Why don't people of Jeju rise up against Korea and join China?
I live in Seoul, South Korea. I've been to Jeju (it's lovely by the way). I've also been to China many times.South Korea is a wealthy industrialized country with a western-style democratic government. Civil rights are robust and include freedom of speech and the press (with a handful of exceptions which relate mostly to the fact that the country is still TECHNICALLY in a state of war with North Korea).While China has a vast economy, on a per capita basis, it's actually still considered a middle-income country. Also, China is ruled by non-democratic pseudo-communist regime which stifles dissent. China has no freedom of the press or speech and, indeed, only limited personal freedom.Also, virtually all natives of Jeju speak Korean (in addition to their local dialect which is closely related to mainland Korean).Bearing all these benefits and facts, why would they want to become a Chinese province?
What will happen if North Korea attacks Guam?
Guam has the THAD missile defense system and would probably be able to shoot down any missile that came close.An important thing to remember is that North Korea doesn’t really have a sophisticated delivery system and there would be a good chance anything they fired would miss Guam all together.That being said, if a missile were to be fired (or hit Guam) you would see the United States turn North Korea into a parking lot. There would be a mass exodus from NK and hundreds of thousands of people would try to flee into China, which is why China is beefing up security along their border.North Korea isn’t that big a country but the firepower that the USA could unleash would be brutal - and this isn’t even figuring if nuclear weapons were used. Stealth bombers, drones, tomahawks, etc… would make short work on the North Korean defense systems. There would probably be thousands of casualties in South Korea, but my guess would be the USA’s response would be severe and fast to minimize anything outside of the region.Remember that during the Iraq War ‘Shock and Awe’ consisted of targeted strikes to reduce the number of civilian casualties. Also remember that since Vietnam the United States has also fought most wars with an arm tied behind their back for humanitarian reasons.I have no doubt that if a nuclear strike happened on US soil Democrats and Republicans would back retaliation. We saw it on 9/12 when even the most passive people were throwing around phases like ‘glass parking lot’.I don’t think President Trump would use nuclear weapons because they wouldn’t be needed and the fallout dangers to Japan, China and Korea would be too great. I also think that an attacked United States could do the same amount of damage using conventional weapons against the DPNK.The past administrations (Clinton, Bush, Obama) have allowed North Korea to become a nuclear state. For 60 years Pyongyang has shaken down the UN for food, oil, aid, etc… by acting crazy and then backing off before things got too out of control.Right now it’s going to be the endgame. You have Kim Jong-un who is young and inexperienced pushing President Trump, who love him or hate him everyone can agree isn’t one to be pushed around on the world stage.This didn’t happen within the 200 or so days of the Trump Administration, but it may end up defining it - for better or worse.
Why does President Moon want the US military out of South Korea?
I tried to find the place where Mr. Shapiro (the speaker in the YouTube video) makes the claim that President Moon wants the US out of South Korea. However, I could not find it and Mr. Shapiro seemed to focus on hyperbole rather than the facts. Perhaps I am judging him too harshly, but he also seemed full of annoying inaccuracies and I was put off. If he mentioned it, he is probably speaking with absolutely no basis.On the contrary, part of the reason for this summit was that North Korea shelved demands that the US remove troops.North Korea drops withdrawal of US forces as condition of denuclearization, Moon saysThe only person who has been talking about removing troops has been US President Trump. Trump does not seem to realize that Korea (and also other allies where US troops are stationed) pay their fair share. If the US were to move the troops in Korea back to the US, it would cost the US taxpayer MORE per year to keep the troops not less. Once he has someone do the accounting, he will probably regret saying that in public.China is apprehensive about the US placing THAAD missile defense radars in Korea. But that is largely because of the principle of land-based missile defenses on their borders, not any actual operational threat. And although the Chinese would like to place all 9 dots (I believe they extend to East and South China Sea) within some sphere of influence, they probably would rather have the Americans stay than get into an arms race with Japan and South Korea - which is probably likely since both Japan and Korea will drastically increase their military spending if the US leaves.We in South Korea, President Moon included, definitely want the Americans to stay as long as they can. President Roh, Moon’s close friend and associate who was about as left-wing as we had as a president started construction on a naval base in Jeju island. One of the key specifications was to make the port deep enough for US Navy aircraft carriers to use. So even progressives in South Korea who don’t like the Americans that much accept the fact that Americans help keep things quiet and peaceful in East Asia. Very few of us want the US military out.
When was the US established their first military bases overseas?
I believe the Navy was establishing bases in the Mediterranean as far back as the early 1800s. During the Barbary Coast Wars, there was an ad hoc naval base on Crete which operated from around 1805 to 1808. it was from here that the Marines were launched “to the shores of Tripoli”.Caribbean bases started appearing after the Civil War and there was a very significant West Indies Squadron that paroled these waters. The Navy then set up shop in China, first as the Asiatic Squadron and then becoming the extremely well known Asiatic Fleet which led to the classic image of the “China Sailor” who we see in such films as “The Sand Pebbles”.The Asiatic Fleet’s big sister was the Pacific Fleet which held a presence in the Philippine Islands before being pushed out during World War II by the Japanese. The Pacific Fleet then took over bases in Japan and Korea after World War II.European bases did not appear until the late 1940s/early 50s and today still exist in places like Italy under the authority of the 6th Fleet. The Middle Eastern fleets, our of places like Bahrain, I think date back to the 60s and 70s. The 5th Fleet is the most well known which still operates in this region today.The U.S. Navy has never had permanent bases in Africa or South America, although there is now an Africa Command which is become more significant each year and we will probably see a U.S. Navy base in Africa probably within the next decade.