Blinken Visits South Korea: Giving Marching Orders to the New Puppet?

All right, hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends, where truth matters. Excited to be with you as always. I got an interesting topic. As a matter of fact, uh, uh, when I did the description for this topic, I was talking in the future because I read the story, uh, oh, let me silence this phone notifications, uh, uh, that was on Friday, but it's already happening as we speak. This one has to do with the, uh, visit of Tony Blinken to none other than South Korea. Why South Korea? It's because the political turmoil that exists. But this one goes beyond just that, and this is what I'm going to be doing, uh, an analysis for you to share with you, uh, some of my insights regarding Asia security, uh, uh, issues that's going on, and this visit is part of that. So This is what I'm going to be talking about today. But before I'll do this, first of all, I want you guys to give me a thumbs up if you can hear me loud and clear, because I changed a few things and I want to make sure. If you will be kind and just give me a thumbs up that you can hear me clearly. Uh, let me see. Uh, now I'm just waiting to see some signs. Timeline Dunkley, thumbs up. Perfect, that means it's working. Thank you very much. Uh, first let me say hi to the community here. Uh, I'm gonna start with the first, uh, individual here by the name of Biz— I'm gonna share it with you right here. BizDak Avenue 1, thank you for becoming a new channel member and your support means a lot, and, and welcome to our community here. So, so good to have you here. So Hangin' G, as always, good to see you. Inspector M, good to see you. Uh, uh, Shinhei Chen, my, my apologies if I mispronounce it, good to see you here, Chen. Uh, who else do we have? Truth Seeker, as always. Taiwan Still. Muhammad Mazharuddin. Willie Holman. Timeline Dunkley. Li Yang, good to see you. Abdoufal Wan, good to see you. Peng Yu, good to see you. Markup, good to see you. Matt Becky, Army with Harmony, Sankten, good to see you all, guys. Phil, good to see you. And Eli, so good to see you. Muhammad Ali, good to see you. And thank you for confirming the sound is working perfectly. So, all right, as I mentioned, guys, it's very interesting dynamics regarding this particular topic. And, uh, I, I can see the— I can see just the the, the geopolitical implications of, uh, why Tony Blinken will have to go. First of all, you only have about a week and a half for your term to be over and you get out of Washington. Why the heck would you be going to South Korea for? Second thing, is there internal issue? Yeah, they have issues, not with the arrest warrant for the, for their, uh, president who refuse, uh, because the, uh security guard prevented, uh, the authorities from serving the warrant. Well, you know, no matter how we look at it, it's their problem. So why the heck is Tony going, uh, uh, Blanken going at this particular time when the country is going through chaos? There is more into it than meets the eye, and this is what I'm going to be sharing with you. Here are some questions, guys, just to consider. Why is Tony going to South Korea? Second question: is this about marching orders? Marching orders for whom? Whoever is going to take the helm of power in South Korea. Third question: does this have to do with the Philippines? Yeah, many will think, oh, this is an independent incident or has nothing to do with the Philippines. Well, you might want to think again. So, and the fourth question is: why travel now? Why is it not? Why sort of when this arrest warrant was issued 3 weeks ago, when even the president of, uh, and I have some pictures here, I'm gonna be, I got a lot of pictures I'm gonna be sharing with you. Why did Tony Blinken went over there? Why did he go when this guy, uh, Yeon, Yeon Saek-yeol issued the martial law, violating the law? That is, once again, it's their internal affairs. But on the other hand, for us and for me here, that's the whole objective for doing this analysis for you and put it in perspective. So, so the idea that, uh, uh, Tony Blinken, you know, as the country in South Korea going through a political turmoil, uh, because it's grappling with it, so all of a sudden Tony Blinken is heading out. Well, he's already there. He arrived today for talks that's starting today, uh, to talk first of all with the foreign minister. Uh, his counterpart is this guy right here. Uh, his name is Sho Teo Yo. Once again, my, my, my, my apologies if I mispronounce it. Then after this, he's gonna meet with the acting president. Now they have a second acting president by the name of Choi Sang-mok. This is the guy on the right, right here of your picture. Uh, and, and that's very interesting as to the timing of it. Uh, sort of all of a sudden Tony is going there. Okay, if, if you are to visit a country during a turmoil, usually to my knowledge and understanding from a diplomatic protocol When a country is going through some turmoil like this, you don't visit. You wait till the dust settles regarding the internal affair. The only other option left is, are you going to give a marching order? Because South Korea takes a marching order from the US. It's no secret. It's no secret. It's not a surprise. That's usually how it works. So before I delve deeper into all this, please make sure to subscribe to my channel if this is your first time here. And I am going to be doing geography and history because it's very, very important to understand the location of this particular country here. So let me share the screen with you. As far as share screen, and I give credit to World Atlas for the, uh, for the map. So let me make it a full screen here. Just for you guys to see. All right, South Korea, it's a country, of course, in eastern part of Asia. It is located both in the northern and the eastern hemispheres of the Earth. South Korea, of course, occupies the southern half of the Korean Peninsula because remember, at some point, used to be only one Korea back then. So Uh, uh, so it borders— now when you look at, as you're looking at the map, uh, South Korea borders the Sea of Japan in the east. This is why most of North Korea's missile testing will have to go over the Sea of Japan. So, so it borders the Sea of Japan to the east, the Yellow Sea in the west. The southern edge part of South Korea rests on the Korea Strait and on the East China Sea. So it's a very, very interesting and strategic location, if I may, uh, uh, say so. Now, the interesting about the map is the military demarcation line forms the land border between the South and the North. That means South Korea and North Korea. And that is where that's the 38th parallel, uh, that is known as, uh, uh, between the divides between the two countries. Now, interesting enough also is understanding the history of this part of the world. Now, because it's an interesting history, so I'm gonna be sharing— I have two links which I will post for you later on. For now, suffice it, I'm gonna share just briefly what I have. And I have some pictures I am going to be sharing with you as I move forward. All right, let's start first with the, uh, we start with the history. And, and all we're going to go back to, we're going to go back to the 1950s. Why 1950s? What happened in 1950s? Let me just ask you a question, guys, in the, in, in the chat box. If you can type in what happened in the 1950s, to be exact, in June, June 25th. Uh, Alistair Oken, right, the Korean War started. So that's when, uh, the, uh, uh, Korean War started, 1950, and June, uh, June 25th, 1950, and ended on '53, uh, July 27th, '53. So, and of course, this was at the end of the Second World War, which, by the way, Korea has formerly been occupied by— which country was, uh, uh, Korea occupied by at that time? Remember World War II? Let me see in the chat box if you guys can type in. Yeah, because it was formerly occupied by which country? Uh, Taiwan. Still, you got it. It was Japan which wrecked havoc on both South Korea at the time, then China of course later on. But, but just for you to understand the, the historical chronological history here to make perfect sense for you. So, and at that time, of course, that's where the Divide 38 parallel came into sort of as we moved forward into the history. And this was the internal border between the South and North Korea based on the circle of latitude. That's what it was exactly, just for you guys to understand. So Of course, North Korea was supported by the Soviet Union at that time during the 1950s, uh, and South Korea was supported by the United States. You can see why this led to the 3-year war. Was exceptionally bloody, to say the least. And let me share another picture because I, I looked at the history here and I got some, uh, some pictures, uh, uh at that time that reflects this history. So, well, of course, the Korean War was bloody enough to see that about 3 million people have died. That's how— and thousands of casualties. War is never and never a good option, you know. No one in a right mind will really advocate— and this is why sometimes, and I don't understand why my country is just fomenting more tensions that could lead to devastating wars. And this one, this visit, is part of that big picture, and I'll get into this as I move forward. So as I said, the 3-year war led to 3 million people and the death of 3 million people and thousands of casualties, uh, sort of that's what happened at that time. Now You move forward into the whole idea of the Korean People's Army, known as KPA at that time, because it was established during this era. When was it established? It was established in 1948. So where was it established? It was established in North Korea. That's how it was. So from the Korean guerrilla at that time, who was previously served with the Chinese People's Liberation Army. This is why China had to re-enter the war at some point. So, but were advised at that time by the Soviet personnel. This is where the key that I need you to understand. So by mid-1950s, the KPA, which is the Korean People's Army, was made up of 10 infantry at that time, uh, uh, infantry division, that is a division, that is a, uh, a large amount of people, about 35,000 to 40,000 troops usually in the division. So a unit which totaled about 223,000 according to the record. So, and this is where that invasion came in as far as the South Korea. So in 1950, that's where the KPA went ahead into the south and rapidly moved southward, uh, trapping South Korea and the American troops in small parameters. So this is the idea, and, and it's reflected through some pictures here, guys. This is the idea of where the Americans have to enter this kind of, uh, uh, uh, war, which was also by design, and I am gonna explain as I move forward. For now, I need to focus on this, the historical facts here. Now, what came after this right away? He was the United Nations commander at that time. Who was he? It was General MacArthur who ordered the amphibious landing at Inchon. And here is a picture of it, guys. This is the landing at Incheon. At the Incheon, I hope if anybody speaks Korean, guys, if you can help with the pronunciation phonetically, uh, that would be great for the community and for me to know also. So, so MacArthur launched this amphibious, uh, uh, uh, which is at Incheon, which is halfway port up the Korean Peninsula. So, and this where able, his forces were able to drive the KPA back northwards and up to the Yalu River, the border between China and North Korea. And this is again where history comes in as to why China had to enter the war, because China did enter the war at this point and again pushed United Nations forces back into the south. And this happened during the first half of 1951. However, what happened during that time? The fighting stalled, and that's what paved the way for the armistice, which still holds till today. So technically, guys, technically, the war between the Koreans has never been settled. If we are to talk technically, this still a war. The armies still hold to a degree, and this is where the understanding this chronological history makes sense for us to put this in perspective. So, so the, uh, the whole idea of this is again why China entered the war here is because China's also— the borders are closer to North— they know If they didn't do that, that's gonna be the same issue that happened as of today. Why this step forward to ensure that North Korea doesn't go too far is because it's not that China controls North Korea. No, China thinks about the flood of refugees in case there is a war. That's the same argument that is currently is being made. And as I said, the armistice took place in July of 1951. However, the negotiations achieved little initial success. So as the sort of the opposing armies continue to face each other in trenches, and then that's how it's been for the next 2 years, meaning after '50, 1951, all the way to 1953. Well, this is what led to the armistice that is agreed upon, at that time. So 1953, July, to be exact, July 27th, 1953, this is where an armistice was signed agreeing that Korea would remain a divided country. So, and again, why am I sharing all this history? Is for you to understand, could the trip of Tony Blinken is to give the marching order to the new guy who might take the helm of power to never negotiate with North Korea because you have members inside the parliament currently in, in South Korea that they are looking favorably towards North Korea. And this is where you need to understand history, where it comes in. The— so to go back to 1953, the armistice was signed by officials. Look where it's signed by the officials from: the United States The people's— the PRC, People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea. This agreed to bring the fighting of the Korean War to an end. The armistice, of course, agreement was signed at Panmunjom between North Korea and South Korea. This is the location where it was signed. What I found interesting enough in this is behind closed doors at that time It was the HMS, which is the, the, uh, this is a British, uh, fighter, uh, vessel or patrol. This vessel conducted about 400 days of patrolling during the Korean War. That just shows you right there, the US entered the war and bring its, uh, its, uh, servants or vassal states, whatever you want to call them, to do the same. I see the same that is going to happen if there is a conflict, uh, in, in the region, uh, if one to happen in the future, which I hope it doesn't. So the HMS Belfast, as I said, uh, patrolled the area for 400 days, uh, uh, almost about 80,000 miles in winter. So, and once again, what the heck the SM HMS was doing there. So they got no place, uh, to be there to begin with. So, and this is why it's important to understand this part of history, because it makes more sense. Uh, I did read somewhere else, uh, some other historical record, uh, and I will, uh, share it with you, where provide really, uh, year-by-year detail from 1948 including the coups that took, uh, for example, in 1961, the coup that took General Park Chung-hee, uh, uh, to power at that time. So all the way, all the way to almost 19— uh, I will go as far as the, uh, 2002, uh, when, uh, uh, the North Korean defect to South Korea through the Spanish Embassy in Beijing. So, so I'll put the link for you guys because it's so long. I'll put the link for you guys to read up on that one. So I, I just find it very fascinating and interesting to understand those dynamics. Here is one thing also that the— when I looked at the historical record, I didn't see the details. It was less talk about the role of the MJ-12 which is— was at that time during '50s, the mainly from the Air Force. Of course, if you look at the record here in the US, if you go to the Air Force, the Library of Congress, the Central Intelligence Agency, whatever, anytime you request information under FOIA, Freedom of Information Act, they're gonna tell you, sorry, this information is not available because we don't have any record. Well, that's a lie. So there is a record out there, but it's classified, of course. What I'm sharing with you is not classified, just to put things in perspective here. But what you need to understand is that MJ-12, during their meetings at that time with both the Allied and all that, the argument was, or the, the objective was, from that point forward, meaning from 1950s forward, the decision was to get involved in conflict. Not to win wars, but to get involved in a conflict. Because MJ-12 Assembly started after World War II. So at the time, Eisenhower and Truman and all those, uh, uh, uh, uh, Forrestal and all that get together. But that was the decision where the military-industrial complex is not new, it was way back. But the decision was at that time, from 1950s forward, Actually, if I am to remember the record that I read, it was in 1952 when that decision was made, give or take, to get involved in conflicts. And this is why when you look at the history, you see the Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf War I, Gulf War II, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and we all know where next. Yeah, some will say Taiwan Strait, some will say the South China Sea because of what's taking place in Vietnam. This visit of Tony Blinken today has to do with that security, uh, sort of architecture of the region. Why is this important? It is important because when you look at South Korea, when you look at Japan, when you look at Taiwan, what do they have in common? They all purchase major weapons from the United States. As a matter of fact, Hanging G, I remember you put in a comment. I'm gonna share it with you guys, uh, uh, I remember reading that. Yeah, right here, guys. Hanging G, except I would not call Taiwan a country. Taiwan is a renegade state, straightforward. I was there. I— so there is no sovereignty as far as Taiwan being a— because Taiwan is not a sovereign state. Simple as that. So, but anyway, the three kind of— the three entities, the two countries, Japan and South Korea and Taiwan, look how much. And, and Hanging G, I did check that info and is accurate, about almost a trillion dollars of arms. This is one of the reason for why Tony Blinken is going, or he already went there, he's already there. So, so the interesting aspects of it is that the meeting that took place today between Blinken and the acting president Choi Sang-mok. Let me put again his picture so you guys have an idea. Right here, this guy here, that's the second acting president. So of course, Tony, uh, of course he has to reaffirm the US commitment. Of course, commitments for supporting South Korea in words only. So, so, and the idea that what Tony wanted to focus on has nothing to do with the support of South Korea. It has to do with the US-Korea, South Korea's alliance, because there was a signed. As a matter of fact, they enter into an extension of an agreement between the US and South Korea. That is one of the deal for that. So, and of course, why is this? It's because Mr. Tony is wording it under— listen carefully— under the linchpin— and I put this in quotes— linchpin of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, or in the Asia-Pacific. End of quote. So, so he also wanted— he, Tony, in this case, wanted to ensure that we stand strong with you the ironclad— you all heard that term before— ironclad commitment, that is, to the defense of South Korea. We all know it's just words. So we have no intentions of defending South Korea, even though when you consider about our presence in South Korea with over 28,000 troops, you know. As a matter of fact, if you go to the Humphrey base, you will, you will— if, if you know, if you, if you are American watching this and you've been in the military, specifically if you've been stationed at Fort Hood— I was stationed in Fort Hood— if you go to Humphreys Base in South Korea, you will think you are at Fort Hood because that's how it's the same. So, and this is why Tony Blinken is saying to this acting president That's the subtle messages, because Tony Blinken is going to South Korea to make sure that the next guy who's going to take the helm of power is in line, will toe the line regarding the US policies in, in the Asia Pacific. That is the reason why. So, so when, when the White House issued statement saying that Tony Blinken will be discussing with the acting president how both countries will work together to strengthen bilateral cooperation and trilateral cooperation with Japan. Why the heck would you be talking about Japan if you are going to visit South Korea? So that just gives you an idea right there. And of course, to pave the way for the upcoming summit of the APEC the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, which by the way is going to be held in South Korea on November 25th of 2025 of this year. You can see why, you know, these things in geopolitics don't happen in a vacuum, guys. There is always one step on which to, to, to, to move forward. Then it's like a ladder you build upon. This is exactly why the trip of, uh, of Secretary, uh, Blinken, uh, to South Korea right one week before he leaves office. So regarding his counterpart, uh, Cho Tae-hyung, uh, one thing I need you to understand about this guy is, uh, he's a diplomat, you know, he's been in, in the business here for, uh, not, not a long time, but he's took over, uh, this Ministry of Foreign Affairs, uh, last year actually, on in January 2024. That's when he took over. What I found interesting about him is that where he completed his Foreign Service program— because Foreign Service, you, we have it here in, in the US, in Georgetown, for example— this one completed his at Oxford University in England. So, so, uh, there is always a reason for why certain foreign diplomats will go to certain installations or academic institutions, the likes of Harvard, the likes of Oxford, the likes of Georgetown. That's how you pave the way for those individuals once they become, uh, in a position of power to serve the US interests. So this is where the idea. And of course, how this all happens, just for those who do not know, it's all started when the South Korean president— he's now— I don't know if he's still a president or not because nothing is clear. So Yoon Suk-yeol, this guy right here, let me get his picture. When he issued a martial law unilaterally a declaration of martial law that he did on December 3rd. And that's what happened is that the subsequent refusal by Congress and the demonstrations that took place to the point that they impeached the guy and they issued a sort of a statement, Congress that is, that he needs to be arrested. So an arrest warrant was issued against him. And when the investigators, the investigators that's going to serve the arrest warrant, try to execute that, which is recently, you know, the presidential security prevent them from doing their job. So it shows you that there is one set of law for certain type of people and there is another set of law for others. It's no different than what we have here in my country. I'll start with criticizing my own country, the laws that they have right now, we have on the books. That injustice, it's not— I live here, I see there is a justice, one set of, of rules for everybody and another set of rules for the elites and so forth. Because to me, if I see if we have the true meaning of justice, let's start with the corrupted Congress. And if you find somebody who is corrupted, you all know what my, what my decisions regarding the punishments for that. You know, we all going to be equal under the law, but you don't hear that. It won't happen. I'm going to tell you here, it's not going to happen because that's how our system is. So now what happened is that, uh, the investigators have suspended now the execution of that arrest warrant. Warrant, which was issued, by the way, by the judiciary, which is independent, for the ousted president to question him. And they have the right. So, and this is where, uh, uh, uh, sort of the, uh, the statement from the investigators stated, and I quote, in relation to the execution of today's arrest warrant, it was determined that its execution was impossible on the ground due to the ongoing standoff and concerns for the safety of staff on site led to the decision to suspend execution, the Senior Corruption Investigation Office said in a statement. So you all know something is fishy about the whole thing. And second thing, like I said earlier, If this is an internal matter, why the heck Secretary of State is going there for? Let them resolve their issue first. But he's going because we wanted to ensure that the next puppet will toe the line with American policies regarding the trilateral between the US, Japan, and South Korea. And this is why I say personally, the likes of South Korea, the likes of Japan, The likes of Philippines, the likes of Australia, you know, I don't know, there's no sovereignty. Sovereignty on a paper. It's almost like when you think about some territories like Guam, like, like the, the Puerto Rico, like certain other locations around the world that, you know, there are about 6 or 7, I, I don't remember them exactly, guys, that we still have jurisdiction over the, over the, this, their territories. What basically those are colonies. That's a little— let's call it what it is, you know. And soon I will even think Canada is going to become one under our thumb. Simple as it is. That's, that's just how I see it. But here is the thing, the big picture that I need you to get out of all this. The trip has nothing to do with diplomacy. The trip has to do also with the status of the US presence in, uh, uh, uh, uh, South Korea. So, so what you need to understand is this, is that when you consider the US troops in South Korea, of course, for, from us, from our end, the Pentagon will have to word it in terms of, oh, our presence is the backbone of peace and and stability on the Korean Peninsula. It's nothing but a bravado. As a matter of fact, today, as Tony's plane was landing, North Korea was firing a medium-range missile. So they don't care. So they're not gonna care what the Americans do or say, and they don't bluff. But this is again The media is not disclosing this. There are members in parliament inside South Korea that they are looking favorably towards North Korea. In other words, they wanted to end the hostilities between the two countries. Of course we don't want that, because what does it mean if the hostilities cease to exist? That means we have to pack and leave. Less tensions around the world, there will be less sales of weapons. This is why Tony is in that part of the world. So because we don't want to see the, the South, the North and the South, it's one nation, guys. Is a, you know, used to be one. So, and this is the important thing that I need to understand. So here's the thing. The US military presence in South Korea is extensive. So you're looking at about 24,000 to 28,000 active soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. And those are basically are in, uh, spread out throughout 9 bases. 9. Yeah, so the one thing that they share in common— there is a saying that both, uh, the Ministry of Defense there and the Pentagon agreed on the terminology of it. And you know what it says right here, to those who are familiar with the, with the military structure and so forth? It says, you know, We go together. That's the motto. So, which you all know what it means psychologically. So, so when you think about when the US and, uh, and the South Korean, uh, uh, when the US states that US presence there is the backbone of peace and stability, uh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't think so, because the peace and stability are achieved through economics more so than it is through military or tensions or wars or what have you. Look at Europe. I will do the example of Europe, which by the way, I'm— I completed my, my— I completed my analysis about Europe, uh, uh, uh, upcoming second issue regarding its economy. You know, it's because the Ukraine conflict— if it was no Ukraine conflict, Europe won't be suffering economically. So it's economic prosperity, not military tensions. So when the Pentagon is saying that the US presence is the backbone of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, uh, we all know it's nothing but hypes. No more knowledge. This. The other thing I need you to understand is the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone. A lot of people do not understand, and I am not going to detail too much about it. Suffice it to say, I'm going to just provide a, a brief explanation just to put it in, in a perspective for you. So basically what it is, it is a strip of land running across the peninsula, the Korean Peninsula, that is and it serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. So, so if you are to think about it, you think about it in terms of a border barrier that divides the Korean Peninsula, uh, uh, follow the latitude of 38th North Parallel. That's why it's referred to as the, the 38th Parallel. So that the Demilitarized Zone incorporates territories on both sides of the ceasefire line as it existed during the Korean War, 1950-1953. This is where that difference is that I need you guys to understand. A lot of people do not know what it is. So, uh, it is about, uh, basically 1.2 miles, and that's where it happens when, uh, was created by pulling back, uh, the respective forces from both directions. 1.2 miles to be exact. Along each side, by the way. So, and this, uh, became known as the, the, the, the DMZ, uh, and of course during the Cold War it became even, uh, uh, when you look at the DMZ itself, the whole region, because you have to go back to, uh, uh, uh, sort of when the DMZ became the, the de facto, uh, sort of international border, because it was highlighted mainly during the Cold War. So, so the DMZ itself, the whole DMZ zone, it's about 160 miles, that is. And that's where during the sign of the armistice, 1953, uh, but official peace treaty was never agreed upon. That's why technically the Korean— the two Koreas still at war. So, and, and we are— we, we sort of injected ourselves because we fueled, uh, the, the, the tensions for that. So there is where that particular issue is. So now to go back to this picture here, because I need to say something also about this one here, to go back about this, uh, what it's called, the, uh, uh, to those who've been in the military You will know when I say CFC, which is the Combined Forces Command. This one is joined between the South Korean and the American alliance and sort of, uh, is still till today still holds, uh, and that's why we have that presence, uh, in, in that, uh, in that particular, uh, parts of the world. So, so the idea of the, uh, uh, the South Korean and the Americans, uh, being joined over there, uh, it's very, very, very crucial. So now geopolitically, you think about South Korea, Japan, Philippines on one end, then you think about another location, and the other location has to do with this. It's very important to understand the role of Guam. Why Guam is important? Beside having the US, uh, troops about 28,000 plus in South Korea, Guam used to hold a large number, really large number in, in, in, in Guam. I think it dropped now a little bit, but we still have some presence. Uh, uh, as a matter of fact, if I am not mistaken Uh, it dropped to about— used to be over 20,000 and it dropped to about 9,000. That's the last, uh, the last, uh, uh, white paper that I read about the, uh, about Guam. Uh, yeah, it used to be, uh, in the early 2000s, in the early 2000s, they were approximately 2,500. So, and, and that's very different from what it was during the Cold War, which was about 26,000 troops. I, I have another picture. This one here is from the US and its allies in the region. This is during some maneuvering exercises, training, and so forth. That's what they used to, uh, to have at that time. So for Guam, uh, today that number really is, is on the rise, by the way, uh, and to my knowledge it's about 9,000 to 10,000, uh, uniformed, uh, personnel there. So, and, uh, but again, you have to consider Australia is sending some of its people there, uh, Japan to a degree, uh, but the whole idea of the Department of Defense, our Department of Defense budget for Guam for 20— if you think about it, a few years ago, I was aware that the Pentagon allocated about almost $3 billion for the island domestic product. That's what it was. So, so I don't know what it is today. All I know is that we do have the presence. Now, here is the interesting thing about all this. China has already developed missiles that can reach Guam from China. So because if I am to put my military hat on, I can tell you that should the conflict erupt, first order of business for China is to, to, to neutralize or take out all whatever in, in, in Guam has to be taken out. Then you move into two other locations, Japan and South Korea. Philippines will be the third. So this is why we have 9 bases in South Korea. We have also 9 bases in Philippines, except that the US is, is, uh, announcing only 5. So is the Filipino government. Uh, Marcos Jr. is only saying there are 5. There are 9. They are not disclosing 4, which most likely that's where the, the, the advanced weapon systems will be without the knowledge of the Filipinos. This is why part of where you're seeing the turmoil in the Philippines. But in the case of Guam, uh, the, uh, uh, China will take out Guam, uh, assets right away, first order of business. So while I'm thinking about it, I want to share with you guys a link— another link, I'm sorry, a comment from Franco— Frank L's 745, you wrote, and I quote, he is going— meaning Tony Blinken— he's going there to South Korea because he started the whole mess talking about how the opposition is being too close to North Korea, so he asked the president to stage a coup against Congress. So, so thank you so much, uh, uh, Franco L's, for sharing this one here. And this is what I need you guys to understand. The whole objective of this trip of, uh, uh, Tony Blinken to South Korea, it's not about diplomacy. It's not about we are going to talk to this acting president, Cho Sang-bong, to, to tell him to the line or else. Because it became clear to us that this guy, Yan, uh, Yun suck yo, it's over. Because they're gonna— he's gonna have to— now that the jurisdiction, the jurisdiction, uh, uh, uh, court has issued the arrest warrant, at some point they're gonna have to— of course it's a, an internal matter to deal with, but, but also our secretary speak with the, with the, uh, what's the word, uh, with no credibility whatsoever. So, uh, I still don't see the logic for his trip at this time, knowing that he's leaving office next week or, or a week and a half, whatever. So, so, and this is what I need you guys to understand about— that's why I wanted to do this for you, is to understand we have major concerns, okay? When When I say we, I am talking in general term, you know. To me, if it were up to me and I were advising the president, I say, Mr. President, the first thing you want to do is you want to clear the area. First of all, if we are to evolve, we're going to evolve in a cooperative setting, not through military conflicts, because more and more we are being isolated. And more and more we are dragging other countries into the hole. South Korea is one of them, Japan is another, Philippines is another, uh, Taiwan. Taiwan is, as I said, is a renegade state. That's all it is because it's not a sovereign state. So I can— for me, and I speak for myself here, I can't speak of Taiwan as a sovereign state because it is not. My understanding of how international law is and how a sovereign state is, Taiwan doesn't fit that description. So for now, I feel comfortable saying renegade island or renegade state. That's me, what I say. You guys choose whatever term you want to use, but this is how I see it. So when you think in terms of, for us, ensuring that the tensions will always remain in one or another, Uh, and of course having Guam serving as the base because Guam is much closer to China than it is to Hawaii, for example. And that makes a perfect sense for us why we are moving into this whole region. And when you consider the South China Sea, when you consider the Strait of Malacca, uh, and all this, the more tensions we create, the better it is for us. But on the other hand, it's not. It's not better. We're only going backward. It's because we don't want to come to terms with the reality that the world has changed and we need to change with it. Our days of global dominance have come to an end. This is now a matter of a peaceful exit. And again, look at history. Most of other empires went through the same process. Look at the French, where the way used to be to where they are today, the, the, the horrible economic conditions you hear about. And I just had a family visit from Europe, and I know they're not going to be telling me what I want to hear because I know better and they know better. So They were telling me exactly how the conditions are in, in, in the, in the Netherlands. It's getting even worse. So Germany, forget about it. As a matter of fact, there is no conversation. I can confirm it, you know, because this is where you guys have to be careful. Sometimes you see this sensational, uh, YouTube videos about, oh, uh, uh, what's his name, Olaf Scholz is going to Russia. Hold on a second, don't jump into this. No, and, and you all know I don't do that kind of stuff here in this channel because we, we beyond that. So, but I will, I am checking on it, I have my sources, and if confirmed, I will do an analysis for you as to why. But at the same time, it's too late, it's too late for Olaf Scholz because you have a snap elections coming in February, more surveys More and more surveys inside Germany are predicting Olaf Scholz is done for. The guy is so damn weak, politically speaking. Same with his foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, which she wants to Syria, by the way. Yeah, funny how— it's so funny how those Western leaders, they used to say one thing about, for example, Russia killing this and that. Then they're not saying the same thing about Giuliani, who's been a very— if you only know what he did as far as the atrocities he committed. Well, the guy was a terrorist, what do you expect? So all of a sudden the media now is referring to him as— they don't refer to him as Giuliani anymore, Le Léon de Guerre. So but anyway, that's a topic for another day. So anyway, that's all I have to share with you guys today. I am working on some other stories. Uh, before I leave, I want to share the link with you to support the channel, because you all know without your support this channel will not exist. So I count on your support, guys. Uh, that's, that's up to you how you want to support the channel. I'm very grateful to you. I am working on my next trip. I did mention I will make a major announcements I am trying to figure out 2 or 3 locations I would like to go to while I am in Asia. I am going back to Asia, but there are 2 other locations that I have in mind, and I'll discuss it with you guys, with the community. We'll discuss the funding for it because it's a, it's a major undertaking financially, and without you guys, I can't do it. So, and I won't do it, I'll be honest. Uh, it's because of you how I end up going to China. And I would love to go back again because I want to go back for some other locations to report to you, and that requires funding. So the same thing with this channel, it requires funding. I will be very grateful if you guys can help the channel in whatever capacity you can. So, uh, uh, what's the last thing I would say is I am going to be working on some stories for you., and I will share it with you as they become available. I just have to confirm certain things. So as always, guys, remember, geopolitics impact your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, bye-bye.