Here is what General Milley recently told reporters about the US troop presence in South Korea:
This AFP photo shows U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley (R) and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper holding a news conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Oct. 28, 2019. (Yonhap)
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley has said the American public poses questions about why the United States should station troops in South Korea and Japan and why the Asian allies can’t pay for their own defense, according to a Pentagon account of his recent conversation with reporters.
Milley made the remark Sunday as he departed for the Indo-Pacific region, his first overseas trip since taking office in September.
He was emphasizing the importance of the U.S. alliances with South Korea and Japan, countries he will visit in the coming week.
“He said the average American looking at the forward deployed U.S. troops in South Korea and Japan ask some fundamental questions: Why are they needed there? How much does it cost? These are very rich and wealthy countries, why can’t they defend themselves?” the general was quoted as telling reporters traveling with him, according to the post on the Pentagon’s website.
“These are main street USA questions,” Milley added. “It is incumbent on us … to make sure we adequately explain how the U.S. military is a stabilizing force in Northeast Asia in preventing and deterring the outbreak of armed conflict.”
A B-1B Lancer strategic bomber; two F-35A and two F-35B stealth jets of the U.S.; and two F-16K and two F-15K fighters of South Korea fly in formation over the Korean Peninsula in an annual joint Korea-U.S. air force drill, Vigilant Ace, on Dec. 6, 2017, in this photo provided by the Air Force. The exercise against North Korean provocations was the biggest in its history. (Yonhap)
South Korea and the United States are expected to skip a combined wintertime air exercise just as they did last year to support ongoing diplomacy for the denuclearization of North Korea, sources said Sunday.
Military authorities of the two countries “shared the understanding” on the postponement of the Vigilant Ace air exercise that usually takes place around December, a source said, adding that a final decision will be made when the two countries hold annual defense ministers talks later this month.
You can read more at the link, but as I have been saying I think the intent of the cancellation of these exercises is to show the world community that the U.S. has been greatly reasonable in making concessions in order to work out a deal with the Kim regime. So if the Kim regime begins a cycle of major provocations again, the U.S. can make a strong case that they have tried all other measures with North Korea and can justify taking tougher actions that have not been tried yet.
The only uniform color worse than the Army’s ACU is now gone as well:
Then-Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Rick West holds an all-hands call at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. West is wearing the Navy working uniform type III during a test phase, while the sailors behind him wear the Type I uniform. That uniform, also known as a blueberry, will no longer be authorized for wear starting October 1, 2019.
Sailors’ last day to wear a blue camouflage uniform beloved by some and derided by others is here.
The Type I Navy Working Uniform, dubbed the “blueberry,” will no longer be authorized for wear as of Tuesday, according to a timeline sent out by the Navy three years ago.
The eight-point cap is also being updated with the anchor, USS Constitution and eagle emblem stitched into the front-center panel, where sailors were previously allowed to put rank insignia.
Blueberries are being discontinued after an 11-year run. First introduced in 2008 as part of a uniform modernization program based on sailor input, the blue camouflage uniform was intended to be worn by enlisted and officers to “project a unified image/appearance regardless of rank,” a Navy spokesman said via email.
Here is a mass casualty exercise recently conducted at Yongsan Garrison:
Starting Tuesday, this Army post in the middle of Seoul will rely on local emergency services from outside the gates when the base hospital suspends its emergency services. To test that relationship, the garrison security force on Thursday practiced summoning South Korean first responders to a pretend slasher attack by a knife-wielding soldier that yielded several casualties. “As the hospital begins to transition and move farther south, we are going to rely on host nation emergency medical services to provide response to medical emergencies on the installation,” Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Nichols, Yongsan provost sergeant, told Stars and Stripes. “Today, part of what we are testing is the ability to coordinate with the host nation EMS, get them onto the installation, and respond to a situation quickly.”
Great visit to ROK Marine Corps 1st Marine Division! Building strong, tough, resilient Marines who are ready for the hardships of ground combat. These pre-Ranger candidates were fired up! #wegotogether#KatchiKapshidapic.twitter.com/DG3bHEFcqs
Amid lingering Seoul-Tokyo tension over trade, security and history, Koreans gathered in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Seoul’s Jongno District Wednesday to show their support for the Korean victims of sex slavery by the Japanese imperial army during World War II. The weekly street demonstration, urging the Japanese government to issue a fresh apology to the surviving victims and ways to compensate them, has notched its 1,403rd occasion. A bronze statue of a “comfort woman,” which symbolizes the victims, is surrounded by the day’s protesters in a downpour. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul [Korea Times]
I hope no one is surprised that the Blue House is interfering in the investigation of Justice Minister nominee, Cho Kuk. Really the investigation is pointless because he is going to be confirmed before investigation is completed and then as Justice Minister can shutdown the investigation. All this is right now is the Blue House trying to minimize the public relations blow before he is confirmed:
Cho Kuk
South Korea’s presidential office and prosecution clashed Thursday over an investigation into the family of justice minister nominee Cho Kuk over a series of allegations of misdeeds.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office made a rare public protest calling on presidential officials to stop intervening in its investigation into Cho’s wife over suspicions that she may have fabricated a school award for her daughter.
The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae immediately denied the claim, saying that it has never interfered with the probe and that it will closely watch Cho’s confirmation hearing slated for Friday.
Cho has faced a string of corruption allegations involving his family, including that his daughter received preferential treatment in entering elite colleges and that his family made a dubious investment in a private equity fund.
Ahead of his confirmation hearing, fresh suspicion has been arising that his wife may have fabricated a certificate to prove her daughter had done voluntary work at an English education center of a university. She became the chief of the center after its issuance.
In an interview on Thursday, an anonymous Cheong Wa Dae official said that a professor who recommended the certificate has been found and that relevant allegations will be clarified in the upcoming hearing.
“Today, a high-ranking official of Cheong Wa Dae suggested in a media interview that it is not a fabrication with regard to the certificate forgery allegation involving the minister nominee’s wife. This can be seen as intervention in the investigation, and it is very inappropriate,” the prosecution said in a text message to reporters, citing one of its own officials.
N. Korea marks Youth DayYouth and students take part in a dance at the Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on Aug. 28, 2019, to celebrate the Youth Day, in this photo released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)
Here is what President Moon had to say about Japan’s trade restrictions that were implemented this week on South Korea:
President Moon Jae-in slammed Japan’s removal of Korea from its “white list” of trusted trading partners, urging Tokyo to become more “honest” about its reason and to acknowledge its historical wrongdoings on Thursday.
Moon said that the Japanese government’s recent action was “very regrettable” as he held a cabinet meeting on next year’s budget in the Blue House, noting that Tokyo has “linked historical issues to economic matters,” calling its attitude “very disingenuous.”
Japan on Wednesday removed Korea from its white list of countries given preferential treatment in exports, implementing a decision reached by its cabinet at the beginning of this month.
The Japanese government has yet to “state an honest reason for its economic retaliation,” Moon said, noting that it has shifted its rhetoric “as frequently as necessary.”
Tokyo’s export regulations implemented since the beginning of July are widely seen as retaliation for Korean Supreme Court rulings last year ordering Japanese companies to compensate Korean victims of forced labor during World War II. The top court acknowledged the illegality of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea and recognized that the victims’ rights to individual compensation have not expired.
Japan has yet to officially acknowledge that its economic retaliations are a result of the forced labor rulings and instead has been citing national security concerns and a breach of “trust” as reasons for exports controls on Korea.
Japan says the trade restrictions were put in place to help prevent illegal exports from South Korea to North Korea. There has been illegal exports to North Korea, but I think everyone knows the real reason for the trade restrictions is because of the threat to seize assets from Japanese companies over past historical issues. That is why Moon is calling the restrictions dishonest.
Moon goes on:
Moon further said that Tokyo “has been never honest” on historical issues, noting that Japan “was the perpetrator behind unfortunate chapters of history” in Korea and many other Asian countries.
The president said that Tokyo claiming the Dokdo islets in the East Sea, which Japan calls Takeshima, is “preposterous” as the islets are considered the first territory “to fall victim to imperial Japan’s aggression.”
South Korea clearly owns Dokdo, but the Japanese government continues to make claims to it mainly because of the Kuril Islands occupied by Russia. If Japan drops their claim to Dokdo the Russian government could say that since Japan has recognized the ROK occupation of the Dokdo Islets as legitimizing the ownership of that islet, than the Russian occupation of the Kuril Islands after World War II should be legitimized as well.
Moon continues:
He pointed out that this “attitude” of the Japanese government, which distorts history and “neither acknowledges nor repents its past wrongdoings,” only “aggravates the wounds and anguish of the victims.”
Moon said it “is never shameful to remember and reflect on the past,” noting every country has such moments.
“Recollection and self-reflection about the past can never be completed,” he said, and cannot be “brought to conclusion just by saying that repentance is over because it was uttered once, or that the past is completely over because an agreement was reached once.”
Tokyo claims that a 1965 treaty normalizing bilateral relations with Korea, which provided an economic cooperation fund, settled all compensation matters.
Japan has made multiple apologies and have clearly hit apology fatigue over their historical issues with South Korea. I am still waiting for the Moon administration to demand China and North Korea “repent on its past wrong doings” like he is saying Japan should continue to do. The destruction caused by North Korea and China during the Korean War was far worse than what Japan did during their colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula. Plus China continues to have their economic retaliation in place against South Korea over the THAAD issue.
Also it is interesting that Moon says that since an agreement was reached once doesn’t mean that matter is really settled which how he is likely justifying the withdrawing out of the comfort women agreement reached during the Park Geun-hye administration and demanding more compensation for Japan.
Most people probably felt the relationship with Japan was likely to go poorly once President Moon was elected after much progress during the Park administration was made to normalize the relationship. I don’t think anyone thought the relationship would get this bad though.
