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There is now more competition in the Korea Blogosphere from these three women. These women may seem pretty hot, but don’t be fooled. They are actually the transgendered South Korean pop band, Lady. Lady made headlines earlier this year and now they even have their own Blog. So for all you trangendered fans out their you to can post and ask for dates with Lady as apparently many fans on the site have already done.

Hat Tip: Asiapundit

The US is really increasing the pressure on Pyongyang during the latest six party talks. First the US stopped all food aid to the Stalinist country and now the US placed sanctions on a Macao based bank that was allegedly being used to funnel counterfeit US dollars printed in North Korea:

Washington last week declined to negotiate on the sanctions it imposed on the bank and on North Korean firms, mainly fueled by suspicions that the North counterfeited U.S. currency. North Korea in response called off a visit by its deputy foreign minister, Kim Kye-gwan, to New York.

On Friday night, North Korea’s foreign ministry said the U.S. must unfreeze the companies’ assets and lift the ban on transactions with the bank before the six-party talks can make progress. The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper the same day called the U.S. “the world’s worst human rights abuser.” It also slammed as a “fabrication” footage of a public execution in North Korea broadcast by cable channel CNN, according to the North’s official KCNA news agency.

The North Koreans are masters of nasty rhetoric, but something seems different this time. It seems like the US has finally struck a nerve with the North Koreans. This is good because it is increasing the bargaining position of the US.

The North Koreans have been getting away with counterfeiting US currency for to long. Have you ever wondered why the US $20 bill seems to change every year? It is because of the skilled North Korean counterfeiters. The next thing that can be done to further increase the pressure on the North Koreans is if the Japanese stop boat traffic between the two countries that is used to bring in hard currency to North Korea through the drug trade and other underworld activities. Finally the US is taking the kid gloves off, but there is still a lot more to do.

I like what US negotiator Christopher Hill had to say about this issue:

A few hours after the statements, the U.S. chief negotiator at the talks Christopher Hill told AP, “We can’t just sit there stalemated session after stalemated session.” He added, “I don’t want to threaten walkouts, but I do want to see progress.”

I’m sure Hill realizes this, but most of the countries involved in the talks want to keep things at a stalemate becauses the status quo is more acceptable to their own interests, that is why the US has to break the status quo and shake things up if the US hopes to see any progress.

Is this another sign of the distrust the US government has with Korea?:

Korea’s much delayed plan to buy airborne early warning systems, the so-called E-X project, has hit another snag in the form of communications equipment in the favored bidder’s aircraft that falls under an export ban by U.S. authorities. The G-550 by the Israeli firm IAI Elta was said to be the favored of two remaining systems in the latest bidding round, pitted against the reportedly more expensive E-737 by U.S. aerospace giant Boeing. But with no U.S. export authorization for the Israeli equipment in sight, the W1.8 trillion (about US$1.8 billion) E-X project could be delayed again.

The article makes this issue out to be some kind of sinister plot by the US government to make Korea buy the Boeing aircraft, however they couldn’t buy the Boeing aircraft either because it has the same technology. So what technology is in the aircraft that is so sensitive?:

The equipment in question consists of five items including Data Link (link 11 and 16) discerning aircraft, IFF (Identification Friend or Foe), SATCOM, UHF/VHF Have Quick Radio, and GPS P(Y) code technology.

These system are extremely sensitive because the different data links are what provide air picture and communications for US forces. This technology would be a bonanza for the US’s military enemies and competitors. So the decision by the US to stop the Israelis from selling the technology to Korea is a sure sign that the US government does not trust Korea to keep the technology secret from the likes of the North Koreans, Chinese, and Russians who are all in the area.

The Korean fast food industry is trying to win back customers with special give a ways and reduced prices after losing many customers to the recent well being fad:

Korea’s leading fast food chain Lotteria on Monday said it will give out cell phone call vouchers worth W4,000 (about US$4) to customers who buy set menus for the same price. But while the last-ditch strategy seems to go against common sense, a Lotteria staffer said the company, while expecting no great profits, was not losing out because it buys the free call vouchers in bulk at 30 percent of face value.

Fast food firms continue to slash prices for set menus amid fierce competition in a dwindling market. Set menus typically consist of a burger, French fries and soft drink, and prices have already dropped to below W3,000 in some chains, making a single hamburger more expensive than a set.

Lotteria would have to give me a free car before I would eat anything there. Lotteria has to have the most disgusting fast food so it is no wonder they are getting hit especially hard:

Despite such efforts, the number of fast food outlets is dwindling. The number of Lotteria branches fell from 890 in 2003 to 811 in June and 800 in November this year. McDonalds saw the number of outlets shrink from 343 in 2003 to 305 in September. The industry nonetheless maintains hope that the worst is over.

This is no joke about the fast food outlets reducing their restaurants. Whenever I go to Uijongbu station there is a McDonald’s in the station that I will usually stop and eat at, or should I say used to eat at because it is closed down now. I am still amazed it closed because every time I would go there the place was packed but I guess not packed enough. It is the same thing with the Lotteria’s. I have seen a couple of them close down not that I am concerned about Lotteria’s.

Oh well I can live without McDonald’s it just means I will need to eat bibimbap for lunch instead the next time I go to Uijongbu Station.

Canadian autoworkers are now feeling what the US autoworker has been feeling for a long time:

Council learned that the federal government is fast-tracking a free trade agreement with South Korea, which it wants to have completed by mid-2006. This move is going ahead even though NAFTA has failed miserably to deliver on promises including effective dispute settlement. The government now wants to recreate NAFTA for Asia. While Korea is first, Japan and China are next.

CAW National Executive Board member Jim Woods urged action to put an end to “unfettered and one way trade.?Woods said free trade with Korea, Japan and China would decimate the auto parts industry in Canada. We certainly are at a crisis and at a cross roads in the auto parts industry,?said Woods, first vice-president of CAW Local 1524.

Here are some interesting statistics from the article:

There is already an imbalance in trade between Korea and Canada. Korea, for example, sold 130,000 vehicles in Canada in 2004. Canada sold 400 vehicles in Korea in 2004.

The ratio of Korean to Canadian auto sales is 268-to-1. Canada’s top export to Korea is wood pulp, while Korea’s top export to Canada is finished motor vehicles. Wood Pulp costs 25 cents per pound, while Korean vehicles cost $15,000 wholesale. It takes 60,000 pounds of wood pulp (requiring two acres of clear-cut forest) to pay for each vehicle we import from Korea.

I’m surprised Canada even sold 400 cars in the tightly controlled Korean car market.

The Korean government has declassified additional documents highlighting specifics about the ROK Army deployment to Vietnam:

Korean president Park Chung-hee in the later 1960s proposed a regional defense body with Japan and Taiwan to combat the spread of communism, newly declassified documents reveal. The dossier related to the Vietnam War made public on Friday also shatters persistent myths by showing that Korean soldiers who fought in the war were paid the same as their Thai and Filipino counterparts, and that the money did go to the soldiers and was not used by the state to boost Korea’s economic development, as some have charged.

It shouldn’t be a huge shock that President Park was trying to create a regional defense body with Japan and Taiwan at the time because it was the height of the Cold War and South Korea wasn’t nearly as strong national power as they are now. The ROK Army soldiers I have met who fought in the Vietnam War always felt unappreciated by Korea and dismissed as mercenaries for Washington. The fact that they were receiving their combat pay will probably only reenforce that stereotype, but those ROK Army soldiers that fought in Vietnam should be looked at no differently than the foreign troops that came to Korea’s aid when communist aggression threatened to take over the country. All the soldiers that served in both Korea and Vietnam are heroes and shouldn’t be dismissed or forgotten.

The US has stopped food aid to North Korea due to doubts of who the food is being distributed to:

Washington has halted the purchase of 25,000 tons of food aid it had pledged for North Korea this year, half its total commitment, saying it has no way of making sure where the aid goes.
The U.S. State Department said Thursday it was uncertain whether the UN World Food Program would receive the shipment, while there was also no mechanism left to ensure that the food gets to those who need it. As a result, the U.S. did not even buy the 25,000 tons scheduled to be shipped at the end of November.

The U.S. Agency for International Development had previously warned Washington would stop its food aid if North Korean authorities insist on an end to all monitoring of food aid distribution by the WFP.

I know I probably sound harsh, but I don’t think the US should give food to North Korea without proper monitoring. I can see people possibly trying to twist this issue making the US out to be the bad guy, but North Korea could easily get the food aid if they allow monitors in to ensure proper distribution. I don’t think the US should feel obligated to send food to a country that is most likely giving that food to the military and regime elements.

If Kim Jong Il has enough money to build nuclear weapons he has enough money to buy food for his people, or he can just go to Plan B and extort the South Koreans to buy the food for him. I hope President Roh has checkbook ready.

I have recently traveled to Japan for work related reasons (yes I do have a day job besides blogging) and due to a hectic schedule I have been neglecting my blogging duties to go do things like attend the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show to gawk at hot cars and even hotter women.

I did of course, take plenty of pictures to share with everyone. I know it is a tough job taking pictures of cars, motorcycles, and hot chicks but someone has to do it.

The Tokyo Motor Show is really an amazing experience and if you ever get a chance go check it out. This year’s show was held at the Chiba convention center which is the city located to the East of Tokyo. It seems like everytime I go to Chiba it just continues to grow and grow and no doubt the exposure from the motor show will only make it grow more.

The motor show featured cars, motorcycles, and products produced by companies from all across the globe such as Toyota, Honda, Ford, Harley-Davidson, etc. Korea’s contribution to the show is the KIA car and the model you see here. I thought the model was pretty hot, any guesses if she is Korean or Japanese?

For more photos and info about the cars, motorcycles, and hot chicks at the Tokyo Motor Show, I encourage you to check out the official GI Korea photo page, located right here. . However, I don’t think my hot chick photography skills are ready for the big time yet like being on Girl Monday or Girl Wednesday for that matter, but I guess I have to start some where.

Like I said before, it only takes one idiot in a taxi cab to ruin all the good things soldiers in 2ID do:

The 2nd Infantry Division has apologized for an incident involving two of its soldiers and a Dongducheon taxi driver.

Dongducheon police said Thursday that two soldiers are accused of assaulting the driver for refusing to give a them a ride in Dongduchon on the morning of Nov. 25.

In a statement, the division expressed regret about the incident. The soldiers also regret their actions and their chain of command will act as an intermediary to resolve matters of compensation in a timely manner,according to the statement. This incident does not reflect the values of the U.S. Army nor does it reflect the otherwise good conduct of our soldiers. We hold soldiers accountable for their actions and expect them to make responsible choices both on and off duty.

These guys are idiots and will be dealt with, but I just have to keep asking, why is this news? Should we start publishing the details about every soldier that gets caught urinating on the side of a building too? How much longer before taxi cabs in Dongducheon and Uijongbu are put off limits at night? That would end the problem by only using AAFES taxis at night to transport soldiers but that makes to much sense.

Can you expect to get accupuncture treatment for that sore body part instead of Motrin the next time you go on sick call in Yongsan? Well not really, the antique Eastern medicine equipment donated to Yongsan is actually being put on display for people to look at and appreciate:

A Korean physician has donated more than 90 medical instruments and antiques used in traditional Eastern medicine to the 121st General Hospital.

Kim is a truly great person to have as a friend, Allgood said Tuesday after a short ceremony to thank Kim for his donation. it has truly added value to our facility.

I think this is a really good idea by Dr. Kim to display the equipment at Yongsan because it gives soldiers going to the hospital a chance to learn a little bit about Eastern medicine which in my opinion does have great value along with today’s modern medicine.