• brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    What about all the US troops stationed there?

    I hate to make the jump, but… Is this because of the US election? Is Yoon thinking Trump will be friendly to a dictatorship? I can’t imagine Harris letting this slide, and Biden had a month and tends to be conservative in responses anyway.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Indeed, I meant to say I hate to sound so american centric.

        But I thought US bases were pretty essential to SK’s security against NK?

        • Ferrous@lemmy.ml
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          1 day ago

          Claiming that South Korean politics are subordinate to American politics isn’t exactly unfair…

          To this day, the US maintains a military presence on the DMZ, the zone separating the borders of the two countries. Twice a year, they conduct a mock invasion of the north with the ROK Army. The Republic of Korea’s army is copied from the US structure and was created by the US military occupation: they have four-star generals, they have a Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea (versus a Joints Chiefs of Staff of the United States of America). It shouldn’t come as a surprise: their military was created wholepiece in 1945 by the US presence in Korea. The South Korean equivalent of the CIA was named, you guessed it, the KCIA (now the National Intelligence Service).

          More notably, ROK Forces obey the US officers present in Korea through the CFC, the Combined Forces Command. This is the only country in the world which is under this arrangement. While the CFC has changed its mandate a little bit in the past few years, it still states that in case of war involving the Republic of Korea, the US Army will take over command of the Korean forces. A state that has no agency over its military cannot be said to be a sovereign state.

          South Korea was created from thin air by US generals

          • samus12345@lemmy.world
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            22 hours ago

            in case of war involving the Republic of Korea, the US Army will take over command of the Korean forces

            Uhh, might wanna rethink that one once Trump’s in power…

      • TheOakTree@lemm.ee
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        1 day ago

        Hi Jeena, long time no see 👋

        It certainly isn’t because of Trump, but Yoon is really well known for the same sort of behavior. Covering up investigations, implementing reactionary (but overall pointless) policies, suing media for defamation, denying the existence of sexism, and all the other good stuff.