A new arms deal has been announced between Raytheon and the ROK military:

The Pentagon on Friday announced the proposed sale to South Korea of advanced SM-2 missiles and related gear valued at up to $372 million.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a notice to Congress that Seoul had requested up to 210 Raytheon Co. -built SM-2 Block IIIA/B missiles and support equipment plus technical assistance from the U.S. government.

"The proposed sale will enhance South Korea’s defensive capabilities and increase interoperability with U.S. and mulit-national forces supporting coalition operations," the Pentagon said.

Does anyone find it ironic that on the same day this sale of advanced surface to air missiles is announced the Japanese Prime Minister was in Washington lobbying for the US to sell Japan the F-22:

The F-22 sale to Japan is favored by conservatives who say Japan, the closest U.S. ally in Asia, needs the warplanes to counter threats from both North Korea, where missiles could be pre-emptively attacked before launch, and China, which is building up forces opposite Taiwan, where China has deployed about 900 missiles within range of the island.

"One hundred F-22s in hands of Japan could change the Taiwan balance of power for two decades," said one official in favor of the estimated $30 billion sale. "The F-22 based in Okinawa could not only fight off [China’s People’s Liberation Army] air force but strike inside China; it is invisible to radar."

The arms  race in northeast Asia continues. 

News
-  Of course the big story this week was the shooting at Virginia Tech.  The best write up about the shooting and it’s effect on the Korean community is without a doubt this comment left on Michael Hurt’s site.  A must read comment.  Additionally the Big Ho has a good write up on who is really responsible for the tragedy.
-  After reading this posting, "If the Koreans are Our Friends, Why Do They Dislike Us So Much?", I’m beginning to think that USinKorea’s comment that the backlash against Korea won’t be because of Cho, but rather from more people becoming aware of the anti-US sentiment in Korea due to the Cho shootings, may be correct.
-  Speaking of backlash there is definitely a YouTube backlash over the Cho shooting.

Korea
-  Alright enough with Cho, and here is some North Korea news.  DPRK Studies has a good write up on the latest blow to the pro-engagement crowd who this past couple of weeks have taken one blow after another and yet still continue to believe North Korea is trustworthy. 
-  It is North Korea Freedom Week and OFK has details on what you can do to spread the word.
-  Anyone interested in Korean music needs check out this new reference that attempts catalogue Korean music from traditional to modern times.

Japan
-  For my Japanese readers, you better check out your toilets because I wouldn’t want this malfunction to happen to you. 
-  I never would have imagined cheating had become such a science.

China
-  It is good to see that the US is not the only place that builds bridges to no where.
-  Did anyone know Rupert Murdoch had a Chinese wife?
-  Are Chinese scholars whores?

Milblogs
-  Michael Totten is in Kirkuk and offers a great look at the ethnic conflict in that city.
-  Reports of Iran aiding the Taliban, is anyone surprised?

Blogging
-  Here is a link to a cool map of the top 500,000 blogs in the blogosphere.  I’m in there somewhere. 

So does anyone think this apology will make as many headlines as the deliberate New York Times mistranslation did of Abe’s off the cuff comment about the comfort women last month?:

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday expressed regrets that his country’s military forced women into sexual slavery during World War II.

The remark, made in an interview with a weekly U.S. news magazine on the eve of his visit to the United States, may have been aimed at mending fences. The premier has been criticized by many countries for claiming there is no evidence that the Japanese military took any part in the forced recruitment of the so-called comfort women to serve its troops who invaded Asian countries.

"As Japan’s prime minister, I’m extremely sorry that they were made to endure such pain," Abe told Newsweek. The Japanese leader reiterated that his government respected and stood by a statement by former Chief Cabinet Minister Yohei Kono in 1993 that apologized for the Japanese military’s involvement in the use of women as sexual slaves.

Any bets when the first pundit comes out and claims this apology "isn’t sincere enough"?  I doubt this apology will even appease Congressman Honda who is playing up this issue for domestic political support from his Korean-American voting base.  He is going to keep playing this out for every last vote from political base just like Korean politicians back in Korea will keep doing the same thing. 

I do have a question for Congressman Honda though.  When is he going to start writing a bill to harass Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to apologize for the 20-30 million Chinese that died during the Great Leap forward, the up to 500,000 who died during the Cultural Revolution, or the 2,000-3000 civilians who were gunned down by the Chinese military at Tianamen Square.  What about an apology to the people of Korea for the Chinese intervention into the Korean War that killed up to a million Korean civilians and ensured the continued division of the country to this day?  How about another apology for the continuing human rights abuses of Chinese peasants and the sexual slavery of North Korean women?  Expect no bill on these issues because Congressman Honda considers these incidents as nothing more than "historical blemishes".

I do have to give China some credit because Chinese Premier Wen appears to be trying mend some fences with Japan with this week’s visit to the country.  Via Ampontan here’s some of what he said:

• “Japan formally admitted to wartime aggression and expressed deep remorse and apology, and the Chinese government and people high credit to Japan for it.”
• “China will not forget Japan’s assistance and support as the country reformed and modernized.”
• He described the two countries’ economic relationship as “mutually complementary” to a significant extent.

So does anyone think President Roh will make an announcement similar to this after yet another apology from the Japanese government?  I doubt it, especially with this year’s presidential election coming up; Japan bashing will be en vogue for at least the rest of the year.  If any mending of fences with Japan is to occur it will have to be after the presidential election and will last until a run up to another election.  That is how the cycle works and will continue.

It was really only a matter of time, but not only are Korean movies to blame for Cho’s actions but now video games are as well.

The shooting on the Virginia Tech campus was only hours old, police hadn’t even identified the gunman, and yet already the perpetrator had been fingered and was in the midst of being skewered in the media.

Video games. They were to blame for the dozens dead and wounded. They were behind the bloodiest massacre in U.S. history.

Or so Jack Thompson told Fox News and, in the days that followed, would continue to tell anyone who’d listen.

While people continue to debate what caused the shootings, more information about Cho is coming out from his relatives in South Korea as well.  They say he has always been a very quiet and withdrawn even when he was a young boy.  Over at Lost Nomad they have a good discussion going if Cho was autistic or not.  I have never heard of an autistic person committing mass murder before though.  It is pretty clear the guy had mental problems, but I don’t think that was the one thing that caused this tragedy to happen.  I don’t think there is one single thing that caused the Virginia Tech massacre like people are trying to find. 

It was probably a combination of a whole number of things that formed the mental state that caused Cho to commit his crime.  Just by watching and reading his manifesto it is clear he has mental issues.  I’m going to admittedly do a lot of speculating here, but you have a guy with a weak mental state who reportedly was bullied in high school, probably had what he felt was a lot of pressure on him to do well in school from his family especially with his sister graduating from Princeton, possibly was angered by girlfriend issues in college, and may have been jealous of others at college who had more money and friends then him. 

Movies and video games (if he even played games) may have been outlet for his anger for a while, but at some point the anger over all the false demons he created in his mind began to bubble over and began his outlet his anger by writing crazy plays, acting weird in class, starting fires on campus, and stalking women.  The mental issues went untreated and continue to manifest to the point he decided to buy a gun and commit his crime.  I really think that if people are looking for one thing to blame, don’t blame movies, video games, the Iraq War (yes I know it’s hard to believe but someone blamed Iraq for Cho’s killings), white supremacists, guns, autism, mental treatment, gun control, bullying, etc., blame Cho instead.  At the end of day everyone should be held responsible for their actions and Cho is no different.

From Yonhap:

Two South Korean soldiers were found shot dead at a military base in a remote area about 130 km east of Seoul on Friday, the Army said.

"The Army corporals, both in their 20s, were on guard duty at an ammunition depot when a fellow soldier heard shots about 11:50 a.m. at the engineering unit in Heongseong, Gangwon Province," an Army official said. "The Army is investigating the incident."
The soldiers were carrying K-1 rifles with dozens of live bullets at the time of the incident, he added.

One soldier, whose surname was Lee, was shot on the neck, and the other one, identified only by his family name Han, was shot in the belly, according to the Army.

"All the shots appear to have been fired from Lee’s rifle," the official said.

I am obviously speculating here, but I wonder if there was an accidental discharge that killed soldier hit in the belly and the other soldier shocked from the accident turned the gun on himself?  I wonder if it is standard practice for the ROK Army to have their rifles loaded when on guard duty?

HT: Nomad

Who can name who this man is and what his significance is?:

Here are this year’s current Korea Finder Leader’s Board:

Mark – 8

James – 2

Peekstr – 1

Sonagi – 1

Note that who ever totals the most points at the end of the year, I will purchase for them a Korea related book or DVD of their choice using the proceeds I have accumulated by people purchasing books from Amazon.com on my website.

UPDATE #2: It turns out that a Virginia Tech professor was the first person to connect Cho the Oldboy movie.  Another blogger wonders if the Korean media had anything to do with inspiring the murder as well.  I think this may become a growing sentiment.  Just for the record I find Korean movies to be no more violent than the garbage coming from Hollywood.  However it will be interesting to see how the Korean media reacts to this latest development when yesterday they were blaming American culture, white supremacists, bullies, and everything else to deflect attention away from the killer.  More good blogging here as well about the Korean reaction to this tragedy along with a good posting here to remember the victims. 

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UPDATE #1: There has been more links discovered to the Oldboy movie and Cho.  These links have made the front page of Drudge and I was just watching BBC and they linked comments from Cho’s manifesto as being words used in the Vengeance Trilogy.  Hopefully there will be web links soon.  It looks like this may turn the debate to if movies cause people to kill now. 

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The New York Times is reporting that the South Korean movie Old Boy may have inspired the Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-hui to commit the shooting rampage.  I have to admit the images are eerily similar and possibly inspired by the movie.  Was the killing rampage sparked by the movie?  No way, this guy was nuts and would have killed people whether he saw the movie or not. 

I was just watching the news and not only do I feel bad for the victims families but I also feel really bad for Cho’s family as well.  The guilt they must feel for this must be tremendous.  They just reported on Fox News that his family went into hiding and that Cho’s 81 year old grandpa in Korea wished he would have rather died earlier so he didn’t have to live to see this.  He also said that his parents treated their son like a king.  His poor sister who is a Princeton graduate and working for the State Department is being stalked by the media as well.  I really hope the media lays off Cho’s family.  I would hate to see one of them commit suicide over this, as is commonly done in Korea.

Fox News was also reporting that Cho’s family did have money issues because they were working to put their kids through school with their daughter graduating from Princeton in 2004 and the son attending Virginia Tech which isn’t a cheap university either.  These money problems may explain the jealous rage against rich kids in Cho’s manifesto. 

Also just from watching the news I don’t think showing his pictures and videos over and over again is really necessary.  Report it one time and be done with it.  The way Cho’s pictures and videos are being shown over and over again is beginning to create the appearance of a glorification of him that will only inspire more mad men to commit the same crime and go out in a blaze of glory.  Cho admitted himself in his manifesto that he was inspired by the Columbine killers.  Plus do the family members involved in this really need to see this guy’s face over and over again as well?  Anyone else have any thoughts on this or am I just over reacting?

The Osan bar owners are going really hate this if it happens:

The Air Force said Wednesday that it might not be able to pay its airmen in the coming months if the Pentagon is forced to shift some $800 million to the Army to fund the war in Iraq.

The Army announced this week that it will slow spending and prioritize repairs to equipment as it waits for Congress to review emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the Pentagon has asked Congress for the OK to shift $1.6 billion in funds meant for the Navy and Air Force to pay the Army’s operating expenses, according to an Army news release.

That shift of funds could affect the Air Force in several ways, according to Maj. Morshe Araujo, an Air Force spokeswoman.

Hopefully our poor excuse for a Congress gets their act together and funds our military.  I have maintained that if the Congress wants to end the war than simply hold a vote to cut funding for the war and withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.  When a regional war breaks out, oil sky rockets, and the US economy goes to crap don’t blame the military.  If Congress is not willing to do this than they need to shut up, quit giving hope to the terrorists, and fund our military.  These political games that are directly effecting our military is an absolute disgrace.

Just as I expected the Korean media has begun to blame the incident on US racism and culture corrupting a poor Korean youth.

From the Chosun Ilbo:

Yu Bum-hee, Dept. of Neuropsychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, said, “Virginia has a reputation for having comparatively strong white supremacy movements. It’s possible that Cho felt diminished by that atmosphere.” These are difficulties all Korean-Americans face as a minority in the U.S., and especially the 1.5 generation. Joseph Oh (34), who lives in Los Angeles, said, “As I grew older, I realized the ethnic barrier. I fought with white youngsters who teased me so many times. But I finally had to accept reality.” In some cases, the situation can lead to crime. New York Police estimates that a significant number of crimes in the Queens Flushing Koreatown are committed by ethnic Koreans under 18.

Here is more from the Korea Herald:

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In the Associated Press’ latest attempt to make old news, new again that I blogged about earlier this week, they made mention about another possible incident of civilians being killed by US forces in Pohang during the Korean War. Now South Korean AP writer Jae Soon-chang has released an article about this incident from the Korean War:

A half-century on, the cold, matter-of-fact words leap from the typewritten page of a U.S. warship’s journal: “DeHaven received orders from the SFCP to open fire on a large group of refugee personnel located on the beach.”

The destroyer’s officers questioned the order, then complied. What happened next is frozen forever in the minds of those who were there.

“The sea was a pool of blood,” said Choi Il-chool, 75. “Dead bodies lay all over the place.” Witnesses say 100 to 200 civilians were killed in the Navy shelling.

For seven years, since going public with their private grief, the survivors of that day, Sept. 1, 1950, have demanded an investigation of what they say was an unprovoked U.S. attack on refugee families huddled on a Pohang beach early in the Korean War. The Seoul government said in February it would launch such an inquiry, armed now with firsthand evidence — the declassified U.S. Navy journal — to back up what the victims say.

This sounds like a very tragic incident however it is short in context and details and jumps to the conclusion that this was done intentionally to kill innocent civilians. Jae of course then goes on to use the Muccio Letter to confirm his thesis:

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