Lee Young-ae (R), one of South Korea’s leading hallyu actresses, poses for photos with Min Dong-seok, head of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, on Oct. 27, 2015, in Seoul after being named a special ambassador of the organization. Lee will participate in the commission’s donation campaign for education assistance to underdeveloped countries. (Photo provided by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO) (Yonhap)
Chinese Internet posters are supposedly going bonkers over the fact that a US Navy ship conducted a freedom of navigation patrol through the South China Sea which the Chinese government ridiculously claims is part of China:
On Oct. 27, the high-stakes maritime game of chicken that has been playing out in the South China Sea came to a head. In a long-discussed freedom of navigation patrol, the United States sailed the USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, within 12 miles of artificial islands that China has built amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea. China tracked and warned the U.S. vessel; the operation concluded without incident and prompted swift condemnation from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But after weeks of tough government rhetoric claiming that China would not stand for what it views as a violation of its territorial sovereignty, Chinese social media voices are now mocking what many perceive as a spineless official response. [Foreign Policy]
Despite all the online venom to attack the US ship one Chinese Internet user left a popular post which accurately reflects what I think is going on:
China’s shrill online nationalists may dominate the web in the aftermath of a flashpoint, but while common, such online outrage has not led to government action in the past. And some netizens harbor more nuanced perspectives. One particularly discerning Weibo user, who identified himself as a 22-year-old native of China’s northeastern Shandong province, also seemed to take the long view of the South China Sea, noting the behind-the-scenes machinations that make the region so complex. “This seems like a game,” wrote the user in a popular comment. “Not only have both countries maintained their reputations, neither country has suffered any losses.” Another observed somewhat sardonically that the situation, all told, was “well managed.” The user noted that China had “gotten rid of the U.S. ship, maintained its sovereignty, and hasn’t worsened the situation. Afterwards, it can be used as an excuse for militarization in the South China Sea.”
Like I have said before the US’s and China’s interests in the South China Sea do no necessarily come into conflict. From the US perspective we want freedom of navigation through the SCS. From the Chinese perspective they want strategic space to defend the sea lanes leading to the southeastern China and to a lesser extent the fishing and mineral rights. As long as each side respects the others interests in the SCS there is no reason for conflict unless the Chinese government is stupid enough to listen to hateful commenters on the Internet.
Buses carrying South Koreans to reunions with their North Korean relatives travel along the east coast on their way to the North’s Mount Kumgang on Oct. 24, 2015. (Yonhap)
I don’t see too many Jeeps in Korea so it will be interesting to see if their marketing strategy works:
FCA Korea president Pablo Rosso talks to The Korea Herald at his office in Seoul. (Chung Hee-cho/The Korea Herald)
The boxy and powerful Jeep sports utility vehicles have appealed to tough, adventure-seeking motorists with rather masculine exteriors for more than seven decades.
And despite the global trend for family-friendly and female-friendly SUVs, Jeep has no intention of changing its image, the U.S. carmaker’s Korea head told The Korea Herald.
“If I start selling Jeep as a family car, we would lose our personality, and believe me, we will lose sales,” Pablo Rosso, Korean market president at Fiat-Chrysler APAC, said in a recent interview.
“What people like about Jeep is that dream, that muscularity, that passion and authenticity of the dream of adventure. So that is the value that we stand for.”
And as a part of that authentic Jeep image, the company is highlighting its masculine and daring side with its newest compact SUV, the Renegade.
The boxier design creates a stark comparison to its predecessor Cherokee’s fluid and modern exterior, and is seen as a declaration from the carmaker of a retro direction.
Rosso thinks this masculine look appeals to women who defy norms and want powerful cars. [Korea Herald]
You can read the rest at the link but since being offered for sale in September, the Jeep Renegade sold 300 vehicles that month.
Since the liquor industry has to pay for this payment increase I can understand why they are not happy about it, but restaurants will definitely be making more money by recycling all their bottles:
The Environment Ministry’s decision to raise cash payments for used soju and beer bottles starting next year faces a slew of challenges, including protests from liquor companies, concerns about bottle supplies and worries that prices could rise as a result.
On Sept. 3, the ministry announced a new cash-for-bottles recycling plan, in which liquor makers would pay more for returned, used bottles.
The refunded deposits, as they are called, will rise from 40 won (36 cents) for a 360-mililiter (1.5-cup) soju bottle to 100 won, and from 50 won for 500-mililiter and 600-mililiter beer bottles to 130 won.
A recycling commission that liquor companies pay wholesale and retail distributors, such as restaurants and department stores, or individual brokers who collect empty bottles, will be raised from 16 won to 33 won for soju bottles and from 19 won to 33 won for beer bottles.
The ministry believes the bigger payments for empties will encourage recycling.
Currently, about 85 percent of nearly nine billion bottles used every year are returned to the makers, according to government data. The ministry expects the rate to rise to 95 percent under the new policy. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
A US Soldier killed during the Korean War has had his remains identified and buried with full military honors in California:
Army Cpl. Robert V. Witt, 20, of Bellflower, went missing in the Korean War. His remains have recently been returned to his family.
Nearly 65 years after his death, Laverne Minnick’s older brother is finally coming home to rest.
The remains of Army Cpl. Robert V. Witt, a 20-year-old Bellflower man missing since the Korean War, were identified last month, and returned earlier this week to Minnick, 82, his last surviving family member.
“I am so happy. He’s going to be home, where he belongs, with his family,” said Minnick, a Huntington Beach resident.
Witt will be buried with full military honors at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier on Friday.
TASK FORCE FAITH
In late November 1950, Witt was assigned to 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, known as Task Force Faith, the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a press statement.
They were attacked by thousands of Chinese forces at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. On Dec. 1, 1950, remnants of the 31st Regimental Combat Team tried moving to a position south of the reservoir, but the next day, Witt was reported missing in action, the statement said.
In 1953, during the prisoner of war exchanges known as Operation Little Switch and Operation Big Switch, repatriated U.S. soldiers told officials that Witt had been captured during the battle and died from malnutrition. He death is estimated at Jan. 31, 1951.
208 BOXES OF UNIDENTIFIED BONES
His remains, however, were not among those returned by Communist forces in 1954, the statement said.
Between 1990 and 1994, North Korea returned to the United States 208 boxes of unidentified human bones, no full skeletons, primarily fragments. U.S. officials later realized the boxes contained remains from 600 Korean War veterans, the statement said.
North Korean documents included in the repatriation said that some of the bones were recovered from the area where Witt was believed to have died.
REMAINS IDENTIFIED
In July 2000, a joint U.S./North Korean team excavated a burial site near Hwaong-Ri Village, and recovered additional human remains.
The only remains of Witt that were found in the boxes and the excavation site were his two femurs. [Press Telegram]
The U.S. nuclear-powered Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier sails in waters off South Korea’s largest port city of Busan on Oct. 23, 2015, as it is part of a fleet review that the South Korean Navy held as part of celebrating the 70th anniversary of its founding. (Yonhap)
It looks like the normal probing that occurs along the NLL by the North Koreans:
A North Korean patrol ship crossed the maritime border into the South on Saturday during a beefed-up crackdown on Chinese fishing boats operating near the border, the South Korean military said Sunday.
The South Korean Navy ship fired five warning shots with a 40 mm-caliber gun. The ship retreated to the North 18 minutes after the shots were fired. No damage was seen on the ship, Seoul authorities said.
Pyongyang called the South’s use of the gun a “deliberate military provocation,” warning that the inter-Korean relations could return to the point before the two sides struck a comprehensive deal on Aug. 25 to defuse cross-border tensions.
The North’s vessel came some 700 meters into the South Korean waters at around 3:30 p.m., according to Seoul authorities. At the time, the vessel was carrying out a stepped-up clampdown on some 100 Chinese vessels operating near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border.
“In the process of (the North) making its retreat, there was no naval clash or anything,” said a military official on condition of anonymity. “We are keeping closer tabs on the North Korean military’s movements and strengthening our readiness posture.” [Korea Herald]
