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Quotes of the Day:
“You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
- John Wooden
"Science is not truth. Science is finding the truth. When science changes its opinion, it didn't lie to you. It learned more."
- Unknown (found on social media)
"All I insist on, and nothing else, is that you should show the whole world that you are not afraid. Be silent, if you choose; but when it is necessary, speak—and speak in such a way that people will remember it."
- Mozart
1. U.S. ready for 'all contingencies' of N. Korean provocation, envoy says in trilateral meeting with S. Korea, Japan
2. South Korea, Japan discuss goals at Australia’s Pitch Black exercise
3. S. Korean defense chief dangles prospect of 'infinite' benefits for N.K. denuclearization
4. PPP mulls addressing U.S. Congress on inflation act concerns
5. N. Korea calls U.S. human rights abuse accusations 'grave provocation'
6. Yoon gov't OKs civic group's plan for aid to N. Korea for 1st time
7. Biden hails achievement in winning investments from S. Korea
8. N. Korea orders campaign against young people singing songs with altered lyrics, S. Korean songs
9. U.S. stands ready for talks with Korea on EV tax credits
10.Heroes, heart-wrenching stories go viral after Typhoon Hinnamnor
11. S. Korea, Japan hold first senior-level defense talks in 6 years amid NK threats
12. Facing food shortages, N. Korea calls on overseas officials to secure corn, rice, and beans
13. Japan, S Korea, U.S. agree on tighter nuclear ties over N Korea threat
14. Hopes up for top-level negotiations on IRA, as US vice president plans Seoul visit
1. U.S. ready for 'all contingencies' of N. Korean provocation, envoy says in trilateral meeting with S. Korea, Japan
We are ready to demonstrate that Kim Jong-un's political warfare, blackmail diplomacy and warfighting strategies will not be successful.
"All contingencies" must include internal instability in the north and threats to the regime and the potential fallout (no pun intended).
U.S. ready for 'all contingencies' of N. Korean provocation, envoy says in trilateral meeting with S. Korea, Japan | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김은정 · September 7, 2022
TOKYO, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, the United States and Japan demonstrated a commitment Wednesday to their shared goal of the complete denuclearization of North Korea and a united front against its provocation, as their top envoys had consultations in Tokyo.
Sung Kim, Washington's special representative for Pyongyang, said the secretive Kim Jong-un regime seems to have been preparing for what would be its first nuclear test since 2017.
"A nuclear test would be a grave escalation, threaten regional and international peace and security, and undermine the global non-proliferation regime," he said at the outset of the meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts -- Kim Gunn and Takehiro Funakoshi.
He said, "We are preparing for all contingencies in close coordination with our Japan and South Korea allies and we are prepared to make short and long-term adjustments to our military posture in responding to the DPRK provocation." DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Our bottom line has not changed. Our goal remains a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he added, reaffirming that Washington is willing to resume dialogue with Pyongyang "without preconditions."
Kim Gunn said, "We will respond swiftly and decisively against any provocation by North Korea ... We also have serious concerns over North Korea's actions that are in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions." He stressed the importance of trilateral cooperation among the regional powers.
Japan's nuclear envoy said Tokyo "values and appreciates that our three countries share basic policy on North Korea including the goal towards the complete denuclearization of North Korea."
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by 김은정 · September 7, 2022
2. South Korea, Japan discuss goals at Australia’s Pitch Black exercise
If left to their own devices the ROK and Japanese militaries would get along just fine and would be a very powerful force if they were military allies. And a trilateral (ROK, Japan, US) alliance would be the dominating power in the region, which is why China so fears it.
South Korea, Japan discuss goals at Australia’s Pitch Black exercise
Defense News · by Mike Yeo · September 6, 2022
DARWIN, Australia — Japan and South Korea have both sent combat aircraft to Australia for the first time to take part in a large multinational air combat exercise.
The South Korean Air Force sent six upgraded F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighters to northern Australia for the Pitch Black exercise, while the Japan Air Self-Defense Force deployed its F-2A jets.
Both contingents are operating from a Royal Australian Air Force base at Darwin for the duration of the biennial exercise, which is taking place Aug. 19-Sept. 8 and includes aircraft from 10 countries plus NATO.
Korean participation
The South Korean jets are a mixture of single- and twin-seat aircraft that recently underwent major upgrades and were given the local KF-16U designation. They were fitted with a new active electronically scanned array radar, an advanced identification friend or foe system, mission computers and an electronic warfare suite, according to notification to Congress issued by the U.S. State Department in 2015 when it approved South Korea’s request to upgrade 134 F-16s.
Some of the fighter jets carried markings of the 20th and 38th fighter wings. However, pilot Maj. “Coldgun” Lee said the jets and most of the personnel participating in the exercise are from the Chungju-based 19th Fighter Wing and 39th Reconnaissance Group.
Lee told Defense News the South Korean aircrew are flying both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions at the exercise, and are alternating between serving as friendly and adversarial forces for the drills. He added that Pitch Black fosters interoperability in the employment of large force scenarios for participants, while the dry-season weather and large airspace available for the exercise were also a key drawcard.
The pilot did not reveal his full name due to security reasons.
The South Korean F-16s arrived in Australia via a stopover in the Philippines in the lead-up to the exercise. They were supported by a South Korea KC-330 Cygnus multirole tanker/transport aircraft, which also took part in Pitch Black from RAAF Base Amberley.
Japanese contingent
Japan sent five F-2As from the 3rd Squadron based at Hyakuri, northeast of Tokyo. The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force was originally due to make its debut at the 2020 iteration of Pitch Black, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a media visit to the Japanese contingent in Darwin, the detachment commander, Col. Mastaka Tadano, said his country’s participation this year is an opportunity to improve capabilities and interoperability with partner nations from the region and beyond.
The Japanese fighters also flew both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions at Pitch Black, alternating between friendly and adversarial forces during daytime and nighttime drills. Tadano told Defense News that one of the key objectives for the force at the exercise is to gain more experience in large force employment in a coalition setting — something the service lacks.
He added that the exercise also allows Japanese personnel to train with countries and aircraft they had never encountered before, specifically India’s Sukhoi Su-30s and France’s Dassault Rafales.
The Japanese contingent made its way to Australia via a stopover in Guam, supported by a KC-767 tanker of Japan’s 404th Squadron from Komaki air base. The tanker did not take part in Pitch Black, however, with the F-2s using Australian KC-30A tankers for midair refueling support during the exercise.
Australia and Japan have stepped up bilateral defense interactions in recent years, with the former’s fighter jets taking part in exercises with the latter’s in Japan, while an Australian KC-30A conducted refueling trials with F-2s over four weeks in April, flying from Komaki.
3. S. Korean defense chief dangles prospect of 'infinite' benefits for N.K. denuclearization
The Koreans in the north will receive "infinite" benefits when there is a free and unified Korea.
And to rehash my bottomline: The only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and military threats as well as the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity being committed against the Korean people living in the north by the mafia-like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a free and unified Korea that is secure and stable, non-nuclear, economically vibrant, and unified under a liberal constitutional form of government based on individual liberty, rule of law, and human rights as determined by the Korean people. A free and unified Korea or in short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
S. Korean defense chief dangles prospect of 'infinite' benefits for N.K. denuclearization | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · September 7, 2022
By Song Sang-ho and Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup on Wednesday held out the prospect of "infinite" benefits being provided to North Korea in case it opts to take a "new" path toward denuclearization.
Lee made the remarks during an opening ceremony of the annual Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) hosted by his ministry, as Seoul is pushing for its "audacious plan" designed to help the North improve its economy should it take denuclearization steps.
"Should North Korea choose to take a new path forward, the benefits that it would enjoy would be infinite," Lee said at the three-day SDD that kicked off Tuesday.
"I hope members of the international community will continue to marshal their efforts to make the North recognize that should it continue on the path for the development of nuclear weapons and missiles, it cannot help but face immense costs," he added.
In his keynote speech, South Korea's National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han struck a similar note, stressing that the door for inter-Korean dialogue remains open.
"Should North Korea come out for nuclear negotiations with sincerity, we will actively craft economic support measures and measures to build mutual trust from an early stage of negotiations," Kim said.
"In close cooperation with the international community, including the U.S., we will make efforts to foster conditions so that we can implement the audacious plan and realize denuclearization, peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula," he added.
Kim also pointed out that for the goal of the North's complete denuclearization, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration will push for a "principled" inter-Korean relationship while maintaining the "strong" deterrence based on the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
Uncertainties have shrouded the Yoon administration's audacious plan as Pyongyang has spurned the plan as the "height of absurdity" and remained unresponsive to calls for dialogue due apparently to COVID-19 and other reasons.
The annual security forum became a venue for discussions on international cooperation on the North's denuclearization and peace on the peninsula and beyond.
Among the high-profile participants was the Netherlands' Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren who drove home an impactful message highlighting the need for global cooperation in tackling transnational challenges.
"Today's challenges and threats are playing out on a global scale and this means we must address them on a global scale," the minister said.
"The concept of faraway no longer exists, considering, for example, climate change, terrorism, the threat of nuclear weapons. But those are challenges in domains such as cyber and space, and we can only address them by working together," she added.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
colin@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · September 7, 2022
4. PPP mulls addressing U.S. Congress on inflation act concerns
PPP mulls addressing U.S. Congress on inflation act concerns | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이민지 · September 7, 2022
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- The ruling People Power Party (PPP) is considering sending a letter to U.S. Congress to voice concerns over the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that is feared to hurt South Korean automakers, a lawmaker said Wednesday.
"The government and the ruling party are considering sending a letter to U.S. Congress to request cooperation based on the spirit of the South Korea-U.S. alliance to swiftly resolve the issue," Rep. Han Moo-kyung, the PPP's leader on the parliamentary trade and industry committee, told a party response meeting.
"We ask for the main opposition's bipartisan support," Han said.
The IRA, signed by U.S. President Joe Biden in August, gives tax credits to buyers of electric vehicles assembled only in North America, sparking concerns that carmakers here will lose ground in the U.S. market, as they make EVs at domestic plants for export.
"We are in discussion on whether to send the letter in the name of the ruling party or to escalate it to a standing committee or assembly level," Han told Yonhap News Agency by phone, adding that details are being arranged with the government.
Earlier this month, the National Assembly also passed a resolution which highlights the discriminatory nature of the law and calls for the Korean government to actively respond to the issue.
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이민지 · September 7, 2022
5. N. Korea calls U.S. human rights abuse accusations 'grave provocation'
Again, I cannot emphasize this enough: Kim is afraid of anything related to human rights because it undermines his legitimacy. He must deny the human rights of the Korean people in the north in order to remain in power. The regime's indoctrination of the people is such that it makes them believe they are free and have human rights. But they never understand true human rights until they escape from the north and experience real freedom in the South or other countries.
Human rights must be an integral part of any information and influence activities campaign. We owe it to the Korean people in the north to educate them on their universal human rights.
And as a reminder when we focus on discussing the regime's nuclear program we actually enhance regime legitimacy. I would like to see all ROK and US government spokesmen and officials respond to every question about the nuclear and missile threat from the north with comments about the human rights situation. Something as simple as "the Korean people in the north are suffering because KJU has chosen to prioritize nuclear and missile development over the welfare of the people." Every comment about nuclear weapons should include a human rights comment as part of a human rights upfront approach.
N. Korea calls U.S. human rights abuse accusations 'grave provocation' | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 채윤환 · September 7, 2022
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea bristled Wednesday at the United States having taken issue with its human rights situation, calling the move a "grave provocation."
In July, a U.S. State Department spokesperson expressed concerns over the North's rights situation following Seoul's appointment of a new envoy for the reclusive state's human rights.
A researcher at the North's Korea Association for Human Rights Studies dismissed the remarks and accused Washington of using the issue to strengthen its "hostile policy" against Pyongyang, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"This is another grave provocation violating sovereignty of our dignified state under the pretext of 'human rights,'" Ri Jin, the researcher, was quoted as saying in an English-language KCNA report.
"It is a revelation of its attempt at stronger and more open enforcement of its hostile policy toward the DPRK over the 'human rights issue,'" Ri added. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Ri repeated Pyongyang's claims that Washington has committed human rights violations through its foreign intervention.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 채윤환 · September 7, 2022
6. Yoon gov't OKs civic group's plan for aid to N. Korea for 1st time
Civil society support for a free and unified Korea.
Yoon gov't OKs civic group's plan for aid to N. Korea for 1st time | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · September 7, 2022
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has approved a civic group's plan to send nutritional aid to North Korea, a unification ministry official said Wednesday, the first such decision under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration launched in May.
"Last month, we approved a civilian group's application for assistance related to nutritional materials," the official said, without providing details, such as the name of the group.
The ministry has already approved seven similar requests from aid organizations this year.
Since taking office four months ago, the Yoon government has pledged to actively cooperate with the North on the humanitarian front regardless of political and military situations.
But it remains unclear whether the reclusive regime has received the assistance amid pandemic-induced border controls and chilly inter-Korean relations.
Cross-border exchanges remain stalled since a no-deal summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi in 2019. Pyongyang has not responded to Seoul's repeated offers for cooperation and dialogue.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · September 7, 2022
7. Biden hails achievement in winning investments from S. Korea
But will the iInflation Reduction Act impact future investments or will it cause any of these agreements to collapse?
Biden hails achievement in winning investments from S. Korea
donga.com
Posted September. 07, 2022 08:04,
Updated September. 07, 2022 08:04
Biden hails achievement in winning investments from S. Korea. September. 07, 2022 08:04. by Hyoun-Soo Kim kimhs@donga.com.
U.S. President Joe Biden is highlighting the reinvigoration of the U.S. manufacturing industry powered by investments made by South Korea, a semiconductor and battery power. This is to gain an upper hand in the upcoming midterm election in November by touting economic achievements made under his administration.
On his Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Monday, President Biden said that manufacturers all over the world are coming to the United States, from Korea, from Japan, and from all over the world. Biden also quoted the head of an outfit out of Korea who told that the U.S. has the safest environment and the best workers in the world. Further, President Biden got a big applause when he said that well over 100 billion dollars have been invested in the U.S. by Korea and other countries. “We’re going to build the future in America with American workers in American factories using American-made products,” highlighted the American president.
President Biden mentioned the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides 52.7 billion dollars with the U.S. semiconductor industry, as the reason for global enterprises making investments in the U.S. “I signed the CHIPS and Science Act, a groundbreaking law. We’ll once again manufacture semiconductor chips that power everyday – everything - our smartphones, dishwashers, automobiles, national security stuff - right here in America. Guess what? We invented it here in America,” asserted President Biden in applause.
President Biden also unveiled a plan to go to Ohio for the groundbreaking of a 20-billion-dollar semiconductor manufacturing plant by Intel. The company announced that it would create thousands of jobs, including those for blue-collar workers who will make 125,000 jobs. Micron, the only American memory-chip maker, also announced that it would make 15 billion dollars in investment for the next decade to build a new memory chip plant in the U.S., which will be the first of its kind in 20 years.
With official campaign having been officially set off for the November midterm elections, President Biden is actively touting his achievements represented by the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which offers tax credits for only electric vehicles made in North America. With inflation and concerns about economic recession slowing down, President Biden hails efforts made for revitalization of the U.S. manufacturing industry and job creation under his administration as a major campaign agenda. “Electric vehicles and semiconductors will be made right here in America,” said Biden in his statement on the Micron’s investment. President Biden said on his twitter that IRA will offer working families benefits.
한국어
donga.com
8. N. Korea orders campaign against young people singing songs with altered lyrics, S. Korean songs
Actions like this make information and influence activities so simple. Now we need to take the Nike approach toward conducting influence activities: "Just do it." Let's get on with business.
N. Korea orders campaign against young people singing songs with altered lyrics, S. Korean songs
"Around ten young people who had South Korean songs saved on their phone were busted during a crackdown by Youth League monitors in Chongjin between Aug. 25 and 27," a source told Daily NK
dailynk.com
A group of North Korean students in Pyongyang. (fresh888, Flickr, Creative Commons)
The North Korean government has recently ordered that a vigorous campaign be waged against a recent trend among North Korean young people to sing songs of unknown origin or popular songs with altered lyrics, Daily NK has learned.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Monday that the government ordered branches of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League around the country to combat this trend, especially when lyrics are being distorted for songs of great ideological or revolutionary significance.
“There is a continuing trend among young people who lack a profound affinity for the needs and intentions of the Workers’ Party to willfully distort songs in a way that runs contrary to our times or to go around singing songs of indeterminate origin and degenerate songs that are saved on their mobile phones or jotted down in their notebooks,” the authorities noted in their recent order.
In line with this order, provincial, municipal and county branches of the Youth League have been sending out teams of monitors since the end of August to city streets and villages to inspect young people’s mobile phones, notebooks and planners.
The monitors are focusing on young people who go around town openly listening to foreign songs that are saved on their mobile phones, the source said.
According to the source, some ten young people who had South Korean songs saved on their phone were busted during a crackdown by Youth League monitors in the city of Chongjin between Aug. 25 and 27.
“The young people who were caught were ordered to spend three days writing statements of contrition and 20 days in hard labor under the ideological education and punishment regulations set up by the Chongjin Youth League Committee,” the source said.
The Youth League monitors also found sarcastic lyrics set to the tunes of North Korean revolutionary or popular songs in the notebooks of 20 or so high school students, who were then brought before their local Youth League committees and given several days to write statements of contrition.
The North Korean government is currently cracking down harder on what it regards as “impure behavior” — such as importing or distributing foreign culture — as it focuses on preventing ideological dilution among the young people who represent the future of the country.
Previously, the authorities had focused their crackdown on the consumption of what are known as “impure recordings,” including South Korean movies, TV shows and music videos. But more recently, they have also been paying attention to the act of singing songs of uncertain provenance or penning critical or satirical versions of the lyrics to popular songs.
The source described the mood on the ground as follows: “The government’s orchestrated control and crackdown on young people continues each year. This tough ideological crackdown that views impure recordings and songs of unknown origin as rotting and corrupting the youth is making more young people fed up with the stifling atmosphere in society.”
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
9. U.S. stands ready for talks with Korea on EV tax credits
I hope we can get this worked out in a mutually agreeable way.
Wednesday
September 7, 2022
dictionary + A - A
U.S. stands ready for talks with Korea on EV tax credits
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/07/business/industry/korea-ira-inflation-reduction-act/20220907111420508.html
Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun speaks to reporters in Washington on Sept. 6. [YONHAP]
The United States stands ready to engage in serious consultations with Korea on concerns over the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that Seoul believes would place Korean automakers at a serious disadvantage, a White House official said Tuesday.
John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) coordinator for strategic communications, however, noted that the IRA does offer benefits to foreign manufacturers.
"We take their concerns seriously as always, and we certainly stand ready for serious consultations," the NSC official said in an online press briefing when asked about National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's meeting with his Korean and Japanese counterparts in Hawaii last week.
Kim Sung-han, Korea's top national security adviser, earlier said his U.S. counterpart, Sullivan, had agreed to have the NSC itself look into the issue.
The IRA was signed into law last month, offering a government tax credit of up to $7,500 to each buyer of an electric vehicle assembled in North America, excluding all Korean-made electric cars, which are currently assembled in Korea, from the tax incentive.
Seoul believes the new U.S. law violates the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, which promises to treat products from each country as domestic goods or from countries with most-favored nation status.
Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said the IRA created a "serious issue" that, if left unsolved, may undermine the mutual trust between Seoul and Washington.
"This means the White House fully understands that this is not a small issue that affects only Hyundai Motor but a serious issue that affects economic and trade trust between the two countries," Ahn said while meeting with reporters.
Ahn made the remarks after meeting with White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. The Korean official arrived here Monday for talks on the IRA. He is also scheduled to meet U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Wednesday.
He also highlighted the importance of how the countries resolve the issue at hand.
"There can be other unexpected problems in the future as both countries deal with their domestic politics but how their governments resolve such problems when they arise is the more important issue of trust," Ahn said.
"In that sense, the countries have agreed on the need to actively work together to address this issue at hand," he added.
Kirby said more details of the IRA will be available in the future but noted the law does offer benefits to foreign automakers.
"We will have more details in the coming months as we begin the domestic rule-making process," he said.
"But I would refer you to the Department of Energy's website, which does contain some initial information about makes, vehicles produced in North America that are eligible for the tax credit, which obviously include foreign manufacturers," added Kirby.
He also highlighted the importance of cooperation between Korea and the United States in dealing with common challenges that he said will help the countries meet their "clean energy goals and reduce costs."
"The Republic of Korea is one of our strongest allies and very close economic partner in the region," Kirby said.
"So we share a common commitment to addressing the climate crisis and we are also committed to boosting electric vehicle manufacturing, infrastructure, innovation — all those things that are going to help us meet our clean energy goals and reduce costs to create jobs."
Yonhap
10. Heroes, heart-wrenching stories go viral after Typhoon Hinnamnor
Heroes, heart-wrenching stories go viral after Typhoon Hinnamnor
The Korea Times · by 2022-09-07 16:45 | Companies · September 7, 2022
Firefighters rescue residents from a flooded underground parking garage in Pohang, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon
Typhoon leaves 10 dead with 2 missing
By Lee Yeon-woo
Typhoon Hinnamnor wreaked havoc on the nation's southern region, toppling trees and flooding homes. As of Wednesday evening, 11 people were dead and one remains missing. As the rescue efforts continued, both heart-warming and heart-wrenching stories have caught the public's attention.
A 28-year-old heavy vehicle driver has been applauded by the public for having towed eight vehicles trapped in floodwaters in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province one of the cities hit hardest by the super typhoon. For his heroic deeds, he earned the nickname the "Aquaman of Gyeongju."
His real name is Gu Kang-min, a Gyeongju citizen who drives a heavy vehicle for a living. On Tuesday, he had a day off due to the typhoon, so he drove his own SUV around to look for anyone in distress. Due to his off-road driving hobby, he had all the gear necessary to offer help.
After about an hour, he found a driver trapped in a flooded vehicle and winched the car out to safety. He rescued a total of eight vehicles that day, ranging in size from small cars to recreational vehicles, from flooded roads near Gyeongbu Expressway.
POSCO's main steel mill shuts down for 1st time due to flooding
"I work as a driver so I understand the driver's mind more than anybody else. I couldn't just pass by cars and drivers in need of help. I think helping others grew into a habit thanks to the off-roading club I go to. I hope disasters like this won't happen again, but if they do, I will race to the scene," Gu said.
A person stuck in a flooded riverside area is rescued by firefighters in Ulsan, Tuesday. Yonhap
On Jeju Island, the so-called "Dump Truck Avengers," named after Marvel's popular "Avengers" characters, are the equivalent of Gyeongju's DC-inspired Aquaman.
They appeared on Monday in Seongsan, the easternmost region of the resort island. To prevent damage from heavy winds during the typhoon, several dump truck drivers parked in front of stores with large glass windows to cover them. The trucks were parked all day long on Monday when the winds were the strongest and moved to another place the day after.
Store owners said the damage would have been massive if the windows hadn't been shielded from the heavy rain and winds. But thanks to the trucks weighing more than 25 tons, those stores made it safely through the typhoon.
More heroic stories were reported in Seoul. Two police officers from Guro Police Station saved a woman trapped in Dorim Stream, Monday. Swept away by a sudden surge of water, she held tight to a big tree branch, with only her face and hands above the water when the police arrived at the scene. It took only six minutes for the police to receive a call to help the woman, police said.
Police in Seoul's Dongdaemun District also evacuated 15 residents successfully, Tuesday, right after they found out a wall had collapsed onto a gas pipeline. Staff from the gas distributor company cut off the gas supply and eliminated the chance of a gas leak after the residents were evacuated safely.
Firefighters rescue residents from a flooded underground parking garage in Pohang, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon
Together with heart-warming stories, there are also tragic stories that saddened the public.
Rescue workers have found nine missing people in the flooded underground parking garage of an apartment in the southern coastal city of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Two were alive and seven others were found dead. One of the survivors is a 52-year-old woman identified only by her surname Kim.
On Wednesday, she went down to the underground parking garage of her apartment after hearing an announcement that residents who parked their vehicles there should move them out. Her 15-year-old son followed her as he was concerned about her safety amid the heavy downpour. When the underground parking garage was flooded, she survived but her son was later found dead.
The Korea Times · by 2022-09-07 16:45 | Companies · September 7, 2022
11. S. Korea, Japan hold first senior-level defense talks in 6 years amid NK threats
S. Korea, Japan hold first senior-level defense talks in 6 years amid NK threats
The Korea Times · September 7, 2022
South Korean Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul, left, speaks with Japanese Vice Defense Minister for International Affairs Masami Oka during the Seoul Defense Dialogue 2022 in Seoul on Sept. 7. Yonhap
South Korea and Japan held bilateral vice-ministerial defense talks in Seoul on Wednesday for the first time in six years, as they seek to enhance security cooperation against North Korea's evolving military threats.
Seoul's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul and Tokyo's Vice Defense Minister for International Affairs Masami Oka met on the margins of the annual three-day Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) that kicked off the previous day.
Such defense talks have not been held since 2016, as Seoul and Tokyo have long been mired in a set of historical and territorial feuds stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
"The meeting was held based on the two sides' shared understanding on the need for the normalization of defense cooperation between South Korea and Japan," Shin said after the meeting.
"The two sides especially shared the view on the importance of trilateral security cooperation among the South, the U.S. and Japan to deter and respond to the North's nuclear and missile threats, and agreed to continue related cooperation," he added.
Shin also said that the meeting touched on the two countries' unresolved dispute over Japan's maritime patrol aircraft having conducted an unusually low-altitude flyby over a South Korean warship in December 2018.
The dispute has remained unsettled as Seoul has taken issue with what it decried as a menacing flyby, while Tokyo accused the vessel of having locked its fire-control radar on the plane.
"The two sides reached an understanding on the need to address (that issue) for the development of cooperation between the two countries' defense ministries," Shin said. "On this matter, we agreed to have additional working-level discussions."
Another topic at the meeting was Tokyo's invitation for the South Korean Navy to attend Japan's fleet review set to be held in November to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country's Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF).
"Our side delivered our position that we are internally looking into it at this point," Shin said.
The planned fleet review has been a source of controversy here as it features the hoisting of the Rising Sun Flag on Japanese vessels. The flag is viewed in Korea as a symbol of Japan's imperialist past. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · September 7, 2022
12. Facing food shortages, N. Korea calls on overseas officials to secure corn, rice, and beans
This is quite an indication of the severe problems in north Korea. I wonder what they expect these overseas officials to do: bring hom grain in their suitcases? On a serious note, Russia and India are contributing.
Facing food shortages, N. Korea calls on overseas officials to secure corn, rice, and beans
Grain secured by North Korean officials overseas is entering the country through the ports of Nampo and Songnim, along with the port of Hungnam
dailynk.com
A ship docked at Nampo Port (Wikimedia Commons)
Faced with worse-than-expected food shortages, North Korea’s leadership recently ordered officials stationed abroad to secure grain supplies, Daily NK has learned.
According to a high-ranking source in North Korea on Friday, North Korea issued an order in early August calling on officials stationed overseas to pay their party contributions for the second half of the year in kind, namely, in rice, corn, beans and other foodstuffs.
The order was sent to officials working overseas in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of External Economic Relations, the Defense Industry Department, Central Committee and other agencies as diplomats, trade delegates and smugglers of specialized items.
Even agents sent to Africa and the Middle East with false passports to smuggle confidential items for the regime have been ordered to deliver rice. This has sparked concern among them about whether the nation might be facing its greatest difficulties since the “Arduous March.”
North Korea reportedly afixed an explanation to the order that blamed COVID-19 for the shortfall.
The explanation read, “Agricultural production took a hit following a ban on movement with the emergence of COVID-19 cases during the first half of the year, a time when the nation was supposed to fully mobilize labor into agricultural areas.”
North Korea’s leadership also told officials to secure as much grain as possible “since one ton would be good, as would two tons,” and that it would exempt the value of the grain they secured from their scheduled cash contributions to the Workers’ Party.
The State Planning Commission and the Cabinet’s Agricultural Commission usually calculate food shortfalls in late October, when the outline of the year’s grain production becomes apparent after the harvest. But this year, with North Korea engaging in full-scale production of wheat and barley, they made their calculations in late July, at the end of the double-cropping period.
When the estimate revealed worse-than-expected shortages, North Korea’s ruling party and Cabinet convened a meeting to discuss a response.
The source said officials at the meeting also proposed a plan for the government to make official requests to import food from China or Russia. However, the meeting decided to call on overseas officials or groups to secure food for the state on their own, believing an official request from the government for food would look bad.
Specifically, North Korean authorities asked officials overseas to take care to avoid incidents that would require direct state intervention. They reportedly stressed — multiple times — that this effort was not part of an official food request by the government.
In fact, North Korean authorities are being very careful to hide from audiences both at home and abroad that the state received food from other countries. That is, they asked officials to maintain secrecy to ensure nobody sees either the order to secure food or the process of actually securing the food.
Kim Jong Un at a commemorative photo event reported by North Korean state-run media in early May. (Rodong Sinmin-News1)
North Korea appears to have ordered its officials to operate in utmost secrecy because Pyongyang itself considers it shameful for a nation developing nuclear weapons to beg for food from other nations, and faith in both the party and state could collapse if North Koreans were to learn of the effort.
The Indian Chamber of International Business (ICIB) recently posted on its homepage that North Korean officials had visited the New Delhi office of the ICIB to discuss humanitarian food aid for the North Korean people, along with a photo of individuals presumed to be North Koreans.
In regards to this news, Daily NK’s source expressed concern, warning that “if news of a request for food gets out like that, [the officials] could be punished.”
In particular, North Korea has reportedly underscored that officials overseas must not directly communicate with South Koreans or Americans. They can obtain South Korean or US-based grain through citizens or groups in other countries, but they must not directly deal with people from those two countries. Moreover, South Korean or US grain must not be marked in any way that could identify the nation of origin.
The source explained that the authorities worry about the political and ideological repercussions that could follow if North Koreans were to find out that they received food aid from South Korea or the US.
Meanwhile, grain secured by North Korean officials overseas is reportedly entering the country through not only the ports of Nampo and Songnim, but also the port of Hungnam, South Hamgyong Province on the East Sea coast.
Another Daily NK source said that while most of the grain is coming from China, “food will come in from several countries as every official dispatched overseas has been tasked with providing grain.”
North Korean authorities recently imported wheat from Russia, but distributed it after mixing it with North Korean wheat and grinding it into flour to hide where it came from.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
13. Japan, S Korea, U.S. agree on tighter nuclear ties over N Korea threat
Trilateral cooperation in the hopes of someday presenting a united trilateral alliance front.
Japan, S Korea, U.S. agree on tighter nuclear ties over N Korea threat
Reuters · by Elaine Lies
TOKYO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The nuclear envoys of Japan, South Korea and the United States agreed on Wednesday to strengthen security ties in the face of potential "provocation" from North Korea in the form of a nuclear test.
North Korea has conducted an unusual number of missile launches this year while the United States has warned that Pyongyang could sell weapons to Russia. read more
Wednesday's trilateral meeting in Tokyofollowed similar talks over the past two months, including between security advisers in Hawaii last week amid signs North Korea may be about to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.
"North Korea is continuing and even accelerating its nuclear and missile capabilities, and there is a looming chance of further provocation, including a nuclear test," Japanese envoy Takehiro Funakoshi said before Wednesday's discussions.
"At the same time, we remain open to entertaining dialogue with North Korea," he said, adding that Pyongyang was always welcome at negotiations, a sentiment endorsed by Sung Kim of the United States and Kim Gunn from South Korea.
Sung Kim also said Washington was prepared for any contingency, adding: "Our bottom line has not changed. Our goal remains a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
Japan's Foreign Ministry later said in a statement that the three had shared deep concerns about Pyongyang's recent activities.
North Korea has conducted missile tests at an unprecedented pace this year.
In mid-August, North Korea fired two cruise missiles from its west coast after South Korea and the United States resumed their largest field exercises in years. Pyongyang has long denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for war.
South Korea's national security adviser, Kim Sung-han, said after the Hawaii meeting that he and his counterparts had agreed there would not be a "soft" response if North Korea conducted a nuclear test. He did not give details, but the government has previously mentioned more sanctions.
An additional concern is that North Korea may sell arms to Russia, its old Cold War ally.
The White House said on Tuesday that Russia could be about to buy "literally millions" of artillery shells and rockets from Pyongyang, though it had no indication that the purchase had yet occurred.
Reporting by Elaine Lies Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Gerry Doyle and John Stonestreet
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Reuters · by Elaine Lies
14. Hopes up for top-level negotiations on IRA, as US vice president plans Seoul visit
The VP to Seoul. She will get an earful on the IRA.
Hopes up for top-level negotiations on IRA, as US vice president plans Seoul visit
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · September 7, 2022
Anticipation is growing here for top-level negotiations on the US Inflation Reduction Act that Korean electric-vehicle makers say would hurt their business, following news of a possible visit to the country by US Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris is reportedly coordinating a visit to Seoul to meet with Korean authorities after going to Japan to attend the state funeral of assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sept. 27, according to local government authorities.
If her Seoul visit is arranged, it will be her first after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol came into office in May. The US vice president is also expected to travel to other Asian countries.
Harris’ spouse, US second gentleman Douglas Emhoff visited Korea earlier this year as part of the US delegation to attend Yoon's inauguration ceremony.
During Harris' visit, the Korean government is expected to deliver its concerns regarding the US IRA that was signed into law on Aug. 16. The new law that encompasses health care, taxation and climate measures, would take away tax benefits given to Korean electric vehicles being sold in the US upon implementation.
Under the IRA, only EVs assembled inside North America are qualified for the US government's maximum tax subsidies of $7,500. For Korean automakers, including Hyundai Motor and Kia, that means the IRA lowers their price competitiveness, as they build their flagship electric models in Korea.
Amid rising concerns, the South Korean government has relayed the industry's worries and asked to establish a channel to the US where they can discuss measures to minimize the negative impacts the IRA has on Korean automakers.
Seoul believes that the new US law violates the US-Korea free trade agreement, and has also considered bringing the case to the World Trade Organization for a possible violation of the “most favored nation” principle.
US National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby on Monday said the US is ready to engage in serious consultations with South Korea on the IRA issue.
At the same time, Kirby mentioned that the IRA does offer benefits to foreign manufacturers.
"We take their concerns seriously as always, and we certainly stand ready for serious consultations," Kirby said in an online press briefing when asked about national security adviser Jake Sullivan's meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Hawaii last week.
After meeting with Sullivan in Honolulu, Kim Sung-han, Seoul's national security adviser said they agreed to have the US NSC look into the concerns of the Korean EV industry.
"We will have more details in the coming months as we begin the domestic rule-making process," Kirby said.
"But I would refer you to the Department of Energy's website, which does contain some initial information about makes, vehicles produced in North America that are eligible for the tax credit, which obviously include foreign manufacturers."
Kirby also highlighted how the bilateral cooperation of Seoul and Washington would help them meet their "clean energy goals and reduce costs."
"The Republic of Korea is one of our strongest allies and very close economic partner in the region," the official said. "So we share a common commitment to addressing the climate crisis and we are also committed to boosting electric vehicle manufacturing, infrastructure, innovation -- all those things that are going to help us meet our clean energy goals and reduce costs to create jobs."
By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Jo He-rim · September 7, 2022
15.
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
VIDEO "WHEREBY" Link: https://whereby.com/david-maxwell
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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