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Quotes of the Day:
"The strength of a wall is neither greater nor less than the courage of the men who defend it."
- Genghis Khan
“Wherever the choice has had to be made between the man of reason and mad man, the world has unhesitatingly followed the madman.”
- Aldous Huxley
"All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason."
- Immanuel Kant
1. N. Korea cites failed satellite launch as 'most serious' failure
2. Report on 8th Enlarged Plenary Meeting of 8th WPK Central Committee
3. N. Korea's trade with China shrinks 5 pct on-month in May: data
4. Ex-N. Korean secretary of inter-Korean affairs returns to party political bureau
5. Gov't to restore honor of female Army member killed during Korean War
6. S. Korea launches new team on population policy amid low birthrate
7. N.Korea 'Sought China's Help to Salvage Crashed Rocket'
8. Salvaged launch vehicle part could prove intel treasure trove
9. US expert calls for sanctioning Chinese entities over N. Korea's missile program
10. ASEAN secretary-general calls on N. Korea to return to dialogue
11. Neither Seoul, Beijing want to further escalate tensions
12. S.Korea's special troops join UN peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia
13. The Jeju 4.3 Attacks Were Not a Democracy Movement
14. South Korea displays next-gen tank concept
1. N. Korea cites failed satellite launch as 'most serious' failure
Although I am not sure about the intention of admitting the most serious failure, as I read this and the reports of the 8th Central Committee Meeting, I think Kim knows that he has really screwed up. He is admitting that the ROK/US alliance and the growing trilateral ROK/Japan/US cooperation is stronger than it has ever been and his strategic failures (to include especially subversion of the ROK and the ROK/US alliance) have really weakened the north Korean strategic position.
(2nd LD) N. Korea cites failed satellite launch as 'most serious' failure | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · June 19, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with photos)
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea called its failed attempt to launch a purported military reconnaissance satellite the "most serious" shortcoming in the first half of this year and reaffirmed its pledge to put it into orbit soon, Pyongyang's state media said Monday.
The North made the assessment following a plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, attended by leader Kim Jong-un, that wrapped up the previous day, referring to its botched attempt to launch a rocket carrying a military spy satellite on May 31.
The "Chollima-1" rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, "Malligyong-1," took off from a new launch pad at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground but crashed into the Yellow Sea following what Pyongyang claimed was the "abnormal starting" of the second stage engine of its space rocket.
This photo provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on June 19, 2023, shows a plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea taking place, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance. The three-day meeting took place from June 16-18. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
"The most serious one was the failure of the military reconnaissance satellite launch, the important strategic work in the field of space development, on May 31," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language dispatch, citing the failure as among the "shortcomings that cannot be overlooked."
The KCNA said that officials who were responsible for the launch were "bitterly" criticized and that an order was made to thoroughly analyze the cause of the failure to "successfully launch the military reconnaissance satellite in a short span of time and thus make a shortcut to improving the capabilities of the Korean People's Army's reconnaissance intelligence."
Pyongyang has vowed to "correctly" put the satellite into orbit soon despite global condemnation that the move breaches multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions banning any launch using ballistic missile technology.
This photo provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on June 1, 2023, shows the launch of the North's new "Chollima-1" rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, "Malligyong-1," from Tongchang-ri on the North's west coast the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
During the three-day meeting that discussed the secretive regime's defense and diplomatic strategies, the North made clear its push to increase the "production of powerful nuclear weapons" to counter the "changed security situation."
"The complicated and serious situation on the Korean peninsula which is getting out of control requires the DPRK to ceaselessly renew its military potentials and make a faster advance toward the bolstering up of its capabilities for self-defence," it said, using the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
During the key meeting, participants reviewed the goals it had laid out for the first half, such as increasing grain production and building new homes for economic development, and set forth new agenda items, including the "epoch-making measures for developing education" and the "important measures for intensifying the building of the Party discipline."
This photo provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on June 19, 2023, shows a plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea taking place, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance. The three-day meeting took place from June 16-18. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · June 19, 2023
2. Report on 8th Enlarged Plenary Meeting of 8th WPK Central Committee
So this is what the regime wants us to know. A relatively long report. Too long for any but the most interested Korea watchers.
There is everything here from child care to numbers of apartments to science and technology. But the two must important aspects of this are military measures and ideological improvement.
I think one of the reasons why there is so much emphasis on the satellite launch failure is because the ROK just launched a successful advanced capability.
So here is the main excerpt on security issues. Basically as I read between the lines Kim is admisting that the ROK/US alliance is far superior than expected and north KOrea is very weak.Kim is doubling down on military and ideological improvements. He will not negotiate because he is not in a strong position to do so. He is going to continue to try to set military conditions and use his treasured sword to conduct political warfare and blackmail diplomacy. He is basically admitted that his warfighting capabilities are insufficient.
Excerpts:
The Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK stressed the important mission of security organs to thoroughly guarantee the implementation of the policies of the Party and the government with the security work and in a legal way, and underlined the need for relevant sectors to more offensively, tactically and powerfully conduct the work for reliably defending the single-hearted unity, the irresistible might of the DPRK.
The report referred to the analysis and evaluation of the Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK on the justification for directing greater efforts to bolstering up the capabilities for self-defence in conformity with the present changed security situation of the DPRK and steadily updating the military hardware of the DPRK armed forces.
The complicated and serious situation on the Korean peninsula which is getting out of control requires the DPRK to ceaselessly renew its military potentials and make a faster advance toward the bolstering up of its capabilities for self-defence.
The practical actions which turned the core tasks for bolstering up the defence capability set forth at the 8th Congress of the WPK into successful entities, pursuant to the solemn declaration of the WPK that the DPRK will counter the enemies’ nukes and policy of frontal confrontation in kind, have demonstrated the rapid building speed of the ever-developing strategic force of the DPRK and its powerful military technical capabilities and have exposed the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces to the insurmountable security crisis.
The Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK appreciated that the strategic force of the DPRK has made progress recognized by the world in the light of the high-level military technical capabilities and the development speed of weapon systems and has developed into an existing powerful entity. On the other hand, it strictly reviewed the shortcomings that were revealed in some fields and that cannot be overlooked.
The most serious one was the failure of the military reconnaissance satellite launch, the important strategic work in the field of space development, on May 31.
The five-point major goals for developing the defence capabilities set forth by the 8th Congress of the Party are all important, but the development of military reconnaissance satellite is of very great significance in prospect of the development of the armed forces of the DPRK and in making full preparations for combat.
The report bitterly criticized the officials who irresponsibly conducted the preparations for satellite launch, and set forth the militant task for officials and scientists in the relevant field to make a thorough analysis of the cause and lesson of the recent failure, successfully launch the military reconnaissance satellite in a short span of time and thus make a shortcut to improving the capabilities of the Korean People’s Army’s reconnaissance intelligence and achieving a greater leap forward in the field of space development, bearing deep in mind their important mission.
All the successes made in the field of developing various weapon systems including nukes and missiles are a big stride forward in the important and critical situation of bolstering up the nuclear war deterrent of the country, the Political Bureau affirmed, calling on the national defence field to consistently adhere to the orientation of developing nuclear weapons and the line of bolstering up the nuclear force set forth by the Party Central Committee and reliably defend the sacred cause of the Juche revolution by increasing the production of powerful nuclear weapons.
The report seriously analyzed and evaluated the extremely deteriorating security situation on the Korean peninsula due to the reckless war moves of the hostile forces in disregard of the patience and warning of the DPRK and referred to the urgency to swiftly respond to them in a military technical, political and diplomatic way.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee recognized that the principle of action for action should be strictly adhered to and the overwhelming and offensive countermeasures should always be taken forcefully without delay against the enemy’s intentional and undisguised escalation of military tension. And the plenary meeting unanimously approved concrete plans and modes of counter-action for their implementation.
The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee set forth important tasks for conducting external activities independently and more actively on the principle of defending the sovereignty and national interests to cope with the swirling international military and political situation such as further strengthening solidarity with the countries which are opposed to the U.S. brigandish strategy for world supremacy.
Report on 8th Enlarged Plenary Meeting of 8th WPK Central Committee
Date: 19/06/2023 | Source: Rodong Sinmun (En) | Read original version at source
https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1687149103-679958476/report-on-8th-enlarged-plenary-meeting-of-8th-wpk-central-committee/
At a time when the invincibility and fortitude of our cause have been further demonstrated all over the world and the all-people struggle for ushering in a new upsurge in socialist construction is gaining momentum thanks to the scientific and strong guidance and practice by the ever-victorious Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee convened a plenary meeting to promote the perfect and substantial attainment of the grand goals of national prosperity.
The 8th Enlarged Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the WPK was held at the office building of the WPK Central Committee, the supreme general staff of the Korean revolution, from June 16 to 18, Juche 112 (2023) to arouse stronger enthusiasm of all the Party members and other people for the struggle to consolidate the precious victory and the dignity and position of our powerful state, which they achieved by boldly breaking through all difficulties under the leadership of the great Party Central Committee, with steady advance and continuous leaps.
The plenary meeting made an interim summing-up of this year’s work for implementing the major policies to firmly preserve the interests and security environment of the country and bring about a fresh upswing in the overall development of Korean-style socialism in line with the goal for progress and strategic and tactical principles set forth at the 6th and 7th plenary meetings of the 8th Party Central Committee. It discussed and decided on the important policy issues to be addressed without fail and further spurred in the advance in the second half of the year.
Attending the meeting were members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, members and alternate members of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and members and alternate members of the WPK Central Committee.
Present there as observers were officials of the relevant departments of the WPK Central Committee and the Cabinet, chairpersons of the provincial, city and county people’s committees, chairpersons of the provincial rural economy committees and leading officials of ministries, national institutions and major industrial establishments.
The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, was present at the plenary meeting.
The presidium of the meeting was formed with members of the Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK.
The plenary meeting put the following items on its agenda:
1. On launching a bolder struggle for implementing the major policies for this year
2. On the epoch-making measures for developing education
3. On decisively enhancing the role of the officials of people’s committees at all levels
4. On the issues arising in strengthening the people’s power
5. On the important measures for intensifying the building of Party discipline
6. Organizational matter
The plenary meeting unanimously approved the agenda items.
The first agenda item "On launching a bolder struggle for implementing the major policies for this year" was discussed.
The participants heard a report.
The report reviewed the signal successes achieved by our Party and people through their arduous and fierce struggle in the first half of the year.
The adventurous military moves and reactionary offensive of the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet cliques going unprecedentedly reckless have seriously threatened the security environment, development and interests of our state, laying a grave stumbling block to our advance.
Though the subjective and objective circumstances were unfavorable, the WPK and the people of the DPRK have overcome difficulties through proactive and positive struggle under the outstanding and tested leadership of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un and achieved encouraging and progressive successes to be proud of in all fields including the Party building, protection of national interests, economic construction and building of civilization.
The report summarized the work of the Party Central Committee for wisely organizing and guiding the all-people struggle for achieving substantial successes in the national economy development and providing a decisive guarantee for the fulfillment of the five-year plan.
It recalled that the Party Central Committee set it as a key issue to ensure self-sufficiency in food supply by increasing the country’s agricultural production, opened up an epoch-making prospect for providing farming materials and strengthening the material and technical foundations of the countryside, and took every possible measure to successfully attain this year’s grain production goal.
The Party Central Committee also took important measures to enable the major sectors of the national economy, including coal-mining, machine-building, forestry and railways, to make progress, and took revolutionary steps to tighten discipline in implementing the national economy plan. Such efforts brought about considerable results in tackling the unstable fluctuations manifested in various sectors at the outset of this year, remarkably increasing the growth rate of production in all fields of economic construction.
The report briefed the participants on the successes achieved in the struggle to attain the 12 major goals for national economic development.
This year’s goal of irrigation construction, set at the 7th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the WPK, has been fulfilled in the main, and the socialist patriotic movement for increased coal production pioneered by the coal miners of South Phyongan Province is spreading on a larger scale to all sectors and units across the country. The metallurgical and chemical industries, the twin pillars of the economic development, are taking the lead in the drive, staunchly tiding over the ordeals and difficulties and over-fulfilling their higher plans.
In the construction sector, the construction of the first-stage 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area was successfully completed to be followed by inauguration. The construction of additional 2 000 flats in the area and of 1 400 flats in the Taephyong area were completed and new rural villages were built one after another, instilling joy and confidence into the people across the country.
Now, the construction of second-stage 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area, the construction of a new street in the Sopho area, the construction of the Kangdong Greenhouse Farm and the housing construction in the Komdok area are progressing apace.
The firm faith of all the people that the leadership of the Party is science and victory gets stronger amid the struggle for implementing the resolutions of the plenary meetings of the Party Central Committee, and the will to pave a broad avenue toward self-reliant prosperity with the great might of loyalty and patriotism has developed into the all-people ideological sentiments. This is a great success incomparable with any economic growth.
The report referred to the analysis made by the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee of some shortcomings and wrong attitudes revealed in the struggle for implementing the state economic policies in the first half of the year, and the ways for overcoming them.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee importantly put forward the realistic tasks to be fulfilled immediately for the sustainable and long-term development of agriculture.
The report rigorously analyzed a series of wrong attitudes - failure in establishing strict discipline of unconditionally carrying out the national economic plans in the economic work for the first half of the year and in building self-supporting foundations of the economy in a substantial way.
The high goals of struggle for this year and the reality oriented to the comprehensive development require the major industrial sectors, the pillars of the state economy, to overcome the one-sidedness in production, consolidate the already-reached growth line and bring about a fresh upsurge in the overall economy through a more vigorous struggle.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee intends to put spurs to completing the projects for the maintenance and reinforcement, updating and modernization being promoted at the key industrial sectors and other sectors in order to make significant successes of completion for consolidating the backbone of the self-supporting economy one after another in the second half of the year.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee in the report stressed the need for all construction project headquarters to take thoroughgoing measures for supplying building materials in consideration of the builders’ ever-growing enthusiasm for struggle this year that witnesses the largest-ever projects in the country’s history of construction and to invariably push ahead with the projects as scheduled through a strenuous offensive while perfectly ensuring the quality of design and construction.
In particular, the report underlined the need for all sectors and units to responsibly conduct the work for proactively encouraging and supporting the young people ideologically, morally, materially and technically to ensure that their high patriotic enthusiasm result in shining feats and miracles, true to the noble intention of the Party Central Committee which entrusted the young people with the whole project for building a new street in the Sopho area of Pyongyang Municipality.
In the report, the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee paid attention to the accounts of the work for carrying out the policy-oriented tasks prioritized by the Party at present.
In particular, it analyzed and reviewed in detail the execution of a new childcare policy set forth at the Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Party Central Committee.
In the past two years, provinces, cities and counties have made much effort to increase milk production and provide facilities for producing dairy products along with the establishment of the well-organized system and order for supplying dairy products. This made it possible to regularly supply dairy products to all the children at nurseries and kindergartens every day, which is one of the most remarkable changes made in the life of our people by the Eighth Party Central Committee.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee correctly found out and reviewed the advantages and shortcomings manifested in the execution of the Party’s childcare policy by classifying them according to different units and contents, and stressed the need to take practical measures for increasing the production of dairy products and promote them consistently.
The report referred to the issue of pushing forward with the work for land administration and ecological environment protection in a long-term and development-oriented way, the issue of scientifically intensifying the work for financially and monetarily guaranteeing the economic development and the improvement of the people’s living standard, and the issue for the Cabinet to establish a well-regulated unified commanding system and controlling and reporting system of the economic work as befitting the economic headquarters of the country.
The report said that in order to confidently pave the path for achieving prosperity of the country by dint of self-reliance, it is necessary to hold fast to the development of science and technology as a core strategy in all fields and sectors and focus efforts on it.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee put forward the ways for training the scientists and technicians, who are the scouts and main forces of the country’s sci-tech development, into revolutionary and patriotic scientists, and mobilizing and using the sci-tech talents in a unified and effective way, and specified the major goals and tasks of sci-tech development at present.
To dynamically push ahead with the expansion and development of the space industry as a national affair is arising as an urgent task, the report pointed out.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee proposed an essential structural measure to be referred to the Supreme People’s Assembly in the light of the view that the nationwide space science and technology potentiality should be fully mobilized to pave the path to development of space industry in a far-sighted way and turn the country into a world-class space power by steadily expanding and increasing the sci-tech successes made at the early stage for exploring the space field.
The Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK stressed the important mission of security organs to thoroughly guarantee the implementation of the policies of the Party and the government with the security work and in a legal way, and underlined the need for relevant sectors to more offensively, tactically and powerfully conduct the work for reliably defending the single-hearted unity, the irresistible might of the DPRK.
The report referred to the analysis and evaluation of the Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK on the justification for directing greater efforts to bolstering up the capabilities for self-defence in conformity with the present changed security situation of the DPRK and steadily updating the military hardware of the DPRK armed forces.
The complicated and serious situation on the Korean peninsula which is getting out of control requires the DPRK to ceaselessly renew its military potentials and make a faster advance toward the bolstering up of its capabilities for self-defence.
The practical actions which turned the core tasks for bolstering up the defence capability set forth at the 8th Congress of the WPK into successful entities, pursuant to the solemn declaration of the WPK that the DPRK will counter the enemies’ nukes and policy of frontal confrontation in kind, have demonstrated the rapid building speed of the ever-developing strategic force of the DPRK and its powerful military technical capabilities and have exposed the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces to the insurmountable security crisis.
The Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK appreciated that the strategic force of the DPRK has made progress recognized by the world in the light of the high-level military technical capabilities and the development speed of weapon systems and has developed into an existing powerful entity. On the other hand, it strictly reviewed the shortcomings that were revealed in some fields and that cannot be overlooked.
The most serious one was the failure of the military reconnaissance satellite launch, the important strategic work in the field of space development, on May 31.
The five-point major goals for developing the defence capabilities set forth by the 8th Congress of the Party are all important, but the development of military reconnaissance satellite is of very great significance in prospect of the development of the armed forces of the DPRK and in making full preparations for combat.
The report bitterly criticized the officials who irresponsibly conducted the preparations for satellite launch, and set forth the militant task for officials and scientists in the relevant field to make a thorough analysis of the cause and lesson of the recent failure, successfully launch the military reconnaissance satellite in a short span of time and thus make a shortcut to improving the capabilities of the Korean People’s Army’s reconnaissance intelligence and achieving a greater leap forward in the field of space development, bearing deep in mind their important mission.
All the successes made in the field of developing various weapon systems including nukes and missiles are a big stride forward in the important and critical situation of bolstering up the nuclear war deterrent of the country, the Political Bureau affirmed, calling on the national defence field to consistently adhere to the orientation of developing nuclear weapons and the line of bolstering up the nuclear force set forth by the Party Central Committee and reliably defend the sacred cause of the Juche revolution by increasing the production of powerful nuclear weapons.
The report seriously analyzed and evaluated the extremely deteriorating security situation on the Korean peninsula due to the reckless war moves of the hostile forces in disregard of the patience and warning of the DPRK and referred to the urgency to swiftly respond to them in a military technical, political and diplomatic way.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee recognized that the principle of action for action should be strictly adhered to and the overwhelming and offensive countermeasures should always be taken forcefully without delay against the enemy’s intentional and undisguised escalation of military tension. And the plenary meeting unanimously approved concrete plans and modes of counter-action for their implementation.
The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee set forth important tasks for conducting external activities independently and more actively on the principle of defending the sovereignty and national interests to cope with the swirling international military and political situation such as further strengthening solidarity with the countries which are opposed to the U.S. brigandish strategy for world supremacy.
The report referred to the issues essential in remarkably increasing the leadership ability and fighting efficiency of the Party as required by the enormous revolutionary tasks facing the DPRK at present and the urgent requirements of the subjective and objective environment.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee analyzed and reviewed the successes, made in the work for actively promoting the qualitative consolidation of the Party and enhancing the fighting efficiency and activity of the Party organizations in the first half of the year, and the shortcomings that should be immediately overcome in the Party work.
The report referred to the new Party measures to firmly guarantee the sound political climate and development of the Party by energetically organizing and conducting the work to implement the five-point line of party building in the new era and indicated the orientation of work to be given priority to by the party organizations at all levels in carrying out the goals of this year’s struggle and the strategic tasks.
Expressing belief that the Korean revolution will surely enter a new phase of development as all the Party members and other people are making redoubled efforts by dint of their unity in the face of the worst difficulties, the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee called upon all sectors and units to put spurs to successfully attaining the goals of this year’s struggle and courageously shoulder the mission and important duty they have assumed.
All the participants expressed with loud applause their full support and approval to the report of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee which set forth the policies for dynamically putting the Korean-style socialist construction on a certain track of upswing according to our timetable.
Kim Tok Hun, premier of the Cabinet, and Ri Il Hwan and Jon Hyon Chol, secretaries of the Party Central Committee, made speeches on the first agenda item.
Speakers expressed their determination to dynamically propel the implementation of the resolutions of the Party, always aware of their heavy responsibility for the important affair directly related to the dignity and might of the Party and the state during the most important and responsible period in the history of the development of the DPRK. They presented to the plenary meeting for deliberation the measures that should be taken in the course of the struggle to enhance the role of the Party organizations and attain the 12 major goals for national economic development.
The plenary meeting discussed the second agenda item "On the epoch-making measures for developing education".
Pak Thae Song, secretary of the Party Central Committee, made a report on the research made by the relevant field true to the Party’s policy on adjusting the educational structure of the country to ensure advanced education and improving the contents and methods of education in keeping with the world-wide trend of educational development and submitted it to the plenary meeting for deliberation.
The plenary meeting discussed the third agenda item "On decisively enhancing the role of the officials of people’s committees at all levels".
Jo Yong Won, secretary of the Party Central Committee, said that very great are the trust and expectation reposed by our Party on the officials of the provincial, city and county people’s committees, who are powerful locomotive leading the development of their regions and are in charge of the people’s living.
The meeting stressed the principled issues to be maintained by the chairpersons of the people’s committees in fully displaying the initiative, creativity and activity in their work with the firm viewpoint and stand that they are totally responsible for their regions before the Party and the state. The participants heard a briefing on the chairpersons of some people’s committees who failed to conduct the work in a responsible manner by indulging in defeatism.
The plenary meeting discussed the fourth agenda item "On the issues arising in strengthening the people’s power".
Choe Ryong Hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, made a speech.
He referred to the importance of improving the method of electing deputies, who are the people’s representatives responsible for state affairs, to the effect that they can display high political consciousness, initiative and ingenuity, aware of their sacred and responsible position given by the state and people.
There was a briefing on the new method of electing deputies which was studied in the orientation of helping the working masses fully exercise their responsibility and rights as genuine masters of the state and society in conformity with the popular character of our state power and of further consolidating and developing the democratic election system based on the principle of centralism.
Choe Ryong Hae presented to the plenary meeting for deliberation a plan for studying the method of electing deputies.
The plenary meeting discussed the fifth agenda item "On the important measures for intensifying the building of the Party discipline".
Jo Yong Won, secretary for Organizational Affairs of the Party Central Committee, made a speech.
Noting that Kim Jong Un advanced the unique idea of party building that the building of party discipline should be put forward as a crucial priority task and important line of party building and activities in order to give full play to the WPK’s might as a party making revolution and struggle, Jo Yong Won stressed the significance and importance of establishing more thoroughly the party discipline at present when the Party is advancing towards the attainment of the great goal of overall development and overall prosperity of socialist construction.
He made a report on the accounts of research for the ways of improving the new machinery and work system in the field of discipline supervision on the basis of the theory of party building in the new era.
Presented to the plenary meeting for deliberation was a measure of realistic significance in strengthening the institutional mechanism for thoroughly guaranteeing the realization of the monolithic leadership of the Party Central Committee and the broad political activities of the Party and invariably maintaining the WPK’s pure political climate through iron discipline by further intensifying the building of party discipline on a new level.
The plenary meeting held panel study and consultative meetings to draw up positive and detailed measures for thoroughly implementing the tasks for the second half of the year and to put together and examine the issues that were raised in the discussion of the agenda items.
Senior officials of the Party and the government guided the panel study and consultative meetings.
At the study and consultative meetings, constructive measures were brought up on the basis of sincere and dynamic study of the tasks reflected in the draft resolutions and the plans, whose scientific accuracy and feasibility were strictly examined, deliberated.
The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee submitted the finally confirmed draft resolutions to the approval of the plenary meeting.
The plenary meeting adopted the relevant resolutions with unanimous approval.
It discussed the organizational matter as the sixth agenda item.
It recalled and by-elected members and alternate members of the WPK Central Committee.
Choe Hui Thae and Kim Son Uk were by-elected as members of the Party Central Committee from alternate members. Kim Yong Chol and Kim Yong Gyu were by-elected directly as members of the Party Central Committee.
Hong Pyong Chol, O Yong Jae and Kim Pong Chol were by-elected as alternate members of the Party Central Committee.
It recalled and by-elected members and alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee.
Kang Sun Nam was by-elected as member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee from alternate member and O Su Yong was by-elected directly as member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee.
Kim Yong Chol was by-elected as alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee.
It dismissed and elected a secretary of the WPK Central Committee.
O Su Yong was elected as secretary of the Party Central Committee.
It dismissed and appointed a department director of the WPK Central Committee.
O Su Yong was appointed as department director of the Party Central Committee.
It recalled and by-elected a member of the Central Inspection Commission of the WPK.
Choe Kun Yong was by-elected as member of the WPK Central Inspection Commission.
The enlarged plenary meeting, at which policy issues of important significance in radically advancing the Korean revolution were discussed and decided earnestly in a detailed, special and innovative way amid the high political consciousness and enthusiasm of the participants, finished its work, being convinced that our huge goals of the struggle for this year will be successfully attained with the ardent loyalty of all the people to the Party Central Committee headed by Kim Jong Un.
All the participants pledged to fulfill their important mission in further propelling the overall prosperity and development in a more prudent way through the stubborn struggle based on the single-hearted unity, further hardening their self-confidence to make our noble idea and sacred cause reach the high eminence of success and victory as early as possible.
The 8th enlarged plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the WPK served as an important political occasion which strikingly demonstrated once again high enthusiasm and advance spirit of the whole Party to consolidate the militant might of the Party in every way and to steadily accelerate the dynamic general advance for attaining the grand goals of struggle by remaining loyal to the idea and leadership of Kim Jong Un.
Political News Team
3. N. Korea's trade with China shrinks 5 pct on-month in May: data
It is a mystery. However, we cannot know for sure because there is no transparency with either north Korean or Chinese data.
Excerpt:
It remains unclear why North Korea's exports to China shrank last month.
N. Korea's trade with China shrinks 5 pct on-month in May: data | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · June 19, 2023
SHENYANG, China, June 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's trade with China dropped 5 percent on-month in May due to a sharp decline in Pyongyang's exports, Chinese customs data showed Monday.
North Korea's trade volume with China stood at US$189.57 million in May, down from $199.42 million in April, according to the data from China's General Administration of Customs.
Pyongyang's imports from China totaled $165.63 million in May, slightly down from $165.78 million the previous month, while its exports sharply dropped 30 percent on-month to $23.94 million.
It remains unclear why North Korea's exports to China shrank last month.
During the January-May period, cumulative trade between the two countries stood at some $874.18 million, up 174 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
Cargo train operations between the Chinese border city of Dandong and the North's Sinuiju resumed in September last year after a five-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A cargo train crosses the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge over the Amnok River from the Chinese border city of Dandong toward North Korea's border city of Sinuiju at 7:43 a.m., in this file photo taken Sept. 27, 2022. The cargo service operation resumed for the second straight day following a five-month hiatus between the two neighboring countries that began April 29 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Yonhap)
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · June 19, 2023
4. Ex-N. Korean secretary of inter-Korean affairs returns to party political bureau
One thing we have to "admire" is that it seems north Korea is a land of second chances for military and political leaders. While being fired from most posts in most countries is usually a career ender, in north Korea you can be rehabilitated and brought back into the fold after having paid your dues being re-educated in a political prison camp.
And yes I think we should expect the regime to continue to follow a tough line and ratchet up tensions.
Excerpts:
The latest report raises speculation that Kim, who was known for his hard-line stance on the South, may once again oversee the North's inter-Korean affairs as the North has continued to dial up tensions.
Kim, 77, served as the North's top negotiator in denuclearization talks with the United States, but his political status was severely damaged following the breakdown of the Hanoi summit in 2019.
(LEAD) Ex-N. Korean secretary of inter-Korean affairs returns to party political bureau | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · June 19, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in last 3 paras; ADDS photo, byline)
By Kim Soo-yeon and Lee Minji
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- Kim Yong-chol, a former top North Korean party official in charge of affairs with South Korea, has returned to the ruling party's politburo following a year of his absence from key party posts.
Kim has been elected as an alternate member of the political bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in the latest reshuffle of party officials following a three-day party plenary meeting that ended Sunday, according to state media.
A photo carried by the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, described Kim as an "advisor" of the United Front Department (UFD), which handles inter-Korean affairs at the WPK. Kim, 77, was the former head of the UFD.
This file photo, provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 24, 2019, shows Kim Yong-chol (L) briefing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the results of his visit to Washington. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
The latest report raises speculation that Kim, who was known for his hard-line stance on the South, may once again oversee the North's inter-Korean affairs as the North has continued to dial up tensions.
Kim, 77, served as the North's top negotiator in denuclearization talks with the United States, but his political status was severely damaged following the breakdown of the Hanoi summit in 2019.
He was effectively demoted to the head of the UFD in 2021 from the North's party secretary on South Korean affairs as the post was eliminated at a party congress.
In June last year, he was replaced by then Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon as the UFD chief, and last September, he was also removed as a member of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Kim, former head of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, is suspected of having masterminded the North's sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan in 2010. The torpedo attack left 46 sailors dead.
The North fired a record number of ballistic missiles last year and continued to ratchet up its provocations. Last week, it resumed its missile tests after pausing them for around two months, and on May 31, it launched a space rocket carrying a purported military spy satellite, which ended up crashing into the Yellow Sea.
Meanwhile, O Su-yong, 79, a former key party official handling economic affairs, has again assumed the posts of party secretary and director of the WPK's economic department, after being dismissed from them a year earlier.
His return comes as the North is grappling with severe food shortages and economic hardships aggravated by biting global sanctions and the country's COVID-19 border closure.
"O is a bureaucrat who has served in key posts for economic affairs. The North seems to have reappointed him to overcome (difficulties) as it currently lacks economic achievements," Koo Byoung-sam, Seoul's unification ministry spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.
This file photo, carried by North Korea's state-run news agency on March 6, 2021, shows O Su-yong, the North's party secretary in charge of economic affairs. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · June 19, 2023
5. Gov't to restore honor of female Army member killed during Korean War
Life would be so uninteresting if there was no bureaucracy. I am sure for some years there was a bureaucrat denying her honor because he could not find a document.
Although it does not appear she was working as a partisan and seemed to be working for the ROK military intelligence the comment about being dispatched on a special mission with the US creates some confusion and allows the bureaucrats another opportunity to deny recognition and honor.
This highlights another problem that still exists and this should concern every Special Forces soldier who works with indigenous forces. Many of the Korean partisans who fight valiantly under the UN flag with US leadership were never recognized or compensated as veterans of the Korean military because they were not serving in the actual ROK military, Throughout our history we have recruited, assisted, advised, and led indigenous forces and often those forces are never properly recognized and honored. Partisans began receiving recognition and compensation from the Korean government in the 1980s but it was too little too late.
But at least in this case, some honor is being restored for this woman. Some bureaucrat appears to have become enlightened.
Gov't to restore honor of female Army member killed during Korean War | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Cheong-mo · June 19, 2023
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean woman, who died during the 1950-53 Korean War while being dispatched to the United States military from a South Korean Army intelligence unit but was later removed from the list of war casualties, will likely have her honor restored, the state civil rights watchdog said Monday.
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) said it has asked the Defense Intelligence Command (DIC) to review its earlier decision to remove the woman from the list of Korean War casualties after examining a petition from her younger brother.
The woman was recruited by the Army intelligence unit at the age of 19 in February 1951 and carried out a special mission. She died after her dispatch to the U.S. military.
In 2009, the DIC sent a letter to her brother, saying the woman was killed in action in December 1951 while performing a special mission as a member of the Army intelligence unit.
In 2012, however, the DIC reconsidered her status and canceled her war dead records, citing her dispatch to the U.S. military.
The ACRC said it is difficult to say the woman arbitrarily served in the U.S. military without any command or instruction from the South Korean military.
This file file photo, provided by the Army, shows a ceremony to bury the remains of South Korean soldiers killed during the Korean War at Daejeon National Cemetery. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Cheong-mo · June 19, 2023
6. S. Korea launches new team on population policy amid low birthrate
Who would have thought making babies is a national security issue?
I know the solution. Ban all birth control measures. (note snarky sarcasm).
S. Korea launches new team on population policy amid low birthrate | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kang Yoon-seung · June 19, 2023
By Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's presidential committee dedicated to addressing the aging society launched a policy planning team Monday, with the goal of strengthening inter-ministry ties on population policies amid the alarmingly low birthrate.
The move came as South Korea's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, hit a record low of 0.78 in 2022, much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 that would keep South Korea's population stable at 51 million.
The Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy noted the country is on course to enter a "super-aged" society in 2025, in which the proportion of seniors aged 65 and above hits 20 percent of the total population.
The new team will be jointly led by the finance and health ministries, the committee added.
Various products for babies are displayed at an exhibition in southern Seoul, in this file photo taken on April 27, 2023. (Yonhap)
The team will review and promote policies that not only tackle the low birthrate and address the challenges posed by an aging society but also effectively handle the changes within the population structure.
"We plan to thoroughly analyze and cope with the social-economic impacts and risks of the changing population structure," First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun, the co-head of the division, said in a statement, noting the government will announce details of the policies under preparation down the road.
Only 21,138 babies were born in March this year, down 8.1 percent from a year earlier, the latest government data showed last month. It marked the lowest number for any March since the statistics agency started compiling monthly data in 1981.
The number of babies born in South Korea has been falling on-year for 88 consecutive months.
South Koreans aged 65 and above are set to make up 46.4 percent of the total population in 2070, separate government data also showed last week.
colin@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kang Yoon-seung · June 19, 2023
7. N.Korea 'Sought China's Help to Salvage Crashed Rocket'
You should not launch a rocket if you are not capable of salvaging it.
N.Korea 'Sought China's Help to Salvage Crashed Rocket'
english.chosun.com
June 19, 2023 13:29
North Korea asked China to salvage the wreckage of a rocket carrying a purported military spy satellite right after it crashed into the West Sea on May 31, South Korean intelligence authorities say.
Suspecting that North Korea would attempt to salvage the wreckage with China's help before South Korea could get to it, the military here deployed several warships around the search area, intelligence authorities said last Friday.
Any country that salvages a projectile that has crashed into international waters has first rights to it, and the North clearly wanted to avoid its rocket technology from falling into South Korean hands.
A part of a North Korean space rocket salvaged from West Sea is displayed to the press at the Second Naval Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on Friday. It bears the word "Chonma," meaning Pegasus, plus logo. /Yonhap
Intelligence authorities suspect that the regime has not yet solved the technical glitch that bedeviled the launch or it would have made another attempt to place a satellite in orbit already.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Yo-jong said in a statement early this month that the North will continue to launch military spy satellites.
An intelligence source claimed the North Korean leadership is "unusually agitated" because it has failed to completely solve technical problems with the rocket.
Indeed, North Korea called the failure the "most serious shortcomings that cannot be overlooked" in a meeting of the Workers' Party on Sunday and reaffirmed its pledge to put a satellite into orbit soon, state media reported.
Wreckage of N.Korean Space Rocket Retrieved
N.Korea Threatens to Stop Announcing Space Rocket Launches
Salvage of Crashed N.Korean Rocket Continues
Military Salvages Piece of Crashed N.Korean Rocket
N.Korean Satellite Falls into West Sea
Seoul Warns Pyongyang Against Satellite Launch
Kim Jong-un Checks Preparations for N. Korea's 1st Military Satellite
N.Korea Ready to Launch 1st Spy Satellite
N.Korea 'Test-Launches 1st Spy Satellite'
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
english.chosun.com
8. Salvaged launch vehicle part could prove intel treasure trove
I certainly hope so.
Sunday
June 18, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Salvaged launch vehicle part could prove intel treasure trove
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/06/18/national/northKorea/korea-north-korea-satellite/20230618175521105.html
00:0003:45
A retrieved part of the North Korean satellite launch vehicle (SLV) which sank in the Yellow Sea after the North's failed launch on May 31, is revealed to the press on Friday. [KOREA PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER'S ASSOCIATION]
A salvaged North Korean satellite launch vehicle part may yield critical information on North Korea’s ballistic missile technology.
The South Korean military retrieved a part of the North Korean satellite launch vehicle (SLV) which sank in the Yellow Sea after 15 days of salvage operations.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Friday, the military salvaged a part of the Chollima-1 SLV around 8:50 p.m. on Thursday.
The salvaged remains are believed to be the second stage of the three-stage Chollima-1 rocket, a cylinder of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in diameter and 15 meters in length.
In addition to the Korean letters “Cheoma,” there were other symbols previously found on North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
"Similar carbon composite material technology is used for the tip of North Korean ICBMs and the nozzle neck of the North Korean space launch vehicle," Lee Chun-geun, an honorary fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute, told the JoongAng Ilbo.
It wasn't clear as of Sunday whether the salvaged remains included an engine, which experts say will be critical in yielding information on how far the North's ICBM technology may have advanced.
“Once the engine is secured, we will be able to know which products North Korea gained, violating sanctions,” said Chang Young-keun, a professor at Korea Aerospace University.
The salvaged remains were handed over to the Agency for Defense Development, a national institute for research and development in defense tech, for further analysis.
Agencies from the United States, such as the Defense Intelligence Agency, were expected to join the analysis.
On May 31, North Korea attempted to launch a "Malligyong-1" spy satellite from its Sohae satellite launching site in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province, but the SLV failed due to a botched engine ignition during second-stage separation, according to North Korean state media.
The debris fell into the Yellow Sea approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Eocheong Island, which is located 70 kilometers off the North Jeolla coast, according to the JCS.
The South Korean military initially recovered a part of the projectile that appeared to be a cylinder connecting the first and second-stage rockets, but the debris fell into the sea because of the heavy weight.
Salvage efforts have been marred by difficult conditions including fast currents and poor visibility.
In turn, the South Korean Navy deployed two 3,500-ton salvage and rescue ships, the ROKS Tongyeong and the ROKS Gwangyang, the 3,200-ton submarine rescue ship ROKS Cheonghaejin, P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and deep-sea divers to assist retrieval operations.
On Friday, a U.S. nuclear-powered guided missile submarine (SSGN) docked in Busan, marking the first such visit in six years.
In a Defense Ministry press release, South Korean Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo said, “The U.S. SSGN’s visit to South Korea is intended to substantively implement the agreement in the Washington Declaration made in April to enhance the regular visibility of strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula,” referring to the joint statement issued by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden during Yoon’s state visit to Washington in April.
The South Korean and U.S. navies plan to conduct combined special operations exercises during the submarine’s visit to enhance their interoperability and joint capability to respond to the threat posed by North Korea’s advancing weapons programs.
The arrival of the SSGN submarine in Busan came a day after the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, an act that sparked condemnation from the national security advisers of South Korea, the United States and Japan.
BY LEE KEUN-PYUNG, SARAH KIM, MICHAEL LEE AND ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
9. US expert calls for sanctioning Chinese entities over N. Korea's missile program
Yes sanctions are important though we have never exploited them to the fullest extent during any administration. But sanctions are not the only thing. There is so much more necessary for a comprehensive strategy.
US expert calls for sanctioning Chinese entities over N. Korea's missile program
The Korea Times · June 19, 2023
gettyimagesbankEx-senior NSC official urges Washington to push Beijing harder to cut illicit arms ties with Pyongyang
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Anthony Ruggiero, former senior official at U.S. National Security Council / Courtesy of Anthony Ruggiero
A former senior official at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) called on the Joe Biden administration to impose sanctions on Chinese nationals, companies and banks that are aiding North Korea's procurement of components necessary for the research and production of ballistic missiles.
"Continuing the status quo on North Korea sanctions allows the Kim Jong-un regime to continue its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development," Antony Ruggiero, a senior director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said in a recent email interview with The Korea Times.
His remark comes after the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Beijing-based North Koreans involved in the procurement of equipment and materials to support North Korea's ballistic missile program.
Ruggiero, who served as senior NSC official during the Trump administration, claimed that the Biden administration has not imposed sanctions on the two North Koreans' Chinese counterparts, companies and banks that were involved in the transactions, because Washington did not want any possible fallout to affect U.S.-China relations.
"The administration explained that North Korea uses an 'extensive overseas network of procurement agents' including 'third-country nationals and foreign companies,' which suggests they could sanction most or all of the network if they wanted to do it," he said. "But Beijing is violating U.S. laws by aiding North Korea's sanctions evasion."
He said the U.S. government needs to be tougher and build more pressure on China to choose between the U.S. and North Korea regarding whom to do business with.
"We know that if the Biden administration presents China with a choice between helping North Korea or maintaining their access to the U.S. financial system, Beijing will stop helping North Korea," he said.
Ruggiero did not provide further details about why the Biden administration would be feeling pressure about sanctioning the Chinese entities this time. In the past, the U.S. has sanctioned several foreign nationals, including a Slovakian and several Russians, for engaging in activities that help North Korea's weapons of mass destruction program.
Wi Sung-lac, right on the screen, South Korea's former ambassador to Russia, is seen during a Korea Times forum held in June last year in Seoul. Joseph DeTrani, left, a former U.S. chief negotiator to the six-party talks, also joined the forum online. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Wi Sung-lac, South Korea's former ambassador to Russia and chief negotiator to the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program, said there may be various reasons why Chinese nationals and entities were not included in the U.S. Treasury Department's newest list of sanctions.
"It could be that the department has yet to secure hard evidence to point to which Chinese nationals or entities the North Koreans had colluded with. Or it could be that the U.S. already has sufficient information to pinpoint who they are, but delayed the timing to slap sanctions on them for certain political reasons," he said.
Wi said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's long-delayed trip to China to mend their bilateral ties could be one reason.
Blinken arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a flurry of meetings with several senior Chinese officials to "discuss the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage" the U.S.-China relationship, according to a State Department press release.
It added, "He will also raise bilateral issues of concern, global and regional matters and potential cooperation on shared transnational challenges."
U.S.-China relations are already dangerously tense as the two sides have clashed over several issues, including China's spy balloon that flew over U.S. territory. Therefore, sanctioning Chinese nationals ahead of Blinken's China trip could do a disservice to the U.S. goal of easing tensions with the country.
Wi said the U.S. government, whether under the Trump or the Biden administration, is unlikely to feel pressure about sanctioning Chinese people or entities as it has done before.
On Thursday, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two North Koreans, Choe Chol-min and his wife Choe Un-jong, for their involvement in North Korea's procurement of equipment and components necessary for the research and production of ballistic missiles.
The husband, who is serving as the representative of North Korea's Second Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS), has worked with the North's officials involved in the weapons trade, Chinese nationals and other associates to purchase and procure a range of items, including items known to be materials used in the production of ballistic missiles, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
His wife, who is assigned to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, has previously accompanied her husband on official travel related to his work with North Korea's primary weapons trading entity and recently helped coordinate an order with one or more SANS associates for dual-use bearings that are a component used in the North's ballistic missile production, the department said.
North Korea launches the Hwasong-17 inter-continental ballistic missile, March 24. Yonhap
North Korea is believed to have financed its nuclear and missile programs with money earned from various illicit activities overseas, including cryptocurrency theft.
Ruggiero said North Korea also continues to export coal, which is against U.N. sanctions, to additionally finance its WMD programs.
He claimed that North Korea is even trying to profit from the war in Ukraine as it exports arms and related materials to Russia.
If the U.S. fails to cut North Korea's ties with international networks to illicitly import restricted materials for ballistic missiles, Ruggiero claimed that North Korea will continue to export weapons to Russia.
North Korea denied claims that it transferred arms to Russia.
But the U.S. government has confirmed that North Korea completed an arms delivery, including infantry rockets and missiles, to the Russia-backed Wagner mercenary group in November last year.
The Korea Times · June 19, 2023
10. ASEAN secretary-general calls on N. Korea to return to dialogue
It is north Korea against the world. Which is of its own doing. But this is much more to this interview than north Korea. It is about South Korea ASEAN cooperation.
[INTERVIEW] ASEAN secretary-general calls on N. Korea to return to dialogue
The Korea Times · June 19, 2023
Kao Kim Hourn, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), speaks during an interview with The Korea Times and its sister paper The Hankook Ilbo, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho
South Korea, ASEAN expected to forge comprehensive strategic partnership in 2024
By Lee Hyo-jin
Escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to Pyongyang's repeated missile provocations are a worrisome development, not only for Seoul, but also for countries in the neighboring Southeast Asian region, according to Kao Kim Hourn, the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
But at the same time, he saw that ASEAN, with its ability to function as a neutral facilitator in global conflicts, could play a role in denuclearization efforts on the Korea Peninsula.
"The DPRK has been test firing their missiles and improving their weapons. This is not just a concern to ROK, but a concern to the regional community and the global community," Kao said during an exclusive interview with The Korea Times and its sister paper The Hankook Ilbo in Seoul, Friday.
ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea, and DPRK is the acronym of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
"We have been engaging with the DPRK from very early on through the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). Every year, ASEAN always invited the foreign minister of the DPRK to attend the meeting," he said, adding that the door is open for North Korea to take part in this year's event which is set for July 13 to 14 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, front, and North Korean Ambassador to Indonesia An Kwang-il, seated third from left in the background, attend the 2022 ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh, Aug. 5, 2022. Yonhap
The ARF is one of the few multilateral platforms that the reclusive North Korean regime regularly engages with. Speculation is rising that Pyongyang may send its top diplomat Choe Son-hui to the upcoming forum.
"We would like to see the participation of the DPRK in the ARF, where they can engage in the diplomatic dialogue but also can have other bilateral engagements on the sidelines of the event," Kao said.
The ASEAN leader, who was on a four-day visit to South Korea from Thursday to Sunday, was able to see the growing nuclear tensions on the peninsula.
On Thursday evening, Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea in protest of the South Korea-U.S. joint live-fire drills carried out earlier in the day. On the next day, the 18,000-ton USS Michigan submarine arrived in the southern port city of Busan for a joint drill with the South Korean Navy, in a major show of force against the North's growing nuclear threats.
"Our desire is to support the ROK because we believe that we want to see a peaceful, stable and secure Korean Peninsula, also a denuclearized Korean Peninsula."
South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin, right, shakes hands with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn during a meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Bright future for South Korea-ASEAN cooperation
During a meeting with South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin earlier in the day, Park and Kao discussed forging a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2024, which marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of South Korea-ASEAN dialogue.
Kao positively assessed the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI) unveiled by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration in November last year. The initiative aims to strengthen political and security cooperation, on top of the economic, social and people-to-people exchanges that the previous governments have focused on.
The secretary-general said KASI is important, because the initiative is in line with the goals and aspirations and commitment of the regional organization, particularly within the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). The AOIP consists of four pillars ― maritime cooperation, connectivity, the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as economic and other possible areas of cooperation.
"We are working very hard now on the economic agenda, which is really one of the bright and more promising areas. And this is something that we hope to work with (South) Korea very closely on, given (South) Korea's very strong capacity in digital technology."
The ASEAN leader also picked climate change as another front for possible cooperation with Seoul, mentioning South Korea's leading technology in electric vehicles (EV), food recycling systems and nuclear power plants.
Such a willingness from ASEAN may be a major opportunity for the Yoon administration in fulfilling its pledge to rebuild South Korea's nuclear power industry through active engagement in the global market.
"I believe that nuclear energy is one of the options that may be considered by our ASEAN member states. It would be good if (South) Korea can share its technology and know-how with us," Kao said.
Kao Kim Hourn, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) speaks during an interview with The Korea Times and its sister paper The Hankook Ilbo, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho
Global challenges facing ASEAN
The ongoing civil strife in Myanmar remains one of the biggest challenges for ASEAN. Many international observers have been criticizing the regional bloc for making little progress in addressing the Myanmar issue, due mainly to its principles of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs and consensus-based decision-making process.
But Kao viewed otherwise.
"In fact, we have made some progress," he said, noting that several visits were made by ASEAN's special envoy to the strife-torn nation.
"Although people say 'it's too slow,' or 'there is no progress,' I think we should not expect to have a perfect result or a quick fix for the complex matter. Myanmar is a very complicated country dating back to the colonial period," he explained, stressing that ASEAN remains deeply committed to the complete cessation of violence in Myanmar.
The ASEAN leader also took a cautious stance on the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry.
Founded during the Cold War, ASEAN has so far distanced itself from getting involved in major power competitions. But the ongoing strategic competition between Washington and Beijing is forcing Southeast Asian countries to make a binary choice.
"The role of ASEAN, of course, is not to take sides. They are all our friends and partners," Kao said.
But he added, "We certainly would like to see the rising tensions and the increasing rivalry be reduced through the ASEAN mechanism, where they can meet together on the sidelines of our meetings, including the upcoming ministerial meetings in July, and the upcoming summit-level one in September."
The Korea Times · June 19, 2023
11. Neither Seoul, Beijing want to further escalate tensions
Of course they do not. But will that prevent tenions from rising?
This question below would be better phrased, "Will China conduct economic warfare against South Korea again?"
Excerpt:
The question is: Will China take a retaliatory stance against South Korea again?
[ANALYSIS] Neither Seoul, Beijing want to further escalate tensions
The Korea Times · June 19, 2023
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Jae-myung, right, talks with Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming at the ambassador's residence in Seoul, June 8. Yonhap
S. Korea advised to maintain 'strategic ambiguity' stance at least regarding Taiwan Strait issue
By Kim Yoo-chul
South Korea's pursuit of balance in its relationship with China and the U.S. was quite consistent throughout the former Moon Jae-in administration, as the former president believed that Beijing could significantly help Seoul improve its ties with Pyongyang ― a top foreign policy priority at the time.
As Moon was determined to mend ties with Beijing, he developed the Three Nos stance ― no additional deployments of the U.S.' terminal high altitude area defense (THAAD) battery missile shield system in South Korea, no participation in a U.S.-led missile defense network and no establishment of a trilateral military cooperative with the U.S. and Japan.
However, the incumbent Yoon Suk Yeol administration is favoring strategic clarity over strategic ambiguity by aligning ever more closely with Washington and Tokyo, in terms of advancing Seoul's regional Indo-Pacific strategy and responding to evolving North Korean nuclear threats.
From a foreign policy standpoint, President Yoon's clear willingness to further strengthen Seoul's alliance with the U.S., and like-minded allies, and to have improved ties with Tokyo despite historical disputes, solidify South Korea's position vis-a-vis North Korea while helping the country to rely less on China's diplomatic largesse.
Because both South Korea and Japan are facing North Korean nuclear threats, the current administration believes deepening cooperation with the U.S. and Japan to mitigate security threats on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, makes more sense than relying on a not-that-sincere China for help, according to political experts in Seoul.
"As long as the U.S.-China rivalry continues, Beijing doesn't want to see visible progress between the two Koreas because North Korea is viewed, from China's standpoint, as a practical buffer against U.S. allies at China's northeastern border. Also, the incumbent Yoon Suk Yeol administration pushed North Korean issues back to a secondary foreign policy level issue," an aide to former President Moon, who previously handled Seoul's policies on Beijing, told The Korea Times.
This photo provided by South Korea's Defense Ministry shows an object presumed to be part of North Korea's crashed space-launch vehicle being salvaged by South Korea's military in the West Sea, South Korea, Thursday. North Korea's attempt to put its first spy satellite into space failed on May 31, and has come as a setback to leader Kim Jong-un's push to boost his military capabilities as tensions with the United States and South Korea remain high. AP-Yonhap
"Seoul taking such a security posture makes things quite complicated for top Chinese policymakers as Beijing has long assessed Seoul to be the weakest link of Washington's alliances in Northeast Asia," according to the former aide who preferred not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
From China's standpoint, South Korea's closer defense and economic partnership with the U.S. and Japan can lessen its importance to Seoul. Plus, because Seoul has joined a new nuclear planning initiative with Washington, China has concerns that more U.S. strategic military assets will come to South Korea in the event of an actual conflict over Taiwan.
"China doesn't actually care about strengthening alliances between the U.S., South Korea and Japan as long as the alliance is solely focused on Korean Peninsula issues. However, the alliances' focus is broadening toward the Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific issues, which China sees as actual security threats," said Lee Chang-wee, a professor at the University of Seoul Law School.
As chances are low that the Yoon administration will return to a conciliatory approach with China, after more explicitly aligning itself with the U.S. and Japan in confronting China, top Chinese policymakers may have reached a consensus on its position regarding South Korea's inclination toward U.S.-led initiatives.
China blocked mainland access to Naver, South Korea's top web portal. Plus, it slapped millions of dollars of fines on several South Korean banks which have operations in mainland China. Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming, who is fluent in Korean, told the leader of South Korea's main opposition party that Seoul's embracing of U.S.-led policies could bring harm. Plus, Xing clarified China's hope for South Korea to respect its core interests including that of the Taiwan Strait.
President Yoon expressed dissatisfaction at Xing's remarks. While some ruling party lawmakers are asking the government to designate Xing as a persona-non-grata and expel him, however, it is unlikely that Xing will be expelled.
No heavy economic coercion expected
A few years ago, when South Korea decided to deploy the THAAD system, China vehemently opposed the decision claiming that the system posed an actual threat to its own national security. In response, Beijing restricted its outbound tourism to Korea.
Data from the trade ministry showed tourism plunged by more than 40 percent and South Korean consumer goods and cultural products were boycotted in mainland China after the deployment of the THAAD defense system. A lot of South Korean firms have been forced to shut down their businesses there.
The question is: Will China take a retaliatory stance against South Korea again?
In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Chung-Hoon observes a Chinese navy ship conducting what it called an unsafe Chinese maneuver in the Taiwan Strait, June 3, in which the Chinese navy ship cut sharply across the path of the American destroyer, forcing the U.S. ship to slow to avoid a collision. AP-Yonhap
Political experts said chances are low that the Chinese government would apply any large-scale trade restrictions, boycotts, tourism restrictions or even administrative restrictions on South Korean firms in China as it did during the THAAD incident. Its next round of coercive diplomacy, if it happens, could cost a lot for Beijing itself given that South Korean tech companies play a significant role in sustaining China's tech industry.
Semiconductors, for example, are at the center of Washington-Beijing disputes. While Chinese President Xi Jinping is heavily pushing to lift his Made in China 2025 policy, its chip self-sufficiency rate last year remained at a tepid 25.61 percent, an estimate by market research firm International Business Strategy, showed.
China aims to increase its chip self-sufficiency rate to 70 percent by 2025. But because that rate includes the production of chips by foreign companies on Chinese soil, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are playing a significant role in terms of keeping Xi's initiative afloat. China didn't punish the South Korean chip duo as it did Micron Technology of the U.S. by banning sales of some of the company's chips in China.
"China's retaliatory measures against South Korean companies after Seoul's agreement to deploy the THAAD system limited its options," Kim Seong-su, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Hanyang University, said.
"Its overreaction against South Korean companies after THAAD resulted in a deterioration of China's overall image in South Korea. I think China doesn't want to repeat its past experience this time. More importantly, without the help from Samsung and SK, it won't make sense for China to significantly improve its chip self-sufficiency rate."
Lawmakers at the ruling People Power Party (PPP) stressed that the South Korean government does want to avoid further escalation with China. "The end goal is how to convince China that South Korea's joining of U.S.-led policies is a sovereign action and isn't aimed at hurting China's national security. It's very necessary for the two sides to resume regular high-level communication channels to minimize the risk of a misjudged and unintended collision," a senior government official said.
Foreign Minister Park Jin told reporters recently that he was hoping to meet Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of the scheduled Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF) in Indonesia in July.
"Chinese President Xi and his party will move forward with plans to press Taiwan and undercut Washington's influence," said Kim Jin-ho, a political science professor at Dankook University. "However, these policies don't mean that top Chinese policymakers have no interest to reduce tensions with the U.S. South Korea is asked to maintain a strategic ambiguity stance at least regarding the Taiwan Strait issue because this issue is viewed as an internal matter from Beijing's standpoint, which the U.S. and its allies have no right to interfere in," he said.
"As China is South Korea's top trading partner, Seoul has to seek a middle ground between Washington and Beijing. I want to highlight Seoul hasn't joined all aspects of the Washington-led economic pressure campaign on China. Amid evolving North Korean nuclear threats, top Seoul officials should say the country's close security ties with the U.S. is more about its national security and isn't more about the country's active support in the Taiwan Strait issue," Kim added.
The Korea Times · June 19, 2023
12. S.Korea's special troops join UN peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia
I have not run into any Korean or US Special Forces troops yet here though I doubt they are in the capital area where I am currently until we head to the countryside for a couple of days of track II talks before a major conference on a One Free Korea on Thursday back in the capital.
S.Korea's special troops join UN peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia - Social News XYZ
socialnews.xyz · by Gopi · June 19, 2023
Seoul, June 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) The South Korean Army's Special Warfare Command is participating in a multinational UN peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia to enhance their combined operational capabilities, the armed service said on Monday.
Thirty-five personnel from the command have joined the Khaan Quest exercise that kicked off Monday and continues through July 2. A total of 1,100 personnel from 35 countries, including the US, India and Qatar, will attend it, the Army was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
Participants are to focus on honing their skills for peacekeeping missions, such as responding to improvised explosive devices, treating casualties and escorting convoys, as well as carrying out operations for humanitarian support.
"Troops plan to strengthen their combined operational capabilities and capabilities to conduct peacekeeping missions while training with multinational forces under scenarios that could occur during overseas peacekeeping operations," the Army said in a press release.
The US and Mongolian militaries launched the combined exercise in 2003. The South Korean military first joined it in 2006, when it was expanded into a multinational peacekeeping program.
Since 2019, South Korea has sent the Special Warfare Command in odd-numbered years and the Marine Corps in even-numbered years to the exercise.
Source: IANS
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz
socialnews.xyz · by Gopi · June 19, 2023
13. The Jeju 4.3 Attacks Were Not a Democracy Movement
A very powerful paper from Dr. Tara O. This provides an important look at this historic incident and one that goes against much of the conventional wisdom. This provides some excellent insights into north Korean subversion. And the regime has only gotten better at it since 1948.
The Jeju 4.3 Attacks Were Not a Democracy Movement
DR. TARA O Adjunct Fellow, Hudson Institute June 2023
hudson.org · by Tara O
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On April 3, 1948, on the Korean island of Jeju, communist guerrillas went on a rampage, killing police officers, election workers, and others; setting houses on fire; and terrorizing villagers, all to discourage them from voting in the upcoming May 10 elections that would establish the Republic of Korea (ROK). The insurgency—referred to as Jeju 4.3—triggered a government counterinsurgency, forcing the communists into the mountains where they would continue their guerrilla operations for nine more years.
In March 2023, the Democratic Party of Korea (Deobureo Minju Party) introduced a bill mandating that citizens refer to the insurgency only as a “democracy struggle,” with punishments of up to five years in prison. But historical documents, eyewitness testimony, and statements from the perpetrators show that the incident was a campaign of irregular and unconventional warfare, a prelude to the communist military invasion of South Korea in June 1950, and part of the larger Korean War.
Background
The communist party in Korea—initially named the Chosun Communist Party and later reorganized and renamed as NamNoDang or the Korean Workers’ Party-South (KWP-S)—was the largest party to emerge following Korea’s liberation from Japan. It was based in Seoul with branches all over Korea. Pak Hon-yong, known as the “Lenin of Chosun,” soon took over the party from its initial leader, Yo Un-hyong. Both Yo and Pak were long-time communists, trained in Moscow at the invitation of Vladimir Lenin. They envisioned a socialist Korea led by a communist party.
Jeju is the largest island in what Koreans call NamHae, or the “South Sea.” When Korean students and workers returned to the island from Japan, China, and Manchuria after the end of World War II, its population ballooned from 220,000 to 280,000. Many of these returning Koreans were exposed to or participated in communist movements abroad. Soon after Korea’s liberation, the KWP-S and its various subsidiaries and affiliate organizations were widely influential in Jeju.
The United States’ late arrival on Jeju gave communists more time than in the rest of Korea to expand their influence in the power vacuum created after liberation from the Japanese. The US Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) did not arrive on Jeju until November 9, 1945, and even then it did not have a significant presence. Thus, from Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945, until at least early 1946, Jeju was administered and controlled by people’s committees under the communist party and the illegal People’s Republic of Korea. After initially tolerating the communist party, USAMGIK issued a warrant for the party’s leader, Pak Hon-yong, in late 1946. Pak fled north of the thirty-eighth parallel but continued directing the party’s efforts to undermine stability in southern Korea.
The Jeju branch of the KWP-S, armed with the weapons left behind by 58,000 Japanese soldiers, distributed rice and goods through cooperatives. People’s committees also used education to inculcate Marxist ideology in the people, such as by recruiting students via a front group called the Youth League (Cheongnyun Dongmaeng). The night schools the committees created to teach citizens basic reading and writing skills also taught Marxist doctrine to instill critical views of the island’s situation. Many teachers were communists, including Lee Seung-jin. Better known as Kim Dal-sam, Lee played a key role in organizing and planning the attacks of the 4.3 rebellion, as well as the push to include Jeju in the elections that created a communist North Korea.
About 60,000 to 70,000 Jeju islanders, including the provincial governor, joined the Jeju branch of the KWP-S. Around this time, 70 percent of Jeju residents were involved with or sympathetic to the left wing (jwa-ik). Notable instances of the party’s insurrectionary tactics include the “2.7” general strike and riots on February 7, 1948, the Fourteenth Regiment Mutiny, and the Yeo-Sun communist insurrection of October 19, 1948.
Thus, Jeju 4.3 was part of a larger campaign of armed revolt, guerrilla warfare, terrorism, and general strikes to prevent the May 10 elections and instead have the people of Jeju participate in the South Chosun People’s Representative Congress held in Haeju, north of the thirty-eighth parallel, to elect the representatives to the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), which then created the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). In recent years, politicians on the Korean left have made it controversial to refer to Jeju 4.3 as an armed uprising, rather than a “struggle,” or most recently a “democracy struggle.” But the attacks were an armed communist rebellion, not of a “democracy struggle,” and they sought to prevent the ROK from existing by disrupting democratic elections—quite the opposite of a democracy movement.
Planning for the Attack
The KWP-S planned extensively to create as much terror as possible by attacking and killing the police, those who supported the soon-to-emerge ROK, and those involved in the elections—as well as their families. According to the KWP-S’s report after the rebellion, the planning phase lasted from March 15 to April 2, 1948. The fact that it could prepare so quickly indicates that there was already a well-organized, structured, and active force from which the KWP-S could quickly draw personnel, intelligence, and resources.
At the top of the KWP-S was the Central Committee, which sent instructions to its next lower-level organization, in this case the South Jeolla Committee, which in turn conveyed the instructions to its next lower-level organization, which in this case was the Jeju Committee. In mid-March 1948, the South Jeolla branch of the KWP-S gave the Jeju branch very specific orders to prepare for the assault: it was to establish a military committee to serve as a command organization; create an insurgent organization (jawidae) of 200 partisans to support the armed attacks; equip the guerrillas with weapons and supplies; and strengthen its propaganda push ahead of the event.
The Jeju branch secretly executed these orders to organize the communist guerillas. KWP-S documents, found by the Constabulary (Gukbang Gyeongbidae, a precursor to the Republic of Korea Army), indicate that the planning stage—during which the KWP-S would organize, train, and equip its forces—lasted from March 15 to April 2.
By March 28, 1948, the KWP-S had created and armed a 100-person force known as the “People’s Guerillas” (Inmin Yugyeokdae or Minjung Yugyeokdae) to conduct main attack operations, a 200-person supplemental forces (Inmin Jawidae or Minjung Jawidae) for reinforcement, and a 20-person special security squad for a starting manpower of 320. By April 3, the number of guerillas increased to 400, with which KWP-S planned to attack 14 police stations. KWP-S also infiltrated the Ninth Regiment of the National Defense Guard (Constabulary), which was based on the Jeju Island. The infiltrated KWP-S member reported that of 800 in the Ninth Regiment, 400 were “certain” (i.e., they supported communists), and 200 could be ordered to do as KWP-S wanted. Further, the mole stated that there were only 18, including officers and non-commissioned officers, who would oppose the communists, so it would be easy to purge them. KWP-S also sent 20 special mission students to the town of Jeju as liaisons for spying activities.
The communist partisans’ documents show the details of the KWP-S’s well-organized military structure. The KWP-S Jeju branch created a military decision-making body with a commander and a deputy commander at the top, and established a military committee under them. The military department fell under the “struggle committee” of the KWP-S Jeju branch. The military department and the military committees were also created at the township level, and they commanded the tactical-level guerrilla units. These units consisted of 10-person platoons. Two platoons made up a company, and two companies made up a battalion. This make-up is much smaller in scale than typical company- and battalion-sized units of a regular army, but structurally it reflects a typical military organization, with a chain of command and a commander at the top.
Unlike the guerrillas and their supplemental forces, which reported to the local commanders first, the 20-person special security squad (teukgyeongdae) reported directly to the military committee of the Jeju branch. Initial camp training for the special security squad began on March 20, with 67 personnel at an inactive volcano in Hallim called Sabyeok Oreum. The special security squad was equipped with bamboo and metal spears, as well as 27 rifles, three pistols, 24 hand grenades, and seven smoke bombs, according to KWP-S guerillas’ documents.
In other words, this was not a random civilian “struggle,” but a carefully planned paramilitary operation to achieve the political objectives of the KWP-S, under the direction of Pak Hon-yong in collaboration with Kim Il-sung and the occupying Soviet Red Army. With foreign and domestic political support, a centralized command structure, and military-grade weapons, the KWP-S insurgents were prepared to wage their irregular warfare campaign on the still-forming Republic of Korea.
April 3, 1948: The KWP-S’s Rampage
Sometime between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. on April 3, 1948, KWP-S operatives lit beacon fires in the lower hills surrounding Mount Halla to signal the beginning of the assault. About 350 armed guerrillas—30 with small arms and 320 with metal and bamboo spears—simultaneously attacked 12 police stations, killed police officers, and, starting at 2:00 a.m., stole weapons, according to the KWP-S guerrilla unit document.
They also attacked the sleeping quarters and residences of the police, government officials, and Seochong youths who had fled Soviet communist oppression in northern Korea. The guerrillas killed entire families and burnt their houses.
In the village of Gu-eom, which suffered the greatest damage on the first night of attacks, about 100 communist partisan rebels were divided into four to five teams and went door to door for three hours to seek out and brutally murder their targets, before setting the victims’ houses on fire. In Gu-eom, five family members were killed, about 10 family members were injured, and one policeman was seriously wounded. Two armed rebels were also killed.
Below are other firsthand accounts of the initial wave of attacks in various towns on Jeju Island:
- Communist guerrillas stabbed Sin-eom substation policeman Song Won-ha eight times with swords and bamboo spears. He barely escaped death, but his father died after guerrillas attacked him. At a Namwon police substation, assisting member Bang Sung-hwa was instantly killed; Kim Seok-hoon’s arm was cut off with an axe; policeman Ko Il-soo’s throat was cut and was killed; and Bang Sung-eon was injured. Theguerillas seized firearms and bullets from the weapons armory and fled.
- About 100 guerrillas ambushed the home of Moon Young-baek, a figure on the political right, in the village Gu-eom, but Moon already fled and was not there. Communist guerrillas killed Moon’s 14-year-old daughter Moon Suk-ja and 10-year-old daughter Moon Jung-ja by stabbing them with bamboo spears as they pleaded for their lives. Mun Ki-chan, who lived in the same village, was also stabbed to death with bamboo spears, and Moon Yong-joon was stabbed with bamboo spears and died a few days later. In addition, guerrillas beat the pregnant wife of Ko Chil-gun with clubs, injuring her, and stabbed 34-year-old Moon Chang-soon to death.
- On April 4, 1948, guerrillas killed 36-year-old Oh Seung-jo, a member of the Korean Youth Corps (Daecheong), a youth group on the right, at Yeonpyeong village. On April 6, guerrillas killed 37-year-old Yi Ho-ri and 32-year-old Yang Nam-ho, the leader and a member, respectively, of the Korean Youth Corps, while saying, “Don’t participate in the May 10 elections.”
By the end of the first wave of attacks, the KWP-S had killed 10 policemen and 17 civilians, injured eight more, and taken five hostages. Four guerrillas were also killed, according to the KWP-S’s report. This rampage was only the beginning of a much larger communist guerrilla insurgency.
Recruitment by Kidnapping
KWP-S’s recruitment process was horrifying. The guerrillas attacked villages with a “kidnapping team” that quickly searched houses to find teenage boys, whom they tied up and took to their bases in the mountains. The guerrillas interrogated the teenagers for their background and labeled one or two of them as “reactionaries.” The communists then gave metal spears to the other teens and coerced them as a group to kill those marked as “reactionaries,” thereby creating an atmosphere of fear, deterring them from escaping, and extracting loyalty. The KWP-S would then repeat this process.
The Aftermath of the 4.3 Communist Rampage
The KWP-S report in the immediate aftermath of the event described the attacks. It also revealed KWP-S infiltration of the National Defense Guard (Constabulary). The report states:
On April 3 between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m., the first armed attack struggle on Jeju Island post-August 15 liberation was unleashed. Operationally, we wanted the National Defense Guard [which was infiltrated by communists who tried to take control] to be in charge of annihilating the anti-communist stronghold in the town of Jeju, Sungnae, especially the inspector general’s office and the First District Office’s police substations, and we infiltrated 20 students, who are secret agents, as liaisons, and deployed 400 people to the rest of the 14 substations. As per the earlier report, annihilating the [anti-communist] stronghold failed due to the National Defense Guard (9th Regiment) not participating, but the raids on 12 of the remaining 14 police substations were overall successful.
The KWP-S would go on to hold Jeju Island, using fear to control the population, until late July 1948. During this period, the communists’ reign of terror and brutal killings continued and included the following:
- Insurgents buried alive Pastor Yi Do-jung, the first Christian pastor born on Jeju Island. He was murdered on June 18, 1948, according to Yi Dong-hae, the pastor’s grandson.
- Kang Hak-song, a resident of Namwon-eup, testified that his father, who was the supervisor of those guarding his village, was kidnapped when the KWP-S attacked his village. Kang later found his father’s body covered in blood and in pieces, with his limbs dismembered from the body and his penis cut off and inserted into his mouth.
- Kim Sung-suk recalled that the KWP-S searched his house and took all the food. When his mother protested, saying she and her family would have no food to eat, the communists repeatedly stabbed her with bamboo spears. She survived but suffered severe injuries.
- Kang Byung-ok, yet another survivor, stated that his father and his brother were taken by the KWP-S. He found his father’s body with a rope-like piece of cloth wrapped around his neck, indicative of death by choking. His brother’s body had been decapitated.
After the wanton murders in the first days of April 1948, the military committees of the KWP-S hid out in the Halla Mountains. In their report, the partisans boasted that every day they used small-squad attacks, killed the police, and quickly escaped to melt into the mountains, creating a “chilling effect on the minds” of the government forces and the police. The communist guerrillas continued their attacks, and the government had to respond with counterinsurgency operations. During the communist insurgency and the government’s corresponding counterinsurgency, many civilians were caught in the middle and died, with some cooperating with one side or the other, or sometimes both sides, depending on the situation. The left in modern Korea, which insists on calling the insurgency a “democracy struggle,” focuses on these civilian casualties, which KWP-S also caused, and blames only the government in order to question its legitimacy, while completely ignoring the KWP-S’s role and aims in conducting its terror campaign. Instead of truth, the left seeks to create a narrative that the ROK government is bad and illegitimate, and by extension, that the ROK should have never existed, which was the KWP-S’s goal from the start.
The Alternative Elections in North Korea
The larger goal of this terror was to convince the citizens of Jeju to eschew participation in the May 10, 1948, elections, and instead take part in the formation of a communist state in northern Korea. To help create the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the KWP-S Jeju chapter, led by Kim Dal-sam, held secret elections of its own, visiting villages and forcing people to cast ballots. It then took the ballots to the August 25 South Chosun People’s Representative Congress held in northern Korea to select representatives to the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) to create the DPRK. The SPA officially established this communist country on September 9, 1948, about three weeks after the ROK was established. On December 11, 1948, the presidium of the SPA presented Kim Dal-sam with an award, the Flag Medal, for his efforts in the Jeju 4.3 rebellion.
The KWP-S’s Anti-US Provocations
The KWP-S was also anti-American, seeing the US as an obstacle to a unified socialist Korea under North Korean control, as shown in their propaganda. The KWP-S’s Jawidae distributed letters, one directed at the police, urging them to change sides and join “the anti-US struggle.” Other leaflets were aimed at the general public, calling them “fathers,” “mothers,” “brothers,” and “sisters,” cajoling them to join the “national liberation” from the “American imperial cannibals and their puppets.”
Military committees disbursed leaflets that called for the withdrawal of the US military, expressed opposition to the establishment of the ROK, demanded the departure of UN election monitors, lobbied for the release of their comrades from prisons, and endorsed the overthrow of President Syngman Rhee and his party. These demands all served the goal of “Chosun unification,” under the communist rule of Kim Il-sung, who answered to the Soviet Union. In effect, the KWP-S’s efforts, if successful, would have turned Korea into a freedom-less satellite communist state, as happened to numerous countries around the periphery of the USSR after World War II.
History Warfare
This episode was a sad chapter in Korean history, but it was also a dangerous time for the Korean people, who face an existential threat. It began with the KWP-S’s plans for the insurgency. Tragedy was part of their calculation. After the communist rebellion on the Jeju Island, the subsequent guerrilla insurgency and the government’s counterinsurgency went on for nine years, including during the Korean War. In fact, before, during, and after the conventional war was waged from 1950 to 1953, communist forces waged an irregular and unconventional war in South Korea with North Korea’s materiel, instructions, and personnel support.
The facts of these communist guerillas’ grisly acts are not taught in history classes. Interest groups on the left refer to this incident as the 4.3 Jeju “struggle,” and most recently as a “democracy struggle,” but that is a misnomer. Jeju 4.3 was an attempt to terrorize the people of the island and deter them from participating in the elections or joining organizations that sought to create a democratic system of government based on freedom, which is antithetical to Marxism-Leninism. The communist regime based in Pyongyang wanted the entire Korean Peninsula to be a socialist state under its rule, and it saw elections that would establish the Republic of Korea as a challenge to its goal.
The revolt on Jeju Island and the guerrilla warfare that followed were not a “democracy struggle.” The KWP-S started the attacks on Jeju on April 3, 1948, as part of a larger insurgency to disrupt the UN-supervised elections that occurred below the thirty-eighth parallel on May 10, 1948, in order to prevent the creation of the Republic of Korea. Rather than liberal democracy, the insurgents wanted North Korea’s communist regime to be the legitimate government over all of Korea, with the north’s communist system extended south to create a unified socialist Korea republic, a system without freedom.
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hudson.org · by Tara O
14. South Korea displays next-gen tank concept
Illustration at the link: https://defence-blog.com/south-korea-displays-next-gen-tank-concept/?utm_source=pocket_saves
South Korea displays next-gen tank concept
defence-blog.com · June 18, 2023
South Korean firm Hyundai Rotem has shown off a concept of their next-generation tank with various high-tech solutions.
The new main battle tank, called the K3, is based on a modular platform with a crew cab at forward and a power-pack at the rear.
The low-silhouette of the tank with reduced visibility in the radar and infrared ranges makes the new K3 almost invisible to the enemy. At the same time, anti-tank missiles and other weapons systems will have stealth capabilities thanks to the integration inside the turret.
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The hull will be equipped with a modular armor system made of steel, ceramics and composite materials.
Among its innovative characteristics is its unmanned turret, which includes a remotely controlled 130mm smoothbore main gun and thanks to a fully automated loading, requires a scant three crew members. The driver, gunner and tank commander are housed in a crew compartment that is located in an armored capsule at the front portion of the hull, isolated from the automatic loader as well as the ammunition storage in the center of the tank.
The K3 will have a combat weight of 55 tons and will be powered by a Diesel engine allowing the tank to reach a maximum road speed of 70 km/h and 50 km/h in off-road conditions with a maximum cruising range of 500 km.
South Korean Army requested the development of K3 tank to the Joint Chief of Staff since K2 Black Panther is already at maximum potential, and was approved. The first prototype is planned to be seen in 2030.
defence-blog.com · June 18, 2023
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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