Not that this matters much in 2ID where you can’t own a car, but for all of you living the good life south of Area 1; things have gotten even better for you with AAFES gas prices making a steep decline:
Motorists in South Korea and Guam this month are paying 16 cents less per gallon at the pumps than they did in December because of lower December retail prices in the States. Regular unleaded costs $2.236 a gallon in South Korea; on Guam, it’s $2.269. In November, AAFES charged $2.665 a gallon in South Korea for regular unleaded and $2.699 in Guam.
Anyone that has spent lots of time in 2ID should be able to verify the fact of the amazing development and construction currently happening in northern Kyongi province near the DMZ:
Ten kilometers from the heavily mined and guarded zone that divides North Korea from South Korea, workers at LG.Philips LCD are finishing a $5 billion plant that will produce liquid crystal display screens.
Nearby, apartment buildings are on the rise. And in the shadow of an old hilltop machine-gun nest, a cheery blue and red billboard announces that English Village, a new language teaching theme park, will open in March.
For two generations, the about 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, between the demilitarized zone and Seoul were intentionally kept sparsely developed, a kind of buffer zone against a North Korean attack. But the political détente between the two countries is bearing economic fruit as South Korea’s economic expansion washes away psychological barriers and now laps at the southern edge of the long-feared DMZ.
The development in the 2ID area is really amazing for those who have spent enough time in the area to appreciate it. The area had long been a back water of the country, but is now quickly becoming more and more developed. If you don’t believe it, check out the affluent Ilsan area north of Seoul. The new apartments, shopping malls, and parks near the DMZ are really amazing.
The construction in Uijongbu and Dongducheon are almost as equally impressive. Heck there is even an amusement park near the DMZ now. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Starbucks opened at the JSA next.
Nomad provides a great link to a 60 Minutes report that airs on January 15th that includes such gems as this North Korean general telling Dan Rather that they will nuke the US if the Americans invade North Korea:
“Tell the American people that you met the general. If the United States invades our country and starts a war, the People’s Army will fight to the death and defend ourselves, taking appropriate revenge,†says Gen. Bok. Does the general think that the United States might attack North Korea? “We firmly believe that the United States will carry out its policies on our country, even if they have to use military means,†Gen. Bok tells Rather. “What we can say to you definitely right now is that we currently have nuclear weapons,†he threatens.
Strangely enough, an American has been post-humanously honored with a North Korean medal:
North Korea has awarded a medal for the first time to an American — the late leader of a U.S.-based aid group — for his efforts to help the communist state fight hunger and poverty, a news report said.
The North has posthumously awarded its friendship medal to Ellsworth Culver, co-founder of the international aid organization Mercy Corps, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Sunday, citing Minjok Tongshin, a Los Angeles-based Korean community newspaper.
Culver is the first U.S. citizen to receive a medal from North Korea, Yonhap said. The two countries, which fought in the 1950-53 Korean War, have been in a standoff since 2002 over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
North Korean U.N. diplomat Han Song-ryol delivered the medal to Culver’s widow at a ceremony Tuesday in Portland, Ore., where the aid group is headquartered, Yonhap said.
“The deceased is one of pioneers who made efforts achieve a new development of North Korea-U.S. relations during his life,” Han was quoted as saying.
Culver, who died in August at age 78, led the charity’s efforts to provide the North with food and medical supplies. Through more than 20 visits to the communist state, he helped foster the agency’s “extraordinary rapport with North Korean officialdom,” the agency’s Web site said.
I’m sure the North Korean Army appreciates all of the free food and medical supplies.
I won’t be caught dead doing this, but to each their own:
Every morning, Hwang Sun-jae, 27, a credit card company employee, applies several kinds of facial product in multiple steps. After completing almost an hour’s grooming by applying wax to his hair and selecting a designer necktie and dress shirt for the day, Mr. Hwang is finally ready for work. At weekends, he applies a face pack at home and often visits a salon to neaten his hair. “These days, trying to be beautiful is natural for both men and women,” Mr. Hwang said.
Lim Jung-sik, a brand manager at AmorePacific, said, “Men’s interest in beauty is expanding from fashion to general cosmetics. As the metrosexual movement continues and the number of single men increases, the trend will continue.”
(…)
In 2005, the “ubersexual” ¯ uber means superior in German ¯ emerged on the market. According to Marian Salzman, a trend-spotter at a global advertising firm, ubersexuals are confident, masculine and stylish, and committed to uncompromising quality in all areas of life.
I think I will just stick to deodorant and aftershave.
Is it just me or does the Stars and Stripes seem more like a blotter report anymore? First of all the beer bottle GI received his sentence in a Korean court:
A U.S. soldier who attacked a man with a beer bottle in July was sentenced to 2½ years in South Korean prison on Wednesday.
But chief judge Kim Byung-ju, of the Uijeongbu District Court, suspended the sentence for three years, warning Pfc. Anthony Walker Jr. not to be “involved in another crime.â€
As part of the ruling, the judge stated Walker showed remorse for the crime and paid a settlement to the victim, Cho Su-whan.
Walker paid Cho $15,000 in connection with the assault, both Cho and 2nd Infantry Division officials have said.
Now that is one expensive night out. $15,000 for being drunk and stupid.
Here is another sentenced handed down in the infamous False Marriage Proposal Case:
A married U.S. soldier accused of persuading his girlfriend to have sex in return for marriage was sentenced Wednesday to 10 months in South Korean prison.
Amazingly the judge didn’t hand down any monetary compensation for the woman he promised to marry, especially when the woman had originally demanded millions from him.
Here are two more examples of GI’s tried in Korean courts yet I wouldn’t be surprised if the Korea Times ran another article claiming GI’s have never been tried in Korean courts.
Nomad has more here and here.
UPDATE: One Free Korea has a good posting on this as well.
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The US has requested assistance from the Zayutn Unit in Iraq to move the government agency USAID on to the Stun compound in Irbil:
A Defense Ministry source said Thursday the official request from the U.S. came by way of the Foreign Ministry in November, asking Korea to let USAID move into the base in Kurdish-majority Irbil, which is relatively calm compared to the rest of the war-torn country. The Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which oversees the Stun base, feels the USAID office would be no hindrance to base operations and is likely to permit it to move in around mid-February, the source said.
Of course there are already concerns that the agency would bring unwanted attention to the Stun unit:
However, there are concerns that if the U.S. organization moves into the base, the Stun Unit could become a more attractive target for insurgents.
I thought the Stun unit was brought to Iraq to help with reconstruction and yet you have naysayers saying that allowing a reconstruction agency such as USAID on to their compound is to dangerous? Going on patrol in the Sunni Triangle like the US soldiers are doing every day is dangerous, building toilet seats is not. When is the Korean government going to let these guys be soldiers?
I want to emphasise that I have nothing against the ROK Army because I think they are a fine organization, I am just against the policy that makes them nothing more than a window dressing army. The ROK Army and the Iraqis deserve better than that.
Is it just me or does this punishment seem a little to steep for stealing $500?:
A U.S. Army sergeant received 13 months confinement Monday after pleading guilty to stealing more than $500 by lying about his base housing allowance needs, according to the public affairs office at 2nd Infantry Division.
Mark A. Byrd, of Headquarters and Headquarters Service Company, Special Troops Battalion at Camp Red Cloud, also was reduced to the Army’s lowest rank and pay level, E-1.
Maybe there is more to this story but I can’t help but to think back to the whole 1LT Davis saga down in Osan where he only got two years for crimes far more serious than what this NCO on Red Cloud committed.
The US and Korean governments have agreed to begin the first ever Strategic Consultations for Allied Partnership talks:
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host South Korea’s Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon for the inaugural session of the so-called Strategic Consultations for Allied Partnership on January 19, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
I have a feeling these talks will have more to do with getting the US out of Korea than Allied Partnership, but let’s take a look at the agenda:
“Topics of discussion will include global, regional and bilateral issues of mutual concern,” he said.
What the US is probably refering to here is the US’s desire to deploy forces from the peninsula for global use and the on going nuclear situation with North Korea plus the status on the Camp Humphreys land deal.
“The strategic consultations reflect the dynamic global partnership we have developed with the Republic of Korea and consolidate the strong bilateral cooperation that we have long shared,” McCormack said.
This sounds like nice diplomatic speak for: “we want out of Korea as quickly as possible and their is nothing you can do about it.”
Efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons drive and the readjustment of the traditional American-South Korean military alliance are expected to be among key topics of the discussions, analysts say.
I take this to mean that the US will end the nuclear crisis in its own way if North Korea doesn’t begin cooperating by implementing sanctions even at the expense of the US-ROK Alliance.
However you interpret the meaning of these talks it should hopefully resolve many of the outstanding issues between the two countries.
Everyone has been on the lookout for the missing North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il who mysteriously left North Korea for a trip to China. Or was it China? 