|
Quotes of the Day:
"He conquers who endures."
– Persius
“The buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching toward infinity.”
– A. Edward Newton
“I have never believed that man’s freedom consisted in doing what he wants, but rather in never doing what he does not want to do.”
– Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1. An Open Letter to President Donald Trump (north Korean Human Rights)
2. Why North Korean denuclearization will likely take backseat in second Trump term
3. North Korea defends crackdown on foreign media, admits to public executions
4. S. Korea conducts defense drills on western border islands
5. Can US Donald Trump woo North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to hold denuclearisation talks again?
6. 'Blood money': Defectors liken N. Korean soldiers in Russia to wartime slaves
7. Russia refuses to say if North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine.
8. Yoon says S. Korea-U.S. alliance will immediately strike N. Korea if it attempts nuclear attack: Newsweek
9. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's biggest problem isn't the North (full Newsweek Interview)
10. S. Korea, U.S. to hold 1st table-top exercise against space threats next year
11. Yoon to convene emergency security, economic meeting to discuss Trump's return
12. Presidential office says hacking attacks increased following N. Korea's troop deployment to Russia
13. S. Korea, IAEA discuss cooperation in verifying N. Korea's nuclear programs
14. S. Korea, Japan agree to closely cooperate to halt N.K.-Russia military cooperation
15. North Korean officials in China saw Trump win election via South Korean media
16. North Korean Residents: “I Envy the US Elections Where the President is Chosen by Voting”
17. Unification advisory body, Yonhap News Agency to host global forum on unification next week
1. An Open Letter to President Donald Trump (north Korean Human Rights)
This is from 2017 and it is worth the President-elect considering this as he prepares for his second term.
I would add to this and recommend that RFA and VOA establish a communications channel of "President Trump's Tweets to the Korean people in the north." Every tweet on Korea from the President would be passed thought this channel to the Korean people in the north. With President Trumps' name recognition inside the north due to the Singapore and Hanoi summits, his communications to the Korean people in the north may resonate.
Posted by Committee for Human Rights in North Korea with No comments
By George Hutchinson and Robert Collins
https://www.hrnkinsider.org/2017/04/an-open-letter-to-president-donald-trump.html?m=1
Mr. President,
April 25th was “Military Foundation Day” in North Korea. Experts from the U.S. to China believe there is a strong likelihood we’ll see another nuclear or ballistic missile test, or possibly both, soon. Bad news for all, since the North Korean threat no longer only pertains to South Korea, but now includes neighboring countries where U.S. forces are stationed. Soon, even the U.S. mainland will be threatened due to the regime’s ICBM development.
On May 9th, the Republic of Korea (ROK) will hold a snap presidential election to fill the void left by the impeached Park Geun-hye. Simply put, the next two weeks are not only critical for achieving a successful deal regarding North Korea, but decisions made and policies formulated during this window will dramatically impact the fate of the Korean Peninsula.
Over the past 20-plus years, previous administrations have tried just about every possible tactic, short of war, to coerce North Korea to cease its illegal nuclear and missile programs—none have worked. The only constant among these failed policies is North Korea’s commitment to not give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
To be sure, the national security of the American people and that of our allies is incredibly important and certainly your number one responsibility. However, human rights for the North Korean people are important as well.
In the Art of the Deal, your closing words include, “In my life, there are two things I’ve found I’m very good at: overcoming obstacles and motivating good people to do their best work.” You have also demonstrated a mastery of highly effective and spontaneous communications. Your unconventional communication and problem-solving talents are sorely needed, now.
Much like you have reduced the influence of the conventional news media by communicating with the American people directly through your Twitter account, an approach to North Korea’s problem sets is needed to blast through the traditional conventions that have not worked.
So beyond thumbing through the playbook of failed engagement and negotiation strategies, or placing over-reliance on an unreliable China, do what you do best—communicate directly to the people through Twitter. Use this venue to talk directly to the 25 million North Koreans who suffer under a brutal, multi-layered system of repression. Yes, North Koreans do not have access to your Tweets, but nearly everybody else does and numerous human rights groups have ways of sending those tweets into North Korea through surreptitious means.
Through your Twitter account, lead the world in a campaign that tells the North Korean people, “We have no beef with you, the people of North Korea—it’s the repressive system that imprisons you that we despise.” Call out those who disingenuously ignore the repressive Kim family regime’s abhorrent crimes against humanity (China). Call out North Korea for what it is—a human rights disaster...an uncaring, despotic regime set up entirely for the benefit of its elites who ruthlessly prevent the North Korean people from realizing any potential.
You face numerous challenges as you approach completion of your first 100 days in office this week. The North Korea problem may be chief among them. No administration has succeeded yet. But you’ve spent a life successfully overcoming obstacles and motivating people. You’re up to the task.
Respectfully,
George Hutchinson and Robert Collins
George Hutchinson is a board member of the International Council of Korean Studies (ICKS). A U.S. Air Force veteran and former advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Hutchinson served as the Joint Duty Officer for the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission. Hutchinson is a Korean linguist trained at Yonsei University and the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, California.
Robert Collins is the author of HRNK’s reports “Songbun” and “Pyongyang Republic” and numerous articles in publications including the International Journal of Korean Studies and HRNK Insider. A 37-year veteran of the U.S. Department of the Army, he completed his career as Chief of Strategy, ROK-US Combined Forces Command.Categories: Art of the Deal, China, DJT, DPRK, ICBM, Korea, North Korea, President, ROK, Trump, U.S.
2. Why North Korean denuclearization will likely take backseat in second Trump term
President-elect Trump did something that no president had done during his first term. He gave it a shot, but it was Kim Jong Un who failed to appreciate the opportunity he had. Now in his second term President Trump has the opportunity to implement a new strategy and policy that has never before been attempted. That will be a human rights upfront approach (a sustained approach and not merely having Ji Seong Ho at the SOTU address), a sophisticated and holistic information campaign, and the support of the Korean people's pursuit of a free and unified Korea. But there are few pundits who see the opportunities that both President Yoon (8.15 Unification Doctrine) and Kim Jong Un are providing (internal threats, designating the ROK as the enemy, and eliminating the objective of peaceful unification, and sending troops to Putin's War). Although counterintuitive and overlooked by most, the combination of the first substantive unification doctrine in the South combined with Kim Jong Un's miscalculation about unification (taking away the hope of the Korean people in the north) provide opportunities for an innovative new approach. It is time to recognize that the only path to denuclearization is through unification.
We have proposals for the new administration.
Comments below are from all over the map. I am amused by Van Jackson's comments about the "national security state" and the "ethno-nationalist and imperialist hawks."
I am amused by Van Jackson's comments about the national security state and the ehtno-nationalist and imperialist hawks.
But only General Abrams is correct. No one can predict what the President -elect will do.
Excerpts:
Former National Intelligence Officer for North Korea Sydney Seiler said it is unlikely either Trump or Kim will return to the direct engagement given all that has transpired since the Hanoi summit.
“Kim Jong Un thought he had a way, enabled by the Moon [Jae-in] administration, to outsmart Trump, get sanctions relief for some marginally important actions limited to Yongbyon, and thus lock in permanently his nuclear power status,” he told NK News.
“Trump also was fully aware of the dynamics in play at Hanoi, the North’s unwillingness to put anything on the table that could be called authentic or credible, and the fact that Pyongyang’s position on denuclearization has only hardened over time,” he added.
Since the failed Hanoi summit, North Korea has eschewed engagement with South Korea and the U.S. and declared its nuclear status “irreversible,” and Seiler said Kim would prefer to be part of an “alternative world order” with “like-minded revisionist” countries like Russia, in which he does not need to worry about denuclearization and sanctions.
...
“I’m confident Trump doesn’t care about Kim Jong Un, but if Kim is willing to make overtures again — possibly with Russia’s support — it’s possible Trump will entertain kayfabe-type summit diplomacy again,” he said.
Jackson said Trump could offer concessions such as withdrawing U.S. forces from South Korea as part of a “peace bargain,” but if tensions flare, there is also a risk of Kim embarrassing Trump with nuclear tests, military incursions or aggressive rhetoric.
“There are scenarios where we end up in a nuclear crisis not so much because of Trump but because of the national security state being so readily prepositioned to coerce and meet force with force,” he said, adding that Trump’s probable administration of “ethno-nationalist and imperialist” hawks could impede cooperation with allies.
Former USFK commander Abrams said it’s unlikely anyone can predict Trump’s approach, but suggested ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East will dominate Trump’s security agenda at first.
“I expect Trump to pick up where he left off with North Korea when he left office in Jan. 2021 — which is to say I don’t think it will be a top priority to restart personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un,” he said.
Why North Korean denuclearization will likely take backseat in second Trump term
Former US officials say DPRK is no longer Trump’s ‘most urgent problem,’ though rapport with Kim Jong Un may spur talks
Chad O'Carroll | Shreyas Reddy November 8, 2024
https://www.nknews.org/2024/11/why-north-korean-denuclearization-will-likely-take-backseat-in-second-trump-term/
Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump shaking hands, with North Korea's Hwasong-19 missile in the background | Image: Trump White House Archived via Flickr (June 30, 2019) and Rodong Sinmun (Nov. 1, 2024), edited by NK News
Donald Trump’s election victory has sparked speculation about whether he will renew diplomacy with North Korea, but former U.S. officials say a fundamentally different global situation means we’re unlikely to see a repeat of the 2018-2019 summitry.
During Trump’s first term, Washington’s engagement with Pyongyang was marked by extreme highs and lows, as the two sides moved from trading insults like “dotard” and “rocket man” to a series of high-profile summits, before fizzling into non-engagement.
But while Trump has repeatedly emphasized his close friendship with Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s increasing nuclear testing will no longer be his “most urgent problem” when he returns to the White House, meaning Pyongyang is likely to play second fiddle to major conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
To get a sense of the incoming president’s probable approach to North Korea in his second term, NK News reached out to over a dozen former U.S. officials with knowledge of Washington’s inner workings.
In the first part of a two-part series, seven ex-officials weigh in on Trump’s approach to North Korea’s denuclearization and personal engagement with Kim Jong Un.
Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump shaking hands ahead of the first-ever U.S.-DPRK summit in Singapore | Image: Dan Scavino Jr. (June 12, 2018)
FACING NEW CHALLENGES
The nature of U.S.-DPRK relations has fundamentally changed since the start of Donald Trump’s first term, the former U.S. officials told NK News, calling into question whether the leader will prioritize diplomacy with Pyongyang.
“At that time, North Korea was rattling its sabers by testing its nuclear weapons and launching missiles at a rapid pace,” said Edwin Sagurton Jr., a former political minister-counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.
He stated that the Trump administration took his predecessor Barack Obama’s warning that Pyongyang was Washington’s “most urgent problem” very seriously when he took charge and immediately conducted an in-depth DPRK policy review.
The new direction did not fundamentally differ much from the Obama administration, but Trump’s personal approach to implementation, including threatening to “totally destroy” North Korea and calling Kim Jong Un a “little rocket man,” spiked tensions on the Korean Peninsula and raised fears of conflict.
Robert Abrams, a former commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), highlighted Trump’s clear policies and statements in his first term regarding strategic deterrence against North Korean weapons, when he warned that DPRK threats toward the U.S. would be met with “fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
Kim Jong Un at a nuclear research institute | Image: Rodong Sinmun (Sept. 3, 2017)
However, Kim and Trump completely reversed direction in 2018 as North Korea embarked on a series of summits with long-time friends and enemies alike, and in June, the two leaders made history with the first-ever U.S.-DPRK summit in Singapore.
The follow-up summit in Hanoi in Feb. 2019 stalled as the two sides reportedly failed to see eye-to-eye on crucial matters including denuclearization, and a hastily arranged meeting at the inter-Korean border four months later did little more than showcase their personal relationship.
“Unfortunately, and as is often the case with North Korea, the meetings did not result in even an inch of progress in resolving the North Korean situation,” Sagurton stated.
Abrams told NK News that nothing materialized from Trump’s attempted outreach in the months after he “rightfully walked away from a bad deal” in Vietnam, and Pyongyang’s “bellicose rhetoric” and ballistic missile tests only increased until it eventually sealed borders at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Former National Intelligence Officer for North Korea Sydney Seiler said it is unlikely either Trump or Kim will return to the direct engagement given all that has transpired since the Hanoi summit.
“Kim Jong Un thought he had a way, enabled by the Moon [Jae-in] administration, to outsmart Trump, get sanctions relief for some marginally important actions limited to Yongbyon, and thus lock in permanently his nuclear power status,” he told NK News.
“Trump also was fully aware of the dynamics in play at Hanoi, the North’s unwillingness to put anything on the table that could be called authentic or credible, and the fact that Pyongyang’s position on denuclearization has only hardened over time,” he added.
Since the failed Hanoi summit, North Korea has eschewed engagement with South Korea and the U.S. and declared its nuclear status “irreversible,” and Seiler said Kim would prefer to be part of an “alternative world order” with “like-minded revisionist” countries like Russia, in which he does not need to worry about denuclearization and sanctions.
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Evans Revere told NK News that Donald Trump’s outreach convinced many that the nuclear and missile issues were being resolved but said the reality proved different.
“Trump masterfully created the ‘appearance’ of progress where there was none. In fact, things got worse,” he said.
He stated that the former U.S. president accepted Pyongyang’s preferred language and priorities during the Singapore summit and unilaterally suspended joint U.S.-ROK military drills, but North Korea pushed ahead with missile tests and nuclear development despite Trump’s claims to the contrary.
“The Trump-Kim diplomacy ultimately ended in failure at the Hanoi Summit when Trump realized that the North Korean leader had no intention of giving up his core nuclear weapons production capabilities,” he said.
Frank Aum, a former senior adviser at the Department of Defense, said the changed security landscape since 2018 and Pyongang’s opposition to negotiations make U.S.-DPRK engagement on denuclearization more difficult.
Following reports last year that Trump may seek alternative approaches to encourage North Korea to freeze nuclear and missile testing, the former official said the incoming president will have to weigh various options.
These include considerations about which side should make the first move toward engagement, whether “saber-rattling” is necessary to create leverage, the possibility of “unilateral conciliatory gestures” and whether to stick to the goal of “complete denuclearization.”
Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump during their second summit in Vietnam in 2019 | Image: Trump White House Archived via Flickr (Feb. 27, 2019)
PROSPECTS FOR ENGAGEMENT
The DPRK has consistently rejected denuclearization negotiations with the U.S. over the past five years, and former officials were divided on whether Trump’s self-proclaimed personal friendship with Kim could open the door for renewed diplomacy.
“With the caveat that Donald Trump is unpredictable, I expect he would again try to meet with Kim Jong Un and to strike a deal he could claim as a personal achievement,” former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Non-Proliferation Mark Fitzpatrick told NK News.
He said Trump views the Singapore summit as a “huge success” despite the lack of subsequent progress, but that it remains to be seen what he can achieve with a repeat.
“Kim certainly won’t give up nuclear weapons, but he might again offer to close down the Yongbyon nuclear center in exchange for lifting U.N. sanctions,” he said.
Fitzpatrick added that Trump will be “unfettered, for better or worse,” in his second term thanks to the absence of hawks like John Bolton, who reportedly opposed partial measures at Hanoi.
“While North Korea won’t be the top item on his agenda by any means, it would rank higher under him than it has under President Biden,” he said. “The era of strategic patience is probably closing.”
Seiler suggested Trump could pursue a surprise summit with Kim, even if it is only “exploratory.”
He added that the media will likely blow such moves out of proportion and South Korea will fear the prospect of Washington bypassing it to engage Pyongyang directly, but that ultimately it comes down to Trump.
“Would Trump appear to be cheapening diplomacy and the position of the president? Yes, because his view of both is different,” he said.
He explained that Trump would take a different track from Joe Biden and Barack Obama’s “strategic patience” approach, and if he downscales military exercises and displays of extended deterrence, North Korea’s leadership may have fewer pretexts for “chest-thumping shows of force.”
“If [foreign minister] Choe Son Hui convinces Kim Jong Un to allow some ‘creative’ diplomacy such as attending the U.N. General Assembly, exploring Track 1.5 opportunities, etc., perhaps we will have spurts of dialogue: meaningless, but near-cost-free,” he said.
Revere also said Trump’s “penchant for diplomatic showmanship” could tempt him into reviving diplomacy, but added that the former president will soon find that the situation has completely changed.
“Kim is likely to see an opportunity to exploit Trump’s naivete and ego and trap him into a deal that effectively accepts the DPRK as a de facto nuclear power by launching ‘arms control’ talks, and also puts U.S. nuclear and conventional assets and the U.S.-ROK alliance on the negotiating table.”
The former State Department official said some in the new administration will look to “control” or “limit” North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, but emphasized Pyongyang will not follow through on any promises it makes in return for concessions.
“Of course the DPRK has no intention of freezing or otherwise limiting its nuke program,” he said. “Have we learned nothing from 32 years of negotiations?”
Aum also said Trump will likely attempt to restart personal diplomacy.
“Trump has experience addressing the North Korea challenge, a greater willingness to shun convention and engage Kim Jong Un than most world leaders, and a desire to achieve foreign policy legacies,” he stated.
Kim Jong Un reads a letter from Donald Trump in 2019. | Image: Rodong Sinmun (June 23, 2019)
MORE PRESSING MATTERS
Despite Trump’s personal rapport with Kim, several officials said the president could be too distracted by other concerns to focus on diplomacy with North Korea in a second term.
Aum suggested Trump will likely have to limit his engagement with the DPRK due to challenges such as China, Russia and the Middle East.
Van Jackson, an Obama-era Pentagon official and a professor of international relations at Victoria University of Wellington, said North Korea likely ranks low on the incoming U.S. president’s priority list, but that this does not preclude “reality TV show”-style engagement.
“I’m confident Trump doesn’t care about Kim Jong Un, but if Kim is willing to make overtures again — possibly with Russia’s support — it’s possible Trump will entertain kayfabe-type summit diplomacy again,” he said.
Jackson said Trump could offer concessions such as withdrawing U.S. forces from South Korea as part of a “peace bargain,” but if tensions flare, there is also a risk of Kim embarrassing Trump with nuclear tests, military incursions or aggressive rhetoric.
“There are scenarios where we end up in a nuclear crisis not so much because of Trump but because of the national security state being so readily prepositioned to coerce and meet force with force,” he said, adding that Trump’s probable administration of “ethno-nationalist and imperialist” hawks could impede cooperation with allies.
Former USFK commander Abrams said it’s unlikely anyone can predict Trump’s approach, but suggested ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East will dominate Trump’s security agenda at first.
“I expect Trump to pick up where he left off with North Korea when he left office in Jan. 2021 — which is to say I don’t think it will be a top priority to restart personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un,” he said.
Sagurton agreed that the “unpredictable” leader is unlikely to focus on the DPRK as much as he did the first time around, given other global conflicts and the current South Korean government’s reluctance to engage Pyongyang.
“The bottom line is that Trump gave his personal charm and negotiating skills the best shot during his first term and he will be hesitant to try it again,” he said.
Based on Pyongyang’s own unwillingness to engage with Washington and Seoul in recent years and its “hostile acts” toward South Korea, Sagurton said it is hard to be optimistic about a change of direction.
However, he added that there is still some scope for engagement and Pyongyang could use its support for Russia’s war against Ukraine as a bargaining chip to help Trump address interconnected challenges.
“The North has a history of changing course when it is least expected … so it might look at the return of Trump as a tempting opportunity to give engagement another try,” he said.
Edited by Bryan Betts
3. North Korea defends crackdown on foreign media, admits to public executions
Another indicator of the fears of Kim Jong Un against internal threats and the potential for resistance.
As isolated as north Korea is, can information truly be controlled or cut off from people who crave outside information?
North Korea defends crackdown on foreign media, admits to public executions
DPRK justifies harsh penalties during UN review, in move that expert said seeks to show abuses are not arbitrary
Ifang Bremer November 8, 2024
https://www.nknews.org/2024/11/north-korea-defends-crackdown-on-foreign-media-admits-to-public-executions/
North Korean soldiers shooting at Taesongsan funfair in Pyongyang | Image: Eric Lafforgue
North Korea defended its controversial law dictating harsh penalties for consuming foreign media on Thursday, while admitting that it carries out public executions and imprisons perpetrators of “anti-state” crimes.
The DPRK government made the rare acknowledgement of its crackdown on outside media during the U.N.’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the country in Geneva, which examines the human rights record of member states every four to five years.
During the session on Thursday, U.S. Special Envoy on North Korean human rights Julie Turner called on Pyongyang to repeal its notorious Law on Rejecting Reactionary Ideology and Culture passed in 2020, which specifies penalties up to life imprisonment and even death for distributing unapproved media.
But Ri Kyung Hoon, director-general of the legislative department of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, justified the law as necessary to defend the country against outside influence.
“The state enacted and enforced the Law on the Rejection of Reactionary Ideas and Culture and the Law on the Protection of the Pyongyang Culture Dialect, whose purpose is to protect national sovereignty and our socialist system from all sorts of maneuvers from the hostile forces including the ideological and cultural poisoning,” he said, referring to another law that bans citizens from talking like South Koreans.
Foreign movies, TV shows and music, especially from South Korea, have long been popular among North Koreans, and footage smuggled out of the country has shown instances of young North Koreans standing trial for consuming such media in violation of DPRK law.
The UPR is one of the few human rights-related U.N. initiatives the DPRK participates in, and North Korea sent a large delegation to Geneva to attend the examination, where U.N. bodies, other nations and civil society groups can make recommendations to the state under review.
PRISON CAMPS AND EXECUTIONS
At Thursday’s session, a North Korea official offered striking admissions of human rights abuses in the country, even as he sought to justify them under state policies.
Park Kwang Ho, director of the Central Court of North Korea, denied that the DPRK maintains political prison camps despite ample evidence of their existence, stating that the country’s criminal law does not use terms like “political prisoners or political prisoner camps.”
But he acknowledged that North Korea imprisons “criminals who committed anti-state offenses,” in essence admitting that the government punishes people for political crimes.
“Those who committed anti-state crimes are the spies and terrorists who are sent by hostile forces and those who have committed subversive acts bearing grudge against the socialist system of the DPRK. Prisoners of this category are not many in number and they are kept in reform institutions but separately from ordinary prisoners.”
On the death penalty, Park said the DPRK executes individuals “who committed extremely serious crimes,” including publicly.
“In principle, the death penalty is executed behind closed doors at a designated place. However, there may be exceptions. Those are when the criminal committed repeated crimes in the past, causing serious harm to others and again committed heinous murder without repenting himself, and the victim’s family strongly requested the death penalty be executed in public to settle their old scores.”
Park offered the reassurance that the DPRK does not execute minors or pregnant women.
Hanna Song of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) told NK News that North Korea’s admission that it carries out such human rights abuses is intended to counter the notion that the DPRK conducts violations arbitrarily.
“They want to show that there are rules in place; that detention is not arbitrary and punishments not based on ad hoc decision making, but grounded in a legal framework,” she said.
DETAINEE RIGHTS
During the session, the North Korean official Park outlined several new laws aimed at improving the rights of detainees.
“The DPRK enacted the Law on the Treatment of Reform Institution Inmates in May 2022 to establish the system in order by which reform institutions strictly adhere to the legal requirements in the execution of sentences and guarantee inmates their legal rights,” he said.
“In the drafting of this law, the U.N. Standard on the treatment of prisoners was duly referred to. The reform institutions required to allow inmates to operate libraries, read newspapers and other information, provide conditions for personal hygiene and physical exercise … assign doctors to take care of their health, ensure visits by and communication with family members and settle complaints.”
Song said the reference to the U.N. standard for treatment of prisoners “shows somebody’s doing their homework,” demonstrating that the DPRK cares about its international image and wants to “use the right type of language.”
This aligns with recent comments by ex-DPRK diplomats, who said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is sensitive to international criticism of his regime’s human rights record, ordering measures to deflect attention from abuses while also enacting some limited reforms.
Thursday’s session was fierce by U.N. standards, with DPRK delegate Pang Kwang Hyok interrupting speakers on several occasions by slamming the name plate of his country on the table in protest.
“During the previous UPR session in 2019, governments were more soft on North Korea,” Song of NKDB said, mainly giving recommendations to the DPRK in areas where Pyongyang is less sensitive like the rights of people with disabilities.
But this year, many governments seemed to take a different stance, she noted.
“With how North Korea is placing themselves with the war in Ukraine, governments seem to be saying, ‘We’re not going to play by your rules anymore. We’re going to call out all the things you don’t want us to call out.’”
While the UPR process makes recommendations to states, it does not require them to follow these recommendations or provide a mechanism to enforce compliance.
Edited by Bryan Betts
4. S. Korea conducts defense drills on western border islands
The conventional wisdom is that this is the Korean flashpoint: The Northwest Islands and the Northern Limit Line.
S. Korea conducts defense drills on western border islands
The Korea Times · November 8, 2024
Troops participate in defense drills on islands near the western inter-Korean maritime border, in this photo provided by the Marine Corps, Nov. 8. Yonhap
South Korea conducted regular defense drills on islands near the tense western inter-Korean maritime border, the Marine Corps said Friday, as part of efforts to enhance readiness against North Korea's potential artillery and drone provocations.
Some 6,600 troops from the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, as well as 10 vessels and 35 aircraft, including Apache and Blackhawk helicopters, were mobilized for the three-day exercise that began on Wednesday, according to the Marine Corps.
The training, organized as part of the annual Hoguk exercise, focused on an array of drills meant to enhance combat capabilities, including response measures against the North's drone and artillery provocations and counterterrorism operations involving key facilities.
The exercise also involved joint training with the local government and medical personnel to help evacuate island residents and injured troops in the event of emergency situations, according to officials.
The Marine Corps said it will continue to conduct regular maritime firing drills in the area to enhance its artillery operations capabilities and maintain a firm military readiness posture.
Waters near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) — the de facto inter-Korean maritime boundary — have been a flashpoint between the two Koreas, where three bloody naval skirmishes took place in 1999, 2002 and 2009.
North Korea has never recognized the NLL, demanding that it be redrawn further south. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · November 8, 2024
5. Can US Donald Trump woo North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to hold denuclearisation talks again?
I do not think he will try (unless it is part of a deliberate superior political warfare strategy). I also do not think Kim Jong Un would accept such overtures unless there were significant enticements (e.g., major concessions) that I believe the President-elect would be unwilling to offer after he has been burned by Kim Jong Un.
I think this is both wishful and dangerous thinking. It will take a lot of concessions from the US just to bring the north to the table. But arms control negotiations rather than denuclearization negotiations would be a win for Kim Jong Un's political warfare strategy, not for the US and the ROK. We should keep in mind that a freeze and even some troll-back will not improve security for the ROK or the US. To make such an assumption illustrates a lack of understanding of the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime. Can we trust Kim Jong Un? When has he (and his father and grandfather) ever lived up to an agreement?
Excerpts:
Harry Kazianis, Senior Director of National Security Affairs at the Center for the National Interest, suggested that a deal to freeze and partially roll back North Korea’s nuclear programme could be considered a diplomatic win for Washington.
North Korea’s stance has shifted since the two summits, according to analysts. They say Kim may now push for global recognition of North Korea as a nuclear state and negotiate concessions for “nuclear disarmament” rather than “denuclearisation”.
Can US Donald Trump woo North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to hold denuclearisation talks again?
Trump and Kim met twice in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi in 2019 but the summits failed to yield a commitment by Pyongyang to denuclearise
Park Chan-kyong
Published: 8:00am, 8 Nov 2024Updated: 3:37pm, 8 Nov 2024
US President-elect Donald Trump’s forthcoming return to the White House has ignited speculation that he would reconnect with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un through another summit, but analysts say Pyongyang has to curtail its threats and commit to denuclearisation before talks between the two could take place again.
Given the difficulties of achieving “complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation” (CVID) with the North in the near term, analysts suggest the US and South Korea should work towards convincing Pyongyang to temporarily freeze its nuclear programme and reduce its weaponry such as ballistic missiles.
“If North Korea comes to the table with intent and goodwill, an environment conducive to trust-building that could potentially evolve from a freeze to a rollback [of its threats] might be possible,” said Sydney Seiler, chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Korea.
Analysts believe that if Trump fulfils his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine, North Korea might be pressured to re-engage diplomatically with the South and Washington, given that it could potentially lose Russian support despite its participation in the conflict. Earlier this week, a Ukrainian official said Kyiv’s forces had fired at North Korean troops for the first time in the Russian border region of Kursk since they were deployed to Russia recently.
“The election of Trump is accepted as good news for North Korea,” Koh Yu-hwan, former head of the Korea Institute for National Unification, told This Week in Asia.
Trump and Kim previously met over two landmark summits in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi in 2019, although both meetings failed to yield an agreement on curbing North Korea’s nuclear programme.
Then-US President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sentosa Island in Singapore, on June 12, 2018. Photo: AP
“Kim has no reason to reject the direct person-on-person diplomacy still favoured by Trump, even though CVID looks more like a fantasy than a goal as the North has drastically upgraded its nuclear deterrence since the Hanoi ‘no deal’ [summit],” Koh added.
On the campaign trail, Trump has frequently spoken about his “love letters” and personal connection with Kim.
“I got along with him, and we stopped the missile launches from North Korea. Now, North Korea is acting up again but when we get back, I get along with him,” Trump said while accepting the Republican Party nomination in July.
“He’d like to see me back too. I think he misses me,” Trump added as he emphasised the importance of diplomacy between the US and a nuclear-armed counterpart.
Years of sanctions have not deterred North Korea from expanding its nuclear arsenal, which now includes advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Last month, North Korea announced a successful test of a Hwasong-19 ICBM, calling it an “ultra-powerful offensive means” and proof of its “hegemonic position” in missile technology.
A test-fire of the Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Photo: AFP
North Korean leaders have regularly asserted that their policy of strengthening the country’s nuclear forces will be steadfast. In 2023, North Korea amended its constitution to cement its “irreversible” status as a nuclear power.
Despite its bellicosity, Pyongyang might be open to engaging in diplomacy to discuss the nuclear issue, analysts say.
Harry Kazianis, Senior Director of National Security Affairs at the Center for the National Interest, suggested that a deal to freeze and partially roll back North Korea’s nuclear programme could be considered a diplomatic win for Washington.
North Korea’s stance has shifted since the two summits, according to analysts. They say Kim may now push for global recognition of North Korea as a nuclear state and negotiate concessions for “nuclear disarmament” rather than “denuclearisation”.
According to Nam Sung-wook, director of the Convergence Institute for National Unification at Korea University, Trump may need to focus on reducing immediate threats from North Korea’s missiles rather than complete denuclearisation.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and then-US President Donald Trump meet during the second North Korea-US summit in Hanoi, on February 28, 2019. Photo: Reuters
“There seems to be a growing acceptance of North Korea’s nuclear possession as a fact in the international community and among US power circles, including IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] Director General Rafael Grossi’s reference to North Korea as a ‘de facto’ nuclear weapons state,” Nam told Yonhap news agency on Thursday.
Meanwhile, other pressing global issues like the war in Ukraine, tensions in the Middle East and the US-China rivalry may divert Trump’s attention away from the North Korean nuclear issue, according to some analysts.
Michael Reiterer, a distinguished professor at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy & Strategy in Brussels, cautioned that Trump’s preference for bilateral deals and loose commitment to “ironclad” alliances pose a security risk.
“The ultimate consequence would be a de facto recognition of North Korea as a nuclear power, similar to India and Pakistan. This would set a dangerous proliferation cycle in motion, with South Korea facing a nuclear-armed neighbour that no longer views it as a potential partner for reunification but as a principal enemy state,” Reiterer said.
He emphasised the need for an international response to avoid a destabilising nuclear arms race in the region.
Park Chan-kyong
FOLLOW
Park Chan-kyong is a journalist covering South Korean affairs for the South China Morning Post. He previously worked at the Agence France-Presse's Seoul bureau for 35 years. He studied
6. 'Blood money': Defectors liken N. Korean soldiers in Russia to wartime slaves
Voices of the north Korean diaspora.
'Blood money': Defectors liken N. Korean soldiers in Russia to wartime slaves
The Korea Times · November 7, 2024
Members of North Korea's special operations force are shown demonstrating martial arts in this photo released by North Korea's state news agency on Oct. 4. Yonhap
Kim Jong-un strives to profit from war in Ukraine
By Kang Hyun-kyung
North Korean defectors in South Korea, who closely follow reports of the North's soldiers joining Russian forces in Ukraine, have raised doubts about their combat readiness.
In media reports, some of the dispatched North Koreans are portrayed as elite soldiers affiliated with the 11th Army Corps, commonly referred to as the "Storm Corps." This unit is comparable to South Korea's special forces, known as the "Black Berets" due to their distinctive headgear.
Kim Young-hee, a North Korean escapee who earned her doctoral degree in North Korean Studies in the South, said the soldiers featured in news articles or on television do not resemble those from the Storm Corps.
"I wonder if they are really special forces,” she said, noting that the soldiers appeared pale and relatively short, which she believes does not align with the image of elite operatives. "They were quite different from the Storm Corps members that I know. The special forces are physically fit and athletic, as they are well-fed and receive specialized training. However, the soldiers I saw on TV looked malnourished, resembling ordinary soldiers I encountered in rural areas of North Korea."
Kim is not the only North Korean defector expressing skepticism about the North Korean troops in Russia.
Kang Cheol-hwan, a North Korean defector and journalist who operates two YouTube news channels, cited accounts from informants in the North, asserting that the North Korean soldiers sent to Russia do not match the media's portrayal of them as elite army members.
He claimed that the troop deployment to Russia is merely part of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s ruthless business strategy aimed at profiting from the war, emphasizing that Kim is primarily focused on how much money he can generate.
“North Korean troops sent to Russia are not elite army members,” Kang said. “Kim Jong-un would benefit more from dispatching inexperienced soldiers to the front lines, as they will likely become cannon fodder. The more North Koreans die on the battlefield, the more money he stands to gain from Russia.”
Kang noted that Kim understands the value of specially trained forces better than any other dictator.
“Kim once remarked that one elite soldier is equivalent to 100 average soldiers in terms of military capability. He emphasized that their role is crucial in times of war. Kim is aware that the roughly 200,000 members of North Korea’s special forces are a key military asset he can rely on. Therefore, he would never want to trade them away. If North Korea were to send elite troops to Russia, he knows his country would face dire consequences in the event of a contingency.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, salutes as he walks past cheering special forces soldiers during a visit on Oct. 2. It was Kim's second visit to North Korea's special operations forces since September. Yonhap
During his visits to the Storm Corps on Sept. 11 and Oct. 2,Kim expressed his expectations for them.
“Our military should be fully prepared at all times under any circumstances. In the event of war, we must be capable of annihilating the enemy mercilessly in no time,” he stated.
In front of him, the tanned, athletic soldiers displayed their skills, executing kicks, strikes, and various combat techniques. Some even broke bricks with their hands to emphasize their bravery. Kim smiled approvingly, clearly satisfied with their demonstration of strength.
When asked whether ordinary people can recognize specially trained soldiers, such as those from the Storm Corps, a retired colonel who had conducted covert operations for North Korean intelligence asserted that they could, if observers are perceptive.
“If you’re looking at a photo of several men who are actually undercover military agents having undergone years of specialized training, you might sense something distinctive about them, even if they’re not in uniform,” he explained, requesting anonymity. “It could be their appearance, or perhaps just an instinctive feeling you get. Regardless, you would know they are not ordinary people.”
The war in Ukraine has turned into a lucrative business opportunity for Kim Jong-un since North Korea and Russia signed a military pact that began with arms and artillery supplies and later expanded to troop deployments. The North Korean regime is infamous for its exploitative remittance policies.
Soldiers who appear to be from North Korea are captured in this footage shared by Russian media ASTRA in its Telegram channel on Oct. 22. The South Korean government said the North Korean soldiers are young and inexperienced, characterizing their deployment to the war in Ukraine as a move to use them as cannon fodder. Yonhap
North Korea dispatched approximately 10,000 troops to Russia, with thousands having arrived in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine. These soldiers are reportedly preparing for an imminent attack on Ukraine.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimates that North Korean soldiers receive around $2,000 each from Russia. However, their actual net income is only about $200 — 10 percent of their salary — since 90 percent is remitted directly to the North Korean regime.
Soldiers are not the only North Koreans in Russia.
There are also civilians who are compelled to send a substantial portion of their earnings back home. Currently, nearly 4,000 North Korean guest workers are employed in Russia, with some working in the timber industry. According to the NIS, the average monthly salary of these workers is around $800. Similar to the soldiers, they face an exploitative income distribution ratio of 9:1 with their government. They receive only $80 each month, while the remaining $720 is sent directly to the regime. The combined remittances from North Korean soldiers and guest workers in Russia contribute to nearly 1 percent of North Korea’s GDP.
In Russia, North Korean soldiers and workers risk their lives to earn hard currency amid the prolonged war, only to discover that they are little more than wartime slave laborers. The vast majority of their earnings are funneled into financing Kim Jong-un and his family’s luxurious lifestyle.
Although wartime troop dispatch can be lucrative, it poses significant risks for countries like North Korea. While the potential for substantial financial gain and combat experience are appealing benefits, sending troops abroad differs fundamentally from the guest worker program. Troop dispatch creates a significant security vacuum, especially if North Korea deploys elite soldiers, such as the specially trained members of the Storm Corps.
This inherently risky nature of troop dispatch has sparked a debate about whether the North Koreans involved are really special operations forces.
Lee Woong-gil, who served in the North’s military as a member of Storm Corps before he defected to the South in 2007, said he believes the North Korean troops in Russia are special forces.
“They do not appear to be the finest members, however,” he said.
The North Korean defector dismissed concerns about a security vacuum. “Kim Jong-un understands that South Korea will not invade the North,” the defector said.
Lee acknowledged the risks associated with troop dispatch but highlighted the potential benefits, saying, “These soldiers will gain combat experience and, if they return home alive, will be transformed into ‘human murder weapons.’”
He said the North Korean leader would have determined that the benefits of troop dispatch far outweigh any potential losses.
Members of the Storm Corps unit are assigned a range of missions, including infiltrating deep into enemy territory during wartime, destroying critical infrastructure, targeting high-profile individuals, and inciting insurgents.
“Among them, the elite forces are deployed overseas on highly dangerous missions, such as the kidnapping and assassination of North Korean defectors, missionaries, and covert South Korean agents,” Lee said. “However, the troops sent to Russia do not seem to be Tier 1 team members.”
Citing a government source, TV Chosun reported on Monday that elite army members make up only 10 percent of the North Korean troops. The remaining 90 percent are young and inexperienced soldiers, raising concerns that they may meet their fate on the battlefield as cannon fodder.
Soldiers of North Korea's special operations forces break layers of bricks placed over the face of a comrade during North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to the unit on Oct. 2. Yonhap
The Korea Times · November 7, 2024
7. Russia refuses to say if North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine
Russia refuses to say if North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine
08 Nov 2024 07:07PM
channelnewsasia.com
Soldiers training at a base for the special operation armed forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Sep 13, 2024. (File photo: AFP/KCNA/KNS/STR)
08 Nov 2024 07:07PM
Bookmark
WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn
MOSCOW: Russia on Friday (Nov 8) refused to say whether North Korean troops were fighting alongside its army against Ukraine, a day after Kyiv claimed inflicting "losses" on Pyongyang's soldiers.
The West, Ukraine and South Korea – citing intelligence reports – have said that North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia to be deployed for combat.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that some had already engaged in fighting in Russia's western Kursk region, where Kyiv has launched an offensive.
"North Korean army soldiers are currently present on the territory of the Russian Federation ... namely in the Kursk region," Zelenskyy told reporters.
There are "11,000 of them. Some of these troops have already taken part in hostilities against the Ukrainian military. Yes, there are already losses", he added.
Asked by AFP about Zelenskyy's comments on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.
"This question directly concerns the course of the special military operation, therefore it needs to be addressed to the defence ministry," Peskov said, using Moscow's preferred language for its offensive.
Russia's defence ministry typically never responds to press enquiries regarding the conduct of the offensive.
Putin and senior Russian officials have repeatedly refused to deny reports of any North Korean troops fighting against Kyiv's army.
Zelenskyy has pressed Kyiv's Western backers to up their support in the face of North Korea's engagement, casting it as a major escalation that threatens global security.
Russian lawmakers earlier this week voted to ratify a landmark defence pact with North Korea that obliges both countries to provide immediate military assistance if the other is attacked.
Source: AFP/lh
8. Yoon says S. Korea-U.S. alliance will immediately strike N. Korea if it attempts nuclear attack: Newsweek
Yoon says S. Korea-U.S. alliance will immediately strike N. Korea if it attempts nuclear attack: Newsweek | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · November 8, 2024
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol said a nuclear-based alliance between South Korea and the United States will immediately strike if North Korea attempts a nuclear attack against the South, according to an interview published Friday.
Yoon made the remark during an interview with U.S. magazine Newsweek to address growing concerns over North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
"I believe that it would be irrational for them to decide to wage a nuclear attack against the Republic of Korea and should they do so the nuclear-based ROK-U.S. alliance will immediately strike North Korea with the U.S. nuclear weapon," Yoon said, referring to South Korea's official name.
President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) speaks during an interview with Newsweek at the presidential office in Seoul in this photo provided by his office on Nov. 8, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Yoon highlighted South Korea's advanced defense and attack capabilities against the North's potential nuclear attacks.
"We have our capabilities and we are improving our capability to strike the launching point and to intercept their missiles and to strike their command and control centers," he said.
Yoon reiterated South Korea's stance against developing its own nuclear weapons, cautioning such a move could prompt neighboring countries like Japan and Taiwan to pursue nuclear arms and escalate regional tensions.
He said Seoul remains committed to countering Pyongyang's nuclear threats through the Nuclear Consultative Group, established as part of the Washington Declaration agreed upon during his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in April 2023.
This photo, released by the presidential office on Nov. 8, 2024, shows the cover of Newsweek, which features an interview with President Yoon Suk Yeol. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · November 8, 2024
9. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's biggest problem isn't the North (full Newsweek Interview)
Relatively long article that covers a good bit of ground.
Short video highlights of the interview at the link: https://www.newsweek.com/2024/11/15/north-south-korea-president-reform-health-labor-1979846.html
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's biggest problem isn't the North
Newsweek · by Matthew Tostevin · November 8, 2024
Jean Chung for Newsweek
North Korea's rhetoric was reaching fever pitch again. Unused roads and rail links to the South had just been blown up in a spectacular display of belligerence. The North had labeled the South "a hostile state" and its leaders as "gangsters" and "scum."
It was not what South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol wanted to talk about.
For while the threat of new conflict with the nuclear-armed North Korea has long loomed across the armistice line, the South's domestic problems are growing—from the strains on its health care system to worries over the labor force to education. A deepening divide between genders, a collapsing birth rate and an aging population have set it on course for a demographic collapse as dramatic as any in the industrialized world.
"We need to make structural reform domestically," Yoon told Newsweek in an interview in Seoul.
Residential and commercial buildings in the and the Seoul N-Tower (r) on Mount Namsan in the city center of the Korean capital. Residential and commercial buildings in the and the Seoul N-Tower (r) on Mount Namsan in the city center of the Korean capital. Soeren Stache/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
"The previous governments feared unpopular policies. They feared that they might lose the election, so they delayed and postponed what should have been done before, but now we no longer have enough time. We cannot postpone this forever."
Only able to serve one five-year term, former prosecutor Yoon, 63, is now reaching the midpoint. His approval rating stood at 20 percent in a survey in September, the lowest since he took office in mid-2022. As well as pushback to his reform plans, Yoon has been targeted by opponents over the role of his wife, Kim Keon Hee. In April's national assembly election, Yoon's conservative People Power Party was defeated by the main opposition, posing another challenge to his drive for reforms that he describes as essential.
"I have no choice. I have no time to think about my approval rate or a midterm election, but I should get things done within my presidency, within my tenure. I need to solve this problem before I finish my term," Yoon said. "I believe that though it wouldn't be a completion of all policies, I will set a robust framework which will enable the next administration to finish all of this."
A man walks past some of the remaining damaged piers of the Dokgae Bridge, once a railroad that connected the north and south banks of the Imjin River but was destroyed during the Korean War,... A man walks past some of the remaining damaged piers of the Dokgae Bridge, once a railroad that connected the north and south banks of the Imjin River but was destroyed during the Korean War, at the Imjingak peace park near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas in Paju on October 17, 2024. North Korea said on October 17 that its constitution now defines the South as a "hostile" state, the first time Pyongyang has confirmed legal changes called for by leader Kim Jong Un earlier this year. ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/Getty
South Korea's Major Reforms
Yoon has set out to reform a health care sector that faces severe strains, because of the aging population but also because of urbanization that has left much of the country without the level of services in Seoul. Yoon's plan to increase medical school admissions has prompted a strike by junior doctors, who say more doctors would lead to overtreatment and that the new doctors would likely avoid low paying areas and enter lucrative fields such as cosmetic surgery—of which South Korea has the highest rate in the world.
For Yoon, labor and education reforms are essential in an economy that, thanks to heavy industry and electronics, shot up from one of the world's poorest economies when the Korean War ended in 1953 to rank as the 14th biggest in 2024. South Korea now faces a challenge from a more information-driven economy and the rise of artificial intelligence.
We need to work toward providing a better atmosphere, to ensure that, for example, marriage or child care is not a barrier for women's promotion or their career."
Yoon Suk Yeol
The pension system also requires reform—and higher contributions—if today's working people will not be left short by the time they reach retirement age. Above everything looms the collapse in South Korea's birth rate. It is a challenge facing most industrialized countries, but South Korea has the lowest of any major state. That is not helped by a gap that has been widening between women and men in a society that traditionally expected women to stay at home and raise children.
"It has no easy solution to reverse the course," said Yoonkyung Lee, professor of sociology at the University of Toronto, who describes Korean politics as highly masculine and having a state-centered developmentalist ideology.
"This implies that they are unable to take gender inequality in Korean society seriously, to understand the structural causes of low birth rates and to devise policy solutions to address demographic challenges and to promote gender equality," she told Newsweek.
Yoon, flanked by five male advisers, said that addressing the demographic crisis was a goal of his reforms and that keeping women happy in the workforce was a priority.
"We need to work toward providing a better atmosphere, to ensure that, for example, marriage or child care is not a barrier for women's promotion or their career," he said. "So that would be something that can resolve both the issue of gender divide and low birth rate at the same time."
Taking greater advantage of AI was key, he said.
"It is more about expertise and creativity, which means that even though a woman leaves the office for several years because of marriage and child care, that does not mean that she loses her expertise or creativity," he said. "We should not discriminate against that woman when she comes back to office by putting her on the bottom of the list for promotion."
Women wearing traditional hanbok dresses visit the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on August 19, 2024. Women wearing traditional hanbok dresses visit the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on August 19, 2024. ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/Getty
Yoon Suk Yeol's Family Life
Yoon does not have children himself. On one of the walls of his offices is a large picture of a smiling Yoon and his wife playing on the floor with a group of puppies. They have six dogs and five cats at home. South Korea now has considerably more dogs than it does young children.
It is the role of Yoon's wife that has brought him under some of his greatest political attacks and potentially complicated the reform drive. Kim has been cleared by prosecutors over accusations of stock manipulation and over receiving a Christian Dior handbag as a gift, but she has also been accused of influence peddling behind the scenes. The opposition is seeking a special counsel probe into her actions.
"Korea is probably not the only country in the world to hold the first lady to strict standards. At the same time, it is also true that the controversy surrounding my wife has become overblown due to the opposition parties' excessive attempts to politicize this matter," Yoon said. "The opposition parties are pushing for the appointment of a special prosecutor, which is nothing more than a political offensive and is regrettable. A special prosecutor is appointed when there are credible allegations of misconduct or breach of impartiality by prosecutors—which is not the case in this instance."
An Approach to Domestic Reform
While the domestic reform plan may be taking up more of Yoon's efforts, North Korea has not gone away—as it reminds its southern neighbor frequently with colorful rhetoric, occasional missile tests and, more recently, ballons full of trash floated over the demilitarized zone. It says those are a response to South Korean drones dropping propaganda leaflets over the North.
Yoon has been tougher on the North than his predecessor. At a reunification display at a border viewpoint, Korean leaders have detailed their hopes for reunification in calligraphy. Standing out from the more florid messages, Yoon's simply reads: "freedom, peace and unification."
"One way to characterize Yoon's approach would be 'harsh wind policy' (in contrast to the 'sunshine policy' of his predecessor) to bring about a pressure-induced transformation of North Korea," said Jong Eun Lee, an assistant professor of political science at North Greenville University in South Carolina.
I believe that it would be irrational for [the North] to decide to wage a nuclear attack against the Republic of Korea."
Yoon Suk Yeol
"South Korean society has largely become 'numbed' to seemingly endless rhetoric and actions from the North. However, North Korea's behavior, even if it does not lead to 'war,' still poses two major challenges for South Korea."
Those were potential strain on the alliance between the United States and South Korea and the diplomatic challenge of North Korea's alliances with other "revisionist" states such as Russia, he said.
Threats from North Korea to South Korea
Yoon said South Korea was prepared for any threats from North Korea in its alliance with the United States. He said that because it could rely on U.S. nuclear weapons it does not need its own, even though polls show most South Koreans would support it developing its own nuclear weapons. "I believe that it would be irrational for them to decide to wage a nuclear attack against the Republic of Korea and should they do so the nuclear-based ROK-U.S. alliance will immediately strike North Korea with the U.S. nuclear weapon," he said.
US soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division stand next to US M1A2 Abrams tanks as they prepare a live-fire military drill at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon on... US soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division stand next to US M1A2 Abrams tanks as they prepare a live-fire military drill at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon on August 14, 2024, in order to master their proficiency for quick responses from the United States. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty
Yoon did not say there would be any new measures to appease North Korea and its Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un, beyond the message he had set out two years ago.
"I made it clear that if North Korea embarks toward a clear path for denuclearization, we will provide a security guarantee and we will improve the livelihood of its people in a remarkable manner. We will provide audacious economic and industrial support for them," he said.
South Korea's Security
South Korea's security depends on its international alliances and Yoon has worked to strengthen those even as he has been preoccupied by the challenges at home. The key alliance is with the United States, which still has nearly 30,000 soldiers in the country. Yoon said he was confident of U.S. support no matter who is in the White House. He has also worked to strengthen the relationship with their common ally Japan, a sensitive subject for Koreans given its history as a colonial occupier and abuses that included the forcing of Korean women into sex slavery.
"In the 21st century, almost every country which suffered from imperialist rule now has a better and good relationship with the former imperialist country," Yoon said. "I believe that this should be applied to the Korea-Japan relationship as well. Also, now we share a common security interest when it comes to North Korea's nuclear and missile threat."
But as South Korea has been working to strengthen its alliances, North Korea has been doing likewise—and particularly with Russia. Not only has North Korea provided armaments to support President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, but also soldiers, Seoul says.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, foreground right, attend the official welcome ceremony in the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. China... Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, foreground right, attend the official welcome ceremony in the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. China appears to be keeping its distance as Russia and North Korea move closer to each other with a new defense pact that could tilt the balance of power between the three authoritarian states. Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, KremlinPhoto/AP, File
South Korea and China
South Korea also keeps a wary eye on increasingly powerful China. Yoon has shown growing support for Taiwan in the face of Beijing's threats to take over the self-governing island, which it regards as a breakaway province.
South Korea has also worked to improve its relationship with Southeast Asian nations that share concerns of Chinese regional domination.
"The cause of free and democratic nations is to defend ourselves, defend our societies and not to invade others. In contrast, the authoritarian regimes, the autocracies, the reason they wage war is to solidify their domestic power," Yoon said.
"I have a strong belief in the victory of the free and democratic nations, and I will say it is not just a belief, it is a religion for me."
Request Reprint & Licensing View Editorial Guidelines
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
Newsweek · by Matthew Tostevin · November 8, 2024
10. S. Korea, U.S. to hold 1st table-top exercise against space threats next year
Note the aerial photo of the Pentagon in this article. Is the center of it still a special space launch facility as the Soviets thought? (apologies for the sarcasm)
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20241108008000315?section=national/defense
S. Korea, U.S. to hold 1st table-top exercise against space threats next year | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · November 8, 2024
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States have agreed to hold a new table-top exercise against space-based threats next year, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday, amid efforts to bolster security cooperation in the increasingly important domain.
Defense officials from the two countries agreed to stage the discussion-based exercise for the first time in the first half of next year during their regular working-level talks on space cooperation in Washington on Thursday, according to the ministry.
The two sides agreed to regularly hold the exercise once a year to hone their capabilities to respond to increasing threats from the domain, the ministry said.
They also agreed for the South Korean military to take part in the U.S.-led Joint Commercial Operations cell, which conducts space domain awareness activities by utilizing civilian space monitoring systems around the world.
In addition, the two sides agreed to accelerate efforts to establish a shared early warning system next year to improve capabilities in detecting and responding to North Korean missiles, it said.
They also "strongly" condemned North Korea's Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile launch last Thursday, calling it a "clear" violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The talks came after the defense chiefs of the two countries endorsed the working group's efforts to improve space situational awareness information sharing and interoperability during their annual security talks last month.
This undated photo, provided by the U.S. Defense Department, shows the Pentagon. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · November 8, 2024
11. Yoon to convene emergency security, economic meeting to discuss Trump's return
Why an "emergency" meeting? South Korea has been anticipating this for some time.
Yoon to convene emergency security, economic meeting to discuss Trump's return | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · November 8, 2024
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol will convene an emergency economic and security meeting Sunday to discuss the possible impact of former U.S. President Donald Trump's return to office, Yoon's office said Friday.
The meeting will focus on monitoring potential policy shifts under the Trump administration and preparing proactive response measures, the office said.
Ministers of economy, foreign affairs, defense and trade along with senior presidential aides will attend the meeting.
A second Donald Trump administration is expected to bring shifts and unpredictability to the U.S.-South Korea alliance, potentially increasing pressure on Seoul to take on a larger share of the burden as a U.S. ally.
Korean businesses are closely watching the possibility of Trump reducing or eliminating subsidies on chips, electric vehicles and clean energy given under the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, and imposing tariffs on foreign goods.
A person watches news of President Yoon Suk Yeol's press conference (top screen) and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at an electronics store in Seoul on Nov. 7, 2024. (Yonhap)
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · November 8, 2024
12. Presidential office says hacking attacks increased following N. Korea's troop deployment to Russia
But no one should be surprised. The regime certainly wanted to use its all purpose sword to hinder ROK attempts to bring to light north Korean activities and to test out actions that it will likely employ in the future.
Presidential office says hacking attacks increased following N. Korea's troop deployment to Russia | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · November 8, 2024
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office said Friday cyber attacks by pro-Russian hacking groups against South Korea have increased following North Korea's troop deployment to Russia in support of its war in Ukraine.
The National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency intra-agency meeting on Thursday after several government websites, including those of the defense ministry and courts, suffered distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks earlier this week.
The NSC said the cyber attacks, mostly DDoS, by "pro-Russian hacktivist groups" have increased following North Korea's troop deployment to Russia.
"Although some government websites experienced temporary delays or disruptions, there has been no further damage," the NSC said in a release.
The National Intelligence Service is closely monitoring the activities of pro-Russian hacktivists and sharing information with relevant agencies to counter potential cyber threats, it said.
This undated file photo shows the presidential office in Seoul. (Yonhap)
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · November 8, 2024
13. S. Korea, IAEA discuss cooperation in verifying N. Korea's nuclear programs
S. Korea, IAEA discuss cooperation in verifying N. Korea's nuclear programs | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · November 8, 2024
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday discussed cooperation regarding the IAEA's readiness to verify North Korea's nuclear programs and other safeguard issues, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The high-level policy consultation took place between Kweon Ki-hwan, deputy foreign minister for global and multilateral affairs, and Massimo Aparo, head of the IAEA's safeguards department earlier in the day in Seoul, the ministry said in a release.
During the talks, they discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the IAEA's preparedness to verify North Korea's nuclear programs.
They also evaluated the implementation of IAEA safeguards in South Korea.
South Korea and the IAEA have held the strategic policy talks annually since 2013 as a channel for discussing safeguard issues and exploring ways to further enhance cooperation between the two sides.
Kweon Ki-hwan (R), South Korea's deputy foreign minister for global and multilateral affairs, poses with Massimo Aparo, head of the Department of Safeguards at the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Seoul on Nov. 8, 2024, in this photo provided by the ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · November 8, 2024
14. S. Korea, Japan agree to closely cooperate to halt N.K.-Russia military cooperation
S. Korea, Japan agree to closely cooperate to halt N.K.-Russia military cooperation | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · November 8, 2024
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- The vice defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan on Friday condemned North Korea and Russia's deepening military cooperation and discussed ways to jointly respond to it, the South's defense ministry said.
In the talks held in Seoul, Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho and his Japanese counterpart, Koichiro Nakajima, expressed grave concerns over military cooperation by Pyongyang and Moscow, and agreed to closely work together to curb their cooperation, the ministry said.
Both sides concurred that security cooperation between South Korea and Japan, as well as trilateral cooperation also involving the United States, was "more important than ever" at a time when the North has advanced its nuclear and missile programs.
The meeting came on the heels of a U.S. confirmation that as many as 10,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia's western front-line Kursk region. North Korea fired a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile last week, the first such launch in about one year.
Friday's talks was organized as a follow-up measure to a ministerial meeting between Seoul and Tokyo's defense chiefs in Singapore in June, where both sides agreed to host regular vice ministerial meetings in efforts to boost defense cooperation.
Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho (L) and his Japanese counterpart, Koichiro Nakajima, pose for a photo during their meeting at the defense ministry in Seoul on Nov. 8, 2024, in this photo provided by Kim's office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · November 8, 2024
15. North Korean officials in China saw Trump win election via South Korean media
Transparent, free, and fair elections have an effect.
North Korean officials in China saw Trump win election via South Korean media
The officials were impressed by the election’s transparency and how voters had the right to choose.
https://www.rfa.org/english/korea/2024/11/06/north-korean-officials-watch-trump-election/
By Son Hyemin for RFA Korean
2024.11.06
Remarks by Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump are shown on a news program in Seoul, Nov. 6, 2024. (Lee Jin-man/AP)
North Korean trade officials stationed in China were able to learn about Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election in real time by watching South Korean media on their phones or computers, an official and a resident in China told Radio Free Asia.
North Korea is closed off to the internet and anyone inside the isolated nation can only hear the heavily filtered news available in state-run broadcasts and newspapers.
But the trade officials, who are dispatched to China to earn badly needed foreign currency for the cash-strapped North Korean government, have access to the internet as a means to perform their duties.
They were able to watch the vote totals tallied in real time by accessing South Korean media coverage of Tuesday’s election.
“I woke up this morning and checked the news about the U.S. presidential election,” a North Korean official stationed in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told RFA Korean on Wednesday. “I searched for news reports from South Korea.”
The official said that he had lunch with colleagues who are managers of restaurants and cafes in the city, and they tuned in to South Korean TV news broadcasts covering the election on their phones.
“During the meal, we talked about how in the United States, a world power, citizens elect the president by voting for the candidate they like,” he said. “They didn’t say anything else, but they seemed envious of democratic elections.”
Another source in China who requested anonymity for security reasons told RFA that trade officials in China have office computers connected to the internet, so they can find the best prices of commodities, in order to buy them as cheaply as possible to be sent to North Korea.
On Wednesday, these officials watched the election play out at their desks, he said.
“The trade officials say that it is truly amazing how transparent and real-time the votes are being counted in each state in the U.S.,” he said. “They are particularly impressed by how South Korean media used maps to explain how the votes came in.”
Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
16. North Korean Residents: “I Envy the US Elections Where the President is Chosen by Voting”
A powerful and important message. This is a necessary element and a good example of a sound information campaign.
Fascinating comments. Here is how the truth and transparency makes a difference.
Excerpt:
“ Up until now, the authorities have criticized U.S. elections as anti-people elections that do not reflect the people’s views and are decided by money, ” the source said . “ It is surprising that even if you have less campaign funds than your opponent, you can still become president if you get a lot of support , and even if you have a lot of money, you can still lose the election if you don’t get support . ”
He added, “ It is surprising that if you have a lot of support from the people, you can become president, but if you don’t, even the incumbent president can fall . ”
He said , “The bottom line is that it is not money but the people’s support through elections that is important,” and “We ( North Korea ) also hold elections, but it is not the people’s support that determines everything from the selection of candidates to the results . ”
This is a Google translation of an RFA report.
North Korean Residents: “I Envy the US Elections Where the President is Chosen by Voting”
https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/human_rights_defector/north-korea-people-decide-real-election-11072024092529.html
Seoul-Ahn Chang-gyu xallsl@rfa.org
2024.11.07
Voters are casting their ballots early in Michigan on the 3rd (local time).
/ Yonhap News
00:00 / 00:00
Anchor : Some North Korean residents are surprised by the news that Donald Trump was elected as the 47th president in the US presidential election held on the 5th . Some residents are looking forward to the future of President-elect Trump, whose face is familiar . Reporter Ahn Chang-gyu reports from inside North Korea .
North Korea's state-run media, including the Rodong Sinmun, have yet to report the news that Republican candidate Trump was elected as the next president in the US presidential election as of the afternoon of the 7th .
A resident of North Hamgyong Province ( requesting anonymity for personal safety reasons ) who heard the news of Trump’s election from a Radio Free Asia reporter on the night of the 6th said , “It’s surprising that Trump was elected president again ,” and “ I envy a true election where the people’s support determines everything . ”
“ Up until now, the authorities have criticized U.S. elections as anti-people elections that do not reflect the people’s views and are decided by money, ” the source said . “ It is surprising that even if you have less campaign funds than your opponent, you can still become president if you get a lot of support , and even if you have a lot of money, you can still lose the election if you don’t get support . ”
North Korean General Secretary Kim Jong-un casts his vote at an election station set up at the Ryongsong Machine Complex on November 26, 2023. /Yonhap
He added, “ It is surprising that if you have a lot of support from the people, you can become president, but if you don’t, even the incumbent president can fall . ”
He said , “The bottom line is that it is not money but the people’s support through elections that is important,” and “We ( North Korea ) also hold elections, but it is not the people’s support that determines everything from the selection of candidates to the results . ”
The source continued, “ This country is a situation where the grandfather eats , the son eats , and then the grandson eats , ” and “ yet the authorities are spreading ridiculous propaganda that we have been enjoying ‘ the leader’s clothes ’ for generations . ”
North Korean authorities remain silent about US presidential election
Some North Korean officials interested in next week's US presidential election
Another source from Yanggang Province ( who requested anonymity for personal safety ) said after hearing the news of the election, “ It doesn’t seem so bad that Trump, whose face is well-known, is president again, rather than someone he doesn’t know at all . ”
The source explained, “We ( North Koreans ) don’t even know the U.S. President’s name well, let alone his face , ” but “ Trump has been featured in newspapers and broadcasts a lot since the North Korea - U.S . summit , so there are almost no people who don’t know his face . ”
“ I don’t know if it will help us if Trump becomes president again, but personally, I don’t think it is a bad thing, ” he said . “ From the authorities’ point of view, Trump is the first US president to have met with Kim Jong-un . ”
“ Both Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il tried every trick they could to sit down with the United States, but the United States didn’t even pay attention, ” he said, adding , “ It was Trump who met with the young Kim Jong-un, who was unpopular with the people . ”
“ For ordinary citizens like us, it doesn’t matter who becomes the U.S. president,” the source said. “ We just hope that relations with the U.S. will improve, tensions will ease, and economic sanctions will be lifted . ”
The source continued , “The ( North Korean ) authorities refer to nuclear weapons as the ‘ treasured sword of the revolution ’ that protects socialism , but many people do not think that way . ”
He continued, “ There was a moment when I was thrilled at the fact that we had created a nuclear weapon that no one could have when we first succeeded in conducting a nuclear test, but now I know that because of that nuclear test, economic sanctions against us were strengthened and the international community’s view of us has become negative . ”
The source added , “ I hope Kim Jong-un does not miss this opportunity to see Trump, who he knows well, become president again . ”
This is Ahn Chang-kyu of RFA Radio Free Asia in Seoul .
Editor Yang Seong-won , Web Editor Lee Gyeong-ha
17. Unification advisory body, Yonhap News Agency to host global forum on unification next week
If I had been invited I would have provided the talking points below.
Unification advisory body, Yonhap News Agency to host global forum on unification next week | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · November 8, 2024
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- The Peaceful Unification Advisory Council and Yonhap News Agency will co-host a global forum next week to explore ways to muster international solidarity for South Korea's vision to achieve liberal democracy-based unification, the organizers said Friday.
The two-day event will take place at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul from Monday to Tuesday under the theme of "Challenges and cheering for a unified Korea for freedom, peace and prosperity," bringing together former key government officials and security experts.
The council advises the president on unification issues for policymaking purposes.
This image shows the Global Dialogue on Korean Peninsula Unification held at a hotel in Seoul on Nov. 24, 2023. (Yonhap)
The Global Dialogue on Korean Peninsula Unification is part of efforts to assess the current environment for unification amid increasingly diverse global security risks and seek international cooperation toward achieving unification.
Presentations and discussions on the East Asia security environment following the United States presidential election and shifts in Korean Peninsula policies will take place behind closed doors on the first day.
The second day will include three sessions, during which scholars such as Bruce Bennett from global policy think tank RAND will discuss issues including the challenges of achieving unification amid shifting international security environments, expanded information access and human rights, and the unification vision declared by President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Kim Kwan-yong, executive vice chairperson of the advisory council, will deliver an opening address on the second day, followed by a welcome speech from Yonhap News Agency President and CEO Hwang Dae-il and a keynote address by National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik.
All sessions on the second day will be livestreamed on the council's website.
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · November 8, 2024
The Missing Elements For North Korea Policy:
Human Rights And The Pursuit Of A Free And Unified Korea
David Maxwell
President-elect Trump did something that no president had done during his first term. He gave it a shot, but it was Kim Jong Un who failed to appreciate the opportunity he had. Now in his second term President Trump has the opportunity to implement a new strategy and policy that has never before been attempted. That will be a human rights upfront approach (a sustained approach and not merely having Ji Seong Ho at the SOTU address), a sophisticated and holistic information campaign, and the support of the Korean people's pursuit of a free and unified Korea. But there are few pundits who see the opportunities that both President Yoon (8.15 Unification Doctrine) and Kim Jong Un are providing (internal threats, designating the ROK as the enemy, eliminating the objective of peaceful unification, and sending troops to Putin's War). Although counterintuitive and overlooked by most, the combination of the first substantive unification doctrine in the South combined with Kim Jong Un's miscalculation about unification (taking away the hope of the Korean people in the north) provide opportunities for an innovative new approach. It is time to recognize that the only path to denuclearization is through unification.
1. The United States has failed to achieve denuclearization in North Korea for four decades, and a new approach is needed that focuses on human rights and the pursuit of a free and unified Korea.
2. President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea unveiled the 8.15 Unification Doctrine in August 2024, emphasizing freedom, peace, and prosperity as core values for unification.
3. Kim Jong Un's recent policy changes, including declaring South Korea as the "main enemy" and abandoning peaceful unification, present an opportunity for a new strategy.
4. A human rights up front approach is proposed, focusing on educating North Koreans about their universal human rights and empowering them to create change.
5. The right of self-determination for the Korean people is emphasized as a fundamental justification for pursuing a free and unified Korea.
6. Four paths to unification are identified: war, regime collapse, peaceful unification, and regime transformation. The U.S. should support regime transformation.
7. North Korea's nuclear program and human rights abuses are inseparable, and addressing human rights is key to solving the nuclear issue.
8. U.S. support for unification could change Kim Jong Un's decision-making, incentivize long-term regime transformation, and better prepare for potential contingencies.
9. Recommend expanding, centralizing, and sharing human and open-source information on North Korea by cooperating with defectors, overseas workers, and disgruntled elites.
10. Specific policy recommendations include establishing a joint Korea Diaspora/Defector/Escapee Information Institute, leveraging reward programs for informants, and pressuring foreign governments that repatriate North Korean refugees.
Pressure to Change Regime Behavior
The policy proposal aims to put pressure on Kim Jong Un to change by:
1. Conducting a comprehensive public diplomacy campaign to educate North Koreans about their rights and alternative visions for their future.
2. Leveraging information from the north Korea diaspora/defectors, overseas workers, and internal elites to better understand and exploit the regime's vulnerabilities.
3. Increasing international pressure on the regime through targeted sanctions and diplomatic efforts.
4. Supporting South Korea's unification efforts and presenting a united front against the Kim regime.
Pressure to Be Transformed
If Kim Jong Un does not change, the proposal suggests that the Korean people in the north may transform the regime by:
1. Becoming more aware of their rights and the possibilities for a better life through increased access to outside information.
2. Developing a greater desire for change and potentially engaging in collective action as they learn about alternatives to the current regime.
3. Empowering elites and second-tier leadership who may harbor grievances against the regime to seek internal changes.
4. Creating conditions for a "regime transformation" that could lead to new leadership more favorable to engagement and peaceful unification with South Korea.
Why Human Rights are a Moral Imperative AND a National Security Concern
“Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.” Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative.
There are 25 million people suffering horrendous lives in the north and it is a moral abomination that 48 million Koreans can live in freedom and prosperity while those 25 million suffer.
Human rights are a moral imperative AND national security concern because Kim Jong Un must deny the human rights of the Korean people in the north to remain in power and survive.
In addition to individual human rights, Article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Universal Human Rights says in effect that self-determination of government is a fundamental human right. The Korean people in the north have never experienced this basic human right. This is one of the underlying foundations for the pursuit of a free and unified Korea, a new nation that might be called a United Republic of Korea (U-ROK).
Human rights are also a key pillar of any information campaign. The Korean people in the north need to learn and understand that they are entitled to these human rights, and they must learn about what self-determination of government means. They must learn the concepts of collective action.
While condemning nuclear tests and missile launches reinforces regime legitimacy and is used by the Propaganda and Agitation Department to justify the suffering and sacrifice of the Korean people, demanding human rights for the Korean people undermines regime legitimacy and is a threat to the Kim family regime.
Every mention of the nuclear and missile program must include a statement on human rights, namely that it is Kim Jong Un’s deliberate policy decision to prioritize nuclear weapons and missiles that causes the suffering of the Korean people in the north.
If you want to change the behavior of the regime, human rights are one of the key lines of effort. And if Kim Jong Un will not change, a focus on human rights can help to bring about a regime transformation from inside the north that must result in a United Republic of Korea (U-ROK).
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
| 
