I wonder if the fact that Japan is fielding spy planes will be twisted to mean that this is another provactive measure by the Japanese military to invade Dokdo? Rest easy Dokdo watchers, the spy planes are to be used to spy on North Korean ballistic missiles instead:

Japan will soon decide which long-endurance unmanned spy plane it plans to deploy in fiscal 2007, Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga said Wednesday in London.
Nukaga said he expects the spy drones to allow his agency to gather ballistic missile launch information quickly. The move will bolster Japan’s reconnaissance capabilities to monitor North Korea and other potential threats.

Japan has plans to domestically develop spy planes but the agency will first import them from the United States, Japan’s closest ally, with which it has been engaged in a joint missile defense project since North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan into the Pacific in 1998.

It will be interesting to see how the Chinese are going to respond to this development.

I won’t be caught dead doing this, but to each their own:

Every morning, Hwang Sun-jae, 27, a credit card company employee, applies several kinds of facial product in multiple steps. After completing almost an hour’s grooming by applying wax to his hair and selecting a designer necktie and dress shirt for the day, Mr. Hwang is finally ready for work. At weekends, he applies a face pack at home and often visits a salon to neaten his hair. “These days, trying to be beautiful is natural for both men and women,” Mr. Hwang said.

In 2005, the “ubersexual” ¯ uber means superior in German ¯ emerged on the market. According to Marian Salzman, a trend-spotter at a global advertising firm, ubersexuals are confident, masculine and stylish, and committed to uncompromising quality in all areas of life.

I think I will just stick to deodorant and aftershave.

I can remember the 2001 St. Patrick’s Day night that the American student Jamie Penich was murdered in Itaewon very clearly because I was out on the town that night and actually visited the bar that Penich was last at, though not at the same time so I never saw her. The murder definitely sent waves through the USFK community because it was suspected that a USFK servicemember was the person responsible for the murder. Many servicemembers were questioned about what they saw in Itaewon that night but no arrests were ever made.

This case took so many twists and turns that it could be made into a movie, but ultimately Penich’s friend was the only person charged with the murder which included allegations of lesbianism and a confession from the suspected killer to US authorities. However, the case continued to take more twists and turns as the suspected murderer withdrew her confession during the Korean court trial and was found innocent and now that not guilty verdict has been upheld:

The Supreme Court upheld yesterday a lower court ruling acquitting an American student on charges of murdering another U.S. student in Korea in 2001. The court said there was insufficient evidence to convict Kenzi Snider, 24, of killing Jamie Lynn Penich. Ms. Snider had been accused of beating Ms. Penich to death in a motel in Itaewon in March 2001.

The court said it did not accept Ms. Snider’s confession to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation because it was later retracted. After questioning in Korea, Ms. Snider was questioned by the F.B.I. in the United States and confessed to the murder. Extradited to Korea in 2002, Ms. Snider disavowed her confession at her trial here. The court said evidence from another country’s authorities is only admissible if the suspect confirms it to a court here.

I highly recommend that everyone read this Court TV report on the murder because the twists and turns this case takes is truly amazing, while the murderer is still at large. I wonder if the authorities could have solved this murder if they didn’t just focus on the GI murderer stereotype from the beginning of this case like they did? There will probably never be any justice for Jamie Penich’s family, but read the report to draw your own conclusions.

Everyone has been on the lookout for the missing North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il who mysteriously left North Korea for a trip to China. Or was it China? There are also reports of Kim at the Chuncheon Dak Galbi stand in Songtan.

However, the Asiapundit has provided further information on Kim’s location by reporting that he is in fact at China’s Guangzhou White Swan hotel from January 12 through Monday morning. Apparently Kim is touring telecom firms and buying cheap pirated DVD’s. Could we soon see “NK Telecom” in South Korea?

Now the latest news via Nomad confirming Kim’s location is that he some how left Miss Lee’s Hamburgers in Songtan and is in fact now in Guangzhou taking pleasure boat cruises. I wonder if he brought his four Filipino “entertainers” with him?

Is it just me or does the Stars and Stripes seem more like a blotter report anymore? First of all the beer bottle GI received his sentence in a Korean court:

A U.S. soldier who attacked a man with a beer bottle in July was sentenced to 2½ years in South Korean prison on Wednesday.

Walker paid Cho $15,000 in connection with the assault, both Cho and 2nd Infantry Division officials have said.

Now that is one expensive night out. $15,000 for being drunk and stupid.

Here is another sentenced handed down in the infamous False Marriage Proposal Case:

A married U.S. soldier accused of persuading his girlfriend to have sex in return for marriage was sentenced Wednesday to 10 months in South Korean prison.

Amazingly the judge didn’t hand down any monetary compensation for the woman he promised to marry, especially when the woman had originally demanded millions from him.

Here are two more examples of GI’s tried in Korean courts yet I wouldn’t be surprised if the Korea Times ran another article claiming GI’s have never been tried in Korean courts.

Nomad has more here and here.

UPDATE: One Free Korea has a good posting on this as well.

___________________________________
The US has requested assistance from the Zayutn Unit in Iraq to move the government agency USAID on to the Stun compound in Irbil:

A Defense Ministry source said Thursday the official request from the U.S. came by way of the Foreign Ministry in November, asking Korea to let USAID move into the base in Kurdish-majority Irbil, which is relatively calm compared to the rest of the war-torn country. The Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which oversees the Stun base, feels the USAID office would be no hindrance to base operations and is likely to permit it to move in around mid-February, the source said.

Of course there are already concerns that the agency would bring unwanted attention to the Stun unit:

However, there are concerns that if the U.S. organization moves into the base, the Stun Unit could become a more attractive target for insurgents.

I thought the Stun unit was brought to Iraq to help with reconstruction and yet you have naysayers saying that allowing a reconstruction agency such as USAID on to their compound is to dangerous? Going on patrol in the Sunni Triangle like the US soldiers are doing every day is dangerous, building toilet seats is not. When is the Korean government going to let these guys be soldiers?

I want to emphasise that I have nothing against the ROK Army because I think they are a fine organization, I am just against the policy that makes them nothing more than a window dressing army. The ROK Army and the Iraqis deserve better than that.

Is it just me or does this punishment seem a little to steep for stealing $500?:

A U.S. Army sergeant received 13 months confinement Monday after pleading guilty to stealing more than $500 by lying about his base housing allowance needs, according to the public affairs office at 2nd Infantry Division.

Mark A. Byrd, of Headquarters and Headquarters Service Company, Special Troops Battalion at Camp Red Cloud, also was reduced to the Army’s lowest rank and pay level, E-1.

Maybe there is more to this story but I can’t help but to think back to the whole 1LT Davis saga down in Osan where he only got two years for crimes far more serious than what this NCO on Red Cloud committed.

The US and Korean governments have agreed to begin the first ever Strategic Consultations for Allied Partnership talks:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host South Korea’s Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon for the inaugural session of the so-called Strategic Consultations for Allied Partnership on January 19, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

I have a feeling these talks will have more to do with getting the US out of Korea than Allied Partnership, but let’s take a look at the agenda:

“Topics of discussion will include global, regional and bilateral issues of mutual concern,” he said.

What the US is probably refering to here is the US’s desire to deploy forces from the peninsula for global use and the on going nuclear situation with North Korea plus the status on the Camp Humphreys land deal.

“The strategic consultations reflect the dynamic global partnership we have developed with the Republic of Korea and consolidate the strong bilateral cooperation that we have long shared,” McCormack said.

This sounds like nice diplomatic speak for: “we want out of Korea as quickly as possible and their is nothing you can do about it.”

Efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons drive and the readjustment of the traditional American-South Korean military alliance are expected to be among key topics of the discussions, analysts say.

I take this to mean that the US will end the nuclear crisis in its own way if North Korea doesn’t begin cooperating by implementing sanctions even at the expense of the US-ROK Alliance.

However you interpret the meaning of these talks it should hopefully resolve many of the outstanding issues between the two countries.

Can anyone indentify where this area in Korea is located?

The NY Times has a good article about everyone’s favorite Korean rioters. I like the Hong Kong government’s response to the demands from the Korean government, movie stars, and others for the immediate release of the criminal rioters:

The South Korean government has appealed to the Hong Kong government repeatedly to release the protesters, all of them men. But the Hong Kong authorities have refused, pointing out that the protest here on the night of Dec. 17 left 137 people injured, including 67 police officers.

“Hong Kong is a place where the rule of law is strongly upheld,” said Wong Yan-lung, Hong Kong’s secretary for justice, after meeting here on Monday with three opposition lawmakers from South Korea who complained about the prosecution. “This case is being processed in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong and our established and announced prosecution policy.”

Note the first key phrase: “Hong Kong is a place where the rule of law is strongly upheld”. Just because Korea won’t enforce their own laws to jail these people doesn’t mean Hong Kong should not have to as well. The other key phrase is: “This case is being processed in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong”. I find it ironic that a country that constantly complains about the US-Korea SOFA Agreement to punish American soldiers arrested for crimes in Korea would in turn demand that another sovereign country should not uphold their laws for Koreans committing crimes in that country.

Here is something else the Koreans can learn from Hong Kong:

Police officers have long maintained high social standing here, with excellent benefits – especially education benefits for their children – allowing thousands of working-class men and women and their children to move up the social ladder. Donald Tsang, Hong Kong’s chief executive, is the son of a police sergeant.

Korean government take note this is how policemen should be looked upon by the country, not punching bags for idiot rioters.

Don’t give in Hong Kong. Jail these people and they won’t ever come back.

Marmot as well has a great posting on the Hong Kong 11 that is also required reading.