Family members of American soldiers who vanished during the 1950-53 Korean War pay tribute to South Korean patriotic martyrs at the National Cemetery in Seoul on May 19, 2015. Forty-nine family members of 26 U.S. soldiers missing in action (MIA) arrived in South Korea the previous day for a six-day visit at the invitation of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. (Yonhap)
Slowly but surely the remains of veterans listed as missing in action from the Korean War are being identified:
A soldier from La Crosse will be buried next week in Arlington National Cemetery almost 65 years after he went missing during the Korean War.
Francis Knobel was a 20-year-old corporal in the U.S. Army in the winter of 1950, when his 31st Infantry Regiment took part in fierce battles around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea.
On Dec. 12, at the end of the 17-day battle, Knobel was reported missing, one of 154 U.S. forces declared killed that day, according to military records from the National Archives.
There’s little official record of Knobel’s early life. He was born in 1930. His father is listed in city directories as a laborer; his mother worked at the Electric Auto Lite factory. His name does not appear in city high school yearbooks.
Knobel enlisted when he was 19. About five months later he went overseas and took part in the battle of Inchon, the invasion that led to the recapture of South Korea, according to a story in the La Crosse Tribune when he was declared missing.
Knobel’s father died in 1952. His mother and sisters later moved to Arizona.
In 1954, communist forces turned over the bodies of almost 1,900 service members during an exchange known as Operation Glory. According to the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there were 25 boxes of remains from the area where Knobel was lost, but he could not be identified and was buried among nearly 850 unknown soldiers buried in Hawaii’s National Memorial Cemetery, known as the Punchbowl.
Last year, after re-examining old records, the Department of Defense exhumed the remains and identified them as Knobels through a combination of dental records, chest X-rays and circumstantial evidence.
All told, there are some 7,847 U.S. troops in the Korean War still unaccounted for, according to the POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Remains of 310 have been recovered and identified. [LaCrosse Tribune]
You can read more at the link.
this is probably an accurate assessment:
SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. government does not believe North Korea’s claim that it has developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit in a missile warhead, adding to the conflicting assessments of Pyongyang’s weapon and delivery capabilities.
“Regarding that specific claim of miniaturization, we do not think they have that capacity and our assessment on that hasn’t changed,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told a Wednesday media briefing in Washington. [Stars and Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but the North Korean’s military capabilities are probably exaggerated in other areas as well.
The Japanese Defense Reform No One Is Talking About http://t.co/exLP9jm37D pic.twitter.com/OnFXCavn0u
— The Diplomat (@Diplomat_APAC) May 19, 2015
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) speaks during a visit to a terrapin farm, in this photo released by the North’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on May 19, 2015. The paper, published by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, did not report when he made the visit and said Kim reproached the farm’s officials for its poor management. (Yonhap)
Here is the latest on the THAAD front:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for the first time on Monday pushed openly for the deployment of the U.S.’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea.
The need “to be prepared for every possible outcome… is why we need to deploy ships, forces… and we are talking about THAAD,” Kerry told U.S. soldiers at their garrison in Yongsan, Seoul.
He reiterated the importance of keeping U.S. forces on the peninsula, saying North Korean threats are the reason for the deployment of vessels and troops here.
Seoul has maintained a flimsy fiction that the controversial deployment of THAAD batteries has not been discussed because they form the core of the U.S.’ missile strategy aimed at containing China. [Chosun Ilbo]
You can read more at the link.
According to this report there has been no signs of an impending launch yet:
South Korea sees no signs of North Korea preparing to fire a long-range rocket, the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday, despite reports that the North plans to test-launch a rocket carrying a satellite.
Citing “sources in a number of governments,” Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered its National Aerospace Development Administration earlier this year to prepare to test-launch a rocket carrying a satellite in October to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the nation.
The U.S., Japan and South Korea suspect the project will “effectively be a test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile” that the North is allegedly developing, according to the report.
“South Korean and U.S. authorities are closely monitoring the North Korean movements,” Defense Ministry vice spokesman Nah Seung-yong told a regular briefing. “But we’ve yet to confirm any specific signs or movements of its actual firing of missiles.” [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this. I am willing to bet there won’t be much coming out of this publicly, but behind the scenes a few issues will probably be worked out:
South Korean and Japanese defense chiefs are expected to hold bilateral talks later this month for the first time in four years despite soured ties over historical rows, government sources here said Tuesday.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo plans to meet with his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani around the end of this month in Singapore on the sidelines of the regional security forum, the Shangri-La Dialogue, according to a source. The upcoming annual security forum is slated for May 29-31.
If held, it will be the first bilateral talks between the top defense officials in four years, as they have shunned such meetings due to deteriorated bilateral relations over history-related issues, including Japan’s refusal to apologize for its wartime atrocities.
Icy Seoul-Tokyo relations have taken a turn for the worse in recent months after the Abe administration renewed claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, and attempted to deny its wrongdoing during World War II, such as the forced sexual enslavement of Asian women, mostly Korean, for its soldiers. Korea was under harsh colonial rule by Japan from 1910 to 1945.
“On the table would be issues of mutual interest including how to work closely to deter and counter North Korea’s nuclear and missiles threats and the implementation of the revised U.S.-Japan defense guidelines,” another source said. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
French magazine reacts with open-mouthed wonder to American pro-gun kids' book http://t.co/8I4TsdUoJF pic.twitter.com/eTg6l9r1Z8
— Vox (@voxdotcom) May 19, 2015
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C, rear) poses for a photo with children of U.S. troops and U.S. Embassy personnel during a visit to Seoul’s Yongsan Garrison on May 18, 2015. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
