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Quotes of the Day:
“The first and most imperative necessity in war is money, for money means everything else – men, guns, ammunition.”
– Ida Tarbell
“If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.”
– George Washington
“The history of irregular media operations is complex and fractured; generalizations are difficult. Yet it is possible to isolate three large and overlapping historical phases: First, throughout the nineteenth century, irregular forces saw the state's telecommunications facilities as a target that could be physically attacked to weaken the armies and the authority of states and empires. Second, for most of the twentieth century after the world wars, irregulars slowly but successfully began using the mass media as a weapon. Telecommunications, and more specifically the press, were used to attack the moral support and cohesion of opposing political entities. Then, in the early part of the twenty-first century, a third phases began: irregular movements started using commoditized information technologies as an extended operating platform. The form and trajectory of the overarching information revolution, from the Industrial Revolution until today, historically benefited the nation-state and increased the power of regular armies. But this trend was reversed in the year 2000 when the New Economy's Dot-com bubble burst, an event that changed the face of the Web. What came thereafter, a second generation Internet, or "Web 2.0," does not favor the state, large firms, and big armies any more; instead the new Web, in an abstract but highly relevant way, resembles - and inadvertently mimics - the principles of subversion and irregular war. The unintended consequence for armed conflicts is that non-state insurgents benefit far more from the new media than do governments and counterinsurgents, a trend that is set to continue in the future.”
― Marc Hecker, War 2.0: Irregular Warfare in the Information Age
1. Joint Statement on the November 17 Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Launch
2. Kim Yo Jong likens US to ‘scared dog’ for pushing criticism of ICBM test at UN
3. Why South Korea Could Build a Small Nuclear Weapons Arsenal
4. North Korea's Kim has revealed he has a daughter. Why now?
5. N. Korean leader's sister denounces UNSC's 'double standards' over council meeting on recent ICBM launch
6. S. Korea willing to discuss N.K. demands in return for denuclearization: official
7. Defense chiefs of S. Korea, Australia discuss bilateral security cooperation
8. US, Canada say they will modernize missile responses as N. Korea launches ICBM
9. 97% of economic experts say the Korean economy is in crisis
10. Seoul, Washington discuss anti-submarine drills for next year
11. N. Korea recruits more workers to send to eastern Ukraine
12. N. Korea’s government is still earning foreign currency through overseas workforce
13. [ANALYSIS] China unlikely to deter North Korea's nuclear ambitions
14. US to launch new Space Force command in Indo-Pacific amid NK provocations
15. Presidential office takes credit for 'partial lifting' of China's hallyu ban
1. Joint Statement on the November 17 Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Launch
With all due respect, they missed the opportunity to call out human rights. The testing of these missiles causes severe suffering among the Korean people in the north because Kim Jong Un spends some $170 million on missile testing. He prioritizes missiles (and nuclear weapons) over the Korean people in the north. Focusing only on nuclear weapons and missiles enhances the legitimacy of the regime while a focus on human rights is a threat to the regime because it undermines regime legitimacy.
Joint Statement on the November 17 Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Launch
usun.usmission.gov · by United States Mission to the United Nations · November 21, 2022
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York
November 21, 2022
Joint Statement Delivered by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the UN Security Council Stakeout on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Recent Ballistic Missile Launch
(The following is a joint statement delivered by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, on behalf of Albania, Australia, Ecuador, France, Ireland, India, Japan, Malta, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.)
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here.
Albania, Australia, Ecuador, France, Ireland, India, Japan, Malta, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States strongly condemn the DPRK’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch of November 17 that landed about 125 miles from Japan’s coastline, as well as the subsequent report in the DPRK’s state-controlled media that it could be used for a preemptive nuclear strike.
This was DPRK’s eighth intercontinental ballistic missile launch this year. Compared with the total number of intercontinental ballistic missile launches prior to 2022, this represents a serious escalation and poses an unequivocal threat to international peace and security. The DPRK is acting with impunity in the face of the Security Council’s inaction.
All of us at this podium support the need for the Council to condemn the DPRK’s actions with a unified voice and to take action to limit the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile advancement, especially as it relates to nuclear missile technologies in the DPRK, the region, and beyond. We invite all Member States to join us in condemning the DPRK’s unlawful ballistic missile launches and call for full implementation of the existing Security Council resolutions. We also urge the DPRK to abandon its unlawful weapons programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner.
We remain committed to diplomacy, and to that end, encourage the DPRK to halt its threatening behavior in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions, and to engage in meaningful dialogue toward denuclearization.
Thank you very much.
###
By United States Mission to the United Nations | 21 November, 2022 | Topics: Highlights, Remarks and Highlights
usun.usmission.gov · by United States Mission to the United Nations · November 21, 2022
2. Kim Yo Jong likens US to ‘scared dog’ for pushing criticism of ICBM test at UN
Note how Kim Yo Jong and the Propaganda and Agitation department try to exploit our joint statement at the UN. What if we had addressed human rights as well?
Excerpts:
“What is ridiculous is that, after the UNSC open meeting was over, the U.S. could not hide its discomfort,” Kim Yo Jong wrote in the statement. The U.S. “blew off its steam for not achieving its impure attempt by bringing out a ragtag group including the U.K., France, Australia, Japan and south Korea and announcing what it called a ‘joint statement,’ which is disgusting to even hear.”
“From this scene I cannot but compare [the U.S.] with a scared barking dog,” she added.
Kim slammed the UNSC meeting for unfairly “taking issue” with North Korea’s “right to self defense,” arguing that it is a “double standard” to criticize North Korean missile launches while turning a blind eye to the U.S. and ROK’s “dangerous” military exercises and “greedy” arms buildup “targeted at” the DPRK.
She also criticized what she termed “grave political provocations attempting to drive the Korean Peninsula situation into a new phase of crisis” and a “violent infringement of the DPRK’s autonomy.”
“We will never tolerate anyone — whoever that is — that picks a quarrel with us over exercising our right [to] protect the safety of our country, and we will respond in a super-hardline manner to the end,” she said.
Kim also warned the U.S. that the will face an even “deadlier” security crisis the more Washington “obsesses” over its “hostile activities” and tries to disarm North Korea.
Kim Yo Jong likens US to ‘scared dog’ for pushing criticism of ICBM test at UN
North Korean leader’s sister pledges ‘deadlier’ security crisis if the US doesn’t stop ‘obsessing’ over DPRK activities
https://www.nknews.org/2022/11/kim-yo-jong-likens-us-to-scared-dog-for-pushing-criticism-of-icbm-test-at-un/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Jeongmin Kim | Shreyas Reddy November 22, 2022
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Kim Yo Jong delivers a speech | Image: KCTV (Aug. 11, 2022)
The North Korean leader’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong likened the U.S. to a “scared barking dog” after it convened a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) and condemned the North’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile test (ICBM) on Tuesday.
Following the meeting, the U.S. and 13 other countries presented a joint statement calling for punitive action from the Security Council and urging Pyongyang to “abandon its unlawful weapons programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.”
Calling the move “disgusting,” Kim dismissed the effort as an unfair attack on her country.
“What is ridiculous is that, after the UNSC open meeting was over, the U.S. could not hide its discomfort,” Kim Yo Jong wrote in the statement. The U.S. “blew off its steam for not achieving its impure attempt by bringing out a ragtag group including the U.K., France, Australia, Japan and south Korea and announcing what it called a ‘joint statement,’ which is disgusting to even hear.”
“From this scene I cannot but compare [the U.S.] with a scared barking dog,” she added.
Kim slammed the UNSC meeting for unfairly “taking issue” with North Korea’s “right to self defense,” arguing that it is a “double standard” to criticize North Korean missile launches while turning a blind eye to the U.S. and ROK’s “dangerous” military exercises and “greedy” arms buildup “targeted at” the DPRK.
She also criticized what she termed “grave political provocations attempting to drive the Korean Peninsula situation into a new phase of crisis” and a “violent infringement of the DPRK’s autonomy.”
“We will never tolerate anyone — whoever that is — that picks a quarrel with us over exercising our right [to] protect the safety of our country, and we will respond in a super-hardline manner to the end,” she said.
Kim also warned the U.S. that the will face an even “deadlier” security crisis the more Washington “obsesses” over its “hostile activities” and tries to disarm North Korea.
Council members debated actions against North Korea on Monday following last week’s Hwasong-17 ICBM launch but could not reach a resolution amid long-standing divisions.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., criticized permanent members China and Russia for “blatant obstructionism” in preventing further sanctions or statements of condemnation against Pyongyang.
“When they talk about abuse of the veto, they are referring to cases exactly like this one,” she said.
Thomas-Greenfield also said the U.S. would propose a UNSC presidential statement condemning the DPRK and called on Pyongyang to curb its “unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile advancement.”
China and Russia instead lay the blame on the U.S. and its allies for raising tensions by staging joint military exercises and forcing North Korea to respond.
Edited by Arius Derr
3. Why South Korea Could Build a Small Nuclear Weapons Arsenal
Conclusion:
This South Korean move would clearly be controversial. But it is important to note that this can be done in an open, public way, with clear explanations of Seoul’s (justifiable) reasons and with a minimal arsenal focused on one task. If North Korea and China do not like this outcome, let them finally negotiate peninsular arms control seriously after decades of gimmicks.
Why South Korea Could Build a Small Nuclear Weapons Arsenal
19fortyfive.com · by Robert Kelly · November 21, 2022
What Would a South Korean Nuclear Weapons Program Look Like?: In the last year, a gathering debate has arisen in South Korea about whether it should build nuclear weapons to counter North Korea’s nuclear weapons. North Korea’s relentless missile testing program this year has pushed forward this debate. If the Pyongyang regime conducts another nuclear test – its seventh – that too will accelerate the Southern discussion.
North Korea’s Nuclearization is Pushing the Same in South Korea
The country’s conservative party has already argued that South Korea should withdraw from the Nonproliferation Treaty, which bans South Korean nuclear weaponization if North Korea goes ahead with its seventh nuclear test. The debate is now so serious that the US ambassador to South Korea felt compelled to weigh in. In the fourteen years, I have lived in South Korea and taught international security, I have never seen as much discussion of the nuclear option as in the last year.
North Korea’s relentless march toward better, faster, and more powerful nukes and missiles is pushing South Korea further and further into a corner. Hawkish options which were once deemed too radical or destabilizing – such as airstrikes on North Korean missile sites or South Korea’s own nuclearization – are under discussion now. If South Korea reaches for these more extreme options, North Korea has only itself to blame. Its exorable nuclearization and missilization are the cause; South Korea has been a model member of the NPT. It clearly does not want nuclear weapons. It has long encouraged a non-nuclear peninsula. The North Koreans have said the same while nonetheless nuking up relentlessly. The shape of the South Korean response is now coming into view.
Mutually Assured Destruction
The primary purpose of a nuclear arsenal is deterrence. Nukes best serve to prevent one’s opponents from considering a preemptive nuclear strike. Critically, strategic nuclear deterrence does not end conventional warfare. The US and USSR/Russia have fought numerous proxy conflicts in the nuclear age – Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. But nuclear escalation is inhibited when parties can credibly threaten each other with assured destruction.
A primary justification for Southern nuclearization, then, is to check any North Korean notion that its nukes could be used coercively – as threats to compel compliance from South Korea. Russia has used its nuclear weapons in this way with reasonable success in the Ukraine War. Its oblique nuclear threats of escalation have inhibited an even more robust NATO intervention on Ukraine’s behalf. Were Russia solely a conventional power, NATO might have imposed a no-fly zone over Ukraine or sunk Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
To accomplish this basic deterrent task, South Korea would need a few dozen survivable warheads. ‘Survivable’ means that South Korea could absorb a nuclear first strike by North Korea and still retaliate with atomic arms. If both sides have such survivability, the incentives to strike first decline dramatically. The strategic situation becomes a stalemate of mutually assured destruction (MAD). The result is a cold peace. The ironic outcome of such powerful weapons is stability, as no player wants to take the huge risk of conflict.
Nuclear Weapons: What Does South Korea Need?
To achieve MAD, South Korea does not need a large arsenal. It does not tactical nuclear weapons for use on the battlefield, for example. Nor does it need the high-yield thermonuclear weapons the Americans and the Soviets developed through the Cold War. Nor does it need intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying multiple warheads. Indeed, it needs no more than fifty (probably even fewer) small warheads on platforms that could ride out a Northern first strike. A few submarines with nuclear missiles would be enough. South Korea does not need land-based missiles or bombers. Its arsenal is not intended to threaten China; it only needs to be extensive and diverse enough to deter the North.
This is a crucial point. Much of the resistance to Southern nuclearization stems from fears of a nuclear ‘cascade.’ North Korea’s spiraling, unchecked nuclear program might produce the same in South Korea and Japan. This action-reaction chain is possible, of course, but South Korea has strong incentives to be discipline, restrained, and transparent about its nuclearization.
Seoul does not need a large arsenal to deter North Korea. Its purpose is strictly defensive. It only needs a few dozen warheads on a few dozen missiles on a handful of submarines to achieve this. Its political purpose is to compensate for American alliance anxiety now that North Korea strike the US homeland. South Korean nukes serve to lessen allied tension, via ‘self-insurance,’ over the thorny question of US willingness to fight a nuclear war on Seoul’s behalf. They are, very obviously, not intended as offensive weapons nor as threats to China
Image of Hwasong-12 IRBM. Image Credit: KCNA.
.
This South Korean move would clearly be controversial. But it is important to note that this can be done in an open, public way, with clear explanations of Seoul’s (justifiable) reasons and with a minimal arsenal focused on one task. If North Korea and China do not like this outcome, let them finally negotiate peninsular arms control seriously after decades of gimmicks.
Expert Biography: Dr. Robert E. Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly; RoberEdwinKelly.com) is a professor of international relations in the Department of Political Science at Pusan National University and 19FortyFive Contributing Editor.
19fortyfive.com · by Robert Kelly · November 21, 2022
4. North Korea's Kim has revealed he has a daughter. Why now?
Hyun-seung Lee and I will provide some commentary on this when it is published later today.
Excerpts:
“I don’t know if this was intended on Kim’s part, but it seems we’re more surprised and intrigued by the revelation of ‘Ju Ae’ than the ICBM test,” said Soo Kim, a Korea analyst with the Rand Corp. think tank.
...
“In short, the level of message reflects the degree of regime commitment, or how seriously it wants external observers to consider the message,” Rachel Minyoung Lee, a nonresident fellow with the 38 North Program at the Stimson Center think tank, wrote in a recent report on analyzing North Korean media.
“Pyongyang is extremely calibrated in its public messaging: what information it releases and how it frames that information, at what level, to whom, and when,” according to Lee. “By tracking patterns and discerning shifts in trends in the media, one can gain insight into the North Korean leadership’s current thinking and future intentions.”
...
Rand’s Kim said that the “North Korean leadership, including succession after Kim Jong Un, has remained a black box for some time, with few ways to confirm or deny other than the regime actually dropping hints.”
Although it may not directly point to a post-Kim Jong Un plan, Sung-Yoon Lee, an assistant professor of Korean studies at Tufts University in the United States, said the move highlighted the North Korean leader’s view that he will remain in power — still grasping his “treasured nuclear sword” — far after his adversaries have departed office.
“Parading his progeny at a rocket launch site is the ultimate Kim Jong Un gloat,” Lee said. “He’s telling the world he has time, while they don’t.”
North Korea's Kim has revealed he has a daughter. Why now?
“It’s take your daughter to work day” was the rather obvious joke as pictures circulated online of a young girl and her father on what was anything but a typical family outing.
The release Saturday of the photos featuring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter observing a missile launch — the first public revelation of the existence of one of his children — overshadowed an accompanying report in state-run media trumpeting the successful test of the country’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to date.
Was this the public debut of “Ju Ae,” the baby daughter of Kim that former American basketball star Dennis Rodman claimed to have held during a 2013 visit to North Korea? If so, why did Kim reveal her to the world now?
Whatever Kim’s intentions were for the stunning development, it surprised many observers of North Korea — long known as a hard target for intelligence agencies.
“I don’t know if this was intended on Kim’s part, but it seems we’re more surprised and intrigued by the revelation of ‘Ju Ae’ than the ICBM test,” said Soo Kim, a Korea analyst with the Rand Corp. think tank.
Kim’s ‘beloved daughter’
In the reports carried by state-run media, the focus was on the visit by the North Korean leader to observe a “historic” test of a “major strategic weapon.” Calling the launch a “crucial milestone” in the country’s nuclear weapons development, the reports devoted just a handful of words to the girl, noting only that Kim had attended the event “together with his beloved daughter and wife.”
One photograph showed the girl, wearing a puffy white jacket, black pants and red shoes, holding hands with her infamous father as the weapon, a Hwasong-17 ICBM believed capable of striking almost anywhere in the world, towered behind them. Several others depicted the ponytail-sporting young girl watching the missile test, a smirk on her face, as Kim, his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and a coterie of senior officials celebrated the missile test.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, inspect a new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in this photo released on Saturday. | KCNA / VIA REUTERS
Although the revelation was limited to a single reference about his “beloved daughter,” coming directly from Kim meant that it could, in fact, be a significant message to the outside world.
Experts say that when it comes to analyzing North Korean propaganda, the higher the level of the person doing the communicating, the more weight attached to the message.
“In short, the level of message reflects the degree of regime commitment, or how seriously it wants external observers to consider the message,” Rachel Minyoung Lee, a nonresident fellow with the 38 North Program at the Stimson Center think tank, wrote in a recent report on analyzing North Korean media.
“Pyongyang is extremely calibrated in its public messaging: what information it releases and how it frames that information, at what level, to whom, and when,” according to Lee. “By tracking patterns and discerning shifts in trends in the media, one can gain insight into the North Korean leadership’s current thinking and future intentions.”
For example, observers say the emergence of Ri Sol Ju, who made her first appearance at an official event in 2011 but was not identified as Kim’s wife until the following year, was intended to help portray the North in a more positive light, softening the regime’s image both at home and abroad.
Ri has long been a fixture in state-run media, with photos showing her accompanying her husband on a variety of visits, including to missile launches. But until Saturday, there had been no official confirmation that the couple had children.
Kim, 38, is believed to have at least three children, including one son, who was born around 2010, and another daughter born in 2017, according to South Korea’s spy agency.
It was unclear if the girl pictured was, in fact, Ju Ae, though some observers said she appeared to be of an age that would match Rodman’s account.
Softer image?
Kim, the third generation of the Kim dynasty to rule over the reclusive state, has unleashed an unprecedented flurry of missile launches this year, including one over Japan in addition to Saturday’s test-firing of an ICBM that officials in Tokyo said puts all of the U.S. within striking distance.
The North Korean leader’s display of military muscle, however, had long been anticipated by experts.
But why would Kim choose now to show off one of his children for the first time?
John Delury, a North Korea expert and professor at Yonsei University in South Korea, suggested it may have been, like the first appearance of his wife, intended to “soften” his image.
“This is not a warmonger or narcissistic Little Rocket Man,” he wrote on Twitter, referring to the moniker former U.S. President Donald Trump gave Kim. The appearance of his daughter, he said, could be meant to show “He’s a good Dad, protecting his family, like he protects the Nation.”
While some analysts said Kim’s introduction of one of his children may signal something about a potential succession process, that remains an open question.
Kim’s health has been the subject of rumors due to his physical condition and a number of high-profile absences from public view. In 2020, a three-week absence triggered speculation that the overweight Kim was grappling with a serious health issue. When he finally reappeared, analysts noted that there were signs he had undergone a medical procedure.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, inspect a new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in this photo released on Saturday. | KCNA / VIA REUTERS
Rand’s Kim said that the “North Korean leadership, including succession after Kim Jong Un, has remained a black box for some time, with few ways to confirm or deny other than the regime actually dropping hints.”
Although it may not directly point to a post-Kim Jong Un plan, Sung-Yoon Lee, an assistant professor of Korean studies at Tufts University in the United States, said the move highlighted the North Korean leader’s view that he will remain in power — still grasping his “treasured nuclear sword” — far after his adversaries have departed office.
“Parading his progeny at a rocket launch site is the ultimate Kim Jong Un gloat,” Lee said. “He’s telling the world he has time, while they don’t.”
Kim has ignored U.S. entreaties for him to return to long-stalled denuclearization talks and said a new law his country passed in September makes its nuclear status “irreversible,” barring any negotiations to relinquish its arsenal.
This firm line, coupled with the unexpected appearance of his daughter at the ICBM test, lends credence to expert views that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program — which was bestowed on the current leader after the 2011 death of his father, Kim Jong Il — could also be passed to a fourth generation of the Kim dynasty.
“For those thinking #NorthKorea was just upping the ante to re-enter negotiations, this seems to suggest otherwise,” Jenny Town, director of the North Korea-watching 38 North research group, wrote in a Twitter post with images of Kim and his daughter.
“Just as declarations about the nuclear program are no longer conditional — this seems to reinforce the nuke program is here to stay,” she said.
“This is her legacy too now.”
5. N. Korean leader's sister denounces UNSC's 'double standards' over council meeting on recent ICBM launch
Perhaps it is my bias but Kim Yo Jong has a look of pure evil.
(LEAD) N. Korean leader's sister denounces UNSC's 'double standards' over council meeting on recent ICBM launch | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · November 22, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 4, 7)
SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un bristled Tuesday at this week's U.N. Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Pyongyang's recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, accusing the council of applying "double standards."
In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yo-jong took issue with the council's open meeting held on Monday (New York time) to discuss the North's launch of a Hwasong-17 ICBM on Friday.
"The UNSC has turned blind eyes to the very dangerous military drills of the U.S. and south Korea and their greedy arms buildup aiming at the DPRK and taken issue with the DPRK's exercise of its inviolable right to self-defense corresponding to them," she said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"This is evidently the application of double-standards," she added, noting the UNSC session was convened "at the prodding" of the United States.
She also warned that the North would take the "toughest counteraction to the last" should anybody slander its exercise of the self-defense right.
"The U.S. should be mindful that no matter how desperately it may seek to disarm the DPRK, it can never deprive the DPRK of its right to self-defense and that the more hell-bent it gets on the anti-DPRK acts, it will face a more fatal security crisis," she said.
The North has continued to ratchet up military tensions with a series of missile provocations, fueling concerns that it is headed toward a stronger provocation, like a nuclear test.
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · November 22, 2022
6. S. Korea willing to discuss N.K. demands in return for denuclearization: official
I checked with an action officer at the Ministry of Unification and he told me the English version of the new publication would not be released until some time next month.
S. Korea willing to discuss N.K. demands in return for denuclearization: official | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · November 22, 2022
SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification ministry reiterated its calls Tuesday for North Korea to return to denuclearization talks, saying its demands can be "discussed" through negotiations.
On Monday, the ministry unveiled an official booklet detailing the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's stated "audacious" proposal designed to help Pyongyang improve its economy in exchange for denuclearization. The booklet outlined a three-stage road map that promises economic incentives to the North, ranging from food and aid exchange programs to inter-Korean trade and investments.
"The 'audacious initiative' is an open proposal and since it includes discussing issues that the North is concerned with based on reciprocity, we will also discuss the North's demands if it refrains from criticizing the South and presents its demands in detail," a ministry official told reporters on the customary condition of anonymity.
The official also stressed the proposed plan differs from the "denuclearization first and compensation later" policy, saying that Seoul will start programs to help improve the livelihood of North Koreans without any preconditions if the North returns to the negotiating table.
In August, Yoon publicly proposed the initiative to North Korea, but the regime has rejected the proposal as "absurd," vowing not to trade its nuclear arsenal for economic aid.
Earlier, the use of the expression "U.S.-North Korea relations" in the booklet -- placing the U.S. before the North -- had also sparked speculations that the ministry decided to officially use the phrase instead of the more commonly used "North Korea-U.S. relations," in an apparent reflection of the Yoon administration's emphasis on its alliance with Washington.
In a press release, the ministry, however, dismissed the claim, saying it has not officially decided on the use of the expression and that the phrases are used interchangeably.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · November 22, 2022
7. Defense chiefs of S. Korea, Australia discuss bilateral security cooperation
The interlocking web of our alliance partners.
Defense chiefs of S. Korea, Australia discuss bilateral security cooperation | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · November 22, 2022
SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and Australia held talks in Cambodia on Tuesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in the arms industry and other security areas, Seoul's defense ministry said.
Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, met in Siem Reap on the sidelines of the three-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), which ends Thursday.
They agreed to push to bolster people-to-people exchanges in the defense sector, increase the frequency and level of bilateral and multilateral military drills and expand arms industry cooperation with an aim to enhance interoperability between the two countries' militaries, according to the ministry.
The two sides also agreed to pursue the establishment of "institutional foundations" for combined military drills and cooperation in the defense science and technology sector.
In addition, they agreed to find ways for "future-oriented" cooperation through close coordination in the process of Seoul and Canberra drawing up their defense enhancement plans, the "Defense Innovation 4.0" and "Defense Strategic Review," respectively.
Seoul's Defense Innovation 4.0 initiative is aimed at harnessing cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to address a potential troop shortage that can be caused by the country's low birthrate, and bolster overall defense capabilities.
Canberra's Defense Strategic Review also seeks to bolster its defense capabilities to respond to the shifting regional security landscape.
Lee and Marles shared the view that North Korea's push to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities and its provocations pose a threat not only to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula but also in the international community.
They condemned the North's recent missiles launches, including that of an intercontinental ballistic missile, and agreed to work together to muster up the resolve of the international community to have the North abandon them and return to dialogue, according to the ministry.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · November 22, 2022
8. US, Canada say they will modernize missile responses as N. Korea launches ICBM
All the better to allow NORAD to track Santa at Christmas (apologies for the attempt at humor - this is a good development of course).
Despite the headline this article is about the G7 and UNSC statements and there are no details on the US, Canada statement.
US, Canada say they will modernize missile responses as N. Korea launches ICBM
donga.com
Posted November. 22, 2022 07:47,
Updated November. 22, 2022 07:47
US, Canada say they will modernize missile responses as N. Korea launches ICBM. November. 22, 2022 07:47. by Ji-Sun Choi, Eun-Taek Lee aurinko@donga.com,nabi@donga.com.
After North Korea’s successful test launch of Hwasong-17, a ‘monster intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM),’ the international community is adding more pressure on the North. The U.N. Security Council will have an open meeting on Monday (local time) to discuss how to respond to North Korean provocations. Foreign ministers of G7 released a joint statement on Sunday (local time) and raised their voices, calling for further significant measures to be taken. Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea Choe Son Hui said on Monday that she is keeping an eye on the movement of the U.S. and the Security Council with a clear direction for a response, which implies more potential provocations.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the brazen launch of another ICBM conducted on November 18, 2022 by the DPRK,” said G7’s foreign ministers in a joint statement on Sunday. “The DPRK’s actions demand a united and robust response by the international community, including the need for further significant measures to be taken by the U.N. Security Council (UNSC).” ‘Further significant measures’ are interpreted to mean additional stronger sanctions by the Security Council. “We call on all states to fully and effectively implement all UNSC measures and sanctions against the DPRK and address the risk of weapons of mass destruction proliferation from the DPRK as an urgent priority,” the foreign ministers added.
The U.N. Security Council will hold an open meeting at midnight on Tuesday Korea Time to discuss the non-proliferation issue of North Korea. The statement made by G7 foreign ministers released the day before is believed to put pressure on China and Russia, which are friendly with the North. The Security Council voted on the resolution for additional sanctions against North Korea in response to the country’s ICBM test launch in May. Still, it did not go through as China and Russia exercised their veto right.
North Korea strongly opposed the international community’s response. The North Korean state agency Korean Central News Agency argued in an interview with Choe Sun Hui that ICBM test launches are inevitable and essential actions for self-defense in response to military cooperation between the U.S. and its followers against the North. Choi also voiced raw criticism, referring to Secretary General of the U.N. Antonio Guterres, who criticized the North’s ICBM launches as a “puppet of the U.S.”
한국어
donga.com
9. 97% of economic experts say the Korean economy is in crisis
This will affect national security.
97% of economic experts say the Korean economy is in crisis
donga.com
Posted November. 22, 2022 07:46,
Updated November. 22, 2022 07:46
97% of economic experts say the Korean economy is in crisis. November. 22, 2022 07:46. .
In a survey conducted by the Korea Development Institute (KDI), most domestic economists answered that the Korean economy is currently in crisis, a sentiment also shared by the general public. Amid growing concerns over the future of the nation’s economy and low growth, the winter battles from labor unions are poised to start on a scale that has not been witnessed for the past several years. Beginning with the cargo transport union’s refusal to work this week, a swathe of strikes by several irregular worker’s unions from the subway, railroad, and school is scheduled to be staged one after another.
According to the KDI’s survey conducted in two tracks, one subjecting the subject-field experts and the other to the general public, 97% of experts and 96% of the general public said they think Korea’s current economy is in crisis. Ninety-three percent of the experts and 87% of the general public also believe, according to the survey, that the country needs mid- to long-term strategies and plans to overcome the crises. Such results reflect the sentiment of both respondent groups, which call for a new future growth strategy, putting aside the glory of the country’s past success in societal and economic areas.
Several areas signal that the Korean economy has been sinking deep into the swamp of low economic growth. A downward trend in exports has been prominent since last month. The international oil and commodities prices level ensures that the country will suffer from its eight-month consecutive trade deficits. The KDI forecasts the country will grow only by 1.8% next year, the lowest rate except during the oil shock, foreign exchange crisis, and global financial crisis in the past.
This time the crisis is all the more serious because, unlike the previous cases where most of the problems originated from outside, the under-expressed internal issues have started to blow out. Beginning this coming Thursday, the Cargo Transport Workers Union says it would shut down key business sites across the nations, demanding the establishment of a permanent safe freight system, a.k.a. ‘minimum age in the cargo transport industry.’ Such extremity follows their previous actions, severely disrupting the country’s logistics system and causing massive damages five months ago. In the meantime, the Seoul Transportation Corporation's union plans to cut subway services by half from the 30th. While the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has been pushing for the so-called “Yellow Envelope Laws,” which restrict companies from claiming damages incurred by illegal strikes, the business world and the government cannot approve their request as its content goes against the constitution.
The distinction of the current trend of complex crisis sweeping across the world is that it causes shock to everyone. Employees and self-employed suffer from high inflation and expensive interest rates, while large corporates struggle due to falling profits and capital shortages. In such a situation, waging a fierce battle to push for a one-sided argument would not help society to overcome the crisis. This is the time to step back and share the pain. The government and the political circle need to work with bipartisanship to be more actively engaged in mediating the growing conflicts.
한국어
donga.com
10. Seoul, Washington discuss anti-submarine drills for next year
Silent Shark (that must mean they have agreed to musical themes like "baby Shark" -0 again apologies for the attempt at humor).
On a serious note, submarine warfare readiness is a key alliance capability, This is another message to Kim Jong Un that his strategy is failing. The alliance is going to sustain a high state of military readiness in all domain (air, land, sea, cyber, space [and the unrecognized human domain]) and will not give in to the regime's political warfare and blackmail diplomacy strategies.
Seoul, Washington discuss anti-submarine drills for next year
The Korea Times · November 22, 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second from right, inspects a new submarine building project in an unidentified location in North Korea, in this photo released July 23, 2019, by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap
Silent Shark exercises may expand amid North Korea's growing SLBM threat
By Jung Min-ho
Seoul and Washington have started talks over their anti-submarine drills for next year amid growing security threats from Pyongyang including its evolving submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) technology.
A Navy official told The Korea Times Tuesday that Rear Admiral Lee Soo-yeol, commander of the Submarine Force Command, recently visited Guam (a U.S. island territory in Micronesia), where he met the top officers of the U.S. Seventh Fleet and Submarine Squadron 15 to discuss the details of the biennial exercise known as Silent Shark.
"Issues including how to bolster interoperability were discussed. But details such as the size and the date of the exercise and which anti-submarine warfare assets will take part in it are still undecided," the official said.
Yet the official said it is likely that the size of next year's drills will be bigger than those of the past, given the North heightening tensions with its dozens of missile tests in recent months including its intercontinental ballistic missiles and SLMBs. Intelligence reports suggest it may be on the verge of conducting its first nuclear weapons test since 2017.
The drills, which were introduced in 2007, focus on training the participants for submarine vs. submarine situations in simulated settings and usually involve South Korea's diesel-powered submarines and the U.S.' nuclear-powered ones ― along with maritime patrol jets and warships.
The meeting comes at a time when concerns are rising over the signs that North Korea is making progress in its SLBM technology, which could eventually grow into another serious threat to the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Last month, North Korea claimed to have launched an SLBM from a reservoir in its latest such test. For many years, the North has tried to acquire the ability to fire nuclear-armed missiles from its submarines, which could complicate the South Korea-U.S. defense strategy that relies on detection capability including the Kill Chain concept, a preemptive strike system against imminent missile threats from the North.
North Korea is also believed to have recently completed a new 3,000-ton submarine capable of carrying three SLBMs, which has caused alarm among South Korean and U.S. military leaders. It already has an estimated 70-90 diesel-powered submarines ― one of the world's largest submarine fleets. But they are mostly aging and capable of only launching torpedoes but not missiles.
A submarine-launched ballistic missile is fired in an unidentified location in North Korea, in this photo released Oct. 3, 2019, by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap
Experts believe it would take many more years, a great deal of resources and many technological advancements for the heavily sanctioned regime to develop a reliable capability to operate several such submarines.
To counter such underwater threats, South Korea has been carrying out the years-long project of building next-generation diesel-electric attack submarines to replace old ones.
The most critical ability for countering North Korean submarines is the ability to detect and track them, for which South Korea needs support from U.S. satellites and underwater tracking technology, Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said.
Nuclear talks between Seoul and Pyongyang have been stalled for more than two years. Tensions have been rising fast this year, with the North carrying out weapons tests at an unprecedented rate and with the South conducting a series of joint military exercises with the U.S.
The Korea Times · November 22, 2022
11. N. Korea recruits more workers to send to eastern Ukraine
Perhaps like China - north Korea could be developing a relationship with Russia that is closer than lips and teeth.
N. Korea recruits more workers to send to eastern Ukraine
Meanwhile, the workers scheduled to be sent to Ukraine in early November are reportedly still in North Korea
By Mun Dong Hui - 2022.11.22 5:00pm
dailynk.com
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok, Russia, on April 25, 2019. (Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via Reuters)
North Korea is recruiting more workers to send to eastern regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia, Daily NK has learned.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Friday that the authorities have already completed their second round of worker selections, and are now conducting another selection after they received a request for more personnel.
“The competition is fierce,” he said.
Daily NK reported last month that North Korea planned to carry out a second round of worker selections from Nov. 1.
In fact, the authorities carried out the second round of selections from early November, but with more slots recently opening, the authorities are carrying out additional recruitments. However, just how many additional workers are being recruited remains unknown.
The source said Pyongyangites are only interested in politically safe places where they could make money; they are avoiding areas where they might be able to pay dues to the state but make no money of their own.
“Most of the volunteers are people from the provinces,” he said.
N. KOREA MAY CONDUCT A THIRD ROUND OF WORKER RECRUITMENT
Relatedly, the international community is criticizing the alleged inhumane treatment North Korean workers receive when sent overseas, including wage exploitation. Despite the miserable conditions in which North Korean workers must toil when sent overseas, however, many North Koreans are applying for the jobs, hoping to earn an opportunity to head abroad and make money.
“[The authorities] plan to send those selected in the second round overseas before the Lunar New Year next year,” said the source.
“They plan to make a decision on the third round of selections after checking how much money the first and second round selections are bringing in,” he added.
However, the workers scheduled to be sent to Ukraine in early November are reportedly still in North Korea. Daily NK was unable to find out why they have yet to leave.
Daily NK does understand, however, that the workers will be overseas for at least two years, and possibly for up to seven years.
The source said the workers received “official two-year passports.” With those passports, they can stay overseas for up to four years by “extending their visas twice a year.”
Given that only the country of residence has the authority to extend a visa, the “visa” mentioned by the source likely refers to the period of validity of the North Korean passports.
The source said the maximum extension term for the “visas” was seven years. “The authorities will look at the situation after four years and decide whether to replace the workers or extend their visas,” he added.
TO AVOID SANCTIONS, WORKERS WILL BE DIVIDED INTO TEAMS
The selected workers currently on standby will likely be sent to Russia through overland routes.
“North Koreans call going overseas to work ‘leaving for reclaimed land.’ Those leaving from Pyongyang are scheduled to go to Tumangang, Khasan, Ussuri and Khabarovsk, and from there they will split up and head all over Russia,” the source said.
“Depending on the situation, they could divide up at Ussuri, heading off to Magadan, Chita, Moscow and elsewhere,” he continued, adding, “Where they will be dispatched shall be decided after they arrive in Russia.”
Adopted in December of 2017, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397 bans the dispatch of North Korean workers overseas. North Korea may be drawing up plans to split up its workers and send them to several locations to avoid the watchful eye of the international community.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
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12. N. Korea’s government is still earning foreign currency through overseas workforce
N. Korea’s government is still earning foreign currency through overseas workforce
The estimated 80,000 North Korean workers in Dandong alone are sending home millions of US dollars in so-called “party funds” every month
dailynk.com
FILE PHOTO: North Korean women leaving a customs office in Dandong, Liaoning Province, China. (Daily NK)
North Korean authorities have sent even more workers outside the country than international estimates suggest. Accordingly, a significant amount of foreign currency may be entering North Korea in the form of contributions to the Workers’ Party of Korea.
Daily NK recently reported that up to 80,000 North Korean workers currently reside in the Chinese city of Dandong, Liaoning Province. Chinese quarantine authorities confirmed this figure as they were administering PCR tests to all residents of the city.
According to a source in China on Wednesday, the 80,000 figure takes into account only North Korean workers communally living at local clothing companies and electronics factories, and excludes North Korean trade representatives and consulate staff.
An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 staff members of the North Korean trade delegation reside in Dandong.
If trade delegation staff and cadre-level individuals are included, more than 80,000 North Koreans may be residing in Dandong.
In particular, the 80,000 North Korean workers in Dandong alone are sending home millions of US dollars in so-called “party funds” every month.
North Korean workers overseas pay at least 50% of their monthly salary in party funds, which are contributions to North Korea’s communist party. Additionally, they send home a significant part of their salary in the form of various “taxes,” including Socialist Women’s Union of Korea dues and funds for various construction projects.
Given that factory workers in China have made an average of RMB 2,200 to 2,500 a month over the last three years – if we assume that each worker is paying at least RMB 1,100 in party funds a month – this means RMB 88 million in party funds are being sent to Pyongyang on a monthly basis.
Converted into dollars, this comes out to USD 12.28 million a month and USD 147.36 million a year, meaning North Korea is earning a huge sum of money through the workers it sends to China.
However, because this estimate is based on the bare minimum North Korean workers pay in party funds, North Korean authorities may be acquiring much more foreign currency in the form of party funds.
Meanwhile, with word spreading that 80,000 North Korean workers are in Dandong, local Chinese are saying that North Korea “can fire off missiles just from the money they are making by sending workers to China, and still have some left over.”
Meanwhile, North Korean authorities have concluded a new labor contract with Chinese companies that includes a plan to raise the wages of North Korean workers to RMB 3,300 to 3,700 a month. This means that North Korean authorities will likely make even more foreign currency, despite UN Security Council sanctions on the country.
UN Security Council Resolution 2397, adopted in December 2017, called on UN member states to repatriate all North Korean workers who are earning incomes in their countries by 2019.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
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13. [ANALYSIS] China unlikely to deter North Korea's nuclear ambitions
China will not solve ROK and US security issues. As long as north Korea does not attack the South or does not collapse, China will be pleased with the distraction and dilemma that north Korea causes the ROK/US alliance.
[ANALYSIS] China unlikely to deter North Korea's nuclear ambitions
The Korea Times · November 22, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, Nov. 14. Reuters-Yonhap
Pyongyang's testing schedule based on its own calculations: experts
By Kang Seung-woo
Despite U.S. President Joe Biden's warning that China's reluctance to deter North Korea's provocations will ensure a bigger U.S. presence in the region, there are no signs that Beijing will mount any aggressive efforts against the North ― nor compliance by Pyongyang ― according to diplomatic observers.
Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Biden held their first face-to-face summit since the U.S. leader took office in January 2021, during which the U.S. president stressed China's obligation to dissuade North Korea from engaging in unlawful and destabilizing acts. Biden also said that without China's efforts, the U.S. will be obliged to take more defensive actions in the Indo-Pacific region, which will be "up in the face of China." China is North Korea's sole economic pipeline and diplomatic guardian.
North Korea has ratcheted up tensions on the Korean Peninsula by launching ballistic missiles 31 times this year, including eight rounds of intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Plus, the self-proclaimed nuclear state has been fully preparing for a seventh nuclear test, which would be its first since 2017.
Experts said the Chinese government will not be pleased with the Biden warning, but it has few options available to deter North Korea's provocations.
"I assume that China is unhappy with the warnings coming from the Biden administration. But there is little that Beijing can do, since Washington's policy is clear and Pyongyang seems to be in no mood to change its behavior any time soon," said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London.
Pacheco Pardo also said China has little interest in supporting the U.S. in dealing with North Korea.
"As long as the Biden administration continues to label China as its biggest long-term threat, imposes tech sanctions on China, and generally has poor relations with the Chinese government, I don't see any incentive for Xi Jinping to support the U.S. on this," he added.
Echoing Pacheco Pardo's comments about China's displeasure, U.S. Naval War College Professor Terence Roehrig questioned whether Beijing can actually exert influence on the Kim Jong-un regime, saying that North Korea's missile launches are conducted based on its own timetable.
"I think China will quietly seek to convince North Korea to scale back its actions, but I doubt it will have much success," Roehrig said.
"While Beijing has some influence over North Korean behavior and may have tried to exert some pressure on Pyongyang to moderate its actions, I think we largely overestimate the influence China has over North Korea. The DPRK's testing schedule is dictated by its own calculations based on technical needs to improve its missile capabilities and to signal its resolve."
The acronym DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
Roehrig also said that China is also likely to communicate its concerns to South Korea, which will be a reminder of the economic punishment Beijing imposed after the THAAD deployment in an attempt to deter any enthusiasm Seoul might have for an increased U.S. presence.
In 2016, South Korea decided to station the U.S. anti-missile shield on its soil, but the decision resulted in China's economic retaliation, including banning Chinese group tours to South Korea and curbing cultural imports.
Jenny Town, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and director of the 38 North Program, a website dedicated to the analysis of North Korea, said history was not on Biden's side, adding that calling for China to play its role in resolving North Korea's nuclear issue, was a failed idea from the past.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave from an open top limousine as they travel along a street in Pyongyang, North Korea in this June 20, 2019 photo. Xinhua-Yonhap
"I'm first of all disappointed that we're back to a U.S. narrative that 'China needs to do more to control North Korea,'" she said.
"That certainly didn't work in 2017, when China was willing to crack down harder on North Korea per the U.S.-led maximum pressure campaign. And as we saw, that did not lead to compliance by North Korea but rather Pyongyang doubling down on its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) development ― testing its first ICBMs and a hydrogen bomb."
She also said the warning rings hollow as the U.S. and its allies have been already bolstering defenses in the region under the rubric of U.S.-China competition, including the establishment of new minilateral security pacts involving a small group of countries, such as AUKUS, a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, an alliance to counter China.
"The question that comes from these kinds of threats is even if North Korea stopped testing, does that mean military buildup in the region would stop or would it still continue, just more gradually?" she queried.
As the U.S. is seeking to strengthen trilateral cooperation against North Korea and furthermore China, Beijing, which is required to build up its own security bloc with Russia and North Korea, has an underlying reason to keep Pyongyang close as a security partner, she added.
Pacheco Pardo said despite the Biden warning, North Korea is not high on the agenda of the two countries, raising questions over their sincerity toward resolving the issue.
"I don't think that either the US or China see the North Korean issue as a priority right now. Thus, I don't think that Biden or Xi will spend political capital trying to seriously deal with the Kim Jong-un regime," he added.
The Korea Times · November 22, 2022
14. US to launch new Space Force command in Indo-Pacific amid NK provocations
US to launch new Space Force command in Indo-Pacific amid NK provocations
The Korea Times · November 22, 2022
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accompanied by his daughter during the test firing of a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasongpho-17 at Pyongyang International airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, Nov. 18. EPA-Yonhap
The U.S. Space Force is setting up a new component command in the Indo-Pacific, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said Monday, in a move believed to be aimed at enhancing U.S. defense capabilities against ballistic missile threats posed mainly by China but also North Korea.
In a message posted on its Twitter account, INDOPACOM said the new U.S. Space Force Indo-Pacific Command will be launched on Tuesday.
It will be the first Space Force command to be established under any combatant command such as INDOPACOM.
The Space Force was established in December 2019, with a mission to "protect the interests of the United States in space, deter aggression in, from and to space, and conduct space operations."
Threats from space include intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and hypersonic missiles, according to those familiar with the issue.
North Korea conducted a record 63 ballistic missile tests this year, including eight ICBM tests, according to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Pyongyang also claims to have successfully test-fired hypersonic missiles in January.
The new Space Force Command, once established, is expected to help improve U.S. abilities to detect and intercept ballistic missiles originating from countries in the region.
Space Force Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, deputy chief for operations, cyber and nuclear, was earlier quoted as saying that the Space Force will seek to establish component commands at combatant commands where the threat to the U.S. homeland is most acute, such as INDOPACOM, U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · November 22, 2022
15. Presidential office takes credit for 'partial lifting' of China's hallyu ban
Presidential office takes credit for 'partial lifting' of China's hallyu ban
The Korea Times · November 22, 2022
President Yoon Suk-yeol and Chinese leader Xi Jinping shake hands during a summit held at a hotel in Bali, Indonesia on Nov. 15, on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit. Yonhap
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Award-winning filmmaker Hong Sang-soo's 2018 movie, "Hotel by the River," which revolves around a poet who is visited by his two sons while staying in a hotel, has been released on the Chinese over-the-top (OTT) service, Tencent Video, starting from Nov. 20.
The move has raised hopes among Korean content makers of a partial lifting of the Chinese government's hallyu ban, which was imposed in 2017 following South Korea's deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile battery.
"Hotel by the River" is the first Korean movie to be made available on any major OTT service in China since 2017, according to experts familiar with the Chinese market.
The news excited the presidential office.
The presidential office said on Tuesday that the release of the Korean film on the Chinese OTT service is a follow-up measure to President Yoon Suk-yeol's summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, held on Nov. 15 on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
"A Korean film has been aired recently on a Chinese OTT after the six-year ban," Kim Eun-hye, senior presidential secretary for press affairs, told reporters. "We hope that this small gesture will lead to big, meaningful progress in the future of the bilateral relations of the two countries since the recent summit."
Kim reiterated Yoon's remarks during the summit with Xi to stress that the Chinese OTT's release of the Korean movie is the result of the meeting between the two leaders.
"During the summit, which was held nearly three years after the previous one, President Yoon underscored the importance of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. The president also stressed the need for growing interactions between the younger generations of the two countries. President Xi concurred with the view," she said. "China responded favorably to Korea with the Chinese OTT releasing the Korean movie."
Kim quoted the Chinese leader as saying that cultural exchanges should be delinked from geopolitical issues.
According to Kim, Xi said cultural exchanges between the two nations ― which have been suspended following China's economic retaliation to the THAAD deployment in South Korea ― negatively impacted the friendship between the people of the two countries.
The Chinese leader viewed that the suspension of cultural exchanges does not help either side and expressed his hope that the two nations will work toward the full resumption of cultural exchanges as they were before the hallyu ban, Kim said.
However, it remains uncertain whether the Korean movie being made available on Tencent Video is an actual reflection of the lifting of the hallyu ban in China.
In 2020, the Korean comedy film "Oh! My Gran" was released in Chinese cinemas. It raised the hopes of those in the hallyu industry, who took it a sign that the Chinese government was lifting the hallyu ban then. But no other Korean movie has been screened in China since.
The Korea Times · November 22, 2022
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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