Visiting U.S. Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning (C) poses with U.S. soldiers in front of Patriot PAC-3 advanced missiles during a visit to the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade of the U.S. Forces Korea’s (USFK) Eighth Army in Osan, south of Seoul, on Aug. 2, 2016. The brigade in charge of intercepting North Korean missiles is expected to run the THAAD missile defense system to be deployed in the country’s southeastern town of Seongju as well. THAAD stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. (Yonhap)
It looks like an area of the UCMJ that will need to be updated is to include same-sex prostitution as a crime. This reminds of the Air Force colonel trying to get his adultery charges dropped because the UCMJ does not include same-sex adultery as a crime:
An Army medic charged with murder in connection with the stabbing death of his wife was sentenced Saturday in military court to 27 months in federal prison and a dishonorable discharge for possession of child pornography and soliciting others to engage in sex for money.
Sgt. Michael Walker, who was assigned to Tripler Army Medical Center, pleaded guilty Saturday to three counts of solicitation and not guilty to one count of possession of child pornography before a military judge at Wheeler Army Airfield’s courtroom. (…………)
Walker, who has been in the military for 12 years, was charged with solicitation instead of prostitution because the Uniform Code of Military Justice, under which Walker was found guilty, defines prostitution as between a man and a woman.
In his court-martial, Walker admitted to placing two ads in September 2014, seeking people to have sex with in exchange for money. He said in the ads that he was looking for “generous men to spend time with” or “looking to have some fun.”
In court, he said, “My purpose was to find people to have sex with and at the same time to give me money.”
Walker said he met with three men that fall and had sex with them for money on multiple occasions. He said one man paid him $400 for an encounter. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read much more at the link, but this guy still faces even more time in jail when his murder trial comes up.
This will probably be one of a few areas that the Chinese will retaliate against the ROK for the decision to deploy THAAD:
Speculation is rife that China will target K-pop stars in retaliation against Seoul’s decision to install an American-made missile defense system on the Korean peninsula. K-pop stars could be the unlikely first casualties of Seoul’s decision to deploy a U.S.-made missile defense system on the Korean peninsula, despite vocal opposition from China.
Speculation is rife that China will retaliate by limiting South Korean media and stars from its huge entertainment market.
According to two sources cited by the South China Morning Post, China’s national media regulator informed TV stations in Guangdong Province that TV shows featuring South Korean pop stars would not be granted approval to air “in the near future.”
Meanwhile, shares in South Korean entertainment companies took a dive Tuesday as investors bet that the firms would be hit by impending restrictions from China. SM Entertainment Co., known for such K-pop super-groups as Girls’ Generation, closed down 5.3 percent, according to Bloomberg. YG Entertainment Corp., the company known for producing Psy, fell 8 percent. [Hollywood Reporter]
You can read more at the link, but the ROK has been through this before with China retaliating against them with trade restrictions such as during the Great Kimchi War of 2005.
Considering Australia’s strong economic ties to the Chinese I will be surprised if they commit to supporting freedom of navigation patrols in the SCS. These calls to strike Australian ships I believe is just a signal from the Chinese to the Australians to stay out of this dispute in response to the US request for freedom of navigation patrols:
China’s state-run Global Times has published an editorial attacking Australia for supporting the recent international ruling on China’s activities in the South China Sea and called for strikes on any Australian ships which might undertake “freedom-of-navigation” activities in the region.
The editorial said Australia “is not even a ‘paper tiger’, it’s only a ‘paper cat’ at best”. It says that even though “Australia calls itself a principled country… when it needs to please Washington, it demonstrates willingness of doing anything in a show of allegiance”.
As a result, the Global Times says (our emphasis):
China must take revenge and let it know it’s wrong. Australia’s power means nothing compared to the security of China. If Australia steps into the South China Sea waters, it will be an ideal target for China to warn and strike.
Earlier this year, the Commander of the US Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Joseph P Aucoin, said it would be in the “best interests” of the region if Australia was to send ships to within 12 miles of the disputed area. Australia has so far not sent any of its ships there. [Business Insider]
st Lt. Alvin Anderson, one of the many repatriated POW’s to return home aboard the USNS Marine Phoenix, embracing his mother and sister as other members of his family look on. Fort Mason, CA, September 14, 1953. Herb Weiss. [Flickr]
Condolences to the family of this deceased 2ID soldier:
A 2nd Infantry Division soldier was found dead over the weekend in her apartment north of Seoul.
Sgt. Jacqueline M. Anderson, 26, of Leesville, La., died Sunday afternoon in her Dongducheon residence, a 2ID press release said. Cause of death is still under investigation.
Anderson’s husband asked a neighbor to call police after finding her unconscious, said a police official in Dongducheon, home to Camp Casey and other U.S. bases near the border with North Korea. She was already dead when officers arrived, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
Anderson, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 38th Field Artillery Regiment, 210th Field Artillery Brigade, was stationed in Dongducheon with her husband, Sgt. Carl William Anderson, who is also with the 210th Field Artillery Brigade. [Stars & Stripes]
Considering how vigorously the Kim regime is conducting missile testing this estimate sounds about right if conditions don’t change:
Former U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti has expressed strong concern that North Korea could have proven intercontinental ballistic missile capability in three to four years.
“I think we need to continue in every way we can to put pressure on this country to bring them to follow the United Nations Security Council resolutions,” Scaparrotti said during the Aspen Security Forum in Washington on Thursday, according to the Defense Department news.
“I am very concerned about what he has today, but I am more concerned about what he will have in three or four years — when he has a proven intercontinental capability, when he has perhaps figured out the submarine capability and when he has built more nuclear devices,” he said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Scaparrotti, currently NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, also said that the sanctions brought against the North Korean leader were a good step and also expressed support for the planned deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea. [Yonhap]
The expansion of the anti-corruption law is clearly targeted at the unions and civic groups that are largely left leaning. With that said will these anti-corruption laws just make these groups instead focus on campaign contributions like what happens in the US to influence politicians?:
South Korea’s National Assembly in Seoul (Yonhap)
Lawmakers belonging to the ruling and opposition parties are generally in favor of expanding the anti-graft law to encompass the country’s labor unions and civic groups, a poll showed Sunday.
The survey carried out on lawmakers sitting on parliament’s National Policy Committee showed 10 supporting the expansion versus five who were opposed, with four saying they did not have a view on the matter.
The poll carried out by Yonhap News Agency shows awareness among lawmakers that the law can be revised down the line to make it more comprehensive and better reflect public calls to root out graft.
The Kim Young-ran anti-graft law, named after the former Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission chief, aims to tighten loopholes in existing anti-corruption rules under which public officials cannot be punished for accepting expensive gifts and services unless there is evidence of reciprocity.
The law passed by the National Assembly in March 2015 and set to go into effect on Sept. 28 subjects public officials, journalists and private school faculty to a maximum penalty of three years in prison or a fine of five times the amount they accept in money or valuables if they exceed 1 million won (US$896) in one lump sum or 3 million won in total annually, regardless of whether it is in exchange for favors or related to their work. The regulations make it illegal to accept meals exceeding 30,000 won, presents in excess of 50,000 won, and money for congratulations and condolences of over 100,000 won, and bars people in these occupations from from making improper solicitations.
“Although it may seem excessive by some because of the considerable influence civic groups and labor unions exert on society, it only makes sense that they are covered by the law,” a ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker said.
He pointed out that it makes no sense to include journalists and schoolteachers who are not public servants, while leaving out unionists and civic group members. [Yonhap]
It will be interesting to see what the reaction to this is going to be. It is difficult to lobby publicly against an anti-corruption law that is trying to end bribery.
