming”, but I call common sense, do not ever get blackout drunk with people you don’t know. So many of these sexual assaults are alcohol related. You have to be careful because even the military has it share of creeps like this perpetrator who is now fortunately rotting in jail and has to register as a sex offender after his release.

Surely, he's referring to soccer? #Incendiary #Propaganda #Agitation #DPRKStyle https://t.co/XB7hheJZa2

— Sung-Yoon Lee (@SungYoonLee1) August 2, 2019