Category: Uncategorized

The talk of economic self reliance from President Moon could be construed as “juche“, but he is really promoting bringing back production to Korea from overseas plants:

President Moon Jae-in said it was time for Korea to protect its economy on the day Japan officially removed Korea from its so-called white list of countries that receive preferential export treatment.  

“We have no choice but to protect our economy at a time when free and fair trade is being shaken by trade retaliation for political purposes,” Moon said on Wednesday while attending a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Hyundai Mobis plant in Ulsan. “What we need now is the will and confidence to protect our economy on our own.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Kim Jong-un is making up for lost time testing his shorter range systems:

North Korea launched what appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), Friday, in its third test in just over a week. 

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said two unidentified projectiles were launched ― one each at 2:59 a.m. and 3:23 a.m. ― from the Yonghung area in South Hamgyong Province into the East Sea.

The projectiles had a lower than usual altitude at 25 kilometers, and travelled 220 kilometers at a maximum speed of Mach 6.9.

The JCS did not specify whether the projectiles were SRBMs; but some officers said their flight characteristics were similar to that of two launched July 31.

Citing the South Korean and U.S. military intelligence, Cheong Wa Dae said the projectiles were likely newly developed SRBMs the North has been testing in recent weeks.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but President Trump did say that he had no problems with the tests since they did not violate the agreement him and Kim Jong-un made to not test ICBMs.

It seems President Trump thinks that threats in the North Korean media to restart nuclear and ICBM testing is a bunch of hot air:

After North Korea threatened to end its moratorium on nuclear and missile tests if U.S.-South Korean military drills go forward, U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “time is not of the essence” in his administration’s negotiations with Pyongyang.  

The president’s words reinforced his ever-sanguine view of his relationship with North Korea and new talks about denuclearization, brushing aside two statements issued by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday warning that talks “would be affected” by joint U.S.-South Korean summertime exercises, which it described as “rehearsals for war.”  

In one statement given in a Q&A with the Korean Central News Agency, a spokesman for the North’s Foreign Ministry said the country would “formulate our decision on the opening of […] working-level talks, while keeping watch over the U.S. move hereafter.”

A second statement released by the ministry pointed out that the North’s 20-month self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and missile tests was a voluntary gesture to improve relations with Washington and not a binding promise of any sort. It said the United States was “unilaterally reneging” on Trump’s alleged vow to not conduct further joint drills that he made during the summit held with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the border village of Panmunjom on June 30.

The drills, known as the Dong Maeng exercises, were described by Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn as routine combined training that had already been “adjusted” for the sake of engagement with North Korea. Eastburn said the exercises would proceed as scheduled this August between U.S. and South Korean troops and that they are intended to show the U.S. commitment to South Korea’s defense.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the Dong Maeng exercise is what has replaced the prior UFG exercise.

Here we go again with the lifting of the USFK curfew:

The United States Forces Korea (USFK) has temporarily lifted an off-duty curfew on its troops here lasting between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., USFK chief Gen. Robert Abrams announced Monday, saying the suspension will be re-evaluated after 90 days.

The step follows a policy review ordered by the USFK general after he took charge of the USFK last November. After the three-month trial run, Abrams will determine whether to rescind or maintain the off-installation overnight curfew.

That would depend on troop behavior, morale and readiness factors, according to the USFK, stressing the importance of maintaining good relations with South Korea and “to continue enabling a culture of self-policing both on and off duty.”

“The suspension of curfew is to guarantee more of soldiers’ rights to have their own life as we share the perception that there has been a growing consciousness among soldiers” to follow Korean laws, a spokesman for United States Army Garrison (USAG) Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, told The Korea Times. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the Korea Times claims the curfew was put in place after the 9/11 attacks. That is not true, there was a curfew in place for the 2nd Infantry Division before 9/11. However, each unit did have a limited number of Warrior Passes that could be given out to high performing soldiers.

Anyway my opinion on the whole curfew controversy is that there is going to eventually be an incident that happens. It is just simple math that with the thousands of U.S. military personnel in Korea odds are that somebody is going to do something stupid or criminal.

So when it happens is the command just going to reimplement the curfew? That is what happened the last time the curfew was lifted. If so why remove it in the first place?

Expect to see more of this in the South China Sea as China uses civilian vessels to enforce their territorial claims. Fortunately for these 22 Filipino fishermen they were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing boat before they all drowned:

China has acknowledged its fishing vessel hit a Filipino boat in the disputed South China Sea in an incident that prompted an outcry in the Philippines but denies the collision was intentional.

The Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest after Filipino fishermen said a Chinese vessel rammed their anchored boat on Sunday night then abandoned them as the boat sank in the Reed Bank. Philippine officials strongly condemned the reported Chinese action.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila said late Friday that the Chinese vessel accidentally hit the Filipino boat as it tried to maneuver while being “besieged” by several Filipino boats. It said the Chinese captain tried to rescue the Filipinos but was afraid of being besieged by other boats.

“There is no such thing as ‘hit-and-run,'” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement, citing the result of a preliminary investigation.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I doubt this news is surprising to anyone:

NIER’s report said the days with high fine dust levels were caused by four factors: stagnant air, international pollution, local pollution and a combination of stagnant air and international pollution.

“Of these, we found the combination of stagnant air and long-range transport [of pollutants] made up the majority of cases for the 303 days we analyzed,” the report said. 

“As far as our findings go, it appears that there are three things combined that produce high levels of fine dust in Korea,” said Huh Kuk-young, a researcher at NIER. “High concentration of fine dust particles from China, an air current traveling long distances into South Korea and the mix of domestic and international air pollutants.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

In Gwanghwamun Plaza on March 1 — how cool is that! Today is the 100th anniversary of #Samiljeol, a national holiday commemorating one of Korea's most important independence movements. Join me in honoring those who fought for Korea's freedom and democracy. pic.twitter.com/a5zMx0XNy3

— Harry Harris (@USAmbROK) March 1, 2019

If a second Trump-Kim summit happens, it appears that Vietnam will be the location:

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could meet in Vietnam’s capital for their second summit on Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, the South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo said. (…..)

U.S. officials have met their North Korean counterparts in Hanoi for discussions to adjust scheduling for the talks, the newspaper said, citing high-level diplomatic sources in Seoul and Washington it did not identify. Government officials haven’t commented on the report.

Bloomberg

You can read more at the link.

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

I would love to see the Moon administration’s reaction if the US government made paying compensation to North Korea’s victims part of any deal to lift sanctions. I say this because the Moon administration has continued to go after the Japanese for compensation for events that happened over 75 years ago even though they have already paid compensation while Otto Warmbier’s death happened just last year and the Kim regime continues to make excuses for what happened:

 A U.S. court on Monday ordered Pyongyang to pay $501 million in damages for the torture and death of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier, who died in 2017 shortly after being released from a North Korea prison.
Warmbier’s parents sued North Korea in April over their son’s death. The 22-year-old student died days after he was returned to the United States in a coma, and an Ohio coroner said the cause of death was lack of oxygen and blood to the brain.
“North Korea is liable for the torture, hostage taking, and extrajudicial killing of Otto Warmbier, and the injuries to his mother and father, Fred and Cindy Warmbier,” Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said in her ruling.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.