#China's military is itching to kill Americans. Rear Adm. Luo Yuan publicly urged attack on aircraft carriers, killing 10,000: https://t.co/iBUAOUJYbO. This is 2nd time this month a Chinese officer has advocated attacking #US vessels.
— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) December 26, 2018
I think it is becoming very clear that if the ROK government does not pay more for the upkeep of the US-ROK alliance that it would not be surprising to see a reduction of troops in South Korea within the next two years or the removal of dependents to save money:
South Korean and U.S. officials had significantly narrowed differences in recent negotiations over how to share the upkeep costs for American troops stationed here, but the working-level progress fell apart as the U.S. leadership rejected it, sources said Tuesday.
Yonhap
Seoul and Washington have held a series of talks since March over how much financial cost South Korea should bear for 28,500 troops of U.S. Forces Korea amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for a sharp rise in Seoul’s share.
Earlier this month, the two sides tried to reach a final deal on the issue during the 10th round of negotiations held in Seoul and narrowed differences to a gap of about 100 billion won, but the progress fell through as the U.S. leadership opposed the idea.
A government source said, “We are nearly back to square one.”
The two couldn’t even schedule the timing of the next round of meetings, as both apparently needed time for policy coordination and consultation within their own governments.
President Trump has apparently linked the reboot of cost sharing talks to the decision to replace Defense Secretary James Mattis:
On Monday, he wrote on Twitter that, “We are substantially subsidizing the Militaries of many VERY rich countries all over the world, while at the same time these countries take total advantage of the U.S., and our TAXPAYERS, on Trade. General Mattis did not see this as a problem. I DO, and it is being fixed!”
Although he didn’t pinpoint South Korea, it is understood that he directed the comment at Seoul, with which the U.S. is currently negotiating over defense costs.
You can read more at the link.
So how come the ROK government doesn’t have their military lock a weapons control radar on to one of these Chinese aircraft that continue to fly through the ROK’s ADIZ? They were more than happy to do this against a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft earlier this week:
A Chinese military jet entered South Korea’s air defense zone without notice three times on Thursday, prompting Seoul’s Air Force to scramble fighter jets in response, defense authorities here said.
Yonhap
The aircraft entered the country’s air defense identification zone, called KADIZ, at around 10:21 a.m. from an area near Jeju Island and Ieo Island and exited it half an hour later, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
It again crossed into the KADIZ at around 11:54 a.m. and flew out of the zone at around 12:51 p.m., the JCS said, adding that the aircraft made an another entry at 2:14 p.m. before leaving the airspace at around 3 p.m.
A JCS official said the aircraft is believed to be a Y-9 type reconnaissance plane.
You can read more at the link, but before this recent flight the Chinese violated the South Korean ADIZ 110 times and yet no aggressive action has been taken. I think we all know the answer on why the ROK military gets aggressive against Japan, but not China. Getting aggressive with Japan has little to no consequences; getting aggressive with China will likely lead to real consequences.
I think this whole OPCON issue, just like the US-ROK cost sharing talks are all linked back to whatever the final outcome of the US and North Korea denuclearization talks are. Depending how that plays out the OPCON and cost sharing talks will get worked out as well:
South Korea’s defense chief on Thursday said the coming year will be a starting point for the test of the country’s ability to command its own troops in the event of a war.
Yonhap
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo made the remark as he presided over a meeting to assess the preparations for the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States.
South Korea handed over operational control of its troops to the U.S.-led U.N. command during the Korean War. It retook peacetime OPCON in 1994, but wartime OPCON remains in the hands of the United States.
I wonder when the horrible air quality is going to begin to have an effect on South Korea’s life expectancy? So far it appears it is not having much effect considering that the average life expectancy in Korea continues to climb:
South Korean babies born in 2017 are expected to live more than 82 years, government data showed Monday, as a growing number of people take care of their health by receiving regular medical checkups and treatment.
Life expectancy at birth averaged 82.7 years in 2017, three months longer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The average life expectancy for South Koreans stood at 62.3 years in 1970 when South Korea began to compile relevant data.
Kim Rak-hyeon, a deputy director handling the issue at Statistics Korea, said improved public awareness of health and the policy on medical checkups have contributed to the dramatic hike in life expectancy in recent decades.
Baby boys and girls born in 2017 were expected to live 79.7 years and 85.7 years, respectively, with the male-female difference narrowing by one month to 6 years.
South Korea’s life expectancies for male and female babies are 1.7 years and 2.4 years longer than the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 36 developed, high-income market economies. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
There is a cat-astrophic problem at Yongsan Garrison (sorry I couldn’t resist):
The population on this Army post has plunged since the U.S. military moved its headquarters south of Seoul over the summer. But one group is clawing its way up — stray cats.
Stars & Stripes
They can be spotted running upstairs, hiding under cars, prowling around trash cans and even stuck in trees.
Nobody is sure where they all came from. But Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Robertson has a pretty good idea.
“People left their pets behind,” he said at a town hall meeting last month on Yongsan, which has been steadily emptying after U.S. Forces Korea and many other units moved to the newly expanded Camp Humphreys as part of a long-delayed relocation plan.
You can read more at the link.
#SouthKorea has no oil & nuclear energy produced about 30% of energy needs. Then #MoonJaein announced nuclear energy exit, which let to blackouts, increased coal & gas imports, reduced nuclear science majors/scientists, stopped SK from further nucl energy export, raised costs… https://t.co/vfk0ycrdMr
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) December 25, 2018
I wonder what the mental health of this guy is current is because this wasn’t a very well thought out robbery:
An American who has lived in South Korea for 20 years was arrested for robbing a lottery shop in Busan, police said Thursday.
Korea Times
According to Haeundae Police Station, the U.S. citizen, 63, entered the shop near Haeundae beach masked on Wednesday night, assaulted its manager and got away with bundles of cash (510,000 won, or $451).
The manager followed him shouting for help. The American was caught after police shot him with a stun gun.
He reportedly told police he had committed the crime “for money.” According to police, the American entered the country in 1988 and taught English until 2011. He is jobless.
I hope he enjoys his time in the foreigner prison over in Cheonan.
