Tag: USFK

Via a reader tip comes this conviction against reporters who disclosed the affair of a USFK civilian worker:

South Korea’s top court on Tuesday confirmed the conviction of three weekly magazine reporters who were accused of publishing an extramarital affair story involving a Korean civilian worker at United States Forces Korea (USFK).

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling, fining them 3 million won ($2,800) each for defaming the worker.

The court rejected the reporters’ claim that their reporting was justifiable in light of people’s right to know and the freedom of press.

It said the disputed story dealt with a “sheer private affair” whose publication did nothing for public interest. The court said the story was published with personal details edited out, but not enough.  [Korea Times]

Can you imagine if the US had South Korea’s defamation laws?  The journalists in America would all be broke from lawsuits.

This may be a blueprint that we may see played again by North Korea in upcoming talks to meet their goal of separating the ROK from the US:

In the late 1980s, North Korea proposed creating a neutral state on the Korean Peninsula that could serve as a buffer zone in the region, declassified diplomatic documents showed Friday.

Then Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev delivered the North’s secret proposal to then U.S. President Ronald Reagan during their summit in Washington on Dec. 9, 1987, according to the documents disclosed by the foreign ministry.

Under the plan, the North wanted to create a federation-style republic consisting of two different governments representing the two Koreas and declare it as a neutral state that could serve as a regional buffer zone, the documents said.

The North also called for the two Koreas to sign a nonaggression treaty and replace the current armistice with a peace treaty, while suggesting the new entity would join the United Nations under a single name.

In addition, Pyongyang sought to scrap all agreements or treaties reached with third parties deemed to be running counter to their pursuit of reunification, a demand interpreted as a way to put pressure on Seoul to walk away from its mutual defense treaty with the U.S.

The North suggested the two Koreas reduce the number of their respective troops to fewer than 100,000 as a step toward building a peace mood and called for the withdrawal of any nuclear weapons and foreign troops from the peninsula, apparently targeting U.S. troops stationed in the South.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but this shows the Kim regime has long tried to separate the ROK from the US.  Their nuclear weapons program is just the latest attempt to make this happen.  Their nuclear weapons program that can threaten the US is being used as a bargaining chip to separate the US from South Korea and then seek a confederation on North Korean terms.

It looks like President Trump’s steel tariff may force the South Koreans to agree to ultimately pay more for the upkeep of the US-ROK alliance:

South Korea may agree to shoulder a larger burden of the cost of stationing U.S. troops on its soil as part of the two nations’ deal on trade, a former White House official said Monday.

Victor Cha, who served as Asian affairs director on the National Security Council of George W. Bush, raised the possibility shortly after Seoul announced a tentative deal with Washington on amending their free trade agreement and exempting the Asian nation from new U.S. steel tariffs.

“If there is any tacit issue linkage with this agreement, we might expect to see South Korea agreeing to a higher burden sharing obligation in ongoing negotiations on a new Special Measures Agreement where the U.S. is pushing for South Korea to pay larger share of costs for stationing U.S. forces on the Korean peninsula,” he wrote in a commentary for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he is currently senior adviser and Korea chair.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Just another example of how newspapers are going extinct:

The final edition of the Morning Calm, the last surviving Army newspaper in South Korea, ran off the press Wednesday evening.

A peninsula-wide institution, the biweekly Morning Calm detailed the lives of soldiers from Busan in the south to Camp Casey near the Demilitarized Zone.

It went the same way as many struggling newspapers in a wired world of instant shares and likes when Eighth Army commander Lt. Gen. Michael Bills declined to renew its contract this month.

Closing the paper will give public affairs staff more time to focus on local news and communicate with communities online, Camp Humphreys spokesman Bob McElroy said.

“They all felt that the time they devoted to the paper would be better used to focus on their communities rather than producing articles and photos that were outdated by the time the paper came out every two weeks,” he said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but here is the link to the 8th Army website which I would hope will be updated significantly if the PAO is no longer publishing a newspaper.

I would think US military families would be taking this year’s Focused Passage training a little more seriously than in year’s past:

The U.S. military plans to hold a regular noncombatant evacuation drill in Korea next month under the scenario of a crisis here despite markedly eased tensions.

The Focused Passage training will take place from April 16-20, when South Korean and U.S. troops stage a massive combined combat exercise called Foal Eagle, according to the Stars and Stripes newspaper.

It’s aimed at ensuring U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) service members and families are prepared to evacuate designated noncombatants in case of a conflict on the peninsula.

Around 200,000 American civilians are said to reside in Korea.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

4-Star General Vince Brooks to step down from RoK-US Combined Forces Command in July or August per Joongang for "personal reasons." Brooks made his decision known to DoD sources and let his acquaintances know that he'll be leaving in the 2nd half of 2018.https://t.co/JtU0aqTPVT

— Noon in Korea (@NoonInKorea) March 15, 2018

It appears the Kim regime is positioning its self for talks with President Trump.  Wanting a peace treaty that would lead to the withdrawal of USFK has been a long term goal of the Kim regime:

North Korea on Wednesday slammed the ongoing negotiations between South Korea and the United States to renew their deal on defense cost sharing, claiming that South Koreans want the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the peninsula.

The North’s claim comes ahead of a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and its leader Kim Jong-un that would be held by May. It fuels speculation that the North may seek to strengthen its bargaining power ahead of the talks, experts say.

The North has long insisted that the some 28,500 American forces stationed in South Korea should be pulled out for peace. Analysts said that Pyongyang might seek inter-Korean unification by force if U.S. troops are withdrawn.

The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North’s ruling party, condemned Seoul and Washington’s latest talks on defense cost sharing, claiming South Koreans are the ones who hope for the troops’ withdrawal.

“What South Koreans want is an unconditional withdrawal of U.S. troops from the South, an unwelcome guest that poses a threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula,” the newspaper said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Trump administration is remaining committed to keeping their promise of making the ROK government pay more for the upkeep of USFK:

The negotiations to renew South Korea and the United States’ deal on defense cost sharing are likely to be a “difficult” path, the top South Korean negotiator said Monday following the inaugural round of talks last week.

The allies kicked off the first round of the talks in Honolulu, Hawaii, last Wednesday to renew their five-year Special Measures Agreement governing Seoul’s share of the upkeep of the 28,500 American forces stationed in South Korea for defense against the North.

In the three-day “exploratory” talks last week, the two sides discussed at the “rudimentary level” the contributions each has made to the development of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and the positions they have over the next defense cost sharing deal, a senior government official said in a background briefing.

“Both sides shared the understanding that the current negotiations should be led in a way that intensifies the combined defense posture and further develops the South Korea-U.S. alliance,” the official said.

He noted they are likely to be “difficult negotiations,” adding that the allies may take several rounds of talks to reach a new agreement. His comments hint that the allies had wide differences as they entered into the negotiations, especially after President Donald Trump’s repeated call to raise South Korea’s share of the defense financing.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

The 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade has unfortunately lost another soldier yesterday:

A soldier assigned to the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade was found dead Friday at Camp Carroll, a U.S. base south of Seoul, the military said.

The cause of death is under investigation, and the soldier’s name is being withheld until 24 hours after family is notified, according to the brigade’s public affairs office.

More details were not provided.  [Stars & Stripes]

The brigade back in December had a soldier tragically killed during an on duty vehicle accident.

What I will find the most interesting about the final cost sharing number that the ROK agrees to is whether or not they will exceed that number with the aid they plan to give to the Kim regime?:

Seoul and Washington will begin the first round of negotiations for the renewal of a cost-sharing agreement for American troops in Korea on Wednesday in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday.

Korea’s delegation to the three-day talks on the 10th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) will be headed by its top negotiator, Chang Won-sam, while Timothy Betts, acting deputy assistant secretary for plans, programs and operations at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, will lead the U.S. side. Both delegations will include defense officials.

The SMA, a multi-year cost-sharing deal under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), establishes what Korea will contribute to the non-personnel costs associated with keeping U.S. troops in the country.

Since 1991, the two countries have conducted routine negotiations to decide what Korea’s financial contribution should be, and the current five-year agreement, the ninth of its kind, is set to expire on Dec. 31.  (……..)

Negotiations for the latest burden-sharing deal, set to come into force in 2019, come at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated that he may demand Korea to pay a greater contribution.

Seoul currently pays about half of the cost of the stationing of some 28,500 U.S. troops on the peninsula, and its contribution has consistently increased over the years and reached over 950 billion won ($878 million) currently compared to some 150 billion won in 1991.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but the original Sunshine Policy was bought and paid for initially with a huge $500 million bribe to the Kim regime.  Follow on bribes described as humanitarian and economic aid continued under the Sunshine Policy.  The aid would total to about a $1 billion a year.  To put this into context the South Koreans were paying more money to the Kim regime annually then what they were contributing to the US-ROK alliance at the time.  Will history repeat itself?  We will likely find out this year.