Well it looks like the military has been able to prevent President Roh from at least giving up Korean territory during the summit:
The government has decided to leave discussion of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border with North Korea in the West Sea, off the agenda when President Roh Moo-hyun meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in October. If North Korea, which wants the NLL redrawn, raises the issue as expected, the government will propose that the two sides’ defense ministers discuss it as part of talks on easing tensions in other border areas like the Demilitarized Zone. [Chosun Ilbo]
Just the fact that the Roh Administration was willing to give up sovereign Korean territory before the military stepped in just goes to show how desperate this government is to appease Kim Jong-il at this up coming summit. The prize of this summit for the South Korean tax payer is going to be huge.
Kim Byung-hyun must live in an RV the way he gets shipped around the Major League:
South Korean star pitcher Kim Byung-hyun re-signed with Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins on Saturday.
The Marlins inked the righthander, who has been with three clubs this season. He is in his second stint with Florida.
The 28-year-old Kim is 6-6 with a 5.23 ERA in 19 games – 16 starts – with the Colorado Rockies, Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks this season. He made only two starts in Arizona, posting an inflated 23.63 ERA before being released.
And why the Marlins think he will do any better in Florida is anybody’s guess.
It appears the "Dear Son" is back in favor with the "Dear Leader":
The eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-nam (36) has returned to Pyongyang and is working at the Organization and Guidance Department of North Korea’s Worker’s Party, an intelligence source said Sunday. The department is the key agency that controls all of the party, the military and the government of North Korea. This has prompted analysts to speculate about a reconciliation and the possibility that Jopng-nam, who has been living in exile in Macau, could inherit the leadership instead of his younger half-brothers Jong-chul (26) and Jong-woon (24), who were variously tipped for the succession. [Chosun Ilbo]
This is probably a good assumption since Kim Jong-nam was given such an important government position. Holding this position is probably a test of Kim Jong-nam’s worthiness to succeed his father. If he does a good job he will probably be tapped as his successor. One thing is for certain, Kim Jong-il is no longer the fattest man in North Korea.
North Korea is now saying 600 people died from the floods this month and updated their damage assessment across the country from the floods. I am still maintaining that these floods are being hyped by the North Koreans to gain additional aid money. Look at how much money they have already brought in:
On Friday, the United Nations said it will launch an appeal this coming week for between $15 million and $20 million to help about 400,000 North Koreans affected by the floods. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Margareta Wahlstrom, the deputy emergency relief coordinator, said the appeal will only focus on immediate emergency needs – food, medical care, water and sanitation. South Korea delivered the first part of a $7.5 million emergency aid package to North Korea on Thursday including instant noodles, drinking water, blankets and medicine.
Additionally the flood gives President Roh and his legion of "sunshiners" the political cover they need to give North Korea a multi-billion dollar aid package during the upcoming second Inter-Korean Summit in Pyongyang. Call me cynical, but I take nothing at face value from North Korea.
I have uncovered another leftist plant in the military that was featured in the New York Times recently. The list continues to grow. You can read about it over at Forward Deployed.
There are now reports that a deal has been reached between the Korean government and the Taliban to release the remaining 19 hostages in Afghanistan:
The South Korean government remained calm Sunday despite reports that a deal has been reached on the release of 19 South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, but indicated that progress was being made in negotiations.
“There is no agreement yet for the release of the hostages,” a Foreign Ministry official said, asking that he not be identified. “Currently, we are moving on all fronts for the release of the hostages so there could be an outcome within days.”
The official was commenting on a report by the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) a day earlier that the Koreans will soon be released in a deal, in which the Seoul government has agreed to withdraw within “weeks” its 200-member army engineering unit deployed in the war-torn country. [Yonhap]
As I said before, I suspect a deal has been done and the hostages will be released over Ramadan. The Taliban does not want to be identified as the common Mafioso criminals that they are, thus openly releasing the hostages for a ransom payment is not they image they want to portray to the Muslim world. They want to covertly receive the ransom payment and then release the prisoners over Ramadan and claim they were released for humanitarian reasons. In Islamic culture Ramadan is the time of year when prisoners can receive forgiveness and amnesty from their captors. Ramadan begins September 13th. Thus sometime around September 13th I suspect they will be released.
Additionally the withdrawal of the engineer unit is just an added benefit to give legitimacy to their kidnapping of the Koreans in the first place. The only problem left to figure out is how to covertly receive the ransom payment. This is where the Saudis come in. Reports have also come out that the Saudis are helping the Koreans secure the hostages’ release. The Saudis will probably act as the money launderers for the Korean money.
This makes the Taliban happy because they get their ransom payment while simultaneously maintaining their image of being mujahadeen instead of the common criminals that they are and the Koreans are happy because they secured the hostages’ release. The only ones that lose in all of this are the two dead Korean hostages executed by the Taliban and the future Afghan civilians and coalition forces killed with the new armaments that the Taliban will be able to buy courtesy of the Korean government, but since when has the Korean government cared about that?
Welcome to a new week
Thought for the day:
The first and last essential of a good soldier is character — without it he will not long endure. — Moran “The Anatomy of Courage”
Humour
How to install a wireless security system:
Go to a second-hand store, buy a pair of men’s used work boots … a really big pair. Put them outside your front door on top of a copy of Guns and Ammo magazine. Put a dog dish beside it … a really big dish. Leave a note on your front door that says something like this:
“Bubba, Big Mike and I have gone to get more ammunition – back in 30 minutes. Don’t disturb the pit bulls, they’ve just been wormed.”
Brain Teaser
If three cats catch three mice in three minutes, how many cats would be needed to catch 100 mice in 100 minutes.
Answer Below
Trivia
What do you call an Eagle’s nest?
Answer Below
The Koreas
– This story is poetic justice for the bike delivery dudes.
– This just confirms why I would never buy an apartment in Korea.
– Some thoughts on North Korea after Kim Jong-il.
– US beef is again being allowed into Korea. For how long is anyone’s guess.
– So that is what goes on in those uni-sex bathrooms.
Japan
– I don’t think I will be using the Gaijin Smash technique any time soon in Korea.
– Interesting posting on the execution of three Japanese criminals this week.
– I have always heard tales of vending machines falling and killing people and always wondered if it was an urban legend or not? Well now there is video evidence that proves that there are people dumb enough to killed by a vending machine.
– More evidence that Japan-Korea relations are not as bad as people make it out to be.
– Finger Chopping Wacky
China
– Activist disappears at Beijing Airport.
– Interesting article about Asian Godfathers.
– China Airlines involved in cover up after runway explosion?
Milblogs
– The Danger Room travels to the Green Zone.
– Haditha Marines exonerated, Murtha is strangely quiet.
– Michael Totten offers kudos to journalists.
– The Ghosts of Anbar
– An Iranian Psyop?
Forward Deployed
– Empowering Iraq
– Character Assassination of General Petraeus Begins
– Taliban Phones and Taunts Soldiers’ Families
– Multi-million Dollar Parts Fraud Uncovered
– Bashing Israel Over Darfur, Is It Justified?
Japan Probe is reporting that the war over ” The Sea that Cannot Be Named” has a new front, Google Ads:
I came across the following advertisement today while viewing a site that had Google Ads:
The ad link led to http://eastsea.koreanblog.com, which appears to be a small free blog set up by someone. There is only one post on the blog, parroting the usual ultranationalist Korean argument against the international usage of the name “Sea of Japan.”
This guys blog is low budget and cheesy. You would think that if you are willing to put up the money to buy a Google Ad you would at least put a half way decent webpage together. Additionally the last time the webpage was updated was in 2004. Can this issue get any more stupid?
