Standards will soon drop for ROK Army conscription:

The South Korean military said Sunday it plans to lower the bar for the conscription of active duty soldiers, as the country’s population is widely expected to shrink drastically. 

The Ministry of National Defense and the Military Manpower Administration are currently in the process of revising related regulations to lower the physical requirements and standards for active duty troops.

The measure under review comes amid a precipitate fall in the country’s population. The phenomenon is likely to drastically cut the number of men in their 20s to less than 250,000 after 2022, compared to some 350,000 as of 2017, leaving far fewer able-bodied young men eligible for the mandatory military service. 

“The Military Manpower Administration and other related bodies predict a major problem in securing manpower (for active duty troops) from around 2021. They plan to revise (the conscription standards) next year,” a government official said.

Under the revised plan, the government will use a new set of medical standards that are less strict than those currently applied, such as those on body mass index and high blood pressure. 

The new standards are likely to be finalized in early 2021, and the military will continue to take steps to gradually further loosen the requirements, according to the official. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

USFK is lucky this wasn’t worse of an accident. For example if it killed some kids the South Korean leftists could have used it to start 2002 like protests again:

A U.S. military helicopter accidentally dropped a metal container unit being airlifted Monday in South Korea, damaging a building but causing no injuries, officials said.

The container was being carried via sling load by a 2nd Infantry Division helicopter when it fell onto a building in Yongin, just south of Seoul.

“By all accounts, it did cause property damage, but nobody was injured,” said 2nd ID spokesman Lt. Col. Martyn Crighton. “Unit leaders are on the ground, and a thorough investigation has been launched to determine the circumstances and cause of the accident.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It would be interesting to know what was said on this phone call because it definitely has the appearance of interfering with an ongoing investigation:

The president’s message followed a disclosure that the minister made a phone call to the head of the prosecution team when prosecutors raided his house for investigation into the scandal on Monday.

A lawmaker with the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) raised the issue during a parliamentary interpellation session Thursday and Cho admitted that he had such a phone conversation.

The minister said it was not intended to affect the team’s field operation, and that he just asked for help in getting his wife to relax.

The LKP claimed that Cho deserves impeachment for the phone call itself as he was apparently abusing his power as justice minister.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You know you're in Korea when there's a K-pop concert with #NCTDREAM on stage, surrounded by "Free Park Geun-hye / Get rid of commies + Moon Jae-in + Cho Kuk" rally. It's a sound check, but still. LOL! #엔시티드림 pic.twitter.com/4ikZmfPswJ

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) September 28, 2019

The only uniform color worse than the Army’s ACU is now gone as well:

Sailors’ last day to wear a blue camouflage uniform beloved by some and derided by others is here.

The Type I Navy Working Uniform, dubbed the “blueberry,” will no longer be authorized for wear as of Tuesday, according to a timeline sent out by the Navy three years ago.

The eight-point cap is also being updated with the anchor, USS Constitution and eagle emblem stitched into the front-center panel, where sailors were previously allowed to put rank insignia.

Blueberries are being discontinued after an 11-year run. First introduced in 2008 as part of a uniform modernization program based on sailor input, the blue camouflage uniform was intended to be worn by enlisted and officers to “project a unified image/appearance regardless of rank,” a Navy spokesman said via email.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think the argument is whether South Korea is free riding but rather if their current cost sharing amount is adequate:

Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert on Friday rejected the notion that South Korea is free-riding on the United States’ troop presence in the country, saying the two nations are “very, very strong allies.”

Lippert, who served as the last U.S. ambassador to Seoul under former President Barack Obama, made the remark as negotiations on renewing a burden-sharing deal between South Korea and the U.S. got under way this week. (…………….)

n supporting his case, the former ambassador listed three factors: mandatory military service for all able-bodied South Korean men, South Korea’s shouldering of more than 90 percent of the cost of expanding Camp Humphreys, the U.S.’ largest overseas military base, and Seoul’s increase of defense spending by 4-8 percent each year.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

To Moon Chung-in, North Korea's threats to the country that has guaranteed South Korea's security for 70 years, UN & US sanctions designed to check those threats, & South Korea's eagerness to violate those sanctions are all America's fault. Nothing is ever Kim Jong-un's fault. https://t.co/OcAxuN38yX

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) September 24, 2019

Farmers hold protest in front of parliament

Farmers denounce the government’s inability to improve the livelihoods of rural agricultural communities by symbolically burning a funeral bier, streamers and mourning clothes in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Sept. 25, 2019. The protesters earlier held a national farmers gathering before marching to parliament to make known their numerous grievances. (Yonhap)