Inchon City Council seeks compensation for victims of the Sept 15, 1950 "Inchon Landing," a turning point in the #KoreanWar, from the #ROK AND the #US & #UN. Why leave out the culprit of the war, the #DPRK? https://t.co/mGBXgW302K
Secretary of State Pompeo is using the term “peace mechanisms” now which is a term the Moon administration often uses:
With the United States and North Korea striving for a give-and-take compromise in their summit next week, a declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, or a peace statement, is surfacing as a possible concession from Washington. The North has long eyed such a political declaration, which is not legally binding, to end decades of enmity with the U.S., ensure its regime security and ultimately sign a peace treaty that some say could undercut the rationale for American troop presence on the peninsula. At his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, slated for Feb. 27-28 in Hanoi, President Donald Trump is expected to discuss the possibility of ending the war that was ceased only with an armistice agreement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last Thursday. “Remember we not only discussed denuclearization, but we talked about creating security mechanisms, peace mechanisms on the Korean Peninsula,” Pompeo told Fox News. “I hope the two leaders have a chance to talk about that as well. I fully expect that they will.”
You can read much more at the link, but the Moon administration has been pushing for a peace mechanism in order to advance their goal of creating a confederation with North Korea. A peace treaty ending the Korean War is one of the first steps to making this happen.
Remains excavation exempted from U.N. sanctionsAn excavation team handles the remains of a soldier found at a Korean War battle site in Cheorwon, northeast of Seoul, in this Oct. 25, 2018, pool photo. The inter-Korean project for recovering remains in the Demilitarized Zone was exempted from U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea, sources said on Jan. 28, 2019, allowing the delivery of needed equipment to the North for the work. (Yonhap)
It is pretty strange that Korean War veterans are intentionally excluded from a Korean War memorial event:
I felt a little foolish this year when reporters and others present at the Turn Toward Busan ceremony at the UN Cemetery on Nov. 11 congratulated me for being prominently mentioned in the program. Some thought I was actually present, among the various dignitaries.
I wasn’t there. Nor were any veterans invited from the various nations that sent soldiers to fight in Korea during the war years.
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs excluded the aging veterans from participating this year. Instead, they gave more than 100 places usually reserved for veterans to family members of those who fell in the war.
While no veteran will object to giving up his place to a bonafide grieving family member of a comrade, it was a major error of the MPVA to exclude veterans.
Ironically, the ceremony gave the impression that veterans from the many nations were actually present. The huge video screens set up on each side of the altar displayed a sign in English that read, “Thanks, Veterans.” But they were not there.
Bereaved family members are much younger than the veterans. In most cases they will be on this Earth much longer. Presumably, they will continue to be invited to Korea long after the veterans revisit programs end in 2020.
In several cases the family members invited were very distant relatives of the fallen soldiers. They were not born until many years after the Korean War ended, and never met or actually grieved for the fallen soldiers.
While their presence does perpetuate the memory of those who fell, it also excluded participation by those who served alongside those soldiers ― those who fought in the war and were spared. [Korea Times]
I don’t understand what the problem is with adding more chairs to accommodate family members and veterans? Why exclude veterans especially when they have been invited in prior years.
Here is what Dr. Tara O thinks is going on:
Min of Patriots & Veterans Affairs didn't invite Korean War vets from UN Sending States this year, unlike in the past. Many are in 80s. The Minister is Pi Woo-jin, who strongly supports Moon, whose priority is Kim Jong-un. How does Kim feel re UN vets?https://t.co/rekH21tM2e
It is pretty amazing that General Paik Sun-yup is now 99 years old and still going strong:
Gen. Paik Sun-yup, in a wheelchair, center, is congratulated on his 99th birthday on Wednesday by a kneeling U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris, second from right, at the Ministry of National Defense Convention Center in central Seoul. [BYUN SUN-GOO]The U.S. Eighth Army held a surprise birthday party on Wednesday for General Paik Sun-yup, one of the most celebrated commanders of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The celebration of Paik’s 98th birthday — or the celebrated 99th by Korean count — was held at the Ministry of National Defense Convention Center in central Seoul with nearly the full roster of American representatives in Korea in attendance, including U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris and the new commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Gen. Robert B. Abrams.
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Park Han-ki and Commander of the First ROK Army Park Jong-jin were also present to congratulate the general.
Jeong presented Paik with a ceremonial military baton inlaid with mother-of-pearl as a birthday gift. Crouching before Paik, who was in a wheelchair, Gen. Abrams handed him a booklet of congratulatory messages and photographs from all current and former commanders of the USFK.
“You are like the foundation of the U.S-Korea alliance,” Abrams told Paik.
The two men share a unique connection that goes back to the Korean War. Abram’s father was Creighton Williams Abrams, a U.S. Army general who fought in Korea alongside Paik. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I had the chance to talk to General Paik many years ago and got him to sign a copy of his book,From Pusan to Panmunjon (Memories of War). He was fascinating to talk to because his great memory of events that occurred and people he met during the Korean War. If you haven’t read his book I highly recommend reading it because of the ROK perspective it provides in regards to events during the Korean War.
The demilitarization of the ironically named Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) continues:
Military construction crews from North and South Korea, building the first central inter-Korean road in 65 years, met today at Arrowhead Hill in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and shook hands.
Arrowhead Hill was the place of one of the bloodiest battle sites of the war is now the first.
In October South and North Korea troops began the task of removing land mines from the Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom as well as the Arrowhead Hill (Hwasalmeori) region in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, where joint exhumation of the remains of Korean War MIA/POW are set to take place. (Hani.co.kr)
On Thursday troops from the North and South met and shook hands on Arrowhead Hill. [Gateway Pundit via a reader tip]
A group of foreigners studying in South Korea pose for a photo during a program to experience the excavation of the remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War on a hill in Paju, north of Seoul, on Oct, 18, 2018, in this photo provided by the defense ministry. (Yonhap)
Park Young-shik (R) receives an identification certificate for his late father, Park Tae-hong, from Lee Hak-ki, head of the defense ministry’s remains excavation and identification task force, during a ceremony in Yangju, east of Seoul, to mark the return of the national hero on Oct. 16, 2018. PFC. Park was killed in action there during the 1950-53 Korean War, and his remains were excavated from a hill in Pohang, 370 km southeast of Seoul in 2009. (Yonhap)
