Quotes of the Day:
"We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others."
- Will Rogers
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
- Samuel Johnson
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.
- Plato
1. N. Korea fires 1 ballistic missile toward East Sea: S. Korean military
2. N.Korea fires ballistic missile as South prepares for new president
3. Defense chief nominee vows stronger alliance, deterrence against N.K. threats
4. North's latest missile launch seems to have been big
5. Yoon's envoys to Washington, Tokyo already chosen
6. U.S. 'second gentleman' coming for Yoon's inauguration
7. Korea-U.S. Defense C4I Compromised, South Korean Captain and a Defense Contractor Arrested for Spying for North Korea
8. U.S. wants U.N. Security Council vote on N.Korea sanctions in May
9. Pyongyang authorities stop young people at random to inspect their cell phones
10. The frightening debt Vladimir Putin owes North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
11. North Korea preparing nuclear test for first time in years, intelligence officials say
12. Major national tasks (incoming Yoon Administration)
13. Global problems may exacerbate shortages in N.Korea's isolated economy
14. N.Korea mobilises office workers to fight drought amid food shortages
1. N. Korea fires 1 ballistic missile toward East Sea: S. Korean military
No surprise Kim Jong-un. We know your playbook.
(3rd LD) N. Korea fires 1 ballistic missile toward East Sea: S. Korean military | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with related analysis in paras 5-6, 10-11; ADDS byline)
By Song Sang-ho and Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, in the recalcitrant regime's latest saber-rattling that comes less than a week before President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 12:03 p.m. and that the missile flew 470 kilometers at a top altitude of 780 km and speed of Mach 11.
The JCS urged the North to immediately stop its ballistic missile tests, criticizing them as a "clear" breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a "grave threat" that undermines peace on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
"Our military is tracking and monitoring related movements to prepare against the possibility of an additional launch, and it is maintaining a full readiness posture," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.
During a parliamentary hearing, Defense Minister nominee Lee Jong-sup said the latest launch might have involved an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a shorter-range one.
Military authorities here are said to presume that the North launched the Hwasong-15 ICBM in a test that can be disguised as a "reconnaissance satellite" launch.
Shortly after the launch, JCS Chairman Gen. Won In-choul held video talks with Gen. Paul LaCamera, the chief of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, and reaffirmed their efforts to ensure a firm combined defense posture, according to the JCS.
The latest launch marks the North's 14th show of force this year. It came after the North test-fired what it claimed to be a tactical guided weapon on April 16.
Concerns have persisted that the North could continue to carry out provocations, such as another ICBM launch or a nuclear test.
Meanwhile, Liu Xiaoming, China's top nuclear envoy, reiterated Beijing's "consistent" support for a "nuclear-free" Korean Peninsula when asked to comment on the North's missile launch. He was in Seoul for talks with his counterpart here.
"First, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Second, we work for peace and stability. Third, that issue should be resolved by peaceful means," the envoy told reporters.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. N.Korea fires ballistic missile as South prepares for new president
A modest inauguration present for the incoming Yoon administration? Kim may just be getting warmed up.
My question is what does Kim have planned for the 21st of May for the Biden-Yoon summit?
N.Korea fires ballistic missile as South prepares for new president
SEOUL, May 4 (Reuters) - North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea and Japan said, about a week after Pyongyang vowed to develop its nuclear forces "at the fastest possible speed".
The North's 14th known weapons test this year comes days before the South's new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, takes office on May 10. The North's last test, on April 16, involved a new tactical guided weapon aimed at boosting its nuclear capability. read more
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch about noon in the Sunan area of the North's capital of Pyongyang, home to an international airport and the area from which the North said it had fired its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-17, on March 24. read more
The missile flew about 470 km (292 miles) to a maximum altitude of 780 km (485 miles), the JCS said.
"A recent series of North Korea's ballistic missile launches poses a grave threat to the peace and stability of not only the Korean peninsula but also the international community," the JCS said in a statement, urging the North to immediately stop such actions.
The offices of both outgoing and incoming South Korean presidents strongly condemned the launch, with Yoon's team vowing to strictly respond to such actions and devise "more fundamental deterrent measures".
Japan's Coast Guard also reported a suspected ballistic missile launch by North Korea.
Japanese deputy defence minister Makoto Oniki put the missile's range at 500 km (311 miles) and its maximum altitude at 800 km (497 miles). He said the ministry was still analysing the data to determine its type.
"North Korea's recent action, including frequent missile launches, cannot be tolerated, as it poses a threat to security and safety of the region and international community," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters, adding that Japan had logged a protest against North Korea.
When he oversaw a huge military parade last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to hasten development of the country's nuclear arsenal amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States. read more
In Seoul, officials and experts say it is too early to say if the latest test involved an ICBM.
In its March 24 test, the North's first full-capability launch since 2017, a missile flew 1,080 km (671 miles) to an altitude of 6,200 km (3,900 miles), with a flight time of 71 minutes, the JCS said.
"It might be an ICBM or something with a shorter range," Lee Jong-sup, Yoon's pick for defence minister, said at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy expert at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the launch possibly involved technology for satellite reconnaissance systems, which the North tested in February and March. read more
Cheong Seong-chang, a specialist on North Korea at the Sejong Institute think tank in Seoul, agreed.
"Today's range and maximum altitude was similar to those recorded in the two previous tests, but showed progress in its capability," Cheong said.
Wednesday's test came as South Korean and Japanese nuclear envoys held talks in Seoul, urging the North to stop escalating tension and return to diplomacy, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
China's nuclear negotiator, Liu Xiaoming, also met Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, who called for Beijing's constructive role in stabilising the situation, the ministry said. read more
Ahead of Yoon's inauguration, he is mapping out a foreign policy agenda after signalling a tough line against Pyongyang, while leaving open the door for dialogue. read more
Lee, a retired former deputy chairman of JCS, told the hearing he would beef up South Korea's deterrent capability to "sternly" respond to the North's nuclear and missile threats.
After breaking its 2017 moratorium on long-range missile testing, North Korea may also soon resume nuclear tests, officials in Seoul and Washington say.
Asked at the hearing about a potential new nuclear test, Lee said preparations seemed to be under way, possibly for a smaller, tactical nuclear weapon.
Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Makiko Yamazaki in Tokyo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Gerry Doyle
3. Defense chief nominee vows stronger alliance, deterrence against N.K. threats
I do not think Kim has gotten the message. His increased tension, threats, and provocations are only going to strengthen the ROK/US alliance and improve trilateral cooperation (ROK-Japan-US). His actions will not result in any sanctions relief.
(3rd LD) Defense chief nominee vows stronger alliance, deterrence against N.K. threats | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with nominee's remarks in paras 12-13; TRIMS)
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense minister nominee on Wednesday vowed efforts to cement "cohesion" in the country's alliance with the United States and sharpen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
During a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Lee Jong-sup, a former three-star Army general, highlighted his vision of a "robust national defense and sturdy military based on science and technology" to respond proactively to "threats from all directions."
His nomination came amid tensions caused by a series of North Korea's ballistic missile launches and concerns over the possibility of it carrying out a nuclear test or other provocative acts.
"(I) will increase cohesion in the South Korea-U.S. military alliance and expand mutually beneficial defense cooperation with the friendly nation," he said. "(I) will strengthen the enforceability of the tailored deterrence strategy and expand areas of cooperation between the South and the U.S., including defense science and technology."
Lee was apparently referring to the allies' deterrence strategy tailored specifically to address evolving North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
Asked about whether South Korea has capabilities to handle the North's nuclear threats, Lee stressed the need to "make the best use" of the U.S.' extended deterrence -- Washington's stated commitment to using its full range of military assets, both nuclear and conventional, to defend its ally.
But he pointed out that the South cannot rely wholly on the U.S.
"We also need to bolster our deterrence and capabilities to respond to contingencies by developing non-nuclear, high-tech weapons," he said.
The nominee also gave his assessment of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recent remarks that hinted at the possibility of his country using nuclear arms for a preemptive attack.
"Conventional wisdom is that nuclear weapons are for a response to a nuclear (attack)," Lee said. "But (Kim's remarks) signal that the North could use nukes in a different situation as well."
On the question about what the North's nuclear arms could target, Lee said, "I think South Korea could be (a subject)."
Noting the North's persistent threats, Lee described it as an "evident" enemy. But he said a review is needed to determine whether to refer to the North as an enemy in the South's defense white paper.
"North Korea currently threatens us with nuclear arms and missiles, and our citizens are considerably worried about it," he said. "In that respect, North Korea is our evident enemy."
Touching on the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), Lee said conditions should be met for Seoul to retake it from Washington.
The allies have been working on the conditions-based OPCON transition. The mutually agreed-upon conditions include Seoul's capabilities to lead combined forces; its strike and air defense capabilities; and the regional security environment conducive to the handover.
Characterizing North Korean missile launches earlier this year as "provocations," the nominee stressed his focus on developing the South's deterrence capabilities and vowed to "sternly" respond to the North's nuclear and missile threats.
During the hearing, lawmakers took issue with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's campaign pledge to deploy more U.S.-made THAAD missile defense systems, which they said could risk rekindling friction with China.
Recently, Yoon's transition team has appeared to be taking a more cautious stance on the sensitive matter. It was not included on the list of key policy tasks, issued earlier this week, for the incoming administration.
"We have become more realistic," Lee said in response to a lawmaker's question of whether Yoon has retreated from the THAAD pledge.
He added the Yoon administration will weigh "various options," including purchasing the Israeli-made Arrow 3 system.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. North's latest missile launch seems to have been big
Excerpt:
Considering the particularly high apogee, some experts said the missile could have been a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a completely new missile.
“Currently, our military is maintaining readiness by tracking and monitoring related trends in preparation for additional launches,” the JCS said.
Wednesday
May 4, 2022
North's latest missile launch seems to have been big
A Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is displayed at a military parade held on Kim Il Sung Square on April 25. Some experts are saying that Wednesday's missile could have been another ICBM. [NEWS1]
North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the East Sea around noon Wednesday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea announced Wednesday that it detected one ballistic missile launched into the East Sea from Sunan near Pyongyang, at 12:03 p.m. The ballistic missile flew 470 kilometers and reached an apogee of 780 kilometers with a top speed of Mach 11.
Considering the particularly high apogee, some experts said the missile could have been a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a completely new missile.
“Currently, our military is maintaining readiness by tracking and monitoring related trends in preparation for additional launches,” the JCS said.
On March 24, North Korea fired the world’s largest ICBM from Sunan.
Wednesday’s launch was the North’s 14th missile test this year. The most recent was a “tactical guided weapon” on April 16, according to North Korean state media.
On April 25, North Korea held a military parade to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army. ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) were on display, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered his military to “prepare nuclear weapons” to be used “at any time.”
North Korea observers are saying that with the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and a South Korea-U.S. summit, North Korea may be making provocations to get attention.
According to the JCS, Chairman Won In-choul of the JCS and Commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Paul LaCamera held a videoconference shortly after North Korea’s ballistic missile launch to share information.
The JCS said that North Korea’s successive ballistic missile launches are “a grave threat to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula as well as the international community and [are] a clear violation of the UN Security Council resolutions."
South Korea’s National Security Office also convened a National Security Council (NSC) standing committee in response to the missile launch by North Korea. The NSC received reports from JCS chairman Won.
“We strongly condemn North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile,” NSC members said in a joint statement. “We urge North Korea to cease actions that pose a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula, the region and the international community and urge a return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy and soon as possible.
“Ahead of the launch of the new Yoon Suk-yeol government on May 10, we will make every effort to safeguard our security while firmly responding to any threat based on our strong military response capabilities and the ROK-U.S. alliance.”
At his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Yoon Suk-yeol’s nominee for Defense Minister, Lee Jong-sup, made it clear that the missile launch violated UN Security Council resolutions.
Regarding how to respond to nuclear tests by the North, Lee said, “Direct physical confrontations are limited.
“Since it is a strategic provocation, we need a strategic response at a corresponding level,” Lee continued.
“I don’t think that tactical provocations on the ground will be easy for the North because our military’s readiness for such situations is very strong,” Lee said. “But the possibility of the North making such provocations cannot be ruled out.”
BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
5. Yoon's envoys to Washington, Tokyo already chosen
The president-elect is rapidly getting the key players of his team in place.
Wednesday
May 4, 2022
Yoon's envoys to Washington, Tokyo already chosen
Cho Tae-yong
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has chosen his ambassadors for Washington and Tokyo, and deliberations on Beijing and Moscow are nearing an end, political sources exclusively told the JoongAng Ilbo Wednesday.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, sources said Rep. Cho Tae-yong of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) will likely serve as ambassador to the United States, while Yoon Duk-min, former head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, will go to Japan.
A leading candidate for ambassador to China is Chung Jae-ho, a professor of political science and international relations at Seoul National University. For ambassador to Russia, Chang Ho-jin, Seoul’s former ambassador to Cambodia, is being strongly considered.
The sources said Chang is also being considered for the post of first vice minister of foreign affairs.
The four candidates were said to have been chosen for their expertise in their respective fields.
Cho, the likely Korean ambassador to Washington, is a former career diplomat with nearly three decades in the service, and is a widely recognized expert on Korea-U.S. ties. In the Park Geun-hye administration, Cho served as first vice minister of foreign affairs and first deputy director of the Blue House National Security Council (NSC).
During the Park administration, Cho is known to have forged close ties with officials in the Barack Obama administration, many of whom are in the Joe Biden administration. Cho’s U.S. counterpart at that time was Antony Blinken, current secretary of state. Cho was also Seoul’s chief negotiator in the Six-Party talks discussing North Korean denuclearization.
The sources who spoke with the JoongAng Ilbo said Cho gained Yoon’s trust during the presidential campaign.
Yoon Duk-min
Yoon Duk-min, the likely ambassador to Japan, has spent most of his career researching international politics and Japanese studies. In the Park administration, he was head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, a vice ministerial-post.
Yoon left the academy when left-leaning President Moon Jae-in entered the Blue House, but continued his studies of diplomatic and national security affairs as head of a newly founded research group. Yoon, who is fluent in Japanese, helped Yoon Suk-yeol craft his diplomatic policy from the early days of the campaign. He recently was part of the president-elect’s policy delegation to Tokyo.
Chung, the likely ambassador to Beijing, is an expert in China and the U.S. He was part of Yoon’s policy delegation to Washington last month. Chung is known to be fluent in both English and Chinese.
Chang, who is being considered for ambassador to Russia, is a career diplomat with years of experience in both U.S. and North Korean affairs in the Foreign Ministry.
BY YOO JEE-HYE, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]
6. U.S. 'second gentleman' coming for Yoon's inauguration
Wednesday
May 4, 2022
\
U.S. 'second gentleman' coming for Yoon's inauguration
From left: U.S. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, "Pachinko" author Min Jin Lee
The U.S. government will send Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh to Yoon Suk-yeol’s presidential inauguration next week, multiple diplomatic sources told the JoongAng Ilbo.
The sources told the paper Tuesday that Washington is sending the two figures to highlight the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance.
No former U.S. president or high-level official directly involved in bilateral ties will be coming to the inauguration, set for next Tuesday in Seoul, due mainly to the fact that U.S. President Joe Biden will be visiting Korea later this month for a summit with Yoon.
During discussions between the two countries on who would represent Washington, concerns were raised that the presence of a former president could amount to a protocol violation for when Biden touches down in Korea the following week.
Inviting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the ceremony was considered, but that, too, was nixed after it was confirmed he’d be accompanying Biden to Korea. The State Department’s preoccupation with the war in Ukraine was another factor in Washington’s decision not to send Blinken.
Yoon’s transition team said last week that Biden is expected to visit Korea from May 20 to 22. The summit has been scheduled for May 21, 11 days after Yoon becomes president.
At one point in talks between the two countries, some officials reportedly said there was no need to dispatch a high-level delegation from Washington at all, arguing that both sides should focus on the Yoon-Biden summit. But other officials refuted the suggestion, emphasizing the need to show that the Korea-U.S. alliance was ironclad from Day One of Yoon’s five-year term.
Emhoff is the first-ever husband of a vice president in U.S. history. He is a partner at the multinational law firm DLA Piper. In his role as second gentleman, Emhoff has vowed to work towards equal access to legal representation.
Secretary of Labor Walsh, born to Irish immigrant parents, vocally protested former U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policy while serving as the mayor of Boston and has often expressed his intent to protect immigrant workers. Walsh has no known direct ties with Korea, but local diplomatic sources stressed Walsh would add weight to Yoon’s inauguration ceremony given that he’s a member of the Cabinet.
Aside from the delegation from Washington, diplomatic sources said Min Jin Lee, a Korean-American author of the bestseller “Pachinko” (2017), a novel that chronicles the story of a Korean immigrant family that faces discrimination in Japan, will also be attending the inauguration. An adaptation of the book on Apple TV+ was a major hit earlier this year.
BY YOO JEE-HYE, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]
7. Korea-U.S. Defense C4I Compromised, South Korean Captain and a Defense Contractor Arrested for Spying for North Korea
A troubling incident. Photos of the devices at the link.
Korea-U.S. Defense C4I Compromised, South Korean Captain and a Defense Contractor Arrested for Spying for North Korea
2022-5-3, Tara O
A South Korean military officer and a defense contractor for IT systems were arrested for spying for North Korea in return for payments in crypto currency. They have compromised CENTRIXS-K, a U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) Command, Control, Computer, and Intelligence (C4I) system, which was located in the bunker of the Ministry of National Defense (MND). According to the information released on April 28, 2022 by the National Investigation Headquarters’ Security Investigation Bureau, the police arrested Mr. Lee, an employee of a defense network maintenance contractor on April 11, 2022 for violating Articles 4 (Fulfilling the Purpose) and 8 (Meeting, Communication, etc.) of the National Security Act. Also arrested was a military captain on the suspicion of violating the Military Secrets Protection Act.
The police assessed that they were recruited by a North Korean espionage agent. Mr. Lee, who is in his mid-30s, was a captain in the military, and became a contractor for defense system maintenance. The North Korean agent recruited Lee through social media and gave him an order through Telegram to fulfill. According to former MND spokesperson Kim Min-seok (김민석), around July 2021, the North Korean agent instructed Lee to recruit an active duty military officer, who can access military secrets, and recruited the captain. (2:00) On the agent’s orders in January this year, Lee obtained a specialized watch with a hidden camera and listening device and mailed it to the captain for spying purposes. (2:48)
A spy watch sent at the order of a North Korean espionage agent
Between January and March 2022, the captain hacked KJCCS (Korean Joint Command and Control System), a classified ROK system, by inserting a tainted USB stick, potentially a poison tap. (3:28) A poison tap connects to the USB port, but instead of announcing itself as a USB stick, it pretends to be an ethernet interface. A backdoor is created this way to remotely access and manipulate the data on the computer network. A virus could also be inserted via the USB stick. Both hacking and providing intelligence to North Korea are gravely damaging to the national security of the Republic of Korea as well as to the U.S.
The North Korean agent paid in bitcoin. Lee was paid ₩700,000,000 (~$600,000) and the active duty captain who helped Lee was paid ₩48,000,000 (~$40,000 ). Lee provided mainly personnel information to North Korea, which allows North Korea to target them for further exploitation. The captain previously was part of an elite “Special Mission Brigade” that targeted North Korean leadership, which was created under the Park Geun-hye administration.
The North Korean agent paid Lee ₩700 million (~$600,000) and the captain ₩48,000,000 (~$40,000) in bitcoin.
Kim Kuk-sung (김국성), formerly a senior colonel in North Korea’s General Reconnaissance Bureau (북한 정찰총국) and a close associate of Jang Song-thaek (Kim Jong-un’s uncle), stated that it is not just this one captain (one person), but many more; he asserted that the North Korean records indicate 120,000 spies in South Korea in important government organizations, including the Blue House, the National Assembly, National Intelligence Service, Ministry of Defense, and Korea Institute of Defense Analyses. (0:59)
Don’t destroy counterintelligence capability any further
This doesn’t bode well. Spying is a serious problem in South Korea, despite the public being led to believe that there are no spies in modern Korea, with the pejorative saying of “are there spies anymore?” While the police should be praised for arresting the spies, catching 1 or 2 spies is not a comfort, if there are 120,000 spies infiltrated throughout the government. There needs to be better leadership and greater emphasis on this issue.
A good start is not breaking what already works or worked. The Democratic Party of Korea (Deobureo Minjoo Party) is trying to dissolve the National Security Act and already took away the counterintelligence investigative authority of the National Intelligence Service and dissolved the ROK military’s Defense Security Command. These efforts, which have created a thriving atmosphere for North Korean agents and spies, need to be reversed.
Restore military morale
South Korean military morale has been sapped under the Moon administration. The ROK MND was not allowed to call North Korea its “main enemy” anymore and that was reflected in military training by not only removing the term, but portraying North Korea as benign, despite their numerous missile and nuclear tests and other provocations, including the attacks on the ROK Navy ship Cheonan. The military’s readiness also was severely degraded. A key example is the canceling or downsizing of the various combined U.S.-ROK military exercises. Another example is the 2018 Military Agreement’s restrictions unilaterally placed on South Korea by preventing military training of various units in the West Sea. Yet another case is the establishment of no-fly zone that significantly affected the ROK and the US military, while having no or hardly any impact on North Korean military. Taking away or de-emphasizing the purpose of the military’s existence and positively portraying North Korea despite its hostile acts and words against the ROK are not good for morale. Without a sense of purpose, it appears even an elite officer was relatively easily recruited.
8. U.S. wants U.N. Security Council vote on N.Korea sanctions in May
U.S. wants U.N. Security Council vote on N.Korea sanctions in May
UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (Reuters) - The United States would like the U.N. Security Council to vote during May to further sanction North Korea over its renewed ballistic missile launches, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on Tuesday.
The United States circulated an initial draft resolution to the 15-member council last month that proposed banning tobacco and halving oil exports to North Korea and blacklisting the Lazarus hacking group. read more
However, Russia and China have already signaled opposition to boosting sanctions in response to Pyongyang's March launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile - its first since 2017. A Security Council resolution needs nine "yes" votes to pass, without a veto by Russia, China, France, Britain or the United States.
"It is our plan to move forward with that resolution during this month," U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters when asked if she would put it to a vote. The United States is president of the Security Council for May.
"We're very concerned about the situation," Thomas-Greenfield said. "It is our hope that we can keep the council unified in condemning those actions by the DPRK (North Korea)."
North Korea has been subjected to U.N. sanctions since 2006, which the U.N. Security Council has steadily stepped up over the years in a bid to cut off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
But the hermit Asian state has successfully worked to evade some U.N. sanctions, according to independent U.N. sanctions monitors, who reported in February that North Korean cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges were earning Pyongyang hundreds of millions of dollars. read more
Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Gregorio
9. Pyongyang authorities stop young people at random to inspect their cell phones
Information is an existential threat to the Kim family regime. This is why we need to conduct strategic influence through information advantage and conduct operations in the information environment as a main effort.
Pyongyang authorities stop young people at random to inspect their cell phones - Daily NK
One inspection team recently stopped a university student on the street, inspecting his phone for 30 minutes until finding a file of a South Korean song
North Koreans in Pyongyang around the time of the Pyongyang Summit in 2018. (Pyongyang Photography Joint Reporting Group)
North Korean authorities have recently begun stopping young people at random on the streets of Pyongyang to inspect their cell phones, examining call histories, text messages, and even whether the phones have banned music or video files.
The emergence of these street inspections appears to be due to the increasing number of young people watching or listening to foreign videos or music, despite existing layers of controls and punishments directed toward those possessing content deemed problematic by the authorities.
A source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Monday that since mid-April, crackdowns targeting the mobile phones of young people in the city have been taking place in the streets, including in market areas.
“The crackdowns are being carried out by members of inspection teams selected from the Socialist Patriotic Youth League branches in each district of the city,” the source said.
It is extremely rare for North Korean authorities to physically stop young people at random and inspect their phones on the streets. In the past, high schools, universities, and workplace youth organizations have conducted similar crackdowns among members of those organizations, but Daily NK’s source said that it is almost unheard of for such inspections to be carried out at random in public places.
According to the source, the inspection teams were created on Apr. 10 under the leadership of the Pyongyang branch of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League Committee. Locals were not informed of the formation of these inspection teams, he added.
The crackdowns being conducted by the inspection teams are focusing on finding problematic text messages and music and video files on young people’s mobile phones. If any “impure content” is found, the person in question is punished and their phone is confiscated.
On Apr. 21, a student in his 20s attending Pyongyang Medical University was targeted by an inspection team while making a call on the street. The team took away his phone and spent over 30 minutes inspecting it, eventually finding a file of a South Korean song.
Following the incident, the student, surnamed Kim, was not able to attend lectures at his university anymore and was forced by the municipal youth league committee to write self-criticisms every day. Kim’s case has recently been handed over to the courts and there is an ongoing investigation into who the source of the song file was.
Another young woman in her 30s living near Pyongyang’s Potonggang District was recently stopped by an inspection team on the street to have her mobile phone inspected. The team spent more than 40 minutes inspecting the device, but they did not find anything incriminating.
Many young people are upset about the crackdowns by these inspection teams and feel like they are committing a crime just by carrying a phone with them or making a phone call on the street, the source said.
“Some young people are even getting into fights with inspection teams because [they believe the crackdowns] represent a clear violation of their privacy,” he added.
The source noted that even though the authorities are doing their best to try and root out “non-socialist phenomenon” or “impure recordings” such as South Korean songs, North Korean young people who have long been exposed to foreign culture are simply pooh poohing the recent crackdowns by the authorities.
Translated by Gabriela Bernal. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
10. The frightening debt Vladimir Putin owes North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
The always provocative Donald Kirk.
Excerpts:
If Kim’s rhetoric seems abstract, Putin should still be glad to reward him with planes, artillery pieces and, most fearsome of all, the missiles and missile technology for striking North Korea’s near neighbors, Japan and South Korea. The need for more and better Russian planes and arms to bolster the North’s decaying, decrepit arsenal is all the more urgent considering that Yoon has made clear he’ll stand up to North Korea and do away with pleas for appeasement voiced by outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Putin has just tested a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, and the Russians know how to fire it with a nuclear warhead. The North Koreans are not believed yet to have figured how to fix a warhead onto the tip of their own ICBMs. Putin should be able to resolve that issue. Russian scientists, physicists and engineers may be expected to advise the North Koreans on technology that will deepen the confrontation on the Korean peninsula and bring the world ever closer to a devastating war in which millions might die.
The frightening debt Vladimir Putin owes North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
Russia’s war in Ukraine has come at a great time for North Korea. While the U.S. would like the United Nations to punish the North with more severe sanctions for any and all intercontinental ballistic missile tests, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can play up his great relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and be sure that Russia will block any such move.
On April 25, 2019, Kim and Putin met in Vladivostok, Russia’s far eastern port city. Since then, they appear to have been on better terms than ever, thanks to North Korea’s total support for the invasion of Ukraine.
Now it’s time for Putin to repay Kim for his rhetorical loyalty with the aid he badly needs. Putin could begin by providing North Korea with heavy weapons and spare parts. A top priority for North Korea is to repair and/or replace all those MiGs and other fighters, bombers and transport aircraft bequeathed Kim’s grandfather, dynasty founder Kim Il Sung, by the Soviet regime after the North Koreans invaded South Korea in June 1950.
The breakup of the Soviet empire in 1991 ended the flow of aid from the former USSR into North Korea. The most immediate effect was that Russia ceased accepting near-worthless North Korean currency as payment for a wide range of goods desperately needed to shore up the impoverished North Korean economy. Quickly, North Korea plunged into such dire poverty that as many as 2 million people starved to death or died from disease during what North Korea officially calls the “arduous march” of the 1990s.
You can blame North Korea’s worst suffering on Russia’s refusal to shower the regime with not only armaments but also many other items, including machinery for factories that soon were forced to shut down. Kim Il Sung died at the height of the crisis in 1994, escaping blame for starving his citizens while hundreds of thousands were also tortured, executed or sentenced to the “gulag” that he had established in his country’s forbidding, cold, mountainous northern reaches for showing the slightest disloyalty to his rule. His son, Kim Jong Il, was no less cruel during a reign that ended with his death in December 2011 and the rise of the third-generation heir, Kim Jong Un, to absolute power.
Now, with the Kim dynasty still firmly ensconced while the country sinks ever deeper into poverty, Putin should restore relations to where they were before the demise of the Soviet empire. In gratitude for Kim’s support, he may be expected to ship food and other goods into North Korea for nearly nothing, and he should leap at the opportunity to strengthen the 1.2 million-man Korean People’s Army, which includes all ground, air and naval elements.
Putin’s affinity for Kim, and vice versa, is affirmed by their mutual belief in threatening to nuke their enemies. While Putin has boasted of the power of his “nuclear forces,” Kim said much the same in an April 25 speech in Kim Il Sung Square celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army.
His own nuclear forces must be “strengthened in terms of both quality and scale so they can perform nuclear combat capabilities in any situations of warfare,” according to the official English-language version released by Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency. He would focus on “developing the nuclear forces of our state at the fastest possible speed” — a warning that he has every intention of challenging South Korea’s President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol from the moment Yoon is inaugurated in Seoul on May 10.
Most frighteningly, Kim said he views nuclear power to be used as not merely “a deterrent” but “when a situation we are not desirous of at all is created on this land.” Nuclear force might be needed “to decisively accomplish an unexpected second mission,” he said, meaning if “fundamental interests” were violated. In other words, any pretext should do.
There’s no doubt that Kim has the nukes at hand. North Korea is believed to have fabricated at least 60 warheads while producing more of them at its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, and in underground facilities elsewhere. Kim ordered the North’s sixth, most recent, nuclear test in September 2017, and he is assumed to have a seventh test high on his “to do” list. At the parade before his speech, several intercontinental ballistic missiles were on dramatic display, including the latest-model Hwasong-17.
If Kim’s rhetoric seems abstract, Putin should still be glad to reward him with planes, artillery pieces and, most fearsome of all, the missiles and missile technology for striking North Korea’s near neighbors, Japan and South Korea. The need for more and better Russian planes and arms to bolster the North’s decaying, decrepit arsenal is all the more urgent considering that Yoon has made clear he’ll stand up to North Korea and do away with pleas for appeasement voiced by outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Putin has just tested a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, and the Russians know how to fire it with a nuclear warhead. The North Koreans are not believed yet to have figured how to fix a warhead onto the tip of their own ICBMs. Putin should be able to resolve that issue. Russian scientists, physicists and engineers may be expected to advise the North Koreans on technology that will deepen the confrontation on the Korean peninsula and bring the world ever closer to a devastating war in which millions might die.
Donald Kirk has been a journalist for more than 60 years, focusing much of his career on conflict in Asia and the Middle East, including as a correspondent for the Washington Star and Chicago Tribune. He currently is a freelance correspondent covering North and South Korea. He is the author of several books about Asian affairs.
11. North Korea preparing nuclear test for first time in years, intelligence officials say
Excerpts:
The United States will take over the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month. When Russian forces launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, it served as president of the 15-nation panel. Some think Russia's veto power will keep more aggressive sanctions from being launched at Pyongyang.
"Russia's war in Ukraine has come at a great time for North Korea. While the U.S. would like the United Nations to punish the North with more severe sanctions for any and all intercontinental ballistic missile tests, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can play up his great relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and be sure that Russia will block any such move," Donald Kirk wrote in "The Hill," Monday.
North Korea preparing nuclear test for first time in years, intelligence officials say
China's atomic envoy met with South Korean counterpart over 'severe' developments
foxnews.com · by Lucas Y. Tomlinson , Barry-John Davies | Fox News
Western intelligence officials say North Korea is preparing to conduct a nuclear weapons test for the first time in over four years. Renewed tensions on the peninsula prompted China's atomic envoy to meet his South Korean counterpart in Seoul on Tuesday calling the situation "severe."
According to a statement from South Korea's foreign ministry, Noh Kyu-Duk hoped his Chinese counterpart Liu Xiaoming would play a "constructive role" in urging North Korea to return to the negotiating table.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un recently warned he would use nuclear weapons 'preemptively' if threatened. The dictator recently presided over another massive military parade to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's revolutionary army.
Kim pledged to develop nuclear weapons at the "fastest possible speed," according to his state-run media. There are concerns that the North Korean dictator will use the opportunity to unleash a new nuclear test to spoil the upcoming summit of President Biden on May 21 in South Korea, days after the country's new leader takes the helm next week.
Kim Jong Un at a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Feb. 28. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
The U.S. military maintains a force of 28,500 troops in South Korea.
There are calls to return tactical nuclear warheads to South Korea for the first time in decades after North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile in late March for the first time since 2017, following a flurry of shorter-range ballistic missiles this year.
North Korea rolled out its new ICBM during a military parade in October 2020. The missile tested in recent weeks flew nearly 4,000 miles into space, more than 15 times the orbit of the International Space Station. It has the range to reach the United States, experts say. It's still unclear if North Korea has developed a nuclear warhead that can successfully re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
In recent weeks, U.S. spy satellites have detected new tunnels being bored in the country, at a location where such tests have been conducted in the past, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News.
The officials said new activity indicates that another nuclear test will possibly occur in the coming weeks. North Korea has conducted six nuclear weapons tests in its history, beginning in 2006.
According to the defense officials, intelligence analysts discovered excavation equipment active in Kilju, located in the Hamgyong province, at a site where a nuclear weapons test had most recently been conducted in September 2017.
South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party celebrating with supporters at the party's headquarters on March 10 in Seoul. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images, File)
South Korea's incoming president is urging the Biden administration to deploy nuclear weapons to the peninsula for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Conservative president-elect Yoon Suk-Yeol, 61, will be sworn in next week. It's not immediately clear what type of strategic assets he has in mind. During the 1980s, the U.S. military deployed tactical, short-range nuclear missiles to South Korea.
On Sept. 27, 1991, then-President George H.W. Bush ordered all deployed short-range nuclear missiles dismantled. He also announced the U.S. Navy would no longer deploy nuclear-tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles aboard warships and submarines under "normal circumstances."
Fox News correspondent Alex Hogan has the latest from London on 'America Reports.'
The United States will take over the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month. When Russian forces launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, it served as president of the 15-nation panel. Some think Russia's veto power will keep more aggressive sanctions from being launched at Pyongyang.
"Russia's war in Ukraine has come at a great time for North Korea. While the U.S. would like the United Nations to punish the North with more severe sanctions for any and all intercontinental ballistic missile tests, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can play up his great relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and be sure that Russia will block any such move," Donald Kirk wrote in "The Hill," Monday.
foxnews.com · by Lucas Y. Tomlinson , Barry-John Davies | Fox News
12. Major national tasks (incoming Yoon Administration)
Major national tasks
Concrete plans needed to implement initiatives
The presidential transition committee on Tuesday announced 110 national tasks to be pursued by the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The initiatives are designed to promote four values ― national interests, pragmatism, fairness and common sense ― with the motto of ensuring "another leap for the Republic of Korea: a nation of people living well together."
The initiatives are focused on revitalizing the economy by allowing the private sector to take the lead, while regulations will be eased or lifted, and taxation will be reorganized. As a priority task, the committee cited assistance to the small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unveiling the tasks, the committee demonstrated a strong will to differentiate the next administration from the incumbent Moon Jae-in administration, which has come under fire by some in the business circle for excessive regulations.
The committee has offered detailed measures regarding the rescheduling of debt payments and other financial assistance for the poor and the socioeconomically vulnerable. To lay the groundwork for future economic growth, it aims to enable Korea to join the ranks of the world's top five countries in science and technology.
The panel also decided to scrap President Moon's nuclear energy phase-out policy. Thus, the construction of Shin Hanul 3 and 4 nuclear power stations will resume immediately, and efforts will be made to export 10 nuclear reactors by 2030. The tasks also include a plan to build more than 2.5 million homes to stabilize the housing market and ease the property tax burden, especially on owners of multiple homes.
What matters is how the next government will be able to secure the budget necessary to implement such tasks. The committee estimates that these initiatives will require an additional 209 trillion won ($165 billion) over the next five years. It has stressed the need to restructure budget spending and raise tax revenue by speeding up the economic recovery. Yet such a plan draws skepticism in view of the growing inflationary pressure and other downside risks.
The incoming administration plans to abide by Yoon's campaign pledge to increase dramatically monthly welfare stipend for each enlisted soldier to 2 million won, though not immediately as promised but in stages by 2025. The stipends will readjust when the pay raise is made, taking budgetary constraints into account. It has failed to specify how it will finance the salary hike. However, the committee has yet to present how to push for pension reform, despite the urgency of doing so amid rapid population aging and the falling birthrate. It has only vowed to set up a panel to discuss the issue.
"The economy is faced with grave challenges due to difficult situations, internally and externally. What is more important is how to carry out the tasks beyond setting out such initiatives," President-elect Yoon said. That's true. The next administration should not repeat the mistakes committed by previous administrations which were long on words but short on action.
13. Global problems may exacerbate shortages in N.Korea's isolated economy
Making a bad situation worse or will Juche "protect" north Korea since they are so used to and proficient at being isolated?
Global problems may exacerbate shortages in N.Korea's isolated economy
SEOUL, May 3 (Reuters) - North Korea's isolated economy will not be insulated from global economic headwinds caused by the Ukraine war and the COVID-19 lockdowns in China, analysts said, with recently resumed border trade taking a hit and inflation exacerbating food shortages.
Strict international sanctions ban or restrict wide categories of North Korean imports and exports, and the country locked down its border for years to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks. Natural disasters such as flooding have also taken a toll on harvests and damaged infrastructure.
The trickle of trade and aid that resumed over the land border with China in January probably did not alleviate reported food shortages - and trade was suspended again last week as COVID-19 cases rose in China, analysts said. Satellite imagery shows goods sitting for weeks or months in quarantine at land and sea port facilities.
“As food prices in North Korea do often move in tandem with global prices, we're likely to see current food price hikes mirrored in North Korea as well over time,” said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, an economic expert with the U.S.-based Stimson Center.
International aid organizations have pulled most of their staff from the country amid the prolonged border shutdowns, and say it is difficult to know exactly how bad the situation is.
Last year the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea said the country's most vulnerable people risk starvation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
North Korea's government has acknowledged a tense food situation but has disputed reports that it is failing to provide for residents.
The World Food Program estimated that even before the pandemic hit, 11 million people – or more than 40 percent of the population - were undernourished and required humanitarian assistance.
Higher energy prices globally will most likely help North Korean coal producers, Katzeff Silberstein said.
North Korean coal – which is banned from export by United Nations Security Council resolutions – costs a fraction of the global average. But prices still have soared 40% in the past six months, according to Seoul-based Daily NK, which tracks commodities prices in the North.
Coal smuggling remained at relatively low levels because of sealed borders, but increased in the second half of last year, according to the latest annual U.N. report by independent sanctions monitors.
That may help fill the regime's coffers, but corresponding increases in domestic coal prices could cause further harm for residents at home.
It is challenging to separate effects of the Ukraine crisis from other factors, but North Korea is clearly susceptible to global economic trends, said Christopher Green, a Korea specialist at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
"Very broadly, if China entered a recession - which would also be impossible to blame on Ukraine given all the other issues China faces - then exports from North Korea would fall," he said.
Leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to improve living standards with major construction projects and rural development, and has held a steady stream of civilian and military displays this year.
Kim unveiled thousands of new apartments in Pyongyang last month, and state media reported that some agricultural areas were seeking to improve crop yields by using "homemade manure", upgrading tractors, and adopting new methods for raising rice.
Authorities have also taken steps to protect against floods and droughts, including deploying more pumps, state media reported.
Many of these efforts rely on mobilising masses of labourers because of a lack of heavy equipment and supplies, said Lee Jongkyu, a senior fellow at the Korea Development Institute in Seoul.
"In the short term perspective, these projects might be effective, but it's not sustainable for the mid- to long-term perspective," he said.
Reporting by Josh Smith. Editing by Gerry Doyle
14. N.Korea mobilises office workers to fight drought amid food shortages
In the US, every Marine is a rifleman. In north Korea, every citizen is a farmer.
N.Korea mobilises office workers to fight drought amid food shortages
By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL – North Korea’s office workers and factory labourers have been dispatched to farming areas around the country to join a fight against drought, state media reported on Wednesday, amid concerns over prolonged food shortages.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had called for measures to improve a tense food situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and typhoons, despite slight improvements early last year.
Drought and floods have long posed a seasonal threat to North Korea, which lacks irrigation systems and other infrastructure, and any serious natural hazards could cripple its reclusive economy already reeling from international sanctions and a near halt of trade.
The North’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper said government officials and company and factory workers joined hands with farmers nationwide in distributing pumping equipment and developing water resources in drought-prone regions.
It did not specify any damages so far, but said those efforts are aimed at countering an ongoing dry spell and bracing for an upcoming drought.
“Systematic, aggressive efforts are under way to raise public awareness and mobilise all available capabilities to prevent crop damages from drought in advance,” the paper said.
North Korea’s weather authorities on Tuesday warned of prolonged dry weather across the country until early next week, according to the official KCNA news agency.
The weather agency said last week that the average temperature for April was 2.3 Celsius (36.1 Fahrenheit) degrees higher than usual, with just 44 percent of its average rainfall nationwide.
In Anju and Kaechon, north of the capital Pyongyang, people created ponds, added fertiliser and growth enhancer to crops, and sent tractors, trucks and cultivators to carry water to farms, Rodong said.
Another dispatch said young labour units, which are called dolgyeokdae or youth brigades and usually mobilised in major infrastructure projects, have recently built waterways in the eastern port city of Hamhung as part of efforts to modernise and expand irrigational facilities.
In March, the United Nations urged Pyongyang to reopen its borders to aid workers and food imports, saying its deepening isolation may have left many facing starvation.
North Korea has not officially confirmed any COVID-19 cases, but it had closed borders and travel restrictions, before briefly resuming trade with China early this year.
The World Food Program estimated that even before the pandemic hit, 11 million, or more than 40 percent of the population, were undernourished and required humanitarian assistance.
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
