Hi this is Brian Wiklendt.
I am lead counsel with Garfinkel Schwartz.
I’ve done this several years and what I’d like to do is give an update to our contractor
friends in terms of what’s going on for the New Year.
My office is in the main office is in Maitland Florida which is a suburb of Orlando.
Right now I’m in Rome’s Flavours one of my favorite restaurants here in Winter Park.
And the coolest part about Winter Park Florida is that everyone’s from other countries.
And so you know we’ve met so many people that speak different languages and it almost
feels like I’m you know skirting across the globe like I tend to do because we represent
people from other countries and all across America.
We’re not limited to representing people in Florida.
Let me just get right down to it.
Let’s just start with North Korea which is obviously the biggest threat in my opinion
and the most important thing to talk about.
I’m just basically going to talk about the list of places that US troops are currently
located which means that usually speaking up to three times the amount of troops are
end up being supported by local overseas contractors.
So if there are 10,000 troops in a spot you’re going to assume that there’s going to be
30,000 overseas contractors which is who we help when they get injured in some way and
they have to come back home for treatment.
North Korea I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about North Korea through the president and
what the leader of North Korea has been doing and threatening against the United States.
I apologize for having to read some of this stuff but you know it’s pretty much something
that I can’t really adlib because these are facts that come from the internet and
come from our sources so I don’t want to make sure I want to make sure that I’m not
adlibbing and not and giving you accurate results.
What you need to know about North Korea is they’ve been testing missiles from 2016
and all throughout 2017 and obviously there’s a that’s a big alarm system that comes off
and everyone is kind of ready and waiting to see what happens.
So these things are pretty serious and I take them very seriously.
Of the 23 total missile launches, four that North Korea have done have failed.
Others have succeeded to the point that they’ve hit a radius outside the Korean peninsula.
It’s estimated that North Korea has 10 to 16 nuclear weapons at their disposal.
For your information this area where they’re testing these missiles includes Japan and
Guam.
Guam is U.S. territory and U.S. Navy vessels operating on the Pacific Ocean.
North Korea has a massive military force of 1.2 million troops and actually most of the
citizens that live there have to serve in the military at some point.
North Korea’s also very poor.
Its people are starved.
They have no basic human and civil rights in that country and which causes them to be
a very volatile potential adversary to the United States.
As of December 13th 2017 which is a week ago, according The Voice of America and The Washington
Post, 58 U.S. military officials urged against military action in North Korea.
But on December 20th which was yesterday The Guardian reported that South Korea in order
to cease tensions due to the pending Olympic Games suggested that it not carry out military
drills in the United States and in South China Sea.
That doesn’t mean that we’re not in danger for the future.
North Korea keeps pushing and threatening and testing missiles despite UN Security Council
requests to cease and despite suggested meetings with the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
as of last week.
Today December 21st Reuters a North Korean according to Reuters a North Korean soldier
encroached on South Korean borders in what’s described as a defection meaning that the
borders are very volatile right now.
Our favorite resource is the Global Conflict Tracker which I’ve mentioned over the last
couple of years.
I’ve used that since 2015 to to gather information to help overseas contractors.
South Korea according to the Global Conflict Tracker has 630,000 troops ready near North
Korea in case something comes up.
Right now the Global Conflict Tracker reports that the United States has more than 23,000
troops in North Korea and I’m sorry in South Korea getting ready for combat in North Korea.
And we’d like to reiterate that our civilian contracts civilian contractors that we’ve
gathered in terms of our research is now probably even closer to a four to one ratio than a
three to one ratio in terms of the number of overseas contractors versus military troops
that will be needed and the Korean Conflict should it arise at some point in 2018.
We know from talking to our clients that there’s a very high demand for civilian contractors
around the world and overseas in high-risk danger zones including Korea.
We hope you never have to face an injury but if you’re traveling to one of the dangerous
zones that I’ve described including the Korean Conflict you need to be prepared for
the challenges that lie ahead.
You need to know what process to follow that you’re covered under the Defense Base Act
and that you’re physically if you’re physically or mentally harmed you need to know what options
you have because a lot of times the employers are not going to tell you what your options
are especially under US federal law even if you’re not an American citizen.
Again I’m Brian Wiklendt lead counsel with Garfinkel Schwartz.
I’m available any time day or night to talk to you.
Feel free to visit my website.
And good luck in your future endeavors.
Have stay safe be prepared for the New Year and I look forward to talking to you about
anything any troubles you might run into that’s what I’m here for.
Otherwise good luck be safe and I hope you don’t even have to talk to me.
Thank you.
Take care.