Another South Korean Army member fleeing to North Korea? The reality of the 22nd Infantry Division, which is in charge of sloppy border security.
2022-01-03
Category:South Korea
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Did South Korean soldiers flee to North Korea?
On January 1st of the new year, an unidentified person climbed over the iron fence from the South Korean side and entered the North Korean side, leading to the attack on South Korean troops including the 22nd Infantry Division of the South Korean Army on the Eastern Front in the area where this incident occurred. The Army is on emergency alert.
The 22nd Infantry Division, a unit located on this border, has caused various problems in the past. In June 1984, there was another incident involving a large firearm that resulted in 23 casualties.
In June 2004, a private on duty at battalion headquarters left his post with a firearm and 15 rounds of live ammunition and was captured eight hours later.
In October 2008, a private second class on guard duty committed suicide with a rifle.
On March 28, 2012, a soldier was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
In 2005, two reserve sergeants and others were arrested a month later after seizing two K-2 rifles, six grenades, and 7,000 live rounds.
In 2005, a vessel believed to be a fishing boat headed for North Korea, and in October 2009, it was revealed that civilians had cut through iron fences and headed north.
In 2012, the so-called "knock defection incident" caused a stir in society. On October 2, 2012, North Korean soldiers crossed the border and knocked on the door of the living quarters, asking for asylum, but it turned out that the troops were unaware of the fact that the iron fence had been cut until then, and two generals Two territorial officers were reprimanded.
MEMO The 22nd Division has been involved in many incidents in the past, and is said to account for the majority of incidents that occur within the South Korean military, with some deriding it as an encyclopedia of military incidents.
Even if the environment is harsh, is border security still okay?
The terrain is also difficult. The front boundary stretches for tens of kilometers, surrounded by rugged mountain ranges.
``Many soldiers are said to suffer from knee pain because the iron fence border line is very steep and goes up and down.As a result, guard duty is more difficult than in other divisions.This is also the reason why defections and incidents of North Korea are so common.
POINT Although security near the border is thorough, it seems that there are many cases of people defecting or fleeing from South Korea or North Korea.
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[related article]
Prime Minister Kishida and South Korea's next president, Yoon Seok - Yeol, have a telephone conversation. Will there be any changes in foreign policy?
Regarding Yun Seok-Yeol's telephone talk with Prime Minister Kishida of Japan following the US, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs' foreign policy states that ``we will strengthen mutual assistance with China, Japan, and Russia, centering on the South Korea-US alliance. ”, which indicates that the telephone conversation did not follow the order of current foreign policy.
Looking at South Korea's diplomatic white paper for 2021, it uses expressions for Japan that are a step above the terms ``closest neighbor'' and ``neighboring country,'' and after looking into it, it appears that this expression has been adopted in 2020.
Similarly, in 2020, Japan reinstated the expression "important neighbor", which had been removed in 2018 and 2019. Although this appears to be in response to South Korea's move, it is a step down from the "most important neighboring country" that was used up until 2017.
Since this was a telephone conversation to report on the election, I don't think it will have a direct impact on Japan's diplomatic blueprint for 2022, but since the South Korean president will be inaugurated in May, it is important for the country to be able to carry out full-fledged diplomatic activities. will be after that.
It may be necessary to check the 2022 edition of the Diplomatic Bluebook to see if there will be any changes in Japan's foreign policy in the future
Voting for South Korea's unified local elections was held on June 1st, with the ruling party
Local elections won by the ruling party
Local administration launches anti-Japanese movement
The president is the head of the executive branch
Twisted power runs amok
Efforts to improve relationships are always destroyed
Adopts resolution that violates international commitments
South Korea cannot keep its promises
Voting for South Korea's unified local elections was held on June 1st, with the ruling party "People's Power" winning 12 out of 17 regions, and the "Tomo Democratic Party" winning 4 regions including Jeolla Province and Gyeonggi Province by a narrow margin. It is reported that the ruling party won by a landslide, winning only five regions. This appears to be a trend that will lead to a resolution of the kinks between local government, the president, and the cabinet.
The No Japan movement was largely led by local governments. Gyeonggi Province, Seoul City, and Busan City have passed ordinances stipulating ``war criminal company stickers'' or ``restrictions on the purchase of war criminal company products.'' This is a surprising ordinance that places stickers on the products of Japanese companies that have been unilaterally labeled as war criminal companies, and restricts the use and purchase of those products in government agencies and schools.
Local governments in South Korea not only decide local leaders, but also exercise a variety of powers, including issuing ordinances that can lead to diplomatic issues between countries.
Regarding the ban on imports from Fukushima Prefecture, fishing organizations in coastal areas such as Busan are putting tremendous pressure on local governments. This is a local economic issue, and we do not want to import Japanese seafood to South Korea. This is to protect Korean fishing organizations. It is clear from the beginning that this is not a scientific problem.
The president assumes the position of head of the executive branch. Since the president is the head of state who is directly elected by the votes of all citizens, he is given great powers, unlike the prime minister in a parliamentary system.
In a parliamentary system, the leader of the parliament with the largest majority is elected prime minister. Therefore, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the Diet, which is the legislative branch, will not be distorted. If anything could be twisted, the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors would be twisted.
In South Korea, the current president is Yun Seok-Yeol, who ran for office based on ``the power of the people,'' and the Democratic Party of Korea holds 58% of the seats in the National Assembly, the legislative body. In other words, even if the president uses his prerogatives, Congress can pass one bill after another to nullify them.
Substantive exchanges between Japan and South Korea began in 1998, when the Japan-Korea Joint Declaration was signed. Until then, Japanese culture, anime, manga, dramas, etc. had been prohibited in South Korea, but this declaration will lift the ban on these. It was also during this period that Korean dramas and K-POP began to flow into Japan.
Also known as the Obuchi-Kim Dae-jung Declaration, it was a declaration that comprehensively resolved the Japan-Korea issue, including the joint hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup between Japan and Korea and the conclusion of a new fisheries agreement regarding the Takeshima issue. It will be deactivated immediately thereafter.
On July 18, 2001, the South Korean parliament passed a unanimous resolution calling on the South Korean government to abolish the Japan-Korea Joint Declaration. Then, a large number of Korean fishing boats appeared near Takeshima, and the territorial issue reignited and continues to this day, and the activities of civil society groups on issues such as the forced labor issue and the comfort women issue further expanded. This is despite the fact that the World Cup was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea in 2002.
Will Congress vote to invalidate the president's diplomatic promises with other countries? Such unbelievable things happen in the South Korean National Assembly.
This has hardly been reported in Japan. Japan was united towards the success of the Japan-Korea joint World Cup. And during the match of this tournament, an incident occurs where Korean players criticize the Rising Sun flag and promote Takeshima as Korean territory. The premise behind this was that South Korea was already trying to revoke the 1998 Joint Declaration.
In South Korea, the president's powers will only be effectively exercised if he wins the presidential election and unified local elections, and the ``power of the people'' wins the national election in 2024.
The issue of South Korean ships conducting investigations around Takeshima shortly before and immediately after the presidential inauguration became a problem. In other words, South Korea is not even equipped to keep its promises..
This is especially noticeable in anti-Japanese groups. In South Korea, members of both the ruling and opposition parties are basically anti-Japanese.. Even if the Diet tries to improve relations with Japan as a matter of policy, if its practical interests are endangered, it will easily turn into an anti-Japanese Diet.
In Japan, if things are twisted, things will not be decided, but in Korea, twisted power begins to run amok. It is an uncontrolled rampage that continues even if international agreements are broken.
The Sino - Japanese issue is an intergovernmental issue. Japan and South Korea are civic issues. The people of Korea, a democratic country, cannot pretend to be innocent.
The difference between Sino-Japanese relations and Japan-South Korea relations is that Sino-Japanese relations are intergovernmental and Japan-South Korea relations is civic.As with the Takeshima issue, the Senkaku Islands issue is a territorial issue in Sino-Japanese relations.As for anti-Japanese education, both China and Korea have anti-Japanese education, and the two countries in the world are anti-Japanese.Although anti-Japanese, China and South Korea have completely different positions in history.Japan battled with China, and Korea was during the annexation of Japan and Korea, and above all, Japan didn't battle with Korea.
The Japanese do not criticize individual Chinese for the current Sino-Japanese issue.This is because the Chinese do not have the right to vote, and everyone knows that the expansion of the Communist Party of China's Xi Jinping policy is the cause.On the other hand, Japanese comments on Korea have attracted attention to the personality of Koreans.This is because the Japanese understand that the No Japan movement has become a social phenomenon in Korea beyond civic groups and that anti-Japanese education is the foundation of the issue.And most of all, Moon Jae In is a president elected by the people's votes.
It is natural that international relations will change somewhat if the regime changes.However, Moon Jae In hid behind the scenes and used private organizations to carry out anti-Japanese movements in the voice of citizens for political activities and diplomacy.That's all he's done for five years.Has he ever thought about how this would affect him in the future?
China and South Korea are both problematic countries for Japan, but the differences between the two countries need to be observed.
South Korean President with 28% Approval Rating - Breaks Promises to China if Seeking Relations with Japan - Country that Breaks Promises to Japan if China [Contents]
South Korea's new president with low approval rating
It's advantageous if you don't make achievements
Anti-Japanese Appeal on the Takeshima Issue
China just waits and sees
Change of government will change things
President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating is 28% (according to Gallup Korea survey), and he has been facing a tough fight since he took office. Since the administration began as a lame duck in the first place, there is no change in the situation where the government cannot move unless the power of the people wins the 2024 general election.
Looking ahead to 2024, the Democratic Party of Korea, which is the enemy, will be at a disadvantage if President Yoon produces results and achievements. There is no mistake in going on the offensive of not letting the president do anything.
Although President Yoon Seok-yue has appealed for the improvement of Japan-South Korea relations, he is willing to make concessions on the Takeshima issue, such as by conducting marine surveys around Takeshima. Even at this stage, he is ridiculed as a pro-Japanese president or a betrayal president. In any case, from a Japanese point of view, it can only be seen as a double standard.
As for China, as was the case with Moon Jae-in, it seems that they are just watching the future of this administration.
The deployment of THAAD under the Park Geun-hye administration cooled relations between China and South Korea, but under the Moon Jae-in administration, they exchanged promises with China about the three non-compliances, and the current president has declared that he does not know about the three non-compliances.
Right-wing and left-wing South Korea have a unique structure of pro-U.S./pro-Japan and pro-China conflicts, and they seem to understand well that a change in government can lead to a major change in diplomatic policy.
In the first place, isn't there a question in South Korea about where the national ideology of South Korea, which goes back and forth between liberal democracy and socialist dictatorship, lies? On the contrary, they are constantly intimidatingly questioning each other about meaningless alternatives, whether they are pro-Japanese or anti-Japanese.
South Korea, where anti-Japan precedes the national ideology of democracy or socialism. Any problem can be dwarfed by anti-Japan fire, making it a very easy tool to use politically.
[Korea] The mystery of Han Dong-hoon, chairman of the emergency response committee, who was supposed to have resigned, becoming party leader
This person is Han Dong-hoon, who is currently the leader of the ruling party of South Korea, the People Power Party. After the People Power Party lost the general election in April this year, he resigned from his position as emergency response committee chairman, but later ran for the party's leadership election on July 23rd and became its leader. Before the election, some Seoul city council members belonging to the party proposed to "repeal the ordinance that restricts the use of symbols of Japanese imperialism such as the Rising Sun Flag in public places," and in response to the party's declaration that it "strongly opposes the repeal of the ordinance," Han said that he would take strict disciplinary action, and the city council members withdrew the ordinance in just one day.
Han Dong-hoon said, "The use of symbols of Japanese imperialism in public places is absolutely unacceptable. The city council members who proposed the repeal of the ordinance will be investigated by the party and will take strict measures." And before the general election, a conflict arose between him and the First Lady over their differences in views, and the Blue House asked him to resign from his position as an emergency response committee member. Does this person's becoming the party leader mean that the balance of power within the ruling party, the People's Power Party, is changing dramatically?
First of all, this person seems to be claiming that they cannot win the election unless they incorporate the left-wing forces in South Korea, and by left-wing forces, they mean so-called anti-Japanese forces. In other words, comfort women groups and groups that support the forced labor issue. The People's Power Party has followed a pro-American and pro-Japanese path, but in the end, it seems that they are shifting the blame for their major election defeat to that.
The background to this is that these anti-Japanese groups worked together with the right wing, and the Korean right wing was a party with strong anti-Japanese tendencies, but the comfort women agreement was concluded during the Park Geun-hye administration, and the text of this agreement called for the establishment of a new foundation to resolve the comfort women issue, meaning that the previous comfort women group, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, now the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, would lose their position completely, and the Moon Jae-in administration incorporated this.
This is how the left wing became an anti-Japanese party. Moreover, it became an even more extreme left wing party than ever before, and instigated the No Japan movement.