[ROK MND News Catch up] [May 9-13] Korea and U.S. marines discuss joint operations /

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Recent News (May 9 to 13) of the Ministry of National Defense, ROK
http://www.mnd.go.kr/mndEng_2009/WhatsNew/RecentNews/index.jsp
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NO. 766
Korea and U.S. marines discuss joint operations
May 13, 2011


South Korean and the United States marines showed strong will to counteract against North Korean provocations during tactics discussion held in Baengnyeong Island near the inter-Korean maritime border on Yellow Sea.

Marine officers from South Korea and the U.S. discuss on May 12 military matters regarding joint drills aimed at defending western islands on Yellow Sea during tactics discussion session held on Baengnyeong Island.

Marine officers from South Korea and U.S. held tactics discussion for two days since May 11 and exchanged views toward major matters related to joint military drills and the wartime operational control transfer.

On the Korean side, senior officers, including operations planning officer under the Marine Corps, and on the U.S. side Col. Thomas Ward and Lt. Col. Turner Larry under the U.S. Pacific Marine Corps Command joined the discussion.

Two countries discussed about schedule plan for joint drill on western islands and reviewed overall conditions of soldiers' lodging facilities and terrain at training field that U.S. marines are going to use.

Two agreed to regularly hold tour sessions for U.S. marines coming to South Korea for drills.

In addition, two sides discussed preparations and measures for strengthening joint exercises in the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, a joint command and control simulation exercise between South Korea and U.S.

"Western islands are strategic locations where North Korea and provoke any time," said a South Korean marine officer who took part in the discussion. "South Korean and U.S. marines will become a role model of defending any military attacks immediately on site with strong joint operations."

Col Ward said that, "It is the first time South Korean and U.S. marines jointly hold tactics discussion on western islands since the end of the [1950-53] Korean War. South Korea and U.S. will cooperate closely so that the North would never make provocations like the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island."
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No. 765
Mungyeong will host Military World Games in 2015
2011-05-16 17:24

May 13, 2011

The location for the 6th Military World Games, a multi-sport event for military athletes that is held every four years, has been decided to be held in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang, in 2015.

The International Military Sports Council (CISM), the event's organizer, held its 66th general meeting at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel on May 12 and made decision to open the event at Mungyeong in 2015. After the decision is made, Col. Kalkaba, the head of CISM, and Kim Il-saeng, the head of the Office of Personnel and Welfare at the South Korea's Defense Ministry, signed a written agreement.

South Korea had submitted it bid to hold the event exclusively at CISM's board meeting in Algeria on March this year. The organizer of the event gave the final approval in Seoul for Mungyeong to be the next venue for the event.

The Defense Ministry received its approval for a bid effort to hold the event from the Finance Ministry on August last year. The Defense Ministry had planned to select six cities, including Mungyeong, in North Gyeongsang, for the event.

The Military World Games, in which only active-duty military personnel can participate, is designed to boost friendship through sports and contribute in building world peace.
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No. 764
KATUSA's medical record to be transferred to Korean Army
2011-05-16 17:17

May 12, 2011

The Korean Army is going to take over medical records of Korean soldiers under the United States Army, a.k.a Korean Augmentation Troops to the U.S. Army (KATUSA), in Korea from the U.S. Army. From next month, KATUSA reserves will be able to check their medical records easily.

Korean Army's Records Center said that the center and U.S. 65th Medical Brigade signed a written agreement on May 6 agreeing to transfer KATUSA's medical records saved in U.S. Army to Korean Army.

The agreement was made as two sides shared common grounds to exchange medical information quickly in case people need those records as references in civil complaints.

Even though KATUSA is clearly a Korean troops, medical records of KATUSAs have been managed by U.S. Army hospital so far and they are kept in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) after KATUSAs are discharged from the service.

KATUSA reserves have to go through complex process before being authorized to see their own medical records, such as apply for the records online on NARA web site and receive records via mail after long days. Korean and U.S. Army agreed to ease such inconvenience.

Under the agreement, Korean Army's Records Center is scheduled to take over medical records of KATUSA reserves who were discharged after January 2008 beginning next month. Also active-duty KATUSA troops can receive their own records within a month from Republic of Korean Army Support Group after being discharged. Reserves can only call Korean Army's Records Center to see their records and receive them right away.

"Through this agreement, we were able to settle civil complaints related to medical records of KATUSA reserves," said Col. Yun Yong-ki, head of Korean Records Center of the Army. "We will keep on discovering civil matters that should be improved."
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No. 763
Overseas dispatch train center being built

May 11, 2011

International Peace Support Force under the Korea's Army Special Warfare Command has completed on May 4 building a center to train troops ahead of being dispatched overseas.

The commander of the Speical Warfare Command, officers from the Capital Defense Command and officials from the Defense Ministry took part in the completion ceremony. The third contingent of Ashena Unit, organized to safeguard about 300 Provincial Reconstruction Team helping Afghanistan civilians, will first take advantage of the center next month before being deployed to the war-torn country.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the three-floor center took place in September 2009. The cost of construction was about 10.5 billion won.

The first floor will play a role of commanding post with a command control room and a seminar room. The second and the third floor has a rest room and other amenities from trainees.
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No. 762
Destroyer Yi Sun-shin takes over anti-piracy mission
2011-05-16 17:16
May 9, 2011

The Navy destroyer Yi Sun-shin, the 7th contingent of anti-piracy Cheonghae Unit in Somali waters, began its mission on May 6 after destroyer Choi Young handed over the baton, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Korea said.

Destroyer Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin, right, and destroyer Choi Young anchors at Salalah port in Oman to shift mission.


Destroyer Yi Sun-shin left Busan naval base on April 5. It had stopped by ports in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates to hold anti-piracy operations intelligence exchange meetings. The destroyer also implemented supplies transportation mission for Akh Unit, Korean special forces unit deployed to UAE to train local forces. Yi Sun-shin arrived at Salalah port in Oman on May 4 to prepare for mission shift from Choi Young.

Some 300 crew members, including UDT/SEAL troops and marines, are on aboard of Yi Sun-shin. Also one anti-submarine Lynx helicopter aimed at searching pirates boats from long distance is on board.

With a support from the Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime affairs, in particular, Yi Sun-shin has installed a monitoring system to trace the location of Korean commercial ships around the clock and set up bullet-proof glass around Rigid Inflatable Boats.

In order to strengthen medical service capabilities, medical staffs specializing in surgeries and anesthesia are also added on board.

The 4,400-ton destroyer Yi Sun-shin, which is being deployed for anti-piracy mission in Somali waters for the second time since 2009, has brother sailors Senior Chief Petty Officer Park Chang-uk and Chief Petty Officer Sung-hun on board and 72 sailors are on their second mission in Somali waters, JCS said.

"The 7th contingent of Cheonghae Unit has been trained for all possible emergency situation in order to fulfill the mission successfully," said Capt. Han Dong-jin of Yi Sun-shin. "We will protect Korean ships and the people to take a leading role in revealing greatness of Korea and the Navy throughout the world."

In the meantime, the 6th contingent Choi Young is expected to return Korea at the end of this month.

[Photos Fwd: SPARK] “Stop the C/J LOTs that supports the landing operation aimed at occupation of Pyeongyang & threatens the fishery men’s livelihood

Stop wars!




All the image source: Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea(클릭)
Click the link for more photos

2011 한미연합 해안양륙군수지원훈련(C/J LOTs) 중단 촉구 집회 및 피켓팅
“평양 점령 노리는 상륙작전 뒷받침하고 어민 생계 위협하는
한미연합 해안양륙군수지원훈련 중단하라!”
2011. 3. 23 (수) 10시~12시 7851부대 앞 사거리 및 안면해수욕장 입구

Rally and picketing on the demand to stop the ROK-US joint war drill on the Combined and Joint Logistics Over The Shore Exercise (C/J LOTs), as part of 2011 Key Resolve war exercise.
: “Stop the C/J LOTs that supports the landing operation aimed at occupation of Pyeongyang and threatens the fishery men’s livelihood.”

In front of 7851 troop unit, Anmyeon-do, Choonchungnam-do, 10am to 12pm, March 23, 2011

Text Fwd: Seoul to bolster preemptive strike capability

* Image source: Kyunghyang Shinmun
The Global Hawk first deployed in actual combat in Afghan War in 2001 (File photo)
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Korea Times
Seoul to bolster preemptive strike capability
By Lee Tae-hoon
March 11, 2011

Seoul is seeking a paradigm shift in its defense posture senior military officials said Friday, moving toward beefing up its preemptive strike capability against North Korea by deploying high-tech weapons that could be used to take out its leadership.

“Following North Korea’s two attacks last year, we’ve come to the conclusion that the belligerent behavior of Pyongyang will only end when its leadership realizes that Seoul is capable of conducting surgical strikes or covert operations against them,” a top official said, asking for anonymity.

He said altering the country’s military focus from passive defense to proactive deterrence is one of the three main pillars of the “Defense Reform Plan 307” unveiled by Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, Tuesday.

Kim stressed in a press briefing that he would adopt an active defense policy, while seeking to enhance interoperability of the armed forces and streamlining the military command structure.

“I’ll adjust priorities on the country’s military buildup to deal with the North’s asymmetrical threats and a possible local war,” the defense chief said, adding that Seoul will speed up the purchase of high-altitude spy drones and stealth fighters.

Seoul has already asked Washington to sell its Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle capable of flying at an altitude of more than 60,000 feet and monitoring enemy locations on the entire Korean Peninsula with pinpoint accuracy.

As part of the FX-III acquisition program, it is also accelerating a stalled plan to replace its aging F-4 and F-5 fighters with combat aircraft with stealth features from 2016.

“The great strength of stealth fighters is that they are capable of infiltrating deep into North Korea and return home after undertaking surprise air raids at anytime, anywhere with high precision without being detected or leaving behind any trace evidence,” a senior Air Force official said.

“Given that stealth fighters are practically invisible, the North will face difficulties in figuring out how often stealth fighters were flying over their land or whether they would conduct an air raid.”
He said Kim wanted to deliver a clear message to the North that should it undertake further attacks against South Korea, Seoul may topple the communist regime by mounting precision attacks on its leadership.

However, the official ruled out the possibility of a preemptive attack on the North, claiming that Seoul is acutely aware that such an action would draw international condemnation and would significantly isolate the country from the rest of the world.

There have been growing calls to beef up military readiness against imminent threats from the North, including possible missile attacks, after Seoul “failed” to properly retaliate against Pyongyang’s two deadly attacks last year.

The North unleashed an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea in November, claiming the lives of four people, but the South Korean military failed to locate the exact weapons responsible in time for an effective counterattack.

Last March, a North Korea submarine managed to dodge the South Korean Navy after sinking the frigate Cheonan in the West Sea that killed 46 of the sailors onboard.

한국, 대북 선제타격 능력강화 추진

한국이 북한정권의 심장부를 도려낼 수 있는 최첨단 선제공격 무기 도입을 국방정책 패러다임 전환의 일환으로 추진하고 있다고 국방부 관계자가 11일 말했다.

익명을 요구한 한 고위 관계자는 "국방개혁 307 계획"의 핵심은 방어 중심에서 '선제(preemptive) 공격’을 포함한 적극적 억제전략으로의 전환이라고 말했다.

그는 스텔스 전투기 등을 도입 남한이 원하면 언제든지 평양으로 몰래 침투 김정일을 단번에 제압할 수 있는 능력이 있다는 공포심을 심어 줄 수 있을 정도의 군사력을 갖추어야 앞으로 북의 군사도발이 사라질 거라는 결론을 지난 해 천안함 침몰과 연평도 포격 이 후 내릴 수 있었다고 주장했다.

김관진 장관은 지난 8일 "국방개혁 307 계획"을 발표하며 3군 합동성 강화, 국방운영 효율성 극대화와 더불어 “적극적 대북 억제능력” 강화를 세 가지 중점 분야로 두고 개혁을 추진해 나아가겠다고 밝힌 바 있다.

김장관은 또한 북한의 국지도발과 비대칭 위협에 대비하기 위해 고고도 무인정찰기와 스텔스기를 조기 도입 하는 등 전력증강의 우선순위도 일부 조정하기로 했다 말한 바 있다.

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See also Kyunghyang Shinmun
The Korean Military to Import the 'Global Hawk' and Stealth Fighters Earlier; Likely Influenced by US Government and Industry
Posted on : 2011-03-09 17:09

The military authorities have decided to import unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance planes such as the Global Hawk and the Stealth fighters at an earliest date.

These projects were stopped at the early stage of the Lee Myung-bak government, but were determined to be pursued afterwards, thus raising suspicions that these were influenced by the US lobbyists.

The National Defense Ministry announced 'National Defense Reform Plan 307' on Tuesday, Mar 08, 2011, while saying and that "it will pursue to secure state-of-the-art precision combat capability at an earlier date in order to respond to asymmetrical threats by the enemy.'

It was learned that the government determined to put into combat forces for 2015-2016 the Global Hawk reconnaissance planes and the Stealth fighters

However, voices are mounting that the reasons why the military excluded the unmanned Global Observer are unclear, which are competitors for the Global Hawk, in the course of putting high-altitude the unmanned reconnaissance planes into combat forces.

According to defense industry sources, the Global Hawk can stay in the air of 65,000 feet of altitude in the operational radius of 3000-4000 km for a duration of 38-42 hours, whereas the Global Observer can stay in the same altitude for over one week.

To compare the prices, the Global Hawk costs US$ 45,000,000 per plane and is more expensive than the Global Observer, and the expenditure for management and maintenance for the former is heavier than the latter, which uses hydrogen as fuel.

At first, the Joint Chiefs of the Staff proceeded with the importation of the Global Observer instead of the Global Hawk, but an official related to the Chong Wa Dae opposed the plan, citing that introduction of unverified weapons is inappropriate, it was learned.

In this context, analysts in and out of the military raise the possibility of lobbying activity by the Northrop Grumman which is the producer of the Global Hawk.

Previously, in 2008, the Korean military pushed for a plan to purchase four Global Hawks by 2010 but failed because of the opposition from the Chong Wa Dae's argument that the prices are too heavy.

In the meantime, the Ministry of National Defense decided to hasten the third FX project of introducing additional 60 Stealth-grade fighters, which requires a budget size of 9 trillion won.

The ROK Air Force argued for the necessity of the third FX project from 2007 onwards, but the project did not move forward with no budget allocated.

The talk about the third FX project became livelier with the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' visit to Korea in January. However, it is pointed out that if Koreans hasten the project, then it is likely that Koreans will have to buy the Stealth F35 at a higher price.

All the more, it was known that the F35's that the US proposed to Koreans for importation are the initial products that even the US Air Force refused to buy.

Given that the targeted level for the software version for the F35's is 3.0, if Koreans purchased the initial products of the F35's that are equipped with only 0.5 version, upgrading of the software version will require an astronomical cost.

Translated by Seol Wontai, Editor of Online English Edition

More Protest Photos: Stop the U.S.-SK Key Resolve Militray Exercise!

* See more photos by clicking the links
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* Image source: Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea, Feb. 28, 2011
평화와 통일을 여는 사람들, 2011년 2월 28일(클릭)

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* Image source: Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea, March 2, 2011
평화와 통일을 여는 사람들, 2011년 3월 2일(클릭) No psychology warfare against North Korea!

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* Image source: Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea, March 1, 2011

평화와 통일을 여는 사람들, 2011년 3월 1일(클릭)

No ROK-Japan militray agreement! No US-Japan-ROK trilateral militray alliance!

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* Image source: People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Feb. 28, 2011 참여 연대, 2011년 2월 28일(클릭)
Stop the Key Resolve!

Text Fwd: Stop the Korea Free Trade Agreement!

* Text fwd from Steve Zeltzer on Feb. 25, 2011

Huffingtonpost
Stop the Korea Free Trade Agreement
Ian Fletcher
Jan. 23, 2011

You would think America had learned its lesson from NAFTA, which the Labor Department has estimated cost us 525,000 jobs.

But no. President Obama and the Republican leadership are united in pressing for ratification of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS-FTA). This is an agreement which the Economic Policy Institute estimateswill cost us 159,000 more jobs over the next five years.

Yes, you read that correctly. At a time when even the president admits that his number one economic priority is job creation, and has created an entire new commission for that purpose, they're going ahead with it anyway. It gives the phrase "contradictions of capitalism" a whole new meaning.

Make no mistake: we're in big trouble. The US economy has entirely lost the ability to create jobs in tradable sectors, and the recent downward blip in unemployment was merely the result of more people giving up looking, which causes them to drop out of the statistics.

Even the official U.S. International Trade Commission has admitted that KORUS-FTA will cause significant job losses. And not just in low-end industries. The ITC foresees the electronic equipment manufacturing industry, with average wages of $30.38 in 2008, as a major victim.
The supposed logic of America swapping junk jobs for high-end jobs simply isn't the way the economics really works out. Pace free-market mythology, there are actually well-understood reasons for this, if you dig a little into what economists already know.

Was this the Obama America voted for in 2008?

No. That Obama is at an undisclosed location somewhere. He campaigned against KORUS-FTA during the 2008 campaign. (It was originally negotiated, but not ratified by Congress, by Bush in 2007.) Among other things, that Obama said:

I strongly support the inclusion of meaningful, enforceable labor and environmental standards in all trade agreements. As president, I will work to ensure that the U.S. again leads the world in ensuring that consumer products produced across the world are done in a manner that supports workers, not undermines them.

Nice words, but none of them are reflected in KORUS-FTA, which contains no serious new provisions on these issues. This agreement is essentially a NAFTA clone. It is, in fact, the biggest trade agreement sinceNAFTA, and the first since Canada with an industrialized country.

This agreement, like NAFTA and the dozen or so other free trade agreements America has signed since NAFTA, is fundamentally an offshoring agreement. It is about making it easier for U.S. companies to move work overseas. The provisions to protect workers and consumers are unenforceable window dressing.

Don't be fooled by the fact that some unions, like the United Auto Workers (UAW), have endorsed the agreement. This is part of a cynical ploy by the White House to split the trade union movement in order to keep the AFL-CIO neutral. The UAW's out-of-touch leadership is so punch-drunk from the 2008 collapse of the U.S. auto industry that it has lost touch not only with what is good for the American economy as a whole, but with what is good for rank-and-file auto workers. Don't take my word for it: in the words of Al Benchich, retired president of UAW Local 909:

The UAW Administration Caucus is the one-party state that controls the UAW at the International level. Every International officer is a member of the Caucus, and they surround themselves with appointed international reps that unquestioningly do their bidding.

No wonder other, more democratic and more intelligent, unions, like Leo Gerard's United Steelworkers, are criticizing the UAW for its decision to support KORUS-FTA. Interestingly, the UAW's past record of criticizing KORUS-FTA is more honest than anything they're doing in a desperate bid to help keep Obama in the White House. For example, here's what they originally said about this agreement:

KORUS-FTA has inadequate protections and enforcement mechanisms to enforce either the spirit or the letter of the law.

Precisely. And changes made since then are, as noted, minimal. As an example of how one-sided the treaty is, consider that it now allows -- to great rejoicing -- America to export 75,000 cars a year to Korea. This translates to a measly 800 jobs. Korea's exports of cars to the U.S. in 2009, on the other hand?

Try 476,833.

Furthermore, even if the U.S. does get to sell more cars in Korea, American companies will mostly not be making the steel, tires, and other components that go into them, because the agreement allows cars with 65 percent foreign content to count as "American."

This is just one example of how KORUS-FTA isn't even as good as the deal the EU just signed with Korea. (The EU got a 55 percent standard on this item.) And remember that the EU and most of its member states, of course, don't really practice free trade anyway: they practice a covertly managed trade that has kept the EU's trade balance within pocket change of zero over the last two decades, while America has been running deficits around the $500 billion mark.
"Free trade agreement," in American English, means "free trade agreement." In other languages, it means "politely codified agreement for managed trade at a low tariff." The Europeans invented this game -- called mercantilism -- back when international trade was conducted with sailing ships. South Korea learned it from the Japanese. Uncle Sam (and maybe John Bull and a few others) are the only naïfs who still don't get it.

Despite what the White House and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are saying, this agreement makes no sense as a strategy to reduce our horrendous trade deficit. America's trade deficits have a long record of going up, not down, when we sign trade agreements with other nations.
Paradoxically, trade agreements even seem to sabotage our own trade with foreign nations: according to an analysis by the group Public Citizen, in recent years our exports to nations we have free-trade agreements with have actually grown at less than half the pace of our exports to nations we don't have these agreements with. So these agreements don't hold water as trade-expanding measures.

Even leaving aside trade-balance issues, this agreement is a disaster, thanks to something called "investor-state arbitration." Like NAFTA, it compromises American sovereignty and subjects American democracy to having its own laws overruled by foreign judges as interfering with trade. Under NAFTA to date, over $326 million in damages has been paid out by governments as a result of challenges to natural resource policies, environmental protection, and health and safety measures. There about 80 Korean corporations, with about 270 facilities around the U.S., that would acquire the right to challenge our laws under KORUS-FTA.

What kind of problems could this cause? The U.S. was forced in 1996 to weaken Clean Air Act rules on gasoline contaminants in response to a challenge by Venezuela and Brazil. In 1998, we were forced to weaken Endangered Species Act protections for sea turtles thanks to a challenge by India, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand concerning the shrimp industry. The EU today endures trade sanctions by the U.S. for not relaxing its ban on hormone-treated beef. In 1996, the WTO ruled against the EU's Lome Convention, a preferential trading scheme for 71 former European colonies in the Third World. In 2003, the Bush administration sued the EU over its moratorium on genetically modified foods.

It gets worse. KORUS-FTA also signs away our right (and Korea's, too, not that this makes it any better) to a wide range of financial regulations of the kind that might have helped avoid the crisis of 2008. For example, it forfeits our right to limit the size of financial institutions. It forfeits our right to place firewalls between different kinds of financial activities in order to prevent volatility in one market from collapsing another. It prevents us from limiting what financial services financial institutions may offer -- Enron Savings & Mortgage, here we come... It bans regulation of derivatives. It ban limits on capital flows designed to tame volatile "hot money."

Why is the U.S. flirting with making such an appalling mistake yet again? Because a) multinational corporations have bought our political system and b) because our government would rather play power politics than keep its own (declining) economic house in order.
It is remarkable how stuck we are in the 1950's, with an invincible economy at home and a Cold War abroad. As a report by the Senate Finance Committee once put it:

Throughout most of the postwar era, U.S. trade policy has been the orphan of U.S. foreign policy. Too often the Executive has granted trade concessions to accomplish political objectives. Rather than conducting U.S. international economic relations on sound economic and commercial principles, the executive has set trade and monetary policy in a foreign aid context. An example has been the Executive's unwillingness to enforce U.S. trade statutes in response to foreign unfair trade practices.

Ironically, it may eventually be our own decline that solves our trade problems, by rescuing us from our own arrogance and stupidity. When we finally realize we can't take our economy for granted, we may finally stop giving away the store in international trade.

P.S. There have been huge demonstrations against KORUS-FTA in Seoul, South Korea. If you live in the Bay Area, there'll be a protest outside Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco mansion on January 29. Click herefor more details.

[ROK MND News] Korea and U.S. Navy discuss to boost joint operation

* Image source: same as the link

Ministry of National Defens, Recent News No. 705
Korea and U.S. Navy discuss to boost joint operations
Jan. 19, 2011 (uploaded on Jan. 26, 2011)

Naval Force Operations Command of South Korea and U.S. 7th Fleet held Flag Officer Talks at the command on Jan. 18 and reaffirmed joint principle of strong retaliation from further attacks by North Korea.

Ten senior naval flag officers, including Vice Adm. Hwang Gi-cheol, commander of Naval Force Operations, and Vice Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, had a meeting at the command and discussed in-depth how to strengthen joint operational capabilities aimed at deterring the North's military provocations and maintaining peace on Korean Peninsula.

Vice Adm. Hwang Gi-cheol, far right, commander of South Korea Naval Force Operations, and Vice Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, second from left, commander of U.S. 7th Fleet discuss measures to reinforce joint operations capabilities at the command on Jan. 18.

In particular, the meeting was the first major military talks for operations command in both countries this year.

During the talks, six detailed agenda were on the table : assessment and development measures for South Korea-U.S. joint military drills, measures to improve joint C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence) operations, developing defense plan for islands on the Yellow Sea, assessment of lessons from the Cheonan sinking and the Yeonpyeong Island shelling, ways to improve intelligence sharing and assessment of maritime training with aircraft carrier on the Yellow Sea.

Both sides agreed to manage and control pending issues in the navy of two countries and planned to keep on carrying out major agenda.

"The meeting was a great opportunity for two countries to strengthen South Korea-U.S. alliance as well as reaffirm solid joint combat capabilities by seeking detailed measures," said a naval officer under the command.

_________________________________

See also

Ministry of National Defense, Recent News No. 704
Kim and Gates agree to continue joint drills
Jan. 17, 2011 (2011-01-26)

EXCERPT

Gates said that South Korea and the United States need to continue joint maritime military drills on all seas around the Korean Peninsula to deter additional attacks by the North.

[..]

The defense official added that the two discussed responses to attacks from the North and touched on various military topics, especially joint training drills and the ROK-U.S. Strategic Alliance 2015.

Video Fwd: NO to another NAFTA! Kim Kyung-Ran, Director of External Relations For Korean Confederation Of Trade Unions Joins Rally In SF

* Informed form Steve Zeltzer on Jan. 21, 2011

Indy Bay
NO to another NAFTA!
by Bill Carpenter ( wcarpent [at] ccsf.edu )
Thursday Jan 20th, 2011 8:55 PM

As the Obama administration moves closer to introducing the NAFTA-style Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) to Congress, citizens and activists joined Kim Kyung-Ran, Director of External Relations for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, in a rally at San Francisco's new Federal Building to oppose the deal.

Nine-minute QT movie. 42MB.



Representatives from labor, faith, environmental, fair trade, and family farm organizations called on Minority Leader Pelosi, Congress and President Obama to stop pursuing the KORUS FTA, an agreement expected to cost 159,000 American jobs and grant corporations in each country unprecedented rights to subvert public interest laws. President Obama, who campaigned against free trade agreements, has reached a revised deal with Korea, and is expected to introduce it to Congress for ratification soon.

The KORUS FTA is the Obama administration’s first potential trade agreement, and is a slight modification from the agreement negotiated by President Bush over three years ago. Since then, it has received little support from Congress or the public. In fact, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 69% of Americans believe FTAs cost jobs, while just 17% think they help the American economy. This is not surprising, given that NAFTA-style trade deals have already cost Americans millions of jobs. --California Fair Trade Coalition
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NO to another NAFTA!
Photos by Bill Carpenter Thursday Jan 20th, 2011

Text Fwd: Talking Points About KORUS FTA

* Texts from Steve Zeltzer on Jan. 20, 2011

TALKING POINTS ABOUT KORUS FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
James Jordan,
National Co-Coordinator,
Alliance for Global Justice

Thank you so much for agreeing to take a delegation to your Representative's office to express your opposition to the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, or, KORUS. This would be the biggest FTA passed since NAFTA and would be just as bad--and it would open the door for pending FTAs with Panama and Colombia. The only way we can defeat this bad agreement is by diligent, in-the-trenches struggle: the way we've beaten these agreements in the past, the way we beat bad trade accords like the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement. What you are doing in your community is, indeed, just what is needed!

Right now the momentum is toward passage of KORUS. The White House has finished talks with South Korea and has said it would push for passage in the new Congress. And we believe that the votes to pass KORUS are there, at least at this point. Fair trade activists agree that KORUS proponents will try to bring it to a vote in Congress before the Spring, when it becomes politically risky because of the beginning of the presidential campaign season. Our best way to defeat KORUS is to make it politically unfeasible to even bring it to a vote. That's why we have to target Congress now and demand that our Representatives contact the White House and let Pres. Obama know that passing KORUS has already become too potentially damaging.

We've put together a short list of talking points for you. However, there is one point that should be emphasized above all others, and that is the unpopularity of KORUS and FTAs on all sides of the political spectrum, especially among grassroots activists on both the Left and the Right. Those who support FTAs are doing so at the risk of alienating the very voters who put them in office!

So--this is the main point to drive home to your Representative:

Tell Pres. Obama that the KORUS Free Trade Agreement is D.O.A.--Dead on Arrival, and not to even bother bringing it to Congress. And if KORUS does come to a vote, a vote for the FTA means a loss of votes come the next election!

Again--thanks so much for doing this. Following is a short list of talking points. Please contact us if you have any questions, comments or feedback. And please be sure and let us know how your visit went with you Congressperson. We want to hear!

Together, we can beat KORUS and together, we can build a beautiful, more just and peaceful world!

TALKING POINTS:

Free Trade is unpopular on the Left and on the Right. According to polls released in October, 2010, by the Pew Research Center, support for Free Trade is at an all time low, with 44% of respondents saying that FTAs are bad for the U.S. and only 35% saying they were good. When asked how FTAs had affected their personal finances, 46% said they had been hurt, and only 26% said they had been helped. Only 28% of Republicans said that FTAs were good for the US, and among Republicans and Independents who were in agreement with the Tea Party, 63% said FTAs had been bad. A September 2010 poll by NBC News/Wall Street Journal showed 69% of US-ers believe FTAs have resulted in job loss in the US and 53% (up from 46% in 2007) believe FTAs have had a bad effect on the nation overall. The polls showed that 65% of union members, as well as 61% of Tea Party members think FTAs have harmed the nation.

KORUS includes investor state dispute settlement provisions that allow transnational corporations to sue governments that adopt policies and laws that they believe to harm their access to profits, including laws protecting the environment or that adopt high food quality standards. On the other hand, KORUS includes no effective international guarantees for labor rights.

KORUS severely limits the ability of both South Korea and the US to establish control over their own agricultural domestic policies. It interferes national sovereignty to adopt anti-dumping provisions which are so devastating to family farmers, or price floors that protect crop prices from falling too low. The agreement prohibits both the US and South Korea from adopting protective measures for family farms, while favoring provisions that only benefit big agribusinesses. KORUS includes provisions that limit the ability to adopt national prohibitions against patents on plant resources for food and agriculture.

KORUS prevents governments from using tax dollars to support responsible purchasing and contracting practices that favor local suppliers or contain other non-commercial criteria.
The U. S. International Trade Commission has predicted that KORUS will actually increase the US trade deficit. The Economic Policy Institute maintains that KORUS will make the US trade deficit with Korea twice as bad, up to $26.9 billion annually within seven years. This will result in 888,000 jobs lost as a result of Korean imports. If one figures in employment created by increased US exports and jobs lost because of the already existing deficit with South Korea, there are some 200,000 jobs that will be lost.

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See also
Rogue Valley IMC
Wyden finds more KORUS FTA resistance in Southern Oregon

The Detroit News
Corporate Unionist UAW's King makes union case to Chinese at state dinner-Dinner Invite After Supporting Obama's Anti-Labor KORUS KOREA US Free Trade Agreement

Text Fwd: East Asia’s military buildup sparks concern

* Image source: same as the link

_______________________________________

*Text thanks to Mr. Go Gwon-Il
* On the SPARK missile, see here

* 스파크 미사일에 대해서 여기를 보시길. (고권일 선생님 링크 제공)___________________________________________

Korea Times
East Asia’s military buildup sparks concern
Jan. 17, 2011
By Kang Hyun-kyung

Some defense watchers note that East Asian nations are becoming more conservative of late, voicing concern that this could raise the possibility of an arms buildup in the region.

They allege that an assertive China and provocative North Korea together are playing a role in changing the security landscape, adding this could motivate regional players to upgrade their weapons’ capability.

The concern was addressed days before U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Washington to discuss issues of mutual concern.

The Obama-Hu summit coincides with a growing concern in Seoul over the Cold War-like confrontations between the blocs of South Korea, the United States and Japan, and China and North Korea looming large on the Korean Peninsula.

“When China bashes Japan about the islands (Senkaku in Japanese and Daioyu in Chinese); that has a strong impact on Japanese behavior and also on Korean behavior,” a U.S. defense expert told The Korea Times last week on condition of anonymity.

“North Korea on the nuclear front especially prompts the Japanese to think that a missile defense system is good, but I think Chinese behavior is much more important in shaping the general need for security in the region.”

The expert noted that there was a possibility of an arms race in East Asia.

His remarks came days after photos and images of a Chinese radar-evading stealth fighter, the J-20, surfaced.

The Chinese version of “a show of force” came at a time when Seoul and Tokyo agreed to seek their first-ever bilateral military agreement after Washington called on the two sides to work closely to deter North Korean aggression.

Washington reportedly wants Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to take a larger role in regional security.

Upgrading missile defense

While seeking military ties with Japan, the South Korean military announced a plan to deploy Israeli-built precision-guided anti-tank missiles on Yeonpyeong Island in February. The island was devastated by a deadly North Korean attack last November.

The embryonic trilateral military partnership among South Korea, Japan and the United States appears to have made China uncomfortable.

William Tobey, senior fellow at the Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, told The Korea Times last week that some Chinese have complained that the ties were aimed at countering China.

Tobey travelled to China before arriving in Seoul. The former U.S. National Security Council staffer met with several academics there and made the point that China needed to do more to rein in North Korea as the latter’s provocations work against its interests.

Earlier, Japan unveiled plans to field three additional Patriot advanced missile interceptor units and expedite production of Aegis missile defense warships.

Although Japan said the plan was focused on North Korea after it sank the warship Cheonan in March, unveiled an enriched uranium program and shelled Yeonpyeong, China reacted nervously.

A Chinese diplomat was quoted as saying in December that China will have no other choice but to respond by enhancing its own military capabilities.

China’s unveiling of the new stealth fighter came while U.S. Defense Secretary Gates was visiting the country.

The U.S. defense chief told reporters that he learned “the test spin of the stealth fighter had absolutely nothing to do with the visit and had been a pre-planned test.”

However, Gates expressed worries over Beijing’s progress in developing anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles as he believed this could potentially target U.S. vessels in East Asia.

Asked about Chinese motives behind the timing of the test of the fighter, William Tobey speculated there might be a rift among Chinese policymakers over the decision.

“It’s totally difficult to speculate on their motives. The Chinese government may not be united. It may be that some people wanted to point this out regardless of what President Hu wanted and took advantage of that timing to reveal their firepower,” he said.

Tobey stressed that North Korea’s bad behavior increases the need for missile defense and this makes for a continuing presence of U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula.

It may increase the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other things that run counter to Chinese security interests, he noted, adding it was less North Korea but “the China factor” behind East Asian nations’ interests in missile systems.

“I think Chinese behavior last year has also been provocative. It’s not clear why. Whether the People’s Liberation Army has been enhanced or whether there is a succession crisis in Beijing. Everyone is moving to the right,” the U.S. expert said.

Xi Jinping, vice president of China, was appointed last October as one of the vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission, a move seen as a key step toward his succession in two year’s time.
Xi is reportedly on track to become Communist Party general secretary when President Hu Jintao’s term ends in 2012 and President in 2013.

Military buildup: 한중일, 미사일 방어체제 강화

한반도 긴장이 계속되면서 동아시아 국가들간 군비증강 움직임이 공통적으로 포착되고 있다. 미국 국방 전문가들은 한국, 중국, 일본에서 미사일 방위체제에 대한 관심이 증대되고 있는 점에 주목하고 있으며, 일부는 이러한 움직임이 탈냉전 시대에 군비경쟁으로 이어질 가능성도 배제할 수 없다고 지적한다.

한국은 스파이크 미사일을 연평도에 배치할 예정이며, 중국은 게이츠 미국방장관이 중국을 방문한 시점에 신형 스텔스 전투기를 선보이며 긴장을 조성한 바 있다.

일본은 작년 12월 북한의 도발에 대응하기 위해 미사일 체제를 강화할 것임을 밝힌 바 있다.

미국 전문가들은 북한의 한반도 도발과 중국이 작년 센카쿠 열도를 둘러싼 영토분쟁을 통해 보여준 공세적인 자세가 일본이 미사일 방어체제에 관심을 갖는 이유라고 분석한다.

Text Fwd: What's Happening on the Korean Peninsula?

* Text forwarded from Steve Zeltzer on Jan. 17, 2011

Korea Policy Institute
What's Happening on the Korean Peninsula?
Marty Hart-Landsberg* January 14, 2011

What's happening on the Korean peninsula? If you read the press or listen to the talking heads, your best guess would be that an insane North Korean regime is willing to risk war to manage its own internal political tensions. This conclusion would be hard to avoid because the media rarely provide any historical context or alternative explanations for North Korean actions.

For example, much has been said about the March 2010 (alleged) North Korean torpedo attack on the Cheonan (a South Korean naval vessel) near Baengnyeong Island, and the November 2010 North Korean artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island (which houses a South Korean military base).

The conventional wisdom is that both attacks were motivated by North Korean elite efforts to smooth the leadership transition underway in their country. The take away: North Korea is an out-of-control country, definitely not to be trusted or engaged in negotiations.

But is that an adequate explanation for these events? Before examining the facts surrounding them, let's introduce a bit of history. Take a look at the map above, which includes both Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong Islands.

The armistice that ended the Korean War fighting established the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates North Korea from South Korea. At that time, the U.S. government unilaterally established another dividing line, one intended to create a sea border between the two Koreas. That border is illustrated on the map by line A, the blue Northern Limit Line (NLL).

As you can see, instead of extending the DMZ westward into the sea, the U.S. line runs northward, limiting North Korea's sea access. The line was drawn this way for two reasons: First, when the fighting stopped, South Korean forces were in control of the islands off the North Korean coast and the U.S. wanted to secure their position. Second, control over those islands enhanced the ability of U.S. forces to monitor and maintain military pressure on North Korea.
North Korea never accepted the NLL. It argued for an alternative border, illustrated by line B, the red West Sea Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Acknowledging the reality of Southern forces on the islands off its coast, North Korea sought recognition for a sea border that went around the islands but otherwise divided the sea by extending the DMZ line.

READ MORE

Text Fwd: New S. Korean Reserve Units, U.S. In Front-Line Exercises This Year

* Text from Rick Rozoff on Jan. 16, 2011

Yonhap News
Reserve forces to conduct front-line exercises
-The military established 30 Reserve Forces battalions last year and plans to create nine more this year.

SEOUL: Members of the nation's Reserve Forces will be deployed to front-line areas for the first time during joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises later this year, officials said Sunday.

"Two battalions of the Reserve Forces will be deployed close to the border with North Korea while participating in two South Korea-U.S. joint military drills - the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercise in March and the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise in August," said a ranking official at the defense ministry.

"The two will be selected from among the 'precision supplementary battalions' of the Reserve Forces, which are sent to the frontal areas in times of war," said the official.

The military established 30 Reserve Forces battalions last year and plans to create nine more this year.

In South Korea, soldiers who complete their mandatory military service for nearly two years are automatically transferred to the Reserve Forces and must serve first four years as mobilization reserve and then the next four years as homeland reserve.

"The front-line deployment exercise for the reserve forces is related to the military's efforts to upgrade its combat readiness in the face of growing threats from North Korea," said the ministry official.

Photos Fwd: Rally to Stop the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement

* Photo info from Steve Zeltzer on Jan. 16, 2011

Rally to Stop the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (Jan. 14, 2011)
Click the link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipserising/5358566011/in/set-72157625833125122/

Text Fwd: SF Rally To Stop Anti-Labor Korea-US Free Trade Agreement-Pelosi Vote NO

* Text and video info. from Steve Zeltzer on Jan. 16, 2011



On 1/14/2011 Community and Labor joined together at Congresswomen's Nancy Pelosi'soffice at the new Federal Building in San Francisco to demand that she, Senators Feinsteinand Boxer oppose the anti-labor Korea US Free Trade Agreement. Speakers said that Obama promised that there would be different trade agreements not modeled after NAFTA yet the agreement is directly modeled after NAFTA. More information on this agreement is at http://www.fairtrademinnesota.org/Summary of Korea FTA Supplemental deal.pdf Production of Labor Video Project www.laborvideo.org laborvideo.blip.tv

Text Fwd: Clinton urges China to vigorously implement sanctions on N. Korea

Yonhap News
Clinton urges China to vigorously implement sanctions on N. Korea
2011/01/15 02:04 KST

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on China Friday to faithfully implement sanctions on North Korea, imposed by U.N. resolutions, for the North's nuclear and missile tests in the past years.

In a speech at the State Department ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit here early next week, Clinton said, "Until North Korea demonstrates in concrete ways its intention to keep its commitments, China, along with the international community, must vigorously enforce the sanctions adopted by the Security Council last year."

North Korea will be among major topics when U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Hu for a summit meeting and a state dinner Wednesday, U.S. officials have said, in what is being called the most crucial Sino-U.S. summit in decades due to China's emergence as an economic and military power that will challenge U.S. supremacy.

Other issues high on the agenda include the revaluation of China's yuan currency, human rights, Iran's nuclear ambitions and improving bilateral ties.

[..]

Seoul and Washington insist that Pyongyang apologize for the provocations before any resumption of bilateral or multilateral talks.

"We are building momentum in support of North-South dialogue that respects the legitimate concerns of our South Korean ally and that can set the stage for meaningful talks on implementing North Korea's 2005 commitment to irreversibly end its nuclear program," Clinton said.
China, the North's staunchest ally, has called for an early, unconditional resumption of the six-party talks.

Clinton also expressed concerns over North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities.

"North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs are becoming a direct threat to the United States itself," she said. "So this is not just about peace and stability in Northeast Asia, nor standing with our allies; this is becoming, unfortunately, more of a national security challenge to our own shores."

She was echoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said in Beijing Tuesday that North Korea's missiles and nuclear weapons will pose a threat to the U.S. within five years. Gates also urged North Korea to impose a moratorium on nuclear and missile testing to help revive the six-party nuclear talks.

The chief U.S. defense official met with South Korean officials in Seoul earlier Friday in the third and last leg of his three-nation tour of Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul.

[..]

Photos Fwd: [SPARK] Stop the Military Oppression against North Korea! Immediately enter the peace talks!

* Image description comes later
_______________________________
평화와 통일을 여는 사람들 로버트 게이츠 미국 국방장관 방한 대응 기자회견문
: 대북 군사적 압박 중단하고 평화협정 협상에 즉각 나서라!
(* To see the Korean language statement, click above)
_______________________________

* All the image source: Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea, Jan. 14, 2011

Press interview upon the visit by Robert Gates, Defense Secretary of the United States
:Stop the Military Oppression against North Korea! Immediately Enter the Peace talks!
In front of Ministry of National Defense, 1pm, Jan, 14, 2011

로버트 게이츠 미국 국방장관 방한 대응 기자회견
대북 군사적 압박 중단하고 평화협정 협상에 즉각 나서라!
- 2011년 1월 14일 오후 1시, 국방부 정문 앞 -

Go Back! Gates who continues military oppression against North Korea!

One of the signs reads:
We denounce ROK-US authorities that drive for Missile Defense, under the pretext of threat from North Korea!

“It seems that the mention of ‘necessary measure to protect the United States’ that the US government authority figures said contains the U.S. oppression with which she would enter for the establishment of MD, along with ROK and Japan, targeting China, in case China does not make pressure North Korea. That shows how the U.S. is abusing the intense situation of Korean peninsula in building blockage against China, not only against North Korea." (part transaltion from the SPARK statment)

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See also
Yonhap News
Lee reminds Gates of urgency for denuclearizing N. Korea
2011/01/14 17:19 KST

Text Fwd: S. Korea, U.S. defense chiefs to discuss N. Korea concerns

Yonhap News
S. Korea, U.S. defense chiefs to discuss N. Korea concerns
By Kim Deok-hyun

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) - The South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs were to discuss concerns about North Korea on Friday and how to further strengthen their deterrence against the increasingly belligerent communist state, Seoul's defense officials said.

After visiting China and Japan this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was due to meet with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin in Seoul for talks centered on flaring tensions following North Korea's deadly bombardment of a South Korean island in November.

Gates' brief stop in Seoul is also aimed at underscoring Washington's firm alliance with Seoul, to be displayed through joint military exercises this year, officials said.

"During the talks, Secretary Gates will brief the results of his visits to China and Japan to Minister Kim. They will also assess recent activities by North Korea," said a senior official at the South's defense ministry.

Kim and Gates "will reaffirm the principle that the allies will strongly respond if North Korea provokes again and discuss measures to strengthen deterrence against the North," the official said on the condition of anonymity.

The official said Gates' visit to Seoul, the final leg of his week-long Asian tour, is loaded with "symbolic meanings" in demonstrating the solid alliance between South Korea and the U.S.

Tensions have remained acute since North Korea launched an unprovoked artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island near the Yellow Sea border on Nov. 23, killing two marines and two civilians.

The bombardment came just eight months after North Korea sank a South Korean warship in the Yellow Sea, in which 46 sailors died. Pyongyang denies the ship sinking accusation.

In Tokyo, Gates pushed for Japan's more active role in regional security to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula and counterbalance China's fast-growing military capability.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Gates offered a blunt new assessment of North Korea's threat, anticipating that Pyongyang will likely possess intercontinental ballistic missiles within five years and pose a "direct threat" to the U.S.

The U.S. stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War against communist North Korea that ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

kdh@yna.co.kr

Text Fwd: N. Korea's nuke, missiles pose serious threat to U.S.: Mullen

Adm. Milke Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks to the Foreign Press Club in Washington on Jan. 12. (Yonhap)

Yonhap News
N. Korea's nuke, missiles pose serious threat to U.S.: Mullen
Adm. Milke Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks to the Foreign Press Club in Washington on Jan. 12. (Yonhap)
Jan. 13, 2011
By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities pose a serious threat not only to Northeast Asia but to the United States amid volatility in Pyongyang over the ongoing process for the third-generation power transition there, the top U.S. military officer said Wednesday.

"This is an evolving threat, not just to the region but to the United States specifically," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Foreign Press Club.

Mullen was discussing remarks U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made Tuesday in Beijing that North Korea's missiles and nuclear weapons will pose a threat to the U.S. within five years.

North Korea's "continuing development of nuclear weapons, and their development of intercontinental ballistic missiles" is "becoming a direct threat to the United States," Gates said. "I don't think it's an immediate threat, no. But on the other hand, I don't think it's a five-year threat. I think that North Korea will have developed an intercontinental ballistic missile within that timeframe."

North Korea detonated nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009, and is believed to have several nuclear weapons. Some experts say North Korea could have developed nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted on ballistic missiles with the help of China or Pakistan.

North Korea is said to be behind nuclear and missile proliferation in Iran, Syria, Pakistan and several other countries, as arms sales are considered one of its major sources of revenue. North Korea has for years been under U.N. economic sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests.

North Korea also revealed in November a uranium enrichment plant that could serve as a second way of building nuclear bombs in addition to its existing plutonium program, despite Pyongyang's claims it is producing fuel for power generation.

"It's a really dangerous time," Mullen said. "So the potential provocations could become more and more catastrophic. And that's been a principal point of focus as we look at engaging the leadership in China and others to say this is something we really have to figure out a way to deter in the future."

Mullen warned of further provocations from North Korea.

"If past is prologue there, the succession plan usually shows or generates a series of provocations," he said. "And that has been the case recently."

READ MORE

Text Fwd: Korean Opposition calls for nullifying KORUS FTA

Rep. Kang Ki-kab of the opposition Democratic Labor Party, at the podium, together with other lawmakers who oppose the Korea-U.S. FTA, speaks at the National Assembly, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun


* Text, thanks to Steve Zelter on Dec. 31, 2010

Korea Times
Opposition calls for nullifying KORUS FTA

By Lee Tae-hoon

A group comprising of 43 opposition lawmakers Tuesday called on the government to nullify the free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the United States.

The legislators from the main opposition Democratic Party and such minor opposition as Liberty Forward and Democratic Labor parties said that the renegotiated free trade pact between the two countries was an “unequal, behind-closed doors” negotiation.

“It’s a pact that can inadvertently make a majority of the citizens of Korea and the United States a victim,” they said. The legislators jointly held a meeting with the “pan-national campaign headquarters to oppose KORUS FTA” at the National Assembly.

Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the DP, also opposed the KORUS FTA, during his speech on KBS radio.

The KORUS FTA was signed in 2007 under the Bush administration, but the bilateral pact remained in a deadlock over U.S. demands for wider access to the Korean auto and beef markets.
The new FTA supplemental agreement gives U.S. automakers more access to Korea. In return, Korea, which has refused to discuss the issue of beef, has received some concessions such as a two-year delay in tariff reductions on American pork.

Text Fwd: North Korea, why not make more serious and clear suggestions?

Kyunghyang Shinmun
North Korea, why not make more serious and clear suggestions?
Posted on : 2010-12-22

Photo caption =
Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico, answers to questions from reporters during a press conference held at Beijing Airport after his visit to Pyongyang. Richardson said that North Korea's not having responded to South Korea's recent military drill is a very important progress in that the North has expressed its will to have a dialogue. North Korea conveyed its willingness to Richardson that it will accept inspectors of IAEA. However, this acceptance of inspectors has a different implication from one of the conditions that South Korea, the United States, and Japan put forward as a pre-condition for resumption of 6 party talks. That is, North Korea intends to show that they are not enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons by receiving inspectors; on the contrary, South Korea, US, Japan demand that North Korea accept inspectors to make sure that North Korea promises to stop all nuclear activities including uranium enrichment and to make sure that this promise is kept.
Photo by AP-Yonhap News, Beijing

It was learned that North Korea made two suggestions to Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson who visited the country. Those suggestions were that the North can accept International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors again and ship 12,000 unused nuclear fuel rods overseas.

Those can be construed to be answers from North Korea to demands from South Korea and the United States that the North show the will to denuclearize and put cessation of nuclear development into action in order to resume 6 party talks.

North Korea's response like this is positive in that it wants to show off its denuclearization intention. It is clearly an advanced attitude, given that the North held the position that 6 party talks should be resumed without any precondition.

However, the tense political situation on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea's suggestion for denuclearization do not correspond in that the North's denuclearization gestures were known on the day when South Korea carried out an artillery fire drill at Yeonpyeong Island in response to the North's shelling provocations. Furthermore, it is not sure how serious the North's suggestions are.

Already, the North's plutonium nuclear facility has gotten old, and it has entered into the dismantlement processes according to existing nuclear disablement agreement. In this state, re-discussing shipments of unspent nuclear fuel rods loses half of its significance, which was once broken off during negotiations.

The heart of North Korea's nuclear issue now is uranium enrichment nuclear program, as was shown by the Yeongbyon uranium enrichment facility. But there was no mention of uranium enrichment problem in the North's suggestions. All the more, it is not clear whether IAEA inspectors can look into uranium enrichment facility.

In this way, North Korea's suggestions have a double face. These could be gestures intended to dilute the international atmosphere and trends that criticize and apply sanctions on North Korea; or these could also be a change of attitude to re-discuss North Korea's nuclear issue.

READ MORE

Text Fwd: IBEW Opposes U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement

* Text Fwd from Steve Zeltzer on Dec. 20, 2010

International Brotherhood of the Electrical Workers

IBEW Opposes U.S.-Korea Trade AgreementProposed Pact Will Kill Jobs, Encourage Outsourcing
December 20, 2010

Washington, D.C. – Edwin D. Hill, International President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, issued the following statement on the proposed U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement:

For more than two decades, the American people have been told free trade was good for both workers and consumers. In reality, free trade policies, negotiated by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, have killed good jobs here at home by encouraging offshoring by multinational corporations, creating a global race to the bottom that have gutted labor rights and environmental protections.

The proposed U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement will only perpetuate this cycle, encouraging further job loss and degradation of working standards both here and in South Korea.

The Economic Policy Institute estimates that the agreement will result in the loss of 159,000 American jobs in the first seven years of its implementation and add $16.7 billion to our trade deficit with South Korea.

While the Obama administration made efforts to improve worker protections and address concerns about jobs in the auto sector, the agreement – proposed by President Bush in 2007 – still falls far short of what is needed to make sure American workers and businesses get a fair deal.

Under the pact, Korean-built automobiles could contain up to 65 percent foreign content and still qualify for lower tariffs in the U.S. This leaves open the possibility that so-called Korean-built cars sold in the U.S. could contain a large majority of content
from low-wage countries such as China, Vietnam, or the Kaesong Industrial Complex – a free trade zone in the totalitarian, hostile state of North Korea – making a mockery of the agreement’s commitment to labor protections.

This FTA also includes an investor rights provision that could end up exposing domestic labor laws and financial regulation to foreign tribunals. A similar provision in NAFTA has already cost the American taxpayer $400 million compensation to foreign corporations, and millions more in legal fees.

The agreement also threatens the future of “Buy American” regulations that promote U.S. manufacturing.

In the midst of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, working families cannot afford another free trade agreement that will outsource good-paying jobs, increase our trade deficit and further decimate the U.S.’s manufacturing sector. We oppose the passage of the U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement.

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