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Quotes of the Day:
“It should be the aim of grand strategy to discover and pierce the Achilles’ heel of the opposing government’s power to make war. And strategy, in turn, should seek to penetrate a joint in the harness of the opposing forces. To apply one’s strength where the opponent is strong weakens oneself disproportionately to the effect attained. To strike with strong effect, one must strike at weakness”.
- B.H. Liddell Hart
“Nothing in the Golden Rule says that others will treat us as we have treated them. It only says that we must treat others in a way that we would want to be treated.”
– Rosa Parks
"August 15th, is the anniversary of Korean liberation from Japanese colonial rule with the end of the Second World War in the Pacific. This day represents a moment in time when the aspirations of the independence movement could have been fulfilled. Yet, by 1948, with the creation of two separate governments, the dream two create a unified independent nation true to the ideals of Hong-ik Ingan were dashed....Korean identity, originating in the Dangun founding story and the Hongik Ingan ideal, and forged through harsh historical experience, is inseparable from Korea’s destiny. Hongik Ingan laid out the principles that took root in the Korean consciousness, leading Koreans to aspire to high-minded ideals and adopt a fundamentally spiritual outlook toward life. On the level of society this produced the desire to establish an ideal nation and to become a source of inspiration and learning for the rest of humanity. Hongik Ingan means to live for the benefit of all mankind" - Dr. Hyun Jin P. Moon”
1. [FULL TEXT] Address by President Yoon Suk-yeol on Korea's 77th Liberation Day
2. Thinking the unthinkable on North Korea
3. We Must Bring About a Free and Unified Korea
4. Yoon's 'audacious initiative' for North Korea lacks details: experts
5. 'Japan is our partner': Yoon vows to improve Seoul-Tokyo ties
6. Yoon Suk-yeol dangles carrots at North Korea in Liberation Day speech
7. A K-Arsenal of Democracy? South Korea and U.S. Allied Defense Procurement
8. NK uses Liberation Day as another opportunity to call for loyalty for the Kims
9. The Power of Information: Telling Three Stories to the North Korean People
10. A North Korean Elite in the USA: An Interview with Seohyun Lee!
11. Japan ministers visit war shrine as South Korea calls for end to historical tensions
12. Putin offers to share Russia’s advanced weapons with allies around the world
13. Russia vows to expand relations with North Korea
14. Republic of Korea National Day - United States Department of State
15. 'Angry young men' are turning their backs on Yoon
16. Kim’s sister: ‘Giggly princess, de facto queen’
1. [FULL TEXT] Address by President Yoon Suk-yeol on Korea's 77th Liberation Day
The only correct end for the independence movement is unification.
Excerpts:
As inscribed in the March 1st Declaration of Independence, the charter of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai and Yun Bong-gil's spirit of independence, the independence movement during Japanese colonial rule yearned for a democratic republic where the people are the rightful owners of their nation and where freedom, human rights and the rule of law reign supreme.
The aim of the independence movement was never to build a totalitarian state that represses freedom and human rights. Our fallen forebears and patriots, as well as all Koreans, came together for the independence movement during the Japanese colonial period and on this day in 1945, that movement finally liberated Korea.
The independence movement did not end that day but continues to carry on even to this day. We fought to build a free and independent nation in the face of communist aggression; we accomplished economic growth and industrialization which became the cornerstone of freedom and democracy; we advanced our democratic ideals based on these accomplishments. As such, our independence movement still continues.
[FULL TEXT] Address by President Yoon Suk-yeol on Korea's 77th Liberation Day
The Korea Times · by 2022-08-15 16:46 | Foreign Affairs · August 15, 2022
The following is the full text of a speech given by President Yoon Suk-yeol to mark the 77th Liberation Day on Monday.
Address by President Yoon Suk-yeol on Korea's 77th Liberation Day
My beloved fellow Koreans, 7.5 million compatriots living abroad,
Today we mark the 77th Liberation Day.
I express my deepest gratitude and respect to our fallen forebears and patriots who sacrificed themselves for our independence. I also wish to convey my utmost respect to their families as well.
As inscribed in the March 1st Declaration of Independence, the charter of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai and Yun Bong-gil's spirit of independence, the independence movement during Japanese colonial rule yearned for a democratic republic where the people are the rightful owners of their nation and where freedom, human rights and the rule of law reign supreme.
The aim of the independence movement was never to build a totalitarian state that represses freedom and human rights. Our fallen forebears and patriots, as well as all Koreans, came together for the independence movement during the Japanese colonial period and on this day in 1945, that movement finally liberated Korea.
The independence movement did not end that day but continues to carry on even to this day. We fought to build a free and independent nation in the face of communist aggression; we accomplished economic growth and industrialization which became the cornerstone of freedom and democracy; we advanced our democratic ideals based on these accomplishments. As such, our independence movement still continues.
In the past, it was the yearning of weaker nations to reclaim their sovereignty and freedom which was forcefully taken from them by those stronger nations wielding force.
Now, the mandate of the times calls for countries that share universal values to stand in solidarity to defend freedom and human rights and achieve peace and prosperity for the citizens of the world.
The independence movement for freedom has also led us to attain economic development and the establishment of institutional democracy which are the foundation that allows for genuine freedom to flourish. Our independence movement must now contribute towards protecting and expanding the freedom of all global citizens who share such universal values.
Fellow Koreans,
As we celebrate the 77th Liberation Day, we must remind ourselves of the historic significance of this independence movement that encompasses the past and points towards the future.
Our independence movement is a dynamic process. At every historic juncture, the movement has evolved along with the new mandate of the times, taking on new meanings.
It is about restoring, defending and promoting freedom as well as fighting new threats to freedom, all in full solidarity with, and working alongside, global citizens with the goal of achieving global peace and prosperity.
Looking back at our history, we encounter a myriad of great independence activists: those who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting against Japanese imperialists and those who exercised noblesse oblige by helping arm and train independence fighters. I am always overcome with gratitude whenever I think about the courage and sacrifice made by these heroes.
There are other independence activists whom we should never forget: those who cultivated not only the nation's spirit but also its abilities to build a liberal democracy by focusing on educational and cultural programs at home and abroad; those who fought the Communist invasion in defense of our freedom and democracy; leaders and laborers alike who toiled to lay the economic foundation that enabled genuine freedom to take root; and let us not forget that those who sacrificed and dedicated themselves for institutional democracy are also our independence leaders.
We must remember all of those who devoted themselves to building today's free and democratic Republic of Korea as great independence activists.
Honoring and respecting them is our duty and responsibility but it is also the beginning of and a foundation upon which to ensure our future prosperity.
Fellow Koreans,
In the past, we had to unshackle ourselves from the political control imposed upon us by imperial Japan so that we could regain and defend our freedom. Today, Japan is our partner as we face common threats that challenge the freedom of global citizens.
When Korea-Japan relations move towards a common future and when the mission of our times align, based on our shared universal values, it will also help us solve the historical problems that exist between our two countries.
We must swiftly and properly improve Korea-Japan relations by upholding the spirit of the Kim Dae-jung ― Obuchi Declaration which proposed a blueprint of a comprehensive future for Korea-Japan relations.
The governments and peoples of both countries, based on mutual respect, must contribute to the peace and prosperity of the international community through extensive cooperation in various areas, ranging from economic and security cooperation to social and cultural exchanges.
Freedom ― the spirit of our independence movement ― builds peace, and peace defends freedom.
Peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia is an important prerequisite for global peace and serves as the foundation for protecting and expanding our freedom and that of global citizens.
Denuclearization of North Korea is essential for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and around the world.
The audacious initiative that I envision will significantly improve North Korea's economy and its people's livelihoods in stages if the North ceases the development of its nuclear program and embarks on a genuine and substantive process for denuclearization.
We will implement a large-scale food program; provide assistance for power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure; and carry out projects to modernize ports and airports for international trade. We will also help enhance North Korea's agricultural productivity, offer assistance to modernize hospitals and medical infrastructure, and implement international investment and financial support initiatives.
Fellow Koreans,
Amid growing uncertainty in the global economy, the Government must attain fiscal soundness in order to maintain the credibility of the Korean economy.
To this end, the government will reduce unnecessary spending and make structural reforms in the public sector.
At the same time, we will provide more intensive support for low-income families and the socially disadvantaged with the fiscal resources derived from the restructuring of expenditures.
Guaranteeing a strong economic and cultural foundation for low-income families and the socially disadvantaged is the essence of universal values of freedom and solidarity.
Basic-living security benefits will be strengthened to stabilize the livelihoods of those in need. More government support will be provided to those who experience unforeseen challenges in their personal lives.
Caregiving services for people with disabilities will be greatly enhanced in order to minimize the inconveniences experienced in their daily lives. More attention will be given to young individuals preparing to stand on their own after aging out of institutional care.
In order to relieve concerns regarding housing, the government will stabilize the housing market by streamlining regulations that distort demand and supply. Better housing services will be offered to the socially disadvantaged.
The recent flood caused much damage and suffering to our people.
When disaster strikes, low-income families and the socially disadvantaged are exposed to greater risks. The government will offer thorough and deliberate assistance to these people.
In order to help those who suffered from the flood quickly return to their daily lives, the government will spare no effort to provide support and restore damages. Fundamental measures will be taken to prevent future disasters.
We will alleviate the financial burden of small business owners who face difficulties due to COVID19 and also due to natural disasters such as the recent flood.
Beloved fellow Koreans,
Deepening polarization and social divide are urgent challenges that we must overcome.
In order to overcome this challenge, we must make great strides and take the big leap forward to innovate our economy.
Such leap is possible through innovation, and innovation can take place when we have freedom.
Regulations will be streamlined so that the private sector can forge ahead.
Regulatory reform will encourage and allow Korean companies to invest and create jobs within the country instead of relocating overseas.
Scientific and technological innovations will lead to more rapid growth.
The Government will make sure that we can become a leader in industrial advancement and technological development rather than simply being a follower.
The fusion of cutting-edge science and technology can also help discover solutions to the crises of climate change, pandemics and other disasters that threaten the sustainability of humankind.
Fellow Koreans,
When all of us had to endure dark times; when none of us knew what to expect; when no one believed we had a future, we nevertheless forged ahead believing in the fundamental universal values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law and achieved phenomenal growth and prosperity that all of us enjoy today.
We were able to regain our freedom through our people's great determination and courage. We have become stronger in the process of defending and expanding this freedom.
Our independence movement is still ongoing. It is part of an endless journey for freedom that will continue.
Fellow Koreans,
The Republic of Korea's constitutional order that brought us freedom and prosperity stands firmly upon the triumphant spirit of independence of those who dedicated themselves for our independence during the terribly dark times of Japanese colonization.
By contributing to global peace and prosperity in solidarity as a responsible nation on the foundation of the universal values of freedom, human rights, the rule of law, we will be able to inherit and preserve the noble cause of our heroes who dedicated themselves to the independence movement.
Together with our great people, I will undoubtedly help achieve the historic global mission that has been entrusted to us.
Thank you. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · by 2022-08-15 16:46 | Foreign Affairs · August 15, 2022
2. Thinking the unthinkable on North Korea
A number of quotes from my address.
Thinking the unthinkable on North Korea
The Korea Times · August 15, 2022
Hyun Jin Preston Moon, left, founder and chairman of the Washington D.C.-based non-profit group Global Peace Foundation, and his wife Jun Sook Moon, clap during the International Forum on One Korea 2022 held at Fairmont Ambassador Hotel in Yeoido, Seoul, on Saturday. Courtesy of Global Peace Foundation
'Change is bound to come. We just don't know when, or in what form it will happen,' says expert
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The unification of the two Koreas seems to be one of the least likely things to happen any time soon, particularly now when inter-Korean relations have become more confrontational and volatile than ever before. There have been few signs of improvement in South-North relations since conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol was inaugurated on May 10.
Unlike his predecessor, Moon Jae-in, who sought peace and sustainable inter-Korean relations and tried to curry favor with the North when the reclusive nation relied on a brinkmanship diplomacy, Yoon is a hardliner showing no appetite for conciliatory gestures. Analysts say that North Korea could be preparing for another nuclear test, following the test-firing of missiles with advanced technology despite international condemnation. This situation is yet more evidence showing the current state of inter-Korean relations.
Amid the prevailing pessimistic views about North Korea, among Korea observers, some have begun to think the unthinkable: the prospect of a unified, peaceful Korea. Their optimism ― if not confidence ― about a shared future for the two Koreas is based on the rational belief that there are several different ways to achieve unification. One of them is the mutual agreement of the two Koreas on such unification.'
On top of dialogue and talks, retired Col. David Maxwell said there are three other paths to unification ― namely war, regime change and regime collapse ― stressing that peaceful unification is the most complex and difficult path to unify the two Koreas and "possibly the least likely one to occur because Kim Jong-un is unlikely to ever go quietly into the night."
"But it is the morally right path because we must seek to do it as peacefully as possible," Maxwell said during a speech to the International Forum on One Korea 2022 held at the Fairmont Ambassador Hotel in Seoul on Aug. 13 and 14. "However, even if war or regime collapse occurs, all the work done for peaceful planning will still have applicability in the unification process. Regardless of the path taken, planning for peaceful unification planning will provide the foundation for a free and unified Korea."
Maxwell is one of the dozens of experts who gathered in Seoul during the weekend to figure out ways to "make the impossible possible," as he put it. Also joining the two-day international forum were lawmakers, think tank experts, human rights activists and academics.
Also a senior fellow of the Washington D.C-based think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Maxwell called for the active role of civil society, together with the governments of South Korea and the U.S., to make peace on the Korean Peninsula happen.
"I recommend the formation of civil society task forces that are willing to support the goal of a free and unified Korea," he said. "There is much work that can be done in long-term preparation for the future: humanitarian assistance, education, economic engagement, infrastructure development, political process integration and communications, just to name a few areas for consideration."
Maxwell argued that unification costs could become manageable if civil society around the world is willing to step up and show their support for the Korean people.
Retired Col. David Maxwell, senior fellow at the non-profit group Foundation for Defense of Democracies, gives a speech during the opening session of the International Forum on One Korea 2022 at Fairmont Ambassador Hotel in Seoul on Saturday. Courtesy of Global Peace Foundation
During the two-day event, professionals in three areas of specialization ― peace and security, the economy and human rights ― shared their thoughts and insights into the reclusive state in order to find a constructive way to build peace in East Asia.
Park Ji-hyun, a North Korean defector-turned-human rights activist based in the United Kingdom, addressed human trafficking and modern-day slavery as two of the most acute problems in the North and called for international action to stop them.
In North Korea, she said, "the state is driving its citizens into human trafficking and forced labor," adding that "types of forced labor include forced child labor, illegal recruitment and the deployment of child soldiers."
Park, human rights research manager at the U.K.-based non-profit group, Slavefreetrade, mentioned the prevalence of state-sponsored sex crimes in the North, saying, "The North Korean government welcomes women over the age of 17 with joy by raping them, forcing them to dance and sing in front of them, and commits sexual violence against women without hesitation."
Among others, she underscored information as one of the most important tools that could transform North Korea's younger generations into agents of change to stand up against the repressive Kim Jong-un regime.
"Younger generations who have escaped North Korea have focused much more on defending themselves for (the goal of) freedom than (escaping from) economic hardship," she said. "For those who have hope of freedom and to live their dreams, they say that the collapse of North Korea should be focused and changed through internal forces rather than external forces."
For decades, information has been touted as one of the most effective ways to change the North. Many are convinced that the infiltration of outside information could help the North Korean public realize that they have been deceived and brainwashed by the North Korean authorities and encourage them to launch a grassroots movement to stand up against the dictatorship. This kind of thinking has emboldened some activists, and they have sent leaflets to educate North Koreans about the Kim dynasty, their decades of dictatorship and human rights abuses, despite death threats from the North Korean regime.
Although information can be effective, some claim that its role has been overstated. These skeptics say that knowing is one thing and performing collective action to break the miserable status quo is another. In a country like North Korea, in which its leader makes use of the politics of fear and brutally cracks down on any kind of anti-government activities, the naysayers say organizing anti-government rallies or protests is something unthinkable.
Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, speaks at the Peace and Security session of the One Korea forum held at Fairmont Ambassador Hotel in Seoul, Saturday. Courtesy of Global Peace Foundation
Hyun Jin Preston Moon, founder and chairman of the U.S.-based group, Global Peace Foundation, however, believes in the potential of information, noting that North Koreans today are not the same as those of the past.
The origin of his confidence about North Korea having changed is the younger generations, particularly those who are called "the Jangmadang generation," people who were raised when informal markets began to thrive in North Korea, following the great famine in the mid-1990s.
"People in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea no longer live in a cocoon with no information from the world outside. The current generation of North Koreans has experienced the freedom of enterprise and choice ― however restricted ― offered by the jangmadang informal markets," he said during a keynote speech to the forum. "They watch TV dramas from China and South Korea and do not accept the propaganda, however harsh their lives might be" "The regime fears the confluence of a more informed, less unconditionally loyal population, with greater hardships," he said.
When loyalty is replaced by fear and the general population suffers increasing hardships, he said, the situation becomes unsustainable. "Change is bound to come. We just don't know when, or in what form it will happen."
The annual One Korea Forum hosted by Global Peace Foundation wrapped up on Sunday.
Audience listen during the One Korea forum at Fairmont Ambassador Hotel in Seoul on Saturday. Courtesy of Global Peace Foundation
The Korea Times · August 15, 2022
3. We Must Bring About a Free and Unified Korea
My address this weekend here in Korea.
We Must Bring About a Free and Unified Korea
19fortyfive.com · by David Maxwell · August 14, 2022
This article is adapted from remarks presented by the author at International Forum on One Korea 2022 in Seoul, Korea on August 13, 2022.
Good morning. I would like to thank all the organizers, sponsors, contributors, and participants in this great event and for the opportunity to be among such distinguished speakers and leaders.
Dr. Hyun-jin Preston Moon: I was moved by your remarks yesterday at the celebration for Parc 1. Congratulations to you for accomplishing the construction of this new landmark for Korea.
Everything you do is tied to your vision – a vision we all must share – the Korean Dream. It made me think about the one strategic question we should continually ask of ourselves and our organizations: How does this action, whatever it is, contribute to achieving a free and unified Korea or what I like to describe as a United Republic of Korea – UROK? You are going to hear me repeat free and unified Korea, and UROK, over and over again – so please bear with me.
I am going to make four points using the three-step methodology of the U.S. Special Operations community – 1) Appreciate the Context; 2) Understand the Problem; 3) Develop an Approach.
First, let’s appreciate the context: North Korea is the threat to national security and national prosperity, not only for South Korea but also for the region and the world.
Second, we seek to understand the problem: The division of the peninsula is the strategic problem.
Third, we develop an approach: – civil society must support a free and unified Korea.
Fourth: Freedom and unification are the necessary conditions for peace.
North Korea Is the Threat
As we observe Liberation Day in Korea on August 15th, I think it is important to put things in perspective and keep in mind that Korea is not yet truly liberated. We do not yet have a free and unified Korea. We do not need to ask why that is, but I will state the obvious. It is because the Kim family regime, a mafia-like crime family cult, rules the northern half of this great peninsula and enslaves the 25 million Koreans in the north. At the same time, it poses an existential threat to the Republic of Korea and the nearly 52 million Koreans living in the South.
Most dangerous of all is that the regime seeks to bring the entire peninsula under the rule of the guerrilla dynasty and gulag state officially known by the most ironic name of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – a country that is neither democratic nor a republic, and certainly does not belong to the people.
Of course, we face myriad threats from the North, the worst-case scenario being war, with its full range of weapons of mass destruction, and with the threat of internal instability, regime collapse, and all that entails – from refugees to an immense humanitarian disaster, civil war, and chaos. The North is also actively working to subvert the South and its relations with the U.S. and the international community. It is conducting illicit activities around the world, from proliferation of weapons in conflict zones, to counterfeiting and money laundering, to cyber-attacks and drug trafficking.
But worst of all, it is conducting crimes against humanity on a scale we have not seen since World War II. North Korea is the worst human rights violator in the modern era. The Korean people in the North are suffering because of Kim Jong Un’s deliberate decision to prioritize nuclear weapons, missiles, and support of the elite and the military over the welfare of the people.
Due to the geostrategic location of this peninsula, what happens in Korea will have global effects in all domains, from economic to diplomatic to security. We all have reason to want to contribute to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the welfare of nearly 80 million Koreans on both sides of the DMZ.
The Division of the Peninsula is the Strategic Problem
The challenge is how to reach peace and ensure the welfare of all Koreans. The only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and military threats from the North, as well as its human rights abuses, is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a free and unified Korea. Some things are easy to see and to say, yet are very difficult to achieve. But we cannot be dissuaded from this goal by the uncertainty of the future and the complexity that is caused by the Kim family regime.
While the ROK has become a developed and advanced nation, the DPRK is stuck in time because of the nature of the regime and its objectives and strategy to dominate the peninsula on its terms. It refuses to accept outside help. It refuses to reform its economy, and it refuses to allow freedom in the North. It seeks regime survival through domination.
The complexity of unification has led to strategic planning paralysis. The North Korean situation has been described as a “wicked problem,” an issue or concern that is difficult to explain and inherently impossible to solve. The Korean people in the North are trapped in a vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression, and endemic bribery, according to the UN Commission of Inquiry. But it must be solved. As my brothers in the South Korean Special Forces say, “make the impossible possible,” 안 되면 되게 하라.
Civil Society Support to a Free and Unified Korea
The Yoon and Biden administrations as well as civil society in both the ROK and U.S., and in countries around the world, have an opportunity for a new approach to the Korean security challenge. The ROK/U.S. Alliance’s way forward is an integrated deterrence strategy as part of the broader strategic competition that is taking place in the region. There is a need for a Korean “Plan B” strategy that rests on the foundation of combined ROK/U.S. defensive capabilities. It includes political warfare, aggressive diplomacy, sanctions, cyber operations, and information and influence activities, with a goal of denuclearization. But ultimately the objective must be to solve the “Korea question” (e.g., the unnatural division of the peninsula as described in para. 60 of the 1953 Armistice), with the understanding that denuclearization of the North and an end to human rights abuses and crimes against humanity will only happen when the “Korea question” is resolved. Such a resolution will lead to a free and unified Korea, otherwise known as a United Republic of Korea: UROK. Civil society can make great contributions to help achieve this worthy goal.
There are four paths to unification. The first is war, which we must work to deter but also must be absolutely prepared for. The second is regime collapse, which can lead to war or to widespread conflict and human suffering. The desired path is peaceful unification and the merging of North and South through mutual agreement. And the fourth is the emergence of new leadership in the North who seeks peaceful unification.
South Korea, with the support of its friends, partners, and allies, and civil society around the world, should plan and prepare for peaceful unification. Paradoxically, this is the most complex and difficult path to unification and possibly the least likely one to occur, because Kim Jong Un is unlikely to ever go quietly into the night. But it is the morally right path, because we must seek to do it as peacefully as possible. However, even if war or regime collapse occurs, all the work done for peaceful planning will still have application in the unification process. Regardless of the path taken, planning for peaceful unification will provide the foundation for a free and unified Korea.
While the ROK and U.S. governments, as alliance partners, should form their own unification task force, civil society can play a very important supporting role and contribute to a free and unified Korea. I recommend the formation of civil society task forces that are willing to support the goal of a free and unified Korea. There is much work that can be done in long-term preparation for the future: humanitarian assistance, education, economic engagement, infrastructure development, political process integration, and communications, just to name a few areas for consideration. Frankly speaking, there are many Koreans who are fearful of the enormous costs of unification, but these fears can be overcome if civil society members around the world are willing to step up and show their support for the Korean people.
One of the areas where civil society can begin immediate work is in information. The UN Commission of Inquiry identified this as one of the most egregious human rights abuses, writing:
Throughout the history of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, among the most striking features of the State has been its claim to an absolute monopoly over information and total control of organized social life. The commission finds that there is an almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as of the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, information and association. (p.73)
Kim Jong Un denies access to information because he fears it would undermine the legitimacy of his rule and it would erode the regime’s ability to maintain absolute control over the population. While the North is isolated by design, information is getting into the North through myriad electronic media and other pathways to help inform and educate the Korean people in the North and prepare them for eventual unification. Furthermore, there are Koreans from the North working around the world. Although difficult due to North Korean security services, efforts should be made by civil society task forces in countries hosting Korean workers to engage them to also inform them and help them bring back knowledge and ideas.
Lastly, civil society and governments also need to understand the “Korea question” and the importance of unification for the Korean people, the region, and the world. The removal of a rogue nuclear country and a major human rights abuser is in the interests of the international community. In addition, the contribution that a free and unified Korea will make is significant. With some 80 million people combining the industry and advanced technology of the South with the vast untapped resources of the North, unified Korea will make substantial contributions to the global economy. The possibilities of civil society support for a free and unified Korea are limited only by our imagination.
Freedom and Unification are the Necessary Conditions for Peace
As we observe Liberation Day in Korea, we should be thankful for the rights we all enjoy, such as the Four Freedoms from President Roosevelt’s famous speech:
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of worship
- Freedom from want
- Freedom from fear
We should ask, when will the Korean people in the North enjoy these freedoms?
We should aspire to help all Koreans to achieve the freedom they called for in their own declaration of independence in 1919:
“We claim independence in the interest of the eternal and free development of our people and in accordance with the great movement for world reform based upon the awakening conscience of mankind.”
We need to awaken our conscience.
South Korea experienced the Miracle on the Han, while the only “miracle” in the North is that the Korean people continue to survive under the most despotic regime of the 21st Century. The ROK is the only developed nation in history to go from a major aid recipient to a major donor nation, and it has become the 10th largest economy in the world, with a global reputation for excellence. The Korean people in the South accomplished this due to their hard work, ingenuity, initiative, and sacrifice, and with the support of friends, partners, and allies. The unification process will be difficult, but with the support of nations and civil society, it can and must lead to a second miracle in the 21st Century – a free and unified Korea.
Conclusion
The only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and military threats, as well as the human rights abuses being committed, is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a free and unified Korea. One that is secure and stable, non-nuclear, economically vibrant with free market principles, and unified under a liberal-constitutional form of government based on individual liberty, freedom, rule of law, and human rights as determined by the Korean people: A free and unified Korea, or in short, a United Republic of Korea.
As the South Korean Special Forces say: “통일” (Tong Il) – Unification!
David Maxwell, a 1945 Contributing Editor, is a retired US Army Special Forces Colonel who has spent more than 30 years in Asia and specializes in North Korea and East Asia Security Affairs and irregular, unconventional, and political warfare. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Small Wars Journal. He is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Senior Fellow at the Global Peace Foundation (where he focuses on a free and unified Korea), and a Senior Advisor to the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy.
19fortyfive.com · by David Maxwell · August 14, 2022
4. Yoon's 'audacious initiative' for North Korea lacks details: experts
This confirms for me what a senior Korean hand once said to me: "everything that can be tried with north Korea has been tried." There is nothing new under the sun.
Yoon's 'audacious initiative' for North Korea lacks details: experts
The Korea Times · by 2022-08-15 16:46 | Foreign Affairs · August 15, 2022
Kaesong Industrial Complex Support Center in Kaesong, North Korea is seen from a guard post in Panmunjom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in this July file photo. President Yoon Suk-yeol announced his Audacious Initiative for North Korea's denuclearization which mainly consists of economic incentives. Joint Press Corps By Kwon Mee-yoo
President Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled what he called the "audacious Initiative," which consists of economic assistance for North Korea in exchange for its denuclearization, in his Liberation Day speech on Monday, but its feasibility has been questioned as it carries no guarantee of security and lacks details.
During his speech, Yoon said the initiative will "significantly improve North Korea's economy and its people's livelihoods in stages" if North Korea gives up its nuclear program and accepts his proposal.
"We will implement a large-scale food program, provide assistance for power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure and carry out projects to modernize ports and airports for international trade. We will also help enhance North Korea's agricultural productivity, offer assistance to modernize hospitals and medical infrastructure and implement international investment and financial support initiatives," Yoon said.
First mentioned during Yoon's inauguration speech in May as part of his North Korea policy, Yoon once again asked the Ministry of Unification to come up with a plan including economic support and security guarantees during the ministry's policy briefing to the president in July.
However, security issues were not included in Yoon's speech, leaving little to attract interest from North Korea.
Park Won-gon, a North Korean studies professor at Ewha Womans University, said the North is unlikely to accept Yoon's initiative as it has repeatedly opposed economic incentives in return for denuclearization.
"North Korea insists that nuclear strength can bring economic prosperity and recognizes economic incentives for giving up nukes as a denial of its regime," Park said.
President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers his Liberation Day speech, unveiling his administration's vision for North Korea's denuclearization in front of the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, said Yoon holds a Cold War era perspective on North Korea and the opinion that anti-communism is part of the independence movement.
"Yoon's so-called 'audacious initiative' is not very different from the Lee Myung-bak administration's Denuclearization, Opening and 300 Initiative," Cheong said.
Cheong said if the Presidential Office thought North Korea would give up nuclear weapons to receive economic support from the South, which could lead the North Korean economy to rely on the South, it is a serious misunderstanding.
"The chances of North Korea denuclearizing are slim, but even if Pyongyang agrees to do so, it would take a long time in the process," Cheong said, adding that the Yoon administration lacks long-term perspective on this issue.
"It is practically impossible for complete denuclearization of North Korea, but to at least partially reduce the North's nuclear program, it is essential to cooperate with the international community closely. However, there was no mention of the U.S., China or Russia in Yoon's speech," Cheong said.
"North Korea might partially reduce its nuclear capabilities to lift international sanctions against North Korea, but Yoon's plan does not include any consideration for easing sanctions against North Korea, which holds great importance for Pyongyang."
Later in the day, First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo gave a briefing on the initiative, explaining that Yoon's speech emphasized the economic part of the initiative, but added that it also encompasses political and military aspects.
"The goal of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's North Korea policy is to achieve a denuclearized, peaceful and prosperous Korean peninsula," Kim said.
He said that the administration has prepared a roadmap for political and military cooperation.
Kim said if the North comes to the negotiating table with sincerity, economic assistance can be provided in the early stages as well as a Resources-Food Exchange Program (R-FEP), inspired by the international community providing food in exchange for oil in Iraq's Oil for Food program.
A presidential office source hinted that the R-FEP could possibly lead to a phased lifting of the United Nations' sanctions against Pyongyang.
"Most of North Korea's mineral resources are subject to UN sanctions. Exchanging food with North Korea's resources could be discussed during the denuclearization process," the official said.
Leif-Eric Easley, international studies professor at Ewha Womans University, noted that domestic politics have driven down the Yoon administration's approval rating and Yoon's North Korea policy comes from that perspective.
"Because Pyongyang rejects most diplomatic contact, South Koreans are basically left to fight with themselves over North Korea policy. That is why it is important that the Yoon administration announced its audacious North Korea initiative," Easley said.
Easley advised the Yoon administration to abandon the factional attitude in policymaking, especially for inter-Korea and international diplomacy.
"If Seoul instead manages to set and maintain a bipartisan approach, it could more credibly deter North Korea, offer economic incentives for denuclearization and demand China play a constructive role," he said. "It can also develop an Indo-Pacific strategy alongside the United States and have a better hand in dealing with Japan."
The Korea Times · by 2022-08-15 16:46 | Foreign Affairs · August 15, 2022
5. 'Japan is our partner': Yoon vows to improve Seoul-Tokyo ties
It is important that he made this point about Japan on this day in this speech. I believe President Yoon is very sincere in trying to improve ROK-Japan relations.
And think about the power of a trilateral alliance - the ROK, Japan, and the US. It would put the fear of ZGod in the Chinese COmmunist Party (if they believed in God).
'Japan is our partner': Yoon vows to improve Seoul-Tokyo ties
The Korea Times · by 2022-08-15 11:25 | Politics · August 15, 2022
President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a ceremony celebrating the 77th anniversary of Korea's Liberation Day from Japan's colonial rule, on the lawn of the presidential office in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
In Liberation Day speech, president proposes economic assistance to North Korea in return for denuclearization
By Jung Min-ho
President Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to improve relations with Japan, calling the country a partner that South Korea should work with to defend important shared values, in a speech on Monday marking the 77th anniversary of liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
Yoon reiterated that he aims to inherit the spirit of the 1998 joint declaration between former President Kim Dae-jung ― a revered figure among liberal voters ― and former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, underscoring the shift of perception toward Japan from an old enemy to a new friend.
"In the past, we had to unshackle ourselves from the political control imposed upon us by imperial Japan so that we could regain and defend our freedom. Today, Japan is our partner as we face common threats that challenge the freedom of global citizens," Yoon said during Monday's Liberation Day speech on the lawn of the presidential office.
"When [South] Korea-Japan relations move toward a common future and when the mission of our times align, based on our shared universal values, it will also help us solve the historical problems that exist between our two countries."
President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee pay a silent tribute during a ceremony to mark the 77th anniversary of Korea's Liberation Day from Japan's colonial rule, on the lawn of the presidential office in Seoul, Monday. AP-Yonhap
Freedom and human rights were among the shared values he mentioned, adding that South Korea and Japan, along with many others, should cooperate to achieve peace and prosperity in the world.
"The governments and peoples of both countries, based on mutual respect, must contribute to the peace and prosperity of the international community through extensive cooperation in various areas, ranging from economic and security cooperation to social and cultural exchanges," he said.
His calls for reconciliation come as the South Korean Supreme Court is set to deliver its ruling on whether to liquidate the assets of Japanese companies in Korea to compensate South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor. Along with Japan's wartime sexual slavery, it is one of the major pending issues blocking the path to that goal. Yoon took office in May, with a promise to improve Seoul-Tokyo ties, which hit the lowest point since the Kim-Obuchi agreement under the Moon Jae-in administration.
People pay their respects before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il at Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday, as North Korea celebrates its 77th National Liberation Day. AFP-Yonhap
In his speech, Yoon honored those who fought for the country's independence. They made the sacrifice to build a democratic nation, "not a totalitarian one where freedom and human rights are ignored," he said in an apparent reference to North Korea, which also celebrates the day for nation founder Kim Il-sung's "victory" over Japan.
Yoon revealed more details of his "audacious plan" for the North, urging Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
If the North abandons its nuclear ambition, he said, South Korea will offer technology, food and other aid deemed necessary to significantly develop its economy and the lives of ordinary North Koreans.
In the last part of the speech, Yoon said his administration will step up efforts to rebuild financial stability in South Korea ― shifting from the debt-driven economy of the COVID-19 pandemic ― while strengthening the social safety net for the most vulnerable.
"The recent flood caused much damage and suffering to our people. When disaster strikes, low-income families and the socially disadvantaged are exposed to greater risks. The government will offer thorough and deliberate assistance to these people," Yoon said. "We will alleviate the financial burden of small business owners who face difficulties due to COVID-19 and also due to natural disasters such as the recent flood … Deepening polarization and the social divide are urgent challenges that we must overcome."
The main opposition liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) denounced Yoon for limiting the meaning of the country's independence only to fighting for freedom and failing to offer concrete solutions for soured Seoul-Tokyo relations.
"The people will not agree with the policy to improve Korea-Japan relations, with Japan's past wrongdoings left unresolved," Rep. Jo O-seop, the party's spokesman, said. "Freedom is an important constitutional value. But we regret that he used it as grounds for his policy, interpreting the meaning of the independence movement in a limited way … The value of freedom Yoon emphasized in his speech rings hollow."
No solution would satisfy everyone, but the Japanese government has recently shown its willingness to unravel complicated issues involving South Korea, signaling that there may be a breakthrough, an official at the presidential office told reporters.
"The Japanese government's attitude, language and tone have changed recently. Previously, Japanese authorities refused to meet their South Korean counterparts … Now, they try to listen, talk and negotiate. The atmosphere is different," the official said.
The Korea Times · by 2022-08-15 11:25 | Politics · August 15, 2022
6. Yoon Suk-yeol dangles carrots at North Korea in Liberation Day speech
i do not think any of these carrots have moved KJU in the past.
Monday
August 15, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Yoon Suk-yeol dangles carrots at North Korea in Liberation Day speech
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/08/15/national/politics/Korea-Yoon-Sukyeol-North-Korea/20220815175121095.html
President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and first lady Kim Keon-hee wave Korean flags during a ceremony marking the 77th Liberation Day on the front lawn of the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Monday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
President Yoon Suk-yeol expanded on his "audacious initiative" to help North Korea's economy — provided Pyongyang takes steps toward denuclearization.
In his first Liberation Day address Monday, Yoon said his plan could "significantly improve North Korea's economy and its people's livelihoods in stages if the North ceases the development of its nuclear program and embarks on a genuine and substantive process for denuclearization."
He spoke in a ceremony on the front lawn of the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul to honor the 77th Liberation Day, marking Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule on Aug. 15, 1945.
In his speech, Yoon said his government could implement a large-scale food program for North Korea; provide assistance for power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure; and carry out projects to modernize North Korea's ports and airports for international trade.
He also offered to help enhance North Korea's agricultural productivity, assist in modernizing hospitals and medical infrastructure and support international investment and financial initiatives.
"Denuclearization of North Korea is essential for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and around the world," said Yoon.
Yoon was elaborating for the first time on a so-called audacious plan for Pyongyang he first proposed in his inaugural address on May 10.
First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said in a briefing later Monday, "In addition to the economic sector, a roadmap for cooperation in the political and military sectors has also been prepared in line with the process of reaching a comprehensive agreement on denuclearization and the substantive denuclearization of North Korea."
Kim said, "If North Korea enters into denuclearization talks with sincerity, it is a bold proposal which will actively provide economic support measures from the initial negotiation process."
The Yoon government proposes a "resources-food exchange program" linking North Korea's underground resources such as minerals, sand, and rare earth metals with food support, as well as improvement in people's livelihoods through health care, drinking water, sanitation, and forestry.
The idea is to link North Korea's abundant mineral resources with the supply of food and daily necessities, inspired by the oil-for-food program, through which the international community supplied food in exchange for buying Iraq's oil in the 1990s.
Kim said that if a comprehensive denuclearization agreement is reached with the North, a joint economic development committee could be established to accelerate inter-Korean economic cooperation in tandem with phased denuclearization measures.
He stressed, "The goal of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's North Korea and unification policy is to realize a denuclearized, peaceful and prosperous Korean Peninsula."
Such cooperation projects, however, could require exemptions to UN sanctions on North Korea, a subject that can be discussed in the future with the international community, said a senior presidential official
In his Liberation Day address Monday, Yoon also discussed ways to improve relations with Tokyo and called Japan a "partner" in the face of common threats.
"In the past, we had to unshackle ourselves from the political control imposed upon us by imperial Japan so that we could regain and defend our freedom," said Yoon. "Today, Japan is our partner as we face common threats that challenge the freedom of global citizens."
Yoon proposed to "swiftly and properly improve" bilateral ties by upholding the spirit of the 1998 joint declaration of Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi as a "blueprint of a comprehensive future for Korea-Japan relations."
On Oct. 8, 1998, those two leaders held a summit and made a joint declaration, seen as a breakthrough in bilateral ties, in which Obuchi recognized that Japan in the past caused "tremendous damage and suffering" to the Korean people through its colonial rule and expressed his "deep remorse and heartfelt apology." In turn, Kim called for the two countries to "overcome their unfortunate history and build a future-oriented relationship based on reconciliation as well as good-neighborly and friendly cooperation."
The two countries face ongoing historical spats stemming from Japan's colonial rule over Korea, namely the compensation of forced laborers and wartime sexual slavery issues.
Addressing the friction, Yoon said, "When Korea-Japan relations move toward a common future, and when the mission of our times align, based on our shared universal values, it will also help us solve the historical problems that exist between our two countries."
Yoon stressed that the two countries "must contribute to the peace and prosperity of the international community" through extensive cooperation in areas ranging from economic and security cooperation to social and cultural exchanges."
He also pointed to deepening polarization as a challenge to overcome in South Korean society.
He said the government will stabilize the real estate market by "streamlining regulations that distort demand and supply" and offer better housing to the socially disadvantaged.
Noting the damage from recent heavy rainfall and flooding, Yoon said the government "will offer thorough and deliberate assistance" to affected people and "spare no effort to provide support and restore damage."
He added that fundamental measures will be taken to prevent future disasters, noting that low-income families are exposed to greater risks when disaster strikes.
Yoon urged a "big leap forward to innovate our economy," calling for regulatory reform to help the private sector and scientific and technological developments so that Korea can become "a leader in industrial advancement."
He concluded, "By contributing to global peace and prosperity in solidarity as a responsible nation on the foundation of the universal values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law, we will be able to inherit and preserve the noble cause of our heroes who dedicated themselves to the independence movement."
The Liberation Day ceremony was attended by some 300 people, including first lady Kim Keon-hee, independence fighters and their relatives, politicians, religious leaders and diplomats.
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
7. A K-Arsenal of Democracy? South Korea and U.S. Allied Defense Procurement
The "K-arsenal". I like that play on words.
Conclusion:
Roosevelt’s call to arms came a year before the United States formally entered World War II. Yet he presciently recognized that the power of American industry would tilt the scales of the war. That expectation has been revived in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Biden administration’s commitment to provide advanced weapons systems to Kiev for “as long as it takes.” But this endeavor, like many others, is one that the United States can no longer fulfill alone. The K-arsenal can help.
A K-Arsenal of Democracy? South Korea and U.S. Allied Defense Procurement - War on the Rocks
PETER K. LEE AND TOM CORBEN
warontherocks.com · by Peter K. Lee · August 15, 2022
In 1940, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously declared that the United States must become “the great arsenal of democracy.” Today, that label might also apply to South Korea. As U.S. allies and partners around the world build up their defense capabilities in the face of Russian and Chinese military threats, a growing number are turning to South Korean defense firms to fulfil their procurement needs. After years of incremental growth in South Korean defense exports to states in Asia and the Middle East, South Korea is emerging as a major global defense industry player. In 2022, South Korea’s defense exports are expected to surpass $10 billion, representing a 177 percent increase over the last five-year period, making it the eighth-largest arms exporter in the world. South Korea is now offering and fulfilling the defense procurement needs of frontline U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific and Europe.
The emergence of what might be called the K-arsenal is a development that the United States should support. Commercial logic would posit South Korean defense companies as competitors to U.S. industry. But cast in a strategic light, Seoul’s growing ability and willingness to supply advanced capabilities to other U.S. allies should be welcomed, particularly as the Biden administration grapples with the parallel challenges of resourcing military strategies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific while shoring up America’s own defense industrial capacity. Even if questions remain over the true extent of South Korea’s strategic alignment with the United States, Seoul is nevertheless generating strategic effects by arming states facing Chinese and Russian coercion.
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South Korea Joins the Defense Major League
As we have closely tracked, South Korea’s entry into the Australian defense industry market is a case in point. Earlier this year, the two countries broke ground on an AU$1 billion deal with Hanwha Defense to build 30 self-propelled artillery howitzers and 15 armored ammunition resupply vehicles in Australia, making it Australia’s first defense deal with an Asian country and South Korea’s first with a member of the inner circle of U.S. allies. The project is seen as a prelude to a massive AU$27 billion contract to build up to 450 infantry fighting vehicles, for which Hanwha Defense is also a finalist, that will be announced later this year.
According to Breaking Defense, a South Korean defense delegation also recently offered to provide Australia with its latest KSS-III conventionally-powered submarines, built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries. At “seven years from signature to delivery” these would provide an interim capability while Australia awaits the arrival of its AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines. The final decision will be determined by the new Labor government’s Force Posture Review and the recommendations of the AUKUS Nuclear Powered Submarine Taskforce in March next year. But the offer suggests South Korean defense firms see potential for closer cooperation with Australia beyond armored vehicles.
More broadly, this offer signals South Korea’s emergence as a source of high-end military kit to other U.S. allies and partners on the frontlines against China and Russia. Indeed, on the other side of the world, three South Korean defense firms recently signed deals with the Polish government for 980 tanks from Hyundai Rotem, 48 light attack fighters from Korea Aerospace Industries, and 648 self-propelled howitzers from Hanwha Defense in a deal estimated to be worth in excess of $15 billion over its lifetime. The deal was especially notable given Poland’s recent efforts to replace its Soviet-era systems with advanced U.S. platforms, such as F-35 fighter jets, Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries, Abrams tanks, and most recently High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.
South Korea’s willingness to sell to Poland helps to offset its refusal to directly provide Ukraine with military equipment in addition to the humanitarian and non-lethal aid that it is already sending. Indeed, the deal could well benefit Ukraine. Poland provided Ukraine with 18 of its 155mm Krabs self-propelled howitzers in March. The Krabs are manufactured in Poland in a technology-sharing agreement with Korea’s Hanwha Defense that utilizes Hanwha’s K9 Thunder howitzer chassis with British turrets. Poland has reportedly promised to sell Ukraine a further 60 Krabs by the end of next year. This could set a precedent for other European militaries that also field the K9, such as Norway, Estonia, Finland, and Turkey as they replenish and upgrade their inventories. In any case, the key takeaway here is that in both the Australian and Polish cases, South Korea has moved to outfit key U.S. allies on the frontlines of coercion.
A Long Time Coming, But the Right Time to Arrive
South Korea’s ambitious approach to defense industry partnerships is the continuation of a longstanding quest for defense industrial self-reliance, something it has pursued while also being one of the biggest purchasers of U.S. defense equipment. South Korea’s export success has been made possible by a combination of factors, including a robust domestic civil manufacturing base, competitive pricing, rapid delivery schedules, inclusive local industry participation, customization, and technology transfer arrangements to allow for subsequent production by partners themselves. The “K-arsenal” of K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers, K21 infantry fighting vehicles, K2 tanks, KM-SAM missiles, and more are poised to equip U.S. allies and partners with new high-end warfighting capabilities. These are only the tip of an even more ambitious domestic defense modernization program in motion, including KDX naval guided-missile destroyers, KSS-III attack submarines, KF-21 fighter jets, a future light aircraft carrier, and ballistic missiles, all being developed with an eye to future exports.
South Korea is arriving as a major global provider of modern military kit just as the United States grapples with how to resource both its own strategies and the requirements of its allies in both Europe and the Indo-Pacific. In its efforts to arm Ukraine, the Biden administration has made nine successive drawdowns from U.S. stockpiles of weapons systems and munitions, amounting to a significant drain on America’s reserve of critical warfighting tools. An industrial base that was already suffering from a capacity-demand mismatch and single-source supplier bottlenecks has struggled to keep pace with surging demand from what is ultimately a proxy conflict. To make matters worse, growing demands from Ukraine and frontline European partners for advanced U.S. weapons systems are in direct competition with similar demands in Asia. While it is important not to overstate the true extent of the problem, it is increasingly clear that the United States alone cannot arm its global suite of allies and partners the way it once did.
“We Go Together” or We Go Around
U.S. armaments are still the global gold standard, but there are not enough to go around, nor, if you ask many allies, are they sufficiently affordable. As captured by the South Korea-U.S. alliance’s motto, “we go together,” this requires leaning on a wider pool of suppliers to help it to fill the gaps in allied defense capabilities. The fact is that in today’s world of global supply chains and multinational companies there are few truly autarkic national defense enterprises. South Korean defense firms partner closely with U.S. firms in components such as jet engines. They have also worked with companies in NATO countries such as Italy, Turkey, and Germany. Nonetheless, government customers want to build domestic expertise, workforces, and infrastructure to produce and sustain critical defense capabilities on their own, even if self-sufficiency is not a realistic outcome.
But the U.S. government has historically controlled the pace and scale at which this can happen in allied nations. In fact, in some ways such impediments are factors that have propelled South Korea’s emergence as a serious defense industry player. In recent years, U.S. officials were expressing concern that South Korea was a competitor stealing U.S. technology and making cheap imitations. Such was the level of distrust that in 2015 the U.S. Congress banned four aircraft communications and tracking technologies from being shared with South Korea, including the Advanced Electronic Scanner Array. This was due to concerns that they would be used in the development of South Korea’s indigenous KF-21 fighter jet program. Despite the setback, within seven years a South Korean defense firm eventually built a domestic array and is now poised to export it.
Reconciling the commercial and strategic logics that underpin defense industry matters is no easy thing, but it is increasingly necessary. Rather than being perceived solely as a commercial competitor, the United States ought to view South Korean defense firms as having a complementary role to play in fulfilling the defense acquisition needs of key allies and partners. For example, Australia is doubling down on off-the-shelf purchases of U.S. maritime helicopters, tanks, and potentially nuclear-powered submarines, and seeking deeper integration in a joint industrial base with the United States. At the same time, successive Australian governments are committed to building sovereign industrial capabilities for domestic production and sustainment of priority systems like precision guided missiles. This is why Australia is building the facilities to assemble the AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzer in Australia rather than just buying 30 K9 Thunder howitzers directly from South Korea.
Defense Industry and Strategic Alignment
When major purchasers of Russian military platforms such as India and Vietnam were reluctant to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it was a reminder of the complex relationship between defense procurement sources and strategic alignment. Defense contracts often generate powerful, and sometimes unforeseen, linkages between countries over time, as Australia’s falling out with France over its cancelled submarine contract clearly illustrated. At the same time, the cases of Sweden and Germany are reminders that states can foster strong defense export industries without changing their foreign policy or security relationships with recipient states. A Swedish firm designed Australia’s Collins-class submarines and a German firm designed South Korea’s Jang Bogo-class submarines, but neither deal transformed bilateral relations.
South Korea, it seems, is walking a fine line between these two poles. Given that South Korea is not a military superpower, its defense sales have attracted less attention about the potential strategic signals they may be broadcasting. In fact, South Korea’s rise as a defense industry power is likely quite appealing to many countries that perceive significant political costs to investing in American, Russian, or even Chinese military platforms but still desire high-end military kit. And amid persistent debate around South Korea’s apparent “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to U.S. goals, it is also worth pointing out that buttressing the deterrence capabilities of other frontline allies and partners is a useful contribution to collective regional balancing. In this way, South Korea is generating strategic effects in the region even short of clear statements of strategic intent.
That said, there may yet be real geopolitical costs to South Korea’s shift towards enhanced defense industrial partnerships with U.S. allies on the front lines of high-end strategic competition. This is a different from arming distant partners in the Middle East against rivals like Iran. Even as successive South Korean administrations demur when asked to provide strategic clarity on various military contingencies, policymakers in Beijing and Moscow will not be blind to the fact that Seoul is nevertheless supporting the provision of weapons that U.S. allies could use against them. While the costs might be unclear at this stage, the possibility of retaliation should nevertheless trigger serious debates about how South Korea can prepare for and manage any potential fallout.
Conclusion
Roosevelt’s call to arms came a year before the United States formally entered World War II. Yet he presciently recognized that the power of American industry would tilt the scales of the war. That expectation has been revived in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Biden administration’s commitment to provide advanced weapons systems to Kiev for “as long as it takes.” But this endeavor, like many others, is one that the United States can no longer fulfill alone. The K-arsenal can help.
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Peter K. Lee is a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and a Korea Foundation fellow at the University of Melbourne. His Ph.D. thesis was the first study of the Australia-South Korea security relationship and he previously worked at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, Korea.
Tom Corben is a research associate at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He was previously a Lloyd and Lilian Vasey Fellow with Pacific Forum, where he worked extensively on Japanese and South Korean defense and foreign policies.
Commentary
warontherocks.com · by Peter K. Lee · August 15, 2022
8. NK uses Liberation Day as another opportunity to call for loyalty for the Kims
The regime must reinforce that its legitimacy rests on the MYTH of anti-Japanese partisan warfare and that Kim Il Sung was the great guerrilla leader who liberated Korea from Japan.
NK uses Liberation Day as another opportunity to call for loyalty for the Kims
koreaherald.com · by Lee Jung-Youn · August 15, 2022
By Lee Jung-Youn
Published : Aug 15, 2022 - 14:53 Updated : Aug 15, 2022 - 14:53
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a meeting on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
North Korea used Liberation Day, the day that marks liberation from Japan’s occupation, to highlight the importance of loyalty to the ruling Kim family.
The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s state-run newspaper, wrote in an editorial published Monday, “All of the people and the soldiers of the People‘s Army should be true revolutionaries who accept the ideas and leadership of Kim Jong-un as their actions in any adversity.”
Describing the independence fighters who resisted Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century as “loyalists who sacrificed their lives to carry out their superior’s orders,” the paper stressed that the people of North Korea should be unconditionally loyal to Kim Jong-un.
Another article praised the partisans, which refers to a unit in the form of a non-regular army that fought against Japanese imperialism, as “warriors who fought only by following the leader.”
“We must inscribe the belief in our minds that if we only do what the party tells us to do, we will become stronger and richer,” it continued.
They also praised the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, who was an independent activist and grandfather of current leader Kim, and by doing so aim to strengthened the legitimacy of the Kim family’s hereditary privileges.
Also, through a statement published by the Korean Central News Agency on Monday, the NK government strongly condemned Japan for maintaining a hostile attitude toward North Korea without apologizing for its colonial rule and war crimes.
“If Japan keeps resisting to admit their callous crimes, keeps insulting victims and resorts to military power, the only thing left will be the stern judgment of history,” the statement read. “We are determined to be at odds with Japan to the very end.”
In particular, the statement strongly criticized the issue of forced labor and Japanese military sexual slavery, saying they are ”inhumane crimes which do not have prescription under international law,“ claiming that constant worship at the Yasukuni Shrine, which houses a number of war criminals, and history-distorting textbooks also need to be corrected.
By Lee Jung-Youn (jy@heraldcorp.com)
9. The Power of Information: Telling Three Stories to the North Korean People
This is simply powerful because it is powerfully simple. We must tell the three stories.
But as Clausewitz said, "in war (and we remain at war with north Korea - certainly a political and ideological war with a possible re-emergence of a hot war) everything is simple, but even the simplest thing is hard." And unfortunately we have made information and influence activities hard because of our self imposed restaurants both in the ROK and the US. But we could do so much. And we must do so much because information and influence activities is one of the critical lines of effort to support the strategic aim: a free and unified Korea and a United Republic of Korea.
Posted by Committee for Human Rights in North Korea with No comments
https://www.hrnkinsider.org/2022/08/the-power-of-information-telling-three.html
By Greg Scarlatoiu, HRNK Executive Director
NOTE: This essay is adapted from pre-recorded remarks delivered by Greg Scarlatoiu, HRNK Executive Director, to the "International Forum on One Korea 2022" on August 13, 2022.
Dear friends, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to join you today. It is always a pleasure and an honor to participate in events organized by the Global Peace Foundation. Let me thank my good and dear friend Kenji Sawai in particular for engaging me in this endeavor.
Today, we are discussing the very important issue of sending information into North Korea. Fundamentally, as far as the United States is concerned, as far as like-minded friends, partners, and allies such as South Korea, Japan, and the European Union are concerned, we need to remember that we are facing a grave threat on the Korean Peninsula.
It is a threat that combines the dozens of nuclear weapons that North Korea possesses, the long-range ballistic missiles that North Korea possesses, and also the crimes against humanity that the North Korean regime continues to commit to this day, almost a decade after the UN Human Rights Council decided to establish by consensus a UN Commission of Inquiry dedicated to looking into the regime’s human rights abuses and crimes against humanity.
So, what is there to do?
Applying the DIME
We can analyze the issue by applying the “DIME” model. These are the four fundamental elements of national power: diplomacy, information, military power, and economic power.
Let us begin with diplomacy. The North Korean regime has breached each and every international agreement it has ever entered. One could go back to the 1994 Geneva Agreed Framework. They decided to breach the terms of that agreement and develop a clandestine uranium enrichment program.
The Six Party Talks, same story. The Leap Day Agreement of February 2012, right after Kim Jong-un assumed power, the same story. Ambassador Glyn Davies, at the time the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea policy, met with Kim Kye-gwan. The North Koreans pledged to halt nuclear testing and ballistic missile testing. Two weeks later, they announced a so-called “satellite launch.” They proceeded with a missile launch that failed, two days ahead of the centennial anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birthday. In December of the same year, they managed to place an object into orbit.
To make a long story short, there is an utter lack of credibility on the North Korean side. We should blame the failure of diplomacy on the North Koreans, not on the U.S. or on South Korea. Despite those failures, as a student and practitioner of diplomacy, I believe that diplomatic efforts must continue.
Next is military power, the “M” in the DIME. (I will address the “I” later since that is the focus of my remarks today.) Military power is crucial. Strong deterrence is very important. Strong containment is very important. A strong U.S.-South Korea alliance is critical. A strong U.S.-Japan alliance is critical. We need to continue to cherish our friendship, partnership, alliance with the Republic of Korea and Japan.
Then there is economic power, “E” in the DIME. We have a sanctions regime in place, grounded in UN Security Council resolutions. We also have bilateral sanctions by the U.S., sanctions established by the U.S. Congress. Other allies, including the European Union and Japan, have their own sanctions in place.
When it comes to UN sanctions, they are meant, first and foremost, to prevent the development and proliferation of North Korean nuclear weapons and missiles. Moreover, they are meant to punish the elites in charge of that development and proliferation by severing their access to hard currency and luxury goods coming from the outside world.
Are there negative adverse effects affecting the people of North Korea? We do not know because we do not have access inside the country. Access is of the essence. We now have a new UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, Professor Elizabeth Salmón from Peru. We also have a new South Korean Ambassador-at-large on North Korean human rights, Professor Lee Shin-hwa of Korea University.
I hope this will be at the very top of their agenda: requesting access inside the country to assess the humanitarian situation of North Korea. Why not assess side effects of sanctions, if there are any? Again, sanctions do not target the people of North Korea. But the only way to tell whether sanctions have a negative effect on the people of North Korea is by means of having access inside the country, by means of having UN officials go inside the country and conduct in-country assessments.
The Power of Information
Let me now return to the “I,” which I initially skipped. Information is extraordinarily important. This is a regime that has stayed in power since its establishment in 1948 by means of unprecedented coercion, control, surveillance, and punishment. This is a regime that has gone to great lengths to prevent the people of North Korea from gaining access to information from the outside world across three regimes—the regime of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un.
North Korea needs change. Let me commend the Global Peace Foundation for its vision of a unified Republic of Korea that is strong, peaceful, democratic, market-oriented, and a staunch ally, friend, and partner of the United States.
How do we get there? I am not talking about a violent revolution or regime change. I am talking about change enacted by the only people who can actually enact change. They are the very people of North Korea. What can we do, in the outside world, to empower the people of North Korea?
The Three Stories
What we can do is to send them information from the outside world—information basically telling them three fundamental stories. First, the story of the corruption of their leadership, especially the corruption of the Kim family regime. Second, the story of the outside world, especially that of South Korea, a free and democratic country with the world’s tenth largest economy. And third, the story of their own human rights, which they do not know.
Let me first address the corruption of the regime. North Korea is a very strange hybrid. Entrepreneurship coexists with totalitarian regime control. Private property is not allowed in North Korea. North Koreans operate trucks, taxis, and cars as private entrepreneurs, but they do not hold property titles. In order to run those businesses, they need to register their vehicles under government agencies, under the protection of powerful officials. This is a recipe for great corruption. North Koreans need to understand that this is not how economies should operate.
Second, many North Koreans know today much more about the outside world, including South Korea, than they did 10, 15, or 20 years ago. K-pop, K-drama, and anything “K-” are very powerful drivers of interest in South Korea's success. The North Korean people need to understand that South Korea is a very successful alternative to the Kim family regime’s North Korea. And they need to understand that the formula for Korean success is not the totalitarian dictatorship of the DPRK, but the very successful Republic of Korea (ROK).
Human rights is another extraordinarily important story. North Korea joined the UN at the same time as South Korea in 1991. North Korea assumed international obligations as it became a UN member state. North Korea must observe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. North Korea acceded to the two human rights covenants in 1982, nine years before it joined the UN: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It has also joined the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC), and the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).
And yet, each and every conceivable human right is violated in North Korea.
If you look at the Constitution of the DPRK or its other laws, you will see that there are wonderful stipulations that supposedly protect rights such as the freedom of religion and freedom of assembly. None of these rights are observed in practice. All that matters in North Korea are the Ten Principles of Monolithic Ideology (TPMI) and Kim Il-sung-ism.
Information campaigns coming in from the outside world must enable North Koreans to understand that there is a very deep rift between their Constitution and the regime’s ideology. There is a deep rift between the international obligations that North Korea has assumed and the TPMI.
Conclusion
Ultimately, why are we doing this? I have been a student and practitioner of Korean Peninsula issues for the past 32 years. There are so many others of us out there. What we ultimately want is reconciliation, peace, unification of the Korean Peninsula under a free, democratic, and prosperous Republic of Korea. This is the ultimate key to resolving the North Korean conundrum: nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, egregious human rights violations, and crimes against humanity.
Categories: Information, North Korea, South Korea, unification
10. A North Korean Elite in the USA: An Interview with Seohyun Lee!
Another must watch video with our friend Seohyun Lee. This is in Korean with English subtitles. I hope that the escapee network (defectors) will include this in their information sent to north Korea because Koreans in the north need to hear her story. It will resonate with Koreans.
A North Korean Elite in the USA: An Interview with Seohyun Lee!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8znNVbkWUJI
43 views Aug 15, 2022 Welcome to HRNK Interview Series, a program where we invite you to hear from human rights activists, North Korean defectors, and experts in academia and in the field, dedicated to upholding North Korean human rights.
We express our deep thanks to Human Rights activist Seohyun Lee for accepting our interview request. You can learn more about Seohyun Lee and follow her journey through her social media accounts:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pyonghattan
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Pyonghattan
To learn more about North Korean human rights, here are some good starter resources, written by HRNK researchers. You can subscribe to HRNK’s newsletter through our website: https://www.hrnk.org
#northkoreandefectors #humanrights #HRNK
11. Japan ministers visit war shrine as South Korea calls for end to historical tensions
Japan ministers visit war shrine as South Korea calls for end to historical tensions
Japan PM Fumio Kishida sends offering but stays away from Yasukuni, which honours dead including class-A war criminals
The Guardian · by Justin McCurry · August 15, 2022
Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, sent a ritual offering to a controversial war shrine on Monday – the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the second world war – as one of its wartime victims, South Korea, called for an end to historical tensions.
Kishida apparently decided to stay away from the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo to avoid antagonising South Korea and China, but three of his ministers have made the pilgrimage in recent days.
Yasukuni visits by conservative Japanese politicians have traditionally drawn condemnation from South Korea and China, which view the shrine as a symbol of Japanese militarism.
North and South Korea relations: what’s behind the tensions – in 30 seconds
Read more
The shrine honours 2.5 million Japanese soldiers and civilians who died in wars in the 19th and 20th centuries, including 14 men convicted by the allies as class-A war criminals.
The public broadcaster NHK showed Sanae Takaichi, an ultra-conservative who was appointed economic security minister last week, visiting Yasukuni on Monday morning. The disaster reconstruction minister, Kenya Akiba, and Koichi Hagiuda, the policy head of the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP), visited the same day, while Yasutoshi Nishimura, the trade and industry minister, went on Saturday.
“I paid respects to the spirits of those who sacrificed their lives for the national policy,” Takaichi told reporters, adding that she had prayed for the Ukrainian people.
South Korea’s foreign ministry voiced “deep disappointment and regret” over the visits and urged Japanese officials to “look squarely” at history and demonstrate their remorse through actions.
China said it was “extremely dissatisfied” by the Yasukuni visits. “Japan must learn from history, correctly understand and profoundly reflect on its past history of aggression, and draw a clear line with militarism in order to truly win the trust of its Asian neighbours and the international community,” the Chinese embassy in Tokyo said in a statement.
South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk-yeol, used the 77th anniversary of Japan’s defeat and the country’s liberation from Japanese colonialism to call for an improvement in bilateral ties.
Yoon, a conservative who took office this year vowing to repair ties with Japan, said the countries must overcome their historical disputes and work together to counter the regional security threat from North Korea.
“When Korea-Japan relations move towards a common future and when the mission of our times align, based on our shared universal values, it will also help us solve the historical problems,” he said at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the end of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.
With denuclearisation talks between the US and North Korea at a standstill, Yoon promised the North an ambitious aid package if the regime in Pyongyang committed to “genuine and substantive” progress in dismantling its nuclear arsenal.
“We will implement a large-scale food programme, provide assistance for power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and carry out projects to modernise ports and airports for international trade,” he said.
Japanese PM shakes up cabinet amid anger over Unification church links
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Relations between Japan and South Korea have deteriorated dramatically in recent years over disputes stemming from their bitter wartime legacy, including the use of forced labour and the sexual enslavement of Korean girls and women by the Japanese imperial army.
Kishida, who is regarded as belonging to the LDP’s more liberal wing, must walk a fine line between improving relations with Seoul and Beijing and appeasing rightwingers in his own party, including those close to Shinzo Abe, the hawkish former prime minister who was murdered last month.
Speaking at a separate ceremony in Tokyo on Monday, Kishida renewed Japan’s determination to never again wage war, but made no mention of its wartime aggression.
“We will never again repeat the horrors of war,” he said at the ceremony, which was also attended by the emperor, Naruhito. “I will continue to live up to this determined oath. In a world where conflicts are still unabated, Japan is a proactive leader in peace.”
The controversial visits also come as Kishida attempts to arrest a sharp fall in public support over revelations of his party’s links to the Unification church in the wake of Abe’s death.
A poll by the Kyodo news agency found more than 100 Japanese MPs have had connections with the church – whose members are colloquially known as Moonies – with 80% of them belonging to the LDP.
The suspect in Abe’s shooting has reportedly told police he had targeted him over his links to the church, which he blamed for bankrupting his family.
In a cabinet reshuffle last week, Kishida removed several ministers who had disclosed their ties with the Unification church, but media reports said seven of his new ministers, along with 20 other senior officials, had also had connections with the organisation.
The chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, defended politicians’ visits to Yasukuni. “It is natural for any country to pay respect to those who gave their lives for their country,” he said on Monday. “Japan will continue to strengthen its relations with its neighbours, including China and South Korea.”
Kishida has avoided visiting Yasukuni in person on the war anniversary and while he was a cabinet minister and LDP official, but has sent offerings to the two shrine festivals to have been held there since he took office last October.
Abe was the last prime minister in recent memory to visit Yasukuni while in office, in 2013 – a move that outraged China and South Korea and even drew a rebuke from the US.
The Yushukan museum, located next to the shrine, promotes the belief that Japan went to war to save Asia from western imperialism. The museum makes no mention of Japanese wartime atrocities committed in Asia, such as the 1937 Rape of Nanking.
The Guardian · by Justin McCurry · August 15, 2022
12. Putin offers to share Russia’s advanced weapons with allies around the world
To include with north Korea.
Putin offers to share Russia’s advanced weapons with allies around the world
Russian leader’s remarks are at odds with his army’s performance in Ukraine which is suffering from major shortages and production issues
The Telegraph · by Simina Mistreanu
Vladimir Putin on Monday offered to send advanced weapons to bolster his allies around the world after he pledged to boost relations with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader.
The Russian president boasted about the Kremlin’s arsenal at his country’s annual arms expo which traditionally attracts delegations from around the world, but Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine this year turned the conference into a much lower-key event.
His claims about sending high-tech weapons abroad came despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine leading to major shortages and production issues for high precision arms.
He said Russia could offer new models and systems - “we are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, about combat systems based on new physical principles.
“Many of them are years, or maybe decades ahead of their foreign counterparts, and in terms of tactical and technical characteristics they are significantly superior to them.”
Vladimir Putin with Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, at Russia's annual arms expo Credit: Pool Sputnik Kremlin
Earlier on Monday, Mr Putin and Mr Kim pledged to boost ties, fueling speculation that Pyongyang might offer Russia weapons that it has been stockpiling for decades.
Mr Putin in his speech on Monday sought to dispel suggestions about Russia’s increasing international isolation, lauding Russia’s allies in Latin America, Asia and Africa and offering to share with them Russia’s cutting-edge weapons and technology.
“[We] are ready to offer our allies the most modern types of weapons, from small arms to armoured vehicles and artillery to combat aviation and unnamed aerial vehicles,” he said.
“Almost all of them have been used more than once in real combat operations.”
Russia facing setbacks in Ukraine war
The Russian leader’s remarks seem to be at odds with his army’s performance in Ukraine where it has faced a number of setbacks in recent weeks.
By mid-July, Russia’s armed forces reportedly used up more than half of their high-precision weaponry, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Recent missile strikes, including the one that hit a shopping centre, appear to back up the suggestion.
As far as heavy weaponry goes, Russia reportedly lost almost 800 tanks by the end of June, pushing it to take retired T-62 tanks, which were first introduced in the 1960s, from its inventory and send them to the battlefield.
Russia’s ability to manufacture new high-tech weapons to replace those destroyed in Ukraine has been compromised by crippling international sanctions.
More than 450 foreign-made components have been found in the Russian weapons seized in Ukraine since the start of the war, Royal United Services Institute said in a report last week, underlining Moscow’s dependence on critical technology in the US, Europe and Asia.
Western components found in Russian weapons systems
Western sanctions imposed against Russia also raised questions about its ability to source components and provide maintenance for the weapons it sells, said Ben Hodges, a former commander of US army forces in Europe.
“I’d be very concerned as a prospective buyer about the quality of the equipment and the ability of the Russian Federation industry to sustain it,” he said.
Ukraine has made effective use of US-supplied weapons, especially the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), and Russia has taken a series of major blows. These include explosions at an air base in the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula last week that destroyed at least eight aircraft on the ground, according to satellite images.
Letter exchange
Separately, Mr Putin and Mr Kim exchanged letters, pledging closer ties.
Mr Putin in a letter to Mr Kim for Korea’s liberation day, which commemorates the end of 35 years of imperial Japanese rule on the peninsula, said closer relations between Russia and North Korea would serve both countries’ interests and help to strengthen “security and stability” in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia as a whole.
Mr Kim also sent a letter to Mr Putin, predicting ties between their countries would deepen based on an agreement signed in 2019 when the two authoritarian leaders met in Russia.
The “strategic and tactical cooperation, support and solidarity” between North Korea and Russia has grown through the countries’ joint efforts against threats and provocations from hostile military forces, Mr Kim said in the letter, according to KCNA news agency.
Pyongyang has been stockpiling weaponry for decades, leading some analysts to believe it could become a source of armament for Russia as its invasion of Ukraine is grinding on.
Russian state media reported earlier this month that North Korea, which last month became the first country to recognise two pro-Kremlin separatists stalets in the Donbas, offered Moscow 100,000 “volunteer” troops to fight Ukraine. However, there appears to be no progress on that offer.
The Telegraph · by Simina Mistreanu
13. Russia vows to expand relations with North Korea
Russia vows to expand relations with North Korea
BBC · by Menu
Image source, Getty Images
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Russia, in 2019
Russia and North Korea will expand their "comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations", President Vladimir Putin has said.
In a letter sent to his counterpart Kim Jong-un on Pyongyang's liberation day, Mr Putin said the move would be in both countries' interests.
In turn, Mr Kim said friendship between both nations had been forged in World War Two with victory over Japan.
He added that their "comradely friendship" would grow stronger.
The Soviet Union was once a major communist ally of North Korea, offering economic co-operation, cultural exchanges and aid.
According to North Korean state news agency KCNA, Mr Putin said expanded bilateral relations would "conform with the interests of the two countries".
In his letter, Mr Kim said the Russia-North Korea friendship "forged in the anti-Japanese war" had been "consolidated and developed century after century".
It added "strategic and tactical co-operation, support and solidarity" between the two countries "had been put on a new high stage, in the common front for frustrating the hostile forces' military threat and provocation".
Pyongyang did not identify the hostile forces by name, but the term has been used repeatedly by North Korea to refer to the US and its allies.
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
North Korea flies old Russian MiG-29s and has other Russian arms
Speaking at an arms show near Moscow on Monday, President Putin said: "We are ready to offer allies and partners the most modern types of weapons - from small arms to armoured vehicles and artillery, combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles."
He boasted that Russian weapons were valued for their "reliability, quality" and said "almost all of them have been used in real combat operations more than once".
Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February has proven costly for the Russian military, however, despite its advanced weapons such as cruise missiles. The smaller Ukrainian forces have less firepower, but that includes various Western weapons, which have inflicted heavy losses.
In July, North Korea was one of the few countries that officially recognised two Russian-backed separatist "people's republics" in eastern Ukraine, after Russia signed a decree declaring them as independent. In retaliation, Ukraine cut off all diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
Russian forces are still trying to consolidate their grip on the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, against fierce Ukrainian resistance.
Many of North Korea's Russian-designed weapons are old, from the Soviet era. But it has missiles similar to Russian ones.
The Russian ambassador to Pyongyang, Alexander Matsegora, told Russia's Izvestia daily that closer co-operation could mean "highly skilled, industrious" North Korean workers helping to rebuild the damaged infrastructure of Russian-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk.
He also said Pyongyang was keen to get replacement parts for Soviet-era heavy equipment delivered to its factories and power plants from eastern Ukraine. He said Slovyansk and Kramatorsk - cities still held by Ukrainian forces - were major centres for that equipment.
Russian-North Korean relations declined after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, but gradually picked up as Russia's relations with the West soured in recent years.
More on this story
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BBC · by Menu
14. Republic of Korea National Day - United States Department of State
Republic of Korea National Day - United States Department of State
state.gov · by Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases...Republic of Korea National Day
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Republic of Korea National Day
Press Statement
August 15, 2022
On behalf of the United States of America, I send my kindest regards and congratulations to the Republic of Korea and the South Korean people as you celebrate your National Day.
For nearly seventy years, through our ironclad Alliance, the United States and the Republic of Korea have promoted freedom, democracy, and human rights throughout the region and beyond. Our alliance, strengthened by our shared history of sacrifice and friendship, remains the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific. As we stand shoulder to shoulder, the Republic of Korea and the United States will continue to strengthen our strong bonds and collaboratively confront the most pressing regional and global challenges.
I look forward to continuing cooperation while expanding the impact of our strategic partnership globally.
state.gov · by Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
15. 'Angry young men' are turning their backs on Yoon
'Angry young men' are turning their backs on Yoon
koreaherald.com · by Yim Hyun-su · August 15, 2022
Once a core support base, younger conservative men share growing disillusionment with president in online spaces
By Yim Hyun-su
Published : Aug 15, 2022 - 16:31 Updated : Aug 15, 2022 - 16:34
President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers a Liberation Day speech at the presidential office in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)
“Disgruntled young men” were one of the main forces behind the rise of a political novice named Yoon Suk-yeol to the highest office in South Korea earlier this year. Yoon, whose career had been entirely focused on rounding up bad guys as a state prosecutor, was hoped to restore justice in a society that they say was tilted in favor of feminists, labor unions and North Korean sympathizers.
A few months after his election, however, the mood among younger conservative men appears to be sharply different.
“People in their 20s and 30s around me are all regretting their vote for Yoon Suk-yeol,” one recent post uploaded on FM Korea read, an online community popular among young conservatives.
Reacting to the news that Yoon would hold a press conference to commemorate his first 100 days in office on Wednesday, another said, “I’m scared of what blunders we might hear.”
Many other comments, similarly critical of the president, can be found in online spaces that used to rally behind him during the presidential election cycle.
The drop in Yoon’s popularity among young men is reflected in recent polls.
On the March 9 presidential election, nearly 6 in 10 male voters in their 20s voted for Yoon, according to the KBS-MBC-SBS exit polls. They gave Yoon the biggest vote yield outside the conservatives’ traditional vote pocket – senior voters.
But a recent Gallup Korea survey shows just 22 percent of people aged between 18 and 29 approved of Yoon’s job as president, while 64 percent showed disapproval.
This is lower than the all-age average of 25 percent approval, according to the poll, released Friday, which does not offer gender-disaggregated data.
When asked why, 24 percent of those surveyed who disapproved of the president cited his appointment of Cabinet members, while 14 percent said lack of experience and incompetence. Six percent were not happy with the administration’s handling of the floods.
Some are also not happy with his decision to not meet Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, during her two-day visit to Seoul earlier this month.
“I voted for the People Power Party but seeing how Yoon is performing makes me regret so much. He should have been at least unequivocally pro-US. I’m so frustrated,” one post at the above-mentioned online community read.
As a presidential candidate, Yoon promised to strengthen the South Korea-US alliance. In a press conference in January, then presidential candidate Yoon said he would “rebuild” the alliance with the US, which he said had “fallen apart” under the previous administration.
Around 6 in 10 people believe it was “inappropriate” that the Yoon and Pelosi did not meet, according to a poll by Korea Society Opinion Institute released on Monday.
Others are frustrated with how slow the move to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has been – a campaign promise that became a rallying cry for young conservative men and anti-feminists in the country.
In July, anti-feminist organization Man on Solidarity held a rally, urging the president to make good with his promise to do away with the gender equality ministry.
In a meeting with Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook later last month, Yoon ordered the preparation of a roadmap to abolish the gender ministry. The move drew criticisms at that time that he was resorting to “divisive politics” again amid plunging approval ratings. But with the opposition Democratic Party holding a super majority in the National Assembly, Yoon faces legislative challenges to satisfy his anti-feminist base soon.
Friction between the People Power Party and Lee Jun-seok, a young politician who is credited for courting young male voters but has had his membership suspended over sexual bribery allegations, also poses yet another challenge to President Yoon in keeping his base happy.
According to a poll by polling agency Media Tomato released on Friday, 42.5 percent said they would support a new conservative party formed by Lee and former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min while 29.8 percent they would support the PPP. Lee however has denied rumors that he plans to form a new party.
(hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)
16. Kim’s sister: ‘Giggly princess, de facto queen’
The question is whether she being groomed for succession or only as a regent/caretaker until one of Kim's sons can rule?
Kim’s sister: ‘Giggly princess, de facto queen’
Amid global fascination with Kim Yo Jong, book focuses on North Korea’s new-generation female power players
asiatimes.com · by Andrew Salmon · August 15, 2022
SEOUL – Tour guides don’t commonly threaten to hurl their charges off tour buses, but it happened in 2005 in Pyongyang.
This writer was part of a visiting delegation of overseas reporters in North Korea when a German journalist approached the tour guide, a Mr. Choi, with a brace of seemingly reasonable questions.
First, she politely established that then-leader Kim Jong Il would pass away at some point – a point that Choi, a grizzled former state security official who had the unenviable task of escorting 18 foreign reporters through Pyongyang, conceded.
Then she popped the big one. She wondered whether, after his demise, there might be any possibility that North Korea could, one day – perhaps, just maybe – be led by a female Kim family member….?
Choi turned an impressive shade of purple. “If I could, I would throw you off the bus for that question!” he roared.
Shocked silence filled the bus. Rather than trying Choi’s blood pressure further, the German reporter – and her 17 colleagues – let the matter rest. Needless to say, though, the incident raised sharp questions about gender equality in North Korea.
Upon hearing the anecdote, Chun Su-jin laughs.
“I am not surprised,” says the author of the just-published North Korean Women in Power: Daughters of the Sun (Hollym, Seoul, 2022), which examines four female power players in the little-known state. “North Korean society is still very much male-oriented – it’s like a men’s heaven.”
It is not alone. South Korea, for all its democratic governance, cosmopolitan nous and global cool has a very un-level gender playing field. According to Seoul’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, in 2021, it ranked 102nd among 156 nations surveyed in the Gender Gap Index, and women fell far behind men in the employment rate (57.7% versus 75.2%).
If that is grim, how bad are things for citizens of its pitifully poor – and deeply isolated – northern neighbor?
“The reason I wrote this book is that is it such a men’s paradise,” Chun, a 40-something reporter for the Joongang Ilbo, one of the top three dailies in South Korea, tells Asia Times. “But somehow, these four ladies came up the ladder.”
That’s a story, or four stories. But Chun also had a more personal reason for writing the book: Grandparents from both sides of her family were refugees from North Korea who settled in the South.
“It is still Confucian society – Confucian communism!” Chun says of North Korea. “I am grateful to my grandparents for fleeing their home as – if I had been born there – I cannot even imagine.”
Chun’s new book examines the lives and careers of orchestra leader Hwang Song Wol, rumored to be Kim Jong Un’s protocol chief; Kim’s wife, Ri Sol Ju; and Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui. However, the subject who will likely seize most readers’ eyes is Kim’s high-profile younger sister: Kim Yo Jong, 35.
Her role in Pyongyang’s power structure – “de facto queen” in Chun’s words – and her position vis a vis her sister-in-law – whose role Chun describes as more like a first lady – speaks volumes about the hierarchies prevailing behind the bamboo curtain.
Author and Joongang Ilbo reporter Chun Su-jin speaks to Asia Times. Photo: Andrew Salmon/Asia Times
Good at good cop, good at bad cop
Kim first shot to global attention in 2018, when she joined the advance guard of her brother’s surprise diplomatic offensive.
.After seven years of self-imposed domestic seclusion, North Korea’s untried young leader summited, in rapid succession, with presidents Xi Jinping of China, Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Donald Trump of the United States.
South Koreans goggled at this attractive member of the ruling Kim clan – one entrusted, despite her youth, by her brother to test the international waters. That bespoke an obvious closeness between the siblings.
They had shared a fraught childhood. Although they were schooled at an elite Swiss school, they were away from home and family at a time when the survival of both the Kim clan and North Korea itself looked precarious. The nation was suffering a murderous famine. An entire school of foreign punditry (“the collapsists”) expected it to implode.
It did not, and the sibling bond forged in Switzerland endures. Recent photos both official (at her brother’s side at grand state affairs) and unofficial (waiting, with apparent anxiety, for her brother on the sidelines of summits) make clear her important position in Kim’s entourage.
“Kim Jong Un depends on her,” Chun says. “She is not any confidante – she is the go-to person.”
Chun remembers first seeing her in the flesh in 2018 at the Singapore summit between her brother and Trump. “She was all serious and daunting, in a silk blouse and a prim and proper skirt.”
However, citing an unnamed source with close-in knowledge – almost certainly North Korean – Chun describes Kim as a “giggly princess.” “She has the personality of an agashi [girl/unmarried woman],” Chun says. “But she is really smart – she knows how to play with power.”
And she has power. Kim is deputy director of the party’s Publicity and Information Department and the only female member of her brother’s brain trust, the State Affairs Commission.
As per multiple analyses, Kim’s public posture toward South Korea and the USA has shifted radically.
During the heady days of engagement in 2018 and 2019, she was the charming envoy. “Just remember how South Koreans loved her – we had headlines like, ‘Look at that smile!’” Chun says. “Everybody was smitten – especially Moon Jae-in.”
She adds, with reference to the then-president’s zeal for cross-DMZ engagement, “He was ready to be smitten.”
But engagement with North Korea cratered after Trump walked out of a 2019 summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. Then little sister Kim – whom Chun calls “totally versatile and talented in presenting any side” – transitioned to attack dog.
“She could be the ‘bad cop’ – and she is very good at it – and she can be the ‘good cop’ – and is very good at it,” Chun assesses.
In the “bad cop” role assailing South Korea, she has – unusually – added her name to state media editorials.
”That was one of the many firsts – in the past, this would have a [non-bylined] column – and reading between the lines, you can tell she is excited to do this,” Chun says. “She has guts. She is not afraid of anything.”
So could Kim – as is endlessly speculated in Western media – feasibly take over the reins of state if her brother was incapacitated or died?
“I have written a lot of stories posing this question, but I don’t have the answer,” Chun admits. “She could be an interim leader but the male elite will never acknowledge her as queen. They are still the Joseon Dynasty in that sense.”
Joseon, the last royal dynasty to rule the (undivided) Korean peninsula, lasted from 1392 to 1910, when it fell to Japanese annexation. Joseon’s queens were kings’ consorts, rather than ruling monarchs themselves.
That offers a possible hint at North Korean futures. “As long as the Kim dynasty is there, they are not ready for a queen up front,” Chun says.
Kim Jong Un in right royal form. Unusually for North Korea, Kim has appointed females to powerful, public positions. Photo: AFP
De facto queen and de jure first lady
North Korea confounds socio-political analysts who attempt to label it. It is a unique pot pourri, blending neo-Confucian social mores with post-communist trappings; extreme militarism with hereditary monarchism.
“North Korean society is not a communist society as Marx imagined it, is a dynasty that employs, or has the face, of communism,” Chun says.
The Kims, now in their third generation on the national throne, perch at the top of a deeply entrenched hierarchy based on the songbun class system. “Songbun is the color of blood,” Chun saiys. “If you have blue blood, you can never change that.”
Needless to say, all four of Chun’s subjects have blue liquid pulsing through their veins. This points to a neo-Joseon state of affairs in Pyongyang’s halls of power.
Kim Yo Jong is “de facto queen of North Korea and I think Kim Jong Un knows that too,” Chun says, in reference to the sister’s access to him, and thereby to power. “But one thing that can never change is that Kim Jong Un is number one, and she knows it – she knows how to utilize that hierarchy; she puts him first but is happy to be second.”
If Kim is de facto queen, what does that make her brother’s wife, Ri Sol-ju?
Ri, a former cheerleader, singer and beauty queen, is known to have borne Kim Jong Un two female children and there are rumors of a son.
While North Korea may appear bizarre to Western news readers, many South Korean analysts believe Kim is trying to “normalize” its governance. The process is visible in multiple areas – from the Western-style suits Kim sometimes dons to the increased decision-making role he has delegated to various party bodies.
It is also visible both in the role of women at the top, and the first lady-style role Ri plays at Kim’s side.
“He is always there with Ri Sol Ju, they go out with crossed arms,” says Chun. “He wants to present himself like a modern-day statesman, and that makes him smart, too.”
He is the first North Korean leader to be seen in public with his spouse.
“We never saw Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung with their wives,” Chun says. “It was unthinkable.” (Incidentally, Chun’s subtitle, “Daughters of the Sun” derives from state founder Kim Il Sung’s name, which roughly translates as “become the sun.”)
Noting that Ri is the “first lady that North Korea presents to the world,” Chun recalls a telling anecdote from the first Kim-Moon meeting in 2018: Speaking on-camera after the summit, Ri made a down-to-earth comment, complaining that her husband smoked too much.
“In North Korea, Kim Jong Un is a god,” Chun marvels. “That really tells us something about what kind of leader he wants to be: He wants to represent himself more as a modern leader.”
People watch a television broadcast showing footage of a North Korean missile test at a railway station in Seoul on September 28, 2021. Chun Su-jun hopes to paint a more nuanced picture of what is often seen as a rogue regime and garrison state. Photo: AFP / Jung Yeon-je
Maidens of the Kimdom
The high status enjoyed by Chun’s four subjects raises the wider question of women’s empowerment inside North Korea.
Some Korean War veterans remember female partisans fighting exclusively on the communist side. And female guerillas remain a favored icon in North Korean art. Is avowedly socialist North Korea – which also preceded South Korea in certain areas of gender legislation – more gender-unbiased than South Korea?
Chun is unconvinced. She dismisses early women’s rights policies as, “propaganda from Kim Il Sung – he wanted popular support from women.”
Even so, she believes that women have been emancipated by unplanned changes in the North Korean economy, taking on roles as not just homemakers but also businesspersons.
“In many households in North Korea it is the women who bring home the bacon at the jangmadang,” Chun says, referring to the unofficial but officially tolerated markets that have transformed North Korea’s consumer economy since the 1990s famines. “They have double burdens on their shoulders.”
Their double burdens will not seem alien to Western – or South Korean – working wives. And presenting North Korea as a “place where real people live” is one of the reasons Chun wrote her book – which is no dry analytical tome, but benefits from Chun’s ever-lively authorial voice.
“Whenever I see [North Korean] coverage in global media, I sense voyeurisms: missiles and strange leaders,” Chun said. “Many young South Koreans think it is a strange, foreign country and they don’t even want to think about reunifying, they think it will cost money.”
Recalling her late grandparents’ tears when they visited South Korean border lookout posts to stare into unreachable North Korea, reporter Chun says, “It is where my blood comes from.”
One day she would like to return to source.
“My dream is to be Pyongyang correspondent for the paper,” she says.
Follow this writer on Twitter @ASalmonSeoul
asiatimes.com · by Andrew Salmon · August 15, 2022
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
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Phone: 202-573-8647
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