The file photo shows Japanese Emperor Hirohito (R) reading an address for a dinner party in Tokyo on Sept. 6, 1984, held in honor of a state visit to Japan by then South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan. The address contained wordings to express regret over Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Diplomatic documents released by the South Korean foreign ministry on March 30, 2015, show that Japan believed in 1984 that it was “inevitable” for its emperor to make comments that express regret over its wartime wrongdoing. (Yonhap)
I hope this deal works out, but considering North Korea is one of Iran’s best friends they would be well versed how to maintain a secret nuclear program and then back out of deal by blaming the other side:
Secretary of State John Kerry, in Lausanne, Switzerland, watched President Obama speak Thursday at the White House about the general agreement reached with Iran on its nuclear program. Credit Pool photo by Brendan Smialowski
Even two of the most skeptical experts on the negotiations — Gary Samore and Olli Heinonen of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and members of a group call United Against Nuclear Iran — said they were impressed with the depth of detail.
Mr. Samore, who was Mr. Obama’s top adviser on weapons of mass destruction in his first term as president, said in an email that there is “much detail to be negotiated but I think it’s enough to be called a political framework.” Just a day ago, that appeared in doubt.
Mr. Heinonen, the former chief inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said “it appears to be a fairly comprehensive deal with most important parameters.” But he cautioned that “Iran maintains enrichment capacity, which will be beyond its near-term needs.”
According to European officials, roughly 5,000 centrifuges will remain spinning enriched uranium at the main nuclear site at Natanz, about half the number currently running. The giant underground enrichment site at Fordo — which Israeli and some American officials fear is impervious to bombing — will be partly converted to advanced nuclear research and the production of medical isotopes. Foreign scientists will be present. There will be no fissile material present that could be used to make a bomb.
A major reactor at Arak, which officials feared could produce plutonium, would operate on a limited basis that would not provide enough fuel for a bomb.
In return, the European Union and the United States would begin to lift sanctions, as Iran complied. At a news conference after the announcement, Mr. Zarif said that essentially all sanctions would be lifted after the final agreement is signed. [New York Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but North Korea first started negotiating in regards to their nuclear program back in 1994. Now 21 years later they have nuclear weapons. The Iranians if they choose to follow the same path will probably have nuclear weapons even sooner than that. I think a lot of the decision on whether to covertly build nukes will depend on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East in the coming years. Despite the media reports I think Iran wants nuclear weapons more for regime survival than to attack Israel with. In the coming years if Iran feels like they are getting surrounded by hostile ISIS affiliates and Sunni governments they may then feel compelled to move forward with a covert nuclear weapons program. This deal will allow them to keep that possibility open in the long term while still complying with the agreement to get sanctions dropped in the near term.
This number has got to be deflated because it seems pretty low to me:
Six out of every 10 women in their 20s living in Seoul drink alcohol and 10 percent of them are heavy drinkers, according to a recent survey.
The survey, conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and released Tuesday, showed 64.8 percent of women said they drank alcohol more than once a month in the past year, up from 57.7 percent in 2008.
Among them, 9.7 percent said they drank more than five glasses of soju, which contains between 17 and 20 percent alcohol, more than twice a week.
Drinking is not just a habit for young women, however. A total of 45.1 percent of all female respondents said they drink, up from 40.8 percent in 2008; the drinking rate for men in the city increased by 1.8 percentage points during the same period. [Korea Times]
This group does make a good point in regards to heterosexual relationships allowed to have kissing in the Korean dramas, but this drama is being investigated for allowing homosexual kissing:
Rainbow Action against Sexual Minority Discrimination, a group that works to raise awareness about sexual minorities and their rights, held a press conference Tuesday to request the KCSC end discussions for disciplinary measures against JTBC drama “Seonam Girls High School Investigators.”
The drama, which tells the story of five students who, as members of a private investigator club, go up against private education, abortion, bullying and suicide, aired kiss scenes between two schoolgirls on Feb. 25 and March 4.
When a complaint was filed with the KCSC, the communications regulator convened a meeting March 18 to deliberate the matter. The drama is rated for viewing by those 15 and older.
“‘Seonam Girls’ is a rare drama that accurately depicts the lives of sexual minorities in a society that pretends people with such preferences don’t exist,” members of Rainbow Action said. “Deliberators at a meeting on Feb. 25 said the drama may encourage homosexuality and went as far as to make inappropriate comments, claiming they believe sexual minorities suffer from a mental disability.”
It continued, “The people who need to be deliberated are the deliberators. Other dramas that have dealt with teens and their sexual relationships were aired with no problems, so to discipline Seonam Girls is discrimination against sexual minorities.” [Korea Times]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) tours a fish processing factory at Kumsan Port, South Hwanghae Province. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported it on March 27, 2015, without elaborating on the timing of the visit. (KCNA-Yonhap)
Here are the latest USFK court martial and ROK criminal prosecution results. In February there was a couple of creepy child sex offenders convicted:
Results of Army Courts-Martial for February 2015
On 17 February 2015, at a General Court-Martial, Specialist Nicholas J. Majetich, 94th Military Police Battalion, 501st Sustainment Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of sexual abuse of a child under 16 years of age (Article 120, UCMJ). He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to be confined for 15 months; and to be discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge.
On 18 February 2015, at a General Court-Martial, Specialist Steven V Dang, 2-1 Air Defense Artillery, 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of possession of child pornography (Article 134, UCMJ). He was sentence to be confined for 20 months, to be reduced to E-1, and to receive a Bad Conduct Discharge.
On 23 February 2015, at a General Court-Martial, Specialist Joseph A. Warren, 1-15 Field Artillery, 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2d Infantry Division, was found guilty of one specification of making a false official statement (Article 107, UCMJ), one specification of wrongful use of a controlled substance (Article 112a), one specification of aggravated assault in (Article 128), one specification of assault consummated by battery (Article 128), and one specification of communicating a threat (Article 134). He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to be confined for 17 months, and to receive a Bad-Conduct Discharge.
On 27 February 2015, at a General Court-Martial, PV2 Javier Davis, 618th DENTAC, 65th Medical Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of assault consummated by a battery (Article 128, UCMJ). He was sentenced to be reprimanded, to be reduced to E-1, to forfeit $1546 per month for two months, to be restricted for 60 days, and to perform hard labor without confinement for 60 days.
Results of ROK Criminal Prosecutions for February 2015
In Busan District Court on 3 February 2015, MCPO William D. Combs, MSC-K, Busan, was convicted of Violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (Hit and Run Vehicle). His adjudged sentence was a 3,000,000 Won fine.
In Daegu District Court on 5 February 2015, SGT Liuneta J. Ioane, Jr., HHC, 19th ESC, USAG Daegu, was convicted of Indecent Act by Compulsion. His adjudged sentence was a 3,000,000 Won fine and ordered to register as sex offender with the local authority.
In Jeonju District Court on 4 February 2015, SSgt Jael X. Laborn, 8th FW (duty w/AFN), Kunsan Air Base, was convicted of traffic law violations including leaving the scene of the accident. His adjudged sentence was a 5,000,000 Won fine.
In Suwon District Court on 12 February 2015, SFC Darin A. Cox, A Btry, 6/52d ADA, Osan Air Base, was convicted of DUI and a violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (Death or Injury Resulting from Dangerous Driving). His adjudged sentence was a 6,000,000 Won fine.
It looks like smokers in Seoul are going to have less option of where they can smoke:
A three-month grace period ends today for violators of a smoking ban at all restaurants, coffee shops and Internet cafes, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tuesday.
From today, anyone who violates the ban will be fined 100,000 won ($90), while the owners will have to pay 1.7 million won ($1,500).
When the government implemented the ban in January, it gave a grace period until the end of March, and has since tried to raise public awareness about the smoking ban.
“Smoking in those places has not been strongly controlled to date. We only fined owners who maintained smoking tables for the last three months,” said a ministry official. “However, the ban will be strictly applied from April.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see how strictly this ordinance is enforced.
