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'Threat to the children'

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'Ground forces, missiles, headquarters, launching sites, et cetera'

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The U.S. hosted a summit at Camp David with Japan and South Korea just over a year ago, so this is a timely opportunity to reflect on the strategic significance and imperative of making trilateral cooperation more pragmatic, especially in enhancing economic security and freedom partnerships. The summit on Aug. 18, 2023, paved a path forward in geopolitics as the leaders of the three longtime allies refreshed their commitment to a forward-looking trilateral partnership to take on global challenges. Indeed, now is the time for Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington to take their pivotal alliance to the next chapter with steadfastness, particularly through elevated partnerships in the private sector. In a joint statement issued Aug. 17 to mark the first anniversary of the trilateral summit, the three leaders unambiguously said: “We hold an unshakeable belief that cooperation [among] Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States is indispensable for meeting today’s challenges and will set the stage for a prosperous future.” These words reflect the three nations’ shared interests and strong desire to work together. During the summit, President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yoel agreed upon a comprehensive package of cooperation initiatives encompassing high-level consultations, avenues for greater security cooperation, economic and technology cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges. The renewed collaborative spirit and reaffirmed commitment to forge greater cooperation among the three nations are more critical than ever, especially at this critical juncture of challenging global security and economic environments. That’s what really matters, and that’s why the three allies should work together more closely to ensure these positive developments live on and are institutionalized further at the practical levels of government and business leaders. The trilateral summit at Camp David—highlighting a shared recognition of the imperative to move beyond historical grievances to meet common challenges—affirmed and expanded allied cooperation on wide-ranging security, diplomatic, and economic topics. This deepening relationship among Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington is the path forward for a greater future together. Washington should build on it regardless of who wins the Nov. 5 presidential election. South Korea and Japan, which next year will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic relations, have a viable path forward together. However, it will not be without challenges. The United States must remain proactively engaged by maintaining forward-deployed forces in Asia and seeking ways to promote reconciliation between Seoul and Tokyo. Washington shouldn’t take these critical alliances for granted. It’s notable that since the summit last year, the evolving economic partnership has focused on reducing supply chain vulnerabilities, particularly in critical technologies such as semiconductors. South Korea and Japan, both key players in the global chip industry, have worked more closely with the U.S. to safeguard supply chains. But more that can and should be followed through on.  The U.S. has critical national interests in Asia but can’t preserve and advance them alone. It must work with indispensable allies such as Japan and South Korea to achieve mutually beneficial policy goals that will enhance peace and prosperity in the region. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., who recently led a bipartisan congressional delegation to South Korea and Japan, underscored this by saying: My firm belief is that deeper economic ties among our three nations will reinforce and strengthen our shared economic and national security interests. As a senator and former U.S. ambassador to Japan, I know firsthand how critical our alliances with Japan—the world’s third-largest economy and host to some 55,000 U.S. service members—and South Korea—the world’s 14th-largest economy and host to nearly 29,000 U.S. troops—are to advancing the security and prosperity of the American people and to countering Communist China’s growing threats to the free and open Indo-Pacific. Indeed, forging greater strategic partnerships for economic security between South Korea and Japan in advanced technology, particularly initiated and shaped by the private sectors in the three nations, would augment allied deterrence and defense capabilities among other key fronts. Such forward-looking collaboration based on the challenging geoeconomic reality would not only boost the economic resilience of the three nations but strengthen their shared influence in reconfiguring and guarding the rules of the global economy. Looking ahead, the Camp David summit’s real success will depend on the ability of Japan, South Korea, and the United States to sustain and deepen their practical cooperation amid evolving challenges. The summit laid a strong foundation. Building a durable trilateral alliance, however, will require continued political will, more focused strategic clarity, and greater private sector support in all three countries. Now is the time to act on that. The post Time to Forge Greater Private Sector Partnerships to Strengthen US-Japan-South Korea Cooperation appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Pennsylvania may be the most hotly contested state in the Nov. 5 presidential election. And four years ago, it was the most controversial state for its lack of mail-in ballot standards.  In the closing weeks of the 2024 election, Republicans have sued the office of Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt for what they say are inconsistent standards for allowing voters to correct—or “cure”—ballots.  The Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party both sued Schmidt as the state’s top election official.  Earlier this year, Schmidt announced that voters who don’t follow instructions for completing and returning mail-in ballots may cast provisional ballots.  However, the GOP plaintiffs note, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held in 2020 that voters who choose to vote by mail don’t have the legal right to cure defects in those ballots. “Secretary Schmidt’s policy ignores the law and has caused great confusion to Pennsylvania voters,” Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in a public statement last week.   The Republican National Committee has filed 120 lawsuits in 26 states for the 2024 election cycle. “This clearly undermines election integrity, diminishes fairness for voters, and threatens to erode public confidence in our elections,” Whatley added. “We have filed suit to force election officials to follow the law in the Keystone State.”  Under Schmidt’s directive, county election officials may adopt what the RNC calls “a patchwork of unlawful curing policies.” In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs note that the Pennsylvania Constitution says: “All laws regulating the holding of elections by the citizens, or for the registration of electors, shall be uniform throughout the state.” Pennsylvania often uses the word “electors” to refer to voters. Schmidt’s office did not respond to inquiries from The Daily Signal for this report.  The Pennsylvania Department of State issued “Guidance Concerning Civilian Absentee and Mail-in Ballot Procedures” on Sept. 10.  “If the voter is listed in the poll book as requesting a mail-in or absentee ballot but cannot surrender their balloting materials, or if the voter is listed in the poll book as having returned a mail-in or absentee ballot, then the voter may only cast a provisional ballot,” the guidance says.  Voting by mail is safe and secure, and no evidence exists of widespread mail voting fraud in Pennsylvania. After every election, counties conduct two audits to ensure the accuracy of all results. Learn more about voting by mail in PA by visiting our fact-checking webpage:… pic.twitter.com/1AvfoS0WGe— PA Department of State (@PAStateDept) September 9, 2024 Pennsylvania had the fourth-closest state outcome in the 2020 presidential election, with about 80,000 votes boosting Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump.  As described in my book “The Myth of Voter Suppression,” the controversy in 2020 dealt largely with postmarks and the deadline for absentee ballots.  Under then-Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, and the state Supreme Court, with its elected Democrat majority, the law covering mail-in ballots was changed to count ballots that arrived three days after the statutory deadline close of Election Day. Ballots also no longer had to be postmarked before Election Day.  The changes came despite objections from the Republican-controlled state Legislature.  A new cast is running elections in 2024, however.  Schmidt is a Republican, but was appointed to the office by Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, in January 2023.  That same month, President Joe Biden presented Schmidt with a Presidential Citizens Medal at a White House ceremony marking the two-year anniversary of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.   Biden said he did so because Schmidt, as a Republican election official in Philadelphia, resisted efforts by the Trump campaign to challenge the outcome of the 2020 election. Schmidt had a record of tackling voter fraud when he was a member of the Philadelphia City Commission, which supervises elections in the city. In that job, Schmidt made a referral to the U.S. Justice Department, which eventually led to the convictions of Michael “Ozzy” Myers, a former Democratic member of the U.S. House, and Domenick J. Demuro, a Philadelphia election judge, in what prosecutors called an election fraud and bribery scheme. In 2017, while he was an election commissioner, Schmidt reported to the Pennsylvania Department of State that at least 317 noncitizens were registered to vote in the city, although many of those noncitizens had self-reported. The post Here We Go Again? Standards for Counting Mail Ballots in Pennsylvania Illegal, RNC Alleges appeared first on The Daily Signal.