Via a reader tip comes a video of journalist and author Gordon Chang recently giving a speech to the National Press Club about the Moon administration’s attacks on the freedom of speech in South Korea. He also discusses the current security situation on the Korean peninsula.
It was a common sight to see ROK Army units ruck marching across the terrain north of Seoul, but it appears it may be coming to an end according to Dr. Tara O writing for the East Asia Research Center:
The Republic of Korea (ROK) Army plans to supply all its infantry, down to the squad level, with wheeled combat vehicles, including Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), according to YTN’s article titled “Army to Supply Armored Vehicles to Infantry…Will Ruck Marches Disappear?” (……)
There are some positive aspects of incorporating new technology on the battlefield. There is also room for combining mechanized infantry with light infantry. Previous commanders have probably thought hard about the right force mix, if hostilities were ever renewed.
Even if new analysis suggested a need for a change in force mix, converting all light infantry units, which is the majority (65%) of the infantry in the ROK Army, into heavy, mechanized infantry units is problematic. The main element that has been ignored is the terrain of the Korean Peninsula. [East Asia Research Center]
You can read more at the link, but if this moves forward I agree with Dr. O that this a major strategic security concern to not have hardened light infantry units trained to fight in Korea’s mountainous terrain. The way things are going I would not be surprised if in the coming years the Moon administration tries to do away with the mandatory service requirement because “peace” has been declared with North Korea.
It looks like the leaders of South Korea’s banks are not about to break sanctions like the Moon administration has been pushing them to do:
FSC Chairman Choi Jong-ku. (Yonhap)
South Korea will open bank branches in North Korea only after international sanctions are lifted in return for irreversible steps by the North to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, the top financial regulator here said Friday.
Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), told a parliamentary audit meeting that Seoul has not discussed cooperation with North Korea in the financial sector.
“Opening bank branches in North Korea will be possible only after conditions are met,” Choi said. [Yonhap]
I'm sure it happens all the time in the Middle East and in former Soviet republics, but I never really put South Korea in the same category until recently. This is the hallmark of an authoritarian state. Democracies don't behave this way. https://t.co/nYABICUFPs
Depending on one’s point of view, this has to be the worst or best demonstration of CPR ever:
Men’s magazine Maxim Korea recently came under fire for putting a sexual twist on its video about the life-saving procedure of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Critics have lambasted the video, saying it “crossed the line.” A Twitter message critical of the video has been retweeted over 17,000 times with the criticism spreading to other social networking websites.
The 2 minutes 24 seconds clip shows two bikini-clad women demonstrating CPR with captions explaining the key steps to be taken in an emergency. [Korea Times]
Dr. Tara O, one of my favorite Korea analysts, has an article published about the prosecution and eventual conviction of a cartoonist and journalist which is just another example of the war on conservative journalists by the Moon administration:
Cartoon that led to libel conviction.
On September 11, 2018, the prosecutor proposed a 1-year sentence each for Mr. Yoon Seo-in, a cartoonist, and Mr. Kim Se-ui, a journalist, for libel at the final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court presided by judge Choi Mi-bok (최미복).
This libel lawsuit follows another libel lawsuit against a journalist, Mr. Byun Hee-jae, for defaming JTBC, a cable TV broadcaster. JTBC aired the tablet PC story, which played a crucial role in the former president Park Geun-hye’s impeachment. Byun has called out JTBC’s tablet PC story as fabricated. Byun’s characterization was corroborated by the special prosecutors’ own forensic report. However, Byun was sued for libel, and the Seoul Central District Court jailed Byun prior to trial. It is an unusual move to jail a journalist in South Korea, especially prior to a trial, although numerous political opponents have been jailed prior to trial since early 2017. Byun’s trial is currently underway.
Another worrisome event is that Moon’s Deoburreo Minju Party has submitted a “broadcast law reform” bill to regulate individuals who post videos on Youtube and other video sites as “mass media.” If this bill becomes law, then the individuals who post videos become “subject to government review” and if it does not like them, the government can “simply get rid of them,” criticized National Assemblyman Kim Jin-tae, Liberty Korea Party. This is after the Moon administration, along with Media Workers’ Union, took control over major broadcasters MBC and KBS. [East Asia Research Center]
You can read the whole thing at the link, but just like Byun Hee-jae who was jailed for writing something true, Yoon and Kim put together a cartoon that was true and were convicted.
Seoul court fined a cartoonist Yoon Seo-in & journalist Kim Se-ui $6,150 each over a satire cartoon in a libel suit. The Moon administration dislikes them for speaking out about Moon's policy toward North Korea, economy, security, etc. #FreedomofSpeechhttps://t.co/hnRwcLCCUO
An interesting fact from the article was how the South Korean media that was taken over by the Korean left through labor union violence, has slanted their coverage of the story. Even more interesting is that MBC after being taken over then had the architect of the phony US beef riots of 2008 put in charge as President.
You would think with the jailing and fining of journalists the international media would be rushing to cover this, but for one minor New York Times article there has been little coverage of this.
Via a reader tip comes news that the Korean left has found another issue to criticizes the United States with:
The U.S. Embassy in South Korea has not paid rent for using its site since 1980, a ruling party lawmaker claimed Thursday, citing data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Rep. Shim Jae-kwon of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said the South Korean government owns the site of the U.S. Embassy in central Seoul.
The amount of rent over the past 38 years exceeds 90 billion won ($79 million).
The lawmaker insisted that operations of the United States Agency for International Development-Korea (USAID-Korea), and its predecessor United States Operations Mission (USOM) have long since come to an end, and this removes legal grounds for free use of the embassy building.
The foreign ministry stated in 2008 that it is discussing the matter with the U.S.
The lawmaker noted the countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2005 regarding the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, and signed an implementation agreement of the MOU in 2011, but no tangible efforts or progress have been made on the matter since. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but if the North Koreans establish an embassy in South Korea does anyone think they will pay rent?
All this criticism over the US embassy rent is about promoting anti-Americanism with the Korean public. We saw these same type of criticism happen during the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations as well. I would not be surprised if in the coming months we start seeing claims about out of control GI crime, unpaid parking tickets, and USFK environmental pollution which are all from the Korean lefts playbook of how to promote anti-Americanism.
It’s one thing for polisci experts to discuss unification and denuclearization. But another pressing assignment, for sociologists esp, is to rly start thinking about what the post-unification national discourse should look like. And it shouldn’t be like this: misogyny and racism https://t.co/UYTMmpgYBW
North Korean football teams arrive in South Korea on Oct. 25, 2018, to compete in an international youth tournament. The North sent three teams to the 5th Ari Sports Cup, organized by the South-North Inter Korean Sports Association, that this year drew eight teams from six countries. (Yonhap)
This map shows the West Sea peace-cooperation special zones proposed by South Korea at the 2007 inter-Korean summit. (Yonhap)
Pyongyang’s version of a military pact signed by both Koreas last month mentions the northern limit line (NLL) in angle quotes, which may mean it doesn’t acknowledge the maritime border between the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea.
Seoul’s version doesn’t place any punctuation marks around the same words.
A lawmaker from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) exclusively revealed the North’s version of the agreement to the JoongAng Ilbo on Thursday. Former South Korean National Defense Minister Song Young-moo signed the military pact with his North Korean counterpart, No Kwang-chol, on Sept. 19 during the third inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang.
If the North had indeed refused to acknowledge the NLL in September, it would contradict remarks made by South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this month.
The Blue House chief said on Oct. 11 that the North acknowledged the NLL in the latest summit. Both Koreas agreed to create a so-called peace zone around the area to prevent possible military clashes and establish a joint fishing zone, he said. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but Moon’s maritime peace zone that the Kim regime is so happy to sign an agreement on will surrender sovereignty of the NLL to the North Koreans by allowing joint fishing along the maritime border. This plan actually dates back an entire decade to the Roh Moo-hyun administration when Moon Jae-in was President Roh’s Chief of Staff. This map shows why the North Koreans are happy with the is arrangement:
The current NLL is depicted with the Blue line and North Korea’s claimed NLL is depicted with the Red line.
Moon’s peace zone would allow the North Korean boats to pass the current NLL to nearly the red line the North Koreans claim. The giving up of sovereignty of this maritime territory will make it harder to defend the South Korean islands along the NLL. Such an agreement would also set a precedent that the Kim regime’s claim against the legitimacy of the NLL is valid. The last time a South Korean leftist government tried to give away the NLL the ROK Defense Ministry was furious. That is likely why the Moon administration cleaned house at the Ministry of Defense before moving forward with this plan.
South Korea has made all these concessions to weaken their defenses against a North Korean attack and the Kim regime has yet to move one artillery battery away from the DMZ in return.
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