Tag: Philippines

President Duterte Vows to Kill Korean Gang Members Operating in the Philippines

| February 9, 2017

According to the Filipino President Korean gangs are responsible for much of the prostitution and drugs on the island of Cebu and he vows to kill them:

President Duterte

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to kill Korean criminal gangs who are involved in the illegal drug trade in his country, according to local media Monday.

Duterte told reporters recently that Korean gangs will not receive special treatment for their crimes just because they are foreign.

“For those into the racket (business) of prostitution, drugs and everything, kidnapping, you will be treated just like ordinary criminals,” Duterte, who has repeatedly encouraged citizens and police to kill those involved in illegal drug trafficking, said in a stern warning.

The statement came after Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa claimed that a Korean gang may be behind the murder of Jee Ick-joo, a Korean businessman found dead in October inside the national police headquarters.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Philippines President Wants To Send Heads of Policemen Who Killed South Korean Man to Seoul

| January 30, 2017

If President Duterte has his way the policemen who kidnapped, ransomed and killed a South Korean man in the Philippines will be executed:

Filipino police officers and other law enforcement officials take their oath during a Senate investigation of a kidnapped South Korean businessman that was allegedly killed by policemen at the police headquarters in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines Jan 26, 2017. Pic: AP

On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte apologised to South Korea for Jee’s death, saying he wanted to hang the rogue police allegedly responsible and send their heads to Seoul, Reuters reported.

He called again for the death penalty to be reinstated so that he could hang 20 criminals a day.

Duterte also promised the toughest punishment for those behind the kidnapping and killing of the businessman inside the national police headquarters in October.

The death of the South Korean comes as the Philippine police face growing criticism from rights groups and some lawmakers, who say cover-ups and abuses of police power are rampant.  [Asian Correspondent]

You can read more at the link.

Philippines Police Chief Apologizes for Murder of Korean National By His Men

| January 22, 2017

Here is evidence that the President Duterte’s drug crackdown is being used as cover for illegal activity:

The Philippine national police chief apologized to South Korea on Thursday over the death of a Korean man who was arrested illegally and then slain by members of an anti-drug task force at the main police camp in Manila.

Police Director-General Ronald Dela Rosa said the policemen detained Jee Ickjoo with a fake arrest warrant last October with the intent of holding him for ransom, but killed him the same day. He said they then extracted a ransom payment from Jee’s family without telling them Jee was dead.  [Washington Post]

You can read more at the link.

What If the Hideyoshi Invasion of Korea Had Never Happened and the Japanese Invaded the Philippines Instead?

| November 8, 2016

Via a reader tip to the archive for the US Naval War College Review, I ended up reading an interesting article about how the failed Toyotomi Hideyoshi invasion of Korea from 1592-1598 may have stopped his plans of conquering the Philippines.  According to the article the Spanish rulers of the Philippines had problems with Japanese pirates known as “wako” and soon stories of the wealth in the Philippines from these pirates got back to Hideyoshi who had recently unified Japan under his rule:

The Japanese landing on Busan
The Japanese landing on Busan

The earliest written mention of fears of a Japanese invasion in the broadest sense of the word appears in a Memorial to the Council of 1586, in which there is specu- lation within Manila that the Japanese wakō might have greater ambitions beyond mere plunder: they “make a descent almost every year, and, it is said, with the intent of colonizing Luçon [Luzon].”3 That never happened, but in 1591 the first proper invasion scare began when the Philippines entered the consciousness of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–98). By means of a series of brilliant military cam- paigns, Hideyoshi had reunified Japan after the chaos of a century of civil war, and he now set his mind on overseas expeditions. The addition of the Philippines to his megalomaniac aims was credited to a certain “Farandaquiemon [Faranda Quiemon]—a Japanese of low extraction,” who induced Hideyoshi “to write in a barbarous and arrogant manner to the governor, demanding submission and tribute, and threatening to come with a fleet and troops to lay waste the country.”  [US Naval War College Review]

According to the article the Japanese soldiers were not interested in attacking Korea because it was a poor country compared to the wealth they believed the Philippines had:

There was also a possible motive, because “[i]n Japon there is universal talk of the abundance of gold in this land. On this account, the soldiers are anxious to come here; and are coming, as they do not care to go to Core [Korea], which is a poor country.”

The Spanish sent an ambassador to Japan that met with Hideyoshi and explained to them the might of the Spanish Empire around the world.  Hideyoshi was apparently not very impressed, but instead of focusing on invading the Philippines he attacked Korea first:

The Philippines remained on high alert for four years after Harada’s visit, and during that time the Spanish authorities closely monitored Hideyoshi’s military expedition against Korea. It was launched during the summer of 1592 and rapidly changed from being a blitzkrieg success to a long and painful retreat. The Korean campaign revealed a major Japanese weakness in naval warfare and support, and one of the main reasons for Japan’s eventual defeat was that the Korean navy severed Japan’s lines of communication between Busan and the Japanese island of Tsushima.21 The encouraging lesson was not wasted on Manila. If Hideyoshi could not control the Tsushima Strait, how could he ever contemplate sending an invasion fleet as far as Luzon?

As his Korean incursion dragged on, Hideyoshi grew increasingly suspicious concerning the activities of Portuguese and Spanish missionaries in Japan. An active persecution of Christianity followed, and Japan’s first martyrs died in February 1597. One of them, Fray Martin of the Ascension, wrote a letter to the governor of the Philippines as he was on his way to his execution. It includes what he had heard about Hideyoshi’s intentions toward the Philippines. “It is said that next year he will go to Luzon, and that he does not go this year because of being busy with the Coreans.”22 Martin also commented on the invasion route, whereby “he intends to take the islands of Lequios and Hermosa [Ryukyus and Taiwan], throw forces from them into Cagayan, and thence to fall upon Manila, if God does not first put a stop to his advance.”

The rest of the article goes on to describe other failed schemes by the Japanese to invade the Philippines during the years of the Tokugawa dynasty.   However the article concludes that Hideyoshi likely had the best opportunity to conquer the Philippines had he not focused on Korea:

Of the three schemes for invading the Philippines between 1593 and 1637, the vast armies at Hideyoshi’s disposal in his 1593 plan could well have succeeded against the meagre garrison of Manila had he not been humiliated already in Korea by a woeful lack of naval support. Two seaborne attempts against Taiwan in 1609 and 1616 were also failures, and an annexation of the Ryukyus in 1609 was to be contemporary Japan’s only overseas gain.

So how different would East Asia have looked if the Japanese were successful in capturing the Philippines instead of invading Korea?

It seems to me it would have caused a major war with Spain because I doubt they would have sat back and let the Japanese hold onto to the Philippines.  Considering Spain’s naval might they would have been able to deny the Japanese resupply by sea and eventually recaptured the Philippines.  I think Spain then would have brought the war to Japan and devastated any remaining naval capability they had and likely loot various port cities until they were satisfied they had gotten enough revenge against the Japanese.

I think the aftermath of such a war with Spain would have caused the invasion of Korea to never happen. Would Korea’s course of history have been significantly changed by this course of events?

Sung Kim Sworn In as US Ambassador to the Philippines

| November 6, 2016

Via a reader tip comes news that Korean-American diplomat Sung Kim has been sworn in as the US Ambassador to the Philippines:

Secretary of State John Kerry administers the oath of office to Sung Kim, joined by his wife Jae, center, as U.S. Ambassador to Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, during a ceremony at the State Department in Washington. AP/Carolyn Kaster
Secretary of State John Kerry administers the oath of office to Sung Kim, joined by his wife Jae, center, as U.S. Ambassador to Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, during a ceremony at the State Department in Washington. AP/Carolyn Kaster

Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence Thursday that the U.S. relationship with the Philippines can survive recent turbulence as he swore in a new U.S. ambassador to the Southeast Asian nation.

Kerry administered the oath of office to Sung Kim, formerly the chief U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, in a ceremony at the State Department.

Kim, a career diplomat, takes up his new position in turbulent times. Outspoken Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office in June after winning a presidential election, has been antagonistic to Washington over human rights criticisms.

Duterte has forged closer ties with China — a blow to the Obama administration effort to forge deeper ties with Asia. He has declared his desire to scale back military engagements with the U.S. and has told President Barack Obama to “go to hell.”  [PhilStar.com]

You can read more at the link, but good luck to Ambassador Kim.  His posting in the Philippines should be a memorable one considering he will be dealing with President Duterte quite a bit.

Man Arrested In Korea for Murder of Three Koreans In the Philippines

| October 24, 2016

It appears the murder of three Koreans in the Philippines may have been to rob them of the money they had defrauded from people in South Korea:

Individuals identified as South Korean nationals were found dead on Tuesday in the Philippines, according to South Korean media. (UPI Photo/Jennifer S. Kimball/NVNS)
Individuals identified as South Korean nationals were found dead on Tuesday in the Philippines, according to South Korean media. (UPI Photo/Jennifer S. Kimball/NVNS)

Police in southern Korea have arrested a suspect in the murder of three Koreans in the Philippines, in a fresh twist to a grisly saga first linked to a spate of vigilante killings.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Thursday said the suspect, surnamed Kim, was arrested in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.  (…………..)

Police said Kim lived in the Philippines when the murders took place and had been close to the victims. He returned to Korea on Oct. 13, a day after the murders.

Police are also searching for another Korean man in his 30s surnamed Park, who was also close to the victims and is believed to be still in the Philippines.   (……………….)

“The three victims and the suspects did not know each other in Korea but appear to have met in the Philippines,” a police spokesman said. “We have reason to believe that the two suspects committed the crime to get their hands on the victims’ money.” [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Further Reading:

https://www.rokdrop.net/2016/10/three-more-south-koreans-found-murdered-in-the-philippines/

Korean Ship Captain Abducted By Abu Sayyaf Militants

| October 22, 2016

Horrible news for the family of this South Korean ship captain who was kidnapped by the ISIS linked Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines:

Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants have abducted a South Korean skipper and a Filipino crewman from a South Korean cargo ship in the latest such attacks that have sparked a security alarm in the busy regional sealanes, military officials said Friday.

About 10 gunmen boarded the MV Dongbang Giant using ropes from a speedboat and abducted skipper Chul Hong and Filipino crewman Glenn Alindajao on Thursday off Bongao town in Tawi Tawi province. The ship was on its way to South Korea from Australia, regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan said.

Other crewmen were not seized and one managed to call his family, which reported the assault to authorities, according to Tan.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.

Protesters In the Philippines Clash With Police In Front of US Embassy

| October 20, 2016

A left wing rally in the Philippines outside the US embassy has turned violent:

A Philippine police van rammed into protesters, leaving several bloodied, as an anti-U.S. rally turned violent Wednesday at the American embassy in Manila.

At least three student activists had to be taken to a hospital after they were run over by the van driven by a police officer, protest leader Renato Reyes said.

AP Television footage showed the van repeatedly ramming the protesters as it drove wildly back and forth after protesters had surrounded and started hitting the van with wooden batons they had seized from the police.

Police later arrested 23 protesters, who broke into a line of riot police and hurled red paint at the policemen and a U.S. government seal at the seaside embassy.

“There was absolutely no justification for it,” Reyes said of the violent police dispersal of about 1,000 protesters. “Even as the president vowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the U.S.”

The violence happened as the protesters gathered to demand an end to the presence of U.S. troops in the country and to support a call by President Rodrigo Duterte for a foreign policy not dependent on the U.S., the country’s longtime treaty ally.

Duterte was on a state visit to China, where he is seeking to repair relations strained under his predecessor over territorial conflicts in the South China Sea. Duterte is also seeking to expand two-way trade and investments and seek financing for badly needed infrastructure projects.  [Associated Press]

According to ABC News this who the protesters were:

The protesters, consisting of students, workers and tribespeople, were demanding an end to the presence of visiting U.S. troops in the Philippines and to support a call by President Rodrigo Duterte for a foreign policy not dependent on the U.S., the country’s longtime treaty ally.

The activists came from the largest left-wing umbrella group called Bayan (Nation), which has organized regular anti-U.S. protests in front of the embassy for decades, most of which are peaceful.  [ABC News]

The left wing protesters also claim that they don’t want to be dictated to by China:

Amid an uneasy relationship with the U.S., Duterte has tried to reach out to China and Russia, bringing uncertainty to his country’s long alliance with America.

But the protesters also opposed the president’s effort to lean toward China. “The Philippines will not be dictated on, whether by the U.S. or China,” they said in a statement.

These people obviously live in a fantasy world.  What has the US supposedly “dictated” to them?  The nearly $200 million in aid dollars or the immediate disaster response relief the US has given the Philippines in the past?

Who is currently dictating to them is the Chinese who are forcibly seizing actual territory from the Philippines.  I find it interesting that this group of left wing protesters could not find the time to go and violently protest the seizing of Filipino territory in front of the Chinese embassy.