Happy Birthday Devil Dogs:
“The Marines fought almost solely on esprit de corps, I was certain. It was inconceivable to most Marines that they should let another Marine down, or that they could be responsible for dimming the bright reputation of their Corps. The Marines simply assumed that they were the world’s best fighting men.”
- Robert Sherrod
Quotes of the Day:
"Life is short and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth."
- Arthur Schopenhauer
"He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future."
- George Orwell, 1984.
“A rational anarchist believes that concepts such as ‘state’ and ‘society’ and ‘government’ have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame… as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluations, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world…aware that his effort will be less than perfect yet undismayed by self-knowledge of self-failure.
[...]
“My point is that one person is responsible. Always. [...] In terms of morals there is no such thing as ‘state.’ Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
1. S. Korea, U.S. in active discussion over end of war declaration: Amb. Lee
2. Top U.S. diplomat for East Asia policy in Seoul for talks on alliance, economic ties
3. Unification minister says inter-Korean medical cooperation 'inevitable'
4. U.N. disarmament chief: Resumption of diplomatic efforts is only effective path for denuclearization, peace on Korean Peninsula
5. US, South Korean senior NCOs brush up on basic soldier skills during three-day exercise
6. 10 years with Kim Jong-un
7. Spy indicted for working to send defectors back to North Korea
8. EXCLUSIVE: North Korean Defector Yeonmi Park Announces Upcoming Book On ‘Candace’
9. Why Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ is a dream scenario for Kim Jong Un
10. Facial Recognition Quashes Kim Jong-un Rumors
11. North Hamgyong Province moves to "incentivize" local merchants to sell locally-made goods
12. Checking up on North Korean workers stranded in Russia
13. China Looms Large as South Korea Presidential Hopefuls Meet U.S. Diplomat
14. If America Can Have Cutting Edge Weapons Why Not North Korea?
15. Cooperation for semiconductors among US, Japan, and Taiwan accelerates
1. S. Korea, U.S. in active discussion over end of war declaration: Amb. Lee
I am sure the Ambassador is positively influenced by the letter from the 23 Congressman to President Biden calling for an end of war declaration.
I too want peace on the Korean peninsula but not peace at any cost and not a hollow or fake peace that puts the security of the ROK at great risk.
I argue it is a fool's errand to unilaterally declare an end to the war without negotiating an end to the north's hostile policy and substantial force reductions in the north and removal of troops from the DMZ to eliminate the existential threat to the South. A unilateral end of war declaration by either the South of the ROK/US alliance does nothing to provide security to the ROK or support US interests, number one of which is to prevent a war on the Korean peninsula. Paper and word do not trump steel. And the north's steel remains in an offensive posture to attack the South. Furthermore such a declaration will play into the Kim family regime strategy to use the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime. And from a subversion standpoint the regime will continue to try to influence of "useful idiots" on both sides of the Pacific who naively call for end of war declaration as the first step toward ending the alliance, withdrawing US troops, and ending extended deterrence and the nuclear umbrella over the ROK and Japan. The fundamental difference between the useful idiots and others is that they believe the US is the roadblock to peace. The other side believes the root of all problems in Korea is the existence of the most evil mafia- like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime that has the objective of dominating the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.
S. Korea, U.S. in active discussion over end of war declaration: Amb. Lee | Yonhap News Agency
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States are actively discussing the possibility of declaring a formal end to the Korean War with North Korea, South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Lee Soo-hyuck said Tuesday.
Lee said the countries are also working to devise an end of the Korean War declaration draft.
"There is not only an exchange of views on the draft of an end of war declaration between South Korea and the U.S., but the countries are also continuing their active and creative efforts with regard to the end of war declaration issue," the ambassador said while meting with reporters in Washington.
The discussion between Seoul and Washington came after South Korean President Moon Jae-in renewed his call for an end of war declaration in his address to the U.N. General Assembly in September.
Seoul believes an end of war declaration by South Korea, North Korea and the U.S. can help restart dialogue with North Korea, which has stayed away from denuclearization negotiations since 2019. The North is also ignoring recent U.S. overtures, citing what it claims to be U.S. hostility toward Pyongyang.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, however, has hinted at possible differences between South Korea and the U.S. over when an end of war declaration can or should be made.
"We may have somewhat different perspectives on the precise sequence or timing or conditions for different steps," he said earlier when asked if the U.S. supported the Seoul-proposed end of war declaration.
South Korea and North Korea technically remain at war as the 1950-53 war ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.
Seoul and Washington are said to have not yet made an official proposal to the North to discuss an end of war declaration.
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim has said the U.S. was open to discussing any issues with the North with no preconditions.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. Top U.S. diplomat for East Asia policy in Seoul for talks on alliance, economic ties
This is the fundamental assumption by the ROKG about the end of war declaration. UNfortunately I think it is an erroneous assumption based on the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime.
At the talks, the two sides could touch on South Korea's push for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which Seoul officials say would be a catalyst to resume nuclear diplomacy with the North and bring the stalled peace process back on track.
Kim is not going to be swayed by such a declaration. It will not bring him to the table to negotiate in good faith. He will exploit this as part of his subversion campaign (to end the alliance and remove US troops) while maniting the forces capable of attacking and inflicting great damage on the South.
(LEAD) Top U.S. diplomat for East Asia policy in Seoul for talks on alliance, economic ties | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES lead paras with diplomat's arrival; CHANGES headline, photo)
By Kim Eun-jung and Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia arrived in Seoul on Wednesday as part of his first Asia trip since taking office in September, with North Korea, the bilateral alliance and economic cooperation likely to top the agenda in discussions with Seoul officials.
Daniel Kritenbrink, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, arrived at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, after wrapping up a four-day trip to Japan, the first leg of his six-day regional swing.
It comes as Seoul pushes to strengthen joint efforts with Washington to resume dialogue with Pyongyang while navigating the increasingly convoluted geopolitics marked by an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry.
On Thursday, Kritenbrink plans to meet with his South Korean counterpart, Yeo Seung-bae, deputy minister for political affairs, and other senior officials to discuss issues on the Korean Peninsula, according to informed sources.
At the talks, the two sides could touch on South Korea's push for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which Seoul officials say would be a catalyst to resume nuclear diplomacy with the North and bring the stalled peace process back on track.
Nuclear talks with the recalcitrant regime have been stalled since a 2019 Hanoi summit between the U.S. and the North ended without a deal.
During the three-day stay, he is scheduled to meet with Lee Sung-ho, deputy minister for economic diplomacy, and senior officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which are expected to touch on pending economic issues, the sources noted.
The talks could touch on Washington's ongoing push to rally allies and partner countries to reshape global supply chains -- a move that observers say is intended to counter China's growing economic influence.
Cooperation on supply chains and other economic issues are expected to be part of the agenda for the allies' annual vice-ministerial Senior Economic Dialogue set for next month.
The U.S. diplomat also plans to meet with Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party, and Yoon Seok-youl, the nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, according to their aides.
Kritenbrink is expected to use the talks to build ties with the leading politicians ahead of the March 9 presidential election.
A career diplomat, Kritenbrink served in multiple assignments related to Asia, including senior adviser for North Korea policy at the department and senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.
He also spent time working in Tokyo and Beijing, and served as the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam before taking up the current post.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. Unification minister says inter-Korean medical cooperation 'inevitable'
The only thing inevitable is that as long as Kim Jong-un and the Kim family regime is in power the north will remain an existential threat to the South.
We are all so complacent because the Armistice Agreement has served well for the past 7 decades as there has not been a resumption of major hostilities by the north. Of course the reason for that, according to the highest ranking defector from north Korea and the father of Juche ideology, Hwang Jong Yop, is the presence of US forces and the belief by the regime that it cannot defeat the South as long as the US supports the ROK.
Unification minister says inter-Korean medical cooperation 'inevitable' | Yonhap News Agency
By Choi Soo-hyang
SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Unification Minister Lee In-young stressed Wednesday inter-Korean cooperation is "inevitable" against emerging health crises, saying North Korea apparently needs it as well.
Lee said diseases and natural disasters have emerged as new threats beyond political and military threats, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and the global climate crisis.
"Jointly responding to and cooperating on health crises on the Korean Peninsula ... is now an inevitable mission of the times," Lee said in an opening remark at a conference in Seoul. It was held to mark the launch of a "platform" to discuss health and medical cooperation with North Korea, which his ministry said is meant to serve as a channel for comprehensive inter-Korean consultations on the issue.
South Korea and the United States are coordinating humanitarian assistance to North Korea, though Pyongyang has remained unresponsive to Washington's dialogue overtures.
"North Korea must have its own reasons and circumstances that block it from responding to calls for humanitarian cooperation, but I believe it must also have needs for cooperation in the public health and medical sector," the minister said.
Humanitarian assistance to North Korea should be provided regardless of sanctions imposed on the reclusive state, Lee said, adding international support on the issue was reaffirmed during his meetings with heads of international organizations last week.
"I hope South and North Korea could resume candid dialogue and consultations ... to protect the lives of both South and North Koreans," he added.
scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. U.N. disarmament chief: Resumption of diplomatic efforts is only effective path for denuclearization, peace on Korean Peninsula
I am completely supportive of diplomatic efforts (resting on a rock solid foundation of combined deterrence and defense).
However, diplomacy will only be successful if the answers to the following questions are affirmative.
Do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime?
In support of that strategy do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the objective to split the ROK/US Alliance and get US forces off the peninsula? Has KJU given up his divide to conquer strategy - divide the alliance to conquer the ROK?
The fundamental differences between those who want an end of war declaration, lifting of sanctions, and basic appeasement of north Korea and those who want to remain firm in ensuring the defense of the ROK and the deterrence of war can be found in how these questions are answered.
The only other way for diplomacy to succeed is for there to be new emerging indgenous leadership in the north who abandons the strategies above.
Ultimately, the only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and threats as well as the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity being committed against the Korean people living in the north is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a United Republic of Korea that is secure and stable, non-nuclear, economically vibrant, and unified under a liberal constitutional form of government based on individual liberty, rule of law, and human rights as determined by the Korean people. In short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
We will achieve "normalcy" when we embrace this: Deterrence, defense, denuclearization, the Korea question (unification), using a superior form of political warfare based on a rock-solid ROK/US alliance and realistic assumptions of the nature of the Kim family regime and its strategy and objectives.
(Yonhap Interview) U.N. disarmament chief: Resumption of diplomatic efforts is only effective path for denuclearization, peace on Korean Peninsula | Yonhap News Agency
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's recent series of ballistic missile tests contravene U.N. Security Council resolutions and negatively impact peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, a senior U.N. official pointed out.
Izumi Nakamitsu, Undersecretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, also stressed the need for the resumption of diplomatic efforts among the "key parties concerned," calling it the "only effective path" for achieving the complete and verifiable denuclearization and sustainable peace on the peninsula.
"The DPRK's continuing nuclear and ballistic missile activities remain a serious concern to the international community," she said in a written interview with Yonhap News Agency in advance of the 20th Republic of Korea-United Nations Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues.
The DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Korea is the South's formal one.
She is scheduled to attend the annual session to open Thursday, co-organized by South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).
Nakamitsu cited the North's recent test launches using ballistic missile technology, including two short-range ballistic missiles from a rail mobile platform, a submarine-launched ballistic missile and a launch of an apparent hypersonic glide vehicle.
"Such developments negatively impact peace and security on both the Korean Peninsula and beyond," she said.
In its Aug. 27 report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there were "new indications of the operation" spotted in satellite imagery of the 5-megawatt nuclear reactor at its Yongbyon complex and assessed that the secretive nation carried out a round of reprocessing spent fuel from the reactor at the nearby Radiochemical Laboratory earlier this year.
Nonetheless, she noted, North Korea has observed a "declared moratorium" on further nuclear tests and launches of international ballistic missiles since November 2017.
"While the DPRK has been urged to return to dialogue on denuclearization, it has not yet indicated it is ready to do so," she said and emphasized the importance of restarting diplomatic efforts to move forward the denuclearization and regional peace process.
"The achievement of denuclearization and sustainable peace remain the only path for minimizing strategic risks and promoting durable security on the Korean Peninsula," she added. "This remains the only viable option on the table and the U.N. system stands ready to support all diplomatic efforts towards this end."
Regarding the sensitive issue of whether South Korea needs to get U.S. tactical nuclear weapons redeployed on its soil, Nakamitsu recalled the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and expressed concern about the possibility of accelerating a regional arms race in the event nuclear non-proliferation is abandoned.
"The preservation of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the integrity of the NPT remains indispensable for avoiding the danger of any use of nuclear weapons and creating an environment conducive for diplomatic engagement on denuclearization and disarmament," she said. "Abandoning the cause of non-proliferation would only accelerate arms races in the region and beyond, destabilizing international security and increasing the risk that nuclear weapons could one day be used again."
On this week's conference, titled "Twenty Years of Achievements and Future Aspirations," she said it will serve as an opportunity to explore issues related to current challenges to international security, disarmament, nonproliferation and arms control. It is to bring together around 40 representatives of governments and intergovernmental organizations, research institutes and think tanks.
The conference will "focus on how the disarmament and non-proliferation landscape has changed over the past two decades, and take stock of the successes, setbacks and lessons learned as well as the priority issues in the years ahead, including the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which will be held from January 4-28, 2022 in New York," she said.
Over the past two decades, it has been providing a "platform for dynamic and frank discussions" on various issues on disarmament and nonproliferation, she said, adding "I hope that this jubilee marks a milestone for the next decades to come."
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. US, South Korean senior NCOs brush up on basic soldier skills during three-day exercise
The best militaries have strong NCO corps and many want to emulate the US military NCO corps. But few countries can. South Korea is one that can and does.
It is interesting to note that the countries with the best NCO corps all tend to be free and democratic (despite the military being a decidedly "undemocratic" institution ). I cannot think of a single authoritarian regime that has a strong NCO corps.
US, South Korean senior NCOs brush up on basic soldier skills during three-day exercise
South Korean troops use U.S. Army weapons in a simulated convoy operation during joint training at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — Senior noncommissioned officers from the U.S. Army and South Korean military resumed an annual joint-exercise at Camp Humphreys on Monday, following a yearlong pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “Mangudai” senior leader development training is a three-day exercise focused on refreshing sergeants major with fundamental tasks that are traditionally conducted by junior soldiers, along with working alongside their counterparts in the U.S. and South Korean militaries. The term is derived from the 13th century Mongol tribes’ selection process, according to the Army.
Forty-eight sergeants major, over half of whom are from South Korea, participated in the exercise at the Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Vandal Training Center on Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.
South Korean military leaders fired Army-issued small arms, such as the M17 pistol; conducted convoy operations using simulated Humvees; and communicated using the Army’s radio systems. The senior NCOs are scheduled to participate in first-aid scenarios using lifelike mannequins that bleed, twitch and smell of decaying flesh.
“This training really continues to build a relationship … with the [South Koreans] and U.S.,” Command Sgt. Maj. Walter Tagalicud, U.S. Forces Korea’s senior-most enlisted soldier, told Stars and Stripes on Tuesday. “We have to set the example of what ‘right’ looks like. We, as the senior enlisted leaders, are trainers at the lowest level to the highest level.”
The Mangudai senior leader development training, which kicked off at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021, is a three-day exercise focused on refreshing sergeants major with fundamental tasks that are traditionally conducted by junior soldiers. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)
In one scenario, South Korean troops conducting a simulated convoy with their American counterparts were forced to fix jammed M249 machine guns and M16 rifles during an ambush.
At one point, the troops communicated among themselves over the radio in Korean but were forced to change to English after having their access to interpreters revoked.
That language barrier is a key element in the training, said Master Sgt. Philip Piennette, an infantryman and a trainer in the exercise.
“In an ideal scenario … there will always be an interpreter present,” he said. “However, the reality of combat, for those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, know that that is not always the case. So, when you have an alliance or partnership, you have to develop the ability to communicate through a language barrier.”
Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, the majority of them at Humphreys, about 40 miles south of Seoul. The base is home to Eighth Army, the 2nd Infantry Division, U.S. Forces Korea and United Nations Command.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries frequently train together and have widely publicized their activities. Recently, however, the allies reduced the number of military assets used in the exercises and limited the amount of information about them. limited media access to the events.
A South Korean military official who spoke with Stars and Stripes on the customary condition of anonymity said in October that while the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in scaling back the exercises, the military was making its joint operations “low-key” in light of the ongoing diplomatic outreach to North Korea.
The communist regime regularly protests military drills by the allies and continues to demand the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula.
David Choi
6. 10 years with Kim Jong-un
Actually more of a critique of the ROK presidential candidates.
I like this description of foriegn policy and security:
Foreign policy and security are like oxygen. Though not visible, they are directly related to people’s lives. If we had read into the structure of subtle changes in the U.S.-China conflict and made a wise plan, the critical shortage of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) wouldn’t have happened.
Wednesday
November 10, 2021
10 years with Kim Jong-un
CHUN SU-JIN
The author is the head of Today & People Teamof the JoongAng Ilbo.
Dec. 17 will mark 10 years since the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. I vividly remember his youngest son saluting next to the black Lincoln Continental lorry. Kim Jong-un, who was in his 20s at the time, is busy creating an atmosphere to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his rule. Foreign policy and security experts tipped me at the time, “The next 10 years for the young leader to consolidate his power base will offer a chance for the Korean Peninsula. If we miss those 10 years, we’ll face a crisis. Reunification will be a challenge in his lifetime.”
After a decade has passed, we are still living with Kim Jong-un. Is reunification near? No camp, left or right, can readily say yes.
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of his rule and preparing for the next 50 years, Kim said, “We cannot waste each minute, as precious as gold.” But South Korea is deeply confused over the controversies of the two presidential candidates for the March 9 election.
Kim Jong-un has plans for the future. How about the candidates dreaming of entering the Blue House? When foreign policy and security frames are rapidly changing, what heats up the election are volatile issues like the Daejang-dong development scandal or ordering criminal complaints against the government, not very related to the future of the Korean Peninsula.
Foreign policy and security are like oxygen. Though not visible, they are directly related to people’s lives. If we had read into the structure of subtle changes in the U.S.-China conflict and made a wise plan, the critical shortage of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) wouldn’t have happened.
Foreign policy and security are areas where the president’s attention, scope of understanding, attitude, philosophy and investment are especially important. Looking at security experts in both presidential candidates’ camps, I cannot dispel the impression that they prioritize expanding their own campaign. Each candidate’s foreign policy and security aides must look back on whether they are missing important things because of internal fights. We still have time.
Inter-Korean and South Korea-Japan relations are very important for the new president, who will come into office next year. In fact, only politicians use diplomacy for votes in South Korea and Japan.
A college student in Seoul still misses a ramen restaurant in Shibuya while an office worker in Tokyo wants to go to a crab restaurant in Seoul. Young Japanese director Yuya Ishii’s new film “You Won’t Believe” is a joint project of Korea and Japan. After a Korean and a Japanese person clash over misunderstanding in the beginning of the movie, one line was repeated: “What’s important is the attitude to understand each other.” As foreign policy and security are conducted by people, let’s go back to the basics.
7. Spy indicted for working to send defectors back to North Korea
The sad irony is she will be treated better in a South Korean prison than if she was deported back to north Korea for her failed mission.
Spy indicted for working to send defectors back to North Korea
gettyimagesbankA North Korean spy in South Korea has been indicted for allegedly working to send defectors from her country back home, according to legal sources Wednesday.
The 40-something female North Korean security ministry agent, whose name was kept private, was indicted by prosecutors in Suwon, south of Seoul, in May on charges of violating the national security law.
The agent, who arrived in the South guised as a defector in December 2018, is suspected of having provided contact information of another defector living in the South and coaxing the person to follow orders from officials at the North's security ministry.
Having previously worked as a money transfer broker between defectors and their families in the North from 2012, she was poached by the North's ministry after a local official learned of her secret dealings in 2014, and later started working as an undercover agent in 2016.
The North's security ministry was found to have persuaded defectors in the South to return home thorough the contact provided by the agent. One defector reportedly returned to the North in September 2016 after the persuasion operation.
The suspect reportedly confessed to her allegations in court. A sentence hearing is scheduled for Nov. 23. (Yonhap)
8. EXCLUSIVE: North Korean Defector Yeonmi Park Announces Upcoming Book On ‘Candace’
She is someone who has made a good living from the stories of her life and escape.
EXCLUSIVE: North Korean Defector Yeonmi Park Announces Upcoming Book On ‘Candace’ | The Daily Wire
Human rights activist Yeonmi Park, who fled North Korea at age 13, announced her upcoming book for the first time on this week’s episode of The Daily Wire’s “Candace.”
Park, 28, sat for an in-depth interview with Daily Wire host Candace Owens, recounting her harrowing escape from North Korea and into sex slavery under a Chinese smuggler, then to South Korea and, eventually, the United States. Park also discussed the increasing restriction of freedom that has taken place in the United States in the past decade, drawing parallels to her experiences under the authoritarian North Korean regime. At the end of the interview, the in-studio audience rewarded a visibly moved Park with a standing ovation.
Park is the author of one book already, “In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom,” about her escape from the tyrannical North Korean regime. Park’s next book, which she announced on “Candace,” is titled “While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector’s Warning to America” and details alarming trends she has seen develop in the United States over the past decade such as wokeism, identity politics, and cancel culture. Park’s latest book is expected to be published in the fall of 2022.
Park was born in in the city of Hyesan, which sits on North Korea’s northern border with China. Her father provided for the family by smuggling Chinese goods such as clothes, food, and cigarettes into North Korea to sell on the black market. At one point her father was arrested and forced into a labor camp. Her mother was subject to numerous interrogations by Chinese authorities.
In 2007, Park’s elder sister Eunmi, who was 16 at the time, fled North Korea into China. Park and her mother followed Eunmi soon after, but ended up living among smugglers who used them as sex objects for months.
After Park’s mother was sold as a bride to a Chinese farmer, Park arranged to become the mistress of a smuggler if he would reunite her with her parents. Park was repeatedly raped while the smuggler brought Park’s father out of North Korea and bought back her mother.
Park’s father died tragically from cancer a short time after reuniting with her in China. Park and her mother, guided by Christian missionaries, eventually escaped to South Korea in 2009 after an arduous journey that took them through Mongolia and the Gobi Desert.
Park moved to New York in 2014 after studying in Seoul. She enrolled in classes at Barnard College before eventually applying for and getting accepted into Columbia University’s School of General Studies.
Park has recently shared harsh words about her time at Columbia, specifically slamming the word-policing around pronoun use and overwrought complaints about oppression in the United States. She also said that many of the professors and students shared anti-American sentiments, in common with North Korea.
“I expected that I was paying this fortune, all this time and energy, to learn how to think. But they are forcing you to think the way they want you to think,” Park said in June. “I realized, wow, this is insane. I thought America was different but I saw so many similarities to what I saw in North Korea that I started worrying.”
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9. Why Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ is a dream scenario for Kim Jong Un
I disagree with most of the analysis provided here. The more important message that Koreans in the north will derive from this is the freedom of expression that exists in the South and the fact that the entertainment industry can criticize and even mock South Korean society without government interference or censorship is a powerful and ensuring message. Of course the Propaganda and Agitation department will attempt to exploit this in anti-South and domestic propaganda but in the long run that will backfire on the regime.
Why Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ is a dream scenario for Kim Jong Un
“Squid Game” is a wet dream for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to outside observers of the regime.
The wildly popular Netflix series about desperate, debt-ridden South Koreans playing a series of children’s games to see who will survive and win a multi-million dollar prize paints Seoul in a terrible light — just how Kim likes it.
“Kim’s got to be thrilled at how South Korea is being depicted to the world,” Michael Madden, a nonresident fellow at the Stinson Center and an expert on North Korea, told The Post. “He’s always railing about the influence of the West and the consumerism and of South Korean and American society. He’s got to be loving ‘Squid Game.'”
Kim has been known to rail against what he calls the “decadent lifestyle” of the West. Though he and his family are known for their secret consumption of a wide variety of luxury products imported underground from overseas, Kim presents himself as a stern nationalist out to preserve traditional Korean values.
In May, he reportedly banned skinny jeans and mullets as part of his regime’s crackdown on capitalistic culture among youth. That move came after North Korea state media published a warning warning capitalism had to be kept from “seeping” into the country.
North Korean state media called “Squid Game” is an example of the “beastly” nature of “South Korean capitalist society where mankind is annihilated by extreme competition.”
South Koreans suffering from terrible debt fight to the death to win a massive cash prize in “Squid Game.”
Netflix
The site also slammed the series, saying “Squid Game” shows an“unequal society where the strong exploit the weak.”
Gordon Chang, author of “Losing South Korea,” said it’s no coincidence that “Squid Game” as well as the Oscar-winning film “Parasite” which also showed South Koreans in a poor light played right into the hands of Kim Jong Un,
Experts say North Korean leader Kim is eager to point out the downsides of South Korea’s capitalistic society.
REUTERS
Chang said the leftist government of South Korea president Moon Jae-in, is trying to “destroy democracy and restore unification with North Korea.”
“The filmmakers are also leftist and they’re from a generation in South Korea that hates America,” Chang said. “They’re made South Korea look horrific – even though it’s really not that bad — and the North Koreans love this and are taking advantage of it. They all think they’re involved in this existential struggle.:”
But Sean King, an Asia specialist at Park Strategies, said he disagrees that “Squid Game” will be a win for Kim — not at least in the long term.
“What “Squid Game’ does is allow people in other countries to see South Koreans as people with the same problems they do,” King said. “They can relate to South Koreans more. It humanizes them even if they are being shown in a bad light. It makes them more like us which long term is not good for Kim. He doesn’t like people relating more to South Koreans.”
10. Facial Recognition Quashes Kim Jong-un Rumors
I have seen no credible reports about the death of Kim Jong-un. ONly tabloid articles.
Facial Recognition Quashes Kim Jong-un Rumors
November 10, 2021 08:37
Facial recognition technology has finally put paid to speculation that the new, slimmer North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is a double and the real Kim is seriously ill.
Some sensationalist media claimed that Kim had not just dramatically shed pounds when he appeared at a ceremony in September but had different facial features and hairstyle.
Japan's Tokyo Shimbun daily quoted a former South Korean Defense Ministry official as claiming that one of Kim's bodyguards could be the double. What drew particular attention was a report in the American tabloid The Globe that quoted a Pentagon official as saying facial recognition technology showed that the slimmer man who appeared on the rostrum in recent pictures was not Kim.
But according to facial recognition specialists Onface, even basic technology can put such claims to rest. For example, connecting the eyes and nose yields a triangle whose size differs from person to person.
Connecting around 300 virtual dots inside that triangle with an infra-red camera makes it possible to compare the contours and curves of a face.
Jin Young-rak at Onface said, "Even if a person grows massively obese or loses weight, they don't change. That's why Kim's identity can be verified quite easily. A computer can do it in less than a second."
This combined photo from the official [North] Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 5 (left) and Sept. 29 shows how North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's glasses dig into his temples and later fit better.
The National Intelligence Service here uses the technology to identify North Korean officials and said the man who appeared at the North Korean ceremony in September was not a double.
Computers do face problems between the real person and a stand-in when the individual is wearing a mask, but Kim was not wearing one. Special facial prosthetics can also fool the sensors.
China has the world's most advanced facial recognition technology and uses it to spy on its 1.4 billion people on a massive scale. The Chinese regime has been researching and investing in the technology for 15 years, and it is now so advanced that it can even identify the race of a person.
According to the Washington Post, Huawei tested an AI technology that identifies Uighurs in a huge crowd of people and notifies the police. The information comes from an internal Huawei document.
In Korea, around 20 companies specialize in facial recognition. Some companies say they can identify the nationality of people and even distinguish which province of Korea a person comes from.
"We accumulated facial data of more than a million people, so we can roughly ascertain his or her nationality by scanning a face," an Onface staffer said. "We can even identify if they trace their ancestry to the Baekje, Goguryeo, Shilla or Gaya bloodlines."
But the technology to identify particular people in very large crowds has yet to be perfected and is prone to errors, which is causing concerns about false prosecutions and other miscarriages of justice.
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
11. North Hamgyong Province moves to "incentivize" local merchants to sell locally-made goods
The regime's attempts to maintain control of its )failed) economy is failing.
North Hamgyong Province moves to "incentivize" local merchants to sell locally-made goods - Daily NK
“Locals are openly calling the plan contemptible,” a source said, adding, "They say nobody will buy poor-quality domestic goods"
By Jong So Yong - 2021.11.10 7:25am
Following the recent announcement of a national policy to promote the distribution of locally produced goods in markets, North Hamgyong Province’s party committee plans to “incentivize” merchants who sell locally made goods by lowering their market fees, Daily NK has learned.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Monday that the provincial party committee had issued an order to get domestic goods moving in the province’s markets following a party order to “localize” the commercial sector. He said the committee was discussing substantive measures to make the order a reality.
According to the source, the provincial party committee issued the order, stressing that it needed to begin achieving the party’s localization policy in the commercial sector when it remains unknown when the border – closed due to COVID-19 – will reopen.
In fact, the provincial party has crafted a plan to realize the localization policy by joining hands with commercial officials and market management offices in the provincial capital of Chongjin to fill the city’s markets with domestically produced goods and reduce the market fees of participating stall merchants by half.
The source said the authorities were informing merchants at Chongjin’s markets of the provincial party’s decision, stressing that by filling their stalls with domestically produced industrial goods and foodstuffs they can save on market fees and “help the nation.”
Market management offices, for their part, are promoting the policy, saying that since the borders “could remain closed forever,” and with smuggling unable to resume, merchants should quickly accept the party’s localization policy. They say the wise thing is to secure domestic goods to sell so they can get out of their “current troubles.”
A picture of Onsong County, North Hamgyong Province, taken in February 2018. / Image: Daily NK
Locals, however, are reportedly less than enthusiastic about the plans.
“Locals are openly calling the plan contemptible,” said the source. “Locals have been relying on Chinese-made goods since the time of the Arduous March and have gotten used to foreign goods for over 20 years. They say nobody will buy poor-quality domestic goods.”
Moreover, locals doubt whether the country can produce enough goods to satisfy market demand, regardless of what the authorities say about circulating domestic products in line with new party policy. The source said people are saying the state has no interest in what people want or in how to improve their lives.
In fact, many people are reportedly in a state of despair. They ask why the authorities must drag domestic goods into the markets when they should be sold only in state shops, and say that dumping locally made goods “that won’t sell” on merchants and telling them to sell them when times are already difficult amounts to “telling them to go die.” They say that if the authorities pressure them like this, life will grow even more difficult.
The source further said that even the market management offices tasked with promoting the plan to merchants are sitting quietly, unable to force the scheme upon the sellers. This is because they know the plan will run into difficulties if merchants are forced into it, he added.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
12. Checking up on North Korean workers stranded in Russia
I think it is fair to saither Russia (or China) has complied with the UN Security Council Resolutions on north Korean slave labor.
Checking up on North Korean workers stranded in Russia - Daily NK
Despite COVID-19, there are a few North Korean restaurants open and doing business in Vladivostok
By Kang Dong Wan, Donga University - 2021.11.10 11:55am
In late September, I traveled to Vladivostok for around ten days to check how the lives of North Korean workers in the country have changed since I last visited in January 2020.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397, which imposed sanctions on North Korea, ruled that all dispatched North Korean workers be repatriated by Dec. 12, 2019. However, following the complete suspension of travel between Pyongyang and Vladivostok because of the worldwide spread of COVID-19, some workers have not been able to return to North Korea.
Before 2020, North Korean workers could be easily found anywhere on Vladivostok construction sites. However, it soon became clear to me that the number of laborers in the city has declined since my last visit.
Since the visas of the North Korean workers in Russia have expired, they are now harder to find at large scale construction sites in Vladivostok. The jobs the North Korean workers left are being filled by workers from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Many new apartments were built in the Soviet era, and now many of these apartments are being remodeled. Skilled North Korean workers who have some command of the Russian language live alone while conducting remodeling jobs. Once a week, they hand over a portion of their wages to North Korean officials at their group housing facility and participate in criticism sessions.
A large number of laborers worked on this building in Ussuriysk, Russia. / Image: Daily NK
The majority of those working at large scale construction sites have room and board in temporary group housing located on construction sites. During the course of this trip, I found it difficult to find North Korean workers anywhere at large scale construction sites. According to the workers, most do remodeling jobs on an individual basis, rather than in groups, and the criticism sessions they previously gathered for once a week are now mostly conducted by phone due to COVID-19 worries.
Meanwhile, there are a few North Korean restaurants open and doing business in Vladivostok. Just before COVID-19, these restaurants were packed with South Korean tourists and local customers. I discovered that the Goryeogwan and Pyongyanggwan restaurants were doing business as normal, but that the Kumgangsan Restaurant was closed. Kumgangsan Restaurant, due to its close proximity to a prominent Vladivostok tourist spot, Eagle’s Nest Hill, had been frequented by South Korean tourists before the coronavirus outbreak.
North Korean restaurant employees were very befuddled by a South Korean (me) visiting their restaurants, and they even stopped me from taking videos or pictures. The employees said that the alcohol, cosmetics and other products sold at the restaurant were no longer available because airplanes are not flying between Russia and North Korea anymore. Indeed, flights are suspended between the two countries due to COVID-19, suggesting that the lack of such products is not due to sanctions. The North Korean restaurants remain as packed as ever, and the profits, just as before, will flow into the Kim Jong Un regime’s coffers.
On Apr. 26 of this year, Rodong Sinmun reported that a sign denoting a historic site was erected to commemorate Kim’s past visit to Vladivostok. I went to the Vladivostok train station platform and found this sign standing side by side with another detailing Kim Jong Il’s visit in 2002. This seems to indicate that COVID-19 has not heavily impacted the political relationship between Russia and North Korea.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
13. China Looms Large as South Korea Presidential Hopefuls Meet U.S. Diplomat
China Looms Large as South Korea Presidential Hopefuls Meet U.S. Diplomat
By U.S. News & World Report3 min
FILE PHOTO: South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. Picture taken on August 23, 2016. Courtesy Ken Scar/U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERSReuters
By Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith
SEOUL (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat will meet newly selected presidential candidates in South Korea this week, ahead of next year's election that will shape the future of relations between the two allies.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink was due to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday, with plans to hold separate talks with ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party.
While domestic issues such as housing prices are expected to dominate the March 9 election, analysts say the result will also shape South Korea's balancing act between China and the United States, and how South Korea coordinates with its U.S. ally on North Korea.
"With the partisan split on the issue of U.S.-China relations, the upcoming election will determine how South Korea balances between the U.S. and China in the next five years,” the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank said in a recent report.
U.S President Joe Biden's administration has been focused on marshalling Asian alliances to counter what it has called potential "coercion and aggression" by China.
That represents a challenge for South Korea, which is not eager to provoke China - its largest economic partner.
South Korea paid a heavy economic price when China retaliated over the 2017 deployment of a U.S. missile defence system in South Korea. South Korea's deep reliance on China was further highlighted this week by a critical shortage of urea https://www.reuters.com/world/china/skorean-drivers-panic-buy-urea-after-china-tightens-supply-2021-11-05, an additive used in diesel vehicles to reduce emissions, after China tightened exports.
Lee is also due to meet the Chinese ambassador this week, according to his campaign. Yoon's campaign said it has not yet scheduled a meeting with Chinese officials.
Democratic Party candidate Lee has argued that there is no need for South Korea to limit itself by choosing between China and the United States, as they become increasingly competitive.
"I wish our country would take the path where we are not unilaterally swayed, abandoned or excluded by either side, and I am confident I can do that," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"If you ask me to choose between the United States and China, I would say there aren't only two options for us to choose," he said.
The United States is South Korea's largest and oldest ally, and stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea as part of efforts to deter North Korea since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
NORTH KOREAN TIES
On the U.S. missiles that angered China, Lee said it was hard to see them as completely in South Korea's interest, but since they were already deployed, he would work to resolve any issues with them in place.
The conservative Yoon has signalled he would take a more openly pro-U.S. stance, and has called for Seoul to be less ambiguous in its relations between Washington and Beijing.
The conservatives have signalled they could be open to officially joining the Quad, a diplomatic group that includes the United States, Japan, Australia and India.
Over the summer, Yoon became embroiled in an unusual public debate with China’s ambassador over comments about the U.S. missile defence system.
The dispute, which played out in duelling newspaper articles, drew a warning from South Korea's foreign ministry which told the Chinese ambassador to "exercise discretion" when commenting on the country's politicians, media reported at the time.
On North Korea, neither candidate takes a stance that would represent a drastic shift from the status quo, with both saying they would be willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and seek to improve relations.
Lee has said he wants to approach North Korea from a “practical” standpoint, using language that echoes the Biden administration.
But Yoon may be closer to the U.S. position in his demand that any economic cooperation between the two Koreas be contingent on the North’s progress toward denuclearization.
(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Copyright 2021 Thomson Reuters.
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14. Biden Faces Calls for North Korea Sanctions Relief
A lot to parse here.
First, the suffering of the Korean people in the north is a direct result of Kim Jogn-un's policy decision to prioritize his nuclear and missile program, military modernization and support to the elite over the welfare of the Korean people living in the north.
Second, as noted, humanitarian assistance is not prohibited by the sanctions. However, NGOs do have difficulty in funding operations due to the financial constraints of sanctions.
Third, both South Korea and the US have offered extensive humanitarian assistance to the north. But Kim Jong-un has refused it.
Fourth, any significant sanctions relief will be interpreted by KJU as success of his blackmail diplomacy and political warfare strategies and he will double down on them and not come to the negotiating table in good faith.
Fifth, for those who advocate sanctions relief without regime compliance with the requirements of the sanctions, I ask what regime malign behavior do you wish to condne? Nuclear and missile development, proliferation, cyber attacks, global illicit activities, and human rights abuses and crimes against humanity?
So who is in favor of lifting sanctions?
Biden Faces Calls for North Korea Sanctions Relief
November 09, 2021 9:28 PM
WASHINGTON —
The Biden administration is facing calls to review sanctions that affect humanitarian efforts in North Korea even as the regime of Kim Jong Un rejects talks with the United States and maintains strict pandemic border closures.
Senator Edward Markey and Representative Andy Levin, both Democrats, sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging the administration to ease the Treasury Department's regulations that limit humanitarian aid to North Korea.
"The dire situation in North Korea warrants a reversal of U.S. policies that block private humanitarian aid shipments and prevent private aid workers from traveling there" once the border reopens, wrote the lawmakers in a letter dated November 5.
Markey and Levin also called on the State Department to expedite Special Validation Passports for U.S. humanitarian workers.
The letter comes as North Korea has largely rejected U.S. calls for resuming talks that have been deadlocked since October 2019 and as the regime maintains border lockdowns while conducting multiple missile launches.
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North Korea closed its borders in January 2020 to fend off the coronavirus. That isolation, coupled with natural disasters and a poorly managed centralized economy, led to widespread food shortages.
Food crisis
The regime also encouraged people to consume black swan meat last month, promoting it as "delicious" and having "high nutritional value," according to the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
Amid the deepening food crisis, Tomás Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, called on the U.N. Security Council to consider easing sanctions on North Korea that affect humanitarian conditions.
"I have recommended that especially under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Security Council resolutions committee should reevaluate the sanctions regime under these circumstances and when necessary to ease those sanctions that bring these obstacles," Quintana said on October 22.
FILE - Staff of the Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 disinfect the store to help curb the spread of the coronavirus before it opens in Pyongyang, North Korea, Dec. 28, 2020.
Quintana told VOA's Korean Service earlier in October that "limitations on the importation of fuel, machinery and spare parts have unintended effects on energy security, civil transport, agriculture, health care, sanitation and hygiene. Export bans on seafood and textiles affect employment. All these negatively impact economic, social and cultural rights of (the) civilian population."
China and Russia, both permanent members of the Security Council, recently called for ending sanctions that ban exports of seafood and textiles. In a draft resolution circulated to the council, Beijing and Moscow said sanctions should be eased "with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population."
The U.S. State Department told VOA's Korean Service on Tuesday it hopes North Korea is open to accepting international aid.
"We continue to support international efforts aimed at the provision of critical humanitarian aid in the hope that the DPRK will accept it," said a State Department spokesperson, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
"The U.S. government is involved in efforts to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid to the neediest North Koreans," the spokesperson added. "This is most evident in our ongoing work to expediate approvals in the U.N.'s 1718 Committee (Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea) for organizations from around the world to deliver lifesaving aid to the DPRK."
According to Keith Luse, executive director of the National Committee on North Korea, lifesaving humanitarian assistance such as treatments for tuberculosis and hepatitis are exempt from sanctions.
Border shutdown a challenge
Experts said the biggest barrier to getting humanitarian aid to North Korea is the nation's border shutdown. The Kim regime must open the borders before any humanitarian work and sanctions relaxation could be considered, they said.
Evans Revere, a former State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, said, "The main obstacle to humanitarian aid is North Korea itself and the barriers it has thrown up that have closed its borders."
FILE - A soldier stands guard at a checkpoint on the Grand Unification Bridge which leads to the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, just south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, June 17, 2020.
Revere added, "Humanitarian assistance to North Korea is possible despite existing sanctions."
Jerome Sauvage, the U.N. resident coordinator in North Korea from November 2009 to January 2013, agrees that North Korea needs to reopen its borders but believes easing sanctions could help.
"Right now, the border shutdown prevents humanitarian organizations to come (into) the country. They must enter the country to verify the situation and to monitor the aid. Without their presence, there can be no aid," he said.
"We can ease sanctions on humanitarian aid and still monitor the aid and ensure that it reaches the people," Sauvage added.
Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said, "I think there is room for streamlining, improving" the approval process of humanitarian exemptions. "I don't necessarily see a need to ease sanctions for humanitarian aid — if we facilitate the current process and make it better."
Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, said, "If North Korea shows interest in pursuing humanitarian cooperation with international organizations on pandemic-related issues, I believe sanctions exemptions would be forthcoming."
Jiha Ham contributed to this report.
14. If America Can Have Cutting Edge Weapons Why Not North Korea?
More likely our policies are based on fear, honor, and interest.
The "whataboutism" here makes me nauseous. I too listen closely to north Korean rhetoric as there is a lot to learn about the regime from it. But we will have to agree to disagree on the interpretation.
Excerpts:
Sadly, the last two decades prove this point. The United States has been involved in five different wars which all have been disastrous in their own ways. There is Afghanistan, which is where the United States spent nearly twenty years devoted to failed nation-building. Then there is Iraq, which is where the United States launched a catastrophically destructive war based on the false claim that Iraq had nuclear weapons. In Libya, the United States lied about the threat to civilian lives to justify another regime change war that turned into an endless civil war. Over in Yemen, Washington turned policy over to the region’s vilest regime. Then there is Saudi Arabia, which is where U.S. activity created a humanitarian catastrophe that continues to kill nearly seven years later. Don’t forget America’s multiple excessive drone campaigns in Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere, which kill civilians and thereby promote terrorism.
Anyone who listens to the rhetoric from Pyongyang realizes that everything should be taken with several barrels full of salt. Nevertheless, sometimes some truth seeps through. U.S. officials would do well to judge their policies against the principles Washington typically espouses. As North Korea’s delegate Kim noted: hypocrisy too often is the foundation of U.S. policy.
Washington officials should use the upcoming holidays to reflect on their plans. There is no doubt that the foreign policy establishment desperately wants to maintain American hegemony. But peace seems not to be a priority—and that should change.
If America Can Have Cutting Edge Weapons Why Not North Korea?
Washington’s policies are based on self-interest, not on principle.
Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly’s Sixth Committee, which contemplates legal matters involving the United Nations, North Korea’s Ambassador Kim In-chol denounced the United States and double standards. He accused America and the world of demonstrating rank hypocrisy.
He noted that America was seeking to develop hypersonic missiles, without the criticism leveled at the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and that North and South Korea were treated very differently when both recently tested missiles. Even sharper was his assault on Washington’s deal with Australia over nuclear submarines. “The United States, with a permanent seat in the Council, has laid bare its double-dealing attitude as ringleader of nuclear proliferation through its decision to transfer technology for building a nuclear-powered submarine to Australia,” Kim Jong-un complained.
The Pyongyang Times joined the conversation by attacking “the founding of the US-led ‘AUKUS’ and the US decision on transferring the technology of building a nuclear-powered submarine to Australia as a ‘military bloc based on the logic of Cold War’ and an ‘irresponsible act posing danger of nuclear proliferation and triggering the arms race.’” Similarly, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry’s had a similar critique. “The U.S. itself has ignored the principle of nuclear non-proliferation and allowed for double standards in line with their strategy for the domination of the world,” according to the ministry.
The North has a point. The United States and the Republic of Korea get away with activities that would and sometimes do subject the North to an avalanche of criticism. AUKUS does increase the potential for nuclear proliferation. The purpose of the new arrangement is to strengthen existing military alignments, which could encourage other nations to counter with increased military outlays and cooperation.
Of course, North Korea’s credibility is not the best. In 1950 founder Kim Il-sung triggered one of the twentieth century’s worst conflicts when he invaded the South. By one estimate, nearly five million people died. North Korea was responsible for numerous violent incidents in subsequent years, including the 1968 attempt on South Korean President Park Chung-hee’s life, the 1968 seizure of the USS Pueblo, and the 2010 sinking of South Korea’s Choenan and bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island. So, there is good reason for the “international community”—or at least South Korea, Japan, and America—to do their best to prevent or limit Pyongyang’s access to nuclear weapons. Sometimes hypocrisy, even if rank, has a logical basis.
However, Washington’s double standards are not without consequence. Cheerfully accepting Israel’s nuclear arsenal leaves America with no principled objection to an Iranian bomb. And accepting Pakistan’s nukes, even reluctantly, indicates that the United States does not view the dangerous, unstable, and Islamist nature of the Pakistani political system—and inherent recklessness of a regime that moves nuclear materials via common vans in regular traffic—as being disqualifying for possession of nuclear weapons. Every time U.S. officials make a deal with the devil and acknowledge another nuclear state, it becomes harder to tell the next aspirant no. War becomes the only effective means of dissuasion, and then the cost is too high.
Moreover, North Korea also punctured the sanctimony with which U.S. officials often drench their realpolitik practices. For instance, The Pyongyang Times charges that “It is a well-known fact that the US has long deployed its nuclear assets all over the world to threaten and blackmail the countries of its dislike with nuclear weapons, in utter breach of international agreements and order.” There are reasons for America’s likes and dislikes, of course, as in Northeast Asia, but Washington’s policy is based on self-interest, not on principle.
Also, North Korea made light of America’s supposed commitment to the “rules-based order.” As the North Koreans put it: the United States talks quite often about “rules-based international order,” posing as if it alone is “faithful” to the international agreements and order and has authority to “supervise” them.
Obviously, the North is in little position to complain, given its behavior over the years. Nevertheless, U.S. policymakers are for rules except when they aren’t, just like they support stability except when they don’t, work with the United Nations except when they won’t, and favor agreements except when they don’t.
Also, North Korea doubts America’s commitment to peace. “Peace is the common desire of mankind,” according to The Pyongyang Times. However, “the US is ‘a global hex’ and ‘the US is the biggest troublemaker in terms of global stability.’” Indeed, “it is high-handedness and arbitrariness of the US that totally destroys and tramples on peace and security in the region and the rest of the world,” according to the state publication.
Sadly, the last two decades prove this point. The United States has been involved in five different wars which all have been disastrous in their own ways. There is Afghanistan, which is where the United States spent nearly twenty years devoted to failed nation-building. Then there is Iraq, which is where the United States launched a catastrophically destructive war based on the false claim that Iraq had nuclear weapons. In Libya, the United States lied about the threat to civilian lives to justify another regime change war that turned into an endless civil war. Over in Yemen, Washington turned policy over to the region’s vilest regime. Then there is Saudi Arabia, which is where U.S. activity created a humanitarian catastrophe that continues to kill nearly seven years later. Don’t forget America’s multiple excessive drone campaigns in Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere, which kill civilians and thereby promote terrorism.
Anyone who listens to the rhetoric from Pyongyang realizes that everything should be taken with several barrels full of salt. Nevertheless, sometimes some truth seeps through. U.S. officials would do well to judge their policies against the principles Washington typically espouses. As North Korea’s delegate Kim noted: hypocrisy too often is the foundation of U.S. policy.
Washington officials should use the upcoming holidays to reflect on their plans. There is no doubt that the foreign policy establishment desperately wants to maintain American hegemony. But peace seems not to be a priority—and that should change.
Image: Reuters
15. Cooperation for semiconductors among US, Japan, and Taiwan accelerates
Cooperation for semiconductors among US, Japan, and Taiwan accelerates
Posted November. 10, 2021 07:27,
Updated November. 10, 2021 07:27
Cooperation for semiconductors among US, Japan, and Taiwan accelerates. November. 10, 2021 07:27. .
Japan has passed a bill to provide subsidies for the construction of semiconductor plants with an aim to position itself as a semiconductor hub by hosting global companies.
Previously, Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s No.1 foundry, and the U.S.’s Micron Technology decided to newly build plants and research facilities in Japan. It seems that the Japanese government has discussed this with the two companies under the table. While the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan strengthen cooperation, South Korea is turning down the industry’s request for support, delaying the plant construction of a domestic company.
The restructuring of the semiconductor supply chain is focused on locations, rather than the bases of companies. U.S. President Joe Biden is offering subsidies while putting pressure to attract more local investment. Japan will reportedly pass a bill this month to provide about five trillion won in subsidies for the construction of TSMC’s plant in Kumamoto. The country is also likely to provide subsidies for Micron Technology’s plant in Japan. Japan is domestically building a global production system and expanding technology cooperation.
In addition, Micron Technology is planning to build a D-RAM factory in Taiwan. Western Digital based in the U.S. is working to acquire Kioxia, a Japanese NAND Flash manufacturer. The three countries are investing in each other with triangular cooperation and building a new network of cooperation for the semiconductor. This raises concerns that South Korean companies will be excluded and competed against.
In the process of legislating a special semiconductor law, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea turned down the industry’s request to increase the number of students accepted by semiconductor departments in universities in Seoul and nearby regions while adding a series of conditions to support, including tax exemption. An exception to the 52-hour work week rule for research and development, which requires intensive work in a short period of time, was also dismissed. It is uncertain when the bill will be finally passed. All of these will make the survival of South Korean semiconductor companies difficult.
Japan has world-leading competitiveness in materials and equipment. Once global companies join the country, the South Korean semiconductor industry will be threatened. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forecasted that South Korea’s potential growth would be the lowest among its member countries while the International Monetary Fund worries about the country’s national debt. It is not the time to leave the semiconductor industry, which is one of the important pillars supporting the South Korean economy, only in the hands of businesses. The government should work with them to strengthen global cooperation and complement the special law to have a practical impact.
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
