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Quotes of the Day:
"The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is 'look under foot.' You are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world."
- John Burroughs
"Be daring, be different, be impractical; be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. Routines have their purposes, but the merely routine is the hidden enemy of high art."
- Cecil Beaton
"Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man."
- Martin Heidegger
1. NKorea launches 2 missiles toward sea after US-SKorea drills
2. International Rights Advocates Appeal for Coordinated Efforts to Bring Reform, Freedom, and Human Rights to North Korea | Global Peace Foundation
3. North Korea Will Keep Testing Missiles (There Is Little We Can Do About It)
4. How North Korea Launders Money using Cryptocurrency to Evade Sanctions - East Asia Research Center
5. NSC condemns N. Korea's short-range ballistic missile launch
6. North Korea at final stage for nuclear test, made progress in missiles: UNSC panel
7. ‘We should be wary of North Korea, not our own military,’ says governor after missile crash
8. White House Says North Korea Nuclear Talks Offer Still on Table
9. Vatican reminds North Korea that Pope Francis ready to visit if invited
10. Kim Jong Un’s silence as missiles fly shows shift in strategy
11. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un must be talked down before game of dare escalates to all-out conflict
12. Plaque unveiled to honor USMA class of 1946
13. Canadian Navy commander stresses commitment to N.K. sanctions enforcement
14. Yoon asks Kishida to revitalize corporate exchanges between two nations
15. Korea's unique battle flag
1. NKorea launches 2 missiles toward sea after US-SKorea drills
Why does Kim keep firing missiles?
- His perception that the international community is afraid of his missiles and nuclear weapons..
- His belief in his political warfare and blackmail diplomacy strategies (since they have worked for 7 decades).
- His belief that it will drive a wedge in the ROK/IUS alliance.
- Reinforces domestic political legitimacy.
- Supports the pundits in the South and US who blame the US and alliance exercises and call for their end.
- They are necessary training to support his war fighting strategy.
- His belief that the alliance will not conduct any substantive response.
- etc., etc.
- The above provides insights into how we should respond. But in short we need to do these four things:Recognize, understand, expose, and attack his strategies with a superior political warfare strategy.
- Demonstrate alliance strength and resolve
- Show KJU that his strategies cannot succeed and are failing (we will not concede to any of his demands or provide sanctions relief)
- It is time to pressure him in a way that he has never been pressured before. The main part of the political warfare strategy must be an influence campaign the likes of which have never been seen - we must capitalize on the fact that KJU fears the Korean people in the north more than he fears the US and ROK/US alliance military and information is the key to realizing those fears.
.
NKorea launches 2 missiles toward sea after US-SKorea drills
AP · by HYUNG-JIN KIM and MARI YAMAGUCHI · October 8, 2022
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Sunday, the latest of a recent barrage of weapons tests, a day after it warned the redeployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula was inflaming regional tensions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected two missile launches Sunday between 1:48 a.m. and 1:58 a.m. from the North’s eastern coastal city of Munchon. It added that South Korea’s military has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the United States.
Japanese Vice Defense Minister Toshiro Ino also confirmed the launches, saying Pyongyang’s testing activities are “absolutely unacceptable” as they threaten regional and international peace and security.
Ino said the weapons could be submarine-launched ballistic missiles. “We are continuing to analyze details of the missiles, including a possibility that they might have been launched from the sea,” Ino said.
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North Korea’s pursuit of an ability to fire missiles from a submarine would constitute an alarming development for its rivals because it’s harder to detect such launches in advance. North Korea was believed to have last tested a missile launch from a submarine in May.
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The South Korean and Japanese militaries assessed that the missiles flew about 350 kilometers (217 miles) and reached maximum altitudes of 90 to 100 kilometers (56 to 60 miles) before falling into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida separately instructed officials to gather and analyze all information they could and expedite any updates about the tests to the public. His office said it also was seeking to ensure the safety of all aircraft and ships in waters around Japan while preparing for any contingencies.
South Korea’s presidential office said National Security Director Kim Sung-han called an emergency security meeting over the launches where members reviewed the South’s defense preparedness and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation with the United States and Japan to counter the growing North Korean threats.
Seoul warned that Pyongyang’s consecutive provocations will deepen its international isolation and increase the “instability of the regime” by worsening its economy and people’s livelihoods.
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The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launches didn’t pose any immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to its allies. But it said the launches highlight “the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. It said U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan remain “ironclad.”
The launch, the North’s seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks, came hours after the United States and South Korea wrapped up two days of naval drills off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast.
The drills involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group, which returned to the area after North Korea fired a powerful missile over Japan last week to protest the carrier group’s previous training with South Korea.
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On Saturday, North Korea’s Defense Ministry warned that the Reagan’s redeployment was causing a “considerably huge negative splash” in regional security. The ministry called its recent missile tests a “righteous reaction” to intimidating military drills between South Korea and the United States.
North Korea regards U.S.-South Korean military exercises as an invasion rehearsal and is especially sensitive if such drills involve U.S. strategic assets such as an aircraft carrier. North Korea has argued it was forced to pursue a nuclear weapons program to cope with U.S. nuclear threats. U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no intentions of attacking the North.
North Korea has launched more than 40 ballistic and cruise missiles in over 20 different events this year, exploiting a division in the U.N. Security Council deepened over Russia’s war on Ukraine as a window to speed up arms development.
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The record number of tests included last week’s launch of a nuclear-capable missile that flew over Japan for the first time in five years. It was estimated to have traveled about 4,500-4,600 kilometers (2,800-2,860 miles), a distance sufficient to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.
South Korean officials say Pyongyang may up the ante soon by conducting an intercontinental ballistic missile or a nuclear test explosion, following a traditional pattern of manufacturing diplomatic crises with weapons tests and threats before offering negotiations aimed at extracting concessions. There are also concerns about provocations along the Koreas’ land and sea borders.
Sunday’s launches came on the eve of the 77th anniversary of the foundation of the North Korean ruling Workers’ Party.
Earlier this year, North Korea tested other nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that place the U.S. mainland, South Korea and Japan within striking distance.
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North Korea’s testing spree indicates its leader, Kim Jong Un, has no intention of resuming diplomacy with the U.S. and wants to focus on expanding his weapons arsenal. But some experts say Kim would eventually aim to use his advanced nuclear program to wrest greater outside concessions, such as the recognition of North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state, which Kim thinks is essential in getting crippling U.N. sanctions lifted.
South Korean officials recently said North Korea was also prepared to test a new liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile while maintaining readiness to perform its first underground nuclear test since 2017. ___ Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
AP · by HYUNG-JIN KIM and MARI YAMAGUCHI · October 8, 2022
2. International Rights Advocates Appeal for Coordinated Efforts to Bring Reform, Freedom, and Human Rights to North Korea | Global Peace Foundation
I will continue to beat the drum on north Korean human rights and the suffering of the Korean people in the north.
Excerpt:
Describing the sufferings of North Koreans under the Kim dictatorship, Col. David Maxwell said three types of effort were required to support the freedom and liberation of North Koreans: a “human rights upfront approach, an information campaign, and the pursuit of a free and unified Korea. “Human rights is not only a moral imperative but a national security issue,” Col. Maxwell said.
International Rights Advocates Appeal for Coordinated Efforts to Bring Reform, Freedom, and Human Rights to North Korea | Global Peace Foundation
globalpeace.org
International human rights experts and North Korean defectors discussed the brutal realities of repression, starvation, imprisonment, and executions of Koreans living in the North at the most recent International Forum on One Korea in Seoul on September 30, 2022.
The forum, “Freedom and Human Rights: International Cooperation for Reforming the Political and Financial System in North Korea,” explored strategies to reform the 73-year-old Kim family dictatorship and was hosted in recognition of North Korea Freedom Week.
In 2005 the North Korea Freedom Coalition–composed of NGOs in the USA, Japan, and South Korea, and North Korean defectors’ organizations–inaugurated North Korea Freedom Week to raise public awareness about human rights violations committed against North Koreans.
The U.S. Congress passed the North Korea Human Rights Act in 2004 to support North Korean refugees and Koreans living in the North, and several Congressional members expressed solidarity with North Koreans through video messages that were presented during the forum.
The international panel of human rights advocates included Dr. Suzanne Scholte, Chair of the North Korea Freedom Coalition; U.S. Col. David Maxwell, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Hyunseung Lee, a North Korean defector and Fellow at the Global Peace Foundation; Greg Scarlatoiu, Secretary General of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea; and Enes Kanter Freedom, a US NBA player and human rights advocate.
Dr. Suzanne Scholte, an international expert on North Korean human
rights abuses.
Dr. Schulte noted that South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol won the election by the narrowest margin because of the actions of North Korean escapees who suffered tremendous repression under the pro-Kim Jong-un policies of Moon Jae-in administration. “North Korea escapees saw the election as literally life and death,” she said, adding that the Moon administration made a deal to block all information going to North Korea. The Moon-backed anti-leaflet law to prohibit sending information to North Korean people “was violation of South Korean law, the right of freedom to speak and impart information in all media,” Dr. Schulte said. “The Achilles heel of North Korea is human rights,” she told the forum. “We should be doing everything in our power, by air, land, and sea, to provide information to North Korea.”
Describing the sufferings of North Koreans under the Kim dictatorship, Col. David Maxwell said three types of effort were required to support the freedom and liberation of North Koreans: a “human rights upfront approach, an information campaign, and the pursuit of a free and unified Korea. “Human rights is not only a moral imperative but a national security issue,” Col. Maxwell said.
Other panelists said that both strategically and morally, human rights should drive international policy for change in North Korea. Making nuclear disarmament a precondition for aid and reform has proven to be a failed approach, panelists said.
From left: Greg Scarlatoiu, Secretary General of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea; Hyunseung Lee, a North Korean defector and Fellow at the Global Peace Foundation; and Kook-han Moon, President of the North Korea Human Rights International Association.
Three panelists based in Japan recounted the human tragedy and deception of the North Korean Repatriation campaign, a program to relocate more than 90 thousand Koreans living in Japan to North Korea that was implemented from 1959 to 1984. Panelists Eiko Kawasaki, Chair of Action for Korea United Japan and Chair of Korea of All; Dr. Fumiake Yamada, Emeritus Chair of the Society to Help Returnees to North Korea; and Yoonbok Song, Vice President of No Fence, described the brazen propaganda that presented North Korea as a “paradise of earth” where all one’s needs would be met, which enticed Japanese residents. The reality of starvation, discrimination, forced labor and internment was very different than the promises.
Dr. Yamada said the support of North Korean criminal acts by China and Russia needed to be countered by the international community. Just as Russian President Putin has been isolated and “cornered” by the international response to the invasion of Ukraine, freedom-loving nations should work together to protect human rights beyond international borders. The repatriation program should be presented as a historical record, part of school curricula, said Yoonbok Song, so future generations of children will remember the experience of abductees and the lessons of history.
“The Achilles heel of North Korea is human rights. We should be doing everything in our power, by air, land, and sea, to provide information to North Korea.”
Korean panelists Kwang-joo Sohn, Chair of the Korean Network for Advanced Country and former Chairman of the Korea Hana Foundation; Kook-han Moon, President of the North Korea Human Rights International Association; and Chul-hwan Kang, President of the North Korea Strategy Center closed out the forum by urging the international community and the incoming Yun administration to better understand the significance of ideology in the efforts to bring reform to North Korea.
Kwang-joo Sohn said that summits between the two Koreas since 2000 had only resulted in failure. Stressing the economic, strategic, and ideological advantages of the free-nation alliance, he said North Korea nevertheless was able to drive to negotiations because of the misplaced emphasis on denuclearization. “Democratic values in South Korea are more powerful than nuclear weapons in the North,” Sohn said.
Kwang-joo Sohn, Chair of the Korean Network for Advanced Country,
addresses the forum.
Korean panelists again stressed the power of information, confronting the North’s autocratic ideology with an ideology of freedom and human rights. Kook-han Moon credited Action for Korea United, a coalition of some 1000 civil society organization in South Korea, for developing a broad, inclusive approach to the North Korean military threat and human rights abuses. Proposing a major reunification Expo within three years, he said such an event could launch a “great awakening” that could mobilize domestic and international support to confront North Korea and usher in fundamental reform, leading to a free and unified Korea.
The forum, “Freedom and Human Rights: International Cooperation for Reforming the Political and Financial System in North Korea,” was co-convened by the Global Peace Foundation, North Korea Freedom Coalition, Action for Korea United, One Korea Foundation, Korea of All, and the International Coalition for Religious Freedom in North Korea.
The International Forum on One Korea is an ongoing series of forums organized by the Global Peace Foundation and co-conveners over the last decade to advance global support for a free and united Korea to resolve the security and human rights issues on the divided peninsula. For more information visit International Forum on One Korea - Virtual Forum Series | Global Peace Foundation and for information of broader efforts to advance Korean reunification visit One Korea Global Campaign towards a Free and Unified Korea | Global Peace Foundation
globalpeace.org
3. North Korea Will Keep Testing Missiles (There Is Little We Can Do About It)
There is a lot we can do if we have the will to let slip the (influence) dogs of war. Give me the mission of designing an information and influence activities campaign to pressure and punish the regime. The regime practices psychological warfare on a daily basis (andhas for 7 decades). Why are we afraid to?
North Korea Will Keep Testing Missiles (There Is Little We Can Do About It)
19fortyfive.com · by Robert Kelly · October 7, 2022
Last week, North Korea tested a ballistic missile by launching it over Japan. The last few weeks have seen a stepped-up testing rate from the North. Ostensibly these tests are to protest US-South Korea military exercises, including the visit of a US aircraft carrier to South Korea. Pyongyang has a history of testing to make a point or express displeasure. But this is almost certainly a veneer. The deeper reason is that North Korea is leaning ever further into its nuclear and missile capabilities, and it needs to test them. Testing would almost certainly occur regardless of whether a U.S. official came through the region for a few days, Japan changed its prime minister, and so on.
North Korea is Conventionally Far Behind
The most obvious reason for Pyongyang to develop missiles and nuclear weapons is the slow erosion of conventional deterrence on the Korean peninsula. A generation ago, North and South Korea were more equally balanced. Precision-guided munitions were new. And North Korea was not laboring under routine shortages of fuel, metals, spare parts, and even food. Today, North Korea’s army is almost certainly conventionally inferior to the South Korean army, as well as hugely vulnerable to massed American air power.
The American intelligence community routinely releases assessments of North Korean military power. Unsurprisingly, the reports emphasize nuclear weapons and missiles, but notable also are persistent questions about whether North Korea can sustain non-nuclear kinetic actions for more than a month or two. North Korean roads and communications are primitive and vulnerable. Its vehicles are dated, and fuel is scarce. Its soldiers are likely undernourished, as is much of the country.
North Korea’s plan to fight a conventional war is likely to flood South Korea with its large force in hopes of overrunning Seoul before the U.S. and South Korea can properly mobilize. So long as this early dash can be held off, the North Koreans would almost certainly lose a serious conflict.
The upshot is that nuclear weapons and missiles are a play for Pyongyang to regain stability and reestablish peninsular deterrence which North Korea’s aging military and failing economy are slowly forfeiting.
Testing will Go On and On
Because North Korea is leaning into its nuclear missiles more and more, it must test more and more. For a few years, during the overlapping presidencies of American Donald Trump and South Korean Moon Jae-In, there was the possibility of a breakthrough deal. Trump and Moon were both far more dovish on North Korea than any of their predecessors. For a few years, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un held to an informal moratorium on testing, to facilitate negotiations. As that opportunity faded away – greatly due to Kim’s own unwillingness to offer much to Trump – the tests have resumed.
This week’s test flight over Japan illustrates yet another danger in this new ramp-up of testing – the possibility of an accident. Much of the discussion around North Korean nukes and missiles is strategic – what do we do if they use them? Would Pyongyang use them on the battlefield? Will North Korea proliferate to destabilize other areas?
But North Korea is also poorly administered, corrupt, and inefficient. Its testing program has suffered from major accidents in the past. Indeed, most countries with rocket and nuclear programs experience accidents. This problem is worse regarding North Korea because it gleefully ignores the sovereignty of the countries around it. It has launched rocket tests over Japan before, and its rocket debris has fallen near the Philippines too. Were a North Korean missile launched over Japan to malfunction and fall on Japanese territory, killing people, it is unclear how Japan would respond. The demand for some kind of retaliation would be high.
Our Options are Still Poor
North Korea has also threatened another nuclear test this year. U.S. and South Korean officials have threatened a serious response, just as Japan lashed out sharply over this week’s overflight test.
But we lack good options, unfortunately, which is why these tests keep happening. If North Korea had a clear vulnerability we could exploit to punish them for constant testing, we would have tried it years ago. Tightening sanctions are a common answer to Northern provocations, but the issue there is not placing even more sanctions on Pyongyang, but getting China and Russia to enforce them. Shooting down a North Korean missile test is occasionally floated, but the U.S. military is nervous that if we try and miss, then regional missile defense will lose credibility. And striking North Korea itself is, of course, hugely risky.
North Korea Hwasong-17 ICBM. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
So we must probably continue to live with these tests. We can try to push China and Russia to help us, but that possibility is fading as those states and the US increasingly fall into geopolitical competition, where North Korea is a helpful card to play. As sad as it seems, this is a problem we’re going to have to learn to live with.
Expert Biography: Dr. Robert E. Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly; RoberEdwinKelly.com) is a professor of international relations in the Department of Political Science at Pusan National University and 19FortyFive Contributing Editor.
19fortyfive.com · by Robert Kelly · October 7, 2022
4. How North Korea Launders Money using Cryptocurrency to Evade Sanctions - East Asia Research Center
We need to understand this and attack it.
How North Korea Launders Money using Cryptocurrency to Evade Sanctions - East Asia Research Center
eastasiaresearch.org · by _ · October 8, 2022
Published date October 8, 2022
Last modified date October 8, 2022
Author
2022-10-8, Tara O
North Korea launders money via cryptocurrency to circumvent the banking system, according to a former National Intelligence Service (NIS) official who recently left the NIS. He initially exposed this information on a YouTube Channel Lee Bonk-gyu TV (이봉규tv), but the video is no longer available on the channel as it has been deleted for some reason. The follow-on interview on the same topic, however, is available here.
The former NIS official Mr. Choi stated that North Korea transfers funds using cryptocurrency, which means the banks are not involved in the international transfers. Bank transfers above certain threshold would be scrutinized by the governments, and would be prevented under the international sanctions, but the cryptocurrency bypasses the banking system.
Here is the process of laundering discovered, as described by Choi:
- Banks are hacked and money stolen.
- With the stolen money, cryptocurrency, such as BitCoin or Etherium, is bought
- Transfers cryptocurrency to Tehran (Iran), Damascus (Syria), Dubai (UAE) via links in email and PayPal
- Within those countries, cryptocurrency is further traded [known as “layering]
- After multiple small transactions, the cryptocurrency is transferred to China
- In China, the in-bound cryptocurrency is turned into cash
- The cash is transferred to North Korea
Categories:North KoreaSanctions
Tags:cryptocurrency
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eastasiaresearch.org · by _ · October 8, 2022
5. NSC condemns N. Korea's short-range ballistic missile launch
And we need to continue readiness training (as noted). We must never back down on sustaining readiness. It is one of the simplest ways to demonstrate strength and resolve and that the regime's multiple strategic lines of effort will fail.
Excerpt:
South Korea's military will further bolster its joint defense posture through joint drills with the United States and security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Japan, while preparing thoroughly against additional provocations by the North, it said.
NSC condemns N. Korea's short-range ballistic missile launch
The Korea Times · by 2022-10-09 07:47 | North Korea · October 9, 2022
National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han, left, presides over a National Security Council meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Oct. 1 in this file photo provided by the office. Yonhap
The presidential National Security Council (NSC) strongly condemned North Korea's launch of two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Sunday, saying it was a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
President Yoon Suk-yeol was briefed immediately after the launch and the NSC held a meeting presided over by National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han, according to the presidential office.
Sunday's launch was the North's seventh missile test in under two weeks.
The council "strongly condemned" a flurry of ballistic missile tests by North Korea as a "clear violation of the U.N. Security Council and an act that increases tension on the Korean Peninsula and in the region," the presidential office said in a statement.
N. Korea fires 2 short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: S. Korean military
South Korea's military will further bolster its joint defense posture through joint drills with the United States and security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Japan, while preparing thoroughly against additional provocations by the North, it said.
North Korea fired the two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea earlier in the day, after Seoul and Washington wrapped up a naval exercise, involving a U.S. aircraft carrier, the previous day.
Military officials said they detected the launches from the Munchon area in Gangwon Province between 1:48 a.m. and 1:58 a.m., and that the missiles flew some 350 kilometers at apogees of around 90 km at top speeds of Mach 5. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · by 2022-10-09 07:47 | North Korea · October 9, 2022
6. North Korea at final stage for nuclear test, made progress in missiles: UNSC panel
Do not fear a nuclear test. Do not play into KJU's hands.
North Korea at final stage for nuclear test, made progress in missiles: UNSC panel
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · October 9, 2022
North Korea is in its final stage in preparations for nuclear tests and has made progress in its missile programs by launching an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles this year, a United Nations Security Council panel said in its biannual report.
Publishing the report assessing North Korea and sanctions implementation covering the past six months from late January, the UN Panel of Experts on UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea also said the North may also be using students studying abroad to obtain advanced technology related to weapons.
"During the reporting period, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea made preparations at its nuclear test site, although it did not test a nuclear device," the panel report said, using the formal name for North Korea.
The report said North Korea continued to develop its capability for the production of nuclear fissile materials at the Yongbyon nuclear testing site, and also appears to have completed preparations for nuclear tests during the reporting period.
The movements involving its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests have been observed as in line with how the North's Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea has announced that it would “promptly examine the issue of restarting all temporarily suspended activities,” in January.
The panel wrote that Pyongyang started reexcavation around a secondary entrance to Tunnel 3 at the Punggye-ri nuclear site in March this year, and also reconstructed support buildings that were dismantled in May 2018.
Citing the assessment of a member state, the report said Pyongyang continued to operate the 5-megawatt reactor as well. Satellite imagery shows the reactor continuing to discharge cooling water since July 2021, and vehicles were spotted moving around the reactor, the report said.
From their observations through early June, two member states have assessed that preparations for nuclear tests have entered their final stage.
The ballistic missile program has also continued to accelerate to attain "an unprecedented intensity, diversity and operational capability" in terms of both the ballistic tests themselves and the regime's communication strategy about them, the report said.
The panel said rapid and observable progresses are seen to have been made on its intercontinental ballistic missiles program and short-range ballistic missiles, for its development of tactical nuclear operational capabilities.
The report also noted that Pyongyang has continued with its cyber activities, with two major hacks this year that resulted in the theft of cryptoassets worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.
There were also North Korean students studying abroad sending back technical information on weapons to their country, as observed by one member state.
The UNSC Panel of Experts was established in 2009 to support the work of the council's sanctions committee on North Korea. The members include experts from the five permanent members of the UNSC -- the US, China, France, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom -- as well as South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
The report is published twice a year. The October report covered sanctions implementation from end-January to end-July, and was published on Friday after it was confirmed at the council on Sept. 6.
By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · October 9, 2022
7. ‘We should be wary of North Korea, not our own military,’ says governor after missile crash
There is freedom of expression in South Korea and Koreans should cherish that value.
Military operations are the province of chance. Bad things can happen in military operations. We need the rational control and reason that should be manifested in the government which is what the mayor is demonstrating.
The mayor can at once be critical of the ROK military but then offer this prudent and important message. This is effective domestic political messaging.
I cannot emphasize this enough: the root of all problems in Korea is the existence of the most evil mafia- like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime that has the objective of dominating the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.
Excerpt:
“It’s regrettable what happened. One thing we should all remember though, I think, is that at the end of the day, it’s North Korea that we should be wary of, not our own military,” he stressed in the interview. “The missile crash left us dreading. Imagine if North Korea had fired a nuclear warhead.”
‘We should be wary of North Korea, not our own military,’ says governor after missile crash
koreaherald.com · by Kim Arin · October 9, 2022
By Kim Arin
Published : Oct 9, 2022 - 18:02 Updated : Oct 9, 2022 - 18:07
A missile which fell to the ground in a military airfield set off a fire in the eastern coastal city of Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
CHUNCHEON, Gangwon Province -- Kim Jin-tae, the governor of Gangwon Province, said on a missile crashing in one of its cities Tuesday that he believes this served as “a hard lesson” to “avoid a repetition in the future.”
The missile crashed just 700 meters from a residential neighborhood after a failed launch during a joint drill with US forces, according to the South Korean military.
Many locals endured a sleepless night after the fiery missile crash, as they waited for an explanation from authorities that did not come until morning.
“As this is a matter that concerns national security, I tried to refrain from commenting,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald at his office on Thursday. “But it happened right here in Gangwon, and many residents were startled as a result, so I could not say nothing.”
At a press conference held earlier the same day, he labeled the military response as “sluggish” and “regrettable.”
“It’s regrettable what happened. One thing we should all remember though, I think, is that at the end of the day, it’s North Korea that we should be wary of, not our own military,” he stressed in the interview. “The missile crash left us dreading. Imagine if North Korea had fired a nuclear warhead.”
He said the “treacherous climate of international affairs” called for “staying united.”
Kim said that Gangwon Province -- split in half by the Demilitarized Zone, with Kangwon Province in the North -- has often been the first to witness provocations, and his role as governor is to make sure residents feel safe.
“Making people feel safe is what the military as well as administrative authorities are there for.”
He admitted that he had not been informed of the drill beforehand, and that he was also not offered an explanation following the accident.
“We learned our lesson the hard way this time. I trust that there will not be a repetition in the future.”
Kim, who served two terms as a lawmaker with the currently ruling People Power Party before he was elected governor in June, added that having the Yoon Suk-yeol administration in office means a stronger security alliance with the US.
He said that over his term he was willing to engage with North Korea, but “not in the subservient manner” he says was assumed by his predecessors.
“I believe that exchanges with North Korea on a municipal level are something we ought to be pursuing. Humanitarian programs in particular should continue,” he said.
“But when we have missiles flying over, we are not going to beg them to come to the table. I think our past experiences have taught us that does not help anyone.”
By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)
8. White House Says North Korea Nuclear Talks Offer Still on Table
As long as we maintain strength and resolve we can and should continue to offer talks and diplomacy. I know this is contrary to most analytic judgments, time is more on our side than Kim's. Another aspect that we have not been discussing is the tremendous internal threats Kim is likely to face due to the failed economy, COVID, crackdowns on the population and the lack of relief mechanisms for both the regime and the people. Kim may be facing desperate conditions and as we have long known one of the ways the regime deals with that is to externalize the problems and emphasize the external threats (even if they are made up).
White House Says North Korea Nuclear Talks Offer Still on Table
ByTony Czuczka
October 9, 2022 at 9:44 AM EDT
The US remains ready for talks with North Korea on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, while ensuring “that we have also the capabilities in the region and ready to go in case we need them,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
After a week in which a North Korean ballistic missile launch prompted an alert in Japan, Kirby told ABC’s “This Week” the US is working on increased military cooperation with South Korea and Japan to counter threats from Kim Jong Un.
Kim “has decided not to take us up on that offer,” Kirby said Sunday. “Quite the opposite: now he has improved his ballistic missile program. He has clearly not abandoned his nuclear weapons ambitions.”
Read more: Kim Jong Un’s Silence as Missiles Fly Shows Strategy Shift
South Korea said its military will strengthen security cooperation with the US and Japan, including the deployment of “US strategic assets,” after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles Sunday.
The missile tests add to 10 launched by North Korea over the past two weeks. The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group made a U-turn after one of the missiles flew over Japan. The group returned to waters off the Korean peninsula and held missile-defense exercises with naval forces from Japan and South Korea on Thursday.
“We want to see the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, verifiable and complete, and we have communicated to the North Koreans,” said Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council.
“So what we have to do as we have that offer on the table is make sure that we have also the capabilities in the region and ready to go in case we need them,” he said.
9. Vatican reminds North Korea that Pope Francis ready to visit if invited
Vatican reminds North Korea that Pope Francis ready to visit if invited
rappler.com · October 8, 2022
ROME, Italy – The Vatican on Friday, October 7, reminded North Korea, whose recent firing of missiles has heightened tensions in Asia, that Pope Francis is eager to visit the country to help the cause of peace if Pyongyang makes an official invitation.
The Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, made the comments at an event marking South Korea’s national day.
“Pope Francis nurtures a particular interest and affection for the Korean people. His desire to visit even areas in the North is vivid and well known, if he receives an official invitation from authorities,” Gallagher said.
Such a visit would be the first by a pope to the reclusive state, which does not allow priests to be permanently stationed there. Little is known about how many of its citizens are Catholic or how they practice their faith.
Former South Korean president Moon Jae-in, who is Catholic, has urged Francis to visit North Korea, saying a papal visit to Pyongyang would help build peace on the Korean peninsula.
When he met the pope in 2018, Moon relayed a verbal invitation to Francis from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Gallagher’s comments were significant because they came three days after North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan, prompting joint South Korean and US missile drills.
North Korea also fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday in the direction of Japan, after the return of a US aircraft carrier to the region and a UN Security Council meeting in response to the North’s recent launches.
Those launches were the sixth time in 12 days that North Korea has test fired ballistic missiles, the latest display of its increasingly sophisticated missile and nuclear bomb programs.
Gallagher also reminded his listeners of the Vatican’s support for a total ban on nuclear weapons.
Pope Francis visited South Korea in 2014, and Vatican officials have said that any papal trip to North Korea would include stops in the South to underscore his support for a re-unified peninsula. – Rappler.com
rappler.com · October 8, 2022
10. Kim Jong Un’s silence as missiles fly shows shift in strategy
Tactics perhaps. But not strategy in my opinion.
I do agree that Kim sees the conditions created by the PRC-Taiwan situation and Putin's War as advantageous (as well as other distractions to the US such as Iran,etc.)
Excerpt:
“North Korea clearly has decided that the U.S.-Russia and U.S.-China divide works to its advantage economically and politically and, for now at least, has decided to cast its lot with the Russians and the Chinese rather than pursuing diplomacy with the U.S.,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a regional issues manager at the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network who worked as an analyst for the CIA’s Open Source Enterprise for almost two decades.
But the idea as to the change in strategy leads me to the same two questions I always ask. And my answer remains a 'no."
Do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime?
In support of that strategy do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the objective to split the ROK/US Alliance and get US forces off the peninsula? Has KJU given up his divide to conquer strategy - divide the alliance to conquer the ROK?
Kim Jong Un’s silence as missiles fly shows shift in strategy
americanmilitarynews.com · by Jon Herskovitz - Bloomberg News · October 8, 2022
North Korea’s latest barrage of missiles may look like another attempt to ratchet up hostilities in return for some sort of leverage at the bargaining table. But the launches over the past two weeks seem different.
Unlike previous provocations, his regime has mostly refrained from trumpeting the missiles along with the usual creative vitriol directed at the U.S. and its allies. Kim Jong Un himself has been out of the public eye for more than three weeks, his longest absence in a year. State media on Thursday released a photo of a floral arrangement given to Kim, but no pictures of him.
That could always indicate Kim is facing some health problems, or just taking a break. In August, his sister revealed that Kim was “seriously ill” after suffering from “high fever” during a COVID outbreak.
But more broadly, the subdued posture suggests North Korea is intent on letting actions speak louder than words as it looks to build a credible nuclear threat. And a big reason is because Kim has more reliable partners in China and Russia, which supported sanctions against his regime at the United Nations only five years ago.
That raises the prospect for greater escalation in the coming weeks and months. The U.S., Japan and South Korea have already warned that Kim’s regime is readying its first atomic detonation since 2017, a test that could help North Korea miniaturize warheads for new short-range missiles it has rolled out in the past few years.
“North Korea clearly has decided that the U.S.-Russia and U.S.-China divide works to its advantage economically and politically and, for now at least, has decided to cast its lot with the Russians and the Chinese rather than pursuing diplomacy with the U.S.,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a regional issues manager at the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network who worked as an analyst for the CIA’s Open Source Enterprise for almost two decades.
“The current vicious cycle will not end anytime soon,” she added. “North Korea is not interested in talks right now, and the U.S. and South Korea will not make the kind of concessions that might entice Pyongyang back to the talks table.”
North Korea has fired 10 ballistic missiles in less than two weeks, including two on Thursday toward waters where the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group had been deployed that were accompanied by a two-sentence Foreign Ministry statement — brief by Pyongyang standards.
The launches have corresponded with the carrier group’s movements around the Korean Peninsula starting in late September. The Ronald Reagan had returned to the region after North Korea on Tuesday fired its first missile over Japan in five years.
While North Korea has a habit of timing provocations with political events, the latest missiles have shown more focus than at almost any other time during Kim’s decade in power. For instance, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles last month just hours after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.
What’s more, North Korea’s weapons are much better than in 2017, when soaring tensions prompted former President Donald Trump to warn Kim of “fire and fury” in response. His regime has modernized its arsenal with missiles that are quicker to deploy and more accurate.
“The slew of recent missile launches is a tit-for-tat response from the North to demonstrate its deterrence capabilities against the U.S. and South Korea,” said Hong Min, director of North Korean Research Division at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. Pyongyang “is now more focused on showcasing the actual deployment of its weapons in the real world to demonstrate that they can fire at any time, which presents a real threat.”
The strategy is consistent with North Korea’s stated desire to be respected as a nuclear power, and force the U.S. and its allies to abandon any hope of either denuclearization or regime change. Last month, Kim declared he would never give up his nuclear weapons and passed a law that called for an automatic nuclear strike if he was ever incapacitated by a foreign attack.
North Korea has also ignored Biden administration calls to return to nuclear disarmament talks that have been dormant for three years. Instead, it appears more focused on advancing its ability to deliver a credible nuclear strike on the U.S. and its allies.
“The big picture here is that North Korea is pursuing a longer-term goal to improve its nuclear and missile arsenals both qualitatively and quantitatively,” said Naoko Aoki, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Asia Security Initiative.
In January 2021, just before Biden took office, Kim spelled out his plans for weapons development. The roadmap called for smaller and lighter nuclear weapons, developing a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile that would be quick to deploy, and improving the ability to strike strategic targets within 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles) — a thinly veiled reference to the U.S.
The White House may respond to the latest launches with additional sanctions, according to an administration official who requested anonymity to discuss internal thinking. Still, the White House has its hands full with Russia’s war in Ukraine abroad and midterm elections in November, indicating North Korea isn’t a policy priority.
“Before the midterms, any kind of a concession from the U.S. is unlikely,” said James Kim, a senior research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
The longer North Korea stays on the back burner, the better it is for Kim. It gives him more time to expand his arsenal, cement his status as a nuclear power and increase the threat of a nuclear strike to deter any attempts to topple his reign.
___
© 2022 Bloomberg L.P
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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americanmilitarynews.com · by Jon Herskovitz - Bloomberg News · October 8, 2022
11. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un must be talked down before game of dare escalates to all-out conflict
Keep calm and carry on. Do not show fear. Deterrence works (until it doesn't according to SIr Lawrence Freedman). The most important response to any north Korean action is to continue to demonstrate strength and resolve. Yes, it will not stop Kim from conducting provocations but it will continue to do what we have been successfully doing for the past 69 years: deterring a resumption of hostilities. That is job one.
And we should adopt three new lines of effort to our strategy: human rights upfront approach, the strongest possible influence campaign,a dn the pursuit of a free and unified Korea.
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un must be talked down before game of dare escalates to all-out conflict
By Donald Kirk South China Morning Post4 min
View Original
A TV screen showing news about North Korean leader Kim-Jong-un’s launch of a ballistic missile is seen at Seoul Railway Station in South Korea on October 6. Photo: AP
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s decision to fire an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan last Tuesday opens a new chapter in the confrontation that is spiralling upwards in Northeast Asia.
The missile may have landed harmlessly in the northern Pacific after travelling around 4,600km, but it raised the spectre of a North Korean nuclear attack on US bases in Guam and Hawaii. A longer-range intercontinental ballistic missile could hit targets in North America.
The United States and South Korea immediately answered the challenge by bombarding a tiny islet in the Yellow Sea and firing missiles into waters off South Korea’s eastern coast. In response, North Korea fired two short-range missiles in the direction of Japan the next day.
On one level, this game of dare harmed no one, not even the local residents who were frightened when a South Korean missile misfired and blew up near their homes. On another level, though, it portends far worse consequences for both Koreas and the region.
In South Korea, pressure is mounting for Seoul to develop a nuclear programme for “defence” against North Korea – just as Kim claims to need nuclear weapons to stave off a possible “invasion” by the US and South Korea. Seoul already has short- and medium-range missiles targeting anywhere in North Korea. If the South goes nuclear, you can be sure that Japan and Taiwan would not be far behind.
While the spectre of nuclear war hangs over the region, other flashpoints may explode first. Japan may decide the time has come to shoot down the next North Korean missile that flies over its territory. That won’t be easy, but the destruction of a North Korean missile would surely incite Kim to order many more “tests” of missiles, some of which might actually land on Japanese soil.
Kim might also see the retaliatory drills staged by the Americans and South Koreans as just the pretext he needs to fire missiles towards the South. After all, he has a new law that authorises nuclear strikes whenever the North feels threatened, much less attacked.
But, realistically, Kim is unlikely – and hopefully not foolish enough – to touch off a nuclear holocaust, to be responsible for exploding the first nuclear weapons in war since the American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, to whose will Kim has to bow whether he likes it or not, has surely warned him against turning his rhetoric into reality. Xi may not be on good terms with the US, but China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner, prefers to exercise stern but peaceful influence over both Koreas.
02:22
‘Blanket protection’: US says China and Russia have bolstered North Korea amid missile tests
But what if Kim were to order strikes by missiles armed with conventional warheads? The huge US military base at Camp Humphreys, about 65km south of Seoul, and the nearby Osan Air Base, home of the US Seventh Air Force, are both sitting ducks for North Korea’s short-range missiles.
And what if North Korean artillery just north of the demilitarised zone opened fire in retaliation against US and South Korean exercises seen as dangerously close? One cannon shot into South Korea would throw its crowded northern cities, including Seoul, and Incheon port into panic mode.
02:25
US Vice-President Harris calls North Korea a ‘brutal dictatorship’ on visit to Korean DMZ
Any such moves could escalate into a regional war in which North Korea would count on China and Russia to be on its side. The Chinese, however reluctantly, would have to support North Korea, as they did in the Korean war.
Russian, weighed down by its disastrous invasion of Ukraine, might not want to pour aid into North Korea, but Kim has been courting Russia with declarations of support for whatever President Vladimir Putin is doing.
The escalation of the North-South Korean confrontation may be awful to contemplate, but there’s also another scenario. As has happened so often in the past, the threat of much worse to come could evaporate temporarily into another round of negotiations.
As usual, the Americans, some South Koreans, and much of the rest of the world, would fantasise about North Korea’s denuclearisation, and Kim would sign another statement promising to work towards that end, as he and then-US president Donald Trump did in their summit in Singapore in June 2018.
Optimists might again be induced into dreaming that the mortal adversaries were on the way to resolving their differences and, as always, they would be severely disappointed. No, there may be no permanent solution but as Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill is purported to have said, meeting jaw to jaw is better than war.
Donald Kirk is an author and journalist from Washington, DC. His books on Korea include, notably, “Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae Jung and Sunshine”, and “Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung”
12. Plaque unveiled to honor USMA class of 1946
There are few countries that go to the lengths that South Korea does to honor its allied veterans.
Sunday
October 9, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Plaque unveiled to honor USMA class of 1946
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/10/09/national/defense/Korea-Military-Academy-United-States-Military-Academy-Korea/20221009175711255.html
Cadets of the Korea Military Academy (KMA) pose with Lt. Gen. Willard Burleson, center, second row, KMA Superintendent Maj. Gen. Jeon Sung-dae, fifth from left, second row, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Lee Seo-young, president of the Korea Defense Veterans Association-Korea Chapter, third from left, second row, and Korea JoongAng Daily CEO Cheong Chul-gun, second from left, second row, and others following the unveiling of a memorial plaque for U.S. Military Academy class of 1946 graduates who fell in the Korean War at the KMA campus in Nowon District, northern Seoulon Friday morning. [PARK SANG-MOON]
A plaque to honor the sacrifices made by the United States Military Academy (USMA) class of 1946 in the 1950-53 Korean War was unveiled Friday at the Korea Military Academy (KMA) in Nowon District, northern Seoul.
Installed near the KMA's Memorial Tower, the memorial plaque follows previous plaques placed for the USMA classes of 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950.
The KMA plans to install two more plaques for the USMA classes of 1945 and 1951 in the same garden, which is a dedicated memorial park for USMA graduates who fell in the Korean War, by 2023, which marks the 70th anniversary of the end of Korean War hostilities.
Fourteen graduates of the USMA class of 1946 fell in the Korean War. The remains of eight were never recovered.
All 14 names were inscribed on the plaque unveiled on Friday during a ceremony hosted by the KMA and sponsored by the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA).
The ceremony was attended by Lt. Gen. Willard Burleson, commanding general of U.S. Eighth Army; former South Korean Army Chief of Staff Kwon Oh-sung; Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Lee Seo-young, president of the KDVA-Korea Chapter; Maj. Gen. Jeon Sung-dae, superintendent of the KMA; Park Kyeong-mee, director for international cooperation at the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs; and Cheong Chul-gun, CEO of the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Speaking before the unveiling of the memorial plaque, Lt. Gen. Burleson highlighted the significance of the shared wartime sacrifice and democratic values borne by South Korea and the United States and the contribution of USMA graduates to the defense of South Korea and the two countries' alliance.
"The U.S. Military Academy class of 1946 paid a heavy price in defense of freedom, our values, and our great countries," Lt. Gen. Burleson said, noting that USMA graduates "paid more than their fair share in establishing the steadfast ROK-U.S. alliance we benefit from today."
ROK is the acronym of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
In a reference to heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Burleson also added that it was the duty of both the South Korean and U.S. militaries "to ensure that we protect our way of life and honor those who have come before us by ensuring that we maintain the day-to-day readiness of our ROK-U.S. forces," and called on the allies to maintain an "example of peace through strength."
In his speech before the unveiling, Maj. Gen. Jeon also urged the allies to remember the sacrifice of USMA's 1946 graduates and stand together in the face of North Korea's "continuous ballistic missile launch provocations."
"Today's free and democratic South Korea was only made possible by the precious sacrifice borne of the heroes we commemorate at this ceremony," Jeon said.
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
13. Canadian Navy commander stresses commitment to N.K. sanctions enforcement
The entire international community should commit to prepare sanctions enforcement. Thank you Canada.
Canadian Navy commander stresses commitment to N.K. sanctions enforcement
The Korea Times · October 9, 2022
This photo, provided by the Canadian Forces Combat Camera, shows South Korean Navy personnel greeting His Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Vancouver in the southern port city of Busan on Oct. 4. Yonhap
The commander of a Canadian Navy frigate has highlighted Ottawa's steadfast commitment to the enforcement of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on North Korea as part of efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
Cdr. Kevin Whiteside, the head of His Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Vancouver, said Canada's commitment was demonstrated in the vessel's arrival in South Korea last week to conduct "Operation NEON" designed to support the sanctions implementation.
It came as South Korea, the United States and other like-minded countries have been cranking up security coordination following a recent series of North Korean missile provocations, including Tuesday's intermediate-range ballistic missile launch over Japan.
"The Government of Canada, through the Canadian Armed Forces, will continue to support multinational efforts to monitor the U.N. sanctions against North Korea through Operation NEON," he said in a recent written interview with Yonhap News Agency.
"Vancouver's conduct of Operation NEON demonstrates the level of international solidarity in support of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," he added.
Operation NEON focuses on surveillance operations, including identifying suspected maritime sanctions evasion activities, like ship-to-ship transfers of fuel and other commodities banned by the UNSC resolutions. It started Sept. 20 and will run through the end of this month.
For the operation, Canada has deployed the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver, along with a CH-148 Cyclone helicopter detachment and a CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft. The crew of the HMCS Vancouver this time is comprised of 240 sailors, soldiers and aviators.
"This contribution bolsters the integrity of the global sanctions regime against North Korea," the commander said.
The naval operation comes in sync with Canada's pursuit of a "peaceful, stable, and prosperous" Indo-Pacific, Whiteside said, touching on his country's longstanding military presence in Korea, including its staff at the U.N. Command headquartered in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul.
"Canada remains committed to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, and as part of that, we are concerned by the threat posed by North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," he said.
Whiteside voiced confidence that the Canadian Navy's support for the sanctions enforcement, coupled with its participation in regional exercises, is having an impact.
"This is evident through our contribution to collective efforts to help hold accountable those who are facilitating North Korea's maritime sanctions evasion contrary to international law," he said.
This month's visit was Whiteside's third trip to Korea with his Navy staff following his earlier visits in 2008 and 2017. Such continued trips in the region are essential to enhancing interoperability and military cooperation with the South Korean Navy, he said.
"Our continued presence in the region demonstrates our longstanding relationship with South Korea, which we hope to continue strengthening into the future," he added.
Since departing its home port of Esquimalt, western Canada, in June, the HMCS Vancouver has been on a six-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific, which included its participation in the biennial U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise and Operation NEON. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · October 9, 2022
14. Yoon asks Kishida to revitalize corporate exchanges between two nations
Are these one sided efforts from Yoon? What is Kishda doing to improve relations?
Yoon asks Kishida to revitalize corporate exchanges between two nations
The Korea Times · October 9, 2022
These photos show South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, talking with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida over the phone at the presidential office in Seoul on Oct. 6, and Kishida answering reporters' questions at his residence in Tokyo right after phone talks with Yoon. Yonhap
President Yoon Suk-yeol has told Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that they need to make efforts to revitalize corporate exchanges between the two nations during their first summit in New York and recent phone talks, according to the presidential office Sunday.
Yoon and Kishida held phone talks last week in the wake of a flurry of North Korea's ballistic missile launches, including one that flew over Japan.
The call came weeks after the two held their first summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, which raised hopes of improving bilateral relations badly frayed over wartime forced labor and other issues related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
During the summit in New York, Yoon told Kishida that exchanges of businesspeople between the two nations will become more active if bilateral relations are normalized, according to the presidential office.
Yoon made similar remarks during the telephone talks with Kishida last week.
A senior presidential official told Yonhap News Agency that Yoon is seeking to address economic issues between the two nations.
"In the Korea-Japan relationship, there has been a tendency to mention a lot of past history, security and political issues, and omit economic issues, but this time, it is different," the official said.
In 2018, South Korea's top court ruled that Japanese firms should pay compensation to forced South Korean labor victims, and Japan imposed export curbs against South Korea in an apparent retaliation.
Japan has claimed that all reparation issues related to the 1910-45 colonial rule were settled under a 1965 treaty that the two countries signed to normalize relations. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · October 9, 2022
15. Korea's unique battle flag
Seems like an easy alliance win here to make this flag permanently returned to Korea. What purpose would it serve bringing it back to the US and keeping it permanently at Annapolis?
As an aside this is a useful short summary of Korean history few outside of Korea are aware of.
Korea's unique battle flag
The Korea Times · October 9, 2022
By Choe Chong-dae
I always feel sentimental and full of nostalgia towards a variety of cultural assets, even shards of pottery and a piece of a painting at home and abroad, whether they are valuable or not to the general public. They enshrine our ancestors' sacred spirit, wisdom and identity and represent the course of history.
Whenever I view Korean cultural artifacts at Korean galleries of foreign museums such as the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, Sweden, the Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, the Netherlands and the British Museum in London, I would become full of emotion and reflect on our ancestors' way of life.
It is disheartening to learn that a great number of precious Korean cultural assets were taken out of the country during foreign invasions, such as the Mongolian invasion of Korea (1231-73), the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592-98), Byeongin-yangyo (French expedition to Korea in 1866) and Shinmiyangyo (the Invasion of the American Fleet in Korea in 1871).
When the Joseon Kingdom of Korea (1392-1910) was called the Hermit Kingdom, as at the time it was closed off to foreign nations, an armed U.S. Merchant Marine ship named the General Sherman entered the Daedong River near Pyongyang to force open trade with the country in 1866.
Due to insufficient communication, it ended up causing an armed conflict between the ship's crew and Korean soldiers, sacrificing the lives of several crew members of the ship. The ship was destroyed by the military of Korea and became stranded. The conflict is now known as the General Sherman Incident.
Five years after the encounter, a U.S. Navy ship named the Colorado landed on Ganghwa Island, Korea in 1871 in order to establish a trade treaty with Korea. However, due to communication failures again between the U.S. and the local government of Korea, clashes occurred in what is known in Korea as the Little War or the ''Shinmiyangyo'', the Invasion of the American Fleet in Korea in 1871. It resulted in a lopsided victory for the Americans.
As a token of the great victory, the U.S. Navy captured a distinctive trophy, a Korean yellow battle flag called "Sujagi" and other artifacts from Ganghwa Island.
The battle flag had been flying atop a mountain fort and at the main gate of the barracks where the commanding general was located. It was a large yellow battle flag with unique Korean symbols, representing the authority of Korean General (Marshall) Eo Je-Yeon (1823-1871), commander of the garrison on Ganghwa Island who led the Korean forces bravely against the U.S. forces on the island.
Despite the desperate fighting, he lost his life along with 430 Korean soldiers in the three-day battle.
After being taken to the U.S. with other war prizes, the iconic Korean flag was stored at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in the U.S. for 136 years until it was returned to Korea. According to negotiations between the U.S and Korea, the flag was repatriated in 2007 to the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul on a loan basis. Following this, the flag was moved to Ganghwa Island where the "Little War" had taken place.
It is currently displayed at the Ganghwa History Museum. The lease period of the flag had been extended to the end of September 2022. I was concerned about the fate of the flag, which should not return to the U.S. However, to my delight, the loan period for the flag was renewed again until October 1, 2023, after negotiations with the U.S Naval Academy Museum.
More than a century and a half have passed since the Americans captured the battle flag of Korea, and I do hope that the "trophy" of Sujagi would be displayed in Korea permanently, contributing to the opening of a new era of friendship between the U.S. and the Korean people.
Choe Chong-dae (choecd@naver.com) is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is president of Dae-kwang International Co., and director of the Korean-Swedish Association.
The Korea Times · October 9, 2022
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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