Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko, head of the Russian Federation Council, leaves Pyongyang on Sept. 10, 2018, after attending North Korea’s founding day celebration a day earlier in this photo from the North’s Korean Central News Agency. The media outlet released a series of photos showing foreign guests leaving after attending the ceremony. (Yonhap)
Hanna Kim, a Korean-American, lays flowers at a monument built in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Sept. 15, 2018, to commemorate the successful Incheon landing operation led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, then commander of the U.S.-led U.N. forces during the Korean War. She and other young Korean-Americans launched the “Remember 727” project in which the numbers indicate the month and day when the war ended. This photo was provided by Kim (Yonhap)
It will be interesting to see how many more requests General Brooks will be receiving from the Moon administration to send materials across the border:
Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of United Nations Command and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) at an event in Seoul on Wednesday / Yonhap
The U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) authorized South Korea vehicles and personnel to cross the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) to support construction of communication infrastructure that will be used in inter-Korean business projects.
“Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, Commander of United Nations Command, authorized vehicles and personnel from the Republic of Korea to cross the Military Demarcation Line today in the eastern transportation corridor to support construction of communication infrastructure to be used between the Republic of Korea and North Korea,” said the UNC press release, Thursday.
“The approval allows more material than what is needed to repair communication lines, and will result in the construction of a communication building.” [Korea Times]
It appears that Ambassador Harris is going to need to start packing a gun to protect himself after reading this article:
Habib House is the U.S. ambassador’s residence in downtown Seoul. Yonhap
What if it had been a terrorist?
That must be what crossed the mind of U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris.
About 10 p.m. on Sept. 3, an intruder was caught prowling Habib House, the U.S. ambassador’s residence in downtown Seoul.
It is said Harris is not happy with the intrusion and the lack of adequate follow-up measures by Korean police.
The intruder proved to be a Korean-Chinese woman who arrived in Korea two days before the break-in.
When discovered in the house, she was reportedly speaking incoherently and making an unfounded claim that she was a relative of former President Lee Myung-bak, now in jail and being tried for corruption while in office, among other things.
It couldn’t be confirmed whether the ambassador was at home when the intrusion happened. But he is said to be upset about what could have happened if the woman was an IS terrorist trained to harm him.
He is said to be dissatisfied with the Korean police response, not even offering written assurances promising no repetition of a similar incident.
The Namdaemun police station, which is handling the case, told The Korea Times that the suspect was released 48 hours after the incident and it was no big deal.
“Breaking in and entering is not a serious crime,” a police officer said. “By law we could hold the woman for 48 hours. So we released her.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but based on the police response to this incident, any crazy leftist could break into the US ambassador’s house to launch a protest against the Trump administration’s North Korea policies with no consequences.
What makes this matter even worse is that the prior US ambassador Mark Lippert was brutally knifed in the face by inadequate Korean security.
A flight of South Korean F-4 fighters puts on an air show above Wolmi Island off Incheon, west of Seoul, on Sept. 14, 2018, to rehearse for an event the next day to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the Incheon Landing Operation in the 1950-53 Korean War. The 1950 operation, commanded by U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, turned the tide of the war against the invading North Korea. (Yonhap)
While the Moon administration continues to play nice with North Korea, the Trump administration continues to add new sanctions over the Kim regime’s nuclear program:
This AP file photo shows U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Yonhap)
The United States on Thursday sanctioned two companies in China and Russia for allegedly facilitating North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
The Department of the Treasury also sanctioned a North Korean individual in the latest set of sanctions aimed at denuclearizing the regime.
Thursday’s action particularly targets the revenue earned for the Pyongyang government by North Korean IT workers overseas.
The Treasury said it is sanctioning China Silver Star, which is “nominally a Chinese IT company, but in reality … managed and controlled by North Koreans.”
Also being sanctioned is the firm’s CEO, Jong Song-hwa, and its Russia-based front company, Volasys Silver Star.
“These actions are intended to stop the flow of illicit revenue to North Korea from overseas information technology workers disguising their true identities and hiding behind front companies, aliases, and third-party nationals,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but it appears that the Trump administration is not ready to sign up for “pretend denuclearization“.
Here is the latest on the opening of the Inter-Korean office at Kaesong:
This photo provided by the unification ministry shows a four-story building that will be used for the liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong. (Yonhap)
South and North Korea launched their joint liaison office on Friday, securing a platform for round-the-clock communication that is expected to help foster cross-border exchange and ease tensions.
The liaison office was launched in the North’s border town of Kaesong, with around 50 people each from the two Koreas attending the opening ceremony.
The move is a follow-up on an agreement that the leaders of the two Koreas reached in their April summit to run such an office on hopes that the office will serve as a communication channel to help facilitate inter-Korean cooperation on various fronts.
“The inter-Korean joint liaison office is a channel for round-the-clock communication in the new era of peace,” South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said in a congratulatory speech. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link but according to the article South Korea will have around 20 people working there.
Today is the 68th anniversary of the Incheon Landing Operation that was the key pivotal battle that changed the course of the Korean War. With the Moon administration committed to playing nice with North Korea, it will be interesting to see if President Moon attends any of the memorial events?
Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez of the Marine Corps is shown scaling a seawall after landing on Red Beach. Minutes after this photo was taken, Lopez was killed when smothering a live grenade with his body. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
You can read more about the battle at the below link:
