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Quotes of the Day:
“All history proves that there is no cheap and easy way to defeat guerrilla movements”
- Henry Kissinger, 1962
"We thought that the dispatch of American forces to any of these threatened areas would, in fact, be self-defeating. The idea of strategic bombing as a weapon against communist infiltration and subversion would have been strange to us. What seemed to us desirable was to stimulate and encourage the rise of indigenous political resistance to communist pressures in the threatened countries. We believed that unless the people and governments of those countries operating through their own political systems, could be induced to pick up the great burden of this load, success was not likely. For us to attempt to carry that burden would have effects — such as the paralysis of local initiative and responsibility, or the negative impact which a great foreign presence inevitably has on the natives of a country — which would tend to defeat the purpose of the undertaking."
- George Kennan, 1967
“The very massiveness of our intervention actually reduced our leverage. So long as we were willing to use U.S. resources and manpower as a substitute for Vietnamese, their incentive for doing more was compromised.”
- Komer, Bureaucracy At War.
1. Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: December - KOREA
2. New US sanctions against North Koreans over missile program
3. Seoul places new sanctions on North Korea over arms buildup
4. N. Korea ramps up efforts to attain 2022 economic goals amid food shortage
5. Russia, China enabling N. Korea's provocative actions for own gains: State Dept. official
6. Will crypto’s collapse implode North Korea’s nukes?
7. Promotions announced in Marine Corps, Special Warfare Command
8. Pentagon: China might intervene in the event of war on Korean Peninsula
9. N. Korea researches ways to use Siemens NX for industrial applications
10. N. Korean women’s association tells members to better support their husbands
11. North Korean bandits steal 200 kilos of gold bars worth US $12 million
1. Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: December - KOREA
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: December
Korea
By David Maxwell
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2022/12/01/biden-administration-foreign-policy-tracker-december/?utm#korea
Previous Trend: Positive
North Korea conducted six separate missile tests in November, launching over 30 missiles into both the East Sea (Sea of Japan) and the West Sea (Yellow Sea). In addition to short-range ballistic missiles, the DPRK tested two Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). While the first ICBM appears to have failed, the second was successful. Kim Jong Un’s nine- year-old daughter attended the latter test, prompting much premature speculation on regime succession. For the first time, Pyongyang also fired surface-to-air missiles across the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea into South Korean waters, prompting the South Korean Air Force to fire its own missiles across the NLL. Russia and China again protected Pyongyang from international consequences by blocking a UN Security Council response. Meanwhile, although there are no indications of immediate North Korean plans to conduct another nuclear test, Seoul has called for an unprecedented response if Pyongyang does conduct one.
On November 3, Seoul and Washington held the 54th Security Consultative Meeting, during which the allies made progress on a number of Korean and Indo-Pacific security issues from extended deterrence to operational-control transition. A week later, Seoul unveiled its Indo-Pacific strategy, which emphasizes South Korea’s role as a “global pivotal state” and complements the U.S. vision for a “free and open Indo-Pacific.” Finally, trilateral ROK-Japan-U.S. cooperation continued to improve. On November 13, the leaders released a statement calling for sharing real-time missile warning data. The statement could lay the foundation for an integrated missile defense structure.
2. New US sanctions against North Koreans over missile program
New US sanctions against North Koreans over missile program
Stars and Stripes · by • · December 1, 2022
A Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile is seen before its test firing at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Nov. 18, 2022. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on three members of North Korea’s ruling party’s central committee for their involvement in the country’s ballistic missile program.
The Treasury Department announced it was targeting the director and vice director of the Workers Party of Korea, Jon Il Ho and Yu Jin, respectively, along with another central committee member, Kim Su Gil, with asset freezes and bans on Americans conducting any type of business with them.
The sanctions came as North Korea has ramped up its ballistic missile testing to a record pace this year with more than 60 launches, dialing up pressure on Washington and Seoul.
The three officials “played major roles” in North Korea’s development of weapons in violation of U.N. resolutions, the Treasury Department said in a statement, and “have personally attended numerous ballistic missile launches since at least 2017.”
The trio were penalized by the European Union in April and had been previously covered under existing U.S. sanctions against the North’s ruling party.
The dozens of tests have included multiple launches of ICBMs with a potential range to reach the U.S. mainland and an intermediate-range missile flown over Japan.
North Korea has also conducted a barrage of short-range launches it described as simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean and U.S. targets as it angrily reacted to the expansion of the allies’ combined military exercises, which North Korea insists are rehearsals for a potential invasion.
North Korea has punctuated the tests with threats of nuclear conflict with Washington and Seoul that communicated an escalatory nuclear doctrine.
The North’s rubber-stamp parliament in September passed a law that authorized preemptive nuclear attacks in a broad range of scenarios, including non-war situations, where the country may perceive its leadership as under threat.
Stars and Stripes · by • · December 1, 2022
3. Seoul places new sanctions on North Korea over arms buildup
It appears the ROK/US alliance is in sync here. These actions must have had prior coordination due to the timing.
Kim's actions just keeps making the ROK/US alliance stronger.
Seoul places new sanctions on North Korea over arms buildup
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · December 2, 2022
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Friday sanctioned eight people and seven companies suspected of engaging in illicit activities to finance North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons and missile programs.
The move, which prohibits South Koreans from conducting any type of business with them without authorization, was largely symbolic as there are little financial dealings between the rival Koreas.
But the steps may still draw an irritated response from North Korea, which last month called South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his government “idiots” and a “wild dog gnawing on a bone given by the U.S.” after Seoul said it’s considering placing more unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang.
The South Korean sanctions were announced shortly after the U.S. Treasury Department said it sanctioned three members of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party who provided support to the country’s development of nuclear and ballistic weapons.
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South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Seoul’s sanctions were in response to the North’s heightening weapons threat, highlighted by last month’s testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile that demonstrated potential range to reach the U.S. mainland.
The eight people and seven companies targeted by Seoul had already been sanctioned by Washington and were involved in a variety of North Korean efforts to evade United Nations Security Council sanctions to finance its weapons program, including ship-to-ship transfers of fuel and illicit exports of labor, the ministry said.
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Those listed on the sanctions included six officials from four different North Korean banks, a Taiwanese national named Chen Shih Huan, and a Singaporean named Kwek Kee Seung. Four of the sanctioned companies were North Korean trade and shipping firms and the other three were Singapore-based shipping firms.
“(Our) government has been maintaining close coordination with the United States and Japan so that the same individuals and groups are placed together under the unilateral sanctions of related nations to raise the awareness of the international community and strengthen the effectiveness of sanctions,” the ministry said in a statement.
South Korea imposed sanctions in October on 15 individuals and 16 organizations accused of supporting North Korea’s arms development, which were Seoul’s first unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang in five years.
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North Korea ramped up its weapons demonstrations to a record pace this year, test-firing dozens of missiles including ICBMs, as it exploited the distraction created by Russia’s war on Ukraine to advance its weapons program and dial up pressure on Washington and Seoul.
U.S. and South Korean officials have also said there are signs that the North is preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since September 2017. That would escalate a brinkmanship experts say is aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power, and negotiating concessions from a position of strength.
China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-led attempt in May to toughen Security Council sanctions on North Korea over its earlier ballistic tests, underscoring a division between the council’s permanent members deepened over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Experts say the North’s next nuclear test, which would be its seventh overall, is likely be the first in which the Security Council fails to respond with new punitive measures.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the Asia-Pacific region at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · December 2, 2022
4. N. Korea ramps up efforts to attain 2022 economic goals amid food shortage
Perhaps they will achieve their goals on paper. Figures lie and liars figure.
N. Korea ramps up efforts to attain 2022 economic goals amid food shortage | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · December 2, 2022
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has modernized agricultural facilities in a bid to help tackle its food shortage as it seeks to achieve its economic goals set for this year, according to Pyongyang's state media Friday.
The North has modernized livestock breeding farms in the northeastern border city of Rason, along with the construction of related facilities for feed and others, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The KCNA also reported the country has held a ceremony to mark the completion of aquaculture-related facilities in the eastern coastal city of Wonsan.
The move appears to be aimed at attaining this year's economic goals by the end of the year, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un prioritizing improving people's livelihoods amid chronic food shortages worsened by COVID-19 border controls and global sanctions.
North Korea said Thursday it will hold a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in late December to review this year's achievements and discuss plans for the new year. The North's leader could use the upcoming session as a venue to deliver a major speech to replace his annual New Year's Day address.
"The government is monitoring relevant situations as the North did not unveil details of the agenda for the meeting," Lee Hyo-jung, deputy spokesperson of Seoul's unification ministry, said at a regular press briefing.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · December 2, 2022
5. Russia, China enabling N. Korea's provocative actions for own gains: State Dept. official
Russia, China enabling N. Korea's provocative actions for own gains: State Dept. official
The Korea Times · December 2, 2022
Eliot Kang, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, is seen delivering keynote remarks in a seminar hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington in this image captured from the website of the Washington-based research institute, Dec. 1. Yonhap
Russia and China are not only refusing to hold North Korea accountable for its military provocations but are allowing Pyongyang to continue its bad behavior as it supports their own interests, a senior U.S. state department official argued Thursday.
Russia and China, both veto power-wielding permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), derailed 10 U.S.-proposed UNSC meetings to impose additional sanctions on North Korea or condemn its missile provocations this year.
"Using its role as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, Russia has gone to great lengths to shield the DPRK from accountability for increasingly provocative behavior," Eliot Kang, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation," said in a seminar hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
Kang noted Pyongyang has fired over 60 ballistic missiles this year, "violating a series of U.N. Security council resolutions (UNSCR) that prohibit such launches."
"Yet Russia, in concert with the PRC, have repeatedly blocked the U.N. from taking steps to address DPRK missile activities, including vetoing a draft resolution that would have strengthened the current U.N. sanctions regime," he added, referring to China by its official name, the People's Republic of China.
Kang argued Russia especially has been working to undermine the global nonproliferation regime, amid its ongoing war against Ukraine and its increasingly intensifying competition with the U.S.
"Now Russia's effort to undermine multilateral nonproliferation efforts is not limited to specific treaties," said Kang.
"Where Russia once supported the adoption of U.N. Security Council resolutions that impose tough sanctions and other restrictive measures on proliferators like Iran, today, Russia is not only doing little to implement and enforce these obligations, it's actually actively violating them by acquiring prohibited items itself," he added.
Kang noted that Russia was actively violating UNSC sanctions when it came to North Korea, saying, "Russia is in the process of acquiring prohibited munition from the DPRK to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
"Additionally, Russia does little domestically to enforce relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions on the DPRK," he added. "For example, Russia continues to allow numerous DPRK laborers to earn income in its jurisdiction in defiance of UNSCR 2397." (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · December 2, 2022
6. Will crypto’s collapse implode North Korea’s nukes?
I doubt they had converted the currency to hard cash so perhaps they have lost a lot of money. Will it affect nuclear and missile development? An interesting thought.
Will crypto’s collapse implode North Korea’s nukes?
Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies stolen by Pyongyang regime’s hackers have reportedly financed its WMD program
asiatimes.com · by James Jin Kang · December 2, 2022
Since the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, FTX, declared bankruptcy last month, the flow-on effects have been felt far and wide.
But among the many victims are also some not-so-innocent parties. For the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a country facing heavy sanctions, cryptocurrency theft has been a (relatively) simple way to fund the country’s expanding nuclear arsenal.
It’s well documented that Kim Jong Un’s military operation hackers have been stealing cryptocurrency to support North Korea’s nuclear and missile program for several years.
But with the general downturn in the crypto market, coupled with the recent FTX collapse and myriad other pitfalls, analysts estimate North Korea has probably lost most of its crypto haul.
Can we expect its nuclear weapons development to come to a halt, or slow down? It seems unlikely.
What North Korea’s hackers have been up to
North Korea sponsors several hacker groups, including Lazarus Group (also called Guardian of Peace and Whois Team) and Advanced Persistent Threat 38 (APT38).
While nobody knows exactly how many North Korea-backed hackers there are, experts have estimated Kim Jong Un has between 6,000 and 7,000 working both inside and outside the country.
North Korea has invested in its national cybercrime arsenal for some 15 years. It’s almost impossible for an organization to defend itself against a hacker army of this size and caliber once it comes charging.
In 2016, Lazarus hackers came close to stealing US$1 billion from Bangladesh’s national bank – but a typo in the computer code meant they only got away with US$81 million.
Since then, they’ve refined their methods. Lazarus has been accused of stealing $571 million from cryptocurrency exchanges between January 2017 and September 2018, $316 million from 2019 to November 2020, and $840 million in the first five months of 2022.
According to Chainalysis, North Korean hackers have stolen an estimated total of about US$1 billion in cryptocurrency this year. A large chunk of this would have come from Lazarus’s massively lucrative heist against non-fungible token-based online game Axie Infinity.
In April, US authorities held the group responsible for stealing $620 million in cryptocurrency from the game. For context, it’s estimated North Korea only earned about $142 million from trade exports in 2020.
Okay, so how much has it now lost?
It’s difficult to say exactly how much cryptocurrency has been stolen (and used) by North Korean hackers – and therefore how much might remain in Pyongyang’s coffers.
In June, blockchain analyst and former FBI analyst Nick Carlsen told Reuters one of North Korea’s crypto caches had lost 80% to 85% of its value in a number of weeks, falling to less than US$10 million.
Losses will have intensified following the FTX collapse. According to a Chainalysis report, in January North Korea held about US$170 million in stolen unlaundered cryptocurrency, taken from 49 hacks conducted from 2017 to 2021. It also claims Ethereum was the most common cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea in 2021, making up 58% of the total theft.
Ether’s value fell by more than 20% following the FTX crash and remains low. It’s reasonable to expect North Korea will wait before cashing out. When it does, experts looking on will be in a better place to figure out how much it has.
North Korea’s stolen crypto loots have probably gone down in value, but that’s no reason to think it will stop stealing. Photo: KCNA
Why steal crypto to fund nuclear weapons tests?
The United States, South Korea and Japan have been warning North Korea against conducting a seventh nuclear test. But Kim Jong-un doesn’t seem to be letting up.
Last Saturday, at the launch of North Korea’s largest ballistic missile yet, he told state media that the “ultimate goal is to possess the world’s most powerful strategic force, the absolute force unprecedented in the century.”
International sanctions and border closures due to Covid-19 have made it difficult for North Korea to trade and generate funds through other means – which makes the cryptocurrency market an especially attractive target.
Cryptocurrency remains unregulated by most countries’ governments. At the same time, transactions can be made quickly and allow more anonymity than transactions made through traditional banking systems.
It’s also easier to hack a cryptocurrency exchange than it is to hack a bank. The latter are almost always bolstered by advanced security barriers and sometimes require in-person appearances.
No more missile tests, for now?
The rapid drop in crypto’s value, compounded by the FTX crash, certainly will have left a dent in North Korea’s nuclear military expansion funds. Nonetheless, Kim Jong Un’s cybercriminal army will likely find new sources of illicit income (and will probably keep stealing crypto, too).
North Korea has also had financial support from supporters in South Korea who follow the “Juche” ideology – the same Marxist-Leninist-adjacent political philosophy imposed in North Korea.
And in April American crypto expert Virgil Griffith pleaded guilty to helping North Korea evade US sanctions by using cryptocurrency.
Then there’s China – a key player in deciding whether sanctions against North Korea will actually work. In May, China joined Russia in vetoing a draft proposal from the US to tighten sanctions against North Korea, with which China continues to trade.
As long as North Korea can glean financial benefit from China, and other avenues as mentioned above, it’s unlikely to stop its plans.
James Jin Kang is an adjunct lecturer in computing and security at Edith Cowan University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
asiatimes.com · by James Jin Kang · December 2, 2022
7. Promotions announced in Marine Corps, Special Warfare Command
Promotions announced in Marine Corps, Special Warfare Command
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/11/30/national/defense/Korea-Marine-Corps-Defense-Ministry/20221130180424391.html
Maj. Gen. Kim Gye-hwan
Korea on named new heads of the Marine Corps and the Army's Special Warfare Command in a regular reshuffle that affected scores of general-grade officers, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
Maj. Gen. Kim Gye-hwan, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, will be promoted to lieutenant general to lead the service.
He will replace Lt. Gen. Kim Tae-sung, who has served in the post since April 2021.
Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1990, Kim has served in key posts like commander of the 1st Marine Division.
Maj. Gen. Son Sik of the Army Personnel Command will be promoted to three-star rank to head the Special Warfare Command.
He is to replace Lt. Gen. So Young-min, who has led the command since December 2020.
The ministry also announced Vice Adm. Kang Dong-hun, head of the ROK Fleet Command, as new vice chief of naval operations, and Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo as the commander of the Fleet Command.
ROK stands for South Korea's official name, Republic of Korea.
Yonhap
8. Pentagon: China might intervene in the event of war on Korean Peninsula
We must make that assumption. To assume otherwise will be October/November 1950 all over again. But we must figure out how to prevent or mitigate such an action.
Pentagon: China might intervene in the event of war on Korean Peninsula
donga.com
Posted December. 01, 2022 07:27,
Updated December. 01, 2022 07:27
Pentagon: China might intervene in the event of war on Korean Peninsula. December. 01, 2022 07:27. weappon@donga.com.
The U.S. Department of Defense recognized the possibility that the Chinese military may intervene to get hold of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction in the event of war on the Korean Peninsula. It analyzed that in the case of military confrontation between the South and the North on the peninsula or the North Korean regime's collapse, China might send its army to prevent South Korea and the U.S. from taking over control of North Korea’s nuclear and missile facilities. It is known that the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command’s Plan includes an operation to expeditiously take control of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal in the event of a sudden shift on the Korean Peninsula.
In the 2022 China Military Power Report, the U.S. Department of Defense stated Tuesday that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is conducting military exercises in preparation for a contingency on the Korean Peninsula, including air, land, sea, and chemical defense training events. “China’s leaders could order the Northern Theater Command to engage in a range of operations in the event of a crisis.”
“These could include securing the China-North Korea border to control the flow of refugees or a military intervention into North Korea to secure weapons of mass destruction or preserve a North Korean buffer state,” the report stated.
The U.S. Department of Defense revealed the 2022 China Military Power Report, which also consists of the nation’s defense budget. It had submitted to the U.S. Congress last month in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act. Last year’s report contained the same assessment, which is particularly notable given the intensifying military tension between the U.S. and China. The Biden administration is ratcheting up alarms about the Chinese intervention in the event of a contingency on the Korean Peninsula. The National Defense Strategy report that it revealed in October also stated that “a crisis or conflict on the Korean Peninsula could involve a number of nuclear-armed actors, raising the risk of a broader conflict.”
The report also revealed that the Department of Defense estimates that the PRC’s operational nuclear warheads stockpile has surpassed 400 and that China will likely field a stockpile of about 1,500 warheads by 2035. The estimated figure has increased twice in just two years, compared to 200 warheads in the 2020 report.
한국어
donga.com
9. N. Korea researches ways to use Siemens NX for industrial applications
The all purpose sword is truly for all purposes. We underestimate the regime's cyber capabilities at our peril.
N. Korea researches ways to use Siemens NX for industrial applications
North Korea is also embedding malicious code into open source technology used across the world to launch cyber attacks
By Mun Dong Hui - 2022.12.02 5:00pm
dailynk.com
An image capture of one of the publications posted on the Kim Il Sung University website.
North Korea is researching ways to use the powerful computer-aid design, manufacturing and engineering software Siemens NX in local industries, Daily NK has learned.
The latest edition of the school paper on the homepage of Kim Il Sung University (Issue 3, Volume 68, 2022) ran papers entitled, “A Way to Produce Materials for Iron Plate Piston Assembly Frames in the CAD Software NX” and “A Way to Maintain the Surface Color Information of Models Disassembled in 3D Modelling Design Using NX.”
NX is a widely used piece of software around the world for designing, managing, simulating and analyzing products. Even North Korea appears to be trying to use it for industrial applications.
One of the papers says designers can use NX to reduce workload and develop materials four to 15 times faster.
However, the international community classifies software, technology and other supplies that could be used to manufacture, develop, use or store conventional weapons, WMDs or missiles as “strategic items,” banning North Korea from importing them.
So, North Korea might be using NX illegally rather than formally purchasing the right to use the software. It costs anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars to legally purchase NX.
The same school paper included more material on research using software and hardware other than NX, including one on ways to improve query execution capacity on MongoDB lesson history databases, and another on estimating the speed of moving objects using the Kinect motion controller.
MongoDB is a US-based database software manufacturer, while Kinect is Microsoft’s motion controller.
FOREIGN SOFTWARE USED EXTENSIVELY IN VARIOUS FIELDS
In fact, North Korea is reportedly using foreign software and hardware in all sorts of fields.
North Korea’s state-run media such as the KCNA and Rodong Sinmun use Nikon and Sony cameras from Japan, and edit the photos with Adobe Photoshop. The North Korean media also uses DJI drones from China for aerial photography, equipped with Swedish-made Hasselblad cameras.
There are images everywhere of North Koreans conducting research using particular Intel CPUs, or using NVIDIA graphic cards to develop AI. North Korean media have shown images of even North Korean leader Kim Jong Un using Apple computers and iPads.
Thus, North Korea is using overseas electronics and software for industrial and research purposes.
North Korea also makes liberal use of open source materials. In fact, North Korea is creating large-scale, 3D geographic data environments using Linux clients such as PuTTY and KiTTY, as well as geographic information systems, or GIS.
Nevertheless, North Korea is also embedding malicious code into open source technology used across the world to launch cyber attacks.
Microsoft said last month that a North Korean hacking group used open source software to launch a massive social engineering attack. According to Microsoft, North Korean hackers embedded malicious code into open source programs available to all such as TightVNC and Sumatra PDF Reader to launch attacks on infrastructure facilities in the US, UK and elsewhere.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
10. N. Korean women’s association tells members to better support their husbands
Excerpts:
The source said that the lecture script included the following line: “The Marshal [Kim Jong Un] appeared at the launch pad along with his beloved daughter in order to make our country the greatest nuclear weapon state on the planet for the sake of future generations.”
The lecture moved on to criticize SWUK members: “Despite the example shown by the Marshal’s family, members of the SWUK are provoking discord at home by attempting to divide the household burden with their husbands, who are busily engaged in jobs that strengthen our nation and aid its development. Our members are failing to fully support their husbands.
“The Marshal and his wife Ri Sol Ju personally attended an inspection of the perfection of our nuclear power along with their beloved young daughter. The Marshal’s love for future generations and his supreme dedication to protecting them tearfully evokes the warmest emotions. When our members fail to take any responsibility for their own children, they are ruining our future generations and sympathizing with the reactionary thought and culture of our enemies.”
N. Korean women’s association tells members to better support their husbands
Members of the association were told that they are "provoking discord at home by attempting to divide the household burden with their husbands, who are busily engaged in jobs that strengthen our nation and aid its development"
dailynk.com
Women at a Pyongyang textile factory wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the DPRK's flag. (Rodong Sinmun - News1)
As North Korea flexes its nuclear muscles, the Social Women’s Union of Korea (SWUK) recently organized emergency lectures to press its members to learn from the dedication of Kim Jong Un and his family, Daily NK has learned.
A Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province said Tuesday that SWUK’s executive committee, acting on orders from the country’s leadership, instructed SWUK’s provincial chapters to hold emergency lectures titled, “Let’s sternly crush the frantic efforts of hostile forces to tear down our class system.”
The source explained that the North Korean government had organized these lectures to highlight the political significance of Kim Jong Un’s appearance at the Nov. 19 test launch of the Hwasong-17, a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile, alongside his wife Ri Sol Ju and his daughter. The family’s attendance at the launch supposedly typified how the revolutionary family contributes to the nation’s development.
The source said that the lecture script included the following line: “The Marshal [Kim Jong Un] appeared at the launch pad along with his beloved daughter in order to make our country the greatest nuclear weapon state on the planet for the sake of future generations.”
The lecture moved on to criticize SWUK members: “Despite the example shown by the Marshal’s family, members of the SWUK are provoking discord at home by attempting to divide the household burden with their husbands, who are busily engaged in jobs that strengthen our nation and aid its development. Our members are failing to fully support their husbands.
“The Marshal and his wife Ri Sol Ju personally attended an inspection of the perfection of our nuclear power along with their beloved young daughter. The Marshal’s love for future generations and his supreme dedication to protecting them tearfully evokes the warmest emotions. When our members fail to take any responsibility for their own children, they are ruining our future generations and sympathizing with the reactionary thought and culture of our enemies.”
The lecture brought up hot-button issues in North Korean society today, sharply criticizing SWUK members for getting carried away with American and Korean movies and television shows, which are corrupting not only themselves but their children as well.
The lecture described the role of SWUK members in the following terms. “In order to crush our enemy’s efforts to tear down our revolutionary base, our ideological base and our class base, it is particularly important for women to consolidate control over their children as they take the lead in effectively serving as wives and mothers in the family.”
In connection with this, the lecture also emphasized that “those who fail to carefully supervise and guide their children could face legal and social punishment and could even be branded as traitors to the country and political criminals. We must always be vigilant and revolutionize the family while modeling ourselves on the devotion to the nation demonstrated by the family of the Marshal.”
The source said that these lectures were urgently delivered to all SWUK groups throughout North Hamgyong Province, including Chongjin, beginning on Nov. 22, and that SWUK’s monthly report suggests that meetings will be held to learn from the Marshal’s family.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
11. North Korean bandits steal 200 kilos of gold bars worth US $12 million
Wow. A pretty bold move if true.
It figures it would be those damn former special forces soldiers. None of them can be trusted (not sarcasm).
Excerpt:
Authorities put all former special forces soldiers in North Pyongan province on the list of suspects, and interrogated each one, asking what they were doing on the day of the robbery, but they are still looking for the robbers, the source said.
North Korean bandits steal 200 kilos of gold bars worth US $12 million
Border cities are in a state of emergency as authorities try to prevent the loot from being smuggled to China.
By Hyemin Son for RFA Korean
2022.12.01
rfa.org
The three masked bandits descended upon the armored vehicle, overpowered the two soldiers on guard duty, seized 200 kilograms of gold bars worth U.S.$12 million and rode off into the North Korean countryside, sources inside the country said.
Authorities declared a state of emergency in Sinuiju, Hyesan, and other border cities as they searched desperately for the robbers and their loot, sources living near the cities told Radio Free Asia’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The border cities are on high alert because there is no market for gold in North Korea. The 200-kilogram jackpot is essentially worthless unless it can be smuggled to buyers in China.
The mid-November robbery occurred when an armored vehicle carrying the gold was stopped on the side of the road along Route 1 on its way to the capital Pyongyang from Sinuiju, the sources said.
“There were two fully armed soldiers riding in the armored vehicle, but judging from how quickly the robbers were able to subdue them, it seems like they had special military training,” the source living near Sinuiju said. “The armed soldiers were helpless in that situation.”
Authorities put all former special forces soldiers in North Pyongan province on the list of suspects, and interrogated each one, asking what they were doing on the day of the robbery, but they are still looking for the robbers, the source said.
“The border city of Hyesan is in a state of emergency with investigators from the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Social Security, and soldiers Border Patrol Headquarters all over the place,” a resident of Hyesan’s surrounding Ryanggang province told RFA.
The city is awash with flyers saying citizens must immediately report to authorities if they have any gold, or if they suspect anyone else to be a gold smuggler, according to the second source.
North Korea produces between two and four metric tons of gold per year, according to both sources. most of it is sent to Office 39, the organization charged with procuring slush funds for the country’s leader Kim Jong Un and his family. The rest goes to North Korea’s central bank.
North Korea’s main gold production facilities are the Jongju and Unjon refineries, both in North Pyongan. There are others in Ryanggang and South Hwanghae provinces.
However, many people secretly regard the bandits as heroes because they see the government as hoarding the gold instead of using it to help the people, who are struggling to make ends meet in an economy still reeling from international nuclear sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, the second source said.
“The residents laugh at the authorities and cheer that someone risked their lives to raid the gold truck and got away with it.”
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
rfa.org
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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