The North Korean propaganda apparatus is working overtime with the UFG exercise kicking off this week:

Less than a week after backing off its threat to strike waters near Guam with a barrage of missiles, North Korea has released a video depicting such an attack on the tiny U.S. island territory.

The video – titled “What will the cost be for Americans, who are losing sleep at night?” – was released just before the start of Ulchi Freedom Guardian war games between the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang claims the annual computer-simulation drills, which kicked off on Monday, destabilize the peninsula and simulate decapitation strikes on its leadership.

A third of the way through the incendiary video, North Korean missiles are launched and then fly through clouds before coming down toward a map of Guam. Later, an image of President Donald Trump is shown overlooking a field of crosses as the words, “The fate of the U.S., with its many crimes, ends here,” are displayed in Korean.  [Stars & Stripes]

Here is the North Korean propaganda video in its entirety:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_87FzHVlYnE

It seems like the odds of finding someone alive seem pretty remote, but lets all hope at least one of the missing is alive:

Ongoing search-and-rescue efforts for 10 missing USS John S. McCain sailors have turned up a number of bodies, Adm. Scott Swift, Pacific Fleet commander, told reporters Tuesday evening.

The Yokosuka-based guided-missile destroyer was traveling to Singapore for a routine port visit early Monday when it collided with the Liberian-flagged Alnic MC oil tanker east of the city-state, injuring five sailors and leaving 10 missing.

During a news conference at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base, Swift said that Navy and Marine Corps divers discovered remains while searching sealed compartments in damaged areas of the ship. The Malaysian navy also discovered remains that could be one of the missing sailors.

“We have a report from the Malaysians … that they have found a body,” Swift said. “We are in the process of effecting the transfer of that body so we can start the identification process and determine whether it’s one of the missing sailors or not. We have discovered other bodies during the diving on McCain today. The divers were able to locate some remains in those sealed compartments during their search.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but initially the damage to the ship at least visually doesn’t appear as bad as with the USS Fitzgerald.

Interesting | "Report: U.S. scales back deployment to Korea for drills" https://t.co/60T942DPCl @UPI

— Kingston Reif (@KingstonAReif) August 19, 2017

Former President Park Geun-hye heads to a courtroom in Seoul on Aug. 18, 2017, to stand trial on alleged bribery, abuse of power and leaks of government secrets. Park, who was impeached by the Constitutional Court on March 10, has denied all charges leveled against her. (Yonhap)

The US military brass are definitely making their rounds through South Korea due to the ongoing tensions:

The chief of the United States armed forces responsible for the Indo-Asia-Pacific region will visit South Korea to discuss various security issues surrounding the area, a Japanese newspaper reported Saturday.

Japan’s Asahi Shimbun said Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, will stay in South Korea from Sunday to Tuesday, and will meet with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jeong Kyeong-doo.

Harris is also expected to inspect a joint South Korea-U.S. military drill called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise that starts Monday and visit the southern port city of Busan, according to the newspaper. Ashai Shimbun added that Harris is also expected to request South Korea to fully complete the deployment of a U.S. missile shield called THAAD.

Harris’ visit is followed by Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had a two-day visit to South Korea earlier this week.

The newspaper also reported that U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee will also visit Seoul and ask the South Korean officials to take stricter measures against North Korea.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported that Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, will also visit South Korea and Japan later this month to discuss North Korea’s nuclear threats.  [Yonhap]

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

But, but… comfort women… https://t.co/ECPVIuxapG

— KingSejong (@KingSejong) August 19, 2017

The face of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is carved on a watermelon that is being displayed at an event hosted by the metropolitan government on Aug. 19, 2017. (Yonhap)

It seems President Moon has made himself a pretty specific red line with North Korea that in my opinion he has no intention of actually enforcing:

The President’s definition of a “red line” for North Korea has fueled controversy, with critics questioning its adequacy.

At a press conference to mark his 100th day in office Thursday, President Moon Jae-in said that he would consider North Korea had crossed a red line “if it completes development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and weaponizes it by fitting a nuclear warhead on it.”

He also said, “North Korea is nearing the threshold of the red line.”

Some people, including Moon’s aides, interpreted the rare remarks as a warning to the North on its rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons and missiles. But criticism of his “diplomatic immaturity” was prevalent.

Pundits expressed concerns that the statement narrowed the Moon administration’s policy options in dealing with North Korea.

“Moon must be the first leader in the world who went into details of what constitutes a red line,” said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University’s department of unification and diplomacy. “Keeping ambiguity suits national interests. Moon may have said so to prevent a U.S. preemptive attack, but still, it exposed our intentions.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest South Korean movie that is expected to rekindle anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea:

When Choi Jang-seop left for Japan more than seven decades ago, the 16-year-old did not know that the journey would change his life.

He was one of hundreds of Koreans who were conscripted into forced labor on Japan’s Hashima Island as part of the country’s mobilization of Koreans during World War II. Korea was under Japan’s colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Choi — wearing only underwear — toiled eight hours in a hot, cramped undersea coal mine with the constant fear of death. Other survivors said they worked for 12 hours at a time as three eight-hour shifts gave way to two 12-hour shifts with the rising demand for coal during the war.

What’s worse is that forced laborers, mostly in their teens and 20s, were given food that was mostly remnants of beans after the vegetable oil had been extracted, a situation that led to malnutrition and starvation among some forced laborers.

“I was hungry all the time and life was miserable beyond description,” Choi recalled of his days on the island between 1943 and 1945 in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency at his small apartment in Daejeon, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul.  [Yonhap]

You can read much more at the link, by the way has anyone seen the movie yet?