Summary: South Korea has mobilized troops, tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets for its largest-ever wintertime military drills in a show of force that comes a month after North Korea’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 22, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported on the release of the 2010 election cycle’s first poll in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District race for U.S. Representative. The survey, conducted December 17-20, 2009, showed that 53% of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s constituents approved of the job she was doing.
Summary: A U.N. Security Council emergency session amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula ended after more than eight hours without an agreement. North Korea warned of a “catastrophe” if South Korea went ahead with military live-fire drills on Yeonpyeong Island. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 20, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Lt. Col. Thomas B. Gukeisen, who commands 600 soldiers at Forward Operating Base Altimur in Logar province, Afghanistan, has achieved success operating by his own innovative ideas about counterinsurgency warfare.
Summary: China is worried tensions in the Korean peninsula could spiral out of control if not dealt with properly, President Hu Jintao told U.S. President Barack Obama in their first discussion of the situation since North Korea shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong nearly two weeks earlier. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 6, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Defense Secretary Robert Gates told ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos on ABC News “This Week” that the U.S. has not had any good intelligence on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden in “years.”
Summary: North Korea says planned U.S.-South Korean military maneuvers involving a U.S. nuclear-powered supercarrier are pushing the peninsula to the “brink of war.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 25, 2009, Aubrey Immelman provided an analysis of President Barack Obama’s political personality, leadership style, and decision-making on Afghanistan.