@151
1998 was when she got elected to the National Assembly. The dates for her term as president are listed right below her photo.
EDIT: If by "in office", you meant "a member of the Assembly", then yeah, that's true, as far as I know. Sorry for any confusion.
..yes i stood corrected that she wasn't president. but she was in office. she had a role.
..and now i'm off to protest the pallister cuts. later
South Korea’s Likely Next President Warns US Not to Meddle in Nation’s Democracy
Polling shows Democratic Party Korea candidate Moon Jae-in as an overwhelming front-runner in the upcoming presidential vote, with more than double the support of any other candidate. He is, however, seen as far from idea from the US perspective, favoring diplomacy with North Korea as he does.
The split between Moon and Trump is so dramatic, in fact, that Moon has felt the need to publicly warn the US against “meddling” in the nation’s politics, not just directly in the election itself, but also with policy decisions made in the lead-up to the election.
Indeed, Moon and his allies warn that the biggest problem is the US rushing through measures in the lame-duck government ahead of the election, noting that agreements on things like the THAAD anti-missile system, and then hastily putting the system in place before any public hearings or environmental assessments were allowed to take place....
Huh. That's odd. Why didn't he warn Russia not to meddle?
^ Not sure if that's sarcasm or not, but in any case, from what I've seen, there really isn't anyone among the front-runners who would fit the model that Russia allegedly favours in foreign-leaders(eg. Trump and Le Pen).
Hong Jun-pyo, the guy that they're calling "the Donald Trump of Korea" is actually an advocate of expanded American force on the peninsula(as opposed to candidate Trump hinting that he favoured a non-interventionist policy), so it's unlikely that the Russians would want him.
And none of the other major candidates are calling for an end to US troops in the ROK(cf. Le Pen's anti-NATO position), though of course Moon is making vague noises about how tough he's gonna be in negotiating the THAAD(which I think is more of a concern for the Chinese than the Russians, anyway). The minor Justice Party is the most anti-US, but it's not likely that any intervention would have much effect on their numbers.
FWIW, Hong Jun-pyo is turning out to be more the BILL COSBY of Korea...
^ Not sure if that's sarcasm or not, but in any case, from what I've seen, there really isn't anyone among the front-runners who would fit the model that Russia allegedly favours in foreign-leaders(eg. Trump and Le Pen).
Hong Jun-pyo, the guy that they're calling "the Donald Trump of Korea" is actually an advocate of expanded American force on the peninsula(as opposed to candidate Trump hinting that he favoured a non-interventionist policy), so it's unlikely that the Russians would want him.
And none of the other major candidates are calling for an end to US troops in the ROK(cf. Le Pen's anti-NATO position), though of course Moon is making vague noises about how tough he's gonna be in negotiating the THAAD(which I think is more of a concern for the Chinese than the Russians, anyway). The minor Justice Party is the most anti-US, but it's not likely that any intervention would have much effect on their numbers.
More a tongue in cheek reference to the fact that it's rich that the U.S. accuses others of meddling.
However, it stands to reason that there is no south Korean race/culture baiter (a la Trump/Le Pen) as they have almost no immigration or diversity in South Korea.
U.S. THAAD in S. Korea "operational" amid protests, hunger strike
quote:
Meanwhile, the THAAD issue has become a major talking point ahead of a presidential by-election scheduled for May 9.
The anti-THAAD association, comprising residents and activists, released the results of a survey of the five major presidential candidates to inquire about their respective positions on THAAD.
Moon Jae-in of the biggest Minjoo Party, a frontrunner in recent months, repeated his earlier stance that the final decision should be made by the next government, according to the results unveiled Tuesday.
He said the decision would be made under basic principles of prioritizing national interests and public consensus, emphasizing the importance of sufficient consultations with the United States as well as China and Russia.
Moon noted that the final decision will require public discussions and parliamentary ratifications, adding that if he is to be elected as president, he will review all of the decision-making processes relevant to THAAD.
Sim Sang-jung of the minor progressive Justice Party made clearest her stance, saying the forceful deployment of THAAD must be immediately stopped and that the deployment decision must be renegotiated with the United States.
She claimed the need for renegotiations given the past cases of the renegotiated U.S.-South Korea free trade deal and the renegotiation on the return of the U.S. wartime operational control of South Korean troops to Seoul.
Sim had an identical position with Moon in that she said parliamentary and public approvals will be required for the THAAD deployment.
Looks like the expected election results. Moon by a landslide, say the exit polls.
Excellent column by Gwynne Dyer in today's paper. He is skeptical of Trump's motives for his sabre-rattling against Kim Jong Un. The 'threat' of North Korea is much exaggerated, which is no surprise: http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/7293346-the-korean-crisis-why-now-/
South Korea Voters Oust Conservatives, Usher in Dialogue with North
quote:
SUKI KIM: I think in the United States, generally, obviously, about North Korea the dialogue is incredibly misleading and often misinformed. That's because North Korea is a difficult subject. It's a country I went under cover in and covered extensively. So, I think that America simply does not understand North Korea at all. When it comes to South Korea, I think that we are a lot clearer what the dynamic is between North and South, but I mean, one of the fundamental issues, I would tell you, if you asked average Americans, "What do you think about the troops in South Korea? Why is there any anti-American sentiment possibly from South Korea toward the United States at some point? You know there had been in the past." Nobody would really be able to answer that. Like what are they doing in South Korea? The troops that's been there since 1953. I think that that dialogue where, actually, America was responsible, along with the allies, the division of Korea is a dialogue that America simply chose to forget that detail entirely. It only talks about going to Korea to help them by free democracy. Never talks about actually dividing the country happened back 1945.
So, I think that there is a lot of hypocrisy in discussion with South Korea. However, it is an ally and I think that why Trump has been saying all these things towards South Korea that has been so negative in the past month. I think it is something that we do kind of have to try to look at because the relationship the U.S. has with North Korea, which is a very very scary one, because North Korea's a nuclear country. And the country that really has to kind of negotiate that very difficult dynamic between the United States and North Korea is actually South Korea. So the relationship that America has to have with North and South are both incredibly important. I don't think we really understand that in America.
I'm really learning a lot from this thread, thanks epaulo13 (and the other participants here)!
..your welcome mobo. just educating myself out loud. :)
South Korea Voters Oust Conservatives, Usher in Dialogue with North
Halfway there.
Now we're just waiting on "North Korea Voters Oust Conservatives, Usher in Dialogue with South"!
Then, there will be peace!!
Moon orders scrapping of state history textbooks...
North Korea, Newsbud and China Watch : Peter Lee (and vid)
http://www.unz.com/plee/north-korea-newsbud-and-china-watch/
"...This one is, in my biased opinion, the best objective take on the US strategy for North Korea currently available."
'Shocked' South Korea leader orders probe into U.S. THAAD additions
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered a probe after his Defence Ministry failed to inform him that four more launchers for the controversial U.S. THAAD anti-missile system had been brought into the country, his spokesman said on Tuesday.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system battery was initially deployed in March in the southeastern region of Seongju with just two of its maximum load of six launchers to counter a growing North Korean missile threat.
During his successful campaign for the May 9 presidential election, Moon called for a parliamentary review of the system, the deployment of which infuriated China, North Korea's lone major ally.
"President Moon said it was very shocking" to hear the four additional launchers had been installed without being reported to the new government or to the public, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told a media briefing.
quote:
Separately on Tuesday, the U.S. military cheered a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, a major milestone for a program meant to defend the United States against North Korea.
The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), a separate system from THAAD, and called it an "incredible accomplishment." [L1N1IW1MM]
CHINA TENSIONS EASING
Moon's order of a probe into the THAAD launchers came amid signs of easing tensions between South Korea and China, a major trading partner.
China has been incensed over the THAAD deployment, fearing it could enable the U.S. military to see into its own missile systems and open the door to wider deployment, possibly in Japan and elsewhere, military analysts say.
South Korean companies have faced product boycotts and bans on Chinese tourists visiting South Korea, although China has denied discrimination against them.
On Tuesday, South Korea's Jeju Air said China had approved a plan for it to double its flights to the Chinese city of Weihai from June 2.
'THAAD Out, Peace In': S Koreans Protest US Missile Deployment Ahead of Trump Talks
"6000 Koreans protest in front of US Embassy in Korea on June 24, 2017 for NO THAAD and immediate US Army's withdrawal from Korea."
"...And the Rocket's Red Glare..."
"North Korea wishes a Happy 4th of July, launches some remarkable fireworks..."
Ironically, it seems like for once their missile didn't behave like fireworks (i.e. explode in the sky).
Well, good for them. This should make DPRK and the rest of the world a whole lot safer.
US & S Korea Fire Tactical Missiles, Demonstrate 'Deep Strike Capability' To Pyongyang (and vid)
'Freeze Nuclear & Missile Activities'
"Moscow and Beijing have agreed that North Korea should freeze its nuclear and missile programs, while the US and South Korea should abstain from holding war games in the region..."
Will Trump Seek Talks with North Korea or Counter Missile Test with More U.S. Military Aggression?
quote:
CHRISTINE AHN: Well, as we know, North Korea tends to conduct these missile test times in a kind of poetic way, and, as you mentioned, they said it was a "gift" to the Trump administration. It also happened to coincide a few days after the end of the Moon Jae-in an Donald Trump summit, in which, you know, unfortunately, President Moon, who had come into office and has about an 80 percent popularity rating, in many ways toed the line of the Trump administration about maximum pressure and agreeing with the U.S. policy on North Korea, which has slightly departed from his pro-engagement line and, obviously, the sentiments of the South Korean people. Eight out of 10 South Koreans, according to a new survey, have said they wanted inter-Korean dialogue. And so, I think, in many ways, it was a response to that. It also happened to coincide with President Obama’s visit to Seoul, and we know that the North Koreans were not very pleased with the Obama administration’s "strategic patience" policy, which the Trump administration is basically replicating.
So, you know, I think, again, North Korea tests these missiles as a way to advance their capability to defend in the case of any kind of preemptive strike from the United States. And, you know, we don’t know if they could put a nuclear warhead on one of these that could reach the United States, but that’s the point, is they want to put the pressure on the United States, on the Trump administration, to say, "We need to negotiate some kind of peace settlement," because they feel threatened.
And so, right now, the most viable proposal that is on the table, that has now—as you mentioned earlier, is backed by both China and Russia, but it originally came from the North Koreans in 2015, was to halt the U.S. and South Korean military exercises in exchange for freezing North Korea’s nuclear and long-range missile program. Now, that is the deal that should be seriously considered, but the Trump administration is not accepting it. And, in fact, you know, I think by virtue of not accepting it and not seriously considering it, the only way that Americans can interpret that is to say that we value the exercises more than we value freezing North Korea’s nuclear program. And so I think that this is North Korea’s message to the United States: "We want to negotiate, and we’re going to do what we can to defend our sovereignty and our country from any kind of preemptive strike from the Trump administration."
And so, right now, the most viable proposal that is on the table, that has now—as you mentioned earlier, is backed by both China and Russia, but it originally came from the North Koreans in 2015, was to halt the U.S. and South Korean military exercises in exchange for freezing North Korea’s nuclear and long-range missile program.
Would DPRK also halt their own "war games"?
'Very Bad Behavior': Trump Vows Consequences Over N Korea Missile Launch
And so, right now, the most viable proposal that is on the table, that has now—as you mentioned earlier, is backed by both China and Russia, but it originally came from the North Koreans in 2015, was to halt the U.S. and South Korean military exercises in exchange for freezing North Korea’s nuclear and long-range missile program.Would DPRK also halt their own "war games"?
No.
So as a point of fact there is nobody sitting at the "reasonable" table.
I think it's reasonable to wonder whether Kim Jong Un could survive if peace suddenly broke out. If everyone, on both sides of the line, beat their swords into plowshares then how would he hold onto power? What becomes of a people's strongman when there's no longer an Emmanuel Goldstein for him to hold at bay?
122 Nations Create Treaty To Ban Nuclear Weapons
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2017/07/122-nations-create-treaty-ban-nuc...
"On Friday the United Nations concluded the creation of the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in over 20 years, and the first treaty ever to ban all nuclear weapons. While 122 nations voted yes, the Netherlands voted no, Singapore abstained, and numerous nations didn't show up at all.
The only nuclear country that had voted yes to begin the process of treaty-drafting now completed was North Korea..."
“Someday This Army Is Going to Leave”
quote:
“The Crown Jewel of Overseas Installations”
From the end of the Korean War in 1953 until very recently, Yongsan Garrison — located in the heart of Seoul — served as the United States Armed Forces’ headquarters in Korea.
Now, however, US forces are leaving Seoul for the city of Pyongtaek, less than an hour south of the capital, as part of a decade-long plan to reorient US forces in Korea by consolidating nearly forty existing bases into this new super-base. Notably, it will also relocate the US military presence away from the North Korean border and toward China, just across the Yellow Sea — part of the larger “pivot to Asia” policy begun under the Obama administration.
Over the past decade, the United States and South Korean governments have partnered to triple the size of the base — the largest construction project in the history of the US Department of Defense. When it’s fully staffed, Camp Humphreys will be the biggest and most populous overseas US military base in the world. The new footprint encompasses 14.7 million square meters of mostly farming land and small villages around Pyongtaek. The expanded base — encircled by a 23-kilometer walled and barbed wire perimeter — will boast the second-largest dental facility in the US Defense Department and a “supergym” that is among the biggest in the US Army.
“Undoubtedly, this installation is the crown jewel of overseas installations in the Department of Defense,” Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal gushed at the inaugural ribbon-cutting ceremony last Tuesday.
..i apologize for extending the above post but i find it crucial to understanding how and why 2 koreas happened. also the solution.
quote:
Daechuri was a farming village of about eighty households. In 2001, Camp Humphreys announced its plans for expansion, and in collaboration with the South Korean government, offered villagers compensation in exchange for their land. The community refused. They launched a five-year struggle to save their village, drawing national support and becoming a central node in the network of anti-militarization and peace activism in Korea.
The history of Daechuri’s battle epitomizes Korea’s history as the battleground for competing empires. During the Japanese colonial occupation in the first half of the twentieth century, the land around Daechuri was claimed for an imperial military base. After the US military took over a newly divided South Korea from the retreating Japanese at the end of World War II, the bases simply changed hands. After a three-year US military occupation and the destructive Korean War — which ran from 1950 to 1953 — presidents of the newly independent South Korea welcomed the US military presence as both a Cold War deterrent and a source of much-needed resources.
For local people, however, this arrangement has come at a steep cost. As feminist activists and scholars have argued, systems of military sexual slavery under Japanese rule easily transformed into institutionalized military prostitution around US bases, creating a violent and exploitative environment for women. In Daechuri, it meant the village faced continual razing, removal, and rebuilding.
Rice farmer Cho Sun Yeh was one of those who found herself facing, in 2001, the second threat of eviction. After her first home was bulldozed during the Korean War to make way for the new US installation, she and her husband built a new home a quarter mile from the base.
Informed that this home would be destroyed too, she told journalists in 2001, “I gave my land up once already, and I am not about to do it again. It is time for the US to leave us alone.” She and her extended family of seventeen refused to leave their home. “My memories are here, my life is here. I should not have to give that up for anyone.”
In Daechuri and the neighboring village of Dodori, expansion not only threatened homes and communities but also rice farmers’ livelihoods. And it laid bare the anti-democratic collusion between Seoul and Washington DC, which had seemingly decided local residents’ fates without their input. What began as a local struggle in the villages around Pyongtaek soon became a national struggle involving 120 labor, student, feminist, farmer, peace and unification, and religious organizations across Korea.
US Military Declares 'Time Is Running Out' Before War With North Korea
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/07/28/nkor-j28.html
"Ominous statements over the past 48 hours by top American military commanders underscore how close the world is to a devastating war on the Korean Peninsula, which, for the first time since 1945, could involve the use of nuclear weapons.
Asked yesterday in Australia, if he would launch nuclear weapons at China if ordered to do so by Trump, Admiral Scott Swift, the commander of the US Seventh Fleet, bluntly replied: 'The answer would be yes."
Ominous statements over the past 48 hours by top American military commanders underscore how close the world is to a devastating war on the Korean Peninsula, which, for the first time since 1945, could involve the use of nuclear weapons.
"Wolf! Wolf!!" cried the little shepherd boy, for the umpteenth time...
"No, seriously", replied the little shepherd boy. "Just watch this 68 minute YouTube video. The part about the wolf is clearly implied at around 48:30!!"
US missile defenses are capable of dealing with the “limited threat”posed by North Korea’s ICBM capability, the Pentagon said.
i took this comment from a link posted here. It's code fore "we are very concerned of NK military abilities and will co operate with them to avoid war"
[quote]i took this comment from a link posted here. It's code fore "we are very concerned of NK military abilities and will co operate with them to avoid war"[quote]
Ok. I'd have interpreted that as them saying "we'll shoot their primitive little fireworks from the sky like kites".
Ok. I'd have interpreted that as them saying "we'll shoot their primitive little fireworks from the sky like kites".
LOL! Ya so what's the US waiting for then? Christmas? Oh no wait, maybe the US military thinks those missles that NK are shooting off are actually Santa Claus.
Urgent Warning: Time To Hit the Reset Button on US-Korea Policy - by Medea Benjamin
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47548.htm
"There's an urgent need to hit the reset button on US-Korean policy, before one of the players hits a much more catastrophic button that could lead us into a nuclear nightmare."
When in Doubt, Nuke China - by Pepe Escobar
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47544.htm
"A situation in which the US military feels 'unhampered' has precedent - and, as General MacArthur's endeavors in Korea prove, it's something to be afraid of."
LOL! Ya so what's the US waiting for then? Christmas? Oh no wait, maybe the US military thinks those missles that NK are shooting off are actually Santa Claus.
Wouldn't it be obviously necessary for them to wait for DPRK to fire a missile at them before they could shoot it down?
Ya so how could you tell the difference between a test launch and the real thing? This is why it drives the US nuts. Do some searches about missile defence ICBM's in particular and you'll find that there's not much hope in stopping that missile once it gets going. And now that North Korea has an icbm that can achieve earths orbit at sub orbiting speeds, its game over. The funny thing is that North Korea does have subs with shorter range ballistic missiles that can already hit anywhere in the US. The other thing that pisses of the US is how fast North Korea's advancing icbm program. I suspect that Russia China an possibly Israel and India are sharing technology? But who knows? I just suspect. I can see why the US military is real pissed off. Now that India is emerging as a new unaligned super power with its own developing mass destruction weaponry, the US/Russia monopoly on world destruction is long gone. I also suspect it may really piss off the white generals/admirals/war pigs that a non white country can wipe them out.
Ya so how could you tell the difference between a test launch and the real thing?
Whether its trajectory has it on target to hit something of interest or take a bath in the sea.
But you seem somehow personally invested in the idea that now that DPRK has launched two flukey missiles, the rest of the world is trembling in their boots. What up with that?
USAF Test Fires Minuteman II Missile Days After N Korean ICBM Launch
CrossTalk: What Does N Korea Want?
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/398279-usa-north-korea-war/
"Is an America-inspired attack on N Korea inevitable?
Is an America-inspired attack on N Korea inevitable?
No, it's evitable.
Like all the other similar "IS THIS THE START OF WWIII????" posts.
Some folk seem really invested in believing that the US is lighting the afterburners on the nukes even as we speak, but after years and years and years of this wolf-crying, it's not really clear why THIS is the time it's supposed to rilly, rilly happen, for realz.
What America Should Learn From N Korea's Latest Missile Test
"Preventive war, if it was ever a viable option, certainly isn't now..."
Ya so how could you tell the difference between a test launch and the real thing?Whether its trajectory has it on target to hit something of interest or take a bath in the sea.
But you seem somehow personally invested in the idea that now that DPRK has launched two flukey missiles, the rest of the world is trembling in their boots. What up with that?
Oh so by your own admission, the US is the "world"????
I never knew the "world" was threatening NK? Do you want to elaborate?
Oh so by your own admission, the US is the "world"????
Really, WWWTT? That's your take-away?
Do you want to elaborate?
Gosh, WWWTT, are you giving me enough rope to hang myself?
Nah, I'll just keep my powder dry.
So you don't want to clarify comments you made? Or are you implying that what you write isn't what you mean? And it's my fault that I don't understand that what you write isn't what you mean?
So when you write "the rest of the world is trembling in their boots", what do you mean by world?
I guess we won't be reading the word "world" from you in this thread anymore from the tone of your last comment.
I'm sorry, WWWTT, but you can't just grossly misinterpret something I posted casually, then expect me to hop to attention to "elaborate" for you.
I seem to recall a bit of (lingering) indignance on your part when you were rightly called on the carpet for talking about "bitch", yes? I don't recall you really elaborating, except to double down on your assertion that there's no other way to refer to a female dog (as though you actually had some reason to only refer to female dogs).
But to continue the dog analogy (minus the sexism), it seems you've found a bone you like, so, carry on.
Oh ok so you made a "casual" post/comment therefore can't be held accountable? But somehow when another poster does the same, a casual comment becomes the centre piece of your debate with that other poster! Talk about hypocrisy. Man it's like your begging for more rope for that new shinny gallows you want to test drive.
Either way I made my point. I can write a few more paragraphs but I'm guessing other posters here are not very interested in reading my rants about what I think of your debate tactics
Either way I made my point. I can write a few more paragraphs but I'm guessing other posters here are not very interested in reading my rants about what I think of your debate tactics
Nevermind them! I am.
Lol!
As Tensions Explode on Korean Peninsula, US Peace Delegates Call For Immediate Response to North Korea's Offer to Freeze Its Nuclear Program
http://www.zoominkorea.org/as-tensions-explode-on-korean-peninsula-us-pe...
"North Korea has repeatedly offered to suspend its nuclear weapons development in exchange for a freeze in US-South Korean joint war exercises. It's time for the US and South Korea to respond to this offer as a jumping off point for definitive negotiations towards a nuclear-free Korean peninsula free from the conflict of competing global powers that has been so harmful to the region."
UN Security Council Approves New Sanctions Against North Korea (and vid)
"The US-drafted resolution bans N Korean exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood. It also prohibits increasing the current numbers of North Korean laborers working abroad, new joint ventures with Pyongyang and new investment in joint ventures.
Meanwhile, having reaffirmed its support for the so-called Six Party Talks and for the commitments 'set forth in the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005 issued by China, the DPRK, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States,' the new UN resolution called for the resumption of those negotiations.
Both Moscow and Beijing have repeatedly called for peaceful diplomatic efforts. [Russia's] Nebenzya also urged the UN to 'strengthen its humanitarian efforts' towards the people in North Korea. China also called for a halt to THAAD and for all relevant equipment to be dismantled..."
