Once again due to Korean media lies we have mad cow 2.0 happening over the THAAD deployment to South Korea. Fortunately this is happening in a rural area of Korea and not Seoul where the Korean left would be able to mobilize huge crowds more easily. We will see what happens when the usual suspects such as the KCTU will likely get involved in this. I would not be surprised if the Korean left tries to makes this look like Camp Humphreys back in 2005 to get this battery installed in Seongju. If the US military was smart they would wait until after the summer protest season to deploy this battery to Korea. The Korean left will not be able to mobilize huge crowds in the freezing cold of January in rural Korea:
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo and other government officials are trapped in a bus in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, on Friday as an angry mob of residents protest the deployment of the Thaad system in their hometown. Hwang was also pelted with eggs and doused with water. [NEWSIS]An angry mob of Seongju residents besieged the prime minister for more than six hours on Friday during his visit to the southeastern rural town to explain the government’s recent decision to place a controversial U.S.-led missile defense system in their neighborhood.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, accompanied by Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo and Vice Minister of Interior Kim Sung-lyul, traveled to Seongju, North Gyeongsang, in the morning to meet with residents after Seongsan-ri of Seongju, a village with about 2,800 people, was selected Wednesday as the site to host the U.S. Forces Korea’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system.
After arriving in Seongju by a helicopter, they met with North Gyeongsang Governor Kim Kwan-yong and visited the artillery base in Seongsan-ri. A Korean Air Force artillery unit currently stationed there will be relocated and the U.S. military will install the Thaad system by the end of next year.
Hwang then arrived at the Seongju County Office and met with Kim Hang-gon, head of the county, who has been on a hunger strike in protest. About 3,000 angry residents were waiting for Hwang and pelted him with eggs and poured water on him.
The quiet farming town of Seongju, with a population of about 45,000, has become extremely volatile since residents fear the deployment for security and health concerns. North Korea warned of a physical response to the Thaad base, while concerns were also raised that the electromagnetic waves emitted from the Thaad radar are harmful to humans. The government said the radar poses no harm to humans outside of its 100-meter (328-foot) radius. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but as I have been saying repeatedly the safe keep out zones for the THAAD radar are well known, but leftists in the Korean media continue to publish articles claiming THAAD is going to make people sick. What seems lost to these people is that US soldiers work around this radar every day, so using their logic US soldiers must have some magical immunity to these scary electromagnetic waves that can some how magically make only Koreans sick.
It is finally happening which is amazing considering how many years we have been hearing that this was going to happen.
A view from the roof of the future 2nd Infantry Division headquarters at Camp Humphreys on June 5, 2016. The Army is moving most of its forces, including the headquarters for U.S. Forces Korea, the 8th Army and the 2nd Infantry Division, to the expanded garrison south of Seoul.
U.S. forces in South Korea are finally starting to move to their new headquarters south of Seoul, although the much-delayed expansion of Camp Humphreys won’t be finished for several years.
First up is the Fort Hood, Texas-based 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, which is packing up and redeploying south this week from the mountainous area near the border with North Korea.
Soldiers loaded Abrams tanks and other armored vehicles on flat rail cars Thursday, taking advantage of a new railhead at Humphreys and using late-night convoys to avoid worsening Seoul’s tangled traffic. One whistled the theme song from “M*A*S*H,” a long-running TV series about the Korean War that was set in the area. A separate train was carrying soldiers to Humphreys along with the vehicles so they could jump out to fight if needed.
Several units, including the 304th Signal Battalion and military police, have already redeployed to Camp Humphreys — which will be spread over more than 3,500 acres near the port city of Pyeongtaek.
But the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, will be the vanguard of the historic move by the 2nd Infantry Division, which has been stationed near the world’s most heavily militarized border for decades. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read the rest at the link. Just think this was supposed to be completed back in 2008. According to the article USFK officials have declined to give an end date of when the move will be complete and instead call it conditions based.
This news just causes me to smirk a bit considering the anti-US beef nonsense I saw happen in 2008:
US beef imports increased significantly as South Koreans turned away from their expensive local beef hanwoo, industry data showed on July 14.
US beef imports increased by 25.7 percent from January to May this year from the same period last year, to reach 61,062 tons, according to a report by the National Agriculture Cooperative Federation, better known as NongHyup.
South Korea became the third largest beef importer in the world during the period, after Japan and Mexico. [Korea Herald]
China has a long ways to go to restore their “Shang Guo” status in South Korea if they continue to be viewed as regional bullies which is once again how they appear with their recent reactions to both the South China Sea International Court ruling and the decision to deploy THAAD to South Korea:
In the past, China was both “da guo” and “shang guo” to Koreans. China was a powerful and highly civilized nation that smaller neighboring countries admired. This involved a historical mentality of respect that Koreans attached in reverence to a big and powerful country. But not anymore. The Chinese authors conclude: “For South Koreans, today’s ‘shang guo’ is the United States, not China” (p. 179).
The authors call on China to reclaim its high position that commands respect from Koreans by establishing superiority.
“Therefore, until the time when China completely establishes its superiority to South Korea, the (negative) image South Koreans have about China will not likely have a fundamental shift.” (p. 186–87).
Since the Chinese authors did not elaborate on it further, there is no way to know what they meant by “establishing superiority to South Korea.” This could mean that China would need to upgrade its soft-power leverage toward South Korea. This could also indicate China’s determination to outstrip South Korea in terms of economic, political and cultural prowess, a position that would make South Koreans feel overwhelmed, like in the old days. Or, it may refer to its willingness to use physical means to subjugate South Korea. The interpretation is open, debatable and includes uncertainty. This ambiguity is unhelpful as it generates uneasiness in the minds of South Koreans toward China’s future power projections.
Overall, the book reads very much like a self-conscious image-journal of China, baffled by why South Korea, its former tributary, does not revere the Middle Kingdom emperor anymore. I think this is a loaded question that the Chinese already know the answer to. Just look at the widespread panic in South Korea regarding China’s “imminent” retaliation over THAAD. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the way the ruling communist party has promoted nationalism to cement their legitimacy they can’t afford to be malevolent towards South Korea.
I must be one of the few people in the world that has not played Pokemon Go, with that said I can’t imagine myself taking a trip all the way to Sokcho to play a video game:
Smartphone game “Pokemon Go” has become an international sensation after its release on July 6 in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Now, Korean fans have found a way to access it.
The game, developed by Niantic, uses GPS and a camera to locate and capture in the real world fictional “pokemons.” The characters originate from the Japanese media franchise Pokemon in 1995.
Korean fans were frustrated when they heard the game might not be available in South Korea.
“Pokemon Go” operates with Google Maps and the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOILT) has denied Google access to a precise map of the country. Google again requested the map in June and MOILT will decide in August whether to give the information.
But Korean users have found a way to play the game after finding a loophole in the system. Niantic developed a GPS-based game called “Ingress” in 2013. During development, the company gathered GPS information around the globe, including from North Korea. The same data was used in developing “Pokemon Go.”
The data divides countries into diamond cells. Because it categorized areas around Sokcho, Gangwon Province, as a North Korean sector, the game functions in the city’s vicinity.
After the information went viral, buses to Sokcho have been fully booked for the weekend. People who failed to reserve a ticket posted on social media that they will be driving to Sokcho to play “Pokemon Go.”
Sokcho has posted a city map showing free Wi-Fi spots to help Pokemon players who will be visiting this weekend. [Korea Times]
Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a former head of the minor opposition People’s Party, speaks during a debate on the deployment of a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system in South Korea at the National Assembly Building in Seoul on July 14, 2016. Ahn, a potential candidate for the next presidential election, again voiced his opposition to the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here. (Yonhap)
The Korean government has realized that the only card the protesters of the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system have to play is that the electromagnetic waves from the radar will harm people. This is a well used tactic by leftists protesters and their media allies which worked brilliantly for them in 2008 when they passed off lies about US beef that nearly toppled then President Lee Myung-Bak:
The U.S. military will open its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) base in Guam to the South Korean media next week in an effort to dispel concerns here over deployment of the anti-missile system, according to military sources, Wednesday.
“The U.S. Army will open its THAAD facilities in Guam to South Korean journalists from July 17 to 19,” a military official said. “It will help them understand how the battery is operated and address any concerns about safety issues.”
It is the first time the U.S. Army has allowed foreign media access to the THAAD facilities, according to the official.
The South Korean military said journalists from seven outlets, including Hankyoreh and the Chosun Ilbo, will visit the base.
The move is seen as an attempt to quell controversy in South Korea over a THAAD deployment and ease public concerns over potentially harmful electromagnetic waves from the X-band radar that comes with the system. [Korea Times]
Here is the part of the article that I have been saying for months, the ROK already has air defense radars deployed around the country and no one protested them:
“Questions over harmful effects of electromagnetic waves emitted from THAAD’s X-band radar have been raised,” a defense ministry official said. “But they are no stronger than patriot or green pine radar. We are hoping to ease safety concerns surrounding the THAAD system.”
As far as what I have read in the media USFK has never publicly said that the THAAD deployment to South Korea was intended to defend Seoul. The deployment has always been pitched as adding protection against longer range missiles the North Koreans have fielded that the Patriot missile system cannot intercept. North Korea is not going to use a long range missile on Seoul when shorter range missiles and artillery can strike the capitol city. Where they would use their longer range missiles is against Busan thus why THAAD needs to be positioned in the southern area of the Korean peninsula:
Along with the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system to South Korea, military authorities are working on a separate missile defense plan to protect Seoul and the surrounding area from attack by Pyongyang.
A high-ranking Korean military official told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday, “There is a high likelihood that the final site for the Thaad system, which Korea and the U.S. are deciding on now, may be a location that might make it difficult to protect the Seoul metropolitan area, so we are making preparations.”
A working group established by Seoul and Washington to discuss the placement of the U.S. Forces Korea anti-missile system began in March. During the initial discussion over where to place a Thaad battery, Korea proposed a site in the central region. Washington preferred a more southern site to cover Busan, the site of the U.S. Naval Forces Korea headquarters, and its other military assets.
One government official familiar with the negotiation process over Thaad said, “The United States has said that the Thaad battery had to be out of reach of North Korea’s new 300 multiple rocket launch system, which has a range of 200 kilometers (124 miles), and in an emergency situation, should protect U.S. military personnel.”
The official continued, “The specific location cannot be revealed, but to my knowledge, the Thaad will be deployed to a southern-central region so that in case of an emergency it can protect the Busan port and other areas that will be used by U.S. troops from North Korea’s missile attack.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
This photo, released by the Cheorwon municipal government on July 11, 2016, shows holidaymakers shooting the rapids on Hantan River in the town of Cherwon near South Korea’s central front line with North Korea. Rafting on the river has become popular as people are seeking ways to beat the summer heat. (Yonhap)
That is what editorial writer Oh Young-jin for the Korea Times thinks:
The ongoing controversy over the terminal high-altitude area defense (THAAD), the U.S.-made missile defense system, has similarities with the mad cow crisis.
The THAAD case could be as explosive in its consequences as the U.S. beef case. Already, the citizens of the areas that are reported to be on the shortlist of candidates are up in arms, some organizing committees and others pressuring their political representatives. It is the exhibition of the selfish “not-in-my-backyard” mentality. But they can’t be blamed for not wanting to be targeted by the first wave of North Korean attacks that concentrate on strategic military assets such as THAAD or the expected losses in their property values.
Making their protests as political as the mad cow protests is the fact that the country is about to enter an election cycle ahead of the December 2017 presidential poll. Buffeted in not-so-small measures by the THAAD brouhaha, President Park Geun-hye saw her approval ratings fall dramatically. Especially noteworthy is the record low of popular support in her regional power centers in North Gyeongsang Province and Daegu. Chilgok and Waegwan, both in North Gyeongsang Province, are reportedly included on the shortlist.
Even if the THAAD controversy doesn’t lead to the massive protests that the U.S. beef incident did, a strong impact could be felt at the ballot boxes. Already, lawmakers from Park’s governing Saenuri Party are agitated, with some making clear their opposition to the THAAD development. Certainly in their calculus are more minuses than pluses for the chances of their party’s standard bearer to win the December 2017 election. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but what Oh Young-jin misses is that despite the protests created by the lies about US beef pushed by leftist groups and their media allies South Korean conservatives still won the next election. This largely because the lies were exposed for what they were. The protests against THAAD are the same thing people pushing lies. Just like other radars, the THAAD system has a safe keep out zone that the military will position so that it will not harm anyone. The ROK military currently has Patriot and Green Pine radars positioned around the country and we saw no protests about those because there was no political incentive to lie about the safety of those radars like we are seeing with THAAD.
