By this yardstick, not displaying ICBMs in public or not testing nukes for a full year, India, Pakistan, Israel must have denuclearized decades ago. https://t.co/lgf7a1ben4
This undated file photo, released by the Cultural Heritage Administration on Sept. 11, 2018, shows the site of Manwoldae, which was the palace of the 918-1392 Goryeo Dynasty, in the North Korean city of Kaesong. The administration said that it has agreed during a working-level meeting with the North’s National Reconciliation Council in Kaesong on Sept. 6 to conduct a joint survey and preservation of the Manwoldae site for three months from Sept. 27 to Dec. 27. (Yonhap)
With the is rise of the anti-American left in South Korea once again, the Sept. 11th anniversary is good time to remind readers of how blatant anti-Americanism once was in South Korea:
In honor of the 17th anniversary of 9/11, below is the best article I have read to commemorate the day from the always insightful Mike Rowe:
You’ve been very quiet about the Kaepernick PR disaster at Nike. Any thoughts? – Sam Wilder
Hi Sam. Nike’s free to celebrate whomever they wish, and Kaepernick is entitled to his opinion – kneeling, standing, or lying down. But if I was going to put someone’s face on a billboard – someone who epitomized bravery and sacrifice – I might have gone another way, especially this time of year. I might have gone with this guy – Tom Burnett.
Tom’s last act on earth was one of the most courageous things imaginable. And his last words to his wife, Deena, are among the most inspiring I’ve ever heard. Those exact words are at the top of this page, and the bottom. They were spoken seventeen years ago, under conditions I hope to never experience. I’ll never forget Tom’s last words. I hope you won’t either. [Mike Rowe]
You can read the whole transcript from Tom Burnett’s phone call at the link.
This is something to keep in mind, in South Korea someone can accuse you of sexual harassment with no evidence and then demand money from you through the court system. If you don’t pay you could go to jail:
This closed circuit television footage shows the encounter inside a restaurant between a man and a woman after which the woman accused the man of grabbing her buttocks.
She said her husband had attended several court hearings until September without telling her. The plaintiff demanded the defendant pay 10 million won for settlement but he refused, trusting the court would acquit him.
The court’s ruling statement from Sept. 5 says the plaintiff “explained in a coherent manner how the defendant sexually harassed her” and that “the accused was not regretful of his wrongdoing and didn’t seem to want to seek forgiveness from the accuser.”
“I know the recent ‘#Metoo movement’ has made all sexually related issues very sensitive but, even as a woman, I cannot understand her and how she so easily turned an innocent man into a sexual harasser,” the wife said, criticizing Korean anti-sex crime laws that “lopsidedly supported women over men.” [Korea Times]
South Korean Culture Minister Do Jong-whan and foreign diplomats stationed in Seoul walk onto thej “Foot Bridge” during a visit to the Demilitarized Zone bisecting the two Koreas, north of Seoul, on Sep. 7, 2018, in this photo provided by the culture ministry. The bridge is where South and North Korea’s leaders strolled and talked during their summit on April 27. (Yonhap)
Here is another example that Americans in Korea should take note of, you don’t have the same right to self defense in the ROK as you would in the US:
A man has received a prison sentence for assaulting a driver who attacked him first.
The Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced the man, 39, to eight months in prison Saturday for retaliating against a driver, 52, who hit him first with a weapon after an argument about the driver’s driving style.
On the other hand, the court gave the driver a suspended prison sentence.
According to the prosecution, the driver hit the younger guy with a “blunt weapon” in anger last September after repeatedly being told to drive slowly.
But the younger man took the weapon from the driver and attacked him back with it, leaving the older man with injuries requiring six weeks of medical treatment.
The younger man claimed he acted in self-defense, but the court said he had other options, including simply running away from the situation. Judge Jang Dong-min said the behavior should be considered an assault that was obviously beyond what should be allowed under the self-defense law. [Korea Times]
The bottom line on self defense in Korea is that if you have to defend yourself, use as little force as possible even if someone is trying to kill you. There have been numerous examples over the years of victims of criminal activities being convicted by a Korean court for defending themselves. The self defense law is even worse for foreigners when the Korean assailant can just lie and the police will likely blame the foreigner for the altercation.
Here are a few examples involving USFK servicemembers:
The Moon administration is trying to get South Korean conservatives to attend the Inter-Korean Summit later this month in Pyongyang:
The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Monday asked the parliamentary speaker and heads of all five political parties in South Korea to accompany President Moon Jae-in on his upcoming trip to the North.
The invitation came from Moon’s chief of staff Im Jong-seok, who currently heads a summit preparation committee.
The Moon-Kim summit is set to be held in Pyongyang from Sept. 18-20.
“The preparation committee for the 2018 Pyongyang summit seeks to invite National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang and vice speakers … as special parliamentary delegates,” Im told a press briefing.
The heads of all five major political parties, including Lee Hae-chan of the ruling Democratic Party and Kim Byong-jun of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), have also been invited.
Those invited also include Rep. Kang Seok-ho of the main opposition party, who currently serves as the chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and unification. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but the South Korean conservatives have declined the invitation calling it a political stunt:
The LKP criticized the government’s proposal as a “political tactic.” The party’s interim chief Kim Byung-joon refused to accept the invitation. The National Assembly speaker’s office said the speaker would also not be part of the delegation.
Only the minor liberal party for Democracy and Peace and the most-progressive Justice Party accepted the invitation, alongside the DPK. [Korea Times]
This ruling to me goes against good order and discipline in the ROK armed forces. It makes me wonder if a cadet in a US military academy could do the same thing?:
Midshipmen at the Republic of Korea Naval Academy stand in formation, with ROK Navy ships and submarines in the background and U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Bill McQuilkin in attendance. JOSHUA BRUNS/U.S. NAVY, FLICKR
The Supreme Court struck down a decision by a military academy to expel one of its cadets for unauthorized drinking, saying the academy’s code of conduct is too restrictive.
The ruling is expected to lead to sweeping changes in the so-called three bans that the military academies in South Korea have in their codes of conduct for cadets: prohibiting drinking, smoking and marriage.
The cadet, identified by his surname Kim, filed the suit after the Korea Army Academy expelled him in November 2015 for drinking a bottle of soju with friends in November 2014 and several shots of soju during a family dinner in April 2015.
The academy’s code of conduct bans drinking except when it is preapproved and unavoidable. [Yonhap]
