Just when you thought this story had gone away it is back:

Cho Hyun-ah, the South Korean airline executive accused of assaulting cabin crew for serving macadamia nuts in a plastic bag, must wait until September to find out whether a lawsuit filed against her in New York is to be dismissed.

Kim Do-hee, the flight attendant on Korean Air who served Cho the nuts last December, filed a lawsuit at a Queens county court in March, South Korean outlet Newsis reported.

Kim’s lawsuit claims Cho “poured insults and assaulted [Kim] in the cabin,” and that not only was she “traumatized” by the experience but also “suffered damage to her career and reputation,” Yonhap reported.

Cho’s legal advisers requested the case be transferred to South Korea on July 13, on the premise the parties involved were South Korean nationals and all material in the investigation is written in Korean.  [UPI]

You can read the rest at the link, but at this point this all just looks like a money grab against Cho.  If this flight attended was traumatized by criticism about how to serve macadamia nuts then I would not want this flight attendant every working on an aircraft ever again anyway.  If “nut rage” was so traumatizing how would this person react during an inflight emergency?

Hacking led to intelligence on North Korea weapons, Seoul says http://t.co/uCGwZOMIJr

— Elizabeth Shim (@GlobalAsianista) July 29, 2015

A group of university students protests in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on July 29, 2015, demanding that Japan make a sincere apology for its wartime crimes during its 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea. The pickets say “Japan, a war criminal state, should apologize before history.” (Yonhap)

I wonder if these same protesters will go protest in front of the Chinese embassy as well and demand an apology for war crimes committed against Korea by the government responsible for it still in power to this day?

Here we go again with the usual rhetoric from North Korea during every Joint exercise:

Anchor: South Korea has made clear that suspending its joint military exercises with the U.S. cannot be a precondition for dialogue with Pyongyang. Seoul revealed the stance after North Korea said that if the United States wants to engage in dialogue it must stop taking part in the joint drills.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.

Report: Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that ending South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises cannot be a precondition for dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.

The ministry Spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters that the joint drill is an annual event of a defensive nature.

Kim’s remarks came shortly after North Korea said the United States must stop its joint military exercises with South Korea if it wants to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang.

Kim said the joint exercises are necessary to prepare against the North’s provocations, adding that they are akin to a student preparing for a test.

Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the North’s Foreign Ministry said that if the U.S. abandons hostile activities, including the exercises, and chooses to walk a different path, then it would be possible to engage in dialogue and resolve many issues.  [KBS World]

You can read more at the link, but basically the North Koreans are trying to put the blame on the US for why talks cannot be started.

This would be real provocative towards India if China does in fact try and build islands in the Indian Ocean:

There are growing fears, particularly in India, that China may soon launch an island reclamation project in the Indian Ocean.

The fears stem from a constitutional amendment passed by the small archipelagic nation of Maldives last week, which for the first time allows foreign ownership of Maldives territory. Specifically, the constitutional amendment allows foreigners who invest over $1 billion to own land, provided that at least 70 percent of the land is reclaimed from the sea.

Since July 2013, China has launched a massive reclamation project in the South China Sea that has created 2,000 acres of artificial landmass in five Spratly island outposts. Some 75 percent of this been dredged this year alone.

Unnamed Indian officials have told local media outlets that they are “concerned” that China now plans to do the same in some of the Maldives’ 1,200 islands, which are located strategically in the Indian Ocean.

They are not alone; domestic opponents of the amendment have expressed similar concerns. For example, Eva Abdullah, one of just 14 parliamentarians to vote against the amendment, told The Diplomat “this will make the country a Chinese colony.”  [The National Interest]

You can read the rest at the link, but it seems it would easier for them just to continue to use bases in Pakistan instead of building their own island.

https://twitter.com/freekorea_us/status/626342851081818112

Picture from the November 16, 1967 edition of the Stars & Stripes.

This is a tough issue to address because I like the openness the Internet provides for people to share ideas, but with all the false information passed on the Internet to influence politics in South Korea I can understand why many in Korea think this law is needed.  Anyone in Korea in 2008 can remember how crazy the madcow crisis became based off of Internet speculation and false news reports:

The Constitutional Court ruled constitutional Thursday a law that mandates a user-identification system on news outlets during an election period, citing the fairness of the election.

While the online real-name verification legislation was abolished in 2012, the current Public Official Election Act requires Internet news sites, including news aggregators, to provide the system for users to input and verify their identities when posting articles either supporting or countering a candidate during 30 days of election campaigning.

The court said in a 5-4 vote that considering the public confidence and awareness of the Web sites, information distortion could happen instantly through the spread of rumors or propaganda.

As it does not take much time to go through the verification process and it guarantees the protection of users’ personal information, the clause does not infringe upon the freedom of speech nor the right to self-determination, the court said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Apparently Kim Jong-un does not like to be reminded that he is a young leader:

Former North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol was executed for making disparaging remarks about Kim Jong Un, and the North Korean leader poses a greater threat than his father to South Korea, an analyst said Wednesday.

Chung Sung-jang, a researcher at South Korea’s Sejong Institute said intelligence gathered from a defector indicated the purged Hyon often referred to Kim as a “young person,” Yonhap reported.

Hyon also held several other grievances toward Kim and had criticized him for neglecting his duties, according to a Seoul spy agency report in May.

Hyon’s complaints eventually reached Kim, and they factored into the North Korean leader’s decision to eliminate his defense minister.

But Kim’s purge of Hyon was not an impromptu gesture that emerged from a personal vendetta, South Korean outlet Newsis reported.

According to Chung’s analysis, Hyon’s execution is part of Kim’s larger strategy of reducing a bloated military elite, a plan that includes the ongoing personnel changes and demotions taking place within the elite ranks of North Korea’s military.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link, but as always keep in mind that this analysis is based on defector testimony which is not always reliable.

The height of the “DMZ War” was between 1967-1972 where a number of provocations by the North Koreans killed dozens of US troops.  However, if there was an event that could be looked back at as the start of the DMZ War it would probably be the 1963 Jeep ambush.  In the early morning of July 29, 1963 three soldiers from A Troop, 1st Recon Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division were driving down a dirt road 50 yards south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone to relieve a guard post.  As they passed over a bridge they were ambushed by a 5-7 man North Korean squad.  They used small arms fire and grenades which killed the driver and caused the Jeep to rollover into a minefield.  The three soldiers in the Jeep did not stand a chance at being able to defend themselves from this cowardly ambush.  The below picture of the acting 1st Cavalry Division Commander Brigadier General Charles Pershing Brown sums up how angry American soldiers at the time had to be about this ambush:

The attack made front page news back in the US because it was the first time the North Koreans had launched an attack on the South side of the DMZ:

Here is how the Stars & Stripes initially reported on the ambush:

What I find fascinating about this incident is that the US responded to the North Korean provocation much the same way we still do today, with United Nations letters and harsh rhetoric that was so famously lampooned in the movie “Team America: World Police“.  A follow on Stars & Stripes article would provide further information about the attack to include naming the casualties:

The two soldiers killed in the attack were:

• Private First Class Charles T. Dessert, 19 of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
• Private David A. Seller, 24 of Theresa, Wisconsin

Here is an article with David Seller’s picture on it that was sent to the Korean War Educator by his family:

Here is a picture of his flag draped coffin during his funeral in Wisconsin:

Here is another article with a picture of the other deceased soldier Private First Class Charles Dessert:

The wounded soldier from this attack was:

• Private First Class William L. Foster, 26 of Baltimore, Maryland

Amazingly Foster survived the attack despite being shot in the chest, hip, abdomen, and hand.  Doctors at a hospital set up a Kimpo Airfield were able to extract three of the four bullets.  The fourth bullet was lodged next to his spine so the doctors decided to leave it there.  What is even more amazing about Foster is that he fought and was wounded at the age of 15 in the Korean War as well:

Here is a picture of him as paratrooper in the Korean War via Getty Images:

He may be the only US soldier ever wounded in both the Korean War and the DMZ War.  I could not find out what ever happened to William Foster, but I hope he is living a long life right now to make up for the tribulations he went through in Korea as a young man.  He would probably be a fascinating interview if he is still alive and a journalist was able to track him down.

Anyway the next day after the attack that killed Dessert and Seller and wounded Foster, a four man North Korean patrol was found south of the DMZ.  The US and ROK forces were able to kill the four man infiltration team, but not before another US soldier and a Korean soldier were also dead:

The US soldier killed in the attack was:

• Corporal George F. Larion

Corporal Larion was a member of the 1st Cavalry Division and received posthumously a Bronze Star Medal for his actions during the engagement with the North Korean infiltrators.  Another soldier, Sergeant Abraham W. McManus also received a Bronze Star Medal during the same attack.

All of this combat happened just two days after the 10 year anniversary of the signing of the armistice to end the Korean War.  It was pretty clear that the North Koreans were using the date to send a symbolic message to the US much like they continue to use significant dates to signify provocations to this day.  Their provocations today have only been deadly against the Korean military, however as history has shown the North Koreans will attack US military members if they feel they can get away with it.  Obviously in 1963 and throughout the DMZ War period the Kim regime at the time felt comfortable that they could commit these provocations with little blow back due to the US being tied down in Vietnam and their support from China and the Soviet Union.  If the North Koreans today develop a reliable nuclear weapon capability would they feel confident again that they could launch attacks against US soldiers with little blow back?  Time will tell, but for soldiers serving in Korea today, this attack 1963 should serve as a reminder of what the Kim regime is capable of.

For more DMZ Flashpoints articles please click the below link: