I think it is arguable that USFK’s part in the US’s overall North Korea strategy is to do everything possible to not be the ones’ to blame if the current peace process falls apart because North Korea does not denuclearize.  The Kim regime would need an excuse for reneging on giving up their nukes and claiming that USFK is training to destroy them is a good excuse.  With that said they can just claim the US military presence in South Korea is enough to justify keeping their nukes as well:

Robert B. Abrams, a four-star US Army general who is nominated to become the next US Forces Korea (USFK) commander, stated that the suspension of joint military exercises between the US and South Korea has undermined combat readiness, and that an “atmosphere of detente” is being created on the Korean Peninsula.During a hearing to vet him for his new position at the Senate Armed Service Committee on Sept. 25, Abrams talked about the suspension of the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian joint military exercises in the wake of the US-North Korea summit meeting on June 12. According to an AFP report, he said “I think the suspension of the exercise this past August and September, I would say was a prudent risk if we’re willing to make the effort to change the relationship with [North Korea].”  [Hankyoreh]

You can read more at the link.

Here is a reminder to all my readers in South Korea, seatbelts are now mandatory to wear:

Starting tomorrow, all car passengers will have to buckle up.

The National Police Agency said Thursday that a new enforcement ordinance requiring all car passengers to wear seatbelts on Korea’s roads will come into force on Friday.

A driver will be fined 30,000 won ($27) if any passenger violates the rule. The fine will be 60,000 won if the passenger is 13 or younger.

Police said they are planning to start cracking down on seatbelt violations in December, after a two-month awareness campaign.  [Korea Times]

This photo, taken on Sept. 28, 2018, shows a model of the T-50 jet trainer displayed at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer, in Sacheon, a city in South Korea’s southeastern province of South Gyeongsang. The aircraft manufacturer said on the same day the U.S. Air Force has selected Boeing Co. over the KAI-Lockheed Martin Corp. consortium in a U.S. training aircraft bid as the former submitted the lowest price of $9.2 billion. (Yonhap)

Here is another study that shows the high quality of life the people in South Korea enjoy:

South Korea has improved its quality of life to become the world’s 18th best this year, a survey by a U.S. non-profit organization showed Thursday.

According to the survey conducted by the Social Progress Imperative, South Korea earned an overall score of 87.13 out of 100 in its “social progress index” survey for 2018, making it 18th of 146 nations surveyed across the globe. Last year, the Northeast Asian nation ranked 26th.

The index aggregates 51 social and environmental indicators that track three aspects of social progress: basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunity. The organization began compiling such data in 2013.

“South Korea earned relatively high scores in its solid education and IT infrastructure among others, but needs more efforts to improve environmental quality and to promote social inclusiveness for minorities,” said Cho Yong-ho, an official of international consultancy Deloitte Anjin which works with the non-profit group for the study.

Norway topped the list this year with 90.26 points, followed by Iceland, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany and New Zealand. (Yonhap)

Interestingly according to the study South Korea has a higher quality of life than the United States.  Also notice that they did not even include North Korea on the list.  Here is the full list where South Korea’s arch rival Japan ranks 6th in the world in:

Personally I will believe a dawn of a new day has begun when North Korea’s nuclear material is being shipped out of the country.  I really do hope that happens, but I remain skeptical:

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday hailed the “dawn of a new day” with North Korea as the U.S. pushes diplomacy to denuclearize the regime.

Chairing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York, Pompeo sounded a hopeful note on the diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.

But he also called for strict enforcement of all U.N. Security Council sanctions on Pyongyang until denuclearization is achieved.

“Past diplomatic attempts to halt North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile development were unsuccessful,” Pompeo said. “But now we’re at the dawn of a new day.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but despite all the flowery language, Secretary Pompeo is continuing to emphasize keeping the sanctions in place on the Kim regime.

The anti-US groups already demand US troop withdrawal, despite majority #SouthKoreans supporting the US presence. The protests would become feverish a la candlelights if the "end of war" is declared, & Moon will say the "candlelights" ordered him for the US military withdrawal. https://t.co/CFZ7Xg9uMI

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) September 27, 2018

Here is what unquestioning belief in any sexual harassment allegation has brought:

A growing number of Korean men fear being wrongfully accused of sexual harassment in crowded public places due to the new zero-tolerance policy for such offenses.

One woman posted an appeal on the Cheong Wa Dae website last Thursday claiming that her husband had been wrongfully accused of groping a woman in a busy restaurant and sentenced to six months behind bars.

Huh Yoon, an attorney, said, “In cases where the account of the victim is the only piece of evidence, courts have no choice but to take it into account.”

Last Saturday a group of men created a website seeking to help other men who have been wrongfully accused of sexual harassment. The website attracted more than 1,000 members in just four days. Some men said they make sure to put their hands in full view of others when they ride a crowded subway, while others keep their smartphones in their pockets so that they will not be suspected of taking upskirt pictures.  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Kim Song, North Korea’s new top envoy to the United Nations, is seen at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 20, 2018. Kim presented his credentials to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the day. (Yonhap)

I have never watched a Harry Potter movie, but on the racism scale this seems pretty thin:

The final trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald contained a jaw-dropping character reveal that has some Harry Potter fans fuming. As it turns out, one of the prequel franchise’s “new” characters, played by Claudia Kim, is actually a familiar villain from the original series: Voldemort’s evil snake companion Nagini. Author and screenwriter J.K. Rowling tweeted that she’d been sitting on this secret “for around 20 years.” But social media skeptics say that Nagini’s shocking past as a Korean woman seems highly implausible and possibly racist.  (……)

Fans are picking up on a few problems with this change. First, there’s the issue of representation: Nagini is only the second significant Asian character introduced in the Potterverse, and we know that her fate involves being the murdering pet reptile of a wizard who believes those without “pure blood” should not live. This plays into a couple of nasty stereotypes about Asian women often scene in Hollywood films: the sinister, exotic “dragon lady” and the submissive, voiceless sex object.  [Yahoo]

You can read more at the link.

Here is someone I have not seen much of since the end of the LOST television series:

Kim Yun-jin is set to make her first appearance in a Korean TV series in nearly 20 years.

The star of the U.S. hit series “Lost” appears as a detective in the crime thriller “Ms. Ma, Goddess of Revenge,” which is slated to start airing early next month.

“I have appeared both in U.S. TV series and Korean films and dramas, but few people recognize any Korean TV series that I was in. So I hope this will be it,” she said.  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.