Korean War – Page 2

January 19, 2007

One POW’s Repatriated Wife Already Reported Dead

She apparently was in ill health and froze to death in police custody, according to Yonhap. I’ll have a link and more details later. [Update: here:] One of the nine, who was the wife of a South Korean prisoner of war, apparently froze to death one month ago while she was being questioned by North Korean security authorities after they were deported to the North, a source familiar with North Korean affairs said. The woman, the source said he...

Abductions/Appeasement/China & Korea/Human Rights/Korean War

January 16, 2007

Dispulitzated

Holy Mother of Pearl — GI Korea’s dismantling of AP Reporter Charles Hanley (Part 2, Part 1) is one for the ages. Please remind me to learn from the pile of cinders that was once Charles Hanley and never mess with GI Korea. On the other hand, Hanley’s own comment on GI Korea’s blog may be the most damning condemnation of his objectivity and professionalism. I responded directly to Hanley there.

Blogs & Blogging/Korean War/Media Criticism

January 10, 2007

Be Sure the Survivors Stay Buried

The South Korean government is going all out to find the remains of its Korean War dead: The Defense Ministry has set up a task force to retrieve and identify the remains of the dead from the 1950-53 Korean War, officials said Wednesday. The team of 85 is modeled after the U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. Its mission is to excavate remains and identify them through DNA analysis, they said. Col. Park Sin-han, chief of the team, said they would...

Abductions/Appeasement/Korean War/ROK Military

December 2, 2006

Coming Home

An American soldier missing in action since 1950 has been identified: Corporal William Wood of Moorhead, Minnesota. Welcome home, Corporal Wood.

Korean War

November 23, 2006

Betraying Sergeant Chang

What else can be said about something like this? It’s easy enough to blame the girl on the phone, but in light of past events like this, the more salient questions are (1) whether she was just following orders. More on how ROK POW’s lived in North Korean captivity here and here. And Staff Sergeant Chang’s pain didn’t end when he escaped, either: Chang Moo-hwan, 79, a third POW who returned to South Korea after the defection of Cho, said...

Abductions/Appeasement/Korean War

November 20, 2006

Peace in Our Time?

What would a formal declaration of an end to the Korean War mean? Not very much, as long as the threat itself does not change. And I doubt that the threat will change unless either the North Korean regime changes. Still, as cosmetic art, I’m hard pressed to see the down side.

Diplomacy/Korean War/Six-Party Talks

November 14, 2006

The Reinvention of Ban Ki-Moon

He seems to have concluded that he needs to put some distance between himself and his comrades in the ruling party. The first of two stories is this remarkable statement, timed just before Seoul is expected to abstain from yet another UN resolution on human rights in the North. UN secretary-general-designate Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called for a “more proactive position” from Seoul on North Korea’s human rights issues. Ban said the international community “has great expectations in that regard,...

"United" Nations/Human Rights/Korean War

September 15, 2006

D-Day + 56 Years

Today is the anniversary of the Incheon landings. I was reminded by commenter Jim Baxter, who said: Fifty-six years ago today I landed at Inchon as a rifle squad leader with the 1st Marine Division. Twelve days later I took a bullet in downtown Seoul (Mapo Blvd.) as we set her free. It was worth it! Any human being or nation is worthy of deliverance in behalf of the human Freedom of individual value and citizenry. To Jim Baxter and...

Korean War

September 13, 2006

GI Korea on MG William Dean

Don’t miss this one. The division was at less than 50% strength, morale extremely low, the division had no communications, few vehicles, little equipment, short on food, running low on ammunition, and completely surrounded by 20,000 pissed off North Koreans. So MG Dean did what any good general would do in these circumstances, he grabbed a bazooka. Several excerpts have particular signficance for what we would be facing if our ground troops have to fight in another Korean War, one...

Korean War/U.S. Military

Category: Korean War