An official checks radiation levels at a checking facility of the state-run Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety in Gangneung on South Korea’s east coast on Sept. 9, 2016, to see if the area has been contaminated by radioactive material. Earlier in the day, North Korea confirmed its fifth nuclear test, which Seoul blasted as an “intolerable provocation.” (Yonhap)
The Chinese will probably talk that they will do something in response to this nuclear test, but I doubt anything of real consequence will happen to North Korea. At this point the only way I see China doing anything to stop the North Korean nuclear program is if South Korea and Japan get the green light to begin developing their own nukes:
This satellite image, dated Aug. 27, 2016, and provided by the Airbus Defense and Space and 38 North on Sept. 8, 2016, shows North Korea`s nuclear test site in the northeastern part of the country. A South Korean government source on Friday said it sees a high possibility that North Korea conducted a nuclear test on the occasion of its founding anniversary. (Yonhap)
North Korea confirmed its fifth nuclear test explosion early Friday, its largest yet. The provocation brought instant condemnation from the country’s neighbors and a call from President Obama for “serious consequences.”
Pyongyang also said it has made strides that could bring it closer to mounting a warhead on one of its ballistic missiles and launching a long-distance nuclear strike.
“We successfully conducted a nuclear explosion test to determine the power of [the] nuclear warhead,” a female anchor announced on North Korea’s state television. “We will continue to strengthen our nuclear capabilities to protect our sovereignty. We have now standardized and minimized nuclear warheads … We can now produce small nuclear warheads any time we desire.”
South Korea’s defense ministry said the yield of the blast is estimated to be 10 kilotons, the largest ever conducted by Pyongyang. Its first nuclear test in 2006 yielded less than one kiloton, and the country has been steadily increasing its atomic capacity ever since. [Good Morning America]
Here is yet another area in the US Army seeing cuts:
Family members visit the sand art table to make colorful creations during the Month of the Military Child event at Thunder Mountain Activity Centre, Fort Huachuca.
After years of warnings that major cuts to Army family programs are coming, officials with the Army’s Installation Management Command announced that the day has finally arrived.
“The bottom line is in fiscal year ’17, beginning in October, we’re going to have a little less money to put into our family Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs than we have in previous years,” Lt. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, head of Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM), which oversees family programs, said in a video posted on the command’s YouTube channel Aug. 30.
Until now, command officials said, Army budget shortfalls have been covered through non-appropriated fund accounts, which are filled by sales and exchange dividends. But that model isn’t sustainable long term, and anything that isn’t covered by taxpayer dollars must now be cut. Last year saw a $105 million overage.
“I can’t afford to keep borrowing money from our IMCOM bank accounts in order to reprogram into these funds,” Dahl said.
Rather than direct which programs to cut, Dahl has told garrison commanders the programs they must keep — and is leaving the rest up to them. Child care centers and child and youth services programs are safe from cuts, he said in the video, but almost everything else is fair game. [Military.com]
You can read more at the link, but something else to keep in mind is that many military spouses and retirees work in these jobs which now will be lost with the elimination of these MWR programs.
Here is what retired Marine Corps General James Mattis has been up to, writing a book about the military-civilian divide:
Most Americans greatly admire the military — but they actually know almost nothing about it.
“Most people know nobody in the military,” said retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis, who spent 44 years in uniform.
“There are many people who do not know if the U.S. Army has 60,000 men or 6 million. They do not have a clue about that,” he said.
Mattis, the revered four-star general who headed U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2013, is the co-author of a new book, “Warriors & Citizens,” that reveals ground-breaking research about the cultural gap between the military and the civilian population it serves. [Army Times]
You can read more at the link, but from what was quoted in the article none of it was surprising to me.
A towed artillery piece fires as reservists and soldiers from the South Korean Army’s 1st Corps conduct a live-fire exercise at a range in Paju, north of Seoul, bordering North Korea, on Sept. 8, 2016. (Yonhap)
I wonder how much this has to do with election year politics in anticipation of next year’s ROK Presidential campaign season?:
South Korea shied away from forging a military intelligence sharing pact with Japan during talks between the leaders of the two countries in Laos, the foreign ministry said Thursday.
The long protracted issue of signing the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was discussed during the summit meeting between President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Vientiane, on Wednesday, Cho Jung-hyuck, spokesman of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs, said during a regular briefing.
“(But) Securing the sufficient understanding and cooperation from the National Assembly and the public is necessary,” Cho quoted the South Korean side as having told the Japanese side.
Park and Abe are in the Southeast Asian country to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting and the East Asia Summit.
The remarks suggest Park may have rejected Abe’s offer for the agreement’s signing.
South Korea and Japan came close to forging the GSOMIA in 2012, but the final signing was aborted amid public protests in South Korea. Protestors then accused the South Korean government of attempting to sign the militarily sensitive deal with the former colonial ruler in a clandestine manner. [Yonhap]
Looks like someone should find something else to do with their life instead of joining the military:
The sailor referred to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who made headlines in August when he opted to take a knee for the anthem, saying he was not going to “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
“[The stanza] basically says land of the free, home of the brave, except for hirelings and slaves and I just can’t support anything like that,” the sailor said. “I think Colin had a really good point when he said we had bodies in the streets.”
In the video, the sailor, who is dressed in civilian workout clothing near a Pensacola barracks building, expresses anxiety that other Marines or sailors will notice her filmed protest and confront her about it.
Military regulations require troops to stop in place, stand and salute during the brief ceremony.
“My heart is racing. This is not an easy thing,” she said.
While the anthem is played, the sailor sits on a picnic bench with a raised fist, a symbol of solidarity in the Black Power movement. When the anthem concludes, she expresses relief and pride in her protest.
“Today I actually did something, and it was small but significant for me,” she said. “Until this country shows they’ve got my back as a black woman … I can’t, and I won’t and I won’t be forced to [stand].” [Military.com]
The most obvious question in regards to this idea is what will the bribe amount be to secure a summit? Kim Jong-un is not going to show up to an Inter-Korean summit without a bribe. Secondly what will they talk about? How Kim Jong-un’s grandpa was responsible for the killing of President Park’s mother? North Korea is not going to give up their nuclear or missile programs so it is a waste of time to talk about that. From their perspective why would they give them up?:
Rep. Park Jie-won, the interim leader of the country’s second-largest opposition party, called on President Park Geun-hye, Wednesday, to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to break the deadlock in inter-Korean relations.
He also asked President Park to push for a constitutional revision during the remainder of her term that ends in February 2018.
“The most important things that Park should do during her remaining year-and-a-half in office are to push for an inter-Korean summit and a constitutional revision at the earliest possible date,” Park of the People’s Party said in a speech at the National Assembly. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but Rep. Park may also be calling for reforming the Presidential system to change it to two four year terms like we have in the US. It seems to me the five year term has been working well for South Korea so why the need to change it?
