Volunteers are carrying boxes on Aug. 20, 2016, containing possessions by victims of a deadly ferry sinking to temporarily move them from a classroom of Danwon High School in Asan, south of Seoul, to the provincial office of education. In April 2014, the Sewol ferry sank in waters off the southern coast, leaving about 300 people dead. (Yonhap)
For the residents of Seongju they will need to decide if they still care about the THAAD deployment if its moved to the alternate site that is no longer in their backyard:
Residents of Seongju county in North Gyeongsang Province are reviewing an alternative location for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery at the county office, Saturday. / Yonhap
Residents living near a government-chosen site for a U.S. anti-missile system failed Saturday to discuss whether to review an alternative location due to opponents’ protest.
Residents of the southern county of Seongju held a meeting to discuss whether they can consider picking an alternative site for the government’s move to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) inside the county.
But they failed to reach a consensus over whether to review the alternative location as some of them insisted that the government should scrap its plan to deploy a THAAD battery on their county. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but here is a Google Earth image I put together that shows the two proposed THAAD locations:
As the image shows the problems with the THAAD deployment moves from Seongju’s backyard to Gimcheon’s. So will the people of Gimcheon now complain about the deployment? I guess time will tell, but that is the problem with THAAD in South Korea it will always be radiating over someones backyard.
One thing for sure is that the cost of the deployment of THAAD is going to skyrocket by having to purchase or lease the Lotte Sky Hill Golf Resort land from the Lotte corporation compared to deploying the THAAD on government owned ROK Air Force land at the first THAAD site outside of Seongju.
Here is just another example of the fantasy land narrative in North Korea:
On Thursday, the anniversary of the incident, the Korean People’s Army Panmunjom Mission spokesman said that North Korea will “never forget the Panmunjom incident, which took place intentionally under U.S. imperialists looking for an excuse to start a war of invasion while permanently occupying the South.”
North Korea stated the U.S. version of the incident was a “cunning stratagem” to find a way out of its responsibility for the event, adding that the incident is a “serious lesson in history.”
“Only death lies for aggressors and provokers,” North Korea said in the statement issued on KCNA.
According to Pyongyang, the incident involved U.S. forces “pushing forward” South Korean “puppet guards” who “screamed in the direction of [North Korean] soldiers” then assumed “combat-ready positions.”
The South Korea and U.S. forces then brought in “heavy weaponry” and installed a “large surveillance tower.” Their “perilous military provocations tell all,” North Korea stated. [UPI]
You can read more at the link as well as more about the DMZ Axe Murder Incident at the below link:
What I find most amazing about this article is not that construction is being held up because of a dispute over cultural preservation, but the land these buildings sit on was bought for $15 billion:
Booyoung Group’s buildings have been designated as modern architectural assets by the Seoul city government. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]There are seven decaying buildings strangely ornamented with rectangular shapes right in the center of Seoul, where land is worth its weight in gold, a stark contrast to the clean modern structures surrounding them.The seven old buildings are located beside the Westin Chosun hotel in Sogong-dong, Jung District, central Seoul. The cafes, massage parlors and other shops in these buildings were all closed down last week. A restaurant on the first floor of one of the buildings had a notice that said, “Due to the reconstruction of this building, we are closing our restaurant on Dec. 22, 2015,” indicating that the reconstruction did not take place for seven months.
The seven buildings sit on about 6,562 square meters (1.6 acres) of land, which the construction company Booyoung Group purchased for about 1.7 trillion won ($15 billion) from its previous owner, Samwhan Corporation, in order to build a hotel. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but the Seoul government is making preservation demands on the construction company which is halting their plans to build a hotel. I think this architect quoted in the article does make a good point:
An architect who requested to remain anonymous said, “We need to reevaluate how much the designated buildings are worth, culturally speaking. Just because a building looks old does not mean it’s worth being preserved.”
Looking at the buildings it is not like they are architectural masterpieces. They are quite honestly ugly rectangles. It will be interesting to see what happens with this development in the coming years.
South Korean Army Chief of Staff Gen. Jang Jun-kyu (L) shakes hands with his visiting U.S. counterpart Mark Milley at the army’s Seoul office on Aug. 19, 2016. The two discussed the planned deployment of an advanced missile defense system, called “the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)” on South Korean soil. (Yonhap)
Here are some more details about the defection of North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho:
According to multiple sources who spoke under the condition of anonymity, Thae physically met an official from the South Korean government in mid-July at a tennis court in Britain and said he wished to defect with his wife and two sons. The family realized that plan late last month, traveling directly from the United Kingdom to South Korea.
That rendezvous at the tennis court was the first time Thae had ever opened up to a South Korean official about his desire to defect, the sources said.
Steve Evans, a South Korean correspondent for BBC, wrote in an article published Tuesday that he has pleasant memories” with Thae and that “the signs were there” that the diplomat thought about defecting to South Korea.
“I recall he asked me about life in Seoul,” wrote Evans. “I told him it was a mega-bustling city, a world away from Pyongyang.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans are blaming the defection on coercion by the ROK with money, women and possibly even kidnapping his kids.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out because I would think every lawyer in America is now going to try the “Clinton Defense” to defend spilling classified information:
A sailor who pleaded guilty to photographing classified submarine systems hopes to receive leniency by comparing his case to Hillary Clinton’s ongoing e-mail controversy, his lawyers said in a court document.
Petty Officer First Class Kristian M. Saucier, 29, will be sentenced Friday for a felony charge of retaining national defense information. He pleaded guilty in May on the charge that he photographed classified workings of the propulsion system of the nuclear powered USS Alexandria.
The photos taken in 2009 showed parts of the reactor configuration, according to the memo filed last week in support of a probation sentencing by Saucier’s lawyer, Derrick Hogan. Saucier knew the system was secret and prohibited from being documented, but he wanted to show his future family what he did in the Navy, the court filing states. [Stars & Stripes]
![Booyoung Group’s buildings have been designated as modern architectural assets by the Seoul city government. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/jmnet/koreajoongangdaily/_data/photo/2016/08/17202325.jpg?resize=350%2C247)
