No Flag - No Show - No Problem

Earlier this month, Japan chose to withdraw it's multi-national participation in naval exercises hosted by South Korea The reason being that South Korea asked that nations fly their national flags and not naval standards. Stating the obvious, the ROK objects to the use of Japanese JMSDF vessels flying the Rising Sun flag which they see as a symbol of WWII Imperial Japan. Naturally, Japan's defense minister Takeshi Iwaya objected to this request. Japan has flown the Rising Sun ensign since the creation of the JMSDF in July 1954. JMSDF vessels have participated in ROK naval exercises before in 1998 and 2008 without this unreasonable request. Chief of Staff Katsutoshi Kawano said the rising sun flag is the Maritime Self-Defense Force sailors' "pride" and "we absolutely do not go if we have to remove the flag." The Rising Sun is a internationally recognized flag of Japanese Maritime forces. While the South Korean government regrets Japan's decision but pledges to continue to cooperate with each other in the future. As far as we can see it, South Korea can only guilt Japan for it's Colonial period only for so many generations. You can only apologize so much before it becomes a moot point. We believe Japan's JMSDF made the right decision and sailed their ships elsewhere with pride under the Rising Sun.

Dancing With Dictators Part III: When Tyrant Trounces Traitor

On the heels of the most recent G7 economic summit where American Anti-President Donald Trump alienated our allies and praised our enemies in Russia, the Summit to Nowhere Photo Op took place in Singapore. This should have never happened under these circumstances. Donald took his ill-equipped team that included former NBA freak show Dennis Rodman to the Dictators Love Fest and essentially fulfilled the desires of his puppet masters in the Kremlin to the delight of Beijing. As a result, the following failures occurred.

1.       Trump Legitimized Kim Jong Un.

2.       Trump excluded South Korea from the talks.

3.       Trump displayed admiration for a murderous tyrant.

4.       Trump called for a halt of all US/ROK Military Readiness Exercises.

5.       Trump declared his intention to remove American Troops from Korea.

6.       Trump walked away with Zero assurances for denuclearization.

7.       Trump opened the door to make real estate deals for personal profit.

8.       Trump declares victory for a meaningless photo-op.

9.       Trump made America look Weak.

10.   Kim Jong Un walks away the winner in Propaganda Coup.

The writers of the Cold War drama The Manchurian Candidate could not have dreamed up a more nightmarish script, unfortunately, this is our reality watching America fall in a slow-dive from grace in a grandiose act of stupidity and personal self-enrichment. In a nutshell, Trump has put South Korea in a dangerous situation of which could prime the Seoul for military invasion. Such an event would lead to catastrophe that would make Operation Frequent Wind look like child’s play. As an American, I am disgusted by the self-serving actions of this Anti-President who makes enemies of our closest allies and coddles up to dictators. We have a word for an American who works against his own country's interests. It's called Traitor. His removal from power could not come soon enough.

Dancing with Dictators Part II?

Just when you thought the world would be safe for another day, Donald Trump and his inflated ego and his desire for that Nobel Peace Prize strikes again. Rather than walk away mad, the catfished reality T.V. game show host turned president announced another go at producing the Dancing with Dictators show in Singapore. The problem is, this is not a reality T.V. show. This is a serious diplomatic summit of which Donald Trump is too ill-equipped to conduct. He has neither the tact nor the skills to not screw this up. For this reason, we do not support peace talks with North Korea. It is better to maintain the current balance of terror until we have a stable American leader with proven diplomatic skills to conduct these negotiations rather than risk catastrophe. Donald is more interested in the Peace Prize than the actual peace and Kim Jong Un knows that. He is not interested unless there is personal profit in it for him. He would easily sell out South Korea with disastrous results just to build another Trump Golf Resort north of the DMZ if he knew he could get away with it. Knowing his corrupt nature, he does not have neither America's or South Korea's interests at heart. At this rate, Dennis Rodman has more credibility and that's not saying much. Donald's brand of government by chaos will not serve us well. Pray this thing gets called off before someone gets hurt. 

Dancing with Dictators Canceled

This week, it was announced both here in the United States and in North Korea that the scheduled meeting in Singapore between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will not take place. The world can now take a major sigh of relief. In a dangerous nuclear world, it is better for South Korea and Japan that these two unstable ruthless men never meet. While Donald loves to play Mob Boss on Reality TV and in the White House, he is too ill-equipped with his unimaginative negotiation skill set comprised of threats and name calling that further lacks any sense of diplomacy to sit down and deal with a real-life gangster like Kim. Anyone who thought to negotiate a peaceful de-nuclearisation of the Korean Penninsula via Twitter is sadly mistaken. The Kim family has had a generations stranglehold on power and will not give it up willingly despite the collapse of the DPRK's sole nuclear testing facility. It will take Korean leaders to work out how to settle their generations-long differences and not by some crass simpleton's threats on social media. We still have a long way to go before truly achieving peace. We hope it can be done in a world without Donald Trump.

A Cautious Optimisim: Korean Leaders Meet to End Korean War

Today saw the beginning of a brave new world as the leaders of both North and South Koreas met face to face at the DMZ. Kim Jong Un stepped into South Korea with President Moon Jae-in. This was the first time a North Korean leader stepped foot into the south since 1953. This is truly a historic event. And while Kim calls for the end of the Korean War, we urge caution. We don't see how reunification can happen without major concessions from the North. And then there are the North Korean people itself who worship the Kims like gods. How do you de-programme an entire nation? To suddenly stop this way of life in the north would be as complicated as trying to de-Nazify Germany without WWII. It is not to say it is an impossibility. East and West Germany came together but this will be much harder and far more complicated. Kim Jong Un still maintains a four million man army and despite Kim's optimistic smiles, he is still a man who brutally executed a family member with an anti-aircraft gun and fed another to starving dogs. We do hope his desire to end the Korean War is genuine for we all want peace. We just don't see how Kim will give up power or dismantle the totalitarian state in order to reunify the peninsula. And while it is easy to distrust, it is harder to imagine a scenario where the DMZ is dismantled and Kim strong-arming our ridiculous impulsive leader (who will likely claim that he alone should get credit for achieving peace) to remove American troops from Korea that could become a prelude to invasion. Thus, we urge caution. It's not that we want to piss on the possibility of lasting peace, we worry that this may appear too easy and perhaps be a ruse to fulfill an agenda that could lead to catastrophe. If there is any sincerity in Kim's words, the Koreans will have to take baby steps to build a better world where they shall live as one people, one nation. It is up to the Koreans to decide their fate. We wish them all the best and hope they choose wisely and choose for the side of peace. The world is watching. 

  

South Korea's Moon Renegs on Japan's 2015 Comfort Women Settlment

South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in recently stated in an interview that he wants the reject the 2015 Settlement Agreement made by his predecessor and the government of Japan. In the Agreement, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe formally apologized for Japan's wartime mistreatment of Korean women who were forced to work in Imperial Japanese Army Brothels during WWII. As part of that agreement, Japan has paid 1 Billion Japanese Yen (Equivalent to 9 million USD) in compensation to the few aging survivors and their families. As part of that agreement, the government of South Korea had declared the matter settled and agreed to end once and for all calls for any further apologies from Japan. So what happened? Japan has met its part of the deal disbursing the agreed funds into a South Korean fund and the PM has expressed his apologies and remorse for the suffering of these women. But then South Korea impeached their former President Park Geun-hye over corruption and now the new president feels the agreement made under the former president is not enough. This of course opens a whole new can of worms and both countries have been down this road before. The past cannot be undone but Japan has taken responsibility and settled the issue with South Korea. New demands for greater compensation and more apologies may impact bilateral relations. On the course of greater instability by the DPRK, South Korea will need Japan as an ally. No dollar amount cannot erase the crimes of the past. From our perspective, the dollar amount in the 2015 settlement does not adequately compensate for the scale of the crime. But that's what South Korea Agreed to. When you consider how few elderly Comfort Women are still alive, it is not within reason. That being said, call for new apologies will serve no purpose. We hope Moon will find a way to back down from his own campaign rhetoric and either agree to the terms of the 2015 settlement or find a better solution to a problem he chose to champion.

Picture of Things to Come?

Seen here is is Impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye doing the walk of shame to the courthouse in handcuffs. She is South Korea's first female president who has been put on trial for abuse of power and corruption. She faces Life in Prison if convicted. While there is much talk of impeachment of the current American Resident of the United States for similar conflicts of interests and abuses of power, it is unlikely should the current FBI investigation turns up any evidence of collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice would result in a prison sentence. That being said, current and former members of the Trump Regime may face criminal indictment. Their positions does not put them above the law. Just ask former convicted members of the Nixon administration. Only time will tell.

Collission Course! U.S.S. Lake Champlain collides with Korean Fishing Boat

Somewhere east of the Korean Peninsula, the American Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser U.S.S. Lake Champlain collided with a 65 foot Korean fishing vessel 502 Nam Yang. This occurred at 11:50 am local time on May 9th. While there were no injuries reported, the extent of the damage to the port side of the ship the cruiser has not been released to the public. Both the U.S. Navy and the South Korean Coast Guard are investigating. It is reported that poor visibility, a lack of a working radio and GPS system on board the Korean boat, and failure to heed warnings played a part in the incident. Both ships were able to get under way and safely head to port. U.S.S. Lake Champlain is currently operating as part of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group.

Pyongyang Posturing

This week has seen the U.S. Third Fleet change its plans. In the recent wake of increased tensions with the DPRK, the Navy canceled the scheduled port of calls in Australia and re-directed the U.S.S. Carl Vinson (CV-70) and it's carrier group to take up station within the sphere of the Korean Peninsula.  Under normal circumstances this would seem like routine posturing to let the rogue nation and it's "Dear Leader" that the United States stands ready to defend it's South Korean & Japanese allies. What is troubling is not so much the threats coming out of Pyongyang but rather from our own new regime of amateurs whose sole foreign consistency has been its own unpredictability. Particularly when Trump claims to know more than his generals and takes his foreign policy advice from his handbag designer daughter and inexperienced son in law. This makes for a dangerous mix especially when you count the PRC's recent deployment of 150,000 ground troops along North Korea's northern border. We at American Mishima are counting on Secretary of Defense "Mad Dog" Mattis and our Naval Commanders in the Third Fleet to use caution and not indulge the impulsive whims of our unpredictable part time leader who spends more time golfing at his Florida resorts and Tweeting threats than actually governing. This should make for interesting conversation in Beijing and nervousness in Seoul & Tokyo. As we have said many times, may cooler heads prevail.

Japan & South Korea Reach Historic Deal

Seen here in the above photo is South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se shaking hands with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul this week as the two countries reach an historic agreement to resolve decades of animosity and distrust over the treatment of Korean "Comfort Women" during the war who were forced to work in brothels as sex slaves. The break in the decades long impasse represents a new willingness on the part of the Abe Government to compromise in order to settle these longstanding differences. PM Abe is said to have “expressed anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.” If that's not a sincere apology, I don't know what is. What this deal entails is one billion Japanese Yen that will go to help what few surviving Korean victims who would now be in their late 80's and 90's. For Japan's part, PM Abe called South Korean President Park Geun-hye and reiterated his apology. He said Tokyo would implement the deal and called the issue settled irreversibly. Park said she hoped the two countries will build mutual trust and open a new era in ties based on the agreement. The final caveat of this deal was an agreement to stop future demands for Tokyo to apologize as they have been doing for generations. Both nations are staunch U.S. Allies. We wish both countries a new peaceful era of mutual trust and friendship as they will need it as they both live under the threats of a nuclear armed North Korea and an ever encroaching Chinese Navy who lately seems to be on everyone's grievance list.