Tag: South Korea

It looks like the US Air Force has added a new tool to their toolbox of weapons to deal with any North Korean contingency:

The U.S. military has deployed to South Korea state-of-the-art missiles equipped with precision strike capability for a possible North Korea contingency.

Multiple diplomatic sources said on Monday that to their knowledge, U.S. Forces Korea(USFK) recently put in place around ten Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles(JASSM) at its air base in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province.

It is also known that the missiles can be mounted on F-16 fighter jets deployed to South Korea on a regular and rotational basis.

The missiles are assessed to have precision strike ability to hit key facilities in Pyongyang when launched from south of the military demarcation line(MDL).  [KBS Global]

This 5,100-ton Canadian naval ship Ottawa is moored at South Korea’s Incheon port on June 27, 2017. The ship made an Asia-Pacific port call in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the North American country’s founding. (Yonhap)

Here is a horrible murder story that happened down in Changwon:

Changwon Seobu police are hunting two people who allegedly abducted and killed a woman.

The suspects, Shim Cheon-woo, 31, and Kang Jeong-im, 36, allegedly targeted the woman, 47, who was leaving a golf practice facility in Uichang-gu, Changwon, in South Gyeongsang Province, about 8:30 p.m. on June 24. A man, identified as Shim, 29, also was involved, police said.

They said they caught Shim hiding under a car in an apartment parking lot in Haman, in the same province, about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. They have sought an arrest warrant for him on a murder charge.

Police found the victim’s body in a bag under Jinsu Bridge in Jinju about 6 p.m. the same day. It was sent to the National Forensic Service.

Police have seized an SUV used in the crime. They put the suspects on a wanted list Wednesday, with a 5 million won ($4,390) bounty.

The crime’s motive remains unknown.  [Korea Times via Reddit Korea]

The article says the motive remains unknown, but according to the below Yonhap video the woman’s credit card was stolen and over $4,000 withdrawn.  This makes me wonder if these are a couple of druggies trying to get money for their next hit?

It looks like the ROK government is trying to build trust with the local protesters in Seongju in an attempt to hopefully open the road to the THAAD site:

Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk told a group of residents of Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, that the government will “guarantee” their participation in the environmental impact appraisal of the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) battery.

Suh sought out Seongju residents on Tuesday at the Soseong-ri town hall, near the former golf course where the U.S. Forces Korea’s Thaad battery is partially deployed. Some have interpreted his remarks as suggesting that the government plans to conduct a full environmental impact appraisal, which would take at least one year, as opposed to a smaller study.

Under the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, a small-scale appraisal does not require gathering input from residents and can take under six months to complete.

Seongju residents and Won Buddhists have been protesting the deployment, especially the stealthy, expedited manner in which it was moved to the golf course in late April under the previous government without a proper environmental appraisal.  (……….)

“The residents are most concerned about including a delegation while measuring electromagnetic waves,” he said.

The vice minister elaborated that he thus emphasized to them the principle of guaranteeing their participation, and that the Ministry of National Defense is reviewing how to do so. But he said it not official that the assessment will be undertaken.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

If the residents want to go measure electromagnetic waves they can do it right now.  They can purchase their own detection device and stand at their homes or farms and see what electromagnetic waves they detect.  They are not going to detect anything though because a group of Korean reporters were invited to the THAAD site on Guam and have already measured electromagnetic waves and found nothing.

What is so stupid about this claim is do these activists really think the US military would just let their personnel on the site get exposed to dangerous electromagnetic waves much less local residents?  Do they think soldiers on Guam just keep dropping dead and the US military just keeps replacing them with no one noticing?

Fortunately this protest did not turn violent:

Conservative South Koreans who favor THAAD deployment confronted anti-THAAD activists near the site in Seongju when they attempted to enter the local town hall.

More than 200 members of a coalition of conservative organizations, including irate Korean homemakers, began a rally outside the building around noon on Tuesday, South Korean news service News 1 reported.

As tensions mounted between the two factions, about 1,500 police were deployed to block potential conflict, which was avoided until about 5 p.m. when activists calling for the “prompt deployment of THAAD” began marching on town hall.

 A Buddhist sect was holding an event on the road outside the building when the march began.

Won Buddhists protesting THAAD have called for its cancellation.

Facing police obstruction, the conservative activists demanded the “right of way quickly,” citing the law.

Shouts were exchanged across the sides, and anti-THAAD activists blocked the road to prevent an escalation.

No injuries were reported.

South Korean activists who oppose THAAD have not stopped occupying the town hall and outlying areas since the missile defense system was deployed in April.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest from animal rights activist trying to stop the dog meat industry in South Korea:

Following the closure of most dog meat shops at Moran Market in Seongnam, animal rights activists are now targeting one of the largest dog meat markets in Seoul.

According to the Dongdaemun-gu Office, one of the six dog meat sellers at Gyeongdong Market in central Seoul closed his business last month after officials convinced him to so do.

This came after animal rights activists’ constant demands for banning the dog meat trade there.

“We have already responded to about 100 petitions on the issue this year,” a district official said. “It would be more than 1,000, including unofficial petitions by phone calls.”

The demand puts officials in a bind, in which they can do little to solve the issue. That’s because the current livestock hygiene laws do not classify dogs as livestock, and consequently can’t ban killing and sale of dogs, which makes it difficult for them to regulate the industry.

The only thing meat dealers must be cautious of is animal protection laws, which bans killing animals for no particular reason, killing them in a cruel way and killing them in front of other animals of the same kind.

Well aware of the laws, sellers usually electrocute dogs out of view of other dogs, which is legal.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but my biggest problem with dog farming in South Korea is that some of these farmers are very inhumane with dogs raised in small cages and then beaten to death to better tenderize the meat.

If the ROK government wanted to get on the good side of the Trump administration this is one way of doing it:

While the Donald Trump administration continues to express concern over its goods trade deficit with Korea, Seoul will officially import U.S. shale gas for the first time starting next month.

According to Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) on Monday, it will import 2.8 million tons of shale gas annually, which is worth about $1 billion, for 20 years.

Kogas said it held the reception ceremony for importing U.S. liquefied natural gas with Cheniere Energy at Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana on Sunday, local time.

The Korean government announced earlier this year that it will diversify the sources of its imports of crude oil to include shale gas from the United States to reduce Korea’s trade surplus with America in the hopes of avoiding being labeled a currency manipulator by the Trump administration.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

I am sure if the ROK government funnels enough cash to Kim Jong-un then the decision to have a joint team can be expedited, that is what this current posturing is all about:

A veteran North Korean sports administrator visiting South Korea has expressed his misgivings about forming a joint Korean team for next year’s Winter Olympics south of the border due to the time crunch.

Chang Ung, the North’s lone member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is in South Korea for the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) World Taekwondo Championships, which opened in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, on Saturday. He traveled with a delegation from the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), whose demonstration team performed at the WTF event’s opening ceremony.

Chang crossed the tense border just days after South Korea’s new sports minister, Do Jong-hwan, proposed forming a joint women’s hockey team and holding skiing events at North Korea’s Masikyrong resort during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

As an IOC member, Chang has been peppered with questions about Do’s ideas. According to an official with the WTF competition, Chang spoke of his doubts about the South Korean minister’s suggestions.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the North Koreans may not have anyone even qualify for the Winter Olympics to have a joint team with.  Another thing to keep in mind is that the Kim regime had previously wanted to host some of the Winter Olympics events at their new ski resort.  I wonder if this is something else that the current ROK government may try to pursue?

These protesters may have wanted to rethink their protest date considering the 67th anniversary for the start of the Korean War is this weekend:

Thousands of protesters marched near the U.S. embassy in Seoul on Saturday, accusing U.S. President Donald Trump of “forcing” South Korea to deploy the controversial American missile defense system China opposes.

The protest came as South Korea’s new president Moon Jae-In heads to Washington next week for his first summit with Trump amid soaring tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

Around 4,000 people participated in the first anti-U.S. rally under Moon’s presidency. It was also the largest protest since South Korea and the United States agreed to deploy the system, known as the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

Protesters marched with placards that read: “Trump, stop forcing (South Korea) to deploy THAAD” and “No THAAD, No Trump.”

The crowd included residents from the southeastern county of Seongju where the system is being deployed.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but Yonhap had the protest number at 3,000.

What I am wondering is how many of these protesters are actually from the village bordered by the THAAD site outside of Seongju?  How many were from the anti-US leftist groups that typically turn out to protests like this?  You would think that would be basic information a reporter would try and find out.

Secondly their turn out for being a weekend in Seoul is actually quite weak which is an indication of the public support the South Korean leftists have on the THAAD issue.  Recent polling data shows that 53% of Koreans support the deployment and 32% are against it.  The only thing that I see that could change those numbers in favor of the leftists is if President Trump makes unreasonable compensation demands for the deployment on President Moon.  Hitting the pocket books of South Koreans is something that could quickly get the South Korean public to side with the leftist protesters.

Probably not the smartest move to write a book saying things like this and then expect to be involved in politics:

Cheong Wa Dae official Tak Hyun-min, who got into hot water last month over sexist remarks, is under more fire after another book he co-wrote featured similar sentiments.

In “The more I talk, the freer I become” he wrote: “I lost my virginity to a middle school student when I was in high school. She was not pretty, but it didn’t matter because she was just a sex object.”

He even said he had “shared” the student with his classmates.

He also said: “Men’s sexual fantasy is always with teachers … when I was a student, I would feel horny even with pregnant teachers.'”  (………)

Even female lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have called for Tak’s resignation.  (…….)

“Guidebook of Men’s Mind” contained phrases such as: “It’s like a terror attack against men if a woman with a flat chest wears a tank top.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but both conservative and liberal parties in Korea are calling for Mr. Tak to resign.