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Category: An Alliance?

March 19, 2007

Chipyong-ni It Aint

[See also:   A very good,  thorough ROK Drop post, and a dissent from Andy Jackson.] Reporting from Kurdish Iraq, Michael Totten  says the  only booms are economic, and that the Kurds are leveraging peace and prosperity into de facto  independence.  It’s a long, interesting, occasionally fretful post, and well worth reading.  Along the way,  Totten  notes how Kurds view the South Koreans’ “sacrifice” for a democracy in Iraq: Iraqi Kurdistan is technically occupied by a foreign power, but this...

Categories An Alliance?/ROK Military/U.S. & Korea
March 18, 2007

Ill-Gotten Gains: Who Still Remembers Resolution 1718?

[Scroll down for updates.] (d) all Member States shall, in accordance with their respective legal processes, freeze immediately the funds, other financial assets and economic resources which are on their territories at the date of the adoption of this resolution or at any time thereafter, that are owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the persons or entities designated by the Committee or by the Security Council as being engaged in or providing support for, including through other illicit means,...

Categories "United" Nations/An Alliance?/Appeasement/Counterfeiting/Money Laundering/Six-Party Talks/WMD
March 14, 2007

See Also: Links for March 14th

[Update:   Apparently, some of you want to see someone put the hurt on Lim Won Hyuk,  although I have  neither the time to do it nor the  inspiration to re-argue things I’ve already said here a thousand times.  Sperwer may come through, and I look forward to those efforts and promise to link them.  Meanwhile,  Prof. Sung Yoon-Lee e-mails obligingly with this link to his PBS News Hour debate with Lim.  Just between the headline and the top of...

Categories An Alliance?/China/Human Rights/Human Trafficking/U.S. & Korea
March 6, 2007

Take the OFK Statesmanship Quiz

You are a  major political leader of one of the world’s major industrialized democracies.  An actor-turned-author publishes a book in which he photoshops the name of the country’s top newspaper into a picture of the World Trade Center on 9-11.  Just to make sure there’s no room for ambiguity, he says, “I want to become a terrorist ….  The newspaper is the sole monolithic monster remaining in [this] society.” As a statesman, your response is to: a.  Jail the man...

Categories An Alliance?/Democracy/Terrorism (NK)/U.S. & Korea/WTF?
February 27, 2007

Roh on N. Korean Nukes: ‘What, Me Worry?’

“North Korea has no reason to launch any preemptive attack (on South Korea) unless it is attacked first. Only the people with mental problems believe in the possibility of a preemptive attack by the North.”  [Yonhap] Ahem.   I believe I can explain this, and a lot of other things.  Separated at birth?  Surgical enhancement?  Or will Roh’s administration end like an episode of  Scooby Doo?                            ...

Categories An Alliance?/WMD
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...

Categories An Alliance?/Reconstruction/ROK Military/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military
February 23, 2007

U.S., ROK Ministers Agree on OPCON Date

[Update:   But we’re demanding benchmarks!   Gates apparently  shares my fears and has demanded ROK assurances that the date won’t slide yet again.  He’s also demanding “tangible moves,” such as “establishing a military command that would take charge of troop control, and an earlier start to drawing up new military strategies once Combined Forces Command is dismantled.”  Those sure do  sound a lot like “benchmarks,” although that term was understandably avoided.   I think the value of a promise made...

Categories An Alliance?/ROK Military/U.S. & Korea/U.S. Military
February 6, 2007

Come Here and Let Us Hate You!

Don’t get me wrong; I actually like Dick Cheney.   He’s from Wyoming, which practically makes him a neighbor, and he  may be one of the few people out there who’s hard-line enough for my taste, particularly on North Korea, but you have to admit that he has lacked rock star appeal recently.  That’s why it’s puzzling to see even hypersensitive South Korea feel slighted by the fact that Cheney will give the place a miss in an upcoming Asia trip. ...

Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Korean Politics/U.S. & Korea
February 2, 2007

Jay Kim’s Irreconcilible Differences

With some Americans disturbing calm waters with the suggestion of an “alliance at risk,” Korea thinks it has found a man — a “former Korean congressman” — who can quietly bridge our widening differences: A former Korean-American congressman launched on Thursday a forum led by first-generation figures like himself to help advance Korea-U.S. relations. Chang-jun “Jay” Kim said the Washington Korea-U.S. Forum will start with 16 participants who are professionally active in political, economic, judicial and academic fields and have...

Categories America/An Alliance?/U.S. & Korea/Washington Views
January 31, 2007

Hey! Clarify This!

South Korea expressed concern over “undiplomatic” remarks made by the top U.S. military officer here regarding possible delays in the relocation of U.S. military bases, a Foreign Ministry official said yesterday.  [link] Background here.  The Foreign Ministry would also like you to know that this is not an “official” warning; it’s really just the diplomatic equivalent of a fix-it ticket.  No fine, no court appearance.  Guess that “I support the alliance” bumper sticker paid off after all.  “The comment (made...

Categories An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/China & Korea/Korean Society/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...

Categories An Alliance?/Diplomacy/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea/Washington Views
January 17, 2007

Kumgang Update

Update:   More here.   Whenever you read about the Kumgang Tourism Project, which South Korea likes to tout as an initiative to reduce tensions,  consider those assertions in the context of  well-sourced suspicions that North Korea uses the proceeds for its WMD programs.  Thus, we should celebrate stories like this one from Yonhap, documenting its failure in extensive detail.  The best news is that enough people have a conscience to impede the project’s success.

Categories An Alliance?/Appeasement/NK Economics/U.S. & Korea
January 17, 2007

Wendy Cutler for President

At this point, I oppose the FTA  because Korea does not seem to be serious about opening its markets fundamentally.  Nor do  I  believe that  Korea should be rewarded for  doing so much to demagogue anti-Americanism, or to  undermine U.S. national security interests or  the humanitarian imperatives of the North Korean people.  Those are the reasons I don’t buy things made in Korea these days, and I know that the FTA would  instead reward Korea’s worst politicians and labor unions...

Categories An Alliance?/Diplomacy/Korean Politics/NK Economics/U.S. & Korea
January 12, 2007

Beyond Empty Threats

  Yes, Stealth fighters have some value in deterring a North Korean  first strike, if we think that’s a possibility, but I do not believe that any weapon in the U.S. military arsenal (with this possible exception) can deter or prevent a North Korean nuclear test.  The threat of a direct, large-scale  use of force by either the United States or North Korea against the other  is an empty threat.  The conventional Korean War has been a standoff since 1953. ...

Categories An Alliance?/NK Military/Resistance/ROK Military/U.S. Military
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...

Categories An Alliance?/U.S. & Korea
January 9, 2007

Will They or Won’t They?

The USFK Commander, General B.B. Bell, thinks another North Korean nuke test is “likely,” although the South Koreans remain in denial mode. Update:   As Kalani  points out in the comments, the headline arguably misstates what Bell actually said: There is no reason to believe that at some time in the future, when it serves their purposes, that they won’t test another one,” General B.B. Bell told a news conference. “So I suspect some day they will,” Bell said, adding...

Categories An Alliance?/U.S. Military/WMD