The US Ambassador to Korea says that is premature to begin official talks in regards to deploying THAAD to Korea:
The top U.S. envoy to South Korea said it would be premature for Seoul and Washington to publicly discuss the possible deployment of a new U.S. anti-missile defense system in South Korea, an opposition party spokesman said Monday.
Ambassador Mark Lippert said that no formal negotiations took place between the two allies over the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery, though internal discussions are under way in the U.S., said Kim Yung-rok, a spokesman for the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.
Lippert made the comment through an interpreter in a meeting with Moon Jae-in, head of the main opposition party at the party headquarters.
Lippert defended the missile-defense system, citing what he described as serious threats posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link.
The findings of bullying in the military is not surprising, but criticizing South Korea for limiting the political activity in the classrooms by their teachers? Does the State Department believe that South Korean teachers should have the right to teach pro-North Korean and anti-US propaganda to their students?:
An annual human rights report released on June 25 by the US State Department cited violence in the military and restrictions on political involvement by government employees and teachers as problem areas for South Korea. The department’s Human Rights Report for South Korea rated it as a country that generally respects human rights, but included the two new areas in addition to previous concerns about the National Security Law. “The primary human rights problems reported were government interpretation of the National Security Law, libel laws, and other laws to limit freedom of speech and expression and restrict access to the internet; the continued jailing of conscientious objectors to military service; and bullying and hazing [of new recruits] in the military,” the executive summary read. The mention of bullying and hazing in the military appears to be a reference to incidences such as the death of a private first class surnamed Yun in Apr. 2014.
“During the first half of the year, the Ministry of National Defense reported 37 suicides among military personnel, generally attributed to bullying, hazing, or inability to adjust to military life,” the report said. In regard to punishment in libel cases, the report mentioned the indictment of former New Politics Alliance for Democracy floor leader Park Jie-won after allegations that President Park Geun-hye used a “non-official system” to choose appointees. In terms of press freedoms, the report mentions the indictment of the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun’s Seoul bureau chief for defamation over allegations about President Park’s whereabouts during the Apr. 2014 Sewol ferry sinking. While the State Department’s 2013 report had only mentioned restrictions on labor rights and interference with striking rights as problem areas, the latest report notes that “[r]estrictions on workers’ rights, including freedom of association and assembly and limitations on political engagement of public servants and teachers, were also problematic.” [Hankyoreh]
You can read the rest at the link.
I hope someone has since told Richard Armitage that the THAAD missile defense system is for the defense of South Korea and not the US mainland because the system is not designed to shoot down ICBMs:
The main purpose of U.S. efforts to deploy a THAAD missile defense unit to South Korea is to protect the U.S. mainland from North Korean missile threats, a former top American diplomat said Wednesday.
Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage made the remark during a security seminar on Korea, claiming that hosting a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery is a responsibility South Korea has as an ally of the United States.
“I think the United States has approached this incorrectly … I think we have not been as clear … about what THAAD does as we should have been,” Armitage said during the seminar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Korea Foundation.
“I see the deployment of THAAD as an alliance responsibility for the Republic of Korea because THAAD, although it covers some of the Republic of Korea, … it is more for the defense of the United States, the continental United States against North Korean missiles,” he said. [Korea Herald]
You can read more at the link, but the system the US has to shoot down North Korean ICBMs is the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System (GMD) which has interceptors in Alaska and California.
It figures the SOFA would come up in response to the anthrax scare at Osan AB:
South Korea is considering revising its military agreement with the U.S. to prevent another accidental shipment of live anthrax to the South, a ruling party lawmaker said Monday.
Safety jitters over biological weapons flared up after the U.S. military said last month a U.S. Defense Department laboratory had mistakenly sent a live anthrax sample to the U.S. Forces Korea’s Osan Air Base, south of Seoul.
Public concerns did not subside despite the USFK announcement that the sample was destroyed before inflicting any damage.
“(The government and the ruling party) decided to review necessary enhancement and supplement measures after determining whether there is a problem in the management and process of the Status of Forces Agreement,” Saenuri Party Rep. Won Yoo-chul said after a policy coordination meeting with Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo. Seoul will discuss any revisions at a joint SOFA committee meeting with the U.S., planned for July, the lawmaker said. [Korea Herald]
You can read more at the link.
Here is the latest on the THAAD front:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for the first time on Monday pushed openly for the deployment of the U.S.’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea.
The need “to be prepared for every possible outcome… is why we need to deploy ships, forces… and we are talking about THAAD,” Kerry told U.S. soldiers at their garrison in Yongsan, Seoul.
He reiterated the importance of keeping U.S. forces on the peninsula, saying North Korean threats are the reason for the deployment of vessels and troops here.
Seoul has maintained a flimsy fiction that the controversial deployment of THAAD batteries has not been discussed because they form the core of the U.S.’ missile strategy aimed at containing China. [Chosun Ilbo]
You can read more at the link.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is in Seoul discussing the US defense commitment to the peninsula:
Defence Secretary Ashton Carter promised Friday that the US would deploy state of the art weaponry in Asia, including the latest stealth bombers and cyber warfare units, to counter threats posed by the likes of North Korea.
“Our newest and best things are being deployed to this part of the world,” Carter said in Seoul — the second leg of a visit to the two key US military allies in the region, Japan and South Korea. (…………)
Stressing that military deterrence and readiness were “at a premium” on the divided peninsula, Carter said the US was investing in “advanced capabilities …. tailored to this dynamic security environment.”
Asked to expand, he cited new stealth bombers, F-35 stealth fighters and highly developed cyber warfare systems that could be rotationally deployed in the Asian theatre. [AFP]
You can read the rest at the link, but what wasn’t supposedly discussed was the deployment of a THAAD missile defense system to South Korea which continues to be a touchy subject due to Beijing’s objections to the deployment.
The July 2009 file photo shows an air-to-surface Hellfire missile launched from a U.S. Apache helicopter over the waters off South Korea’s southwestern city of Gunsan. The United States said on April 2, 2015, it has approved a possible sale of 400 AGM-114R1 Hellfire II Semi-Active Laser Missiles to South Korea. (Yonhap)
