Tag: South Korea

That is what this editorial in the Korea Times is claiming:

This means that who the next U.S. ambassador to Seoul will be is ever more important. He or she should be communicative with Koreans and have Trump’s trust ― giving a nudge when the president wobbles and making sure it gets noted. In that sense, Victor Cha, a former Bush operative and professor at Georgetown couldn’t be a worse candidate, according to five people in the know.

Putting their suggestions together, the result is Cha, who would act as if he were Caesar the Conqueror, trying to get his way no matter what at the risk of a great deal of friction with the Moon Jae-in government. That would be possible and dangerous because he, if appointed, would exert influence at key junctures when his boss was distracted, and the North’s asymmetric threat will peak. Some say that it is better now without a resident at Habib House in Seoul than Cha in it.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at link, but basically since Cha is not a supporter of engagement with North Korea the academics the Korea Times spoke with think he is a bad choice for US ambassador.

From a military perspective something that I know Victor Cha has pushed for in the past is to have Seoul take over OPCON of Korean forces.  This is something that left wing ROK presidents wanted in the past and then when the US called their bluff on this issue they started playing delay games until a conservative president took power and put it off entirely.  I think Cha would probably also be a strong advocate for the ROK to pay more for the US-ROK alliance which is another key President Trump initiative.

This is a really horrible story about a boy trapped in a locked bus in Gwangju:

Choi was 5 years old when he was left behind on a school bus on July 29 last year. The driver neglected to check whether any students were aboard and his teacher forgot to take roll.

For seven and a half hours, Choi was alone, barely able to breathe in the scorching heat. Temperatures hit more than 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in Gwangju, where he lived, and by the time police found him, his body temperature hovered around 42 degrees. He was unconscious.

Choi now lies on a hospital bed in Chonnam National University Hospital, unmoving except to occasionally cough. In the year since, he has yet to regain consciousness.

Choi is one of a number of similar cases. In January, a 3-year-old was left on her kindergarten bus for more than an hour in Daegu after coming back from a field trip. In February, a 6-year-old boy was left for 40 minutes on a school bus in Gwangyang, South Jeolla. The child was rescued after a passerby called police. In May, a 5-year-old in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, was abandoned for two and a half hours.

Choi’s mother spends day and night by his side, waiting for her son to wake up. The hospital fees are being covered by the bus operator and the Gwangju School Safety and Insurance Association.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but the bus driver and the teacher were both given a few months in jail for not accounting for all the students getting off the bus.

I would not be surprised if the Moon administration is trying to appease the US and the Korean right by saying they are approving the deployment of four additional THAAD launchers while not actually letting them on the site because of the blockade built by protesters.  This in turn would appease their left wing base by not letting the launchers on to the site:

A Defense Ministry official here said Tuesday, “The deployment of additional launchers will be handled through a transparent process. That entails convincing local residents and notifying them beforehand of the deployment.” He added, “That means we will not deploy them by surprise in the middle of the night as the first two THAAD launchers were in Seongju in April.”

A Cheong Wa Dae official said, “We will convince local residents and then deploy the THAAD launchers according to the agreement between the defense ministries of both countries.”

But that could take a long time since locals continue to protest. “There is no way that the government will send in riot police to ensure the deployment,” a government source said. [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but what does everyone else think?  Does anyone think the protesters will drop their blockade and let the launchers access the THAAD site?

That did not take long, the Moon administration is now reconsidering the deployment of the additional four THAAD launchers:

South Korea’s National Defense Ministry announced Monday that discussions with the United States have begun on the “temporary deployment” of four additional mobile launchers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system, which would technically complete a full Thaad battery – but the minister said hours later that even that decision can be “reconsidered if the local public expresses fear.”

Moon Sang-gyun, the ministry’s spokesman, said during a regular press briefing Monday morning that the two countries will decide together whether to deploy four more launchers, but didn’t mention by when or how a conclusion will be reached.

If Seoul and Washington do decide to deploy additional launchers, the delivery process will be “transparent,” Moon stressed when asked whether the military would carry out an unnoticed, late-night operation like the one done by the former Park Geun-hye administration.

The ministry’s announcement was made two days after President Moon Jae-in ordered his aides during a National Security Council meeting to start discussions with their U.S. counterparts on deploying four additional launchers in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of Seoul.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but it looks like the THAAD drama will continue.

This article focuses on the trash left on Korean beaches, but the litter problem isn’t just isolated to beaches.  This same problem is also occurring in Korea’s mountains where picnickers leave others to clean up their messes as well:

From beer cans to water bottles, leftover chicken, watermelon rinds and dirty clothes, major beaches across the nation are suffering from summer vacationers leaving tons of trash mounting daily.

Local governments have stepped up efforts to clean the mess, putting in more manpower and expanding cleaning hours, but had little to no success.

At Millak Waterside Park in Busan, collected trashes during weekdays an average of 2.5 tons of trash is collected each day, according to local officials. This doubles on weekends.

It takes four hours for 10 city street cleaners and volunteers to sort through and properly recycle the trash.

“I’m OK with people enjoying their vacation by eating and drinking near the beach,” said a city street cleaner. “What I don’t understand is why they disappear without cleaning up their mess.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

I wonder how much time by President Moon’s staff used thinking of a term to call the deployment of the four remaining THAAD launchers that would still appease their left wing political base?:

On the liberal Moon Jae-in government’s countermeasures against the latest North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test, the ruling party voiced its consent, but opposition parties called for tougher ones, criticizing the president’s Berlin peace initiative that puts more weight on dialogue with the North than pressure on it.

In an emergency National Security Council meeting convened right after the North’s new ICBM test Friday night, Moon proposed a set of countermeasures, including the temporary deployment of four additional THAAD interceptor launchers, and ordered consultation with the United States on ways to bolster strategic deterrence against the recalcitrant North. The presidential office said later that the provisional deployment does not mean the retraction of a declared environmental impact assessment on the deployment site.  [Yonhap]

So basically the Moon administration is doing what the Park administration planned to do with the remaining THAAD launchers without calling it that.  What is ironic about this is that the Korea left is supporting President Moon’s decision despite their prior opposition to THAAD.

Um, that's kind of how casinos work… https://t.co/gP6kmzgKSi

— Blair (@TalkativeBlair) July 29, 2017

Two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) MVP Stephen Curry (C) speaks during a meeting with his South Korean fans in Seoul on July 28, 2017. (Yonhap)

At this point does anyone think these shows of force make any difference in the decision making process of the Kim regime or this just the US military showing we are doing something?:

Two B1-B U.S. bombers flew over South Korea on Sunday in a show of force against North Korea after its launch of another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the allies’ armed forces announced.

The strategic bombers from Guam conducted a joint “air interdiction operation” with four F-15K fighter jets, said South Korea’s Air Force.

It came in response to North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons development.

“Our Air Force maintains the precision-strike capability and readiness to burn the enemy’s missile base and its key facilities, including its leadership stronghold to the ground,” South Korea’s Air Force Operations Commander Lt. Gen. Won In-cheol said in a statement. “If the enemy provokes, we will respond immediately and retaliate powerfully.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Probably the most interesting thing to see if South Korea develops nuclear weapons is not North Korea’s reaction, but China’s:

No longer sure they can rely on the United States, an increasing number of South Korean lawmakers say their country should develop its own nuclear arsenal to deter an attack by Kim Jong Un, their belligerent neighbor to the north.

North Korea’s rapid missile advances, including successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in July and again on Friday, are reviving calls for South Korea to assert its “nuclear sovereignty.” South Koreans are wary of President Donald Trump’s isolationist rhetoric and his calls for Asian allies to shoulder more of the defense burdens borne by the U.S. military.

“Trump’s ‘America-first’ policy has triggered this kind of public sentiment,” said Moon Chung In, a top national security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae In. Trump also has wavered on his commitment to defending South Korea, he said, including suggesting during the campaign that South Korea and Japan should develop their own nuclear arsenals.

While President Moon, a liberal who took office in May, does not support calls for South Korea to join the nuclear club, polls show that a majority of South Koreans surveyed favor the idea. Support bumps higher whenever North Korea conducts a nuclear or missile test and members of South Korea’s two major conservative parties are pressing Moon to at least explore the nuclear option of developing nuclear weapons.  [Kansas City Star]

You can read more at the link, but members of the ROK parliament has long discussed developing nuclear weapons and it has been a popular idea with the ROK public.  However, until the ROK President decides to pursue them this is just all noise for now.