Moon returns from Russia where he pitched his own Northern Strategy (the "Northern Silk Road") to Putin, Medvedev and the Russian lower house. SK railroad officials accompanied him to confer with Russian ones re connecting to the Trans-Siberian Railwayhttps://t.co/sio2gDj7ra
President Moon Jae-in (L) talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow on June 22, 2018, while having a summit there. (Yonhap)
There must be a political calculus behind this designation by the ROK government considering it has happened decades after the fact:
This undated photo provided by the defense ministry shows a German doctor examining a patient at a German hospital set up in Busan in 1954 after the Korean War. (Yonhap)
Germany has been belatedly classified among the participating nations in the Korean War, as South Korea has added the European country to the list of countries that provided medical assistance during the 1950-53 war, government officials said Friday.
The Ministry of National Defense has designated Germany as the sixth provider of medical support to the war-stricken South Korea 64 years ago, saying that Germans set up a hospital in Busan in May 1954 and engaged in medical assistance activities.
After the outbreak of the war on the Korean Peninsula, 21 countries contributed to the United Nations force that came to the aid of South Korea against North Korea, which was backed by China and the then Soviet Union.
Sixteen countries sent combat troops to South Korea, while four countries — Norway, Denmark, Sweden and India — sent medical units and Italy provided a hospital to the South.
In May 1953, two months before the ceasefire, Germany notified the U.N. headquarters of its intent to set up a field hospital in South Korea to support U.N. soldiers participating in the Korean War and sent a medical unit of around 80 staff the following year.
But the European country was not included among the Korean War providers of medical aid because its medical support activities began after the armistice treaty was signed on July 27, 1953. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but President Moon decided to pursue this designation after a trip to Germany last year where he met with former German medical team members.
President Moon Jae-in, left, then the floor leader of New Politics Alliance for Democracy Party, greets former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil at Seoul Asan Hospital in 2015. Yonhap
Former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil died Saturday at age 92. Kim died at 8:15 a.m., an aide said.
Kim was taken to Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul from his home in Shindang-dong, and he was already dead on arrival, hospital officials said.
He is believed to have died of old age.
Born in 1926, Kim graduated from the Korea Military Academy and played a key role in the 1961 military coup led by Park Chung-hee, who rose to president and ruled South Korea for 18 years.
Kim served as prime minister twice, first from 1971-1975 and then from 1998-2000.
He also served nine terms as a lawmaker and was considered one of South Korea’s most influential politicians in the 1980s-90s. He was known as one of the “three Kims,” together with former Presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung. [Korea Times]
The modern Korean history that Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil was part of is simply incredible. He was even responsible for an agricultural first by creating Jeju’s first tangerine orchard in 1968.
In this July 8, 1951, photo, a North Korean solider, center, looks at Time magazine flanked by two U.S. soldiers in Gaesong during a ceasefire talks for the Korean War in Gaeseong. This is one of 14 Korean War-related photos at the National Institute of Korean History (NIKH) collected from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). / Courtesy of NIKH [Korea Times]
I think we can take this as a good sign that the Trump administration will not drop sanctions prior to North Korea taking irreversible denuclearization measures:
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday extended sanctions on North Korea for a year, citing the “unusual and extraordinary” threat posed by its nuclear weapons program.
The extension comes 10 days after Trump’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, during which the North committed to “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for U.S. security guarantees.
“The existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump wrote in a routine notice to Congress.
For this reason, Trump said, six executive orders that were issued under his and past administrations to sanction North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs must continue in effect beyond June 26.
“Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to North Korea declared in Executive Order 13466,” he wrote.
The action appears to underscore the Trump administration’s goal of keeping sanctions on North Korea until it takes concrete steps toward denuclearization. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the Kim regime must have been expecting this considering how muted their reaction has been so far.
What is most notable about this is that the Kim regime apparently did not demand bags of cash to make this happen. It appears to be simply a good will gesture in response to the cancelling of the UFG exercise:
North Korean soldiers hand over to United Nations troops standing at the inter-Korean border a casket containing the remains of one of seventeen U.S. servicemen who served in the Korean War during repatriation ceremonies at the treaty village of Panmunjom, North Korea, July 12, 1993. REUTERS-Yonhap
The U.S. military plans to send 215 empty caskets to North Korea via the inter-Korean border on Saturday to get back the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War, a South Korean military official said.About 30 U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) vehicles carrying the caskets were scheduled to depart from the Camp Humphreys base in Pyeongtaek for the border village of Panmunjom on Saturday afternoon, the official said on condition of anonymity.
“North Korea will repatriate the remains in the caskets,” the official said.
Recovering and repatriating the remains of U.S. troops killed during the 1950-53 war was one of the agreements that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached during their historic summit in Singapore earlier this month. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it is right now undetermined how the remains will be repatriated, but it is expected to happen in the next few days.
The Korea Times has the details on how Jeju Island became a haven for Yemeni refugees:
Jeju islanders were thrilled to hear the news in December that the budget airline Air Asia had just begun operating direct flights between the island and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, four times a week.
Airfare for return trips is just $200 to $300, depending on dates. To promote the nonstop flights, Air Asia began one-year hot deals for selected passengers where they could travel back and forth if they pay only 79,000 won ($70).
Besides the cheaper airfare, the shortened travel time is another plus; Jeju residents no longer need to transfer at Incheon International Airport to go to Malaysia.
The local government was excited as well in hopes that Jeju would attract more tourists from Southeast Asian countries amid a sudden decrease of Chinese tourists because of the fallout from the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployment. The local economy would benefit with an increase of foreign tourists.
Months later, such sweeping optimism has turned into worries.
The scenic southern island, which has long been a hot tourist destination for Koreans as well as foreigners, has experienced a rapid surge of unexpected visitors _ Yemeni refugees.
As of June 21, 486 Yemenis, who escaped from their war-torn country in search of hope and a better life, are staying on the island, seeking asylum. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but what the Korean government has done in response is removed Yemen from the visa waiver list to stop the refugees from coming.
