North-South Korea and Trump Misreading of History and Facts

Trump Wants Us Out or South Korea Pays for Us to Stay

(For Japan, too)

“That it would be a terrible thing, if they do, they do. 

Good luck. Enjoy yourself, folks.” /s/ Trump

Long post, but needs to be said: Speaking at a rally in Rothschild, WI ahead of the primary on Tuesday (April 5,) Trump said that if a conflict between Japan and nuclear-armed North Korea were to break out, “That it would be a terrible thing but if they do, they do. Good luck. Enjoy yourself, folks.”

Re: North Korea and Kim Jong-Un, Trump complained that the U.S. had 28,000 troops on the armistice line between North Korea and South Korea “…to stop a maniac.”

(My note: The only maniac I see other than Kim, Jong-un is Donald J. Trump – a novice in world affairs and politics, and general ässhølë on most other things that matter).

Trump went on to complain that the United States received no benefit from deploying troops around the world to help other countries who did not reimburse American taxpayers, saying in part: “We can’t be the policeman of the world. What we do get out of it? It’s time that other people stopped looking at us as stupid, stupid people.”

Then he pledged that if elected, “We are going to get these countries to pay but not only to pay all the money they owe us for many years ... [but for what we are owed for] carrying these countries.”

Memo to Trump: American troops are and have been deployed in South Korea in support of the United Nations, which enforces the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953 (still with meetings in Panmunjom).

North and South are still technically at war since only an armistice declaring a cease fire have ever been signed. Ever since 1953, North Korea has repeatedly engaged in belligerent activities, including in recently sinking a South Korean ship and bombing South Korean territory.

Related North Korean Nastiness Over the Years:

The DMZ has had numerous cases of incidents and incursions by North Korean. The North Korean government never acknowledges direct responsibility for any of these incidents. These have included:

October 1966–October 1969: Korean DMZ Conflict, a series of skirmishes along the DMZ results in 43 American, 299 South Korean, and 397 North Korean soldiers killed.

January 17, 1968: 31 North Korean commandos crossed the border disguised as South Korean soldiers in the Blue House (Presidential Palace) raid, an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung-Hee at the Blue House.

The failed mission resulted in 29 commandos killed (one committed suicide) and the other two captured. Two South Korean policemen and five civilians were killed by the commandos. Other reports indicated as many as 68 South Koreans were killed and 66 wounded, including about 24 civilians. Three Americans were killed and another three wounded in an attempt to prevent the commandos from escaping back via the DMZ.

October 1968: 130 North Korean commandos entered the Ul-chin and Sam-cheok areas in Gangwon-do. Eventually 110 of them were killed, 7 captured, and 13 escaped.

March 1969: Six North Korean infiltrators crossed the border near Chumun-jin, Gangwon-do and killed a South Korean policeman on guard duty.

April 1970: Three North Korean infiltrators were killed and five South Korean soldiers wounded at an encounter in Kum-chon, Gyeonggi-do.

(NOT A DMZ INCIDENT, BUT HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT – also I was there at that time):

At 10:23 a.m., 15 August 1974, South Korean Independence Day, First Lady Yuk, Young-soo (Mrs. Park, Chung-hee) was shot and killed by Mun, Se-gwang, a North Korean sympathizer (who had been living in Japan as part of the Zai-nichi Korean party) during an attempt by his to assassinate President Park Chung-hee at the at the Seoul National Theater during an independence day celebration speech by President Park (he was uninjured after 4 shot were fire, the third hitting Mrs. Yuk in the head – she died later at Seoul National hospital.

November 20, 1974: The first of what would be a series of North Korean infiltration tunnels under the DMZ was discovered. The joint ROK-U.S. investigation team tripped a North Korean booby-trap, killing one American and wounding 6 others.

March 1975: The second North Korean infiltration tunnel was discovered.

June 1976: Three North Korean infiltrators and six South Korean soldiers were killed in the eastern sector south of the DMZ. Another six South Korean soldiers were injured.

August 18, 1976: The Axe Murder Incident resulted in the death of two U.S. soldiers and injuries to another four U.S. soldiers and five South Korean soldiers.

July 14, 1977: An American CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down after straying into the north over the DMZ. Three airmen were killed and one was briefly held prisoner (this was the sixth such incident since the armistice was signed)

October 1978: The third North Korean infiltration tunnel was discovered.

October 1979: Three North Korean agents attempting to infiltrate the eastern sector of the DMZ were intercepted, killing one of the agents.

December 6, 1979: US patrol in the DMZ accidentally crossed the MDL into a North Korean minefield. One US soldier was killed and four were injured.

March 1980: Three North Korean infiltrators were killed attempting to enter the south across the estuary of the Han River.

March 1981: Three North Korean infiltrators spotted at Kum-hwa, Gangwon-do, with one being killed.

July 1981: Three North Korean infiltrators were killed in the upper stream of Imjin River.

May 1982: Two North Korean infiltrators were spotted on the east coast, with one being killed.

March 1990: The fourth North Korean infiltration tunnel was discovered, in what may be a total of 17 tunnels in all.

May 1992: Three North Korean infiltrators dressed in South Korean uniforms were killed at Cheor-won, Gangwon-do. Three South Koreans were also wounded.

December 17, 1994: An American OH-58A+ Kiowa helicopter crosses 10 km into North Korean territory and was shot down.

October 1995: Two North Korean infiltrators were intercepted at Im-jin River. One was killed, while the other escaped.

April 1996: Several hundred North Korean armed troops enter the Joint Security Area and elsewhere on three occasions, in violation of the Korean armistice agreement.

May 1996: Seven North Korean soldiers crossed the DMZ, but withdrew when fired upon by South Korean troops.

April 1997: Five North Korean soldiers crossed the DMZ in the Cheor-won sector and fired at South Korean positions.

July 16, 1997: Fourteen North Korean soldiers crossed the MDL, causing a half-hour exchange of heavy gunfire.

October 26, 2000: Two US aircraft observing a ROK army military exercise accidentally cross over the DMZ.

May 26, 2006: Two North Korean soldiers entered the DMZ and crossed into South Korea. They returned after South Korean soldiers fired warning shots.

October 7, 2006: South Korean soldiers fired warning shots after five North Korean soldiers crossed briefly into their side of the border.

October 27, 2009: A South Korean pig farmer, who was wanted for assault, cut a hole in the DMZ fence and defected to North Korea.

October 29, 2010: Two shots were fired from North Korea toward a South Korean post near Hwa-cheon and South Korean troops fired three shots in return.

October 6, 2012: An 18 year old North Korean Army private defected to South Korea. He was apparently not detected as he crossed the DMZ and had to knock on an ROK barracks door to draw attention to himself. The soldier later told investigators that he had defected after killing two of his superiors.

September 16, 2013, a 47 year old man was shot dead by South Korean soldiers while trying to swim across the Tanpo-cheon Stream near Paju to North Korea.

Footnote: While in the Marine Corps and on active duty, I served in Korea from 1961-63 with the Naval Advisory Group at ROKMC HQ in Seoul. I was in and out of Korea from 1973-79 in various temporary duty assignments. I then served as Air Force and Army civilian in Seoul, with 2^nd Infantry Division, and later back in Seoul at 8^th Army HQ from 1980-1991. I studied Korea at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and I speak Korean fluently.

In summary: Trump is way out of his league on foreign affairs, international relations, our own military, and especially about North Korea, and so much more. We continue to see his ignorance on full display practically on a daily basis. He is not prepared for, suited for, nor fit to be President of the United States.