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The US Air Force here in Korea may have finally found a new bombing range:

The United States Forces Korea (USFK) may be allowed to use a shooting range of the South Korean Air Force on Chik Island off Kunsan in North Cholla Province as an alternative air-to-ground weapons gunnery training site, sources at the Defense Ministry said Monday.

Recent reports said that U.S. Air Force pilots here are voicing discontent for not being able to properly fly missions with no alternative found to the Koon-Ni Range in North Cholla Province that closed last August.

To those who have been following this issue, this should could come as no surprise:

An electronic scoring equipment for air-to-ground firings and bombings is scheduled to be set up on Chik Island later next year, he said, adding the process, however, has been stalled because of complaints from residents.

The ministry, however, said any official decision on the issue has not been made yet.

The prior Air Force range, Koon-ni Range was shut down last year after years of complaints about the range:

The USFK shut down the Koon-Ni Range located in Maehyang-ni, Kyonggi Province, in August amid complaints from local residents of massive structural damage.

The Koon-Ni Firing Range, built in the town in 1952, has been a constant source of anti-American feelings sparked by the damage from shooting and bombing exercises.

Of course there has never been any proof of “massive structural damage”, but the claims were enough to cause an up roar anyway.

I have a suggestion to solve this madness. How about the US Air Force uses one of the ranges the ROK Air Force is currently using and the ROK Air Force can use Chik Island. Obviously the ROK Air Force range must be better located to prevent “massive structural damage”, then the ones on remote islands causing this up roar.

The fact of the matter is that no matter where the US Air Force does their training there is going to be protests because there are anti-American hate groups that are committed to expelling USFK that are driving this issue. They could care less about “massive structural damage” or noise pollution. If they did, they would be protesting the ROK Air Force as well which they are not doing. So their whole arguement as usual rings very hollow. But they continue to spread whatever disinformation they can, to further drive a wedge between the ROK government and USFK. The current Korean political leadership will not stand up against these people for the sake of the alliance. Unfortunately this inept leadership is costing the readiness status of these pilots which ultimately effects the USFK ability to help defend South Korea if war were to happen which in the end will cost everyone here.

Then:

Camp Stanley located to the southeast of Uijongbu in 1970.

Now:

Camp Stanley viewed from the top of Suraksan Mountain today.

I have always said that Korea is the land of endless blogging material and this post about Cheju’s Loveland courtesy of the Marmot only continues to validate that belief.

I guess this kind of dispells the perception that Korea is a strictly conservative society.

A South Korean woman who went into labor and gave birth while in North Korea has returned to South Korea:

The first South Korean baby born in the North came to the South on Tuesday, but her mother said her home will always be Pyongyang.
Hwang Seon was visiting the North to see a festival when she went into labor on Oct. 10, earlier than scheduled. She was the first woman from the South to give birth in the communist state known formally as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“I’m grateful that Pyongyang is her hometown because that was made possible by how much the relationship between the South and the North has improved,” Hwang told reporters after crossing the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone border to the South.

Now why would someone who is so close to giving child birth, travel to North Korea to begin with? Well this kind of explains it:

“I hope that the baby’s father, who is wanted under the National Security Law, will come home soon so that we can go to Pyongyang together on the baby’s first birthday,” Hwang said.

The baby’s nationality is South Korean, but Hwang said she hoped the girl would soon be able to say she was just from Korea.

Pyongyang is so great why doesn’t she, her husband, and child just stay up there? The fact of the matter is that this was all a well timed propaganda stunt by the North Koreans. I seriously doubt that she just happened to go into labor in North Korea like the article claims. This was all planned from the beginning. The fact that her husband is wanted under the National Security Law only confirms this.

Score one for the North Korean propaganda machine as they just got a world wide Yahoo News article published because of this little scheme that conveyed how great North Korea really is. Now if only some of these people that proclaim how great the North is would only move there themselves.

In today’s Korea Times there was an article about the amount of foreigners entering Korea, but this paragraph in the article gave me a laugh:

In the past, children pointed at foreigners and said, “Look, mom, there’s a foreigner!’’ These days, it is not remarkable to encounter foreigners on the street. A growing number of foreigners are coming to Korea, and the percentage of those who come to study the Korean language is increasing as well.

Sorry to burst the Korea Times bubble but a lot of children in Korea still do yell, “Look, mom, there’s a foreigner!”. Not that I get horribly offended or anything, but that is just the reality here that the article seems to convey doesn’t happen anymore when in fact it does, regularly.

I can’t believe it but I find myself agreeing on something with Hillary Clinton. I have even posted her picture on my blog. Anyway, during the confirmation hearing for the new USFK commander she actually had some good things to say about the current situation here on the Korean peninsula:

Clinton, a Democratic senator for New York, made the comment on Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing for new appointees, including Gen. Burwell B. Bell, who is nominated to take over as commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

“I think there is a lack of understanding and a sense of historical amnesia,’’ Clinton told the hearing. She said both countries should seek to understand each other and recognize the importance of their alliance.

The problems between South Korea and the US are actually more complicated then the way she describes it but never the less she is correct about the “historical amnesia” in regards to the MacArthur controversy and other historical points of contention between the two countries.

General Bell as well has some interesting things to say:

Bell said his role as commander would be to ensure close cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. so they are ready to respond to North Korean aggression. “The ROK-U.S. alliance must be `ready to fight tonight’ due to the proximity and lethality of the threat,’’ the four-star general said.

“U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region should be stationed to provide sufficient flexibility to deploy forces to meet global contingency requirements,’’ he said. “If confirmed, I will ensure that I fully understand the situation on the Korean Peninsula and of those regional actors so that I can provide my input.’’

So in other words the USFK is to become a regional contingency force instead of a force to assist in the defense of Korea. I willing to bet the ROK government is not going to react to enthusiasticly once they hear about that.

7,000 people from Korean conservative groups showed up in force at City Hall to voice their opinions against the leftist hate groups in Korea that are slowly eroding the US-ROK alliance:

Around 7,000 members of Korean conservative groups gathered yesterday in front of Seoul’s City Hall to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. But the tone of the rally was more domestic than international. The Retired Colonels Association and Kumnan Methodist Church, among others, complained that anti-American, pro-North Korean activists are threatening South Korea’s freedom.“Leftists are disturbing the international alliance of freedom and threatening the security of the Korean peninsula by insisting on the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Korea,” one civic group said in a statement. The organizers awarded plaques of appreciation to the embassies of the 21 countries that sent troops to fight with South Korean forces in the 1950-53 war or provided other forms of assistance.

Notice these 7,000 people easily out numbered the 4,000 leftists that showed at Inchon last month to try and tear down the General MacArthur statue. This is a good sign because it shows that the conservatives can rally more people to their cause than the leftists can.

However, they are not getting the amount of headlines that the leftists got for both the Inchon and Camp Humphrey’s protest even though they did draw more people. I guess they should of brought bamboo poles and beat the riot police and then set City Hall on fire. Maybe they would have got more headlines that way.

From Yonhap:

A South Korean civic organization
said Wednesday it has delivered 34 head of cattle as humanitarian aid to North Korea.

A ship carrying 30 dairy cows and four oxen left Incheon port Wednesday for the North Korean port of Nampo Wednesday morning, Good Neighbors Inc. said.

I have decided to add a new twist to Korea Finder, instead of a Google Earth picture this week I have decided to use an actual picture. Let’s see if Mark who excels at answering the Korea Finders, can answer this one. Where is this statue located?

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was at Yongsan Garrison Friday afternoon taking questions from the crowd when one NCO took him to task about the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act:

But it took a sergeant first class to bring down the house at Collier Field House. He asked the secretary why the military continues to allow service members?Eretirement pay to be calculated into alimony payments.

“I did my homework, sir,?Ethe sergeant said.

However, the answer Rumsfeld gave pretty much signaled IMHO that he planned to do nothing:

The secretary said he had asked for a study of the issue, but he also said that Congress was uninterested in addressing it now. He said he’s trying to find a way to make some changes tenable to members of congress.

I have not forgotten it,?ERumsfeld said of the issue. I don’t have an answer, and it may take some time. But I think the transcript of this discussion we just had would be anecdotally an example that could be used, and I thank you for raising it.

The USFSPA when taken at face value appears to be a good law. A diligent and faithful spouse that has been with their military spouse through thick and thin do deserve some compensation after their former spouse retires. However, there are many cases of abuse of this law. You got spouses that are separated not wanting a divorce and shacked up with their lover waiting for their spouse to hit the 10 year mark so they can get divorced and he/she can grab 50% of the retirement. You also got spouses that got remarried grabbing the money even though they don’t need it, or spouses that are making more money than the service member that is retiring and still grabbing their 50%. The list goes on and on about abuse of this law.

Skippy-san is the resident expert on this issue and he of course has plenty to say about it on his site since he is a living example of abuse of this law. Plus it is not just the guys criticizing this law, there are plenty of women also concerned about the abuse of this law as well.

However, what I think is going on is that the Pentagon does not want to pick a fight at this time with the feminist Nazis out there that are sure to go crazy if the DOD tries to change this law. They will bring out all their hired sob story people to back their version of why this law is needed while completing ignoring the abuse that is currently be perpetuated under this law. The media of course will side with the feminists and use this issue to smear President Bush and the Republicans as being anti-female. Any changing of this law would be a big deal and a media spectacle.

The law doesn’t necessarily need to be scrapped though; it just needs to be modified to weed out the people that are abusing it because there are diligent military spouses out there that do deserve the retirement benefit. Maybe a judge should have a hearing and approve the validness of the ex-spouse’s claim for alimony from a soldier’s retirement instead of just automatically giving it up? I’m sure their are minds smarter than me on this issue that can brain storm a better solution then what we have going on today. However, none of it will matter unless the Pentagon decides to do something about it and take on the feminist Nazis. Unfortunately, I don’t see that day coming any time soon.