Samit Basu comments

Actually people blame Yoon, not Yoon blaming people.

Election experts say if Yoon fails to turn negative public opinion(currently in the low 30s) around by September, his party is a toast in next year's general election.

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20230714005200315

Yoon's approval rating falls 6 pct amid debates about Fukushima discharge

All News 14:07 July 14, 2023

In the poll of 1,000 people aged 18 and older conducted by Gallup Korea Co. from Tuesday to Thursday, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance came to 32 percent, down from the previous week's 38 percent.

@Fighto!

Taiwan - yes. A highly developed, progressive, free and fair democracy.

Not welcome into this exclusive club.

Neither are getting in.

It takes single veto to block Taiwan's accession, and there are five TPP member states vulnerable to China's blackmail. We are talking trade sanctions and a show of force around the target country, which should be enough to back off and trigger a veto.

As of now, the only FTA that Taiwan can potentially reach is the one with the US, but with no one else.

@Sh1mon M4sada

...but it will be slow, buggy and not as good as on XBox...just ask Netscape.

Of course.

@WhiskeyGalore

So both of you have read the contract between Sony and Microsoft?

The deal is for 10 years. Microsoft can cut PlayStation off from COD releases after 2034.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/16/23792215/sony-microsoft-call-of-duty-cod-deal-signed

Sony agrees to 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft

Sony has agreed to a 10-year deal for Call of Duty with Microsoft to keep the franchise on PlayStation after the proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition.

@Xavier

It is Taiwan that should be next.

China won't get in because of the Japan/Australia veto.

Taiwan won't get in because of the Malaysia/Vietnam/Chile/Peru/Brunei veto.

Some facts behind this agreement.

1) Only CoD is required to remain available on Sony consoles for a certain time period. All other Activision titles can be Microsoft console exclusive unless covered by a prior contract. The most notable case is Elder Scroll 6, which isn't covered by the FTC agreement and Microsoft has yet to decide on the fate of the PS5 verison.

2) Microsoft has no obligation to make the PlayStation version of CoD equal to the Xbox version; a performance disparity is inevitable citing hardware limitations of PS5(Xbox Series X is significantly more powerful than the PS5)

Since Japan is incapable of producing weapons, any increasing spending would go straight to the US to buy more American weapons, and that's welcome with the US.

@TaiwanIsNotChina

How territories disputed/claimed by Japan are treated.

1) Liancourt Rocks : Liancourt Rocks are a heavily visited tourist destination where all are welcome, even Japanese. All that is needed is a ferry ticket and a government issued ID(To board a ferry boat, ID recording is needed just in case of an accident) to be photocopied, no special permit or anything like that needed.

2) Southern Kurils : Southern Kurils are open to Japanese visitors assuming they get the visitation visa. Certain Japanese got visa-waiver.

3) Diaoyu Islands : All Japanese civilians are banned from even approaching the islands by 1 km by Japanese government.

So what are the differences? Korean claims on the Liancourt Rocks and Russian claims on Southern claims are rock solid and iron clad. Japanese claims on Diaoyu Islands are not.

OssanAmerica

Accordng to China, they own everything.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_Cairo_Declaration#Text

Japan's terms of surrender.

"that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China."

Japan has a legal obligation to return the Diaoyu Islands to the Republic of China(aka Taiwan). This is why Japan BANNED all Japanese civilians from approaching within 1 km of the Diaoyu Islands.

@Fighto!

The sooner the JSDF build a fortified and heavily armed base on one of these islands, the better.

Due to Japan's shaky legal claims(Periphery Islands of Taiwan that Japan has failed to return per the condition of surrender), Diaoyu Islands are off limit to all Japanese civilians, can't approach within 1 km of them. Building bases on them would trigger a Chinese military response.

Epsilon is Japan's thinly veiled ICBM program, FYI.

Good for him.

Few people can still professionally compete in their 50s, Miura worked hard to keep himself in top shape, a feat very few professional athletes can manage other than golfers.

@itsonlyrocknroll

Do we hear, read the same S Korean opposition lawmakers committing the same amount of time and effort condemning the North Korea launching long-range ballistic missiles toward sea

Instead of complaining, the Democratic party quietly funds the development and deployment of the world's densest triple-layer missile defense system to protect Korea, and made Korea the US's biggest rival in missile defense system market with winnings in UAE, Saudi Arabia, and in negotiation with Romania.

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/south-korea-might-provide-ukraine-with-air-defense-systems-zelensky/

South Korea might provide Ukraine with air defense systems – Zelensky

Air Defense Military assistance South Korea Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky War with Russia

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that South Korea might provide Ukraine with air defense systems to protect civil and energy infrastructure.

He noted that the transfer of such systems does not violate the principles of arms transfer, as they are means of defense.

“Air defense systems are purely defense equipment, not weapons. To rebuild Ukraine, the “Heavenly Shield” must be in place. We sincerely hope that Korea will support us in this area. In addition, there is an early warning system that alerts about Russian airstrikes, and South Korea could also help with this,” Zelensky said.

@Agent_Neo

They have already forgotten that they had a lot of trouble with mad cow disease.

Interesting you don't know the history behind the mad cow disease protest.

The US SURRENDERED to 1 million Korean protesters and agreed to prohibit export of beef from cows older than 3 years, the onset age of Mad Cow Disease.

Will Japan SURRENDER to angry 1 million Korean protesters and BAN THE EXPORT of all seafood from Japan to Korea? That's the only acceptable solution if Japan were to go ahead with release of Fukushima radioactive waste water, to build the trust among consumers that none of seafood available at the market is from Japan. Knowing Japan, Japan won't do a thing, just watch Yoon get toppled and be replaced by the most hardcore anti-Japan candidate in the presidential office, and then go back to trade and diplomatic wars with Korea again.

FYI, North Korea has actually shot down a US spy plane before in 1969, so this isn't an empty threat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_EC-121_shootdown_incident

1969 EC-121 shootdown incident

On 15 April 1969,[Note 1] a United States Navy Lockheed EC-121M Warning Star of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) on a reconnaissance mission was shot down by a North Korean MiG-21 aircraft 

@Agent_Neo

In South Korea, where there will be an election next year, the focus is on competing to see how anti-Japanese you can be

Yoon's party is doing a bad job of portraying themselves as anti-Japan crusaders then and will be wiped out in the general election then. Once the Democratic party crosses the 66% threshold, Yoon is gone.

Rafael Grossi finally learns in person that the supermajority of Korean parliament(62%) and 85% of Korean public fiercely oppose Fukushima waste water release into sea.

And the condition of Ukraine joining is lifting all food import restrictions from Japan, I presume.

@Peter Neil

A reasonable question is how many of the protestors know that Korean reactors release more every year than the planned release from Fukushima over decades?

Koreans don't care about tritium; they only care about plutonium, cesium, and strontium which are only leaked by Fukushima waste water.

@AJ

It's interesting to see this turned into a nationalistic issue rather than admitting that the strongest opposition is among the residents of Fukushima, who are angry that Tepco has lied to them at every turn about the severity of the problem

Japanese don't understand that Japanese news coverage is heavily censored like that of Russia and China. Japan doesn't have free press. If you want accurate information on Fukushima situation, you need to refer to foreign press coverage. 

Soon, you will have a true report on the actual status of radiation level at Fukushima seawater, as a Korean press managed to collect Fukushima seawater sample on July 4th and managed to smuggle it out of Japan, will be going through independent testing to reveal the true figures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLHkebCZkWI

@What ol' Jack Burton always says

Did you forget Japan officially colonized Joseon during that time

Duh, the Japanese annexation was 1910, 20th century.

LOL, Korean press actually went to Fukushima on July 4th to collect seawater sample to prove Fukushima seawater is unsafe BEFORE the radioactive waste water release. Radioactivity readings were soaring even before approaching the sea, the whole Fukushima area is a nuclear wasteland unfit for human habitation.

The result of the independent Fukushima seawater radioactivity analysis will be revealed shortly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLHkebCZkWI

@Xavier

the reason SK is avoiding the ICJ is because it's pretty sure it will lose.

Actually the only reason Korea won't go to the ICJ is the same reason Japan won't go to the ICJ over the sovereignty of Honshu. The very notion is ridiculous and preposterous.

I personally wouldn't be averse to joint administration if that were ever to happen. 

Japanese rightwingers are confused that the Liancourt Rocks are in same legal limbo as the Diaoyu Islands.

The Liancourt Rocks are actually heavily visited tourist destinations and ALL are welcome, including Japanese. All that Japanese need to visit the Liancourt Rocks is a ferry ticket and your passport to be photocopied at the time of ticket purchase to keep a record of who's visiting. It is actually the Japanese government that's asking Japanese citizens to not visit the Liancourt Rocks.

This is the total opposite of the Diaoyu Islands, where all Japanese civilians are BANNED from approaching within 1 nm of the islands. Why? Because the sovereignty of Diaoyu Islands is in doubt.

@Xavier

If Yoon really wants the Japan relationship to move forward, he should allow the Takeshima/Dokdo issue to go international arbitration at the ICJ

He won't have the chance to do that as he would immediately be impeached and be removed from office. Yoon has enough enemies within his party to go along with the Democratic party to pass an impeachment within 24 hours if Yoon decided to commit a treason.

Japan could agree to rename the Sea of Japan 

Sea of Japan is a local name used by Japan that is no longer recognized by IHO. The water between Korea and Japan is now officially called the 18th sea.

@OssanJapan

going before the ICJ would likelys result in a ruling in Japan's favor. 

Japan has less than 1% chance of a win because Korea can prove entirely with 19th century Japanese records and documents that Japanese government was aware of the Liancourt Rocks being Joseon's territory.

Korea already ran several mock simulation trials in Europe with evidence at hand and they won every single time. 

So why won't Korea go to ICJ if it has the 99% chance of a win? That's because going to the ICJ over the sovereignty of the Liancourt Rocks is like Japan going to the ICJ over the sovereignty of Honshu, or the US going to the ICJ over the sovereignty of Hawaii or Alaska; it is entirely a preposterous notion.

@Agent_Neo

Since it is determined by the IHO, an international organization, it cannot be easily changed. 

IHO already changed the official name to the 18th sea. Incredible Japanese didn't already know this.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/11/south-koreas-fight-against-the-sea-of-japan-pays-off/

South Korea’s Fight Against the ‘Sea of Japan’ Pays Off 

The country’s long battle for co-use of the names “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan” is over as the IHO decided to adopt a new numerical system.

The Japanese government, however, downplayed the IHO’s decision by saying that the name “Sea of Japan” will be maintained on the organization’s map of oceans in the print version, known as S-23, leaving room for the international community and press to keep using the term.

The IHO Secretary-General’s report, however, confirms that S-23 is no longer a valid standard, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

Macron doesn't want to develop relations with Japan. Japan is on its own as far as France is concerned.

https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-block-nato-outpost-japan-china-complaints/

Macron blocks NATO outpost in Japan amid Chinese complaints

Divisions open up over NATO’s Asian outreach ahead of leaders’ summit in Vilnius.

France is holding up a deal to expand NATO’s reach into Asia, opening a split in the Western security alliance on the eve of a vital summit next week.

Won't be long before the Diaoyu Islands are marked as Chinese territory in Hollywood flicks.

Nine-dash lines today, Diaoyu Islands tomorrow.

So far a 100% court acceptance refusal on all deposit applications(9 out of 10 refused, 10th expected to be refused shortly), and the court interpretations across 5 different courts are the same.

The law clearly says the plaintiffs have the right to refuse payment from a party not directly involved in the case. Even if the foreign ministry sues the court in a trial, they are expected to lose according to legal experts because of the refusal provision. Some courts even added that the foreign ministry doesn't even have the legal standing to make the deposit.

@wallace

the sea currents from Fukushima do not go to Korea.

The pacific ocean current flows eastward, then turn back westward, then head toward Japan as Kuroshio current, some of which reaches Korea.

https://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/865142/fmars-09-865142-HTML-r1/image_m/fmars-09-865142-g001.jpg

This is why the Korean report says it will take 5 years for the Fukushima waste water to reach Korea.

@wallace

In the UK I bought Japanese nori. You can buy it on Amazon.

After Fukushima water release, you should think twice buying Japanese nori.

You have 5 years before Korean nori goes bad from contaminated water, so might as well stock up now.

For some reason, the Japanese original nori never took off in the US, with many demanding to take it out of sushi rolls hence naked sushi roll that Japanese never heard of, along with avocado sushi roll.

It's Korean style roasted, oiled, and salted nori that's all the rage in the US.

https://www.google.com/search?q=seaweed+snack&safe=active&ei=FSeoZKXxA6Cp5NoPgYy46AE&ved=0ahUKEwjlz-Ty7Pz_AhWgFFkFHQEGDh0Q4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=seaweed+snack

I am not sure where UK is getting its nori from, but most of nori supplied in the US(ie Costco) is Korean.

@Peter Neil

 their own reactors, Kori in particular, releases more every year than the entire amount to be released from Fukushima over several decades.

Korean reactors do not release plutonium, strontium, and cesium like contained in Fukushima radioactive waste water.

The issue always was about heavy radioactive elements that ALPS was unable to remove, not tridium.