I really think a number of senior Army leaders did not initially push back on General Hamilton’s attempts to manipulate the command selection process because they did not want to be accused of being racist. Clearly General Hamilton was playing the race card in his effort to get this lieutenant colonel a command:

But the four-star general spent about a month lobbying for the lieutenant colonel, despite deficient performance on the new command selection boards. The lobbying began before her board, when Hamilton made references to panel judges — a trio of two-star generals — that he knew the lieutenant colonel they would be reviewing.

Hamilton also reached out to an adviser at the Army Talent Management Task Force and the head of the Army’s BCAP for documents related to the lieutenant colonel’s assessment.

That lobbying was intense enough that Col. Robert O’Brien, head of the Army’s Command Assessment Program, wrote a memo detailing Hamilton’s effort, Military.com reported.

Both Hamilton and the former subordinate are Black, which Hamilton said has been a factor in mentoring the officer. In an Aug. 16, 2024, letter that he wrote to Wormuth about the battalion commander selection process, he said the new command selection method “fails to account for the psychological effects that systemic bias, discrimination, and overt racism can have on prospective officers.”

Army Times

What is even worse is that the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army even ended up giving in to General Hamilton’s lobbying for this lieutenant colonel to be on the command list even though she failed the selection process twice and being in the bottom 1%:

The lieutenant colonel scored in the bottom 1% out of about 800 candidates for command, failing the initial BCAP panel in a 0-5 vote after being found to be an “ineffective” leader.

Military.com

The BCAP panel interviews are done without the evaluators seeing the officer and all names are removed from reports so they can’t see the persons race. Yet General Hamilton was still claiming racism in the selection process. Also of interest was that this lieutenant colonel received a legion of merit as a major which I have never seen or even heard of before. A legion of mertit award usually goes to a Colonel after a successful brigade command or senior staff position. That should of been a red flag there.

The investigation into Hamilton did find he had an overly close relationship with the lieutenant colonel, but could not prove a sexual relationship. These false claims of racism has now done significant damage to the Army’s attempt to create as fair as possible system to select commanders in its attempt to stop any perceived racism in the command selection process. Fortunately an anonymous whistleblower came forward to the IG to call out this inappropriate conduct because if they hadn’t this unfit lieutenant colonel would have been commanding troops.

It looks like most of President Yoon’s cabinet had no idea about the martial law decree and he called them into a meeting that night just to consolidate them before declaring it:

A brief, five-minute Cabinet meeting took place between 10:17 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. in the presidential reception room, apparently without due process or any official record, according to data from the Ministry of Interior and Safety submitted by the presidential office.

Yoon, who came into the meeting but did not even sit down, abruptly left the meeting. At 10:23 p.m., he began reading his statement — without the presence of Cabinet members or reporters. The live televised address culminated in the declaration of martial law at around 10:28 p.m.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-Kyung vividly recounted that some of those present at the five-minute Cabinet meeting on Dec. 3 were completely blindsided, leaving them powerless to intervene or stop him from making it public.

“(The president) briefly entered the room and then left. After he left, those who were seated were taken aback and asked, ‘Where did he go?’ At that moment, someone played a broadcast on their phone, and his voice came through. That’s what happened,” Song said during the Dec. 11 plenary session of the Assembly, recalling that the Cabinet meeting never formally concluded — there was no declaration signaling its end.

“It wasn’t even possible to grab hold of him or physically intervene in any way. I am truly sorry for this.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Meanwhile on Dokdo the Korean military continues to train for an invasion that will never come:

Korea conducted biannual defense drills near its easternmost islets of Dokdo earlier this week, a military source said, in what marked the sixth such exercise held under the current administration.

“The drills took place in the East Sea on Monday,” the source said, emphasizing they are part of regular drills conducted to defend Korea’s territory and its citizens’ properties.

Navy and Coast Guard vessels, as well as Navy aircraft, were mobilized for the latest exercise, the source said, without providing further details.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Another ROK Army senior leader has now been arrested:

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, who served as the chief commander during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived imposition of martial law, was arrested Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Park was arrested with a court-issued warrant on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection and abuse of power.

Park became the fifth key figure who was arrested over Yoon’s Dec. 3 failed bid to impose martial law. 

So far, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung, head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, head of the Army Special Warfare Command, and Lt. Gen. Lee Jin-woo, head of the Capital Defense Command, have been arrested.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The North Koreans did get sent to go fight in a war so it should not be a surprise that they have wounded and killed:

This Dec. 16, 2024, screenshot shows a photo from the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda of what it described to be Russian and North Korean soldiers killed in combat. It has been partially blurred. 

The United States has indications that North Korean troops have suffered casualties, including fatalities, during combat alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, Reuters reported Monday, citing a Pentagon spokesperson.

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder made the remarks as Kyiv’s intelligence authorities have said that some 200 Russian and North Korean soldiers were estimated to have been killed while fighting in combined units against Ukrainian forces.

“We do assess that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk … we do have indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded,” Ryder was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters. Kursk is Russia’s western front line.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is not too surprising of news:

The leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) said Monday he is stepping down amid growing internal strife following the National Assembly’s vote to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.

PPP leader Han Dong-hoon made the announcement during a press conference after an impeachment motion against Yoon was passed 204-85 on Saturday over his botched imposition of martial law on Dec. 3.

The results showed 12 PPP lawmakers likely broke from their party line to vote in favor of impeachment. Han expressed support for Yoon’s impeachment Thursday despite his earlier calls for the president’s “orderly” exit.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.