Like I have said before I will believe it when I see the OPCON transfer happen:
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo, right, shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis before a joint press conference in Seoul Saturday. [YONHAP]The Moon Jae-in administration’s ambition to regain wartime operational control from the United States has hit a snag, as the latest security consultation by U.S. and Korean defense chiefs failed to approve a restructuring plan for the combined forces.
Defense Minister Song Young-moo and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis attended an annual Security Consultative Meeting on Saturday in Seoul, accompanied by top military officials. North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, and other key issues concerning the Korea-U.S. alliance, were discussed.
Following the discussion, the 49th of its kind, a joint communique was issued. Song and Mattis also addressed reporters in a press conference.
According to the joint communique, Song and Mattis pledged to work together to implement an agreement made in June by Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump to “enable the expeditious conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control.”
But conspicuously missing from the communique was the much-anticipated approval of a plan for a new Combined Forces Command to oversee Korean and U.S. troops on the peninsula after the transfer. Song and Mattis were updated on the draft organization of the future Combined Forced Command and decided to continue to refine the draft through combined exercises and certifications, it said.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of National Defense told the National Assembly that the structure of a future combined forces would be discussed and approved at the Song-Mattis meeting. According to the draft, a Korean general would act as chief commander of the combined troops and an American general was to serve as deputy commander. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but the talk of an OPCON transfer has been going on for many years due to Korean governmental delay games. You can read more about the OPCON transfer at the below link:
A 30-something woman has been sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of killing her acquaintance’s 2-year-old son, who allegedly harassed her 1-year-old daughter, a local court said Saturday.
The unidentified woman was arrested in October last year when she threw the 2-year-old at her acquaintance’s home in Asan of South Chungcheong Province, about 100 kilometers south of Seoul, after getting angry at the boy for pushing her daughter while trying to get a toy from her.
The baby boy suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was pronounced dead at the hospital the following day. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but the woman is appealing because she did not intentionally seek to injure the boy. What did she think was going to happen when she threw a two year old across the room?
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has been emboldened ever since the Korean left was able to impeach President Park. So them protesting the US Navy personnel in Busan is not surprising:
Pictures of an anti-U.S.protest rally in South Korea spread online, causing concern ahead of U.S.President Donald Trump’s state visit to the country next month.
The rally was led by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the country’s second-largest umbrella trade union.Near a Busan hotel where the U.S.Navy held a party to celebrate its 242-year history Oct.14, protesters chanted messages like “U.S.troops go home!”
Since then, photos and a video of their protest have been shared by thousands of people on social media, including U.S.sailors and their families.
In their propaganda pamphlet to the sailors, they said, “Koreans despise dotard Trump.We also abhor you, his servants.It is because you are a war monster.”
A 35-second video, which is believed to have been filmed by a U.S.sailor on the same day, shows a Korean woman screaming and cursing at U.S.soldiers.
The KCTU, which has carried out anti-U.S.protests before, also criticized local police on its Facebook and Twitter accounts for protecting the sailors from protesters.
The pictures, video and the KCTU’s messages aroused anger among many Americans as well as Koreans. [Korea Times]
The 2nd Infantry Division looked to the future and the past Thursday as it celebrated its centennial with a mass re-enlistment ceremony for 100 soldiers and a time capsule.
Against the background of a hill covered with autumn foliage, 2nd ID commander Maj. Gen. Scott McKean praised the soldiers for renewing their service while stationed in South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North.
Tensions have been rising in recent months as the communist state increases the pace of its banned nuclear weapons program.
“Volunteering to continue your service in defense of our great nation, and to do it in the face of the enemy, on freedom’s frontier, that Warriors, is a sign of commitment and courage,” he said.
The ceremony on a field on Camp Casey, an Army base near the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula, marked the start of a day of celebration as the Warrior Division celebrated its 100th birthday. [Stars & Stripes]
As the below picture shows US Defense Secretary Mattis decided not to wear his old Marine uniform to the DMZ like he previously indicated he would:
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo (R) and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis issue their statements on North Korea at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone on Oct. 27, 2017. (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap)
Mattis arrived in South Korea earlier in the day. Shortly after landing at Camp Bonifas by Black Hawk chopper, he and Song headed to the OP Ouellette, a hilltop border post, and looked around a bunker underneath the facilities only 25 meters away from the North’s territory.
They were briefed on Panmunjom by U.S. Army Col. Steve Lee, secretary of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC). They then toured the UNCMAC’s blue-colored conference building which stands on the Military Demarcation Line.
The North’s guards closely monitored the ministers’ activities, with a group of tourists looking down from the Panmungak building in the North.
In their Clark talks, the South’s minister proposed Mattis, a former Marine Corps general, wear a combat uniform for the DMZ trip to send a highly symbolic message to the North. Mattis responded positively to the offer at that time, according to Song.
But Mattis was dressed in a suit as usual after internal consultations apparently in order to avoid possible controversy over a dress code reflecting the U.S. defense secretary’s public availability.
Asked whether President Donald Trump can travel to the DMZ when he visits South Korea early next month, Mattis was guarded.
Following the DMZ tour, he paid a courtesy call on President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae and met with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. [Yonhap]
A U.S. veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War salutes in front of the graves of deceased fellow soldiers at the U.N. Memorial Cemetery in Busan, 453 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 24, 2017, the 72nd United Nations Day. A total of 2,300 people are interred at the cemetery that honors U.N.-led coalition forces who fought with the South in the conflict. (Yonhap)
Protesters create the message “Arrest MB” with candles during a rally in downtown Seoul on Oct. 21, 2017. MB refers to former President Lee Myung-bak, who is accused of oppressing the media, artists, politicians and other prominent figures critical of him, using the intelligence agency as the controlling tool. Oct. 29 marks the first anniversary of the candlelight protest that led to the ouster of Lee’s successor, Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)
The Supreme Court has confirmed life imprisonment for a woman who killed her married lover’s wife with poison.The top court upheld an appellate court’s verdict.
According to court documents, the woman, Han, 48, met Yoo, a married man who became her lover, at a gathering of friends from elementary school in February 2014.
Han told Yoo’s wife of their “deep and serious” relationship, hoping this would lead to the couple’s breakup.But instead Yoo’s wife offered to pay Han 350 million won ($309,700) if she ended the relationship.
In January 2015, Han visited Yoo’s apartment in Songpa-gu, Seoul, with a bottle of soju mixed with potassium cyanide.Yoo’s wife drank the toxic liquid while talking with Han, and died soon after.
Han claimed Yoo’s husband could have killed his wife.
But investigators found evidence that Han collected information about how and where to buy potassium cyanide.
They also found evidence that her husband was informed of the poisoning plan before hand. [Korea Times]
American golfer Justin Thomas poses with his trophy after winning the inaugural CJ Cup @Nine Bridges on Jeju Island on Oct. 22, 2017. Thomas won the first PGA Tour event in South Korea in a playoff against Marc Leishman from Australia. (Yonhap)
I wonder if this guy forgot that Guam is part of the United States?:
A man wanted in connection with sex crimes in Oregon was apprehended on Guam after he arrived here on a flight from South Korea, according to a written statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The 59-year-old man, who is not named in the statement, is wanted on charges of rape in the first degree, sodomy in the first degree and two counts of sex abuse in the first degree, according to the statement.
The South Korean man arrived on a flight Oct. 19 and was taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection. [Pacific Daily News]
