UPDATE:  Damn that’s a lot of water, I have never seen the Han River run this high before.

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Heavy monsoon rains turn deadly in Korea:

At least 31 people were dead or missing in South Korea after heavy monsoon rain pounded the country’s eastern province for a third consecutive day, officials have said.

Torrential rain since Friday left at least 13 people killed in landslides and 18 missing in flash floods as of early Sunday, the National Emergency Management Agency said in an updated report.  Victims came mostly from the eastern province of Gangwon that had received up to 500 millimeters (20 inches) of rain in the past three days, it said.

More than 2,000 people remained homeless Sunday after the downpours flooded homes, swept away roads and inundated farmland and villages in the province, it said.  Police, military and disaster agencies have evacuated flood victims to schools and other safer areas, while airlifting relief to flood-hit areas.  Meteorologists expect the heavy rain to continue sporadically in South Korea until Thursday.

The latest Going to the Blogs article is up on the Joong Ang Ilbo site.  This week the article focuses on the reactions to the tougher South Koreans stance on the North Korean missile issue.

I can only wish this Filipina woman good luck because justice for rape in Korea is hard to find:

The Negrense woman who was allegedly raped in South Korea had suffered from such a brutal beating that her jaw was fractured and she survived only when she played dead and was stuffed in a large culvert pipe by her attacker.

This was disclosed yesterday by the parents of the 30-year-old Hinigaranon, whose name is being withheld by the DAILY STAR, who said she was attacked and raped at about 9:30 p.m. on July 2 and remains in a hospital in South Korea.

She also sustained wounds in her ears, lost three teeth, was boxed in the stomach that caused swelling, while her arms bore rope marks and her legs had injuries, her father said. Even my daughter could not believe that she would survive what happened to her, which lasted from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., the father said.

She told her parents she does not want to return home because she wants to ensure that she gets justice for what happened to her.

Why do I say justice in Korea for rape victims is hard to find? I say this because even if the rapist is found that doesn’t mean justice will actually be served. Does anyone remember this case?:

The Seoul High Court yesterday overturned the conviction by a lower court of a 49-year old taxi driver who had been charged with the rape of a 19-year old U.S. female soldier.
The man had received a 10-month prison term in the original trial after being convicted of luring the newly-arrived servicewoman from Incheon International Airport to a hotel near there where the woman said he raped her.

The woman reported the incident to U.S. military authorities, who asked for assistance from Korean prosecutors. The appeals court ruled that the woman had shown no evidence of having refused the man’s advances, and that he used “not enough violence to constitute rape.”

This case is a perfect example of the absurdity of rape convictions in Korea. First of all the criminal gets a 10 month sentence which is outrageous to begin with, but is then let go because the soldier showed no signs of refusing the man’s advances. Think about this, what are the odds that a 19 year old US soldier who just arrived to Korea would suddenly get the urge to go have sex with the 49 year old taxi driver she just met?

Actually you are lucky to catch the rapist at all such as with the rape of a US Army officer in Taegu? The fact that the Korean police are mostly incompetent in dealing with cases doesn’t help either. The best example of this was from this rape of a US English teacher in Seoul.

Rape remains a taboo subject in Korea especially when foreigners involved, which is only going to make the Filipina woman’s quest for justice that much harder.

This sure looks like fun:

I haven’t been to the Boryeong Mud Festival before but I have been to Daecheon Beach many times and had a great time each time I went there.  If you are looking for something to do, this does look like fun and runs through next weekend.

This resolution is actually quite impressive that US Ambassador John Bolton was able to get both the Russians and the Chinese to back this resolution against North Korea:

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose weapons-related sanctions on North Korea in response to its flurry of missile tests earlier this month.

The resolution demands that North Korea suspend “all activities” on its ballistic missile programs.

It requires all U.N. members to prevent imports from or exports to North Korea of missiles and missile-related items as well as materials that could be used in weapons of mass destruction.

To avert a veto from China, the resolution does not mention Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which is used on a legally binding document. But Security Council members say the resolution is mandatory because of the way it is worded.

China and Russia had originally proposed weaker language, but agreed to a tough resolution. They expressed fears that Chapter 7 would lead to military action as in Iraq.

The real judge of this resolution is going to be how well it is enforced.  Remember Saddam Hussein had sanctions leveled against him by the UN and from first hand experience I can tell you that the sanctions did not stop him from buying lots of weapons for his war machine from the usual sources such as the Russians and even so called US allies like France.  So quite possibly the Chinese and Russians signed on to this resolution knowing full well it will only be enforced by the US and the Japanese only.

Here is what the North Koreans think of the sanctions:

North Korea’s envoy to the United Nations warned Saturday his country would be forced to take “strong physical action” should it be pressured on its “self-defensive” missile launches, protesting a resolution passed unanimously by the U.N. Security Council condemning his government.

Amb. Pak Gil-yon, addressing the council, said North Korea “totally rejects” the resolution and vowed Pyongyang will “go on with missile launch exercises as part of its efforts to bolster deterrent for self-defense in the future.”
He said the United States has “totally hamstrung efforts” for sincere dialogue on North Korean issues by applying financial sanctions.  He also accused the U.S. of threatening the North with military exercises targeting it.

At least these sanctions are something against North Korea, but don’t expect this resolution to solve the North Korea problem.  This resolution just makes it a little bit more difficult for North Korea to import parts for their missiles and in turning selling them internationally.  This just tightens the noose a little bit more on North Korea’s sources of hard currency and hopefully will ultimately make them more likely to return to six party talks seeking to make a deal over their nuclear program.  At least that is the hope, but I remain skeptical.

This is something that is definitely going to effect US soldiers in Korea:

Servicemembers throughout much of areas I and II may have found little or no on-base taxi service Saturday after Area I drivers went on strike Friday evening, dispatchers confirmed. Area II drivers said they planned to follow on Saturday.

Area I officials said Arirang Taxi Co. drivers went on strike after the Army and Air Force Exchange Service raised taxi fares but drivers¿ wages did not increase.

Citing rising fuel costs and the falling U.S. dollar, AAFES increased the starting fare of most on-base taxis in South Korea by 50 cents ¿ a 28 percent jump ¿ beginning May 1. AAFES officials were unavailable for comment Friday night.

How does a increase in the fare because of fuel prices have anything to do with the taxi drivers making more money?  I find it hard to sympathize with the AAFES taxi drivers on this issue because they make a lot more money than the taxi drivers off post.  The article made no mention about the amount of money the AAFES taxi drivers make from tips which is a considerable amount of the their take home pay.

Once while riding in a off post cab in Uijongbu the taxi driver began speaking to me in English.  I asked him how he learned to speak English and he told me he once was a AAFES taxi driver, but got fired because for years he was taking fuel used for AAFES cabs for his own personal use and finally was caught.  He said he is paying for it now because when he worked for AAFES he was working 8 hour shifts, 5 days a week, but now as a off post taxi driver to make the same amount of money as an AAFES taxi driver he has to work 6 days a week and 10 hours a day, sometimes longer.  He said that tips were a big part of everyday take home pay because US soldiers are generally much more generous compared to the Korean public when giving tips.  He continued by saying that in the cab driver community an AAFES taxi job is the most sought after job for a cabbie because of the work hours and pay.   He really regretted losing his job over his dishonesty, but everyone else was doing what he was doing so he thought it was okay until AAFES cracked down on it and he lost his job.

We’ll see how this plays out, but if AAFES wants to replace the current strikers they shouldn’t have to much of a problem doing so.

USFK is responding to inaccurate news reports in the Korean media about the hand over of USFK bases to the Korean government:

According to a USFK news release, command officials want to explain the camp return process following a week that saw many inaccurate and misleading articles and editorials in various Internet and print media sources.

USFK has closed more than two dozen bases as part of a plan to consolidate most of its forces at Camp Humphreys. Over the past 19 months, the South Korean government agreed to accept just seven of those bases, citing unacceptable pollution levels at the others.

Fridays USFK release stated that those delays result in lost economic opportunities for the South Korean people and cost U.S. taxpayers more than $400,000 a month to guard closed bases. Neither USFK nor South Korean government officials would comment on news reports early last week that the United States was going to stop guarding those bases this month.

The issue with the delays is the environmental cleanup of the bases before return.

Under the status of forces agreement, the United States is not obliged to restore the facilities and areas to the condition they were at the time they became available to the U.S. armed forces, or to compensate the government of the ROK in lieu of such restoration, according to the Friday news release.

In return, South Korea gets the land for free and doesnt have to pay the United States for any capital improvements such as buildings and other infrastructure.

The end state to this is that the ROK not only receives its land for its use, it receives the utility of billions of dollars of U.S. investment over the years free, at the expense of the American taxpayer, according to the release. This is a very, very good deal for the people of the Republic of Korea.

There is an attempt by some to negate the SOFA agreement as it relates to camp returns and to introduce new environmental standards, according to the release.

The release states that U.S. policy requires USFK to remedy known, imminent, and substantial endangerments to human health and safety.

But USFK has agreed to go above those standards by pulling out selected underground fuel storage tanks, removing heavy metal contamination from firing ranges and hiring a South Korean company to run a high-vacuum pump system that targets groundwater fuel contamination at five camps, according to the release.

Inaccurate news reports in Korea? Say it ain’t so? Yes, I’m being sarcastic because the Korean media is well known for twisting facts and printing blatant lies particularly when dealing with USFK. The camp hand over is another one of these issues being distorted by anti-US hate groups and the media to inflame anti-American sentiment in order to stop the camp consolidation at Camp Humphreys. The consolidation of camps at Camp Humphreys will reduce the US footprint in Korea, in turning reducing incidents from happening between Koreans and Americans. The camps where they are now create incidents and also serve as a reminder to Koreans of the USFK presence in Korea compared to the out of the way Camp Humphreys, which the location definitely has a out of sight, out mind quality for being in Korea.

The anti-US hate groups need to keep USFK right where they are at in order to keep the under current of anti-American feelings in the general Korean public. The camp consolidation will be a huge blow to the anti-US hate groups in Korea and they know it and their North Korean allies know it too. The North Koreans want to keep the US camps where they are at, not only because of the anti-Americanism it creates, but also because it keeps the US forces in the Second Infantry Division within range of North Korean artillery. This enhances their bargaining power when it comes to the six party talks with the US.

However, there is another player in this issue as well, China. If the camp consolidation can be stopped there is the very real chance that the US will dissolve the US-ROK alliance which would be a huge win for the Chinese. China would by default once again become the historical hegemon of the Korean peninsula.

Obviously there is a lot riding on the USFK camp consolidation issue and right now USFK is doing the right things to make the camp consolidation a reality while the whole way fighting off the attacks of those who want to stop it, which are many.

You would think that if you are going to commit housing fraud you would at least not put San Francisco down as the fraudlent address after all these convictions. However, some people never learn:

A senior airman was sentenced to nine months confinement and a bad-conduct discharge for stealing about $7,100 in housing allowances that he didn¿t rate.

Senior Airman Antonio M. Jackson of Kunsan¿s 8th Maintenance Squadron pleaded guilty to two specifications of signing false official documents and a larceny charge. He pleaded not guilty to one specification of signing a false official document.

Col. Steven A. Hatfield, chief military judge of the Pacific Circuit from Yokota Air Base, Japan, also ordered that Jackson be reduced to the lowest military rank, E-1.

Jackson told the court that when he was on leave in the United States in 2005, he married his girlfriend in Alabama. But when he returned to Kunsan after the vacation, he filled out documents on Oct. 12 stating that his wife was living in San Francisco, which pays one of the highest housing allowances. After local leaders warned of a crackdown on housing fraud, Jackson filled out new paperwork stating that his wife had moved from San Francisco to Montgomery, Ala., on Jan. 2, 2006.

I have no sympathy for these guys getting convicted because you are told during improcessing before you fill out your housing allowance paperwork about what can happen to you if you commit housing fraud.  I remember when I got my briefing they explicitly mentioned San Francisco as being the top housing fraud location.  Some people never learn.

Construction has begun on the new high rise barracks among other buildings to be constructed at Camp Humphreys:

Workers at Camp Humphreys are gearing up for another major building cycle that will see construction of new barracks, a dining hall, military offices and a sports field by 2008.

The $55 million project is the latest step in the U.S. military¿s push to transform Camp Humphreys into its main installation on the peninsula under a U.S.-South Korean agreement.

¿It¿s going to put the commanders and the soldiers in efficient buildings designed for the purposes that they¿ll be used for,¿ said Camp Humphreys spokeswoman Susan Barkley.

If anyone knows how to make good high rises, it’s the Koreans, so the barracks should be highly improved facilities for the soldiers to live in.  It’s a big change for guys like me who can remember living in a quonset hut my first tour in Korea.

What is the point of an alliance with two commanders?

The United States and South Korea are considering disbanding their combined command and creating independent military commands, with a restructured U.S. Forces Korea focusing on air and naval power, according to USFK commander Gen. B.B. Bell.

Bell¿s announcement came in a speech to the Korean National Assembly¿s Defense Forum in Seoul on Thursday. He was unavailable for an interview Friday, but his spokesman provided a copy of the speech to Stars and Stripes.

Bell said that since October, the U.S. and South Korea have been studying Seoul¿s request for independent operational command of its troops during wartime. Current agreements call for Bell ¿ also commander of the Combined Forces Command and United Nations Command ¿ to direct all combat operations.

¿While no final decisions have been made, we are considering creating two independent commands ¿ one ROK and one U.S., with U.S. forces in a supporting role, and restructured to take advantage of U.S. air and naval warfare capability,¿ Bell said.

It was unclear Friday whether the restructuring Bell mentioned could mean a drawdown of U.S. soldiers or an increase of Air Force or Navy personnel or equipment.

I like how General Bell just continues to call the Koreans bluff.  The whole war time command issue is just something South Korean politicians have been demagoging to the Korean public knowing full well that Korea is not willing to pay the costs necessary to take the war time command position.  So far it appears the Pentagon has brought in the right guy to head USFK through this period of transformation and realignment on the Korean peninsula.