Quotes of the Day:
In honor of returning to school this semester:
"As a professor of mine used to tell his classes, 'There is, and can be, no direct correlation between the grade you receive on a paper and the amount of time or effort you have spent on the paper; which is not to say that hard work does not produce results, but only that some people can do with great ease what others cannot do at all or can only do with great effort. In an hour, Mozart could produce a piece of music that I would be unable to match even if I spent my whole life working at it.' Also remember that the grade that you get on the paper represents my judgment of the quality of the results – not what you meant to say, but what you actually said."
- Professor Amy Kind,
"I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well."
- Alexander the Great (attributed)
"Education should implant a will and a facility for learning; it should produce not learned but learning people. In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."
- Eric Hoffer
1. 3 military planes carrying out operations to bring Afghan evacuees to South Korea: foreign ministry
2. Lessons from Afghanistan (for South Korea)
3. Unification minister hold talks with U.S. nuclear envoy on N. Korea
4. Korea likely to allow Afghans here to overstay visas
5. North Korean paper calls for Japan to make reparations for colonial-era brutality
6. Washington and Seoul Seek to Diversify the South Korea-US Alliance Through Cyber
7. North Korea is yet to begin covid vaccinations as delays hamper U.N.-backed rollout
8. FM Chung meets new USFK commander, discusses alliance, peninsula issues
9. British aircraft carrier calls off planned port call at S. Korean port due to pandemic
10. Scenes of North Korea Captured by Super Telephoto Lens (2) People Trapped in a "Cage"
11. North Korea aired a cartoon warning against obesity and overeating amid a national food shortage
12. What Does the Afghanistan Disaster Mean for the U.S.-ROK Alliance? Nothing.
13. Korean Americans Await Biden's Decision On North Korea Travel Ban
14. U.S. Scraps Plan to Use S.Korea, Japan Bases for Afghan Refugees -Sources
15. Seoul: Russian senior diplomat discussed prospects for resuming dialogue with North Korea
1. 3 military planes carrying out operations to bring Afghan evacuees to South Korea: foreign ministry
Excellent. South Korea steps up.
(LEAD) 3 military planes carrying out operations to bring Afghan evacuees to South Korea: foreign ministry | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS photo, more details throughout, byline)
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean military aircraft are carrying out operations to bring to the country Afghan people who aided Seoul's efforts to help rebuild the war-torn nation, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
Three military planes were sent to Afghanistan and a neighboring country to "bring to South Korea Afghan workers, who supported our government's activities in Afghanistan, and their family members," the ministry said in a text message to reporters.
The Afghan people worked at South Korea's embassy, hospital and job training center for years, the ministry said without providing further details, including the number of Afghan people to be airlifted to South Korea.
The evacuation came after the Taliban's seizure of power amid the ongoing U.S. troop pullout has raised fears of retaliation against Afghans who worked for America and its allied countries.
After the United States engaged in the war on terror in Afghanistan in 2001, South Korea conducted various military and relief operations, including the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) activities from 2010-2014.
Earlier this week, Rep. Song Young-gil, the head of the ruling Democratic Party, said that South Korea should take to Korea some 400 Afghans who joined South Korea's reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
His remarks then sparked a debate pitting those favoring the acceptance of Afghan escapees in line with the country's enhanced national stature against those raising potential security and other risks.
(END)
2. Lessons from Afghanistan (for South Korea)
Yes, South Korea is not Afghanistan. But is north Korea the Taliban?
Excerpts:
It could be an overreaction for us to imagine ourselves in Kabul’s plight after U.S. troops leave South Korea. Ruling Democratic Party Chairman Song Young-gil snapped that it was an insult to compare Afghanistan to South Korea, which has the world’s sixth largest military and is the world’s 10th trade power. But a bigger fist does not always win a fight. The Taliban has finally pushed the U.S. out of the country after 20 years.
A nuclear-armed North Korea intends to create a situation where the U.S. will be forced to leave South Korea, whether America likes it or not. The Pyongyang regime steadfastly believes it can control the peninsula if not for America. The Afghan crisis is another eerie reminder that tragedy can land anywhere if history’s lessons are blindly ignored.
Lessons from Afghanistan
Yeh Young-june
The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.
On April 21, 1975, nine days before the fall of Saigon, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu surrendered his presidential title and jumped on a U.S. chopper to fly out of the country. His trunks were said to have been filled with gold bullion. Vice President Tran Van Huong, to whom governing authority was handed over, publicly lashed out at his boss calling him a disgrace to South Vietnam,. He also abandoned his country after pocketing $35,000 in cash a week later.
Everything old is new again. Kabul fell to the Taliban 46 years later and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was reported to have been among the first to flee out of the country with so many trunks full of cash that they couldn’t fit into his helicopter. Some had to be left on the tarmac.
History often repeats itself and that is due to humans’ refusal to learn from history. The fall of Kabul in 2021 is a repeat of Saigon’s fall in 1975. The swift crumbling of Kabul following the takeover by the Taliban as soon as the U.S. withdrew its troops after 20 years of occupation by young American soldiers and massive spending coupled with the chaotic scenes of evacuation and fleeing bear horrifyingly stark similarities with the final days of the submission of West-backed South Vietnam to the Communist North Vietnam.
The scenes bring back shivering memories to an older generation of the North Korean invasion in 1950. The overloaded evacuation carriers and armed soldiers searching houses to kill any resisting citizens took place 70 years ago in this country. A picture of Ghani’s brother pledging alliance to the Taliban made headline news. Whether he secretly had been supporting the Taliban or adjusted to the new environment fast or surrendered at gunpoint cannot be known. But Koreans too remember how brothers turned to enemies and pointed guns at one another overnight.
The Afghan crisis is another rude reminder that countries have no permanent friends or protectors. We may also learn that enemies are not forever if America, abandoning its role of global policeman bent on eradicating evil regimes in its fundamentalist belief that world peace will come if free democracy is planted just about anywhere, accepts the Taliban for practical reasons. Such a dramatic turning point may be coming soon. Some in the U.S. are arguing for an engagement policy to soften the Taliban through relief funding and economic aid.
Taliban fighters take control of the presidential palace in Kabul Sunday after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. [AP/YONHAP]
We must learn from tragedies of other countries. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger proudly talked of the peace treaty between the two Vietnams he mediated when he met with President Park Chung Hee during a visit to South Korea in 1973 — just two years before the fall of Saigon. At that moment, Park cut in and said, “Then, South Vietnam is done. That (the peace treaty) is the beginning of its end.” When the U.S. troops pulled out of South Vietnam, the peace treaty was immediately scrapped. So was the peace agreement between the U.S. and Taliban signed in February 2020. Some would protest any comparing of the two foreign cases with South Korea. But they are ignoring the lessons of history that warn against blind faith in a peace treaty being a short-cut to solving the problems of the two Koreas.
It could be an overreaction for us to imagine ourselves in Kabul’s plight after U.S. troops leave South Korea. Ruling Democratic Party Chairman Song Young-gil snapped that it was an insult to compare Afghanistan to South Korea, which has the world’s sixth largest military and is the world’s 10th trade power. But a bigger fist does not always win a fight. The Taliban has finally pushed the U.S. out of the country after 20 years.
A nuclear-armed North Korea intends to create a situation where the U.S. will be forced to leave South Korea, whether America likes it or not. The Pyongyang regime steadfastly believes it can control the peninsula if not for America. The Afghan crisis is another eerie reminder that tragedy can land anywhere if history’s lessons are blindly ignored.
3. Unification minister hold talks with U.S. nuclear envoy on N. Korea
(LEAD) Unification minister hold talks with U.S. nuclear envoy on N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS more info in paras 3-4, photo)
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- Unification Minister Lee In-young met with the U.S. envoy for North Korea and discussed a coordinated approach to jump-start stalled talks with Pyongyang, his office said Tuesday.
During the breakfast meeting, Lee and U.S. Special Representative Sung Kim shared their overall views on the current situation and discussed how to resume dialogue and cooperation with the North at an early date.
Lee expressed hopes that the allies' efforts for engagement will be successful and stressed the need to stably manage the situation on the peninsula, the ministry said in a press release after the meeting.
Kim said the U.S. does not have hostile intent toward the North, stressing the importance of maintaining close bilateral relations to address North Korean issues through diplomacy and engagement, including in the field of humanitarian assistance.
His visit here comes amid chilled inter-Korean relations after the North blasted the South and the United States for going ahead with their joint military exercise and warned of a "serious security crisis."
(END)
4. Korea likely to allow Afghans here to overstay visas
A tough problem. When someone's visa expires do you force him or her to go back to Taliban controlled Afghanistan where Afghans who have been overseas are likely vulnerable to abuse by the Taliban.
The buried lede: "Housing Afghan evacuees in USFK bases unlikely"
Korea likely to allow Afghans here to overstay visas
Justice Minister Park Beom-kye visits the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in central Seoul, Aug. 19. Yonhap
Housing Afghan evacuees in USFK bases unlikely
By Nam Hyun-woo
The Korean government is expected to grant special stay permits to Afghans sojourning here, as part of a humanitarian move for those whose safety could be threatened if they return to their Taliban-controlled homeland.
Justice Minister Park Beom-kye said Tuesday that the ministry is considering allowing them to overstay their visas, as it did for people from Myanmar here after a military coup took place in their country in February.
"At the time of the Myanmar coup, we applied some rules about granting them special stay permits, and I believe we can adopt the same rules for Afghans this time," Park told reporters.
In March, the government granted special stay permits to approximately 25,000 Myanmar nationals in Korea. At the time, the government granted temporary stay permits to those whose visas were about to expire, and decided not to forcibly deport those who could not acquire the permit for various reasons, and instead encourage them to leave voluntarily after the situation in their home country improves.
According to the ministry, there are already 417 Afghans residing in Korea as of July, and 120 of them will see their period of stay expiring this year. Most of them are here for the purpose of diplomacy, study or other training.
While the government is leaning toward allowing Afghan residents already in Korea to overstay their existing visas, a U.S.-suggested plan of housing Afghan evacuees in U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) bases here appears to have been scrapped.
"As of now, Korea is not included in a number of countries where Afghan evacuees will be housed," a Cheong Wa Dae official said. "The government has reviewed transferring Afghans who helped the Korean government with activities in Afghanistan into Korea, but it is not proceeding with discussions on housing other Afghan evacuees in USFK bases."
Reuters also reported later in the day that the U.S. has decided against the idea of using its largest overseas military bases in South Korea and Japan to house Afghan refugees temporarily, citing unidentified sources.
On Monday, the government confirmed that it had "a rudimentary discussion" with the U.S. on the possibility of accepting Afghan evacuees here, but added that the discussion did not move forward.
Regarding the plan, some members of the Korean public expressed concerns over COVID-19 infections, the possibility of radical Islamists among the evacuees and costs incurred from operating refugee camps. Heavyweight politicians of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea also showed caution, saying the government must be prudent in making such decisions.
5. North Korean paper calls for Japan to make reparations for colonial-era brutality
The regime must keep the Korean people in the north focused on external enemies.
North Korean paper calls for Japan to make reparations for colonial-era brutality
In this 2007 November file photo, Gil Won-ok from the North Korean capital Pyongyang cries during a hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels as she recalls her time as a 'comfort woman,' or sex slave for the Japanese military, around World War II. The woman, who demanded an official apology from Japan's government, said she was forced at age 13 to work as a sex slave for Japanese soldiers. Reuters-Yonhap
North Korea's main newspaper on Tuesday urged Japan to repent and make reparations for colonial-era brutality on the occasion of the 111th anniversary of Tokyo's annexation of the Korean Peninsula.
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling party, pointed out that Japan forced Korea to sign the treaty in 1910, and called it a fabricated and illegitimate treaty.
The paper challenged Japanese assertion that the annexation took effect legally with the approval of King Sunjong. The treaty was signed on Aug. 22, 1910, between pro-Japan Korean Prime Minister Lee Wan-yong and Japanese Governor General of Korea Terauchi Masatake.
"We must make Japan pay the price of all the pain and misery it has inflicted on our people in the past," a researcher said in the article.
Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, also carried a commentary slamming Japan for indicating that South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo are Japanese territory on a map in Tokyo's recent defense white paper for children.
The website called such a move Japan's efforts to brainwash their children with militarist ideas and instill vengeance in their hearts to invade Korea. (Yonhap)
6. Washington and Seoul Seek to Diversify the South Korea-US Alliance Through Cyber
Good news. However, I think the author has not noticed the increasing focus on global alliance initiatives beyond the security relationship on the peninsula in the past years and decade plus. There has been a lot of ROK/US global cooperation (e.g., Iraq, Afghanistan, anti-piracy in the Horn of Africa and much more in the areas of development and other activities).
Washington and Seoul Seek to Diversify the South Korea-US Alliance Through Cyber
There’s more to bilateral cyber cooperation than keeping tabs on North Korean hackers.
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While addressing the North Korean nuclear threat will remain a major focus of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, the addition of cybersecurity-specific language in the 2021 Biden-Moon summit suggests new collaborative measures between Washington and Seoul to diversify the alliance beyond its traditional role of deterring a second Korean War. Notably, the White House fact sheet outlining key commitments of the summit mentioned the word “cyber” a total of nine times and “nuclear” only five. But what exactly would enhancing joint cybersecurity efforts look like?
Any collaboration on cybersecurity will definitely involve mitigating the North Korean cyber threat, as Pyongyang seeks to evade U.S. economic sanctions through cyber-enabled financial crime such as distributing ransomware and hacking cryptocurrency exchanges. However, the Biden-Moon summit signaled that Pyongyang will not continue to dominate all political aspects of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
For example, the fact sheet described establishing a Cyber-Exploitation Working Group dedicated to “ending the abuse of women online and offline” in the United States and South Korea. This builds upon preexisting efforts to expand joint cybersecurity initiatives beyond responding to North Korean cyberattacks to combat the financing of online sexual exploitation. In 2018, U.S. and South Korean law enforcement agencies successfully seized the infamous Welcome to Video darknet website, which sold hundreds of thousands of sexually exploitative videos involving children and minors from across the globe. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) first detected suspicious Bitcoin transactions in 2017, which led to an international investigation with South Korean counterparts to track the location of the darknet server and ultimately arrest its main operator, South Korean national Jong Woo Son, in 2019. While void of specific details, the White House fact sheet mentioned how Washington and Seoul aim to “learn from past cybercrime events,” which suggests that the Welcome to Video case may serve as a model for future South Korea-U.S. collaboration on cybersecurity.
The inclusion of enhanced cybersecurity efforts within the alliance comes at a crucial time as the yearly revenue for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) continues to rise. A Chainalysis study reported that roughly $930,000 worth of cryptocurrency transactions were sent to addresses associated with CSAM providers in 2019.
The proposed South Korea-U.S. cyber working group will likely seek to enhance cooperation between the two countries’ law enforcement and national security agencies through greater capacity building and information sharing. The Korean National Policy Agency, in particular, will likely play a major role in collaborating with U.S. counterparts as it has demonstrated a vested interest in combating cyber-enabled financial crime through its involvement in the Welcome to Video case and previous commitments to financially support INTERPOL’s global law enforcement efforts against online child exploitation.
While seemingly rudimentary, establishing official and specific channels to notify and train relevant international counterparts regarding suspicious online transactions, addresses, and potential obfuscation techniques, is crucial in limiting the growth and reach of cyber-enabled transnational crime like online sexual exploitation. For the entirety of the almost 70 year-long South Korea-U.S. alliance, the North Korean security threat has dominated diplomatic discourse between Washington and Seoul. But perhaps the proposed cyber working group could provide a way for the alliance to grow outside of Pyongyang’s grasp while still keeping a watchful eye on its hackers.
7. North Korea is yet to begin covid vaccinations as delays hamper U.N.-backed rollout
Does north Korea even want to accept the vaccines?
Excerpts:
Efforts to provide vaccines to North Korea have reached a bottleneck in recent months. Pyongyang requested vaccine access from Gavi in December, but no doses have been shipped.
It is unclear whether the nation of 25 million will accept the latest offer, said Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the World Health Organization’s representative to North Korea, in a statement. The new allocation was first reported by NK News and Radio Free Asia.
North Korea has completed some of the required steps for accepting the deliveries, such as developing a national vaccine deployment program, Salvador said. But technical issues still need to be resolved, such as ensuring proper storage and delivery systems are in place and negotiating whether North Korea is willing to indemnify the vaccine manufacturer against unexpected side effects, Salvador said.
North Korea is yet to begin covid vaccinations as delays hamper U.N.-backed rollout
The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Min Joo Kim Today at 3:14 a.m. EDT · August 24, 2021
TOKYO — The United Nations-backed global vaccination effort is offering additional doses of coronavirus vaccines to North Korea, one of few countries yet to start inoculating residents after a delay in a distribution program slated to begin this summer.
The Gavi Alliance, the part of the Covax initiative that aims to deliver vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people, said last week that it has allocated nearly 3 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac. The announcement came after plans to deliver nearly 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine were scrapped, amid North Korea’s apparent concerns about potential side effects and a supply shortage at an India-based distributor.
Efforts to provide vaccines to North Korea have reached a bottleneck in recent months. Pyongyang requested vaccine access from Gavi in December, but no doses have been shipped.
It is unclear whether the nation of 25 million will accept the latest offer, said Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the World Health Organization’s representative to North Korea, in a statement. The new allocation was first reported by NK News and Radio Free Asia.
North Korea has completed some of the required steps for accepting the deliveries, such as developing a national vaccine deployment program, Salvador said. But technical issues still need to be resolved, such as ensuring proper storage and delivery systems are in place and negotiating whether North Korea is willing to indemnify the vaccine manufacturer against unexpected side effects, Salvador said.
North Korea claims it has no coronavirus cases, but it has nonetheless taken harsh measures to restrict outside contact.
The country has sealed its borders to trade and visitors, and has suspended most cargo shipments by land from its major trading partner, China.
Most diplomats have left the country because of covid restrictions, and most aid groups are no longer on the ground. Even UNICEF, which is providing technical support to coordinate vaccine distribution, does not have international staff operating in the country.
The last shipment of non-coronavirus vaccines to North Korea was in the second quarter of 2020, according to UNICEF, meaning the country now faces a lag in its routine vaccination program.
Accepting vaccine shipments would signal a significant step toward reopening and a shift in its overall covid-19 strategy, experts say.
“In order to receive vaccines from outside, North Korea will have to accept aid workers into the country but this could be a sensitive issue for the secretive country,” said Lee Sang-keun, researcher at Seoul’s Institute for National Security Strategy, which is affiliated with South Korea’s intelligence agency.
Lee said North Korea rejected AstraZeneca vaccines because of concerns over rare side effects. He added that the Chinese and Russian vaccines are now on North Korea’s radar, and that the regime has expressed interest in accepting vaccines from Moscow if the Russians would provide the doses at no charge.
There are no signs that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been vaccinated, South Korean opposition lawmaker Ha Tae-keung told reporters in early July, after a briefing by intelligence officials.
Meanwhile, South Korea is looking into helping with vaccine distribution. South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Cha Deok-cheol said in a briefing last week that “direct cooperation between South and North as well as global cooperation are both possible options.”
North Korea has shown it has capacity to take on national vaccination programs — including a 2007 measles vaccine campaign during which an average of 3.3 million people were inoculated per day, according to a report published this month in 38 North, a research program of the think tank Stimson Center.
The country has also demonstrated it can effectively seal its borders to stamp out infectious diseases through strict quarantine measures, said Kee Park, global health expert at Harvard Medical School who has worked on health care projects in North Korea and co-authored the 38 North report.
“In some ways, their strategy is, ‘Look, we can keep our shutdown as long as we need to,’ and it’s working,” Park said. “From North Korea side, they’re thinking, ‘Do we really want these vaccines?’ There’s that vaccine hesitancy. They’re not desperate saying, ‘We want vaccines right now.’”
While the country is probably not in a rush to accept vaccines that are still being developed, Park said he hopes North Korea would recognize the long-term benefits of inoculation, especially given the economic pressures it faces.
North Korean state media have warned of a lengthy battle with coronavirus and warned that vaccines are “never a universal panacea.”
North Korea has praised other countries’ efforts to develop vaccines, and has criticized the “national egoism” of countries that officials said were contributing to a global shortage of doses.
The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Min Joo Kim Today at 3:14 a.m. EDT · August 24, 2021
8. FM Chung meets new USFK commander, discusses alliance, peninsula issues
Koreans should always keep in mind that this is the solemn responsibility of the Commander of the ROK/US Combined forces Command:
LaCamera said in turn that he would work to actively support the alliance by fulfilling his obligation to maintain the allies' robust combined defense posture, according to the ministry.
Every action the General takes should be judged from this perspective and Koreans must understand that as the commander of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command and the United National Command he is absolutely committed to deterrence of war and defense of the ROK. As the Commander of USFK he will ensure US interests are represented. But all Koreans should consider and embrace General LaCamera as their commander of the ROK/US Combined Forces just as all Americans must embrace the Korean General who eventually assumes command of the ROK/US CFC as their commander.
FM Chung meets new USFK commander, discusses alliance, peninsula issues | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong met with new U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander Gen. Paul LaCamera on Tuesday to discuss the two countries' alliance and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, his office said.
Chung congratulated LaCamera on his inauguration last month and asked him to contribute to the development of the alliance, which the minister called the linchpin of stability and prosperity in the region, the foreign ministry said.
LaCamera said in turn that he would work to actively support the alliance by fulfilling his obligation to maintain the allies' robust combined defense posture, according to the ministry.
LaCamera took office in July to lead the USFK, as well as the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Korea and the United Nations Command.
(END)
9. British aircraft carrier calls off planned port call at S. Korean port due to pandemic
Probably the right decision because of COVID but a missed IO opportunity for international support to freedom in South Korea and deterrence of the threat from the north.
AAnd a lot of business people are disappointed in Pusan.
British aircraft carrier calls off planned port call at S. Korean port due to pandemic | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- The British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its strike group will not make a planned port call at a port in South Korea's southern city of Busan due to the pandemic, sources said Tuesday.
The aircraft carrier had planned the port call later this month, during which they were to hold various joint events for friendship and exchanges, and stage combined exercises. Ahead of its arrival, the HMS Artful submarine firstly docked at the port of the Naval Operations Command in Busan earlier this month.
"We've decided to cancel the port call given the coronavirus situation. Exchanges and other in-person events between the sailors will not take place. But some combined field maneuvers are likely to be staged as planned," a military source said.
South Korea has experienced the fourth wave of COVID-19 since July, and Britain reported nearly 100 COVID-19 confirmed cases among around 3,700 sailors aboard the strike group vessels recently, though all of the crew members have been vaccinated.
The 64,000-ton Queen Elizabeth and the strike group embarked on a seven-month world tour in May. The fleet had conducted joint exercises with India and Singapore, and made a port call in Guam. After visiting Busan, it plans to travel to Japan, the officials said.
The aircraft carrier is escorted by several British navy vessels, as well as a Dutch frigate and the U.S.' guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans.
North Korea slammed the carrier group's deployment as a provocation that would escalate tensions in the Asia-Pacific.
(END)
10. Scenes of North Korea Captured by Super Telephoto Lens (2) People Trapped in a "Cage"
Here is my twitter exchange with Chad O'Carroll on these photos. But on a serious note these photos illustrate the hard life Koreans in the north live.
Chad O'Carroll
@chadocl
6h
Some close-up photos courtesy of Rimjingang of the DPRK-PRC border.
Interesting to see the empty glass bottles affixed to some of these fences, which could make noise if someone tries to climb over:
David Maxwell
@DavidMaxwell161
Replying to
@chadocl
and
@jeongminnkim
That is an old low tech early warning security technique used around the world. Another technique is broken glass glued to the tops of the wall. Also things like trip wires attached to tin cans with small stones as noise makers and many other low tech security measures.
＜Latest Photo Report＞ Scenes of North Korea Captured by Super Telephoto Lens (2) People Trapped in a "Cage" [ISHIMARU Jiro]
(Photo 1) A crude checkpoint along the Yalu River, the border river. It is in a "cage" (ASIAPRESS).
North Korea continues to stubbornly maintain its “national isolation” in response to the coronavirus. So, what is going on inside the country? My reporting partner in China took pictures of the border region with a super-telephoto lens. In this second report, we will take a look at Sakju County in North Pyongan Province. All photos except for a few were taken in mid-July 2021.
It has been a year and seven months since the Kim Jong-un regime focused on stopping the influx of the coronavirus by closing the border with China, almost wholly halted the flow of people and goods in and out of the country.
It is not only the " spot" of the trade gateway that is closed. The borderline between China and the DPRK is the Yalu and Tumen Rivers, a distance of 1,400 kilometres that is equivalent to the distance between Osaka and Naha. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Kim Jong-un regime has invested enormous military forces in this long "line" to create a buffer zone that does not allow people to approach.
(Photo 2) A woman walks inside the barbed wire along the Yalu River.
(Photo 3) Military soldiers and checkpoints moving in a dump truck along the border road.
(Photo 4) Where the barbed wire was not yet complete, fences were made with tree branches, and empty bottles (red circles) were hung to make noise when people touched them.
Map of North Korea (produced by ASIAPRESS)
Since 2010, the North Korean authorities have been installing barbed wire nets along the border rivers. This is aimed at preventing people from escaping and smuggling into China. However, the river is an essential source of domestic water for the residents, who use it for bathing, washing and drinking. Fishing and water transportation also flourished in the lower reaches of the Yalu River.
Last year, the Kim Jong-un regime imposed a total ban on residents' access to the Yalu and Tumen rivers. Kim Jong-un issued the order directly, saying that the virus could enter the country through smugglers, cross-border people, and floating debris that drifted ashore. As a result, the number of residents using the river has completely disappeared.
(Photo 5) Photo taken in September 2019. Women washing clothes in the Yalu River. Many people used to bathe in the water during the summer, but now there are no such sightings at all. Photographed by Jiro Ishimaru from the Chinese side.
(Photo 6) Border guards in camouflage uniforms are repairing roof tiles. Mobilized people are working to install barbed wire below.
(Photo 7) Close-up of the roofing work by the border guards mentioned above.
Last August, the government proclaimed the name of the Ministry of Social Security (police), deciding that anyone approaching the buffer zone without permission would be punished under military law and shot without warning.
Now, the installation of new barbed wire along the Yalu and Tumen Rivers is steadily underway, mobilizing troops and residents. The writer believes that the aim is to completely blockade the 1,400-kilometer border at all times on the pretext of preventing coronas.
Excessive coronavirus countermeasures have severely depleted the domestic economy, and some of the impoverished urban residents are even starving to death. So, it is no wonder that several people are trying to cross the border into China, as they did in the late 1990s and the last decade. In addition, there must be a purpose of blocking the route for those who have defected to South Korea to illegally send money to their families in North Korea and preventing the inflow of "impure information" such as South Korean dramas and songs.
The border with China was North Korea's only window for people, goods, and information from the outside world to come and go. However, the Kim Jong-un regime intends to completely shut it down in the name of referring to coronavirus as an unnatural disaster.
They are building “cages” to confine the residents by mobilizing the residents and the military.
(Photo 8) Construction of the Yalu River embankment. It appears that people were mobilized from workplaces and local women's organizations to prevent flooding.
(Photo 9) They are repairing and strengthening the embankment by piling up large stones brought in by rear car. The work seems to be done entirely by hand. Anyone who crosses the barbed wire, even for work, needs an entry/exit pass (red circle).
◆Are agricultural production in a slump?
The photographer's super-telephoto camera also captured images of people working in the fields. They seemed to be weeding. However, a young woman was dressed casually and did not look like a member of a cooperative farm.
(Photo 10) Barbed wire neatly strung along the Yalu River. The residents are trapped in a "cage," and it is no longer possible to cross the border into China.
(Photo 11) The two women in their casual clothes were not farm workers, but probably local residents. They were weeding in a small field on a slope.
(Photo 12) A group of three people weeding between planted saplings. They seemed to be neighbours, not farmers. At the bottom of the slope is the Yalu River, and there are lights installed to watch for approaching objects (red circles).
(Photo 13) A close-up of the group of three in the photo above. They are probably planting soybeans. The harvest from the private hidden fields helps the residents to make a living.
(Photo 14) This photo shows cooperative farm workers weeding.
I asked a defector from Jagang Province to look at a series of photos. Jagang Province is a region with a similar latitude and climate to North Pyongan Province, where the images were taken.
"The people in photos 11 and 13 don't look like farmworkers to me. I think they are residents weeding their fields in the mountains. However, the three men in photo 14 are probably farmworkers. The way they are dressed, sunburned, and wearing insect repellent makes them look that way.
In May last year, the Kim Jong-un regime ordered a strict crackdown on the private "hidden fields" in the mountains, known as "small lands," and either collected them as farm fields or designated them as no-till land for planting. Is there still room for individuals to cultivate "small lands" today?
"In photo 12, you can see what looks like a knee-height sapling planted in the area where they are weeding. Perhaps someone is planting soybeans in the gap and weeding for maintenance. You can also see a land where nothing has been produced. I think this is small land that was collected and left without being planted.
(Photo 15) A woman walks along the side of a field with a large backpack on her back. According to a defector who saw the photo, the ears of corn are not growing well.
(Photo 16) Three men squatting outside the “cage.” Are they mobilized for dike construction?
The defector who saw the photos explained this, but he was more concerned about the condition of the cornfield.
"First of all, for mid-July, the growth looks pretty bad. The ears should be swollen to some extent at this time of year, but they are very small or not visible at all. Also, there is a big difference in the height of the corn depending on the field. Fields that are sown in April and then fertilized and weeded out frequently grow well. This is probably because individuals manage the fields and the farm's fields are an afterthought.
The northern region of North Pyongan Province, where the photo was taken, is an area where there were no reports of sunshine or heavy rain until mid-August. If the growth of corn, a staple food there, is not good, North Korea's agricultural production this year will probably decline considerably. The defector who explained the photos made this prediction. (end)
11. North Korea aired a cartoon warning against obesity and overeating amid a national food shortage
You do have to wonder about how the Koreans in the north will view this. It certainly seems foolish from our perspective. I will ask some of my escape friends what they think of it. And of course the question is could we exploit this from an IO perspective?
North Korea aired a cartoon warning against obesity and overeating amid a national food shortage
- North Korea TV aired a cartoon addressing obesity as the country runs out of food.
- In the cartoon, a character tells her chubbier friend she should walk home instead of taking the bus.
- Meanwhile, Kim Jong Un has reportedly lost dozens of pounds over the last several months.
10 Things in Politics: The latest in politics & the economy
The pair then go to the first girl's house, and the slimmer girl practices acrobatics while her friend snacks and dozes off on a couch. NKNews senior analytic correspondent Colin Zwirko tweeted that the North Korean regime could also be using the cartoon to indicate prosperity in the nation.
—Colin Zwirko (@ColinZwirko) August 22, 2021
This is not the first time cartoons have been employed by the country to direct its citizens. A long-running series called "Squirrel and Hedgehog," aired from the 1970s to 2010s, featured animal characters geared up in military equipment to defend their homeland from invaders. It is widely considered to be military propaganda.
Experts regularly scrutinize North Korean state television, politburo events, and dictator Kim Jong Un himself to gather clues about the secretive regime.
The cartoon coincides with Kim's noticeable weight change. Kim is believed to have lost a substantial amount of weight over the last two months, and state media reported that Pyongyang residents were "heartbroken" over his "emaciated" state. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimated that the typically robust Kim lost over 40 pounds in July, and recent photos of him seem to show that he's slimmed down even more.
—NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) August 22, 2021
12. What Does the Afghanistan Disaster Mean for the U.S.-ROK Alliance? Nothing.
The subtle message of Mr. Bandow about taking their own defense into their hands is actually support of KimJong-un's objective to split the alliance. Both Kim Jong-un and Mr. Bandow share the same intent - to remove US troops from Korea but of course for very different reasons.
Despite being a former government official, I do not think Mr. Bandown understands how strong the ROK military is and how South Korea has been steadily developing advanced independent warfighting techniques capabilities.
But I would like Mr. Bandow to answer my two fundamental questions about the nature, objectives, and strategy of north Korea:
1. Do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime?
2. In support of that strategy do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the objective to split the ROK/US Alliance and get US forces off the peninsula? Has KJU given up his divide to conquer strategy - divide the alliance to conquer the ROK?
The answers to these questions should guide us to the strategy to solve the "Korea question" (para 60 of the Armistice) and lead to the only acceptable durable political arrangement: A secure, stable, economically vibrant, non-nuclear Korean peninsula unified under a liberal constitutional form of government with respect for individual liberty, the rule of law, and human rights, determined by the Korean people. In short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK)
The root of all problems in Korea is the existence of the most evil mafia- like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime that has the objective of dominating the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.
What Does the Afghanistan Disaster Mean for the U.S.-ROK Alliance? Nothing.
The discomfort Washington’s nominal allies feel upon viewing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is to America's advantage. It should encourage them to take their defense into their own hands.
European leaders were left whining loudly about the possibility that Washington might drop them, perhaps imagining being airlifted out of their respective capitals just ahead of the advancing Russian hordes. The obvious response—do more for yourselves!—apparently never crossed their minds.
Some of the same fears appear to have infected South Korean leaders. For instance, conservative presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo called the U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) alliance “faltering” and insisted that the relationship “should be strengthened as a major pillar of our diplomatic security,” a standard mantra during good times and bad.
The opposition party’s legislative spokesman, Kang Min-kuk, issued a similar warning: “Unless its partner has strong defense capabilities and strong will for self-reliance, the United States could leave the partner to pursue its own national interests. The Moon Jae-in government and the military should do their best to strengthen the Republic of Korea-U.S. alliance and maintain a strong military, using the Afghan situation as a turning point.”
Song Young-gil, leader of the governing party, came to a similar conclusion: “We have to take the Afghanistan crisis as a chance to strengthen self-defense capability through” transfer of operational control of the South Korean military to Seoul. He advocated a more effective ROK force: “we also need to have the attitude to foster cooperative self-defense, that we defend our country ourselves, which is why we have to take over wartime OPCON transfer as soon as possible.”
President Joe Biden sought to dampen such speculation, affirming America’s membership in its historic Asian and European alliances. However, that did not satisfy the usual suspects in the infamous policy "blob." Washington, D.C., was awash in establishment thinkers—in government, think tanks, and media organizations—worrying about lost “credibility” and insisting that the administration do something to reassure all of America’s defense welfare clients that the U.S. will always, forever, defend them, irrespective of the circumstances and America’s interests.
However, the apparent discomfort being felt by Washington’s nominal allies is to its advantage. Today prosperous and populous nations around the world play Uncle Sam as a fool, acting as if their defense is more important to the United States than to them. However, one of the advantages of being a superpower is that while it has interests almost everywhere, very few of them are important, let alone vital.
Afghanistan is about as far from the United States as anywhere on earth. The former is surrounded by China, Russia, Iran, India, and Pakistan, among others. America and its allies are far better off out than in when it comes to Afghanistan. And, frankly, Washington would be better off without many of its other allies, which should be defending themselves instead of leeching off the United States.
A second-best of sorts is having allies nervous and determined to do more if they are not certain that America will always be there to do their job for them. Contra the experience of the Afghan government, which melted away, both Kang and Song emphasized the importance of Seoul doing more and creating an effective defense. That is good for the United States even if Washington still is involved.
Afghanistan’s collapse also appears to have spurred support for South Korean access to—if not necessarily development of—nuclear weapons. North Korean defector turned South Korean legislator Thae Yong-ho, echoed the nineteenth-century British statesman Viscount Palmerston: “The lesson for us from the Afghan crisis is that there are no permanent enemies or permanent allies in this world. There is only national interest.” Thae’s solution? Absent North Korean denuclearization, the ROK “should present a strategic timetable to the United States and China and announce that we will inevitably pursue nuclear development.”
This might sound radical, but it, too, would be to Washington’s advantage. Thae’s threat, if adopted by the government, would demonstrate to the North that developing nuclear weapons is not cost-free. Rather, Pyongyang might find itself facing South Korean nukes. This would also be an unpleasant development for China, which would have a greater incentive to press the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to make a deal. Certainly, the United States would be better off if it was not holding its own cities hostage in an attempt to protect other nations.
Allied complaints about America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan are risible. Washington has a right, indeed, an obligation to put its own people’s interests first. The United States should have left nineteen years ago. Moreover, most of those so worried about remaining on Washington’s generous defense dole do so because they prefer to have a rich cousin pick up the tab, not because they are helpless.
In any case, Asian and European nations are more important to America than is Afghanistan and they have far more lobbyists and quasi-lobbyists in Washington, D.C. The latter include legions of think-tankers and columnists who chant in unison that virtually every bilateral relationship with the United States is more vital than ever before. So, the likelihood of Washington’s withdrawal from these other one-way military commitments remains very small.
Allied shock over Biden’s Afghanistan pull-out is not serious. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that American policymakers are considering force withdrawals elsewhere, irrespective of how strong the justifications for doing so. However, the most likely allied response, to do more on their own behalf, is quite positive.
It shouldn’t take a geopolitical disaster halfway around the world to get the ROK to better protect itself. But if that is what is necessary, then so be it.
Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of several books, including Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World and co-author of The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relations with North and South Korea.
Image: Reuters.
13. Korean Americans Await Biden's Decision On North Korea Travel Ban
In theory I am all for maximum people to people engagement. But tourism violates sanctions and provides funds directly to Kim Jong-un's royal court economy.
But as importantly, North Korea is not a responsible member of the international community and as Anthony Ruggiero says below, do we want to provide Kim with the opportunity to continue to kidnap American citizens who are participating in "adventure tourism?"
I fully support waivers for Americans who are working as part of NGOs doing important aid work but I remain opposed to tourism because it puts Americans at too great a risk.
Korean Americans Await Biden's Decision On North Korea Travel Ban
NPR · by Anthony Kuhn · August 22, 2021
The Biden administration must decide by month's end whether to keep or scrap a 2017 ban on travel to North Korea. The ban prevents Korean Americans who have families in the North from visiting them.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Biden administration must decide by the end of the month whether to renew a 4-year-old ban on Americans traveling to North Korea. Many Americans with relatives in North Korea are eagerly awaiting the decision. NPR's Anthony Kuhn has more from Seoul.
ANTHONY KUHN: The division of Korea into two states in 1945 and the Korean War resulted in as many as 10 million Koreans being separated from their families. That includes an estimated 100,000 Korean Americans, although that number has dwindled as they age. Kate Shim is one of them. Her uncle disappeared following the Korean War and was believed to be in North Korea. Her great-grandmother gave her father some instructions.
KATE SHIM: She told him that - you need to find your father because I know he's alive.
KUHN BYLINE: While studying in China in the 1980s, Shim's brother went to North Korea and tracked down the missing uncle, eventually reuniting him with his mother after 37 years apart. Shim, who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, has traveled to the north to meet her family.
SHIM: They were alive. And I was so happy to see my cousins. We didn't care about what kind of government we are under, right? We just happy to see them.
KUHN BYLINE: Another one of the lucky ones is Choon Lim. He was born in Nampo, North Korea. He fled to the South during the war and later settled in Chicago. He returned to North Korea in 1998 hoping to find his father but found out that he had passed away six years before. When it came time for Lim to pour an offering of liquor before his father's ashes, he froze for an instant, which felt like an eternity.
CHOON LIM: All those 47 years, what I have experienced - all those things came down through my head. So I collapsed. I couldn't do it.
KUHN BYLINE: Lim later returned to North Korea several times with other Korean American families.
LIM: I worked for - helping separated family members because I want every one of the separated family - should have same kind of a closure that I had.
KUHN BYLINE: But Lim and other Korean Americans are currently locked out by a travel ban enacted in 2017 by the Trump administration. It was in response to the death of Otto Warmbier, a Cincinnati college student arrested on a visit to North Korea for stealing a propaganda poster. He was returned to the U.S. in a coma and died six days later.
ANTHONY RUGGIERO: At this moment, there's no reason to get rid of the travel ban.
KUHN BYLINE: Anthony Ruggiero is a former National Security Council director for North Korea, now at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C. He points out that North Korea has a history of detaining Americans, sometimes requiring former presidents, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, to travel to North Korea to bring them home. As for the ban, Ruggiero says...
RUGGIERO: When that would be lifted is when North Korea is more of a normal country that doesn't kidnap people.
KUHN BYLINE: He adds that the U.S. can grant exceptions to the ban, such as for family reunions, humanitarian aid groups and journalists. But he says allowing people-to-people exchanges won't do much to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapon and missile programs. Others, though, argue that it could be a start. Daniel Jasper coordinates Asia advocacy at the American Friends Service Committee, a Philadelphia-based peace advocacy group.
DANIEL JASPER: The U.S. is saying we want the North Koreans to come to the table. In order to do that, we have to get back to baseline level of engagement.
KUHN BYLINE: Even if the travel ban is scrapped, for now, North Korea remains closed because of the pandemic. That's not good news for Korean Americans, many of whom were separated from their families in the North more than 70 years ago. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
NPR · by Anthony Kuhn · August 22, 2021
14. U.S. Scraps Plan to Use S.Korea, Japan Bases for Afghan Refugees -Sources
Reporting on this seems to be all over the map.
U.S. Scraps Plan to Use S.Korea, Japan Bases for Afghan Refugees -Sources
By U.S. News & World Report2 min
U.S. service members provide assistance during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, August 22, 2021. Picture taken August 22, 2021. U.S. Marine Corps/Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/Handout via REUTERSReuters
By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States has decided against the idea of using its largest overseas military bases in South Korea and Japan to temporarily house Afghan refugees, two sources with close knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
U.S. officials "appeared to have figured out better sites and decided to remove both countries from the list because of logistics and geography among other reasons", one of the sources said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The South Korean government had responded positively when the United States first floated the idea, the source added.
The U.S. State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
South Korea was also working with the United States to evacuate some 400 Afghans who had worked with South Korean troops and relief workers and bring them to Seoul, the sources said.
Three military planes were sent to Afghanistan and neighbouring countries to carry out a mission to airlift the Afghan workers out, the foreign ministry told Reuters.
Most of the Afghans are medical personnel, engineers, translators and others who had aided South Korean troops stationed there between 2001 and 2014, or took part in a reconstruction mission from 2010-14 involving medical and vocational training.
"Despite some domestic resistance towards accepting refugees, these people helped us and it has to be done given the humanitarian concerns and the trust of the international community," said one of the sources.
Plans to bring them to Seoul were fraught with uncertainty due to the volatile situation in Kabul, where thousands of people are thronging the airport, desperate to flee following the Taliban's takeover of the Afghan capital on Aug. 15.
The United States and its allies are racing to complete the evacuation of all foreigners and vulnerable Afghans before the expiry of an Aug.31 deadline agreed with Taliban.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie)
Copyright 2021 Thomson Reuters.
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15. Seoul: Russian senior diplomat discussed prospects for resuming dialogue with North Korea
From the Russian news Agency TASS.
Excerpts:
A day earlier, the senior Russian diplomat met with US Special Envoy to North Korea Sung Kim to discuss the prospects of settling the situation around the Korean peninsula.
The Russian envoy also met with South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong and Deputy Foreign Minister Yeo Seung-bae to discuss the schedule of political bilateral contacts between the two countries as well as the implementation of the program of the events for the year of mutual exchanges marking the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations of Moscow and Seoul.
Seoul: Russian senior diplomat discussed prospects for resuming dialogue with North Korea
SEOUL, August 24. /TASS/. Moscow intends to play a constructive part in the peace process on the Korean peninsula, the South Korean Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday following consultation in Seoul between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk.
"The Russian side confirmed its readiness to play a constructive role for a peaceful resolution to the problems of the Korean peninsula," the ministry’s statement said.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the Russian senior diplomat "concurred on the need for an early resumption of negotiations on the nuclear issue involving the countries concerned, along with dialogue between North Korea and the US, and between Seoul and Pyongyang, pointing out the necessity to maintain stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region in general."
The South Korean diplomat hoped that Russia would continue to play a constructive role in ensuring stability and would support the efforts directed at the resumption of talks with North Korea and on intra-Korean cooperation.
A day earlier, the senior Russian diplomat met with US Special Envoy to North Korea Sung Kim to discuss the prospects of settling the situation around the Korean peninsula.
The Russian envoy also met with South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong and Deputy Foreign Minister Yeo Seung-bae to discuss the schedule of political bilateral contacts between the two countries as well as the implementation of the program of the events for the year of mutual exchanges marking the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations of Moscow and Seoul.
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
