Symposium of marine commanders in Pacific
Lt. Gen. Kim Gye-hwan (L), commander of the Korean Marine Corps, and William Jurney, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, hold a news conference at a hotel in Seoul on June 3, 2024, prior to the opening of the Pacific Amphibious Leaders Symposium in the capital. (Yonhap)
It is pretty amazing how far some of the trash filled balloons from North Korea were able to fly into South Korea, to include Osan Airbase:
The U.S. military confirmed Monday that debris found near an on-base school the previous day had been carried by balloon from North Korea. The inflatable came down Sunday on Osan Air Base, near Osan Elementary School, according to principal Allyse Struhs’ email to parents and guardians that evening.
U.S. Forces Korea spokesman David Kim said in a statement Monday that at least one North Korean balloon was found at Osan, home of 7th Air Force and the 51st Fighter Wing about 30 miles south of Seoul. “The debris primarily consisted of basketball-size black plastic bags filled with trash and cloth, which were deemed safe with no threat to the public after investigation,” he wrote.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
It is a bit surprising that China is not siding with Iran over its territorial dispute with the UAE. Maybe China is trying soften their image by trying to look like some kind of peacemaker especially when they know Iran will not be giving back the islands and there is nothing the UAE can do to get them back:
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) speedboats during an exercise in Abu Musa Island on Aug. 2, 2023. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
China held its stance on three disputed islands in the Gulf on Monday despite Tehran’s anger at Beijing for describing the Iran-controlled islands as a matter to be resolved with the United Arab Emirates. In a statement last week, China expressed support for the efforts of the UAE to reach a “peaceful solution” to the issue of the islands — the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.
The islands, claimed by the UAE and Iran, have been held by Tehran since 1971 after the withdrawal of British forces from the Gulf. In a rare show of anger toward its biggest trading partner, the Iranian foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the Chinese ambassador to Iran to protest China’s “repeated support” for the UAE’s “baseless claims.” “Considering the strategic cooperation between Tehran and Beijing, it is expected that the Chinese government will revise its stance on this matter,” the Iranian foreign ministry said.
Stars and Stripes
You can read more at the link.
This potential oil and gas reserve off the coast of Pohang would be huge for South Korea’s economy considering how dependent it is on foreign oil imports:
President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that a potentially massive oil and gas reserve could be buried off the southeast city of Pohang and drilling will begin later this year to determine whether it is real.
The reserve off Yeongil Bay in Pohang, about 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul, could hold up to 14 billion barrels of oil and gas, an amount that could meet South Korea’s gas demands for 29 years and oil demands for four years, Yoon said.
He cited a geophysical study conducted by an unidentified foreign seismic research company.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It will be interesting to see if the Yoon administration stops Park Hang-sak and his group, Fighters for a Free North Korea, from sending propaganda balloons to North Korea in order to put and end to the North Korean trash attacks:
A cleaner takes away bags of trash carried airborne by North Korean balloons in a parking lot outside a shopping mall in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, on June 2, 2024. (Yonhap)
North Korea said Sunday it will temporarily stop sending trash-filled balloons across the border to South Korea, though it also threatened to resume such operations if Seoul sends more anti-Pyongyang leaflets.
In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang-il claimed Pyongyang had sent 3,500 balloons, carrying 15 tons worth of debris, toward South Korea between Tuesday night and Sunday morning.
Kim offered to temporarily halt that activity because it was solely in response to anti-communist leaflets flown up north by South Korean activists.
Kim added that should South Korea send such leaflets again, North Korea will retaliate with balloons carrying “garbage amounting to 100 times” the quantity of those propaganda pieces of paper.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
I doubt the North Koreans are going to care much about these loudspeaker broadcasts blaring again:
The presidential National Security Council (NSC) is expected to discuss a plan to resume propaganda campaigns via loudspeakers across the border with North Korea, in response to the North’s launch of some 600 balloons carrying trash to the South, a source close to the matter said Sunday.
The NSC meeting will be held Sunday afternoon and presided over by National Security Adviser Jang Ho-jin, according to the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Earlier in the day, South Korea’s military said North Korea has been sending the trash-carrying balloons to the South since Saturday, despite the South warning it would take “unendurably” painful measures against such provocative acts.
It marks the first time the presidential office will hold an NSC meeting over the North’s balloon provocation.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
