I would assume that the South Korean government was expecting this kind of criticism from their political opposition and had a quick response available. There is just no way that the US military would bring Japanese troops on to the peninsula without the direct approval of the ROK government:
South Korea’s Chief Defense Minister Han Min-koo (Yonhap)
South Korea is capable of turning down any U.S. request for the entry of Japanese armed forces onto the Korean Peninsula, Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Monday in his latest efforts to defuse concerns over Japan’s rearmament moves.
Japan passed a package of security bills into law in the wee hours of Saturday, unshackling its previously self defense-only armed forces from limitations imposed after World War II and empowering them to fight in overseas battles.
The rearmament step has sparked concerns here that Japanese forces could join U.S. troops stationed in South Korea unilaterally in the event of a war with North Korea.
Rep. Lee Choon-suk of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy raised the issue of unwanted Japanese forces during a parliamentary audit, asking Han if the country could turn down the U.S. military’s request for the entry of Japanese forces in the event of a North Korea-waged war. [Korea Times]
It looks like the US and its allies should open a new front with the South China Sea issue and get the name of this body of water officially changed just like the South Koreans have been trying to do for years with the Sea of Japan:
In a rare appearance together, American and Chinese admirals sat alongside one another to present their views on maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region. The audience came to hear about one thing, the South China Sea, and China’s commander was clear: “It belongs to China.”
There was political theater and a few one-liners, as the panel remained cordial and the admirals were all smiles during handshakes before and after. But the tension was real and the messages direct.
“The South China Sea, as the name indicated, is a sea area. It belongs to China,” said Vice Adm. Yuan Yubai, who commands the North Sea Fleet for the People’s Liberation Army Navy. [Defense One]
You can read the whole thing at the link, but what I found most fascinating about the article was how direct these admirals were talking to each other about the issues in the South China Sea.
If anyone is wondering below is what is being taught now a days in America’s colleges about 9/11. It is one thing to present an opposing view, but if students are penalized by the instructor for not agreeing with it as described in the article, than I have a problem with that. Has anyone recently been through a college course that teaches such anti-US propaganda liked described in the article?:
Not all of us will be mourning 9/11 victims and their families this Friday on the 14th anniversary of the attacks. Hundreds of college kids across the country will instead be taught to sympathize with the terrorists.
That’s because their America-hating leftist professors are systematically indoctrinating them into believing it’s all our fault, that the US deserved punishment for “imperialism” — and the kids are too young to remember or understand what really happened that horrific day.
Case in point is a freshman-level English class taught at several major universities across the country called “The Literature of 9/11” — which focuses almost entirely on writings from the perspective of the Islamic terrorists, rather than the nearly 3,000 Americans who were slaughtered by them. The syllabus, which includes books like “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” and “Poems from Guantanamo: Detainees Speak,” portray terrorists as “freedom fighters” driven by oppressive US foreign policies. [NY Post]
Here we go again with the usual rhetoric from North Korea during every Joint exercise:
Anchor: South Korea has made clear that suspending its joint military exercises with the U.S. cannot be a precondition for dialogue with Pyongyang. Seoul revealed the stance after North Korea said that if the United States wants to engage in dialogue it must stop taking part in the joint drills.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
Report: Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that ending South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises cannot be a precondition for dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
The ministry Spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters that the joint drill is an annual event of a defensive nature.
Kim’s remarks came shortly after North Korea said the United States must stop its joint military exercises with South Korea if it wants to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang.
Kim said the joint exercises are necessary to prepare against the North’s provocations, adding that they are akin to a student preparing for a test.
Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the North’s Foreign Ministry said that if the U.S. abandons hostile activities, including the exercises, and chooses to walk a different path, then it would be possible to engage in dialogue and resolve many issues. [KBS World]
You can read more at the link, but basically the North Koreans are trying to put the blame on the US for why talks cannot be started.
This NK News article makes a really good argument that the Chinese government has no creditability to complain about Japanese World War II historical revisionism when they themselves have made laughable historical revisionist claims about their involvement in the Korean War. Here is an excerpt, but I recommend reading the whole thing:
Finally, there is a museum titled the “Commemorative Museum of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid North Korea.” It has exhibits on how South Korea, in collusion with the United States, started the war, how the U.S. made use of germ warfare, and how American POWs held by the Chinese and North Koreans were treated humanely according to the Geneva Convention – including photos of a “Santa Claus” handing out care packages to POWs from the Red Cross. (This contrasts sharply to the reports of POWs repatriated after the war concerning their brutal and inhumane treatment, as documented in U.S. Senate Report No. 848, 83rd Congress, Second Session – Korean War Atrocities.)
Xi Jinping, in his 2010 speech, repeated the dubious claim presented at the museum of the use of germ warfare by U.S forces when he said: “Thereafter, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army constructed an impregnable defense bastion and crushed the enemy’s multiple attacks and their germ warfare.”
In conclusion, the assertion by Xi Jinping in his 2010 remarks that Harry Truman started the Korean War is directly contradicted by the Yeltsin documents. It is thus as controversial as the claim of non-coercion of Comfort Women made in the past by Japanese Prime Minister Abe. Yet, while Abe’s intemperate remarks have caused criticism throughout South Korean society, there is almost no public outcry over Xi’s condemnation of the American president. Yet Truman was one of the leaders of the UN coalition which laid the groundwork for a viable and independent South Korean state. [NK News]
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this. I am willing to bet there won’t be much coming out of this publicly, but behind the scenes a few issues will probably be worked out:
South Korean and Japanese defense chiefs are expected to hold bilateral talks later this month for the first time in four years despite soured ties over historical rows, government sources here said Tuesday.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo plans to meet with his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani around the end of this month in Singapore on the sidelines of the regional security forum, the Shangri-La Dialogue, according to a source. The upcoming annual security forum is slated for May 29-31.
If held, it will be the first bilateral talks between the top defense officials in four years, as they have shunned such meetings due to deteriorated bilateral relations over history-related issues, including Japan’s refusal to apologize for its wartime atrocities.
Icy Seoul-Tokyo relations have taken a turn for the worse in recent months after the Abe administration renewed claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, and attempted to deny its wrongdoing during World War II, such as the forced sexual enslavement of Asian women, mostly Korean, for its soldiers. Korea was under harsh colonial rule by Japan from 1910 to 1945.
“On the table would be issues of mutual interest including how to work closely to deter and counter North Korea’s nuclear and missiles threats and the implementation of the revised U.S.-Japan defense guidelines,” another source said. [Yonhap]
It seems like if Prime Minister Abe really wanted to showcase a “New Japan” he should do more on the historical issue front, but at least he said he stood by the previous Kono Statement that offered an apology for World War II atrocities:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe drummed up support for the new Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation in his address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday, and signaled a “New Japan” is ready to enter into a liberalizing trade agreement with the United States.
The prime minister’s speech, the first given by a Japanese leader before a joint session of Congress, praised the U.S.-Japan alliance for winning the Cold War and allowing Japan to grow and prosper.
But as the new defense pact goes into plan, Washington and Tokyo have agreed the U.S. military presence on the Japanese island of Okinawa will be diminished and relocated to places outside Japan.
According to Abe, Japan will provide up to $2.8 billion to help “improve” U.S. bases in Guam.
Tokyo, in turn, will expand its self-defense role in the Pacific to include deploying deterrence against potential missiles headed for U.S. territory, a historic reinterpretation of Japan’s pacifist constitution…………………………….
“I will uphold the views expressed by the previous prime ministers,” Abe told the joint session of Congress, indirectly referring to the 1993 Kono Statement that acknowledged the Japanese military had forced comfort women to endure sexual slavery in brothels. [UPI]
