Tag: Russia

South Korean Fishing Boat Sinks in the Bering Sea

| December 2, 2014

This has the makings of being another possible mass casualty event for South Korea:

Rescuers searched Monday for more than 50 people missing after a South Korean fishing ship they were working on sank amid high waves in the freezing waters of the Bering Sea, officials said. At least one person died.

Authorities rescued seven crew members and recovered one body, but weather and water conditions were complicating the search for the others, an official from the South Korean fisheries and oceans ministry said on condition of anonymity because of office rules.

The crew included 35 Indonesians, 13 Filipinos, 11 South Koreans and one Russian inspector, the official said. Russian authorities said there were 62 people aboard the ship, which sank in the western part of the Bering Sea, near Russia.

The South Korean ministry official said it’s believed that the ship, which was catching pollock, began to list after stormy weather caused seawater to flood its storage areas. The official said the 2,100-ton ship was 35 years old.  [Yahoo via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but hopefully Russian search and rescue can pull these guys out of the water

Should the US Advocate to Liberate the Kuril Islands from Russia?

| May 2, 2014

The Fiscal Times has an article about what the US should do in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine that involves Japan:

Kuril Islands via Wikipedia.

Russia stands on disputed territory everywhere: in the southern Kurile Islands off Japan, in Abkhazia and South Ossetia off Georgia, on restive Muslim areas in the Caucasus, and now in Crimea. Closer to Central Asia, it rules several additional Muslim populations like the Tatars, who don’t have their own states only by the whim of early Soviet cartographers.  More than 20 percent of Russia’s population are minorities, since historically Russia’s borders have fluctuated wildly. It thus needs reminding that discarding territorial integrity can have serious consequences elsewhere.

  • The United States should issue a strong statement supporting Japan’s ownership of the southern Kurile Islands.
  • Reengage—loudly–with the Europeans and Tbilisi launching Georgia’s NATO Membership Action Plan.
  • Refer to Chechnya and Dagestan as “disputed” areas, at the UN and other multilateral fora.

Nothing would rattle Russian confidence like the prospect of United States officials meeting – even expressing interest in meeting – opposition leaders in Dagestan. And perhaps the Tatars should have their own state as well. Maybe the UN should look into it.

Yes, there are many ethnic Russians in Europe. There are also many non-Russians in Russia. Let the Kremlin chew on what real revisionism would look like.   [Fiscal Times]

This will probably annoy the Russians, but would the Russians actually believe anyone would follow through on the threats?  Is anyone in Europe and the US ready for Operation: Kuril Freedom?  Or better yet Operation: Chechnya Freedom?  Few people have an appetite for military intervention now a days and Putin knows this and is why he taking advantage of this while he can in the Ukraine.