Who can name where this home is located?

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

Mark-4

Peekstr – 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.

Can anyone guess who said this statement below:

"The people chose you [Democrats] due to your opposition to Bush’s policy in Iraq, but it appears that you are marching with him to the same abyss, and it appears that you will take part with him in the defeat."

Was it Cindy Sheehan or one of the other loons in the anti-war left?  You can find out by clicking here.

February 15, 1951, Day Break of Victory

The reserve Ranger company and some soldiers from B Company had arrived at day break to relieve the artillerymen holding the front line. Soon after the sound of friendly aircraft could be heard in the air. Throughout the day friendly aircraft pounded the Chinese held ridge line with everything they had while the American infantry men supported by tank and artillery fire fought to take back the hill. Just through sheer man power the Chinese continued to stubbornly hold on to the hill. In fact the reserve force was thrown back off the hill three times by the Chinese throughout the course of the day. Eventually COL Freeman made the call to have his lone tank platoon to drive down the road outside of friendly lines and shoot at the back side of the Chinese held ridge line. While the tanks fired on the flanks of the enemy the reserve force would conduct a frontal assault right up the hill in one last attempt to capture it.

While this battled raged on a relief column was being organized to relieve the besieged 23rd Infantry. Colonel Marcel Crombez the commander of the 5th Cavalry Regiment led a column of 23 tanks, 160 infantry men, and 4 engineers from his unit up the 6 mile road leading to Chipyong-ni. They had no trucks so the infantrymen sat on top of the tanks as they rolled north to Chipyong-ni. The relief column started up the road at 3:45PM on February 15, 1951. During the journey up the road the Chinese attacked the column twice. The Chinese charged the tanks with human waves equipped with explosives to blow up the tanks with. The fighting was absolutely ferocious and casualties were heavy on both sides. By the time Crombez’s tanks reached Chipyong-ni only 23 of the 164 infantrymen and engineers riding on the tanks were alive. Of those 23, 13 were walking wounded, only 10 arrived in Chipyong-ni unscathed.

The view from McGee Hill looking south towards the road that COL Crombez’s relief column would appeared from and begin pouring fire on Mangmisan located towards the left of this picture.

This is what the view from the same hill looked like during the battle in 1951

Meanwhile the attack on McGee Hill continued for the 23rd Infantry. The platoon of four 23IN tanks began to hit the flanks of McGee Hill with tank fire. The Chinese tried to assault the tanks with no success. The fire from the tanks combined with the reserve force charging up the front of McGee Hill was enough to cause the Chinese defenders to begin to crack. As the Chinese began to fall back off of McGee Hill towards their stronghold on Mangmisan Mountain, COL Crombez’s relief column appeared over the horizon and began to pour a tremendous amount of tank fire on their mountain stronghold. The Chinese on Mangmisan were now in full retreat with the arrival of Crombez’s tanks. The retreat of this Chinese unit and the arrival of the additional US tanks was enough to cause the remaining Chinese forces to fall into a mass panic and retreat from Chipyong-ni. It was the reverse of the “bug out” fever that had effected US troops when the war first began and now for the first time during the war, the Chinese were the ones “bugging out”.

By night fall all the Chinese had pulled out of the Chipyong-ni area completely; the allied forces had their first victory over the Chinese Communist Forces in the Korean War. The US 23rd Infantry Regiment and their attached French Battalion consisted of only 4,500 soldiers and yet they had some how defeated a vastly larger force of over 25,000 Chinese. The battle did takes it’s toll on the 23rd Infantry Regiment. 52 men from the regiment died, 259 were wounded, and 42 men were missing in action after the battle. The battle was far more costly for the Chinese. Allied forces over the next few days would count over 5,000 Chinese corpses in the surrounding rice paddies, hills, and valleys around Chipyong-ni. Most importantly for the allies this victory showed the rest of the allied forces that the Chinese despite superior numbers could be defeated when confronted with determined men led by great leaders like Colonel Paul Freeman.

The village of Chipyong-ni as seen today.

Prior Posting: A Bloody Valentine’s Day

Note: You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:

This was unexpected, via the Marmot, I found out that Oh My News wrote an article about the English language Korea blogs.  Most of the article was about the Marmot’s Hole and the former Korea Life Blog, but some of the other Korea based bloggers were mentioned in the article. 

I was mentioned as an example of a right wing blog because I bring up negative issues from Korea.  I consider myself conservative, but negative I don’t agree with.  It just so happens that many of the issues going on in Korea are of a negative type.  How can I put a positive spin on recent USFK issues?  How can I put a positive spin on some of the nonsense going on with the anti-US groups?  How can I put a positive spin on anything North Korea related?  These are all major issues going on in Korea that don’t lend a whole lot to be positive about thus the blog reflects that. 

I’m anti-Roh, but who isn’t now a days in Korea when the good old prez has an approval rating around 8% last I checked?  However, if President Roh took my suggestion, and took the subway up to Uijongbu from Cheongwadae and thanked 2ID soldiers for sacrificing a year away from their families to come help defend Korea than I would write about that and thank him for doing such a thing and that would be a positive story.  Since he doesn’t, there is nothing else Roh is doing now to write about. 

Anyway it is always nice to be recognized even if it is from Oh My News which are partly responsible for bringing President Roh to power and brought us such classic pieces of journalism as this here.  

Courtesy the Marmot, are the below links to these unbelievable photos from an American doctor who worked in Daegu, Korea between 1954-1955.  The below links are from a Korean blog based from Texas that interviewed the doctor who took the photos.  The pictures are in color and of unbelievable quality.  Thanks to all those involved who shared these photos with the rest of us. 

First Set    Second Set    Third Set    Fourth Set

I have discussed this before, but after viewing these pictures, ask yourself if the US should have abandoned the Koreans you see in these pictures in 1954, which was four years after the start of the Korean War, like many in America want to do to the Iraqis four years after the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

February 14, 1951, A Bloody Valentine’s Day

On Valentine’s Day of 1951, Air Force spotter planes flew over the surrounding high hills of Chipyong-ni trying to detect the Chinese positions and attack them with rockets and napalm. As usual the Chinese were masters at hiding during the day from allied air attack and little attrition of the Chinese forces was caused by the Air Force planes. Despite the air cover the Chinese mortar men were still able to launch an occasional mortar towards the 23INF’s positions. One of these mortars landed in the vicinity of the regimental command post killing one staff officer and wounding COL Freeman in the leg. Lieutenant General Almond the X Corps commander ordered COL Freeman to leave Chipyong-ni to have his wound treated and sent his operations officer COL Chiles to relieve Freeman. Freeman refused this order because he knew the battle had not been won yet and would not abandon his men.

The Air Force planes that buzzed overhead did allow the 23INF’s forces to take a breather from heavy Chinese attack and the allied soldiers used this time to continuing to fortify their positions and restock their ammunition. COL Freeman limping on one good leg walked around the frontlines and inspected the positions and encourage his soldiers. While he was doing this air drops of resupplies were also being parachuted into Chipyong-ni. However some key ammunition such as mortar rounds were not air dropped. Also the rifle ammunition that was air dropped was individual rounds that were not clipped, which meant somebody would have to clip all those thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Something extraordinary that happened that day was that General Ridgeway helicoptered into Chipyong-ni to encourage the soldiers and review defensive plans with COL Freeman:

The fact that the commanding 8th Army general risked flying into a city besieged by four Chinese division should have been enough of an indicator to the 23INF’s soldiers how important the Battle of Chipyong-ni had become. The highlight of the day however for the soldiers would not be General Ridgeway’s visit, but that the soldiers of the 23INF would have a chance to eat hot chow that day. Nothing motivates a soldier more than their stomachs. For many it would be the last meal they would ever eat.

23IN Soldiers take a break during the day of 13FEB51, Left: William C. Scott, he would die the next night in hand to hand combat, Center: Charles Buttimo, wounded for the 5th time during the battle and sent home, Right: William Johnson, one of the few soldiers to survive the battle without a scratch; was later taken prisoner by the Chinese in May, 1951.

It was so peaceful that day, that rumors began to spread that the Chinese had withdrawn. However, all these rumor were dispelled once night fell over Chipyong-ni on February 14. It was Valentine’s Day, but the Chinese had no intention of showing any love for the 23INF’s forces. The Chinese attack began with signal flares shooting across the sky and bugles sounding off in the distance followed by a ferocious artillery barrage. Once the artillery barrage ended the Chinese began their assault on sides of the 23INF’s defensive perimeter. G Company like the night before was pounded with waves of Chinese attackers that surged down the spur of land that ran from Mangmisan mountain. Other Chinese attacks were occurring simultaneously around the entire regimental perimeter, but clearly the spur of land running from Mangmisan mountain had been chosen as the avenue of approach for the Chinese main effort of this battle. The effectiveness of the prior nights probing attacks had been successful enough for the Chinese generals to believe that an overwhelming commitment of troops to charge the G Company lines would be enough to penetrate the 23INF’s defenses.

To the left you can see the hill held by G Company and Mangmisan mountain in the background.

1LT Heath received word from his third platoon leader, LT McGee, that his platoon located on what would become known as McGee Hill, was receiving heavy casualties from the Chinese assault and could not hold out much longer. 1LT Heath ran down the hill to the nearby artillery position to ask the B/503FA battery commander to provide him some soldiers to help shore up his frontlines. The field artillery commander gave 1LT Heath 15 men to help plug the hole in his line. As he led them up the hill the Chinese were on top of the hill firing down on them. The field artillerymen ran away. 1LT Heath charged after the artillerymen and reformed them and commanded that they charge the hill and fight. It is during this time that 1LT Heath uttered these famous words from the battle:

Goddamit, get back up on that hill! You’ll die down here anyway, you might as well go up on the hill and die there!

It was now about 0100 at night and the artillerymen continued to hide and refused to fight. This was clearly not the finest hour for US artillerymen during the Korean War. However, help did eventually come, Captain Elledge an artillery liaison officer overhead 1LT Heath’s yelling. CPT Elledge was one of those guys that liked a good fight and ran to the sounds of the guns. Elledge rounded up ten artillerymen and charged up McGee Hill in order to plug the hole in G Company lines. Elledge and his men climbed the hill on it’s left flank and found dead soldiers in the fox hills, but oddly enough no Chinese. He had the bodies removed from the holes and he emplaced his artillerymen in them. Elledge even ran back down the hill to carry up a .50 cal machine gun for the artillerymen to defend the position with. Despite CPT Elledge’s actions G Company continued to crumble on the hill.

COL Freeman was well aware of the breach of the regiment’s line in the G Company sector but was hesitant to commit his regimental reserve which consisted of one Ranger company to shore up the line because of a severe enemy thrust in the 3rd Battalion lines. He compromised and sent one Ranger platoon and a tank from his reserve to help 1LT Heath. It was about 0300 and the Chinese infantry were now firing down the hill into the artillery positions located at the bottom of the hill.

Picture of Chipyong-ni from Hal Barker’s collection

The 2nd Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Edwards had assigned a platoon from F Company along with a few artillerymen and the few remaining men from G company to form a counterattack force to retake the hill. The total counterattack force was composed of 36 men from the Ranger platoon, 28 men from F Company, 7 artillerymen, 2 machine gunners, and the 5 men left from G Company. LT Curtis was the platoon leader from the F Company platoon and LTC Edwards assigned him to lead the counterattack, however the Ranger Company commander had accompanied his platoon to the G Company lines and refused to allow his platoon to be commanded by LT Curtis. Rangers back then had big ego just like they do now and he didn’t want a regular infantry officer commanding his Ranger platoon and thus said that only COL Freeman could order his platoon into battle. LTC Edwards solved the command problem by sending one of his staff officers Captain John Ramsburg to command the counterattack force who outranked everyone from the Ranger Company. With the command situation resolved CPT Ramsburg began to organize his force. As he organized his force he called in a mortar strike in order to prep the hill for the counterattack. The mortar strike lasted only 2-3 minutes before the mortar men ran out of ammunition. Remember that mortar rounds were not included in the ammunition resupply air drop that day.

In response to the mortar attack the Chinese began firing mortars back at the counterattack force at the bottom of the hill. The Ranger company commander began issuing orders to his men that interfered with the orders that CPT Ramsburg was giving. Ramsburg ordered the Ranger commander to evacuate his wounded from the mortar strike. As the Ranger commander evacuated his wounded, Ramsburg used this opportunity to launch his counterattack at about 0345. The Ranger platoon lead the way up the hill followed by F company and the other soldiers of the counterattacking force. The Rangers yelled as they charged up the hill, but it drew the attention of French machine gunners on a nearby hill that mistook the Rangers as Chinese. Two French machine guns opened up on the hill. LT Curtis who Ramsburg had sent to warn the nearby tank about the counterattack saw the French machine guns firing at the hill and figured the Chinese had mounted an attack down the hill and ordered the American tank to fire at the hill as well. The counterattack force was being pummeled by both Chinese, American, and French fire.

Ramsburg ran towards Curtis and told him to stop the tank firing. 1LT Curtis stopped the tank from firing and then proceeded to get the French machine gunners to stop firing as well. Despite all of this some of the Ranger platoon were able to reach the top of the hill and shouted for more men to climb the hill to join them. CPT Ramsburg began leading more men up McGee Hill when he was wounded by a grenade breaking his ankle. 1LT Heath who saw Ramsburg go down offered to lead the attack up the hill for him. Ramsburg agreed and Heath continued the attack back up the hill. Ramsburg then slowly began limping his way up the hill when he saw soldiers dragging a body back down the hill; it was 1LT Heath, he had been shot through the chest. Heath had been shot through the chest and the Ranger Platoon leader was killed when they crested the hill by Chinese fire. Heath was seriously wounded, but would survive the battle. As Ramsburg continued to limp up the hill more bodies began rolling down the hill. Finally a small group of soldiers ran down the hill towards Ramsburg and told him the Chinese had counterattacked and recaptured the hill, there was nobody left. The counterattack ended.

Ramsburg went down the hill and consolidated the handful of men left from the counterattack force, the walking wounded, and the artillerymen at the bottom of the hill to form a final defensive line to shoot any Chinese coming down the hill. As Ramsburg formed the defensive line, LT Curtis in the darkness quietly snuck up the hill multiple times to pull down more wounded US soldiers. The battalion commander LTC Edwards on the other hand was able to persuade COL Freeman to commit the rest of the Ranger Company to the fight in his battalion’s sector. Ramsburg’s hodgepodge of men just needed to hold on long enough until the rest of the Ranger Company arrived. However, Ramsburg’s hodgepodge could not hold the Chinese very long because every single man he had left was wounded. CPT Ramsburg gave the order to fall back to lower hill behind the artillery positions and to evacuate the seriously wounded back to Chipyong-ni. The infantrymen were falling back because there was simply none of them combat capable anymore and the artillerymen who had fled the fight on the hill were now the last hope to hold the line against the Chinese attack.

Quad .50 cal machine gun

While all of this was going on the artillery liaison officer, CPT Elledge and his small group of men, who had been also driven off the ridge by the Chinese, were working hard trying to recover a tracked quad .50 cal that had sunk in a rice paddy near the artillery positions. He had just gotten it pulled out of the rice paddy by using the lone tank that had come with the Ranger platoon. Elledge had just gotten the quad .50 cal powered up when he saw CPT Ramsburg’s men falling back. Elledge yelled at Ramsburg if any Americans were left on the hill. Ramsburg told there wasn’t any left and to fire away. The bullets from the four .50 cals on the track smashed into the hills claiming many Chinese lives. American soldiers would later describe the quad .50 cals at hitting the hill almost like a vacuum cleaner. Like I said, Elledge liked a good fight. By this time the first rays of light from the coming morning were visible which allowed the tank commander Master Sergeant Andrew Reyna to spot sixteen wounded men from the counterattack force lying at the bottom of the hill; pinned down by the Chinese fire. As Elledge continued to vacuum the hill with his quad .50 cal, MSG Reyna and his crew drove their tank towards the base of the hill and threw the wounded on the tank and drove off to evacuate them.

By this time three more American tanks had pulled up to help CPT Elledge hold the defensive line. The tanks poured more fire into the ridge line, while Elledge ordered the artillerymen to point their 155mm howitzers at the ridge line and fire. The sounds of the howitzers firing and the rounds instantly smashing into the ridge line had to be absolutely thunderous. By this time the sun was clearly up and the US soldiers felt some sense of relief because the Chinese soldiers usually withdrew at the first sign of day light because of they feared strafing by the US planes. However, this morning the Chinese decided to stay and fight. It would be a fateful mistake.

Next Posting: Day Break of Victory

Prior Posting: Preparing for Battle 

After reading about the heroism of these men, I have never thought of Valentine’s Day in the same way.

I guess if you are the one stuck with negotiating a sham agreement, you might as well look good doing it:

Little known in his home country, the boyish-looking U.S. nuclear envoy has become something of a celebrity in China’s capital for his role in talks on North Korea’s atomic weapons program.  "He’s so charming and attractive," said Li Kenna, a desk clerk at the five-star hotel where U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill stays. "He sometimes asks me how I am in the mornings. He’s one of our nicest guests."

(…)

His easygoing manner has also won over the media in comparison to the stonewall public relations efforts put forward by some of the other countries in the talks.  And with the negotiations taking place for hours on end behind closed doors, the idle time fuels speculation and jokes about Hill, including his clothes sense.

The Beijing winter means Hill has been wearing a winter jacket that looks like it had been bought from a discount store, one Japanese reporter said. But he said Hill still looks good in it anyway.  The interest in Hill may also stem from the fact that he speaks to the media every morning and evening, while his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Gwan gives only the occasional chaotic news conference.

Hill, a Boston Red Sox fan, also won over the Japanese media by turning up for meetings in Tokyo wearing a Seibu Lions baseball cap. The Red Sox just signed pitching star Daisuke Matsuzaka from the Lions.

(…)

One bodyguard has been dubbed "Matrix" by Japanese reporters for his sleek sunglasses which look like they came from the science fiction movie. But even when the guard turned up in a new camel coat, he still did not outshine the boss’s jacket.

I don’t know about you all, but when I look at Christopher Hill, Keanu Reeves definitely does not come to mind.

James Dietz Print of the Battle of Chipyong-ni

Preparing for Battle

COL Freeman’s 23INF Regiment after winning the fight at Twin Tunnels followed by the securing of the village of Chipyong-ni stood at about 70% combat power when he was given the order to hold Chipyong-ni from about 5 Chinese divisions located in the surrounding hillsides. COL Freeman’s combat power consisted of three battalion’s of infantry and augmented with B Battery 503 Field Artillery which was equipped with 155mm guns, plus B Battery 37th Field Artillery regiment which was actually an Air Defense Artillery unit equipped with tracked gun systems, an Engineer company, a Ranger Company, and a medical company. What made the 23INF Regiment so different from the other US infantry regiments in Korea was the fact they were also augmented with a 1,000 man all volunteer battalion from the French military led by one of my all time favorite military leaders, LTC Ralph Monclar. COL Freeman’s regiment totaled 4,500 soldiers with only 2,500 of the soldiers being dedicated infantrymen to face approximately 20,000 Chinese troops in the surrounding hillsides.

COL Freeman knew that his limited man power meant that he could not hold positions on the high hillsides that surrounded Chipyong-ni because it would spread his regiment out too thin. So instead he consolidated his frontlines on smaller hills near the village that overlooked the surrounding rice paddies. COL Freeman put his engineers to work improving the fighting positions around the village and stocking up on supplies needed for the expected Chinese siege of the village. A siege is what COL Freeman got from the Chinese. The week before the pivotal battle beginning on February 13, 1951, the Chinese consolidated positions around the 23INF and cut off all supply lines to the city. The Chinese commanders were intent on destroying the hated 23INF who had inflicted heavy casualties on the Chinese during the retreat from Kunu-ri in North Korea and the battle of Twin Tunnels just two weeks prior.

This map gives a pretty good generic look at what the frontlines at Chipyong-ni looked like during the battle:

Colonel Freeman positioned his units in a circular defense with one battalion covering each possible Chinese direction of approach to the village. As the 23INF soldiers worked hard to construct their defensive lines the Chinese could be seen moving on the hillsides and preparing for the expected assault on Chipyong-ni. On the night of February 13th bugles could be heard and glow in the dark numbers taped to the backs of Chinese spotters could be seen by the 23INF’s soldiers that were being used to move Chinese forces into position for that nights assault on the 23INF’s frontlines.

These low hills seen today are where the French battalion’s positions were located.

February 13, 1951, The Chinese Attack Begins

The first attacks were launched against the 2nd Battalion in the south and the French battalion in the west. The attack was not a massive human wave assault as the allied soldiers had been accustomed to seeing from the Chinese which indicated this was a probing attack to identify the 23INF foxhole locations and the positioning of their heavy machine guns before the final Chinese assault. Recognizing this the French forces launched their own assault back at the Chinese by fixing bayonets and charging directly at the Chinese forces advancing across the rice paddies to the front of the French battalion’s frontlines. The French assault came complete with the playing of an air raid siren to mock the use of the Chinese bugles being played to direct the Chinese troops. The French soldiers, many of them Algerians with red turbans were outnumbered four to one by the Chinese, but they so intimidated the Chinese that many of them ran back towards the Chinese frontlines and a few even surrendered to the French.

Here is a view from the French frontlines looking towards the two Chinese controlled hills. Notice the flat rice paddies the Chinese had to cross in order to engage the French soldiers. It really isn’t surprising that the Chinese decided not to use this axis of advance as the main effort of their attack.

The 2nd Battalion’s G & F Company as well deterred the Chinese probing attacks that night, but with some difficulty. The two companies were positioned along a ridge line that included a spur of land that shot up the side of the large 397 meter Mangmisan mountain. Unlike the French who had the advantage due to the Chinese having to cross a large rice paddy, the US soldiers had to fight four different assaults on their position that night by Chinese forces primarily using this spur of land from Mangmisan mountain. 1LT Thomas Heath the G Company Commander, had a fougasse bomb, which is a barrelled napalm mixture, installed at the bottom of his hill. As the Chinese charged his hill 1LT Heath initiated the defense by blasting the napalm bomb that incinerated the charging Chinese. However, more Chinese continued to pour down the mountain directly towards the G Company lines, but the defenders continued to hold off the Chinese assaults.

This soldier died during the Chinese night assault that captured the saddle he was on.  Photo by Otto Schmaltz.

Chinese continued to probe the entire regiment’s defensive lines the rest of the night, but the next morning all the Chinese withdrew just after first light and COL Freeman sent out recon teams around the perimeter to look for any remaining Chinese soldiers and determine the number of dead. The patrols killed and captured a few Chinese soldiers that had been left behind from the night time assault. The patrol had counted approximately 500 dead Chinese bodies around the regimental lines with an unknown number of dead and wounded from artillery strikes in the surrounding hill sides. A light snow started to fall the morning of February 14, which eerily covered the dead Chinese soldiers; it was Valentine’s Day.

Next Posting: A Bloody Valentine’s Day

Prior Posting: Making a Stand 

I’m willing to bet this deal will last longer than 2005 deal that lasted only one day, but bottom line is we have been down this road before and this deal will ultimately fail:

North Korea has tentatively agreed to close down its nuclear weapons program in exchange for energy aid, U.S. and Chinese officials said Tuesday.

But the proposed deal was being reviewed by officials in the negotiators’ capitals before becoming final.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the lead American official at the talks, said the United States will give an unspecified amount of energy assistance to North Korea in exchange for North Korea freezing its production of plutonium.

Hill said negotiators are running the agreement by their capitals and would reconvene later Tuesday.

"We feel it’s an excellent, excellent draft," Hill said. "I don’t think we are the problem."

Well the problem is that the North Koreans want massive energy assistance for just freezing their program that nobody wants to pay.  The Japanese do not want to give North Korea anything until the North Koreans fully account for all the Japanese citizens that were kidnapped over the decades by North Korea.  The Russians want anything they give to the North Koreans to be limited to forgiving foreign debt which they know North Korea will never pay anyway.  That leaves China, the US, and South Korea to pay it:

The newspaper said the U.S., South Korea, and China would provide aid under the deal. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the North would receive 500,000 tons of heavy oil and other energy and humanitarian assistance equivalent to that amount. 

At least it appears that the US will not be paying much of the energy assistance, South Korea will, but the US is giving North Korea back their frozen money in a Macau bank that is from counterfeiting US currency.  What kind of message is that sending, that you can counterfeit US currency and get away with it?

So for massive energy assistance and giving millions of dollars of ill gotten money back to the North Koreans, what is the US getting out of this you may ask?:

Left for later discussion would be what to do with the atomic weapons the North now is believed to possess — a half-dozen or more by expert estimates. The deal also reportedly fails to address the uranium enrichment program that Washington accuses North Korea of having.

Yes, the US is giving North Korea pretty much what they received in the 1994 deal that President Bush and other conservatives loved to bash the Clinton Administration over.  The big difference now is that North Korea will be allowed to keep their current nuclear weapons and not even have to dismantle their uranium enrichment program for all the free goodies given to them.  These are all considered issues that will be discussed later. 

North Korea has no intent to give up their weapons.  They are just trying to get what they can from the international community without giving up the half dozen nukes they now possess.  These nuclear weapons ensure regime security from an outside attack; that is something more valuable to a dictator like Kim Jong-il than any incentive the international community could give to him.   I recommend everyone read the Strategic Disengagement Theory that best explain this.

Former US diplomat John Bolton was holding no punches about the possible approval of this deal:

"I am very disturbed by this deal," he told CNN. "It sends exactly the wrong signal to would-be proliferators around the world: ‘If we hold out long enough, wear down the State Department negotiators, eventually you get rewarded,’ in this case with massive shipments of heavy fuel oil for doing only partially what needs to be done" to dismantle the nuclear program.

"I think this deal with North Korea undercuts the sanctions resolution with respect to them, and I think the Iranians have only to follow the same example."

I am in total agreement with Bolton on this.  President Bush hasn’t given this deal an okay yet, but it appears that the Bush Administration so eager for the appearance of a foreign policy success they are willing to go the way of President Clinton and trust the North Koreans to uphold to this deal and work towards future disarmament.  I have said before I credit Clinton with trying diplomacy even though it failed, but if President Bush agrees to this deal he has no excuses for when it ultimately fails. 

The thing is President Bush will probably be out of office when this thing fails just like Clinton was.  The North Koreans will uphold the deal and shut down their reactor, but they will continue to use their discussion and delay tactics to hold up the talks to dismantle their half dozen nukes they have now.  While all the discussion is going on, North Korea will use the influx of cash they will be receiving from the international community for their "freeze" to advance their ballistic missile program to be able to handle a nuclear warhead that can reach the US mainland. 

Mark my words if the US agrees to this "freeze", in 2010 under the next US president we will be discussing this same thing again when North Korea kicks out the inspectors and demands more blackmail, but by this time they will be able to threaten the US and neighboring countries with nuclear weapons that can be launched on one of their ballistic missiles.  The blackmail will be much steeper than it is now and it won’t be the future president’s fault, it will be this one. 

Read a whole lot more on the latest NK developments at these sites below:

The Marmot

One Free Korea

DPRK Studies (particularly good)

Lost Nomad

A US military installation in Japan was threatened with a small explosion outside the camp:

A small explosion occurred outside a U.S. Army base south of Tokyo late Monday, police and military officials said. A Japanese news report said police suspected an attempted attack on the base.

The Army was investigating the blast, said an official at Camp Zama who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that there were no reports of injuries or damage.

"A small explosion was heard in the vicinity of the base," said Maj. David Smith, a Pentagon spokesman in Washington D.C. "It did not occur on the base."

Kyodo News agency reported that police had found a metal tube thought to be used as a launcher of a rocket from a nearby park. Investigators suspected guerrillas in the attack, the report said.

This isn’t the first time leftists have targeted a US military installation in Japan:

In 2002, two blasts were heard outside Camp Zama, and Japanese police found a metal projectile and a crude mortar made from a metal pipe nearby. Investigators blamed radical guerrillas for the explosions, which caused no injuries.

Leftist extremists in Japan have used projectile launchers against targets related to the U.S. military or on sites connected to the royal family. The attacks are usually more symbolic than dangerous, and injuries or significant damage are rare.

It appears it is probably the same leftist group judging by the device used.  As much as I hate South Korea’s fifth column, at least they have resorted to explosive yet, they appear content attacking people with sharpened bamboo spears and rocks.