Quotes of the Day:
“Cold Wars cannot be conducted by hotheads. Nor can ideological conflicts be won as crusades or concluded by unconditional surrender.”
- Walter Lippmann: The Russian-American War 1949
"[A demagogue is] one who maximizes his appeal to the frustrated, to the dispossessed of the earth. He offers vivid and dramatic, simplistic solutions to all of life's problems. "
- Eugene Brussell
"Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an accessible simple diagnosis of the world's ills and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all."
- John W. Gardner, No Easy Victories
1. Presidential office holds security meeting amid N.K. artillery shots
2. N. Korean leader urges officials to wage battle against 'unrevolutionary act'
3. [INTERVIEW] Anti-leaflet law, clear violation of UN treaty, must be revoked: rights expert
4. Kim Jong Un threatens ‘Fight against Enemy’
5. DPRK leader underlines need for stronger self-defense measures
6. North Korea Reportedly Test-Fired Artillery Pieces Into Ocean On Sunday
7. North revives 'confrontational struggle' language at meeting
8. North Korea tries to cheer people up by ordering police to start being nice
9. North Korea makes school uniforms in inter-Korean industrial zone without permission
10. A look into N. Korea’s COVID-19 situation…The elderly and young are dying
11. Final preparations under way for 2nd launch of S. Korean space rocket
12. N. Korean leader urges officials to wage battle against power abuse, bureaucratism
13. North Korean COVID-19/Fever Data Tracker
14. Yoon defends watching movie on day N.K. fired artillery shots
15. Nuke test may be a 'political decision' away, says top envoy
16. N. Korea launches surprise inspections of navy and air force units
17. N. Korea distributes lecture material calling for all-out focus on "weeding fields"
18. North's artillery fire wasn't reported for hours
19. 'North Korea's reshuffle signals preparation for dialogue'
20. Why is New Zealand’s defence minister visiting South Korea?
1. Presidential office holds security meeting amid N.K. artillery shots
Just another opportunity to tell Kim Jong Un that his strategy will not be successful. The alliance will not appease him in the face of the his political warfare and blackmail diplomacy. His threats, increased tensions, and provocations will not result in sanctions relief or any political and economic concessions.
Presidential office holds security meeting amid N.K. artillery shots | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- The presidential National Security Office has held a meeting to discuss North Korea's firing of artillery shots presumably from a multiple rocket launcher, the presidential office said.
The shots were detected between 8:07 a.m. and 11:03 a.m. on Sunday morning, and the NSO meeting was convened at 10:30 a.m. the same day to check the military's readiness posture, the office said in a notice to reporters late Sunday night.
During the meeting, presided over by First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo, the participants "expressed concern that North Korea continues to enhance various weapons systems that pose a direct threat to our security, and reaffirmed the government's position of responding calmly and strictly, while continuing to monitor the situation," it said.
The results of the meeting were reported to National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han, who then reported them to President Yoon Suk-yeol.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. N. Korean leader urges officials to wage battle against 'unrevolutionary act'
Sounds like he thinks he has a problem with a "deep state bureaucracy."
As an aside, at the link to the article is a YouTube video about "the double chin is back saying Kim Jong Un has regained his lost weight over the past 6 months.
N. Korean leader urges officials to wage battle against 'unrevolutionary act' | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called on officials to root out "unrevolutionary" acts such as bureaucracy as he held a party meeting, state media said Monday.
The secretariat of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party convened the meeting the previous day in Pyongyang to discuss the immediate tasks faced by the party, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
During the party, Kim urged party officials to wage a more intense battle against unhealthy acts and bureaucracy, it said.
The meeting also discussed the issue of strengthening the role of the party to implement the national tasks discussed at the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party's eighth Central Committee last week.
At a party congress last year, the North revised the ruling party's rules to reinstate the secretariat that was scrapped in 2016 and elected leader Kim as "general secretary" of the party.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. [INTERVIEW] Anti-leaflet law, clear violation of UN treaty, must be revoked: rights expert
The Yoon administration should work with the National Assembly to replace the law. The Yoon administration should initiate a comprehensive alliance information and influence activities campaign. The administration should take a human rights upfront approach in coordination with the US.
[INTERVIEW] Anti-leaflet law, clear violation of UN treaty, must be revoked: rights expert
Activists fly balloons bearing the message, "Kim Jong-un is the enemy of the people," in Paju near the inter-Korean border, in this June 4, 2020, file photo. South Korea's anti-leaflet law that bans sending anti-regime leaflets across the inter-Korean border is a clear violation of a United Nations treaty and it must be revoked, according to an international human rights advocate. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Yoon urged to learn from Moon's policy that served to 'just embolden' North Korea
By Jung Min-ho
Phil Robertson
South Korea's anti-leaflet law that bans sending anti-regime leaflets across the inter-Korean border is a clear violation of a United Nations treaty and it must be revoked, according to an international human rights advocate.
Under the law, enacted in 2020 during the previous Moon Jae-in administration after North Korea threatened retaliation over the sending of such leaflets into its territory, violators could face up to three years in prison. Park Sang-hak, the head of a group known for launching balloons with human rights and pro-democracy messages into the North, was the first person to be indicted on charges of violating the law. The case is currently under review at the Constitutional Court.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, an international human rights group headquartered in New York City, told The Korea Times that ― apart from whether the law is constitutional in South Korea ― it violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which requires that all ratifying states have their national laws comply with the provisions of the treaty.
"The anti-leaflet law violates article 19 of the ICCPR, which provides that everyone has 'the right to freedom of expression,' which includes the 'freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice' … Meaning that sending leaflets or other communications across the border to the DPRK (as it states, 'regardless of frontiers') is clearly covered by the ICCPR," Robertson said.
DPRK refers to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"A group of U.N. human rights special rapporteurs communicated this view that the law violates the ICCPR to Moon's government, but their argument was unfairly rejected by Seoul without adequate explanation or rationales," he said.
Many human rights experts at U.N. agencies and international NGOs were "quite shocked" when the then-ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) ― in an obvious bid to back up Moon's North Korea policy ― moved to pass the bill despite serious objections they made on human rights grounds, Robertson noted.
"The North engaged in a campaign of intimidation and bluffing, and Moon foolishly fell for it and passed a law that violates South Korean people's rights. It was truly a shameful episode, and one of the lowest points on human rights we saw during his term in office," he said.
When lawmakers were drafting the bill, the DPK brought up "national security" ― which is the same argument used by past authoritarian South Korean administrations as an excuse to suppress individual freedoms, in those days in the name of anti-communism ― to justify the necessity of such a law. Critics, including Robertson, say the argument is insufficient for an outright ban.
"The DPK's argument that national security is at stake can be made under the ICCPR, but restrictions on those grounds can only be made 'as necessary,' meaning that there must be a proportional response, not a blanket ban," Robertson said. "The aspects of 'national security' that the government claimed were damaged were never adequately or transparently explained. Most people believe that efforts to release anti-DPRK leaflets into North Korea via balloons and other delivery methods are ineffectual at best, and a nuisance at worst. So why then is South Korea excessively claiming that such actions constitute some massive national security threat? The argument simply doesn't make sense."
President Yoon Suk-yeol said in an interview with the Voice of America, a state-owned international radio broadcaster of the U.S., that making the law was "a wrong decision" and it is "not appropriate" for the government to restrict voluntary campaigns by citizens promoting human rights in North Korea.
Yet, with DPK representatives being the majority at the National Assembly, a repeal of the leaflet ban law is unlikely. For now, the ruling People Power Party is pinning its hope on the Constitutional Court.
An activist prepares to send packages containing human rights and pro-democracy messages across the inter-Korean border in Paju, in this June 4, 2020, file photo. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
South Korea should 'always raise human rights issues in the North'
South Korean politics have been essentially polarized for decades over how to secure lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. While most conservatives try to achieve it through strength, liberals tend to focus more on improving relations with the North Korean elite, whom they seek to make deals with; so liberals are extremely cautious about offending them by, for example, taking issue with human rights violations in the North.
If the past five years proved anything ― with North Korea becoming even more aggressive in recent months ― it was that, over time, keeping silent about issues uncomfortable to the regime may make matters worse in the long run, Robertson said.
"The progressive parties should understand that the failure to raise human rights issues and other difficult topics with North Korea's leaders just emboldens Pyongyang to think it can push South Korea around," he said. "The South must be clear that it will raise all issues with the North, ranging from nuclear disarmament, to food and other aid, to the human rights issues of North Koreans and unresolved issues like abducted South Koreans held by the North."
Given North Korea's terrible record of human rights violations, he believes human rights issues should always be one of the key points on the agenda for inter-Korean talks.
"There needs to be an established policy that South Korea will always raise human rights issues in the North … and that human rights will not be pushed off the discussion table just because Pyongyang starts complaining," Robertson said. "All issues need to be addressed in North-South talks, and South Korea needs to stop dancing to Pyongyang's tune when it comes to setting the agenda for such talks. South Korea also needs to reverse Moon's short-sighted policy of withdrawing from international efforts to raise concerns about North Korea's human rights record."
He added, "The National Human Rights Commission of Korea in Seoul has a mandate to work on human rights issues in both the South and the North. So it is reasonable to think that the South Korean government has a similar duty to protect the rights of all Koreans, "regardless of where they live on the Korean Peninsula."
Robertson also urged Yoon to implement fully the North Korean Human Rights Act, which became a law in 2016, only to remain in name only. It requires the government to work with other nations to improve human rights in the North, including through a special committee dedicated to the issue and inter-Korean talks for the agenda.
"It is astonishing that fully six years after that law passed there has been so little progress in actually operationalizing the law," he said. "If South Korea prides itself on being a nation of laws, then it is time to stop messing around and implement it."
4. Kim Jong Un threatens ‘Fight against Enemy’
We should have no doubt about Kim Jong UN's intention.
But we need to show him that his policies will only end in failure. I am sure he was not expecting that his actions would cotnrute to the strengthening of the trilateral relationship of the ROK, JApan, and the US.
Excerpts:
Such strong stance held by North Korea is backfiring to the country by accelerating the tighter relationship among the United States, Japan and South Korea. The defense ministers of the three countries committed to conduct trilateral missile warnings and ballistic missile search and tracking exercises in the Singapore Asia Security Summit (ASS) (better known as Shangri-La Dialogue). Such exercises are in principle held once every quarter, but the aim is to put in place the suspended exercises since 2018. The U.S. and Korean Defense Ministers held a separate bilateral meeting and discussed provision of a swift deterrence by the United States in the event of North Korean nuclear test and also agreed upon expanding the joint exercises in the second half the year. This is a warning that no eyes are going to be closed against DPRK threats.
Kim Jong Un threatens ‘Fight against Enemy’
Posted June. 13, 2022 07:53,
Updated June. 13, 2022 07:53
Kim Jong Un threatens ‘Fight against Enemy’. June. 13, 2022 07:53. .
In the expanded plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea presided by President of the State of Commission of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un on Saturday, the phrase “Fight against the enemy” was mentioned targeting South Korea. President Kim Jong Un clarified “The principle of power against power (Gangdaegang) of head-to-head match” and proposed “militant initiatives” in the military force and national defense areas. He also progressed with the forward personnel transfers of the hard-liners against the United States and South Korea such as appointing Choe Son Hui, the former First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ri Son Gwon, the former Foreign Minister as the Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.
North Korea’s coming up with the expression “Fight against the enemy” in two years means that it has the intention to push forward strong external policies of technically defining South Korea as “Enemy.” With the seventh nuclear test button ready, North Korea has definitely pulled up the provocation level against South Korea and the United States. President Kim Jong Un did not explicitly mention the nuclear test however, it is possible that he may push ahead with the test when internal issues such as Covid-19 gets settled down. North Korea already launched 18 missiles this year. The military tension on the Korean Peninsular creeps up as it is inevitable for the “Power against power” policy to run into a conflict.
Such strong stance held by North Korea is backfiring to the country by accelerating the tighter relationship among the United States, Japan and South Korea. The defense ministers of the three countries committed to conduct trilateral missile warnings and ballistic missile search and tracking exercises in the Singapore Asia Security Summit (ASS) (better known as Shangri-La Dialogue). Such exercises are in principle held once every quarter, but the aim is to put in place the suspended exercises since 2018. The U.S. and Korean Defense Ministers held a separate bilateral meeting and discussed provision of a swift deterrence by the United States in the event of North Korean nuclear test and also agreed upon expanding the joint exercises in the second half the year. This is a warning that no eyes are going to be closed against DPRK threats.
It is not the best plan to maintain tough stance against the military provocation. However, it is necessary to demonstrate that prices need to be paid for the nuclear and missile tests which compromise the stability of the Korean Peninsula. The United States, Japan and South Korea must strengthen the military cooperation including trilateral joint exercises, which has been suspended since 2018. The scope of cooperation could be widened in possible areas of counter-terrorism exercises, and humanitarian emergency preparedness trainings. The discussion should speed up on making Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) concrete. The attempt to engage in dialogues with North Korea and the diplomatic collaboration efforts with China on blocking nuclear tests should also continue in parallel.
5. DPRK leader underlines need for stronger self-defense measures
From Xinhua. China's reporting on north Korea's party meeting (regurgitating party statements)
DPRK leader underlines need for stronger self-defense measures
Xinhua | Updated: 2022-06-11 16:38
PYONGYANG - Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said his country faces a "very serious" security situation and needs stronger self-defense measures, the Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.
Kim made the remarks at the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party's eighth Central Committee, which ended on Friday.
"The current security environment of the country is very serious and the surrounding situation carries a danger of being further aggravated. This urgently calls upon the DPRK to attain the goal of bolstering the national defense capability as soon as possible," Kim was quoted as saying.
Kim said that the right to self-defense is an issue of defending sovereignty, clarifying once again the Party's invariable fighting principle of power for power and head-on contest.
In his speech, Kim also talked about the current anti-epidemic campaign and underlined the need and urgency to strengthen the country's foundations for public health and speed up the building of the anti-epidemic capacity.
"He called for making an in-depth analysis and review of the evils and shortcomings revealed in every sector during the maximum emergency anti-epidemic work from a critical and developmental viewpoint and adjusting and reinforcing in a more scientific and revolutionary way the state work system to cope with the epidemic crisis," the report said.
According to the report, the government made a reshuffle at the meeting by dismissing or appointing some ministers, with Jon Sung-guk being appointed as vice-premier of the cabinet and Choe Son-hui as minister of foreign affairs.
6. North Korea Reportedly Test-Fired Artillery Pieces Into Ocean On Sunday
This is why we worry about north Korean artillery firing.
Excerpts:
U.S. Army General Vincent Brooks, the head of U.S. Forces Korea, said in 2019 that conservative predictions of an attack scenario “anticipate an initial artillery barrage focused on military targets, which would result in significant casualties.”
“A large attack targeting civilians would yield several thousand casualties with the potential to affect millions…within the first 24 hours,” he added.
North Korea Reportedly Test-Fired Artillery Pieces Into Ocean On Sunday
Amid an ongoing food shortage and economic crisis, North Korea reportedly test-fired suspected artillery pieces into the ocean on Sunday – a sign that even during a national crisis, the famously isolationist communist country is committed to its campaign of intimidation against South Korea and the West.
In a statement, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that multiple flight trajectories understood to be North Korean artillery was identified on Sunday morning. South Korean officials also said that they were concerned North Korea is currently working to upgrade its weapons systems in a way that poses a threat to the south.
The suspected artillery launches over the weekend are just the latest in a series of weapons tests by North Korea’s military. After test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States in March this year, U.S. and South Koran officials stated this month that North Korea has almost completed its preparations to conduct its first nuclear weapons test in roughly five years.
Should a new nuclear launch test take place, it would be the seventh overall. The tests, however, do not mean that a nuclear strike is imminent – Pyongyang claims such weapons are for self-defense and deterrence. To even get a working nuclear arsenal, North Korea must develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reliably reaching the United States. Then, North Korean scientists and engineers must develop nuclear warheads that can be mounted to the rockets.
“North Korea is a nuclear weapons state – plain and simple,” explained Harry J. Kazianis, President and CEO of the Rogue States Project and a veteran North Korea watcher, in an interview with 19FortyFive. “Kim knows that in order to have a nuclear weapons arsenal that Washington and Seoul will respect, he will have to test his missiles and nuclear arms. And, of course, that will raise tensions.”
North Korea Maintains Heavy Artillery Systems Along Southern Border
A report from the Rand Corporation in January 2019 found that North Korea’s artillery systems stationed on the country’s southern border with South Korea could kill more than 250,000 people – and that the United States couldn’t do much about it.
Roughly 10 million people in South Korea live within the firing range of the Korean demilitarized zone, including the entirety of the South Korean capital Seoul, as well as tens of thousands of military personnel – including U.S. soldiers – stationed nearby.
The recent artillery tests could indicate that North Korea is working to strengthen its defenses, knowing that the West and the United States remain committed to denuclearizing the country. Dictator Kim Jong Un may also be working to develop his military’s capabilities at a time when Western countries are more focused on the impact of the war in Ukraine.
At present, North Korea already has substantial firepower – even if its nuclear missile tests often end in failure.
U.S. Army General Vincent Brooks, the head of U.S. Forces Korea, said in 2019 that conservative predictions of an attack scenario “anticipate an initial artillery barrage focused on military targets, which would result in significant casualties.”
“A large attack targeting civilians would yield several thousand casualties with the potential to affect millions…within the first 24 hours,” he added.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
7. North revives 'confrontational struggle' language at meeting
For the regime everything is a struggle. A revolutionary struggle.
Sunday
June 12, 2022
North revives 'confrontational struggle' language at meeting
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, called for stronger “self-defense” measures to tackle “very serious” security challenges while presiding over the fifth plenary session of the ruling Workers’ Party’s eighth Central Committee last week, pictured in this photograph published by the state-controlled Rodong Sinmun on Saturday. [NEWS1]
North Korea is preparing for a "confrontational struggle," Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday as the defense chiefs of the United States, South Korea and Japan met to discuss ways to rein in the North's nuclear and missile ambitions.
Presiding over the fifth plenary session of the ruling Workers’ Party’s eighth Central Committee, which lasted from Wednesday to Friday, leader Kim Jong-un called for stronger “self-defense” measures to tackle “very serious” security challenges, with the state-controlled Rodong Sinmun reporting that during the session the regime had settled on “the principles and strategic direction to be followed in the confrontational struggle and external relations."
The phrase “confrontational struggle” was last used to describe the North's approach to external affairs in 2020, when Kim Yo-jong — Kim’s younger sister and key figure in the country’s leadership — threatened to change the regime’s approach to South Korea “into that of complete confrontation” in response to South Korean human rights groups sending anti-regime leaflets over the inter-Korean border.
The North also shut down inter-Korean communication lines and demolished the Joint Liaison Office in Kaesong that June.
While Pyongyang’s state media reports of the party meeting did not specify the timing of a potential nuclear test, leader Kim’s remarked that current tensions are “urging us to achieve the objective of strengthening our defense capabilities,” suggesting a test may come sooner rather than later.
One goal that the regime has in mind to bolster its military capabilities includes developing a tactical nuclear warhead to fit atop a ballistic missile.
A key item on the agenda of the North’s most recent five-year national plan, promulgated in January 2021, was the miniaturization of nuclear weapons. A new nuclear test by the regime could be aimed at verifying its capability to successfully detonate such tactical nuclear warheads.
New appointments announced at the fifth plenary session also suggest the North is gearing up for a more confrontational stance toward South Korea and the United States.
State media reported that Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who played a key role in denuclearization talks, was promoted to the post of foreign minister, while Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon has been charged with leading the party’s United Front Department, which handles relations with South Korea.
Meanwhile, the defense chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Saturday to increase cooperation to counter North Korea’s missile threats through combined security exercises, including missile warning drills, Seoul's defense ministry said.
Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Japanese Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
The defense chiefs “agreed to conduct South Korea-U.S.-Japan missile warning and ballistic missile search and tracking exercises,” according to a Korean defense ministry press release.
While the exercises took place regularly in the past, they are now expected to occur “more publicly” to send a clearer signal to the North, according to a ministry official.
In a sign that Seoul is drawing closer to Washington’s stance toward Beijing, the ministry said the three defense chiefs “expressed strong opposition to any unilateral acts that change the status quo and heighten regional tension” and “underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Lee also said Sunday that South Korea plans to have a “serious” dialogue with Japan to normalize security cooperation between the two countries.
Security cooperation with Tokyo has long been a fraught issue in Seoul, where domestic anger toward Japanese claims to Korean territory and alleged historical revisionism regarding the country’s 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula has complicated U.S. efforts to get its Asian allies to cooperate.
While Lee acknowledged the two countries had “unresolved issues” stemming from Japan’s colonial rule, he said Seoul wants “the two sides put their wisdom together to reach reasonable solutions in a way that is in line with shared interests.”
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
8. North Korea tries to cheer people up by ordering police to start being nice
I am sure this is going to have a real positive effect (NOT!).
But seriously we must be observing for the indications and warnings of dissent, resistance, and instability and threats to the regime. And we need to review contingency plans.
Big 8 Contingencies
1. Provocations to gain political and economic concessions
2. nk Attack – execution of the nK campaign plan to reunify the peninsula by force
3. Civil War/Chaos/Anarchy
4. Refugee crisis
5. Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster relief
6. WMD, loss of control – seize and secure operations
7. Resistance to foreign intervention (e.g., insurgency)
8. How to handle the nKPA during regime collapse short of war
North Korea tries to cheer people up by ordering police to start being nice
Authorities fear that trying economic conditions could lead to dissent.
By Myung Chul Lee for RFA Korean
2022.06.10
North Korean police officers, who have a well-earned reputation for brutality, are being told to be nicer as the combination of a devastated economy and an outbreak of COVID cases raises fears of social unrest, sources in the country told RFA.
People in the isolated country have endured so much over the past few years that North Korean leaders are afraid pockets of resistance to the autocratic leadership might develop among people who are struggling the most.
Bullying and harassment, mainstays of North Korean law enforcement, could push frustrated citizens over the edge, hence the call for the new charm offensive.
“The internal directive calls for provincial, municipal, county, and regional security departments and agencies to strengthen internal discipline and work toward improving relations with residents,” a source connected to the judicial system in the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service Wednesday on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“They issued this directive because internal discipline has been lax, and the police are not giving up the idea that they have to dominate over the people, even as social dissatisfaction increases with the COVID-19 situation. If the tyranny of the police officers is left alone, public dissent will accelerate,” he said.
North Korea is in a state of “maximum emergency” due to an outbreak of the coronavirus that spread starting in April. The government was forced to acknowledge its first confirmed cases and deaths after denying it had even a single case since the beginning of the pandemic.
Efforts to keep the virus out included shutting down the Sino Korean border in January 2020 and suspending all trade, which effectively destroyed what was left of the economy already weakened by international nuclear sanctions.
Though rail freight eventually resumed in 2022, it was shut down again with a resurgence of the virus in China.
The police command structure is also being reorganized and each regional department is required to give daily, weekly and monthly progress reports to the Ministry of Social Security in Pyongyang, the source said.
“The plan also calls for resolving conflicts with local residents and restoring the image of the police by making decisive improvements to the attitudes of the police officers and to the services they provide. This may go a long way towards addressing problems that arise within local jurisdictions,” the source said.
In the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, the provincial security bureau’s top brass went out to the various cities and districts to explain the directive to their subordinates, a source connected to the judicial system there told RFA.
“Social security officials are very nervous because how they execute this directive may determine the path of their future careers,” the second source said on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
The police in the area have had a noticeable change in attitude, according to the second source.
“They used to look down on the residents, even swearing at them and beating them up. Now they have become much gentler,” he said. “Even so, many residents are skeptical as to how long the trend will last.”
It is not the first time that the government has issued directives telling police to be nicer, so citizens remain wary that police brutality will soon become the norm again.
“In the past, directives from the central government would change how the police acted for a little while, but they would gradually become violent again over time,” he said.
Forcing the cops to be nice and friendly can only do so much at a time when so many people are desperate though.
“If they really want to boost public sentiment, it’s important that the authorities realize that their most urgent task should be to provide a way for the residents to make a living,” said the source.
“The authorities have cooked up half-hearted measures like this to try to deal with the cold public sentiment caused by COVID-19.”
Though North Korea has acknowledged that the virus is spreading inside the country, it has only reported a handful of confirmed COVID-19 cases, which 38 North, a site that provides analysis on the country and is run by the U.S.-based Stimson Center think tank, attributed to insufficient testing capabilities.
The country is, however, keeping track of numbers of people who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. The number of new daily cases peaked at around 754,800 on May 19, before sharply decreasing over the next week.
Wednesday marked the first day since May 19 that fewer than 100,000 new cases of fever were recorded.
The Seoul-based Daily NK news outlet reported Wednesday that the people do not trust the government’s figures and believe the coronavirus situations is much worse than they are being told.
Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
9. North Korea makes school uniforms in inter-Korean industrial zone without permission
These are probably some of the best facilities in north Korea. I would think they would produce something more important than school uniforms.
North Korea makes school uniforms in inter-Korean industrial zone without permission
The Kaesong Industrial Complex remains officially closed, but the factories there still make high-quality clothes.
By Hyemin Son for RFA Korean
2022.06.10
Some North Korean students will show up for school this summer decked out in high-quality uniforms made in a South Korean-built factory that has been shuttered in the wake of missile tests by Pyongyang.
Sources in the country told RFA that the company that supplies uniforms to schools in North Hwanghae province began making summer uniforms in the nearby Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint-Korean manufacturing zone that was once a showcase of North-South cooperation.
The complex briefly closed in 2013 during a period of high tension between Seoul and Pyongyang. In 2016 South Korea halted operations in the complex in response to a North Korean missile test, and operations remain suspended.
Though the uniforms made in Kaesong are superior, unilaterally starting up the South Korean factories could spark friction with Seoul, sources said.
“Last week, an official of the provincial Clothing Industry Management Bureau and I returned to North Hwanghae province with summer school uniforms that were able to pass product inspection. We brought them from a garment factory at the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” an official of the province, which lies just across the demilitarized zone from South Korea, told RFA’s Korean Service Tuesday on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The bureau is responsible for making enough summer uniforms by the end of the month, after which they will be given to the province’s elementary, middle and high schools as gifts from the country’s leader Kim Jong Un, the source said.
“That’s why the bureau has been operating sewing and cutting machines in Kaesong since March, with permission from the Central Committee. They mobilized residents from Kaesong who previously worked at the industrial complex,” he said.
“Mobilization” is North Korean code for forced labor, in stark contrast to when the industrial complex was in operation and workers, at least in theory, earned several times more than their counterparts outside the complex.
North Korean use of the complex without South Korean permission might be frowned upon below the 38th parallel, but North Hwanghae is located just south of Pyongyang and is a strategic region for propaganda purposes. The students need to look their best.
“The Central Committee took special measures to use the facilities in the industrial complex… are partly because the other clothes factories in North Hwanghae are so old. But the main reason is because the Highest Dignity often visits the province to offer his guidance,” the official said, referring to Kim Jong Un’s well-documented visits to factories, farms, schools and areas hit by natural disasters, so he can be portrayed as a benevolent leader.
“It is an urgent priority to present the school uniforms to the students in a timely manner,” the source said.
Truck drivers are shipping imported fabric from Sinuiju, on the border with China, to Kaesong, for use in the factories, a source north of Pyongyang in South Pyongan province told RFA.
“I heard from a driver who brought the imported fabrics in a freight car that they are still producing clothes in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the factories that were operated by South Korean companies,” he said, on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
“They are making winter clothes for officials.”
Since the complex closed in 2016, some of the equipment has been repurposed by companies as far away as North Pyongan province in the northwest, a source there told RFA.
“Prior to the pandemic, several of the currency earning clothing factories here moved the equipment from the garment factories in Kaesong without permission,” he said on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
“Though clothing processing was suspended due to coronavirus lockdown measures, the industrial complex machinery here has been used to make school bags and uniforms for students in the province,” the third source said.
“Although there are homegrown garment production units… in Sinuiju, they are not as good as what was in the industrial complex. So they used it to make the school uniforms faster and with better quality.”
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification Thursday announced that it detected vehicle movement inside the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and that it was monitoring the area to determine if North Korea was operating facilities in the complex without permission.
Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
10. A look into N. Korea’s COVID-19 situation…The elderly and young are dying
This is unvetted information from inside north Korea.
A look into N. Korea’s COVID-19 situation…The elderly and young are dying…The authorities determine infections using just temperature checks…Most people are recovering from their symptoms
A KCTV broadcast on May 14 informing viewers of North Korea’s COVID-19 situation.
It has been a month since the Kim Jong-un regime acknowledged an outbreak of COVID-19. North Korean authorities have been releasing the number of new fever cases, recoveries and people undergoing medical treatment on a daily basis; however, they have stopped releasing information about deaths. It is unclear whether the data released by the government is accurate, and whether fever cases refer to people infected with COVID-19. There is so little information available, it is impossible to know the real COVID-19 situation in the country and how the authorities are responding. ASIAPRESS received reports from several reporting partners in the northern part of the country in early June. (KANG Ji-won, ISHIMARU Jiro)
◆ The authorities simply use temperature checks to determine infections
“A” lives in Yanggang Province in an apartment with his family. “B”is a party member who lives in a city in North Hamgyung Province.
―― How are the authorities conducting temperature checks?
A: The head of the inminban (people’s unit) and a member of the “emergency quarantine team” go around to each household in the inminban to check people’s temperatures 2-3 times per day. They say that the government will provide masks and medicine if people self-report they have fevers.
※ Emergency quarantine teams were created after the government acknowledged the COVID-19 outbreak and are made up of disease control officials, police officials, secret police officials, and party and government officials. The teams visit households and crackdown on people who break bans on movement and other regulations.
※ Inminban are North Korea’s lowest administrative unit and are made up of 20-40 households.
―― What happens to people with fevers?
A: They are isolated and can’t leave their houses for any reason. No one is allowed to visit them and officials talk to them from outside their doors to check how they are. Around a week after they begin their quarantine, officials check their temperatures. If their fevers have subsided, they are registered as having been “cured.” While registered as “people with fevers,” even the heads of their inminban are not allowed to come in contact with them, which means their temperatures are not taken during that period.
―― How do the authorities place people in quarantine?
A: Most are quarantined at home. People who live by themselves are put into isolation facilities. There’s no set period in which people are quarantined. The authorities are saying that symptoms (of COVID-19) improve after a week to 10 days, and the quarantine period ends once fevers subside.
◆ “I also got infected by COVID-19”
―― It seems the authorities are basing their diagnoses on whether people have fevers or not. Do they conduct PCR tests to determine whether people have COVID-19?
A: Not at all. All they do is conduct temperature checks. People with difficulties breathing or serious symptoms go to the hospital, but there’s no particular medical treatment they receive there. I hear they are simply given fever reducers through IV and cold medicine.
―― How are you doing?
A: I also got infected by COVID-19. I had a hard time after getting a fever, but recovered eight days later. I received a medicine called paracetamol from my inminban. There are tons of people with fevers. However, most are recovering. People want the lockdowns to be lifted as soon as possible. The atmosphere of tension has subsided compared to the beginning (of the lockdowns).
※ He doesn’t know if he actually got infected with COVID-19 because he was never tested for the virus. Paracetamol is a commonly available fever reducer.
―― Tell us about the situation in the district you’re living.
A: I heard from the head of my inminban on June 6 that we have six people in serious condition, 12 people who have recovered, and seven people who have symptoms (of the coronavirus).
※ One inminban appears to be made up of around 40-100 people.
Map of North Korea ( ASIAPRESS)
◆ Sickly, malnourished elderly people are dying
―― Have there been any deaths?
A: People have died here and there, but I don’t know any specifics. From June 4 to June 6, four people died among people I know who live nearby. I heard people who are sickly and suffering from malnourishment are dying of the virus. Even children are dying.
Our inminban head distributed a message she wrote herself. It said: “Nothing can be done about people who died with preexisting conditions. COVID-19 is causing pain throughout the entire world. Nothing can be done about people who died because they didn’t self-report they were sick.”
―― What happens when people die?
A: All those who die are cremated. Their families aren’t allowed to see the bodies. Cremation costs RMB 150-200, and the expenses are covered by the government at this point. I’ve heard that there’s not enough gas to burn the bodies properly, and their bones are crushed with hammers before being returned to their families.
※ RMB 100 equals around KRW 19,000
“B,” who lives in a city in North Hamgyung Province, gave ASIAPRESS some information about deaths in the country in early June.
B: There are many people (suspected) of having COVID-19. Many of those who have died are elderly people and children. Many people died due to the lack of medicine before the spread of the virus. Now, those elderly people who survived are dying of COVID-19. There are many people who have recovered from their fevers, so many believe that COVID-19 is “not a big deal.”
※ It is impossible to confirm whether they died of COVID-19 or not.
――We’ve heard that people are dying of hunger as well.
B: The government handed down 15 days’ worth of corn to all households in late May. There’s probably been no starvation deaths after that time.
※ 15 days’ worth of food was distributed free-of-charge in Hyesan, Yanggang Province, on around May 25.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
11. Final preparations under way for 2nd launch of S. Korean space rocket
Final preparations under way for 2nd launch of S. Korean space rocket | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) was carrying out final preparations Monday ahead of this week's second attempt to send multiple satellites into orbit.
Nuri, also known as KSLV-II, is scheduled to be transported to the launch pad and erected vertically on Tuesday at the Naro Space Center in the country's southern coastal village of Goheung one day ahead of the launch.
In its first attempt in October, South Korea's first homegrown space rocket successfully flew to a target altitude of 700 kilometers but failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit as its third-stage engine burned out earlier than expected.
Last month, the science ministry set June 15 as the second launch date of Nuri.
Jang Young-soon, head of KARI's launcher system development team, said that the three-stage space rocket, which weighs 200 tons and measures 47.2 meters in height, has been fully assembled and was going through a final electrical system inspection.
Ahead of the second launch, Nuri underwent reinforcements of an anchoring device of the helium tank inside the third-stage oxidizer tank.
In October, the helium tank in the third-stage rocket fell off due to increased buoyancy during the flight and eventually caused the engine to shut off prematurely, according to a governmental committee.
Engineers have added about 9 kilograms of reinforcements to the third-stage rocket to avoid such problems and said the augmentation is unlikely to affect the rocket's performance, Jang said in a recent online press conference.
A factor that could potentially affect the schedule is the weather, as authorities forecast a 60 percent chance of rain in the area Tuesday afternoon. Although the rocket itself is sealed to prevent water from entering, a large amount of rain could cause logistics problems.
Rain is not expected on launch day, but Jang said wind condition is also a determining factor in the success of the launch. According to KARI, average surface wind speed must remain below 15 meters per second during the entirety of the process to ensure a successful launch.
The launch has been tentatively set at 4 p.m., but the exact time will be determined on Wednesday depending on space conditions and sunspot explosions.
Unlike the October launch, which carried a single dummy satellite, Nuri this time will be loaded with a 180-kilogram performance verification satellite to test the rocket's capabilities and four separate cube satellites developed by four universities for academic research purposes.
"The most important mission (of the verification satellite) is testing the rocket's (satellite) injection capacity," Ahn Sang-il, a senior researcher at KARI's satellite and space exploration systems engineering team, said.
South Korea plans to conduct four additional Nuri rocket launches by 2027 as part of efforts to further advance the country's space rocket program.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
12. N. Korean leader urges officials to wage battle against power abuse, bureaucratism
Again, more on Kim's war against his own deep state. Kim Jong Un requires a scapegoat to be the focus of balme to distract from the fact that it is his deliberate policy decisions that are the cause of the failure of north Korea and the suffering of the Korean people living in the north.
(2nd LD) N. Korean leader urges officials to wage battle against power abuse, bureaucratism | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with comments from unification ministry)
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called on officials to root out bureaucratism and other "non-revolutionary" acts, state media said Monday, in his latest efforts to tighten internal discipline.
Kim presided over a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party (WPK) the previous day in Pyongyang to discuss ways to improve the roles of party organizations in the overall state affairs this year, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The Secretariat discussed the issue of waging a "more intensive struggle against unsound and non-revolutionary acts including abuse of power and bureaucratism" revealed among some party officials, it said.
Kim also stressed the need to boost the function of "discipline inspection departments" and institutions aiding the ruling party's Auditing Commission and called for efforts to enforce a strict punishment system to strengthen discipline among officials.
"It is the indispensable and prior task to strictly establish the strong habit of observing the rules and disciplines of the Party and the supervision work system and rectification system over the execution of the Party's line and policies and embodiment of sound working style and moral life," he was quoted as saying.
The meeting included discussion of the issue of strengthening the role of the party to implement the tasks set forth at the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party's eighth Central Committee held last week, the KCNA said.
During the three-day plenary session, Kim urged officials to ramp up antivirus efforts to successfully stave off the COVID-19 pandemic amid "unprecedented difficulties."
The North's recent back-to-back party meetings after it acknowledged its first COVID-19 case last month came amid efforts to tighten internal discipline during the prolonged pandemic.
South Korea's unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said the meeting seems to be geared toward tightening Kim's grip on the ruling party.
"The meeting appears to be intended to first strengthen control over the party as it plays a central role in implementing the decisions made at the plenary meeting," Cho Joong-hoon, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.
Members of the Secretariat attended the meeting, including Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizational affairs of the WPK's Central Committee, and Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK.
Ri Pyong-chol, known for his leading role in North Korea's nuclear and missile development, also attended the meeting as a secretary. The inclusion of both Pak and Ri in the Secretariat appears to reflect Kim's ambitions to ramp up the country's military and nuclear weapons development.
In January last year, the North revised the ruling party's rules to reinstate the secretariat that was scrapped in 2016 and elected leader Kim as "general secretary" of the party.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
13. North Korean COVID-19/Fever Data Tracker
Updated data and graphics at the link.
North Korean COVID-19/Fever Data Tracker
Article last updated on June 11, 2022.
After two years of claiming no confirmed COVID-19 cases, North Korea disclosed a nationwide outbreak on May 13 and launched emergency epidemic prevention measures. The epidemic began in late April.
Officially, only a handful of cases have been confirmed as COVID-19, with the rest attributed to an unidentified “fever.” This is likely due to insufficient testing capabilities, and many are assumed to be COVID-19 related, however, that might not be the entire picture. North Korean state media has been publishing daily data on the outbreak, which is featured below. 38 North will update these numbers daily as new information becomes available.
Current Situation
North Korea’s battle against the epidemic showed signs of slowing on Saturday with small rises in the number of new cases in several provinces and a warning from the state against passive and lax attitudes towards the epidemic.
The country registered 42,810 new cases on Friday, which was a drop of 2,730 on the day before. It was the smallest daily drop for a week.
State media said Saturday that the government was “taking timely measures to make officials and working people guard against passive attitude and laxity” and urged “everyone to abide by the existing discipline and order.”
It specifically called on people to police one another so that “no-one would contact alien things or wild animals along the areas of the border, coasts and frontline.”
Across the nation, 77,150 people were under treatment on Friday while 4.3 million have recovered. The epidemic has hit 4.4 million people or 17 percent of the population. The death toll remains at 71 with no new deaths reported for a week.
Continued at the link:
https://www.38north.org/2022/06/north-korean-covid-19-fever-data-tracker/
14. Yoon defends watching movie on day N.K. fired artillery shots
The president is never not under a microscope.
I do not think he should be making these kinds of excuses especially when we often do not know for sure initially what kind of event has taken place. He should not be establishing criteria for his actions and response.
Of course the first step in every provocation is to not overreact and it is clear the president did not in this instance.
Excerpt:
"If a multiple rocket launcher was the equivalent of a missile, then we would take steps accordingly, but a multiple rocket launcher is not equivalent to a missile, so we took the step that was needed," he said.
Yoon defends watching movie on day N.K. fired artillery shots | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday that there was nothing wrong with him and first lady Kim Keon-hee watching a movie the previous day shortly after North Korea fired artillery shots because the government took necessary steps in response.
Yoon and the first lady watched the Cannes award-winning film "Broker" at a movie theater in Seoul on Sunday. But some critics said it was inappropriate for the president to watch a movie at a time when the North had fired shots from a presumed multiple rocket launcher hours earlier
"There's nothing to be suspicious about," Yoon said as he arrived for work when a reporter suggested people could have questions about why the president went to see a movie.
"If a multiple rocket launcher was the equivalent of a missile, then we would take steps accordingly, but a multiple rocket launcher is not equivalent to a missile, so we took the step that was needed," he said.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
15. Nuke test may be a 'political decision' away, says top envoy
Pak Jin will still try to thread the needle between the US and the PRC.
Excerpts:
Prior to his departure to the United States, Park told the JoongAng Ilbo in an interview that there can be no substantial dialogue with the North on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula unless the North comes to the table ready to present the truth about where its nuclear and missile capacity stands today and where exactly they are located in the country.
“There can be no substantial denuclearization without inspection and verification,” he told the paper on Friday. “It is necessary to check how far North Korea has developed nuclear weapons and missiles, where they are, and what the related facilities are.”
The Yoon administration has brought back the acronym for complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, or CVID, which was avoided by the Moon Jae-in administration to avoid upsetting the North.
Park added that the new administration in Seoul sees China as playing a key regional role in the denuclearization of North Korea.
“I want to maintain strategic communication with China and create a relationship where we can talk openly,” Park said in the interview. “I think China has its own concerns about the North Korean nuclear issue. If there is a secondary boycott [on China to pressure Beijing to take part in sanctions on the North], China will also feel a significant burden. Before we get to that point, we expect China to play a constructive role in its North Korea policy.”
Seoul-Beijing ties dipped to a low after Korea decided to deploy U.S-led antimissile system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad), in 2016 to counter missile threats from the North. Beijing said the system would be used by Washington to spy on China.
“The development of the Korea-U.S. alliance and Korea-China ties are not mutually exclusive,” Park told the JoongAng Ilbo.
Monday
June 13, 2022
Nuke test may be a 'political decision' away, says top envoy
Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks with the press after his visit to the Korean War veterans memorial in Washington DC on Sunday. [PARK HYUN-YOUNG]
Foreign Minister Park Jin said there is “only a political decision left” before Pyongyang goes ahead with its seventh nuclear test.
“It launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, short-range ballistic missiles, and now it appears that preparations for the seventh nuclear test have been completed,” Park told a group of reporters after a visit to the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington on Sunday. “So it seems that only a political decision remains.”
While stressing that the most important thing is to “strengthen deterrence so that North Korea cannot make provocations,” Park added that the door to diplomacy is still open to Pyongyang.
“President Yoon Seok-yeol said that if North Korea achieves denuclearization, the South Korean government can pursue bold plans on economic cooperation and the future prosperity of North Korea, so I hope North Korea will listen carefully and make the right choice,” Park said.
He added that the international community is open to providing vaccines and other humanitarian support to the North. A recent Covid-19 outbreak in the country was reported to have resulted in millions of cases.
“It’s a pity that Pyongyang hasn’t responded to these offers,” he said.
Park is in Washington through Wednesday to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other U.S. officials to discuss a number of issues including North Korea, supply chain resilience and energy.
It will be the first time for Park to meet Blinken since he was sworn in as foreign minister last month.
Park said he expects to discuss in detail possible bilateral responses to North Korea’s provocations during their meeting on Monday in Washington.
Prior to his departure to the United States, Park told the JoongAng Ilbo in an interview that there can be no substantial dialogue with the North on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula unless the North comes to the table ready to present the truth about where its nuclear and missile capacity stands today and where exactly they are located in the country.
“There can be no substantial denuclearization without inspection and verification,” he told the paper on Friday. “It is necessary to check how far North Korea has developed nuclear weapons and missiles, where they are, and what the related facilities are.”
The Yoon administration has brought back the acronym for complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, or CVID, which was avoided by the Moon Jae-in administration to avoid upsetting the North.
Park added that the new administration in Seoul sees China as playing a key regional role in the denuclearization of North Korea.
“I want to maintain strategic communication with China and create a relationship where we can talk openly,” Park said in the interview. “I think China has its own concerns about the North Korean nuclear issue. If there is a secondary boycott [on China to pressure Beijing to take part in sanctions on the North], China will also feel a significant burden. Before we get to that point, we expect China to play a constructive role in its North Korea policy.”
Seoul-Beijing ties dipped to a low after Korea decided to deploy U.S-led antimissile system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad), in 2016 to counter missile threats from the North. Beijing said the system would be used by Washington to spy on China.
“The development of the Korea-U.S. alliance and Korea-China ties are not mutually exclusive,” Park told the JoongAng Ilbo.
Park traveled to Washington in April as a People Power Party representative and Yoon’s special envoy to the United States. Shortly after Park was nominated as foreign minister, he helped coordinate Yoon’s summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Seoul in May.
Park was also scheduled to meet with U.S. Sectary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm during his visit.
“As the global supply chain is rapidly changing, we will discuss ways of cooperation in economic security, peace and prosperity in the Indo Pacific region, and restoration of peace in Ukraine,” Park told the press at Incheon International Airport prior to boarding the U.S.-bound plane on Sunday.
On the same day in Washington, the newly appointed Korean ambassador to the United States, Cho Tae-yong, met with a group of reporters to discuss Seoul’s North Korea policies.
“At a time when North Korea's nuclear test is imminent and North Korea's tactical nuclear weapons development and deployment are imminent, North Korea's nuclear and missile threats are no longer a written threat, but a real threat facing us,” he said.
North Korea has ramped up its military provocations this year, with 31 ballistic missile launches since Jan. 1, the most ballistic missiles it has ever launched in a single year, including an intercontinental ballistic missile on May 25. Its previous record was 25 missiles in 2019.
Recent satellite images of North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, the site for all of its six nuclear tests, suggested the regime is gearing up for a seventh nuclear test.
“It is time to increase the strength of the Korea-U.S. alliance based on the extended deterrence of the United States to protect the lives and property of our people because the threat from North Korea has become a real threat we face,” Cho said. “Special efforts and attention will be needed to strengthen the readiness posture of the Korea-U.S. alliance, which was neglected under the Moon Jae-in administration.”
BY PARK HYUN-YOUNG, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
16. N. Korea launches surprise inspections of navy and air force units
You have to appreciate their rhetoric:
"modern warfare"
“make the blaze of military modernization rage brighter,”
“ceaselessly strengthen unit combat strength.”
Excerpts:
The bureau is also collecting the opinions of field commanders regarding maintenance problems combat units have experienced with upgraded, battlefield-deployed equipment suited for “modern warfare,” as well as technical flaws.
The source said the supreme command ordered the ministry’s Weapons Bureau, equipment departments of the navy and air force, and technical commanders of combat units to work together to “make the blaze of military modernization rage brighter,” and to submit detailed plans to “ceaselessly strengthen unit combat strength.”
N. Korea launches surprise inspections of navy and air force units - Daily NK
The supreme command’s intention in ordering the inspections was to reemphasize the importance of military modernization, a source told Daily NK
Ri Pyong Chul stands to the right of Kim Jong Un during North Korea's military parade on April 25. (Rodong Sinmun - News1)
North Korea’s Ministry of Defense recently launched surprise inspections of navy and air force units to ascertain how well they are modernizing and maintaining their fighting equipment.
A Daily NK source in the North Korean military said Friday that in early June, North Korea’s supreme command issued an order to the Ministry of Defense to “multilaterally ascertain” the state of modernization of the navy and air force’s equipment in accordance with the military modernization policy presented during the Eighth Party Congress.
The “Weapons Bureau” under the Ministry of Defense responded by launching unannounced inspections of naval and air force units to confirm how well they are modernizing and maintaining their equipment.
The bureau is looking at how equipment departments of navy and air force headquarters have been carrying out the military modernization policy, which aims to improve the battlefield deployment of technology and equipment appropriate for “modern warfare.” The bureau is also carrying out surprise inspections of how the equipment departments and their subordinate units are maintaining their equipment.
The source said bureau personnel came to the “equipment department of the headquarters of the Army Air and Anti-Air Force” on June 6, and arbitrarily selected a flying unit to inspect the state of maintenance of “jamming munitions” carried by their planes.
“Jamming munitions” are guided decoys that have been put into service in accordance with the supreme command’s military modernization policy. They scramble the tracking and targeting functions of enemy missiles to protect warships and aircraft.
The bureau has stressed that the inspections are not to be taken lightly. According to the source, the bureau is explaining that it is carrying out week-long inspections of navy and air force units as part of an interim review to ascertain how well they have followed through with the supreme command’s pan-military modernization policy, the results of which will be used to make improvements.
The source noted that the supreme command’s intention in ordering the inspections was to reemphasize the importance of military modernization. In fact, the military leadership is calling on naval and air force units to “always remember” that modern warfare is electronic warfare, and that the military must prepare for this kind of warfare.
The bureau is also collecting the opinions of field commanders regarding maintenance problems combat units have experienced with upgraded, battlefield-deployed equipment suited for “modern warfare,” as well as technical flaws.
The source said the supreme command ordered the ministry’s Weapons Bureau, equipment departments of the navy and air force, and technical commanders of combat units to work together to “make the blaze of military modernization rage brighter,” and to submit detailed plans to “ceaselessly strengthen unit combat strength.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
17. N. Korea distributes lecture material calling for all-out focus on "weeding fields"
More "unhappiness."
Excerpt:
The material also pointed out that, “Officials, workers and people at many workplaces have been avoiding agricultural support activities using work as an excuse,” and that, “In a manner inappropriate for the agricultural support period, people are unnecessarily out in the streets doing business activities outside of times allotted for those activities.”
In short, North Korean authorities are aware that labor shortages could hinder efforts to achieve the country’s grain production goals for the year, and have begun once again to emphasize the importance of sending labor to agricultural areas.
The lecture material called on all workers deployed to farm fields to complete the fourth round of weeding by the end of June. It also called on workplaces excluded from agricultural support efforts to fully mobilize as much labor as they can to help with weeding efforts on Fridays and Sundays.
Yet many North Koreans are unhappy about the government’s efforts to get more people out in the farm fields, according to the source.
N. Korea distributes lecture material calling for all-out focus on "weeding fields" - Daily NK
"If we are late in weeding, grain yields fall, creating major problems in achieving the party's grain production targets for this year," the material said
In this photo published in May 2022, North Korean farm workers are seen watering a field. (Rodong Sinmun - News1)
North Korean authorities recently distributed lecture material calling for the “full concentration” of the country’s labor force on weeding fields.
According to a Daily NK source in the country last Thursday, the material, entitled “Let’s qualitatively complete weeding fields at the right time by fully focusing all our capacity,” emphasized that all North Koreans would be mobilized to resolve the nation’s food shortages.
In essence, North Korea is calling for an “all out war” against weeds with a view to raise agricultural production. This battle against weeds comes as the country deals with a food crisis brought on by the protracted closure of the border due to COVID-19.
“Finishing weeding at the right time is an important agricultural process that must not be missed during the year’s farming,” the lecture material said, adding, “If we are late in weeding, grain yields fall, creating major problems in achieving the party’s grain production targets for this year.”
The lecture material went on to say that, “The party is calling for mobilizing more people for weeding, even if just by a single person, by scouring as many sources of labor for agricultural support from government agencies and enterprises as possible.”
The material also pointed out that, “Officials, workers and people at many workplaces have been avoiding agricultural support activities using work as an excuse,” and that, “In a manner inappropriate for the agricultural support period, people are unnecessarily out in the streets doing business activities outside of times allotted for those activities.”
In short, North Korean authorities are aware that labor shortages could hinder efforts to achieve the country’s grain production goals for the year, and have begun once again to emphasize the importance of sending labor to agricultural areas.
The lecture material called on all workers deployed to farm fields to complete the fourth round of weeding by the end of June. It also called on workplaces excluded from agricultural support efforts to fully mobilize as much labor as they can to help with weeding efforts on Fridays and Sundays.
Yet many North Koreans are unhappy about the government’s efforts to get more people out in the farm fields, according to the source.
“Party members and workers are not avoiding mobilizations to the farm fields because they’re unaware of the party’s ideology or intentions,” said the source. “When people are suffering food shortages due to emergency quarantine efforts in agricultural villages, not to mention cities, who would listen to government orders?”
The lecture material also called for strict compliance with guidelines pertaining to emergency quarantine efforts. These guidelines include disinfecting the accommodations, dining spaces and agricultural tools used by agricultural workers, and conducting temperature checks.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
18. North's artillery fire wasn't reported for hours
Monday
June 13, 2022
North's artillery fire wasn't reported for hours
In this photo released by Pyongyang's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency, North Korea conducts an artillery firing drill with 122 mm mortars on March 13. [YONHAP]
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) belatedly disclosed Sunday evening that North Korea fired artillery rounds earlier in the day, explaining its delay on the fact that such launches do not violate United Nations resolutions.
The JCS said in a text message sent to reporters on Sunday evening that the South Korean military detected several projectile “trajectories,” believed to be artillery rounds, between 8:07 a.m. and 11:03 a.m.
In a later update, the JCS said North Korea fired five artillery rounds into the Yellow Sea from its western coast, with the mortars estimated to be between 122mm or 240mm in diameter.
The JCS announced the launches about 10 hours after they took place, raising questions about the reasons for the delay.
"A ballistic missile launch would constitute a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, so such an event is announced immediately, but those measures are not applicable to artillery rounds,” said a JCS official who spoke on condition of anonymity to reporters.
While Security Council resolutions against Pyongyang do only apply to tests of ballistic missile technology, the JCS has previously informed reporters of tests of other weapon types by the North, albeit with some delay as well.
South Korean defense officials came under fire in late January for reacting a day late to a North Korean cruise missile test — after media outlets had already reported their occurrence.
Late acknowledgements of North Korean weapons tests, such as the January cruise missile launch, have raised questions about the military’s readiness and detection capabilities.
The delay in the JCS announcement about Sunday’s artillery rounds by the North aroused other suspicions.
Earlier in the day, President Yoon Suk-yeol was spotted at a cinema with First Lady Kim Keon-hee to attend a screening of the Palme d’Or-nominated film “Broker,” leading a member of the rival Democratic Party (DP) to accuse him of “watching movies and eating popcorn” amid a building security crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
“North Korea fired artillery rounds yesterday, but the JCS and the presidential office announced their occurrence almost 10 hours later, which leads me to believe the announcement was delayed to not interfere with the president’s film viewing,” wrote DP lawmaker Lee Won-wook in a post on his Facebook page on Monday.
Lee berated Yoon for his handling of the presidency.
“I am confused as to whether we elected a president, or rather a celebrity who is masquerading as a president in front of the media,” Lee said.
On his way into the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul on Monday, Yoon told reporters there was no need for concern over his whereabouts and activities the previous day.
“If the artillery rounds fired were on the same level as a missile launch, we would have taken appropriate measures,” Yoon said. “Yesterday’s artillery barrage was not as serious as a missile test, so we responded accordingly.
“There is no need to have misgivings,” Yoon told reporters.
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
19. 'North Korea's reshuffle signals preparation for dialogue'
Kim wants us to get our hopes up. Beward regime political warfare.
'North Korea's reshuffle signals preparation for dialogue'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a meeting of the secretariat of the central committee of the North's Workers' Party in Pyongyang, Sunday, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, Monday. Yonhap
By Kang Seung-woo
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's reshuffle of his foreign minister and the post in charge of inter-Korean relations means that he has laid the groundwork for dialogue with South Korea and the United States in the future, according to experts, even though he is highly anticipated to conduct a nuclear test soon.
According to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who used to play a key role in denuclearization talks, has been promoted to the post of foreign minister. In addition, Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon has been tapped to lead the ruling Workers' Party's United Front Department tasked with handling ties with South Korea.
The announcement triggered rampant speculation here that Pyongyang will also adopt a confrontational stance against the new South Korean government and the U.S. administration, both of which have refused to yield to the North Korean regime.
However, Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the ruling People Power Party, who previously served as North Korea's No. 2 diplomat in Britain until he defected to South Korea with his family in July 2016, said the impoverished country was gearing up for post-nuclear-test talks with the South and the U.S.
His prediction comes as the totalitarian state is poised to carry out a seventh nuclear test, according to South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities.
Despite concurring on the projection of a looming North Korean nuclear test, Tae said the appointments were made looking beyond the nuclear provocation.
"Kim Jong-un's reshuffle seems to represent preparations for negotiations with the U.S. and South Korea rather than an intention to engage in a tit-for-tat," Tae said, adding that Choe and Ri have a reputation for being seasoned negotiators with South Korea and the U.S.
"Who wins in a face-to-face contest is decided by who wins a favorable agreement. North Korea created a confrontational mood on the Korean Peninsula in 2017, but transformed it into a conciliatory one the following year, which led to the Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula and the joint statement from the U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore," he said.
Tae added: "That is why North Korea celebrates them as its own victory."
Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, also said the appointment of Choe, who has a wealth of diplomatic experience under her belt, was meant to invigorate the country's diplomacy.
The North Korean diplomat-turned-politician said the Kim regime will conduct a nuclear test judging by the precedent that it has done so every time a new South Korean leader was inaugurated.
"Since North Korea carried out its first nuclear test in 2006, with the Roh Moo-hyun administration at the helm, it has repeated that at the early stage of each South Korean administration. In that respect, the North would follow suit," Tae said.
"Like 2017, Kim Jong-un will repeatedly test nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles to rattle the Yoon Suk-yeol administration in its early phase, but it may strategically turn to a conciliatory stance to draw concessions from South Korea and the U.S."
Meanwhile, the North Korean leader called for stronger self-defense measures to tackle "very serious" security challenges as he presided over a ruling party session last week, according to media reports on Saturday.
20. Why is New Zealand’s defence minister visiting South Korea?
Why is New Zealand’s defence minister visiting South Korea?
By Geoffrey Miller
Opinion - New Zealand's defence minister, Peeni Henare, has had a very busy first half of the year.
Peeni Henare Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
In January, Henare was the face of New Zealand's relief effort to Tonga, following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano.
Then, from March onwards, Henare was often involved in Jacinda Ardern's announcements of military support for Ukraine.
Cabinet initially declined a request by Henare for New Zealand to also supply 'lethal aid' weaponry to Ukraine - but that decision was suddenly reversed in early April.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, tensions between China and the West have also escalated in the Indo-Pacific. The increased focus on 'hard security' in New Zealand's neighbourhood has only strengthened Henare's role further.
The defence minister's first trip outside New Zealand was to Fiji in late March. The outcome was a 'Statement of Intent' pledging stronger defence ties between Suva and Wellington. A week later, New Zealand foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta herself travelled to Fiji to sign a broader 'Duavata Partnership', which promised 'a new level of expanded strategic cooperation' between Suva and Wellington.
Given the subsequent debate over China's interest in its own security arrangements with Pacific countries - especially Solomon Islands - a section of the Duavata Partnership that promises greater co-operation between Fiji and New Zealand on cybersecurity, defence and policing seems particularly significant.
The Pacific remains the focus during Henare's current trip to Asia.
On Saturday, Henare spoke on a panel on 'Climate Security and Green Defence' at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Of course, in the current geopolitical climate, nothing is ever as it seems - and Henare's contribution mainly served as just another opportunity to stress the strategic importance of the Pacific region and justify New Zealand's involvement.
If this needed to be underlined, Henare obliged with his opening remarks at the defence ministers' summit, which included the line "our security and well-being are intrinsically bound to the peace and stability of our region".
With his first in-person multilateral meeting under his belt, Henare now heads to Seoul for a three-day bilateral visit.
Much like Jacinda Ardern's decision to brand her recent overseas trips as 'trade missions', the official reasoning given for Henare's visit to South Korea probably understates its significance.
The government says the main reason for Henare's trip is to check on New Zealand troops deployed there and to acknowledge the contribution of the 6,000 New Zealand soldiers who served in the Korean War.
This of course an important and worthy reason for a visit - but it is far from the only one.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Wellington and Seoul - and bilateral relations may be about to step up a gear.
South Korea is New Zealand's fifth-biggest export market, putting it behind only China, Australia, the US and Japan in importance.
This statistic alone makes it overdue for a visit by a senior New Zealand minister.
But there is more to it than that.
Like New Zealand, South Korea is currently edging its foreign policy towards the West.
This is despite the fact that China is South Korea's biggest export market and two-way trading partner - another parallel with New Zealand, which sends 33 percent of its exports to China.
Seoul has also had another very particular reason to keep on good terms with Beijing - the influence it holds over unpredictable Pyongyang. Already this year, North Korea has undertaken a record-breaking number of missile tests - 31 in total - and appears to be more dangerous than ever.
Despite this, South Korea's new President, Yoon Suk-yeol, is seeking to broaden his country's foreign policy ambitions beyond the Korean peninsula, in a bid to become what he calls a 'global pivotal state'.
Yoon, a conservative, narrowly won power in South Korea's presidential election held in March. But there were signs of changes even in the last days of the five-year term of Yoon's more liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Moon initially tried to avoid placing its own sanctions on Russia - a stance also initially taken by New Zealand - before giving into pressure and joining the sanctions club a few days later.
The decision made South Korea one of only a handful of Asian economies to impose sanctions on Russia - two of the others are Singapore and Japan, which Ardern herself visited at the end of April.
The shift on sanctions made by Moon - who visited New Zealand in late 2018 - closely echoed New Zealand's own new calculations. Jacinda Ardern was initially reluctant to impose sanctions to avoid setting a precedent that could irritate China. But as she faced pressure domestically and from Western partners, Ardern soon changed course and introduced the groundbreaking Russia Sanctions Act.
The similarities do not stop there.
Last month, Yoon hosted US President Joe Biden in Seoul and the pair issued a joint statement which cited several sensitive China-related issues - such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait - as well as the North Korea threat.
Unlike New Zealand, South Korea is a staunch US ally - so it might seem remarkable that New Zealand's own recent joint statement with the US - issued after Ardern met Biden in the White House - is even more hawkish and detailed when it comes to criticism of China.
This is a risk - Beijing has already verbally expressed disapproval at New Zealand's apparent alignment with the US, and more substantive repercussions may yet emerge.
But for now, New Zealand and South Korea are forging broadly similar foreign policy paths that see them working more closely with other Western partners.
Neither country is a member of the 'Quad' grouping of China hawks - an arrangement involving Australia, India, Japan and the US - but both New Zealand and South Korea (along with Vietnam) have been part of a trialled 'Quad Plus' format that could always be revived and expanded.
Moreover, both New Zealand and South Korea are among just four countries from the Indo-Pacific - the others are Australia and Japan - to be invited to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) leaders' summit in Spain at the end of June.
Jacinda Ardern has yet to officially confirm her attendance at the Madrid meeting, but foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta already attended a NATO foreign ministers' meeting virtually in April.
NATO is obviously keen to bring New Zealand and South Korea - which it calls Asia-Pacific partners - more closely into its orbit.
Both Seoul and Wellington have also been keen to sign up to a new economic pillar that the US is setting up to counter Chinese influence.
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is still somewhat nebulous when it comes to detail.
But Wendy Cutler, a former US diplomat and trade negotiator, suggests the IPEF's 'supply chain resilience' component might be drawn on to counter a Chinese strategy that the US calls 'economic coercion'.
The coercion label essentially refers to Beijing's imposition of trade punishments on countries that get offside with its wider foreign policy aims.
Australia experienced the impact of trade linkage when China imposed punitive tariffs on Australian wine and barley exports in 2020, after then Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an investigation into the origins of Covid-19.
Peeni Henare's three-day mission to South Korea is no accident.
Seoul and Wellington might be 10,000 kilometres apart.
But when it comes to geopolitical strategy, New Zealand and South Korea are becoming closer by the day.
*Geoffrey Miller is the Democracy Project's international analyst and writes on current New Zealand foreign policy and related geopolitical issues. He has lived in Germany and the Middle East and is a learner of Arabic and Russian.
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
