#and south korean troops

[sepdet]

at least give that woman a bazooka

("Mother Ukraine" statue in Kiev facing towards Russia; she's so tall 3 men can stand side by side on her shield) 🇺🇦🌻

This was published 100 years ago

[cid5]

American soldiers captured by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army near the Chosin Reservoir. November 1950.

[tomorrowusa]

Russia is using North Korean soldiers as disposable cannon fodder. Though this means they're treating the North Koreans the way Russia treats its own troops.

Russia has left wounded North Koreans on the battlefield to die instead of evacuating them for medical treatment. Some of the North Koreans were intentionally executed to prevent them from being taken prisoner by Ukraine.

Like his new neighbor in Moscow, deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Vladimir Putin has little regard for human life – including lives of Russians and North Koreans.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said “several” North Korean soldiers – badly wounded in fighting alongside Russian forces – have died after being captured by Ukrainian troops on the battlefield and he accused Moscow of having little regard for their survival. Zelenskiy, echoing earlier remarks by U.S. officials, said soldiers sent to Russia by Pyongyang are suffering major losses in fighting in Russia's Kursk region. The Ukrainian leader accused Moscow and North Korean “enforcers” of leaving the soldiers unprotected in battle and even executing fighters to prevent them from being captured alive. [ ... ] “Everything is arranged in a way that makes it impossible for us to capture the Koreans as prisoners – their own people are executing them. There are such cases. And the Russians send them into assaults with minimal protection.” He said Ukrainian soldiers had managed to take some prisoners. "But they were very seriously wounded and could not be saved.” The remarks came after South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said that a North Korean fighter had died of wounds suffered before his capture by Ukrainian special operations troops in the Kursk region. "We have confirmed through an allied intelligence agency that a North Korean soldier who was captured on the 26th died a little while ago due to serious injuries," the news release said.

Ukraine should attempt somehow to get word to North Korean troops of what sort of treatment they should expect from their Russian hosts. Although the North Koreans are heavily indoctrinated, their actions on the battlefield could still be affected by what they learn.

It's implied that South Korean intelligence has been cooperating with Ukraine ever since Russia introduced North Koreans into the conflict. The Ukraine/South Korea relationship will be increasingly mutually beneficial.

[paknewsinsightspk]

South Korean intelligence says North has sent troops to aid Russia's war in Ukraine

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency said Friday that North Korea has dispatched troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. If confirmed, the move would bring a third country into the war and intensify a standoff between North Korea and the West. The South Korean announcement came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government has intelligence that…

[mesetacadre]

In February, 1945, when the USSR agreed at Yalta to join the Allies in the war on Japan, it was decided to divide Korea into two zones for purposes of military action. The Russians took the north, the Americans the south. The following July, at Potsdam, the 38th parallel was chosen as the “great divide.” Korea was a victim of Japanese aggression, not an enemy. We would come as liberators, not as conquerors. The military occupation was to end within a year of victory, followed by about five years of civilian trusteeship in which all the Big Four Powers, America, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and China, should help Korea to her feet. That was the plan. The reality proved otherwise. The growing cold war against the Soviet Union made Korea also a base. The two zones solidified into two areas of military occupation. Friction continues to grow. When American troops landed in South Korea, September 7, 1945, thousands of Koreans danced and cheered and shouted: “Mansai,” or “Live a Thousand Years.” Within six months surly Koreans were demanding how soon the Americans would go home. Within a year great uprisings took place in eighty cities and in hundreds of farming villages against the “police state” that the American armed forces kept in power. When the Americans landed in Korea, the Koreans had already a de facto government. A “People’s Republic” had been declared a day earlier by a congress of Koreans themselves. General John R. Hodge, commander of the U. S. armed forces, dissolved this “People’s Republic,” and drove most of its members underground. Two days after landing, Hodge announced to the Koreans – who had waited a quarter of a century for liberation – that Japanese officials would temporarily continue to run Korea. Korean delegations waiting to greet Americans were fired on – by Japanese police! The Russians pursued an opposite policy. They recognized the “People’s Committees” that the Americans were suppressing. They encouraged Korean initiative when it took the form of ousting the Japanese-appointed puppets, dividing the landlords’ lands, and nationalizing the Japanese-owned industry as the “property of the Korean people.” They especially looked with favor on what they called “mass organizations,” – farmers’ unions, labor unions, women’s associations and unions of youth. The Russian zone in the north fairly blossomed with such organizations energetically building their country after their own desire. From time to time the Americans and Russians held conferences to determine Korea’s future. Nothing came of these talks but increasing bitterness for two years. The Americans insisted on including pro-Japanese quislings and returned exiles in the provisional government. The Russians refused. The Russians insisted on including representatives of the trade unions, the farmers’ union and other similar organizations. The USA would not hear of this.

In North Korea: First Eye-Witness Reports, Anna Louise Strong, 1949

[lostberet]

˚ ༘ ♡ ⋆.˚ WORLDTOUR teaser | ot7 (m)

𐙚 synopsis: The year 2026 has arrived, and instead of returning to their loving jobs as Idols, Bangtan is stuck serving South Korea after a mysterious outbreak. However, what these two jobs have in common is their World Tour.

༘⋆ genre: explicit (18+) ; angst , romance , violence, suspense , smut ; military au , idol au? ,

༘⋆ disclaimer: Violence, Gore, Graphic Violence, Use of Weapons, Mention of death, eventual smut, Sexual themes, If you’re not 18+ please, PLEASE, do not interact. Be mindful of the warnings. Let me know if I miss anything.

༘⋆ a/note: ANOTHER SERIES, hello my jelly fishies, this is a series that will be broken up into a mini-series for each member, please let me know who's tour you'd like to read first!

South Korea, Jeju Island     time: 7:35 pm

“I apologize, but there is not enough space for you and your crew at this moment, captain.” There was commotion, each service worker going into their own phone calls answering, some sobbing and others yelling in frustration, “Please stay safe, I will send a boat whenever there is one available.” 

Yoongi removed the head-phone caller from his head, taking in a deep breath as he stared at the large screen before him. A world map showing multiple red dots of the Korean Military’s location, and some of them were his friends. 

“They’ll be fine.” A familiar voice said beside him, Yoongi turned his head, meeting NamJoon’s. Yoongi only remained silent and Namjoon took his silence as a rejection, “SeokJin wants to have dinner together.”

Namjoon tired again, trying to bring his older brother back from his dark thoughts, “I can’t stomach anything right now.” Namjoon nodded, a faint smile on his face as he patted Yoongi’s back, “I know.. But whole they’re out there━ surviving━ so are we back here.” 

Japan, Tokyo               time: 7:37 pm 

“Hyung!” Hoseok turned from his still-position, his vision blurry from the heavy rain, “yeah?”  Squinting, he was able to make up one of his members, “Hyung, time for dinner, chief also has some information regarding international news,” Jimin’s voice was calm, his body turning to look out into the city. The rain filled the silence between them. Hoseok only swallowed, he was worried, nervous━ yet, what he was feeling was nothing compared to what Jimin felt. 

Jimin will be able to know more about the two younger ones. The two who were selected to actually fly across the world in where they had absolutely no contact. Hoseok held onto Jimin’s shoulder, “I’m sure everything is fine!” Hoseok chirped, a bright smile on his lips. Jimin only gave a small smile back. He was just thankful that among all this chaos, he had a brother with him.

United States of America, Texas - San Antonio      4:30 am

“We gotta get moving, let’s go soldiers!” an American soldier commanded as he waved the small group into a building, shutting the door behind him. 

The American soldier removed his helmet, turning to another American soldier, “when is the plane arriving?” The American took a while to respond as he checked his watch, “In about 5 minutes, captain.” 

The American Captain nodded, clenching his jaw as he looked at his small team, his eyes landing on the two foreigners, “Ya hear that, you two?” The Captain bit back a grin, “you motherfuckers are going back home.” 

Jungkook leaned against the concrete wall, panting from running a few miles, a toothy smile visible as he heard the Captain’s words. He looked over at Taehyung, who smiled at the thought of going back to Korea. 

“We’ll have to go down to Mexico, from there, the flight will be directly towards Jeju Island.” The American soldier informed the crew, earning nods in response. 

The clock had struck 4:35 am, and the door’s of the safe house were opened once more, the American Captain commanding his troops to run towards the plane location━ 1 mile away. 

Taehyung jogged behind the Captain and one other American soldier, Jungkook was right behind him. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the dark morning. Taehyung wasn’t tired, he’d trained to the point that running miles didn’t make his heart pump to the point of fainting. So, why was his heart pumping so fast? 

It became so loud to the point that he only heard his heartbeat against his chest━ it didn’t take long for him to realize that something was right, his whole body felt it, but he kept moving forward. He’ll be on the plane home no less than a mile away. 

“Get down!” Before Jungkook could process the foreign warning, a building on his far left exploited━ sending building pieces flying towards their direction and with it, the familiar grunts and screams of death. “Everyone run!” 

It took a second for Jungkook’s body to react before he started springing to the desired location. His eyes focused on Taehyung’s back. As the group got closer to the military base, sounds of gun-shots started taking over the grunts and screams. Startled by the sudden fire, Jungkook dropped to his knees, covering his ears━ a bad reflex response his body had come up. However, his arm was being pulled by one of the American Soldiers, “Get up━we’re almost there!” 

Almost being dragged by the American, Jungkook stumbled upon his feet, running alongside them. His reaction had cost him some time. Upon entering the gate to the military airport, he witnessed Taehyung entering the plane, along with 2 others. 

20 feet more and Jungkook will also be in that plane. 19 more feet and Jungkook was tackled down on the floor, the sound of fire getting louder and louder━ but Taehyung’s call was the only thing Jungkook could hear. 

And as the door of the plane closed and the plane rose from the ground up to the air━ the last image of Taehyung Jungkook will never forget was how he still reached for him.  And the last image of Jungkook Taehyung got to witness was how he was being dragged off the ground by the American Captain, his gun firing at the dead. 

It was 4: 50am when Taehyung threw his helmet against the metal floor of the plane, pacing around, his body trembling as he tried wrapping his head over what had just happened. He wasn’t going back home without Jungkook.

It was 6:00 am when Taehyung had come up with a plan to return to America and find Jungkook. It was also the time the plane began to share the same trembling as Taehyung’s body. It was 6:15 am when Kim Taehyung’s plane crashed into Mexico, Monterrey. 

South Korea, Jeju Island     time: 8:05 pm

The small lobby held a few soldiers, it only held the ones who had loved ones internationally━ So, SeokJin, Yoongi and NamJoon found themselves in that same room, awaiting their turn to receive their news. 

“Jun-ha,” The Captain called out, “Your sister is doing just fine in Thailand. The Thailand Military will bring her home, she’ll take a plane back to Korea in about a day.” The sound of sobs echoed in the room, 

It was 8:15 when the group was dismissed, bringing panic and confusion among the oldest Bangtan members, “Captain, what about our boys?” SeokJin called out, earning a few looks from the leaving soldiers, “Hoseok and Jimin are just fine in Japan.” 

“We know they’re fine, we’re talking about Taehyung and Jungkook.” NamJoon butt-in, his eyes dancing across the Captain’s face, trying to find any sense of emotion. The Captain only licked his lips, avoiding eye contact, “about that..” 

“I swear to god, if something happened to them━” Yoongi stepped in, panic running through his veins before the Captain spoke, “They are fine. Separated but fine.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Japan, Tokyo               time: 8:10 pm 

“Okay.. Taehyung is on his way..” Jimin muttered, his leg bouncing as he tried to calm his nerves, “What about Jungkook?” Hoseok looked between the Captain and Jimin, “Jungkook will take his plane from Miami, we’re not sure when, but he’s safe.” 

South Korea, Jeju Island     time: 8:13 pm

“Thank God..” Seokjin sighed, his head falling into his arms, relief falling into his body. His boys were coming home. Not together, but soon. 

Japan, Tokyo | South Korea, Jeju Island              time: 8:30 pm

Jimin and Hoseok stood on top of the military base, guarding and scanning the area. It was their turn to stand guard for the night. Jimin felt drained, his eyes only focusing on the far distance of the safe house. His thoughts eating him away. 

“Park, Jung, you two copy?” The Captain’s voice echoed through their radio, Jimin slightly turned his head towards Hoseok. Hoseok grabbed his radio, “Yes, Captain, over.”

“Come to the lobby.” 

South Korea, Jeju Island     time: 8:33 pm

“You told us they were fine!” Yoongi yelled, his eyes burning with tears, “The plane fell near a safe base, I’m sure if━” 

“Sure of what?! Do you even know if Taehyung is alive?” Yoongi cut the Captain off, SeokJin bringing Yoongi to sit back down on the chair, “Yoongi’s right.. I don’t want to jump to conclusions.. But.. we want to know if Taehyung survived..” 

United States of America - Dallas, Texas          6:36am

“What..” Jungkook’s voice came out faint, almost a whisper as the color of his face drained, “We’re sending the Mexican safe house near the accident to check the place.. In the meantime, you will head to Miami for your flight.” 

“I’m not going anywhere until I know about Taehyung.” Jungkook said, the American Captain only sighed, “You’ll know, but you need to get to Miami, go back home.” 

Mexico, Monterrey         10:25 am

Taehyung coughed, his eyes opening as he scanned the area, the beaming sun burning his face. The air was very hot against his face, and with a grunt, he pulled himself from the ground. The moment he stood on his feet, he felt the pain run through his spine, he hissed and crunched down. 

“Fuck..” he muttered, his hands running through his body. He hadn’t broken a bone, thank god for that, but his thigh was bleeding, a deep cut, too. He looked around, but there wasn’t much he could do. Just walk it out. 

12:09 pm

Taehyung reached a point where his leg couldn’t keep up, causing him to stop near a small town. Silence welcomed him, no life in sight, and he didn’t mind. His uniform was becoming unbearable, and his thigh was hurting too much. 

He stumbled upon a small store, entering and blocking the entrance behind him. And just like that, Taehyung found a small place that kept him safe for the day. When Night time fell, the heat of Mexico kept him warm, but his thigh still ached. He couldn’t find anything to fix it, he’ll have luck next time. 

That was if he wasn’t found first. 

2024 © LOSTBERET, all rights reserved. please do not copy, plagiarize, translate, repost, or steal my work.

[collapsedsquid]

Trump had been repeatedly told that US freedom of action against North Korea was constrained by the fact that the regime’s artillery could demolish the South Korean capital in retaliation for any attack, inflicting mass casualties on its population of 25 million. “They have to move,” Trump said, according to Bergen, who adds that his officials were initially unsure if the president was joking. But Trump then repeated the line. “They have to move!” No action was taken in response to Trump’s bizarre remark, but the situation grew steadily worse, with a series of North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile tests and a hydrogen bomb test in September 2017. After watching a retired four-star general, Jack Keane, interviewed on Fox News in late January 2018, saying that US troops deployed to South Korea should not take their families with them, Bergen reports that Trump told his national security team: “I want an evacuation of American civilians from South Korea.” A senior official warned that such an evacuation would be interpreted as a signal that the US was ready to go to war, and would crash the South Korean stock market, but Trump is reported to have ignored the warning, telling his team: “Go do it!” Alarmed Pentagon officials ignored the order, and – according to Bergen – Trump eventually dropped the idea. It was one of a number of occasions that the defense secretary at the time, James Mattis, ignored direction from the White House. He also refused to send defense department officials to a planned Korea war game at Camp David in the autumn of 2017, or to provide military options for intercepting North Korean ships suspected of sanctions busting.

[dostoyevsky-official]

North Korean troops have arrived in Russia to fight Ukraine, says Seoul

South Korea’s intelligence agency said on Friday that North Korea had dispatched troops to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine, a development that could intensify the standoff between North Korea and the west. [...] The statement was the most comprehensive official report to date detailing North Korean involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine. If proved accurate, it would amount to North Korea’s first major participation in a foreign war. Additionally, South Korean media said on Friday, citing anonymous sources, that Pyongyang had decided to dispatch a total of 12,000 troops, formed into four brigades, to Russia. The NIS did not immediately confirm these reports. The statements come a day after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said his country had intelligence reports that 10,000 North Korean soldiers were preparing to enter the war. “This is the first step to a world war,” he told reporters in Brussels.

[usafphantom2]

#TomcatTails

#TomcatTuesday

“Well whattya know? A DMZ!!”

The following story occurred during my time in the VF-154 Black Knights. We were based on Atsugi, Japan and part of Carrier Air Wing FIVE onboard the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). The Kitty Hawk was the last conventional aircraft carrier (non-nuclear) and was actually quite good at what she did, despite her age (almost 40 in 1999).

I was headed to the Black Knights as a Department Head (Lieutenant Commander) and on the way I went to Forward Air Controller (Airborne) or FAC(A) school. This qualification was relatively new for the Tomcat and we needed at least 3 qualified crews per squadron. My RIO “Skippy” and I got the nod to go to the school on the way to Japan, which consisted of some school in the deserts of Marine Corps Station Twenty-Nine Palms for the ground portion, and then working with the Oceana Weapons School on a good portion of the flying syllabus. We eventually got our final graduation hop after we got to Japan, but that hop deserves its own #TomcatTail, so I’ll leave it there.

What the FAC(A) does is provide Close Air Support (CAS) to troops on the ground, working with a ground FAC to target the hostiles. In a nutshell, the FAC(A) will have some “assets”, generally sections of Tomcats or Hornets arranged in a “stack” separated by a thousand feet holding some distance away from the hot area (10 or 15 miles or so). As the ground dudes generate a target (building, vehicle, people, etc.) they’ll describe where it is and talk the FAC(A) overhead to get his eyes on it. Once the FAC(A)’s got it, he calls in his assets in singles or sections and they’ll follow the route the FAC(A) gives them to arrive in the target area, where the FAC(A) will then start talking the assets eyes onto the target.

He's also maneuvering to get in a position behind the asset and will eventually follow that asset as he rolls in on the target and if the asset appears to be aligned on the correct target, the FAC(A) will say “cleared hot” and the asset is then cleared to engage.

Now that’s the “low tech version” where the FAC(A) is doing max work to get the bombs on the bad guys. Later on, we were also able to lase targets with our LANTIRN pod, or the ground dudes could lase with their mules, so we could drop more accurate PGMs. You still had to follow the guy to make sure he was properly aimed before release. While I didn't have the honor of participating, after OEF/OIF started Tomcats made their bread and butter in the FAC(A) mission due to long on station time and lot’s of “spotting ordnance” (500lb bombs). All in all, it was one of my favorite missions and was always a real hoot……..especially at night with goggles on!

For the purposes of this story, our CAS training was going to be off the Kitty Hawk and to conduct some “Korean Contingent” training for when a hundred thousand screaming NORKs started breaking south. It was also a little show of force because….we can. The scenario is that we’re going to be working a “notional target area” about 30 miles south of the DMZ and me and Skippy would have 2 sections of Hornets and Tomcats (4 jets total) to “work the battle problem”. It was by no means a large exercise, just some fairly simple CAS training to keep those skills honed. Basic holding points and patterns, simulated 500lb bombs, fairly simple 9 Line Briefs.

A 9 Line is the basic information the FAC(A) delivers to the assets and contains Initial Point, Heading to Target, Distance to Target, Target Elevation, Target Description, Target Location (lat/long, grid, or description), Type of Mark (rocket, white phosphorous), Friendly Location, and Egress direction. When you read it over the radio, it might sound like “Alpha…..010°…..15 nm….500…….blue roofed building…..large intersection…..talk-on…..500 meters north….190°.”

We brief up (FAC does the brief), man up and bang off the boat and eventually find ourselves holding 35nm south of the Korean DMZ. Neat! What could possibly go wrong! After me and Skippy take a quick tour of the target area 5 miles to our north (nothing special….just a small town with some hills to the west, a few big roads, etc.), we come back and start preparing some 9 lines. The “stack” is established 10 miles south of us with the jets as a stack of four singles starting at 18,000 feet on up. The key training here is for us to practice our craft (9 lines, talk-ons, maneuvering) and for the strikers to work some basic CAS skills (taking 9 lines, navigating, visually acquiring the talked-on target, rolling in parameters, etc.). Just another day in Naval Aviation!

It looks about like this:

______________________ DMZ

Ӧ Target

Me and Λ

Skippy

The Stack Λ Λ Λ Λ

Hornet guys are going first because….well, they’re Hornets and they’re almost out of gas already (kidding….mostly). Skippy and I devise a good 9 line and we call the first guy in from the bottom of the stack. We pick him up 6 mile from the target area and we roll in trail at a half mile. As we talk him on, he has a little trouble finding “the house with the blue roof”. As anyone that’s flown over Korea knows, damn near EVERY building has a blue roof! And no, they’re not all IHOPs. We eventually get him lined up and he rolls in; we follow just behind, check his alignment on the correct blue-roofed building and give the “SIMULATE CLEARED HOT”. A quick sim delivery and he’s pulling off and left to 190° and we pitch off right to go back to our station.

We cycle the next Hornet through on a similar pattern, then work the two Tomcats so now everyone has one run. Those runs are pretty uneventful but good training in a dynamic environment, and by this time we’ve learned to NOT use “the blue roofed building” as a target. Hey, what can I say? We’re trainable. Our plan was to bang out two more with the Hornets, kiss them off to head back to the boat, and wrap; up with the Tomcats.

Now it’s time for the fourth run. We take one more trip over the target area to select some new targets and then position ourselves south of the target area to read the 9 line. Once complete, the first Hornet calls “pushing” and Skippy gets them on radar (RIO is REALLY busy with FAC(A) and so is the Pilot). First thing he notices is that he’s not quite heading in the direction of the target, off by maybe 10° to the east, heading maybe 020°. Hmm. The Hornet is trundling along and keeping that direction, making no corrections to the west (left) to put the target area on their nose.

After a few minutes, Skippy calls out for them to “check left, 30” to get him to steer toward our target. No response, no course change. He says it again and the Hornet comes up with a “all good” or something. By this time they’re abeam the target, heading north-ish, and are 30 miles south of the DMZ. Oh shit. He's had some kind of NAV failure. Skippy gets more strident with a call like “target is your left nine o’clock, come left hard”. By this time I’ve positioned us about 2 miles in trail and we’re watching him trundle unaware toward the DMZ.

This is gonna be bad. Real bad. The story of a couple US helos getting fired on for flying over the DMZ years back comes to mind and I’m thinking “Hey, we’re about to get famous.” By this time, he's 15 miles south of the DMZ and the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. One more strident “come left hard” call with no response and then Skippy shouts to “BREAK SOUTH, BREAK SOUTH, DMZ TEN MILES NORTH!!!”. At that point, I think the pilot snaps out of it and actually looks out the window (he was probably navigating heads down on a bad system) and we can see his jet break hard right and flow south like a scalded dog. We do the same, but not before checking out the DMZ in all its back-side-of-the-moon splendor.

There are areas where it’s not quite as obvious, but when you look at it from 20,000 feet the actual line of the DMZ is easily discernable in the landscape. Kind of like the US border in the southwest. You can see it. Which is funny because guess how my friend “Baja” got his callsign after an errant low-level flight near the US/Mexico border?

We flowed south and decided that, discretion being the better part of valor, we should probably CNX the rest of the mission that day and maybe we can sneak back and no one noticed. After getting back aboard the boat, the debrief was interesting because the lead Hornet pilot was in fact fiddle-f**king with his NAV system and when he looked out the window (the canopy is clear for a reason, kids), he thought “HolyShitTheDMZ!!!!” and broke hard. All in all, no harm now foul. We all survived the day but did have to let our CAG know what happened. He was very cool about the whole thing, especially since his “phone didn’t ring. I’m sure the Hornet dudes got max grief in the squadron (“Magellan”, etc.).

The only better end to that story I could think of is if the ship was serving Korean BBQ for dinner, but they weren’t. Sliders again. Not great, but not bad. We can live on Sliders.🍔

@RSE_VB via X

[mariacallous]

The New Yorker Daily: A Win for Democracy in South Korea

E. Tammy Kim Kim writes about politics, the federal government, and the Koreas.

While working on Deep State Diaries, my weekly dispatch about the Trump Administration’s attacks on the federal workforce, I’ve kept my eye on another democracy in crisis: South Korea.

In December, President Yoon Suk-yeol had attempted to thwart the country’s National Assembly, which was obstructing his agenda, by declaring martial law. He censored the media and banned large gatherings; he ordered troops and police to arrest opposition leaders and a leftist journalist. Shoot, if necessary, he demanded. As I wrote at the time, there could have been a massacre—a return to South Korea’s violent, pre-democratic past. (The country was ruled by military dictators from 1961 to 1987.) But the soldiers disobeyed, legislators pushed past guns to vote down the declaration, and thousands of protesters filled the streets. Within six hours, Yoon was forced to call off his plan.

Mass protests continued throughout the winter, calling for Yoon’s arrest and prosecution. He was eventually impeached and indicted for crimes against the state. It was a meaningful step for a relatively new democracy, I wrote. But impeachment does not automatically lead to removal from office. That would be up to the nation’s Constitutional Court, which deliberated for two and a half months. On Friday morning, the justices ruled unanimously (8–0) in favor of Yoon’s ouster. An election for a new President must now be held within sixty days.

I watched Friday’s proceedings on Korean TV: inside the courtroom, there was a quiet, bloodless recitation of treasonous acts; outside, a rowdy explosion of signs, costumes (a giant bear, a red-hatted Mario), song, and dance. Yoon was holed up in his house, where he has long been keeping out of public view. “You, the Korean people, have been through so much,” the head of the impeachment committee for the National Assembly said. He—all the speakers were men, despite the strong presence of young women in the protest movement—invoked a metaphor of rebirth: a “new, democratic spring” was here.

Shortly after the proceedings, workers took down the Presidential flag from Yoon’s official headquarters. Only the national Taegukgi flag remained. There had been a sense, in the lead-up to the court’s announcement, that removing Yoon from office would be a victory for democracy at large. South Koreans needed the win. The rest of us did, too.

[uss-edsall]

America: "we don't want the war to expand beyond Ukraine and Russia" (ignores Belarusian, Iranian and North Korean efforts to supply Russia including troops and ballistic missiles, doesn’t allow Ukraine the ability to actually fight back in a way that matters) The war: expands into the fractious and nuclear armed affairs of North and South Korea America:

[the-jewel-catalogue]

Flashback; The South Korean state visit Official Welcoming, 2023

The earrings feature cabochon sapphire and diamond studs and clusters, with a single round diamond linking the two sections.

These, of course, belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales, who wore them often in the 1980s and 1990s.

Kate made her debut in the earrings at Trooping the Colour in June 2022, and she’s worn them often since. 

Of course, the flag of South Korea has both red and blue in. The flag of Qatar is red and white.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Justin McCurry at The Guardian:

South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach the acting president, Han Duck-soo, plunging the country deeper into a political crisis that has caused policy deadlock and damaged its international reputation. On Friday, the national assembly approved an impeachment motion introduced on Thursday by the main opposition party by a 192-0 vote. The chamber has 300 MPs, but members of the ruling People Power party (PPP) boycotted Friday’s vote.

Han took over as president after his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached over his short-lived imposition of martial law on 3 December. The move triggered six hours of chaos that, for many older South Koreans, brought back memories of the country’s bloody transition from military rule to democracy in the 1980s. The main opposition Democratic party – which has a majority in the national assembly – targeted Han after accusing him of participating in Yoon’s botched imposition of martial law, which ended when MPs forced their way into the parliament building to overturn Yoon’s decree. Yoon had claimed he had declared martial law as a legitimate “act of governance” to root out politicians from opposition parties he accused of pro-North Korean sympathies and anti-state activities. He gave no evidence for those claims, and analysts believe he had become exasperated by his failure to get his budgets past the opposition-controlled national assembly. Had it stood for more than a few hours, the martial law order edict would have suspended all political activity, banned protests and curtailed press freedoms, while police and troops would have been responsible for enforcing the order.

South Korea impeaches its 2nd president in less than a month. This time, it's acting President Han Duck-soo. With Duck-soo's impeachment, Choi Sang-mok will become the interim President.

Will Sang-mok be the 3rd President getting impeached in succession there? stay tuned.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

The US claims that 8,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to the Russia-Ukraine border while Ukraine estimates 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia.

Where are these numbers coming from? Despite a lack of evidence, US media has been overrun by stories of North Korean troops in Ukraine. Unfortunately, this kind of unquestioned reporting on North Korea is a pattern—not a fluke.

These claims serve to advance the West’s war drive. By scapegoating North Korea and manufacturing urgency, Ukraine justifies more requests for arms aid and foreign troops. In the past few days, the US sent another $425 million to Ukraine while Zelensky begged the US to greenlight a preemptive strike.

Meanwhile, South Korea has already profited from this war through arms sales to Poland, and now President Yoon is using the allegations to justify direct arms sales to Ukraine.

What the media hypocritically ignores is the role of Western forces in escalating the conflict. Since the war began in 2022, NATO troops have been present in Ukraine, and the US has contributed a total of $90 billion while using Ukraine as their weapons testing ground.

In the past two years, US alliances have further pushed the Korean peninsula towards war.

In June, North Korea and Russia signed a mutual defense agreement in response to intensified US-South Korea military exercises.

While the US pushes the world into further conflict and crisis, the working and oppressed people of the world sleep hungry in dilapidated homes. Every year, the masses witness the US spend nearly $1.5 trillion to maintain its military dominance. Our people do not want war: they want bread, housing, and a livable future for their children.

Down with the war economy, up with the people’s economy!

Via Nodutdol for Korean Community Development

[tomorrowusa]

It seems that North Koreans fighting in Putin's war were falsely told that they were just going on a training mission. I think some of the original invading Russian soldiers were told the same thing in early 2022.

Ukrainian investigators are questioning two soldiers from North Korea whom the country’s forces captured in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. [ ... ] The Ukrainian president said it was “not easy” to capture the North Korean soldiers, claiming that Moscow attempted to hide their presence by letting Russian and North Korean troops kill their wounded comrades on the battlefield to avoid being taken prisoner by Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said the prisoners were talking through interpreters working with South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS). The SBU said one prisoner, who said he was born in 2005, claimed he believed he was "going for training, not to fight a war against Ukraine." The other man was forced to write his answers because of an injured jaw, the SBU said. That soldier said he was born in 1999 and was a sniper in the North Korean army. The developments followed new Ukrainian attacks in Kursk to prevent Russia from snatching back territory. A lightning Ukrainian offensive first captured large swaths of the Kursk region in August 2024. It was the largest incursion onto Russian soil since World War II.

Actually, the Kursk incursion by Ukraine is the first time since WWII that foreign troops have have taken territory in Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said that the "first North Korean prisoners of war are now in Kyiv" and that they were "regular [North Korean] troops, not mercenaries." “The security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is directly linked. We need maximum pressure against regimes in Moscow and Pyongyang.,” he wrote.

The two North Korean soldiers are lucky to be alive. Russians on the battlefield have been killing wounded North Koreans to prevent them from falling into Ukrainian hands. This probably qualifies as a war crime.

Question: Given that Russia and probably North Korea would have preferred those soldiers to be dead, wouldn't it be safer for them to remain in Ukraine or move to South Korea?