Search Results for “The Death of an Alliance”

April 16, 2008

The Death of an Alliance, Part 68

Here is a delicious pairing of cause and effect: The U.S. has notified the South Korean government it will withdraw one squadron of some 20 F-16 fighters by the end of this year. [….] The Defense Ministry is reportedly busy working out a response. They take the view that the abrupt notice of the withdrawal has something to do with the U.S.’s demand that Korea bear more upkeep cost for the USFK. [Chosun Ilbo] If you happen to believe...

An Alliance?/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea

September 7, 2007

The Death of an Alliance, Part 67

[Update: As I had figured, only video really does it justice. Just watch the body language and Bush’s expression. And for that matter, Roh’s. Roh certainly has used his presidency to perfect a sublime aura of idiocy. It’s hard for me to imagine that South Korean voters will be impressed if their media ever decide to cover this story. There definitely isn’t much love in that room. Click the image. Update 1 continued below, with an AP report that does...

An Alliance?/Korean Politics/U.S. & Korea

April 1, 2007

FTA Agreement Reached FTA Talks Near Failure: The Death of an Alliance, Part 66

[Update 2: Well, as it turns out, the two sides did reach an agreement, although it’s not clear how comprehensive. Both sides — mainly us — made major last-minute concessions. Talks were ongoing until minutes before the legal deadline. Beef tariffs will be phased out over 15 years, which is a long time. (We’ll see if the Koreans actually accept the next shipment.) Korea also gets to protect its rice market. There’s really only one bright spot I can see:...

Anti-Americanism/Korean Politics/NK Economics/The Fifth Column/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Politics

February 26, 2007

The Death of an Alliance, Part 65: Beyond Dependency, Toward Reunification

[Update: In the course of a whiney tirade about how America “betrayed” South Korea, Kim Dae Joong also calls for a national conversation about South Korea becoming more self-sufficient in its own defense. I’d suggest to Mr. Kim that it’s a wee bit early to declare South Korea fully abandoned by America while we still have 29,000 of our people there. Kim also admits that the (elected) South Korean government got the deal it wanted, and in light of...

An Alliance?/Reconstruction/ROK Military/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military

January 19, 2007

The Death of an Alliance, Part 64: Thank You, Secretary Obvious!

The first Democratic-controlled hearing of the International Relations Foreign Affairs Committee has met. No bold intiatives, brilliant proposals, or clear theme emerged. Instead, it was a dizzying variety of views and partisan mutual cancellation that rendered the entire excercise inconclusive and confusing. One could expect little else: both parties are advocating more talks backed by threats that North Korea does not fear. Both sides fail to grasp, or at least to admit, that North Korea will not disarm for any...

An Alliance?/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea/Washington Views

January 10, 2007

The Death of an Alliance, Part 62: South Korea’s Government (and North Korea’s Agents) Try to Veto USFK Restructuring

Update 1/10: The Korean reaction to General Bell’s push-back has actually ranged from the restrained (the leftist Hankyoreh picked up Yonhap’s coverage, quoted below, but had no editorial comment) to the rueful (the conservative Chosun Ilbo’s reporting focused blame on its own government): A key U.S. military official handling Korea’s national security has voiced his discontent with an ally by using the word “fight”. After the press conference, Korea’s Ministry of National Defense rushed to contain the situation by saying...

An Alliance?/U.S. & Korea

December 2, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 61: S. Korea’s Withdrawal from Withdrawal

I agree with GI Korea on this: Iraq won’t even miss the Zaitun “division.” Although numerically large, Korea’s contribution was militarily nil. The troops did not patrol, conduct raids, or guard anything except their own base, which sat in the most secure area of Kurdish Iraq. The deployment was a translucent veil for Korea’s ingratitude for the sacrifice of other nations, chiefly that of the United States, for its own survival. Locals joked that South Korea was a member of...

An Alliance?/ROK Military/Terrorism/Iraq

November 13, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 60

The United States and its allies are moving forward with active naval operations to contain the North Korean proliferation threat. The strikingly odd thing about this is that South Korea isn’t going to be one of them. Here is a list of nations with which the United States has more diplomatic and military synergy today than with South Korea: Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Australia, … and France. I guess you’re officially no longer a U.S. ally when...

An Alliance?/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military/Uncategorized/WMD

November 2, 2006

The Song Min-Soon Dossier (The Death of an Alliance, Part 59)

We all know that Song Min-Soon is going to be South Korea’s next Minister of Foreign Affairs and trade, but if you think that a man who talks this kind of trash about his friends couldn’t possibly be a career diplomat, think again. [ ]Mr Song, 58, is a 30-year career diplomat who served as ambassador to Poland while Christopher Hill was US ambassador there. The two then became their respective countries’ chief negotiators in the six-party talks on North...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Appeasement/Diplomacy/Korean Politics

October 28, 2006

Suspected N. Korean Spies, Shielded by Ruling Party Parliamentarian, Played a Leading Role in Anti-U.S. Protests (The Death of an Alliance, Part 58)

[Update: Welcome Gateway Pundit readers; this story is developing rapidly, and now, there’s new evidence that the North Koreans tried to help the ruling leftist Uri Party win the Seoul mayor’s race last May. Plus, more evidence of a North Korean hand in fanning anti-Americanism in the South.] A widening spy scandal surrounding several senior members of the leftist Democratic Labor Party and a U.S. citizen may have led to the resignation of the head of the National Intelligence Service...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/The Fifth Column/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military

October 26, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 57: Time to End the Screen Quota

I’m about to go all screedy about this, but I can be brief, because Robert Koehler has pretty much said everything I’d have said anyway. I generally write “DOA” posts after an action by either government documents some new low in bilateral relations. The government isn’t responsible for the content of what Korea’s notoriously militant film industry makes, but it wasn’t responsible for the content of “Yoduk Story,” either. So on one hand, fictionalized movies about No Gun Ri or formaldehyde...

Anti-Americanism/Korean Society/NK Economics

October 19, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 56

At the end of this post, there is big news, but if I told you now, I couldn’t wring the last full measure of absurdity out of it. So please stick with me here. I have accused the South Korean government of promoting anti-Americanism. When I do, I speak of things like this: The chief presidential secretary for security Song Min-soon on Wednesday said South Korea would be the greatest victim in a war on the peninsula due to the...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Appeasement/NK Economics/U.S. & Korea/WMD/WTF?

October 12, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 55: South Korea’s Ruling Party Blames America for North Korea’s Nukes

Update 10/15: Correction — according to a newer poll, 43% of South Koreans are retarded. – If you also watched the new “South Park” episode last night, you may still be laughing about it. I still am. It dealt with 9-11 conspiracy theories, and naturally, Eric Cartman acted as the surrogate for all that is irrational, prejudiced, and nasty (Kyle was the scapegoat, of course). I won’t spoil any of the plot twists, but there’s a scene in the...

An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Politics/WMD/WTF?

October 3, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 54

Last week, sitting barely more than arm’s length from Deputy Undersecretary of Richard Lawless, I detected a veiled threat to reduce the U.S. military presence in Korea if Korea doesn’t increase its contribution to cost sharing. The veil is now off. Richard Lawless, the deputy undersecretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, told reporters that the administration may have to make cuts in Korea — in personnel or in other areas — if the 38 percent share of...

Uncategorized

September 29, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 53

The end of the Eighth U.S. Army in Korea comes as no surprise to me; the rumors are not new, and this is easy to downplay as “restructuring.” With less than one complete U.S. infantry division left in Korea, it’s hard to call it EUSA a true Army-level command, but the symbolic value of its removal would be very significant. I suspect it will also mean that the USFK’s new commander will be a three-star.

An Alliance?/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military

September 22, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 52: Thirty Days

The Air Force, via USFK Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Garry Trexler, speaking at a public lecture, has given the South Korean Defense Ministry thirty days to find it some training range space, or see the air component relocated. I’ll go that one further: if the air cover leaves, the ground forces leave, too. With the exception of small Special Forces and SEAL teams, the U.S. military fights combined arms warfare. Take away the air cover and we go home. I...

An Alliance?/Korean Politics/ROK Military/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military

September 16, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 51

First, TKL is privileged to print this exclusive photo of the Bush-Roh luncheon. The pomp and pageantry rolled out for America’s greatest ally since the Marquis de Lafayette does not end there. Roh and the poor ROK Ambassador, Lee Tae-Shik, adjourned to Blair House to meet with a real who’s-who of has-beens. Extra props to whoever invited Richard Armitage, who must be the least popular man in this city this week. Also present: Madeleine Albright, Don Oberdorfer, Donald Gregg, Thomas...

An Alliance?/Diplomacy/U.S. & Korea/Washington Views

September 8, 2006

The Death of an Alliance, Part 50: Alternative Realities and Real Alternatives

I suppose everyone is entitled a theory on why Kim Jong Il decided to launch a round of missiles on July 4th, thereby drawing the wrong kind of attention from the U.N. Security Council, Japan, China, and the U.S. Treasury Department. This blog has been lukewarm on the conventional “extortion” theory, and has recently hosted discussions of the Strategic Disengagement Theory, the “Barrel of a Gun” Theory, The Loyalty Test Theory, and most recently, the Robert Kaplan Theory. All of...

An Alliance?/Appeasement/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military/WMD

Search Results for: The Death of an Alliance