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Quotes of the Day:
"The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek."
– Joseph Campbell
"Four Rules For Life; Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth. Don't be attached to the results."
– Angeles Arrien
The mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract."
– Oliver Wendell Holmes
1. General Officer Announcements (New CINCUNCCFC)
2. President Biden nominates I Corps leader to command US Forces Korea
3. N. Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea
4. North Korean Missiles Rain Down on Ukraine Despite Sanctions
5. North Korean missiles produced in 2024 used in Ukraine
6. Tokyo says it 'lodged a protest' after North Korea fired missiles toward Sea of Japan
7. America’s Crucial First Line of Defense in the Pacific by John Bolton
8. Ex-Korean Japanese who escaped from N. Korea win damages suit against Pyongyang
9. Unification minister urges N. Korea to heed int'l community's call to improve human rights
10. Washington puts pressure on Seoul to join chips regulations on Beijing
11. S. Korea, China, Japan adopt declaration to boost cultural exchanges
12. Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson nominated to lead South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command
13. Screechy broadcasts from North Korea disrupt life near the border
14. How to vitalize the new unification doctrine
15. Chuseok celebration at Humphreys
1. General Officer Announcements (New CINCUNCCFC)
New commander nominated for Commander UNC, ROK/US CFC, USFK and senior US military officer in Korea, LTG Xavier Brunson. (Traditional title: CINCUNCCFC - pre-Rumsfeld)
From I Corps to the Commander in Korea. Usually (but not always) the commander in Korea serves in a four star position before taking command in Korea so LTG Brunson is on the fast track.
I have pasted his two star biography below (It is more comprehensive than the GOMO bio that is also below). Note that he was the Assistant Commanding General for Support of the US Army Special Forces Command.
I have never served with him.
Release
Immediate Release
General Officer Announcements
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3902749/general-officer-announcements/
Sept. 11, 2024 |
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced today that the president has made the following nominations:
Army Lt. Gen. Xavier T. Brunson for appointment to the grade of general, with assignment as commander, United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea, Republic of Korea. Brunson is currently serving as commanding general, I Corps, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
Army Maj. Gen. Richard E. Angle for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as commander, Allied Special Operations Forces Command; and commander, Special Operations Command Europe, U.S. Special Operations Command, Belgium. Angle most recently served as special assistant to the director of the Army Staff, Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
Army Maj. Gen. Johnny K. Davis for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as commanding general, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky. Davis is currently serving as commanding general, U.S. Army Recruiting Command and Fort Knox, Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Army Maj. Gen. Allan M. Pepin for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as commanding general, U.S. Army North, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. Pepin most recently served as chief of staff, U.S. Northern Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.
Maj. Gen. Xavier Brunson Biography
By U.S. ArmyFebruary 28, 2020
https://www.army.mil/article/233244/maj_gen_xavier_brunson_biography
Major General Xavier Brunson graduated from Hampton University and was commissioned into the Infantry in May 1990.
His initial assignment was Charlie Company, 3d Battalion (Mechanized, 12th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division where he served as a Platoon Leader and Executive Officer.
He also served as Aide-de-Camp to the Assistant Division Commander, 1st Armored Division, United States Army Europe and Seventh Army, Germany.
Major General Brunson commanded Charlie Company, 3d Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, and the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (Airborne), XVII Airborne Corps.
As a General Officer, he served as Assistant Commanding General (Support), United States Army Special Forces Command (now 1st Special Forces Command) (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, NC and Operation Inherent Resolve, and Deputy Commanding General (Operations), 10th Mountain Division (Light) at Fort Drum, NY.
Major General Brunson's previous position was as the Chief of Staff, Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, Iraq and XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, NC.
Major General Brunson's previous positions was the Chief of Staff, Combined Joint Task Force -- Operation Inherent Resolve, Iraq and XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, NC.
Major General Brunson holds a B.A in Political Science from Hampton University, a M.A. in Human Resources from Webster University, and a M.S. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.
Major General Brunson's operational assignments include Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Freedom's Sentinel, and Operation Inherent Resolve.
Major General Brunson is married to Colonel (Retired) Kirsten Brunson and they have two daughters and a son.
Lieutenant General Xavier T. Brunson (USA)
Commanding General
I Corps
Building 2025, Liggett Ave, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington 98433
https://www.gomo.army.mil/public/Biography/usa-9727/xaviert-brunson
General Officer Assignments
StartEndDuty AssignmentOct 21PresentCommanding General, I Corps, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WashingtonMay 21Sep 21Deputy Commanding General, I Corps, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WashingtonAug 19May 21Commanding General, 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WashingtonAug 17Jun 19Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Operation INHERENT RESOLVE, IraqNov 16Jul 17Deputy Commanding General (Operations), 10th Mountain Division (Light), Fort Drum, New York
GO Dates of Rank
RankDateLieutenant General1 Oct 21Major General2 Apr 19Brigadier General2 Aug 16
2. President Biden nominates I Corps leader to command US Forces Korea
Congratulations to LTG Brunson and his family.
President Biden nominates I Corps leader to command US Forces Korea
Stars and Stripes · by Joseph Ditzler · September 12, 2024
Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson, I Corps commander, speaks during a ceremony at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in February 2022. (Talysa Lloyd McCall/U.S. Army)
The Pentagon on Thursday named Army Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson as the nominee to command U.S. Forces Korea, a triple-hatted position that includes leading the Combined Forces and United Nations commands.
President Joe Biden nominated Brunson, commander of I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., to succeed Gen. Paul LaCamera, who took command on the Korean Peninsula in July 2021, according to a statement from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. If approved by the Senate, Brunson would also pin on the fourth star of a full general.
Previously, Brunson has led the 7th Infantry Division and served as deputy commander for operations of the 10th Mountain Division. For a year, he was XVIII Airborne Corps chief of staff for Operation Inherent Resolve, the decade-old fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, according to the General Officer Management Office.
As USFK commander, he would lead the approximately 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea. The head of the Combined Forces Command oversees the U.S. and South Korean headquarters charged with deterring or combatting aggression from North Korea. U.N. Command is the 18-nation force that maintains peace and upholds the armistice that ended hostilities during the Korean War in 1953.
The two sides in that conflict technically remain at war.
Brunson is the eldest of three sons whose father, Albert Brunson, a retired Army sergeant major, served in the Vietnam War, according to a profile produced by Lewis-McChord on Feb. 16, 2022.
Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson recognizes Japanese soldiers at the closing ceremony for the annual Yama Sakura exercise at Camp Asaka, Japan, in December 2023. (Angelo Mejia/U.S. Army)
According to the Army and his LinkedIn page, Brunson is a 1990 graduate of Hampton University in Virginia, a historically Black, private college, where he joined the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, lettered in football and was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the ROTC. He holds a master’s degree in national security and strategy from the Army War College.
“All I’ve ever wanted was to be a Soldier,” Brunson said in the Army profile. “I’ve never aspired to be a doctor, a lawyer or an educator. I just wanted to be a Soldier, because that’s what I saw in my dad. Going into the Army was a natural continuation for me after being with a group of men (Omega Psi Phi) that I really wanted to be around every day.” Brunson’s younger twin brothers, LaHavie and Tavi Brunson, also served. LaHavie Brunson was a staff officer at Headquarters, Department of the Army, and Tavi Brunson commanded the 528th Sustainment Brigade until July 2023, but now describes himself as “professional citizen,” according to the brothers’ LinkedIn profiles.
The general’s wife, Kirsten Brunson, a retired colonel, was the Army’s first Black female judge, according to the service. They share three children: daughters Raechel and Rebekah, who have taught English in South Korea, and son Joshua, according to the Army profile.
In an April 9 podcast by the China Landpower Studies Center, Brunson talked about historical ties the United States has in the Indo-Pacific and the role the U.S. military plays alongside its allies in the region.
“It’s protection, it’s posture, it’s sustainment,” he said. “It’s taking best advantage of what our partners can do, as opposed to trying to make them in our image, but to appreciate where they are. There is posture in the region because we have friends, partners and allies there, and we have to take best advantage of that.”
Stars and Stripes · by Joseph Ditzler · September 12, 2024
3. N. Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea
Not unexpected. I wonder if they are testing missiles that they are exporting to its Dark Quad partner. Are they trying to correct some of the failures that they are having with their missiles that Russia is firing against Ukraine?
(3rd LD) N. Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · September 12, 2024
(ATTN: ADDS details on North Korea's balloon launch in paras 9-10, photo)
By Lee Minji and Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, the South Korean military said, a week after Pyongyang warned that South Korea and the United States will have to pay a "dear price" for their joint drills.
"The North Korean missiles flew about 360 kilometers and landed in the East Sea," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. It said it detected the missiles launched from the Pyongyang area at 7:10 a.m., but it did not provide any further details, such as the number of missiles fired.
The distance, if fired southward, is sufficient to affect major South Korean cities such as Seoul and Daejeon as well as key military facilities in Gyeryong and Gunsan.
The South's military condemned the latest launch as a "provocative act" that gravely threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and vowed stern response.
"While closely monitoring North Korea's various activities under a firm combined defense posture between the South Korea and the United States, we will maintain overwhelming capabilities and posture to respond to any provocation," the JCS said.
This undated file photo, released by the Korean Central News Agency, shows the North conducting a ballistic missile launch. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
On July 1, the North fired two ballistic missiles. One of them was short-range, while the other failed and fell inland.
The latest launches came after the North said last week that the South and the U.S. will have to pay a "dear price" for what it called "provocative war" drills after the two countries carried out the joint summertime exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield.
The North has long denounced joint military drills between the South and the U.S. as rehearsals for an invasion and used them as a pretext for provocations. The allies have said their military exercises are defensive in nature.
Thursday's launch also came hours after North Korea sent another batch of suspected balloons containing trash toward the South on Wednesday night, according to the JCS.
Around 20 balloons were floated but they failed to cross the Military Demarcation Line, it added. No balloons were floating in the air as of Thursday morning.
North Korea has sent thousands of balloons carrying trash into the South since late May in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.
In response to the balloon launches, the South's military has been blasting daily anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts through loudspeakers on the border since July 21.
One of the hundreds of trash-filled balloons flown by North Korea overnight is found in a rice paddy in the northwestern border county of Ganghwa on June 10, 2024. (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · September 12, 2024
4. North Korean Missiles Rain Down on Ukraine Despite Sanctions
Two members of the Dark Quad* colluding and conspiring to bring death and destruction to innocent people.
(* credit Christopher Ford for coining “Dark Quad.” https://www.newparadigmsforum.com/four-warnings-about-the-dark-quad?utm )
The marks to be decoded were likely Hangul letters.
Excerpts:
That team decoded production markings on several parts from each missile collected by Ukrainian authorities
North Korean Missiles Rain Down on Ukraine Despite Sanctions
Russia has received new shipments of Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missiles, according to a new report.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/11/us/russia-north-korea-missiles-ukraine.html?utm
Listen to this article · 4:50 min Learn more
Part of the tail section of a North Korean Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missile examined by weapons investigators in Kyiv on Jan. 11.Credit...Courtesy of Conflict Armament Research
By John Ismay
Reporting from Washington
Sept. 11, 2024
Want to stay updated on what’s happening in North Korea, Russia and Ukraine? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.
North Korea has continued to supply advanced short-range ballistic missiles to Russia in defiance of sanctions meant to prevent Pyongyang from developing such weapons and Moscow from importing them, according to a report by a weapons research group.
Remnants of four of the missiles, which are called Hwasong-11, were examined in Kyiv by investigators from Conflict Armament Research, an independent group based in Britain that identifies and tracks weapons and ammunition used in wars around the world.
That team decoded production markings on several parts from each missile collected by Ukrainian authorities.
A Hwasong-11 missile used in an Aug. 18 attack on Kyiv had markings showing that it was made this year. Internal parts from three others, which were used in attacks in July and August, lacked markings that would indicate when they were manufactured.
The researchers released those findings in a report on Wednesday.
In early January, the White House accused North Korea of providing ballistic missiles to Russia, but subsequent shipments had not been previously reported.
The Hwasong-11 missile has a range of about 430 miles and can be fitted with nuclear or conventional warheads, according to a U.S. Army report. It is visually similar to the Russian Iskander short-range ballistic missile and may have been made with foreign assistance, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
Image
Remnants of a motor used to guide a North Korean Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missile used in an attack on Ukraine on Aug. 6. Credit...Courtesy of Conflict Armament Research
“The determination of the production year that we were able to make in the field by looking at those remnants shows a very tight window between production, transfer and use,” Damien Spleeters, who leads Conflict Armament Research’s operations in Ukraine, said in an interview. “And I think that’s quite significant because we are talking about North Korea, a country that has been under sanction for almost two decades.”
“It also shows, because this is at least a second shipment, continued violation of the sanctions because they continue to produce those missiles, to transfer them and then those missiles are being used in Ukraine,” he said.
“It wasn’t a one-off in January,” Mr. Spleeters added.
In March, Russia used its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to end monitoring of North Korea’s efforts to evade sanctions on its nuclear program. The termination of monitors, Mr. Spleeters said, was a major reason the country has been able to continue building and transferring ordnance to Russia.
Weapons like the Russian Iskander and the North Korean Hwasong, which are fired from truck-based mobile launchers, are difficult to defend against because they fly much faster than other incoming threats like cruise missiles and can maneuver just before impact.
The United States and its allies have provided Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine to help the country fend off Russian attacks. But President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has said he needs more.
“Ukraine has limited air defense options to shoot down ballistic missiles like the Hwasong, and Patriots are the key weapon system for that,” Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said in an interview. “They only have a limited number of Patriot batteries and missiles, so Ukraine can only defend a few key areas, and the Russians can put cities at risk as well as targets on the front lines.”
North Korea is not the only country sending such weapons to Russia.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken accused Iran of shipping short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine. As a result, Mr. Blinken said, the Biden administration was imposing more sanctions against Tehran.
In August, the investigators reported that Russian forces were launching Kh-101 cruise missiles into Ukraine sometimes just weeks or months after the weapons left the factory.
The Hwasong missiles that were examined used common commercially available electronic components made by Western nations as recently as last year that ranged from the unsophisticated to fairly advanced, Mr. Spleeters said. They were similar to the components found in many Russian weapons examined by the group months into the 2022 invasion.
The finding should not be a surprise, Mr. Spleeters said, given that Russia has also been able to build advanced weapons while under international sanctions aimed at slowing their production.
“North Korea doesn’t have a domestic semiconductor industry,” he said. “So it makes sense that they would also take advantage of the global market to get access to those components.”
“This means that we also can trace them and identify the entities responsible for their diversion,” he added.
John Ismay is a reporter covering the Pentagon for The Times. He served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy. More about John Ismay
A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 12, 2024, Section A, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Russia Wields North Korean Arms. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
5. North Korean missiles produced in 2024 used in Ukraine
Please go to the link to see the interactive report and the details and photos.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/15ae6ca767bc46a1b536ac7e2d962b66
North Korean missiles produced in 2024 used in Ukraine
Ukraine Field Dispatch, September 2024
Conflict Armament Research
Conflict Armament Research (CAR) has confirmed the continuing use of ballistic missiles manufactured by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) in the conflict in Ukraine. A CAR field investigation team documented the remnants of four different North Korean missiles following a series of attacks reported on 30 July, 5 August, 6 August, and 18 August 2024. On one of these missiles, CAR documented a mark indicating missile production in 2024. This is the first public evidence that missiles produced this year in North Korea are being used in Ukraine.
Documenting continued sanctions violations
In June 2024, CAR briefed the United Nations Security Council on the use of North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine. CAR’s latest field documentation highlights three key observations:
- First, it confirms the continued use of recently manufactured North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine.
- Second, the presence of components produced in 2023 and 2024 among missile remnants illustrates North Korea’s robust acquisition network for its ballistic missiles programme, capable of evading multilateral sanctions regimes that have been in place for nearly two decades.
- Third, the discovery of a 2024 production mark on one of the missiles reveals a short period between the production of these ballistic missiles and their use in Ukraine. CAR’s findings highlight once again the importance of field documentation and monitoring. With the recent expiry of the mandate of the UN Panel of Experts to monitor and report on sanctions violations relating to North Korea, such field evidence is now more important than ever in shedding light on the nature of ongoing defence cooperation between North Korea and the Russian Federation.
The use of such missiles continues to erode global non-proliferation regimes. Any exports of ballistic missiles from North Korea carried out following the introduction of UN embargoes on the country in 2006 represent violations of the sanctions regime. UN Security Council resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), and 2270 (2016) prohibit all member states from procuring arms or related materiel from North Korea and prohibit North Korea from exporting arms or related materiel. Security Council resolutions also forbid North Korea from developing its ballistic missile programme, meaning that individuals, entities, and networks involved in the facilitation of these transfers may have committed violations.
CAR field investigators will continue to document any further evidence of the use of North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine.
Favourite or share this Dispatch: https://conflictarm.org/North-Korean-missile-produced-in-2024
6. Tokyo says it 'lodged a protest' after North Korea fired missiles toward Sea of Japan
Tokyo says it 'lodged a protest' after North Korea fired missiles toward Sea of Japan
Key Points
- North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast towards the Sea of Japan Thursday morning local time.
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida quickly said Tokyo has “lodged a protest” with the Hermit Kingdom.
- The launch of ballistic missiles by North Korea is a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions,” Kishida added.
CNBC · by Zenith Wong · September 12, 2024
People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on Sept. 12, 2024. North Korea fired multiple short range ballistic missiles into waters east of the Korean peninsula on September 12, Seoul's military reported, days after the nuclear-armed North marked a state anniversary.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images
After North Korea fired several ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that he "strongly condemns" the move, adding that Tokyo has already "lodged a protest" with the Hermit Kingdom.
"So far we have not confirmed any reports of any damages. Needless to say, the launch of ballistic missiles by North Korea is a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions," Kishida said.
"We will continue to do our utmost to gather information and monitor the situation, and we will work closely through the Japan-U.S., as well as the Japan-US-South Korea alliances."
North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast towards the Sea of Japan Thursday morning local time, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Japan said the missiles "are believed to have fallen outside" of Japan's exclusive economic zone, an area of the sea in which the coastal state claims the rights to conduct economic activity.
The missiles were launched from Pyongyang, and flew about 360 km, 224 miles, before landing in the East Sea, South Korea said in a statement.
This launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that the country will enforce a policy to boost its nuclear capabilities "exponentially," according to the Korean Central News Agency, the state news agency of North Korea.
In a statement, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command also condemned the launch, calling on North Korea to "refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts."
"While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies, we continue to monitor the situation. The U.S. commitments to the defense of the ROK and Japan remain ironclad," the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command added.
This was the first ballistic missile launch by North Korea in two months, local news reported. In early July, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles, one of which failed and possibly fell inland, according to South Korea's military.
In recent years, North Korea has been ramping up their weapons testing efforts to combat what it calls a deepening U.S. military threat.
Kim said in a speech on Monday that his nation needs a tough military presence to counter "the various threats posed by the United States and its followers."
CNBC · by Zenith Wong · September 12, 2024
7. America’s Crucial First Line of Defense in the Pacific by John Bolton
Excerpts:
With China pressing all along the First Island Chain, existing U.S. bilateral cooperation with affected states like Japan and Taiwan has plainly become insufficient. Finding seams in the intelligence or defense capabilities across the chain is far easier for Beijing when such efforts among the targets are absent. If China breaks through the First Island Chain at one place, other states in the chain and the Pacific would be at greater risk. Washington should recognize that the integrity of each nation’s air and maritime spaces requires multilateral cooperation, especially among air and naval forces and the intelligence communities of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. Given the high stakes, involving other Asian and Pacific states, along with key European allies like Britain, could be critical.
Such cooperation doesn’t require creating an East Asian North Atlantic Treaty Organization or accepting a decision to contain China—at least not yet. More-robust multistate activities are nevertheless urgently needed across the island chain. Several areas of multilateral cooperation are already under way, but if much more isn’t done, Beijing will play one nation against another, calibrating belligerent activities along its periphery to advance its interests. If the affected nations don’t hang together, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, China may well hang them all separately.
A possible model is George W. Bush’s Proliferation Security Initiative against trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. A British diplomat described PSI as “an activity, not an organization,” almost entirely operational and not overtly political. Its success rested on military and intelligence exchanges and exercises, only rarely involving diplomatic palavering among foreign ministries. What worked for PSI on a global basis can work in Asia and the Pacific.
America’s Crucial First Line of Defense in the Pacific
China is trying to break the First Island Chain, and its strategy is to divide and conquer.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/americas-crucial-first-line-of-defense-in-pacific-china-tries-to-break-first-island-chain-d3b4c23c?mod=Searchresults_pos10&page=1
By John Bolton
Sept. 10, 2024 12:48 pm ET
A Chinese coast guard vessel sails close to a Japanese coast guard vessel near one of the Senkaku Islands, April 27. Photo: kyodo/Reuters
China’s recent incursions into Japan’s airspace and territorial waters materially escalate Beijing’s efforts to intimidate and dominate nations in the Indo-Pacific. Tokyo responded by announcing a multibillion-dollar satellite program to bolster detection capabilities against such intrusions.
Chinese “fishing vessels” have in the past periodically sailed near the Senkaku islands, which are claimed by Japan, Taiwan and China. Chinese coast guard ships and military vessels later began to appear, ratcheting up Beijing’s aggressiveness. Washington doesn’t explicitly recognize Tokyo’s sovereignty over the Senkakus but has committed to defend the islands under the U.S.-Japan mutual cooperation and security treaty.
These escalating forays follow Chinese interference in Taiwan’s airspace and waters, and its efforts to assert sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. Chinese naval encounters with the Philippines over disputed islands, shoals and reefs have made headlines. Vietnam and others have often faced Chinese challenges.
None of this is coincidental. Beijing is unmistakably contesting control of the First Island Chain. This variously described topography extends from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the Kuril islands, through Japan and the Senkakus to Taiwan, on to the Philippines and then Borneo and the Malay Peninsula.
America’s next president will have to face the strategic consequences of this belligerence. Climate-change negotiations with Beijing should no longer top Washington’s East Asia agenda. Tweets suggesting China consult Google Maps won’t suffice, though they at least show someone on Team Biden understands the problem.
With China pressing all along the First Island Chain, existing U.S. bilateral cooperation with affected states like Japan and Taiwan has plainly become insufficient. Finding seams in the intelligence or defense capabilities across the chain is far easier for Beijing when such efforts among the targets are absent. If China breaks through the First Island Chain at one place, other states in the chain and the Pacific would be at greater risk. Washington should recognize that the integrity of each nation’s air and maritime spaces requires multilateral cooperation, especially among air and naval forces and the intelligence communities of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. Given the high stakes, involving other Asian and Pacific states, along with key European allies like Britain, could be critical.
Such cooperation doesn’t require creating an East Asian North Atlantic Treaty Organization or accepting a decision to contain China—at least not yet. More-robust multistate activities are nevertheless urgently needed across the island chain. Several areas of multilateral cooperation are already under way, but if much more isn’t done, Beijing will play one nation against another, calibrating belligerent activities along its periphery to advance its interests. If the affected nations don’t hang together, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, China may well hang them all separately.
A possible model is George W. Bush’s Proliferation Security Initiative against trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. A British diplomat described PSI as “an activity, not an organization,” almost entirely operational and not overtly political. Its success rested on military and intelligence exchanges and exercises, only rarely involving diplomatic palavering among foreign ministries. What worked for PSI on a global basis can work in Asia and the Pacific.
The elephant in the room is Taiwan. Without it, there is little chance other concerned countries can effectively thwart China’s destabilizing efforts. This time it isn’t Taipei asking for help, but other regional capitals that need help as much as Taipei. Losing effective control over what Douglas MacArthur labeled an “unsinkable aircraft carrier”—much less actual Chinese annexation—would fatally breach the First Island Chain. There are ways around the Taiwan dilemma that would irritate Beijing. But that need not precipitate a political crisis unless China is resolved to have one, which in itself would reveal Beijing’s hostile intent.
Long before the Abraham Accords established full diplomatic relations among Israel and several Arab states, they were working together. Wide-ranging intelligence cooperation, especially over the common threat of Iran, stimulated creative, mutually advantageous ways to do business. In another context, West Germany’s somewhat anomalous status didn’t prevent its full integration into NATO. Instead of hypothesizing about obstacles to closer cooperation with Taiwan, Asian and U.S. diplomats should emulate their predecessors and include Taiwan in collective security.
More Chinese air and sea incursions are coming, along with increased influence operations in Asian and Pacific countries and more intelligence-gathering efforts. Beijing is dictating the pace and scope of its intrusions, underscoring the need for closer cooperation among its targets. That alone would augment deterrence, but we haven’t got time to waste.
Mr. Bolton served as White House national security adviser, 2018-19, and ambassador to the United Nations, 2005-06. He is author of “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.”
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To China's frustration, the Aukus partnership between the U.S., U.K. and Australia to deliver Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines is gaining ground, despite funding challenges to the U.S. submarine industrial base. Images: U.S. Navy/Zuma Press/AP Composite: Mark Kelly
Appeared in the September 11, 2024, print edition as 'America’s Crucial First Line of Defense in the Pacific'.
8. Ex-Korean Japanese who escaped from N. Korea win damages suit against Pyongyang
I think we forget about the huge deception the Kim family regime executed to lure Koreans to return to the north from Japan. They were duped into returning to the Korean Workers Paradise only to find themselves living in the Guerrilla Dynasty and ulag State of north Korea. This is another aspect of the human rights abuses of the Kimm family regime.
This effort in South Korea is an example of the rule of law as opposed to the north's rule BY law.
(LEAD) Ex-Korean Japanese who escaped from N. Korea win damages suit against Pyongyang | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · September 12, 2024
(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in last 4 paras)
SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- Former Korean Japanese people who defected from North Korea after migrating to the North under the communist state's repatriation program decades ago won a damages suit filed in Seoul against Pyongyang.
The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ordered the North Korean government to pay 100 million won (US$74,700) each to five defectors who claimed they relocated to the North after being deceived by its regime propaganda program.
The five plaintiffs are part of some 93,000 Korean Japanese people who migrated from Japan to North Korea between 1959 and 1984 under the North's repatriation program. They were forcibly assigned homes and jobs in North Korea before suffering forced labor and human rights violations.
The five launched the lawsuit in March, saying they entered the North after being enticed by its "paradise on Earth" propaganda but were detained and suffered psychological damage.
As Pyongyang did not respond to the lawsuit, however, the court hearing has proceeded through the "conveyance by public announcement" system, in which litigation documents are published on the court bulletin board or the official gazette.
The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), a nonprofit organization that supported the plaintiffs, welcomed the court's ruling.
"We sincerely hope that this ruling sheds light on the human rights abuses suffered by Korean Japanese repatriates in North Korea and provides even a small measure of comfort to the victims," the NKDB said in a press release.
As with previous civil cases filed against North Korea, it is expected that Pyongyang will not appeal the ruling. Therefore, the decision in favor of the plaintiffs is likely to be finalized.
However, as North Korea is not expected to comply with the compensation order, the victims are contemplating further legal action against a South Korean organization that manages funds intended for North Korea over the use of North Korea's copyrights in South Korea.
The Seoul Central District Court (Yonhap)
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · September 12, 2024
9. Unification minister urges N. Korea to heed int'l community's call to improve human rights
Kim Jong Un either can change his behavior or face being changed by the Korean people in the north.
Unification minister urges N. Korea to heed int'l community's call to improve human rights | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · September 12, 2024
SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea once again urged Pyongyang on Thursday to heed the international community's repeated calls to improve its dismal human rights situation.
North Korea's serious human rights violations have gained international attention since 2014, when the U.N. Commission of Inquiry unveiled a landmark report that accused North Korean officials of "systematic, widespread and gross" human rights violations.
"North Korea, as a member of the U.N., should accept the recommendations to be raised in the upcoming UPR in November and work to improve the human rights of its people," Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said during a forum on North Korean human rights.
His remarks came just weeks ahead of the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of North Korea.
The UPR, scheduled to be released in November, is a process designed to shed light on human rights violations globally, requiring each U.N. member state to undergo a peer review of its human rights record every 4.5 years.
North Korea has long been accused of grave human rights abuses, ranging from holding political prisoners in concentration camps to committing torture and carrying out public executions.
Still, North Korea claims its people are freely enjoying genuine human rights.
South Korea is set to host a global forum aimed at raising international solidarity on the issue in Geneva in October.
"We must not turn a blind eye to the human rights situation in North Korea under the guise of 'mutual respect' between the South and North Korean systems," Kim said.
Kim, a former conservative professor, is known for his hard-line stance toward North Korea and his strong advocacy for human rights.
This undated file photo shows Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho. (Yonhap)
khj@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · September 12, 2024
10. Washington puts pressure on Seoul to join chips regulations on Beijing
Washington puts pressure on Seoul to join chips regulations on Beijing
donga.com
Posted September. 12, 2024 08:33,
Updated September. 12, 2024 08:33
Washington puts pressure on Seoul to join chips regulations on Beijing. September. 12, 2024 08:33. by 이기욱 기자, 세종=정순구 기자 71wook@donga.com.
A high-ranking U.S. commerce department official in charge of semiconductor export control to China said that high-bandwidth memory (HBM) solutions produced by South Korean makers should be supplied to the United States and its allies, not to China. HBM is a key component for running AI semiconductors.
U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said at the Korea-U.S. Economic Security Conference organized by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy in Washington on Tuesday (local time) that it matters to join forces among like-minded countries so cutting-edge solutions will not be used (by China and others) to threaten the security of the United States and its allies, adding that two of the only three HBM makers in the world are South Korean manufacturers (Samsung Electronics and SK hynix). He stressed that it is important to improve and capitalize on such capabilities in the interest of the KORUS alliance, implying that Washington works to figure out what action should be taken to prevent China from increasing its presence in related fields.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security announced export controls on 24 goods, including quantum computing solutions for military use, Gate-All-Around (GAA) structures essential to advanced chips, and 3D printing technologies used for metal parts production. Whereas it allowed such technologies to be exported to Japan, Germany, and other countries without a federal permit, South Korea was only given conditional approval that demanded the submission of an application. Experts say that the U.S. government may want Seoul to impose tighter export control on China.
한국어
donga.com
11. S. Korea, China, Japan adopt declaration to boost cultural exchanges
The "other" trilateral cooperation. Let Korean and Japanese soft power influence China.
S. Korea, China, Japan adopt declaration to boost cultural exchanges | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Shim Sun-ah · September 12, 2024
SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, China and Japan on Thursday adopted a declaration aimed at strengthening cultural exchanges and cooperation between the countries with a focus on fostering exchanges among younger generations, the culture ministry said.
The Kyoto Declaration was signed at the end of the 15th annual meeting of culture ministers of the three countries held in Kyoto, Japan.
It outlines the importance of enhancing mutual understanding through cultural exchanges and cooperation to build forward-looking relations among the countries, according to the ministry.
Yong Ho-sung (R), South Korea's first vice minister of culture, sports and tourism; Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahito Moriyama (C); and Chinese Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Zhang Zheng pose for a photo after signing the Kyoto Declaration during the 15th annual culture ministers' meeting in Kyoto, Japan, on Sept. 12, 2024, in this photo provided by the South Korean culture ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The meeting was attended by Yong Ho-sung, South Korea's first vice minister of culture, sports and tourism; Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahito Moriyama; and Chinese Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Zhang Zheng.
Key initiatives in the declaration include strengthening cultural programs focused on future generations, expanding cultural cooperation among "Culture Cities of East Asia" and protecting cultural heritage as common public assets of the world.
Since 2014, the three nations have designated one to two culture cities of East Asia in each country every year that will lead various cultural exchange programs to enhance mutual understanding.
The ministers also pledged to enhance support for artists and their rights in response to the digital transformation of the cultural sector.
During the meeting, the ministers announced the selection of South Korea's Anseong, Macao Special Administrative Region and Huzhou of China, and Kamakura in Japan as East Asian culture cities of 2025.
The culture ministers' talks have been held annually since 2007, serving as a key forum for the three Asian countries to promote cultural cooperation and friendship through arts and heritage.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Shim Sun-ah · September 12, 2024
12. Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson nominated to lead South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command
Small victories. The Korean press is emphasizing the bilateral command that it "co-owns." In the past the Korean media would have put USFK in the headline rather than the ROK/US CFC. This is good news, a small victory.
Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson nominated to lead South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-09-12/national/defense/Lieut-Gen-Xavier-Brunson-nominated-to-lead-South-KoreaUS-Combined-Forces-Command/2134122
Published: 12 Sep. 2024, 19:34
- MICHAEL LEE
- lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr
Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Army's I Corps [U.S. ARMY]
U.S. President Joe Biden has nominated Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson, the commander of the U.S. Army's I Corps, to lead the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), the Pentagon said Wednesday.
If confirmed, Brunson would replace Gen. Paul LaCamera who has led the CFC, United Nations Command (UNC) and United States Forces Korea (USFK) since July 2021.
Brunson’s Senate confirmation hearing is slated for Tuesday next week.
The top U.S. general in South Korea leads all three commands, including the 28,500-strong USFK.
Brunson’s nomination comes as Seoul and Washington have stepped up cooperation to sharpen their joint deterrence against North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.
Over the past year, Pyongyang has shunned dialogue with Seoul and deepened its military cooperation with Moscow.
Brunson is the current commander of the I Corps, which is the U.S. Army’s operational headquarters for the Indo-Pacific. The I Corps manages the daily activities of more than 40,000 service members across the Indo-Pacific, including personnel stationed in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska, according to the Army.
Brunson has served in various key positions in both conventional and special operations forces, according to the U.S. Army. He has been deployed in the past to Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was commissioned as an infantry officer upon graduation from Hampton University with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
He later earned a master’s degree in human resource development from Webster University and another master’s degree in national security strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Yonhap
13. Screechy broadcasts from North Korea disrupt life near the border
Ha ha! I am still recovering from my three years on the DMZin the 1980s from listening to the propaganda loudspeakers from both the north and South (though the ROK PSYOP soldiers would often play music based on requests from US soldiers (I recall laying in the snow on Christmas Day on the "dolphin's head" observing the north Korean fenceline when the Beach Boys came from the South Korean speakers playing "I wish they could be California Girls."
Screechy broadcasts from North Korea disrupt life near the border
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-09-12/national/northKorea/Screechy-broadcasts-from-North-Korea-disrupt-life-near-the-border/2133987
Published: 12 Sep. 2024, 17:30
- MICHAEL LEE
- lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr
A loudspeaker on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone as photographed from Dangsan-ri in Gangwha County, Incheon, in June [YONHAP]
Residents of the border region have complained of high-pitched noises emanating from loudspeakers on the North Korean side, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday.
The noise, which people living along the border have likened to the sound of scraping or grinding metal, was first heard at the end of July in Ganghwa County, Incheon, which lies on the southern side of the Imjin River across from North Korea.
Locals have said that the noise from the North's loudspeakers can be heard around the clock, with intervals of 3 to 5 hours of relentless screeching followed by brief pauses lasting for 10 to 20 minutes.
Residents have reported that the volume of the broadcasts has mounted in the past week and called on the government to take immediate action.
In Dangsan-ri, a rural area in Ganghwa County, some 150 households are unable to open their windows due to the constant screeching noises.
Lee Man-ho, a 63-year-old man living in Dangsan-ri, told the local newspaper Kyungin Ilbo that residents are “tormented daily by these bizarre noises,” which he described having “reached an intolerable threshold.”
Families with young children have told local media that their babies are startled by the broadcasts and cry incessantly, making day-to-day life unbearable.
Related Article
South Korean military officials told reporters that they are investigating the possibility that the noise pollution from the North is a form of retaliation against loudspeaker broadcasts from the South, which resumed in July.
However, they also did not rule out the possibility that the North may also be using the screeching sounds to prevent its own people from hearing South Korean broadcasts.
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According to local media reports, a North Korean soldier who defected by walking across the heavily militarized border into Goseong County, Gangwon, told officials he decided to do so after hearing broadcasts from the South.
Seoul restarted loudspeaker broadcasts along the border after the North began launching thousands of trash-laden balloons into the South in May, which Pyongyang said was in retaliation for anti-regime propaganda sent into the North by human rights activists and defector groups.
The North has conducted 18 balloon launches into the South since May 28.
According to the JCS, the regime most recently attempted to launch trash-carrying balloons across the military demarcation line on Wednesday, but they all wound up drifting north of the border.
Each balloon carries a plastic bag filled with waste connected to a wire attached to a detonator. After a set period, the detonator generates heat, burning the plastic and dispersing their payloads midair.
However, if the detonator malfunctions or the balloon deflates prematurely, the detonator can go off while in contact with its payload on the ground, potentially starting fires.
The military believes that malfunctioning detonators carried by the balloons are to blame for several recent fires, including a factory blaze near Gimpo Airport on Sept. 5 that resulted in over 100 million won ($74,000) in property damage.
Another trash-laden balloon started a fire on the roof of a warehouse in Paju, Gyeonggi, on Sunday, causing 87.3 million won in damage.
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
14. How to vitalize the new unification doctrine
The US, Japan, and the international community should rally behind the ROK's 8.15 UNification Doctrine. This is the path to peace and prosperity.
Excerpts:
It suits the image of the president to strongly express his will for unification based on the Constitution. The president’s consistent, continuous and public expression in his own voice for Constitutional unification can be taken seriously by North Koreans.
The government must convey the will of the president to the North Korean people by any means possible. Even in the deadlocked inter-Korean relations, the government can be a powerful force to get closer to the hearts of North Koreans.
How to vitalize the new unification doctrine
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-09-12/opinion/columns/How-to-vitalize-the-new-unification-doctrine/2134167
Published: 12 Sep. 2024, 19:42
Son Gi-woong
The author is the director of the Korea Institute for Peace and Cooperation.
Chuseok is the biggest holiday for the Korean people, wishing for a good harvest in autumn. But this year’s Chuseok is more heartbreaking for me than any other year. The Kim Jong-un regime in North Korea denied reunification itself based on its “two peoples, two countries” policy.
As North Korea came up with a bizarre theory, the fact that the two Koreas are the same people is denied — something I’ve never heard of before. Recently, North Korea sent an order to the pro-North Korean General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, banning activities or education that include the two Koreas, peaceful reunification and the Korean people.
In his Liberation Day speech on Aug. 15, President Yoon Suk Yeol announced the new Reunification Doctrine for all people in South and North Korea. That’s the opposite of the Kim regime. The core of the doctrine is the “three unification strategies.” The emphasis on the role of North Koreans is very different from that of the past administrations.
It’s not the kind of intentional or coercive absorption. It is aimed at achieving peaceful reunification in which the people of the two Koreas choose their own system through a free and peaceful process. That’s a unification based on the “right to the self-determination of the people” jointly made with the North Koreans. This is the core of the “National Community Unification Plan,” the official unification plan of South Korea.
That’s the biggest reason for the Kim regime to deny the homogeneity of the two Koreas. The intention is not to accept the unification of the bisected peninsula by exercising the right to self-determination. The regime wants to deprive the North Korean people of their rights to speak out and decide on unification. At the same time, the Kim Jong-un regime is trying to eliminate the justification for South Korea to claim the exercise of the right to self-determination on unification. North Korea’s intention is to fundamentally deprive South Korea of the grounds for its argument that North Koreans should be given an opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination.
No matter what sophistry the Kim regime concocts, the fact that the Korean people are the same cannot be changed. President Yoon and the government must make it clear that all South and North Koreans living on the peninsula are of the same people and that unification means the reunification of the national community based on the exercise of the right to self-determination.
Otherwise, North Korean residents may hesitate to play the “role required of them” in unification. It is also difficult to win active support from the international community for the legitimacy and justification of unification. From this perspective, I think it was inappropriate that President Yoon didn’t mention the “national community unification plan” and never used the expression “national” while presenting the unification doctrine.
President Yoon proposed three ways — human rights, contacts and exchanges and humanitarian assistance — to open the eyes and ears of the North Korean people and move toward a free, democratic and peaceful reunification. In the case of human rights, the Kim regime thinks that if the leftist party, which focuses on improving inter-Korean relations, takes power, voices to improve human rights will subside. That’s why the Kim regime doesn’t listen to the Yoon administration’s complaints about the dire human rights conditions in the North.
The Kim Jong-un regime may accept humanitarian aid if the government clearly declares the separation of politics and economics and allows civilian groups to offer the aid autonomously. But the South Korean government cannot completely stay idle amid international sanctions against the North.
Despite the limits, the Yoon administration must have the will “to change North Korea through the change in the people of North Korea.” President Yoon was right when he proposed a working-level inter-Korean dialogue consultative body. Regardless of the response from the Kim regime, Yoon must always offer his hand under any circumstances to continue the proposal for the formation of a peaceful relationship. This also means that North Korean authorities are not excluded from the national community unification.
It suits the image of the president to strongly express his will for unification based on the Constitution. The president’s consistent, continuous and public expression in his own voice for Constitutional unification can be taken seriously by North Koreans.
The government must convey the will of the president to the North Korean people by any means possible. Even in the deadlocked inter-Korean relations, the government can be a powerful force to get closer to the hearts of North Koreans.
Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
15. Chuseok celebration at Humphreys
Chuseok celebration at Humphreys
The Korea Times · September 12, 2024
By Lee Sun-ho
On Sept. 4, I visited the U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, to celebrate Chuseok (Korean Harvest Festival) at the Morning Calm Center, thanks to an invitation from Lt. Gen. Christopher C. LaNeve, commanding general of the Eighth Army. This visit marked my second trip there this year, following my attendance at the Eighth Army's Change of Command Ceremony at Barker Field on April 5. Consequently, I was already acquainted with the faces of the newly appointed general and his wife.
The cultural festival was thoughtfully scheduled well before the five-day Chuseok long weekend, which runs from Sept. 14-18 this year, including Chuseok Day on Sept. 17. This timing was intended to avoid the mass exodus from Seoul that typically occurs during the holiday. We were also fortunate with the weather, enjoying a gentle autumn breeze amidst what has been the worst heat wave ever recorded in the country.
The sequence of the special cultural evening events held inside the American military community arranged by the Eighth Army was, I noticed, beguilingly organized by reflecting Korea’s traditional customs, folklore legacies and heritage to the best of my knowledge.
Approximately 250 military and local civilian guests in formal Korean or American ceremonial attire were gathered in the three enlarged banquet rooms, named Rose, Sunflower and Lavender, on the second floor of the Morning Calm Center. Many American participants were colonels and some were master sergeants, seemingly who are assigned to different units under the command of LaNeve.
Aside from fancy-looking full military uniforms, some participants wore traditional colorful Korean ceremonial attire (hanbok), irrespective of Americans or Koreans. Among them, Mrs. LaNeve worn "dangeui" (a jade-green, royal-wear robe of a lady) on which a golden dragon is attached with tied red-color (for a woman whose husband is alive) coat strings, and the outstanding costume marked her out as the queen of the ceremony, with whom I took a snap. Asan City Mayor Park Gyeong-gwi and his wife also wore hanbok alike, and the mayor’s full dress received much attention from participants, because he was the only male who wore the eye-feasting white hanbok.
Among the food and beverages offered, even "soojeonggwa" (fruit punch made of honey, dried persimmons, pine nuts and cinnamon), "songpyeon" (rice cakes) and "yakbap" (rice desserts) were included to stimulate the appetites of guests.
I was wondering whether family names like LaNeve and LaCamera would originate from France or Spain. Gen. LaNeve kindly taught me the right origin from Italy, as I learned from him during social hours.
Optional games including "tuho" (pitch-pot) let sport-loving participants to enjoy good occasions to experience the original taste and fragrance of traditional Korean games. The seven-man Eighth Army rock band featured musical performances to celebrate Chuseok and entertain guests.
I would like to extend my appreciation to soldiers and families of the Eighth Army to their gracious hospitality and friendly welcome to the gorgeous Chuseok cultural ceremony at the garrison aside from their disciplined role and duties of a regional safeguard for local people. The strong bond and over 74-year-long inheritance for the versatile ties between the Eighth Army and Koreans have been ordained by fate. Blessed and long lives for all of us!
The writer (wkexim@naver.com) is a freelance columnist living in Seoul.
The Korea Times · September 12, 2024
16.
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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