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Quotes of the Day:
“This is a political war and it calls for discrimination in killing. The best weapon for killing would be a knife, but I'm afraid we can't do it that way. The worst is an airplane. The next worst is artillery. Barring a knife, the best is a rifle — you know who you're killing." - John Paul Vann
“No matter how enmeshed a commander becomes in the elaboration of his own thoughts, it is sometimes necessary to take the enemy into account.”
- Sir Winston Churchill
“Machines don't fight wars. People do, and they use their minds.” - Col John R. Boyd
1. N. Korea fires 2 medium-range ballistic missiles into East Sea: S. Korea military
2. Kim Jong-un apparently skips remembrance event for late father
3. Japan’s revisions of 3 national security documents
4. [Editorial] Tripartite security cooperation is needed
5. Korea blasts Japan's counterstrike plan, Dokdo claim
6. [ANALYSIS] Japan's rearmament to test S. Korean president's policies on Tokyo
7. US post office renamed after fallen Korean American soldier
8. [ANALYSIS] North Korea's latest weapons test aims to undermine kill chain system
9. US, S. Korea vow to counter N. Korean cyber threats in policy consultative meeting
10. Can Vietnam mirror success of 'Miracle on the Han River'?
11. S. Korean, US Navy SEALs hold bilateral exercise
1. N. Korea fires 2 medium-range ballistic missiles into East Sea: S. Korea military
Political warfare, blackmail diplomacy, and the pursuit of advanced warfighting capabilities all designed to support the single objective to dominate the entire peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.
It seems likely this launch could be to put emphasis on the reports of the solid fuel rocket test which could be a game changer if a solid fuel rocker can power an ICBM.
(6th LD) N. Korea fires 2 medium-range ballistic missiles into East Sea: S. Korea military | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이민지 · December 18, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with phone talks between top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan)
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) into the East Sea on Sunday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of launches that raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected the launches from the Tongchang-ri area, North Pyongan Province, between 11:13 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. The missiles, fired at steep angles, flew some 500 kilometers, it added.
The intelligence authorities of the South and the United States are conducting an analysis for other details in a comprehensive consideration of the North's recent missile activities, the JCS said.
Tongchang-ri is home to a major rocket launch site. There, the North conducted an "important" test on a "high-thrust solid-fuel" motor on Thursday to develop "another new-type strategic weapon system," according to its official Korean Central News Agency.
The latest saber-rattling came a month after the North fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) thought to be capable of reaching the whole of the continental U.S.
The JCS denounced the launches as an act of "significant provocation" that undermines peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the international community, and a "clear" breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
"We strongly condemned them and urge the North to immediately stop them," it said in a text message sent to reporters.
It added the South Korean military will maintain a solid readiness posture based on its capabilities to respond "overwhelmingly" to any North Korean provocations.
National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han presided over a National Security Council (NSC) meeting at the presidential office in Seoul.
"NSC officials took note of North Korea's test of solid fuel," deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung said. "They denounced the continued provocations by the Kim Jong-un regime in complete disregard of their people's suffering."
The officials also said North Korea will pay the price for its action and South Korea, based on its strong alliance with the United States, will protect its own people while also bolstering security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan.
Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, held phone talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, to discuss the latest launches and response measures, according to the foreign ministry.
The top nuclear envoys condemned the North's provocations and stressed the importance of a stern international response, pledging to bolster bilateral and trilateral cooperation over the issue.
Seoul and Washington's top nuclear envoys also agreed to prepare against the possibility of additional provocations by North Korea while firmly maintaining their combined defense posture, the ministry said.
Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, raised the possibility that the weekend firings could be in line with Pyongyang's drive to develop a wide range of solid-fuel missiles, including MRBMs and ICBMs.
The North has been pushing to secure solid-fuel delivery vehicles that can carry heavier warheads and require less launch preparation time than liquid-fuel ones that need more time for fuel injection and other procedures.
"The technical motive aside, the North might also have a political purpose to highlight its presence and capabilities in a way that makes denuclearization an unrealistic goal," he said.
Sunday's launch followed the North's commemoration on the previous day of the 11th anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-il, the former leader and father of current leader Kim Jong-un.
The latest launch could be Pyongyang's reaction to last week's passage of a U.N. resolution calling for global efforts to improve human rights conditions in the North, some observers said.
On Friday, Japan's Cabinet also endorsed a key security document that embraced "counterstrike capability" that would pave the way for the country to launch a counterattack should it and its ally, the U.S., come under attack, possibly from the North.
This year, the North has fired more than 60 ballistic missiles, marking a single-year record.
sshluck@yna.co.kr.
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이민지 · December 18, 2022
2. Kim Jong-un apparently skips remembrance event for late father
And he made sure the Korean people conducted no drinking or singing activities during the mourning period for Kim Il Sung. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/anniversary-12162022172505.html
Excerpts;
Hong Min, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said that Kim may have spent the weekend trying to come up with plans for 2023.
"There is no indication that something important happened that prevented him from visiting the palace," Hong said. "It is possible that Kim Jong-un and his close aides instead visited Mt. Paekdu in Samjiyon to map out plans for the new year.
"If Kim had skipped Saturday's event for a meeting in Pyongyang, then the North Korean people would have a hard time accepting that," Hong added. "But if he had indeed visited Mt. Paekdu, which is considered sacred, then the people would understand it as a trip to lay the foundation for a turning point."
Also on Sunday, North Korea bristled at South Korea's plans to redesignate the communist regime as an "enemy" and to release a report on North Korea's dismal human rights situation.
Kim Jong-un apparently skips remembrance event for late father | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 유지호 · December 18, 2022
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have skipped an event marking the death of his father on the weekend, leading to speculation among South Korean observers that he may be concentrating on devising plans for the new year.
The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday that the country's senior officials visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang the previous day to pay tribute to Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un's father who died on Dec. 17, 2011.
The KCNA said officials from the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and the standing committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, along with those representing the military, visited the palace, where Kim Jong-il and his own father, North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, lie in state.
Conspicuous by their absence in photos released by the KCNA were Kim Jong-un and his sister, Kim Yo-jong.
Kim Jong-un had visited the palace to mark all previous anniversaries of his father's death and even organized major commemorative events on the third, fifth and 10th anniversaries.
Hong Min, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said that Kim may have spent the weekend trying to come up with plans for 2023.
"There is no indication that something important happened that prevented him from visiting the palace," Hong said. "It is possible that Kim Jong-un and his close aides instead visited Mt. Paekdu in Samjiyon to map out plans for the new year.
"If Kim had skipped Saturday's event for a meeting in Pyongyang, then the North Korean people would have a hard time accepting that," Hong added. "But if he had indeed visited Mt. Paekdu, which is considered sacred, then the people would understand it as a trip to lay the foundation for a turning point."
Also on Sunday, North Korea bristled at South Korea's plans to redesignate the communist regime as an "enemy" and to release a report on North Korea's dismal human rights situation.
On Dec. 6, South Korean government sources said the draft for the country's defense white paper, to be published in January, includes an expression referring to North Korea and its military as an enemy for Seoul. The word had last been used to describe North Korea in South Korea's defense white paper in 2016.
Meari, a North Korean propaganda outlet, took exception to the move on Sunday, saying it revealed South Korea's true intentions for confrontations.
Another propaganda site, Uriminjokkiri, said South Korea will push inter-Korean affairs to the brink if it goes ahead with plans to publish a report on North Korean human rights.
Seoul said on Dec. 9 it plans to map out a three-year blueprint to improve North Korea's human rights situation and will publish an annual report on rights conditions there as early as March 2023.
North Korea has often taken umbrage at South Korea's and others' attempts to discuss its human rights situation, saying they violate North Korea's sovereignty.
Uriminjokkiri reiterated such sentiment Sunday, saying South Korea would be denying the dignity and sovereignty of North Korea with the publication of the report.
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 유지호 · December 18, 2022
3. Japan’s revisions of 3 national security documents
A cautionary (or wary or suspicious) view from South Korea's Donga Ilbo editorial board.
Japan’s revisions of 3 national security documents
donga.com
Posted December. 17, 2022 07:16,
Updated December. 17, 2022 07:33
Japan’s revisions of 3 national security documents. December. 17, 2022 07:16. .
At a Cabinet meeting Friday, the Japanese government approved revisions to the three national security documents to specifically indicate the securing of the ‘capability to counterattack’ the enemy’s military base and the doubling of its national defense budget. Tokyo has thus adopted an offensive security strategy under the pretext of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles and China’s threat to attack Taiwan. As a result, Japan’s ‘defense only’ principle that rules out the attack and focuses on defense, which Tokyo maintained since its defeat in the Second World War, has seen a marked shift for the first time in 77 years.
The revised national security strategy completely nullifies the ‘Pacificist Constitution’ that clarifies Tokyo’s ‘permanent give-up of war and exercise of force, non-ownership of the army, the navy and the air force, and denial of the right to engage in combat.’ Tokyo aims to secure a long-range attack capability to strike an enemy’s military base and double its national defense budget from 1 percent of its GDP to 2 percent within five years. Moreover, Japan will seek to create a combined forces command of the army, the navy, and the air force, with its commander to be coordinating the operation of its combat forces with the U.S. military.
Japan claims these are ‘essential minimum defense measures’ when North Korean missiles fly across the Japanese archipelago, and Chinese missiles fall into its exclusive economic zone. But it is nothing more than a plot for Japan to transform into a country capable of going into war by avoiding a revision to the Pacificist Constitution, which is strongly resisted internally in the island country. Notably, Tokyo has made it possible to apply the principle of exercising its capability to counterattack not only when it is directly under attack by foreign forces but also when the U.S. comes under attack. The measure has effectively opened the possibility for Tokyo to launch a preemptive strike. This means the Japanese Self-Defense Force could intervene during the war on the Korean Peninsula.
If Japan doubles its national defense budget within five years, Tokyo’s military spending, which currently stands at ninth in the world, will rank third only after the U.S. and China. Thus, Japan is accelerating its bid to become a military superpower living up to its economic stature as the world’s third-largest economy and to achieve the dream of its rightist group, including the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The new security documents define China as ‘the biggest strategic challenge that has not existed thus far,’ thereby keeping pace with the U.S.’ national security strategy. That is, Tokyo intends not to hesitate to play the role of a regional power that will spearhead the efforts to keep China in check amid the environment of a new Cold War.
South Korea should naturally be wary of changes in the security situation in Northeast Asia, which will be wrought by the rise of Japan’s military power. As North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats constantly mount, South Korea will be surrounded by countries racing to become the world's second and third strongest military powers. Even so, South Korea, which inevitably needs security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan to counter Pyongyang’s nuclear threats, cannot afford to worry about the changing situation simply. South Korea should make efforts to strengthen its self-defense capability now more than ever before unless, of course, it is complacent with becoming a sub-partner of a regional alliance led by Tokyo.
한국어
donga.com
4. [Editorial] Tripartite security cooperation is needed
One of the best ways to show Kim Jong Un as well as Xi that their political warfare strategies are failing would be to establish a trilateral alliance. Unfortunately we are a long way from that given the management of historical issues. But we should continue to work toward that goal. A trilateral alliance would be very powerful across the instruments of national power.
The possibility of a trilateral alliance should be part of our influence campaign.
Sunday
December 18, 2022
dictionary + A - A
[Editorial] Tripartite security cooperation is needed
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/12/18/opinion/editorials/security-cooperation-Korea-US/20221218194353308.html
With New Year approaching fast, security situation in and around the Korean Peninsula is turning more tense after North Korea fired two medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) to the East Sea on Sunday. North Korea took the action a month after firing an advanced ICBM on Nov. 18. The country fired 64 missiles on 36 occasions this year alone. Last Thursday, it even tested a more powerful solid fuel-based engine for ICBMs. As solid-propellant rocket can shorten time needed to launch ICBMs, it could shake the foundation of the Korea-U.S. alliance.
In the meantime, Japan made public a security document on the Self-Defense Forces having ability to counterattack enemy bases by doubling the defense budget within five years from now. Japan seeks to strike back the very origin of enemy missile attacks when the country is attacked from outside. To achieve the goal, Tokyo plans to buy 500 U.S. Tomahawk missiles with the shooting range of 1,250 kilometers (777 miles). If Japan raises defense budget up to two percent of its GDP, its defense expenditure will be the third largest in the world, following the U.S. and China.
Behind Japan’s remarkable military reinforcements are endless missile provocations by North Korea and increasingly offensive security policies of China and Russia. Foreign media outlets often raise the possibility of China invading the Yonaguni Island — Japan’s westernmost island, only 111 kilometers to the east of Taiwan — in case China invades Taiwan. The inhabited island serves as a frontline base for logistics support for Taiwan in emergency.
Such alarming developments around the Korean Peninsula rapidly escalate security risks in northeast Asia. In particular, North Korea, China and Russia are augmenting their military cooperation. Chinese and Russian military aircraft conduct joint drills around the peninsula nearly on a regular basis. Their infiltration of the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (Kadiz) takes place more often than before. China and Russia also veto UN Security Council resolutions denouncing uninterrupted missile launches by North Korea.
Such developments raise serious challenges for South Korea. If Japan accelerates a military buildup, South Korea is surrounded by three most military spenders and a neighbor armed with nuclear missiles. If a crisis hits the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea — the major maritime route for international trade — will be blocked, which will critically hurt our economy.
If North Korea carries out its seventh nuclear test next year, it will endanger our security further. The government must come up with effective countermeasures to deal with the worsening security environment.
5. Korea blasts Japan's counterstrike plan, Dokdo claim
An "own goal" by Japan? Dokdo is certainly one of the impediments to a trilateral alliance. Of course Japan may not be as interested in a trilateral alliance as the US may be.
Sunday
December 18, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Korea blasts Japan's counterstrike plan, Dokdo claim
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/12/18/national/diplomacy/Korea-Japan-national-security-strategy/20221218173522005.html
A senior diplomat from the Japanese Embassy in Korea is summoned over Japan’s latest claims over the Dokdo islets and gets on the elevator at the Foreign Ministry in central Seoul Friday. [YONHAP]
South Korea is expressing concern over Japan's desire for "counterstrike capabilities" and its renewed claim over the Dokdo islets in the East Sea.
Counterstrike capabilities — the ability to hit enemy bases with long-range missiles — and the territorial claim were included in a revision to Japan's national security strategy issued Friday.
South Korea argues for closer consultation on defense issues and worries that the national security strategy could violate Japan's Constitution, often called the Peace Constitution for the limits it place on the military.
"It is necessary to have close consultations with us and seek our approval in advance on issues that have a significant impact on the security of the Korean Peninsula and our national interest," a Korean Foreign Ministry official said Friday.
"It's desirable that related discussions will be carried out transparently in a way that contributes to regional peace and stability, while upholding the spirit of the Peace Constitution."
A Japanese government official told reporters on Friday that Japan does not need permission from other countries regarding the exercise of its counterattack capabilities, adding it's a matter for Tokyo to "decide on its own."
On Friday, the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio approved the country's new national security strategy, national defense strategy and defense buildup program.
The revised national security strategy, the first revision in nine years, includes provisions that would enable the country to have capabilities to directly carry out counterattacks on enemy missile-firing bases. This could potentially allow for Japan to launch direct strikes against missile bases in North Korea or China.
Japan also revealed it will double its military spending over the next five years, citing threats posed by China and North Korea.
While stopping short of a constitutional amendment, the security documents indicate that Japan is veering away from the pacifist Constitution, which was written by the United States and renounces war.
Over the past decade, hawkish Japanese politicians, including late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, intensified the push for an amendment to Article 9 of Japan's Constitution, which forbids Japan's exercising of collective self-defense, or the right to wage war, outside its borders. The Japanese public has been divided on this issue.
The national security strategy document also describes the Dokdo islets, called Takeshima by Tokyo, as Japan's "inherent territory."
"Our government strongly protests the inclusion into the national security strategy of its wrongful claim to Dokdo, which is our inherent territory historically, geographically and by international law, and calls for the immediate deletion of this," said Lim Soo-suk, a Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement released Friday.
Korea will "sternly respond" to any "provocations" over the islets, the statement said.
He stressed that the Japanese government's repeated "wrongful claims" to Dokdo is "not helpful in the efforts for the establishment of the future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship."
South Korea rejects any suggestion of a territorial dispute as the Dokdo islets are historically, geographically and under international law an integral part of Korean territory. The Dokdo islets also serve as a painful reminder of Japan's imperialistic past and its 1910-45 colonial rule over the peninsula.
The Foreign Ministry on Friday summoned a senior diplomat from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to lodge a protest over the Dokdo claims. The Korean Defense Ministry called in a defense attaché from the Japanese Embassy the same day.
Japan began alleging Korea's "illegal occupation" of Dokdo in defense-related documents in 2018, though it had previously asserted claims over the islets.
Tokyo's previous national security strategy, written in 2013, described that its policy is to resolve territorial disputes over Dokdo "peacefully and in accordance with international law."
The Japanese government explained the latest revisions to its security documents to Seoul in advance, according to the Korean Foreign Ministry.
"The North Korea threat is a direct threat not only to South Korea but also to Japan," said a senior presidential office official. "In that respect, its appears Japan is also deeply worried about its own defense, and I think it's something that can be discussed in the big framework of security cooperation between Korea, the United States and Japan."
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
6. [ANALYSIS] Japan's rearmament to test S. Korean president's policies on Tokyo
It seems to me that President Yoon has been pursuing improved relations with Japan in good faith. But full reciprocity is lacking.
[ANALYSIS] Japan's rearmament to test S. Korean president's policies on Tokyo
The Korea Times · December 18, 2022
In this photo provided by the Joint Staff of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, three F-15 warplanes of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, front, and four F-16 fighters of the U.S. Armed Forces, fly over the East Sea on May 25, 2022. AP-Yonhap
Yoon urged to explore ways to use Japan's arms buildup as opportunity
By Nam Hyun-woo
The Japanese government's approval of a massive rearmament program to counter China and North Korea's threats poses a new task for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to look into ways to take advantage of Tokyo's military buildup to serve Seoul's security interests, according to experts.
"The recent updates of Japan's national security strategy now demand South Korea to explore how it will use Japan's military buildup to contribute to the South Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral security cooperation to counter North Korea's nuclear ambitions," said Jin Chang-soo, the director of Sejong Institute's Center for Japanese Studies.
"As we use lines of credit for contingencies, national security also requires protection tools for contingencies. … Since South Korea needs the trilateral security cooperation to counter the North's threat, there will not likely be a major change in the Yoon government's dovish Japan policy. Rather, the focus should be on how Seoul can take advantage of Japan's defense cost hike as an opportunity to improve its national security and how it can monitor Japan's military expansion transparently."
The advice came after Japan, Friday, unveiled three updated documents on its national security strategies and proclaimed a military buildup, which is seen as the biggest one since World War II and a major breakaway from its defense-only principle.
The highlight of the documents is Tokyo's determination to develop new "counterstrike" capabilities. These capabilities will allow Japan to attack and destroy enemy launch sites that threaten Japan. To enable this, Japan plans to jack up its defense spending to 2 percent of its gross domestic product, up from the current 1 percent, and some of the money will be used to purchase U.S. Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles.
Japan says it decided to attain a more offensive footing to protect itself from increasing threats from China and North Korea _ as taught by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The United States is welcoming the decision, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying, "The documents reshape the ability of our (U.S.-Japan) alliance to promote peace and protect the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world."
But this was not the case for South Korea, which has long held a negative stance on Tokyo's military buildup due to its geopolitical impact on the Korean Peninsula and the history of suffering from Japan's colonial rule.
South Korea's military claims that Japan needs to gain the South Korean government's approval in case it attempts to strike North Korea.
"Exercising its defense force capability on its territory and deploying its military force to the Korean Peninsula is a completely different matter, and the latter requires the South Korean government's approval," a South Korean military official said, citing the country's Constitution that states the peninsula _ both South and North Korea _ as its territory.
South Korea's foreign ministry also said, "If there are matters that concern our national interests and the security of the Korean Peninsula during Japan's use of its counterstrike capabilities, close bilateral consultations and agreements from us are required."
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their summit at a hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov.13. Yonhap
Against this backdrop, there are mounting calls by South Korean politicians for a change in Yoon's national security and diplomatic policies involving Japan.
"Through a sweeping overhaul of its defense strategy, Japan has virtually broken away from its defense-only principle, meaning it seeks to become a country capable of staging a war," main opposition Democratic Party of Korea spokesperson Rep. Lim O-kyeong said.
"Even with Japan's ambition, will the Yoon government continue to strengthen trilateral military cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan? And it is a serious concern whether the Yoon government will be able to contain Japan's growing military ambitions with its low-profile diplomacy."
Since taking office in May, Yoon has been focusing on improving frayed ties between Seoul and Tokyo and enhancing the Seoul-Washington-Tokyo security cooperation to counter North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Under this direction, Yoon had two summits with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and two trilateral summits involving U.S. President Joe Biden, during which the leaders stressed their joint response to counter Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats.
During an interview with Reuters last month, Yoon said, "Japan may not be able to sit idly while North Korean missiles are flying over its territory," which was interpreted as condoning Japan's defense spending increase.
South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) said at a meeting on Sunday, which was held on the occasion of North Korea's launch of two medium-range ballistic missiles, "We will further strengthen the trilateral security cooperation to counter North Korea's threat."
"As the NSC said, we will continue to strengthen security cooperation," an official at the presidential office said when asked about Japan using its counterstrike capabilities without Seoul's approval. "With North Korea's missile and nuclear attempts becoming threats to not only South Korea but also Japan, Japan appears to be having concerns about its own defense. And we believe it is a matter that can be discussed within the framework of security cooperation."
The Korea Times · December 18, 2022
7. US post office renamed after fallen Korean American soldier
US post office renamed after fallen Korean American soldier
The Korea Times · December 18, 2022
By Kang Seung-woo
A post office in Placentia, Calif. has been designated as the PFC Jang Ho Kim Post Office Building after a bill to honor a fallen Korean American service member was passed last week.
PFC Jang Ho Kim / Courtesy of Rep. Young Kim's office
Kim, who was born in Seoul and immigrated to the United States in 1990, was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad on Nov. 13, 2006, while serving as a U.S. Army private first class. He graduated from Valencia High School in Placentia and enrolled in Fullerton College before joining the military in June 2005.
"While PFC Jang Ho Kim left us too soon, his legacy of courage and service lives on through his loved ones, others he inspired to serve and all those who share his story," said Rep. Young Kim, a Republican representative of California's 39th district who introduced the bill in February.
"We can enjoy our American freedoms because of the sacrifice of those who have served. I'm grateful to the entire California delegation for backing this bill and thrilled we are one step closer to preserving PFC Kim's honorable story in Placentia for years to come."
The fallen service member's family also said, "Jang Ho was a dedicated Army service member, promising young man, and proud American. We love and miss him dearly and are very grateful to the congresswoman for working hard to honor his memory,"
He received the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, in addition to four other awards, medals and badges for his exemplary service and sacrifice. He is buried at the Riverside National Cemetery in California.
The post office is now the fifth public facility in the U.S. to honor Koreans or Korean Americans by officially naming buildings after them.
The four others are the Dosan Ahn Chang Ho (Sanford) Post Office; Charles H. Kim Elementary School; Young Oak Kim Academy and Wilshire/Western/Alfred Hoyun Song Station, all of which are located in Los Angeles.
The Korea Times · December 18, 2022
8. [ANALYSIS] North Korea's latest weapons test aims to undermine kill chain system
Obviously. Of course. This is no surprise. All militaries try to find asymmetric capabilities to neutralize strengths, attack weaknesses, and create dilemmas for the opposing forces. Remember when Secretary Rumsfeld said that we were going to move out of Yongsan to remove US forces from being in harm's way from north Korean artillery and rocket fire. So what did the nKPA do? They developed the 300mm and 600mm MRL and the KN 23/24 to be able to target Camp Humphreys as well as Osan Air Base. among other key ROK bases
[ANALYSIS] North Korea's latest weapons test aims to undermine kill chain system
The Korea Times · by 2022-12-17 09:11 | North Korea · December 16, 2022
This photo released Friday by the official Korean Central News Agency shows a high-thrust solid-fuel motor test to develop a new weapon at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, Thursday. Yonhap
Harder-to-detect solid-fuel ICBMs are threat to anti-missile system: experts
By Jung Min-ho
North Korea has tested a high-thrust solid-fuel motor that analysts say could allow quicker and harder-to-detect launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with the apparent aim of undermining ― and ultimately incapacitating ― South Korea and the U.S.' anti-missile system.
The missile engine test, which was conducted Thursday under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un, provided a "scientific and technological guarantee for the development of another new type strategic weapon system," the official Korean Central News Agency claimed Friday.
Kim praised the success of the test, saying he expects a new strategic weapon to be built "in the shortest span of time," the broadcaster reported.
Experts believe he was likely referring to a solid-fuel ICBM, which he vowed to develop at a major ruling Workers' Party conference in 2021. The ICBM type that requires a shorter time to launch will challenge South Korea and the U.S.' joint missile defense system, or kill chain, a preemptive strike system that relies on the ability to detect imminent attacks from the North.
"Solid fuel offers greater mobility for missiles and reduces launch preparation time. It is also cheaper to produce and, in general, more reliable," Yang Uk, an associate research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank, said. "With legitimate concern over the kill chain system, it needs to continue to be improved in cooperation with the U.S."
The South Korean and U.S. militaries have been able to detect North Korea's attempts to launch an ICBM in advance by observing signs, such as military vehicles and personnel handling liquid fuel. The solid-fuel type can be fueled and remain in storage for a longer period with fewer concerns over corrosion caused by the propellant, and be fired more reliably if needed.
North Korea has already developed solid-fuel tactical ballistic missiles such as the KN-23, KN-24 and KN-25 ― weapons that can strike much of South Korea, but not Guam or Japan from which the U.S.' key strategic assets would come to assist in the case of armed conflict in Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smiles after the successful missile engine test at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, Thursday. Yonhap
Pyongyang's latest weapons test shows that it is diversifying its military strategies as it seeks to make it more challenging for Seoul and Washington to prepare for potential attacks. It is also possible that North Korea has been motivated by South Korea's efforts to secure capabilities to independently launch and run military satellites by 2025, Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.
"North Korea is expected to continue to diversify the means of delivering its nuclear weapons as it seeks to advance its nuclear strategy," he said. "The latest test appears to be part of that process."
Another area North Korea is focusing on is its submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) technology. Two months ago, the North claimed to have launched an SLBM from a reservoir. For many years, it has been working on acquiring the ability to fire nuclear-armed missiles from its submarines, which could further complicate the South Korea-U.S. defense strategy. As part of its effort, North Korea reportedly completed a new 3,000-ton submarine capable of carrying three SLBMs.
This year, North Korea has conducted an unprecedented wave of weapons tests, launching dozens of missiles, including ICBMs, amid increasing concerns that it might be on the verge of carrying out a nuclear test.
Due to the absence of diplomatic, political and technical benefits it would get from conducting a nuclear test, North Korea is unlikely to do so in the near future, Hong said.
"It would be damaging for its ties with China and Russia, which North Korea has been working hard to strengthen," Hong said. "I believe North Korea is more likely to focus on developing delivery means for nuclear weapons while giving signs that it may be ready for a nuclear test to pressure South Korea and the U.S."
The Korea Times · by 2022-12-17 09:11 | North Korea · December 16, 2022
9. US, S. Korea vow to counter N. Korean cyber threats in policy consultative meeting
We need to take the gloves off. We need to aggressively target the full range of the north's cyber capabilities.
US, S. Korea vow to counter N. Korean cyber threats in policy consultative meeting
The Korea Times · December 16, 2022
GettyimagesbankSouth Korea and the United States recently held their sixth Cyber Policy Consultations in Washington to discuss ways to enhance their cooperation on cybersecurity and promote international cyberspace security, the U.S. Department of State said Thursday.
The sides also reaffirmed their commitment to counter cyber threats posed by North Korea, the state department said in a released statement.
"Participants explored new ways for the United States and the Republic of Korea to promote an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet and stable cyberspace," it said of the talks held in Washington.
"In particular, the United States and the Republic of Korea reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation to counter DPRK cyber threats, including the DPRK's efforts to generate revenue through malicious cyber activity to support the regime's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," added the statement, referring to South Korea by its official name.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
Washington says the North is increasingly relying on illegal cyber activities, such as virtual currency heists, to fund its illicit weapons development programs.
Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies, earlier noted that up to 30 percent of funds for North Korea's illicit weapons programs may come from illegal cyber activities.
The state department said the meeting was co-chaired by U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy Nathaniel Fick and South Korea's Foreign Ministry Ambassador for International Security Affairs Cho Hyun-woo. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · December 16, 2022
10. Can Vietnam mirror success of 'Miracle on the Han River'?
Is the Miracle on the Han exportable? Can a "communist" government create such a miracle?
Can Vietnam mirror success of 'Miracle on the Han River'?
koreaherald.com · by Son Ji-hyoung · December 18, 2022
This photo shows the audience at the Korea-Vietnam Economic Cooperation Forum 2022, "Great Together, Next Prosperity 100!" (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)
HANOI, Vietnam -- Behind the explosive economic growth of Vietnam, which achieved a 5 percent growth of real gross domestic product annually for two decades -- 1.7 times faster than the global average -- lies its dependence on foreign government aid for development and direct capital investment projects.
As Hanoi looks to set the stage for full-fledged modernization nationwide, there is a growing need for Southeast Asia's fourth-largest economy to be independent, in part through promoting higher education, fostering entrepreneurship of the young generation and enhancing infrastructure.
These agenda items were discussed by panelists during the Korea-Vietnam Economic Cooperation Forum 2022, "Great Together, Next Prosperity 100!" co-hosted by Herald Corp., publisher of The Korea Herald and Herald Business.
"Since the door-opening (in 1986), Vietnam has sought to achieve modernization and industrialization and maintained a high level of economic growth, ... so we pin high hopes on achieving the 'Miracle on the Red River' on our own," said Bui Quang Tuan, director general of the Vietnam Institute of Economics.
Bui Quang Tuan, director general of the Vietnam Institute of Economics (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)
There appears to be a long road to go for Vietnam to achieve what could be equivalent to Korea's "Miracle on the Han River," given its heavy reliance on foreign investors' direct capital inflow, as well as official development assistance, panelists noted.
An entity receiving a foreign direct investment can enjoy an inflow of capital and at the same time an opportunity to gain access to the technical know-how of foreign investors. Vietnam had cumulatively received $241.6 billion in foreign direct investment as of end-2021.
Oftentimes, even those providing assistance for Vietnam to achieve self-sufficiency were foreign investors.
For example, Samsung Electronics joined hands with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam to nurture electronic component vendors for its smartphone and home appliance manufacturing base across Vietnam -- which generated a total of 25 percent of the nation's entire GDP. Also, Samsung has moved to train molding experts in Vietnam and help Vietnamese plants adopt uncrewed automated factory systems.
Samsung Vietnam President Choi Joo-ho (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)
The moves have increased the number of Vietnam-based first-tier and second-tier vendors for Samsung by tenfold to 257 in 2022 in eight years, according to Samsung Vietnam President Choi Joo-ho at the forum.
But the growing contribution of foreign direct investors to Vietnam's economy could be a bane for Vietnam in the long run, given their dominance in the nation's exports could slow down the growth of domestic players.
The foreign direct investment companies exported a total of $247 billion worth of goods in 2021. This represents 73.6 percent of the nation's total exports, up from between 60 and 70 percent in the past, according to an estimate by the Vietnamese government.
"The capital accumulation of Vietnam's homegrown private-sector companies seems to be extremely low," said Rep. Hong Sung-kook, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
"This is a worrying sign. ... In the long run, this is likely to put a brake on Vietnam's self-sustaining growth."
Also, now is the time to reduce Vietnam's reliance on official development assistance from foreign countries, with Korea being the second largest official aid provider to Vietnam after Japan.
"Vietnam cannot constantly remain an ODA recipient," Vietnam Institute of Economics' Tuan said. "It is time for independent development."
From left: Seoul Institute of the Arts President Lee Nam-sik; Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Hong Sung-kook; Le Khac Hiep, vice chairman of Vingroup; Vuong Thanh Long, head of foreign direct investment banking department at the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam; and Han Seung, head of overseas development group at Daewoo E&C (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)
The key to independence would be more infrastructure for higher education and promotion of entrepreneurship of the young generation, in the country where nearly half of the population is aged between 20 to 49, panelists noted.
Hong of the Democratic Party said Vietnam should have more universities for tech-savvy high school graduates, while Cho Bong-hyun, vice president of Industrial Bank of Korea, said the limited financing access of Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam could "hamper the innovation" of the national economy.
Other panelists stressed a need for enhanced infrastructure for sustainability and an improved standard of living in order for Vietnam to achieve the miracle.
Han Seung, head of the overseas development group at Daewoo E&C, said its smart city infrastructure project across Vietnam is aimed at ensuring the safety of the residents, while Kim Chun-jin, president of the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp., said food technology is crucial to ensure the safe delivery of fresh foods.
Cho Bong-hyun, vice president of Industrial Bank of Korea (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)
By Son Ji-hyoung
Korea Herald Correspondent
koreaherald.com · by Son Ji-hyoung · December 18, 2022
11. S. Korean, US Navy SEALs hold bilateral exercise
Sustained, routine training across all components, air, land, sea, and special operations. We are witnessing a new normal of readiness - a high level of sustained interoperability training to ensure we maintain the right level of readiness which contributes to integrated deterrence. We are not simply reacting to north Korean actions but conducting necessary training without regard to north Korean actions, rhetoric, demands, and protests (this of course is directed by political leaders and not simply the military executing this on their own without the proper political direction and oversight).
S. Korean, US Navy SEALs hold bilateral exercise
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · December 18, 2022
By Yonhap
Published : Dec 18, 2022 - 09:27 Updated : Dec 18, 2022 - 09:27
South Korean and U.S. Navy SEALs enter a building during their countries' bilateral training exercise. (US Indo-Pacific Command)
Navy SEALs of South Korea and the United States recently concluded a two-week bilateral exercise designed to strengthen their interoperability, officials said Sunday.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said a West-Coast based SEAL team and the South Korean Naval Special Warfare Flotilla concluded their bilateral session on Dec. 9
On its website, the US command noted that the exercise included static and dynamic weapons training, close quarters combat drills, mission planning and knowledge and cultural exchanges.
"We were able to bolster the combined operational capabilities of our special operators," a South Korean Navy special warfare operator was quoted as saying. "We will continue such practical high intensity trainings to be ready for any situation."
US Navy Capt. David Abernathy, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group 1, said the two-week training "sharpens our readiness and demonstrates our ironclad commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. We look forward to continuing to strengthen this relationship." (Yonhap)
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