Two dual citizen Korean-Americans enlisted in the US Army before being drafted into the ROK Army. Now the ROK Army is after them to force them to complete their mandatory Korean military service:
The Defense Ministry and the Military Manpower Administration may have to wait for years before they can get their hands on two Koreans who violated the military service law by enlisting in the U.S. Army.
The two Koreans aged 21 and 22 who have U.S. citizenship and residence respectively but retain their Korean nationality volunteered for the U.S. Army without performing their mandatory military service here, the MMA said Friday. Both were supposed to join the Korean armed forces in 2004 but both enlisted with U.S, forces instead. One instead went with them to Germany and both are now ironically with the U.S. Forces Korea as privates first class.
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The first came to Korea on leave last June, and the travel ban stopped him from returning to his unit in Germany. He was indicted here the same month but the indictment was suspended because he serves in the U.S. military. He then transferred to the USFK. The MMA says it will make both of them serve in the Korean forces as well. Article 71 of the Military Service Law says those with dual nationality who violate the law must perform their military duties in Korea before they turn 35.
Cases like this are not uncommon. Many Korean-Americans and some that are dual citizens serve in the US military and are very valuable to USFK due to their familiarization with the Korean culture and language. However, it looks like the ROK Army is really going to clamp down on these dual citizenship holders now.
On the opposite end of the spectrum I had an American KATUSA ROK Army soldier before in my unit. He was a dual citizenship holder and had lived in the US most of his life. He came back to Korea to complete his ROK Army service to keep his dual citizen status and was selected as a KATUSA. He wanted to join the US military from the start but he had to complete his ROK Army time before doing so. He still plans on enlisting in the US Army once his KATUSA time is done. He will definitely like the pay raise since KATUSA’s only make $45 a month.
From the Stars and Stripes:
A South Korean man who lives near Camp Humphreys told local police a bullet from the installation struck his house last week, police said Tuesday.
Police in Pyeongtaek said they found a hole about 4 inches in diameter in the side of the house. But they turned up no evidence it had been produced by a bullet or other projectile. The house is in Pang-sung, a section of Pyeongtaek City that includes Anjung-ri, where Camp Humphreys is located.
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Police said Lee told them a loud explosion shook his house Feb. 9 around 4 a.m., and he thought his boiler had burst. He later discovered the hole, he said, and believed it came from a weapon fired inside Camp Humphreys, police said.
Of course no evidence of an actual bullet hitting the house existed:
U.S. Forces Korea said in a written statement Tuesday that South Korean police on the afternoon of Feb. 9 “conducted an investigation of a possible stray bullet from Camp Humphreys.
“Investigators found no evidence of a stray bullet or believed that any damage was caused by the U.S.,†the statement read.
This is absolute BS that will be used to help drum anti-American support against the Camp Humphreys expansion even though there is no truth to it.
The funniest commentary on this I have read is from Nomad’s site where commenters were wondering where Dick Cheney was, at the time or if 35th ADA Brigade was trying out new potato guns. LOL.
Another Iraqi man has been killed by a soldier from the ROK Army’s Zaytun unit in Iraq due to a traffic accident:
An Iraqi local government official has been killed in a traffic accident by a Korean military truck, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) office said Thursday.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Korean driver, a corporal only identified by his family name Song, was trying to avoid a car which had cut in front of him on a street in downtown Irbil when he hit the 53-year-old Iraqi official, the office said.
Let’s use the uproar over the tragic 2002 US Army traffic accident that killed two Korean girls as a model of how the Korean government should handle this accident. First of all the soldier should be handed over to the Iraqi authorities for trial because I’m sure whatever SOFA Agreement Korea has with Iraq is unfair and unjust. Then the candle light vigils should be sweeping the country as I write this. Then President Roh should issue a weeping apology on national television followed by all his ROK Army generals to the people of Iraq due to this attack on the Iraqi people. Then a massive compensation package should then be handed over to the victim’s family.
Listed above is what many in Korea expected the US to do after the tragic accident of 2002, so what are the chances they will do the same when the tables are turned? Don’t hold your breath to long because I still haven’t seen an apology from President Roh or a massive candle light vigil for the man killed when a ROK Army soldier accidentally shot and killed an Iraqi soldier last year.
Just for the record the US military did have a candle light vigil, USFK Generals apologized after the accident and US President George W. Bush apologized a few months after the accident, and the victims families were compensated as well. Will the same happen in this case? No because this story is already buried in the media.
Hat Tip: Flying Yangban
Some of you may be familar with the current controversy in the US over allowing a Dubai based company to operate major US coastal ports:
“We’re calling for the full six-week investigation. It’s a serious investigation and the reason why this is critical is while maybe there’s nothing wrong with this company, how do we know they’re not infiltrated?” asked Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The United Arab Emirates has had people involved in terrorism. In fact, some of its financial institutions laundered the money for the (Sept, 11) terrorists. And to just blithely go ahead and treat this as another economic transaction is all wrong.”
Currently, London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the fourth largest port operator in the world, runs the six ports. But the $6.8 million sale of P&O to UAE-owned Dubai Ports World (DPW) would effectively turn over North American operations to the government-owned company in Dubai.
If the approval is unchallenged, Dubai Ports World would run the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.
Interestingly enough the United States is not the only country with a Dubai based company managing port operations:
Al-Bayan newspaper reported on the opening ceremony for the new Busan Port in South Korea held in mid-January 2006 with the participation of a delegation from the Dubai International Ports Company.
This ceremony celebrated the completion of the first stage of work to develop this port, including developing the container terminal of the port. Taking part in the Dubai delegation were Assistant Manager for Operations of the Dubai International Ports Company Sultan bin Salim, Deputy Chairman of the Board Jamal bin Thanya, Operations Manager Muhammad Sharaf, and Assistant Manager for Financial Matters Hamid Ahmad Kadhim.
I for one do not believe that something as sensitive as US port operations should be handled by any foreign country much less one from the Middle East.
The Japanese government has begun a crackdown on businesses exporting possible WMD technology to North Korea. The first raid was of a company suspected of exporting nuclear technology to North Korea:
Investigators raided the headquarters of Mitutoyo Corp. on Monday morning, according to a company official who refused to be named, citing internal regulations. The official said she could not provide further details, but said the company was “cooperating fully” with investigations.
Mitutoyo Corp. is suspected of exporting two three-dimensional measurement machines that can be used for uranium enrichment — a technology that can produce nuclear fuel or bombs — to subsidiaries of Japanese firms in China and Thailand in 2001, according to a report carried Sunday by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest daily.
The second raid involved raiding companies involved with providing biological weapon technology:
The companies allegedly exported freeze dryers that could be used to cultivate germs or other pathogens for possible weapons, Kyodo News reported, citing police.
The companies are suspected of shipping the equipment to North Korea through Taiwan in September 2002, Kyodo said.
Japanese officials even raided Yamaha over selling remote controlled helicopters:
Late last month, police raided the headquarters of Yamaha Motor Co. on suspicion it illegally exported to China remote-controlled helicopters that could be diverted to military use.
The motorcycle and engine producer was accused of selling restricted materials without receiving approval.
It is interesting that this current crackdown in Japan is coming at about the same time that the US has begun a financial crackdown on North Korean counterfeiting and money laundering operations. I don’t think the combined pressure from the two countries’ crackdowns will be enough to collapse the North Korean regime, but it is in my estimation greatly annoying them by how loud the regime has been condemning the US financial sanctions. Now if only South Korea would do something as well.
I wonder if Toby Dawson will become the latest darling of the Korean media following the post Super Bowl Hines Ward phenomenon:
But two hours and a perfect performance in the finals later, Dawson crossed the finish line with both arms raised in joy. He had scored high enough to win the bronze. Only then did his face break out into a smile.
Dawson began a new life on March 31, 1982. Dawson, a three-year-old orphan and scared out of his wits, arrived at Denver Airport in Colorado to meet his new foster parents.
His mother Deborah Dawson recounted their first meeting. “I fell in love with him immediately. It was like a dream come true,†Mike and Deborah were both ski instructors. So it was natural for Toby to take up skiing. Soon after his arrival, his parents took him to a ski resort, and Toby Dawson lived on the snow for the following 24 years.
Unsurprisingly, the Korean media is following Dawson’s story:
The Korean media began following Dawson when his search for his birth parents began to make news. “I’ve received a few calls from people who claimed to be my birth parents, but they all decline to be DNA tested. I will take my time looking for them,†said Dawson.
Here is an instance that the Korean media could be of use if they can find Dawson’s birth parents. Fortunately I have not seen anything about Dawson bringing “Glory to Korea” at least, unlike the Hines Ward phenomenon.
What happens when bloggers attack? Well find out here:
The government concluded its “Cyber Storm” wargame Friday, its biggest-ever exercise to test how it would respond to devastating attacks over the Internet from anti-globalization activists, underground hackers and bloggers.
Bloggers?
Participants confirmed parts of the worldwide simulation challenged government officials and industry executives to respond to deliberate misinformation campaigns and activist calls by Internet bloggers, online diarists whose “Web logs” include political rantings and musings about current events.
If the US government is so concerned about a blogging insurgency, why don’t they just shut down blog sites like Korea and China have done before? Goodbye insurgency.
Hat Tip: Coming Anarchy
US and Canadian authorities have busted another human trafficking ring operating across the Canadian border:
“We are alleging that over the last two years, this group was responsible for the majority of migrants that were smuggled into the U.S. (from Canada),” said Michele Paradis, a spokeswoman with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“They were being hidden in trunks of cars, they were being put on railway cars, they were put in the backs of transport trucks and there were occasions where small boats were used.”
Paradis said the illegal migrants were from China, Korea and Eastern Europe. Twenty-four were arrested while trying to enter Canada from the States, and at least 74 were caught trying to cross into the United States.
“The smugglers themselves are not the least bit concerned for the safety of the migrants at all,” Paradis said. “They’re only concerned about one thing, and one thing only, and that’s the amount of money they can make.”
Army transformation continues in South Korea:
For South Korea, a key change will come this summer with the creation of the 501st Sustainment Brigade, Parker said. The brigade will be the first operational unit of its kind in the Army and will be responsible for one of the major missions here: reception, staging, onward movement and integration.
Other changes involve how the Army runs its personnel offices worldwide, Parker said. Eventually, there will be no personnel offices in South Korea other than each unit’s individual human-resources office, usually known as the S-1 office. Decisions like assignments and questions about pay will be directed to two human-resources offices worldwide, he said.
The way the Army conducts troop rotations will also affect soldiers assigned to South Korea.
Soldiers attached to stateside-based brigade combat teams will rotate to South Korea together on a one-year, unaccompanied tour. Other support staff will come to South Korea on accompanied tours for as long as three years, much like in Germany.
If brigade are going to be rotated into Korea that would mean then that the 1st Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division would at some point in the near future either redeploy to the United States or even Iraq, much like what 2nd Brigade, 2ID did. If the 1st Brigade, 2ID gets redeployed from Korea, that would mean there would be no need for the division headquarters to be located in Korea either with all of the division’s combat units in the United States. I would then expect the division headquarters to move to probably Ft. Lewis, WA where 3rd BCT, 2ID is currently located.
However, like any changes in Korea, I will have to see it happen before I believe it, because of the highly politicized nature of removing troops from Korea, especially a division headquarters.
