President Trump is right, that bringing up the Libya model to North Korea was not a good reference if trying to cut a deal:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that former National Security Adviser John Bolton “set us back” in denuclearization negotiations with North Korea by demanding the regime follow the “Libya model” and hand over all of its nuclear weapons.

Bolton quit the administration on Tuesday following disagreements with Trump on policies including how to denuclearize North Korea.

The hawkish adviser had once advocated for the “Libya model” that calls for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program before receiving any concessions in return.

“He made some very big mistakes. When he talked about the Libyan model for Kim Jong-un, that was not a good statement to make,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to the North Korean leader. “You just take a look at what happened with Gaddafi. That was not a good statement to make, and it set us back.”

Libya surrendered its weapons of mass destruction program in 2003, but its then-leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled from power and killed by NATO-backed rebel forces in 2011.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I think this statement also shows that President Trump realizes that Kim Jong-un is not going to give up all of his nuclear weapons. This means that he is going to have to figure out what amount of nuclear capability and capacity the United States is willing to allow North Korea to have in order to cut a deal.

Via a reader tip comes this article about South Korea’s growing drag queen culture:

Hurricane Kimchi takes the stage at an underground bar in Seoul, dancing agilely to Wonder Girls’ 2008 K-pop hit “Nobody.”

Dressed in high heels, a fluffy white wig and a tight gold sequin dress — an homage to the song’s video — he commands a fervent crowd that cheers, sings along and throws money at his feet. At one point, an audience member runs up to shove a 10,000-won bill (around $9) inside his belt.

Drag queens remain a rare sight in South Korea. But Hurricane Kimchi’s alter-ego, LGBTQ activist Heezy Yang, is out to change perceptions in a country with traditionally conservative views on gender and sexuality.

The activist’s work ranges from writing a novel about his experience of coming out, to taking part in a mock gay wedding ceremony in Seoul’s metro. He is also the founder of the Seoul Drag Parade, an annual event that hopes to “encourage both queer and non-queer people to use drag to find their identity (and) express their true feelings, thoughts and style,” according to its website.

Then there are the weekday drag shows he organizes in Itaewon, a diverse international neighborhood that has become the capital’s main gay district and is known as “homo hill” to the LGBTQ community and locals.

CNN

You can read more at the link, but I can remember many years ago when the transgender folks used to hang out up in the TDC Ville trying to hook up with drunk soldiers.

It will be interesting to see how the IOC rules on the “Rising Sun” flag at next year’s Olympics:

South Korea has formally asked the International Olympic Committee to ban the Japanese “rising sun” flag at next year’s Tokyo Games, calling it a symbol of Japan’s brutal wartime past and comparing it with the Nazi swastika.

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday said it sent a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach expressing “deep disappointment and concern” over Japanese plans to allow the flag in stadiums and other facilities during the 2020 Olympics.

South Korean Olympic officials last month urged the local organizing committee to ban the flag, but Tokyo organizers responded by saying it was widely used in Japan, was not considered a political statement and “it is not viewed as a prohibited item.”

The flag, portraying a red sun with 16 rays extending outward, is resented by many South Koreans, who still harbor animosity over Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

1/The important part is not in the headlines. Moon held a cabinet meeting at KIST, and Cho Kuk was there. Moon & Cho were pressuring KIST to say Cho Kuk's daughter did an internship there, when she didn't. Cho's daughter claimed she was an intern there…https://t.co/3HLgzX52J4

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) September 11, 2019

Great job by all the Soldiers that participated in the ruck this week:

 Servicemembers and civilians participated in the ninth annual 9/11 Memorial Ruck March at Camp Humphreys on Wednesday, marking 18 years since the worst attack on the U.S. since Pearl Harbor and the prelude to the nation’s longest war.

An estimated 500 people signed up for the 9.11-mile memorial ruck, beating a record set in 2017 when 264 participants signed up and completed a slightly different route.

Many of the participants were mere toddlers on the morning of 9/11, more concerned with putting one foot in front of the other without falling over than shouldering a pack and moving out.

Pfc. Alison Malmborg, a supply specialist for the Eighth Army Wightman NCO Academy, was 2 years old when those tragic events unfolded.

“There are a few sergeants and people we work with that were in the military during 9/11, so it means a lot to spend this time with them and show that we are dedicated,” she said. “Even though I was only 2, I am here today serving alongside them.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It is good to see that more women are able to advance their careers in the ROK military:

When it comes to promoting gender equality in military barracks, some might think it is about giving preferential treatment to female personnel. 

Kang Seo-yeon, a chief petty officer of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy, realized this after an article spotlighting her service received comments to such effect online. 

“After all, we are all service members whether we are male or female,” Kang said. “Female NCOs in the military can often be seen as a special case when they should rather be seen as competent, just like their male colleagues.” 

For Navy service personnel, serving in a remote area or on a ship on a maritime mission helps their careers. While her husband is also a Navy chief petty officer serving on the ROKS Chungbuk (FFG-816) in the Second Fleet based at Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Kang chose to serve at a naval base on Deokjeok Island off the western coast of Incheon this year ― her 11th in the Navy. Before enlisting in the Navy she served four years in the Army as she always wanted to be in the military after graduating from high school. 

Kang, now raising her four-year-old son on Deokjeok Island, said she can balance her work and childcare through the military’s childcare support policies. 

In South Korea, all able-bodied men must serve 18 to 22 months in the military but no mandatory military service is required of women. They can join the military as non-commissioned, or commissioned officer if they graduate from military academies or pass national qualification tests to join the military. 

Media focus on female personnel has often been on them taking certain positions for the first time that had not been “allowed” before, largely due to the perception that women would find it hard to serve on such missions. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link about various female servicemembers that have filled leadership roles for the first time in the ROK military.

Anyone surprised that these workers were killed because they did not have proper safety equipment?:

Three migrant workers were found dead, and another one is in a coma, following an accident inside an underground tank at a fishery products processing factory in the eastern county of Yeongdeok on Tuesday, local fire authorities said. 

The four — three Thais and one Vietnamese — were found at the bottom of the tank at 2:30 p.m., according to the North Gyeongsang Province Fire Service Headquarters.

The workers, whose names have yet to be made public, are believed to have suffocated while doing maintenance work inside the tank at the factory in Chuksan Port in Yeongdeok, some 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The 42-year-old and 28-year-old Thai workers and the 53-year-old Vietnamese person died in the accident, and the other victim, a 34-year-old Thai, is currently in a coma, the fire headquarters said. 

The tank stores byproducts from the processing of fish and shellfish, it added.

The rescue authorities said the workers appeared to have entered the tank without safety equipments even though there was a high risk of inhaling toxic gas from decomposed fishery products.

Yonhap

Street #poll in Seoul. Cho Kuk's appointment as the Justice Minister.

Support: 29.47%
Oppose: 70.53%https://t.co/MucBzfxSaV

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) September 9, 2019