😐
— John Lee (The Korean Foreigner) (@koreanforeigner) August 1, 2019
Is this wise? I mean, wrongs should be righted. But SKorea is going to be taken off Japan's white list tomorrow. China and Russia are literally encircling SKorea. Is this the right time or wise to pick a fight with the US? Is the SKorean government TRYING to isolate itself? https://t.co/Ud8UZY9Kgd
There will probably be more missiles being fired by North Korea next week as the joint exercise between the ROK and South Korea is scheduled to begin:
South Korea and the United States will stage joint military drills as scheduled despite warnings from North Korea, the South Korean military authority said Sunday.
The joint drills will begin Monday with a computer-simulated command post exercise (CPX) to cope with any emergency on the Korean Peninsula and last for half a month, according to the authority.
After the CPX, the allies will spend the remaining 10 days intensively verifying Seoul’s capabilities for its envisioned retaking of wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops from Washington.
But many watchers say the joint military drills could prompt further provocation from the North.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
This is good news for the families of Korean War veterans that were missing in action. Some of them may be notified this week that their family member has been identified:
Defense Department officials have identified 25 more missing servicemembers from the cases of remains turned over by North Korean officials last year, a major advance for dozens of families who have waited decades for closure in the deaths of their loved ones.
The identifications were first announced by Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday afternoon and later confirmed by officials at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency during their annual briefing to families of the Korean War, held in Washington D.C.
On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the news “A promise kept from the agreement between (North Korean) Chairman Kim (Jong Un) and President Donald Trump … to return all of our fallen heroes.”
DPAA officials said specific identifications will be made public in coming weeks, after family members have received formal notification from the individual services. Most of the service members identified are from the Army.Defense Department officials have identified 25 more missing servicemembers from the cases of remains turned over by North Korean officials last year, a major advance for dozens of families who have waited decades for closure in the deaths of their loved ones.
The identifications were first announced by Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday afternoon and later confirmed by officials at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency during their annual briefing to families of the Korean War, held in Washington D.C.
On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the news “A promise kept from the agreement between (North Korean) Chairman Kim (Jong Un) and President Donald Trump … to return all of our fallen heroes.”
Military Times
You can read more at the link.
It is horrible what happened to this spouse, but if the military had to pay $5 million to everyone that was sexually assaulted there would not be a military for much longer:
Then-Amn. Justin S. and his wife, Bethany, arrived at Kadena Air Base in Japan Oct. 6, 2017, for his first duty assignment. They were excited to begin their life in the Air Force, and eager to meet their fellow airmen at Kadena, Justin’s top pick for his initial assignment.
But all that ended the next day, when their official, assigned sponsor — then-Senior Amn. Steven Newt — coaxed them to a booze-soaked barbecue at his house and pressured Justin to drink. After Justin, Bethany and most of the other party-goers had gone to sleep, Newt was caught groping and kissing Bethany’s unconscious body.
Newt pleaded guilty last October to Bethany’s sexual assault and is now serving time in jail, but the events of that night traumatized her and left her suffering from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress requiring therapy, she said. (……)
So far, Bethany has been fighting an uphill battle with the Air Force. Last November, she filed a personal injury claim seeking $5 million from the Air Force. But in May, the Air Force Legal Operations Agency denied her claim.
Air Force Times
You can read more at the link, but I would be surprised if the Air Force did not look into how the perpetrator’s command chose unit sponsors for newly arriving airmen. Did the perpetrator have past misconduct that should have raised red flags? Having a substandard airman be a newly arriving airman’s first impression of their unit is probably not a good thing. Also was there any unit policy to not take new airmen to drinking parties after arrival? Simple policies like this may have been able to prevent what happened.
Here is another power tip which will be called “victim blaming”, but I call common sense, do not ever get blackout drunk with people you don’t know. So many of these sexual assaults are alcohol related. You have to be careful because even the military has it share of creeps like this perpetrator who is now fortunately rotting in jail and has to register as a sex offender after his release.
Surely, he's referring to soccer? #Incendiary #Propaganda #Agitation #DPRKStyle https://t.co/XB7hheJZa2
— Sung-Yoon Lee (@SungYoonLee1) August 2, 2019
The National Interest has an interesting read about the rifle North Korea has outfitted some of its military members with:
One of the largest armies in the world has adopted one of the most unusual variants of the AK-series of assault rifles.
The North Korean People’s Army Type 88 rifle is similar to the Soviet-era AK-74 with one key difference: unusual helical magazines that carry up to five times as many rounds as conventional 30-round magazines. (…..)
The latest North Korean assault rifle is the Type 88. The Type 88 is a copy of the AK-74 assault rifle, whose primary advantage over the AK-47 was the adoption of the smaller, lighter 5.45-millimeter round. Exactly when the Type 88 was adopted is not clear, but the type designation, in this case, may indicate the year of adoption—1988. The rifle is now a staple of North Korean military parades and is frequently seen in the hands of North Korean special operations troops and leader Kim Jong Un’s bodyguards.
The National Interest
You can read more at the link.
The tit-for-tat between South Korea and Japan continues:
South Korea said Friday that it will remove Japan from its list of trusted trading partners in an escalating trade war between the two neighbors, in what could be its latest salvo against Tokyo’s expanded trade restriction.
“We will take the step of strengthening export controls by excluding Japan from the whitelist,” Hong Nam-ki, the minister of economy and finance, said in a joint news conference.
Currently, Japan and 28 other countries are on Seoul’s whitelist. South Korea said it will create a new category in its export controls and put Japan in that category.
Sung Yun-mo, minister of trade, industry and energy, declined to elaborate on how many items could be affected by South Korea’s removal of Japan from the list.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but this is in response to Japan removing the ROK’s favored trading status due to the Moon administration trying to forcibly seize the assets of Japanese companies in South Korea.
Well it is now official that South Korea has been removed from Japan’s so called “white list” of favored trading nations:
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Saturday blasted Japan for its decision to remove South Korea from a whitelist of trusted trading partners, saying that it “crossed a line it should not have.”
“(The decision) is the second retaliation after the country imposed export restrictions on key chip materials,” Lee said at a Cabinet meeting.
He also said such moves could “jeopardize bilateral relations between South Korea and Japan, international free trade and interdependent economic cooperation regime, and cause a crack in the three-way security alliance with the United States.”
“We cannot but sternly deal with the matter.”
On Friday, Japan’s Cabinet passed a bill striking South Korea from its list of countries that require only minimal procedures to purchase sensitive materials that can be used for military use.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has denounced Japan’s move as a “very reckless decision”, warning that South Korea will take corresponding measures and Japan will bear full responsibility for the consequences.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but what I find most interesting is that the Moon administration has a more stern response to Japan over a trade spat the ROK government created in the first place, than North Korea shooting off missiles the Kim regime states are meant to destroy Seoul.
So when is the Korean government going to show this level of anger at North Korea for not complying with their military agreements with South Korea?
