Quotes of the Day:
"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage, against the dying of the light."
- Dylan Thomas
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
-Winston Churchill
"Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
1. Kim blasts pandemic response as North Korean outbreak surges
2. S. Korea attempts to send message to North over aid; Pyongyang unresponsive: ministry
3. S. Korean, U.S. nuke envoys agree on close consultations over N.K. aid issue
4. N.K. nuke test possible in 'short period': S. Korean military official
5. Yoon offers unsparing COVID-19 aid to N. Korea
6. N.Korea Faces COVID Catastrophe
7. N. Korea's latest launches of short-range ballistic missiles were final pre-deployment tests
8. N. Korea determines student infected by COVID-19 attended event featuring Kim Jong Un
9. N. Korea's efforts to dissolve and merge trading companies are hitting snags
10. ＜Breaking News from Inside N. Korea＞ A report about the COVID-19 situation from a party member in North Hamgyung Province
11. Continuity in North policy is a top priority
12. Pyongyang turns to Beijing for Covid help: sources
13. North Korean soldiers spread COVID-19 during April 25 military parade
14. For two North Korean escapees, losing local elections in the UK feels like a victory
15. S. Korean volunteer fighter in Ukraine doesn't regret his action despite facing imprisonment at home
1. Kim blasts pandemic response as North Korean outbreak surges
Kim has only himself to blame.
Mobilizing the military to fight COVID. The military is the best functioning institution in north Korea. But what if there is a widespread outbreak within the military?
Kim blasts pandemic response as North Korean outbreak surges
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG and HYUNG-JIN KIM · May 16, 2022
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un criticized officials over slow medicine deliveries and mobilized the military to respond to a surge in suspected COVID-19 infections, as his nation struggled to contain a fever that has reportedly killed dozens and sickened nearly a million others in a span of three days.
North Korean health authorities said Monday that eight more people died and an additional 392,920 were newly found to have feverish symptoms. That brings the death toll to 50 and illnesses to more than 1.2 million, respectively. It’s a sharp jump from six dead and 350,000 sick reported last Friday, a day after the North said that it found that an unspecified number of people in capital Pyongyang tested positive for the omicron variant.
Kim has acknowledged that the fast-spreading fever, highly likely driven by COVID-19, is causing “great upheaval” in the country, and outside experts say the true scale of the outbreak is likely much bigger than what’s described in the state-controlled media.
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Some suspect that North Korea has understated its fatalities or illnesses to shield Kim’s leadership from criticism. The North likely lacks test kits and other tools to detect virus carriers with no or mild symptoms, which means that several million might already have been infected.
“When people die, North Korean authorities will say they’ve died of overwork or from natural deaths, not because of COVID-19,” said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea. Nam said the North is likely understating the death toll to protect “the dignity of its supreme leader.”
While neighboring South Korea and China have offered to send medical supplies and other help, experts say it’s too late to inoculate the North’s 26 million people, and that the only realistic outside help would be offering limited supplies of vaccines to reduce deaths among high-risk groups, including the elderly and people with preexisting conditions.
It’s also unclear whether and how soon Kim would accept outside offers of aid because he has previously rallied for unity at home to guard against the pandemic without resorting to foreign help.
State media didn’t specify how many of the fever cases were confirmed as COVID-19. Among the 50 fatalities, North Korea officially identified only one as a COVID-19 case so far.
North Korea is believed to be mostly relying on isolating people with symptoms at shelters. Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at South Korea’s Sejong Institute said the North’s limited number of test kits are likely mainly reserved for the ruling elite.
Failing to slow the virus could have dire consequences for North Korea, considering its broken health care system and that its people are believed to be unvaccinated. There’s also malnourishment and chronic poverty.
The North imposed what it described as maximum preventive measures that restricted travel between cities and counties, and Kim ordered public health officials, teachers and others to identify people with fevers so they could be quarantined. As of Sunday, more than 564,860 people were in quarantine, North Korea’s state media reported.
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The explosive growth in fever cases may underscore how fast omicron could travel across an unvaccinated population without access to proper health tools, and fatalities will surely jump in coming weeks considering time lags between infections and deaths, said Jung Jae-hun, a professor of preventive medicine at South Korea’s Gachon University.
While it’s clear COVID-19 is spreading at an alarming speed, there are questions about the accuracy of North Korea’s fever tally. Jung said it’s unlikely that North Korean health workers are able to make reliable daily updates, considering the lack of tests and other resources, and are possibly adding multiple days of cases into their single-day counts following delays.
Cho Han Bum, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, said North Korea’s fever totals seemed an “outright lie.”
“North Korea says about 390,000 more fell ill but only eight died in the past day, while South Korea (on Sunday) reported 25,000 new cases and 48 deaths,” he said.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said that the real number of COVID-19 infections in North Korea is likely at least three times larger than North Korea’s tally of fever patients because of underreporting, the bad health care system and poorly computerized administrative networks.
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Kim during a ruling party Politburo meeting on Sunday criticized government and health officials over what he portrayed as a botched pandemic response, saying medicine supplies aren’t being distributed to pharmacies in time because of their “irresponsible work attitude” and lack of organization.
The Politburo had issued an emergency order to immediately release and quickly distribute state medicine reserves and for pharmacies to open for 24-hour shifts, but Kim said such steps weren’t being properly implemented. Kim ordered the medical units of his military to get involved in stabilizing the supply of medicine in Pyongyang, KCNA said.
North Korea’s previous claim of a perfect record in keeping out the virus for 2 1/2 years was widely doubted. But its extremely strict border closure, large-scale quarantines and propaganda that stressed anti-virus controls as a matter of “national existence” may have staved off a huge outbreak until now.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told the National Assembly on Monday that the South was willing to send vaccines, medicine, equipment and health personnel to the North if it’s willing to accept.
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South Korean officials say Pyongyang so far has made no request for Seoul’s help. The North also shunned millions of vaccine doses offered by the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program, likely because they carried international monitoring requirements.
Kim still stressed the country’s economic goals should be met, which likely means huge groups will continue to gather at agricultural, industrial and construction sites.
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG and HYUNG-JIN KIM · May 16, 2022
2. S. Korea attempts to send message to North over aid; Pyongyang unresponsive: ministry
"You cannot help me unless you lift sanctions first." So there. Take that.
Is this possibly a shift in blackmail diplomacy strategy? While missile tests will likely continue Kim may finally realize provocations will no longer be successful. He has received no concessions since 2019 and the failed Hanoi summit. We should think about that. Kim is getting desperate.
We have to think this through because it is unlikely he has had a change of heart about the welfare of the people. My other fear is also Kim’s fear: if there is a widespread outbreak within the military and security services. That could cause existential instability.
But he will never ask for aid. He does not have to. It is a question whether he will accept the offer. While we want our strings attached- e.g., monitoring and transparency - he will have his strings attached- demand for sanctions relief playing on our sympathy for the people.
Again, it may still be all about sanctions even though they are not effectively enforced. He has failed to get sanctions relief since they were most recently imposed in 2017 and according to some escapees this is one of the worst failures of the regime since the end of the Korean War. This COVID admission could be another course of action to try to get sanctions relief.
We need to recognize the regime's strategy, understand it, expose it, and attack it. That is the essence of our superior form of political warfare.
(2nd LD) S. Korea attempts to send message to North over aid; Pyongyang unresponsive: ministry | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS minister's remarks in paras 6-7, photo)
By Yi Wonju and Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government has attempted to send a formal message to North Korea through their liaison office for cooperation against the COVID-19 outbreak, with Pyongyang unresponsive, a related ministry said Monday.
The unification ministry said it had sought to deliver the fax message, signed by its chief Kwon Young-se, to the North's head of the United Front Department, Kim Yong-chol, at 11 a.m. the same day. But the North has not yet clarified its intention on whether to "accept" the notification, it added.
The South hopes to hold working-level consultations with the North on its humanitarian aid plans.
"In regards to the omicron variant outbreak, we plan to send a formal message to North Korea proposing inter-Korean working-level talks to discuss the assistance of vaccines, medical supplies, masks and test kits, as well as expressing our willingness to share our experiences against the virus and cooperation in technical expertise," the ministry added.
The ministry then urged the North to respond to Seoul's calls for cooperation against the virus crisis.
During his inauguration speech, Kwon stressed that Seoul will "actively" seek cooperation with Pyongyang over the issue despite a frost in bilateral relations.
"When it comes to humanitarian cooperation, including in healthcare and disease prevention, we will pursue cooperation without any conditions, regardless of the political situation," he said.
Earlier in the day, the ministry's spokesperson Cho Joong-hoon noted that the North's state media had reported a total of 50 deaths from the ongoing epidemic and more than 1.2 million people with fever symptoms.
The two sides had a routine phone call "normally" through the direct communication channel Monday morning, he added.
Health authorities in Seoul believe North Korea's COVID-19 outbreak is probably much more serious than what has been announced by its state media, Sohn Young-rae, a senior health ministry official, said in a separate briefing to reporters.
"North Korea appears to be diagnosing patients based on the symptoms without carrying out the diagnostic tests ... meaning that the regime is not capable of blocking the transmissions," Sohn said.
"We assume it's a situation where it is not easy to bring the infections under control," he said.
The health official said South Korea has an ample vaccine stockpile to provide the virus-stricken reclusive regime with vaccine aid without a problem.
Any aid to North Korea will be reviewed when there is a request from the North, and it will depend on the progress of the talks, if held, between the two Koreas, Sohn added.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. S. Korean, U.S. nuke envoys agree on close consultations over N.K. aid issue
We must look at every crisis as an opportunity to advance our strategy while doing the right thing for the suffering Korean people in the north.
S. Korean, U.S. nuke envoys agree on close consultations over N.K. aid issue | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States had discussions Monday by phone on North Korea's coronavirus crisis, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.
Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs who took office last week, and his American counterpart Sung Kim expressed concerns about the matter and agreed to have close consultations on ways for providing humanitarian assistance along with the international community, it added.
During the talks, the U.S. envoy reaffirmed support for Seoul's push for the provision of vaccines and medical supplies to the North, it added.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. N.K. nuke test possible in 'short period': S. Korean military official
Should we start a betting pool to guess the date?
Again, we should look at every crisis and ask how we can exploit it to advance our strategy.
N.K. nuke test possible in 'short period': S. Korean military official | Yonhap News Agency
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean military is not ruling out the possibility of North Korea conducting a nuclear test in a "short period of time," an official here said Monday.
The defense official's remarks came amid concerns the North could conduct what would be its seventh nuclear test around the time when South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, meet in Seoul for a summit set for Saturday, or afterward.
"Our military is bracing for the worst-case scenario of the North conducing a nuclear test in a short period of time, and it is maintaining a firm readiness posture," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The military authorities here believe that the reclusive regime has made "considerable" preparations for a nuclear test at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, a source said, noting they have detected signs of such preparations since March.
Uncertainty remains over the timing of the nuclear test, observers said, as Pyongyang has been struggling to contain COVID-19 outbreaks with the "maximum emergency" virus control system in place.
Some others, however, presumed that the North could press ahead with a nuclear experiment based on its own timetable for a project to master the technology to make nuclear warheads smaller and lighter.
Last Friday, an official at South Korea's presidential office said that the North appears "ready" for a nuclear test, and that prior to the experiment, it could test-fire multiple kinds of missiles.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. Yoon offers unsparing COVID-19 aid to N. Korea
"Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do."
It is the right thing to try to help the Korean people living in the north. But will Kim allow it?
Excerpts:
Yoon made the offer for the second time in less than a week as the North struggles to curb rapidly spreading infections after acknowledging an outbreak last week for the first time since the pandemic began. Leader Kim Jong-un has described the worsening situation as "a great upheaval" rarely seen since the country's founding.
...
"We must build a peace that is not a mere formality but a sustainable peace under which the process of North Korea's denuclearization and inter-Korean trust building form a virtuous cycle," he said.
(3rd LD) Yoon offers unsparing COVID-19 aid to N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with Yoon's remarks during meeting with aides at bottom)
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday he will spare no effort to help North Korea cope with a massive outbreak of the coronavirus, offering to send vaccines and other necessary supplies if Pyongyang agrees to accept.
Yoon made the offer for the second time in less than a week as the North struggles to curb rapidly spreading infections after acknowledging an outbreak last week for the first time since the pandemic began. Leader Kim Jong-un has described the worsening situation as "a great upheaval" rarely seen since the country's founding.
"We must not hold back on providing necessary assistance to the North Korean people, who are exposed to the threat of the coronavirus," Yoon said during his first budget speech at the National Assembly.
"If the North Korean authorities accept, we will not spare any necessary support, such as medicine, including COVID-19 vaccines, medical equipment and health care personnel," he said.
North Korea has remained silent on Yoon's offer despite issuing daily reports on the devastating toll of the outbreak, including the numbers of deaths and suspected infections. The country has no known vaccination program and a poorly resourced health care system, raising concerns of a humanitarian crisis.
Yoon said in his speech that he has repeatedly stated his will to provide humanitarian aid to the North regardless of the political and military situation in inter-Korean relations.
He also noted the security situation is becoming increasingly serious, with North Korea advancing its nuclear weapons program by the day and continuing to test missiles designed to carry nuclear weapons.
He recalled that North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles last Thursday, two days after his inauguration, and showed signs of preparing for another nuclear test.
"We must build a peace that is not a mere formality but a sustainable peace under which the process of North Korea's denuclearization and inter-Korean trust building form a virtuous cycle," he said.
Yoon's address came days before his first summit with U.S. President Joe Biden set for Saturday in Seoul where North Korea is expected to feature high on the agenda.
Yoon said the summit will also cover economic security issues, such as the strengthening of bilateral cooperation on global supply chains through the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
"It will include not only ways to stabilize supply chains but digital economy, carbon neutrality and various issues related to economic security," he said.
"In order for our government to expand economic security cooperation and lead the creation of international rules together with key nations, the help of the National Assembly is desperately needed," he added.
Yoon appealed to the National Assembly for bipartisan cooperation at a time when the country is facing difficult conditions at home and abroad amid a rapid change in the post-Cold War political and economic order.
In particular, he noted that industries and resources are being "weaponized" and supply chains being hoarded by "blocs," posing a major challenge to South Korea's export-driven economy.
"Right now in the Republic of Korea, more than ever, we need the partnership of Churchill and Attlee, who willingly joined hands to overcome a common crisis even though the political values they pursued were different," he said, citing Britain's example during World War II.
The reference to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wartime coalition government came as Yoon faces a hostile National Assembly where the main opposition Democratic Party holds an absolute majority.
Yoon is also known to consider Churchill to be his role model.
In outlining the government's 59.4 trillion-won (US$46.1 billion) extra budget proposal, he said the bill aims to fully compensate small merchants for their losses under COVID-19 business restrictions, expand financial support for COVID-19 testing and treatment, and support low-income families and other vulnerable groups.
"I earnestly request the cooperation of the National Assembly so that the extra budget can be confirmed at an early date," Yoon said, noting that the proposal offers between 6 million won and 10 million won each to 3.7 million small merchants.
Yoon also called for parliamentary cooperation for reforms in the pension system, labor and education.
Specifically, he said pension reforms are needed for a sustainable social welfare system, labor reforms to improve the country's industrial competitiveness, and education reforms to give students a fair education that meets the level of technological advances.
"If reforms in pensions, labor and education are not pursued now, they will threaten our society's sustainability," Yoon said.
The president later held a meeting with his aides and instructed them to thoroughly explain the extra budget bill to the National Assembly so that it can be executed swiftly, according to his office.
He also told them to make an extra effort to curb inflation and stabilize the financial markets, as well as to bring the 2030 World Expo to the southeastern city of Busan.
Yoon called for thorough preparations for his summit with Biden, his office said.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
6. N.Korea Faces COVID Catastrophe
This could be the inflection point for Korean security in the 21st century. We (the ROK/US alliance) need to be prepared.
N.Korea Faces COVID Catastrophe
May 16, 2022 09:31
Suspected coronavirus cases are surging in North Korea, even according to official figures that are unlikely to give the true extent of the calamity.
The number of reported cases of fever surged from around 18,000 on May 12 to 390,000 on Sunday, according to state media.
Medical experts in South Korea expect the number of cases to surpass 1 million soon and some 100,000 deaths since the North lacks any vaccines or treatment.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has described to the outbreak as the "gravest national emergency" but claimed the crisis "can be overcome" independently rather than with outside help.
Workers load sacks of rice on a truck in North Hamgyong Province on Sunday. /News1
The South Korean government plans to offer aid in the form of vaccines and test kits.
"We must not hold back on providing necessary assistance to the North Korean people, who are exposed to the COVID threat," President Yoon Suk-yeol said in his first speech since his inauguration at the National Assembly on Monday.
The North claimed that of the 820,620 people with symptoms, 496,030 recovered since late April and 324,550 are still being treated while 42 died.
Lee Jae-gap at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital said, "Some projections estimate that North Korea's infections could surpass 1 million and even tens of millions."
That means it is only a matter of time before fatalities skyrocket. At present, the official fatality rate is a suspiciously low 0.005 percent, compared to South Korea's fatality rate of 0.13 percent. But experts caution that this may be just the start of an explosion of cases.
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
7. N. Korea's latest launches of short-range ballistic missiles were final pre-deployment tests
We must always take reporting from NK Daily but this article makes an important point. Every missile test is not a deliberate provocation. If this article is accurate it indicates regime warfighting intent. The nKPA conducts tests to advance its programs and this appears to be final testing before actually fielding the systems. We should also consider that the multiple systems it is developing and fielding are designed to create dilemmas for allied missile defense. And this is why we need integrated missile defense with the ROK, US, and Japan to create synergistic effects from our multiple defense systems.
N. Korea's latest launches of short-range ballistic missiles were final pre-deployment tests - Daily NK
North Korea is diversifying its rockets and shells as the country carries out a general reform of its firepower, strategic and tactical weapon systems
The August 26, 2020, edition of the Rodong Sinmun announced that North Korea had successfully launched a new kind of rocket. (Rodong Sinmun)
North Korea’s launch of short-range ballistic missiles last Thursday evening was a final pre-deployment test of ballistic missiles aimed at South Korea, Daily NK has learned.
The consecutive launch of three missiles was a first, indicating North Korea’s intention to defeat the allied US-South Korean missile defense system by reorganizing and completing its strategic weapons system.
According to a Daily NK source in the North Korean military on Friday, the test of North Korea’s “super-large rocket launcher” was carried out on orders from the Central Military Commission regarding changes to the military’s battle chart in accordance with the reorganization of the army’s firepower, strategic and tactical weapon deployments.
North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles from Pyongyang’s Sunan region into the East Sea at around 6:29 PM on Thursday. They flew 360 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of around 90 kilometers and a speed of about Mach 5. North Korea usually discloses the flight data and launch goals through the media the day after a missile test, but no such reports emerged even a full day after the latest test.
The source said the test was a final screening in accordance with a Central Military Commission decision to reorganize the firepower, strategic and tactical weaponry of artillery units stationed in the east, west and central sections of the DMZ and regions further inland. He said the Operations Bureau also reportedly ordered that units get new firepower, strategic and tactical weaponry from mid-June to October, and reorganize themselves accordingly.
Jointly screened by the party’s Defense Industry Department and Ministry of Defense’s weapons screening bureau, the “super-large rocket launcher” used in the latest test not only has improved running fire capabilities, but also unlike ordinary rocket launchers, it carries guided munitions capable of precise strikes.
The source said development of the weapon system began from 2014, with the Defense Industry Department’s screening bureau testing it in 2019. The latest test was a final screening by the Defense Industry Department and Ministry of Defense prior to battlefield deployment. The source said the tactical and technological data from the test was reported to the Central Committee, with measures to deploy the weapons to follow later.
North Korea considers the test of the “super-large rocket launcher” a success. Should the weapon be deployed soon, it would appear to constitute a major threat to South Korea’s missile defense system.
Meanwhile, North Korea is reportedly diversifying its rockets and shells as the country carries out a general reform of its firepower, strategic and tactical weapon systems.
The source said not all rocket launchers are alike, and that their tactical and technological data differ depending on the battle chart. He said the key point of the Central Military Commission’s decision to retool the military’s firepower, strategic and tactical weaponry is to diversify the launch methods, improving the country’s wartime capabilities and modernizing its defense.
Prior to this, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un mentioned the strengthening of North Korea’s nuclear forces in his speech at the military parade on Apr. 25, saying the country would develop various means to deliver nuclear weapons.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
8. N. Korea determines student infected by COVID-19 attended event featuring Kim Jong Un
So was the parade a super spreader event? Is there a connection to this event to the parade.
Or is the regime going to blame China?
Excerpts:
Infected student at May 1 event is a nephew of a trade official who went to China
Meanwhile, the student with COVID-19 who attended the May 1 event attended by Kim Jong Un was infected by a relative who had recently visited China.
The source said a nephew of a trading company guidance official took part in the military parade as he is a student at the Pyongyang Jang Chol Gu University of Commerce. For his part, the guidance official manages the distribution of goods through customs and had recently gone on a short visit to China.
In short, the infected student attended the event with Kim after being infected by his relative.
N. Korea determines student infected by COVID-19 attended event featuring Kim Jong Un - Daily NK
The first post-military parade mass outbreak occurred at the Pyongyang Jang Chol Gu University of Commerce
North Korean authorities have determined that an individual infected with COVID-19 was at a recent event attended by leader Kim Jong Un, leading the country to announce the country’s outbreak, Daily NK has learned.
A Daily NK source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Friday that the government received reports that a university student infected with COVID-19 attended an event with the North Korean leader. This spurred the government to action without hiding the facts, he added.
On May 1, Kim Jong Un posed for a commemorative photo with university students and young workers who contributed to the success of the military parade to mark the 90th anniversary of the North Korean military’s founding, according to state-run media.
The source said one of the university students who attended the event was infected with COVID-19, and most importantly, the authorities judged that the student may have been in close contact with Kim. This led the authorities to announce the outbreak and implement measures to respond.
N. Korean authorities judge they can’t hide holes in their quarantine efforts at an event attended by Kim
Daily NK’s source said that North Korean authorities are taking their failure to weed out an infected individual from an event attended by Kim very seriously.
Nobody can overlook the matter as it directly pertains to the personal safety of the country’s supreme leader, he added.
This suggests that the authorities made relevant facts surrounding the case public as part of efforts to thoroughly question who was responsible, determine causes, and craft measures to prevent a reoccurence.
The government’s decision to go public with the outbreak appears to have also been driven by concern that failing to provide an explanation while putting the entire nation under lockdown could further aggravate already seething public opinion.
Indeed, North Koreans have grumbled considerably about regional lockdowns in the past, complaining that they have endangered their livelihoods. Given this experience, North Korean authorities would have been pressed to offer an explanation while launching an intense nationwide lockdown.
North Korean authorities apparently believed that having the party leadership officially acknowledge the COVID-19 outbreak would prevent public disaffection and help the authorities effectively carry out their disease control policies.
Furthermore, Kim Jong Un’s first public appearance wearing a mask since the start of the pandemic appears to have been aimed at conveying to the public the seriousness of the situation.
The first post-military parade mass outbreak occurs at the Pyongyang Jang Chol Gu University of Commerce
Last Thursday, state-run KCNA reported that genetic analysis of samples taken from individuals of a “certain group” in Pyongyang suffering from fevers on May 8 showed the BA.2 sub variant of the Omicron virus.
The report did not specify the group infected, but Daily NK’s source in Pyongyang said that the first mass outbreak after the military parade was at the Pyongyang Jang Chol Gu University of Commerce.
According to him, around 10 students at the university were the first to be confirmed as sick. He added that around 20 members of an inminban (people’s unit) in Pyongyang’s Central District who were involved in the military parade were infected, too.
The source further reported that university students living in or around Pyongyang who took a photo with Kim Jong Un received five to seven days of vacation as a reward, traveling to South Pyongan Province, North Pyongan Province, South Hwanghae Province, North Hwanghae Province and Nampo. He said the authorities are certain that these individuals, who were in close contact with the infected, spread the virus nationwide during their travels.
In fact, KCNA reported on Friday that from April, fever cases had spiked nationwide in a short time to about 350,000 people, about 162,200 of whom fully recovered. It also said about 187,000 people were in isolation and receiving treatment, while six people had died, including one confirmed case of Omicron.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases along with their families sent to temporary facility; all students and staff at Pyongyang Jang Chol Gu University of Commerce being tested
North Korea is isolating the infected and their families and testing all students at the Pyongyang Jang Chol Gu University of Commerce, Daily NK’s Pyongyang-based source further reported.
He explained that confirmed cases were transported to a temporary isolation facility in Pyongyang, while all their family members have been ordered to isolate themselves in their homes.
Previously, North Korean authorities had refrained from establishing isolation facilities in Pyongyang under the policy that there must be no facilities related to COVID-19 in the “capital of the revolution.” However, it appears the authorities have placed a new isolation facility in Pyongyang due to the latest outbreak. The facility is likely on the outskirts of the city rather than in its downtown area.
The source said the authorities have deployed medical testing vehicles so that all members of the group from which the confirmed cases emerged are tested for the virus. He said the authorities planned to finish the testing by May 14 and issue specific administrative orders in accordance with North Korea’s quarantine law.
The source further explained that buildings and everything inside were disinfected with liquid sprayers, and that the authorities ordered that the communal building where the confirmed cases emerged be subjected to 10 days of intensive steralizations.
Infected student at May 1 event is a nephew of a trade official who went to China
Meanwhile, the student with COVID-19 who attended the May 1 event attended by Kim Jong Un was infected by a relative who had recently visited China.
The source said a nephew of a trading company guidance official took part in the military parade as he is a student at the Pyongyang Jang Chol Gu University of Commerce. For his part, the guidance official manages the distribution of goods through customs and had recently gone on a short visit to China.
In short, the infected student attended the event with Kim after being infected by his relative.
The Chinese city of Dandong — a major hub of China-North Korea trade — was put under lockdown on Apr. 25 due to the spread of COVID-19. North Korea suspended freight train service four days later on Apr. 29.
Daily NK’s source in Pyongyang said the trade official was subject to no criticism or legal punishments because he stayed true to party orders to conduct trade only through Sinuiju, and his nephew did not go overseas.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
9. N. Korea's efforts to dissolve and merge trading companies are hitting snags
N. Korea's efforts to dissolve and merge trading companies are hitting snags - Daily NK
Financial surveys conducted to dissolve and merge the companies revealed that every firm carried significant debt
North Korean trucks can be seen heading to the Chinese side of the border on the Sino-North Korean Friendship Bridge. (Daily NK)
North Korean authorities are pushing the dissolution and merging of trading companies as the first stage of the restoration of the unitary state-led trading system. However, things are reportedly moving slowly due to debt problems with the trading companies.
According to a high-ranking Daily NK source in North Korea on Thursday, North Korean authorities started dissolving and merging trading companies to build a state-led trading system in March, making the Cabinet responsible for managing all import and export breakdowns. They have yet to complete the process, however.
This is because financial surveys conducted to dissolve and merge the companies revealed that every firm carried significant debt.
Daily NK reported last month that North Korean authorities arrested managers of trading companies that took on excessive debt and confiscated their trading certificates, or waku.
At the time, North Korean authorities were considering a plan for high-level trade agencies to assume the debts of dissolved or merged small-and-medium-sized trading companies.
However, not only were trade agencies financially unable to assume all the debts, but assuming debts could impact successful, productive activities as well. Accordingly, the state and superordinate trading bodies are reportedly discussing a plan to split the debts according to a set ratio.
The source said the most likely plan is for the North Korean authorities and trading companies to split the debts 50/50.
The problem is that North Korean authorities lack the financial wherewithal to assume 50% of the debts. Another Daily NK source familiar with North Korea’s trade situation said no trading officials believe the authorities will take care of 50% of the debts, even if they say they will.
North Korean authorities currently set the official exchange rate at a very low KPW 150 to the dollar. Compared to the rate of KPW 6,500 to the dollar at a market in Pyongyang on May 1, the government currently sells the dollar at a price over 40 times lower than market value.
Because of this, if the North Korean authorities assume the debt using the official exchange rate, the high-level trade agencies will assume virtually all the debt.
This being the case, both the subordinate trading companies and the superordinate ones that will absorb them are complaining.
One cadre involved in state finances said every sector of the “people’s economy” suffers from shortages, but at least foreign exchange-earning companies at the provincial, city and county level have provided supplies and raw materials from overseas, adjusting their prices as needed. He worried that if the state were to look at and control every transaction, it would upset this balance.
That is to say, because trade has been ongoing through not only official state trade, but also smuggling and other means, authorities could flexibly deliver needed supplies, despite financial shortages.
The cadres said the people’s economy should enter a cycle as production is revived, but without resources and technological development, that cycle could stop. He said he worried that if that were to happen, the situation would become uncontrollable, regardless of what the state does.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
10. ＜Breaking News from Inside N. Korea＞ A report about the COVID-19 situation from a party member in North Hamgyung Province
＜Breaking News from Inside N. Korea＞ A report about the COVID-19 situation from a party member in North Hamgyung Province: Those with fevers are placed in isolation and their apartment buildings are put under lockdown, People continue to go to work and the markets remain open, People are more scared of lockdowns than the disease
(Photo) People mobilized to work on a dyke on the Yalu River in North Pyongan Province. All of them are wearing masks and most are working by hand due to the lack of equipment and fuel in the country. This photo was taken in mid-July 2021 from the Chinese side of the River. ASIAPRESS
On May 13, the day after North Korean authorities officially acknowledged an outbreak of COVID-19, ASIAPRESS received reports from several reporting partners living in North Hamgyung Province, in the northern part of the country. One of the interviews has been published below. It appears that many people are concerned more about lockdowns and quarantines than the coronavirus itself. (KANG Ji-Won, ISHIMARU Jiro)
“A” has long provided ASIAPRESS with information from inside North Korea and is a party member who works at a mid-sized company. Kim Jong-un called the outbreak a “severe national emergency” during an expanded meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea on May 12. ASIAPRESS asked “A” whether any disease control measures had been put in place where he lives.
◆ Still no ban on movement
―― Kim Jong-un has ordered a lockdown of all the country’s provinces, cities and counties. Are the cities being locked down?
All quarantine checkpoints on the boundaries between provinces, cities and towns have been beefed up with new personnel as part of efforts to control movement.
―― Is it impossible to go outside because of city lockdowns?
There are no bans on going outside. However, we’ve been ordered to double mask. People are going to factories and to their places of work as normal. The authorities don’t want work to be disrupted. People get fever checks when they go to and from work.
―― Are markets still open?
Yes. People have been ordered not to take off their masks and to avoid conversations with others.
―― Are people free to leave their homes?
There are temperature checks being conducted at the entrances to all apartments. Anyone with suspicious symptoms such as fevers are isolated and the area in which they live is locked down. It is prohibited to accept visitors in your apartment. The authorities have put people on notice that hiding sicknesses or rejecting testing will result in punishment.
11. Continuity in North policy is a top priority
A very important perspective, analysis, and recommendation:
What should Yoon’s North Korea and unification policy be?
First, North Korea policy must be based on a clear national identity for the Republic of Korea. Constitutional values such as liberal democracy, capitalistic market economics, human rights, rule of law and republicanism are points we cannot concede during the process of improving inter-Korean relations and promoting unification.
“The South and the North have agreed to resolve the question of reunification independently and through the joint efforts of the Korean people, who are the masters of the country,” according to Clause 1 of the June 15, 2000 Joint Declaration. Ever since the declaration, the South’s North Korea policy has been held hostage by the North.
The expression “independently and through the joint efforts of the Korean people” has meaning in the socialist context, and it was a powerful tool for the North as it was used to shun outside influence, instigate internal conflict in the South and fuel pro-North sentiment in South Korean society. As the North intended, the joint declaration, not the basic agreement, became the foundational text for inter-Korean relations. Even if it takes time, future North Korea policy must reflect and expand our constitutional values.
Sunday
May 15, 2022
Continuity in North policy is a top priority
Park Young-ho
The author is the chairman of the Korea Peninsula Forum and a former visiting professor at Kangwon University.
The 21st century has been an unsettled time, with the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the global financial crisis, climate change, the Syrian civil war, the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S.-China tensions and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After the Cold War ended, we had anticipated international cooperation, peace and prosperity, but small and large conflicts continued, economy has become a weapon and democracy has been threatened.
China is working to restore the authoritarian order of Sinocentrism, while the U.S. is employing countermeasures to maintain the liberal international order. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may be a post-Cold-War prelude to a new Cold War of competition between superpowers joined by their allies. Major European countries, such as Germany and France, are dramatically shifting their defense postures from passivity to strength.
North Korea, aware of the need for defense capabilities, has worked steadily to achieve self-reliance by becoming a nuclear-armed country. South Korea has also realized the need for credible deterrence. Internationalism and universal norms are challenged, and a new arms race is upon us.
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration gets underway amid grand chaos with countries scrambling for ways to ensure survival and Korea facing a series of difficult challenges. The main challenges are those of ensuring security, national interest and the welfare of the people.
Urgent tasks are many, such as stabilizing the real estate market and containing runaway prices, but key is correcting the Moon Jae-in administration’s submissive policy toward North Korea. If inter-Korean relations continue on their current course, hostility between the two Koreas could last a century.
Peaceful unification will begin with the normalization of inter-Korean relations. The Yoon government must create an action plan to rebuild healthy inter-Korean relations with a cool head and informed by three decades of unification policy.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, and Exchanges and Cooperation between the South and the North — also known as the basic agreement — and the Joint Declaration on The Denuclearization of The Korean Peninsula.
From the Kim Young-sam administration and through the Moon administration, South Korean governments set the goals as the North’s denuclearization, establishment of peace and improvement of inter-Korean relations.
But the current state of inter-Korean relations shows that there has been no substantial change and that denuclearization efforts have been a complete failure. And yet, all past governments blamed the North while celebrating their accomplishments.
The Moon administration praised itself, saying that “it has realized the vision of a Korean Peninsula free of a war” in a report on its five-year tenure, although the North blew up the joint liaison office in Kaesong and this year alone fired 10 ballistic missiles.
There are three main reasons why the North Korea policies of all past governments have failed.
First, they misjudged the North’s nuclear strategy, which is central to inter-Korean relations. The North has always suffered economic crises. But its defense policy has remained top priority. For a dictator whose top priority is protecting the regime, nuclear programs are a strategic choice that cannot be given up. But President Kim Dae-jung said “the North has never developed a nuclear program, and it has no ability to do so.” In March 2018, a special envoy dispatched by Moon to the North concluded that Kim Jong-un was willing to give up nuclear arms.
The South has long relied on the United States to handle nuclear talks, and the Moon government ended up acting as a middleman between Pyongyang and Washington, as if the nuclear crisis is a someone else’s business. Providing economic assistance to the North in return for denuclearization is a policy common to conservative and liberal governments, although conservative administrations wanted the North to give up nuclear arms first, while liberal administrations have delivered assistance first. The liberal governments were actually naive enough to believe that economic aid would trigger changes in the North’s behavior.
Second, the misjudgments were caused by the lack of objective and realistic evaluation of the North Korean system and regime and its strategy. The South incorrectly interpreted the North’s comments on denuclearization and its intention to change based on wishful thinking. It failed to get beyond its optimism. After Germany was reunified, the South entertained the possibility that the North would collapse. When the North suffered severe famine between 1994 and 1998, Seoul believed that economic support would change the regime. But as the South offered food and fertilizer, the North developed missiles.
Yoon’s predecessors concluded that limited reforms in the North implemented during times of hardship signified economic opening. Although the North’s dictator stressed the country will have its own style of socialism, and there was zero possibility of change in its system, former leaders said it was just a rhetoric. Presidents who attended inter-Korean summits talked nonsense. They said that the Korean Peninsula is free from the threat of war and insisted the North desires reconciliation and peace, even as they stood before 100,000 people in Pyongyang cheering for nuclear arms development.
Third, there was no consistency or any strategic continuity in North Korea policy from one administration to the next. All past leaders said they will respect the policies of their predecessors, but these were empty promises. Policy disconnects fueled conflicts in the South during the process of planning and implementation. As ideology-driven perception toward the North guided situational assessment and decision making, the South failed to cooperate with the international community and win the trust of the North.
Although the South should have fully implement UN Security Council resolutions to sanction the North, Moon’s diplomacy was focused on easing and lifting sanctions. He was a disgrace in the international community and became the subject of ridicule by the North.
What should Yoon’s North Korea and unification policy be?
First, North Korea policy must be based on a clear national identity for the Republic of Korea. Constitutional values such as liberal democracy, capitalistic market economics, human rights, rule of law and republicanism are points we cannot concede during the process of improving inter-Korean relations and promoting unification.
“The South and the North have agreed to resolve the question of reunification independently and through the joint efforts of the Korean people, who are the masters of the country,” according to Clause 1 of the June 15, 2000 Joint Declaration. Ever since the declaration, the South’s North Korea policy has been held hostage by the North.
The expression “independently and through the joint efforts of the Korean people” has meaning in the socialist context, and it was a powerful tool for the North as it was used to shun outside influence, instigate internal conflict in the South and fuel pro-North sentiment in South Korean society. As the North intended, the joint declaration, not the basic agreement, became the foundational text for inter-Korean relations. Even if it takes time, future North Korea policy must reflect and expand our constitutional values.
Second, we need a realistic and cool-headed assessment of the strategic environment on the Korean Peninsula. Inter-Korean relations are not an ancient myth but a reality of international politics. Security and economy are converging, and we are facing new security threats, such those related to public health, cyber terrorism and new technologies. Our strategic environment is not limited to the geopolitics of the Korean Peninsula. The Yoon government must be especially cognizant of China’s true intentions.
It must not repeat the Moon government’s mistake of arbitrarily evaluating the strategic environment to support its policy. In order to push reconciliation, the Moon administration argued that North’s system and nuclear strategy had evolved. Although the North never really equated the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula with actual denuclearization, the Moon administration deceived the public.
Third, the Yoon government must create realistic policy and strategy based on an evaluation of the strategic environment and must implement it. It is hard to push forward a long-term unification policy during a five-year presidency. But the government must create a grand unification plan as a national strategy and plan and push forward feasible North Korea policy based on it. Moon’s “New economic map of the Korean Peninsula,” which did not consider the national strategies of neighboring countries and changes in the North, is meaningless. If the Yoon administration normalizes inter-Korean relations during its term, a sustainable relationship can continue. On the other hand, the current National Community Unification Formula has effectively expired. It must be upgraded to reflect a nuclear North and structural changes in the South.
Fourth, the Yoon government must be directly involved in the process to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. Past governments made denuclearization the top policy goal, but they all relied on the United States and the North to negotiate it. To have effective negotiation with the North, which posses dozens of nuclear warheads, the South must have enough deterrent power. The Kim Jong-un regime is now advancing nuclear and missile capabilities. In theory, a nuclear weapon must be countered with nuclear arms, but there is a limit in reality. The Yoon government must endeavor to develop equal, opposite and credible military deterrence capabilities.
Fifth, the improvement of inter-Korean relations is a long journey that requires patience and resolution. International law, norms and practices should be used in inter-Korean relations as if it were relations between two countries. Only then will reciprocity be possible in inter-Korean relations. The North will likely refuse to accept the ground rules and counter with military provocations, threats and severance of dialogue. But there is no need to hurry. The government can leave the door open for dialogue while strengthening national security. We must not forget that unless the North’s regime is transformed, any inter-Korean agreement is nothing more than a house of cards.
12. Pyongyang turns to Beijing for Covid help: sources
Will Chinese methods work in north Korea?
Monday
May 16, 2022
Pyongyang turns to Beijing for Covid help: sources
In this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a pharmacy in Pyongyang on Sunday to check on the state of supplies and distribution of medicine. Kim berated officials at a Politburo meeting earlier in the day for delays in delivering medical supplies. [YONHAP]
North Korea has requested emergency medical supplies from China as it grapples with its first big wave of Covid-19 cases, according to sources in China.
Sources familiar with North Korea-China relations who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity Sunday said that the North “recently requested that China provide anti-disease assistance” through diplomatic channels.
According to the sources, the items specifically requested by North Korea include polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits and medicines to treat Covid-19. Talks on the delivery methods and amount of equipment are currently underway between the two countries, the sources said.
When questioned about any requests for Covid-19 assistance from North Korea at a Friday press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said he was confident North Korea would win the fight against Covid-19 under the leadership of its ruling party and government, adding that China would provide assistance and support if the North requests it.
North Korean state media in recent days has praised China’s anti-disease measures, with the state-run Rodong Sinmun writing in a Saturday editorial that the country should study “anti-disease policies, achievements and experiences of other advanced nations,” adding that “it is best to follow and learn from the experiences of the Chinese [Communist] Party and people in their fight against a virulent contagion.”
The unconfirmed request for aid from North Korea to China comes as Pyongyang’s health authorities told state media that 392,920 more people reported fevers and other symptoms of suspected Covid-19 between Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m., with eight additional deaths bringing the total death toll to 50 since the outbreak was first detected at the end of last month.
The Korean Central News Agency said Monday that the total number of people who had reported fever symptoms had reached 1.21 million, with 648,630 having recovered and 564,860 receiving treatment.
Appearing on state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) on Monday, anti-disease official Ryu Yong-chol said that 83,445 of those newly showing fevers and other symptoms of Covid-19 on Saturday were residents of Pyongyang, making the capital the most affected area out of the North’s 13 administrative regions.
The mushrooming of suspected Covid-19 patients contrasts sharply with the number of confirmed cases. North Korean health authorities’ reported that only 168 Covid-19 cases were confirmed nationwide on Saturday. The North describes most suspected Covid-19 cases as “those exhibiting fevers.” It is believed to be short of equipment to test patients.
The reports of a full-blown Covid-19 outbreak is a drastic change from the North’s repeated claims since January 2020 that the country had detected zero cases within its borders.
Earlier, Pyongyang seemed to have prevented a major Covid-19 outbreak through extreme measures to seal itself off, including shutting its land borders with China, over which the bulk of the country’s trade is conducted.
The current outbreak signals a failure by the regime to prevent the virus, and particularly the highly contagious Omicron variant, from seeping in, as well as missteps that have allowed it to spread.
External observers believe that mass rallies and parades marking key regime and military anniversaries in April and May could have contributed to the spread, particularly in Pyongyang, where the largest celebrations were held.
In a sign of how seriously the North regards the current outbreak, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over another meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's Politburo on Sunday, following a Saturday meeting of the body.
At the meeting, Kim sharply criticized Cabinet and health officials for failing to deliver medicines from state stockpiles in a timely manner to the public through pharmacies.
Kim singled out the director of the Central Prosecutor's Office for neglecting his duties, blaming the official – who is roughly equivalent to an attorney general – for allowing drug hoarding and illegal sales of medicines.
According to KCTV, the Politburo decided to deploy the country’s military to ensure a stable distribution of medicines.
Following the Politburo meeting, Kim visited a pharmacy in Pyongyang to conduct an on-the-spot inspection of the current state of supplies and distribution of Covid-19 medicine.
KCTV has also adjusted its broadcast schedule in response to the crisis, with the state-run channel announcing that it will start its daily news reports at 9 a.m. every day beginning this week, departing from the usual 3 p.m. broadcast time.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Monday that it had attempted to a deliver a formal offer to open talks to deliver assistance with the Covid-19 crisis, but it received no response.
“At 11 a.m. today, we attempted to send a formal note to North Korea signed by Unification Minister Kwon Young-se through the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office, but the North has not yet expressed its intention to receive the notice,” a ministry official said in a closed-door briefing for reporters.
The official added that the ministry “included an offer to provide vaccines, medicines, masks and diagnostic tests, as well as to conduct technical cooperation regarding experience with anti-disease measures,” and that it has also “proposed holding working-level contacts between the two Koreas.”
A phone call between the two sides that ended at 5 p.m. on Monday also ended without a clear response from the North regarding the South's offer, according to a ministry official.
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
13. North Korean soldiers spread COVID-19 during April 25 military parade
Hard to deny this was likely a super spreader event. Kim has only himself to blame.
North Korean soldiers spread COVID-19 during April 25 military parade
Around 20,000 people were involved in the event, and soldiers who participated are now testing positive.
By Hyemin Son
2022.05.13
A massive military parade in North Korea has been identified as a COVID-19 super-spreader event, after several servicemen who marched in it tested positive for the virus, sources in the country told RFA.
Held on April 25 to commemorate the guerilla operation that started 90 years ago and grew into the country’s military, the parade brought together about 20,000 soldiers. At the time, North Korea was still claiming that it was 100% “virus free.” This week, Pyongyang finally confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 and at least one death from the disease.
The country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has since declared a “maximum emergency epidemic prevention system” is in effect.
Several soldiers stationed as border guards in the border city of Sinuiju, which lies across the Yalu River from China, began exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 at the beginning of this month, a border security official in the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“They had high fevers and acute respiratory symptoms … and after testing by the health authorities, it was confirmed that they were infected with the Omicron variant,” the source said.
“Most of the ones who tested positive are officers and soldiers who took part in the military parade … on April 25. The health authorities reported the incident to the national emergency quarantine command, who in turn sent it in as a No. 1 report,” he said, referring to communications of the highest level, sent across the desk Kim Jong Un.
The revelation that the border guards could have contracted the virus at the parade and may have spread it to others upon their return led authorities in North Pyongan to declare a state of emergency.
“As a result, the border area has been further sealed up and traffic between the border guard units has been suspended,” the source said.
“Soldiers in each battalion, company and platoon cannot enter or exit the barracks, and movement restrictions are in place to prevent even a single solder from joining or leaving a unit. They are even prohibiting private conversations between soldiers within the same unit,” he said.
Another border security official, in nearby Uiju county, told RFA that soldiers there have been ordered to wear gas masks to prevent the virus from spreading.
“No one is allowed to go outside the unit barracks except the soldiers on duty in outposts who work in shifts,” said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
“The number of confirmed cases among the border guard soldiers stationed in Uiju County has been increasing since early this month,” he said. “Most of the sick soldiers took part in the military parade to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army in Pyongyang on April 25th.”
If the soldiers indeed caught the virus during the parade, then it could have spread to all branches of the military in every part of the country, the second source said.
“The military parade mobilized a large number of personnel. Not only the border guards, but also officers and soldiers selected from the army and marines, navy, and air force across the country participated. Therefore, it should be considered that the coronavirus has spread to every military base everywhere,” the second source said.
“The authorities quickly … started up the maximum emergency quarantine system nationwide and began locking everything down,” he said. “But it is already too late.”
Sources told RFA that people are angry an event purely for propaganda purposes may be the source widespread illness.
According to a North Korean state media report on Friday, there are currently 187,800 people in quarantine in North Korea, and six people have died after showing COVID-19 symptoms. One of the dead was confirmed to be infected by the omicron variant of COVID-19.
Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
14. For two North Korean escapees, losing local elections in the UK feels like a victory
It is so important that Koreans in the north hear and read about people like Ms. Park and Mr. Cho.
For two North Korean escapees, losing local elections in the UK feels like a victory
Britons Timothy Cho and Jihyun Park say their candidacies validated their hard road to freedom.
By Jung Minh Noh
2022.05.15
Timothy Cho and Jihyun Park are not typical British politicians. Their route to becoming candidates for the Conservative and Unionist Party in last week’s local elections began more than a decade ago when they escaped from North Korea.
Both Cho and Park ended up settling in Greater Manchester in 2008, naturalized as Britons, and after acclimating to a democratic society that offered a stark contrast to life they fled, sought the opportunity to represent their respective communities in the northwestern English city.
Although they were among a host of Conservatives to lose to Labour Party candidates in the May 5 election, both of the North Korean escapees told RFA’s Korean Service that they considered their campaigns to be a victory of sorts.
“I lost the election, but I feel like I have won. I feel like I have reached out to the people in my constituency, and I feel like they accepted and embraced me,” said Cho, who ran for a contested councilor seat of the Denton South ward of Greater Manchester’s Tameside borough.
In his race against Labour’s Claire Reid, Cho secured 35% of the vote, 9 percentage points higher than his first attempt last year to win a seat.
“The process of escaping from North Korea and coming here was a series of challenges, and I think this latest challenge is a beautiful race. I am so grateful to even run for office because I have experienced the flower of democracy,” Cho said.
“Since I was running for the same constituency, many of the voters recognized me. I could see that my opponent viewed me as a serious rival and was nervous from the start because there was a high chance that I would receive more votes than last year,” he said.
Cho also said he appreciated that his opponent publicly recognized him as a conservative candidate rather than simply as a “North Korean refugee” or “defector.”
He said he was especially proud to have been able to connect with the many low-income voters in his district through his own experiences growing up in extreme poverty in North Korea and the tough times he endured after settling in England in 2008.
Timothy Cho (3rd from right) campaigning prior to the 2022 UK local elections. Photo: Timothy Cho
When he arrived, Cho said he spoke no English, had few friends, and had to work his way through university. The freedom he was afforded in Britain, where his hard work translated into better opportunities, was a constant source of motivation, he said.
“The more I did, the more I thought of the people who remain in North Korea,” Cho said. “It really breaks my heart to think of my siblings, who are still in the darkness of North Korea. But if they lived in a free society like I do, they could be living the life I am living, and more politicians and businessmen would have come out our family,” said Cho.
“This is why I work harder.”
Cho said he plans to run for office again at the first opportunity. Until then he said he will continue advocating for North Korean human rights.
Timothy Cho and Jihyun Park, expressed their feelings about running in local elections in the UK after losing their respective races on May 5, 2022. Photo: Timothy Cho and Jihyun Park's Twitter accounts
A personal victory
Jihyun Park didn’t win her race for one of three contested councilor seats in the Ramsbottom ward of Greater Manchester’s Bury borough — Labour candidates took all three slots — but Park felt good anyway because she said the election cemented her status as a Briton.
“I challenged myself with the heart of being British, and not to place myself as an outsider or as a stranger. I think a lot of people voted for that challenge,” she told RFA.
“I describe [my candidacy] as victory for humanity, because it gave a message to many people that the challenge was not a failure, but rather a personal victory,” she said. “I will continue to challenge myself.”
Park also ran in elections last year, but this year’s election was different. Because of redistricting, she was now trying to represent an area she does not herself live in.
She also was able to successfully become a candidate without the party nominating her, she introduced herself to the voters and was elected to represent the Conservatives on her own merits.
“Unlike in last year’s election, I was interviewed in front of the residents and became a candidate chosen by them which was very important to me and made me feel proud. The candidates were interviewed one by one to see what they could do for the people. I was glad and impressed that they chose me,” Park said.
Like Cho, Park said she chose to focus on the needs of the residents of Ramsbottom rather than her background. But her life as a North Korean refugee and rights activist did help, she said.
She characterized her candidacy as bringing a message of hope to the people, and she hopes one day to share her experiences of living in a democratic political system with North Koreans. She also used her platform to draw attention to the challenges of living in the country she fled from.
“I had conversations with election commission officials, and I said that in North Korea we never know where and how our votes are used and we do not have the right to vote,” she said.
Though North Korea holds elections, usually there is only one party-selected candidate running for each office. All able-bodied people are required to show up and vote for that candidate.
“I am so impressed by the system here in the United Kingdom, where everyone has the right to vote, and they can see how their votes are counted,” she said.
Jihyun Park (right) campaigning ahead of the 2022 local UK elections . Photo: Jihyun Park
Many of the voters, she said, were surprised to learn she fled from North Korea.
She plans to return to her role as co-director of an advocacy group called Stepping Stones, which she founded in 2017 to raise awareness about human rights abuses in North Korea, in particular against women and children.
“Although I lost in the election, I’m saying it’s a victory for humanity because I realize once again how great it is to live in this place. I think I’ve done my best during this election because I have shown and told the people how precious it is to have the freedoms we enjoy here.”
Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
15. S. Korean volunteer fighter in Ukraine doesn't regret his action despite facing imprisonment at home
I hope South Korea will change this law. Fighting for democracy anywhere should not be a crime.
S. Korean volunteer fighter in Ukraine doesn't regret his action despite facing imprisonment at home | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean volunteer fighter in Ukraine has told a local news outlet he is likely to be arrested on returning home but does not regret what he said was an inevitable action to support people suffering from an unjust invasion.
Rhee Keun, a Navy SEAL-turned-YouTuber, traveled to Ukraine in March in violation of a government ban and has been fighting against invading Russian forces.
"In South Korea, it is illegal to go to Ukraine, so when I return, I will likely be arrested at the airport for participating in the war," he said in an interview with weekly magazine Novoye Vremya, published Saturday.
"There is a risk of being imprisoned, but I believe I made the right decision," he added.
Rhee is being treated at a military hospital after having been injured recently during combat in the town of Irpin, outside Kyiv, he said.
The former Korean Navy Underwater Demolition Team military instructor rose to fame after portraying a training instructor on his YouTube show "Fake Men." He later appeared on various entertainment shows on major TV networks.
His family and many people in South Korea were opposed to his participation in the war.
"But I saw what happened on TV, and knew who are good and who are bad. I came here, because I thought it was wrong and even a crime if I just watched television and did nothing though I, as a former member of special warfare forces, have skills that can be helpful," he said.
There were about 10 South Korean volunteer warriors on the battlefield at the beginning of the war, but now only a few remain, he said
South Korea has banned its nationals from traveling to Ukraine since mid-February. Those who enter the country without approval can face up to a year in prison or a maximum fine of 10 million won (US$7,790).
(END)
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
