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(Apologies: still traveling. Leaving Korea in a few hours for the last leg of my around the world trip this past week and a half. I may not get to tomorrow's news analysis with travel and time difference and jet lag.)
Quotes of the Day:
“In international as in private life, what counts most is not what happens to someone, but how he bears what happens to him. For this reason, almost everything depends from here on out on the manner in which we Americans bear what is unquestionably a major failure and disaster to our national fortunes. If we accept it with candor, with dignity with the resolve to absorb its lessons and make it good by redoubled and determined effort, starting all over again, if necessary, along the pattern of Pearl Harbor, we need lose neither our self confidence nor our allies, nor our powers for bargaining. But if we try to conceal from our own people, or from our allies, the full measure of our misfortune, or permit ourselves to seek relief in any reactions of bluster or petulance or hysteria, we can easily find this crisis resolving itself into an irreparable deterioration of our world position, and of our confidence in ourselves.”
- George Kennan, December 1950, letter to SECSTATE Dean Acheson
"Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils."
- Thucydides
"It’s limited war for Americans, and total war for those fighting Americans. The United States has more power; its foes have more willpower."
- Dominic Tierney
1. North Korea’s Powerful New Missile Has Shortcomings as a Weapon
2. U.N. agency concerned about worsening of N. Korea's human rights situation amid escalated tensions
3. S. Korea's trade chief to visit U.S. for talks on Inflation Reduction Act
4. Seoul arrests ex-top security official over border killing
5. A Win for Ukraine Against Russia Means Trouble for China and North Korea
6. Tyrant of the year 2022: Kim Jong-un, North Korea - Index on Censorship
7. Could Yoon be a Thatcher?
8. New book on Korean history
9. North Korea publicly executes 2 teenagers for distributing South Korean movies
10. Mission: Return to North Korea to retrieve remains of US Navy’s first Black aviator
11. Faltering exports hurt Korea's growth momentum, no improvement in sight
12. Will ex-president Moon be targeted over border killing ‘cover-up'?
1. North Korea’s Powerful New Missile Has Shortcomings as a Weapon
My usual comment below on political warfare and blackmail diplomacy.
North Korea’s Powerful New Missile Has Shortcomings as a Weapon
Experts say Pyongyang’s latest ICBM isn’t yet a potent threat to the U.S.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/north-koreas-powerful-new-missile-has-shortcomings-as-a-weapon-11670123155?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1
By Dasl Yoon
Dec. 4, 2022 7:00 am ET
SEOUL—North Korea celebrated the recent launch of a powerful intercontinental ballistic missile with the bravado the world has come to expect from Kim Jong Un‘s regime.
The North Korean leader described the country’s missiles as “monuments to be passed down to our descendants for generations to come” and promoted more than 100 military officials and scientists involved in missile development. He gave the missile’s launch vehicle the title of national hero and brought his daughter—making her first public appearance—to the test.
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North Korea has said the ICBM was the Hwasong-17, its newest generation of missiles. However, experts say that for now it lacks the technology that would make it a potent weapon against the U.S.
The ICBM tested on Nov. 18 was launched at a lofted trajectory, reaching an altitude of more than 3,700 miles and traveling a distance of about 620 miles. Japanese officials said it had the range to cover the entire U.S. mainland if it were on a regular trajectory.
For the Kim regime, possessing nuclear weapons is a way to forestall attempts at regime change, guaranteeing its survival. The country declared itself a “full-fledged nuclear power capable of standing against the nuclear supremacy of the U.S. imperialists,” in an order signed by Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament on Nov. 26 and published in state media the following day.
An undated government handout photo shows Kim Jong Un and his daughter posing with soldiers.
PHOTO: KCNA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
While North Korea has long established that it has nuclear weapons and ICBMs, the question of whether the regime possesses the technology to send a missile through the atmosphere while carrying several nuclear warheads is a different matter.
Based on the Hwasong-17’s length and diameter, first unveiled during a military parade in October 2020, it appears capable of delivering a larger payload compared with the country’s previous generation of ICBMs, the Hwasong-15.
North Korea hasn’t shown that the ICBM can launch successfully while carrying heavy components that allow a missile to strike multiple locations at once. To do that, the ICBM would need to carry a post-boost vehicle, an apparatus that detaches from the missile’s main boosters outside of the Earth’s atmosphere and releases multiple warheads at separate targets, said Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at Korea Aerospace University in South Korea. These components combined add extra weight of up to 2 tons, diminishing the distance the missile can travel by about 1,200 to 2,500 miles, he said.
“The next step for North Korea would be to miniaturize its warheads,” Mr. Chang said.
Visitors observe North Korea from an observation post in Paju, South Korea, near the border.
PHOTO: AHN YOUNG-JOON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Hwasong-17 would make a significant military and technological addition to Pyongyang’s existing ICBMs if it was equipped with a system that allows it to drop multiple warheads on different targets simultaneously—what is known as a multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle, or MIRV. North Korea hasn’t demonstrated that it has a MIRV with the ability to withstand extremely high temperatures during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Only a handful of countries, including the U.S., Russia and China, are known to have MIRV missile systems. In a January 2021 speech, Mr. Kim said that developing the multiwarhead technology was one of his goals. The MIRV would significantly increase the threat to Washington and its allies because their anti-ballistic missile defense systems rely on a limited number of interceptors, which may be inadequate to defend against multiple warheads attacking at once.
The other challenge for North Korea is being able to deploy its missiles without being detected by Washington or Seoul’s missile defense systems. North Korea has only tested the Hwasong-17 from the Sunan area, on the outskirts of Pyongyang, where a ballistic missile support facility is located. This suggests the ICBM can only be fired from places that are specifically designed for missile launches, such as the Sunan International Airport, and cannot be transported to discreet locations, weapons analysts said.
Countries such as the U.S. and Russia possess underground missile silos, which are difficult to detect. North Korean state media mentioned for the first time on Nov. 27 preparations for an underground launch site. But if Pyongyang were to begin construction of such a facility it would likely be quickly detected by Washington and Seoul’s satellites, experts say.
Pyongyang may have rushed to fire the Hwasong-17 to change how the outside world perceives its capabilities and to be seen as capable of resisting Washington’s deterrence with the ICBM as its new leverage, North Korea watchers say.
U.S. and South Korea forces conducted joint air drills over South Korea in November.
PHOTO: SOUTH KOREAN DEFENSE MINISTRY/GETTY IMAGES
“The launch is in support of the regime’s political warfare and blackmail diplomacy,” said David Maxwell, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
The Hwasong-17 has only been tested at a lofted trajectory, launched into the atmosphere at a steep angle to avoid flying over neighboring countries. Proving its ability to withstand high temperatures and survive in the atmosphere for extended periods requires testing at a regular trajectory, but firing a missile at greater distances over other countries would be a risky provocation for North Korea.
North Korea is also working on developing solid-propellant ICBMs that are more responsive and operationally nimble, said Ankit Panda, a missile expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. North Korea’s ICBMs are liquid-fueled, meaning they can’t be launched immediately as they can’t be stored with fuel already loaded. The liquid propellants must be loaded into the missile before the launch and the process of erecting and fueling an ICBM can take hours, making it a target for interdiction.
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“We should expect North Korea to continue the quantitative expansion of its missile forces,” Mr. Panda said.
Since declaring its nuclear force complete five years ago, the Kim regime has significantly advanced its ballistic missiles and diversified launching capabilities.
Pyongyang launched dozens of solid-fueled, short-range ballistic missiles this year with greater maneuverability designed to evade and penetrate missile defenses. These missiles are fully operational and capable of delivering nuclear payloads to South Korea, Japan and U.S. military bases in the region, weapons analysts say.
Pyongyang has also diversified its missile launch platforms, ranging from a transporter erector launcher to trains and a reservoir-based silo. U.S. and South Korean officials said North Korea stands fully ready to conduct its seventh nuclear test, the first since 2017. In the anticipated nuclear test, weapons experts say North Korea may test smaller nuclear warheads that can be mounted on a range of missiles.
“The Hwasong-17 launch was political messaging aimed at pressuring Washington to accept Pyongyang as a de facto nuclear state,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “It’s a threat that they won’t stop developing more advanced weapons.”
Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com
2. U.N. agency concerned about worsening of N. Korea's human rights situation amid escalated tensions
We must not allow missile tests to "push aside" human rights. In fact every time there is a missile test (or a nuclear test) we must remind not only the international community but also the Korean people in the north that Kim is taking resources from them to build weapons. Their suffering is due to Kim prioritizing missile and nuclear weapons over their welfare. Furthermore when we talk about missiles and nuclear weapons it enhances regime legitimacy and provides the Propaganda and Agitation Department with content to reinforce their messages. But when we talk about human rights it undermines regime legitimacy. This is why we need a sophisticated and comprehensive influence campaign. Lastly the focus on human rights supports the direct existential threat to Kim Jong Un and that is the people. He is more afraid of the people than he is of the military threats from the ROK and US. Human rights are not only a moral imperative but a national security issue as well.
(Yonhap Interview) U.N. agency concerned about worsening of N. Korea's human rights situation amid escalated tensions | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · December 4, 2022
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- The new head of the U.N. human rights agency's office in South Korea voiced concerns that the North Korean human rights issue has been sidelined amid the escalation of military tensions due to the Kim Jong-un regime's provocations.
The reclusive country has redirected resources "away from services for the population towards military purposes," James Heenan, representative of the U.N. Human Rights Office in Seoul, said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency last week.
"Whenever there's a military event such as ballistic missiles or a test, the human rights story gets pushed to one side and that makes it harder for those of us focused on human rights to keep human rights on the agenda because everyone focuses on the peace and security, which is a very important issue," he said.
In case of the North's nuclear test, he added, chances are high that it will lead to the deepening of the nation's isolation, halts to dialogue and cutbacks in humanitarian support for people in need, with political repression getting worse.
Heenan began his stint here in October, filling in the post that had been vacant for two years, He said he will focus on enhancing public awareness of the North Korean human rights problem.
"Within those mandates I want to increase visibility of human rights issues in the DPRK including in the Republic of Korea and I want to increase the types of information that we get from the DPRK," he said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Regarding how to put pressure on Pyongyang for its provocative acts, he stressed the need to put weight on U.N.-led multilateral sanctions.
"As a matter of principle, the United Nations always urges sanctions to be done at the multilateral level through the United Nations rather than individual sanctions but I realize that many states do move ahead with individual sanctions," he said. "But ultimately, sanctions are for member states to decide."
Since its launch in May, South Korea's conservative Yoon Suk-yeol administration has slapped two batches of independent sanctions on individuals and agencies involved in North Korea's nuclear and missile development in response to its continued provocations, including the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last month.
Heenan welcomed Seoul's first appointment of an envoy North Korean human rights in five years. In June, Lee Shin-hwa, then an international relations professor at Korea University, was tapped as the envoy.
In a shift from the North Korea policy of the preceding liberal Moon Jae-in government, accused of having put the rights issue on the back burner apparently not to antagonize Pyongyang, the Yoon administration has taken a more active approach in improving human rights in the North.
"People in my position will have to have a difficult conversation with the government in every country whatever the government ... at the moment, we have very good relations," Heenan said. "I have very good, close and warm personal relations with Ambassador Lee and I look forward to working together with her."
He said his office will continue to explore opportunities for engagement with the North as he voiced hope that a U.N. human rights office will open in Pyongyang down the road.
"Human rights is all about engagement and improving the situation through engagement. Our other country offices are in the countries they work in," he said. "I would like our office to be in the DPRK too."
The Seoul office of the U.N. OHCHR was established in June 2015 as part of global efforts to better monitor the human rights situation in North Korea and to document related data and information.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · December 4, 2022
3. S. Korea's trade chief to visit U.S. for talks on Inflation Reduction Act
(LEAD) S. Korea's trade chief to visit U.S. for talks on Inflation Reduction Act | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김보람 · December 4, 2022
(ATTN: ADDS new info in last 3 paras)
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun will visit the United States for talks on the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that excludes electric vehicles assembled outside North America from tax incentives, the ministry said Sunday.
Ahn is set to hold meetings with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, John Podesta, the senior adviser to the U.S. president for clean energy innovation and implementation, as well as U.S. lawmakers during a five-day visit that begins Monday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Ahn's visit came just days after South Korea sent its second official written opinion to Washington on tax benefits for clean hydrogen and fuel production and commercial eco-friendly cars over the weekend.
South Korea provided its first official comments on EVs and related sectors last month.
The IRA, signed by U.S. President Joe Biden in August, gives up to US$7,500 in tax credits to buyers of electric vehicles assembled only in North America.
The act has sparked concerns that Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. could lose ground in the U.S. market, as they produce EVs at domestic plants for export to the U.S., and South Korea has strongly voiced the need to create exceptions for Korean-made EVs.
On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden acknowledged that the law may have "glitches" during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to foreign media reports.
Meanwhile, Lee Jae-myung, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, said he has sent letters to Korean Americans in the U.S. Congress, asking for their help to revise the IRA.
In the U.S. midterm elections last month, four Korean Americans -- Andy Kim, Young Kim, Michelle Steel and Marilyn Strickland -- were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
"Roles of Korean American lawmakers, who have contributed to the Seoul-Washington relations, became more important than ever," Lee wrote on Facebook. "In the letter, I explained to them that concerns over the IRA should be resolved in a reasonable way."
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 김보람 · December 4, 2022
4. Seoul arrests ex-top security official over border killing
Seoul arrests ex-top security official over border killing
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · December 3, 2022
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s former national security director was arrested Saturday over a suspected cover-up surrounding North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official near the rivals’ sea boundary in 2020.
Suh Hoon’s arrest early Saturday came as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative government investigates his liberal predecessor’s handling of that killing and another border incident the same year, cases that prompted criticism Seoul was desperately trying to appease the North to improve relations.
Former President Moon Jae-in, who staked his single-term on inter-Korean rapprochement before leaving office in May, has reacted angrily to the investigation into Suh’s actions. Moon issued a statement this week accusing Yoon’s government of raising groundless allegations and politicizing sensitive security matters.
Judge Kim Jeong-min of the Seoul Central District Court granted prosecutor’s request to arrest Suh over concerns that he may attempt to destroy evidence, the court said in a statement. Suh didn’t answer reporters’ questions about the allegations on Friday as he appeared at the court for a review over the prosecution’s warrant request.
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A previous inquiry by South Korea’s Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that officials from Moon’s government made no meaningful attempt to rescue Lee Dae-jun after learning that the 47-year-old fisheries official was drifting in waters near the Koreas’ western sea boundary in September 2020.
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After confirming that Lee had been fatally shot by North Korean troops, officials publicly played up the possibility that he had tried to defect to North Korea, citing his gambling debts and family issues, while withholding evidence suggesting he had no such intention, the audit board said in an October report.
Suh also served as Moon’s spy chief before being appointed as national security director two months before the killing. He faces suspicions that he used a Cabinet meeting to instruct officials to delete intelligence records related to the incident while the government crafted a public explanation of Lee’s death.
Suh is also suspected of ordering the Defense Ministry, National Intelligence Service, and the Coast Guard to portray Lee as trying to defect in their reports on his killing.
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Critics say the Moon government went out of its way to paint Lee as unsympathetic as it tried to appease a nuclear-armed rival with a brutal human rights record.
In June, the Defense Ministry and coast guard reversed the Moon government’s description of the incident, saying there was no evidence that Lee had tried to defect.
Moon’s Democratic Party issued a statement criticizing Suh’s arrest, saying suspicions he might destroy evidence were unreasonable since “all the materials are in the hands of the Yoon Suk Yeol government.”
“The Defense Ministry, Coast Guard, National Intelligence Service and other security-related agencies have made a judgment on the Western Sea incident based on an analysis of information and circumstances,” the party said in a statement. It called the investigation a type of political vendetta.
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Yoon’s government is separately investigating the 2019 forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen, despite their reported wish to resettle in South Korea.
In July, the National Intelligence Service filed charges against Suh and his spy chief successor Park Jie-won for alleged abuse of power, destruction of public records and falsification of documents regarding the two cases.
The agency accused Park, who served as its director until May, of ordering the destruction of intelligence reports on Lee’s death. It accused Suh of forcibly closing an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 2019 repatriation of the two North Korean fisherman captured in South Korean waters.
Critics say Moon’s government never provided a clear explanation of why it sent the two escapees back to the North to face possible execution. Moon’s officials described the men as criminals who confessed to murder and questioned the sincerity of their wish to defect.
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Dozens of international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, issued a joint statement accusing Moon’s government of failing to provide due process or to “protect anyone who would be at substantial risk of torture or other serious human rights violations after repatriation.”
Moon left office with little to show for his engagement efforts with the North and the investigations into the two incidents have further tarnished his legacy.
Moon met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in 2018 and lobbied hard to set up Kim’s meetings with former U.S. President Donald Trump as part of efforts to defuse the nuclear standoff and improve inter-Korean ties.
But the diplomacy never recovered from the failure of the second Kim-Trump meeting in 2019 in Vietnam. Talks collapsed when the sides could not agree on exchanging an end to crippling U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea for steps by the North to wind down its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · December 3, 2022
5. A Win for Ukraine Against Russia Means Trouble for China and North Korea
Possibly. We will have to see.
A Win for Ukraine Against Russia Means Trouble for China and North Korea
19fortyfive.com · by Robert Kelly · December 4, 2022
A Victory for Ukraine would be Excellent for Asia – and Not Just Taiwan: There has been much talk about the lessons of the Ukraine War for Taiwan. But ramifications of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war reach even wider for East Asia.
A Ukrainian victory, although operationally irrelevant there, would be grand and strategically relevant for many regional issues.
Taiwan
The parallels of the Ukraine war to Taiwan’s predicament are obvious. Russia and China are large, militarily powerful states run by expansionist autocrats pursuing territorial aggression against a small, neighboring state whose sovereignty and self-determination they do not accept.
As such, a Ukrainian win would reduce any perception by Chinese President Xi Jinping that Putin has created a ‘model’ whereby a large power can violate the United Nations charter, attack and absorb a small country, and get away with it.
Putin’s expectation seemed to be that he could win the war in a few days, perhaps a week. His blitzkrieg would win, because Ukraine was barely a country; it would quickly fold under pressure. Its people wanted to rejoin the Russia World. It appears that Russian elites, isolated in this information bubble, believed this propaganda. Russia’s media is closed and ideological
It is easy to foresee Chinese elites believing the same about Taiwan. They, too, are isolated in a closed information space. They, too, refuse to accept that Taiwan increasingly has its own identity and may assume the war would be quick. Putin’s stumble are likely giving them pause.
South China Sea and Ukraine
A Ukrainian victory would also reinforce the norm that borders cannot be changed by force. That is valuable for Southeast Asian states striving with Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea. China’s militarization of islands in that sea is well-known. Xi apparently promised US President Barack Obama that he would not absorb and develop those islets but is now doing so anyway.
China’s claims in the South China Sea are capacious, extending 1600 kilometers south from Hainan island to Indonesia’s Riau Islands. Multiple states are impacted, complemented by a threat to the sea lanes through the space. Much petroleum transits the South China Sea from the Persian Gulf toward northeast Asia. The Chinese navy’s domination of the South China Sea could allow it to blockade that traffic as leverage.
Nuclear Coercion
A Ukrainian victory would also signal that nuclear coercion has limits.
Even though Russia’s nuclear weapons have limited NATO participation in the Ukraine War, they have not stopped it.
This is an important lesson in Korea particularly, where there is real anxiety that North Korea will learn from Russia that it can use nuclear threats to erode US alliance commitments and hamper outside assistance. This is turn is driving South Korean to consider nuclear weapons. Were North Korea to successfully use its nuclear weapons to force concessions from South Korea, or were it to use them to inhibit US assistance to South Korea in a crisis, then Japan might well build nuclear weapons also.
The appeal of nuclear weapons is not simply their value for defense and deterrence. They also offer the possibility of blackmail and coercion. Ukraine sought a no-fly zone from NATO in March, but NATO refused, primarily out of fear of escalation with a nuclear power. Were Russia non-nuclear, it is likely that NATO would be much more directly involved in the war. NATO has shown appropriate caution, but it is crucial that Russian nukes not completely end assistance to Ukraine out of exaggerated fears of escalation. To do so would encourage nasty rogue states like North Korea (or Iran in the future) to try the same.
War Crimes in Ukraine
Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine have been appalling – torture, rape, and the indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas.
If we want to insist that China, North Korea, and Myanmar follow at least minimal standards of behavior, then Ukraine’s effort to hold Russia to account helps immensely. By documenting the specific behavior of Russian units and even particular servicemen, Ukraine demonstrates that even in the chaos of war, individual soldiers will be held accountable. Their violence will not simply be lost in the larger maelstrom. This is a useful signal, particularly for a Chinese move on Taiwan which could devolve into grinding urban combat in the island’s cities.
Putin sought a fait-accompli – rapid aggression by a large power to quickly reorganize borders before outsiders could take action, using nuclear threats to force acceptance. Such a model is tempting to other autocracies, including China or North Korea. Ukraine is doing East Asia a service by destroying any such ‘model’ before it sets in.
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 · December 4, 2022
6. Tyrant of the year 2022: Kim Jong-un, North Korea - Index on Censorship
Some nice artwork for their rogue's gallery of tyrants. See the artist's renditions at the link.
https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2022/12/tyrant-of-the-year-2022-kim-jong-un-north-korea/?utm_source=pocket_saves
Tyrant of the year 2022: Kim Jong-un, North Korea - Index on Censorship
indexoncensorship.org · by Index on Censorship · December 1, 2022
“As far as freedoms go, there is no landscape so bleak as North Korea,” says Index assistant editor Katie Dancey-Downs. “Under Kim Jong-un’s totalitarian regime, citizens are fed propaganda in lieu of actual food. And as for elections? The ballot paper has only one option.”
Kim Jong-un continues to rule as the supreme leader of North Korea, keeping alive the brutal legacy of the Kim dynasty. He makes a grand show of nuclear weapons on the global stage (including recently firing more than 20 missiles across the sea border with South Korea) while much of the country lives in extreme poverty and under close surveillance. One of Kim’s most recent photo opportunities was alongside what is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile – he watched as the test was launched.
Criticism of the regime is not tolerated. Dissent is punished severely. Executions and prison camps drive fear under this totalitarian regime, while lavish displays of affection are demanded by its leader.
“North Koreans are nothing short of modern-day slaves who have been deprived of freedom of expression and movement,” says Jihyun Park, a UK-based activist who escaped from North Korea – twice. “North Korea is a place where I lived like a machine and remained silent.”
North Korea lands in last place in the Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index, out of 180 countries. Only official government news sources are permitted, which are packed with propaganda. No outside information gets in, and what the rest of the world gets to see is controlled with the tightest of grips. Some tyrants might overreach on internet clampdowns, but for Kim it’s all or nothing. North Koreans only have access to a localised intranet, with absolutely no view of the world wide web in any form.
With Kim Jong-un the third generation in the dynasty, and talks of his eventual successor hotting up, Dancey-Downs comments: “Perhaps beyond simply Tyrant of the Year, Kim should be up for a lifetime achievement award.”
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7. Could Yoon be a Thatcher?
Interesting comparison.
Thatcher cured the British disease marvelously, but it also cast a long shadow. When she passed away in 2013, citizens of Liverpool, a labor-friendly city, shouted, “The Witch is dead!” That manifests hatred so deeply entrenched over the years. Nevertheless, Thatcher could push dramatic reforms thanks to solid support from the middle class.
What about Yoon? Six months into presidency, his approval rating is in the 30 percent range. Internal conflicts in the PPP, a series of appointment fiascoes, problems with his attitude and frequent slips of the tongue helped lower his approval ratings. Currently, Yoon’s opponents nearly double his supporters. A president trying to shun responsibility for the Itawon tragedy from the beginning, and his emotional reaction to the press, only help worsen such risks.
The president will likely be forced to appeal for support by championing the need for reform instead of bragging of the results of his reform effort. If his approval rating remains stagnant under such circumstances, what will happen? Fortunate is Yoon’s approval rating stuck in the 30 percent range despite repeated fumbles by Yoon, his aides and PPP over the past six months. But complacency is dangerous. The DP lost power in the Mar. 9 presidential election after being elated by the concrete 40 percent support for president Moon. The term “concrete” means less elasticity. Just as unions helped Thatcher to take power, the DP now helps the Yoon government by betting all on protecting its boss Lee Jae-myung who’s facing a number of allegations against him.
Sunday
December 4, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Could Yoon be a Thatcher?
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/12/04/opinion/columns/Yoon-Sukyeol-Margaret-Thatcher-reform/20221204194726606.html
Lee Hyun-sang
The author is a senior editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.
In his first speech at the National Assembly in May, President Yoon Suk-yeol mentioned the “partnership” between Prime Minister Winston Churchill and opposition leader Clement Attlee in his war Cabinet. The conservative president’s underscoring of co-governance with the Democratic Party (DP) drew much attention. However, given his hawkish response to massive protests by labor unions, the president’s role model seems to have changed to Margaret Thatcher from Churchill. Thatcher quelled the British disease — overly generous welfare, high cost and low efficiency — through radical reforms. She reestablished Britain as a major power after its long descent in the postwar era. The pillar of her crusade was a head-to-head confrontation with labor unions.
In the 1970s, unions were indomitable in the UK to the extent that strikes by unionized miners led to an election defeat of the Conservative Party led by Edward Heath. But the unfettered strife forced the British — the middle class in particular — turn their backs on labor unions. The pinnacle of that standoff was the Winter of Discontent from November 1978 to February 1979, when all trains, buses and subways stopped. Patients were denied of their rights to get medical treatment at hospitals at the time. Seventy percent of the people pointed to the unions as a source of serious social problems. The hard-line stance of unions largely contributed to the landslide victory of the Tories led by Thatcher in the parliamentary elections in May 1979.
The Korean equivalent of the British disease may have been in President Yoon’s mind before he enforced an executive order to bring members of the belligerent Cargo Truckers Solidarity back to work. Yoon, former prosecutor general, must have thought that upholding law and principles is an unalienable identity of his administration. Between Thatcher and Yoon there are other similarities, too, such as cherishing free market and privatization, downsizing the public sector and streamlining hefty welfare services.
However, overlapping images does not mean same political conditions. Thatcher could earn the badge of honor as the longest-serving British prime minister since World War II after winning in three general elections. But the period of her 11-year reign was not so smooth. In the first term, her approval rating fell to the 20-percent range after jobless rates soared as a result of industrial restructuring. Without a decisive triumph in the Falklands War, the Conservative Party would have failed to extend its power. It was in the mid-1980s — Thatcher’s second term — that her reform drive started to bear fruits.
President Yoon has four and a half years left in his five-year single term. Sixteen months later, nationwide parliamentary elections will be held to determine the fate of his administration. Yoon singled out labor, pension and education reforms as major goals of his administration. But reform is long and arduous work because of vehement resistance from stakeholders and slow progress. In other words, the president cannot use tangible results of his reform drive to campaign for his People Power Party (PPP) in the parliamentary elections in April 2024. But if he drags his feet on the reform, it can make conservative voters turn their backs on him and the PPP. That’s a dilemma for the president.
Thatcher cured the British disease marvelously, but it also cast a long shadow. When she passed away in 2013, citizens of Liverpool, a labor-friendly city, shouted, “The Witch is dead!” That manifests hatred so deeply entrenched over the years. Nevertheless, Thatcher could push dramatic reforms thanks to solid support from the middle class.
What about Yoon? Six months into presidency, his approval rating is in the 30 percent range. Internal conflicts in the PPP, a series of appointment fiascoes, problems with his attitude and frequent slips of the tongue helped lower his approval ratings. Currently, Yoon’s opponents nearly double his supporters. A president trying to shun responsibility for the Itawon tragedy from the beginning, and his emotional reaction to the press, only help worsen such risks.
The president will likely be forced to appeal for support by championing the need for reform instead of bragging of the results of his reform effort. If his approval rating remains stagnant under such circumstances, what will happen? Fortunate is Yoon’s approval rating stuck in the 30 percent range despite repeated fumbles by Yoon, his aides and PPP over the past six months. But complacency is dangerous. The DP lost power in the Mar. 9 presidential election after being elated by the concrete 40 percent support for president Moon. The term “concrete” means less elasticity. Just as unions helped Thatcher to take power, the DP now helps the Yoon government by betting all on protecting its boss Lee Jae-myung who’s facing a number of allegations against him.
8 New book on Korean history
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I will check this one out.
New book on Korean history
The Korea Times · December 4, 2022
By Mark Peterson
I just returned to the States from a trip to Korea ― my first trip in exactly three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an eventful and busy trip. I worked on a documentary film about the "miracle battalion" from Utah during the Korean War. I had meet-ups with my YouTube followers and made more videos with them. I attended two conferences on "Sijo" (a Korean traditional poetic form) and the spread of Sijo in America. But the events that kept me busiest were about the publication of my new book on Korean history ― "Views of Korean History by a Frog Outside the Well."
The book is in Korean, so writing about it in an English paper may not be of interest to many of our readers here, but if the Korean edition sells well, the publisher is talking about an English version down the road. The Korean edition is selling well ― in two weeks' time, it's gone into a third printing! That's good news.
One of the enjoyable aspects of publishing a book in the popular market is that of having book signings ― I've published five academic books with typical academic press runs of 1000 copies, but there are not usually book signings for them. This book, however, was written in a conversational style, indeed, with questions given to me by my colleague, Prof. Shin Chaeyong, and with my responses. It was not a footnoted text, but it relies on my years of research and teaching about Korea. And we had book signings in Seoul and Daegu.
None of the "facts" in the book are particularly new. I don't claim any new discoveries. But what I offer is a new approach to facts already well known. And indeed, it is that approach that people have liked about my YouTube channel. And it was the popularity and success of my YouTube channel that led the publishers to approach me about writing the book.
Much of what I wrote, I have touched on in this column over the years. I didn't lift any of the verbiage from the words of this column ― it was all fresh writing ― but many of the ideas in the book have been developed in writing for this column. And I thank the editors of the Korea Times for encouraging me to write the book.
It includes facts that are well-known but I looked at them in an entirely new way and a way that many young scholars are starting to look at as well. For example, it's a simple fact that Korea had long, long dynasties. Joseon lasted 518 years. Goryeo lasted 474 years ― a total of 992 years. And Silla, going back to the mythological past, lasted 992 years. Yes ― 992 is the magic number in Korean history.
The fact that Korea has long dynasties has not been trumpeted as a good thing ― at least not until I started doing it. (Yes, maybe some others have, but…) Most historical writings on the long dynasties have been colored by negative views from the Japanese era where short, "dynamic" dynasties, like the shogunate dynasties of Japan. But I have offered a full-throated rejection of the Japanese era's point of view. I think the long dynasties of Korea are a measure of Korea's "peaceful and stable history" ― another point of view that has not been heralded in Korea.
Coupled with the facts of long dynasties is the fact that Korea never met a short-lived or failed dynasty. Other countries have dynasties that just didn't make it ― 17-year Qin dynasty, the 37-year Sui dynasty, the short-lived Hideyoshi Toyotomi dynasty ― the hugely failed dynasty caused by the losing the 1592 war with the Koreans. Other countries have short-lived dynasties. But not Korea! Even the minor dynasties lived for hundreds of years ― Baekje for 678 years, Buyeo (unclear but) over 600 years, Goguryeo for 705 years, and even "short-lived" Gaya lived for 489 years. Yes, I recognize that some of these dates are problematic, but that is not the issue. The issue is that all these dynasties lasted for hundreds of years, at least, and none of them were "flash in the pan" failed dynasties.
I pointed out that the transition from Gaya to Silla to Goryeo to Joseon was so peaceful that the aristocracy was never destroyed, unlike other countries at the fall of a dynasty. How many Fujiwara, Muromachi, Ashikaga, Oda and Tokugawa can you find in Japan today? But the aristocracy of previous dynasties in Korea ― Kim, Yi, and Pak ― are more than numerous. In fact, Kim-Yi-Pak with ownership of 45 percent of the population, is strong evidence that Korea had peaceful transitions from dynasty to dynasty.
My book argues in several ways that Korea's common narrative of the beaten-up, multiply-invaded, victimized nation is not at all valid. I point out that the centralized state of Korea goes back about 1000 years, when "seonbi," or scholars, were selected to serve in the government. This is in stark contrast to the samurai-driven feudalism of perpetual war in Japan.
Indeed, the selection of officials by the brush, rather than by the sword, argues in graphic terms that the old adage is true ― "the pen is mightier than the sword." And that is the core argument of my new book.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is a professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.
The Korea Times · December 4, 2022
9. North Korea publicly executes 2 teenagers for distributing South Korean movies
Something "pushed aside" because of missile launches?
The brutality of the regime must not be avoided. We must call this out.
North Korea publicly executes 2 teenagers for distributing South Korean movies
A third teenager is publicly executed for murdering his stepmother – seen as equally evil
2022.12.02
rfa.org
North Korea has publicly executed three teenagers by firing squad – two for watching and distributing South Korean movies and one for murdering his stepmother – two sources who witnessed it told Radio Free Asia.
The alleged crimes committed by the teens, estimated to be 16 or 17, were equally evil, authorities told terrified residents, who were forced to watch, the sources said.
“They said, ‘Those who watch or distribute South Korean movies and dramas, and those who disrupt social order by murdering other people, will not be forgiven and will be sentenced to the maximum penalty–death,’” a resident of the city of Hyesan, on the border with China, where the execution took place, told RFA’s Korean service.
The execution took place in October at an airfield in the city, the resident said.
“Hyesan residents gathered in groups at the runway,” she said. “The authorities put the teen-aged students in front of the public, sentenced them to death, and immediately shot them.”
Such executions are rare in North Korea, but not unheard-of. Authorities will typically use executions to terrify people into behaving in the way they want them to.
The executions occurred about a week after authorities held public meetings to tell the public that they were going to get tough on crimes involving foreign media, especially from more prosperous and democratic South Korea.
Smuggled in on flash drives
In recent years, South Korean and Western movies, as well as music and TV shows, have spread throughout North Korea on easily concealable USB flash drives and SD cards. Smugglers bring the media into the country from China, and then it is distributed from person to person.
North Korea has become increasingly worried about South Korean culture – viewed as decadent and anti-revolutionary – rubbing off on its youth.
Several RFA reports over the past few years have documented authorities’ efforts to combat it by randomly seizing smartphones and doling out harsh punishments to violators.
Citizens caught watching a foreign movie are to be sent to a disciplinary labor center according to the Hyesan source. If they are caught again, they will be sent to a correctional labor camp for five years along with their parents, who must take responsibility for improperly educating their children.
But if they are caught distributing or selling South Korean movies, they can face the death penalty, even if they are minors, she said.
“Caught in a trap”
The two teenagers who were executed were caught trying to sell thumb drives containing the contraband media in their local marketplace. Officials plant spies among the public who would then report the sellers to the police, the source said.
“The students were caught in a trap this time,” she said.
News of the execution has spread and terrified people, a resident of neighboring North Hamgyong province told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
“Despite intensive control and crackdowns to eradicate reactionary thought and culture, young people are still caught secretly watching South Korean movies. … So now the authorities are embarking on a reign of terror through public execution,” the second source said.
Law enforcement agencies have ordered that those accused of possessing or distributing impure recordings and publications … must receive swift justice,” she said.
“The likelihood of future public executions is now higher than ever before.”
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
rfa.org
10. Mission: Return to North Korea to retrieve remains of US Navy’s first Black aviator
I look forward to seeing this movie.
Mission: Return to North Korea to retrieve remains of US Navy’s first Black aviator
“Devotion” recounts story of sacrifice and friendship
By Lauren Kim and Hye Jun Seo
2022.12.04
rfa.org
Adam Makos, the author of “Devotion,” who visited North Korea in 2013 to negotiate the retrieval of a Korean War soldier’s remains, hopes to return to continue efforts to recover the remains of Jesse Brown, the U.S. Navy’s first black carrier pilot.
His book, now turned into a major film directed by J.D. Dillard, starring Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell, tells the story of Brown’s heroic legacy and sacrifice during the Korean War, often referred to as the “Forgotten War” because it is overshadowed by World War II and the Vietnam War.
Navy Ensign Jesse L. Brown is seen in the cockpit of an F4U-4 Corsair fighter, circa 1950. Credit: U.S. Navy
Born as a sharecropper’s son in Mississippi during a time of deep segregation in America, Brown became the first Black man to complete Navy flight training in 1948 then was later assigned to assist UN troops in Korea as the war unfolded.
In the 2013 trip to North Korea, Makos was accompanied by Korean War veteran Tom Hudner, who was Brown’s wingman during one of the most brutal fights in the war, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
The two F4U Navy fighter pilots were flying a mission to support the Marines at Chosin in the winter of 1950 when Brown’s plane was shot and began losing fuel. Unable to control his aircraft, Brown crashed in the mountains at least 13 miles behind enemy lines northwest of Chosin Reservoir.
The impact of the crash pinned Brown’s leg against the instrument panel trapping him inside the cockpit, but his wingman couldn’t abandon him.
Map of the crash site of Brown during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Credit: “Devotion” by Adam Makos
“That’s when Tom Hudner did this incredible act. It had never been attempted before. It has never happened since,” Makos said in an interview with Radio Free Asia. “Tom intentionally crash-landed his plane on the mountain next to Jesse Brown to get out and try to save his friend.”
Hudner survived the crash-landing and was able to locate Brown’s plane. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t pull Brown out of the aircraft without any equipment to aid him. Instead, he watched Brown slowly lose consciousness as they waited for rescue to come in subzero temperatures.
With a shallow breath, Brown told Tom to relay one final message to his wife. “Just tell Daisy how much I love her,” he said, as Brown closed his eyes and slumped heavily forward.
When rescue came for the two pilots, Brown was unresponsive and Hudner had no choice but to leave him behind with only a promise to come back for him.
“He said something very unusual. He said, ‘We’ll come back for you.’” said Makos.
According to Makos, Hudner believed he could return for Brown’s body over the next couple of days because the Americans thought the battle of Chosin would be over quickly. But that proved to be untrue as U.S. forces had to retreat.
Never returned
After the war was over, Hudner was not able to go back to North Korea to retrieve his friend.
Determined to help Hudner keep his promise, Makos coordinated with the same team that helped basketball player Dennis Rodman visit North Korea in February 2013.
“Of my 10 days there negotiating with [North Korean officials], we were asking them for permission to go to the crash site to find Jesse Brown ourselves, because [his remains] were never recovered after the war,” said Makos about his trip to the country in July 2013.
Adam Makos and Tom Hudner negotiate with North Korean officials to recover Jesse Brown’s remains. Credit: Adam Makos
But the summer monsoons made the expedition to Chosin Reservoir impossible. Instead, Makos spent his time negotiating with Korean People’s Army officers and attending state-level events with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Roadside damage in North Korea from the summer monsoons in July. Credit: Adam Makos
“We were guests of the North Koreans. We even watched fireworks with Kim Jong Un, which is very surreal when you look and he’s sitting 50 feet behind you in a leather chair watching the fireworks,” Makos said.
Upon returning from his trip to North Korea, Makos continued to work on his novel while also keeping up efforts to continue negotiations for recovering Brown’s remains.
An attempt to restart the operation was put on hold because of the COVID pandemic.
Still, Makos hopes to continue efforts for recovering Brown’s remains by coordinating with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency through civilian contractors.
He believes it is time people remember to honor the forgotten heroes of the Korean War.
“We're going to put a face to the Korean War. And best of all, how can you call it ‘The Forgotten War’ when it's remembered?” asked Makos. “We're going to remember this war.”
Makos’ film, “Devotion,” is now playing in U.S. theaters.
rfa.org
11. Faltering exports hurt Korea's growth momentum, no improvement in sight
Faltering exports hurt Korea's growth momentum, no improvement in sight
The Korea Times · by 2022-12-04 13:44 | Economy · December 4, 2022
Containers are increasingly stacked up at a quay in Busan on Nov. 30, the seventh day of a nationwide strike by unionized truckers, heavily crippling the country's supply chains. Yonhap
Korea is experiencing sluggish exports and record trade deficit over a global economic slowdown, and intertwined challenges both at home and abroad further dimmed prospects for a turnaround anytime soon, experts said Sunday.
The country's exports fell 14 percent on-year to come to US$51.91 billion in November, the first double-digit drop since mid-2020 when South Korea was reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It followed a 5.7 percent fall the previous month when exports logged an on-year decline for the first time in two years.
The poor performance was primarily blamed on dwindling demand for chips.
Outbound shipments of semiconductors sank 29.8 percent on-year to $8.45 billion in November. In particular, sales of memory chips, a key export item of South Korea, dived a whopping 49.7 percent to $3.84 billion.
Chips accounted for 20 percent of the country's total exports last year, but the proportion shrank to 16.3 percent last month.
"There seem to be multiple factors, including sagging demand for electronics amid an economic downturn and excess inventory. The situation is expected to improve gradually after the second half of next year, as chipmakers plan to reduce facility investment and adjust supply," a trade ministry official said.
Government data showed DRAM prices plunged more than 40 percent in November from a year earlier.
Cooling demand from China, Korea's No. 1 trading partner, is also taking a toll.
Exports to China declined 25.5 percent last month to $11.38 billion, extending the on-year fall for the sixth consecutive month. China has put in place strict zero-COVID-19 restrictions and its economy has lost steam.
Waning exports and surging imports due to high global energy prices put Korea on track to record the first annual trade deficit since the global financial crisis in 2008.
A $42.6 billion shortfall from January through November already surpassed the yearly record of $20.62 billion set in 1996.
2022 exports likely to mark on-year growth but pace to slow down
"We had seen a growth in exports earlier this year, which was mainly driven by rising prices amid high inflation, rather than solid growth in demand," Hong Sung-wook, an expert of The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics Trade (KIET), said.
A Samsung Electronics semiconductor manufacturing plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times file
"The situation is feared to worsen next year on deteriorating external conditions, including the prolonged Russia-Ukraine crisis, monetary tightening by major economies and a slowdown in China and elsewhere," he added.
During the first 11 months of this year, exports grew 7.8 percent to come to an all-time high of $629.1 billion.
But the Korea International Trade Organization (KITA) said in its recent report that exports will fall 4 percent next year. The country's yearly exports last fell in 2020 amid the pandemic.
"Exports will remain in the doldrums for some time being. Chip sales are expected to sink 15 percent, which would not be offset by expected growth in sales of ships, display and several other items," KITA official Cho Sang-hyun said.
The trade ministry said it is also closely monitoring the ongoing nationwide strike by truckers as it has disrupted production and logistics and weighed down exports and the broader economy.
Experts pointed to the country's heavy dependence on China and a growing Sino-U.S. rivalry as longer-term risk factors.
According to KITA data, the proportion of South Korea's chip sales in China accounted for 41 percent of its total semiconductor exports from January through September, up from 39.3 percent a year earlier.
The comparable figure for the U.S. market came to 6.5 percent during the cited period, down 0.6 percentage point from the previous year.
Recently, Washington imposed export curbs on selling chips and chip manufacturing equipment to China, sparking concerns over the impact on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Beijing is also making a strong push to reduce its dependence on global chips, and the move would further slash demand for Korean products there, according to market watchers.
"It is necessary to diversify export items by nurturing the system semiconductor sector as its demand has been on the rise in the U.S. and the European nations," KITA official Jang Sang-sik said.
"The government also needs to devise ways to nurture major companies' facility investment at home," he added.
Last week, the Bank of Korea lowered its growth outlook for next year to 1.7 percent from 2.1 percent predicted three months earlier. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · by 2022-12-04 13:44 | Economy · December 4, 2022
12. Will ex-president Moon be targeted over border killing ‘cover-up'?
This could get very ugly.
Will ex-president Moon be targeted over border killing ‘cover-up'?
Bipartisan clashes intensify as former security adviser arrested; Moon says ‘regrettable’
koreaherald.com · by Son Ji-hyoung · December 4, 2022
Lee Rae-jin, brother of the fisheries official Lee Dae-jun who was murdered by North Korean military in September 2020, speaks with media at the Seoul Central District Court on Friday. (Yonhap)
Following former national security adviser Suh Hoon’s arrest on Saturday for allegedly covering up North Korea's killing of a South Korean official in the West Sea, clashes between ruling and opposition parties are intensifying, with eyes on whether the investigation will target former President Moon Jae-in.
The prosecution issued an arrest warrant Saturday at around 4:55 a.m. against former national security adviser and spy agency chief Suh after more than 10 hours of questioning, citing the "risk of Suh destroying evidence." Suh was the first presidential aide of Moon to be arrested among those accused of mishandling of the death of South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official Lee Dae-jun in September 2020.
The ruling party and an attorney representing the deceased official's brother Lee Rae-jin are ramping up calls for justice over the former Moon administration's labeling of Lee Dae-jun as a South Korean defector to North Korea. This had effectively relieved Seoul of its duty to protect Lee and acquitted Pyeongyang of its summary execution. Meanwhile, evidence that Lee was a defector remains under question.
The ruling People Power Party interim chief Chung Jin-suk said in a statement Saturday on social media that Moon's statement last Thursday indicated that Moon should be held accountable for the border killing case.
Moon’s statement, revealed by main opposition Democratic Party Rep. Youn Kun-young, showed that Moon had accepted the conclusion by the ministries and the spy agency that Lee had defected, based on "all the information and context available."
"Moon confessed (in his statement) that he made the final conclusion, which left an innocent public servant neglected as he was gunned down by the North Korean military, while branding this case as a North Korea defection," Chung's statement read.
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, who formerly led the party, echoed the remarks Saturday by saying that the court "had admitted the liability of the Moon administration which turned a victim into a defector by concealing (the truth) in the murder case" with the arrest of Suh.
Kweon also claimed that Moon was attempting to distance himself from liability in his statement by saying he had "accepted the conclusion" instead of saying that he made the conclusion directly.
This came soon after Kim Ki-yun, the legal representative of the deceased official's brother, said Friday that he would submit Moon's statement as evidence of the alleged cover-up of people concerned, including the arrested presidential aide, over the slain official. Other people concerned, such as ex-Minister Suh Wook and ex-Coast Guard chief Kim Hong-hee, were arrested over the incident earlier in October, but both were released from custody less than a month later.
Attorney Kim called Moon's statement "self-contradictory" on Friday.
"Moon on Thursday said facts (regarding the slain official) were impossible to verify, but the Coast Guard defined the case as a defection in its conclusion. How could (the Moon administration) make that conclusion (that Lee had defected) although it was not verifiable?" Kim said.
Ex-national security adviser Suh Hoon (Yonhap)
Should the prosecution zero in on Moon, it would be a step forward from its current stance, as an official from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office earlier defined Suh as the top decision maker and the one with the ultimate responsibility in the evidence-destroying case in a briefing on Thursday.
Lee’s bereaved family filed a complaint with the prosecution in June, accusing three presidential aides from the Moon administration including Suh.
Moon and the main opposition Democratic Party denounced the court decision to arrest Suh, calling it “political retaliation.”
Lim Oh-kyung, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said, "The investigation of political retaliation, which has been decided according to the regime’s tastes, will eventually be judged in court."
The Democratic Party will defend truth and justice against Yoon Suk-yeol’s investigation of “political retaliation and oppression” of the opposition party, Lim said.
Moon on Sunday called the arrest of Suh "a regrettable event that uproots a valuable asset built with trust" given his long-term contribution to South Korea's alliance with the United States, Korea's hosting of a peaceful Olympics and the historic summit between North Korea and the US.
Im Jong-seok, former chief of staff during Moon's tenure, called the moves "political retaliation by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration," adding the court decision has to do with flaws in the nation's judicial system that can be addressed if people join forces to speak out against the arrest.
Separately, Suh is also being investigated for meddling in the probe of the forced repatriation of two North Korean men in 2019. Suh was then chief of the National Intelligence Service. Suh was succeeded by seasoned politician Park Jie-won, who took charge of the spy agency when the border killing occurred.
The NIS filed complaints against its former chiefs, Suh and Park, in July over the North Korean defector repatriation case and the slain official case, respectively.
koreaherald.com · by Son Ji-hyoung · December 4, 2022
13.
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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