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The woman standing trial over starting the March Yongsan fire has admitted in court to starting the fire.  Get this, she started the fire over a credit card dispute that denied her visa to return to her family in the United States:

A South Korean woman admitted in Seoul court Thursday that she set a March fire on a U.S. military base to publicize her fight to rejoin her family in America, according to court testimony.

Kweon Jung-ja, 57, has spent years trying to garner help to return to her U.S. husband and Korean-born sons in the States, but her one-person protests near U.S. facilities fell on deaf ears, her lawyer said. She decided to change from her self-proclaimed peaceful protests to a more violent one after a U.S. military police member in March called her crazy and a liar, her lawyer said after the court proceeding.

During her 30-minute court appearance, Kweon at times cursed and shouted her answers to the Seoul Western District Court judge, accusing authorities of kidnapping her and railing at both U.S. and South Korean governments for not helping her renew her U.S. visa. She also accused court officials of terrorism as she admitted to arson and to trespassing on government property.

After reading the whole article I can’t help but wonder why did the husband not move back to Korea with the rest of the woman’s family?

From Yonhap:

South Korea’s opposition leader Park Geun-hye was attacked by a 50-year-old drunk man and was taken to hospital, party officials said Saturday.

Rep. Park, chairwoman of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), was canvassing for Oh Se-hoon, GNP candidate for Seoul mayor, in Sinchon in Seoul when the man, identified only by his surname Ji, allegedly slashed the right side of her face with a utility knife.

“Park had an approximately 10-centimeter cut to the face from ear to jawline. It seems like a utility knife was used, given the shape of the cut,” Kim Hyeon-jong, a doctor on duty at Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital, said.

She received 17 stitches in an operation and her life is not in danger, according to the doctor.

Two heavily intoxicated suspects were detained by GNP officials and citizens at the scene and taken to a nearby police station.

“It appears to be election terror,” Rep. Lee Ke-jin, spokesman of the GNP, said in a telephone call with Yonhap News Agency.

The government should take responsibility for the lack of security, another high profile GNP official said.

Rep. Chung Dong-young, chairman of the ruling Uri Party, said that the assault was an “unforgivable act” and that it should be dealt with sternly.

“It is very shocking. I am really worried about her health,” Chung said.

Park is the daughter of former Korean President Park Chung-hee.  She is one of the leaders in the conservative movement in Korea and a possible candidate to replace the current liberal President Roh Moo-hyun in national elections next year.

I find it interesting that the ruling party chairman Chung Dong-young thinks this stabbing should be handled “sternly” when he could care less about the police and soldiers in Pyeongtaek being beaten and stabbed by his supporters.

The Da Vinci Code is set to debut Friday and military chaplains are preparing to respond to the claims the movie makes about Christianity:

Chaplain Paul Passamonti plans to stand near a theater exit to hand out copies of a book that refutes the Da Vinci Code.

Another military chaplain in Europe, Collin Grossruck, is encouraging the faithful to send him an e-mail if they have any questions about Gnostics, Opus Dei, the secret gospels or the Holy Grail. The Army captain says he wants to set the religious record straight because many soldiers are spiritually discouraged by aspects of Dan Brown best-selling book, turned movie.

The book insists the Bible is a deliberate deception, and that [people] spirituality, which gives them comfort and strength, is wrong historically, said Grossruck, a Protestant chaplain. That’s a pretty heavy load.

I’ll probably go see the movie tomorrow.  So far the reviews are not encouraging.  A good read for those who have read the Da Vinci Code is to also read the book Da Vinci Decoded.  This book really provides some great information that disputes many of the key points Dan Brown makes in his book.

There is a great editorial in the Chosun Ilbo that highlights exactly what is motivating the Camp Humphreys protests.  Here is a snippet:

In the minds of the Pan-National Committee, the Republic of Korea is a country that should never have been born or should be absorbed into the North Korean system as soon as possible. That became clear during the protests against the Pyeongtaek base. Protestors planted not the Taegukgi ? the South Korean flag — but pan-Korean flags in the rice fields. They attacked troops from the Republic of Korea with split bamboo sticks and cut barbed-wire fences to trespass on military facilities. The Pyeongtaek coalition says on its homepage it opposes the relocation of U.S. bases “because it is designed to launch a preemptive attack on North Korea.” That betrays a mindset more concerned about the security of the Kim Jong-il regime than the Republic of Korea. They live here, but their true fatherland is elsewhere.

Amidst all this, the president after a long silence mumbles something about how some nights he can¿t sleep for worry about the Republic of Korea. The prime minister says everyone involved ¿should take a step back and look at the situation calmly.¿ How much further can troops step back if they are ordered not to retaliate when they are attacked with sharpened bamboo sticks? A ruling-party lawmaker, mingling with the protestors, said, “The U.S. is a land owner, the South Korean government a farm manager and the people are tenant farmers. It makes one weep to see the manager and the tenant farmers fight.”

The 2002 candle vigils over the deaths of the two schoolgirls provided the impetus that propelled the Roh Moo-hyun administration to power, an administration that has asked, “What’s wrong with being anti-American?” Is it because of this debt in their mind that those in government close their eyes to the attacks on our democracy? Or is it because they agree with the protestors, even if they cannot say so openly? Having entrusted their country to such a government, it is the people who should have sleepless night.

Pretty well put if I do say so myself.

Courtesy of the Marmot are these pictures which are some of the best photos from inside
North Korea I have ever seen.  These pictures come from a Russian computer scientist Artemiy Lebedev who recently went to
North Korea.  The webpage is in Russian, but who cares, the pictures are stunning and worth viewing.  Below are all four links to view his photos.Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4

The New York Times is reporting that the Bush Administration is exploring the signing of a peace treaty with
North Korea:

As described by administration officials, none of whom would speak on the record about deliberations inside the White House, Mr. Bush’s aides envision starting negotiations over a formal peace treaty that would include the original signatories of the armistice ¿ China, North Korea and the United States, which signed on behalf of the United Nations. They would also add
South Korea, now the world’s 11th-largest economy, which declined to sign the original armistice.Japan, Korea’s colonial ruler in the first half of the 20th century, would be excluded, as would
Russia.A National Security Council spokesman declined to comment on any internal deliberations on
North Korea policy and referred all questions to the State Department, which has handled the negotiations with the North. The State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, declined to discuss the recommendations made to Mr. Bush and said, “The most important decision is with
North Korea ¿ and that is the strategic decision to give up their nuclear weapons program.”“They signed a joint statement,” he added, “but they have yet to demonstrate that they have made a decision to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.”

I wouldn’t put to much stock in this talk of a peace treaty.   I think the US may be trying to call
North Korea’s bluff because the Norks have long complained about not having a peace treaty signed.  The Norks have no intentions of giving up all of their nuclear weapons because they ensure regime survival.  I don’t think a peace treaty will cause the Norks to denuclearize because it is not in their interest to do so.  Even a peace treaty that allows the Norks to keep the nukes they already have which is anywhere from 5-15 depending on what estimate your read is not in their interest as well.  Why you ask?  IMHO the North Koreans want to keep the US military in
Korea where they are currently at.  The current status quo is perfect for them.  The US military stationed in South Korea gives
North Korea legitimacy as a world threat not to be taken likely because the world’s lone super power is taking them seriously enough that they have 32,000 soldiers forward deployed to deal with them.  So if the US is taking
North Korea so seriously, than why shouldn’t everyone else?  This status quo allows the North Koreans to make outrageous demands for aid which are usually granted which keeps the regime a float.Additionally the majority of the US soldiers are located within North Korea’s artillery range which means if war did happen the US forces could be easily destroyed thus reducing the threat of an actual military intervention into
North Korea to rid them of their nuclear weapons program.  It is best for North Korea to keep the
US forces right where they are at and a peace treaty would not keep this status quo.  In other words, don’t get your hopes up.

These taxi cab related incidents are happening even more frequently than major alcohol related incidents though I wouldn’t be surprised alcohol was involved in this:

A U.S. soldier was detained and questioned by South Korean police Sunday for allegedly robbing a taxi driver and allegedly attempting to rob a second driver in Seoul, according to police officials.

The soldier, who police identified only as Private W, was released to U.S. military custody after the initial round of questions, police said.

They said the soldier threatened a taxi driver with a knife and a chunk of brick around 11:20 a.m. Sunday in Seoul’s Gangnam district. After stealing 70,000 won (about $70) from the man, police said he hailed a second cab and attempted to rob that driver. Police said they detained him on the scene.

Didn’t anyone learn anything from the sentence the Stuff ’em in the Trunk Gang received from the Korean courts? This idiot will rightfully go to jail if he did in fact commit the crime, but the important thing is that USFK needs to educate soldiers on what will happen to them if they mess with these cab drivers. I’m curious if this guy knew about what happened to the Stuff ’em in the Trunk gang? I have been saying this for awhile but it may be time to put non-AAFES taxi’s off limits from about 8PM to 6AM to keep the drunks away from the cab drivers at night. Pretty sad but that appears to be the best solution to solve this on going problem.

Be sure to read the latest Going to the Blogs article currently up over on the Joong Ang Ilbo website.  This week the article focuses primarily on the violence currently going on outside of Camp Humphreys.

I knew it was only a matter of time before the anti-US groups protesting the Camp Humphreys expansion would bring up the “environmental damage” that the US causes to the environment in order to further delay the expansion.

Over the years, they had rebuilt their lives and started new farms. But it was difficult with the American base next door. In 2003, I climbed into the area’s irrigation canals with rice farmer Chong Tay Wah. They were filled with untreated oil run-off from the
U.S. base.

“When the water comes from the U.S. base, the river turns black,” he explained, “and when it doesn’t rain much, the water is really, really black. This is the water that we use for our farming. Before, we could fish from the streams, but now we can’t because the fish all smell like oil and they’re black. It was very delicious before. I caught the fish and ate them, but it’s all over now.”

Under the Status of Forces Agreement that governs the American Army in South Korea, the
U.S. military is exempt from most environmental laws.

Rice farmer Cong Taw Wah told me that most of the time the farmers had to clean up after the Army.

“When the oil is released into the stream, we take the oil out of the stream,” he said. “We put on rubber clothes, and we float paper on the stream. Because of the polluted water, when we enter the water we get hurt. It looks like mosquito bites. Our whole leg turns red. Then we burn the paper in a big fire, and the smoke goes up in the air.”

False information being put out once again.  I don’t know if I can put this anymore clearly, but soldiers in the US Army cannot pour oil into a drainage ditch.  The US military has stringent environmental standards enforced by civilians that work for USFK.  I am willing to compare the environmental standards USFK follows to any ROK Army installation or a Korean industrial area.  USFK bases are actually a oasis from the polluted environment that usually surrounds the compounds.

Look at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul as a perfect example.  After that base is turned over the Korean government is talking about turning it into a park because it is so clean. The claims about USFK not following environmental laws because of the SOFA Agreement are similar to the claims that USFK personnel never get tried in Korean courts after committing crimes, yet USFK personnel are sentenced all the time in Korean courts and there is still a sizable group of people out there who think this does not happen.  It is the same thing with these “environmental damage” claims.  It is all about the big, bad SOFA Agreement again.  Look for the anti-US groups to try and make this issue a second front in their campaign to drum up support from an increasingly disinterested Korean public.

Nomad said it well, it looks like the anti-US hate groups have a new rallying cry since their references to the 1980 Gwangju Massacre failed; they are now trying bring up the ghosts of the 2002 2ID tank accident in order to drum up support from the general Korean public:

The Pan-National Committee to Deter the Expansion of U.S. Bases, a coalition of activists opposing the relocation of U.S. Forces Korea headquarters, is making plans for yet another large-scale protest at the site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on June 11. The coalition seems bent on invoking a 2002 accident in which a U.S. Army vehicle ran over two middle school students in nearby Yangju by staging the rally around the fourth anniversary of the deaths. The incident occurred on June 13, but the committee scheduled the demonstration on Sunday, June 11 to enable more people to attend.

It is interesting that they are going to use the tank accident as a rallying cry when one of the primary reasons for the base consolidation plan is to prevent these traffic accidents from ever happening again.  These people are truly scum and should just let these two girls rest in peace.