What is the world coming to when Kofi Annan is the biggest hardliner outside of the US, against North Korea?:

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday said North Korea must be held to account for the suffering and rage of people it kidnapped and the anxiety of families who never discovered what happened to their loved ones. He called on the North to return every one of those it abducted in its bizarre campaign in the 1970s and 80s.

The secretary-general, who arrived here on Sunday, was speaking at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. He condemned all abductions for whatever reason.

So let me get this right Kim Jong-li should be held to account for kidnapping citizens from multiple countries, but not held to account for starving and imprisoning in gulags his own people? Sorry I didn’t buy anything the UN said before the Iraq War and I’m not buying it now. However, sadly this is still the strongest statements I have heard any governmental body other than the US say about North Korea. What an interesting world we live in when movie and rock stars hold protests and advocate for the suffering of hundreds of thousands in Sudan while millions have perished and will continue to perish in North Korea and no one, especially the UN, cares.

So what else did Kofi have to say about Northeast Asia:

Turning to historical differences that are pitting Japan against the regional victims of its past aggression, Annan recommended Europe as a model for resolution of conflicts. He said Europe had a similar experience but was now moving to a union of 25 countries.

I can’t imagine in my life time Northeast Asia coming together into some kind of European Union type of government. These people don’t like each other and it has been this way for centuries and won’t change any time soon if the current Dokdo crisis is a barometer of the animosity that continues to simmer in this area of the world.

Finally here is something else Kofi said on his trip to Korea that made me chuckle:

Earlier, in an address to students at Seoul National University, the UN chief said he had witnessed the dynamic force of Korea’s youth, whom he called a ¿remarkable¿ group. He predicted a bright future for Korea given the healthy outlook of its younger generation.

I guess he hasn’t seen what this “remarkable” younger generation has been up to lately:

Yeah, remarkable.

On the eve of his second trip to Korea coming up on the 27th of May, Hines Ward had some more to say about racism in Korea:

American football star Hines Ward, whose mother is Korean, has told a U.S. newspaper of the disturbing prejudice he encountered against mixed-race children during his recent triumphal visit to Korea. “You can’t even get into the military if you’re biracial,” the footballer, who is half Korean, said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That is their rule, 100 percent pure, you have to be pure Korean, it’s the only way to be in the military. The writer, Ed Bouchette, said Ward returned with a new mission to help biracial children in Korea.

The ROK Army now does accept bi-racial children; a development from the first Hines Ward trip, but no biracial children have signed up yet because first of all the ROK Army is not fun for pure blooded Koreans much less bi-racial Koreans.  I wonder if Ward will receive the same lovefest that he received during his first trip to Korea last month or is his 15 minutes of fame in Korea up?

From the Chosun:

Police on Saturday booked a man in his 50s over a scuffle with a woman on Line 2 of the Seoul subway.The man identified as Park got on the train at Seoul National
University Station at around 7 p.m. when he saw the woman identified as Ju sitting in a seat reserved for the elderly. You’re young, what do you think you’re doing sitting here? Get out of the way, he was quoted as shouting. When Ju refused to budge, Park pulled her out of the seat by her arm and slapped her in the face. However, police investigation revealed that Park, a carpenter by trade, was in fact the younger of the two at the age of 55, while his hapless victim was 56. Police quoted Park as saying Ju’s face looked so fresh he was convinced she was younger. He has been booked for assault.

He should have known better; you can only assault USFK soldiers on the subway and expect to get away with it.  In fact you can assault, kidnap, beat, and force them to make coerced statements on national TV and get away with it.

Nomad said it well, it looks like the anti-US hate groups have a new rallying cry since their references to the 1980 Gwangju Massacre failed; they are now trying bring up the ghosts of the 2002 2ID tank accident in order to drum up support from the general Korean public:

The Pan-National Committee to Deter the Expansion of U.S. Bases, a coalition of activists opposing the relocation of U.S. Forces Korea headquarters, is making plans for yet another large-scale protest at the site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on June 11. The coalition seems bent on invoking a 2002 accident in which a U.S. Army vehicle ran over two middle school students in nearby Yangju by staging the rally around the fourth anniversary of the deaths. The incident occurred on June 13, but the committee scheduled the demonstration on Sunday, June 11 to enable more people to attend.

It is interesting that they are going to use the tank accident as a rallying cry when one of the primary reasons for the base consolidation plan is to prevent these traffic accidents from ever happening again.  These people are truly scum and should just let these two girls rest in peace.

SGT Han the CRC soldier convicted and sent to Korean prison for cheating on his wife and lieing to his mistress may have his prison sentence reduced if he can pay off his mistress:

After a U.S. soldier in trouble for his relationships with two Korean women offered a $21,500 payment to his wife, a South Korean judge dropped one of two charges against him.

Sgt. Jin-hong Han, an American, pleaded guilty in December to adultery and breaching a promise of marriage.

He was in Uijeongbu District Court on Friday to be sentenced on an appeal decision from Chief Judge Bae Jun-hyun. Han had appealed his sentence, saying he felt remorse for his actions and didn’t realize he was breaking local laws.

The judge dropped the adultery charge after hearing of Han’s settlement offer to his wife.

But Han told the judge that he has yet to find his ex-girlfriend to offer her a similar settlement, a common action common in South Korean criminal cases that can lessen a defendant’s final jail sentence.

What does the mistress think of this?:

Have you ever made any contacts with Kim Hyo-jin? the judge asked Han of his former girlfriend.

Ues, I have, Han said. But I wasn’t able to get through to her. I think that she is not in Korea.

So before issuing a final decision on Han’s current 10-month sentence, the judge gave Han two more weeks, postponing his sentencing until May 26.

Stripes, however, was able to contact Kim on Friday at a telephone number she said she’s used for years. She said she has not heard from Han.

He never intended to make any settlement with him; I never will, Kim told Stripes. Even if he would offer me billions and billions [of] won. I cannot forgive him because he completely destroyed my life and my future.

It looks like SGT Han better get used to jail for a little while longer.

It looks like Korea is looking to handle their own illegal immigration problem with their own version of an amnesty program:

Under the plan, illegal foreign workers would be allowed to stay in the country if their primary school children are “deemed considerably assimilated to life in South Korea,” the ministry said in a statement.

The plan, the ministry aid, “is designed to help children of illegal migrant workers complete at least six years of primary education.”
Even the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the right to receive education, and the ministry will talk with other government agencies to draw up standards for their stay, a ministry official said.

If the plan is finalized, the government will revise the immigration and other laws, or enact a special law, the official said.

Currently, about 190,000 illegal foreign workers, mostly from Southeast Asian countries, are estimated to be staying in the country. The South Korean government has been cracking down on them since 2004.

It looks like it is going to be another on post only weekend for the soldiers stationed on Camp Humphreys:

Officials of the Area III Support Activity at Camp Humphreys have imposed the following restrictions:

The town of Anjung-ri, whose bar and entertainment district is just outside the post front gates, is off limits Sunday.

Bus service on Sunday between Camp Humphreys and Osan Air Base has been halted but shuttle buses running inside Camp Humphreys will not be affected.

Government vehicles are banned from driving off-post Sunday except for essential missions.

Pyeongtaek train station, adjacent shopping district, city hall and adjacent downtown areas are also off limits.

An off-limits restriction on travel in or between all villages bordering Camp Humphreys has been extended. The only exception is for people going to or from their homes.

Travel is banned along the northern perimeter road inside the camp, as well as walking, hiking, running or biking in the area west of Camp Humphreys to the Anjung River.

Officials also advised that Camp Long gates may close without notice and travel restrictions in the post vicinity may be imposed on short notice.

You see, it is possible to hold a peaceful protest and get your message out without attacking policemen:

About 4,000 protestors including activists, workers and student radicals occupied Chongno Street near the American embassy in central Seoul, holding candles as they chanted songs, shouted slogans and waved banners.

Thousands of riot police, backed by fire trucks with water cannons, stood guard over the protest Saturday fearing a repeat of last week’s fighting in Pyongtaek.

Police buses were parked closely together to block all roads to the high-walled US embassy some 100 meters (yards) away.

The protesters carried banners calling for the withdrawal of US troops and an end to the ongoing talks to conclude a free trade agreement with the United States.

Dozens of US military bases in and around Seoul are to be relocated to Pyongtaek, 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of the capital.

Construction is to begin in October but some residents and farmers, backed by anti-US activists, have refused to vacate their houses on the site.

This is just a warm up for the hatefest that is sure to come later this weekend in Pyeongtaek.  I doubt there will be many candlelight vigils going on there.

At least someone besides USFK remembers the sacrifice of Major Yun Yeong-ha and his men during the West Sea naval clash between North and South Korea back in 2002. The naval battle was a pre-meditated ambush and murder of these sailors by the North Koreans that was alledgedly order by Pyongyang in order to draw attention away from the World Cup that was happening in South Korea at the time.

The South Korean government has done everything possible to cover up this ambush and make excuses for the North Koreans in order to keep the Sunshine Policy going. In fact the government has boycotted memorial services held by the navy to remember the six murdered sailors:

A remembrance celebration to mark the second anniversary of the battle was held yesterday at the headquarters of the Naval 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, with 150 people including victims¿ families participating. However, the event was dismally lonely, and more distressing, the bereaved families despairingly poured out questions in full cry to this society and the government.

Did the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea launched an investigation to find out facts as it does now when the West Sea naval battle broke out? Who apologized for the death of our boys? People, irrespective of rank, have been successively rushing to deliver condolence for a man who went to a foreign country to earn money and died there. But who went to the funeral services of the six sailors who sacrificed their lives for the nation? Even the Defense Minister and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as government officials did not attend the services.

Here is a sample of how angered the families of these sailors have been towards the Korean government:

Kim Jong-seon, the widow of Petty Officer Han Sang-guk, who was killed in a June 2002 naval battle with North Korea in the West Sea, turned her back on her homeland Sunday and boarded a flight bound for the United States. Before getting on her flight, she said, ¿If the indifference and inhospitality shown to those soldiers who were killed or wounded protecting the nation continue, what soldier will lay down his life in the battlefield?¿

In the battle on June 29, 2002 — one day prior to the closing ceremony of the Korea-Japan World Cup — six sailors were killed and 18 wounded when a North Korean patrol boat that had crossed over the northern line of control ambushed a South Korean naval vessel. The bereaved have spent the last three years in an atmosphere where it was difficult to even grieve. Nervous government officials, worrying that the incident might cast a pall over the Sunshine Policy, even warned the families to please be quiet.

(…..)

The father said, ¿My son is buried in the National Cemetery. But I¿m going to take my son¿s remains to my family burial site in my hometown.¿ Having watched the situation develop, he thought his son who was killed by North Korean soldiers was considered nothing more than a criminal. Some parents said that they are more scared of people who consider the U.S. a bigger enemy than North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who killed their son. We lose courage to defend the country, when we hear that a wife whose husband fell in the battle is preparing to leave this country. Reading a condolence letter from the USFK commander to mark the second anniversary, the wife said, “The Americans remember my husband and his brothers-in-arms better than Koreans… Frankly, I hate Korea.”

The treatment of the families and the appeasement of North Korea after the murder of these sailors was the first indications of how poor a government the Roh Moo-hyun administration was going to be. Plus this incident is a perfect example of the hypocrisy of the Korean leftists. They have been protesting for years over the USFK tactical vehicle traffic accident that tragically killed two Korean girls despite compensation to the families and apologies up and down the chain of command to include President Bush himself over the accident. Yet not one word muttered against North Korea by these people when they murder six South Korean sailors.

At least the ROK Navy has the intestinal fortitude to remember the sacrifices of these sailors. The ROK Navy has been the ones holding the annual ceremony marking the anniversary of the attack plus they have recently named one of their newest destroyers after the senior officer killed in the clash, Major Yun Yeong-ha.

The ROK naval destroyers are only named after great Korean patriots (Hat tip: reader):

All Ahn Yong-Bok class destroyers are named after Korean patriots. The first vessel destroyer was recently named Ahn Yong-Bok (Hangul:¿¿¿) after a Korean patriot who protested over Tokugawa Shogunate‘s repeated claim over Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima) and made Tokugawa Shogunate confirm in writing that Liancourt Rocks were Korean possessions. The second destroyer is to be named Ji Deok-Chil (Hangul:¿¿¿), after Staff Sergeant Ji Deok-Chil, who sacrificed his life to save his comrades during the Vietnam war. The third unit is to be named Yun Yeong-Ha (Hangul:¿¿¿), after Major Yun Yeong-Ha who fell in line of duty during a skirmish between the Republic of Korea Navy force and North Korean Navy. The fourth destroyer is to be named for General Yi Sabu of Silla dynasty of Korea, who subjugated Usan-Guk (present-day Ulleung-do) by employing brilliant naval tactics. The fifth and sixth destroyers are yet to be named.

I wonder how this got by the Blue House? To bad all six destroyers weren’t named after all six of the deceased sailors.

Earlier this week, the leaders of the anti-US hate groups vowed to mobilize 10,000 people to attack the riot police protecting the annexed land for the Camp Humphreys expansion. However, possibly due to the negative reaction from the general Korean public against the violent anti-US demonstrators, the rioters were only able to mobilize 2,500 people this weekend and violence was limited:

An estimated 2,500 activists protesting the relocation of U.S. bases to Pyongtaek, Kyonggi Province, clashed with police on Sunday. However, it did not lead to the severe violence seen on May 4 when over 200 were injured.

About 1,500 members of “Hanchongnyon,¿¿ or the Confederation of Korean Students¿ Union, and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions headed to Pyongtaek early on Sunday morning for the planned rally at an elementary school in Taechu-ri, inside the Pyongtaek military site. An additional 1,000 demonstrators, mainly student activists, joined the protest in the afternoon.

The police had banned protest rallies there, saying they were likely to become violent like before.

I wonder if the threat of being arrested by military authorities had anything to do with discouraging violence?:

Using leaflets dropped from helicopters, police warned that those entering the site would be penalized. The Ministry of Defense warned earlier that even civilians would be court-martialed if they trespassed the site which had been fenced with wire-entanglements.

Above you can see the ROK Army helicopter dropping the leaflets. Here is a trivia question for the military types out there; who can name what type of helicopter this is?

OhmyNews also has more coverage on the demonstrations as well. Of course they focused more on pictures of protesting grandmas, people dressed up as peasant farmers, and the big, bad policemen keeping the farmers down, but showed very few pictures of violence from people like this:

This picture below gives everyone a good idea what a mud hole the annexed land is. It is amazing to think that by 2008, Yongsan Garrison and the 2nd Infantry Division are supposed to move on to this mud hole. Also my hat is off to the Korean policemen having to deal with these idiots in this mudhole.

The lack of violence this weekend begs the question of why? I am beginning to think that the anti-US groups were putting out that they were going to fight the police this weekend with large numbers in order to get the riot police worked up for a confrontation and to get more of them at the site. I think the protesters were hoping that the policemen would over react and severely beat them in order to turn public opinion away from the police who are now being highly supported by the general Korean public. The hate groups have been comparing themselves tp the Kwangju Massacre for the past two weeks. Nothing happened this weekend that is going to give the general Korean public any hint that another Kwangju Massacre is about to happen. First of all you need guns to do that which the police and military at the site do not have. The riot police showed much restraint in dealing with these people. It helps when they are not getting attacked by sharpened bamboo poles and metal pipes for a change.

This is still far from over and these hate groups will eventually return to violence and doing whatever they can to delay the construction of the new expanded camp. If they can delay construction long enough they hope that the US might just cancel the camp consolidation plan and pull out of Korea all together. That is the ultimate goals of these anti-US hate groups. They could care less about the Daechu-ri farmers. They are just pawns for their greater goal of removing USFK from Korea.