A stone tower of peace stands on the roadside in Seongju, 296 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on May 3, 2017, as a symbol of protest against the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in the county. (Yonhap)
Just imagine if a stereotype of a minority was said by a passenger to explain some strange episode like the one in the story below. The Internet outrage would be instantaneous with everyone claiming racism. When it comes to negatively stereotyping US military servicemembers few seem to care:
A fight aboard an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight from Narita, Japan to Los Angeles went viral this week after an agitated passenger began throwing punches at another man shortly before takeoff. At the time, it was believed the man was intoxicated. Now, the passenger on the receiving end of the altercation is speaking out. According to Ryan Humphreys, the aggressor may have been suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Humphreys, an ex-Marine, told TMZ by video Wednesday that man, shown in video clips wearing a red patterned shirt, was talking loudly to other passengers before standing up and becoming agitated. Humphreys said he was watching the man before the altercation occurred, but maintained that he hadn’t done anything to initiate the incident.
“I didn’t say anything to the guy and he was like, ‘What are you looking at? I will kill you,’” Humphreys told TMZ. Humphreys said he asked the man if he was okay, to which the man responded by asking him if Humphreys was in Vegas. “It had something to do with Vegas, I don’t know,” Humphreys said.
Humphreys said the man then began assaulting a couple on the plane, allegedly attempting to choke a man and smothering his partner, a woman, in the process.
“He’s either active military or a veteran. When his shirt got ripped up I could [see] all his ink,” he said. “I would guess [he either had] PTSD or maybe off his meds. He didn’t strike me as being drunk.” [Yahoo News]
You can read more at the link, but there could be multiple reasons to explain what happened but to just claim the guy is a veteran and must have PTSD just further promotes a poor stereotype about veterans that is not true. Even more troubling is that the PTSD claim is being thrown around in the media now despite the airline saying this guy was drunk.
It appears that along with the submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test capability currently developed on North Korea’s east coast, the Kim regime is busy trying to develop this same test capability on its West Coast as well:
Recent satellite images show North Korea may be steadily building up its submarine-launched ballistic missile program.
The commercial satellite imagery published by 38 North, a Johns HopkinsUniversity website dedicated to North Korea issues, show a second test stand barge for Pyongyang’s SLBMs.
The images from April 19 are aerial shots of Nampo Naval Shipyard, on the western coast of North Korea, writes Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.
The barge is “identical” in size and layout to the original barge that was first identified in 2014, according to the analyst.
The first barge was found at Sinpo South Shipyard on the east coast where as many as six SLBM launches took place since 2014. [UPI]
U.S. President Donald Trump should know that South Korea has already paid more than what he has billed the country for the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here, analysts said Tuesday.
Trump has insisted that Korea pay $1 billion for the anti-missile shield and his top aides also claim that the two countries should renegotiate the terms of the deployment agreement.
On top of the provision of the land for the missile defense unit, South Korea has already sustained huge damage from economic retaliation by China.
Company officials and analysts say that the value of losses Korea has suffered from retaliatory steps has to have topped $1 billion. They expect the amount to snowball to as high as $20 billion if friction over THAAD is not addressed. [Korea Times]
Presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in of the main opposition party calls for early voting on May 3, 2017, which will take place on May 4-5, at 3,500 polling stations across the country in an event held at the party headquarters in Yeouido, southwestern Seoul. (Yonhap)
Instead of making threats about the THAAD deployment how about Beijing do something about the Kim regime that is the reason for it being in South Korea in the first place?:
China on Tuesday warned of stern measures against the ongoing deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in South Korea.
“China calls for an immediate stop to the THAAD deployment on the Korean Peninsula,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during a regular press briefing.
“China will pursue protecting its interests going forward by taking the necessary measures in a stern manner.”
He was speaking in response to the U.S.’ announcement that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery being installed on a former golf course in the southern county of Seongju is “operational and has the ability to intercept North Korean missiles and defend” South Korea. [Yonhap]
While the US is busy trying to stop the North Koreans nuclear program, Vladimir Putin and the Russians are allegedly busy planting nuclear bombs off the US coast to create tidal waves:
A former Russian defence ministry spokesman has made an extraordinary claim that Russia is burying nuclear weapons off the coast of America.
Colonel Viktor Baranetz claims that the ‘mole nukes’ would be used to set off a tsunami which could swamp the American coast.
Baranetz made the claims in an interview with the Russian news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda – claiming that the measures are a response to America’s vast military budget. [Yahoo News]
In this Washington Post interview the likely next President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in states that he is not too happy with the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system before he becomes President:
With Moon pledging to review the Park government’s decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile system, the U.S. military has acted swiftly to get it up and running. This has sparked widespread criticism here that the United States is trying to make it difficult, if not impossible, for Moon to reverse it.
The final components for THAAD were taken to the site in the middle of the night last week, triggering protests, and the system became operational Monday. It is designed to shoot down North Korean missiles, but many in South Korea fear it will make them more of a target.
“It is not desirable for the [caretaker] South Korean government to deploy THAAD hastily at this politically sensitive time, with the presidential election approaching, and without going through the democratic process, an environmental assessment or a public hearing,” said Moon, sitting on the floor in a Korean restaurant after an evening rally in Seongnam, south of Seoul.
“Would it happen this way in the United States? Could the administration make a unilateral decision without following democratic procedures, without ratification or agreement by Congress?”
Privately, Moon aides say they are “furious” about what they see as the expedited installation of THAAD. U.S. Forces Korea said the deployment is in line with plans to have the system operational as soon as possible. [Washington Post]
You can read more at the link, but the US President makes decisions all the time without ratification or agreement by Congress.
Another creepy ajushi in the Seoul diplomatic corps is in trouble:
A South Korean diplomat has been convicted of taking indecent photos of women.
Seoul Western District Court fined the lawyer-turned-diplomat, 38, identified only as Kim, 70 million won and ordered him to take a 40-hour education program on sexual crimes.
He was apprehended on Aug. 5 last year for taking photos up the skirt of a woman on a bus. Police later confirmed that he had used his smartphone to take photos up women’s skirts 16 times between April 2015 and August last year. One photo was taken in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lobby in Seoul. [Korea Times]
