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Quotes of the Day:
"Special operations forces are clearly a remarkable advantage for us. They add value in every endeavor."
– U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III during April 30 testimony to the House Armed Services Committee.
“The human brain is a complex organ with the wonderful power of enabling man to find reasons for continuing to believe whatever it is that he wants to believe.”
– Voltaire
“A man cannot understand the art he is studying if he only looks for the end result without taking the time to delve deeply into the reasoning of the study.”
– Miyamoto Musashi
1. Why North Korea's latest propaganda bop is a huge TikTok hit
2. South Dakota Gov. Noem admits error of describing meeting North Korea's Kim Jong Un in new book
3. S. Korea, China, Japan to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: report
4. Trump's possible return reignites South Korea nuclear debate
5. United States-Japan-Australia Trilateral Defense Ministers' Meeting (TDMM) 2024 Joint Statement, May 2, 2024
6. Defense chiefs of U.S., Australia, Japan decry N.K.-Russia military cooperation
7. War in Ukraine Turns Out To Be the ‘Best Thing That Could Ever Happen to Kim Jong-Un’
8. NSA warns of North Korean hackers exploiting weak DMARC email policies
9. Is Vietnam warming to Nato-style weaponry? A rugged South Korean howitzer holds clues
10. N Korea plotting attacks on embassies, Seoul says
11. A North Korean refugee offers a different view of his home country from the other side of the DMZ
1. Why North Korea's latest propaganda bop is a huge TikTok hit
Watch the 52 second video at the link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckv7yk88q0go
How many TikTok viewers will be influenced by this? How many will think this is real adn a real look at north Korea?
But this music video may also be transmitting an unintended message that the regime is afraid of the South and the outside world.. The regime is trying to compete with K-pop and culture from South Korea because it is failing to prevent it from seeping into the north (and the seeping may soon become a flood). The regime is exposing its hand with the video. But will TikTik viewers recognize that? (a rhetorical question that we all know the answer to).
And then there is this:
For many American users, the irony’s not been lost on them that a Communist song has gone viral on the Chinese-owned app while US lawmakers are trying to ban it.
Why North Korea's latest propaganda bop is a huge TikTok hit
14 hours agoFrances Mao,
BBC News, Singapore
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Watch the North Korean propaganda song that’s a TikTok hit
When North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un released his latest song two weeks ago, surely he couldn’t have foreseen it becoming a hit on TikTok.
But the propaganda tune has gone viral online with Gen Z users bopping around to the synthy-electro pop.
Most are clearly quite oblivious to the Korean lyrics praising a man who’s vowed to “thoroughly annihilate the US” and launched dozens of ballistic missiles.
“Let’s sing Kim Jong Un, the great leader/ Let’s brag about Kim Jong Un, our friendly father,” the song goes.
It’s just a really great tune, TikTokkers say.
“Taylor Swift was not expecting to get blown out of the water right after dropping her new album,” one fan joked online.
“Wait, this slaps”, “This song needs a Grammy”, “It’s so dystopian in the catchiest way” – they are just some of the enthused comments under TikTok videos.
But the sunny pop hides something more sinister, experts say.
How to craft a propaganda hit
Friendly Father is just the latest in a line of propaganda pop songs churned out by the Communist state in the past 50 years.
It’s peppy, bright-tempoed and dangerously catchy – not that much different from Western pop hits.
But there is a certain Soviet-era tinge to it; Gen Z users describe it as “Abba-coded”, a reference to the Swedish superband.
“In this case, the song has Abba written all over it,“ says Peter Moody, a North Korea analyst at Korea University.
“It's upbeat, it could not be more catchy, and a rich set of orchestral-sounding sequences could not be more prominent,” he says.
But there’s more than just commercial considerations at play when writing a chart-topper in North Korea - authorities want an earworm that penetrates minds.
There’s no space for abstract phrasing or timing that’s overly complicated , says Alexandra Leonzini, a Cambridge University scholar who researches North Korean music.
Melodies have to be simple, accessible, something people can easily pick up.
Tunes also need to be pitched at a vocal range where they can be sung by most people. The masses can’t keep up with vocal gymnastics, so forget about multi-octave riffs.
Korean Central Television
A screengrab of the music video for Friendly Father, the latest North Korean propaganda song
Ms Leonzini says the songbook also rarely contains any tracks with real emotion. "The idea is they want to motivate, to strive towards a common goal for the benefit of the nation… they don't tend to produce songs like ballads,” she says.
There is zero tolerance for creative or artistic freedom in North Korea. It is illegal for musicians, painters and writers to produce works simply for the sake of art.
“All artistic output in North Korea must serve the class education of citizens and more specifically educate them as to why they should feel a sense of gratitude, a sense of loyalty to the party,” Ms Leonzini says.
North Korea’s government believes in the "seed theory", she adds, where every single work must contain an ideological seed, a message that is then disseminated en masse through art.
Music is one of its most powerful tools - and Pyongyang keeps its pop tracks for those at home. The state has paraded its opera troupes and symphony orchestras on overseas missions – but its lighter ensembles are kept for a domestic audience only.
North Koreans wake up every morning to propaganda songs blasted over village town squares, say defectors.
The song sheet and lyrics of the latest songs - which only come out sparingly - are printed in newspapers and magazines; usually they also have to learn dances to go with it, says Keith Howard, an emeritus professor of musicology at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, who first visited North Korea in the 1990s.
“By the time the song has sort of been taken into the body, it’s become part of the person,” he says.
“So they know the lyrics so well, even if they're just doing the actions, even if they're just listening to it. A good ideological song does that - it needs to embed the message.”
Reading between the lines
And for regime watchers, the two-minute track released last month has an alarming new message.
While Western music fans have been dissecting Taylor Swift's new songs or breaking down the Kendrick Lamar v Drake diss tracks, North Korean experts have been scrutinising Friendly Father’s lyrics.
It’s not the first song dedicated to Mr Kim. But there’s a noticeable departure in the language and vocabulary used.
He is being referred to as “father” and “the Great” - terms previously reserved for North Korea’s first leader, his grandfather Kim Il Sung.
Mr Kim was called the "Great Successor” when he took over the mantle in 2012 after his father Kim Jong Il’s passing.
However, more than a decade on, analysts think this may be a sign that he is shoring up his image as North Korea's "Supreme Leader".
In recent times, he’s also replaced the lyrics in another propaganda song, switching out “our father Kim Il Sung” to “our father Kim Jong Un”.
It could be a sign of his direction. As a leader he has become increasingly hostile and aggressive in his rhetoric, pledging to build up his country’s military arsenal.
At the start of this year, he also declared the North would no longer seek reunification with the South, which he said was "public enemy number one". Reports say Pyongyang also demolished a major arch that symbolised hope for reunification with the South - an arch that had also been symbolic of his grandfather’s legacy.
“Songs are used to telegraph the direction the state is going in… to signpost important moments and important developments in politics,” Ms Leonzini says.
“A song is almost like the newspaper in North Korea.”
Getty Images
The creative arts are tightly controlled in North Korea, which prefers to show opera (pictured) to external audiences while keeping pop for domestic audiences
Meanwhile on TikTok, users are just enjoying the music. Some say they can’t stop listening to the song: on the way to work, at the gym, while doing homework.
Others are nostalgic, it reminds them of older Spanish and French pop or Eastern European styles, they say.
Existing North Korean music fans recommend the other big hits – there are only four or five state-endorsed North Korean bands, of which the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble and the all-girl Moranbong Band are most cited.
“North Korea has a song called Potato Pride which is a song on how versatile and useful a potato is, if anyone’s interested,” one TikTokker suggests.
For many American users, the irony’s not been lost on them that a Communist song has gone viral on the Chinese-owned app while US lawmakers are trying to ban it.
It’s an idiosyncrasy that’s caught mass appeal.
British TikTokker Matas Kardokas made several meme videos using North Korean propaganda songs – one says: “Nobody in the trendy coffee shop knows that I am listening to North Korean propaganda music right now". It gained more than 400,000 likes.
“Something in me just clicked and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m sitting in a coffee shop right now listening to this',” he told the BBC.
"Isn’t that just the most bonkers thing you could imagine?”
Additional reporting by Rachel Looker in Washington DC
2. South Dakota Gov. Noem admits error of describing meeting North Korea's Kim Jong Un in new book
Was the ghost writer just an idiot? Did no one proofread, edit, and fact check the manuscript?
Excerpts:
After The Dakota Scout first reported Noem’s descriptions of the meetings, Fury said that the book “has two small errors. This has been communicated to the ghostwriter and editor.”
...
In a section of the book about meeting with international leaders, Noem writes: “Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee, I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders — some who wanted our help, and some who didn’t.
“I remember when I met with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un,” she writes. “I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor after all).”
South Dakota Gov. Noem admits error of describing meeting North Korea's Kim Jong Un in new book
AP · May 3, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is releasing a new book called “No Going Back,” but on Friday her office said she would actually be going back to correct some errors — including a false claim that she once met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The Republican governor’s new book was part of an overt effort to be selected as a running mate for Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, but it has already faced bipartisan backlash for a story of how she once shot her hunting dog. Then, after scrutiny of her descriptions of meetings with international leaders, her spokesperson Ian Fury said in a statement that it was an error to include Kim in a list of world leaders who Noem has met — and the publisher would correct any future editions of the book.
Noem’s political prospects were already falling amid widespread disgust for how she recounted killing her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket after it had shown aggressive behavior and killed her neighbor’s chickens.
In her soon-to-be-released book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” Noem also describes instances where she has stood up to international leaders — anecdotes that would have bolstered her foreign policy experience — but those were swiftly called into question. She writes about canceling a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
After The Dakota Scout first reported Noem’s descriptions of the meetings, Fury said that the book “has two small errors. This has been communicated to the ghostwriter and editor.”
In addition to the meeting with Kim, Fury said Noem also mistook the dates in which she spoke with former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley.
“The book has not been released yet, and all future editions will be corrected,” Fury added.
In a section of the book about meeting with international leaders, Noem writes: “Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee, I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders — some who wanted our help, and some who didn’t.
“I remember when I met with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un,” she writes. “I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor after all).”
The description of such a meeting was quickly challenged and described as implausible by experts on U.S.-North Korea relations. When Noem was a member of the House Armed Services Committee from 2013 to 2015, relations between the two countries were tense and a congressional delegation meeting with Kim would have generated considerable awareness, said Syd Seiler, a former U.S. intelligence officer who spent decades working on the relationship with North Korea.
“Nothing like this happened,” he said, adding that he was working at the White House and State Department during that time period and was not notified of a congressional meeting with Kim.
Noem did join an international congressional trip, known as a codel, to Japan, South Korea and China in 2014.
In the book, Noem also writes that she was “slated to meet with” Macron in November last year while she was in Paris for a conference of European conservative leaders, but canceled when he made comments that she considered “pro-Hamas.”
However, Macron’s office told The Associated Press that no “direct invitation” had been made for Noem to meet the French president, though it did not rule out that she may have been invited to a Paris event that he was also scheduled to attend.
Fury said, “The governor was invited to sit in President Macron’s box for the Armistice Day Parade at Arc de Triomphe. Following his anti-Israel comments, she chose to cancel.”
Meanwhile, Noem is trying to fend off the backlash for writing about shooting her dog as well as a goat.
“Don’t believe the #fakenews media’s twisted spin,” she posted on the social platform X this week. “I had a choice between the safety of my children and an animal who had a history of attacking people & killing livestock.”
Her spokesperson, Fury, also cast scrutiny of the errors in Noem’s book as biased, saying, “The media will, of course, try and make these tiny issues huge.”
Still, members of Congress have poked fun at Noem, with Reps. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat from Florida; Susan Wild, a Democrat from Pennsylvania; and Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina; launching a Congressional Dog Lovers Caucus this week.
Moskowitz said on X that one of the group’s rules was “you cannot kill a puppy.”
___
Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.
AP · May 3, 2024
3. S. Korea, China, Japan to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: report
S. Korea, China, Japan to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: report | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Sang-soo · May 3, 2024
SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, China and Japan are likely to hold a long-stalled trilateral summit of their leaders on May 26 and 27, a news report said Friday.
The three countries have been in talks for the three-way summit in Seoul, and they reached an agreement on the summit date, according to Japanese private broadcaster JNN.
The trilateral summit was last held in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu in December 2019.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang are expected to visit Seoul to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol as South Korea is the current rotating chair.
The summit has been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and a deterioration in Seoul-Tokyo relations over the issue of compensating Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Talks of reviving the summit gained momentum amid a dramatic warming of the Seoul-Tokyo relations after South Korea said in March last year it will compensate the Korean victims on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L to R) hold hands during a photo-op before their meeting at the Nurimaru APEC House in the southeastern city of Busan, in this file photo taken Nov. 26, 2023. (Yonhap)
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Sang-soo · May 3, 2024
4. Trump's possible return reignites South Korea nuclear debate
Will nuclear weapons in South Korea deter KJU?
What is the South Korean concept for employing nuclear weapons that will deter KJU? Will the ROK have a first use or no first use policy?
Just having nuclear weapons with no concept of employment will not contribute to deterrence.
Just having nuclear weapons because the north has them is also not an argument. If the ROK is going to possess them it must have a serious concept developed for their employment.
Trump's possible return reignites South Korea nuclear debate
May 03, 2024 10:05 AM
By William Gallo
Lee Juhyun
voanews.com · May 3, 2024
Seoul, South Korea —
South Korean calls to acquire nuclear weapons, which were subdued for the past year following steps to strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance, are once again bubbling to the surface ahead of the possible return of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump, who appears locked in a tight race with President Joe Biden as November’s election approaches, sparked concern this week after making comments that many Korean media interpreted as a threat to pull U.S. troops from South Korea.
In an interview with Time magazine, Trump lamented that U.S. troops are “in a precarious position” — a reference to nuclear-armed North Korea — and said Seoul should pay much more for U.S. protection.
“Why would we defend somebody … and we’re talking about a very wealthy country,” asked Trump, who elsewhere in the interview said U.S. troops were “in a lot of places they shouldn’t be.”
Those kinds of statements are not new. Trump has long questioned the value and necessity of the U.S. military presence in South Korea.
Trump’s supporters say the comments are simply a negotiating tactic meant to persuade South Korea to pay more for the cost of hosting approximately 28,500 U.S. troops. Trump, they insist, does not intend to abandon Seoul.
FILE - Members of South Korean and U.S. special forces take part in a joint military exercise at Gunsan Air Force base in Gunsan, South Korea, March 14, 2016.
South Koreans appear less certain about Trump, who once said he “could go either way” on the idea of U.S. troops staying in South Korea.
Many are also concerned Trump could pursue a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that would effectively recognize the North as a nuclear weapons state.
“We can’t allow this. We must have our own nuclear arsenal, in a limited sense,” Yoon Sang-hyun, a five-term conservative lawmaker, said in a Facebook post this week.
Conservative South Korean newspapers have also begun publishing articles reassessing the idea of nuclear arms — an idea once considered unthinkable.
"The level of concern is really high,” said a researcher at a government-linked think tank in Seoul, who supports South Korea considering nuclear weapons in certain Trump-related scenarios.
“Almost every research institution has a project on preparations for the Trump administration,” said the researcher, who noted growing support among colleagues for acquiring a nuclear deterrent.
Many, including the Seoul-based academic, are hesitant to publicly disclose their openness to attaining nuclear capabilities, seeing little incentive to make statements that would risk antagonizing the current or potential leaders of a country that South Korea has relied on for protection for over 70 years.
Public support
If South Korea ever pursues a nuclear arsenal, the decision will come with massive economic, reputational and regional security risks.
Not only could the move upend South Korea’s alliance with the United States, but it could also prompt others in the region to pursue similar weapons, invite international economic sanctions, and would almost certainly elicit a fierce reaction from China, according to analysts.
Despite such barriers, opinion polls consistently indicate between 60% to 70% of South Koreans support their country developing nuclear weapons.
Even many national security experts, who are presumably more aware of the consequences, back such a move.
According to a poll released this week by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, 34% of South Korean elite support acquiring nuclear weapons. That support likely would increase significantly if Trump wins in November, the poll found.
Kim Gunn, who will soon begin a term in South Korea’s National Assembly after recently stepping down as the country’s top nuclear envoy, said he can “fully understand” the sentiment of wanting a nuclear deterrent, considering North Korea’s development of tactical nuclear weapons.
But Kim does not advocate for acquiring nuclear weapons. Instead, he says, it is vital that the South Korean public be assured that the U.S.-South Korean alliance is “well-prepared” to cope with any eventuality.
Last January, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made global headlines when he suggested South Korea could easily develop its own nuclear arms if the security situation with North Korea worsens.
At the time, South Korea was seeing an unprecedented wave of mostly conservative academics, ex-officials and other commentators calling for nuclear weapons.
Reassurances
Those calls subsided after Yoon and Biden agreed in April 2023 to strengthen the U.S. defense commitment to South Korea in a document known as the Washington Declaration.
In the statement, the United States vowed to deploy more “strategic assets,” such as nuclear-capable submarines, long-range bombers and aircraft carriers, to South Korea. In return, South Korea reaffirmed it would not pursue nuclear weapons.
FILE - A TV screen shows an image of U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, April 27, 2023.
“The problem is if Trump comes back to the White House, he will probably undermine the very basic pillars of extended deterrence — that is, the deployment of strategic assets and joint military exercises,” said Park Won-gon, a professor at Seoul’s Ewha University.
As president, Trump often slammed what he said were provocative and expensive military exercises with South Korea. During his first summit with Kim in June 2018, Trump unilaterally suspended what he referred to as “war games” with South Korea, stunning some observers in Seoul.
Blunt talk
There is also growing concern about recent comments by former Trump officials, who have hinted at major changes to Washington's South Korea policy, Park said.
Most recently, former senior Pentagon advisor Elbridge Colby told VOA’s Korean Service last month that South Korea’s nuclear armament should no longer be seen as off-limits.
“Nuclear proliferation, even to our allies, is a bad thing. But we live in a world of hard choices, so I think everything needs to be on the table,” said Colby, who is viewed as a leading candidate for a top national security position in a second Trump administration.
Colby also said the United States may not be able to live up to its defense commitments to South Korea if North Korea can conduct nuclear attacks on American cities.
“We need to have clarity between ourselves and our own thinking so we come up with a strategy and force posture … that actually mitigates this threat from North Korea,” Colby said.
While analysts have long questioned whether the United States would really sacrifice an American city to save that of a U.S. ally, Colby’s comments stand in sharp contrast to those of U.S. officials, who regularly insist that the U.S. defense commitment to Seoul is “ironclad.”
“Those kinds of simple statements can seriously undermine the U.S. commitment to defend allies,” said Park, who predicts a “huge wave” of nuclear advocacy in Seoul if such comments continue.
Actions or words?
Not all Trump allies support South Korea getting nuclear weapons.
One of those who opposes the idea is Alex Gray, chief of staff in Trump’s White House National Security Council. In an interview with VOA, Gray rejected the notion that Trump should serve as a rationale for any U.S. ally, including South Korea, to acquire nuclear weapons.
“I would really encourage everyone to look at the policies that came out of the first Trump administration — not just the media reporting, not just language and statements,” Gray said.
In Gray’s estimation, Trump was only trying to drive a hard bargain in military cost-sharing negotiations so that the alliance could become more beneficial to the United States.
FILE - South Korean Navy destroyer Yulgok Yi I, U.S. Navy destroyer USS Benfold and Japan Self-Defense Force destroyer Atago take part in joint naval missile defense exercises in international waters between Korea and Japan, April 17, 2023.
But Gray also hinted at tensions ahead — especially after U.S. and South Korean officials last week launched early negotiations on a new military cost-sharing arrangement, 20 months before the current six-year deal expires.
The negotiations, which have been characterized by some media as an attempt to “Trump-proof” the alliance, show a “lack of respect” for Trump, Gray said.
Robert Rapson, who served as a senior U.S. diplomat in Seoul during Trump’s terms, said the cost-sharing negotiations and other efforts to “mitigate the risks” of a second Trump presidency are “fully understandable” but also risky.
“I would suggest that ROK officialdom not let its angst over the uncertainty drive them to take preemptive actions that don’t necessarily help them with Trump and may even backfire,” he said.
Rapson, however, cautions anyone from feeling too sure about how Trump might act toward South Korea.
“The only real certainty about a prospective second Trump administration,” he said, “is that there will be a high degree of uncertainty.”
voanews.com · May 3, 2024
5. United States-Japan-Australia Trilateral Defense Ministers' Meeting (TDMM) 2024 Joint Statement, May 2, 2024
Alliance relationships and "mini-laterals.' Rather than hub and spoke I think the like minded democracies are creating a web of silk like strength that will be able to effectively defend the mutual interests of all partners.
Excerpts:
Inclusive Partnerships:
- Deepen engagement with ASEAN Member States (including through the ADMM-Plus framework), Pacific island countries, India, the Republic of Korea, and like-minded partners and allies to uphold and reinforce free and open international order.
- Coordinate capacity building engagements with regional partners.
The Ministers affirmed that trilateral defense cooperation is essential to maintain regional stability, transparency, and respect for international rules and norms. They reiterated their firm determination to keep the Indo-Pacific free, open, secure, and prosperous while continuing to expand the scope of defense cooperation.
Views on north Korea (like most in the national security community, no one is paying attention to the potential internal instability in the north and the catastrophes that could result from it).
The Ministers are deeply concerned about North Korea's nuclear and missile development. They strongly condemn North Korea's repeated launches of missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles and other launches using ballistic missile technology, which are serious violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Ministers strongly condemn the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea's export and Russia's procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles in violation of UNSC resolutions, as well as Russia's use of these missiles against Ukraine. The Ministers remain committed to working with the international community to address North Korea's serious threat to the region. They reiterate their call on North Korea to immediately resolve the abductions issue and cease its human rights violations.
United States-Japan-Australia Trilateral Defense Ministers' Meeting (TDMM) 2024 Joint Statement, May 2, 2024
defense.gov
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III convened a Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hawaii on May 2, 2024. This was the thirteenth meeting among the defense leaders of the three nations and highlighted the landmark achievements made in implementing activities and practical areas of cooperation set forth in the 2023 Joint Statement.
The Ministers are united by our shared values and determination to deepen cooperation to promote the security, stability, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
The Ministers welcomed and acknowledged the significance of each country's recently implemented strategic documents, underscoring their deep strategic alignment and shared values. They affirmed the important role that the trilateral partnership contributes to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific and the significant progress over the past year demonstrating their growing trilateral coordination at all levels and across all domains.
The Ministers reiterated their strong opposition to any attempts by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the South and East China Seas. This includes concerning and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea, such as unsafe encounters at sea and in the air, the militarization of disputed features, and the dangerous use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia, including interference with routine maritime operations, and efforts to disrupt other countries' offshore resource exploration. They strongly objected to China's claims and actions that are inconsistent with international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and which undermine international rules, standards, and norms. They resolved to work together to support states being able to exercise their rights and freedoms in the maritime domain, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, consistent with UNCLOS.
The Ministers emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. They called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.
The Ministers reaffirmed their enduring commitment to a peaceful, secure, and prosperous Southeast Asia, where sovereignty is respected, international law is followed, and nations can make decisions free from coercion. They reaffirmed their commitment to ASEAN centrality and unity as well as ASEAN-led regional architecture. They recognized the importance of strengthening cooperation with Southeast Asian partners including the Philippines and welcomed the second meeting of Australia, Japan, Philippines, and United States Defense Ministers and Secretary also being held in Hawaii.
The Ministers committed to deepening cooperation with Pacific island countries, by supporting their needs and efforts in the implementation of the Pacific Islands Forum's 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. The Ministers affirmed they will continue expanding regional engagement with Pacific counterparts, particularly through the Pacific Islands Forum of which Australia is a member, and other inclusive Pacific architectures.
The Ministers welcomed the U.S. Coast Guard's deployment of the Harriet Lane Cutter in its inaugural Operation Blue Pacific patrol in Oceania in early 2024. This deployment offered opportunities for the U.S. Coast Guard to work alongside Pacific island countries to share best practices on maritime domain awareness and support efforts led regionally by the Forum Fisheries Agency to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities.
The Ministers are deeply concerned about North Korea's nuclear and missile development. They strongly condemn North Korea's repeated launches of missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles and other launches using ballistic missile technology, which are serious violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Ministers strongly condemn the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea's export and Russia's procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles in violation of UNSC resolutions, as well as Russia's use of these missiles against Ukraine. The Ministers remain committed to working with the international community to address North Korea's serious threat to the region. They reiterate their call on North Korea to immediately resolve the abductions issue and cease its human rights violations.
The Ministers noted the progress on the introduction of counterstrike capabilities by Japan and investment in long-range strike capabilities by Australia. They confirmed that Australia and Japan would work closely together, and with the United States as these capabilities are introduced.
The Ministers acknowledge the significant progress made by Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States over the past year to implement AUKUS, and noted the positive contribution the AUKUS partnership has on the security and stability in the region. Recognizing Japan's strengths and its close bilateral defense partnerships with all three AUKUS countries, the Ministers acknowledged that AUKUS partners are considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II advanced capability projects.
The Ministers welcomed the August 2023 entry into force of the Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which will enable deeper trilateral cooperation and enhance interoperability by facilitating Australian Defence Force presence alongside the United States Forces in Japan and Japanese Self-Defense Forces alongside the United States Forces in Australia. They marked the inaugural reciprocal deployments of Japan's F-35A aircraft to Australia and Australia's F-35A aircraft to Japan in 2023 as the first cooperative activities under the RAA. Additionally, Ministers welcomed upcoming activities planned for trilateral F-35 joint training in 2025 and 2026. They noted progress on trilateral training using ranges in Australia and the successful conduct of Japan's first anti-air and anti-ship missile launch in Australia in 2023. The Ministers commit to leveraging the RAA to enable Japan's participation, alongside the United States Armed Forces, in force posture activities in Australia over the coming year.
The Ministers welcomed the historic inaugural achievements and activities in trilateral work over the past year and reaffirmed their intent to increase the complexity and scope of their work together. Since 2022, the three militaries have conducted multiple coordinated Asset Protection Missions, undertaken trilateral transits in the South China Sea, and increased the complexity of trilateral Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) cooperation including actual operations in the maritime and air domains. They committed to expanding trilateral ISR cooperation.
The Ministers welcomed Australia's valuable inaugural participation in the U.S.-Japan command post exercise, KEEN EDGE, in February, and the work underway to advance closer operational collaboration.
The Ministers reaffirmed their vision toward a networked air defense architecture among the United States, Japan, and Australia to counter growing air and missile threats in the Indo-Pacific region, including broadening missile defense information sharing and incorporating future capabilities. They announced their intent for the U.S. Armed Forces, Australian Defence Force, and Japan Self-Defense Forces to conduct an inaugural regional air and missile defense live fire exercise in 2027 at Exercise TALISMAN SABRE.
Today Ministers signed the trilateral Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) Projects Arrangement. Science and technology cooperation is vital to maintain their collective edge and deepen their defense cooperation. This landmark arrangement allows the respective defense organizations to pursue areas of interest for operationally-relevant advanced collaboration. Through this arrangement the ministries will further discuss cooperative opportunities in the areas of collaborative combat aircraft and autonomous systems and composite aerospace materials.
Reflecting the critical role the trilateral partnership plays in upholding regional stability, the Ministers committed to enhance our defense cooperation across the following areas:
Trilateral Activities and Exercises:
- Conduct trilateral F-35 Joint Strike Fighter trainings in all three countries in the next two years, including exercises such as:
- Exercise COPE NORTH 2025 – United States
- Exercise BUSHIDO GUARDIAN 2025 – Japan
- Exercise PITCH BLACK 2026 – Australia
- Continue increasing the frequency and complexity of high-end trilateral exercises in northern Australia such as Exercise SOUTHERN JACKAROO.
- Increase opportunities and enhance the complexity of ISR cooperation.
- Regularize Asset Protection Missions for the U.S. Forces and the Australian Defence Force by Japan Self-Defense Forces and transits by Australia, Japan, the United States, and other partners.
- Accelerate and deepen trilateral information-sharing cooperation.
- Continue trilateral policy and strategy dialogues on regional issues.
Expanded Cooperation:
- Pursue trilateral Research Development Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Arrangement cooperative opportunities in operationally-relevant advanced technologies.
- Boost strategic capabilities cooperation across multiple domains, including the conduct of an inaugural joint and combined live fire air and missile defense exercise in 2027 at Exercise TALISMAN SABRE.
- Increase Japan's participation in Australia-U.S. force posture cooperation activities.
Inclusive Partnerships:
- Deepen engagement with ASEAN Member States (including through the ADMM-Plus framework), Pacific island countries, India, the Republic of Korea, and like-minded partners and allies to uphold and reinforce free and open international order.
- Coordinate capacity building engagements with regional partners.
The Ministers affirmed that trilateral defense cooperation is essential to maintain regional stability, transparency, and respect for international rules and norms. They reiterated their firm determination to keep the Indo-Pacific free, open, secure, and prosperous while continuing to expand the scope of defense cooperation.
defense.gov
6. Defense chiefs of U.S., Australia, Japan decry N.K.-Russia military cooperation
Defense chiefs of U.S., Australia, Japan decry N.K.-Russia military cooperation | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · May 4, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, May 3 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of the United States, Australia and Japan denounced growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including their weapons transactions, during their trilateral talks in Hawaii this week, according to a joint statement released Friday.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Australian and Japanese counterparts, Richard Marles and Minoru Kihara, held the meeting on Thursday to discuss a range of regional and global issues, including North Korea, Russia's war in Ukraine, the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
"The ministers strongly condemn the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea's export and Russia's procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles in violation of UNSC resolutions, as well as Russia's use of these missiles against Ukraine," the statement read.
UNSC is short for the U.N. Security Council.
This file photo, released by the Associated Press, shows U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listening during a congressional meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 17, 2024. (Yonhap)
Austin, Marles and Kihara also expressed concerns over Pyongyang's unceasing development of weapons.
"The ministers are deeply concerned about North Korea's nuclear and missile development," it said.
"They strongly condemn North Korea's repeated launches of missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles and other launches using ballistic missile technology, which are serious violations of UNSC resolutions."
In addition, they reiterated their commitment to working with the international community to address Pyongyang's "serious" threat to the region.
They renewed their call on North Korea to "immediately" resolve the abductions issue and cease its human rights violations.
On China, the defense chiefs stressed their "strong" opposition to any attempts by Beijing to "unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the South and East China Seas."
"This includes concerning and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea, such as unsafe encounters at sea and in the air, the militarization of disputed features, and the dangerous use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia ... and efforts to disrupt other countries' offshore resource exploration," the statement read.
Moreover, they emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait while calling for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · May 4, 2024
7. War in Ukraine Turns Out To Be the ‘Best Thing That Could Ever Happen to Kim Jong-Un’
Luck: When opportunity meets preparation. I guess KJU was prepared for this opportunity. And it is paying off.
War in Ukraine Turns Out To Be the ‘Best Thing That Could Ever Happen to Kim Jong-Un’
The North Korean tyrant is looking to expand its weapons sales beyond Russia.
DONALD KIRK
Friday, May 3, 2024
06:57:17 am
nysun.com
The war in Ukraine is giving North Korea the resources it needs to recover from perpetual hunger, poverty, and economic distress with the support of its two greatest neighbors, Russia and China. That’s the impression of leading North Korea analysts as the Hermit Marxists ship arms and ammunition for Russ forces in Ukraine — and eye selling arms on global markets, too.
“The war in Ukraine is the best thing that could ever happen to Kim Jong-un,” allows the long-time Korea analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Victor Cha. He made the remark while talking at a CSIS panel. “If the Russians are subsidizing food, fuel and military technology for Kim’s toys, what can we do?”
One answer one often hears in Free Korea is that the South should develop its own nuclear weapons. It is something its physicists and engineers could do quite quickly after years of research and development at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute focused mainly on nuclear energy for the South’s booming industries. Mr. Cha has put out a study on this head.
“The main reason South Korea’s strategic elites do not favor nuclearization is the consequences in terms of international condemnation, reputational costs, and sanctions,” he wrote. He acknowledges the new North Korean relationship with Russia lies behind frequent discussion and speculation on the possibility of the South competing with the North for nuclear supremacy.
The issue assumed urgency this week with the dissolution of a UN panel charged with monitoring compliance with sanctions. The panel was dissolved after Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution renewing its mandate. “North Korea now has complete impunity,” says a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst.
While North Korea pours armaments into Russia, including missiles and artillery shells, the White House says Russia is shipping record amounts of refined petroleum into the North to fuel its depleted economy. “Russia could sustain these shipments indefinitely,” said the White House national security spokesman, John Kirby.
Ms. Terry said North Korea wants much more from Russia besides food and oil. “They want technological and other forms of assistance,” she said, appearing with Mr. Cha on the CSIS panel. “The big prize for Kim Jong-un would be advanced weaponry.” The relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang, moreover, comes with a bonus.
“North Korea also gets to test its weapons in Ukraine,” said Ms. Terry, noting that Russia might have provided North Korea with the assistance for its launch of a satellite after two failures. Now “it’s possible hypersonic missiles could be sent to Ukraine.” On the basis of that experience, she went on, “Kim Jong-un could expand sales not only to Russia but to other countries.”
But what about the historic hostility between Russia and China that broke into the open during the Cold War with revelations of “the Sino-Soviet dispute” between Mao and Stalin? Are those two neighbors really on such great terms now while supporting North Korea? “I’m not hopeful that China is going to help us,” said Ms. Terry.
Sure, “the improved relationship between Russia and North Korea has made the Chinese upset,” said Mr. Cha, but don’t think that’s going to hurt North Korea. “At the same time, the Chinese are more attentive to Kim,” he said, predicting President Xi would welcome Mr. Kim for their first summit since the failure of Mr. Kim’s second summit with President Trump at Hanoi.
nysun.com
8. NSA warns of North Korean hackers exploiting weak DMARC email policies
NSA warns of North Korean hackers exploiting weak DMARC email policies
BleepingComputer · by Sergiu Gatlan · May 3, 2024
The NSA and FBI warned that the APT43 North Korea-linked hacking group exploits weak email Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) policies to mask spearphishing attacks.
Together with the U.S. State Department, the two agencies cautioned that the attackers abuse misconfigured DMARC policies to send spoofed emails which appear to come from credible sources such as journalists, academics, and other experts in East Asian affairs.
"The DPRK leverages these spearphishing campaigns to collect intelligence on geopolitical events, adversary foreign policy strategies, and any information affecting DPRK interests by gaining illicit access to targets' private documents, research, and communications," the NSA said.
The United States-sanctioned Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), North Korea's main military intelligence organization, is behind a broad range of intelligence collection and espionage activities coordinated by the subordinate APT43 state threat group, also tracked as Kimsuky, Emerald Sleet, Velvet Chollima, and Black Banshee and active since at least 2012.
The aim is to retain up-to-date intelligence on the United States, South Korea, and other countries of interest to support North Korea's national intelligence goals and hinder any perceived political, military, or economic threat to the regime's security and stability.
As the NSA and the FBI first revealed last year, APT43 operatives have been impersonating journalists and academics for spearphishing campaigns, targeting think tanks, research centers, academic institutions, and media organizations in the United States, Europe, Japan, and South Korea since 2018.
"Kimsuky actors’ primary mission is to provide stolen data and valuable geopolitical insight to the North Korean regime by compromising policy analysts and other experts," the agencies added in a joint advisory [PDF] published this week.
"Successful compromises further enable Kimsuky actors to craft more credible and effective spearphishing emails, which can then be leveraged against more sensitive, higher-value targets."
Mitigation measures
In these attacks, they exploit missing DMARC policies or DMARC policies with "p=none" configurations, which tell the receiving email server to take no action on messages that fail DMARC checks.
This allows APT43's spoofed spearphishing emails using social engineering and content from previously compromised to reach the targets' mailboxes.
To mitigate this threat, the FBI, U.S. Department of State, and the NSA advise defenders to update their organization's DMARC security policy to use "v=DMARC1; p=quarantine;" or "v=DMARC1; p=reject;" configurations.
The first instructs email servers to quarantine emails that fail DMARC and tag them as potential spam, while the second tells them to block all emails that fail DMARC checks.
"In addition to setting the 'p' field in DMARC policy, the authoring agencies recommend organizations set other DMARC policy fields, such as 'rua' to receive aggregate reports about the DMARC results for email messages purportedly from the organization's domain," the agencies added.
BleepingComputer · by Sergiu Gatlan · May 3, 2024
9. Is Vietnam warming to Nato-style weaponry? A rugged South Korean howitzer holds clues
ChinaDiplomacy
Is Vietnam warming to Nato-style weaponry? A rugged South Korean howitzer holds clues
South China Morning Post · May 4, 2024
During a visit to South Korea last year, Phong personally confirmed the high standards of howitzer, according to the South Korean defence ministry. “He said that if the K9 howitzers were introduced in Vietnam, they could be deployed to the 204th artillery brigade,” the ministry said.
Vietnamese Defence Minister Phan Van Giang and other delegates were given a demonstration of the K9 during a visit to South Korea in March last year.
The K9 is a 155mm/52 calibre self-propelled howitzer developed and manufactured by South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace. It can carry up to 48 projectiles and is capable of firing six rounds per minute with a range of 60km (37 miles).
Since its introduction in 1999, the K9 has become one of the South Korean defence industry’s biggest exports, accounting for more than half of howitzer orders worldwide.
More than 1,400 K9 units have so far been or will be exported to eight countries – Turkey, Poland, Finland, Estonia, India, Norway, Australia, and Egypt – six of them Nato member states or US allies.
The 155mm bore is a Nato-standard artillery shell that is rarely manufactured in Russia or China, with Chinese PLZ-45 howitzers being one of the few exceptions.
03:23
Xi Jinping says Vietnam is a ‘diplomatic priority’ as Chinese leader seeks closer bilateral ties
Xi Jinping says Vietnam is a ‘diplomatic priority’ as Chinese leader seeks closer bilateral ties
Vietnam is reportedly seeking to buy up to 108 K9 howitzers to replace its obsolete artillery. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Vietnamese artillery consists of decades-old weapons systems, including 30 Soviet-era 152.4mm self-propelled howitzers and 360 Chinese Type 63 multiple rocket launchers.
It also operates an unknown number of US-made howitzers captured during the Vietnam war, but Nato-standard weapons systems make up a relatively small part of the country’s arsenal.
According to Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow for the Vietnam Studies Programme at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Vietnam’s interest in the K9 howitzer is part of a strategy to “diversify” its arms sources beyond Russia, which supplies about 80 per cent of its weaponry.
“A key factor in Vietnam’s interest is South Korea’s willingness to transfer technology, a significant advantage as Hanoi looks to boost its domestic military production capabilities,” Giang said.
“A potential acquisition of the K9 would also support Vietnam’s ongoing efforts to modernise its military hardware.”
Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said ammunition compatibility would be a key challenge in acquiring the South Korean weapons, since it would require Vietnam’s military to replace all of its 152mm Russian artillery shells.
However, he said, the K9 would be a “good weapons system” in containing Chinese military power, considering its price and capabilities.
“The ammunition itself will be completely different, so this could mean that [Vietnam’s] large-calibre firearms would gradually move to the Nato standard,” Yang said.
“It means that Vietnam is willing to be equipped with the capabilities to counter China … If you look at previous cases, India has also introduced the K9 to respond against Pakistan, but it also has the implication of countering China.”
Vietnam has sought to pursue a balanced strategy amid prolonged US-China rivalry. Despite their territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China and Vietnam have maintained relatively stable relations, in contrast to the military tensions between Beijing and Manila, also a rival claimant.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun travelled to Vietnam last month for his first trip outside China since taking office, and agreed with his Vietnamese counterpart to set up a naval hotline.
Meanwhile, Washington has reportedly offered to sell Vietnam F-16 jets, according to Reuters, as Hanoi upgraded US relations to its highest diplomatic status – alongside China and Russia – when President Joe Biden visited last September.
“China, a major arms exporter itself, is likely to view the increasing flow of South Korean arms into Southeast Asia with concern, seeing it both as competition in the arms market and as a geopolitical challenge, particularly when these arms are exported to countries involved in maritime disputes with China,” Giang said.
Kapil Kajal, an Asia-Pacific land warfare analyst at the global military intelligence company Janes, agreed that South China Sea tensions put Beijing at a disadvantage when it came to being a major weapons supplier to Hanoi.
He said that while Vietnam’s procurement of defence equipment from South Korea focused on supply chain diversification, it was also a part of its “hedging strategy” amid US-China tensions.
“Vietnam seeks to maintain a balance between its relationship with major powers to avoid over-reliance on any single country,” Kajal said.
“This allows Vietnam to enhance its bilateral relationships with multiple countries … Vietnam’s import of Nato-standard weapons may signal a strategic shift towards interoperability with Nato forces, potentially enhancing ties with the US and its allies.”
Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, who specialises in Southeast Asia, said the Russian invasion of Ukraine had pushed Vietnam to find alternative sources of weapons, as international sanctions on Russia cast increased uncertainty over its defence supply chain.
However, Hanoi, he said, would refrain from buying weapons from Beijing as China posed a “military threat” to Vietnam, with more Nato-standard weapons gradually expected to appear in the Vietnamese military.
“China poses a military threat to Vietnam. Hanoi would never buy weapons from Beijing, and Beijing would be unlikely to sell weapons to Hanoi,” Abuza said.
“I think Vietnam has been interesting … without a doubt, you are going to see a lot more Nato-standard weapons, but it will be in certain sectors and slowly.”
South China Morning Post · May 4, 2024
10. N Korea plotting attacks on embassies, Seoul says
Sat, May 04, 2024 page5
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2024/05/04/2003817373
N Korea plotting attacks on embassies, Seoul says
- AFP, SEOUL
-
-
- South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that Pyongyang was plotting “terrorist” attacks targeting Seoul’s officials and citizens overseas, with the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs raising the alert level for diplomatic missions in five countries.
- The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it had recently “detected numerous signs that North Korea is preparing for terrorist attacks against our embassy staff or citizens in various countries, [such as] China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.”
- “North Korea has dispatched agents to these countries to expand surveillance of the South Korean embassies and is also engaging in specific activities such as searching for South Korean citizens as potential terrorist targets,” it said in a statement.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, visits the Pyongyang General Control Center at the State Directorate of Aerospace Technology in Pyongyang on Friday. The authenticity, location and date of this image could not be independently verified.
- Photo: KCNA via Reuters
- The spy agency said it appeared linked to a wave of defections by elite North Koreans who were trapped overseas during the COVID-19 pandemic and are now avoiding returning home after Pyongyang eased strict border controls, having become “skeptical” of the regime.
- Pyongyang treats defections as a serious crime and is believed to hand harsh punishments to transgressors, their families and even people tangentially linked to the incident.
- North Korean embassy officials might be submitting false reports blaming “external” factors for voluntary defections by their colleagues, in a bid to evade punishment, the NIS said.
- As a result, the North may be “plotting retaliation” against South Korean embassy staff on such pretenses, NIS added.
- South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said that it had raised its anti-terrorism alert status for five of its diplomatic missions — embassies in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam as well as its consulates in Russian port city Vladivostok and China’s Shenyang.
- Both Seoul and Pyongyang have embassies or consulates in all five locations.
- North Korea has diplomatic ties with more than 150 countries, but the number of missions it maintains overseas has shrunk since the 1990s due to financial constraints, Seoul said.
- According to South Korean Ministry of Unification, 196 North Korean defectors arrived in the South last year, with about 10 of them being from Pyongyang’s elite class, such as diplomats and possibly their children.
- This marked the highest number of defections by North Korean elites to the South since 2017, Seoul said.
- “The end of the pandemic has enabled North Korean agents, previously confined within their country, to travel abroad for missions, while South Koreans are also traveling abroad without any restrictions,” South Korean Association for Terrorism Studies president Lee Man-jong said. “Pyongyang appears to be targeting South Korean assets and nationals located in foreign countries with which they have established strong diplomatic ties.”
- Experts say the extended overseas stay during the pandemic has led North Korean expatriates to increasingly doubt their country’s isolated regime.
- “While living abroad, these North Koreans were able to send their children to normal schools, avoiding propaganda education and the constant need to be obedient to the regime,” said Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies. “If North Korean diplomats and agents stationed abroad are continually and brutally pressured by Pyongyang to address defections by elite expats, we cannot rule out the possibility of the North plotting a terrorist attack ... against South Koreans living overseas.”
- Pyongyang is suspected of being behind the 1996 killing of a South Korean consul in Vladivostok, Russia, who was attacked and killed by an unidentified assailant.
- The consul, also an intelligence agent, had been monitoring Pyongyang’s illicit activities, including drug trafficking and the production of counterfeit banknotes, according to South Korean reports.
- Pyongyang also launched an assassination attempt in Myanmar in 1983 when a bomb exploded in a Yangon mausoleum during a visit by then-South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan. He survived, but 21 people, including some of his ministers, were killed.
- Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong-un has declared Seoul his country’s “principal enemy,” jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over “even 0.001mm” of territorial infringement.
11. A North Korean refugee offers a different view of his home country from the other side of the DMZ
A North Korean refugee offers a different view of his home country from the other side of the DMZ - The World from PRX
Each year, thousands of tourists visit the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea. Now a North Korean defector is guiding tourists and offering his view of what it is actually like to grow up on the other side.
theworld.org · by Jason Strother
On a recent day, tourists huddled around digital telescopes lining the deck of an observatory overlooking the Imjin River.
The monitors presented an up-close look at unsuspecting North Koreans moving about inside a village on the other side of the demilitarized zone, or the DMZ — a roughly 150-mile stretch of uninhabited land that has bisected the Korean peninsula since the early 1950s.
“Can you imagine that seven years ago I lived there?” said a tour guide who recently took a family of three from Norway on their first trip to the border.
It was also the group’s first time meeting someone who escaped North Korea.
Jun (left) and one of his guests check out a North Korean “propaganda village” located on the other side of the border. Jason Strother/The World
Even though the village they gazed upon is a replica created by Pyongyang for show, the guide explained what life was like growing up in a real North Korean town and translated a propaganda banner that uses distinctly North Korean jargon to call for a bountiful rice harvest.
The 28-year-old defector is one of the 34,000 North Koreans who now live in South Korea.
He goes by the nickname “Jun” on social media and asked to be called that for this article in order to protect the identity of his father, who stayed behind in North Korea.
“If your child escapes North Korea, it’s a top crime, and I don’t want to get my father in trouble,” he said to his clients.
Most DMZ tours tend to focus on the military history of the region, as well as the politics surrounding the two countries’ division — all from the South Korean point of view.
During his DMZ tours, Jun tries to give more context to what life was like in North Korea. Jason Strother/The World
Jun saw an opportunity to give visitors a unique experience.
After graduating earlier this year from a university in Seoul with a business degree, he started advertising his tours online.
“In my tour, I want to give information about North Korea that isn’t too political and isn’t too sad,” he said, noting that some defectors on the international stage only focus on the hardships of life there.
“In my tour, I want to give information about North Korea that isn’t too political and isn’t too sad.”
Jun, DMZ tour guide from North Korea
He hopes to give his customers a more nuanced perspective.
“It’s the worst country,” he said. “But even there, people still try to find happiness.”
Jun has fond memories of his childhood; sharing special meals with family and friends and playing volleyball and soccer with other kids.
But, he discovered that these are not the kinds of stories that some South Koreans expect or want to hear from refugees. Jun feels that defectors are regarded just as “poor and sad people who’ve been brainwashed by the North Korean government.”
“Even when I speak truthfully, some South Korean people don’t believe my story,” he said.
For these reasons, he prefers to guide foreign tourists.
During his daylong tour, which includes two stops along the border, as well as lunch at a restaurant run by other defectors, Jun, who speaks conversational English, fielded various questions.
Jun’s daylong tour concludes at a park alongside the DMZ in Paju, South Korea. Jason Strother/The World
He told them he didn’t know anything about the world outside of North Korea until his family figured out how to pick up South Korean broadcasts by illegally modifying their TV antenna.
“It was like a drug,” Jun said, recalling watching “Ironman” and other foreign movies and music videos.
But, he also saw South Korean newscasts, which he said altered his worldview.
“My mind started changing so quickly and I was no longer happy, because I found out the truth,” Jun said.
Over coffee with his tour group, Jun explained how those TV shows influenced his decision to defect.
He and his mother secretly crossed the border into northeastern China, where South Korean Christian missionaries hide escapees from the police. If caught, they’d be sent back to North Korea and, according to some rights groups, could face execution.
The missionaries offered to help them reach South Korea. But, Jun said the missionaries had one condition — they’d have to believe in God, first.
Jun said that given their circumstances, he and his mother “had no option.”
After four months of Bible study in a safe house, the two were smuggled into Vietnam, where they were connected with the South Korean Embassy and flown to Seoul.
Jun has reconciled that he’ll probably never see his family and friends in the North Korea again. And he said he feels that he’s experienced something like post-traumatic stress disorder after all that he’s been through.
But, he said that somehow, coming to the DMZ consoles him.
He said taking other travelers there — as close as he can get to his former home — helps him make sense of his own journey.
“It’s meaningful to me and I don’t know if my customers get the same emotion,” he said, “So, I’m going to keep coming here and one day recover, I hope.”
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