Author: GIKorea

Here is the testy exchange between the ROK and Japanese foreign ministries:

Kono urged Seoul to immediately take action to stop the court process, under which the plaintiffs of the lawsuit are preparing to seize assets of the Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industry.

Nam defended his government and mentioned Seoul’s proposal of creating a joint fund as a way to settle the dispute. Kono raised his voice, saying Tokyo had already rejected the idea. He also criticized the ambassador for being “rude” to suggest it again.

Japan says all compensation issues had been settled under the 1965 bilateral agreement and that the South Korean government’s lack of intervention to stop the court process is a breach of the international treaty.

Tokyo is considering taking the issue to the International Court of Justice, although some officials say South Korea is expected to refuse going to court. Tokyo may seek damages from South Korea in case assets of Japanese companies are seized, Japanese media reported.

Responding to Kono’s remark, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Japan still hasn’t done enough to make amends for the sufferings South Koreans had gone through during the colonial past and that it should discuss ways to find solutions acceptable to both sides.

“To genuinely resolve the problem, Japan must look straight into the unfortunate past and make efforts to heal the pain and scars of the victims,” the ministry said. “We hope that the Japanese government would withdraw its unilateral pressure including the export restrictions of retaliatory character and return to the stage of diplomatic resolutions.”

Associated Press

All I am wondering is, when is the ROK government going to say that China hasn’t made amends for the suffering of the Korean people during the Korean War that killed far more Koreans than the Japanese colonial occupation and nearly destroyed the entire country?

Also when is the ROK government going to demand that China withdraw their retaliatory economic measures against South Korea over the THAAD deployment? The hypocrisy is why I have a hard time taking Moon administration demands on this issue seriously.

It looks like someone got really stupid in Itaewon this weekend and caused yet another Taxi Cab Related Incident. Via U.S. Army WTF Moments:

Here is what the USFK commander General Abrams had to say about this incident:

Being a good battlebuddy includes being with your battle buddy and not letting them wander off.

We are guests here. We are also Ambassadors who represent our country on and off duty. Below is an example of not being a good Ambassador. https://t.co/Dw4FVkxMAd

— Robert Abrams (@DogFaceSoldier) July 21, 2019

As I have always said every time the curfew has been lifted, is that just the large number of U.S. troops in Korea means that eventually a stupid or criminal incident will happen. If the command is not willing to absorb blowback from incidents like this, then why the lift the curfew in the first place?

I guess we will see if the curfew returns or not.

So when is a journalist ever going to ask these people boycotting Japanese products why they are not boycotting Chinese products? China has a longer history of trade retaliation against Korea over the THAAD dispute:

As soon as supermarket manager Cho Min-hyuk got to work the day after Tokyo imposed curbs on exports to South Korea, he pulled all Japanese products off the shelves.

It was Cho’s way of taking a stand against Japan in a quickly worsening political and economic dispute between the two east Asian neighbors. 

Such anger has prompted a widespread boycott of Japanese products and services, from beer to clothes and travel, disrupting businesses in what was already the worst economic climate for South Korea in a decade. 

Cho, who manages a 1,500 square meter Purunemart supermarket in Seoul, is taking the hit voluntarily. Over 200 other supermarkets and grocery stores are doing the same, according to Korea Mart Association, a trade group representing them. (…..)

The country’s top two convenience stores CU and GS25, run by BGF Retail (282330.KS) and GS Retail (007070.KS), told Reuters sales of Japanese beer plunged 21.5% and 24.2%, respectively, in the first two weeks of July from the previous two-week period. E-Mart (139480.KS) reported a 24.6% fall.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

South Korea to Japan: You're violating international law
Japan to South Korea: You're violating international lawhttps://t.co/UQJmGwMeJr

— Josh Smith (@joshjonsmith) July 19, 2019

The tensions between South Korea and Japan could end up having security impacts as well if the Blue House seeks to end the GSOMIA which authorizes the two countries to share intelligence information:

 A rancorous diplomatic spat between South Korea and Japan is casting doubts over the fate of a military intelligence-sharing pact seen as a rare symbol of their trust and a key platform for trilateral security cooperation involving the United States.

The tussle that started from a simmering row over Japan’s wartime forced labor has been escalating into the economic domain with Tokyo’s July 4 measure to tighten restrictions on exports to South Korea of key industrial materials. 

It is now feared to be spilling over into the security realm, apparently putting Washington on edge as the U.S. is keen on firming up cooperation with its two Asian allies to promote regional stability amid North Korea’s lingering threats and China’s growing assertiveness.

The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) between Seoul and Tokyo is automatically renewed every year unless either side expresses its intent to rescind it 90 days ahead of the end of its extendable one-year period.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but clearly the Moon administration is willing to bargain with the GSOMIA because they feel the current peace process with North Korea means intelligence from Japan is not needed.

However, this whole dispute could be ended today if the Moon administration does not move forward with seizing the assets of Japanese companies in South Korea. However, the Moon administration miscalculated in their Japan bashing and have gone so far now it is hard politically for the Moon administration to change course.

I would not be surprised if this man had a history of mental problems:

A 78-year-old South Korean man died hours after setting himself ablaze near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Friday, police said, at a time of worsening tensions between Seoul and Tokyo.

The man, surnamed Kim, ignited a fire inside his car parked in front of the building where the Embassy is located. The man died later Friday while being treated at a Seoul hospital, police said.

Police said Kim had phoned an acquaintance earlier to say he planned to self-immolate to express his antipathy toward Japan.

Kim’s family told investigators that his father-in-law had been conscripted as a forced laborer when the Korean Peninsula was under Japan’s colonial rule from 1910-45, according to a police statement.

Associated Press

Of course the news media did not bother to fact check if he was in fact a force laborer. Simple math puts this highly in doubt. The article says he is 78 years old, which means that in 1945 when most of the forced labor happened he would have been 4 years old.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

Following Yonhap News, my job title is again "begpacker buster" on JTBC. Whatever, hope authorities will clampdown on the stream of shameless #begpackers entering Korea. pic.twitter.com/OZ9RVGdmA7

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) July 16, 2019