Here is the latest on the idea floated by President Moon to delay the annual Key Resolve military exercise:
South Korea and the United States may delay their joint military exercises only for the duration of the Winter Olympic Games to be held here next year and if the North halts its military provocations, a ranking South Korean official said Wednesday.
The remarks came one day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in an interview with U.S. broadcaster NBC he has proposed delaying the military drills, which North Korea accuses of a war rehearsal, as part of efforts to reduce tensions during the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.
Such a proposal, however, “is limited to holding the Olympic Games peacefully,” an official from the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, while speaking on condition of anonymity. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but Key Resolve is typically executed every March. Whatever the delay is cannot be too long because of the summer change over of personnel in USFK that begins in June plus the next military exercise UFG 2018 is typically executed each August.
Here is what USFK’s position on the delay is:
The United States forces stationed in South Korea said Wednesday it is committed to the two countries’ decision on whether to delay their annual military drills and announce their final decision in an appropriate time.
“We want the PyeongChang Olympics to be successful and have committed to our ally that we will aid their success,” the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) said in a short press release. The CFC is led by Vincent Brooks, the commanding general of the U.S. Forces Korea. [Yonhap]
I guess we will see what happens in the coming months.
This is a really horrible fire that killed 29 people and injured 20 more:
Firefighters battle a blaze at an eight-story fitness building in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday. / Yonhap
Twenty-nine people were killed and more than 20 injured Thursday in an afternoon blaze in a building in Jecheon, some 170 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The Chungbuk Fire Service Headquarters said the blaze began in the basement parking lot of an eight-story building at 3:53 p.m. The fire quickly spread through the building housing a fitness center, driving range, public sauna and restaurants.
Fire officials said most of the victims were in the sauna as they were trapped inside of the public bath on the second floor. They said 15 people, including a 50-year-old woman surnamed Kim, were found dead in the sauna.
Twenty people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. [Korea Times]
It will be interesting to see if this was just some kind of sad coincidence or whether some kind of bacteria or mechanical function of the equipment used for pre-mature babies is to blame:
Chung Hye-won, director of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Ewha Womans University Medical Center in western Seoul, apologizes in a press briefing at the hospital on Sunday for the deaths of four newborn babies at the hospital on Saturday night. [YONHAP]Four newborn babies died within a two-hour span at Ewha Womans University Medical Center in Seoul on Saturday night. Authorities are investigating the cause.“We apologize to the relatives of the babies and to everyone in this country,” said Chung Hye-won, director of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the hospital, in a press briefing at the hospital on Sunday. “Four babies being treated at the intensive care unit for the newborns at the hospital suffered sudden cardiac arrest at differing times, starting from around 5:40 p.m. on Saturday.
“We tried to revive the babies through CPR but could not,” she said. “The hospital is working with public health centers and authorities to find out the cause of their deaths. We apologize again to the relatives for this unfortunate and rare incident and promise to do our best to find out the cause behind it.”
Authorities requested the National Forensic Service conduct autopsies on the four dead infants to find out the cause of their deaths. The autopsies are scheduled to be held Monday morning. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but regardless of the cause it is a very sad day and condolences to all the parents involved.
With the ROK President ending his visit to China this week the timing of this breach of the South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone cannot be coincidental:
Five Chinese military aircraft, including bombers and fighter jets, breached Korea’s air defense identification zone (Kadiz) Monday morning without notice, prompting the South Korean Air Force to scramble its fighters in response.
The Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced that at around 10:10 a.m. Monday, five Chinese military planes were detected entering the Kadiz from southwest of Ieodo, underwater reefs located south of Jeju Island controlled by Korea that belong in waters that both Seoul and Beijing claim.
The Chinese aircraft were said to have included two nuclear-capable Xian H-6 bombers, two J-11 fighter jets and a Tu-154 reconnaissance plane. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but this is likely just another attempt to put pressure on the ROK to show Chinese unhappiness with the THAAD deployment.
Two South Korean journalists who were injured during a scuffle with Chinese security guards return home in wheelchairs on Dec. 15, 2017. The scuffle broke out a day earlier when the photojournalists were covering a business function attended by President Moon Jae-in hours before his summit with Xi Jinping. (Yonhap)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in visits the Provisional Government of Korea in Chongqing, China, on Dec. 16, 2017, where independence fighters fought against the Japanese occupation of Korea. (Yonhap)
Two Saudi Arabian students have been arrested for sexually assaulting a woman, Seoul police said Wednesday.
The two brothers, 25 and 23, are suspected of assaulting a Korean office worker in her 20s at their home Saturday. They were detained Monday.
The students, studying here in a university exchange program, met the victim through a chat app and drank together in their room, according to the Seoul Seongbuk Police Station.
The woman made an emergency call to police, and investigators found evidence from CCTV footage taken nearby their residence. The men told police they do not remember what happened because they were intoxicated. [Korea Times]
I don’t think six people protesting in front of the Chinese embassy means much of anything:
Civic activists hold a rally near the Chinese Embassy in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Friday, demanding punishment for Chinese security guards who assaulted two Korean photojournalists in Beijing, Thursday. / Yonhap
Public sentiment toward China is worsening here after two Korean photojournalists were beaten by more than a dozen Chinese security guards during a trade event attended by President Moon Jae-in in Beijing, Thursday.
The incident came a day after a dispute about Moon being greeted by Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Kong Xuanyou upon Moon’s arrival at Beijing for a state visit.
Kong’s rank is disputed because China previously sent its vice foreign minister or upper-level officials to greet heads of state visiting the country.
Under the circumstances, the attack on Korean photographers agitated feelings here that China is still humiliating and mistreating Korea despite the agreement they reached in October to end the row over the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery deployed in Korea.
Citing a statement issued by the Korea Professional Photographers Association in protest of Thursday’s attack, the opposition accused China, Friday, of “committing violence against the Republic of Korea.”
“It should be made clear the pride of our people is severely bruised,” said Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the second-largest opposition People’s Party. “Korean diplomacy cannot hang its head in shame.” (……)
Main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hong Joon-pyo echoed a similar view separately.
“The Chinese leader was not there after inviting a state guest. This is no more than paying tribute to a Chinese emperor,” he said. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but could you imagine what the reaction in South Korea would be if the Japanese government snubbed ROK leaders and beat down journalists? I guarantee there would be more than six people protesting in front of the Japanese embassy.
My opinion is that South Koreans are more hesitant to protest China because they know the Chinese will respond. The current THAAD retaliation and the how the Chinese government sent thugs to beatdown people in the streets of Seoul back in 2008, or the Great Garlic War of 2000 are perfect examples. The Japanese on the other hand are easy targets because you can protest them, bash them, and put up statues everywhere and they do little to nothing in retaliation.
