What did Biden know about the South Korean coup attempt?

Believe it or not but the South Korean military is under the command of the Pentagon

South Korea was not on my radar prior to the failed coup, so I don't have much to say about what happened. But I want to point out some of the context missing from the reporting or what passes for it these days.

Namely, what did Biden, the Pentagon, and the White House know about the attempted coup and when did it know it? Only a fool would believe the U.S. knew nothing because the Republic of Korea armed forces are under the command of the Pentagon.

There are actually three separate military commands in South Korea: US Forces Korea, the Combined Forces Command, and the U.N. Command. This is because South Korea is still technically at war with North Korea. It was South Korean tyrant Syngman Rhee who put ROK forces under U.S. command in 1950. And the ROK military didn't even begin to develop a senior staff until 1978.

Yet these three forces appear to be shells because the same U.S. four-star general is in charge of all of them. Check out his bio below. It seems like he's never met a country he hasn't wanted to invade. His hit list includes Panama, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

Four-star U.S. Gen. Paul LeCamera heads all three military commands in South Korea. The entire South Korean military command is subordinate to him.

In the wake of this coup, there have been a few mentions of the Gwangju massacre in May 1980 while Jimmy Carter was president. Officially about 200 people died when ROK special forces crushed a pro-democracy student-led rebellion in the city. Other estimates are 1,000-2,000 killed. Few Americans know about it, unless you are Korean-American or on the left, but it was deadlier than the crushing of the Tianamen Square uprising in 1989. The US undoubtedly backed the massacre as it happened more than a week after the rebellion began, atrocities were carried out by ROK Special Forces, meaning elite fighting forces that would have been close to the US command, and there was no real ROK military command to speak of.

Look at the photos the AP pulled out of its archives to go with the news today. Notice how they refer to students as "rebels" and the government was simply recapturing the "riot-battered city." Talk about Manufacturing Consent.

I have yet to see any corporate publication explain that South Korea does not ultimately control its military. It has "operational control," but if war was to break out its military would be under U.S. command. Now, you can poke around, but what OPCON means in practice is confusing because the U.S. is running the show. See the links below.

One South Korean general explains, "In 1994, the United States transferred Armistice operational control (OPCON) to the South Korean military. In other words, South Korea would control its troops during peacetime. However, a US commander would assume control of troops in the event of war with North Korea. The general mood between US and ROK leadership was dependent on the personal characters of the individuals involved. Some valued the alliance, some paid it lip service, and some plainly ignored it."

Again, this is not clear but it sounds like U.S. commanders can run roughshod over the South Korean military: "lip service" or "plainly ignored it."

It seems the U.S. must have had advanced notice one way or another that President Yoon was going to seize power by force yesterday. Why aren't the media asking questions about this?

One last point, the public response was remarkable. Despite a dog-eat-dog economy so harsh it has spawned film and TV like Parasite and Squid Game, thousands of people poured out to push back against the coup. I don't know specifics, but I suspect decades of highly organized militant protests by workers and students has left is mark on the political culture there. I saw one report that a million-member trade union federation has called for a general strike until Yoon resigns. Can you imagine the AFL-CIO calling for anything like that? People are willing to put their lives on the line against masked goons with guns and riding in on tanks. I know there are many leftists in this country with similar courage. Liberals, however will run and hide in their favorite brunch spot at the first sign of trouble.

www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/us-korea-military-military-relations-past-present-and-future

www.usfk.mil/About/

carnegieendowment.org/posts/2019/08/why-doesnt-south-korea-have-full-control-over-its-military?lang=en

www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2020/04/us-south-korea-opcon-transition-the-element-of-timing.htm