I think it is important to remember, demilitarizing the DMZ is more beneficial to the North Koreans because the South Koreans are the ones in a defense posture to defend against a North Korean attack.  Let’s hope the ROK military representatives slow roll this and don’t make any concessions that threaten the overall security of the country:

South and North Korea agreed Tuesday on the need to turn the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into a peace area and remove firearms from the Joint Security Area (JSA) in a step to end a military standoff along their border.

Seoul and Pyongyang also reached a “broad consensus” to jointly excavate the remains in the DMZ of South Korean and U.S. troops killed during the Korean War.

But the two Koreas failed to reach an agreement on releasing a joint statement, according to the head of the South’s five-member delegation at the generals meeting.

“A trial pullout from guard posts operated by each within the JSA will follow as the two sides shared the understanding to back away from their long-running confrontation since the end of the Korean War,” Major General Kim Do-gyun told reporters.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Here is another example of a foreign officer holding a significant leadership position within a US leadership structure:

A Canadian three-star Army general took office as the first non-American deputy commander of the United Nations Command (UNC) on Monday, underscoring the command’s ongoing efforts for “revitalization.”

During a change-of-responsibility ceremony, Lieut. Gen. Wayne D. Eyre assumed the mantle, which had been dominated by U.S. officers since the command’s inception in 1950 during the Korean War. He replaced Lieut. Gen. Thomas Bergeson, the current commander of the U.S. 7th Air Force.

“This (UNC) revitalization is an important move towards transforming international commitments to the Korean Peninsula security,” Eyre said during the ceremony at Camp Humphreys, a sprawling U.S. military complex in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul.

“I am excited to execute your intent and help shape this journey toward enduring peace and stability,” he added, referring to UNC commander Gen. Vincent Brooks, who depicted Eyre’s appointment as part of UNC “transformational” or revitalization endeavors.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Via a reader tip comes news of the next big K-Pop hit.  Hopefully this doesn’t become the biggest thing to come from the Trump-Kim summit:

In a new video from Lee Seung-hyun, better known as Big Bang’s Seungri, the K-Pop star invades a meeting of the world leaders and sits down alongside not-really-look-a-likes of Trump and Kim.

At one point, “Kim” performs a choreographed dance and drinks champagne arm-in-arm with “Trump” as the chorus pumps “where are you from?”  [CNN]

Seven Irish heroes who never came home from the Korean War https://t.co/GIgdZEcfYx

— tomcoyner (@tomcoyner) July 29, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un tours a food processing factory in Wonsan, Gangwon Province, in this photo carried by the North’s Rodong Shinmun. (Yonhap)

There has been a John Feffer sighting in the Hankyoreh.  For those that don’t know who Mr. Feffer is, he is a long time North Korea apologist who once equated Kim Jong-il to former President George Bush.  Feffer even incredibly once claimed that Kim Jong-un was not responsible for the Great Famine in North Korea that needlessly killed hundreds of thousands of his own citizens.  Now Feffer is advocating for the Moon administration’s request for the US to approve exemptions on sanctions on North Korea:

North Korea has not pushed forward with denuclearization as quickly as some observers hoped. It hasn’t taken any steps to reduce its nuclear arsenal. In fact, according to a recent U.S. intelligence assessment, North Korea continues to produce highly enriched uranium for additional nuclear weapons.

Nor has North Korea even provided a list of all its nuclear-weapons-related sites or an inventory of its nuclear weapons.Still, North Korea has given several indications that it is serious about de-escalating tensions. It has maintained a moratorium on all missile and nuclear tests. It at least partially destroyed its nuclear test site at Punggye-ri (it may only have destroyed the entrances rather than the tunnels themselves). And most recently it began the partial dismantlement of its satellite-launch station.

None of these moves is irreversible. But given the Trump administration’s tendency to renege on deals – like the Iran nuclear deal – North Korea would frankly be crazy to do anything yet that it can’t later reverse.  [Hankyoreh]

Notice how Feffer tries to make it out that it is all President Trump’s fault that North Korea has done nothing meaningful to denuclearize, ignoring the fact North Korea has never done anything meaningful and it has always been the US being the one making concessions in the past.

Here is where he gets into the easing of sanctions:

South Korea has also taken some important steps forward on conflict reduction. Most recently, it reported that it will reduce the number of guard posts along the DMZ and withdraw some military equipment as well. The United States, however, has not made any reciprocal moves. It canceled the summer military exercises with South Korea. But it hasn’t shown any flexibility on the issue of economic sanctions.Indeed, the Trump administration has pushed for stricter implementation of sanctions at the UN, citing North Korean violations of petroleum imports.

The United States has upped the pressure on China and Russia to enforce these sanctions. And last week, several U.S. government agencies send out an advisory that reminded businesses and individuals of the penalties of engaging economically with Pyongyang. Seoul has officially requested exemptions to the sanctions that would allow it to pursue certain economic projects with Pyongyang. It will likely have the support of both Russia and China for such exemptions.

The ball is in the U.S. court. If Trump truly wants to move forward with the deal he struck with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, then he has to put his money where his mouth is.The U.S. government can grant these exemptions while still maintaining an otherwise strict sanctions regime. It can still prevent U.S. businesses and individuals from engaging with North Korea.

It can still push for the tighter implementation of sanctions connected to critical resources, like petroleum, that North Korea needs.What South Korea is looking for, however, are exemptions that would permit the restart of joint economic programs like the Kaesong industrial zone and inter-Korean tourism operations.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex and the joint-tourism projects established by prior left-wing South Korean governments were major foreign revenue generators for the Kim regime.  We heard for years about how these engagement projects would change North Korea.  Well the engagers and apologists were right North Korea did change, they used the revenue to help fund their ballistic missile and nuclear programs that now can now threaten the entire region and even the US homeland.

Now the engagers and apologists want to double down on their failed ideas, but the big question is if President Trump wants to double down with them?

I wonder how long before the Chinese reverse engineer the S-400?  Even more worrisome is if this system or a Chinese knockoff ends up in North Korea in the future:

Russia’s TASS news agency and a Hong Kong daily report that China could test fire a new Russian missile defense system in the coming days.

The South China Morning Post said Saturday that China could put the defense system, which is capable of downing U.S. F-35 stealth fighters, through its paces within a few days.

The report says the Chinese army has already been trained in the use of the S-400 Triumph in Russia.

The S-400 Triumph, which was delivered just last week, is a surface-to-air missile system designed to complement China’s home-grown defense capabilities.

With a range of 24-hundred kilometers, the S-400 can engage up to 36 targets simultaneously with as many as 72 missiles at altitudes of between five meters and 30 kilometers.

The South China Morning Post said the U.S. has had F-35s at its own and allies’ military bases in the Asia-Pacific region since October and this deployment pushed China into bringing its first stealth fighter, the J-20, into service ahead of schedule in February.

Some pundits say the S-400 deployed on the Shandong Peninsula, which is near Korea, will pose a major threat to the combat power of South Korea and U.S. Forces Korea.   [KBS World Radio]

What new line? There's no "new line" in Son'gun Korea. This is more coup proofing & is driven by domestic factors. https://t.co/Oi9T5d0Q6g

— Daniel Pinkston (@dpinkston) July 28, 2018

Cho Joong-pil, the mother of a college student who was stabbed to death at a Burger King in the popular international district of Itaewon in 1997, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on July 26, 2018. The court ordered the state to pay 360 million won (US$321,113) in compensation to the family of the student who was killed by two Americans. (Yonhap)

We could all see this coming, the leftists in the Moon administration want to get special exceptions to the international sanctions on North Korea:

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Monday rejected concerns about Seoul’s alleged move to ease international sanctions on Pyongyang, saying it is seeking an “exception” to facilitate cross-border exchanges.

Kang made the remarks upon arrival from her visit to the United States, amid media speculation that she stressed the need for an easing of the sanctions during her meetings with the U.N. Security Council member states.

“Now is not a phase when sanctions are being eased. … It is not an easing of sanctions,” the minister said. “(What I stressed) was to get exceptions from the sanctions, which are needed for inter-Korean projects.”

Since early this year, concerns have persisted that Seoul’s push for an increase in cross-border exchanges could contribute to an unraveling of the sanctions regime, which analysts said has helped Pyongyang change its calculus on its nuclear program.

Asked about whether her visit to the U.S. this time was aimed at playing a role as an intermediary between Washington and Pyongyang, Kang stressed the importance of communication between the allies.  [Yonhap]

If the Trump administration allows the easing of sanctions that would allow the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the joint-tourism projects in North Korea they might as well scrap the sanctions all together.  These former joint-projects were major generators of foreign revenue for the Kim regime that gave them the resources necessary to develop their nuclear program in the first place.

Wouldn’t it be great if when Secretary of State Pompeo meets with Kang Kyung-wha he instead briefs her on a plan to introduce new sanctions due to nothing significant having been reaching on North Korea’s denuclearization?