Mike Bassett raises questions about ongoing propaganda campaigns against North Korea http://t.co/XUbwWRW1pV pic.twitter.com/dbMZTPBT3F

— The Korea Observer (@koreaobserver) September 12, 2015

A model juxtaposes her painted body with a mural as she poses for a photo during a competition of craftsmanship at the KINTEX convention center outside of Seoul on Sept. 10, 2015. (Yonhap)

It looks like the US and its allies should open a new front with the South China Sea issue and get the name of this body of water officially changed just like the South Koreans have been trying to do for years with the Sea of Japan:

In a rare appearance together, American and Chinese admirals sat alongside one another to present their views on maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region. The audience came to hear about one thing, the South China Sea, and China’s commander was clear: “It belongs to China.”

There was political theater and a few one-liners, as the panel remained cordial and the admirals were all smiles during handshakes before and after. But the tension was real and the messages direct.

“The South China Sea, as the name indicated, is a sea area. It belongs to China,” said Vice Adm. Yuan Yubai, who commands the North Sea Fleet for the People’s Liberation Army Navy.  [Defense One]

You can read the whole thing at the link, but what I found most fascinating about the article was how direct these admirals were talking to each other about the issues in the South China Sea.

Anyone traveling to and from Incheon on the Line 1 subway may have noticed that it was closed.  The line was closed due to this crane collapse captured in the video below:

I guess it is okay to wear the uniform to support social causes now:

What was supposed to be a photo to decorate the 1st Armored Division’s room for nursing mothers has gone viral online.

The photo, taken Thursday at Fort Bliss, Texas, shows 10 soldiers in uniform breastfeeding their children.

“We are officially trending on Facebook. It’s crazy,” said Tara Ruby, the photographer behind the image and a former airman who is married to a soldier.

“Today I believe we made history,” Ruby wrote on her Facebook page. “To my knowledge, a group photo to show support of active-duty military mommies nursing their littles has never been done. It is so nice to see support for this here at Fort Bliss.”  [Army Times]

You can read more at the link.

It appears the Kim regime is trying to draw a wedge between South Korea and the United States by staging a major provocation next month with their announced rocket launch and now restarting their nuclear reactors.  Next month also just so happens to be when the Inter-Korean family reunions were announced to happen.  When the provocation occurs this will force the ROK government to decide whether to cancel the reunions which could have domestic political blowback for President Park:

North Korea said Tuesday it has resumed operations at a key nuclear facility and is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the United States.

The posting by the North’s state news agency came a day after Pyongyang said it has the right to conduct rocket launches anytime it chooses, fueling expectations that the provocative communist nation will conduct a satellite test next month as part of 70th anniversary celebrations of its ruling party.

The North is believed to use rocket launches, which it says are intended to put satellites into space for peaceful purposes, as a cover for ballistic missile tests.

On Tuesday, the North’s Korea Central News Agency said “all the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, including the uranium enrichment plant and 5 MW graphite-moderated reactor, were rearranged, changed or readjusted and they started normal operation.”

“If the U.S. and other hostile forces persistently seek their reckless hostile policy towards the DPRK and behave mischievously, the DPRK is fully ready to cope with them with nuclear weapons any time,” KCNA said, referring to the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Calling Seoul. 3 wks after N-S accord, reunions on track – but the rest? Wider talks, exchanges? Any word yet? @AlastairGale @John_F_Power

— Aidan Foster-Carter (@fcaidan) September 14, 2015

Korean and U.S. marines rehearse for a re-enactment of the Incheon Landing in 1950 on Wolmi Island in Incheon, Sunday, two days ahead of the 65th anniversary of the operation. Led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the landing turned the tide for forces in the Korean War. [Korea Times]

There was a pretty devastating article published in the Washington Post where Marines to include females that took part in the recent integrated combat arms experiment took shots at Navy Secretary Ray Mabus for his criticisms of their performance:

Marines involved in a controversial experiment evaluating a gender-integrated infantry unit say they feel betrayed by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus after he criticized the results of a nine-month study that found women are injured more frequently and shoot less accurately in simulated combat conditions.

“Our secretary of the Navy completely rolled the Marine Corps and the entire staff that was involved in putting this [experiment] in place under the bus,” said Sgt. Danielle Beck, a female anti-armor gunner with the task force.

Mabus questioned the findings of the research after a four-page summary of the results was released Thursday, saying he still thinks all jobs in the Marine Corps should be opened to women. He said results that found women were more than twice as likely to be injured and ultimately compromise a unit’s combat effectiveness were an “extrapolation based on injury rates, and I’m not sure that’s right,” he told NPR.  [Washington Post]

Here is something I find interesting because critics of the study were claiming the female volunteers were not properly trained when in fact they received five months of training before conducting the experiment:

“If you were to look at our training plan and how we progressed from October to February, you’re not going to find any evidence of institutional bias or some way we built this for females to fail,” said one Marine officer who participated in the experiment.

The officer, who asked to remain anonymous because of his active-duty status, explained that for the first five months of the experiment the Marines of the task force trained as a unit in North Carolina to prepare for the testing phase in California. This phase of training is known as “the work-up,” with the second phase in California — where the trials would be held — acting as the deployment.

Additionally if you read the rest of the article the women who participated in the experiment were high performers on their physical fitness test.  So basically you have motivated females that volunteered for the experiment, that were fit, and received five months of combat arms training that went and did the experiment with their male counterparts.

What gets me more than anything about this whole issue is that if Secretary Mabus had his mind made up beforehand why bother with the experiment in the first place?

Some people are just nuts and need to be locked away for good like this woman:

A woman who allegedly killed her five-year-old son in Gyeonngi Province was arrested Monday.

The woman, 38, identified only as “A,” allegedly drowned her son in a bathtub at her house on Sept. 10. Police said the boy was gagged and his hands tied.

The mother changed her son’s clothes after killing him and laid him in her room to cover up the crime.

“B”‘s older sister found the body and called police. Police said the mother first told them the boy had died suddenly in his sleep, but then claimed he had drowned while playing in the tub by himself.

After checking CCTV footage near her house, police found that the mother had forced her son into house. They also found duct tape, allegedly used in the killing, in the house.

Police said the mother told them she killed her son because he was fond of her husband, who did not get along with her. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.