It has been beautiful weather this week, and today is no exception. At Trade Day I heard another old friend passed away. Happens more often these days as I age.

Sorry about the concert mishaps. Another sign of the times perhaps?

We had a busy week in the holler. Had a carpenter to help with a project one day, and a tree crew the rest of the week. I've got a pile of logs I hope to get sawn at some point in the future. Gravel coming in Monday, probably three loads. It is nice to make progress. Hope your addition is proceeding well.

Better get started on the chores for today. Y'all have a good one, and thanks for the OT!

South Koreans marked the founding the republic of Korea from March 1, 1919, when a declaration of independence was read against the Japanese imperial rule, in Topgal Park in Seoul. There were numerous demonstrations against Japanese imperial rule throughout Korea that were violently suppressed. The Korean Provisional government marked its beginning from this date.

March First Movement

The protests began in Seoul, with public readings of the Korean Declaration of Independence in the restaurant Taehwagwan [ko] and in Tapgol Park. The movement grew and spread rapidly. Statistics on the protest are uncertain; there were around 1,500 to 1,800 protests with a total of around 0.8 to 2 million participants. The total population of Korea at the time was around 16 to 17 million.[8] Despite the peaceful nature of the protests, they were frequently violently suppressed. One Korean estimate in 1920 claimed 7,509 deaths and 46,948 arrests. Japanese authorities reported much lower numbers, although there were instances where authorities were observed destroying evidence, such as during the Jeamni massacre.[9] Japanese authorities then conducted a global disinformation campaign on the protests.[10] They promoted a wide range of narratives, including outright denial of any protests occurring,[11] portraying them as violent Bolshevik uprisings,[12][13] and claiming that Koreans were in need of the benevolent rule of Japan.[14][11][15] These narratives were publicly challenged by sympathetic foreigners and by the Korean diaspora.

Things haven't changed that much. Today any South Korean who isn't Japan friendly is labeled a communist sympathizer by the NGO network and their proxies and dupes in South Korea.

Along these lines I saw this from TK at the Blue Roof:

[New on TBR] USFK Denies Far-Right Fake News https://t.co/akZebNaxeJ

— The Blue Roof (@BluRoofPolitics) February 28, 2025

"Sky Daily" promoted the fake news story on the 99 Chinese spies which I have described earlier. The Blue Roof points out that Sky Daily has doubled down on the false reporting that the US seized Chinese spies on December 3, 2024, in this fabricated story of election tampering by the Chinese. What I learned from TK's report is that the Sinjeonchi religious cult is the sponsor of this publication. (Sincheonji = New Heaven and Earth). The leader of the cult Lee Man-hui claims to be the reincarnation of Christ on earth. The report concerning Chinese spies tampering with general elections is central to the mythology of Yoon's defense, the martial law effort, and the ongoing insurrection in South Korea.

A key coincidence is that Sinjeonchi and Lee man-hui were also pivotal in the spread of covid 19 in South Korea.

The Blue Roof also had a detailed breakdown of the Annie Chen link to a constellation of NGOs in South Korea supporting Yoon's coup attempt and this current defense, aka "Stop the Steal." TK also observed another link to the former Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship.

TBR Weekly Update: Week 3, February 2025

...The CPAC event was hosted by Korea Conservative Political Action Coalition (KCPAC), a group founded in 2019 by Annie Chan (or Kim Myeong-hye 김명혜), a Korean American real estate magnate in Hawaii. In a recent interview with Hankook Ilbo 한국일보, Chan said the impeachment of Park Geun-hye 박근혜 inspired her to be involved in South Korean politics. In addition to KCPAC, Chan has bankrolled several far-right groups in South Korea, such as Korea America Freedom & Security Policy 한미자유안보정책센터 and the Korea-US Alliance USA Foundation 한미동맹USA재단, that have built out an ecosystem to support far-right personalities and promote claims of election denial.

The president of KAFSP, for example, is former general Kim Jin-yeong 김진영, one of the closest allies of military dictator Chun Doo-hwan 전두환, who played a key role in Chun’s coup by quelling the resistance of General Jang Tae-wan 장태완, one of the few military leaders who stood against the coup. Chan has also directly donated significant sums of money to Jeon Gwang-hun 전광훈, the far-right pastor whose rabid weekly rallies have made him the de facto leader of South Korea’s conservatives. (See previous coverage, “Jeon Gwang-hun, the New King of the Right.”)

Earlier today (there is a fourteen hour time difference from Seoul to EST) tens of thousands of Jeon's followers and tens of thousands of candlelight demonstrators rallied in the streets of Seoul. Thousands of police mobilized to keep the pro and anti-impeachment demonstrators from directly confronting another. I estimate the cost of mobilizing 60,OOO demonstrators on the far right at about 6 million dollars US. Guess who is paying for it? I noticed in the video of the riot by street thugs at Ewha University the other day, the far right provocateurs were trying to induce the anti Yoon demonstrators to accept cash while several of them were hoping to get it on video. Needless to say, no one took the money. The fact that the far right demonstrators have been filmed taking cash at demos is something they know is hurting them. The whole operation reminds me of the Hong Kong demos. Not exactly a grass roots effort.

The candlelight anti-Yoon demonstrators mark modern Korea's birthday from March 1, 2019, not from US proxy Syngman Rhee's elevation to power in 1948 by the US military government. Modern Korean history didn't begin in August 1945 with the "liberation," nor did it begin on June 20, 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War.

Thanks for the Odds & Ends OTC!