Tag: South Korea

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.

Considering how most of the fatalities from this deadly fire were foreign nationals, it is not surprising the company is being investigated for hiring illegal workers:

Police officers carry boxes confiscated from battery maker Aricell and workforce suppliers in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, as they, together with the labor ministry, ratcheted up the investigation into a deadly fire at the company’s factory that killed 23 workers on Monday. Yonhap

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has launched an investigation into lithium battery maker Aricell over suspected illegal hiring of foreign workers after Monday’s deadly fire at its factory killed 23 employees, including 18 foreign nationals, officials said Thursday.

In particular, the ministry is looking into whether Aricell had directly imposed work orders on foreign temporary laborers hired by subcontractors, which is an illegal practice.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The ROK government is still showing its unhappiness with Russia over its recent military pact with North Korea:

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday denounced a pact signed between North Korea and Russia last week as “an anachronistic act” that goes against the progress of history and Pyongyang’s repeated provocations as “despicable and irrational.”

During his televised speech to mark the 74th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, Yoon said the pact, which forges stronger military and economic cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, “blatantly violates the United Nations Security Council resolution” designed to contain North Korea through sanctions.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

That is what some in the U.S. government and think tanks believe:

The idea of South Korea developing its own nuclear weapons is resurfacing among some U.S. pundits in light of the strengthened military partnership between North Korea and Russia.

However, while local analysts describe this as highly unlikely, they are skeptical about whether the growing camaraderie between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin is significant enough to push South Korea to withdraw from its decades-long commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), a move that would likely draw major international sanctions.

Allison Hooker, former senior director for Asia at the National Security Council under former U.S. President Donald Trump, suggested, Friday, that the deepening military relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang might prompt Seoul to consider pursuing its own nuclear weapons.

“I think we cannot rule out the possibility that South Korea might move more rapidly toward its own nuclear program. We need to determine how we feel about that within the U.S. and the alliance context as well,” Hooker said during a webinar hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Her remarks came a day after Republican Senator Roger Wicker called for redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea, reiterating a proposal he floated in late May.

“With our allies South Korea, Japan and Australia, we should discuss nuclear burden-sharing agreements. It’s time for them to step forward and join us in nuclear burden-sharing,” Wicker said Thursday on the Senate floor, as he spoke about the latest Kim-Putin summit.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the ROK officials the Korea Times interviewed believe this talk is all a bluff by the U.S. side. This is because the ROK developing its own nuclear deterrent would decrase U.S. influence in South Korea. It is also believed it would cause a nuclear domino effect with Taiwan and Japan wanting their own nuclear deterrents as well.

This is about as close to an ultimatum to Russia that you will see from the Yoon administration:

National security adviser Chang Ho-jin said Sunday that South Korea will not be bound by anything with regard to its assistance to Ukraine if Russia provides North Korea with precision weapons.

Director of National Security Chang made the remark during a TV appearance, underscoring the point that Seoul’s decision on whether to provide weapons to Ukraine depends on how Russia’s military cooperation with North Korea goes. 

“I would like to emphasize that it all depends on what Russia will do,” Chang said on KBS TV. “Will there be any line remaining for us if Russia gives precision weapons to North Korea?”

Chang’s remark means South Korea could provide lethal weapons to Ukraine if Russia crosses the line.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The ROK should be selling their advanced weaponry to Ukraine as a major export to help drive the Korean economy. With Poland and Romania buying ROK equipment as well, Ukraine would have allies next door with compatible capabilities:

The South Korean government said Thursday it will reconsider its stance on arms supply to Ukraine after North Korea and Russia signed a treaty that involves a mutual pledge to provide immediate military assistance if one of them is attacked.

National Security Advisor Chang Ho-jin also condemned “the comprehensive strategic treaty” signed during the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Wednesday. (…..)

Chang said any cooperation that directly or indirectly aids North Korea’s military enhancement is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and will be subject to international scrutiny and sanctions, and vowed to take corresponding measures. 

“We plan to reconsider the issue of arms support to Ukraine,” Chang also said, suggesting a shift in South Korea’s policy of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Continued Russian aggression has been good for South Korea’s defense industry:

Romania has confirmed its plan to buy South Korean K-9 self-propelled howitzers for US$920 million, the defense ministry said Wednesday, in another boost for Seoul’s drive to clinch more arms export deals.

Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar announced the decision during talks in Romania with Seoul’s defense chief Shin Won-sik, who is on a weeklong trip to Eastern Europe that will also take him to Poland, according to the ministry.

Shin thanked Tilvar for the decision and anticipated the deal — the biggest in Romania’s arms acquisition over the past seven years — will further activate defense and arms cooperation between the two countries.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The entitled and selfish doctors in Seoul have decided to walkout and leave patients without care:

A hospital affiliated with Seoul National University Hospital remains relatively quiet on June 17, 2024, as senior doctors go on an indefinite walkout in protest against the medical school quota hike.

Patients were denied appointments and sent home without treatment as a majority of doctors at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) and its three affiliates went on an indefinite walkout, demanding reconsideration of the medical school quota hike.

On Monday, 529 senior doctors, or 54.7 percent of those at SNUH and its three affiliates, began an indefinite strike in protest against the government’s first increase of the nationwide medical school admission quota in 27 years, by about 1,500 slots for next year. 

The walkout is set to be followed by a nationwide one-day general strike by community doctors on Tuesday, although only a fraction of them are expected to join the collective action. 

Doctors at SNUH, one of the most prominent university general hospitals in South Korea, are demanding that the government cancel administrative penalties imposed on protesting trainee doctors and reconsider the 2025 medical school quota hike.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

After all these months why would the government give in now to these entitled doctors? If anything the government should start making demands against the doctors saying their medical licenses will be permanently revoked for intentionally leaving their jobs and canceling appointments:

Lim Hyun-taek, chief of the Korean Medical Association, announces the association’s plan to go on strike against the government’s medical reform measures during a press conference of the organization in Seoul on June 9, 2024. (Yonhap)

The country’s biggest doctors’ group offered Sunday to hold a vote on whether to go ahead with a mass walkout this week if the government accepts three demands, including revisiting the issue of increasing medical school admissions.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) made the offer two days before it is scheduled to launch the walkout involving medical professors at the “Big 5” hospitals in Seoul, as well as community doctors.

The walkout will be in support of trainee doctors who have remained off the job since February in protest of the government’s medical school enrollment hike plan.

The KMA said it will give the government until 11 p.m. Sunday to respond to its three demands, which also include revising and supplementing key points in the government’s policy package for the essential medical services sector and canceling all penalties against the trainee doctors.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.