Tag: South Korea

Moon Administration’s $315 Million Railroad Upgrade in North Korea Blocked By the United Nations Command

| November 11, 2018

It looks like the United Nations Command is still upholding sanctions though the Moon administration doesn’t want them to:

The unification ministry set aside around 350 billion won ($315 million) to connect the rail and road networks of the two Koreas according to documents that were initially undisclosed.

The documents obtained by Rep. Choung Byoung-gug of the Bareunmirae Party from the ministry and National Assembly, stated that 352.6 billion won out of a 1.97 trillion won fund for inter-Korean affairs had been set aside to link transport networks with North Korea. The documents for the first time showed the government’s budget for the project.

Specifically, the ministry had set aside 134.1 billion won for rail connections and 54.8 billion won for roads. The ministry also reportedly drew up another 163.7 billion won for “establishing infrastructure for inter-Korean economic cooperation.”

The budget was drawn up at a time when the project has been put on hold as the Koreas have yet to conduct inspections on train tracks in the North. This is because the United Nations Command, which is in charge of approving personnel and equipment crossing the military demarcation line (MDL), has barred South Koreans from crossing to survey the North’s transport infrastructure.

This is due to the fact that a South Korean train carrying oil needs to cross the MDL. The United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea ban this. Resolution 2397 states “all member states shall prohibit the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to North Korea, through their territories or by their nationals, or using their flag vessels, aircraft, pipelines, rail lines, or vehicles, of all refined petroleum products.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Tweet of the Day: Defacto Peace Through Deterrence

| November 11, 2018

Tufts University Professors Writes that Peace Treaty Would Likely Lead to End of the US-ROK Alliance

| November 9, 2018

Professor Sung-Yoon Lee at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University has an article published in the National Interest that hits many of the same theme I have shared on this site about any peace treaty signed with the DPRK:

Almost immediately in the wake of the signing of an end-of-war declaration, the UN Command, shorn of its mission to defend the peace in the peninsula, would be dismantled. Moreover, OPCON transfer, now envisioned to be completed by 2020, would defang and dismantle the Combined Forces Command. Why? Despite protestations to the contrary, no U.S. commander would submit his command over U.S. forces-the preeminent military in the world-to a foreign commander in the actual prosecution of war.
The  joint communique of the recently concluded 50th U.S.-ROK Security Consultative Meeting (SMC) states that the two sides, following OPCON transfer, shall “maintain the current CFC structure” and that the post-OPCON transfer CFC shall “have an ROK four-star general as the Commander and a U.S. four-star general as the Deputy Commander” (Paragraph 9). It’s a proposition that sounds as credible as Richard Nixon’s promise to Park Chung-hee that no U.S. troops will be withdrawn just a year before the withdrawal of an entire division of twenty thousand soldiers.
A peace treaty between the United States and the DPRK, a long-held goal by North Korea, would call into question rationale for maintaining U.S. troops in South Korea. If and when such a treaty comes into effect, then the question “Why are the troops there, in South Korea, when the U.S. and North Korea have a peace treaty?” would be raised repeatedly by politicians and the public in Seoul and Washington, not to mention Pyongyang, Beijing, and Moscow.
Once the U.S. forces leave South Korea, the bilateral alliance will be that only in name. Beyond the loss of credible U.S. commitment to the defense of the ROK, the virtual abrogation of the alliance would leave some glaring holes in the ROK’s defense capabilities, for example: Surveillance-reconnaissance-signal intelligence capabilities, early warning and missile defense, counter-battery fire and sensitive military technology procurement abilities, just to name a few.  [The National Interest]
You can read the rest at the link.

Picture of the Day: International CSI Conference Held in Seoul

| November 9, 2018

Int'l conference on crime scene investigation

Visitors look at a model of a human skeleton to learn more about forensic anthropology during the 2018 International Crime Scene Investigation Conference in Seoul on Nov. 6, 2018. (Yonhap)

Picture of the Day: Nightingale Pledge Ceremony

| November 8, 2018

Nursing students at Nightingale pledge ceremony

Nursing students hold candles during a ceremony at Tongmyong University in the southeastern port city of Busan on Nov. 6, 2018, as they make the Nightingale pledge. The pledge, named after Florence Nightingale, is a statement of principles for the nursing community. (Yonhap)

Picture of the Day: Korean High School Students Protest for Right to Vote

| November 6, 2018

Students demand suffrage, recognition of rights

Students rally in downtown Seoul on Nov. 2, 2018, to demand the right to vote and measures against sexual misconduct by school faculty members. The rally was staged a day ahead of Student Day. (Yonhap)

Yellow Flags Fly Over the Korean DMZ

| November 6, 2018

At least it is not a white flag flying over South Korean guard posts (sorry I couldn’t resist 😉 ):

These photos provided by the defense ministry show yellow flags at guard posts on the South and North Korean sides of the border. (Yonhap)

South and North Korea raised yellow flags at 11 guard posts each along their heavily fortified border on Sunday in a first step toward dismantling the posts under a military agreement reached as part of September’s summit.

The two sides hoisted the 4-meter by 3-meter flag at each of the 22 guard posts as a mark to indicate that the posts are to be dismantled, according to defense ministry officials.

“This is aimed at enabling each side to observe the progress in dismantlement work so that it can be carried out in a transparent manner,” a ministry official said.

The two sides reached the agreement to pull back the guard posts in the Demilitarized Zone “on a trial basis” as part of the third inter-Korean summit held in September. It’s a key part of the efforts to turn the buffer zone into a “peace zone.”  [Yonhap]

Tweet of the Day: Scolded for Not Having A Nice Watch

| November 5, 2018

Tweet of the Day: South Korean Venture Firm Under Investigation for Cruel Acts to Employees

| November 4, 2018

South Korea to Notify IOC that They Want to Jointly Host 2032 Olympics with North Korea

| November 3, 2018

Apartheid South Africa was banned from the Olympics for their human rights abuses, but North Korea may get the opportunity to host them with a far worse human rights record?  I would hope the IOC would laugh this proposal out of the building, but considering the IOC’s history of corruption enough white envelopes may make this a reality:

South Korea and North Korea agreed on Friday to inform the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formally of their intention to co-host the 2032 Summer Games.

The two sides reached that agreement during their sports talks in the North’s border town of Kaesong.

Following their first sports talks in four months, the Koreas issued a joint communique, detailing other areas of cooperation.

The Koreas said they will try to field a joint team at next year’s men’s handball world championships.

The Koreas also agreed to form unified teams at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and to work with the IOC and international federations of summer Olympic sports to make that happen.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but any bets on who will pay for all the new infrastructure, stadiums, hotels, etc. in North Korea to support hosting the Olympics?