Koo Hyun-chul, who, along with his father, was taken to Japan’s Hashima Island for forced labor at the age of nine in 1939, touches the model of a forced laborer statue displayed in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan on Sept. 18, 2017. At a news conference, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the nation’s two largest umbrella unions, declared a plan to set up the statue in front of the Japanese mission next May Day. Tens of thousands of Koreans were forcibly taken to the island for coal mining during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea from 1910-1945. (Yonhap)
They US has went back to its usual play in its playbook to respond to North Korean provocations:
Four U.S. F-35B stealth jets and two B-1B strategic bombers, along with South Korean F15-K fighters, conduct a bombing drill on the Korean Peninsula on Sept. 18, 2017, in response to North Korea’s latest nuclear and ballistic missile tests, in this photo provided by the air force. (Yonhap)
A day after US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley admitted that with the latest round of sanctions the Security Council has just about reached the limits of China’s and Russia’s tolerance – and that the US will now need to explore other diplomatic, and possibly military, options, US forces joined with their South Korea counterparts for another “show of strength” meant for North Korea.
Both Haley and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared on the Sunday talk shows to stress – using language that’s ringing increasingly hollow – that the administration wouldn’t hesitate to authorize a military response to the North should diplomacy fail.
And to demonstrate that, four US F-35 stealth fighters and two B-1B bombers conducted another round of “mock bombing exercises” over the Korean peninsula on Monday, according to Reuters. The US aircraft, which were joined by four South Korea F-15K fighter jets, returned to their bases in Japan and Guam after the exercise, but the latest demonstration of western capabilities likely assures that Kim Jong Un, who views such exercises in the same way the international community views his missile launches, will seek to retaliate with his own show of force. [Zero Hedge]
You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-un was probably took more notice of the Sino-Russian drill that took place near his border with Russia:
Meanwhile, China and Russia conducted joint military exercises of their own near the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok. The drills are the latest sign that the two powers, which have sought to serve as mediators between the US and North – though neither belligerent has so far taken the two countries’ offer to arrange diplomatic talks – are taking joint precautions should the conflict boil over into war, according to Reuters, which cited a report from China’s Xinhua news agency. Although it is unclear if the message is meant for fat Uncle Kim or not so fat Uncle Slam.
Those drills were conducted between Peter the Great Bay, near Vladivostok, and the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, to the north of Japan. Those drills were part of joint China-Russian naval exercises, the first part of which was staged in the Baltic in July. Of course, Xinhua did not directly link the drills to current tension over North Korea. [Zero Hedge]
Experts who study North Korea say that Google dealt them a “crippling blow” recently by shutting down two YouTube channels that broadcast the Hermit Kingdom’s propaganda, but a source inside the tech giant says the company’s “hands were tied” by U.S. sanctions.
The first channel to disappear on September 8 was Uriminzokkiri, which many analysts believe is a state-run operation out of China. A short message on YouTube says it was “terminated due to a legal complaint.” The second channel, Tonpomail, believed to be controlled by ethnic Koreans based in Japan, was finally taken down on September 12 “for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines.”
Publicly, Google has cited violations of its community guidelines and terms of service. Privately, sources at Google and YouTube who were briefed on the takedowns told VICE News the move was related to sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. [VICE News]
You can read more at the link, but according to the article open source analysts are not happy with the shutdown because it removes a window into North Korea for them to look at. North Korea has found ways to get around many other sanctions, I am sure they will find a way to get around Youtube.
This photo, provided by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs on Sept. 16, 2017, shows South Korean and U.S. Korean War veterans pledging allegiance to their national flags during a ceremony in the United States to mark the 67th anniversary of the Incheon landing operation. The historic operation, led by MacArthur and code-named Operation Chromite, was staged from Sept. 15-19, 1950, and turned the tide of the war in favor of the U.N. troops by successfully cutting the North’s supply and communication lines. (Yonhap)
Kim Jong-un may actually like the nickname Donald Trump has come up for him:
The “Rocket Man” Kim Jong-un.
Donald Trump has referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as “rocket man” in a tweet about a conversation with the South Korean President.
The US leader tweeted that he had been speaking with Moon Jae-in about the situation with the secretive communist state, which has launched a series of ballistic missiles in recent weeks and conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date.
“I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night,” Mr Trump wrote. “Asked him how Rocket Man is doing.”
He added that long petrol lines has been forming in North Korea, which he said was “too bad”. [The Independent]
You can read more at the link, but I doubt whatever long gas lines there are, are effecting anyone in the regime elite.
I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!
Here is the latest comfort woman statue to be erected:
A statue for victims of Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement will be dedicated in San Francisco this week, South Korean officials here said Sunday.
The House of Sharing, a shelter for the former sex slaves, in Gwangju, east of Seoul, said that a monument will be unveiled at St. Mary’s Square in San Francisco on Thursday.
The ceremony will be attended by former comfort woman Lee Yong-soo, and former Congressman Mike Honda, who led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass House Resolution 121 that urges the Japanese government to apologize and compensate victims, it added.
The statue was established with funds raised by the nonprofit Comfort Women Justice Coalition led by Chinese-Americans and ethnic Korean civic groups in northern California, it said.
The sculpture depicts three girls holding hands on top of a cylindrical pedestal with a grandmother figure watching them from the ground.
A plaque is placed in front of it explaining that thousands of women from 13 Asian Pacific nations, including Korea and China, were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops between 1931 and 1945.
The monument also includes a message that urges the Japanese government to “acknowledge its responsibility and formally apologize.” It also shows testimony from a former comfort woman who expressed her fear that a painful history might be forgotten in the future. [Yonhap]
My only problem with these statues being put up in the US is why should a public park be used to push a political agenda? Especially a political agenda that is not true when its say the Japanese government has not apologized when the Prime Minister himself has apologized multiple times.
In Seoul on Monday, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Abe “expresses anew sincere apologies and remorse from the bottom of his heart to all those who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as ‘comfort women.’” Abe later called Park to apologize, and she called for a new era of trust between the countries. [Seattle Times]
Just because some people in Korea don’t accept the apology doesn’t mean it did not happen.
It looks like the North Koreans have no plans of freezing their nuclear program:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (2nd from R) laughs and claps during his guidance of a missile launch in Pyongyang in this photo, released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 16, 2017. For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution. (Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged to complete the country’s nuclear program, saying that its final goal is to establish an “equilibrium” of military force with the U.S., its state media said Saturday.
Kim made the remark during his inspection of the launch of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan a day earlier, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korea on Friday fired a ballistic missile from Pyongyang that crossed over Japan. It flew around 3,700 kilometers while reaching a maximum altitude of some 770 km.
“We should clearly show the big power chauvinists how our state attain the goal of completing its nuclear force despite their limitless sanctions and blockade,” Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.
He underlined “the need to put an end to them with the all-state efforts as it has nearly reached the terminal,” he added.
It marked the second missile launch over Japan in less than a month. It also followed the wayward regime’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.
“Our final goal is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the U.S. and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military option” for North Korea, Kim said.
Kim, in addition, called on the North’s scientists and technicians to “put rockets on a modern and ultra modern basis and develop the operation level onto a higher stage with their close combination” — remarks that some observers say hinted at the possibility of additional provocations from Pyongyang.
The photo of the launch, released by the North’s daily Rodong Sinmun, showed that the Hwasong-12 missile was fired from a road-mobile launcher — an indication of enhanced mobility. The North was seen using a fixed launchpad to fire the same missile in May and last month. [Yonhap]
