Former defense ministers and generals demanded an apology yesterday from President Roh Moo-hyun for denouncing them for failing to retake wartime command of South Korean troops from the US.
In a speech last week -- marked by an outpouring of emotion including banging on a table -- Roh heavily criticized former defense chiefs and generals for opposing his push to retake wartime control, which has rested with a US general under a joint command system since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Roh said the move was correct and long overdue for a sovereign country. He accused former defense officials of "neglecting their duties" while acting "haughtily with stars" on their shoulders.
PHOTO: AP
"Shame on you!" Roh told a meeting of the presidential advisory committee on unification affairs on Thursday.
Speaking about the country's compulsory military service, Roh also said he was trying to improve the system so that young South Korean men don't have to "rot" in the military for years.
The nation's largest association of former generals demanded that Roh apologize and retract the remarks, accusing him of insulting the military and belittling the "sacred" duty of national defense.
"We, who dedicated our whole lives for national security, cannot contain our disappointment and anger," the association said in a statement at a news conference attended by some 50 members of the association, including about a dozen former defense ministers.
They also demanded the government stop trying to retake wartime control and shorten the compulsory military service period.
All physically fit South Korean men are required to serve in the military for about two years.
The wartime command issue is a hot topic in security-sensitive South Korea. Critics, including the former defense officials, claimed the plan was premature and would undercut deterrence against the North.
The government agreed with Washington in October to transfer the command sometime between 2009 and 2012.
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
RSS