Quotes of the Day:
A message from Korea from a long time friends and fellow SF soldier received today:
Sir – I go to the ROK facility this morning. It will be education day: how does our relationship with our ROK ally change at the human level? When one ROK ally looks at one of our American officers, will there be hint of a doubt in the eye?
That perhaps, maybe, possibly, we really don’t “Go Together”? Or we “Go Together” in fair weather and in storms we go our own ways?
As you know, I studied the Korean War intensely for 4 years. Of course, I still have much to learn. I developed several criticisms of President Truman and President Eisenhower as to some of their actions “managing” the Korean War.
Today and last night with Saigon and now Kabul in the rearview mirror, Truman and Eisenhower look like true giants. I honour them. I will hang their portraits in my home and every day remember them.
I tell myself maybe a civilian is caught up in everyday life that one doesn’t care what happens in Kabul and to the people who believed in us who will now be the scythe’s product along with all the people’s dreams of freedom and liberal society that we seeded, grew, and protected. But History cares.
But we are SF Soldiers. We participate in history. And this hurts deep down to our American soul, just as watching Saigon fall. And this Kabul collapse hurts even more because I never thought I would see in my lifetime a Saigon and American dreams collapse again.
But like Belisarius, those of us who believe in the greatness and promise of our Nation will pick ourselves up from the ground. And start the work again for our Nation, for the oppressed peoples, and for our allies to believe in us.
Your Student,
A slow news day in Korea due to the Liberation Day Holiday
1. S. Korea, U.S. start joint training amid N. Korea's protest
2. US nuke envoy likely to visit Seoul later this week
3. N. Korea, Iran supported in building Hezbollah’s 45 kilometer tunnel: Report
4. North Korea's sibling rulers Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo Jong are putting those on Yeonpyeong Island on edge
5. US lawmakers urge Biden to consider vaccine swap with S. Korea
6. A British Submarine Is Making a Port-of-Call Visit to South Korea And Not Everyone Is Happy
7. US is bound to pay a price for joint drills with S.Korea: N. Korean ambassador to China
8. Spirited ambition: whisky making in the land of soju
9. S. Korea protests Japan's repeated claims to Dokdo in defense white paper for children
10. [Herald Interview] Turn N. Korea into ally, Army general says
11. ‘It’s unwelcome!’ Top diplomat urges North Korea and China to unite to take on US threat
12. Anyang, Suwon getting flak for raising Korean Unification flags on Liberation Day
1. S. Korea, U.S. start joint training amid N. Korea's protest
Day one. Will the Kim family regime conduct a provocation?
If they do not they will tout their "self-restraint" as a "concession."
S. Korea, U.S. start joint training amid N. Korea's protest | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual joint military training Monday, undeterred by North Korea's strong protest and threats of a serious security crisis.
The nine-day command post exercise staged on the peninsula is based largely on a computer simulation with no field training, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The drill is defensive in nature as usual, it stressed in a statement.
The number of participating troops will be restricted in consideration of the COVID-19 situation, with the scale of the joint exercise smaller than the one held in March.
The United Nations Command has not formally informed North Korea of the beginning of the training, an informed source said. The command usually gives it a prior notice on the schedule and characteristics of the allies' regular exercise.
Pyongyang has accused the two sides of pressing ahead with the war games despite its efforts for dialogue and peace.
It warned of serious consequences, again halting its daily hotline communication with the South.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. US nuke envoy likely to visit Seoul later this week
Sustained high level diplomatic engagement is important.
US nuke envoy likely to visit Seoul later this week
By Kang Seung-woo
Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, is expected to make a four-day trip to South Korea starting Aug. 21, according to a diplomatic source.
Sung Kim / Korea Times fileThe visit would mark his second in two months since he took office in May. In June, he visited for talks with his South Korean counterpart Noh Kyu-duk.
His trip comes as Seoul and Washington kicked off their annual combined military exercises, Monday, which again drew a fiery response from Pyongyang last week.
In that sense, the timing of his visit is raising questions over whether the Joe Biden administration will offer enticements to North Korea in a bid to restart their stalled nuclear negotiations.
Despite high expectations, Kim only issued a mediocre conciliatory message on his first trip to Seoul as nuclear envoy, reiterating the U.S.'s previous stance of its willingness to meet with North Korea "anytime, anywhere without preconditions," which was not enough to draw a positive response from the North.
Apparent inter-Korean detente, brought back by the restoration of inter-Korean communications hotlines late last month, turned out to be short-lived, and the North Korean regime is expected to stage a military provocation to protest the joint drills, so Kim may bring a new message from President Biden for Pyongyang.
Last week, the North issued two statements warning that the totalitarian state will make the South and the U.S. regret their decision to hold the joint drills, stating they would face a "serious security crisis" due to their "wrong choice."
In addition, the North has refused to answer the South's telephone calls via the liaison and military hotlines since last Tuesday. The two Koreas had made calls twice a day since the lines were restored July 27.
In addition, while Kim is in town, Russia's nuclear envoy Igor Morgulov is also expected to travel here, which may lead to three-way talks on the North Korea nuclear issue.
3. N. Korea, Iran supported in building Hezbollah’s 45 kilometer tunnel: Report
No surprise. north Korean "exports" tunnel technology and capabilities. Nobody builds longer, deeper, or more tunnels than north Korea
N. Korea, Iran supported in building Hezbollah’s 45 kilometer tunnel: Report
Hezbollah has built a 45 kilometer underground tunnel linking Lebanon’s south with inland Beqaa valley under a $13 million deal with a North Korean company specializing in the development of underground infrastructures and with the supervision of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officer, according to a report released by Alma research center.
The report revealed that Hezbollah has constructed a 45-kilometer tunnel linking the area east to the coastal city of Saida with the southern mountainous regions of Jezzine and Rihan and the inland Beqaa valley.
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The 45 kilometer tunnel links the villages of Jensnaya, Wadi el Leymoun, Snaya, Zhalta, al-Roummaneh, Jabal Toura, Louaizeh, Sejoud, al-Zaghrine, Aaichiyeh, al-Qotrani, al-Sriri, Meidoun, and Machghara.
“The ‘Land of the Tunnels’ was built with the assistance of a North Korean company specializing in the development of underground infrastructures, called the ‘Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation’ also known as KOMID,” the report added.
The report added that the actual construction was carried out by Hezbollah’s Jihad Construction Foundation which is in fact a branch of the Iranian Jihad Construction which was founded in 1988.
“The Jihad Construction Foundation used civilian companies to serve as cover for the construction of the ‘Land of the Tunnels’. One of the companies suspected of involvement in the construction and civilian cover-up is the ‘Bekaa Building and Contracting Company’, formerly known as the ‘Iranian Authority for the Reconstruction of Lebanon’,” the report added.
The report also revealed that the tunnels allow the maneuvering of forces from place to place for the purpose of reinforcing defense positions or for carrying out an attack in a safe, protected, and invisible manner. In our assessment, motorcycles, ATVs and other small vehicles can also be transported through some of the tunnels.
In 2004, a Japanese journalist named Takashi Arimoto reported on a meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior North Korean officials, during which he sought North Korean assistance for Hezbollah in the planning and construction of underground military installations, bunkers and tunnels.
According to additional information that the research has found, the North Korean company KOMID signed a $13 million deal with Hezbollah for the supply of engineering materials for excavating tunnels, and in addition, for the transfer of North Korean engineering technology to Hezbollah’s “Jihad Construction Foundation”.
Read more:
4. North Korea's sibling rulers Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo Jong are putting those on Yeonpyeong Island on edge
A rather long piece from Australia. Although the central focus is on Y-P-Do it covers a number of north Korean issues.
North Korea's sibling rulers Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo Jong are putting those on Yeonpyeong Island on edge
For the 2,000 people who call Yeonpyeong Island home, it can sometimes feel like they live at the mercy of the North Korean Kim family's whims.
A contested border known as the northern line limit (NLL) means that Yeonpyeong is effectively 11 kilometres from Kim Jong Un's territory.
They can just see North Korea on the horizon, and they know if tensions reached boiling point, the bombs would hit them first.
That proximity has proved deadly before.
In 2010, North Korea's then leader Kim Jong Il, who was in poor health and a year from death, was in the process of ensuring his son Kim Jong Un was well placed to succeed him.
On that day, the large military presence on Yeonpyeong had been testing some of their weapons.
South Korea said it was a routine exercise they had carried out many times before.
But this time, North Korea reacted.
The island still bears the scars of North Korea's assault in 2010. (ABC News: Mitch Denman Woolnough
)
During two distinct stages of attack, it fired about 170 artillery shells and rockets. Four people died, including two civilians.
Island resident Kim Bu-seop remembers the day vividly.
"It was so sudden, it didn't feel real," she said.
"A bomb fell just before me, right in front of my feet as I tried to go home. I froze. I couldn't get my feet to move further.
"Yeonpyeong Island was literally a sea of fire. The whole village turned black due to smoke from the burning buildings."
Kim Bu-seop narrowly survived a North Korean missile fired towards her home. (ABC News: Mitch Denman Woolnough
)
It is still unclear exactly what caused the North Koreans to attack, according to Jenny Town, an analyst with foreign policy think tank the Stimson Centre.
"It was a very different time," she said.
"Some of it could have been related to building up Kim Jong Un's bona fides."
Now, nearly a decade into Kim Jong Un's rule, his grip on power has never appeared more tenuous.
And his rival leader in the south is running out of time to achieve a tentative peace that could change everything for Yeonpyeong Island.
Kim asked for liquor and new suits
The trouble for the Korean peninsula is that Mr Kim doesn't want to talk right now.
Just over a week after hotlines between the two Koreas were restored, the calls from Seoul went unanswered.
North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un has repeatedly and publicly warned in recent months that his country is facing huge challenges. (Korean Central News Agency via Reuters
)
For a brief moment, it had appeared that relations on the Korean peninsula were set to improve.
But then Seoul decided to go ahead with joint US military drills, and Pyongyang stopped picking up the phone.
Every year, the 28,500 US soldiers stationed on the peninsula hold exercises with the South.
With the pandemic still in full swing, this year they are expected to be mostly virtual.
But even that is too much for North Korea.
Two men grapple with the limits of their power
On both sides of the demilitarized zone, power dynamics appear to be shifting.
Mr Kim's younger sister has played an increasingly visible and aggressive role, leading the public lashings of South Korea.
Kim Jong Un's children are still too young to rule, leading some to speculate his sister Kim Yo Jong could be an interim successor if necessary. (Reuters
)
"The dangerous war practice of South Korea and the US that ignores our repeated warnings will bring even more dire security threats to the two countries," Kim Yo Jong said of the impending military exercises.
"Kim Yo Jong has gained prominence in the past few years," said June Park from George Washington University's East Asian Resource Centre.
"It's very clear that Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo Jong have, as siblings, an exchange going on in terms of how to communicate with the South Koreans.
Kim Jong Un in March 2021 and August 2021. The North Korean leader has lost a significant amount of weight, but analysts aren't sure why. (Korean Central News Agency via Reuters
)
"But what's not clear is what kind of a leverage that she has, in terms of dictating where the policy direction should be."
Despite recently losing weight and a mysterious new scar appearing on the back of his head, Kim Jong Un is still likely in charge.
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But North Korea appears to be in dire straits, with Mr Kim repeatedly expressing concern about the nation's economy and food shortages.
That may have prompted him to start exchanging letters with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in from April.
And Mr Moon also has a lot on the line.
Time is running out for Moon Jae-in's promise
He came to power promising closer relations with the north, but in the final year of his term, Moon Jae-in has little to show for it.
As contenders jockey for his job, Ms Park said games are being played by Pyongyang.
"Each time there is a presidential election, things get politicised," she said.
"On both sides, there is a scheme to utilise the political atmosphere in order to gain leverage."
June Park says South Korean presidential elections trigger manoeuvring on both sides of the DMZ. (ABC News: Mitch Denman Woolnough
)
Even as Mr Moon talks of his lofty aspirations for peace, he also appears to be buying the nation an insurance policy.
South Korea is pouring billions of dollars into a rocket defence system modelled on Israel's iron dome.
If it works, it will provide what feels like an invisible shield of protection, shooting down any projectiles fired from the north.
With tensions once again peaking, there could be a major escalation on the cards, including a missile test.
One of Moon Jae-in's key electoral promises was a peace initiative, which aimed to achieve a nuclear-free, peaceful, and prosperous peninsula. (AP: Korea Summit Press Pool/File
)
"It could be another [intercontinental ballistic missile] launch, we don't know," said June Park.
"We're not really sure what kind of military tactic they will use."
For the people on the furthest edge of South Korean land, it can't come soon enough.
The island on the edge of war
More than a decade after the assault on Yeonpyeong, the scars are still visible.
Bombed-out buildings from that attack have been reconfigured as a museum, and Yeonpyeong has become a tourist attraction.
Gong Su-yong, who is visiting the island, does not feel nervous about its proximity to North Korea. (ABC News: Mitch Denman Woolnough
)
Visitors from the rest of the country come to look at the evidence of bombing and peer through binoculars at the North Korean ships on the horizon.
It feels safe. But there is always a shimmer of danger.
There are soldiers everywhere, barbed wire surrounds beaches, and shelters dot the island so residents have somewhere to flee if the missiles start to fall again.
Signs on the island point to bomb shelters in case there is another attack from the North. (ABC News: Mitch Denman Woolnough
)
And for the residents of the island, even doing their jobs could inadvertently trigger a conflict.
Local fisherman Park Tae-won craves access to seafood-rich waters to the north of the island.
"It would be a dream to be able to fish there," he said.
"There is something called a security zone in the South Korean part that North Korea claims, and that zone is a golden fishing ground. But neither North Korea nor South Korea can go there."
Fisherman Park Tae-won dreams of fishing in the "golden waters" between South and North Korea, but it could trigger a war. (ABC News: Mitch Denman Woolnough
)
Despite President Moon's manoeuvres, Mr Park does not believe peace is on the horizon.
"It is impossible for the North and South to achieve perfect peace," he said.
The best the peninsula came hope for, he said, is "coexistence".
Fellow resident Kim Bu-seop also feels pessimistic about the chance of peace.
"It would be nice if things went well," she said.
"But since I live next to North Korea, I never feel peace."
5. US lawmakers urge Biden to consider vaccine swap with S. Korea
US lawmakers urge Biden to consider vaccine swap with S. Korea
Posted August. 16, 2021 07:19,
Updated August. 16, 2021 07:19
US lawmakers urge Biden to consider vaccine swap with S. Korea. August. 16, 2021 07:19. lightee@donga.com.
Fourteen U.S. lawmakers have sent a letter to President Joe Biden to consider a COVID-19 vaccine swap deal with South Korea.
In the letter to President Biden, the 14 congressmen and congresswomen including Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said Friday that they hope the president to continue cooperation to provide support to enable South Korea to secure COVID-19 vaccines as early as possible. Mentioning a spike in COVID-19 cases and supply disruptions of the Moderna vaccine in South Korea, they said that the examples demonstrate that the U.S.’ timely supply of vaccines is important.
The congressmen and congresswomen went on to urge President Biden to consider lending vaccines to allow South Korea to promptly secure its capability to vaccinate people. They effectively suggested that the U.S. president consider the vaccine swap approach in which Washington lends vaccines it already secured to Seoul and get them repaid later.
The drafting of the letter, which was also addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was spearheaded by pro-South Korea lawmakers, including Andy Kim, Michelle Park Steel, and Marilyn Strickland.
6. A British Submarine Is Making a Port-of-Call Visit to South Korea And Not Everyone Is Happy
Korean security concerns more than the US. But of course the regime to the north does not like it.
Excerpt:
While the UK's partners in the regions have responded positively to a return of the Union Jack flying over the neutral waters, not every government is pleased with that decision. Beijing has decried what it has called neo-colonialism, while North Korea also slammed the carrier group's deployment, suggesting it was a provocation that would escalate tensions in the Asia-Pacific.
A British Submarine Is Making a Port-of-Call Visit to South Korea And Not Everyone Is Happy
While the UK's partners in the regions have responded positively to a return of the Union Jack flying over the neutral waters, not every government is pleased with that decision.
The downside for submarine crews is that you're likely to spend days or even weeks without being able to take in the fresh air. However, one of the perks of joining any military navy is that you'll get to visit far-off ports. No doubt the crew of the Royal Navy's Astute-class nuclear-powered submarine HMS Artful (S121) will be happy to get back on dry land for a few days even if they can't see the sights. The boat arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan earlier this week.
The submarine docked at the port of the Republic of Korea's Naval Operations Command early Wednesday ahead of the Royal Navy's flagship aircraft HMS Queen Elizabeth, which had recently conducted a transit of the South China Sea. The carrier and its strike group will make a port-of-call visit to Busan later this month.
Artful had joined UK Carrier Strike Group 21 on its seven-and-a-half month-long maiden operational deployment to the Far East in May. The submarine, which can purify water and air, is able to circumnavigate the planet without resurfacing. Her main limit is that the boat can only carry three months' worth of supplies of food for the crew of ninety-eight officers and ratings.
Rearm and Some Relaxing
While in the South Korean port, the submarine's crew will examine its equipment, load munitions, and take COVID-19 tests—the latter being the new normal for sailors when they arrive in distant ports.
"We will implement anti-COVID-19 measures during their stay in close cooperation with the health authorities. No joint activities with our Navy are planned," defense ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan said during a regular press briefing.
Coronavirus has remained a serious problem for the Royal Navy. British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace confirmed that members of the crew aboard the carrier strike group's four ships had tested positive for the virus.
Royal Navy's Far East Presence
The 64,000-ton Royal Navy flagship and its strike group arrived in the Asia-Pacific region last month, and have already conducted joint exercises with India and Singapore, while also making a port of call to the Pacific island of Guam.
After her visit to Busan later this month, HMS Queen Elizabeth will travel to Japan in September, before beginning the return trip to the UK. However, it won't mark the end of the Royal Navy's presence "east of Aden." The UK has announced that as part of its Global Britain initiatives, the Royal Navy will permanently deploy two offshore patrol vessels to the region later this year.
While the UK's partners in the regions have responded positively to a return of the Union Jack flying over the neutral waters, not every government is pleased with that decision. Beijing has decried what it has called neo-colonialism, while North Korea also slammed the carrier group's deployment, suggesting it was a provocation that would escalate tensions in the Asia-Pacific.
For the crew of the Artful, it is probably just time to get out of the submarine even if they have to remain quarantined in the port.
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military small arms, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.
7. US is bound to pay a price for joint drills with S.Korea: N. Korean ambassador to China
From a CCP propaganda mouthpiece.
In the past we have offered the Chinese and the north Koreans the opportunity to observe our training. Perhaps it is time to make another public offer and let them refuse.
US is bound to pay a price for joint drills with S.Korea: N. Korean ambassador to China - Global Times
Ri Ryong-nam Photo:CFP
Ri Ryong-nam, North Korean ambassador to China, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview recently that a series of US-South Korea joint military exercises that started on Tuesday are the most concentrated performance of US hostile policy against North Korea. "It's unwelcome and they will definitely pay the price for that."
US and South Korean military drills will further add uncertainty to the current situation. And the timing of the drills this time showed that the US "intends to use its strength to contain and destroy North Korea," said Ri, adding that US' actions are a threat to the safety of the North Korean people.
Regardless of the scale and type of the drills, they are a rehearsal of a war, or even a nuclear war, Ri remarked. He noted that the purpose of the US is to improve its combat plan to launch pre-emptive strikes against North Korea. "This is the aggressive nature of the ongoing drills."
The US government has ignored the opposition at home and abroad against conducting the drills, which proves that the US has no intention to solve problems through dialogue but attempts to overthrow North Korean regime by force, Ri said.
"The current situation proves that North Korea's decision to strengthen its national defense is an absolutely correct and legitimate measure," Ri told the Global Times.
In order to realize the peace of the Korean Peninsula, the US must withdraw the troops and weapons it deploys in South Korea for invasion and wars, Ri said. "As long as US troops stay in South Korea, the problem, that worsens the peninsula situation, will not be eliminated."
Ri stressed that the facts prove that "words are not enough, and only by accumulating strength to effectively contain the threats imposed by foreign forces to North Korea, can we ensure the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula. This is what we must do to safeguard ourselves, it's a matter of life and death."
He said North Korea has made it clear that it will deal with the US based on the principle of "being tough to respond to toughness, being kind to respond to kindness."
Ri added that as long as US military threat toward North Korea exists, no one can expect peace and security of the peninsula. And to deal with the US threat, North Korea has legitimate rights to defend its national sovereignty, territory and people.
As US policy toward North Korea hasn't changed, from now on, Pyongyang will not sit and watch the various threats from the US, but it will strengthen its absolute deterrence to crush the increasing military threat from the US, Ri said.
Ri added that he has noticed that "personages from different fields in China including the media and academic circle have expressed their concerns in recent days over the impact that the US-South Korea joint drills will have on the situation."
Currently, not only in the Korean Peninsula, the US has also conducted intensive joint drills with China's neighbors, and the US' purpose is to tighten its "military binding" with its allies, to pressure China and further strengthen its strategic encirclement against China, Ri said.
"It's not difficult to see that the US will strengthen its military activities against the Asia-Pacific countries including China. The US is the common threat to North Korea and China, and the two countries should deal with it by strengthening their cooperation."
Meanwhile, North Korean Ambassador to Russia Sin Hong-chol said that Pyongyang intends to ramp up cooperation with Moscow to counteract the US,according to TASS on Wednesday.
"We will also boost cooperation between North Korea and Russia with the view to counter the US, a common threat, and continuously strengthen and develop at a higher level the strategic and traditional relations between our two countries in accordance with requirements of the new century," he said in an interview with TASS.
According to the ambassador, Pyongyang cannot ignore the threats it faces at the backdrop of the hostile policy that the US pursues against North Korea.
8. Spirited ambition: whisky making in the land of soju
A national security issue?
Can't fight a war effectively without whiskey (or soju!)
Spirited ambition: whisky making in the land of soju
Upstart Three Societies distills South Korea's first single malt with a mission to follow Japan's successful rise on the global scene
MASAK, GYEONGGI DO – It glistens dark golden to the eye, offers a smoky bouquet to the nose, and delivers a powerful blend of woody, smoky and spicy flavors in the mouth.
It is an all-new, 57% alcohol, single-malt whisky, tapped fresh from the cask courtesy of Three Societies distillery.
If you have not heard of Three Societies, don’t be surprised. The artisanal distillery is set in high lands, but not the Scottish Highlands. It sits among low hills outside Seoul, South Korea.
And it is hardly of ancient vintage. It is, in fact, the latest milestone in the alcohol odyssey of Korean-American entrepreneur Brian Do.
As a trailblazer on Korea’s booming craft beer scene, Do founded and operated pioneering artisanal brewery Hand & Malt. That was the first (and so far only) craft brewery in the country to be bought up by the world’s leading beer conglomerate, AB InBev.
Having exited beer, Do’s new mission – as of June 2020 – is whisky.
He has high ambitions. Following the successes of Japanese, and more recently, Taiwanese single malts among the whisky cognoscenti, Do reckons Korea is well-positioned to wade into the sector.
While his primary market is global, his secondary aim is to accelerate a shift already underway among Korean imbibers.
For decades, “whisky” in Korea meant blended Scotches, usually sold to inebriated corporate warriors for ludicrous prices by borderline sex workers. A 2016 legal change killed that scene.
But there was a positive corollary: A rising appreciation for quality whisky among a sophisticated generation of younger Koreans.
From chip fab to craft brew
Do is no stranger to pioneering premium alcohol production.
After graduating from UCLA, the Californian first traveled to Korea to learn the language in 1996. He fell in love with the country and that attraction, combined with family commitments – a father who had re-emigrated, and an ailing grandfather – kept him there.
An early venture into tech ended when he lost his job at chipmaker Hyundai Electronics, which imploded amid 1997’s financial tsunami. (It has since morphed into leading chipmaker SK hynix.)
Deciding to remain in Korea and ride out the storm rather than retreat to the US, Do took an advanced degree at Seoul’s Yonsei University, then worked in both media and a tech startup.
More stable employment beckoned in public relations. That led to him being hired by Microsoft, where he worked for nine years in Korea and Singapore.
Bryan Do breaches a cask of infant whisky. Photo: Andrew Salmon/Asia Times
While working at MS in 2012, Do – a home brewer at the time – opened his own bar, Hopscotch, in Seoul’s trendy Gangnam. As well as up-market gastro pub grub, the key lure was a range of taps flowing with a new product.
Korean cuisine is pungent and punchy, but its mainstream beer sector has never expanded beyond bland, US-style lagers. In millennial Gangnam, prosperous young Koreans, many with international travel under their belts, craved better booze.
Artisanal beer was the nascent product Do supplied.
“I would see people’s face light up when they drank the crafts,” he recalled. “But the beers were so inconsistent that I thought, ‘I could do a better job.’”
That remained just a thought until an anticipated promotion at Microsoft fizzled. That – plus parental advice – gave him the shove. “My dad always said, ‘Why do you keep making the world’s richest man richer? Make yourself rich,” Do said.
In 2013, he quit MS. Investing everything he had in equipment, he hired American engineer and itinerant brewer Phil Kelm. Hand & Malt was born.
Legal changes in 2014 eased distribution, granting craft beers greater visibility and acceptance. Do produced premium-priced suds, while demanding consistency from his team to win repeat orders.
But he also spotted a key trend at Hopscotch that would help him differentiate his firm from competition in the explosive sector.
“Eighty-five percent of my drinkers were female customers,” he said. “This was unheard of in craft beer. It was the flip side of the US.” Foreign restaurateurs had noticed the same thing: Korean females are more open to new culinary experiences than their conservative male counterparts.
That led Do to aim his beer recipes (“more floral, more citrusy”), and his design and marketing, at females.
After three years satisfying an increasingly thirsty consumer base, Do sought wider uptake. “My vision was for all locals to be able to drink craft beer affordably,” he said. Expansion demanded scaled-up facilities and a wider distribution network. The word went out.
“Craft beer was cool and people were seeing opportunities,” he said. “Everyone knocked on our door.” “Everyone” included food and bev conglomerates, hedge funds and one of Korea’s top brewers.
The world’s biggest beer company – AB InBev – sealed the deal. It already owned one of Korea’s top two breweries, OB, and was fast acquiring crafts in the US.
Do sold Hand & Malt in 2018. Production shifted on an expanded scale to Seoul’s vast, high-tech OB Brewery. But for someone passionate about quality, was this a sale or a sell-out?
“I did not see it as a sell-out, I saw it as opportunity to reach the end goal: Affordable craft beer for everyone,” Do said. “The promise was that OB would not touch the recipes.”
Citing confidentiality, Do refuses to state the selling price for “putting his baby up for adoption” – but said the deal was nowhere near a rumored $10 million. And as a clause demanded that Do maintain sales figures over the phased term of the deal, he did not receive the final payout, after Covid-19 hammered sales in 2020.
But by then, he was already knee-deep in Three Societies.
Korea’s first single malt
The company has secured up to $10 million in investment, all from close contacts, not institutions, Do said. Five staffers work in a series of buildings constructed on a wooded, tiered hillside above a light-industrial complex in Masak, in Gyeonggi, the province surrounding Seoul.
Equipment– stills, tuns and grinders – and ingredients – malt and yeast – have been imported from Scotland. Casks to age and flavor the raw spirit have been sourced from Spain (sherry), the US (virgin wood and bourbon) and Korea (local beers and spirits).
Three wells supply water, and the location, 40-minutes’ drive northeast of Seoul, is plugged into road distribution networks.
Do has also imported HR in the person of Scot Andrew Shand, chief operating officer and head distiller. Shand started out as an apprentice at Glenlivet, and has since worked worldwide, including stints at Chivas Regal and Nikka, earning four decades of experience in the trade.
Shand and Do talk shop: Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Three Societies refers to the blend of American, Scottish and Korean talent it employs. Korea’s extreme climate range – freezing winters and steamy summers – is the secret ingredient in Do’s hoped-for success.
“If you look at the swings in temperature here, it is perfect to age whisky,” Do enthused. “In Scotland, the temperature in summer is like 20 degrees, but here, it goes from minus 20 in winter to over 30 in summer.”
That means that whisky matures four times faster than in Scotland. But why would an American make Scottish, not US, whisky?
“Scottish single malts are much more premium than bourbon, and have more room for growth globally,” he said.
But he is not planning to release a whisky commercially for another three years. The original plan was to sell gin – which uses the same base spirit – to generate operational funds, while the whisky quietly adds years.
Gin – a gargle that is undergoing an artisanal renaissance in the UK – can be produced far more quickly than whisky as it does not require barrel aging.
“Gin still takes deep pockets,” said Do, referring to the distilling equipment required. “But you can sell it in a month.”
Three Societies’ Jung One premium gin marries “the most expensive base spirit you can use” to multiple botanical flavorants. In addition to the essential juniper, these include such quintessentially Korean tastes as pine needles, sesame and ginseng. The result is a smooth but complex beast.
Jung One is being sold nationwide via alcohol retailers, a handful of high-end cocktail bars and a specialized booze app. It has also been supplied to the British Embassy.
But gin is a stopgap. The main aim is to produce whisky. Given recent trends, that looks like a dire plan.
Whisky in the land of soju
According to Shand, Korea was customarily a Top 7 or 8 market for Scotch whisky exports. Last year, according to data from the Scotch Whisky Association, it did not even make the Top 10. “Sales have been going down dramatically,” Do admitted.
Mark that up to an anti-corruption law passed in 2016 which drastically reduced the amounts businessmen could spend on corporate cards. The law hammered “room salons” – discreet but dubious establishment where male execs did backroom deals in the company of attractive females, over bottles of overpriced blended Scotch.
“That law was a game-changer,” Do said. “But the coronavirus was the death knell.”
Yet there is an upside.
The same generation of younger Koreans who had been quaffing craft beers had also been developing a taste for premium whisky. “People are more health-conscious now and would rather drink a good quality whisky than copious amounts of cheap Scotch,” he said.
And “quality” means single malts.
“Single malts’ market share is rising dramatically,” Do said. “That’s where the market is going now.”
Threes Societies’ distillery has been future-proofed for expanded production. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
What of Korea’s traditional tipple? There, the trend is the opposite.
Soju is a mild grain spirit – essentially a low-alcohol vodka – that is sold cheaply in small bottles in every Korean dining establishment worth its salt. Multiple low-end brands are ubiquitous, with weaker offerings winning popularity, while the handful of premium sojus produced in recent years has had minimal impact.
Leading brand Jinro, according to trade body The Spirits Business, was the world’s most consumed spirit brand in 2019, even though soju is little drunk beyond Korea. That bespeaks soju’s position as mass-volume, low-price.
This removes soju from competition with whisky. But its ubiquity presents a problem for Three Societies: Local regulators base spirit regulation on soju, a very different product to whisky.
“It just does not make sense,” fumes Shand, who has talked to local tax officials in depth on such arcane subjects as “angels’ share” – the amount of whisky that evaporates during manufacturing.
While bureaucracy is turning hairs grey at Three Societies, the end result could add to the corporate heritage. “Changing regulations here will be one legacy, as well as making the first single malt,” Do said.
A liquid market
Though the company’s first batch of commercial whiskies will not be released until 2023, Three Spirits boasts an “R&D facility” – a warehouse containing young, wild and whacky experimental whiskies.
Among the casks in use are those supplied by producers of bokbunja, a neo-traditional Korean fortified wine made of berries. “It tastes fucking great,” Do enthuses.
Shand – who reckons there is a generational shift underway with ”grandfathers’, fathers, and young peoples’ whiskies” – wonders if a flavored whisky has a future, given that one offering is imbued with red pepper.
“If you ask, ‘Can you drink the spiciest whisky in the world?’ people will pay for it,” Shand said. In the interests of journalistic inquiry, Asia Times sampled it – but even a quarter tumbler proved too strong to finish.
“We’ll have to tone it down,” admitted Shand. “But it’s a unique thing.”
Originality sells. These novelties they can be sold – bottled or casked – to collectors or bar owners who want a one-off whisky. Indeed, one barrel is marked “Emma’s College Fund.” Do hopes that its sale, in 14 years, will pay his now four-year-old daughter’s university fees.
A related monetization scheme is to establish a tasting room at the distillery, where visitors can sample and buy experimental whiskies.
Creative whiskies, due to long-term customs that have been codified into law, cannot be produced by Scots. “In Scotland, you are handcuffed by rules – you can only use water, malt and yeast,” Shand said. “Here, we can try anything!”
Just as German brewers are restricted by regulations while overseas craft brewers are not, Shand warns that Edinburgh is suppressing creativity. “Scotland will be left behind if they can’t innovate,” he said.
Conversely, he warns that the basics are essential. He cites a local wannabe competitor who is working on whisky, but without any experience. “He does not know what he is doing,” Shand said. “But he could create something brilliant by mistake.”
An early run of 1,506 bottles (they were bottled on June 15 last year) of Three Societies’ infant whiskies will be offered to collectors in Korea and abroad in September. While not aged to an optimal level, the bet is that their combination of quality base spirit and a desire by punters to own a first-ever will lead to a successful sale.
“This is the first whisky distillery in Korea,” Shand said. “So to add a first bottle to your collection is a good investment.”
Three Societies’ mainstream product, its Ki-One (The Beginning Hope) single malt whisky, is maturing in 1,030 casks, ahead of sale in 2023. That batch represents both the origin and the future of Korean single malt whisky.
“We have a three year jump on anyone,” said Do, who also notes that the distillery has been future-proofed for expansion: 1030 casks is just a quarter of capacity.
“It’s a sleeping giant!” Shand said.
Whisky, incubating, Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Flavor of the month
Do anticipates 30% domestic sales, but the real market – due to the Korean taxman, and his heavy duties on non-soju spirits – is overseas, Do says. In the wake of Covid-19, distribution will be via the duty-free net.
One attractant is that things Korean – from Bong Joon-ho films to BTS music to Samsung smartphones – are all a-sizzle globally.
“Korea is the flavor of the month, and I am riding that,” Do said. “People expect Korea to make quality products.”
Another lure is curiosity.
“If you go from Korea to the UK, do you want to take home a rice wine in a dragon celadon bottle, or a bottle of Korean single malt whisky?” Do asked. “The bigger conversation piece will be the whisky.”
A further plus factor is the national rivalry with Japan. Single malts like Hibiki and Yamazaki are winning kudos in international trade media and via global spirits competitions as among the world’s finest.
“Nobody had heard of Japanese whisky – but look at it now,” said Shand, who has also worked in Japan. “If you can make anything high quality, you can be successful.”
Given the surging interest in Japanese single malts, Shand says his contacts in the trade are expressing similarly high interest in the Korean product.
“We will end up playing off this great Korea-Japan rivalry,” he said. “But we have a slightly better climate here than Japan.”
More personally, Do hopes to upgrade the local drinking culture for spirits in the way craft ale did for beer.
“I want to change how people drink, as I did not enjoy all the mass drinking I had to do at Microsoft. That was Korean culture and now we see that change,” he said. “People who one-shot a $3 dollar bottle of soju will think twice about one-shotting a $100 bottle of whisky.”
Moreover, quality spirits generate an animated ambiance – and can add a premium product to the national portfolio in a way soju has failed to do.
“Whisky is a sophisticated drink, and over good whisky, you talk politics, art, culture,” Do said. “As well as K-pop, K-drama and K-barbeque, there should be K-whisky.”
9. S. Korea protests Japan's repeated claims to Dokdo in defense white paper for children
"Teach your children well.." I do not think CSN&Y had this in mind.
S. Korea protests Japan's repeated claims to Dokdo in defense white paper for children | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea strongly protested Japan's renewed claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo in its newly created defense white paper for elementary and junior high school students, the foreign ministry said Monday.
Lee Sang-ryeol, the director-general for Asia Pacific affairs, and Kim Yong-gil, minister at the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, lodged a protest to Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, and Taisuke Mibae, deputy director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian affairs, respectively.
"They said that in light of our position that Dokdo is our inherent territory historically, geographically and by international law, the claims can never be accepted, and urged Japan to immediately delete the document," the ministry said in a text message to reporters.
Earlier in the day, Tokyo's defense ministry unveiled the 30-page white paper for young people on its website. A map on the policy document indicated Dokdo as part of Japan's territory.
Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between the two neighbors, as Tokyo continues to make the sovereignty claims in its policy papers, public statements and school textbooks.
South Korea has been in effective control of Dokdo, with a small police detachment, since its liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
10. [Herald Interview] Turn N. Korea into ally, Army general says
An interesting thought but is it really feasible given the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime?
[Herald Interview] Turn N. Korea into ally, Army general says
Published : Aug 15, 2021 - 15:27 Updated : Aug 15, 2021 - 17:49
Leem Ho-young, former deputy commander of the Republic of Korea-US Combined Forces Command, speaks during an interview with The Korea Herald at his office in Yongsan, central Seoul. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)
South Korea and the US should not miss a rare opportunity to gradually turn North Korea into their ally by helping out Pyongyang, which is desperate to find a way out of its worst economic crisis, said Leem Ho-young, former deputy commander at the allies’ Combined Forces Command.
“Let’s think beyond denuclearization. We have to eventually bring North Korea to the alliance-led order. That’s the ‘Grand Bargain,’” the retired four-star Army general said in an interview with The Korea Herald. He was referring to an article he contributed to the US publication Foreign Affairs in late July.
There, Leem and retired Gen. Vincent Brooks, who served with him as commander in 2016 and 2017, proposed bringing North Korea to what they called an “alliance-led order” as denuclearization and normalization of ties took place in stages.
The first two steps would involve offering humanitarian aid and signing a declaration formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War. The next two steps are more contentious: The South and the US should step up their economic commitments to the North and replace the armistice agreement with a peace treaty.
Proportionate measures, concessions and demonstrated progress by Pyongyang should accompany each step in what Leem calls “strategic deliberateness,” which means mutual trust would be a precondition for deeper collaboration. The allies would maintain defense readiness until trust was built, he said.
The Korea Herald: Your pitch doesn’t seem new. What makes you think it will work?
Leem Ho-young: Timing. North Korea wants help with its economy now more than ever, and that’s a sign our help would work this time if we offer it. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un fears social upheaval caused by economic distress and understands that’s a threat to his rule. He wants engagement. He has been careful with his language on US President Joe Biden. In October last year, Pyongyang showed off a new intercontinental ballistic missile, but it didn’t call Washington an imperialist aggressor or sworn enemy as it did the previous time, in September 2018.
KH: Who does what in this economic initiative and what’s the goal?
LEEM: The US should put together a multinational infrastructure development fund to offer the North a 10-year interest-free loan, while the South should pursue a free trade pact with the North. The plan is to reduce the North’s dependence on China, and to eventually bring the regime closer to the South-US alliance order. Pyongyang would have to work on denuclearization along the way. If it doesn’t, we won’t deliver either.
For this to work, we need a long-term, coherent North Korea policy that could survive political shifts. But that hasn’t been the case for South Korea. We really need to start thinking long-term.
KH: Do you see China getting on board with this proposal?
LEEM: The fact the US and China are not on favorable terms means the US has more to gain than to lose in trying this economic initiative. It draws Pyongyang closer to its side and away from Beijing, which will work to Washington’s advantage when it is seeking to put checks on Beijing. We will have to make the US see this initiative is worth giving a shot to avoid being trapped in the current unacceptable status quo.
And the US won’t just sit and watch Beijing extending its lifeline to Pyongyang, because that only reinforces its influence over the regime.
KH: How will this economic plan link the North to the South-US alliance order?
LEEM: Given the economic project is up and running, we’ll have to look at if the North has become nuclear-free, and if the two Koreas cannot risk invading each other. If that’s yes, we can look to ink a peace treaty. Our defense readiness shouldn’t be compromised along the way. By the time the two Koreas reach a peace agreement, South Korea will be the leading provider of North Korea’s investment, with the US being the second-leading partner responsible for the North’s international financing. Pyongyang will find itself in a wider Indo-Pacific trade pact.
What sets all of that in motion is if North Korea joins the economic initiative in the first place. North Koreans heavily rely on “jangmadang” (North Korea’s black markets, which now account for almost 60 percent of the economy), which tells us there is room for capitalism to expand.
KH: How is this economic agenda any different from the Moon Jae-in government’s approach?
LEEM: Two things. What is it that the Moon administration is trying to ultimately achieve through economic engagement? That has been unclear. Has the government ever called out North Koreans on something they’ve done wrong? I don’t think so.
Moon seeks engagement for engagement and there has been no change since the 2018 inter-Korean summits where the two Koreas shook hands on denuclearization. The government was business as usual when North Koreans killed our fisheries official in September last year.
What’s worse is North Koreans got us thinking that the annual military drills between Seoul and Washington now threaten inter-Korean peace efforts. Talks have taken place many times despite the drills. North Koreans have learned to get their way, and we’ve let them.
11. ‘It’s unwelcome!’ Top diplomat urges North Korea and China to unite to take on US threat
You are welcome to observe the training.
‘It’s unwelcome!’ Top diplomat urges North Korea and China to unite to take on US threat
Express · by David Atkins · August 16, 2021
US-South Korea drills slammed by Kim Yo-jong in statement
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The comments come as trade between China and North Korea reached a record low during the start of the year. Ri Ryong-nam, the North Korean ambassador to China, accused the US and South Korea of increasing military training drills.
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He told China's Global Times, strengthening ties marks the future.
He said: “It’s not difficult to see that the US will strengthen its military activities against the Asia-Pacific countries including China.
"The US is the common threat to North Korea and China, and the two countries should deal with it by strengthening their cooperation."
“It’s unwelcome and they will definitely pay the price for that.
Kim Yong-chol, head of North Korea's United Front Department (Image: PA)
Military helicopters are parked at U.S. Army base Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul (Image: PA)
“The current situation proves that North Korea’s decision to strengthen its national defence is an absolutely correct and legitimate measure.”
Kim Jong-un’s sister is set to blackmail South Korea and the US with “security threats” if the two countries complete their annual military training exercises.
These exercises are set to take place near the North Korean border this week.
North Korea did not respond to routine calls on an inter-Korean hotline a day after the allies started preliminary training last week.
North Korea's military power (Image: Express)
Kim Yo-Jong, sister of Kim Jong-un said: “Hope or despair? That's not up to us.”
However, despite the threats of a security crisis from North Korea, South Korea and the US will begin their annual drills on Monday, South Korea’s military said on Sunday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said: “The alliance made the decision after comprehensively considering the COVID-19 situation, joint defence posture and ways to support diplomatic efforts to denuclearise and foster lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.”
The US currently has 28,500 soldiers in South Korea, since the 1950-53 Korean War which did not end in a peace treaty instead an armistice.
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South Korean Air Force's acrobatic flight team (Image: PA)
S. Korea, U.S. have held preliminary training ahead of main exercise (Image: PA)
The Joint Chiefs of Staff have said the exercises are intended to accelerate progress on Seoul's efforts to take over wartime control of the combined troops from the US.
Express · by David Atkins · August 16, 2021
12. Anyang, Suwon getting flak for raising Korean Unification flags on Liberation Day
Anyang, Suwon getting flak for raising Korean Unification flags on Liberation Day
Officials of Suwon City pose in front of the Suwon City Council building, Saturday, after hoisting the Korean Unification Flag to celebrate National Liberation Day. Courtesy of Suwon CityBy Bahk Eun-ji
Two cities in Gyeonggi Province, Suwon and Anyang, are under heavy fire for hoisting the Korean Unification Flag in their celebration of National Liberation Day that was celebrated Sunday.
On national holidays, Korea's national flag, the Taegeukgi, is raised on every building and along every roadside.
According to the local government offices of Suwon and Anyang, they opted for the unification flag instead of the national flag, to "express their wish for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula." But some citizens slammed the decision, claiming that it damaged the dignity of the national flag.
The two cities held a flag-raising ceremony Saturday and hung the Korean Unification Flag on local government buildings.
The ceremony was attended by the mayors of both cities, as well as the representatives of civic organizations such as the South Korean Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration and the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Committee.
When the news came to light, criticism poured onto the cities' homepages.
An online user who identified himself as a citizen of Anyang said in a protest on the city's website, "Reflecting the thoughts of individuals and specific groups on a national holiday should not be done by a public institution."
He then said, "The two cities should clearly state the rationale and grounds for allowing the unification flag to be hung."
Another citizen said, "We should be hanging the national flag on national holidays. I wonder if any citizens of Anyang actually want the city government to be doing this."
Online users also criticized Suwon city's raising of the unification flag.
"What the two cities have done is destroy the dignity of the national flag," one individual commented on the city's homepage.
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
