Here is an interesting article about an ex-State Senator trying to get memorials that represent Korea’s modern history built in Oregon:

As a young boy during the Korean War, John Lim witnessed his father being forcibly conscripted by the North Korean People’s Army.

The incident was only the beginning of a series of greater tragedies. Branded as a communist, his father, who was a fire captain in his hometown of Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, was shot dead by South Korean authorities after the three-year conflict. The entire family was destroyed, and Lim himself nearly died from tuberculosis.

His brushes with death, however, did not kill his dreams. In 1966, a penniless Lim took a flight to the U.S. and pursued religious studies while working as a janitor, painter and gardener. He then ventured into business, boasting acumen in retail, health food and real estate, among other areas.

In 1992, Lim set a milestone in Korean-American history, becoming a state senator in Oregon. After serving five straight terms, he is now seeking to “set up memorials dedicated to U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur and former South Korean presidents who contributed to the country’s economic and political development, such as Park Chung-hee and Kim Dae-jung.   [Korea Herald]

Here is something else I found of interest in the article, Lim’s group tried to take over the MacArthur statue in Incheon after hate groups wanted to tear it down:

The five-year project was initiated after some liberal civic groups called for the demolition of a MacArthur sculpture at a public park in Incheon last year.

The Lim-led Korean War Memorial Foundation of Oregon initially sought to take over the statue, but then decided to have a new one made. In 2000, it established a 5-acre memorial park within a city park of Wilsonville near Portland to commemorate the war and U.S. veterans, with the support of the Seoul government, the city and South Korean businesses there.

Long time ROK Heads may remember how in 2005 huge riots broke out in Incheon as ROK veterans groups defended the MacArthur statue from the anti-US leftist hate groups that had vowed to tear it down.

Fortunately the anti-US hate groups failed to tear down the castle after the Braveheart style battle to defend the hill.  For those that haven’t been there before Jayu Park in Incheon where the MacArthur statue stands is well worth checking out as well as taking a walk through Chinatown below the hill.

I wonder how long it will be before someone cries racism/sexism or whatever other -isms there are out there to get this policy revised like we saw with the hair policy:

If you want to go out in public on Fort Leonard Wood you better ditch the tank top, pull up your saggy drawers and shave that scruff.

Maj. Gen. Leslie Smith, the Missouri post’s commanding general, issued new appearance standards in a Nov. 10 policy update.
The rules not only crack down on sloppy dress, but skimpy outfits as well: No short skirts, exposed midriffs and revealing undergarments.
The rules fall under the post’s Command Policy 18, which used to be called “Wear and Appearance of Uniforms.” Now it’s called “Wear and Appearance of Uniforms and Civilian Attire,” which really brings into focus the expansion of the policy to include not only soldiers in civilian clothes, but also spouses, kids, guests – anyone who comes on post. (Army Times)

You can read more at the link.

Sixty-three yrs later, Korean War vet receives a second Purple Heart from @VernBuchanan for "Chosun Few" heroics. http://t.co/7GS15bpqP0

— Richard Horgan (@LiberateLaura) November 22, 2014

President Park Geun-hye (L) plays a carbon fiber guitar at an innovation center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, on Nov. 24, 2014. (Yonhap)

The leftists in the South Korean government are trying to legislate away a subsidy the North Korean defector groups receive to help their balloon launch campaign:

Government subsidies for anti-North Korea activists have emerged as a bone of contention at the National Assembly as rival parties are competing to get their respective human rights bills related to North Korea passed.

The subsidies allegedly have been used to fund the campaign of releasing balloons containing leaflets criticizing the Pyongyang leadership that are blown across the border.

The ruling Saenuri Party said Monday it favored keeping the subsidies for civic groups as a tool against North Korea, while the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) argued that it will only anger the North.

The two parties failed to reach a compromise so the competing bills are now being deliberated at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but ending the subsidies will not end the balloon launches.  The defector groups will just have to raise more money privately to fund the launches.

This is like musical Defense Secretaries the way the Pentagon keeps going through them:

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure from President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, senior administration officials said Monday, following a rocky tenure in which he has struggled to break through the White House’s insular foreign policy team.

Hagel is the first senior Obama adviser to leave the administration following the sweeping losses for Obama’s party in the midterm elections. It also comes as the president’s national security team has been battered by multiple foreign policy crises, including the rise of the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link, but I would be surprised if Michelle Flournoy is not nominated because she should be capable considering all her time at the Pentagon, is a strong Democrat supporter, and also brings political benefits. First of all she would be the first female Secretary of Defense and if the Republican controlled Congress does anything to try and block her nomination it can be played as the “War on Women” by the Democrats in anticipation of the 2016 elections.

It makes it much harder for the United States to criticize China for violating UN sanctions in support of North Korea when the ROK is so easily able to set up projects like this with North Korea that makes the Kim regime money:

As the two Koreas and Russia speed up a groundbreaking joint logistics project, a government official here said Friday that a key question is whether it can be operated with stability.

Inter-Korean economic cooperation has often been hamstrung by military tensions on the peninsula, noted the unification ministry official.

He confirmed the government’s view that the Rajin-Khasan project is not in breach of bilateral and U.N. sanctions on the North.

Under the envisioned program, South Korea’s top steelmaker POSCO will bring in Russian coal via the North Korean port of Rajin. Two other South Korean firms — Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. and Korail Corp. — are joining the project.

“Since it is a normal international commercial trade, it’s my understanding that there is no problem with the U.N. sanctions,” the official told reporters on background.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

The U.N. is accused of covering up allegations of mass rape in Darfur, reports @columlynch. http://t.co/RkgNGHiLJe pic.twitter.com/HaoR82jpBl

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) November 22, 2014

President Park Geun-hye (R) shakes hands with U.S. ambassador Mark Lippert after receiving his credentials at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Nov. 21, 2014. (Yonhap)

This story is a perfect example of the dangers excessive gambling can cause.  If a foreign intelligence agent knew of his gambling problem they may have attempted to try and offer him money for secrets to feed his gambling problem.  It is just amazing that a three-star admiral would allow himself to have such a gambling addiction that would lead to criminal conduct and make himself such a security threat:

The admiral fired last year as No. 2 commander of U.S. nuclear forces may have made his own counterfeit $500 poker chips with paint and stickers to feed a gambling habit  that eventually saw him banned from an entire network of casinos, according to a criminal investigative report.

Although Rear Adm. Timothy M. Giardina’s removal as deputy head of U.S. Strategic Command was announced last year, evidence of his possible role in manufacturing the counterfeit chips has not previously been revealed. Investigators said they found his DNA on the underside of an adhesive sticker used to alter genuine $1 poker chips to make them look like $500 chips.

Nor had the Navy disclosed how extensively he gambled.

The case is among numerous embarrassing setbacks for the nuclear force. Disciplinary problems, security flaws, weak morale and leadership lapses documented by The Associated Press over the past two years prompted Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Nov. 14 to announce top-to-bottom changes in how the nuclear force is managed that will cost up to $10 billion.

The records obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act show Giardina was a habitual poker player, spending a total of 1,096 hours — or an average of 15 hours per week — at the tables at the Horseshoe casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the 18 months before being caught using three phony chips in June 2013. [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.