1. U.S.-N. Korea diplomacy still possible in coming months: expert (Victor Cha)
2. N. Korea shows no sign of allowing S. Korean tourists
3. Seoul closely monitoring N. Korea's expected meeting of diplomats
4. Moon vows efforts for reunions of separated families in two Koreas
5. Another Korean sexual slavery victim dies, number of survivors at 19
6. North Korean hackers attacking laptops with Internet Explorer flaw: What to do
7. NSC members discuss follow-up measures to Hormuz troop dispatch decision: Cheong Wa Dae
8. EU urges N. Korea to stick to moratorium on nuclear, missile tests
9. (Netflix) Drama 'Crash Landing on You' accused of glamorizing North Korea
1. U.S.-N. Korea diplomacy still possible in coming months: expert (Victor Cha)
Excerpts:
"I would not rule out the possibility, at least maybe for the next couple of months, that there could be some sort of turn to diplomacy," he said during a seminar hosted by the think tank. "I know it doesn't look like it right now because of all the things that the North Koreans have said, threatening (intercontinental ballistic missile) tests and everything, but this is the one issue where President Trump personally has invested a lot of personal diplomacy and a lot of personal capital."
Cha also said Trump is someone who does not want to admit failure and would therefore take an interim deal and talk about it as if it's the best deal ever.
U.S.-N. Korea diplomacy still possible in coming months: expert | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · January 23, 2020
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. expert said Wednesday that he does not rule out the possibility the United States and North Korea will resume diplomacy in the coming months and reach an interim nuclear deal.
Washington and Pyongyang have not made progress in their denuclearization negotiations since an unproductive February 2019 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
But Victor Cha, a Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, suggested there is still hope for an agreement and another meeting between Trump and Kim before March.
"I would not rule out the possibility, at least maybe for the next couple of months, that there could be some sort of turn to diplomacy," he said during a seminar hosted by the think tank. "I know it doesn't look like it right now because of all the things that the North Koreans have said, threatening (intercontinental ballistic missile) tests and everything, but this is the one issue where President Trump personally has invested a lot of personal diplomacy and a lot of personal capital."
Cha also said Trump is someone who does not want to admit failure and would therefore take an interim deal and talk about it as if it's the best deal ever.
Trump and Kim had agreed during their first summit in Singapore in June 2018 to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for U.S. security guarantees. The leaders met twice more but failed to bridge their gaps on how much the North should denuclearize in order to receive sanctions relief and other concessions from the U.S.
Cha suggested that North Korea could want to return to negotiations while Trump is still in office.
"The North Koreans are watching our election as well," he said, referring to the U.S. presidential poll in November. "And if they can get some sort of phase-one deal on their own, where there's a partial lifting of sanctions for some sort of temporary freeze on facilities that they don't really use anymore anyway, that would be a good place for them to be to wait out the results of the U.S. elections."
In choosing March as the possible timeline for another meeting between Trump and Kim, Cha noted the springtime military exercises between South Korea and the U.S.
"I think (Trump's) inclination is not to do those because he considers them to be too expensive anyway," he said, adding that a phase-one deal would only require partial sanctions relief with a snapback provision and the freezing of some nuclear facilities the North Koreans don't need anyway.
"That is far from optimal, but it could still be trumpeted by some people as the best deal ever," he said.
2. N. Korea shows no sign of allowing S. Korean tourists
The Kim family regime may prevent diplomatic conflict between the US and the ROK on south Korean tourism to north Korea. South Korean tourism to north Korea and the north's denial is another example of the Moon
administration's
unrequited
love. Kim will just not respond to Moon's peace and reconciliation vision.
Quite a comment and analogy about north Korea being a safe country:
"We would take South Korean tourists to North Korea if the policy changes, but the change has yet to be made," said a travel agency in Shenyang, China. "Currently, we cannot send people with South Korean passport to the North." A travel agency based in Beijing said, "Although we understand South Korean policies, it can only wait and see how it would turn out because it is still in discussion." Another Chinese travel agency said it had no plans in regards to this issue because everything is uncertain. This indicates that even these travel agencies that will serve as an important intermediary have not noticed any changes made by Pyongyang.
When asked about the safety of South Korean tourists traveling to North Korea, they just repeated, "North Korea is a safe country." "You would not eat pork if you go to India. The same goes to North Korea. You are safe as long as you follow their rules," said the agency in Shenyang. Another travel agency went as far as to say North Korea is extremely safe as long as tourists respect its law and culture. These remarks reflect their views that no additional safety measures would be needed for South Korean tourists.
N. Korea shows no sign of allowing S. Korean tourists
donga.com
Posted January. 23, 2020 07:32,
Updated January. 23, 2020 07:32
N. Korea shows no sign of allowing S. Korean tourists. January. 23, 2020 07:32. by Gi-Jae Han [email protected].
In his New Year speech and press conference, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has kept expressing his intention to allow South Koreans to travel to North Korea. The Dong-A Ilbo recently reported major Chinese travel agencies and they said North Korea has not taken any relevant steps. The travel agencies would play a key role if Pyongyang decides to remove travel bans on South Korean citizens. With no signs of change from the North, most of the travel agencies have not made any adjustments, they added.
"We would take South Korean tourists to North Korea if the policy changes, but the change has yet to be made," said a travel agency in Shenyang, China. "Currently, we cannot send people with South Korean passport to the North." A travel agency based in Beijing said, "Although we understand South Korean policies, it can only wait and see how it would turn out because it is still in discussion." Another Chinese travel agency said it had no plans in regards to this issue because everything is uncertain. This indicates that even these travel agencies that will serve as an important intermediary have not noticed any changes made by Pyongyang.
When asked about the safety of South Korean tourists traveling to North Korea, they just repeated, "North Korea is a safe country." "You would not eat pork if you go to India. The same goes to North Korea. You are safe as long as you follow their rules," said the agency in Shenyang. Another travel agency went as far as to say North Korea is extremely safe as long as tourists respect its law and culture. These remarks reflect their views that no additional safety measures would be needed for South Korean tourists.
Despite silence from Pyongyang and safety concerns of South Korean tourists, the South Korean Ministry of Unification has reaffirmed its commitment to its plan. "The ministry is examining the possibility of allowing South Korean citizens to travel to North Korea to promote people-to-people exchange between the two Koreas," said ministry spokesperson Lee Sang-min on Wednesday. "The government will continue to closely examine the safety issue."
There are increasing concerns over the safety, however, with more people pointing out how dangerous traveling to North Korea can be as freedom is limited. Alek Sigley, an Australian student who was briefly detained in Pyongyang last year, wrote for the January issue of "North Korea Monthly." According to him, foreign tourists need to be accompanied by two guides when going out of the hotel and foreign students cannot even go to stores and restaurants, let alone freely wandering around the streets, adding that there is not so much foreign tourists can do in the country.
한국어
3. Seoul closely monitoring N. Korea's expected meeting of diplomats
Yes we are all waiting with bated breath to see what the regime announces next!
Seoul closely monitoring N. Korea's expected meeting of diplomats | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 최수향 · January 23, 2020
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is keeping a close watch on North Korea over a possible meeting of its overseas diplomatic mission chiefs, a unification ministry official said Thursday, amid speculation Pyongyang could discuss its nuclear strategy during the session.
Last week, top North Korean envoy to China Ji Jae-ryong and Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Song returned home. The North Korean ambassadors to Angola and Singapore were also seen at the Beijing airport on the same day, indicating a possible meeting scheduled in the North.
"North Korean ambassadors to key nations are known to have returned to Pyongyang. We are closely monitoring the situation," the official said.
Pyongyang is known to have held such meetings annually.
The expected gathering comes at a time when North Korea is reported to have replaced the country's foreign minister and appointed Ri Son-gwon, an official who formerly handled inter-Korean affairs, as its top diplomat. The North has yet to confirm the replacement.
Experts say that the replacement, if confirmed, could herald a shift in the North's diplomacy toward the U.S. and South Korea.
Denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang remain stalled since the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed without a deal in February last year.
North Korea has said it will not return to dialogue until the U.S. fully accepts its demands and withdraws what it calls a "hostile policy" against the North.
4. Moon vows efforts for reunions of separated families in two Koreas
This is just one of the many human rights abuses of the Kim family regime. It is the regime that prevents these reunions (or extorts money in return for limited reunions). There is no excuse for preventing the unification of separated families but such reunions are a threat to the Kim family regime. This is just one of many indicators that north Korea does not function like a normal nation state or a responsible member of the international community. I applaud President Moon's efforts but the fault the lack of reunion progress lies with Kim Jong-un.
Moon vows efforts for reunions of separated families in two Koreas | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · January 23, 2020
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in said Thursday his government will endeavor to create opportunities for South Koreans to meet their families in North Korea "before it's too late."
He was delivering a video message via his social networking service accounts on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, called Seol in Korean. It's one of the biggest annual celebrations for Koreans.
"There are people who feel more yearning during such a holiday season. (The government) will make efforts so that those who have their hometowns in the North can join their families before it's too late," the president said.
Moon has renewed his vigorous push for vitalizing inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges, apparently including the resumption of an event for separated families to get reunited for a few days at a designated venue.
The president also reiterated his pledge to make "tangible changes" in the lives of the people within this year.
He emphasized South Korea's potential based on its rapid growth and dynamic nature, as well as mature citizens and Korean culture that have wowed the international community.
"The Republic of Korea is a small but strong nation," Moon said, using the official name of South Korea. "It has overcome whatever the difficulty is and has developed enough to lead the world in many fields."
5. Another Korean sexual slavery victim dies, number of survivors at 19
A tragedy on so many levels.
Another Korean sexual slavery victim dies, number of survivors at 19 | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김승연 · January 23, 2020
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- Another elderly Korean victim of Japan's wartime sexual slavery died Thursday, the gender ministry said.
The death of the woman, whose identity was withheld at the request of her family, puts the number of surviving victims at 19, according to the ministry.
A total of 240 are officially registered with the government as victims of sexual enslavement by the Japanese imperial army during World War II. Five died last year.
Gender Minister Lee Jung-ok expressed condolences to the family over the victim's death, vowing to continue policy support for the surviving victims and to actively push for projects that will help restore their honor and dignity, the ministry said.
Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese troops during the war.
6. North Korean hackers attacking laptops with Internet Explorer flaw: What to do
North Korean hackers seem to be exploiting a zero-day flaw in Internet Explorer, and Microsoft doesn't have an answer.
Microsoft's next Patch Tuesday isn't slated until Feb 11, so it could be weeks before we see a fix.
Microsoft discloses vulnerability
Microsoft disclosed the vulnerability on Jan 17,
posting an advisory that describes the flaw as one that could corrupt memory in a way that lets attackers "execute arbitrary code." When exploited, the attacker would have the same full access to the computer as a legitimate user.
"In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit the vulnerability through Internet Explorer and then convince a user to view the website, for example, by sending an email," the advisory states.
If the attacker gains admin user rights then they could take control of the system and install programs, delete data or create new accounts.
Possible ties to North Korea
What makes this vulnerability particularly frightening is that it could have ties to North Korean hackers.
As Tom's Guide points out, this flaw appears to be related to one that went after Mozilla Firefox. Researchers at Qihoo 360 who found the flaw quickly removed a tweet claiming that IE was also affected.
A later blog post from
Qihoo 360 pinned the IE attack on the North Korean hacking group DarkHotel, which is known for tracking the movements of high-profile business travelers. Microsoft has not confirmed whether the zero-day is linked to North Korean hackers or otherwise, but the company marked the flaw as "critical."
Before Microsoft disclosed the vulnerability, it was discovered by a division of Homeland Security called CERT/CC.
In an advisory, the branch said that IE's JScript component contains an "unspecified memory corruption vulnerability" and that all apps supporting this component could be "used as an attack vector." CERT/CC also said it detected exploits in the wild.
What you can do to protect IE
There is no official patch that fixes the vulnerability but Microsoft posted some workarounds to reduce your risk.
You should only take these precautions if you're a high-risk target as they could reduce the functionality of features that rely on jscript.dll.
Here are the steps for
32-bit Windows systems:
1. Open the admin command prompt.
2. Enter the following prompt in order:
takeown /f %windir%\system32\jscript.dll
cacls %windir%\system32\jscript.dll /E /P everyone:
3. Add these two lines if you're a
64-bit Windows user.
takeown /f %windir%\syswow64\jscript.dll
cacls %windir%\syswow64\jscript.dll /E /P everyone:N
7. NSC members discuss follow-up measures to Hormuz troop dispatch decision: Cheong Wa Dae
I was asked by a journalist if I thought north Korea would take some action against South Korea for the deployment of forces to the Straits. I think the Iran-north Korea relationship is a close transactional one and not one of ideological alignment (except for common enemies). I do not think the north will do something just to assist Iran but if it does see some advantage to the regime for taking action it might do so. But it will only when the regime believes it is to its advantage. However
, we must keep in mind Sun Tzu's adage: "never assume the enemy will not attack, make yourself invincible." It could happen.
NSC members discuss follow-up measures to Hormuz troop dispatch decision: Cheong Wa Dae | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · January 23, 2020
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top security officials had internal discussions Thursday on ways to strengthen "communication" with Iran and the United States in connection with its decision to send naval troops to the Strait of Hormuz for contributions to maritime security there, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
They reviewed the international community's responses to the move and discussed "follow-up measures," including the strengthening of "communication" with relevant nations, during the weekly session of the National Security Council (NSC) standing committee, it said in a brief press release. The meeting was presided over by Chung Eui-yong, director of national security at the presidential office.
It did not name those related countries, but the expression is used in context for the U.S., which has requested such a military role by Seoul, and Iran, which is regarded as a source of instability in the strait, a key global oil supply route.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of National Defense announced that the anti-piracy Cheonghae Unit, stationed in the Gulf of Aden, will broaden its operational area to the strait.
The NSC members, meanwhile, checked ways for "tangible accomplishments" in efforts to move forward the Korea peace process through the resumption of various inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges, Cheong Wa Dae said.
The government is seeking to allow South Koreans to visit North Korea on "individual tours" that would not be subject to U.N. Security Council resolutions on the communist neighbor.
Officially, Pyongyang has stayed silent about Seoul's idea.
8. EU urges N. Korea to stick to moratorium on nuclear, missile tests
Good news. We are maintaining a united front among like minded nations (though our "united front" is a little different than north Korea's United Front Department).
"The repeated ballistic missile launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council Resolutions, continue to undermine international work for building trust and establishing lasting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," it said, referring to the North by its official name.
"Until the DPRK takes concrete actions, we will continue to strictly enforce existing sanctions," it added.
EU urges N. Korea to stick to moratorium on nuclear, missile tests | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 최수향 · January 23, 2020
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- The European Union (EU) has called on North Korea to stick to its moratorium on nuclear and missile tests amid Pyongyang's threat to withdraw from its self-declared commitment citing the United States' "hostile policy."
In an opening statement for a conference on disarmament on Tuesday, the EU said North Korea should "return to meaningful negotiations" and "refrain from further provocations."
"The repeated ballistic missile launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council Resolutions, continue to undermine international work for building trust and establishing lasting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," it said, referring to the North by its official name.
"Until the DPRK takes concrete actions, we will continue to strictly enforce existing sanctions," it added.
North Korea has repeated its threat to resile from leader Kim Jong-un's self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests amid stalemated denuclearization talks with the United States.
In a New Year's Day announcement, Kim said that he has no reason to be bound by his own moratorium, adding that the world will witness a "new strategic weapon" in the near future.
Recently, Ju Yong-chol, a counselor at North Korea's mission to the United Nations in Geneva, renewed the threat, accusing Washington of imposing "the most brutal and inhumane sanctions" against Pyongyang.
9. (Netflix) Drama 'Crash Landing on You' accused of glamorizing North Korea
This is one of the problems with the South's National Security Law.
I do not think we should worry about the drama humanizing Koreans in the north (I do not think it is glamorizing the north). What we should consider is how this K Drama can
influence the Koreans in the north as it is smuggled into the north. This television show is in line with the recommendations I made in 2016: "Can South Korean-made TV dramas prepare the North for reunification?" https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/30/north-korea-nuclear-threat-can-south-korean-made-t/ . This type of effort should be part of a holistic information and influence activities campaign.
Drama 'Crash Landing on You' accused of glamorizing North Korea
The Korea Times · January 23, 2020
 A conservative political party has lodged a complaint against popular rom-com "Crash Landing on You," starring A-list actors Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin. Courtesy of tvN
By Dong Sun-hwa
Cable channel tvN's North Korea-themed drama "Crash Landing on You" has been accused of glamorizing the reclusive state, police said Wednesday.
The conservative Christian Liberty Party lodged a complaint with police against tvN on Jan. 9 for allegedly violating the National Security Law. It claims the soap opera- which is mostly set in a small village in North Korea - has only depicted North Korean soldiers in a "peaceful" way.
The party released a statement on Jan. 10, insisting South Korean citizens have been "incited" by the TV series that failed to clearly indicate that North Korea is the nation's "main opponent."
"Our security law stipulates we should not sympathize with an anti-government organization that threatens the nation's existence," the statement reads. "We want the instigators to be promptly investigated and punished."
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has been reviewing the complaint, but reportedly has not yet launched an investigation.
Since the TV series is based on fiction, many believe the cable channel is unlikely to be punished.
"Fiction-based dramas have rarely been punished for breaking the security law," a police agency official said.
The drama's producer Lee Jung-hyo said during a press conference in Seoul in December: "I know some people are uncomfortable about our subject, North Korea, but we don't portray a wholly authentic North Korea in our drama. Most settings are more close to a fantasy, although some aspects do reflect real North Korean life."
"Crash Landing on You" is a 16-episode rom-com revolving around South Korean chaebol scion Yoon Se-ri (played by Son Ye-jin) and high-ranking North Korean officer Ri Jong-hyok (Hyun Bin). The pair bump into each other in North Korea after a paraglider carrying Yoon makes an emergency landing there.
The soap opera has been gaining popularity in Korea, with its latest episode - aired on Jan. 19 - garnering 14.6 percent viewership.
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