Korea is in the middle of an alarmingly disturbing decline in birthrate with a birthrate of 1.08 which is the lowest in the world. Anyway here is one idea from Japan on how to stop the declining birthrate.
Here is an interesting poll from Yonhap (Hat Tip: Nomad) that shows that the general Korean public is turning against the anti-US hate groups leading the violent protests and attacks on South Korean policemen and soldiers guarding the annexed land for the Camp Humphreys expansion:
More than eight out of 10 South Koreans surveyed oppose violent protests against the expansion of Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, a government survey said Thursday. Most of those surveyed also said it was not right for anti-U.S. groups to intervene in the dispute between residents of Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and the government. The survey was conducted on about 1,000 adults across the country by poll specialist TNS Korea at the request of the Office for Government Policy Coordination last Sunday. According to the poll, 17 percent of the respondents said the expansion plan must be blocked if necessary, even if the rallies become violent, while 81.4 percent said violence should not be used to resolve the matter.
About 66 percent said it was not right for civic organizations to meddle in the matter with the excuse of helping locals defend their livelihoods. Thirty percent said the intervention is needed to effectively frustrate the Humphreys expansion project. Most people viewed the intervention as politically motivated with 58.1 percent, saying it was intended to use regional opponents to instigate anti-American feeling in South Korea. About 35 percent said they believe the organizations have pure intentions for helping the rural residents. In addition, 74.5 percent said it is too soon to demand U.S. troops withdraw from the Korean Peninsula while 22.2 percent answered in favor of such demands by anti-U.S. activists, the poll said. More than 84 percent of those polled said the U.S. troops play an important role in ensuring security on the peninsula.
These results are very interesting and a good sign that the Camp Humphreys expansion will happen. These results are even encouraging enough that I wonder if the Korean President Roh Moo-hyun might actually make a comment on this issue any time soon. It is really despicable how he has left an issue of great national importance solely on the Defense Ministry to deal with while he hides and sucks up to Kim Jong Il.
A number that the anti-US hate groups are sure not to like, is that 74.5% of people surveyed believed that it is to soon to withdraw US troops from Korea. Remember Korean polls can be very dubious, but I still find this to be an encouraging sign.
This will do nothing to stop the anti-US hate groups activities however. If anything they will become even worse because they now don’t have to worry about trying to garner public support. They haven’t come out in full hatred mode yet because they have been trying to win the battle of public opinion. They have lost that battle but not the war over the expansion project. They will now do everything possible to delay the project in order to frustrate America enough to say forget it and pull troops out instead. So expect even more violent attacks on the police and soldiers. I also expect them to intimidate and threaten workers that begin constructing the base as well. During all of this also expect President Roh to keep his head in the sand and hide.
This is far from over.
No surprise here, the anti-US hate groups will be out in force attacking 20 year old mandatory service draftees just trying to serve their country again:
Another violent showdown looms as groups protesting against the relocation of U.S. military bases to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province are gearing up for a massive 10,000-strong protest this weekend. According to the police, the opposition groups will stage a demonstration in memory of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, with which they have compared their movement, on Friday and continue their protests in Pyongtaek until Sunday. Police said the activists are looking at demonstrations in Daechu-ri, from where they have just been evicted, Dodu-ri and Pyeongtaek City.
I will be surprised if they get 10,000 people to show up. The hate groups are overplaying their hand and IMHO are slowly losing support within the greater Korean public. People are getting fed up with the violence against the riot police and soldiers:
The military has already started equipping the soldiers, who were violently attacked by protesters on May 5, with equipment to protect themselves.
Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung visited Pyeongtaek on Tuesday, partly to encourage the troops. “It would be nice if they would hold the protests in Yeouido or in front of the Government Complex in Gwanhwamun or somewhere like that,” Yoon quipped. He also promised the unpleasant conditions the troops stationed at Pyeongtaek face ¿will get better little by little.”
I am with the Defense Minister on this one. Minister Yoon has been left by himself to deal with these anti-US hate groups while all the other politicians hide. Where is Roh Moo-hyun on this? At least I know where Chung Dong-young is at; he is hiding on Dokdo. Wait a minute I almost forgot, Roh is hiding in Mongolia. Anyway I think it would be great if the riot police loaded up all these people and dumped them in front of Cheongwadae. Maybe if these rioters attacked Roh and his cronies with metal pipes and bamboo poles than they would do more to protect the riot police and soldiers just trying to serve their country in Pyeongtaek and show some leadership on an issue critical for the future of the US-ROK alliance..
Is it any wonder why the Defense Ministry wants to prosecute these rioters themselves when the civilian courts continue to let these violent hate group activists go free:
In a hearing, the Suwon District Court’s Pyeongtaek branch gave orders to set free the activists “deemed to have not participated in demonstrations actively.”
The ruling dealt yet another blow to prosecutors and police who could so far officially arrest only 10 of the hundreds of anti-U.S. activists detained following last week’s bloody protests against plans to expand a U.S. base south of Seoul.“There is no direct evidence to suggest that they wielded bamboo sticks or damaged wire fences even though they staged illegal protests inside the fences,” Ma Seong-young, presiding judge, said.
Prosecutors will consider whether to again attempt to formally arrest those released after they study court rulings, according to prosecution officials.
As part of stern measures against anti-U.S. demonstrators, South Korea is seeking military trials for protesters who trespass on the planned site for expanded U.S. military facilities in Pyeongtaek.
Just another example of how the civilian authorities continue to let these hate groups assault and injure the mandatory service draftee riot police with no punishment. Why doesn’t the court identify these people with the bamboo poles and metal pipes by the all the video and pictures of the riot? It is because they don’t want to. That is why the Defense Ministry wants to prosecute the rioters themselves. Normally I would be against military arrests and trials of civilians, but Korea has such an ineffective civilian court system, I am willing to make an exception in this case. Someone has to stand up and defend the rights of the policemen and so far only the Defense Ministry is willing to take the measures necessary to do that.
I still find it amazing that the Korean President or anyone high up in the ruling government hasn’t addressed what is going on in Pyeongtaek yet. You have all these injured policemen and the ruling government says nothing to dissuade the hate groups from continuing to attack the policemen?
First we had sailors trying on some new ACUs for duty in Iraq, now it looks like some Air Force officers may get to try on some ACUs as well:
The service has determined it has too many officers who received their commissions in 2002 and 2003 and a board met in April to determine who will stay in. According to a press release issued by the Air Force Personnel Center, 843 officers ?or just more than 40 percent of those who joined in the two-year period ?will be let go.
Judy Grojean, a spokeswoman for AFPC, said Tuesday from Randolph Air Force Base in Texas that officials were reluctant to answer further questions until those affected had been notified.
(…)
Those who aren’t retained are eligible to seek positions in the reserve or Guard or submit packages to transfer to the Army. They also may apply for civil service jobs. They’re also eligible for variable separation packages.
According to the press release, the officers will be separated no later than Sept. 29. It was not stated how soon the departures might begin.
There are going to be some pissed off Air Force officers in the coming weeks, but the Pentagon is trying to cut fat where ever it can in order to boost the number of junior officers into the Army.
I was quite shocked myself when I saw this footage of US soldiers in action in Iraq. It is so shocking that even the MSM can’t air it.
The War on Terror is being fought on more than the streets of Baghdad, but also on computer screens in the bedrooms of Islamic youths:
Tech-savvy militants from al-Qaeda and other groups have modified video war games so that US troops play the role of bad guys in running gunfights against heavily armed Islamic radical heroes, US Defence Department official and contractors told Congress.
The games appear on militant websites, where youths as young as seven can play at being troop-killing urban guerrillas after registering with the site’s sponsors.
“What we have seen is that any video game that comes out … they’ll modify it and change the game for their needs,” said Dan Devlin, a Defence Department public diplomacy specialist.
This really isn’t a surprisng inovation, but it does show the lengths that Islamic extremist are having to go to now in order to recruit more youths to waste their lives trying to stop democracy in Iraq, while the recruiters like Zarqawi roll in the dough and buying new tennis shoes.
I wonder if the anti-US hate groups in Korea like Hanchongryun or the Korean Federation of Trade Unions has thought about making a video game mod of the Battle of Pyeongtaek yet?
The first group ever of North Korean refugees allowed asylum status in the United States has arrived:
Six refugees from North Korea, including four women who say they were victims of sexual slavery or forced marriages, have fled to the United States, a senator said Saturday.
The group is the first from North Korea to be given official refugee status since passage of a 2004 law that makes it easier for North Koreans to apply for such status.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, said the six refugees arrived at an undisclosed U.S. location Friday night from a Southeast Asian nation. He would not identify from which nation they came because of worries about security for their families and to avoid diplomatic complications with the country that sent them.
“This is a great act of compassion by the United States and the other countries involved,” said Brownback, a co-sponsor of the law. He said that the refugees’ arrival in the United States showed “the act is working” by making the refugees’ human rights a part of U.S. policy toward the North.
It is very common for North Korean women who are hiding secretly in northern China to become victims of sexual slavery and forced marriages because if they don’t agree to such practices than they can be turned over to the Chinese authorities which means deportation back to North Korea and from there the gulag.
Hopefully this will be more than just a one time event because this will give refugees hiding in China and other Asian countries another outlet to seek asylum besides South Korea. This news is not going to make South Korea to happy though. South Korea is actively trying to prevent North Koreans from defecting in order to appease the Kim Jong Il government in North Korea. Appeasing the North Koreans is of more interest to the current South Korean government than human rights of refugees.
Like I said before, I will be more impressed when she actually wins something:
Michelle Wie slid to a two-over-par 74 at the rain-shortened SK Telecom Open in South Korea to finish 14 strokes behind winner Prom Meesawat of Thailand.
Hawaiian teenager Wie, who made the cut in a men’s tournament for the first time, was disappointed by her final day display.
“It just didn’t really go the way I wanted today,” she said.
Wie mixed two birdies against four bogeys at the Sky 72 Golf Club course for a three-round, three-under 213. The event was re-scheduled for three rounds after Saturday’s washout.
“I did my best, but the result was not as satisfying as I would have liked,” Wie said after her final round. “But the most important thing is that I tried my best,” she added.
I still maintain she should worry more about winning an LPGA event before tackling these PGA events.
Michelle Wie has finally done it, she has made the cut in a major mens tournament, in Korea no less:
Sixteen-year-old Michelle Wie on Friday became the first women to make the cut in a major men’s tour event for 61 years at Incheon, South Korea.
Wie fired four birdies on her way to a three-under 69 in the second round of the Asian Tour’s SK Telecom Open to put at her at five under.
The last woman to make the final two rounds of a senior men’s event was Babe Zaharias at the 1945 Los Angeles Open.
The Hawaiian schoolgirl had been bidding to make her first halfway cut in eight appearances against the men.
I will be more impressed when she win’s a major women’s tournament. It just seems to me that she should be focusing more on being the best LPGA golfer which she is not, before taking on the PGA tour.
The Chosun has an interesting article on the revenue that Michelle Wie is bringing in for the appearance in Korea:
SK Telecom levered the golf tour to the international level in terms of scale and significance by inviting Choi, last year¿s champion, and global sports star Wie. But the cost was steep. In addition to the US$700,000 appearance fee for the pair, the company had to fork out for air tickets, accommodation and security for Wie, her parents and her four staff.
But the company seems happy, having already recovered the appearance fee for Wie with the W700 million(US$700,000) MBC paid for the broadcasting rights for all four rounds.
Kia Motors offered more than W100 million to SK Telecom for golf lessons from Wie for its customers. Unlike past golf tours, the event is expected to break even from ticket sales alone.
All this money for someone who hasn’t won anything unlike the Korean female golfers that have multiple major LPGA tournament championships. The marketing of Michelle Wie is really amazing. I bet very few people even know she hasn’t won anything yet.
