With the 5th anniversary of 9/11 coming up are there any kooks who still think Bush, the CIA, or the Jews committed 9/11 after Bin Laden himself has released a video tape with him meeting with some of the 9/11 hijackers prior to the attacks:

For the first time, a video has been released showing al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden meeting with suspected terrorist Ramzi Binalshibh, purportedly as they prepare for the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to Al-Jazeera, which aired the tape Thursday.

Binalshibh is a Yemeni who allegedly admitted a role in planning the attacks. He was among 14 al Qaeda operatives that President Bush on Wednesday said had been transferred to the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (…)

The video aired four days before the fifth anniversary of the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

CNN was unable to independently verify whether the video, made by al Qaeda’s production company, Al Sahab, was made in 2001. But two of the men seen on it — Hamza Alghamdi and Wail Alshehri — were hijackers who died in the suicide missions.

Alghamdi was aboard United Airlines Flight 175, which hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center; Alshehri was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the North Tower.

Al Qaeda military commander Mohammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, also is on the tape. He was killed in Afghanistan in 2001 in a U.S. missile strike.

Many of the faces in the video are pixelated to hide the men’s identities.

Let me guess the excuse will be that the CIA digitally created the tapes in a conspiracy with Hollywood to blame Bin Laden for the attacks.  Anyway the conspiracy theories are getting old and I wonder if people are still going to take the ridiculous Loose Change theory seriously after Bin Laden has released this tape taking credit for the attack with footage with him with the hijackers.  I can picture Bin Laden in his cave pissed off that the American leftists have been so successful in blaming Bush for ordering 9/11 when in fact he did it thus ordering the release of a tape with pictures of him with the hijackers to counter the leftists.  However, the American left is so unhinged that even this won’t change their minds from the belief that Bush ordered 9/11.

Is there any doubt the hand over will be 2009?:

The commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, Gen. Burwell Bell, said Thursday that South Korea will be able to exercise independent wartime operational control of its forces by 2009.

¿If a decision by our governments is made to proceed now, it is my military assessment that such a transition can be achieved, with assured continued deterrence and war-fighting readiness, over a three-year period of focused organizational activity, training and exercising,” Bell told a forum at a Seoul hotel. “This could result in executing the transition to [Korean] independent command in the year 2009.”

But in reiterating the Pentagon target of 2009 just one week ahead of the Korea-U.S. summit in Washington on Sept. 14, they augur tough sailing for Korea’s bid to take sole troop control only in 2012.

General Bell is making it pretty clear I think that the hand over will be 2009 and South Korea better start now trying to figure out how they are going to get ready for it:

Bell again stressed issues he raised in a talk to the National Assembly on July 13: the need for concrete decisions on the scope of U.S. military support after the transfer, U.S. contributions to ground operations, changes in the Korean government’s wartime goals and command relationships and the UN Command’s role.

Bell said the answers to these questions must be worked out before the change in the command relationship, adding that because it would be impossible to exercise military power in an effective way if these issues are left unclear, it is critical that solutions are drafted early to avoid chaos.

The general’s message appears to be that Seoul must be clear in advance whether its objective in the event of an invasion by the North would be to restore the present borders or advance to Pyongyang and overthrow the North Korean regime. Currently, under Operational Plan 5027 of Combined Forces Command, the goal would be to push back the line north of Pyongyang, crush the North Korean regime, and institute a military administration there.

It will be interesting to see if the South Korean government will be willing to make public proclamations that they would invade and occupy the north if attacked.  I know it is pathetic, but that is the state of the current South Korean government, they don’t even know if they would be willing to invade and occupy North Korea if attacked.  2009 will be here before they know it, they better make up their mind real quick.

One of my favorite Korean actresses Kim Yun-jin continues to build her brand name with a sexy photo spread in the English magazine Arena:

Kim Yun-jin, whose stock has seen a sharp upward trend ever since she was cast on the hit series “Lost,” graces the covers of two big-name magazines from the U.K. and the U.S.

The first Korean to appear on the cover of TV Guide, one of the U.S.’s most highly-circulated magazines, in the late August edition, she is also featured on the cover of the September-October edition of Golf for Women (U.S.) and the October edition of the English men’s monthly Arena. There, she not only appears on the cover but is also featured in a sexy six-page spread on the inside.

Truthfully if no one told me, I would have a hard time telling this is Kim Yun-jin because she looks so different when dressed like some dominatrix.

Yep she is looking good.

I like Chinese food as much as the next guy, but this is ridiculous:

Fighting tooth and nail: Members of civic groups tear the Chinese flag in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, Thursday to protest China¿s claims that ancient Korea originated from China. Beijing recently claimed Mt. Paekdu, the highest mountain on the Korean peninsula, as its own as it lighted sacred fires for the 6th Winter Asian Games on Wednesday.

More on the flag biters exploits here and here.

The last Korea Finder people had some difficulting answering so this week here is one that should be easy to answer.  Who can name this building?

An absolute must read over at the Korea Liberator, concerning this report on South Korean food aid that was intended to go to the starving people of North Korea:

A film was found featuring a scene in which the North Korea military handled 400,000 to 500,000 tons of rice, originally supplied by the South Korea government every year since 2000.

The film, which was made on May 24, might bring about some arguments as it intimates that the rice supplied to support North Koreans who are suffering from famine may be used for other purposes by the North Korean military.

The 3-hour long film broadcasted in Weekly Donga which was published on September 5 shows that rice with the seal of the Republic of Korea was loaded by North Korean soldiers into trucks from freight cars parked in Danchon station, Hamgyongnam-do.

Moreover, it also shows North Korean soldiers conducting guard duty on freight cars filled with rice and lying down in the cars while on duty, but no evidence was found as to the destination of the rice shipment. The film was made by a North Korean defector who sneaked back into North Korea again, and is known to be currently staying in a third country.

I sure no one is shocked, I know Nomad isn’t, but I am sure the South Korean government will try and spin and deny this.  It should be fun to see Roh and his cronies squirm over this, but you know they won’t stop the food aid to the North Korean army.

What I do find interesting about this is that the truth is really a quite effective weapon against not only the North Korean regime, but their sunshine allies in South Korea as well.  The problem though is getting cameramen like this to film the truth.  Hopefully more brave North Koreans can smuggle more videos out of North Korea.  Instead of a revolution with guns, a revolution with cameras may be even more effective.

Korea is looking to find ways to stop draft dodgers by offering alternative service:

In Korea, all able-bodied men are required to serve for at least 24 months in the military, but some manage to avoid this by exploiting a number of minor loopholes.

Seoul plans to establish some guidelines by the end of this year for possibly running an alternative military system to accommodate those who are “conscientious objectors” for religious reasons. There is now an estimated 3,200 objectors. When they are called up for military service, they usually opt to serve a prison term.

In May 2000, Taiwan introduced a European-style alternative military system in which conscientious objectors are obliged to work for police, environmental protection or cultural, athletic and public administration services for at least 18 months.

“We have yet to have guidelines on the alternative system. We will gather public opinions and other data to establish some principles on the system by the end of this year,” an MMA official said.

How come I have a feeling the amount of “conscientious objectors” will go through the roof if the ROK Army offers this alternative service system instead of serving in conventional army and police units?  Korea may suddenly find themselves with an army of athletics directors and environmentalists.

I have a better idea for the Korean government, how about they actually pay these soldiers decent salaries and improve working and living conditions?  Maybe then people wouldn’t try so hard to avoid military service.

UPDATE #2: It sounds like at least somebody in the South Korean government has been reading Kaplan:

China is pursuing the so-called Northeast Project to co-opt Korean history with an eye on claiming North Korean territory when the regime there collapses, a senior lawmaker quoted a Chinese leader as saying. Former National Assembly speaker Kim Won-ki quoted the remarks in the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee on Thursday, saying they were made in a frank meeting with the high-ranking Chinese official.

The Chinese leader also reportedly said Beijing finds the Kim Jong-il regime and the political situation in North Korea very unstable. In any emergency, the U.S and allied army would move to North Korea?s border with China and face the Chinese People’s Liberation Army there, a situation Beijing would not tolerate, he said.

Meanwhile, Chinese attempts to distort ancient Korean history have this time taken it to the point of trademarking as their own the spot of the birth of the Korean people according to the Dangun mythology, Mt. Baekdu, by attaching the Chinese name, “Changbai shan.”

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UPDATE #1: Richardson has more analysis of the Kaplan article over at TKL.

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It seems like every six months somebody writes an article about what should happen in the event of a North Korean collapse. The latest person to take his shot at providing a theory of what to do in the event of a North Korean collapse is Robert Kaplan. Well now we know what Mr. Kaplan was up to two months ago at the DMZ. Coming Anarchy first reported on this, but you had to have an Atlantic Magazine subscription to read the complete article, however Robert was nice enough to actually cut and paste the whole article.

Basically Kaplan provides a good summary of the Korean situation and provides his recommendations about how to handle a post-Kim Jong-il North Korea. Kaplan believes that the Chinese are making a power play to control a post-Kim Jong-il North Korea by either militarily occupying the country or installing a puppet regime subservient to China. This really shouldn’t be a surprise to those following things here on the peninsula. I would actually be more surprised if China wasn’t making plans to exert some kind of authority over North Korea after a collapse. After all the Chinese are fearful of the masses of refugees that could pour across their borders not to mention the regional economic and military threat a united Korean peninsula could become a few decades after reunification to China. I’m also sure the Chinese wouldn’t appreciate a united Korea with US troops in it as well. So it is totally in their interest to establish conditions to where they will exert some kind of authority over a post-Kim Jong-il North Korea and prevent a unified Korean peninsula. However, don’t expect a collapsed North Korea any time soon. China will not allow that country to collapse until after the Beijing Olympics. The 2008 Olympics is going to be China’s coming out party and they don’t’ want anything like a massive refugee crisis or war on the Korean peninsula to ruin it. The scenario of China taking authority over North Korea is a very real one. China is already trying to claim ancient Korean history as their own so if they ever do occupy North Korea they can use their shared history as part of the reasoning for doing so. It worked in Tibet, why not North Korea too?

Kaplan also provides scenarios of a collapsed North Korea being occupied by US, Chinese, Russian, and South Korean troops. I have long advocated that the US should not send in any troops into a collapsed North Korea and that the ROK Army should overwhelmingly fill the country with soldiers to exert authority over the north before the Chinese or Russians can move in. If the US moves into North Korea that would give the Chinese and the Russians the green light to move in as well. In the interest of a unified democratic Korean peninsula the US and South Korea cannot have these two country’s occupy any portion of North Korea. That is why it is critical that South Korea quickly deploys it’s forces throughout North Korea and implement martial law and immediately begin humanitarian assistance to exert a sense of authority. North Koreans have been brought up since the day they were born to hate the United States and if the ROK Army is seen working side by side with the United States in North Korea this may give many North Koreans the impression that the South Koreans are the pawns of the United States and may be more inclined to wanting a Chinese occupation instead. It is critical that the South Koreans have to be viewed early on as the legitimate occupiers of North Korea by the North Korean population. The US military could be best used in South Korea to help the ROK Army establish camps and give humanitarian aid to North Korean refugees that may poor into South Korea. Even this has to appear to be South Korean led. Everything done in the early days of a collapse has to be viewed in the context of building the legitimacy of the South Korean government in the eyes of the North Korean population. Also the US Navy would be critical to blockade the country to ensure no weapons or WMD are being smuggled out of the country.

Another recommendation that Kaplan advocates is that the US should not conduct a military strike on North Korea in response to a missile test, which he is absolutely correct about. This is something I have long believed in though for slightly different reasons than Kaplan’s. Kaplan believes North Korea would retaliate with a limited artillery attack on Seoul and Yongsan Garrison. I don’t think he would do that because that would provoke a war because the automatic counter battery fire back at North Korea would just be tremendous which would ultimately escalate into full scale war. What I think is more likely is that North Korea would retaliate in more unconventional ways like terrorist attacks on subways, bombing bridges, shooting down civilian airliners, or small scale DMZ shootouts for example that would not precipitate a full scale war, but still inflict heavy damage on the South Koreans which the regime could in turn blame the US for and then use the attack on his country as an excuse for a complete nuclear arms build up. Kim Jong-il is desperately praying for a US air attack that the Clinton era history revisionists want George W. Bush to give to him. The Clinton era policy advice on Korea is as incompetent now as it was back when they were in power. Fortunately President Bush is not taking their advice and sticking to economic sanctions to wear down the Kim regime.

Overall, the Kaplan article is a good read for those who haven’t been following the situation on the Korean peninsula to closely and I think it is great he debunks the Clinton era policy makers recommendations to bomb North Korea. Ultimately reading the article I think it is increasingly clear that South Korea’s greatest national interest should be in maintaining a strong US-ROK relationship because South Korea has no chance of a reunified, democratic Korean peninsula without the United States to counter balance the territorial and hegemonic ambitions of China and Russia.

I have said this before and I’ll say it again, when will Koreans take personal responsibility for their own US visa problems?

Seventeen out of 22 students who were set to be educated in the U.S., including Lee, did not receive U.S. visas. Among them, 12 gave up going to the U.S. and are currently studying in other countries as Lee did.

It was identified that the U.S. Embassy in Korea did not issue visas for a number of college students who even had letters of guarantee issued by the Korean government.

The KITA stated on September 5 that the U.S. Embassy in Korea refused to issue visas for 17 Korean college students, who applied for visas for tourism (B1) to attend internship training in the U.S. as part of the KITA college student overseas training program, on the grounds that their documents were ¿not properly filled out.¿

Since 2000 when the training program was launched, a total of 227 students have received internship training in the U.S. until last year. This is the first time ever that trainees¿ visa applications have been rejected, said the KITA.

¿It is incomprehensible why the U.S. Embassy in Korea this year is suddenly refusing to issue visas to college students, whose return to Korea is guaranteed by the Korean government,¿ said a KITA official. ¿What makes us more frustrated is that they are not giving a clear reason for all this.¿

The US embassy did give you reason!  You filled out the wrong paperwork.  You can’t go to the US on a tourism visa and then expect to attend a college internship.  You need to fill out a visa application for a student visa.  It sounds like to me that whoever organized this internship program on the Korean side filled out the wrong forms so instead of accepting responsibility for the mix up it is easier to blame the Yanks with an outrageous conspiracy theory:

Some KITA insiders analyze, ¿As the visa waiver negotiations for Koreans have begun, the U.S. embassy might be stricter in applying the conditions for visa issuance so that they could maintain a visa rejection percentage of three percent.¿

In order to join the U.S. government¿s visa waiver program, a country needs to meet the condition that the visa rejection percentage for its people should be below three percent for two consecutive years.

Could it be that the reason Korea has such a high US visa rejection rate is contributed to idiots like this guy who can’t fill out the paperwork properly and instead of doing a self analysis and educating others about properly filling out the forms, it easier to blame everything on a evil US conspiracy theory to prevent Koreans from coming to the US.  People wonder why the US wants out of Korea, here is another example for you; the US is only willing to be a punching bag for every problem in Korea for so long.

Only the UN could be stupid enough to request Korean policemen:

The National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday it is planning to dispatch more than 100 police officers to East Timor next year in response to a UN request as instability grows in the Southeast Asian country. Once dispatched, it would be the country¿s largest deployment of police personnel ever to a foreign country.

An NPA officer Monday confirmed that the UN recently requested Korean government officials to send some of its police personnel to East Timor where concerns over public security are rising.

“The U.N. made an official request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade two months ago for the deployment of Korean police personnel in East Timor, on a scale of about a squadron, which is about 120 to 140 officers,¿¿ said the official.

I wonder if they will be required to do things like, uphold the law there?  Which is unlike what they do in Korea.  Also I wonder if they will drive around with their flashing lights on for no reason around East Timor like they do in Korea?