Tag: Japan

North Korea is opening up tourism to these college students from Japan. I wonder if they are just a bunch of Chosen Soren kids? Maybe Kim Jong-un can invite some of the protesting kids from our US college campuses as well so they can experience the wonders of communism they seem to idolize so much:

North Korea has reportedly approved the visit of about 140 students from Korea Universityin Japan and allowed Korean students to visit as well.

On July 21, the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a special permit for Korea University students to visit at the end of August. The newspaper stated, “It is known that North Korea has explained that students with South Korean nationality can also visit.”

Since the global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, North Korea has implemented a border lockdown for over three years. The newspaper noted that this group visit is the first since the pandemic began.

Mainichi Shimbun reported, “The visitors will be fourth-year students from Korea University, divided into several groups to stay in North Korea for about a month from August to November.” It also noted that “when using North Korea’s Air Koryo from Beijing, each individual is allowed to bring up to 50kg of luggage.”

MSN

You can read more at the link.

It has been a while since GI crime has been an issue on Okinawa, but the disclosure of these two sexual assault cases has given the island’s left wing government plenty to complain to USFJ about:

The U.S. military has yet to announce new restrictions on troops stationed in Japan despite calls from local authorities after two service members were indicted for alleged sexual crimes on Okinawa. “There is currently no update right now in terms of any changes to liberty policy at the moment,” Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Wright, spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan, told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

Tensions have escalated on Okinawa, where the U.S. military stations approximately 30,000 service members, more than 50% of its troops in Japan, following disclosures in late June of the two indictments by the Naha Public Prosecutors Office. The commanding generals of Okinawa-based III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Installations Pacific directed their commanders to “reinforce their expectations of standards and conduct across the force,” III MEF spokesman 1st Lt. Owen Hitchcock said by email Monday.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link, but as I have said before, the expectation of zero crime from US servicemembers is unrealisitic. There is always going to be some crime that happens, what matters is how low is the crime rate and is it being properly prosecuted? I have seen no indications of a high crime rate on Okinawa from US troops and clearly cases are being prosecuted as these latest incidents show.

Japanese vending machines are great and they are about to get an upgrade:

The ubiquitous Japanese vending machine is keeping its place on U.S. military bases, despite a nationwide round-up of obsolete machines. Many of the 4.1 million vending machines across Japan, each worth around $13,000, will be replaced this summer when Japan rolls out a new set of bank notes featuring holograms to stop counterfeiting, according to a New York Times report June 8. Some older machines will not accept the new currency. The change-out will not affect most vending machines on U.S. military bases from Misawa Air Base in the north to Marine Corps camps in the south, according to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and the Navy Exchange. They and local contractors maintain and operate 3,800 machines.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I wish the U.S. could have as many convenient vending machines as Japan. However, the high crime rate compared to Japan makes it impossible in the U.S.

After the U.S. Presidential debate debacle, the ROK and Japan are probably accelerating the institutionalizing of various parts of their combined cooperation:

Former U.S. President Donald Trump caused friction with both allies during his time in office by demanding greater payment for their hosting of U.S. troops while holding one-on-one meetings with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Under Biden, Washington is seeking to solidify its system of alliances, both with increasingly sophisticated exercises and diplomatic agreements, Graham said. “It’s obviously a U.S. attempt to try and mesh their alliances as positively as possible, not just given the challenge of their adversaries, but also the uncertainty around a second Trump administration,” he said. “They’re trying to institutionalize as many of these habits of cooperation while they can.” Tensions with North Korea are at their highest point in years, with the pace of Kim Jong Un’s weapons programs intensifying, despite heavy international sanctions.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Due to outside pressure the Yoon administration is now having to provide public updates on what they had previously been handling quiety with the Naver issue and Japan:

The presidential office said Tuesday a report set to be filed with the Japanese government by LY Corp. will not include plans for stake sales by the South Korean portal giant Naver Corp.

Naver has been under pressure from the Japanese government to “review its capital relationship” in LY Corp., the operator of Line controlled by a joint venture between Naver and SoftBank of Japan, over a massive data leak of user information. 

“We have been communicating with Naver, and LY’s report set to be submitted to the Japanese government will not include plans for Naver selling stakes,” a high-ranking presidential official said over the phone.

“The Japanese government should not disadvantage Naver because the report did not include a stake sales plan,” the official added.

It marked the first time for the presidential office to directly address the possibility that Naver would not sell its stakes to SoftBank.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but to sum this whole issue up, the Japanese government was unhappy with the massive data leak Naver’s Line app had. The Japanese government then pressured Naver to improve cyber security or consider selling Line to someone who will. The Korean left predictably decided to turn this into a anti-Japan issue, which now has caused the Yoon administration to make public statements instead of trying to handle this issue quietly with the Japanese government.

By the way the Japanese government never even issued any formal guidance to sell Line:

Sung noted the Japanese government has stated several times there was no mention of a stake sale in the administrative guidance it issued to LY, Line’s operator, earlier this year, nor any reference to control of the company.

Once again this is a cyber security issue. Naver needs to fix the cyber security for their Line app and then the Japanese government will leave them alone. Did I miss anything?

Just as I suspected, the Yoon administration is trying to handle the Naver situation quietly while the Korean left is trying to turn it into an anti-Japanese bilateral political issue. It is all pretty predictable:

The government will respond firmly and strongly to any unfair overseas treatment of South Korean companies, the presidential office said Monday, as the Japanese government has appeared to pressure Naver to sell its stake in the operator of Line, the biggest messenger app in Japan.

LY, the operator of Line, is controlled by a joint venture between Naver — South Korea’s biggest internet portal operator — and SoftBank of Japan. Earlier this year, the Japanese government issued administrative guidance to LY to “review its capital relationship” with Naver, over a massive leak of user information last year, which was interpreted as pressure on the South Korean company to yield control of Line’s operator. (……)

Sung added the government has been checking the Japanese government’s position via diplomatic channels, including through the South Korean Embassy in Japan.

He also sought bipartisan cooperation from political circles, saying, “It is clear that the political frame of some encouraging anti-Japan sentiment damages national interest, and is unhelpful to protecting our businesses and reflecting our interests.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it is pretty clear the Japanese government is simply putting pressure on Naver to fix the cybersecurity issues.

The Korean left is trying to turn a data leak dispute involving Naver’s Line app service in Japan into a major bilateral political issue:

Korean politicians are criticizing Seoul’s passive response to Tokyo’s apparent pressure on Korean tech giant Naver to sell its stakes in LY Corp., the Tokyo-headquartered operator of mobile messaging app Line.

They, from both ruling and opposition blocs, called the Korean government’s diplomacy “miserable” as it has not made any response while Japan is trying to “extort” technologies of the Korea-developed app, which has approximately 180 million active users in Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

Their criticism follows the Japanese government’s administrative guidance to LY to review its capital relationship with Naver after a massive data leak of user information. 

The guidance is believed to be an apparent pressure to lower Naver’s control over LY. SoftBank, which jointly owns LY with Naver, said it is talking with the Korean company about controlling the joint venture.

Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who serve on the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, held a press conference Sunday, calling for a National Assembly-level response to Japan’s attempt to “extort Line” from Naver.

“The Japanese government’s actions are a clear violation of national interests and an anti-market outrage. It is time for the National Assembly to do its job. We demand that relevant standing committees be convened immediately and the Assembly deal with the matter,” Reps. Jo Seoung-lae and Lee Yong-sun said. 

“The Yoon Suk Yeol government should no longer turn a blind eye and respond proactively by upgrading this situation to a major diplomatic issue between the two countries.”

They also said the Korean government should take a strong stance, including summoning the Japanese ambassador to Korea.

Last week, the DPK called the Korean government’s response “a diplomatic disaster,” saying, “How long must we endure the dismal diplomacy that cannot even say a word of protest against Japan’s effort to take Line from Naver?”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but what we don’t know is what the Yoon administration may be quietly trying to do in discussions with the Japanese side to advocate for Naver.

If Jimmy Kimmel is shocked by how clean Japan is, he would probably have a heart attack if he visited Singapore:

The late-night host Jimmy Kimmel said observing hygiene standards in Japan drastically changed his perspective of cleanliness in the US and that he’d “never felt dirtier” in his home country.

Kimmel said Tuesday evening on an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that before going to Japan on a seven-day family trip, he thought the US was “pretty buttoned-up” despite having areas for improvement.

“But now, after traveling to Japan, I realize that this place, this USA we’re always chanting about, is a filthy and disgusting country,” he said.

Kimmel added that he was blown away, in particular, by Japan’s bathrooms.

“Not only did I not encounter a single dirty bathroom, the bathrooms in Tokyo and Kyoto are cleaner than our operating rooms here,” Kimmel said.

The TV star lauded the loos at Japanese truck stops, which he said were “cleaner than Jennifer Garner’s teeth.”

“It’s like the whole country is Disneyland, and we’re living at Six Flags. I’ve been home 36 hours. I’ve never felt dirtier,” he said.

Kimmel added that he was impressed by how Tokyo residents didn’t litter despite the lack of public trash cans, which were removed by local authorities in the wake of the 1995 sarin gas attacks.

“They’re like, OK, no more trash cans. Everybody clean up after yourselves. And guess what? They clean up after themselves,” Kimmel said.

“We are like hogs compared to the Japanese. I can’t imagine what they must think of us,” Kimmel said. “Oh, the garbage people. Yes, the Americans. Garbage. Yes.”

Yahoo News

You can read more at the link, but I think his criticism is mostly correct, but in most smaller towns in the U.S. I still find to be very clean, but larger cities due to all the homeless, drugs, and crime have turned into absolute dumps. I believe if homelessness, drugs, and crime issues are improved the cleanliness of cities would improve with it.