Considering how the Kim regime has received large rewards for little to nothing in return from past nuclear agreements, they have lost all benefit of the doubt from the Trump administration:
Mike Pompeo
The United States will not reward North Korea before the regime “permanently, irreversibly” dismantles its nuclear weapons program, the nominee to be the top U.S. diplomat said Thursday.
Mike Pompeo, the nominee for U.S. secretary of state, told his Senate confirmation hearing that the Trump administration does not plan to repeat the failures of past negotiations that provided Pyongyang with economic aid before its nuclear program was undone.
“It is the intention of the president and the administration not to do that this time to make sure that before we provide rewards, we get the outcome permanently, irreversibly, that it is that we hope to achieve,” said Pompeo, who currently serves as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
“It is a tall order, but I am hopeful that President Trump can achieve that through sound diplomacy,” he said. [Korea Times]
I think the slogan should be “Let’s Hope It Is Not More of the Same”:
South Korea has chosen “Peace, a new start” as a slogan for the upcoming inter-Korean summit, which will be held in late April, the presidential office said Sunday.
The slogan signifies the journey that the two Koreas will have to take to achieve global peace by holding their first summit in 11 years, and that the summit will also serve as a guide for summit talks between North Korea and the United States, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but does any ROK Heads have their own suggestions on what the Inter-Korean Summit slogan should be?
I wonder what the backstory to this relief of command is? It seems when colonels get relieved it is because of infidelity or getting arrested for something:
Col. Kerry Proulx, commander of Osan Air Base’s 51st Mission Support Group, has been relieved due to a loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead, according to the Air Force.
The commander of a support unit at America’s largest air base in South Korea has been relieved of her duties, an Air Force statement said.
Col. Kerry Proulx, commander of the Osan-based 51st Mission Support Group, was relieved Friday due to a loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead, the statement said.
“This was a tremendously difficult and unfortunate decision to make, but it’s the right direction for the 51st Fighter Wing,” Col. William Betts, the wing’s commander, said in the statement.
Officials wouldn’t give specifics as to why Betts lost confidence in Proulx, who had been overseeing 2,600 personnel in the support group’s five squadrons, including security forces since July 2016. [Stars & Stripes]
Students at an elementary school in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, wear masks during class as a nearby factory leaked harmful gas on April 13, 2018. (Yonhap)
The way I look at it, as long as the ROK government continues to allow the protesters to block the road and artificially make sustainment costs for THAAD more expensive they should pay for it:
South Korea’s defense ministry said Friday that the cost of operating a U.S. missile defense system installed in the South may be covered using part of Seoul’s new share of upkeep costs for U.S. forces stationed here.
The U.S. could demand South Korea shoulder some costs needed to run and keep the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system as the allies are in discussion to renew their five-year deal on defense cost-sharing.
“If the U.S. side hopes to use Seoul’s share of the U.S. forces upkeep costs to cover THAAD’s operation, it may be possible to use it within the total amount of the South’s share in accordance with sectoral needs and regulations,” the ministry said in a statement.
It could potentially spark a row as it marks a sharp difference from the government’s stance that South Korea will not bear any of the costs associated with THAAD. [Yonhap]
The two-year-old Welsh Corgi was found killed and eaten by neighbor. / Yonhap
A missing dog has been found killed and eaten by a neighbor.
According to the Pyeongtaek Police Station, Tuesday, a woman in her 30s reported to the police that her lost dog might have been eaten by someone.
She lost her two-year-old Welsh Corgi in Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Province, March 4.
The woman offered 1 million won ($936) as a reward to find the dog and put up signs in the streets.
While she was searching for the dog, she got a tip from a friend who said, “Someone has eaten the dog.”
The suspect was a 63-year-old neighbor.
He told the police that the dog was barking too much in the yard so he threw a rock at it. Then the dog was knocked out so he strangled him with electric wires. [Korea Times]
A ceremony to mark the 99th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean government-in-exile in Shanghai during the Japanese colonization of Korea (1910-45) takes place at the memorial hall of late independence fighter Kim Koo in Seoul on April 13, 2018, in this photo provided by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. (Yonhap)
Here is another case of a Korean man allegedly behaving badly on Guam:
A Superior Court of Guam judge has allowed a South Korean soccer player charged with sexual assault to return home for military service, pending his trial.
Kim Byong-oh is accused of sexually assaulting a woman on Jan. 22 at a Guam resort, the Pacific Daily News reported Monday.
Kim was indicted on three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and four counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Kim was on Guam with the Sangju Sangmu soccer team for training in January.
The 22-year-old woman who accused Kim told police that she woke up in a hotel room to Kim rubbing her stomach and breast. She told police that Kim also took off her underwear and raped her.
The woman said she ran out of the hotel room and found a security guard who called police. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the woman is from South Korea so it will be interesting to see if the Guam legal system moves forward with prosecution or hands it over to Korean authorities to prosecute.
