It looks like US Army basic training will be modified to improve the discipline of the millennial generation:
Drill Sergeant (Staff Sgt.) Jonathan Christal, B Battery, 1st Battalion, 40th Field Artillery, marches Basic Combat Training Soldiers in for classroom training. (U.S. Army Photo/Mr. James Brabenec)
The U.S. Army will soon launch a redesign of Basic Combat Training intended to build more discipline after many commanders complained that new soldiers often show up to their first units with a sloppy appearance and undisciplined attitudes.
By early summer, new recruits will go through Army BCT that’s designed to instill strict discipline and esprit de corps by placing a new emphasis in drill and ceremony, inspections, pride in military history while increasing the focus on critical training such as physical fitness, marksmanship, communications and battlefield first aid skills.
The program will also feature three new field training exercises that place a greater emphasis on forcing recruits to demonstrate Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills, the list of key skills all soldiers are taught to survive in combat.
The new program of instruction is the result of surveys taken from thousands of leaders who have observed a trend of new soldiers fresh out of training displaying a lack of obedience and poor work ethic as well as being careless with equipment, uniform and appearance, Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost, commanding general of the U.S. Army Center of Initial Military Training, told defense reporters on Friday.
“What leaders have observed in general is they believe that there is too much of a sense of entitlement, questioning of lawful orders, not listening to instruction, too much of a buddy mentality with NCOs and officers and a lot of tardiness being late to formation and duties,” Frost said. “These are trends that they see as increasing that they think are part of the discipline aspect that is missing and that they would like to see in the trainees that become soldiers that come to them as their first unit of assignment.” [Military.com]
Here we go again with the media and activists bashing South Korea over dog meat restaurants:
Canadian figure skater Meagan Duhamel poses with her dog she saved from the South Korean dog meat trade. (AP).
As the planet sets its eyes on PyeongChang, South Korea, for the next two weeks to watch world-class grace and athleticism, an ugly subset of the country’s culture is seeing increased exposure from the Olympic spotlight.
The dog meat trade.
Around 2 million dogs each year are bred on dog meat farms for human consumption in South Korea, according to the Associated Press. They are often raised in cruel conditions, beaten or left without food before they are slaughtered. It’s a practice deeply ingrained in South Korean culture, with many believing that eating dog meat increases virility and energy.
It has become more taboo as younger generations have come to view dogs as pets rather than food. The AP reports that one in five households in South Korea keep a dog or cat as a pet.
With the arrival of the Olympics, pressure on the dog meat industry in PyeongChang has mounted. There are 12 dog meat restaurants in the city, and the local government has asked them to shutter or change their menus during the Games, even offering subsidies. [Yahoo Sports]
You can read more at the link, but eating dog meat is not “deeply ingrained in South Korean culture”. Hardly anyone eats dog meat anymore in South Korea. With that said if someone wants to eat dog why should the fact that Westerners think they are cute and cuddly matter? My biggest problem with dog farming in South Korea is that some of these farmers are very inhumane with dogs raised in small cages and then beaten to death to better tenderize the meat.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (C) and first lady Kim Jung-sook (R) pose with Kim Yong-nam, North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, during a reception for ranking foreign delegates to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in the host town of PyeongChang, east of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2018, hours before the sporting event’s opening ceremony. (Yonhap)
An Inter-Korean summit would likely be used to further weaken sanctions by agreeing to re-opening the Kaesong Industrial Park and the Mt. Kumgang Resort among other things:
Kim Yong-nam (R), North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, attends a dinner at a hotel in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 10, 2018. On the left is Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s political parties showed mixed reactions Saturday to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s proposal to hold an inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang at an early date.
The proposal was conveyed by Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, during a meeting with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae earlier in the day. Moon responded, “Let’s make it happen by creating necessary conditions.”
The ruling Democratic Party welcomed the meeting as a historic occasion in advancing inter-Korean reconciliation.
“The meeting created an important momentum for building peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Kim Hyun, party spokeswoman, said.
Noting Moon’s positive but cautious reaction, the party called for “mutual efforts to reduce tensions on the peninsula and cooperation from relevant countries.”
Opposition parties urged the government to be wary of the North’s true intentions.
“President Moon Jae-in and his government is getting caught up deeply into North Korea’s disguised peace offensive one step after another,” Rep. Jun Hee-kyung, of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, said.
Behind the North’s peace overtures is its intention to cause a crack in international sanctions on the isolated country, she said. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but here is what the Korea Times reported:
North Korea delegates sit at a table during their meeting with President Moon./ Yonhap
Moon expressed his hope to make the visit happen by creating the necessary conditions, according to the spokesman.
The President said the North Korean delegation’s visit to the South created the opportunity to hold a peaceful Olympics, relieved tension on the Korean Peninsula and improve inter-Korean relations.
“He also asked North Korea to be more open to talks with the U.S., adding Pyongyang-Washington dialogue was also necessary to improve inter-Korean relations,” the spokesman said. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but any planned summit would also give the Kim regime more time to work on their nuclear and ICBM programs.
Is it just me or does Kim Jong-un sister, Kim Yo-jong have the smuggest smile I have ever seen? Here is a picture of her arriving at the airport:
Kim Yong-nam (R), North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, and Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North’s top leader Kim Jong-un, walk into a reception room at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2018. The two are members of the North’s high-level government delegation that came to the South on the same day for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. (Yonhap)
Here she is at the welcome reception:
Kim Yo-jong lightly smiles during the welcoming reception hosted by South Korean unification minister at Incheon International Airport’s VIP reception room, Friday./ Yonhap
Here she is sitting next to US Vice President Pence at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. This was probably a pretty awkward moment for everyone involved:
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attends the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in the host town of PyeongChang, east of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2018. Seated behind Pence are Kim Yo-jong (R), the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Kim Yong-nam, the North’s ceremonial head of state. (Yonhap)
I think no matter what the evidence says this was something that was going to happen regardless because this is more about politics than fact finding:
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo reads out a statement on Feb. 9, 2018, offering an apology for the military’s use of force against pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju in 1980. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s defense minister offered an official apology Friday for the military’s brutal use of force against pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju in 1980.
“As the minister of national defense, I offer a sincere apology and (words of) comfort to Gwangju citizens that our military has left suffering in the process of the May 18 Democratization Movement 38 years ago,” Song Young-moo said in a statement.
It came two days after the ministry’s special fact-finding team announced the results of five months of investigation into suspicions about the military’s role in the suppression of those protesting against the junta of Chun Doo-hwan.
The civilian-government panel said the Army launched helicopter gunship attacks on citizens in the southwestern city, with fighter jets armed with bombs on standby as a backup. The findings were based on the review of documents and interviews on witnesses. [Yonhap]
South Korean TV sees some parallels in the way the Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un are sending family members to the Winter Olympics. pic.twitter.com/DfRBUcWC9L
A unit of North Korea’s elite troops participate in a military parade in Pyongyang on Feb. 8, 2018, in this photo captured from footage released by the North’s state broadcaster.(Yonhap)
