song

Quotes of the Day:

Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world. Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even greater. It consists in preventing the world from destroying itself.”

- Albert Camus


“Keep reading books, but remember that a book’s only a book, and you should learn to think for yourself.”

- Maxim Gorky

"Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors."

~ Ernest Hemingway

1. South Korea brought K-pop and K-dramas to the world. The Korean language could be next

2. The shadowy groups trying to keep North Koreans from listening to K-pop

3. U.S. should prepare for possible deployment of nuclear assets to S. Korea: U.S. think tank

4. Washington Might Let South Korea Have the Bomb

5. Defense ministers of S. Korea and US to visit JSA next month

6. Defector-turned-lawmaker declares bid for PPP Supreme Council

7. N. Korea holds key parliamentary meeting without leader Kim's attendance

8. North Korea sustains high defense spending with new budget

9. North Korea's Lazarus Group Moves More than $60 Million from Harmony Bridge Hack

10. First on Fox: Pompeo’s secret trip to North Korea detailed in former secretary of state’s new memoir

11. Pentagon asks U.S. Forces Korea to provide equipment for Ukraine

12. N. Korea intensifies crackdowns on rice wholesalers and resellers

13. We must create a Korean Peninsula of reconciliation and coexistence

14. Kim Jong Un Sends New Year’s Cards to Xi and Putin

15. North Korea suspected of plagiarizing South Korean girl group's song

1. South Korea brought K-pop and K-dramas to the world. The Korean language could be next

Note emphasis on "super-hard" and "exceptionally difficult.

Excerpt:

This jump is striking given Korean isn’t easy for non-native speakers to learn. The US State Department lists Korean as a “super-hard language,” meaning it’s “exceptionally difficult” for English speakers and takes on average 88 weeks to achieve professional working proficiency.

South Korea brought K-pop and K-dramas to the world. The Korean language could be next | CNN

CNN · by Jessie Yeung · January 18, 2023

A French student takes a Korean exam at the Universite of La Rochelle on April 5, 2013.

Xavier Leoty/AFP/Getty Images

CNN —

There’s never been a better time to learn Korean.

It’s one of the fastest-growing languages in the world, outpacing traditionally popular rivals like Chinese in multiple markets – reflecting the global phenomenon many call the “Korean wave.”

In 2022, Korean was the seventh most-studied language on the learning app Duolingo, according to the company’s annual language report. And it’s seeing particular success in parts of South and Southeast Asia, as the most-studied foreign language in the Philippines, and not far off the top spot in Thailand, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Although Chinese – which for years has been considered as the business language of the future – remains the second most spoken language in the world, thanks in part to the sheer size of China’s population, it has sat in eighth place on Duolingo for the last several years, lagging behind Korean.

Korean is the second most-studied Asian language on Duolingo, only narrowly behind Japanese, according to the language report. Duolingo, which has more than 500 million users internationally, ranks Korean ahead of Chinese, Russian and Hindi, and behind Italian. English and Spanish still sit comfortably in the top two spots.

This rise in interest, experts and teachers say, is thanks to the Korean wave, or “hallyu” – the proliferation of Korean culture internationally.

Japanese fans of K-pop group BTS at a cafe featuring BTS goods in Seoul, South Korea, on June 15, 2022.

Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

The last two decades have seen South Korean exports sweep the world, from K-pop and Korean TV dramas to beauty products, fashion and food. The country has become an international cultural juggernaut – so much so that the Oxford English Dictionary added more than 20 words of Korean origin in 2021, saying in a statement, “We are all riding the crest of the Korean wave.”

This phenomenon has been aided by South Korea’s own government, which has worked to spread the country’s cultural influence through music and media since the 1990s. Now, the Korean language could be the next export to go global.

“Compared to the time I started my career, the perceptions of Korea as a nation, Korean culture and society, and the Korean language have gone through a significant, positive change,” said Joowon Suh, director of the Korean Language Program at Columbia University. “Now it is perceived more modern, advanced, marketable, cooler, and hipper.”

Rise in language classes

For decades, East Asian language studies overseas have mostly been limited to Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

But that began to change in the past decade after major hits by Korean artists and directors, such as Psy’s 2012 song “Gangnam Style,” the 2019 thriller “Parasite,” the 2021 Netflix show “Squid Game,” and the emergence of BTS, undoubtedly the biggest global stars of K-pop.

Figures show a surge in interest toward the language in the same period.

The number of students enrolled in Korean classes at higher education institutions in the United States leapt from 5,211 in 2002 to nearly 14,000 in 2016, according to data analyzed by the Modern Language Association.

K-pop group BTS at the 64th Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022.

Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

This jump is striking given Korean isn’t easy for non-native speakers to learn. The US State Department lists Korean as a “super-hard language,” meaning it’s “exceptionally difficult” for English speakers and takes on average 88 weeks to achieve professional working proficiency.

Modern Korean follows a phonetic alphabet called Hangul, meaning the syllables are generally pronounced as they’re written – unlike non-phonetic languages such as Chinese, which uses symbols to represent specific meanings.

Suh, the Columbia instructor, said she first began noticing a rise in interest around 2015 – but it has accelerated in the last three to four years. The number of Columbia students enrolling in Korean courses increased by 50% from the 2017 to 2021 academic years, she said.

Other popular languages have seen numbers either plateau or drop over the last decade. US students enrolled in Chinese classes, for instance, jumped significantly from 2002 to 2013, a period marked by China’s massive economic growth and global influence.

But enrollments in Chinese had dipped by 2016, according to the Modern Language Association – coinciding with the deterioration of US-China relations, and the worsening perception of China in the West due to its alleged human rights abuses.

"Squid Game" star Lee Jung-jae attends the Los Angeles screening of the hit Netflix show on November 8, 2021.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

“Students’ interest in foreign language learning in US higher education tends to depend more on the perception or reputation of a country in terms of economy and geopolitics, such as China, Russia or Portugal,” said Suh.

Similarly, in the United Kingdom, the number of higher education students taking Korean courses tripled from 2012 to 2018, according to the University Council of Modern Languages – compared to just a 5% increase for Chinese, and a decline in several European languages like French and German.

Government efforts

Korean’s newfound popularity was no accident, with South Korean authorities jumping at the chance to promote their language on the back of its more successful exports.

“It is the Hallyu that has persuaded Asian countries at the societal level that Korea is really part of the developed, western world,” said John Walsh in his 2014 book on the phenomenon. This shift in perception has in turn boosted the government’s ability to pursue “national interests in the areas of diplomacy, investment, education and trade,” he wrote.

Over the last decade, the Ministry of Education has sent Korean teachers overseas, including several dozen to Thailand in 2017 to teach the language at middle and high schools.

A display at a bilingual Korean-English language immersion class at Porter Ranch Community School in Los Angeles, photographed in September 2016.

Nick Ut/AP

In more recent years, numerous countries including Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have officially adopted Korean as a foreign language in their school curricula, under agreements signed with the Korean education ministry, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Meanwhile, the King Sejong Institute, a government-founded Korean-language brand, has established 244 learning centers worldwide, according to its website.

Photo Illustration/Getty

Why the past decade saw the rise and rise of East Asian pop culture

These efforts aim to “keep the interest of Korean language abroad, which has become widely popular with the Korean Wave,” said the education ministry in a 2017 press release.

“In the long term, Korean language courses in the local school curriculum will serve as a step to foster Korean experts, and thereby strengthening friendly relationships between Korea and other countries,” it added.

Suh cautioned that the Korean wave runs the risk of oversimplifying nuances of Korean culture and society, such as regional differences or class conflicts, while glorifying “anything (Korean) without fully understanding its history.”

But, she added, this simplification could actually benefit the South Korean government as it expands its influence, as something “any rising soft power might have to go through.”

From K-pop to employment

Experts say students come to the table with various reasons for pursuing the Korean language – though certain trends have emerged among regional and ethnic lines.

“The Korean wave is an important factor for non-heritage students,” said Suh, referring to those without Korean ethnicity or heritage who are simply interested in Korean cultural products like movies and K-pop.

Meanwhile, students of Korean descent tend to take Korean classes for more “integrative” reasons, she said – for instance, wanting to live in South Korea, to better connect with their communities and families, or to explore their own Korean identities.

Jiyoung Lee, an adjunct instructor at New York University’s Department of East Asian Studies, pointed to the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. These have facilitated international cultural exchanges and “largely influenced” the number of Korean learners, she said.

Son Ye Jin, left, and Hyun Bin - Crash Landing on You

Lim Hyo Seon/Netflix

'The Netflix effect': Why Western women are heading to South Korea in search of love

But Lee, who previously taught Korean in Indonesia and South Korea, also noticed differences among students in different parts of the world.

US students tend to learn Korean “because they are more interested in enjoying culture … and want to talk to their favorite singers or actors,” she said.

By contrast, students in Southeast Asia mostly study Korean to get a job in South Korea, or at a Korean company in their home country, she said, noting the number of Korean brands “establishing themselves not only in Southeast Asia but also in various countries.”

For instance, the Korean entertainment giant SM Entertainment is expanding into Southeast Asia with new Singapore headquarters. Meanwhile, the Korean convenience store chain GS25 has more than 180 outlets in Vietnam, and is set to break ground in Malaysia this year, according to Yonhap.

The expansion of Korean business and pop culture may also be pushing young Southeast Asians to travel to South Korea. Southeast Asians make up more than 40% of foreign students in South Korea, and 30% of foreign residents in the country overall, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

South Korean rapper Park Jae-Sang also known as Psy performs "Gangnam Style" in front of a crowd during a flashmob on November 5, 2012 in Paris. The video to "Gangnam Style" went viral after its July release, becoming the second most viewed clip in YouTube history, where it has notched up more than 650 million hits despite being sung almost entirely in Korean. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSON (Photo credit should read THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images

'Gangnam Style' at 10: How Psy's smash hit sent Korean culture global

Jeffrey Holliday, who teaches Korean linguistics at Korea University in Seoul (with classes taught in English), said roughly 40% of his students are exchange students, mostly coming from the US. These students tend to be undergraduates, only in Seoul for a few semesters, and nearly all are avid fans of Korean pop culture such as K-pop, he says.

Meanwhile, his foreign graduate students – who tend to be studying there full-time and are seeking jobs in Korea – largely hail from China and Vietnam.

“To me it’s so surprising because when I was in college (in the US) from 1999 to 2003 … there was no-one learning Korean who wasn’t a heritage speaker. I was the only one who wasn’t Korean American,” he said.

“Whereas now, these students come here, they’re very focused, very determined – they really want to learn Korean and they’re here for that.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the placing of Japanese on the Duolingo report. It is the most studied Asian language on the platform.

CNN’s Jake Kwon and Gawon Bae contributed reporting.

CNN · by Jessie Yeung · January 18, 2023

2. The shadowy groups trying to keep North Koreans from listening to K-pop

A job that cannot be successful. The Korean people in the north cannot be stopped from accessing information. "Like the bomber," information will get through.

Here is the link to the report that will be released tomorrow. https://en.nkdb.org/researchreport/?bmode=view&idx=13951783&back_url=&t=board&page=1

The shadowy groups trying to keep North Koreans from listening to K-pop

A new report highlights the human rights violations by the Non-Socialist Groups tasked with enforcing Kim Jong Un’s ideology on society

By Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Min Joo Kim 

January 18, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. EST

The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee Lee · January 18, 2023

SEOUL — Lee Suk-jeong made good money as a smuggler across the North Korea-China border, bringing in items coveted in North Korean black markets: gold, cigarettes and popular South Korean television shows, movies and music.

That made her a frequent target of surveillance, and her home would be searched without warning. Once, she was held at a detention center for more than a year, said Lee, 49, who defected to the South in 2019.

Those who pursued Lee worked for a shadowy surveillance operation inside North Korea called the Non-Socialist Groups, which use a network of informants to crack down on a wide range of behaviors deemed “nonsocialist” or against the principles of the nation by the Kim Jong Un regime.

The enforcers rely on fear, bribery and extortion to help Kim maintain his grip on society, and can be quickly mobilized to quash activities deemed problematic, according to a report by the Seoul-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights that was first provided exclusively to The Washington Post.

The violations pursued by the groups include possessing or consuming South Korean media; singing, dancing or speaking in a manner that is not considered North Korean; attempting defection; or criticizing the regime. Those who are found in violation may be sent to labor camps or in extreme cases, publicly executed, researchers found.

The report, which will be released publicly Thursday, offers a rare in-depth look at the inner-workings of this network and highlights its pervasive human rights violations, ranging from aggressive inspection to physical and psychological abuse. The report is based on interviews with 32 former enforcers and victims, many of whom defected from North Korea between 2018 and 2020, just before it closed its borders due to the pandemic.

“This group had been in the shadows. It has not been publicized officially. … We had to explore the group’s presence in daily lives of North Korean residents through oral testimonies,” said Su Bobae, researcher at the human rights group. “Through testimonies, we identified how the Non-Socialist Groups play the role of inspector within the bigger surveillance society.”

North Korea began tightening its surveillance activities after the deadly famine of the 1990s, which is estimated to have killed as many as 3 million. Families survived by illegally importing goods from neighboring China, paving the way for the black markets, or “jangmadang,” that are now central to North Korea’s economy.

This also led to an influx of information into the country, potentially threatening the totalitarian regime’s survival. South Korean dramas and movies showed the South was a thriving capitalist country, rather than an impoverished one full of beggars and criminals as portrayed in North Korean propaganda, Lee told The Washington Post.

“Our mouths were dropped wide open, and we’d starve, locked hiding in our homes, just binge-watching,” she said. “We saw the reality, and we went nuts. We were engrossed.”

The Non-Socialist Groups were active by the late 1990s, and eventually spread through all regions, sectors and local communities to keep citizens in line, the report says. The enforcers serve about six months to two years to keep them from developing deep ties to the public, which might make them more sympathetic to them, researchers found.

Kim, the third-generation leader of North Korea, came to power in December 2011 more than a decade after the black market activity started flourishing. Under his rule, researchers found the groups redoubled their efforts to clamp down on the spread of South Korean media, which Kim has called a “vicious cancer” corrosive to the North Korean society.

“Kim Jong Un regime tries to prevent the outside information affecting people’s ideology. The ideology is viewed as a crucial element for maintaining the regime,” Su said.

Unlike his father and grandfather, Kim has had to contend with the millennials in his country who have grown up with access to smuggled goods and entertainment — the so-called “Jangmadang Generation” — which in many cases inspire them to escape the country.

Since the 2010s, a large number of violations identified by the Non-Socialist Groups relate to the consumption of such South Korean media by North Korean millennials, the report found. Authorities target their parents as well, blaming them for not disciplining their children, according to witness testimony.

The enforcers often have a quota to fill, and work to catch violators in the act, said Kim Eun-duk, former North Korean prosecutor who oversaw their work.

The group members typically accept bribery — and sometimes extort people for more money — in exchange for letting them go, he said. Those who don’t have enough for bribes would be referred for punishment. Researchers found that punishment depended on how much control the regime needs over its people at a given moment, rather than the severity of the crime.

“Women were searched, tortured and beaten. There [in North Korea] we do not know what human rights are. We did not have that concept. I only learned of that concept in South Korea,” Kim, the former prosecutor who escaped in 2019, told The Post.

Lee, the defector, said the Non-Socialist Groups would typically target large-scale smugglers like herself, who can afford to pay large sums to be let go.

“They say if you join the group for one stint, it’s better than going to Russia [to make money],” she said.

Nonsocialist — and the more serious, regime-challenging antisocialist — activity is pervasive throughout the North Korean society, escapees said, estimating that the vast majority of people take part in behavior that the regime does not condone. Most people interviewed by researchers said such behavior is necessary to make a living in North Korea, bartering and selling smuggled goods to supplement meager wages. Others said they were curious about new and unknown things they could learn from illegal media, wanted to be entertained, and longed for freedom.

All 32 escapees told researchers they would continue their nonsocialist activities to earn a living even after inspections or crackdowns.

“All those who breathe in the society do it,” said one anonymous escapee quoted in the report. “First, to make a living, second, to eat better than others, and third, to solve problems from work and be successful. Because you need money for all that.”

The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee Lee · January 18, 2023

3. U.S. should prepare for possible deployment of nuclear assets to S. Korea: U.S. think tank

The planning should include how the north's Cultural Engagement Bureau (old 225th Bureau) will mobilize Koreans in the South to protest against nuclear weapons at all US bases in South Korea. These table top exercises would examine how the north will try to cause unrest in the South and use the redeployment to try to drive a wedge in the alliance.

U.S. should prepare for possible deployment of nuclear assets to S. Korea: U.S. think tank | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · January 19, 2023

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- The United States should consider possible deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea in the future, a U.S. think tank said Wednesday, in what it called "pre-decisional" efforts to lay groundwork for the possible deployment in the future.

The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also recommended the U.S. and South Korea begin holding tabletop exercises to that end.

"The allies should consider tabletop planning exercises for the possible redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea," the CSIS' North Korea Commission said in a report on North Korea policy and extended deterrence.

"This planning should be explicitly pre-decisional. The timeline and scope of weapons ... should be left deliberately ambiguous," it added.

Victor Cha, senior vice president and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), speaks during a news conference held at the U.S. think tank in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 17, 2023, to preview a new report set to be published by the CSIS' North Korea Commission. (Yonhap)

Victor Cha, CSIS senior vice president for Asia and Korea Chair, explained such "pre-decisional" or preliminary work can help the actual or final decision to move in either direction.

"The purpose of that is that once you get that planning process started, you can make a decision to accelerate it or to decelerate it, depending on changes to the external environment," he said while meeting with reporters for a preview of the report that is set to be released early Thursday.

The report, the second of its kind to be published by the CSIS commission, proposes six policy recommendations each for North Korea policy and U.S. extended deterrence.

On U.S. extended deterrence, the report says Washington must demonstrate its nuclear capabilities, as well as its political will to use them if necessary.

To this end, the report suggests the U.S. must underscore its commitment to the defense of South Korea partly by emphasizing that Washington and Seoul share the same fate.

"When referencing the "full range of U.S. defense capabilities," the United States should emphasize that the U.S.-ROK "community of fate" -- anchored in the presence of 28,500 U.S. troops on the peninsula -- forms the core of extended deterrence," it said.

ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.

On the same note, the report recommends the U.S. consider changing its strategic and nuclear posture to allow or increase "continuous presence of U.S. strategic assets around the Korean Peninsula."

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has said Seoul may be forced to arm itself with nuclear weapons should the military tension with North Korea continue to increase.

Pyongyang staged a record-breaking 69 ballistic missile launches last year, far exceeding its previous annual record of 25.

The CSIS commission clearly expressed its opposition to South Korea's nuclear armament.

"Do not, under current circumstances, deploy U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula nor condone the acquisition of nuclear weapons by South Korea," says the report.

The report suggests the U.S. should instead support the improvement of South Korea's conventional defense capabilities, including by deploying additional THAAD missile defense units to South Korea if needed.

"The ultimate policy objective is to achieve complete and irreversible denuclearization. While there may be interim steps along the way, the two allies should work toward this final goal," it said.

To this end, the report recommends the U.S. and its allies prepare for North Korea's eventual return to negotiations.

"The United States and South Korea should continue to express a willingness to engage with North Korea. This could involve sending joint communications from senior envoys indicating a readiness to talk without preconditions," it said.

The commission also insists the U.S. should consider appointing "a full-time special representative for North Korea," saying, "Even in the absence of negotiations, the envoy could work to coordinate potential road maps for North Korea's denuclearization among key stakeholders in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo."

Currently, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Sung Kim is also serving as U.S. special representative for North Korea.

Other policy recommendations for North Korea policy and extended deterrence include enhancing the enforcement of sanctions on North Korea, strengthening U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral cooperation and increasing support for North Korean human rights.

Youtube

https://youtu.be/ZuIfbGVPWLs

bdk@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · January 19, 2023

4. Washington Might Let South Korea Have the Bomb

Where would South Korea test a bomb?

Excerpts:

However, policymakers in Seoul appear to be increasingly nervous about the viability of extended deterrence, both conventional and nuclear. Last year, the North’s flurry of missile testing, more than 90 ballistic missile tests, dominated public attention. Pyongyang has been striving mightily to match nuclear warheads to intercontinental ballistic missiles, thereby putting American cities at risk. Would Washington stand by its commitment if Kim could deliver “fire and fury” to the continental United States?

Ukraine is not a treaty ally of the United States but still has intensified these fears. The Biden administration’s evident concern about provoking Russian escalation—especially Moscow’s potential use of nuclear weapons, though mostly slowing rather than halting increasingly sophisticated arms transfers—raises questions about the United States’ reaction if the North gained a similar (though much smaller) nuclear capability.

Yoon explained: “What we call extended deterrence was also the U.S. telling us not to worry because it will take care of everything. But now, it’s difficult to convince our people with just that.” Yoon indicated that Seoul would be given a hand in the use of American nukes: “The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information-sharing, exercises, and training should be jointly conducted by South Korea and the United States.”

...

But the possibility of allowing if not encouraging friendly proliferation no longer can be dismissed, especially since South Korea could decide to proceed without Washington’s approval. If the United States was unwilling to sanction Israel, gave up punishing India and Pakistan, and failed to halt North Korea, could it stop Seoul and perhaps Tokyo as well? Would the price of doing so be worth the cost? Would doing so be even possible? The United States would be unlikely to end alliances and/or impose sanctions, especially while attempting to contain China.

For years, allowing allied states to go nuclear was inconceivable—hence concerted U.S. pressure against both South Korea’s and Taiwan’s nuclear programs. However, that was before North Korea was set to become a substantial nuclear power. Extended deterrence in Asia then posed less risk to the American people. Unless U.S. policymakers are prepared to risk everything for South Korea, they must contemplate the previously unthinkable: a South Korean bomb.

Washington Might Let South Korea Have the Bomb

North Korean nuclearization makes a once-taboo option thinkable.

By Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

Foreign Policy · by Doug Bandow · January 17, 2023

Washington’s attempt to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are at a dead end. The nation is a nuclear state. Its arsenal is growing in both size and sophistication. Although Pyongyang will never be capable of staging a preemptive strike against the United States, it soon may be able to retaliate against Washington for defending South Korea.

The shifting balance has sparked a serious debate within the United States and South Korea over nuclear policy. The first question is whether it makes sense to pursue denuclearization—the famed CVID (complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement)—when the North already has the bomb. Only a few Panglossians still imagine that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can be talked or coerced into nuclear disarmament. Although official Washington policy resolutely refuses to acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear state, reality may eventually force a policy retreat.

Even more significant, the South’s establishment wants to get its hands on, or at least close to, American nuclear weapons. Or, suggested South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Seoul might develop its own. Many South Korean officials desire the stationing of “strategic assets” on the peninsula and some form of “nuclear-sharing” akin to that in Europe. South Korean cynics—or realists—who doubt the durability of Washington’s commitment and sincerity of its promises want their own bomb. Some U.S. policymakers seem open to that possibility.

Washington’s attempt to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are at a dead end. The nation is a nuclear state. Its arsenal is growing in both size and sophistication. Although Pyongyang will never be capable of staging a preemptive strike against the United States, it soon may be able to retaliate against Washington for defending South Korea.

The shifting balance has sparked a serious debate within the United States and South Korea over nuclear policy. The first question is whether it makes sense to pursue denuclearization—the famed CVID (complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement)—when the North already has the bomb. Only a few Panglossians still imagine that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can be talked or coerced into nuclear disarmament. Although official Washington policy resolutely refuses to acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear state, reality may eventually force a policy retreat.

Even more significant, the South’s establishment wants to get its hands on, or at least close to, American nuclear weapons. Or, suggested South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Seoul might develop its own. Many South Korean officials desire the stationing of “strategic assets” on the peninsula and some form of “nuclear-sharing” akin to that in Europe. South Korean cynics—or realists—who doubt the durability of Washington’s commitment and sincerity of its promises want their own bomb. Some U.S. policymakers seem open to that possibility.

North Korea’s growing nuclear might threatens the security status quo in the Korean Peninsula. Since the ratification of the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty, the United States has committed to the South’s defense. That was a relatively easy promise to make in the early years since America’s liability was limited to the battlefield. Although the Korean War was ferocious and destructive, as in previous global conflicts, the violence barely touched the American homeland. And until recently, North Korea had no way to reach the United States or even its Pacific possessions. Washington could easily adjust its policy for its advantage—for instance, like it did in 1953 by choosing not to battle on to unify the peninsula despite then-South Korean President Syngman Rhee’s refusal to sign the armistice.

However, policymakers in Seoul appear to be increasingly nervous about the viability of extended deterrence, both conventional and nuclear. Last year, the North’s flurry of missile testing, more than 90 ballistic missile tests, dominated public attention. Pyongyang has been striving mightily to match nuclear warheads to intercontinental ballistic missiles, thereby putting American cities at risk. Would Washington stand by its commitment if Kim could deliver “fire and fury” to the continental United States?

Ukraine is not a treaty ally of the United States but still has intensified these fears. The Biden administration’s evident concern about provoking Russian escalation—especially Moscow’s potential use of nuclear weapons, though mostly slowing rather than halting increasingly sophisticated arms transfers—raises questions about the United States’ reaction if the North gained a similar (though much smaller) nuclear capability.

Yoon explained: “What we call extended deterrence was also the U.S. telling us not to worry because it will take care of everything. But now, it’s difficult to convince our people with just that.” Yoon indicated that Seoul would be given a hand in the use of American nukes: “The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information-sharing, exercises, and training should be jointly conducted by South Korea and the United States.”

It’s a reasonable concern. Of course, American officials responded by expressing their deep and everlasting commitment to South Korea. The White House cited the alliance’s “rock solid foundation” in May 2022. The administration further marked the president’s visit to South Korea, stating: “President [Joe] Biden affirms the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to the ROK using the full range of U.S. defense capabilities, including nuclear, conventional, and missile defense capabilities.”

However, generic guarantees remain of little value. Ukrainians remember the toothless 1994 Budapest Memorandum, offered in exchange for Kyiv’s agreement to yield its Soviet-era nukes, which offered no serious remedy and could not have been enforced even if it had.

Imagine a future conflict in which U.S. and South Korean forces are poised to march northward, and the North issues an ultimatum, threatening nuclear attacks on America’s homeland if the allies do not withdraw from North Korean territory—or perhaps if Washington doesn’t withdraw from the conflict entirely. From the likely perspective of Washington, nothing in South Korea is worth sacrificing a dozen U.S. cities and millions of Americans for. What would a future president do?

That’s why there’s such powerful South Korean backing for an independent deterrent. There is strong public support, though most people probably have not considered the inevitable complications. Some officials, including retired Gen. Leem Ho-young and National Assembly politician Cho Kyoung-tae, are currently pushing the idea. And, as noted earlier, Yoon just brandished the possibility. However, official Seoul policy generally prefers Washington to provide the weapons, though their placement on the peninsula wouldn’t guarantee the willingness of any particular administration to use them.

Washington overwhelmingly opposes a South Korean bomb. One reason is its commitment to nonproliferation in principle. Also, though usually left unstated, is its desire to preserve America’s Asian predominance by maintaining its nuclear monopoly among friends.

Yet this policy conundrum may be changing some minds. For instance, the Hoover Institution’s Michael Auslin raised the issue early: “While few believe Kim Jong Un would launch an unprovoked nuclear strike, most seasoned Korea watchers believe that he would no doubt use his arsenal once it became clear he was about to lose any war that broke out. As this risk increases, Washington will find it increasingly difficult to avoid reassessing the country’s multi-decade alliance with South Korea. The threat to American civilians will be magnified to grotesque proportions, simply because Washington continues to promise to help South Korea.”

Steve Chabot, a long-serving Ohio congressman, recently made the startling suggestion that Washington “enter into talks with both Japan and South Korea about considering nuclear weapons programs themselves.” He allowed that he hoped it would not be necessary to proceed down this path, but that “even talking with [the South Koreans] would get [China’s] attention, and maybe they would actively act to restrain North Korea for the first time.”

In the past, some experts, including myself, offered this possibility as a reason to at least begin such discussions. However, in light of Pyongyang’s growing arsenal, the moment to prevent a North Korean nuke almost certainly has passed. Even if Beijing was willing, it would be a bit like trying to refill Pandora’s box. In any case, China is no less concerned about preserving stability on its border than before and far less interested in doing the United States a favor after Washington moved toward economic as well as military containment.

In which case, Chabot’s talks would lead to the obvious question: Would the United States tolerate its allies creating nuclear weapons? A South Korean bomb would inevitably spark debate in Japan, especially with the Kishida government committed to a major increase in military outlays—simultaneously with a shrinking population, expected to drop by almost 20 million people (or around 17 percent) by 2050, making it harder to field sizable armed forces.

Dropping extended deterrence would end Kim’s ability to hold the American homeland hostage. There would be potential advantages beyond North Korea. Beijing would face a different risk calculus in pressing its territorial claims militarily. One could even imagine the transfer of nuclear technology to Taiwan; although to prevent any Chinese attempt to preempt the United States, the United States might have to provide weapons directly.

However, the downsides of such a policy are also obvious. More nukes would create additional opportunities for accidents, leaks, and threats, and they could exacerbate any wars that occurred. China might respond by speeding up its nuclear program. North Korea would be less inclined to negotiate any limits on its arsenal, though it might not be willing to do so anyway. Other nations would naturally ask: If the United States is unwilling to confront a nuclear North Korea, would it risk war with a nuclear Iran or even Russia? Other American allies might consider their nuclear options.

But the possibility of allowing if not encouraging friendly proliferation no longer can be dismissed, especially since South Korea could decide to proceed without Washington’s approval. If the United States was unwilling to sanction Israel, gave up punishing India and Pakistan, and failed to halt North Korea, could it stop Seoul and perhaps Tokyo as well? Would the price of doing so be worth the cost? Would doing so be even possible? The United States would be unlikely to end alliances and/or impose sanctions, especially while attempting to contain China.

For years, allowing allied states to go nuclear was inconceivable—hence concerted U.S. pressure against both South Korea’s and Taiwan’s nuclear programs. However, that was before North Korea was set to become a substantial nuclear power. Extended deterrence in Asia then posed less risk to the American people. Unless U.S. policymakers are prepared to risk everything for South Korea, they must contemplate the previously unthinkable: a South Korean bomb.

Foreign Policy · by Doug Bandow · January 17, 2023

5. Defense ministers of S. Korea and US to visit JSA next month

I just hope they do not take the SECDEF down in the 3rd infiltration tunnel. His height would make it a very painful walk for him! :-) 

https://www.seoulkoreatour.net/places/korea-1/attraction/the-3rd-infiltration-tunnel/

Defense ministers of S. Korea and US to visit JSA next month

donga.com

Posted January. 19, 2023 07:48,

Updated January. 19, 2023 07:50

Defense ministers of S. Korea and US to visit JSA next month. January. 19, 2023 07:48. by Hyo-Ju Son, Kyu-Jin Shin hjson@donga.com,newjin@donga.com.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who will visit South Korea at the end of this month, will visit the Joint Security Area (JSA) along with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup. It was reported that they are discussing a detailed schedule at the moment. This will be the first time in five years since October 2017 that the defense ministers of South Korea and the U.S. visit the JSA together. The defense ministers may voice a strong warning against North Korea’s provocations in the JSA, which borders the North.

According to a government source on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Austin will arrive in South Korea on January 31 and visit the JSA with Defense Minister Lee the next day. “The joint visit is to send a message that South Korea and the U.S. will jointly engage in firm responses in case of further provocations by North Korea, which is raising military tensions with its drone provocations and replay missile launches,” said the source.

The last joint visit to the JSA by the defense leaders of the two countries took place in October 2017 when North Korea escalated tensions by conducting its sixth nuclear test and launching intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in series. “We will maintain an ironclad alliance between South Korea and the U.S. and impenetrable defense posture for South Korea against Kim Jong Un’s provocations,” said former U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, who visited the JSA along with former South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo. Such a joint visit had not been made since then as a more friendly mood was formed between the two Koreas, with South Korea hosting PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in February 2018 and a summit meeting between the two Koreas in April 2018.

The upcoming JSA visit by the defense leaders of South Korea and the U.S. will be a symbolic event to signal that the military alliance between the two countries will unfold very tightly at an unprecedented level. South Korean and U.S. military authorities will conduct a Deterrence Strategy Committee tabletop exercise (DSC TTX) next month, which is a map exercise to discuss between the South Korean Defense Ministry and the U.S. Defense Department how the U.S.’s nuclear umbrella (extended deterrence, including strategic bombers) will be provided to South Korea in response to a scenario of North Korea using nuclear weapons. The U.S. Defense Secretary’s visit to South Korea prior to the exercise puts more significance on the U.S.’s defense promise of providing extended deterrence capabilities to South Korea in case of North Korea’s nuclear provocations.

Defense Secretary Austin is expected to emphasize security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan to address North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats during his visit to the JSA since a tight response to North Korea’s nuclear attacks is possible when cooperation between the three countries is strengthened by building real-time alarm and intelligence sharing system on North Korea’s missile launches between the three countries earlier.

한국어

donga.com

6. Defector-turned-lawmaker declares bid for PPP Supreme Council

Regardless of the political outcome and politics in general, the ROK Ministry of Unification should be using the example of Thae Yong Ho as part of an information and influence campaign to show the Korean people in the north what someone from the north can do in the South. And of course Ji Song Ho (another escapee who is politically successful and in the National Assembly) is another powerful example since he comes from more simple but tragic circumstances in north Korea.

Defector-turned-lawmaker declares bid for PPP Supreme Council | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 이민지 · January 19, 2023

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- Rep. Tae Yong-ho, a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, announced his bid to run for the party's Supreme Council on Thursday.

Tae, who formerly served as the No. 2 diplomat at North Korea's Embassy in London, defected to South Korea in August 2016.

In 2020, he was elected to the National Assembly as the main conservative opposition United Future Party's candidate in Seoul's affluent southern district of Gangnam, becoming the first person hailing from the communist nation to be chosen directly by South Korean voters as their representative.

"If I become a Supreme Council member of the Republic of Korea's ruling party, it would be what Kim Jong-un would be most afraid of," he said in a press conference, referring to the North Korean leader.

The party is scheduled to hold a national convention March 8 to pick a new leader. Five seats of its Supreme Council will also be up for grabs.

Rep. Tae Yong-ho, a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly on Jan. 19, 2023. (Yonhap)

mlee@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 이민지 · January 19, 2023

7. N. Korea holds key parliamentary meeting without leader Kim's attendance

Now we have to decipher the tea leaves to see what this might mean.

(2nd LD) N. Korea holds key parliamentary meeting without leader Kim's attendance | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · January 19, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 8-11)

By Kim Soo-yeon and Yi Wonju

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has convened a two-day parliamentary session in Pyongyang to discuss budgetary and other issues, including legislation against foreign cultural influences, its state media said Thursday.

Without its leader in attendance, the North held the 8th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). No messages by Kim Jong-un were issued in public in regard to South Korea or the United States.

The SPA is the highest organ of power under the North's constitution, although it rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

The parliamentary session had drawn keen attention from the outside world as a possible stage for Kim to send messages targeting the South or the U.S., or announce the country's development of nuclear and other major weapons.

This week's session, instead, focused on domestic issues, such as reviewing the state budget, organizational issues and adopting a law on the "protection of the cultured Pyongyang dialect."

North Korea convenes the 8th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Jan. 19, 2023. The KCNA said the two-day meeting wrapped up the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

The new law points to the need for "the development of socialist national culture to protect and actively preserve" the language," Kang Yun-sok, vice chair of the SPA standing committee, was quoted as saying by the KCNA in an English-language dispatch.

The adoption of such legislation appears aimed at tightening state control over the inflow of outside culture by regulating the use of South Korean styles of speech, observers said.

An official at Seoul's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, echoed the view, saying the law is "presumably intended to strengthen control across the society."

Observers said the legislation comes in line with the regime's efforts to root out foreign culture as young North Koreans appear to have adopted slang words and other new expressions from U.S. and South Korean media.

"(The North) may be taking it in with a sense of crisis that foreign ideology is seeping into people's everyday lives, and not simply as a change in their language," said Hong Min, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification.

"It's like a warning to its people against the careless use of (foreign languages)," he added.

On budgetary issues, the North decided at the SPA meeting to increase the overall state expenditure by 1.7 percent on-year in 2023, without mentioning the size of the total budget. It will also raise spending on the economic sector by 1.2 percent on-year.

Spending on the defense sector will account for 15.9 percent of the total budget this year, the same proportion of last year. The country also decided to allocate 45 percent of its 2023 budget in developing its economy and improving people's livelihood, it added.

The reclusive country's economy has been faltering under global sanctions and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The North's leader has vowed to bolster the country's defense capabilities this year, ordering an "exponential" increase in nuclear arsenal and the development of an advanced weapon system.

During the parliamentary meeting, the North pointed to "not a few shortcomings" founded in carrying out last year's budget and urged efforts to push ahead with the country's five-year economic plan.

Premier Kim Tok-hun stressed the state budget for this year "should be implemented without fail to financially support the work for bolstering up the country's defense capability, developing the economy and improving the people's standard of living," according to the KCNA.

Meanwhile, Maeng Kyong-il, director of the Secretariat and presidium member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea, was by-elected vice chair of the SPA.

Maeng is known to have played a key role in improving cross-border ties with the South on the occasion of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, to which the North sent athletes.

Youtube

https://youtu.be/gQ03kZZJJwY

North Korea convenes the 8th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Jan. 19, 2023. The KCNA said the two-day meeting wrapped up the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

julesyi@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · January 19, 2023 | 

8. North Korea sustains high defense spending with new budget

With his percentage of defense spending (15.9%) north Korea could be a member in good standing in NATO as its percentage surpasses the 2% requirement. (note extreme sarcasm)

North Korea sustains high defense spending with new budget

Stars and Stripes · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · January 19, 2023

In this photo taken during Jan. 17-18, 2023 and provided by the North Korean government, North Korea’s parliament is held in Pyongyang, North Korea Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. (Korean Central News Agency)

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament has passed a budget that sustains a high level of defense spending despite economic troubles as leader Kim Jong Un pushes for an aggressive expansion of his nuclear arsenal amid stalled diplomacy.

State media reports indicated Kim didn't attend the Supreme People's Assembly's two-day session that ended Wednesday. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency didn't mention any comments by assembly members toward the United States or South Korea in its report of the meetings on Thursday.

The assembly convened weeks after Kim called for an "exponential increase" of nuclear warheads, mass production of battlefield tactical nuclear weapons targeting "enemy" South Korea and the development of more advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to reach the U.S. mainland.

His statements during a major political conference in December underscored an intensifying nuclear standoff with the United States and its allies in Asia after he pushed North Korea's weapons tests to a record pace in 2022.

The North fired more than 70 missiles last year, including multiple ICBM launches, and conducted a series of tests it described as simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean and U.S. targets.

Analysts say Kim's aggressive arms expansion and escalatory nuclear doctrine are aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.

KCNA said the assembly's members projected overall state spending would increase by 1.7% this year but made no mention of the actual size of the budget.

The assembly's members devoted 15.9% of this year's national budget to defense spending, the same proportion as last year, to support efforts on "further bolstering up the war deterrence both in quality and quantity" and "defending the dignity and security of the country and the people," KCNA said.

It's difficult to gauge how much money North Korea would be spending on its military capabilities, considering the poor quality of the limited statistics it discloses.

According to the U.S. State Department's 2021 World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers report, North Korea possibly spent around $4 billion on defense in 2019, which would have amounted to 26% of its estimated gross domestic product, the highest proportion among 170 countries it reviewed.

KCNA's report on the assembly meetings hinted that North Korea was struggling to revive a moribund economy battered by mismanagement, U.S.-led sanctions over Kim's nuclear ambitions, and COVID-19-related border closures.

Finance Minister Ko Jong Bom lamented unspecified shortcomings in raising tax revenues from state companies. He called for economic workers to strengthen their "ideological resolve" and put broader national interests before the interests of their specific units, KCNA said.

The assembly's members also passed a new law aimed at protecting the "cultured" dialect specific to the capital Pyongyang region, apparently the country's latest step to stem South Korean and other foreign cultural influences.

They also discussed strengthening the surveillance activities of the Central Public Prosecutors Office to establish "revolutionary law-abiding spirit," underscoring how Kim's government continues to strengthen its control of its people in face of the deepening economic challenges.

Kim last appeared at the assembly in September, when he defiantly stated his country would never abandon the nuclear weapons he clearly sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.

The assembly's members then passed legislation that authorized preemptive nuclear attacks in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat, which included conventional clashes or conflicts that wouldn't necessarily amount to war.

Alarmed by the growing North Korean nuclear threat, South Korea and Japan are scrambling to strengthen their defense postures in conjunction with their alliances with the United States.

In an interview with The Associated Press last week, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said his government was engaged in discussions with the Biden administration over joint military planning potentially involving U.S. nuclear assets.

The allies are planning to hold a tabletop exercise next month aimed at sharpening their response to where North Korea uses a nuclear weapon. Yoon's government has also said it would call for Washington to deploy strategic military assets near the Korean Peninsula more frequently.

In December, Japan made a major break from its strictly self-defense-only postwar principle by adopting a new national security strategy that includes goals to acquire preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles in face of growing threats from North Korea, China and Russia.

Stars and Stripes · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · January 19, 2023

9. North Korea's Lazarus Group Moves More than $60 Million from Harmony Bridge Hack

Kim requires the "all purpose sword" to build and sustain "the treasured sword."

North Korea's Lazarus Group Moves More than $60 Million from Harmony Bridge Hack

Stock Market - Business News, Market Data, Stock Analysis - TheStreet · by Sabrina Toppa

Over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, North Korea’s state-owned cybercrime entity the Lazarus Group, most famously linked to the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, moved approximately 41,000 ETH or more than $60 million of Ethereum to the crypto exchanges Binance, Huboi and OKX. The funds were taken from last year’s Harmony blockchain bridge hack, which resulted in the stealing of nearly $100 million in crypto, according to internet detective ZachXBT.

Binance and Huboi both froze the funds, with Binance declaring that 124 BTC in assets were recovered during the process.

“They previously tried to launder through Binance and we froze his accounts,” Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said. This time he [the hacker] used Huobi. We assisted Huobi team to freeze his accounts.”

The group relied on the RailGun smart contract to anonymize and obscure the identities of the North Korean hackers. During the Harmony bridge attack, the same group used Tornado Cash, a now banned crypto mixer that also conceals the names of people behind transactions.

According to ZachXBT, 350,000 unique wallet addresses were part of Friday’s operation.

Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department placed the Lazarus Group on a designated list created by the Office of Foreign Assets Control Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons for its role in the Axie Infinity crypto attack.

According to the U.N. Security Council, since 2018 the group is responsible for swindling over $200 million worth of crypto each year for Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Stock Market - Business News, Market Data, Stock Analysis - TheStreet · by Sabrina Toppa

10. First on Fox: Pompeo’s secret trip to North Korea detailed in former secretary of state’s new memoir

The question I have is whether Kim Jong Un's translator actually translated the Secretary's words exactly. I would have liked to have seen his expression as he heard the words.

 Excerpt:

"This small, sweating, evil man tried to break the ice with all the charm you would expect from a mass murderer. ‘Mr. Director,’ he opened, ‘I didn’t think you’d show up. I know you’ve been trying to kill me.’ My team and I had prepared for this moment, but ‘a joke about assassination’ was not on the list of ‘things he may say when he greets you.’ But I was, after all, director of the CIA, so maybe his bon mot made sense," Pompeo wrote.

"I decided to lean in with a little humor of my own: ‘Mr. Chairman, I’m still trying kill you.’ In the picture taken seconds after that exchange, Kim is still smiling. He seemed confident that I was kidding," Pompeo wrote.

First on Fox: Pompeo’s secret trip to North Korea detailed in former secretary of state’s new memoir

foxnews.com · by Paul Steinhauser | Fox News

Video

Pompeo says former President Trump's 2024 announcement won't affect his own decision on whether to run for the White House.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says former President Donald Trump's announcement won't be a factor in his own decision to run for president at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting, Nov. 18, 2022, in Las Vegas.

EXCLUSIVE – Former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spotlights his clandestine 2018 trip to North Korea as he met for the first time with the totalitarian regime’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, in the first chapter of his soon-to-be released memoir "Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love."

The new book by Pompeo, an Army veteran and congressman from Kansas who served as the spy agency’s chief and America’s top diplomat during then-President Donald Trump’s administration, will be published by HarperCollins next Tuesday, on Jan. 24.

The memoir – which the publishers say shows how Pompeo "spearheaded the Trump Administration's most significant foreign policy breakthroughs" – comes ahead of a potential 2024 Republican presidential campaign by Pompeo, who’s said he’s seriously considering a White House run.

"It wasn’t the Easter weekend I had planned," Pompeo wrote in an excerpt shared first with Fox News on Tuesday. "My clandestine mission began on Good Friday, March 30, 2018, as I departed Andrews Air Force Base. My destination: Pyongyang, North Korea. I was headed to one of the darkest places on earth to meet with Chairman Kim Jong Un, its darkest inhabitant."

POMPEO LAUNCHES MISSION TO COMBAT WHAT HE CALLS MILITARY ‘WOKENESS’

CIA Director Mike Pompeo shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in this undated image in Pyongyang, North Korea. Pompeo spoke with Kim for more than an hour during a secret visit over the Easter weekend in 2018. (The White House via Getty Images)

"The mission was a complete secret, known only to a few. My objective: correct the failed efforts of the past that had not eliminated North Korea’s nuclear weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and had, in fact, led to the current heightened threat," Pompeo wrote.

Pompeo, who was CIA director at the time of the secret mission, gave a firsthand account of his arrival in North Korea’s capital city and his first glimpse of Kim Jong Un.

CLICK HERE FOR POMPEO'S LATEST OPINION PIECES ON FOXNEWS.COM

"This small, sweating, evil man tried to break the ice with all the charm you would expect from a mass murderer. ‘Mr. Director,’ he opened, ‘I didn’t think you’d show up. I know you’ve been trying to kill me.’ My team and I had prepared for this moment, but ‘a joke about assassination’ was not on the list of ‘things he may say when he greets you.’ But I was, after all, director of the CIA, so maybe his bon mot made sense," Pompeo wrote.

"I decided to lean in with a little humor of my own: ‘Mr. Chairman, I’m still trying kill you.’ In the picture taken seconds after that exchange, Kim is still smiling. He seemed confident that I was kidding," Pompeo wrote.

Writing a book is a rite of passage for many potential and actual presidential candidates. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who’s likely to launch a White House run, is continuing a nationwide book tour for his new autobiography, "So Help Me God."

POMPEO SAYS TRUMP 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT WON'T IMPACT HIS OWN DECISION

"If You Want Something Done: Leadership Lessons from Bold Women," the latest book from another potential GOP White House hopeful, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, was published in October. Haley served as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration.

And as Fox News first reported two months ago, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida will chronicle his life in public service in a new book that will publish in late February. The autobiography by DeSantis, who was overwhelmingly re-elected in November, is titled "The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival."

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at an annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Nov. 18, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Following the end of the Trump administration, Pompeo spent time crisscrossing the country on behalf of fellow Republicans who ran in 2022 midterm elections. The Fox News contributor's travels included numerous stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada – the first four states to vote in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

Pompeo’s political action committee last year went up with ads in the early voting nominating states, another sign he’s seriously mulling a White House bid. Asked in an interview with Fox News Digital in November about his 2024 plans, Pompeo answered that "we are doing the things that one would do to be ready to make such an announcement and then to engage with the American people on the ideas that we believe matter."

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

foxnews.com · by Paul Steinhauser | Fox News

11. Pentagon asks U.S. Forces Korea to provide equipment for Ukraine

Deja vu all over again. When I was in the "home alone Group'' (er... I mean 1st Special Forces Group with responsibility for Korea and PACOM - Home alone because 7th went to Panama and 5th, 3d, and 10th went to Iraq and 1st stayed home alone) ) during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm I recall providing a lot of our SOF unique equipment to 5th Special Forces group, to include laser target designators and satellite radios. We also provided a number of enabling support personnel from cooks and mechanics to communications and chemical officers. Back then Korea and PACOM were "economy of force" theaters - no war would take place there so we could rob peter to pay paul.

The irony was our SF officers and NCOs were calling up branch to volunteer to fill SF shortages in the other groups but were told that the could not because there might be a war in Korea and they had to remain in 1st SFG in case that happened. As a battalion S3 in 1990-1991 I remember the readiness reporting we were doing had us a C4 for equipment because we had transferred mission essential equipment to 5th and the other groups. We were not too well prepared for war in Korea, except perhaps for small arms and hand to hand combat.

Pentagon asks U.S. Forces Korea to provide equipment for Ukraine

Reuters · by Reuters

SEOUL, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense has asked its forces stationed in South Korea to provide equipment to help Ukraine in the war against Russia, the U.S. military said on Thursday, adding the move has "zero impact" on its operations in the Asian country.

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), which has some 28,500 troops in South Korea, said the move is part of U.S. efforts to help Ukraine with its inventories.

"This has zero impact on our operations and our ability to execute on our ironclad commitment to the defence of our ally, the Republic of Korea," USFK spokesperson Col. Isaac Taylor said in a statement.

USFK declined to provide further details, including what types of equipment and how much has been requested or already transferred.

The statement comes after the New York times reported earlier this week the United States was diverting munitions in Israel and South Korea to Ukraine for use in the war against Russia. Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine "a special operation".

Asked about the report, Seoul's defence ministry said it was closely coordinating with the United states to maintain readiness posture.

South Korea's policy is not to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine. Seoul has sought to avoid antagonising Russia, both for economic reasons and because of the influence that Moscow can exert with North Korea.

A U.S. official said in November Washington was in talks with South Korea to buy artillery shells to send to Ukraine, though Seoul insisted that the United States must be the ammunition's end-user.

Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Reuters · by Reuters

12. N. Korea intensifies crackdowns on rice wholesalers and resellers

More indication that Kim seems to be taking action to damage the markets.

N. Korea intensifies crackdowns on rice wholesalers and resellers

To avoid the crackdown, retailers are avoiding the markets altogether, quietly selling rice from home or on the streets, a source told Daily NK

By Lee Chae Un - 2023.01.19 4:00pm

dailynk.com

FILE PHOTO: A market official on patrol in Sunchon, South Pyongan Province. (Daily NK)

North Korean authorities are intensifying their crackdowns on food wholesalers and resellers in Bukchang County, a source in South Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Tuesday.

“[The crackdown] is related to efforts to ensure that rice is sold in state-run food shops rather than markets,” he said.

According to the source, North Korea has been selling rice at lower-than-market prices at state-run food shops since last year.

In fact, a kilogram of rice reportedly costs KPW 5,500 in Bukchang County’s markets, but just KPW 4,700 in state-run food shops.

People with money to spend welcome the sale of rice at less-than-market prices, but with the government securing so little rice, restrictions are in place at the state-run food shops, with households able to buy no more than five kilograms of rice each.

The source said the authorities are responding to this lack of rice by cracking down on rice wholesalers and resellers who they believe are hindering the state’s efforts to secure food stocks.

North Korean rice wholesalers make money by purchasing rice from professional resellers — who either make backroom deals to bring in rice from regions where it is relatively cheap or by getting it from farmers using unfair methods — and selling it to marketplace sellers.

Rice wholesalers have used this method to corner food distribution, moving between two and three tons of rice at a time.

“Food that the government needs to have is leaking into markets through secret deals, leading the authorities to desperately crack down on illegal food transactions conducted by wholesalers and resellers,” said the source.

“In Bukchang County, the police have begun cracking down on illegal food transactions, and if you are caught, they confiscate your stock without compensation,” he added.

POLICE USE ANY AND ALL TACTICS TO TRAP WHOLESALERS

The source further reported that the police are using all methods and means at their disposal to bust the wholesalers, including cracking down on retailers and pressing them about where they got their stocks of rice.

“Rice wholesalers with a lot of rice are being extremely careful not to get caught in crackdowns, with some even suspending their sales,” he said.

Given that some wholesalers are making even more efforts to hide their activities, police are changing their tactics, trying to catch them by using market retailers to lure them into sales.

However, the source said that retailers — who have no desire to get caught up in these traps — are avoiding the markets altogether, quietly selling rice from home or on the streets.

The source further reported that even though rice is cheaper in state-run food shops, “people who can’t afford even a kilogram of rice on their daily wages are buying rice on credit from private merchants.”

The crackdown on rice wholesalers and resellers is also underway in Hyesan, Yanggang Province, the source added.

Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.

Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

dailynk.com

13. We must create a Korean Peninsula of reconciliation and coexistence

​These professors and pundits rarely take the argument to the logical conclusion which is a free and unified Korea.

There should be no doubt that Kim will ever acquiesce to ​reconciliation and coexistence.

Frankly, Professor Jeon's argument is a fantasy given the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime.

Conclusion:

This should not be a confrontation with North Korea based on anti-communism and militarism, but a flexible engagement based on the Republic of Korea's economic, military and soft power to secure its own diplomatic and security needs. In response to the rapidly changing security environment, including North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the U.S.-China rivalry and the regional arms race, in addition to having our own deterrence capabilities, we must also supplement this with working to ease tensions through security diplomacy.

In addition, the government needs to take a patient and consistent approach so that North Korea can participate in inter-Korean dialogue. Since the causes of the North Korean problem are very complex, various and diverse methods are required. In addition, in dialogue with North Korea, the government needs to pursue powerful negotiations in which it can speak confidently while simultaneously weighing the benefits and costs. In the future, by transcending the confrontation that characterizes the Korean Peninsula and transforming it toward worldwide universality and global altruism, we look forward to the Republic of Korea becoming a global pivotal country that contributes to the historical progress of security diplomacy.

We must create a Korean Peninsula of reconciliation and coexistence

The Korea Times · January 18, 2023

By Jeon Su-mi

Recently, as North Korea roamed our airspace with its drones. President Yoon Seok Yeol said, "To achieve peace, we must prepare for an overwhelmingly superior war." Is he saying that prevention is better than cure? As U.S.-North Korea relations change again and trust between them collapses, it is necessary for us to be prepared for North Korea's self-defense measures that will likely follow.

On the other hand, an improvement of inter-Korean relations is not just a by-product of the U.S.-North Korea relationship but is also required so as to secure the "motive power to promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." It is no coincidence that the Kim Dae-jung administration, which hoped for speedy reunification through the Sunshine Policy, prepared for a sudden change in North Korea.

However, based on what President Yoon has said since the time he was a candidate about "preemptive strikes" and "the main enemy being North Korea" and, since his election, that he would punish any provocation by North Korea, we feel in real time that the Korean Peninsula, which has entered a strong vs. strong climate, is becoming a Northeast Asian powder keg.

The change in the international order in the post-Cold War era is undoubtedly a new challenge for the Republic of Korea. The strategic struggle between the U.S. and China has now become a dominant and far-reaching international and regional issue. For South Korea, the United States is its only ally, while China is a neighbor and strategic cooperative partner with whom we are economically interdependent. We are in a very difficult position in terms of diplomacy and security in the midst of this U.S.-China strategic rivalry.

Nonetheless, the current government is pursuing a one-sided foreign and security policy based on the fixed and polarized approach of the past. Although South Korea is approaching the ranks of the G-7 and boasts an economy in the world's top ten, it does not demonstrate strategic diplomacy to match it because, while it has enjoyed high economic growth and achieved democratization in a short period of time, it has failed to develop its diplomatic capabilities to match.

The new diplomatic and security challenges that have emerged recently have made things more difficult. This is because an atmosphere is forming in which major powers reinforce nationalistic policies and the formation of regional blocs. We are also confronting challenges such as new security threats from the 4th industrial revolution, the pandemic, the climate crisis and supply chain expansion.

 Nevertheless, in terms of the diplomacy and security of the Republic of Korea in the 21st century, we are still dancing between ideologies and factions.

Diplomatic issues too are still dependent on the governing party's place on the ideological and partisan spectrum, either emphasizing international cooperation with a pro-U.S. or alliance-centered approach, or being somewhat anti-U.S. and pro-China and valuing ethnocentric cooperation. The current government, like the conservative governments of the past, is pursuing anti-communist, pro-American policies, talking of North Korea as its main enemy, talking about war and using this to serve its domestic political agenda.

In the era of Kim Dae-jung, Korea recast the painful ordeal of the division of the Korean peninsula as a hope for reconciliation and coexistence, rather than anger and retaliation. As a new player on the world stage, South Korea should take the lead in promoting international cooperation and solidarity to resolve the North Korean problem, because denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula are key tasks of the moment and are diplomatic goals that can never be given up.

This should not be a confrontation with North Korea based on anti-communism and militarism, but a flexible engagement based on the Republic of Korea's economic, military and soft power to secure its own diplomatic and security needs. In response to the rapidly changing security environment, including North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the U.S.-China rivalry and the regional arms race, in addition to having our own deterrence capabilities, we must also supplement this with working to ease tensions through security diplomacy.

In addition, the government needs to take a patient and consistent approach so that North Korea can participate in inter-Korean dialogue. Since the causes of the North Korean problem are very complex, various and diverse methods are required. In addition, in dialogue with North Korea, the government needs to pursue powerful negotiations in which it can speak confidently while simultaneously weighing the benefits and costs. In the future, by transcending the confrontation that characterizes the Korean Peninsula and transforming it toward worldwide universality and global altruism, we look forward to the Republic of Korea becoming a global pivotal country that contributes to the historical progress of security diplomacy.

Jeon Su-mi (sumijeon@ssu.ac.kr), an attorney, is an invited professor at the Soongsil Institute for Peace and Unification. She was a member of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation. Her areas of specialty include South Korean politics and foreign policy, North Korea politics and human rights.

The Korea Times · January 18, 2023

14. Kim Jong Un Sends New Year’s Cards to Xi and Putin

A well mannered Kim Jong Un sends greetings to his benefactors.

Kim Jong Un Sends New Year’s Cards to Xi and Putin

North Korean state media reported that Kim Jong Un sent New Year’s cards to leaders of various countries, including China and Russia.

thediplomat.com · by Mitch Shin · January 18, 2023

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent New Year’s cards to the leaders of various countries, the North’s main state-controlled media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday.

The letters were sent to eight leaders, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, KCNA reported.

KCNA did not elaborate on the letters or their contents. However, Kim might have asked the recipient leaders to form closer ties with his country in his letter, while criticizing “the U.S. imperialism” in the region. He has made no secret of the North’s goal to be a stronger nuclear-weapons state to confront the strengthening alliance of the United States and South Korea in the region.

Other cards went to leaders from Cuba, Vietnam, and Laos, as well as Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

As North Korea is expecting to fully reopen its borders with China this year, Kim will put more efforts toward reviving his country’s sluggish economy, which has been harshly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the past three years. Although it is unclear how much the North’s economy can be resuscitated under the current U.S. and U.N. sanctions, Kim may reach out to anti-U.S. nations to seek avenues for economic cooperation. Given its attempts to evade sanctions, North Korea will likely activate unofficial channels for earning foreign currency while remaining highly dependent on China’s economic pipeline.

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Considering Pyongyang’s desire to grow its economy, Washington and Seoul’s offers of the potential economic benefits of dialogue could work to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. However, Pyongyang has shown no interest in renewing the deadlocked nuclear talks since Kim witnessed then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s brinkmanship in Hanoi in 2019. For Pyongyang, returning to the table can be considered only after Washington and Seoul preemptively make dovish overtures such as lifting economic sanctions or halting demands for the “complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization” of North Korea – which is off Washington’s table at this stage.

While working on boosting the country’s plan for economic development, North Korea will likely keep its belligerent stance against South Korea and the U.S. by escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula this year.

Following Kim’s ambition to “exponentially” increase his country’s nuclear arsenal, North Korea kicked off its missile tests on the first day of the year, validating concerns over the North continuing its missile threats toward the South and its allies in the region.

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As North Korea already spent overwhelming resources on its unprecedented number of missile tests last year, it is unlikely to pursue a similar course this year. However, as Kim pledged weeks ago, North Korea will showcase its military technologies by testing more advanced missile programs, such as a military reconnaissance satellite and solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Regardless of the current missile technologies North Korea possesses, Pyongyang’s consistency on missile developments will keep cornering Seoul and Washington as it is steadily raising the ante for future negotiations. The more new and powerful nuclear weapons North Korea produces, the higher the price South Korea and the U.S. would need to pay for disarmament.

Mitch Shin

Mitch Shin is an assistant editor at The Diplomat and nonresident Korea Foundation fellow at Pacific Forum.

thediplomat.com · by Mitch Shin · January 18, 2023

15. North Korea suspected of plagiarizing South Korean girl group's song

The true nature of the Kim family regime.

North Korea suspected of plagiarizing South Korean girl group's song

The Korea Times · January 18, 2023

A video clip compares South Korean girl group GFRIEND's song "Fingertip," left, and a North Korean singer's song titled "Envy Us," which is suspected of having plagiarized the former. Screenshot from YouTubeBy Kim Rahn

North Korean musicians are suspected of having plagiarized a 2017 song by South Korean girl group GFRIEND, according to a North Korea expert here.

Kang Dong-wan, a political science professor at Dong-A University, posted a video on his YouTube channel, Jan. 9, showing North Korean singer Jeong Hong-ran singing an arranged version of "Envy Us" (direct translation) during a New Year's Eve celebration event.

Then an internet user left a comment that the song was similar to now-disbanded K-pop girl act GFRIEND's song "Fingertip" released in 2017.

Kang then uploaded two more videos, Jan. 14 and 16, comparing the two songs after consulting music experts, and said the North Korean one seems to have copied a large part of the South Korean one.

"I asked music experts to compare them and found they had the same pitch names," he said in one of the videos.

Dong-A University professor Kang Dong-wan shows South Korean girl group GFRIEND's song "Fingertip" and an arranged version of North Korean song "Envy Us" that features similar melodic patterns, Monday. Screenshot from YouTube"Envy Us" is a song created by Chongbong Band and has long been enjoyed in the North for more than 20 years. Its lyrics are about how people envy North Koreans who live in a communist society with the "greatest leader."

While North Korean authorities have tried to sternly crack down on those enjoying South Korean songs, films and dramas, calling it a "vicious cancer" corrupting young North Koreans, they are now instead writing songs in "South Korean styles" as a kind of alternative, according to the professor.

Kang said that in the North's ceremony held on Sept. 9 last year to mark its founding, some North Korean songs were arranged in the genre of R&B and other South Korean styles. "North Korean leader Kim Jong-un highly recognized them by saying 'it was a historic performance,' and 'good arrangement brought revolutionary change.' Then more songs were arranged in South Korean styles and performed at the New Year's Eve celebration event," he said.

The professor told Yonhap News Agency that it is unlikely for individual composers in the North to have arranged songs in South Korean or Western styles, adding there may have been regime-level instructions.

"It will be difficult for North Korean authorities to keep pushing ahead with crackdowns on and control over South Korean pop culture, so it seems they ordered the making of songs 'better than South Korean ones,'" Kang said in the video.

But what really makes young North Koreans enjoy South Korean songs is, according to the professor, the lyrics, which are about love and personal life, unlike propaganda-focused North Korean songs.

"Only plagiarizing South Korean rhythms and beats for 'Envy Us' without changing the propagandistic lyrics ― will young North Koreans like this as the regime intended? I don't think so," Kang said.

GFRIEND's songs, including "Me gustas tu" and "Rough," were often used in the South's psychological warfare operations, being broadcast through loudspeakers along the border starting in 2016 until 2018 when the two Koreas agreed to halt hostile acts including the broadcasts.

The Korea Times · January 18, 2023

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