Lots of laughs

천애지아 天崖至睋~ 하늘 끝에 이르는 바람 ~ 장나라 ( Jang Na Ra )

Gaze from Heaven's Cliff: Wish Arising at the Edge of Heaven

The sky above, the whisper of wind painted with tears
Follow that beautiful light, there within fall asleep.

The place that bears all longing, in dim memory, that place
to which dreams, like wild flowers, disappear, heaven's flowers.

Sunset, sunset, bring down the heavens,
the dream path resounds calling.
Sunset, sunset, even the starlight cries out,

Yearning arises, walk the dream path

Above the sky, the whisper of wish drawn with tears
Follow that beautiful light, there within fall to sleep

The place that bears all longing within dim memory, that place
to which dreams, like wild flowers, disappear, heaven's flowers.

Sunset, sunset, bring down the heavens
The dream path resounds with ringing sound
Sunset, sunset, even the starlight cries out

Sunset, sunset, bring the sky down
The dream path resounds calling.
Sunset, sunset, even the starlight cries out

Longing arises, walk the path of dreams

Allegory- Admonish King Yoon Seok-yeol at "Risk of Death"

TV Chosun compares Yoon Seok-yeol to Cheonsangun, the worst king in the Chosun dynasty.

[TV Chosun] Unchanging Yeonsangun (Yoon Seok-yeol) and the 3 Ministers.

The suggestion here seems to be that the righteous three ministers with the moral and physical courage to give the king advice he doesn't want to hear are Cho-Joong-Dong, the three dominant conservative media giants in South Korea (Chosun Ilbo, Joongang Ilbo, and Donga Ilbo) which had remained uncritical of President Yoon until just recently. Until now criticisms of Yoon as tyrannical and incompetent, were only heard through independent media and opposition politicians now under attack. Does this signal the end for the Yoon Seok-yeol administration? Yoon has also turned on party colleagues and allies that made his presidency possible and now is running the party into the ground. Do the conservative media think their advice will sway Yoon? Doesn't look like it. So do they wish to absolve themselves of their own complicity by saying that Yoon and his cadre of opportunists in the so called People's Power Party (PPP) brought the prospective failure in the upcoming April 2024 general election upon themselves?

(Source- TV Chosun Anchor Briefing 신동욱 10.16.23) Evil of the Times, Article 10, "The people are like the waters, and the King like the ship that floats easily upon them; the ship can also capsize." Journal from the reign of Yeonsangun (1502). Another quote was "the cicada has a loud voice because it does not hear."

(Source= TV Chosun Anchor Briefing 신동욱 10.16.23) This is an old adage from Chinese classical history, "Admonish the king at the risk of death."

*Although the calculation did not change, the spirit of the three monks who were not afraid of death is conveyed in the Annals.

During the Spring and Autumn Dynasty, Shi Chu, the godfather of the Wei Dynasty, directly told the monarch Yonggong, “Throw away the treacherous Mi Zihe and appoint the loyalist Geo Baekyu.” When Yeong-gong did not listen, he died and said, “Put my body under the window.” Only then did King Yeong appoint Geobaekok and cast out Mijaha. This is a terrible remonstrance, ‘ ( the corpse's remonstrance 尸諫) ,’ which achieved its will with my corpse.*

*Quoted in-[TV조선] 바뀌지 않는 연산군(윤석열)과 3정승(비윤계) https://www.fmkorea.com/6289431276

Among his other grievous faults Yeonsangun as king presided over two purges of the literati, the scholarly nobles. This is analogous to Yoon's censorship camgaign against critics and independent news sources like MBC and KBS and their overseeing agency the Korean Communications Commission. The Justice Minister Hong Dong-hun functions as President Yoon's modern day "executioner" persecuting labor, dissent, political opponents, and media figures. I understand that the president of JTBC News, Son Seok-hee, a reknowned award winning journalist, retired recently. It wasn't too long ago, that prosecution investigators conducted a search of JTBC News offices (for reporting on misuse of prosecution expense account funds). What connection, if any, there exists between the two events is unknown. Perhaps Son is no longer up to the kind of tumultuous events he covered during the Park administration. MBC and even National Assembly members' offices have been ransacked by Yoon's prosecutors, no one is above his power.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeonsangun_of_Joseon

There are copious comparisons of Yoon to Yeonsangun since he took office. A google search in Korean revealed about 120,000 links. Of course many are social media posts, redundantly referring to the same sources. Among the top links, the first major political figure to make the comparison, that I found was democratic party National Assembly member and party executive committee member, Go Min-jung. Assembly member Go criticized President Yoon for sacking the Presidential Archives Director, Shim Seong-bo, who was appointed at the end of the Moon Jae-in administration, saying, “Does President Yoon Seok-yeol want to be remembered as Yeonsangun?” This story was reported by Chosun Ilbo February 3, 2023.*

*고민정 “尹, 연산군으로 기억되고 싶나” 대통령기록관장 직위해제 비판 https://www.chosun.com/politics/politics_general/2023/02/03/TRT37QOOJZFLFCTUFFJII6TNNU/

Along analogous tyrannical developments it was recently disclosed that the National Elections Committee allowed the National Intelligence Service access to its computer software programming for election counts, because it felt it was under some compulsion to do so for "security reasons." After the NIS inspection, the NEC Director at a National Assembly committee hearing revealed that his agency found upon checking their system, the NIS had left some its own software on NEC computers.*

*선관위 보안점검 뒤 '미삭제' 국정원 프로그램 있었다?
OhMyNews 10.13.23
https://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002969128&CMPT_CD=P0001&utm_campaign=daum_news&utm_source=daum&utm_medium=daumnews

The Chairman of the South Korean National Election Commission, No Tae-ak, is now being investigated by public prosecutors for neglect of duties for failing to safeguard the election processes from North Korean hacking and interference.* There is no evidence of any security failures or potential failures. The Yoon administration fears impeachment and intends to interfere in election processes related to the general election for National Assembly seats next April, itself, particularly early voting which typically favors progressive voters. Just another public institution under attack by the right wing Yoon administration.

*검찰, '투·개표 보안 부실 의혹' 노태악 수사 착수, YTN 10.17; 임성호
https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0103_202310171828349340

Both siderism in analysis of the Yoon administration.

(Source- 열린공감TV youtube, composite photo from Yeollin Gonggam TV) Pictured First Lady, Kim Gon-hee(left), Yoon Seok-yeol (center) and Kim's mother Choi Eun-soon (right)


South Koreans are dissatisfied with Yoon's pro-Japanese policies. Yoon reduced the budget for alzheirmer's patients, and also RandD. He's used millions for his wasteful move of the presidential office to the old MND building and the new presidential residence in Hannan dong. Yet, he now wants to use the Blue House whenever he wants. The added burden on police caused by the move contributed to the Itaewon disaster in which 159 young people died by being crushed in a crowd. Yoon's clique of prosecutors persecute critics of Yoon, his wife, and his mother in law. Yoon has always had a dictatorial personality. He is an admirer of the former dictator Chun Doo-hwan.

Prosecutors in Yoon's clique frame political opponents with false witnesss testimony and constant leaks of false accusations against the accused to Yoon's conservative media supporters who dutifully publish to defame the critics of authoritarian pro-Japanese rule. Known as press prosecution collusion (검언유착) it is directed against the political opposition and independent media. Yoon also oppresses labor unions, and is taking control of otherwise non-partisan government institutions and agencies by staffing them MB retreads and unqualified former prosecutors. Like most dictators, he's trying to rewrite history, to make Japan and South Korea's dictators the good guys. If he doesn't start another war with North Korea it will only be luck. Yoon and his new right supporters label all critics and opposition "anti-state enemies" and stooges of North Korean. According to Yoon human rights advocates fall into this category.

Above all, Yoon is incompetent. He's had no prior military, foreign policy, or political experience prior to his election to the South Korean presidency. He has no domestic program whatever and spends as much time overseas as possible. Almost all of his cabinet appointees were disapproved by the National Assembly. Unfortunately, that doesn't matter under South Korea's constitution, he appointed them anyway. Anyone, who wants to "both sider" the problem with South Korea's Yoon administration today, doesn't really understand Korean politics, history or Yoon. Does any South Korean president have a worse economic record than Yoon? Yoon's wife had a government minister move a planned expressway interchange closer to real estate her family owns. She and her mother have been implicated in multiple real estate fraud schemes. While people suffer under the bad economy, she purchases jewelry and clothing costing tens of thousands of dollars or more on Yoon's overseas junkets. As far as the Daejangdong scandal goes Yoon is the one who overlooked the Pusan Savings Bank scandal which provided the seed money for the Daejangdong development. So far, after two years, over three hundred warrants, and several ongoing investigations, hundreds of thousands of pages of evidence, there is no tangible proof of any wrongdoing by Lee Jae-myung, the democratic party leader. The scanty evidence against him is mostly from improperly induced perjured statements elicited by prosecutors, from people subject to prosecution themselves and under duress. Trying to pin Daejangdong corruption on Lee is a classic case of Yoon projection and conservative mainstream media misdirection to cover his own misdeeds. He has been disciplined twice for unethical conduct as a prosecutor (it took him nine tries to pass the bar exam). He is a heavy drinker known to drop three thousand dollars in a single night of partying. There is a lack of transparency for his offices' rather large office account expenditures. The claim is that receipts are either no longer available or if available cannot be released due to "security reasons." Get real.

Victor Cha recommends pre-emptive strike

The Quiet Warmonger: Here's what Victor Cha of @CSISKoreaChair called for before the Senate this week. The adoption of a pre-emptive clause by the trilateral US-Korea-Japan alliance would be exceedingly dangerous. Plus he wants ROK arms sent to Ukraine. https://t.co/rSAVCxMxPB pic.twitter.com/NYV1htgWSx

— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) October 6, 2023

CSIS Korea chair Victor Cha's prepared testimony is at this link, FWIW.

https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/6d1240b7-bfd7-859b-3fc5-ecd6d083540a/100423_Cha_Testimony.pdf

Tim cited Cha's proposed military interception of North Korean missile tests. This is a bad idea, that I had been waiting for some high profile "expert" to recommend. Declaring that the US will attack North Korean ICBM testing pre-emptively is a bluff that will be called. It will have no deterrent effect on North Korea. There are always zingers in these very biased assessments pushed by CSIS for their arms manufacturer and state sponsors. They've been cranking this stuff out on youtube. Two more Cha quotes that I just can't take seriously:

It is noteworthy that the administration has stated its interest in reengaging in dialogue with DPRK with no preconditions as to the results of such talks. This is a subtle but significant change that suggests greater flexibility.

The Biden administrations professed willingness to engage in "dialogue without preconditions" is meaningless boilerplate. The Biden administration has nothing substantial to offer in the way of diplomacy. But they're willing to listen to Kim surrender without preconditions. I'm not big on Cha's "saving face" argument either. This is in the same category as the establishment disapproval of Trump's leader to leader overtures with Kim, which according to the neocon critics, unfairly and unduly "rewarded Kim Jong-un" by elevating his status by having the president meet with him. This always was meaningless drivel.

To me this is the kind of argument people make when they don't want to address the substantive issues. When your negotiating approach fails, namely the US "all or nothing" humiliating approach delivered to Kim, by John Bolton at Hanoi, necessarily he's going to look elsewhere for support. His covid lockdown basically put DPRK foreign policy in deep freeze. That's over now. Before "fire and fury" the US had already bypassed China and Russia and thereafter pursued a new cold war policy of block politics. Where else would Kim go?

Cha's praise for Yoon's foreign policy is absurd. Yoon has no domestic support to speak of. He's a lame duck. Frankly he's a corrupt simple minded psychopath. Anyone who criticizes him is "an anti-state actor." His policy is turning South Korea into a security/surveillance/police state. He's got nothing else to offer. A military crisis is probably something he feels he could use to bolster his foundering administration.

There are some who argue that this new development in DPRK-Russia cooperation is a response to the Camp David summit. I do not believe this to be the case. Russia’s need for ammunition alone would have made this cooperation inevitable regardless of U.S.-Japan-Korea trilateral cooperation

This is ridiculous.

I think any sort of attempt to destroy an upcoming ballistic missile test launch, either on the launch pad, or in flight by the US or South Korea, will result in military retaliation by North Korea. After which, it will be difficult to restrain Yoon, or the US from further escalation and the possible outbreak of war.

I've read that a satellite launch effort might be made by North Korea before Oct 26. Further ICBM testing could be expected in the future as well.

This US official apparently has some common sense.

Bonnie Jenkins, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, made the remarks, a day after Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies made the proposal at a congressional hearing.

Cha noted the need to consider a "declaratory" policy to signal the capability of destroying a North Korean missile headed towards Japan, Hawaii or the U.S. West Coast when it is on the launch pad or in other flight phases.

"I think I would just say that we have a very close relationship, strong discussions on the way in which we want to address North Korean threats and their intercontinental ballistic missiles and all the tests that they're doing," she said at a forum hosted by the Stimson Center.

Jenkins said she would not say a preemptive strike is "the way to go."

Senior U.S. official stresses 'strong' ties with S. Korea, Japan over N. Korean threats

Doomsday Machine scenario in North Korea?

Daniel Ellsberg in his 2017 book, the Doomsday Machine, lists 24 situations, other than Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in which the US implicitly or directly threatened to use nuclear weapons. Some of these instances are quite specific and others less so. I had encountered a few of these situations before in history books. There were the US nuclear threats made against China, and/or North Korea. There were various Berlin crises during the cold war, and of course, the Cuban missile crisis, which Ellsberg describes in great detail earlier in the book.

One thing I learned from Ellsberg's book, was the central importance and futility of nuclear policies revolving around the so called "decapitation attack," designed to take place in various contexts, usually considered in a cold war context by Ellsberg, against the Soviet Union as part of the strategy of nuclear war. Ellsberg generally speaking regards the decapitation strategy as the wellspring of the "doomsday machine" referred to elsewhere as the "dead hand" mechanism to make sure the nuclear counterstrike takes places place regardless of what happens to the targeted national leadership structure. The "doomsday" response mechanism involves several dangerous, and totally suicidal potential outcomes.

Ellsberg was critical of US and Soviet efforts to keep secret their "doomsday" response mechanisms to potential loss of national command centers in a nuclear war. His logic is that if the opposing side is unaware of a doomsday mechanism that survives a first strike, there is a loss of deterrence value. Why keep it a secret? The side that launches a first strike decapitation attack is going to sustain a devasting nuclear counterstrike in any event despite disabling the enemy's command and control structure. In the case of the US, he speculates that the reasoning is that it is too disturbing to the public to consider that control of nuclear weapons is decentralized with lower commanders having the authority to launch nuclear weapons without regard to the principle of commander in chief and civilian control of the military, if certain conditions appear to be present.

I hadn't previously realized that decapitation strategies were a major component of nuclear war planning. It's almost fundamental that command and control would naturally be subject to an attack during a general war, but an evaluation of the full implications of exclusive destruction of the national command authority during a nuclear conflict are more fully explored in Ellsberg's analysis than I had ever encountered. So what's the point? I'm only addressing North Korean decapitation below. There are many other ramifications addressed by Ellsberg, particularly with respect to Russia. These are my observations below, not Ellsberg's.

Decapitation strategies with conventional forces on North Korea by the US armed forces have been discussed openly in South Korean media. My reaction was that this was an inadequate tactical response to a strategic problem, North Korean military nuclearization. In other words, the strategy would in all likelihood fail and invite the very military responses one was ostensibly trying to prevent, either general war, or nuclear war with North Korea. Two sources that I knew of, Victor Cha, CSIS Korea Chair, and Thae Yong-ho (North Korean defector and current assembly member, South Korea National Assembly), separately stated their opposition to the so called "bloody nose" approach, recommended by one of Trump's military advisors. Trump had used the expression "fire and fury" at one point. I think Joseph Yun, a career diplomat leading US diplomacy efforts with North Korea, resigned not too long after the bloody nose issue was floated, so that was subject to similar speculation, that the US was contemplating or planning some military response to North Korea that he may have also opposed. Thae Yong-ho specifically mentioned in the way of a caution to US planners, that North Korea had already adopted a nuclear doomsday response or "dead hand" response to attacks on its command and control structures.

William Arkin raised the notion more recently that the new tactical warhead W-76-2 on the submarine launched Trident missile was possibly aimed at North Korea or Iran. This was the only public indication (that I know of) that the decapitation effort against North Korea might be in the form of a nuclear attack from the US, until US nuclear submarines began visiting South Korean ports in recent months. These included one Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine that docked in Busan and was visited by President Yoon.

In light of Ellsberg's detailed discussions of nuclear (first strike) decapitation scenarios, decision flow, and likely responses and outcomes, I now realize that the discussion of a conventional "decapitation attack" against North Korea, is probably intentionally misleading, and that it was likely intended to include nuclear strikes all along.

Interestingly enough, it wasn't too long ago, that North Korea announced its intention to launch a nuclear response to any US/South Korean attack on North Korean command and control elements, conventional or otherwise. Ironically, this follows Ellsberg's theory of deterrence to nuclear decapitation strikes- let your opponent know you have a "doomsday" response mechanism in place. I could easily anticipate the Pentagon arguments why this can't be true for North Korea, but if you read Ellsberg's book, one could easily do their own informed speculation on that. Highly recommend The Doomsday Machine, (the book).

In keeping with the theme, International Day of Non-violence.

South Korean press censorship- no limits?

President Yoon Suk-yeol seems to be pushing South Korea in a repressive direction, with no protest from his American partners. https://t.co/DAKlYgUrdN

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) September 30, 2023

No Pre-trial Detention for Democratic Party Leader Lee Jae-myung

Court rejects arrest warrant for opposition leader Lee over corruption charges
Seoul Sep 27, by Park Boram

During the morning session of the hearing, prosecutors reportedly highlighted the seriousness of the charges and concerns of destroying evidence as they made a case for Lee's arrest, while Lee's lawyers claimed he is not a flight risk and thus arresting him for investigation is unnecessary.

The court rejection is widely expected to bolster Lee's standing in the party in the run-up to the general elections in April and would lead to a massive blowback against the government.

By law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while parliamentary is in session unless the National Assembly passes a motion giving its consent to the arrest, a measure intended to shield lawmakers from political persecution.

Last week, the National Assembly voted to lift the opposition leader's arrest immunity in a surprise, narrow 149-136 vote attributed to a number of dissenting ballots from his own party that commands a majority of parliamentary seats...

The Yonhap article describes this as Lee averting "...the biggest crisis yet for the former presidential candidate." This is a crisis for South Korea as a "democratic" state. Lawyers noted before the hearing that there is no physical evidence, only statements of witnesses, which one witness in relation to a charge this morning in this case, noted was coerced by adamant prosecutors that he publicly regrets making. This is part of a pattern by Han Dong-hun/ Yoon Seok-yeol directed political prosecutions. The purpose is to persecute the opposition, not to enforce the law. So far, the judges in Lee's cases have demonstrated "noon chi" a kind of political intuition, knowing that jailing Lee on such flimsy evidence would rip South Korea apart politically.

I understand Lee had to be transported to the Seoul jail while he was waiting for the court's decision, where he was stripped searched, fingerprinted, stood for a mugshot, etc. They probably forced him to wear the prison jumpsuit. This is from the police description of what they said they would do as "standard procedure" while waiting for the court order. Lee is going back to Green Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, this short video below (in Korean) displays virtually the entire South Korean OOB. One interesting aspect is that the organizers used AI (augmented reality?) to depict a South Korean Aegis class destroyer sailing down the main drag between the high rise buildings. (I think this is Sejongno in Seoul). One report said the Armed Forces Parade went from Gwanghwa Plaza to City Hall.


The parade celebrates the 75the Anniversary of the ROK Armed Forces. An administrative unit from the US 8th Army participated in the parade, said to be 300 in number. They appear briefly near the end of the video. The AI depiction of the ROK destroyer appears at 01:11. The video is under two minutes long. Similar technology exhibited at the Asian Games opening in China a few days ago. Yoon is on a power trip. This parade is to distract the public from his administration's incompetence, oppression and disadvantageous foreign policy, while attempting to glorifying himself with "patriotic" credentials.

Rahmbo "going rogue" on China

Rahm Emmanuel in Japan, goes rogue on China
Responsible Statecraft
DANIEL LARISON
SEP 22, 2023

Emanuel was always a curious choice for a prominent diplomatic post, given his record as a crude, knife-fighting political operative, but in recent weeks he outdid himself with his trolling comments about China. When the then-defense minister, Li Shangfu, had not been seen in public for several weeks, Emanuel tweeted a mocking reference to Agatha Christie’s "And Then There Were None" as he called attention to the growing list of top Chinese officials removed from their positions over the last few months.

This briefly earned the ambassador some favorable coverage back home, including a report in The Wall Street Journal last week that billed him as a “warrior diplomat,” but like the so-called wolf warrior tactics that Emanuel has been imitating it ended up backfiring on him.

The ambassador’s social media antics have done nothing to advance U.S. interests, and it is hard to see how it benefits Japan or the U.S.-Japanese relationship to have our ambassador in Tokyo flinging insults at a neighboring country. As the NBC News report said, a “second administration official said for Emanuel to make these comments makes no sense and does not advance U.S. strategic goals with China or with the Asia-Pacific region.”

The U.S. doesn’t send its ambassadors abroad so that they can play at being the ugly American for online clout, but lately that seems to be what Emanuel thinks his job is.

Great article. I would add two things. First, Rahmbo's slant if you will is to deliberately undermine any sort of diplomatic reconciliation with China. This is totally consistent with the Congressional drift back in the states. Sometimes its seems the Whitehouse can't decide which way it wants to go. Or is the old horse soldier speaks with forked tongue routine? Blinken goes one way then another. Typically he likes to chastise and lecture the Chinese. Biden says one thing, then another. Then Congress does something or says something concerning China policy that is the opposite of some less provocative or conciliatory statement temporarily expressed by the administration.

Secondly, even if Rahm's inexperience, lack of appropriate temperament for diplomacy, and his wild egoism weren't all there already, the political environment he operates in Japan, has other detrimental influences. The US military (INDOPACCOM) dominates the relations between the US and China. This is the social/political milieu as well for American officials living overseas in Asia. So essentially, when you're looking at US foreign policy in East Asia, you're looking at what the major military command there wants. (Trump was the only one who tried to make his own policy there, which had some other defects). In terms of the domestic political environment in Japan, the embassy is dealing with the LDP government, which while reputed to be dominated by the US, is actually far right and currently predisposed to revisionist views of its position in Asia, and expresses a desire to resume a "normal military" like other states. This means doubling their defense budget and acquiring all sorts of offensive strike weapons. In other words, Japan is returning to its former militaristic perspective. This is true particularly of some of the leadership in the dominant factions of the LDP, if not the entire LDP rank and file. Japanese pacifism and the "peace constitution" are passe and being trashed by the ruling party.

The political environment that the US embassy in Japan is a part of, is a militaristic far right hotbed of extremist views concerning China, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, the East China Sea, Russia, the South China Sea, and every other relevant foreign policy issue. It's an echo chamber that drives itself to more and more extreme views on the world situation and what our policies and those of our allies in the region should be. The US establishment really doesn't get it, that diplomacy and militarism are qualitatively different. That's why they thought not too long ago, that the former PACCOM commander Harry Harris would make a suitable ambassador to Seoul. He did little but offend the politicians he interacted with in South Korea, because they weren't (at that time) far right ideologues like himself or adequately subservient to US demands. The current South Korean administration fits right in now with the US/Japanese far right ideology. In South Korea they call it the "new right" ideology.

The Korean take on the Kennedy/Biden hero Yoon Suk-yeol. https://t.co/QtreCYq3eZ

— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) September 21, 2023

The political persecution of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung in South Korea is taking place precisely because he would return South Korea to policies based on putting the interests of the Republic of Korea first, and returning to the nationalist aspiration for independence from foreign domination. Lee ended his hunger strike on its 24th day to face yet another judicial hearing next week on whether he should be jailed pretrial on what are fabricated charges. He also needs to return to his parliamentary duties in effort to reform the nomination process for party candidates in the next election. This so those within his own party that voted to allow the government to jail him, could be identified and kept off the ballot.

The demonstration on Thursday outside the National Assembly building during the vote on Lee's legislative immunity during session, was in the tens of thousands. Police efforts to restrict the crowd with barricades were contested by numerous men in the demo of all ages, off and on, all day long. The administration's reaction to these frequent demonstrations was to consider crowd control remedies, including blocking subway exits leading to assembly venues, potentially using water cannon (previously ruled unconstitutional) which have not been used yet, and granting police immunity/indemnity in situations where they might incidentally injure or kill demonstrators. A a metal worker was seriously injured by police earlier this year and another trade union rep burned himself to death in front of a court house. A dusk to dawn ban on assemblies is being considered by the National Police Agency. The ban is currently from midnight to dawn. The former is regarded as unconstitutional as a matter of law. So the administration is trying to get by with half a loaf, midnight to six am, which many attorneys regard as also unconstitutional. I had wondered what had happened to the metal worker labor union demonstrations lately, some of their permit applications had been denied. From Thursday's demo in support of Lee Jae-myung in front of the National Assembly building-

Yeouido, in front of the National Assembly building Sep 21


Took a couple of screen shots of today's candlelight movement demonstration (below). The size was difficult to evaluate because of their confinement to only two lanes of traffic and no overhead cameras. I estimate it was in the tens of thousands. The organizers said 20 thousand. The police said 3 thousand which is a joke. It assembled between Namdaemun and City Hall, and ultimately marched to Samgakchi plaza near the Yongsan presidential office and back to Namdaemun. Listened to the speech of the former Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae, who described the former administration's failure to decrypt Han Dong-hun's Apple hand phone with his (alleged) incriminating fabrication of charges against Yoo Shi-min, another former minister, as a coup d'etat. Han had discussed with Channel A News reporter, the means to fabricate charges of financial corruption against Yoo, a popular spokesperson, and public figure on the left.

The failure to decrypt Han's phone led to the dismissal of the charges against Han Dong-hun for "lack of evidence." This ushered in the now a seemingly unchallengeable press-prosecution-president collusion dictatorship currently running South Korea. Han, the current Justice Minister under Yoon, is a despicable character acting as the enforcer for Yoon.

From Namdaemun/Seungnyemun (south gate) to City Hall, candlelight demonstrators gathered for the procession to Samgakchi, early Saturday evening 9.23 Seoul time.

Candlelight movement demonstration returned to Namdaemun-City Hall station venue later on Saturday night September 23.

Betrayal is a bitter cup for Lee Jae-myung supporters

Lee Jae-myung's legislative immunity to arrest and detention removed by a National Assembly vote.

28 members of his own democratic party, the majority party in the legislature defected to vote with the conservatives to give them a majority vote in favor of the resolution to drop Lee's immunity. This betrayal of their own party leader effectively seals the factional split within the democratic party before the upcoming election campaign season. The defecting group of democratic assembly members are labeled "su bak" (watermelons) one color on the outside another on the inside. They are considered by the progressive democrats who support Lee, as seeking their own personal gain rather than the public interest. In the US context, they would be called "democrats in name only" who merely represent special interests and really are more like conservatives and implicitly allied with conservative interests.

(Source MBC News live 9.21.23) Angry demonstrators near National Assembly building in Yeouido confront police. They anticipated that the resolution to allow any arrest and confinement of Lee Jae-myung would be denied because of the large majority of Democratic representatives. However it is estimated that 28 members of the party betrayed the party leader after he declined to give up his weighted voting power in the nomination process for the spring elections. 국회 앞 이재명 대표 지지자 희비교차..체포동의안 부결 '기대'에서 가결 '낙담-분노'

South Korean lawmakers vote to lift opposition leader's immunity against arrest (from @AP) https://t.co/JNPHweANGR

— Hyung-jin Kim 김형진 (@hyungjin1972) September 21, 2023

(Source MBC News live 9.21.23) Supporters of Lee Jae-myung outside the National Assembly building in Yeouido before the announcement of the vote to drop the legislator's immunity from arrest and pre-trial confinement. They were calling for the National Assembly to decline the prosecutor's proposal to let the court's proceed to determine whether Lee should be jailed.

We'll see what happens tomorrow during the regular Saturday demonstrations. Democratic supporters of Lee are angry. Will the courts test the anger and resentment of Lee's supporters by finding that the contrived politically motivated charges against Lee are supported by credible evidence to warrant his pretrial detention?

[Column] Once a model democracy, Korea’s governing system is seriously unwell
Hankyoreh Sep 21

Yoon’s “Yongsan totalitarianism” is a threat to Korean democracy

The primary figure in Yongsan totalitarianism is the president himself, of course. Under the banner of “freedom,” the president has divided the nation and placed the country’s foreign policy on a US-oriented line as part of his purely black-and-white mindset.

The president stands on the front lines of ideological disputes and historical debates, seeking to erase the legacy of the independence movement against Japan on the grounds that some freedom fighters had communist sympathies.

All media outlets, opposition parties and civic groups that criticize the government are branded as “anti-state forces,” with the public prosecutors and the Board of Audit and Inspection serving as effective weapons toward that end.

The president doesn’t respect the National Assembly and circumvents it using his legal prerogatives to veto laws and make appointments.

The ruling party that ought to be providing balance between the president and the public has been reduced to a presidential lackey, forfeiting its relevance and independence.

Yongsan totalitarianism is a threat to democracy. It’s become common for not only politicians of all stripes but even ordinary people to talk about “the worst politics in history.” But what they’re really saying is that Korean democracy is seriously unwell.

https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/english_editorials/1109545.html

I left out the column's rather rudimentary and simplistic comparison to Jan. 6, Trump, etc., as irrelevant. The last part of the column is what is important. US domestic politics is really not germane, except to the extent that Yoon is directed if not controlled by US national security interests and Yoon's own domestic pro-Japan constituency.

The Tao models itself on Nature

Took this screenshot from a China travelogue being hosted by a South Korean Chinese studies Phd that we watched August 29. Kept it as a note to myself and lost track of the original video source. The caption from the screenshot labels the scene, On the way to a vertiginous Taoist temple built at the mountain's summit. The way of the Tao depicted on the image in traditional Chinese and Hangul-

People model themselves on the earth,
The earth models itself on heaven,
Heaven models itself on the way,
The way models itself on nature.


爲無爲

Moon Jae-in 9.19 summit declaration 5 yr commemoration

(Source-AP youtube) President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Kim Jong-un at Baektusan in September 2018 during their summit.

Former Moon Jae-in gave a speech September 19, to civil foundations and politicians interested in resuming what is an on again, off again tradition in South Korean politics of trying to maintain a dialogue with North Korea in order to provide a peaceful political environment conducive to economic prosperity.* Moon noted that efforts to promote dialogue with the North by South Korean presidents were associated with periods of economic and trade growth, in contrast to cold war hostility. A balanced foreign policy facilitated good trade relations with neighbors. Moon said he was very disappointed in the approach taken by the current Yoon administration and noted that economic contraction, a record trade deficit, a falling won, and lower per capita income all characterized the Yoon administration. It is disappointing and regrettable that Moon's diplomatic efforts in this regard, and those of several of his predecessors have descended to an unimaginably low level. It's time for South Korea to return to a balanced foreign policy directed toward peace and economic prosperity rather than the undesirable state of affairs during the cold war.

* 팩트TV NEWS Youtube, 9.19.23; 문재인 전 대통령의 강력한 20분 연설...이런 대통령 연설 듣고 싶었다! Former president Moon Jae-in gives a strongly worded 20 minute speech...this is the presidential speech I wanted to hear!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcfJDyqK43A

다만 마음으로만 Only in my heart

다만 마음으로만
연인 드라마 ost Lovers Kdrama OST ep. 2

by Kai

아득히 바라본다 Staring from afar
정다운 그대 얼굴 My love's kind face
먼 바람에 실려온 Carried by a distant breeze
그리운 그리운 그 얼굴 Missing, missing, that face

그대도 나만 같아 Beloved, too, as much I?
두 손에 고개를 묻고 In two hands, I bury my head
기다리오 나 그대 I await my beloved
그 길 위로 오시기를 Bringing you over that path

댓잎만 흔들려도 If only the bamboo leaves rustle
해적이는 달빛에도 As a buccaneeer in the moonlight
떠오르는 그 뒷모습 That appearance emerges from behind
이제 돌아 미소하네 Now, I turn with a smile

남은 그리움을 저 청유 세월 속에 Lingering desire, my long journey within
한 방울 한 방울 모두 떨구려 하오 Little by little, I make it fade,
그대를 사랑하는 일 Loving you
다만 마음 마음으로 마음으로만 Just in my heart, by my heart, by my heart only

가만히 그대를 Gently, I will try to bury my love
가슴에 숨겨본다 away in my breast

The North Korean nuclear threat

Former CIA analyst Ray MacGovern off base on the North Korean nuclear threat?

Ray appeared on Judge Napolitano's Judging Freedom September 6 to talk about North Korea, Russia, China, etc. He said the Russians "gave" North Korea their HS-18 missile. It's simply not true. There is a discussion of why it's not true on the 38 North web site. I've been following their reports on North Korea for years, especially on their nuclear and missile programs. It's unfortunate that because Russia has been renewing its relationship with North Korea recently, that everyone now fancies themselves an expert on North Korea and its relationships with China and Russia.

Col. Macgregor's September 6 interview with Napolitano on Russia, North Korea, China had some shortcomings as well, perhaps not as bad. There are certain misconceptions and bias factors to which people who do not study military and political affairs concerning Korean issues fall prey.


The Transfer of a Russian ICBM to North Korea? August 17, 2023, by Theodore Postol
https://beyondparallel.csis.org/the-transfer-of-a-russian-icbm-to-north-korea/

A Renewed Axis: Growing Military Cooperation Between North Korea and Russia
September 6, 2023, by Victor Cha and Ellen Kim https://beyondparallel.csis.org/a-renewed-axis-growing-military-cooperation-between-north-korea-and-russia/

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: North Korea’s HS-18 Is Not a Russian ICBM
https://www.38north.org/2023/08/dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-north-kor...

The North Korean ICBM threat is being mischaracterized in the Judge Napolitano videos uploaded to youtube, September 6. North Korea already had the means to nuke a substantial number of targets in South Korea and Japan for a few years. Maybe Guam as well. North Korea doesn't need an ICBM to nuke Japan. The judge's guests are acting like something changed just recently because of the Russian Defense Minister's visit to Pyongyang in late July. This has been the threat for some time. This is why Trump's "sometimes you gotta walk stunt" in Hanoi was so misguided. The Russians are reacting to the US-Japan-South Korea diplomatic and military moves that keep escalating military tensions in the region.

Additionally, the ICBM threat from North Korea has been in the making for some time, and it is probably not perfected yet. If it has any realistic capability to attack the US, it would be unreliable, and with only one warhead on each missile in all likelihood. I've actually not seen any reports on successful reentry tests. Of course there can't be such a thing as a small nuclear threat, that's bad enough. But our posture in South Korea is making the situation worse.

This North Korean threat to North America is the kind of limited "rogue state" nuclear strike, the Ground Based Interceptor was designed to meet. Russia is in a position to advance weapons systems in North Korea. Whether they will do it with advanced ICBM and warhead technology is another matter entirely. The reason for this, is the modified preemptive nuclear strike doctrine of North Korea. The North Koreans have threatened to strike with nuclear weapons if they are attacked conventionally by the US and its allies. This is why there is general agreement, even among some neocons, that the so called "bloody nose" attack, or preemptive conventional decapitation attacks on North Korea are a bad idea.

Why does North Korea have a preemptive nuclear strike doctrine? Because the US consistently except for a short period during the Moon administration in South Korea, has been threatening North Korea with being obliterated and so on. The North Korea conventional forces are not up to the task of deterring a US led attack on North Korea. This is why they find the large joint military exercises in the region so threatening. Nuclear weapons give them a means to deter conventional attack. They are actually less expensive than maintaining, training, equipping and supplying large conventional forces. The US imposed embargo on North Korea makes this choice more likely. The US failed to follow through on a diplomatic strategy to lower the nuclear risk in the region achieved during the Trump administration and some earlier administrations. After the far right hard liner Yoon administration took office in South Korea, the US and ROK pursued an aggressive military posture simulating large attacks on North Korea that elicited the preemptive nuclear threat policy from them. Currently, the US, ROK, and Japan or at least their current administrations, have no negotiating strategy to lower tensions and the threat of war, and demonstrate no real intention to do so. Russia is not going to buy into the NK policy of preemptive nuclear attack. They won't supply finished advanced nuclear missiles or warheads that they designed or made either. There is already a serious and substantial North Korean nuclear threat to military bases in Japan and South Korea, particularly the military bases used by US forces. There is a marginal nuclear threat to North America at present, if any, from North Korea. This will grow over time as the North Korean ICBM weapon system program developes and the support infrastructure to make it effective grow.

The ways to minimize the North Korean nuclear threats are: 1) Stop the huge military exercises, in and around Korea including ground forces and attack aircraft in the region; 2) Attempt to revive the status quo ante at Singapore achieved by Trump during the Moon administration; (do not bring strategic bombers and nuclear submarines into South Korea), and 3) resume diplomatic contact with North Korea, and negotiate from there by offering something for something, step by step, to build trust. The US obstinately refuses to do any of these things. It prefers brinkmanship, arms races, and military tensions. Also inventing new ABM defenses in the region nominally directed against North Korea provides the US with a forward posture to threaten China and Russia. The same goes for Japan.

Japan actually does quite a bit for the US-Japanese alliance in the Western Pacific. Probably more than any other country. To say that they don't is really misleading. What's worse, is that they are acquiring all kinds of offensive weaponry and intend to double their defense budget. Japan has a hard right ruling political party that wants to make Japan "great again." The US one party needs to be careful what they wish for. Colonel MacGregor indicated that Japan doesn't do enough.


The CSIS article

Read the article by Theodore Postol. The opinion article is actually posed in the conditional, with the question mark in the title, the use of the words if, potential, it appears, and if this is true. As the article and Ray note, to give North Korea highly sophisticated ICBM technology (if true), is completely inconsistent with prior Russian practice. Postol once he lays out the assumptions of his thesis, recommends policies. First, he advocates the implementation of a new airborne, anti ballistic system in the Korean theater. What a surprise coming from CSIS. Not.

Secondly, Postol recommends the UN authorizing the US and it allies to shoot down any further tests of its "Russian ICBM." How this is supposed to happen in view of who the permanent members of the UN Security Council are is beyond explanation. The normal sequence, after the expected veto or vetoes is for the US and perhaps its allies to proceed unilaterally. There could be a veto and abstentions. I had been concerned about this possibility of a warlike act after North Korean ballistic missile testing activity had resumed, and increased in frequency in violation of UN resolutions. Postol laid out the political posturing that would take place before what is essentially a US preemptive attack on the North Korean testing program. Postol compares not developing and deploying a new airborne ABM weapons system deployed to the Korean theater to reliance on an obsolete Maginot line.

I haven't changed my opinion after a close reading of Postol's article despite my high regard for his prior work. Notice that the 38 North rebuttal includes the likelihood of technology transfer during the turbulent period after the collapse of the Soviet Union. There is also the ever present possibility of North Korean hacking obtaining relevant technological secrets.

It's very unlikely the North Koreans have the full panoply of advanced Russian countermeasures and MIRV technology. There is simply no evidence for this. I note that the photograph in the Postol article ostensibly showing release of the "countermeasures cannister" is actually labeled "second stage separation" in Korean.

Another US military debacle coming in Asia?

Responding to Gordon Campbell on why China isn’t a real military threat
http://werewolf.co.nz/2023/08/gordon-campbell-on-why-china-isnt-a-real-military-threat/

Related: The First Battle of the Next War: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan
Report by Mark F. Cancian , Matthew Cancian , and Eric Heginbotham
https://www.csis.org/analysis/first-battle-next-war-wargaming-chinese-invasion-taiwan


China isn't a military threat because it is more interested in doing business than making war. Gordon Campbell's threat assessment in military terms is unpersuasive. If you go through the US track record in post WWII warfare, it's not all that impressive, beyond its interminable nature.

First of all, the US didn't win the Korean conflict. It actually, embarrassed itself. Initially, China inflicted stunning battlefield defeats on US armed forces in the field. After, the US was unable to dislodge China from North Korea for two years. If one thinks about how poor China was at the time, the military inability of the US armed forces to defeat them should be a lesson to military planners. Wars are fought in a military and geopolitical context.

The Vietnam War was another disastrous debacle for the US military. No need to elaborate.

"Wars" such as Grenada or Panama have little evidential weight. It's laughable that they are even brought up in a context of potential war with a great power. They were colonial operations.

The US struggled for years to suppress resistance in the second Iraq War, after conducting a devastating attack on Iraqi infrastructure and Iraq's armed forces. Iraq a second or third rate military power already debilitated by sanctions and a prior war at that. The war in Afghanistan was a another loss. Of course, one of the major lessons in these wars, was the US cannot afford to take many casualties in far away places politically because the issues in contention although labelled vital national security interests by the US MIC really weren't. Americans asked to put their lives on the line in some contrived military adventure, intuitively come to recognize that. Military conscription has been off the table since Vietnam. Demagogues in the Congress are rewarded by their corporate sponsors, among them the war contractors and weapons manufacturers, to revel in their own war mongering rhetoric. They are far away from the battlefields and the US media will cover for them. The US is reluctant to put its own armed forces on the line in Asia. This is why the US is prodding Japan, South Korea, Philippines, and Australia to step up and take the blows for it. This also reflects an implicit recognition that the US military establishment can't dominate China alone.

The notion that the US would win a war with China in the far east after losses and difficulties with much smaller and less resourceful countries is just bluster. There are several military experts on the Chinese theater who say there is no military solution to the Taiwan issue. Some of them believe the US would suffer massive losses if not outright military defeat. In such circumstances where the US might feel compelled to use nuclear weapons, the military option begins to look absurd, as it should.

People often forget the importance of near and far in warfare. Keep in mind the US and its allies couldn't even mobilize adequate military resources to support its Ukrainian proxy war against Russia. That effort, now appears to be on the verge of collapse despite years of US preparation, training and guidance.

It's just the utter stupidity of war in a successful, prosperous part of the world, like East Asia, that deters rational players from pursuing military conflict. But the US and UK unrealistically locked in their 19th Century imperial outlook of innate superiority, not just culturally, but economically and institutionally in a tragic way, don't seem capable of changing direction.

Losing Control of Events

Is the US losing control in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines? It looks like a retrograde movement, where pro-US, anti-China elements are digging in and arming up. Perhaps this presents the illusion of control as the situation grows more unstable.

You know if it's Saturday in Seoul, there are a lot of demonstrators out. I hoped to gather the best screen shots I could, but something changed, and I'm having inordinate difficulty with pics today. So Tim made this first demonstration picture easy.

A rally of 200,000 TEACHERS to protest recent suicides from abuse and push for worker rights is pretty amazing. https://t.co/1xJEOxObSt

— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) September 3, 2023

Reported estimates ranged from 200 to 300,000 teachers demonstrating in Yeoido outside the national assembly building. Very impressive and well organized teachers making their voices heard about recent suicides of young teachers caused by family harassment of teachers trying to control their misbehaving children in school. Their demos have been the largest I've seen in some time. Unfortunately, they are basically one issue workplace issues.

These were a couple of other demonstrations. There was an opposition led demonstration against the Fukushima reactor waste water release. Started at 3pm Seoul time and lasted a few hours. Democratic Party National Assembly members were present including the party leader Lee Jae-myung. Also present were a few representatives of the Justice Party and Basic Income Party. Lee started a hunger strike 3 days ago. He didn't limit his dissent to the Fukushima issue but went down the extensive list of shortcomings and failures of the current authoritarian Yoon administration. The media coverage was not extensive.

(Source-OhMyTV youtube 9.02.23) Saturday afternoon demo protesting Fukishima reactor waste water dumping into the Pacific Ocean. I think this assembly is near City Hall in Seoul. There were several thousand people, whom the police apparently separated into two groups when they began marching past Seoul Station.

The later demonstration was the 55th Candlelight movement parade, opposed to just about everything concerning South Korea's current direction. They basically want Yoon impeached or to step down. The parade was led by demonstrators carrying pictures of Korean independence movement heros who opposed Imperial Japan's colonization of South Korea. Recently, the Defense Ministry proposed removal of the busts of some of these leaders from the front of the Military Academy building where officers are trained. This represents an ideological move to change the historical perspective to one beginning with the US post WWII occupation and Korean conflict rather than a national foundation based upon Korean resistance to Japanese domination. This is consistent with President' Yoon's submission to US and Japanese foreign policy goals. It is also consistent with his hard line anti North Korean and anti-communist approach to domestic politics. All domestic opposition is implicitly labelled as communist in nature, or communist sympathizers. The removal of independence fighter busts from the military academy grounds is viewed as an extreme move even by conservatives who are not a part of the Yoon/Lee Myung-bak clique ruling South Korea currently.

Another example of this ideological trend is the gutting of the Unification Ministry by the brand new Yoon appointee, Kim Yung-ho. Who needs exchange or dialogue with North Korea?

(Source 빨간아재 youtube 9.2.23) Candlelight movement demonstrators, Saturday, Sep. 2, carrying placards with images of famous independence fighters who resisted Japanese Imperial rule of Korea. (edit) Korean independence hero General Hong Beom-do (placard fourth from the right) was the focus of the controversy. Kim Ku, the founder of the Provisional Republic of Korea in exile (in China) during the Japanese colonial period is far right. Ahn Joong-geun, (second from the right) was the assassin of Ito Hirobumi, the former Resident General of Korea, and former Japanese Prime Minister.

(Source- MBC News 9.1.23)

From the poem General Hong Beom-do's Cry, by Lee Dong-soon.

While experiencing this humiliation and contempt,
I no longer wish to remain here.

The fatherland I yearned for so greatly,
Since when did it become the land of the Japanese?

At all times, a country currying favor with Japan,
I can't bear it any longer.

What's wrong with Japanese policy toward South Korea

(Source YTN News - 9.3) Interfering in South Korea's internal politics. Making a claim on Korean territory-Dokdo. Pouring contaminated Fukushima water in the sea. Propping up dictators in South Korea. Bribing South Korean politicians. Interfering in the judicial administration of South Korea. Obstructing the South's diplomatic initiatives toward the North. Flying the Japanese war flag. Treating Koreans with racist contempt. Threatening a war pre-emptively with North Korea with their new "counter strike" policy.

The alternative is what existed before the US succeeded in ramming Japan down S.Korea's throat again. Namely, South Korea deals with the US as it did before, except ROK retains control of their own armed forces at all times. US cleans up all environmental damage related to its current and past military bases. Any military dealings with Japan are indirectly achieved by the US-Japan alliance. No "doubling the size" of the Japanese military (abide by Art.9). No dictating by the US or anyone else about South Korea's dealings with Japan, China, Russia or North Korea. US returns to the Singapore agreement with North Korea. No South Korean participation in the Indo-Pacific Alliance. No participation in the Tri-lateral alliance or other alliance directed against China. No NATO participation. No THAAD. No extension of any existing military bases for anti-China operations or any other pretext. No military exercises in the buffer zones.

(Source- KBS 1 History Journal, ep. 199) This vision of a greater imperial Japan as depicted in the graphic was attributed to Yoshida Shoin in the mid 19th Century.

South Korea's First Lady goes nuclear

I noticed something about the statement made by Yoon after a South Korean analyst I follow, Kim Jong-tae, commented that Yoon using the powerful nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS Kentucky in Busan as a prop, threatened North Korea with the end of its regime.

Yoon boards U.S. nuclear-capable submarine in show of force against N. Korea
YNA July 19

"The two countries will overwhelmingly and resolutely respond to North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats through the NCG and regular deployments of strategic assets, such as the SSBN," he said.

Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed during their summit in Washington in April to establish a Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) to discuss nuclear and strategic planning between the allies, and strengthen the credibility of the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to defending South Korea with all of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons.

The inaugural session was held in Seoul on Tuesday as the USS Kentucky was making its port call, and Yoon said the two sides discussed the joint planning and execution of nuclear operations involving a combination of U.S. nuclear assets and South Korean non-nuclear assets, while agreeing to enhance the visibility of U.S. strategic assets around the Korean Peninsula.

"By doing so, we will make North Korea not even dream of carrying out a nuclear provocation, and we warned clearly that should North Korea carry out a provocation, it will lead to the end of that regime," (emphasis added) he said.

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20230719008100315#:~:text=%22The%20USS%20Kentucky's%20deployment%20shows,Command%20headquartered%20at%20the%20base.

The emphasized language is overbroad. I noticed it was not repeated elsewhere not even on the official ROK Office of the President web site (typically they need to omit, repair, or massage most of his statements). First Yoon says "nuclear provocation." Just what is that? Is that the same as a nuclear attack? Then later in the same sentence, "we warned clearly that should North Korea carry out a provocation..." This is even more vague. In the Hankyoreh report of this presidential PR show, they changed it to (nuclear) provocation, just to make "clearly" more clear. Perhaps this is the proper "clarification." Maybe not. Just what is a "nuclear provocation?" In the case of current circumstances in relations with North Korea, a test detonation of a nuclear weapon, underground, at its usual test site, could be considered a "nuclear provocation." After all it is banned by UN resolution. Also, preparation of a nuclear test site for underground nuclear detonation in North Korea indicating that a nuclear test may be imminent might be regarded as a "nuclear provocation."

Assuming that Col. Macgregor is correct and that assurances of the "extended strategic deterrence" are actually not a US national defense policy, perhaps one could disregard all the above. Yoon is simply having his ego stroked by being able to play the military strongman of South Korea, to bolster his total lack of national defense and statesmanship credentials.

Is it right to use the most valuable asset in the US nuclear arsenal to provide a set to boost Yoon's shredded public support? It's all for show. A performance for North Korea, and a performance for South Korean domestic politics. A stunt like this could actually provoke a nuclear test from North Korea, having the exact opposite of its purported intended effect. It was noted that North Korean missiles test fired in "show of force" in connection with USS Kentucky's port visit flew at ranges compatible with those required for a strike on Busan. More than one analyst has noted that North Korea was "not backing down." A Hankyoreh article on this same topic stated under the headline- "Uncompromising attitudes on all sides are raising the risk of unintended clashes."

Also upon the visit, the military personnel present of either armed forces ROK or US, were not appropriately attired for the visit of a head of state. This just is more circumstantial evidence of the amateur nature of this staged political event/photo op.

(Source- OhMyTV 7.23 youtube)

President Yoon Seok-yeol, inexperienced in national security matters, a person known as a hothead, unable to control his temper, with the most powerful weapons system in the US nuclear arsenal as his prop, threatening North Korea with the end of Kim Jong-un's regime. Retired Col. Macgregor said this week, he doesn't believe there is such a thing as extended deterrence.

(Source- OhMyTV 7.23 youtube) First Lady Kim Gon-hee, inside the USS Kentucky SSBN looking through the periscope. It's a long way from the Volcano night club to being able to pose as Audrey Hepburn on a nuclear warship. What happened to Kim's mother of mercy act? Why didn't Yoon bring mother in law Choe Eun-sun?

Who are the morons in the US who thought this was a good idea? Yoon's disapproval rating is 62 percent. The military strongman image didn't help.


Saint Kim Gon-hee*

(Source- 언론 알아야 바꾼다 youtube 11.15.22)


*First Lady's Audrey hepburn Pose
https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2022/11/south-korean-first-ladys-audrey-hepburn.html

More dojeja

All right, it's okay to drink too. Let's go. ( Don't forget to import our sea urchins! ) (can my people inspect the discharge water?) .

Culture, Sports, Media and National Security

Recreated Lee Myung-bak style. What could go wrong?



With policies extremely unpopular and the election season coming up early next year, Yoon seeks top down control of media. Yoon is expected to appoint Yoo In-chon the Culture and Sports Minister, a role he served in the Lee Myung-bak administration, notorious for his "blacklist" of actors, artists, and script writers labeled leftist. Yoo is depicted as the face on the larger horse with Yoon on his back to drive leftists to hell. Apparently, Yoo is known for his rude character. The face on the smaller horse is Lee Dong-gwan, another Lee Myung-bak advisor, who is currently on the presidential staff, and is expected to be appointed Chair of the Korean Communications Commission, in spite of a political cover up arranged on his behalf to quell a school violence and bullying scandal in which his son had been embroiled in the past. Lee's son got special treatment (opa chance) rather than the mandatory ethics hearing, expulsion and potential bar from college admission. The two new Yoon appointees could operate in tandem to censor non-compliant South Korean media.

(Source- 오마이TV youtube, 3.1) [박정호의 핫스팟] "김성한은 김태효의 걸림돌" 김종대 "김태효, MB 때도 그러더니..." Kim Sung-han- Kim Tae-hyo's obstacle (rock on the path). (Left) Jim Jong-tae. (Right) First Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo.

Kim Tae-hyo mastermind of the March coup this year to elimate foreign policy and national security advisors questioning Yoon's complete capitulation to US-Japanese policy objectives. South Korea no longer has its own national interests.

President Yoon portrayed as Lee Won-yong, the infamous traitor of Eulsa, who sold his country out to Japan.

SOTA coordinated missile attack

depicted in this graphic by South Korean military analyst Shin In-kyun. He's very conservative, but sometimes he gets into detail on tactical issues and arms acquisition.

The graphic is intended to reflect North Korean adoption of successful Russian offensive missile tactics recently observed in Ukraine. Shin raised the issue for two reasons. First, because of the lack of an effective response to the North Korean drone incursions into South Korea Dec. 26. So he's assuming a coordinated strike by North Korea could be similar to a coordinated Russian missile strike. Second because he's making a sales pitch to the ROK for an Israeli close in defense system, MADIS, that the USMC bought, in 2013, according to Shin. He's also recommending the Israeli Tamir missile in combination with the Iron Dome system.

I like this graphic because it shows the variety of profiles of the strike weapons the North Koreans potentially have available. A coordinated attack definitely presents a problem for the defender. From the bottom up: drone envelope, cruise missile, hypersonic missile, ballistic missile with variable terminal guidance, and uppermost, the conventional ballistic missile. Added to the mix are 170mm mlrs, 240mm mlrs, and artillery at short range.

(7.1.23) Posted this because of an interview video I saw of Ray MacGovern by Robert Scheer. At the outset, Scheer seemed incredibly misinformed as to how the conflict in Ukraine was proceeding, particularly the aerospace conflict. To paraphase Scheer, "Ray are you telling me our advanced weapons systems are ineffective and being destroyed in Ukraine?" The original Shin In-kyun video on this subject was in January 2023. The above was only my draft, which for some reason I never completed. I try to follow aerospace developments of political significance in East Asia and publish occasionally on this blog about significant air and missile operations particularly in the Korean theater. Because I have done so, I was aware of the initial difficulties Russia faced in the early phases of the Ukraine conflict. But eventually, the multifaceted means of a sophisticated combined aerospace attack tactics had succeeded in clearing the way for Russia and allowing it to defeat Ukrainian offensives. Some of these weapons systems are designed to exploit the seams in various defensive western SAM and AAA systems. Some are difficult to track with precision, due low altitude ingress, terrain masking, low apogee ballistic trajectories, variable terminable guidance on ballistic missiles (and missile artillery), and hypersonic speeds, all serve to defeat western designed air defense systems.

The "Drive on Moscow"

This is making me laugh now. The so called "drive on Moscow" was a deception plan. The final Russian military moves, not having been carried out yet probably involve the Belorus front. Prighozin has been performing from a unlikely script too artificial to be genuine. That's one indication. (According to multiple analsyts that is because he "lost his mind." The outcome suggests he hasn't). The lack of genuine verifiable evidence of significant related violence is another relevant indicator of deception.

I agree with some other views that the entire development initially served as a bait. The idea that one division, more or less, of troops with no air support could overthrow the Russian government without secured sources of resupply or other external military support in a time of war is absurd. Other than a couple of unathenticated claimed strela shots at helicopters I didn't see any evidence that the forces "driving on Moscow" had any integral air defense. The whole alleged scheme that an uprising in support of a rebellion could be anticipated is unsupported by any credible evidence of significant social and economic dislocation and dysfunctionality in Russian society such as prevailed in Russia in 2017 1917 or the early 1990s. Where is the demographic and geographic base for an uprising? "I'm announcing my coup drive on Moscow from 600 miles away on social media. Somebody, Please stop me!"

One could argue that the US inability to correctly assess the "correlation of forces" is a characteristic form of incompetence, so it could be true that Prighozin succumbed to western manipulation, in spite of the fact, that the operation was completely impracticable. More likely, it appears to be a trap for the unwary schemers in Kiev. Prighozin is the incarnation of the expression "soldier of the lie." From Linguaholic-

If someone is described as playing 4D chess, that means they are incredibly smart and making political moves that cannot be understood by ordinary people. This phrase is sometimes used by conspiracy theory proponents who believe that Donald Trump (or some other political figure) is fighting a war against a deep state run by evil democrats. Alternatively, people may use the phrase “playing 4D chess” sarcastically, to imply that even though a political figure thinks they’re smart, they’re being obvious and foolish.*

No assassinations, no bullet holes in the walls of public buildings, no bomb craters, no fires, no drive on Moscow, everyone walks away. A treasonous rebellion is nipped in the bud with no violence and no sequelae? Obvious and foolish thoughts?


*https://linguaholic.com/linguablog/what-is-4d-chess-in-u-s-politics/ Note- I borrowed this quote from Linguaholic for a simple description of the expression 4D chess for convenience sake. Never cared much for Donald Trump. He's a PT Barnum type from NY. Learned this as a child.

School violence, Politics and Censorship in South Korea

The current authoritarian South Korean administration is part of the trend to suppress dissenting views in so called "democratic countries."



OhMyTV cartoon depicts Justice Minister Han Dong-hun using police and warrants as a club to attack a National Assembly office and MBC broadcasting for daring to disclose "private information about the second banana" (him) from his nomination hearing April 2022. The information release reflected on Han's personal corruption and was in the public interest.

One recent investigative report said that President Yoon intended to form an "immunity review committee" to protect the National Police from legal actions that might be taken against police for any injuries inflicted as a result of the new policy to use active forceful measures to suppress demonstrations that "threaten public order." Critics regard this as a dangerous policy from the "80s." The right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed in the South Korean constitution. This is the current Yoon administration response to an upsurge in political demonstrations and assemblies against the Yoon administration, by numerous civic and religious groups, the political opposition and labor and professional organizations.

Recently, Yoon had dismissed the Chief of the Korean Communications Commission, Han Sang-hyuk ( 한상혁 ) based on a criminal accusations which the former Chairman says are unfounded. Other officials and employees of the commission are being harried by investigating police and prosecutors. The CEO of MBC Park Sung-jae was also charged by prosecutors, and consequently forced out as head of MBC broadcasting. Park asserted the charges against him were fabricated by prosecutors. Park also referred to his continuing positive relationship with unions representing company employees. An MBC reporter subjected to multiple warrants and police investigation alleged that the statements to her by police involved suggested they were acting on behalf of the justice minister.

The principal motivation Park the deposed CEO of MBC mentioned was the current administration's need to control public broadcasting editorial and production content with the campaign season for the next general elections in 2024 in view. He said he exercised no control over news coverage and production as practical matter, being involved in the nuts and bolts financial management of the corporation, those news related functions were relegated to news team managers, and the various broadcast branches and department heads. As a former career reporter, he said he had no interest in promoting particular views or restricting freedom of the press. MBC had offended Yoon shortly after he had met with President Biden when an MBC reporter recorded on video some vulgar phrase Yoon used referring to the US Congress in a conversation with his Foreign Minister Park Jin. That MBC reporter is now subject to investigation by police for allegedly illegally disclosing "private information" about Justice Minister Han Dong-hun, from a legislative committee.

Former KCC Chief Han said that the Yoon administration was likely interested in controlling broadcast content, by controlling his former office at the KCC. This entailed removing the independence of the commission as a body, because it was designed as a deliberative institution, rather than one controlled by the chair of the commission. He distinguished his former position from that of a minister, who exercised greater control over subordinate officials and employees. Han said that public broadcasting organization KBS would probably fall next. It is legally arguable that former Chief Commissioner Han should have only have been removed from office by impeachment, but he was dismissed summarily.

Ironically, the proposed replacement as KCC Chief is Lee Dong-gwan 이동관. Lee Dong-gwan held important PR positions in the presidential office of Lee Myung-bak. He began his career as a reporter at Donga Ilbo. Like other tainted nominations by Yoon, Lee's career was jeopardized when his son was accused by witnesses of bullying and assaults on other students in 2011. The school academy concerned was run by a member of the Hana chaebol family of the Hana Financial Group. The former Hana Academy director/principal was said to be one of the "4 Kings" behind the MB administration at the time. The incidents of repeated bullying, assault, and psychological abuse by Lee's son were covered up because of the embarrassment to the academy and the Lee Myung-bak administration. It's telling that a person involved in a political cover up would be considered as the leader of broadcast and communications regulatatory body. It's not a just a coincidence. Why is the legislative hearing into his appointment at the KCC now being delayed? Because, not too long ago another Yoon political appointee, Chung Sun-shin's nomination foundered, in February this year, when the suppressed case and unjust outcome of his child's bullying at school was revealed.

This is a very sensitive issue in South Korea as exemplified by the very popular contemporary drama The Glory whose plot is centered on the role of class, social status in unjust disposition of execeptionally cruel bullying in a school environment and the longitutinal reach of "revenge" in its aftermath. The Glory's plot is said to based on real events from a bullying scandal in 2006 at a girl's academy.

Here's a newspaper article on the earlier failed nomination of Chung Sun-shin-

Case of powerful parent shielding child from consequences touches nerve in S. Korea
Posted on : Feb.28,2023
The saga of Chung Sun-sin is an unwelcome reminder to many young Koreans that without powerful connections, many roads in life remain shut to them
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1081618.html



I found the subject matter and content of The Glory quite brutal. It's certainly for adults because of violent content. I couldn't make it all the way through after watching a few episodes. I see there is a season two. It was a success for Netflix and won some South Korean awards. Guess I'm too squeamish in my old age. I posted the trailer, which is fairly well sanitized, but still conveys the sinister ambiance in 2 min.

There is an English translation of the Lee Dong-gwan situation, translated into English in Namu Wiki- it was just updated and is based on the latest reports including independent investigative reports:
https://en.namu.wiki/w/w/이동관%20아들%20학교폭력%20가해%20사건 (The link might not work, I've been having trouble with it.)

Lee Dong-gwan's son's school violence case

[장윤선 단독] 이동관 아들 학폭 왜 묻혔나? 피해자 진술서 내용 단독 공개! (최영일의 시사본부｜장윤선의 주간이슈-장윤선 정치전문기자)｜KBS 230602 방송 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQaafS6_9Kw

There is a peculiar evolving interplay of public relations, crime, corruption, cover up and government going on in the Yoon administration. Yoon's principal MO as the former Prosecutor General and a senior prosecutor before his election was known as press-prosecution collusion. Yoon's "division" of prosecutors and their collaborators in the mainstream conservative South Korean media (representing powerful special interests) would frame political enemies with leaked and false information and protect the privileged by suppressing news stories. That hasn't changed but only gotten worse after Yoon was elected President of South Korea by an extremely slim margin. Yoon's abuse of administration of the justice was also characterized as "revenge politics." Other descriptions of his administration have gone from "the republic of lawyers," soon after he assumed the presidential office, to "the dictatorship of lawyers," to simply that of "dictatorship." The current Minister of Justice and Yoon's right hand man, Han Dong-hun, now continues to choreograph politically motivated criminal investigations and prosecutions in South Korea with mainstream media cooperation. Any significant dissent or political resistance is met with police investigation, a plethora of search warrants, against the victim and his or her family or business associates and hearings for pretrial confinement after indictment. The Korea Communications Commission and MBC were recently targeted. This is ironic as Yoon contended when he was administratively disciplined for prosecutorial misconduct that the Minister of Justice had no authority over the Prosecutor General's office.

Since, becoming president Yoon has without legislative authority secured effective control of the National Police by placing it under the Ministry of Interior and Safety. In this way, Yoon has effectively nullified the major legal reform of the last administration taking investigative power away from prosecutors because it was being systematically abused by Yoon and Han for political purposes. Having corruption tainted public officials appointed to major government positions uses their political vulnerability to insure loyalty to Yoon's far right authoritarian regime. The Ministry of Interior and Public Safety have been seriously compromised by the Itaewon disaster and other botched public safety responses for which they were responsible along with President Yoon. Only local police and emergency officials suffer political consequences. Yoon has moved into the Lee Myung-bak stage of corruption, censorship and authoritarian rule.