Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners

Quotes of the Day:

 “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”
 - Benjamin Franklin

"The lowest form of popular culture—lack of information, misinformation, disinformation, and a contempt for the truth or the reality of most people's lives—has overrun real journalism. Today, ordinary Americans are being stuffed with garbage."
- Carl Bernstein 


"And that's probably one of my biggest gripes with the Internet, that it settles for mediocrity and disinformation, which puts all information on the same level. Everything has the same value, whether it's Albert Einstein speaking, or yoohoo27@msn.com."
- Harlan Ellison 


1.  A Policy of Public Diplomacy with North Korea: A Principled and Pragmatic Approach to Promote Human Rights and Pursue Denuclearization
2. U.S. will not accept nuclear N. Korea despite N. Korean ambitions: U.S. official
3.  Any decision on U.S.-S. Korea joint military drill will be result of coordination: Pentagon
4.  Spy agency chief proposes postponement of ROK-U.S. military drills
5. INDISPENSABLE: U.S. Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea
6. Police detain three for carrying out orders from North
7. Buyers Reject North Korean Banknotes Featuring Kim Il Sung Sold as Souvenirs in China
8. Top U.S. intel analyst sees North Korea clinging to its nukes
9. Moon orders 'prudent consultations' with U.S. on planned defense drills
10. North Korea's Storm Corps ordered to "prepare for guerilla warfare"
11. Moon to Get More Bodyguards Than His Predecessors
12. North Korea's Ministry of Social Security receives training from China's Ministry of Public Security
13. DP chief says reopening Kaesong complex will help build trust among 2 Koreas, U.S.
14. N.K. officials attend Russian Embassy's exhibition, resume in-person diplomacy
15. How about a McDonald's in Kaesong?
16. Joint drill with U.S. becomes object of tug of war
17. South Korea the Only Middle Power Of Its Kind
18. North Korea criticizes British fleet of warships ahead of port call in South
19. Kim Jong-un's fear about hallyu



1. A Policy of Public Diplomacy with North Korea: A Principled and Pragmatic Approach to Promote Human Rights and Pursue Denuclearization
Many of us participated in the US-NK Policy Working Group that supported this effort.


The EXSUM is below.

A Policy of Public Diplomacy with North Korea
Author: Jieun Baek | August 2021
A Principled and Pragmatic Approach to Promote Human Rights and Pursue Denuclearization
Acknowledgements
Between April and July of this year, our working group engaged in robust discussions with the singular goal of recommending a pragmatic, solutions-oriented policy on North Korea to the Biden administration. The recommendations in this report are derived from the collective and varied experiences and insights of the US-NK Policy Working Group. Our working group members—some of whom have analyzed and observed North Korea since 1979—include former U.S. Army and U.S. Navy officers with extensive experience in security affairs on the Korean peninsula, retired U.S. intelligence community analysts, academics, and human rights NGO leaders. Our birth places include the U.S., South Korea, North Korea, and Romania. Two of our members secretly listened to American and other foreign radio programs in Romania and North Korea before eventually settling in the United States. 
Firstly, I am deeply grateful to our working group members who voluntarily spent countless hours on this project: Guy Arrigoni, Markus Garlauskas, Hyun-Seung Lee, David Maxwell, John Park, Greg Scarlatoiu, Sue Mi Terry, and Skip Vincenzo. Furthermore, I am so grateful to everyone who reviewed iterations of this report and provided advice based on lived experiences in North Korea, and knowledge gained from working in various capacities in the U.S. government: Andrew Kim, Jim Kelman, Matt Armstrong, Will Tobey, Seongmin Lee, Choongkwon Park, and Paul Thomas. A special note of gratitude to the reviewers who prefer to remain anonymous. Thank you to Benjamin Fu, a student at Harvard College, for your enthusiastic support on this project.
Thank you to the Belfer Center and the Stanton Foundation for supporting my fellowship, which enabled me to pursue this project. Special thanks to Andrew Facini and the incredible communications team for shaping this report in a way that the readers could view more enjoyably. Lastly, thank you to Professor Graham Allison for supporting this endeavor from the beginning to end. 
It is the hope of this group that the proposed policies and ideas in this report will spark debate, garner support, and play a role in shaping more peaceful and secure relations between the governments and people of the United States, its allies, and North Korea.
—Jieun Baek, Convener and Author, US-NK Policy Working Group
 
Executive Summary
The North Korean nuclear threat remains one of the most persistent and complex foreign policy issues facing the United States today. The growing risk that the Kim regime’s nuclear and missile programs pose to the U.S. underscores the need to consider every tool of statecraft available to pursue the United States’ policy objectives on North Korea.
The Biden administration has emphasized the importance of alliances and core values of democracy in its foreign policy approach. Given this emphasis, public diplomacy—activities intended to understand, inform, and influence foreign audiences—should be considered an essential tool in achieving our long-term policy objectives in North Korea. Public diplomacy has the potential to spur domestic change in North Korea—change that could result in improved human rights conditions, leading to behavioral change in the Kim regime, and eventually denuclearization.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said, “[the US’] policy towards North Korea is not aimed at hostility. It’s aimed at solutions.”1 A solutions-oriented policy seeks long-term solutions. We believe that public diplomacy is the most effective means available for the United States to incrementally help foster conditions in the long term that could lead to the Kim regime becoming more accountable to its people and voluntarily pursuing denuclearization. These conditions are unlikely to occur without the transformation of relations between the regime and its people.
The overarching goal of a public diplomacy policy with North Korea should be to provide diverse and truthful content and messaging that helps to foster change from within that leads to a different and freer country. Public diplomacy could help to fundamentally transform the domestic environment of North Korea,2 which could in turn create conditions conducive to the U.S. advancing its long-term policy goal of denuclearization of North Korea. Public diplomacy would also bolster other policy instruments designed to shape the regime’s behavior, including diplomacy, sanctions, and UN resolutions.
Seeking to induce changes in the regime’s behavior is not a new strategy, with economic sanctions being the preferred tool. However, sanctions are only one avenue for promoting a change in behavior. Public diplomacy could significantly widen the bandwidth of pressure into an area the regime is most vulnerable to—internal pressure. The United States’ current public diplomacy efforts should be expanded to encourage North Koreans to broaden their perspectives and foster change.
What we are proposing is not a tall ask. The people, ideas, mechanisms, and theories of change to implement an effective public diplomacy policy all presently exist inside and outside of the USG. If the USG were to provide both resource support and the policy top cover that resource-constrained public diplomacy efforts need to operate, the return on investment to U.S. national security interests and policy objectives in North Korea would be tremendous.
This report proposes three recommendations for how the USG can adopt a public diplomacy policy with North Korea:
Recommendation 1: The White House affirm that public diplomacy is a critical tool in the long-term pursuit of U.S. foreign policy objectives in North Korea.
Recommendation 2: Identify and empower a lead to strengthen the direction, coordination, and accountability of U.S. public diplomacy efforts on North Korea.
Recommendation 3: Expand existing efforts to inform, understand, and empower North Koreans.

2. U.S. will not accept nuclear N. Korea despite N. Korean ambitions: U.S. official

Important point from the National Intelligence Officer:

Seiler argued the North will engage regardless of the exercise if it chooses to do so.

"When North Korea wants to pursue a diplomatic path, it can turn a blind eye to the exercises, maybe throw some rhetorical condemnations out, but then come right back to the table a week after the exercises are over," he said.

"When they don't want to talk, we're going to hear a lot about the exercise, but in no way should we assume the exercises are actually driving what North Korea has planned."

(LEAD) U.S. will not accept nuclear N. Korea despite N. Korean ambitions: U.S. official | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · August 4, 2021
(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks, more information in last 5 paras)
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- The United States will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea despite the latter's apparent ambition to become a nuclear state, a ranking U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday.
Sydney Seiler, national intelligence officer for North Korea at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, argued the North's true intention, at least for the time being, may be to be accepted as a nuclear state.
"We have made clear in all of our negotiations -- what it is we expect from the North ... and what benefits would accrue to the DPRK," he said in a webinar hosted by the Washington Times Foundation, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"But until now, the regime just has simply not wanted to take these exit ramps," he added.

Seiler said the North has had many opportunities to denuclearize in exchange for incentives that it is said to seek, such as improved relations with the United States, as well as a security guarantee.
Pyongyang, however, has "simply squandered away an opportunity to move forward with it, with the United States in a better relationship," he said, offering the 2019 summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi as an example.
"What February 2019, to me as an analyst, demonstrated was, once again, North Korea was unwilling to go down the credible path of denuclearization."
He insisted the North, instead, may be interested in actually possessing nuclear capabilities.
"When you look at this continued pattern of behavior, you come to a conclusion that at the end of the day, Pyongyang calculates, or at least the Kim regime calculates, its survival in no way is related to an improved relationship with the Republic of Korea, and is not even related to an improved relationship with the United States," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
The U.S. intelligence official argued the North understands that the South or the United States would never attack the North, and that what it fears the most is a threat from within.
"What we can never guarantee is that when information gets into North Korea and the North Korean people's desire for freedom, economic and political and better existence reaches a point where it boils to a challenge to the regime, there's no guarantee that can prevent that," he said.
"So what you see in North Korea is a capability that's designed to ensure the survival of the Kim regime. It's not necessarily good for the nation state but it's not meant to be. It's meant to pursue this -- to protect the system and protect the regime," added Seiler.

Still, the U.S. cannot and will not accept a nuclear North Korea for three reasons, he said.
"It is the abandonment of an ally with the Republic of Korea. It is a proclamation that we have given up on our global nonproliferation principles. It is a signal to other aspirants who are thinking -- 'Should we or shouldn't we?' -- that they can get away with it."
Seiler said his country continues to keep the door open to dialogue.
"We don't openly chase (North Korea) and there (are) good logical, negotiating tactical reasons why you don't, but we've always been open. And there's always been off-ramps. The lack of off-ramps for Kim Jong-un has never been an obstacle to forward progress," he said.
"Our problems with North Korea are not due to insufficient understanding or a lack of available knowledge on which to build a good policy."
North Korea recently showed signs of engagement, reopening direct communication lines with South Korea more than 13 months after it had unilaterally severed them.
Pyongyang, however, is calling on the U.S. and South Korea to call off their regular joint military exercise, set to begin later in the month, warning that the drills, if carried out, would cloud the future of inter-Korean relations.
Seiler argued the North will engage regardless of the exercise if it chooses to do so.
"When North Korea wants to pursue a diplomatic path, it can turn a blind eye to the exercises, maybe throw some rhetorical condemnations out, but then come right back to the table a week after the exercises are over," he said.
"When they don't want to talk, we're going to hear a lot about the exercise, but in no way should we assume the exercises are actually driving what North Korea has planned."
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · August 4, 2021


3.  Any decision on U.S.-S. Korea joint military drill will be result of coordination: Pentagon

As it must. The combined training cannot take place without agreement from both allies.

Any decision on U.S.-S. Korea joint military drill will be result of coordination: Pentagon | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · August 4, 2021
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- Any decisions on military exercises between South Korea and the United States will be made jointly by the allies, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday, reiterating that their alliance remains strong.
John Kirby, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense, also highlighted the U.S. commitment to the alliance and the joint security of the Korean Peninsula.
"We have security commitments on the peninsula, a treaty that requires us to be ready to help defend the Korean Peninsula against threats. That hasn't changed. It's ironclad," the spokesman said in a press briefing.
His remarks come amid speculation that the allies may scale down, if not postpone, their scheduled joint military exercise, set to be held this month, to help foster inter-Korean dialogue.
North Korea reopened its direct communication channels with South Korea last week, more than 13 months after it unilaterally severed them in June 2020.
The North said the reopening of the communication lines was the result of an agreement between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and its leader, Kim Jong-un, to improve their countries' relations.
Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, however, has warned the latest thaw in the inter-Korean relations may be short-lived should the South Korea go ahead with its regular joint military exercise with the United States.
Pyongyang often denounces the joint military drills as rehearsals for invasion. Seoul maintains the drills are completely defensive in nature, and in the past has offered to invite North Korean officials as observers.
The Pentagon spokesman said Seoul has not made any request to consider suspending the upcoming joint military drill.
"That hasn't happened," he said when asked what the U.S. intended to do if asked by South Korea to suspend the upcoming drill.
While refusing to answer hypothetical questions, Kirby insisted any decisions will be made through close coordination, apparently implying that they will not lead to any U.S. reaction.
"Everything we do from a military perspective is done in close coordination with our South Korean allies. We're together as we make these decisions," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · August 4, 2021



4. Spy agency chief proposes postponement of ROK-U.S. military drills
This Is the height of irresponsibility for the director of an agency with responsibility for the security of the ROK. This is a regime objective and supports its political warfare strategy and is designed to weaken the alliance.

Spy agency chief proposes postponement of ROK-U.S. military drills
Posted August. 04, 2021 07:21,
Updated August. 04, 2021 07:21
Spy agency chief proposes postponement of ROK-U.S. military drills. August. 04, 2021 07:21. by Kyung-Suk Kang, Oh-Hyuk Kwon coolup@donga.com,hyuk@donga.com.
National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won said on Tuesday that the ROK-U.S. joint military drills scheduled for the second week of this month should be postponed, two days after Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned against the military drills saying there will be no improvement of inter-Korean relations if Seoul proceeds with the planned joint military exercise. This is a rare move made by the head of the spy agency following proposals by the Ministry of Unification and some members of the ruling party to postpone the joint military drills. In response, the opposition party protested strongly, saying the NIS has been degraded to an agency taking orders from Kim Yo Jong.

Director Park said during a parliamentary Intelligence Committee (IC) meeting on Tuesday that even though he understands the importance of ROK-U.S. joint military exercises, it is also necessary to consider responding flexibly to the situation in order to maintain momentum for dialogue and realize the big picture vision of denuclearization, according to Rep. Kim Byung-ki of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. A committee member told the Dong-A Ilbo on the phone that Director Park directly mentioned the postponement of the joint military drills as a flexible response to the situation, adding North Korea could seek another provocation if the planned drills are not postponed.

Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), who is also a member of the IC, said the NIS, which is responsible for operations against North Korea and national security, has degraded to an agency taking orders from Kim Yo Jong, and officially demanded that the NIS withdraw its position on ROK-U.S. joint military drills and offer an apology to the public. PPP lawmakers, who are members of the National Defense Committee, also said in a statement that canceling a planned drill just because the younger sister of the enemy’s leader said so is the same as declaring surrender, calling for the government to proceed with the planned drills.

Lee Nak-yon, presidential contender from the ruling party, supported the postponement of the planned drills, saying he hopes that a rational decision will be made in consideration of various factors, including the spread of COVID-19 and the restoration of inter-Korean communication lines.



5. INDISPENSABLE: U.S. Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea

Human rights is not only a moral imperative but a national security issue. We need an Ambassador for human rights in north Korea.

I recommend Greg Scarlatoiu who is the Executive Director for the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. He is a fluent Korean speaker and well connected in Korea but also at the United Nations and the international community. And his background growing up in the communist country of Romania until the revolution allowed him to leave and study in South Korea, provides him with a very unique and relevant background.
INDISPENSABLE: U.S. Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea

By Michelle Dang, HRNK Research Intern
Edited by Eric Ryu, HRNK Research Intern and Rosa Park, HRNK Director of Programs

August 3, 2021

​As the Biden administration has recently affirmed its commitment to fostering a well-grounded U.S. policy toward North Korea, it is critical to revisit the role of the Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea and push for the speedy reinstatement of this senior official. Denuclearization will continue to take center stage in the Korean peninsula’s peace process. However, human rights concerns in North Korea will have to be equally addressed if North Korean reintegration into the international community is to be expected. The reappointment of this Special Envoy would highlight the urgency of revitalizing human rights discourses and implementing effective enforcement of existing recommendations and policies.

​In a book event hosted by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), Ambassador Robert R. King, former U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights, explained the inception of the appointment, grounded in the adoption of the North Korea Human Rights Act (NKHRA) in 2004. The NKHRA is dedicated to promoting North Korean human rights. It addresses establishing conditions for humanitarian assistance, amplifying availability of information for North Korean people, authorizing the admission of North Korean refugees, and validating grants to nonprofit organizations whose objectives align with the principles of the Act.[1] The highlight of the NKHRA lies in the designation of the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights, whose responsibilities consist of facilitating discussions with North Korean officials and coordinating relevant international efforts. Initially part-time, the 2008 reauthorization of the NKHRA elevated the Special Envoy to full-time ambassadorial rank. The “upgrade” enabled a more comprehensive policy towards North Korea.

Ambassador King was able to raise the human rights concerns with North Korean officials during the course of discussions surrounding humanitarian aid in 2011,[2] and was able to secure the release of Eddie Jun Yong-su, an American detained in North Korea for six months. The release of Eddie was facilitated by robust deliberations on humanitarian aid. The North Korean regime saw opportunities to concede to win favorable outcomes on humanitarian aid, and released Eddie as a “going-away” present, as expressed by Ambassador King in his book “Patterns of Impunity: Human Rights in North Korea and the Role of the U.S. Special Envoy.” As Scott Snyder puts it in “Negotiating on the Edge: North Korean Negotiating Behavior,” “punuigi” (atmosphere) and “kibun” (good feeling) are cultural traits that affect negotiating with North Koreans. Their absence could lead to the practice of “kojip” (intransigence).[3] Eddie’s release is exemplary of this North Korean negotiating behavior. Aside from being a confidence-building measure, this event also signals an avenue for positive changes through negotiations, even when the changes can be seen as hardly sufficient to address the mass suffering of incarcerated North Koreans and other human rights violations. The release of Eddie backdropped with humanitarian aid negotiations suggests a principle of conditionality that will follow through in future agreements with North Korea. Labor standards, aid monitoring mechanisms, and accountability could be later incorporated. The Special Envoy is tasked with maintaining the momentum and mutual commitment shared among stakeholders at this critical juncture when the North Korean regime has demonstrated increased interest in opening up for economic reforms.[4] A condition-based interaction with North Korea with the expectation of concessions on human rights could open a door to a higher likelihood of normalized U.S.- North Korean relations.

The North Korean Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 also constitutes a condition-based framework in which sanctions would be lifted if North Korea improved its prisons conditions, released political prisoners, enabled repatriation of abducted foreigners, allowed family reunions, and removed censorship barriers.[5] The Special Envoy’s expertise would further come into play in evaluating the existing instruments leveraged against the North Korean regime and continuing to either enforce them or offer resolutions for the relief of said measures. The Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK (UN COI) has also been instrumental in providing substantial guidelines and recommendations in light of its findings. [6] In 2014, the COI substantiated that the North Korean regime has committed crimes against humanity and other violations of human rights and human dignity. At that point, Ambassador King’s commitment as Special Envoy since November 2009 had shown consistent U.S. support to the human rights cause and thus, resulted in progress that culminated in this UN-sponsored document formally addressing the issues and calling for actions. The U.S. failure to appoint a new Special Envoy under the Trump administration critically undermined the momentum that was built leading to the COI report and thus severely stalled the progress on the human rights front. In an online discussion with HRNK Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu, Justice Michael Kirby described the difficulties of implementing the COI recommendations while the situation in North Korea has not reached its post-conflict stage.[7] For the past four years without a Special Envoy, the COI report hasn’t been fully incorporated into the U.S. policy agenda for the Korean peninsula and the crucial next steps contingent on the recommendations of the report have not received the level of attention they deserve.

The attention regarding North Korea has prioritized negotiations over nuclear weapons and other security concerns which ended up forsaking human rights and ultimately not achieving any desired objectives after rounds of failed negotiations in 2018. Denuclearization and human rights are inextricably intertwined, as contended by Victor Cha, Senior Vice President and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).[7] Victor Cha raised an important point, declaring that “true peace cannot come without improving the welfare of all Koreans on the Korean Peninsula.” [8] Imagining reconciliation and peacebuilding on the Korean peninsula is inadequate without considering North Korean human rights violations. It is normatively established and legally codified that sufficient transitional justice measures are essential in post-conflict deliberations. Talks of denuclearization are suggestive of renewed relations and pathways for global reintegration with North Korea respecting international institutions and laws. Accountability for human rights atrocities committed against the North Korean people has to be addressed if the North Korean regime ever wishes to engage in normalized diplomatic relations with the United States.

The Biden administration’s affirmed commitment to addressing human rights concerns has been rather reassuring. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “President Biden has been very clear from day one that he was determined to put human rights and democracy back at the center of American foreign policy. North Korea, unfortunately, is one of the most egregious human rights situations that we know around the world.”[9] President Biden’s high-profile summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, with Moon being the second world leader to visit the White House during Biden’s presidency, is a hopeful indication of changed priorities. Biden’s immediate appointment of Ambassador Sung Kim as the Special Envoy to North Korea has been applauded. Nonetheless, there is an urgent need for a Special Envoy for North Korean human rights. Ambassador Sung Kim may only serve in the capacity of Special Representative for the DPRK on a part-time basis since his ambassadorial posting in Indonesia is likely to keep him busy.[10] Moreover, it would be nearly impossible to include both political security issues and human rights in his portfolio. Secretary Blinken even announced that the Biden administration would follow through with the appointment of a Special Envoy for North Korean human rights, noting that the vetting process would be time-consuming.[11] President Moon Jae-in has been insistent on making inter-Korean détente the cornerstone of his legacy. This possibly jeopardizes any human rights efforts, given that the Moon government is reluctant to call out the Kim regime for its crimes against humanity and other egregious human rights violations. Understandably, this is a precarious time in which changes have to be incrementally and sequentially implemented. However, calibrating incremental approaches to carefully gauge the North Korean regime’s reactions does not downplay the strategic significance of the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights in building a comprehensive policy profile. With a long series of inter-Korean summits from 2018 to 2019, the next Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights will have to rebuild stagnant momentum and bring back the issue of human rights to the table while ensuring effective negotiations during precarious times.
[1] Robert R.King, “Congress Affirms Concern for North Korea Human Rights: Extend Human Rights Act,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 12, 2018, https://www.csis.org/analysis/congress-affirms-concern-north-korea-human-rights-extends-human-rights-act
[2] Roberta Cohen, “Why the United States needs a Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights,” 38North, January 26, 2021, https://www.38north.org/2021/01/why-the-united-states-needs-a-special-envoy-for-north-korean-human-rights/
[3] Scott A. Snyder, Negotiating on the Edge: North Korean Negotiating Behavior (Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace, 1999)
[4] John V. Parachini et al., “North Korean Decision Making: Economic Opening, Conventional Deterrence Breakdown, and Nuclear Use,” RAND, https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA100/RRA165-1/RAND_RRA165-1.pdf
[5] H.R.757 - North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016, 114th Congress, 2015-2016, https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/757/text?overview=closed
[6] Human Rights Council, “Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” February 7, 2014, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/a_hrc_25_crp_1.pdf
[7] “Six Years after the UN COI Report: A Discussion with Justice Michael Kirby,” Video Gallery, The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, last modified June 17, 2020, https://www.hrnk.org/events/video-gallery-view.php?id=117
[8] Victor Cha, “Statement before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission: North Korea: Denuclearization Talks and Human Rights,” September 13, 2018, https://humanrightscommission.house.gov/sites/humanrightscommission.house.gov/files/documents/Victor%20Cha%20testimony-%20North%20Korea%20hearing.pdf
[9] Robert R. King, “The Biden-Moon Summit and North Korea Human Rights Issues,” KEI, May 6, 2021, https://keia.org/the-peninsula/the-biden-moon-summit-and-north-korea-human-rights-issues/
[10] Alana Wise, “Biden Appoints Career Diplomat Sung Kim To Serve As Special Envoy To North Korea,” NPR, May 21, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/999321463/biden-appoints-career-diplomat-sung-kim-to-serve-as-special-envoy-to-north-korea
[11] Byun Duk-kun, “Biden will appoint special envoy for N. Korean human rights as required: Blinken,” Yonhap News Agency, June 8, 2021, https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20210608000300325
  • Dedication
HRNK staff members and interns wish to dedicate this program to our colleague Katty Chi. A native of Chile and graduate of the London School of Economics, Katty became a North Korean human rights defender in her early 20s. Katty was chief of international affairs with the North Korea Strategy Center (NKSC) in Seoul from 2010 to 2014 and worked with the Seoul Office of Liberty in North Korea (LinK) from 2019 to 2020. A remarkable member of our small North Korean human rights community, Katty brought inspiration and good humor to all. Katty passed away in Seoul this past May, at the young age of 32. She is survived by her parents and brother living in Chile. With the YPWP series, we endeavor to honor Katty’s life and work.

Greg Scarlatoiu

If you have any questions or would like to write for us, contact us at outreach@hrnk.org.


6. Police detain three for carrying out orders from North

Subversion.  - The undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution. As in: "the ruthless subversion of democracy"

This is a key line of effort for the Kim family regime:  the use of subversion, coercion, extortion, and force to unify Korea under northern domination to ensure regime survival.

north Korea engages in active subversion of the ROK.

 
- North Korean intelligence and security services collect political, military, economic, and technical information through open sources, human intelligence, cyber intrusions, and signals intelligence capabilities. North Korea's primary intelligence collection targets remain the ROK, the United States, and Japan. They likely operate anywhere North Korea has a diplomatic or sizable economic overseas presence.
 
- The Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB) is North Korea's primary foreign intelligence service, responsible for collection and clandestine operations. The RGB comprises six bureaus with compartmented functions, including operations, reconnaissance, technology and cyber capabilities, overseas intelligence, inter-Korean talks, and service support.
 
- The Ministry of State Security (MSS) is North Korea's primary counterintelligence service and is an autonomous agency of the North Korean Government reporting directly to Kim Jong Un. The MSS is responsible for operating North Korean prison camps, investigating cases of domestic espionage, repatriating defectors, and conducting overseas counterespionage activities in North Korea's foreign missions.
 
- The United Front Department (UFD) overtly attempts to establish pro-North Korean groups in the ROK, such as the Korean Asia-Pacific Committee and the Ethnic Reconciliation Council. The UFD is also the primary department involved in managing inter-Korean dialogue and North Korea's policy toward the ROK.
 
- The 225th Bureau is responsible for training agents to infiltrate the ROK and establish underground political parties focused on fomenting unrest and revolution.
 https://media.defense.gov/2018/May/22/2001920587/-1/-1/1/REPORT-TO-CONGRESS-MILITARY-AND-SECURITY-DEVELOPMENTS-INVOLVING-THE-DEMOCRATIC-PEOPLES-REPUBLIC-OF-KOREA-2017.PDF
 

Tuesday
August 3, 2021
Police detain three for carrying out orders from North

Four suspects enter the Cheongju District Court on Monday to attend a warrant hearing. They were suspected of organizing protests against the government's plan to procure stealth fighter jets after receiving orders from North Korea. [NEWS1]
 
The police on Monday detained three people for having executed orders from North Korea to organize public protests against the government’s plan to procure U.S.-built stealth fighter jets. 
 
Cheongju District Court on Monday issued detention warrants to the North Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency to hold one man and two women on charges of national security law violations. At their warrant hearing, Judge Shin Wu-jeong said they are flight risks. 
 
Judge Shin, however, rejected the police’s request to detain a fourth suspect, who runs an online media channel in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, for lack of legal grounds. 
 
The four are suspects of a joint investigation by the police and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) which began earlier this year. The police and the NIS suspected that they had been in contact with agents of the Cultural Exchange Bureau of the North’s Workers’ Party and received orders to stage protests in the South.
 
The bureau, formerly known as the 255th bureau, is responsible for training agents to infiltrate the South and establish underground political parties focused on inciting unrest and revolution. Details of the suspects’ contacts with the North Korean agents were not immediately made public.  
 
According to the sources informed about the investigation, the suspects received orders from the North to stage protests against the South Korean military’s plan to procure F-35A fighter jets.
 
From 2019 until last year, they led a civic group in Cheongju to oppose the procurement project. They also organized a series of signature drives, demonstrations and press conferences to protest the plan.
 

In this file photo, F-35 stealth fighter jets land at the Cheongju Air Base in North Chungcheong after a military drill on Aug. 31, 2020. [KIM SUNG-TAE]
 
In 2014, the government selected the F-35 Lighting II for the F-X III program. The Air Force is currently taking deliveries of 40 F-35A stealth aircrafts, and the delivery is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.  
 
The fighter jets are a key component of the South’s “Kill Chain” plan, a pre-emptive strike system against the North’s nuclear and missile facilities. The North has been strongly protesting the South’s plan to establish the Kill Chain. 
 
According to the sources, the police and the NIS raided the suspects’ homes and offices in Cheongju in late May.
 
This year, the police and the NIS conducted five joint investigations into suspected National Security Act violations, the Cheongju case being one of them.

BY SER MYO-JA, OH WON-SEOK [ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]


7. Buyers Reject North Korean Banknotes Featuring Kim Il Sung Sold as Souvenirs in China

Can't give away a bill with Kim Il-sung's likeness on it. How low can north Korea and the Kim family regime sink?


Buyers Reject North Korean Banknotes Featuring Kim Il Sung Sold as Souvenirs in China
The banknotes find no buyers, with both Chinese and North Korean passersby calling them worthless.
North Korean banknotes bearing founder Kim Il Sung’s image displayed by street vendors in Chinese cities near the countries’ shared border are finding no buyers, with both Chinese and North Korean passersby calling them worthless, sources in China said.
Notes bearing the portrait of North Korea’s founding leader and offered in various denominations are now being sold in some parts of Dandong, a Chinese city lying just across the Yalu River from the North Korean city of Sinuiju, an ethnic Korean living in China told RFA’s Korean Service.
“A few days ago, I saw a street vendor selling North Korean banknotes he had spread out on the street and was enthusiastically offering them to passersby as souvenirs, but nobody wanted to buy them,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“To attract potential buyers, the vendor said that the packet of bills of different denominations he was selling for 35 yuan (U.S. $5.42) also included a note for 10,000 won in North Korean currency, but people ridiculed the offer, saying the money had no value as a souvenir,” the source said.
The vendor then pushed North Korean 25-won banknotes into people’s hands to persuade them to buy, but one person threw his back, saying, “I wouldn’t take this even if it were free,” the source said, adding that vendors will often unfold their banknotes so that Kim Il Sung’s face is visibly displayed.
“But people just look down at Kim Il Sung’s portrait on the bills, show contempt, and refuse to buy them,” he said.
North Koreans visiting China are also unimpressed and show no interest in the bills, RFA’s source said.
“A few days ago, I was speaking with a North Korean banknote merchant, and he told me an interesting story, saying that he had recently stopped a group of passersby and urged them to buy some banknotes as souvenirs.”
When the vendor saw that the men he had stopped were North Korean trade representatives, he looked at their faces to see if they were displeased or would complain that money bearing the portrait of their country’s founder had been spread out on the ground.
“But they just glanced at the portraits spread out on the street and showed no interest or reaction at all,” he said.
Though Kim Il Sung’s face is displayed on North Korean banknotes offered for sale, passersby only glance at the bills and sarcastically ask, “Where could I possibly use these?” the source said.
Reported by Jeong Yon Park. Translated by Jinha Shin. Edited by Joongsok Oh. Written in English by Richard Finney.

8. Top U.S. intel analyst sees North Korea clinging to its nukes

Key points from our National Intelligence Officer for Korea:

He also stressed that America’s “strength in the region are our alliances,” whether with the South Koreans, with the Japanese, the Australians or others.
“We continue to provide deterrence,” Mr. Seiler said. “We continue to provide assurance and we continue to contain, so no matter how [the North’s nuclear] program advances, North Korea should never be deluded into thinking somehow its new capabilities provide it new options through the use of force to achieve strategic objectives that have to date been elusive.”
“Deterrence has worked for 68 years of armistice,” he added. “I have every confidence it will going forward.”
Top U.S. intel analyst sees North Korea clinging to its nukes
washingtontimes.com · by Guy Taylor

North Korea’s ruling regime sees no strategic benefit in improving relations with the United States and remains bent on developing nuclear weapons and advanced missiles whatever the outcome of talks with Washington, the top U.S. intelligence officer on North Korean behavior said Tuesday.
Sydney Seiler, the national intelligence officer for North Korea, pointed to repeated examples under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump in which the regime in Pyongyang spurned diplomatic outreach from U.S. officials in favor of continuing to develop its weapons program.
Speaking during “The Washington Brief,” a virtual event series hosted by The Washington Times Foundation, Mr. Seiler reflected on the most recent period of historic outreach by Mr. Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a series of three personal meetings starting in June 2018.
The Kim regime has “simply squandered away an opportunity to move forward with the United States in a better relationship,” Mr. Seiler said. “When you look at this continued pattern of behavior, you come to a conclusion that, at the end of the day, Pyongyang calculates — or at least the Kim regime calculates — its survival in no way is related to an improved relationship with [South Korea] and is not even related to an improved relationship with the United States.”
It’s a sobering assessment from a top analyst in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence advising the Biden administration, which recently completed a review of U.S. policy toward North Korea. The administration has adhered to a restored policy of “strategic patience” toward Pyongyang — essentially deterrence through sanctions and military pressure — following the high-stakes direct meetings that Mr. Trump favored but failed to produce a denuclearization agreement.
The Biden approach has kept the door open for talks, but Kim regime has yet to respond. The regime this week warned that “hostile” U.S.-South Korean military drills planned for later this month could derail a potential return to diplomacy.
There are nearly 30,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and the annual U.S.-South Korean military drills became a major political football during the Trump administration. Mr. Trump suspended them in pursuit of an elusive personal denuclearization deal with Mr. Kim.
The Kim regime has long condemned the annual joint military drills, insisting they are a rehearsal for a potential invasion of the North.
Despite the current friction, Seoul and Pyongyang revealed last week that they had agreed to restore a long-inactive hotline designed to minimize tensions. It also was learned that Mr. Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a longtime supporter of engagement with the North, had exchanged letters since the spring on possible ways to improve ties.
Alexandre Mansourov, professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies, said Tuesday that the North Koreans are engaged in a kind of “carrot-and-stick diplomacy” threatening the U.S. and South Korea at times while offering concessions and diplomatic overtures at others, while always pursuing some strategic initiative.
“It’s not about the [military] exercises, it’s about Kim’s desire essentially to see how much mileage he can squeeze from the lame duck Moon Jae-in presidency before it leaves office next February and, in particular whether he can use the Moon administration to get the Biden White House to lift the U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korean exports of minerals and refined petroleum,” Mr. Mansourov said during Tuesday’s “The Washington Brief.”
He appeared as a panelist with Mr. Seilier, as well as with former CIA official and longtime U.S. diplomatic adviser Joseph DeTrani and former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill, the moderator of the virtual event series.
In his own comments on Tuesday, Mr. Seiler suggested Pyongyang’s posturing fits within decades-old pattern of on-again, off-again maneuvering by the regime, whose real goal is survival and weapons development.
Mr. Seiler cited an “often forgotten” 2018 New Year’s address by Kim Jong-un in which the North Korea leader “directed his munitions industry to spur on production, large-scale production of warheads, of nuclear warheads, and missiles — in other words, a reminder that whatever was to transpire in the diplomacy over the 2018 onward period, it would be in the context of an unremitted commitment to expanding qualitatively and quantitatively its nuclear program.”
The speech came even as Mr. Kim headed into a series of one-on-one meetings with Mr. Trump, a period of unprecedented top-down diplomacy that climaxed in the failed Hanoi summit in February 2019. Mr. Trump walked away from the summit claiming Mr. Kim demanded sweeping sanctions relief in exchange for only a limited commitment to destroy part of the North’s nuclear arsenal.
Mr. Seiler said successive U.S. administrations have tried unsuccessfully to coax the regime down an off-ramp from its escalatory behavior.
“We’ve arranged the carrots in different ways in different administrations, you know, but all we’ve kind of learned through all the various carrot arrangements is that Kim Jong-un is not a rabbit and that unfortunately, until now … the regime just has simply not wanted to take these exit ramps,” Mr. Seiler said. “But that’s why it’s so important to keep the door open to dialogue.”
He also stressed that America’s “strength in the region are our alliances,” whether with the South Koreans, with the Japanese, the Australians or others.
“We continue to provide deterrence,” Mr. Seiler said. “We continue to provide assurance and we continue to contain, so no matter how [the North’s nuclear] program advances, North Korea should never be deluded into thinking somehow its new capabilities provide it new options through the use of force to achieve strategic objectives that have to date been elusive.”
“Deterrence has worked for 68 years of armistice,” he added. “I have every confidence it will going forward.”

washingtontimes.com · by Guy Taylor




9. Moon orders 'prudent consultations' with U.S. on planned defense drills

I fear "prudent consultations" is code for how to convince the US to cancel the exercise. The Moon administration should listen to the Minister of Defense and the CJCS because I am confident they are describing how important it is to conduct the training. It would be a major strategic error to give into the regime's blackmail diplomacy. It will not result in the achieving any of the ROK and ROK/US alliance objectives and will only cause the regime to double down on its political warfarestategy and long con.




(LEAD) Moon orders 'prudent consultations' with U.S. on planned defense drills | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · August 4, 2021
(ATTN: UPDATES first 7 paras with remarks on plan for military training; CHANGES headline)
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in instructed South Korea's defense chief Wednesday to have prudent consultations with the United States on whether to stage their joint military exercise this month as scheduled.
Moon was holding a rare Cheong Wa Dae meeting with top military commanders. Attendees included Defense Minister Suh Wook and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul, as well as the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
In a report on the drills scheduled to kick off next week, Suh said that the military is in consultations with the U.S. and health authorities, with "realistic conditions" including the COVID-19 situation considered, a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters.
The president ordered the minister to consult with them "with prudence in consideration of various elements," the official added on the customary condition of anonymity.

Last week, the two Koreas restored their direct communication lines, raising hopes for the resumption of dialogue. Days later, however, the North pressed the South to cancel the annual military training with the ally. The joint drill could undermine the move to put inter-Korean ties back on track, Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister who is in charge of inter-Korean affairs as a senior Workers' Party official, said in a statement.
During the meeting with the top military leaders, Moon pointed out that South Korea's military has lost public trust due to some recent incidents, while it has contributed to regional peace and the fight against COVID-19.
He raised the need for the military to start afresh in efforts to regain the trust of the people.
The president, in particular, said that the mass coronavirus infections among the nation's Cheonghae Unit members have caused great concern to the people.
Most of the 301 Cheonghae Unit sailors aboard a Navy destroyer on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden have been infected with the virus. The government came under strong criticism, as they remained unvaccinated.
The defense minister reported to Moon that 93.6 percent of the nation's total 550,000 soldiers have received at least a dose of COVID-19 vaccines, with the provision of second doses to be completed by Friday, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said in a press briefing.
Moon noted that the military can set a precedent for herd immunity and ordered the minister to make sure that the training manuals against heat waves can be properly executed.
In connection with the death in late May of a female Air Force officer, who suffered sexual violence from her male colleague, the minister briefed Moon on measures to prevent a similar incident from recurring.
Moon said that it was a "serious incident that shocked the public" and that there were a lot of problems in handling it, including false reporting and a cover-up.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · August 4, 2021


10. North Korea's Storm Corps ordered to "prepare for guerilla warfare"

An interesting development. Is this part of the summer training cycle.? Note focus on "urban guerrilla warfare." It is interesting to note that they are only now producing new maps and identifying the changes in South Korean geography - it has long been urbanized!  Is this preparation for actual operations or is this designed to create a distraction within the military due to the internal problems caused by the regime response to COVID, the collapse economy, the food shortage, the natural disasters, and sanctions?

This might be a reason why we need the ROK/US Combined Forces Command to conduct training. The regime surely has hostile intent toward the South. It would be a prudent action to maintain alliance military readiness.


North Korea's Storm Corps ordered to "prepare for guerilla warfare" - Daily NK
By Jeong Tae Joo - 2021.08.04 11:13am
dailynk.com · August 4, 2021
North Korean military authorities have reportedly handed down a special order to the so-called “Storm Corps,” the nation’s most elite special forces unit, to “prepare for guerilla warfare,” distributing to the unit 3D military maps of South Korea’s major regions.
Formally the 11th Corps, the Storm Corps is based in Dokchon County, South Pyongan Province.
According to a Daily NK source in the North Korean military on Friday, North Korea’s supreme command telegraphed the order to the headquarters of the Storm Corps on July 19.
The supreme command ordered the unit to “carry out preparatory training based on the transformation of South Korea’s topographical structure,” stressing that modern guerrilla warfare requires “thorough preparations for standard mountain warfare along with urban warfare.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observing Storm Corps training in 2013. / Image: Rodong Shinmun
Distributing to all branches of the army new topographical maps in the guise of an order entitled, “Systemic Transformation of Tactical Topography in Areas of Operation,” the supreme command basically ordered the Storm Corps in particular to begin training for urban guerrilla war to infiltrate target objectives.
To put this another way, they ordered the Storm Corps to properly familiarize themselves with the transformed urban topography of South Korea — the “enemy” — and carry out intensive training, re-establishing operation plans for small-unit combat infiltrations.
Accordingly, the Storm Corps has begun training to boost its guerrilla combat capabilities. The unit is also carrying out joint operations and a reorganization of its command and control. This suggests the unit believes it must not neglect rear-area support matters as well.
In particular, one of the unit’s major tasks during this year’s summer training is to build a new training field where personnel can practice attacking mockups of South Korea’s strategic facilities, including the presidential palace, Cheong Wa Dae.
According to the source, the supreme command stressed that the Storm Corps “must cherish the firm conviction that they will suppress military threats in South Korea and dynamically bring forward the unification of the Fatherland through ‘strong defensive power,’” and that the corps must “prepare all combat personnel as phoenixes of guerrilla warfare.”
Meanwhile, the supreme command reportedly issued similar orders to other special forces units as well, including the light infantry units of frontline corps, divisional sniper brigades, sniper brigades of the navy, air force and anti-air units, and the light infantry regiments of frontline divisions.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
dailynk.com · August 4, 2021


11. Moon to Get More Bodyguards Than His Predecessors

There is a reason. The second and third order effects of trying to phase out conscription. He really will not get any more personnel. It is only to replace the "auxiliary police" which were almost "free labor" since they were conscripts.

Excerpts:

Cheong Wa Dae says more personnel is needed to replace auxiliary police officers who normally guard the perimeter of presidents' retirement homes.T

hese used to be conscripts, but that system of alternative military service is being phased out.

Moon urged his staff in a meeting Tuesday to check the plan "meticulously" since taxpayers' money is being spent.


Moon to Get More Bodyguards Than His Predecessors
August 04, 2021 11:49
Cheong Wa Dae has more than doubled the security detail for President Moon Jae-in once he retires to his private home in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province next May.
Moon will be given 65 bodyguards rather than the 27 assigned to his predecessors when they left office.
/Yonhap
Cheong Wa Dae says more personnel is needed to replace auxiliary police officers who normally guard the perimeter of presidents' retirement homes.
These used to be conscripts, but that system of alternative military service is being phased out.
Moon urged his staff in a meeting Tuesday to check the plan "meticulously" since taxpayers' money is being spent.

  • Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com



12. North Korea's Ministry of Social Security receives training from China's Ministry of Public Security

I doubt any human rights training is included in this. This is more evidence of Chinese complicity in north Korean human rights abuses. I am sure they are sharing best practices for how to "put down unrest by force."

Probably not "one" of the reasons. Probably the real reason:
North Korean authorities mentioned putting down “schemes and demonstrations by reactionary elements” as one of the reasons for the unit’s formation.
Just another indication also that Kim Jong-un fears the Korean people living in the north more than he fears the US.

North Korea's Ministry of Social Security receives training from China's Ministry of Public Security - Daily NK
dailynk.com · August 4, 2021
North Korean authorities have reportedly received training on the organizational systems of China’s public security apparatus and have decided to implement some of what they have learned. Ostensibly, the move aims to protect North Korean lives and property by adopting China’s advanced disaster response capabilities, but it also appears aimed at bolstering Pyongyang’s ability to put down unrest by force.
According to a high-ranking Daily NK source in North Korea on Monday, high-ranking cadres of North Korea’s Ministry of Social Security are undergoing training on working-level systems of China’s Ministry of Public Security, including its administrative and organizational systems. The Foreign Ministry is cooperating in this endeavor, with the North Korean embassy in China transferring educational materials and providing translation and interpretation services.
North Korea had initially planned to send leading Ministry of Social Security cadres to China to undergo training. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities switched to providing educational materials and online classes. The training is scheduled to last until Aug. 15.
Broadly speaking, the training can be divided into two parts: the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s criminal justice system and its disaster response strategy. Cadres are learning about Chinese systems regarding law and order preservation, cracking down on illegal acts and investigating, arresting, confining and trying criminals. The authorities reportedly plan to adopt some of what they learn to North Korea’s policing system.
In terms of disaster response, the cadres are receiving intensive training in rescue operations during disasters such as typhoons, monsoon rains, and fires.
Additionally, North Korean authorities want to learn how the Ministry of Social Security’s recently created helicopter unit can better work with public security and emergency response departments, the source said.
Ministry of Public Security officers inspecting a car in Dandong, China. / Image: Daily NK
According to a Daily NK investigation, North Korean authorities in March ordered the formation of a helicopter unit in the Ministry of Social Security. A battalion-strength unit was created using former air force helicopters.
North Korean authorities mentioned putting down “schemes and demonstrations by reactionary elements” as one of the reasons for the unit’s formation.
There is speculation that the recent expansion of the role of the Ministry of Social Security and aggressive reorganization of the country’s public security apparatus, including the introduction of Chinese systems, is at least partially aimed at strengthening the state’s control over the people.
A source familiar with the internal workings of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea said there are calls for the Ministry of Social Security to “change the way it cracks down on and controls the people” because “the law [anti-reactionary thought law] was recently changed.” He said the recent cooperation with China’s Ministry of Public Security “took place against this background.”
The law codified ways to control the people and strengthened punishments, which reportedly led to calls to reform the Ministry of Social Security’s judiciary system. The ministry is tasked with enforcing the law.
North Korean authorities plan to train cadres at agencies affiliated with the Ministry of Social Security in China’s public security system starting from Aug. 15. The authorities have reportedly finished putting together an organization to manage the lectures.
Due to COVID-19, however, cadres based in areas outside of Pyongyang will likely listen to lectures via teleconferencing instead of assembling in Pyongyang for face-to-face training.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
dailynk.com · August 4, 2021




13. DP chief says reopening Kaesong complex will help build trust among 2 Koreas, U.S.

And it will also result in the transfer of large amounts of money to the regime. Kaesong and Mt Kumgang (tourism) are revenue generating enterprises for the regime.

And trust? One sided trust is not reasonable. Perhaps some in the ROK think it will be able to trust the regime in some way. But the regime trusts no one (inside or outside of the north). The reopening of Kaesong will not generate any trust on the north's part. It will only drive Kim to ask the question, "How can I better exploit Kaesong this time to make money for my regime?" 

DP chief says reopening Kaesong complex will help build trust among 2 Koreas, U.S. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 박보람 · August 4, 2021
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's ruling party chairman suggested Wednesday reopening the long-shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's border town of Kaesong will help build trust among the two Koreas and the United States, and ease tension on the Korean Peninsula.
"Reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex is very critical to building trust between the U.S., South Korea and North Korea," Rep. Song Young-gil, head of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), said during a session of the Aspen Security Forum, being held online by the U.S.-based Aspen Institute.
"The Kaesong Industrial Complex has a very essential role in easing tensions between the two Koreas and is a very efficient way to change North Korea," Song said.
His call for the resumption of the Kaesong complex comes amid growing hope for improved inter-Korean ties following the reopening of liaison communication hotlines between the countries last week.
The joint factory, a major symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation, was closed in February 2016 in the wake of the North's nuclear and missile tests.
Song said U.S. investment in the joint factory, such as installing a McDonald's restaurant, could send a strong message that Washington is not hostile toward the North.
"It could be a strong symbolic sign that U.S. does not intend to invade North Korea," according to Song.
Reopening the complex would also provide "very strong momentum for inviting the North to the negotiating table for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and reducing Pyongyang's growing dependence on China, he added.
Song also urged U.S. efforts to solve North Korean issues, suggesting North Korea could become "the second Vietnam."
"Since the 1995 normalization of diplomatic relations with the U.S., Vietnam is now a de facto military ally and deters the expanding Chinese power," Song said. "North Korea can become the second Vietnam. It's up to the U.S.," he suggested.
The chairman also said the North has not carried out any serious military provocations under the Joe Biden administration so far, but the country may go for a provocation at anytime, urging Washington to consider promptly providing humanitarian assistance to the communist country.

pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 박보람 · August 4, 2021a provocation at anytime, urging Washington to consider promptly providing humanitarian assistance to the communist country.

pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 박보람 · August 4, 2021

14. N.K. officials attend Russian Embassy's exhibition, resume in-person diplomacy

A test case? Is this like "unmasking procedures" in a WMD environment? Use low ranking personnel to testif the contaminated environment is safe?

(LEAD) N.K. officials attend Russian Embassy's exhibition, resume in-person diplomacy | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · August 4, 2021
(ATTN: ADDS N.K's vice foreign minister's statement in paras 5-6)
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korean officials attended a photo exhibition held by the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang and highlighted their cooperative ties, state media showed Wednesday, signaling Pyongyang's resumption of in-person diplomacy suspended due to the coronavirus.
The photo exhibition was held Tuesday "to mark the 20th anniversary of Chairman Kim Jong-il's historic visit to Russia and the 10th anniversary of his visit to the Siberian and the Far Eastern regions," according to the Korean Central News Agency.
Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader, Kim Jong-un, ruled North Korea until his death in 2011.
Participants, including Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il, praised the leaders' trips to Russia as "important events that made distinguished contribution" to advancing Pyongyang-Moscow relations, and ensuring peace and security in the region, it added.
In a statement posted on the foreign ministry's website, Im said North Korea and Russia have furthered their ties in various areas, including politics and business, and that the ties will continue to progress going forward.
"It is our republic government's firm stance that we will inherit and advance the friendly relations between North Korea and Russia boasting a long history and tradition from a strategic perspective, and in line with the demands of our time," he added.
North Korea claims to be coronavirus-free, but it has taken relatively swift and drastic antivirus measures since early last year, including sealing its borders and imposing strict restrictions on movement.
Signals have been detected that Pyongyang is resuming its long-suspended in-person diplomacy.
In June, North Korea sent its diplomats to a similar photo exhibition held at the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang to mark the 2nd anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the country.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · August 4, 2021

15. How about a McDonald's in Kaesong?

Kimchi burgers for Koreans in the north! Perhaps Chairman Song just read Freidman's "Golden Arches theory." (e.g., no two countries with McDonal's have ever fought each other).

Somehow I don't think the regime would look at McDonald's as any kind of security guarantee. 

And then there is the "Vietnam Model." KimJong-un would like that very much but not in the way all of us envision. Touting the “Vietnam model” is a grave mistake. I think north Korea would love to adopt a "Vietnam model." Unfortunately, we are all focused on the post 1975 economic "Vietnam Model." The regime is likely unwilling to adopt that model given the current conditions, to include the regime's assessment of security conditions. 
 
But there is a "Vietnam model" that we overlook but one that the regime ​may ​actually ​be ​pursuing. Like north Vietnam it would like to broker a peace treaty with the US that would cause the withdrawal of US troops. It would like to see the US become overly focused on domestic issues. Once troops are fully withdrawn the regime will redouble its efforts to dominate the entire peninsula and if necessary it will use force to do so because it will believe it has created the conditions to be successful. ​I​t will attack the South, assuming the US has lost the will to come to the aid of the South because there is no longer a US force presence, and seek to unify the peninsula under the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State just as north Vietnam did with the South. That is the "Vietnam model" the Kim family regime would like to copy. We need to understand the regime's political warfare strategy as well as its military strategy. They are mutually supporting. 

Excerpts:

Song said that South Korean small- and medium-sized companies had hired about 53,000 North Koreans to work at the now shuttered Kaesong complex, who were a “very good channel” for outside information and a “precious opportunity and open window to communicate” between the two Koreas. 
 
Likewise, he said, closing Kaesong has made Pyongyang “more dependent” on Beijing, adding, “We are very concerned that North Korea will gradually become a subordinate country to China.” 
 
He added that reopening Kaesong would present opportunities for “more collaboration with South Korea and the United States."  
 
Song noted, “North Korea is paranoid and very scared of bombardment by the United States.”
 
He said that as Pyongyang doesn’t trust mere rhetoric from Seoul and Washington, U.S. investment in Kaesong, such as opening a McDonald's at the complex, could provide a “guarantee” for North Korea.
 
“North Korea can become the second Vietnam and a pro-American country,” added Song. “It’s up to the United States.”
 
Vietnam normalized diplomatic relations with the United States in 1995 and is a U.S. ally in deterring Chinese ambitions in Southeast Asia, he pointed out.  

Wednesday
August 4, 2021
How about a McDonald's in Kaesong?

Song Young-gil, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), speaks at a virtual session of the Aspen Security Forum on Tuesday. [DEMOCRATIC PARTY]
 
Opening a McDonald’s in the Kaesong industrial complex could send a “strong signal” to Pyongyang that the U.S. won't invade North Korea, Song Young-gil, head of the Democratic Party (DP) told an international security forum Tuesday.  
 
“My opinion is that reopening the Kaesong industrial complex is a very critical point to building trust between the United States, South Korea and North Korea," Song said during a virtual session of the 2021 Aspen Security Forum.
 
Song, a former Incheon mayor, continued, “Can you imagine, if a McDonald's store is located at the Kaesong industrial complex, it could be a strong symbolic sign that the United States does not have an intention to invade North Korea.” 
 
Under the Park Geun-hye administration, South Korea withdrew in February 2016 from the industrial complex in the North’s border town of Kaesong, the last big inter-Korean economic cooperation project, in retaliation to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile provocations. 
 
The moderator of Song's session pointed out that reopening the complex is not a popular view in Washington. 
 
Song replied, “The Kaesong industrial complex has a very essential role in easing tensions between the two Koreas and is a very, very efficient way to change North Korea.” 
 
He noted that “hawkish groups” in the United States and South Korea have stressed the importance of the penetration of outside information into North Korea and “praise” the sending of propaganda leaflets by balloon across the border, He said Kaesong plays a similar role. 
 
Song said that South Korean small- and medium-sized companies had hired about 53,000 North Koreans to work at the now shuttered Kaesong complex, who were a “very good channel” for outside information and a “precious opportunity and open window to communicate” between the two Koreas. 
 
Likewise, he said, closing Kaesong has made Pyongyang “more dependent” on Beijing, adding, “We are very concerned that North Korea will gradually become a subordinate country to China.” 
 
He added that reopening Kaesong would present opportunities for “more collaboration with South Korea and the United States."  
 
Song noted, “North Korea is paranoid and very scared of bombardment by the United States.”
 
He said that as Pyongyang doesn’t trust mere rhetoric from Seoul and Washington, U.S. investment in Kaesong, such as opening a McDonald's at the complex, could provide a “guarantee” for North Korea.
 
“North Korea can become the second Vietnam and a pro-American country,” added Song. “It’s up to the United States.”
 
Vietnam normalized diplomatic relations with the United States in 1995 and is a U.S. ally in deterring Chinese ambitions in Southeast Asia, he pointed out. 
 
In response to Kim Yo-jong’s statement calling for a halt to the upcoming summertime Seoul-Washington summertime military exercise, he called the joint drill “essential” for defense readiness and keeping peace in the region. 
 
Song, however, said he understands North Korea’s concerns, because their conventional army cannot match the South-U.S. military, which is why they are reliant on strategic weapons.
 
Likewise, he noted the worsening economic situation in North Korea due to Covid-19 blockades, natural disasters and economic sanctions. 
 
Song called for providing to North Korea humanitarian aid, Covid-19 support and health care, which he said is possible under UN sanctions. 
 

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]



16. Joint drill with U.S. becomes object of tug of war
This could be good or bad. It could be good if it results in a clear eyed view by the ROK and that deterrence and defense are critically important and the security of the ROK has to be paramount. It could be bad if it results in a demand by the Moon government to cancel, postpone, or scale back the exercises. And worst of all this plays right into the hands of the regime. It wants to foment this kind of division not only within the political system of South Korea but also between the ROK and the US. Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong are sitting in Pyongyang admiring the power of their statements and how they are causing problems for the ROK and US without even conducting a kinetic provocation. We need to recognize the regime's strategy, understand it, and expose it. We certainly must not act in ways that support it. members of the ruling party in South Korea certainly are acting in ways that support it.




Wednesday
August 4, 2021
Joint drill with U.S. becomes object of tug of war

Park Jie-won, director of the National Intelligence Service, briefs the National Assembly intelligence committee in Yeouido, western Seoul, Tuesday. [YONHAP]
 
Remarks made by Park Jie-won, director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), indicating that Pyongyang would take “corresponding measures” if joint military drills are halted and a ban on luxury good imports to the North is lifted have stirred controversy.
 
Park told the National Assembly’s intelligence committee Tuesday, "I understand the importance of the Republic of Korea-U.S. exercises, but it is necessary to consider being flexible in regard to the joint drills in order to maintain the momentum of dialogue and achieve the larger picture of North Korea's denuclearization.”
 
Rep. Kim Byung-kee of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), secretaries of the parliamentary intelligence committee, later Tuesday briefed reporters on Park's testimony. 
 
Pyongyang has also called for the easing of sanctions on imports of luxury goods and refined oil, and on mineral exports as a precondition to resuming any negotiations with the United States, said Ha on Park’s briefing. 
 
When asked by Ha to clarify, Park said luxury goods such as Western liquor and suits were not just for the consumption of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un but were a “daily necessity” for Pyongyang’s elite. 
 
His remarks were interpreted as attempting to justify North Korea's attempts to import luxury goods in violation of United Nations sanctions.
 
Imports of luxury good to North Korea have been banned by the UN Security Council since 2006. 
 
The NIS also said that the restoration of inter-Korean communication lines last week came upon the request of Kim Jong-un, according to intelligence committee lawmakers. The two sides have been using the hotlines twice daily since they were restored on July 27. Pyongyang unilaterally severed communications 13 months ago. 
 
The South’s spy agency concluded that the restoration of the hotlines showed Pyongyang’s intent to improve inter-Korean ties. It added that the North had expectations for the South to play a role in North-U.S. dialogue. 
 
Park also said that North Korea seems unhappy that it has not conducted a nuclear test nor launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the past three years, but that the United States has not taken any corresponding measures. 
 
He added that such distrust has to be resolved in order for the North to return to dialogue, indicating that the suspension of joint drills could be one such example. 
 
Rep. Kim said that Park analyzed that North Korea is “expected to make a decision on its next move while closely monitoring South-U.S. consultations and our response.” 
 
Seoul and Washington are expected to hold an annual joint exercise later this month, which has been strongly protested by Pyongyang. 
 
Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korea's leader, warned in a statement Sunday that Seoul-Washington military exercises could cast a cloud over inter-Korean relations, indicating that the “choice” was up to the South to make a “bold decision.” 
 
Some of Park’s remarks have resulted in immediate clarifications from related South Korean ministries and criticism from opposition lawmakers that the NIS is overreaching its authority on unification policy and neglecting security matters. 
 
A Unification Ministry official told reporters Tuesday that the decision to revive the inter-Korean communication lines was based on “sufficient consultation and agreement” between the two Koreas.
 
Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday, “There haven’t been any discussion of sanctions exemptions during the South Korea-U.S. consultation process,” addressing the matter of the lifting of the luxury import ban on the North. 
 
Rep. Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korea diplomat who defected in 2016 and a first-term lawmaker for the PPP, told the JoongAng Ilbo Tuesday, “When luxury goods are brought into North Korea, they will be sold to Pyongyang's emerging bourgeoisie to fill Chairman Kim Jong-un’s pockets or be handed out to top officials.” 
 
The U.S. Defense Department confirmed Tuesday that Seoul has not made any request to consider suspending the upcoming joint military exercise.
 
John Kirby, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense, said in a briefing, "That hasn't happened," when asked by a reporter what Washington intends to do if asked by Seoul to suspend the combined exercise.
 
He added, “Everything we do from a military perspective is done in close coordination with our South Korean allies. We're together as we make these decisions.”
 
A Blue House official told reporters Wednesday that President Moon Jae-in has requested the Defense Ministry in a meeting with military commanders to “carefully consider various factors” in regard to the joint exercise, and that Seoul's Defense Ministry is in consultation with quarantine authorities and the United States on the current Covid-19 situation and other “realistic conditions.”  
 
In turn, Rep. Ha in turn pledged Wednesday to prevent the NIS from interfering in unification and foreign policy matters. 
 
Ha said in a statement posted on social media Wednesday, “I will correct the wrong practice of the NIS neglecting security and pretending to be the unification minister by night."
 
He continued, “The NIS director, responsible for North Korea espionage operations, is interfering in unification policy and appeasing Kim Jong-un and his sister.” 
 
 

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]


17. South Korea the Only Middle Power Of Its Kind

Excerpt:

Ironically, South Korea’s middle power is least appreciated by Koreans who still tend to regard themselves as a developing nation. South Korea’s foreign policy often focuses on the North Korean threat and its nuclear ambitions on the Korean Peninsula. Yet, there are increasing expectations for South Korea to take up more responsibility on regional as well as global issues. Koreans and the world are in for a nice surprise to see the growing impact of South Korea’s middle power on the global stage.
South Korea the Only Middle Power Of Its Kind
South Korea’s unique experience combining a Western-style democracy and the Asian value of communitarianism could become a very powerful source of South Korea’s success as a new model for dealing with global challenges.
The National Interest · by Seong-ho Sheen · August 2, 2021
South Korea is a multidimensional middle power. South Korea, with a population of fifty million, ranks number ten in terms of GDP according to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in 2021. South Korea’s military with six hundred thousand active military duty members ranks number six in 2021 according to Global Firepower. In addition, South Korea’s defense spending, currently at U.S. $46 billion, is expected to surpass that of Japan by 2023. South Korea’s manufacturing sector ranks number five, following China, the United States, Japan, and Germany. And its economy is led by a well-balanced combination of leading industrial sectors. South Korea has top global producers of steel, automobiles, shipbuilding, semiconductors, telecommunications, electric car batteries, and biosimilar. According to Bloomberg, South Korea ranks number one in terms of innovation, being equipped with the world’s fastest nationwide internet service and aggressive investment in R&D.
South Korea’s soft power adds another dimension to its middle power status, especially considering cultural products such as K-pop, K-drama, movies, and food. Korean film Parasite won four Oscars at the most exclusive Academy Awards last year. It made history as the first non-English language film to win Best Picture along with Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature. Korean K-pop dance groups and idols are a global sensation. BTS, the hottest boy group at the moment, has eighteen million fans around the world despite the fact that most of their songs are in Korean. The group’s recent record Butter was listed number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven weeks this summer, only to be replaced by another new song by BTS. Despite diplomatic tensions between Korea and Japan, K-Drama is widely popular among Japanese audiences both young and old, marking its fourth wave in Japan. K-esports and Korean webtoons, a form of digital comic, are making their way into the global market as a new frontier in future entertainment.
Yet, South Korea’s unique aspect of its middle power comes from its historical and positional dimensions. First, South Korea’s rise to a middle power status comes without much historical baggage. South Korea has no history of aggression against others nor an imperial past in its modern history. Indeed, South Korea is the only country that successfully made its transition from a former colony to an advanced economy. One could say that Australia or Canada, along with the United States, used to be a colony. Nonetheless, what is distinct about South Korea is the fact that it was colonized by former imperial Japan by coercion. As South Korea, previously an aid recipient, is now a provider of developmental aid, many other developing nations tend to take South Korea as a genuine model that shares a similar history.
Second, South Korea could play an important role in connecting the West to non-Western societies. South Korea’s political evolution—from a traditional society marked by five hundred years under the Joseon dynasty to a vibrant democracy based on a Western liberal ideology—makes South Korea another unique case positioned between the West and the rest of the world. From the perspective of Western democracies, South Korea is a valuable partner and an exemplary illustration of how Western liberal democratic ideas and values can be successfully transferred to a non-Western traditional society. Along with countries like India, South Korea showcases a powerful example of the universality of liberal values. As the global democracy is at risk due to the rise of authoritarian leadership across the world, it was a timely move for the G7 to invite South Korea as an observer to this year’s summit in the United Kingdom. Liberal values such as freedom of speech, basic human rights, and racial and LGBT equality could have a universal appeal if advocated by non-Western democracies like South Korea.

South Korea’s unique experience combining a Western-style democracy and the Asian value of communitarianism could become a very powerful source of South Korea’s success as a new model for dealing with global challenges. In the global pandemic, South Korea has been cited as one of the most important success stories in terms of prevention and control. Compared to the U.S. and European countries, South Korea was able to contain the virus thanks to very aggressive governmental measures such as testing, tracing, and social distancing. Yet, such measures would not be enough if had they not been combined with active participation and cooperation from individual citizens. For the average Korean, following COVID guidelines is not only necessary for their own protection but also an important mandate for their family and the community. South Korea has the highest participation rate when it comes to vaccination. Yet, such success is only possible because the people trust the government to be transparent and open. South Korea was able to make these achievements without a citywide nor a nationwide lockdown. It was largely done through people’s voluntary participation in a democratic and transparent process. As a result, the South Korean economy experienced minimal damage with only minus one percent GDP loss last year, and it is projected to undergo 4.3 percent economic growth this year according to the IMF.
Ironically, South Korea’s middle power is least appreciated by Koreans who still tend to regard themselves as a developing nation. South Korea’s foreign policy often focuses on the North Korean threat and its nuclear ambitions on the Korean Peninsula. Yet, there are increasing expectations for South Korea to take up more responsibility on regional as well as global issues. Koreans and the world are in for a nice surprise to see the growing impact of South Korea’s middle power on the global stage.
Seong-ho Sheen is a Professor of International Security and Director of the International Security Center at Seoul National University’s (SNU) Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS). He is a Member on the policy advisory boards of the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Assembly's Committee on Unification, Diplomacy, and Trade.
Image: Reuters
The National Interest · by Seong-ho Sheen · August 2, 2021

18. North Korea criticizes British fleet of warships ahead of port call in South

Excellent timing.
North Korea criticizes British fleet of warships ahead of port call in South
The Korea Times · August 4, 2021
HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier / AP-YonhapNorth Korea slammed a British decision to deploy the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier in Asia ahead of the carrier's port call in South Korea later this month.

Pyongyang's foreign ministry published on Tuesday a statement from Choe Hyon-do, a researcher with the North Korea-Europe Association, accusing Britain of escalating tensions in the region.

"Britain, which intensifies the situation by pushing warships into the distant Asia-Pacific region, is using the move as an excuse to use [North Korea] as a threat," Choe said. "It is a kind of provocation."

The Queen Elizabeth and a fleet of warships embarked on a world tour in May. The Carrier Strike Group has so far conducted joint exercises with Indian and Singaporean forces, and is expected to take part in drills with the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

"The days when the British Empire threatened various countries around the world with 'inclusion diplomacy' and colonized them at will have passed forever," the North Korean statement read. "Better to pay attention to the troublesome aftermath of Brexit."

Choe also addressed a recent statement from British Defense Minister Ben Wallace confirming plans to keep two warships permanently in the Asia-Pacific region.
Britain has accused North Korea and China of trying to isolate Japan and South Korea, and of threatening freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region, the North Korean official claimed.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last month that his country intends to show "our friends in China that we believe in the international law of the sea ... [in] a confident but not confrontational way."

Commodore Steve Moorhouse, commanding officer and captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth, tweeted in Korean on Sunday that the Carrier Strike Group had arrived in the Western Pacific.

"The mission of the British Carrier Group is centered on cooperation and it looks forward to strengthening the partnership between the United Kingdom and [South] Korea for regional security and prosperity," Moorhouse said.
Britain's military said in June the aircraft carrier is to visit South Korea with 18 F-35B stealth fighter jets. (UPI)


The Korea Times · August 4, 2021

19. Kim Jong-un's fear about hallyu
Kim fears the Korean people in the north more than the US (yes I am a broken record). But what he really fears is the example of the South and its influence on the Korean people. The very existence of the South is an existential threat to the regime. The regime cannot compete with it which is why it must depend on its own heavy handed rule by law to stamp out information from the South and to conduct the most aggressive domestic propaganda campaign in the modern era. 

The sad irony is that the South can defeat the north without ever firing a shot. It only has to be the Republic of Korea that calls for a United Republic of Korea and freedom, liberty, justice, and human rights for all Koreans in the north and South.


Kim Jong-un's fear about hallyu
The Korea Times · August 4, 2021
By Park Yoon-bae
In North Korea, the spread of South Korean pop culture, widely known as hallyu, is nothing new. But to a large extent it has gained traction, particularly since the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

According to media reports, an increasing number of North Koreans are enjoying South Korean TV dramas, movies and music as they spend more time at home amid fears about the coronavirus. Undoubtedly, hallyu is becoming more popular in the North than ever before.

The growing popularity of hallyu shows that the Kim Jong-un regime has failed to prevent the influx of K-pop and other South Korean cultural products into the North, despite its prolonged border closures to stave off the coronavirus.
Pyongyang has so far reported no official COVID-19 infections. The border closures, especially with China, could have done the trick as far as the pandemic is concerned. However, they seemed to have done little to block hallyu from penetrating into the North.

South Korean pop culture products appear to have provided comfort and entertainment for many North Koreans who have long become weary of life under the regime due to the North's economic failures and chronic food shortages as well as rampant human rights abuses.

But Kim apparently considers hallyu to be a grave threat to his grip on power. That's why he branded K-pop a "vicious cancer" corrupting young North Koreans. He once referred to K-pop as a "foreign influence" that would make his country "crumble like a damp wall."

His remarks indicated that he was taking hallyu seriously. He might think that it's easier to keep his country free of COVID-19 than K-pop. He must have felt the dangerous effects of a cultural invasion from the South.

Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the North's ruling Workers' Party, published an article last month warning young North Koreans against using slang from South Korea. The newspaper urged them to speak the North's standard language represented by the Pyongyang dialect, while calling on the youth not to enjoy or embrace K-pop or adopt fashion and hairstyles of the South.

The article expressed concerns about the spread of hallyu, describing such cultural penetration as "even more dangerous than enemies who are carrying guns." It can be inferred that foreign influences such as K-pop and other cultural products could pose an existential threat to the North Korean regime.

That's why North Korean authorities have launched an extensive campaign against foreign influence. For this, the North introduced a law on banning reactionary ideologies and culture last December. Under the law, anyone caught possessing or distributing K-pop and other South Korean cultural products may face the death penalty. And those watching such products could be subject to a maximum 15 years in prison.

In addition, the law contains an article calling for up to two years of hard labor for those who adopt South Korean ways of speaking or singing. The article was added apparently because many North Koreans mimic what South Korean actors and actresses say in TV dramas and movies.

According to a report by Daily NK, an online media providing news about North Korea, a 20-year-old man living in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province bordering China, was punished with six months in a labor camp for mimicking the South Korean style of speaking in early July.

The report quoted a North Korean source as saying that the authorities have recently stepped up a crackdown on "anti-socialist phenomenon" among the youth. The unidentified source added that a disciplinary team consisting of college students has launched its activity of searching for those adopting South Korean-style fashions or hairdos.

Yet, it appears tricky for the North Korean authorities to keep what they describe as anti-socialist and reactionary ideologies and culture out of the country. The harder they crack down on those things, the more tempting North Koreans find South Korean ways of expression along with hallyu.

K-pop and other hallyu products have continued to be smuggled into the North on flash memory drives and SD cards carried across the Chinese border. The North's border closures against COVID-19 have proven ineffective in preventing those products from finding their way into the North.

The influx of hallyu could be accelerated as North Korea has reportedly resumed cross-border trade with China, though on a limited basis, since last month. It looks inevitable for the North to expand its trade in a desperate move to ease its economic hardships and worsening food shortages.

Hallyu has already become a global phenomenon as seen in the upbeat melodies of K-pop sensation BTS and the Oscar-winning film "Parasite" directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is almost impossible for any totalitarian country like North Korea to prevent hallyu from going viral within its borders.

There is no question Kim Jong-un has much to fear about hallyu. North Koreans' growing love for hallyu could someday drive their aspiration for freedom and democracy. If that day comes, Kim's nuclear weapons will be useless in prolonging his dynastic rule. Certainly hallyu could be far more devastating to his fragile inherited power than anything else.

The author (byb@koreatimes.co.kr) is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times.


The Korea Times · August 4, 2021







V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Subscribe to FDD’s new podcastForeign Podicy
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Subscribe to FDD’s new podcastForeign Podicy
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:

"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."

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