Two Murders and a Funeral - The Abe Legacy

Today, private funerals will be held for Shinzo Abe, whose assassination shocked Japan and the whole world. 

In Zojo-ji.

So the man who so heavily promoted the restoration of State Shinto will be honored in a Buddhist temple. The man who campaigned so hard for the return of Imperial Japan's militarism was murdered by a former member of the navy. And the man whom Korea loved to hate for his negation of war crimes died because that madman believed the former PM's family supported Reverend Moon's cult.

Ultimate paradox? This tragedy may help Abe fulfill his lifelong dream of destroying Japan's peaceful postwar constitution: his LDP won in the landslide he always needed but never quite achieved. 

Now the murder of peaceful, postwar Japan shall be quietly performed by lawmakers following his brainchild Nippon Kaigi. Let's see if Fumio Kishida will forever taint his name by pulling the trigger.

20220708 thread @theSeoulVillage:

"1) Fmr Japan PM in cardiac arrest, suspect arrested. Shinzo Abe was shot during speech (Reuters). Lunatic? Political? His Yakuza pals? As much as I hate his Nippon Kaigi AbeIGNomics, I wish him well.
2) Shinzo Abe died. Killer a former member of the SDF.
3) This is clearly a tragedy, but Shinzo Abe was neither a Muhammad Anwar el Sadat nor a Yitzhak Rabin. #AbeIGNomics"

=> My 2019 fake interview of Abe Shinzo: "Make Imperial Japan Great Again - an exclusive (fake) tell-all interview with Shinzo ABE"

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With Yoshihide Suga, Nippon Kaigi remains in charge of Japan politics

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. Shinzo ABE is replaced by a man six years older, and even more conservative. The cabinet remains basically unchanged, with Taro ASO as number two, and as expected, a majority (14/20) of members affiliated with the neo-fascist lobby Nippon Kaigi, including of course #1 and #2, but also 7 of the 10 new members:

• Nobuo Kishi (Defense), like his brother Shinzo Abe a war crime denier, and a grandson of untried war criminal and former PM Nobusuke Kishi. Sadly, in today's Japan, Nippon Kaigi has a monopoly on the Ministry of Defense, because the lobby is all about restoring Imperial Japan militarism and destroying postwar pacifism, starting with the Constitution (particularly Article 9). Former Defense Minister Taro Kono is now in charge of administrative and regulatory reforms, which probably cover the revision of the constitution that Shinzo Abe failed to deliver)
  
• Ryota Takeda (Minister of General Affairs)
• Kotaro Nogami (Agriculture and Fisheries)
  
• Norihisa Tamura (Health, Labor and Welfare)
  
• Katsuei Hirasawa (Minister of Reconstruction)
• Shinji Inoue (Consumer Administration, Osaka 2025)
• Tetsushi Sakamoto (Regional revitalisation etc)

 Yoshihide Suga's cabinet (2 women*):

. Yoshihide Suga (71) Prime Minister
. Taro Aso (79) Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister (idem)
. Ryota Takeda (52) Internal Affairs and Communications Minister
. Yoko Kamikawa* (67) Justice Minister
. Toshimitsu Motegi (64) Foreign Minister (idem)
. Koichi Hagiuda (57) Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister (idem)
. Norihisa Tamura (55) Health, Labor and Welfare Minister
. Kotaro Nogami (53) Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister
. Hiroshi Kajiyama (64) Economy, Trade and Industry Minister (idem)
. Kazuyoshi Akaba (62) Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister (idem)
. Shinjiro Koizumi (39) Environment Minister (idem)
. Nobuo Kishi (61) Defense Minister
. Katsunobu Kato (64) Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister in charge of the abduction issue
. Katsuei Hirasawa (75) Reconstruction Minister
. Hachiro Okonogi (55) Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Minister in charge of disaster management
. Tetsushi Sakamoto (69) Minister for promoting dynamic engagement of all citizens, Minister in charge of regional revitalization, Minister in charge of measures for declining birthrate
. Yasutoshi Nishimura (57) Minister in charge of economic revitalization, Minister in charge of measures for the novel coronavirus pandemic (idem)
. Taro Kono (57) Minister in charge of administrative reform, Minister in charge of regulatory reform
. Seiko Hashimoto* (55) Minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Minister in charge of women's empowerment, Minister in charge of gender equality (idem)
. Shinji Inoue (50) Minister for the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, Minister in charge of consumer administration
. Takuya Hirai (62) Minister in charge of digital reform, Minister in charge of social security and tax number system

Health minister Katsunobu Kato was chosen to succeed Suga as chief Cabinet secretary

Health minister Katsunobu Kato was chosen to succeed Suga as chief Cabinet secretary

Health minister Katsunobu Kato was chosen to succeed Suga as chief Cabinet secretary

Health minister Katsunobu Kato was chosen to succeed Suga as chief Cabinet secretary

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Eternal Shame

When LEE Yong-soo was a kid, she became one of Imperial Japan military's 200,000+ sex slaves. In 1992, she was among the first 'Comfort Women' who came out, overcoming their shame, and speaking about the unspeakable. And people listened to this amazing human being all the way to the States, where she helped Mike HONDA pass a landmark House Resolution (H.R. 121).

Long before Greta THUNBERG How-Dare-You-ed Donald TRUMP and other world leaders, the ever young Yong-soo Look-At-Me-ed Shinzo ABE with her powerful voice, the voice of hundreds of thousands of young girls who were stolen their youth, raped, tortured, murdered.

Now 91, she's still fighting for justice. As if fighting for the resolution of 'Comfort Women' tragedies were not enough, LEE Yong-soo has now to expose the corrupt pseudo-activists who used her and fellow survivors for their own profit. Over the past weeks, scandals around YOON Mee-hyang have been piling up at a CHOI Soon-sil / CHO Kuk pace. The ruling party keeps defending her as blindly as it did with CHO Kuk months ago (see "Moon Landing - The Cheong Wa Dae Curse"), and here again, they should be doing the exact opposite. At least, this time, MOON Jae-in avoids defending the culprit publicly...

Back in 2011 - "One Thousand Wednesdays"

Even before the prosecutor started investigating her, the public has judged YOON guilty on all charges. And just like with CHO Kuk, a large majority thinks she should resign (she was elected a MP last month). YOON doesn't seem to feel any remorse, and even displays the most shameless behaviors (accusing LEE of senility probably among her lowest lows). I only met YOON once, years ago, but she struck me as someone who preferred the status quo to compromise. She already measured her achievements in terms of real estate, and the actual resolution of the tragedy was much better heralded by LEE .

LEE Yong-soo Halmoni leaves a very different impression. She radiates energy, compassion, and humor. She fights for justice. Not for Korea, not against Japan. She aims at reconciliation to help both countries face the past and the future soundly, without fueling mutual hatred. She reaches for the youth not to indoctrinate them, but to help them make their own unbiased opinions.

We must keep demanding justice for the victims of Imperial Japan, we must now also demand justice for them as victims of pseudo-activists. Real activists and the ruling party should immediately stop defending YOON against LEE.

Don't they realize how bad you look when you chose the wrong side of justice? Don't they realize that CHO Kuk and YOON Mee-hyang scandals are all about people who corrupted activism, people who betrayed the very ideals they pretended to stand for? Don't they realize that supporting them blindly is the worst thing genuine activists should do?

The more YOON Mee-hyang tries to silence LEE Hamoni, the more it backfires. She eventually decided to remain below radar surface until parliamentary immunity protects her. But Korea shouldn't let that happen.

Imagine one instant if Dear LEE Yong-soo Halmoni were to pass away before Justice is delivered:

• We already know how History will judge all the Japanese governments that not only refused to resolve the 'Comfort Women' issues, but also tried to silence her and prevent Japan and the world from knowing about these atrocities.
• We can guess how History will remember YOON Mee-hyang
• But how would those who defended YOON against LEE ever forgive themselves? It's up to them to avoid eternal shame.

One sure thing: LEE Yong-soo Halmoni will forever stand as an inspiring hero, who overcame her shame to expose those who truly deserved it. Regardless of the flag or banner they carry.

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Make Imperial Japan Great Again - an exclusive (fake) tell-all interview with Shinzo ABE

(NB - this interview is part of our Agence Fausse Presse series which already featured, among other extremists, KIM Jong-un* and Donald Trump**)

Seoul Village - "Prime Minister ABE, thank you for accepting this interview. To start with, do you prefer Westerners to call you Shinzo ABE, or ABE Shinzo?"

Shinzo ABE: "I don't care, as long as you don't confuse me with Kan ABE: I'm so ashamed by my paternal grandfather, who ruined the reputation of my family. This man was a dangerous peacemonger who dared oppose Hideki TOJO and Imperial Japan militarism. All my life is about clearing my name, the reputation of that side of my family. When you think that his eldest son, my father, had to become a kamikaze to prove to everybody that he was on the (extreme) right side of Japan's history."

SV - 'Your maternal grandfather, on the other hand..."

SA - "Needless to say, Nobusuke KISHI was my hero: a genuine war criminal I could be proud of, and relate to. My visits to Yasukuni, or my congratulations to war criminal memorials pale in comparison to the headstone he dedicated to TOJO and the other fallen war criminals***... what an inspiration for us."

War criminal Kishi would be proud of his Rising GrandSon

SV - "By 'us', you mean Nippon Kaigi."

SA - "Of course. I'm very proud of my brainchild Nippon Kaigi. Nobody thought that a maze of exotic extremist groupuscules could be merged into Japan's dominant political lobby, reuniting hardcore neofascists with Shinto fundamentalists. But in order to achieve that incredible feat, I needed Korea's help."

SV - "Pardon me....?"

SA - "We love it when Korean nationalists hijack history issues. As fellow extremists, we need each other to play a naughty ping pong game and make moderates inaudible. And these guys are very successful at fueling anger from the Korean people, and not anger at us, but anger at Japan in general, which makes it easier for us to say 'look, these people are radicals, they can't see reason, we are the victims in this story. Korean nationalists helped us revive our ailing fascist movements, but at the beginning in 1992, we felt really scared: for the first time, Korean Comfort Women spoke up about what they came through under Imperial Japan rule, for the first time in decades, the less pretty side of our history was exposed to the Western world, and back then, nationalism was kept at bay in Korea so the victims could be heard without any distortion. We really feared that our grip on Japanese society could be loosened. We had to react in order to defend the memory of our beloved war criminals."

SV - "Well you still controlled the political system. The only embryos of apologies were issued by lame duck officials, in personal statements that were not really binding for the nation."

SA - "Yeah. We keep deleting records, and rewriting history in textbooks, but even with our propaganda machine and our control of the local media, it's hard to get rid of the 1993-1994 statements of Yohei Kono and Tomiichi Murayama. At least, we've successfully destroyed press freedom at home, and even made it almost impossible for foreign journalists to expose my ABEIGNomics, or even to mention Nippon Kaigi, but this takes a lot of time and money."

SV - "Money?"

SA - "Do you know how much money we spend every year in advertising and advertorials on CNN and Co? Almost as much as we invest in soft power in South East Asian countries. But these foreign media never cover stories about us, and these countries have yet to seek apologies or reparations for their Comfort Women."

SV - "Well Western audiences certainly know a lot more about judo and Japanese food than about your Moritomo Gakuen scandal, corruption around Tokyo 2020, or the role of yakuzas in the olympics and in the highly controversial Fukushima cleanup..."

SA - "... you can stop here: I get your point, and I don't want foreign or for that matter Japanese audiences to be enlightened about our ABEIGNomics."

SV - "You don't risk much. It's not like in Korea when everybody's on the street as soon as a new scandal pops up."

SA - "Of course, otherwise we would have been kicked out of power decades ago. We're very lucky that Japanese people are not interested in politics, in defending their democracy and their constitution. We're also very lucky that the US didn't purge our political dynasties at the end of WWII, because they needed people like my 'good' granddad Kishi to secure Japan's support during the Cold War."

SV - "Unlike Germany with Nazism, Japan has never been liberated from Imperial Japan".

SA - "Yes, and we want that situation to continue forever. As you well know, Nippon Kaigi's official goal is to restore Imperial Japan as a whole, including militarism and State Shinto, to repel peace treaties and human rights laws, to recenter education around nationalism, to deny war crimes and to reject postwar pacifism by changing the constitution. This can only happen if the Japanese people, who is overwhelmingly pacifist, is kept unaware of the past, and of our agenda for the future."

SV - "Undoing your democracy should be even easier with a man like Donald Trump in the White House."

SA - "Definitely, and not just because Putin is also very pleased if Japan joins his collection of failed democracies. The difference is that we don't need any meddling in our elections."

SV - "Still, Trump is much more powerful than you."

SA - "Don't misread my losing rounds of golf against Donald. If I spend 200% of my time with him flattering his ego, that's way cheaper than spending millions in foreign media. Plus I receive preferred treatments compared to other traditional US allies."


SV - "That's right. Trump asked you only 4 times more money to pay for the US military umbrella, compared to 5 for South Korea."

"#Trump asked #Japan to multiply by 4 its financial contribution to US defense. #ShinzoAbe's (losing) rounds of #golf with #POTUS paid off (#Korea was asked x 5)." (20191116 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1195566482677059584)

SA - "Well Donald learned business from his mobster friends, so I expected this kind of racketing from him. Besides, MOON Jae-in is too weak. He's out of sync in the region because has nothing to do with strongmen like Vladimir, Narendra, Rodrigo, Jong-un, Jinping or me. Still, I see some hope: lately, MOON seems to have learned more than a few tricks from Donald, judging by the way he's handling justice****..."

SV - "Anyway, there is at least one strong Korean leader these days. Will you meet KIM Jong-un?"

SA - "Maybe. I really want to thank him, to tell him to keep up the good job, to keep shooting missiles over our heads. I badly need enemies at the gate, a boogeyman to justify our return to militarism and our destruction of Japan's postwar pacifism. To make fascism relevant in Japan, to Make Imperial Japan Great Again."


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* see "Exclusive interview with KIM Jong-un - Season III" (2018), "EXCLUSIVE-Second interview with KIM Jong-un" (2017), "Exclusive interview with KIM Jong-un" (2013)
** see "Trump: The Art of the Dealapidation (Exclusive Interview)" (2018)
*** see "The Elusive Independence Day - When will Japan officially proclaim its Independence from Imperial Japan?"
**** see "Moon Landing - The Cheong Wa Dae Curse"

Moon Landing - The Cheong Wa Dae Curse

Is MOON Jae-in losing it? Is the Cheong Wa Dae curse eventually catching up with him? How much is this weird leadership crisis affecting Korea's future? And to start with, am I sounding a bit too dramatic?

Last year (see "Checks and balances"), I singled out "three disturbingly noxious axes" around which MOON's very character was being questioned:

• is he being too much played by KIM Jong-un? 
• is he letting ideology too much undermine the economy? 
• is he taking too much liberty with separation of powers?

Since then, the least one could say is that MJI did nothing to clear mounting fears around these axes. Worse, the way he's coping with CHO Kuk scandals is now threatening his whole presidency to its very core.

MOON's controversial decision to stop sharing intelligence with Japan as a retaliation to Shinzo Abe's trade war on Korea perfectly illustrates the malaise around all three axes:

• North Korea? Clearly the biggest winner of this decision (not to mention China or Russia, also pleased to see the ROK-US-Japan tripartite alliance weakened in a most sensible part). South Korea has the most to lose as KIM Jong-un's most exposed neighbor, and MOON appears once more as someone eager to seize any alibi to undermine his own country's security in favor of the North.
• The economy? By retaliating on political and military dimensions, MOON plays ABE's hand, and makes it even more difficult to quickly solve an already tricky trade conflict that impacts key parts of Korea's badly weakened economy. If ABE started the trade war as the one shooting himself in the foot ("Japan v. Japan - Artificial Belligerence v. Artificial Intelligence"), MOON not only follows suit, but does so with a bazooka.
• Democracy? Pulling out of 'GSOMIA'* grabs all headlines when MOON needs a diversion from the CHO Kuk scandal. The decision came out of the blue (house), without a proper debate on the impacts.

If this looks bad, what to say of MOON's obstination to support CHO Kuk, his Justice minister nominee?

Every day brings new revelations about CHO's misdeeds. The man who posed as a champion against corruption managed to bring back memories of the two most corrupt characters in the saga that led to PARK Geun-hye's impeachment: like him, CHOI Soon-sil erected an outrageous system to illegally favor her daughter's studies and career, and like him, WOO Byung-woo brought shame on SNU Law School by bending law to destroy justice.

The controversial CHO Kuk

CHO's nomination for justice seems doomed, yet MOON Jae-in keeps supporting him as stubbornly as he does for economic advisers that have like himself no clues about economics, and accelerate a downward spiral ahead of the upcoming global downturn.

The case of CHO is much more serious, and existential for MOON, but all in denial, he doesn't seem to realize what's at stake. Everybody knew he was weak on North Korea and the economy, but failing on the very values that brought him there, on justice, on fairness, on transparency... this is the ultimate betrayal, and the president is already losing his base: recent polls show that a majority of youth have now a negative opinion of him. And Korea University students as well as Seoul National University students are starting to demonstrate following the footsteps of Ewha students, who started the movement that brought down PARK, and set the tone with apolitical approaches, focusing on wrongs to be fixed (CHOI Soon-sil's daughter benefited from illegal support at Ewha, CHO's daughter at KU).


The onus is also on lawmakers from the ruling party, who will have to face the consequences of enabling this mess (if not to face history the way GOP congressmen will for enabling Trump)... but no one wants to be the catalyst before the elections, and the scapegoat for the rout. 

No political leader, left, center, or right, seems to stand out as a credible solution for the future. Could a dangerous populist emerge from the ashes of burned illusions? Korea deserves so much better. It proved so beautifully that it could rise to the highest ideals of democracy.

Of course MOON Jae-in doesn't risk impeachment for defending one rotten apple, but his capacity to run the country could be seriously challenged if he loses all support, further undermining an already weakened nation. So let's hope the President sees reason before it's too late.

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* General Security Of Military Information Agreement

How Naruhito exposed Trump's ego trip, and Abe's agenda

Donald Trump will probably remember his State Visit to Japan as a triumphant ego trip: we saw him play golf with his favorite losing partner Abe Shinzo, lift the first ever President Cup (designed for him: YUGE, sumo-sized), become the first Foreign head of state to meet the new Emperor... but what I will remember forever is The Naruhito Statement.

Not a word, but a silent, immobile stand, that should resonate much louder than it has so far.

For six long minutes, a significant section of his first encounter with Trump, Naruhito left his guest alone. Everything was carefully timed and planned, as the intricate red carpet patterns, and an official's intervention confirm.

So what happened? Donald, Melania, Naruhito and Masako arrive together on a wide podium, where they pause to listen to the national anthems. Then Trump moves ahead, and the other three stop where the official instructs them to, only a few meters after leaving the podium, just to symbolically lead him out. The POTUS joins another, smaller podium, where he listens to a military march, then moves to salute troops, then walks along another red line at the end of which he reconnects with the Emperor to meet civilians.

During these six surreal minutes, Trump is either alone, or accompanied by military staff. The only music playing is military. As if a military parade had been especially prepared for him alone. 

DJT is a Commander in Chief, and the Emperor of Japan should remain apolitical, but the whole process turns the moment into a ridicule, onanic one for the former, and a strong political statement for the latter: what better way to express Naruhito's strong support of Japan's peaceful constitution, against Abe and Nippon Kaigi, who want to destroy it?

In the same immobile move, Naruhito managed to make his guest look like an egotistic dictator, and Abe like a dangerous fool. Simply brilliant.

'Barf bag, anyone? Alt-Right meet Nippon Kaigi

- Donald Trump Abe Shinzo / Shinzo Abe' (20190526 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1132660710452867078)

'Trump to Abe Shinzo: US-Japan alliance is 'ironclad'. At the personal level, make that 'gold-plated, 7-iron-clad' (20190528 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1133175410756210688)

As if to nail it even deeper, DJT made the most of Memorial Day by praising a dictator: KIM Jong-un is right to criticize Joe Biden, I'm not bothered by his cute missile launches, and what a fantastic real estate potential you have, Dear Chairman!

'Say, Donald Trump, are North Korea's Concentration Camps the kind of 'prime real estate' you're looking for to lock up migrant kids at the US borders?

Your dictator friend could sure help you find Stephen Miller-friendly solutions to Make Amerika Great Again.' (20190528 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1133208200797253633)

John BOLTON and his fellow hawks have not conceded yet. And America's recent moves around Sasebo, theoretically meant to control the North Korea - Iran connection, could also facilitate a preemptive strike. The bloody nose scenario remains a tweet away.


One thing is sure: MOON Jae-in is out of the loop, and neither KIM nor TRUMP seem to trust him anymore.


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PS - from our twitterline (@theseoulvillage):

On the non-march of the Emperor:

'I wish Naruhito could brief Trump about actual East Asia History, not the one he learned from Shinzo Abe / Abe Shinzo & Xi Jinping' (20190526 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1132804997761064960)

'Surreal military march played for Trump alone on a podium. Ego trip (20190527 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1132806859591565312)

'Pacifist, apolitical Emperor Naruhito stays away from military while Trump salutes them' (20190527 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1132807172847333376)

'Kudos to Naruhito for keeping his distances from militarism, turning the parade Abe Shinzo / Shinzo Abe prepared for Trump into  ridiculous ode to a dictator' (20190527 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1132811289032441856)

'Even weirder on this video, the almost 6 mns Trump was left alone with military march & review (starting around 2:30). Naruhito only rejoined him to meet civilians. A clear message for Japan's Article 9, against ABEIGNomicS / Nippon Kaigi militarism?
https://youtu.be/TQaiRq6jnws ' (20190527 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1132924066317254656)

On the return of bloody nose:

'Bloody nose returns? US getting ready for preemptive strike against North Korea, including bunker buster capacity

(Kim Ki-ho:
http://news.donga.com/home/3/all/20190525/95691723/1  Sasebo)' (20190526 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1132409982039646208)

'FYI this bunker buster is meant to bust Kim Jong-un, not to rescue Abe Shinzo / Shinzo Abe when he plays golf with Trump:' (20190526 - https://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1132439023559950336)

Closing doors at Pyeongchang's Opening Ceremony

If Olympics are always a mix of sports, culture, business, and politics, Pyeongchang definitely amped up the latter. So KIM Yuna, who a couple of weeks ago was bound to be the queen of the night, let KIM Yo-jong steal the show.

The show? For the Opening Ceremony, a giant display - literally - of Korean technology, with a few moments of awe (constellation hologram, drone swarm), too rare sparks of emotion (the maemil Arirang), and the odd comic relief (the Bermuda delegation freezing their bermudas off - a red-nosed flag bearer followed by a limping old timer). The audience was totally obliterated by the LED screens put behind every seat, which contributed to the visual animation but castrated the atmosphere. When the show was over, we discovered their existence, trapped in the final airpocalyptic fireworks smog.

We did get the photo ops (almost) everybody wanted: North and South Korean athletes holding the same flag and carrying one flame, US and North Korean leaders smiling in the same picture.

'Korea together!' (20180209 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/961936005312868352)

'BREAKING - North Korea bombing the US! Well, photobombing to start with (KIM Yong-nam, Mike Pence, KIM Yo-jong at Pyeongchang 2018 opening ceremony)' (20180210 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/962156364960116738)

That last picture probably proved costly: Mike Pence specifically demanded not to be seated as the same table as / close to the DPRK pair, to prevent the kind of photo op disasters that happened yesterday (a boon for KCNA propaganda). Was MOON Jae-in fulfilling a pledge to North Korea? He certainly strained relationships and trust with the US at the worst moment... and added another bromance between Shinzo Abe and the White House.

'Panda diplomacy, Korea style: Moon Jae-in tried everything to mate Mike Pence and Kim Yo-Jong, to no avail. VP not in the mood, left angry' (20180209 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/961971242621374465)

Over three years ago, in a 'twittering baekduology' focus on KIM Yo-jong (see 'Cherchez la femme'), I wondered if she could become "The next Dear Leader or just a Cheer Leader? Kim The Fourth or Jang The Second?" 

Yesterday, we were granted #rareglimpses (sorry James P.!) of her complex personality: all kind smiles when she let Yong-nam seat first or shook hands with Jae-in, yet cunningly confident as she relished victorious firsts on enemy ground. 

And yesterday, the South may have handed KIM Yo-jong a status of stateswoman on a silver platter.

'Lil sis Kim Yo-jong triumphant ahead of meeting ROK minister' (20180209 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/961833877562998784)

'Kim Yo-jong pretty much steals Pyeongchang 2018 the way O.J. Simpson hijacked the 1994 FIFA World Cup. North Korea propaganda claims the first gold of these winter olympics' (20180209 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/961839042487730176)

'Not much emotion, mass synchronization, huge national flags... Kim Yo-jong and Kim Yong-nam must wonder which side of the DMZ they are tonight' (20180209 - )

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This time it's different

You know the bad cop - bad cop routine with North Korea: provocations, sanctions, provocations, sanctions, war threats, journos flocking to the peninsula, and leaving a couple of weeks later with stories about how apathetic South Koreans can be, or with 'rare glimpses' into rural DPRK caught from the windows of their buses to remote museums honoring past leaders...

Of course, we all know that the gimchi will eventually hit the fan, that this regime won't last forever, that someday something will happen, and that whatever the scenario, it will be messy. 

But we also take for granted that if something really really stupid happens, it won't come from the US.

This time it's different*.

To start with, somebody really really stupid sits in the Oval Office. A narcissic, delusional, short-fused bully with the attention span of a goldfish, desperate to score awesome wins bigly, and surrounded by dangerous and incompetent advisors eager to strike as soon as possible, but without any clue about what's at stake. Certain days, it seems that the only sane person in 1600 Penn Ave is a Mad Dog (James Mattis).

This time, it's different. 46% of GOP voters are okay with a strike against NK, much more than the usual 33+% base of hardcore trumpolatres who would follow their leader beyond the gates of Hell. And well beyond party lines, in many American minds, the leader of North Korea has logically grown from than a distant, weirdly combed clown-meme, to a clear and immediate danger able to launch nukes all the way to their front yard. Among them, how many are aware that tens of thousands of US citizens have already been living for decades South of the DMZ, knowing that they could be wiped out in minutes even without nukes being involved?

This time, it's different. In South Korea, apathy gave way to genuine concern. Particularly since MOON Jae-in seems inaudible on the international scene, and completely out of the loop, and not just because Trump is not much into diplomacy (BTW still no new Ambo to Korea). In 1994, the US did listen to KIM Young-sam, and canceled their strike. During the Sunshine years, they lost key entry points in the North, and last year, they saw the most confidential allied plans hacked by Pyongyang. Now Donald TRUMP only trusts fellow radical Shinzo ABE, who played him from day one, and confirmed that KIM Jong-un could prove very useful to revive a political career, and to score big legislative wins in spite of awful popularity ratings.**

This time, it's different. On his upcoming trip to East-Asia, the POTUS may skip the classic DMZ tour, and instead visit the Pyeongtaek base. Not to better understand the realities on the frontline, but as usual to elude reality; to avoid facing directly the North, and to remain in his comfort zone - his aides will probably set up yet another one of his self-morale-boosting campaign-style rallies. Chances are his tweeting bird brain will interpret cheerleaders applauding his warmongering rethorics as the ultimate 'GO FOR IT'.

This time, it's different. Storytellers are already assuring us that this is not the next Iraq, but no one dares bulls...t us about surgical strikes, because there are too many targets (and elusive at that), too many unknown unknowns. And you can't clean the mess afterwards, even with such an 'ace' cleaner as the Winston in Pulp Fiction***.

This time, it's different. Of course, no one should defend the DPRK regime - everybody knows about their human rights violations, WMDs, nukes, chemical weapons, you name it. Of course, the UNSC remains unanimous behind tougher sanctions, but how far will the world let Trump play KJU's risky escalation game? 
- Where is the international community? Where are the moderates?
- Where are FoPo doves? (certainly not non-expert Ted Cruz delivering his angry two cents in the NYT) Where is Obama? (strategic silence - so happy that the gimchi didn't hit the fan during his mandate) Where is Jimmy Carter? (oh he's still there, but for how long, and why would Trump let him go to Pyongyang)
- Where's China? (well the priority for XI Jinping was to secure his grip at home, and KJU was smart enough to spare him more embarrassment during the CPC's 19th National Congress)
- Where's Putin? (watching DJT make China and Russia great again, and gaining clout in North Korea, but with which guarantees?)
- What is Trump's red line? is the Congress aware of it - heck, is the Donald himself even aware of it?

When Elusivarus Rex Tillerson said diplomacy was still on until the first bomb drops, he didn't specify who would drop the first bomb.

Seoul Village 2017
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* from "This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly" to "This Time Is Different: Seven Decades of Political Folly"?
** According to Asahi Shimbun, 80% of the new assembly favor a revision of the constitution, even if less than half of the population does so - already a victory for Nippon Kaigi considering how pacifism used to dominate. The neofascist lobby rules more than ever Japan politics: Nippon Kaigi claims main ABE rivals Yuriko KOIKE (who founded a new party), and Seiji MAEHARA (who claimed the DPJ, forcing a split in the main opposition party, Yukio EDANO leading the new Constitutional Democratic Party created to defend democracy).
*** modeled after Victor in Besson's original Nikita movie