|
Quotes of the Day:
“In the future, we should anticipate seeing more hybrid wars where conventional warfare, irregular warfare, asymmetric warfare, and information warfare all blend together, creating a very complex and challenging situation to the combatants; therefore it will require military forces to posses hybrid capabilities, which might help deal with hybrid threats.” - Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono
"As a nation we are not really trying to win the cold war. We are relying on armaments and armies to win a hot war if a hot war comes. But winning a hot war which leaves a cold war unwon will not win very much for very long. Our present facilities for the “war of ideas” should enable us to retard the advance of international communism, dull the edge of its propaganda and help to give the free world a breathing space. This itself is important. But these facilities will not enable us to win the cold war. Nor perhaps will even larger facilities enable us to win it, until as a nation, or mutually with other nations, we can couple what we are able to say overseas more effectively with what we are able to do overseas."
- Dr Wilson Compton, Administrator of the International Information Administration, 1952
“I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country in his heart and not with lips only follow me.”
-Giuseppe Garibaldi
1. N. Korea only instigates confusion among S. Koreans fruitlessly
2. Inside the privileged life of Ju Ae, Kim Jong Un’s 9-year-old daughter
3. ‘Gangnam Style’ Brought K-Pop to the World, but Haunted Its Creator
4. Two S. Korean sailors kidnapped by pirates in West Africa released unharmed: ministry
5. Korea and China to begin 1.5-track dialogue in next spring
6. S. Korea to cremate body of presumed N. Korean found near border amid Pyongyang's silence
7. North holding 5-day security and counterintelligence conference
8. Halifax International Security Forum, glimpse of United States’ determination for leadership
9. [Lee Kyong-hee] Muffled voices haunt the ‘Alley of Wailing’
10. Korea aims to become world's No. 4 arms exporter
11. As Trump Looms, South Koreans Mull Their Own Nukes
12. North Korea's crypto-heists show vulnerabilities in Western security: experts
13. “We played this vodka game” — Dennis Rodman on his wild drinking games with Kim Jong-un
14. Why is South Korea called Korea Republic at the World Cup?
1. N. Korea only instigates confusion among S. Koreans fruitlessly
Thank you to the Donga Ilbo for countering the regime's political warfare strategy by recognizing it, understanding it, EXPOSING it, and attacking it with information.
This editorial contributes to trying to help inoculate the Korea people in the South against the regime's strategy.
Conclusion:
Pyongyang may likely use the unilateral sanctions imposed by Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo that are putting greater pressure on the regime as a pretext for its additional provocations, including a seventh nuclear test. However, it is a complete miscalculation that it believes it can affect South Korean citizens by inciting internal conflict and shifting the blame onto Seoul to justify its provocations. Such low-quality language per se is only a disgusting act of outright disgrace, just as put by the regime. It must realize that using sly schemes and spitting out vulgar comments is no different from cutting off its nose to spite its face.
We should understand that the regime is conducting an active subversion campaign against the ROK and the Alliance.
•The undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution.
–As in: "the ruthless subversion of democracy"
•Ideological War – a choice between:
–Shared ROK/US Values
•Freedom and individual liberty, liberal democracy, rule of law, free market economy, and human rights
–Kim family regime (KFR) “values”
•Juche/Kimilsungism, Socialist Workers Paradise, Songun, Songbun, Byungjin, rule BY law, and denial of human rights to sustain KFR power
•nK engages in active subversion of the ROK as well as the ROK/US Alliance
A counter to the north's political warfare strategy is a sophisticated influence campaign against the north.
ØDesign an overt influence campaign targeting the Korean people based on Information, Knowledge, Truth, and Understanding
•Information – massive quantities of information from entertainment to news
•Knowledge – practical information on how to effect change, best practices for agriculture and market activity, educational lessons without Juche influence
•Truth – the truth about the regime and the situation in north Korea and the outside world
•Understanding – help the Korean people in the north to understand the inalienable and universal rights that belong to all human beings
N. Korea only instigates confusion among S. Koreans fruitlessly
donga.com
Posted November. 25, 2022 07:41,
Updated November. 25, 2022 07:41
N. Korea only instigates confusion among S. Koreans fruitlessly. November. 25, 2022 07:41. .
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong issued a statement on Thursday offensively describing the Yoon Suk-yeol administrate as an “idiot” and saying that she does not understand why South Korean citizens sit on their hands. She added, “At least when Moon Jae-in was at the helm, Seoul was not our main target,” seemingly intending to drive a wedge between the former and the incumbent South Korean administrations and threatening to aim at Seoul, the heart of the current government.
Kim Yo Jong, practically the regime’s No. 2 leader, made such explicitly intimidating remarks about Seoul, which is in line with a high-ranking North Korean official’s statement this April that main targets in Seoul will be destroyed devastatingly. Although it was 28 years ago that it threatened to drive Seoul into a sea of fire, the level of tension and urgency that its threats are elevating only feels palpable and real. Indeed, it has recently deployed forces specialized in operating tactical nuclear weapons closer to the forefront and fired ballistic missiles even right in the sea near Sokcho, South Korea.
Added to this, Pyongyang bluntly encouraged South Korean citizens to stage anti-government protests by asking them not to stay inactive. It is a clichéd attempt by the regime to take advantage of a group of anti-government protestors within South Korea and deal a critical blow to its incumbent administration. Even the regime's second-highest leader seems enthusiastic about instigating confusion and conflict across South Korea. It is no news that she makes such an embarrassingly rude comment. Back in August, she harshly denounced South Korean President Yoon's "Audacious Initiative” as all bollocks, saying she just loathed him for no good reason. This vulgar language only illustrates that they are fretting.
Pyongyang may likely use the unilateral sanctions imposed by Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo that are putting greater pressure on the regime as a pretext for its additional provocations, including a seventh nuclear test. However, it is a complete miscalculation that it believes it can affect South Korean citizens by inciting internal conflict and shifting the blame onto Seoul to justify its provocations. Such low-quality language per se is only a disgusting act of outright disgrace, just as put by the regime. It must realize that using sly schemes and spitting out vulgar comments is no different from cutting off its nose to spite its face.
한국어
donga.com
2. Inside the privileged life of Ju Ae, Kim Jong Un’s 9-year-old daughter
Inside the privileged life of Ju Ae, Kim Jong Un’s 9-year-old daughter
New York Post · by Dana Kennedy · November 23, 2022
Don’t cry for the dictator’s daughter.
Nine-year-old Ju Ae, who was pictured publicly last week for the first time when she showed up holding hands with her father, North Korean despot Kim Jong Un, to observe the launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, may have a weird life — but it’s probably a very good life, North Korea analysts say.
She’s believed to have two siblings, including an older brother, and is based with her family in their massive seaside villa in Wonsan in the province of Kangwon. The estate, which has been compared to Mar-a-Lago, has swimming pools, tennis courts, soccer fields, waterslides and a sports stadium and is located on east North Korea’s beautiful Sea of Japan’s beaches.
When they tire of Wonsan, the family has about 15 other mansions and palaces scattered across the country that they travel to via an elaborate underground system of tunnels and railways designed to avoid the prying eyes of overhead foreign intelligence satellites, North Korea experts said.
State media did not release her name but the girl was identified in 2013 by retired NBA star Dennis Rodman, who reportedly said he had held Ju Ae during a “relaxing” visit with his strongman pal.
Ju Ae (second from left, between her parents Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol-Ju) travels between the family’s 16 mansions.
via REUTERS
“When you look at that picture of of him holding her hand you can see a degree of intimacy and you can see it’s something she’s used to,” said expert Michael Madden.
via REUTERS
Ju Ae reportedly has plenty of attention and devotion from her parents, according to Michael Madden, a nonresident fellow at the Stinson Center and an expert on North Korea.
“She has a very nice life,” Madden told The Post of Ju Ae. “She and her siblings have a full complement of nannies and housekeepers but they also hang out with their parents a lot. Kim Jong Un’s dad was a hard guy but was very attentive to his kids too. When you’re a dictator you get to choose how you spend your time.”
Kim Jong Un, 40, has been the Supreme Leader of the hermit kingdom since 2011, following in the footsteps of his father. Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, the founder of North Korea. Unlike his predecessors, who were serial philanderers, Kim Jong Un is thought to be faithful to his wife, Ri Sol-Ju.
Ju Ae observed the launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile with her parents and government officials gathered at Pyongyang International Airport.
Kim is said to be devoted to his wife of 13 years, Ri Sol-Ju.
Getty Images
Photos from the spectacle show Kim watching the launch from a distance alongside his daughter, who wore a white jacket and red shoes and had her hair pulled back.
“When you look at that picture of of him holding her hand you can see a degree of intimacy and you can see it’s something she’s used to,” Madden said. “This is not just a photo op.”
At the same time, it is a photo op, Madden explained.
“North Korea likes to kill five birds with one stone with their messaging,” he said. “I think the affection is real but they clearly are trying to humanize Kim Jong Un and trying to make him appear as normal as possible. His father cultivated an aura of mystery. He used to say, ‘When the enemy looks at us they should look into a fog.’ But now they seem to want less mystery and make Kim look like a normal family man. He represents a departure from his father.”
Experts told The Post that, by showing off his daughter, Kim Jong Un is reminding his people that he and his family are there to stay.
via REUTERS
North Korea also wants to send a message to the world that the Kim family is firmly entrenched as the country’s rulers — like a monarchy.
The Kims have long claimed to have what they call the “Mount Paektu bloodline.” Mount Paektu lies in the north and is the highest, most sacred spot on the peninsula for all Koreans. It’s where the spiritual founder of Koreans, Dangun, son of a god and a bear, was said to have been born in 2333 BC.
“Kim Jong Un is saying in these photos of him with his daughter: My regime is not going anywhere so get used to it,” Sean King, an Asia specialist at Park Strategies, told The Post. “The Kim regime and North Korea is here to stay and here is the next generation. The nukes aren’t going anywhere either.”
“The family lives a very exclusive, barricaded life,” expert Sean King said.
via REUTERS
King also said Ju Ae and her siblings live a good life from what outsiders can see.
“The family lives a very exclusive, barricaded life in these palaces,” King said. “It’s a cloistered life but a good one. But of course a lot of what the family does is not just a secret from us, it’s a secret to their own people as well.”
Unlike her father, however, it’s unlikely Ju Ae or her siblings will study abroad.
It’s believed that Ri and Kim have two other children as well.
Getty Images
Kim was sent to a posh private school in Bern, Switzerland — where an older brother had already gone to study — at age 12 in 1996, amidst the devastating North Korean famine that killed up to 3 million people. He was left in the care of an aunt who posed as his mother and later defected to the US, where she ran a dry cleaners in Manhattan. (She now lives in upstate New York.)
One of his classmates at the Liebefeld-Steinhölzli school described Kim as a reserved kid who could be temperamental and was obsessed with basketball, especially Michael Jordan. He also loved Jean-Claude Van Damme movies.
Kim was so crazy about basketball that he sometimes slept with one next to his bed, his aunt once said. He wore NBA jerseys, had a massive collection of expensive Nike shoes and wore fancy tracksuits — but never jeans, as they were a sign of hated capitalism.
Kim’s father, Kim Jong-Il, was the country’s last dictator — and the family believes they are descended from the “Mount Paektu bloodline.”
Getty Images
Ju Ae probably won’t study abroad because security concerns are too great, but she will have access to the outside world in a way regular North Korean children never will, Madden said.
“North Korean elites have unfettered access to the outside world,” Madden said. “KJU watches CNN all the time. He grew up watching ‘The Matrix’ and listening to Prince and Madonna. His kids’ minds might be a little warped but [Ju Ae] has access to the Internet, I assure you.”
New York Post · by Dana Kennedy · November 23, 2022
3. ‘Gangnam Style’ Brought K-Pop to the World, but Haunted Its Creator
Little known background.
Not mentioned here is the anti-American/anti-alliance sentiment Psy demonstrated on occasion before his hit song.
‘Gangnam Style’ Brought K-Pop to the World, but Haunted Its Creator
nytimes.com · by Victoria Kim · November 25, 2022
In 2012, the song took over the internet, and it helped pave the way for the global success of Korean pop. But Psy, the artist behind it, spent years trying and failing to replicate the phenomenon.
Psy during an interview on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his hit “Gangnam Style,” at his office in Seoul (specifically, in the Gangnam area).Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
SEOUL — He may not look it, in a spiffy double-breasted suit and a coiffure secured with enough hair gel to reflect the ceiling lights, but the 45-year-old music executive confides a secret as he rubs his temples: He’s hung over.
But he doesn’t mind nursing this headache, at well past 2 p.m. on a Thursday in Seoul. Some of his best songwriting ideas come to him, he said, in the malaise that follows a night of hard drinking.
The man doing the creative suffering is Psy, the onetime global internet sensation whose 2012 viral music video and earworm of a song, “Gangnam Style,” became the first-ever YouTube offering to surpass one billion views and had the world galloping along with him.
The outlandish but irresistibly catchy song and accompanying video — which has Psy doing the tune’s signature horseback dance move in and around Gangnam, an upscale Seoul neighborhood — achieved the breakthrough, worldwide success that had mostly eluded Korean pop acts, or K-pop, before then.
The video, which now has some 4.6 billion views, was so culturally pervasive in 2012 that Barack Obama was asked about it on Election Day. NASA astronauts recorded a parody, and a North Korean state propaganda site evoked the dance move to mock a South Korean politician.
But for several years in the aftermath of all his viral fame, Psy said, the song’s success haunted him. Even as he was thrust overnight into a Hollywood existence, getting chased around New York City by paparazzi, signing with Justin Bieber’s manager and releasing a single with Snoop Dogg, internally he felt the pressure mounting for another hit.
“Let’s make just one more,” he says he kept telling himself.
He moved to Los Angeles in an effort to get a global career going in earnest, an ocean away from his native South Korea, where he was both a fixture of the music charts and a source of comic relief on silly television variety shows. But none of the attempts came close to replicating the formula that made “Gangnam Style” a global success.
Psy wasn’t alone in trying to figure out how to reproduce the phenomenon. In South Korea, not only the music industry but government officials and economists, too, were studying just what it was about the tune, the lyrics, the video, the dancing or the man that had vaulted the song to such singular levels of ubiquity.
And in the decade since the song and video first put South Korea’s pop music on the map for many around the world, K-pop has become a cultural juggernaut, expanding out from markets in East and Southeast Asia to permeate all corners of the world.
Artists like BTS and Blackpink command devoted fans numbering in the tens of millions, and the bands wield an economic impact that rivals a small nation’s G.D.P. The fervor has spilled over beyond music into politics, education and even Broadway.
Some say Psy deserves much of the credit.
“Psy single-handedly placed K-pop on a different level,” said Kim Young-dae, a music critic who has written extensively about the industry. The song was a “game changer” for the Korean music scene and paved the way for the groundswell of interest and commercial success that the South Korean stars who came after him experienced, Mr. Kim said.
Now, 10 years on from his lightning-in-a-bottle moment, Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, is back home in South Korea, where he has started his own music label and management company and is trying to recreate the magic with the next generation of K-pop talent as one of the industry’s tastemakers.
“One of the things I love most about this job is that it’s unpredictable. We say among ourselves we’re in the ‘lid business’ — because you don’t know what you’ve got until you open it,” Psy said in an interview at the offices of his music label headquartered in — where else? — the Gangnam neighborhood of Seoul. “You don’t know which cloud will bring the rain.”
With 10 artists under his wing, including a newly minted six-member boy band, TNX, Psy says he feels immensely more pressure shaping and stewarding other people’s careers compared to when he was responsible for his alone.
And while he can give his budding stars advice based on decades of industry experience, what he can’t do is offer them surefire instructions on making a hit record.
For all the years he has spent thinking and talking about “Gangnam Style,” he remains just as mystified as anyone by its success.
“The songs are written by the same person, the dance moves are by the same person and they’re performed by the same person. Everything’s the same, but what was so special about that one song?” Psy said. “I still don’t know, to this day.”
In global terms, Psy and his “Gangnam Style” are the epitome of a one-hit wonder. But in South Korea, he had been well-known as a rapper and musician for a decade before, carving out a path that differed from many of his fellow performers, in that he didn’t count on a boost from his physical appearance or shy away from courting controversy.
He never had the chiseled look sought after in South Korea’s pop music industry, and from the release of his first album in 2001, he became notorious for his blunt, profane and at times ribald lyrics. “I Love Sex” was one of the tracks on his debut album, “Psy from the Psycho World!” which was slapped with a ban on sale to minors at the urging of the country’s Christian Ethics Movement.
Despite — or perhaps because of — his unapologetic, iconoclastic ways, over the past two decades at home in South Korea, the college dropout has consistently logged chart toppers, best-selling albums and sold-out concerts.
“It’s kinda sorta ironic he became so iconic — he went from being occasionally censored to widely celebrated,” said Bernie Cho, president of DFSB Kollective, a Seoul-based creative services agency that offers marketing and distribution solutions to Korean music artists and their labels. “He irreverently winked his way from being the bad boy of K-pop to the golden boy of K-pop.”
For a pop song, “Gangnam Style” also unleashed an avalanche of deep think pieces and analyses on the various aspects of South Korea and Seoul it was said to be lampooning: the hypocrisy of the nouveau riche, the superficiality of its social standards and the inequality exemplified by the opulent Gangnam neighborhood.
Psy insists the song never intended to deliver any profound social commentary — he was just looking to give people a few minutes of mindless hilarity and a reprieve from reality.
If anything, he said, he was poking fun at himself, because he doesn’t aesthetically fit the bill of a posh Gangnam local.
“It’s funny because someone who doesn’t look like he’s ‘Gangnam style’ says he is,” he said.
Initially targeted for development in the 1970s to expand Seoul south of the Han River, Gangnam has became a coveted address where many of the capital’s wealthy congregate and the best schools are concentrated, an educational disparity likely to ensure that the inequalities symbolized by the neighborhood continue into the next generation.
In the years since Psy made Gangnam a globally recognized, if oft-mispronounced, proper noun (“Gang” sounds closest to the latter half of Hong Kong; “nam” like Vietnam), the neighborhood has gotten ever more unattainable for the average South Korean. Nowhere have runaway real estate prices risen as steeply as in the Gangnam area.
“If you say you live in Gangnam, people look at you differently,” said Jin Hee-seon, a former vice mayor of Seoul and professor of urban planning at Yonsei University. “It’s an object of desire and envy.”
Psy, raised in the greater Gangnam area in a family running a semiconductor business, now lives north of the river with his wife and twin daughters and says he spends little time thinking about the place.
What he has recently returned to is his signature live performances.
His concerts are legendary in South Korea for raucous good fun. His music — loud and energetic — is often accompanied by dance moves just as outrageous, requiring him to jump, kick and wave his arms wildly in the air. During his six-city tour this year, his first since the pandemic, he said he was surprised to find his joints and limbs as nimble as ever in middle age.
In his latest album released this April, his ninth, he collaborated with the rapper Suga of BTS on a single titled “That That.” In the music video, Suga comically duels — and kills — the blue tuxedo-wearing Psy of the 2012 video. (That video has accrued 369 million views.)
As for the chase of global fame that once drove him nearly mad, he says he’s made his peace with its absence.
“If another good song comes along and if that thing happens again, great. If not, so be it,” he said. “For now, I’ll do what I do in my rightful place.”
nytimes.com · by Victoria Kim · November 25, 2022
4. Two S. Korean sailors kidnapped by pirates in West Africa released unharmed: ministry
(LEAD) Two S. Korean sailors kidnapped by pirates in West Africa released unharmed: ministry | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 장동우 · November 25, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details; MODIFIES headline; ADDS photo, byline)
By Chang Dong-woo
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- An oil tanker, with two South Koreans and 17 Indonesian sailors aboard, was hijacked by pirates in international waters off of West Africa earlier this week then released a day later, according to South Korean foreign ministry officials Friday.
They said the sailors on board a 4,000-ton tanker, B Ocean, owned by South Korean shipping company SK Shipping Co. lost contact at around 7 a.m. Thursday (Seoul time) in international waters 200 nautical miles south of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The two South Koreans were the captain and the ship's engineer.
They resumed contact at around 11:55 a.m. Friday and the safety of the sailors has been confirmed, an official said. The pirates reportedly stole petroleum stored in the tanker and destroyed the ship's internal equipment.
"The captain contacted the company after the pirates got off the ship," the official said on background, adding the sailors confirmed that the ship remained operational after going over the damages of the equipment. The ship plans to return to Abidjan.
In August of last year, four South Koreans who were kidnapped in waters off West Africa were freed after two months of captivity.
In 2020, Seoul sent a Coast Guard official to Ghana to better protect its citizens in the piracy-ridden waters while the authorities have sought legal measures to restrict fishing operations in high-risk waters.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 장동우 · November 25, 2022
5. Korea and China to begin 1.5-track dialogue in next spring
Korea and China to begin 1.5-track dialogue in next spring
donga.com
Posted November. 25, 2022 07:42,
Updated November. 25, 2022 07:42
Korea and China to begin 1.5-track dialogue in next spring. November. 25, 2022 07:42. by Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com.
South Korea and China have allegedly agreed to begin the ‘1.5-track’ dialogue centering on economy and trade before spring next year at the latest and are having detailed discussions. The two nations also decided to launch a high-level economic cooperation body on which the discussions are already underway. Amid its recent all-out efforts for an economic rebound, the government reportedly concluded that enhancing the relations with China, the country’s biggest export market, is key to revitalizing the economy. Cooperation with China has become ever more important for the Korean government to rein in North Korea, which is about to undergo its seventh nuclear test. With President Xi Jinping having secured his third term as the Chinese leader, some say that China would need Korea as an ally to keep it from leaning heavily toward the U.S. This naturally opens up a chance for the two countries to broaden the scope of exchanges.
Piecing together The Dong-A Ilbo’s coverage on Thursday, South Korea and China are recently having an active discourse to operate various channels for consultation. Among them is the 1.5 track, a semi-governmental dialogue body involving public officials and private experts. During the Korea-China Summit held in Bali, Indonesia on Nov. 15, President Xi proposed a 1.5-track dialogue between the two nations to President Yoon Suk-yeol.
“The two sides have agreed to start the (1.5-track) dialogue no later than next spring and are discussing it (with China),” a high-ranking South Korean government official said in a telephone interview with The Dong-a Ilbo. Marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Korea and China had operated a 1.5-track consultative body, the Committee for Future-Oriented Development of Korea-China Relations, for a year since August last year to present ideas on future relations between the two countries. The body, where 44 people in total, 22 from each country, participated as members, also released a report on policy recommendations by sector.
The 1.5-track system, expected to begin early next year, is said to be more densely constructed than the body that ended this year. A government official noted that the dialogue would play an important role in sketching what the two governments will do for each key challenge and how they will discuss each issue going forward. It is reported that the two countries have begun working-level discussions on the 1.5-track dialogue even before the summit this month and have recently made some progress in the discussions on how the dialogue will be formed and organized.
The government is also known to have begun working-level meetings with China to regularly operate high-level economic consultative bodies through diplomatic and trade channels. The discussions will include explorations on stabilizing trade and supply chains between the two countries.
Immediately after its launch, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration put strengthening its alliance with the U.S. as its top priority. "Korea's joining in the IPEF shows its intention to move toward the strategy of ‘depending on the U.S. for security and the world for the economy instead of its previous stance to ‘depend on the U.S. for security and China for the economy,” a Seoul official said about his participation in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) in May, which aimed at holding China in check. Since then, cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan has been enhanced, but some have pointed out that the relations between South Korea and China have become rather strained.
However, the government's recent stance toward China shows otherwise. Compared to the early phase of his term, President Yoon is putting extra effort into China. "The relationship between Korea and China has entered an inflection point," the official said. "Now we are resetting the direction of Korea-China relations to move closer toward China."
Meanwhile, attention is also being paid to whether “China’s ban on the Korean Wave,” one of the biggest pending issues between the two sides, will be lifted. China recently has offered Korean movies on its OTT service six years after the ban was imposed. "After the Korea-China summit, China responded by streaming Korean entertainment content through its OTT service," the presidential office explained. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said in a briefing on Wednesday that it would like to reiterate that the Chinese government has never enacted a boycott on Korean pop culture, adding that China remains open to cultural exchanges with Korea. Some say that China’s recent measure to provide Korean content through its OTT channel may be a signal of its intention to lift the ban.
한국어
donga.com
6. S. Korea to cremate body of presumed N. Korean found near border amid Pyongyang's silence
South Korea has made a very good faith effort to repatriate these remains. But north Korea has left it little choice.
This is just another indication of the evil and inhumane nature of the Kim family regime and why it is not a responsible member of the international community.
(LEAD) S. Korea to cremate body of presumed N. Korean found near border amid Pyongyang's silence | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · November 25, 2022
(ATTN: ADDS more info in last 2 paras)
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Friday it will cremate the body of a presumed North Korean woman found near the inter-Korean border in July, as there has been no response from Pyongyang on the offer of returning it.
The unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs sought to notify the North of its plan to return the body and had set a deadline of Nov. 24 for Pyongyang to respond.
"But North Korea has not shown any response regarding the return of the body," the ministry's deputy spokesperson, Lee Hyo-jung, said at a regular press briefing.
In accordance with the law on handling deceased North Koreans, the ministry plans to cremate the body and bury the remains in consultations with the local government, she added.
The body was discovered around the Imjin River on July 23. Related investigations showed that she appears to be a North Korean as she was wearing a badge with the portraits of Pyongyang's late founder Kim Il-sung and former leader Kim Jong-il, according to the ministry.
Since 2010, the ministry has sent back a total of 23 bodies of North Koreans who were found in the South, most recently in November 2019.
Pyongyang has generally accepted Seoul's offer to return the bodies but remained unresponsive to two cases in 2017 and another in 2019, the ministry said.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · November 25, 2022
7. North holding 5-day security and counterintelligence conference
Is this an indication that the regime is fearful of internal resistance?
Friday
November 25, 2022
dictionary + A - A
North holding 5-day security and counterintelligence conference
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/11/25/national/northKorea/korea-north-korea-DPRK/20221125103535698.html
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the 2nd Conference of Security Officers in November 2013. [YONHAP]
North Korea has held a five-day national conference of the country's officers in charge of security and counterintelligence affairs, Pyongyang's state media reported Friday.
The 5th Conference of Security Officers opened in Pyongyang on Saturday "to firmly guarantee" the development of the ruling Workers' Party by strengthening its security organ, according to an English-language report carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The conference was attended by top officials, including Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the party's Central Committee, and Ri Chang-dae, minister of State Security, it said. Kim Jong-un, the country's leader, was not present.
Kim sent an "important" letter to the conference, which also adopted a letter pledging their support to the leader, it added. Details of both documents were not disclosed in the KCNA report.
The conference featured speeches that "presented successes and experience gained in the struggle to firmly defend the single-minded unity of the Party and the masses and wipe out the anti-socialist and non-socialist practices while crushing the enemies' vicious acts of hostility and their anti-DPRK smear campaign," it said, using the acronym of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"They stressed the importance to firmly consolidate their units as fortresses for defending the leader, the revolution, the policy, the social system and the people," it added.
The North convened the first conference of its military's security officers in 1993 and the next session in 2013. It has not publicly disclosed whether the third and fourth sessions have taken place.
Yonhap
8. Halifax International Security Forum, glimpse of United States’ determination for leadership
A Korean perspective on US leadership.
[Hwang’s China and the World]Halifax International Security Forum, glimpse of United States’ determination for leadership
koreaherald.com · by Hwang Jae-ho · November 25, 2022
There are some influential security dialogues around the world where, once you attend, you will be able to see the flow of international circumstances. The Shangri-La Dialogue is a collaboration between Britain and Singapore, where the United States and China openly engage on their Asian agenda. The Munich Security Conference is the windmill for European security, Russia’s Primakov Reading and China's Xiangshan Forum are their own platforms to raise voices under the purpose of countering the US. And the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada is the essential security dialogue to read into the US’ strategic thoughts.
This HISF, which has developed for more than a decade, clearly shows the reason and presence behind the existence of American leadership. A number of US House of Representatives and Senate members participated, and around 300 officials, politicians, journalists and experts from the US, its allies and partners gathered to discuss pending global issues. From Nov. 18-20, Halifax covered a wide spectrum of issues, from the war in Ukraine to climate change, energy, disinformation, food security and technological innovation.
By far, the war in Ukraine was the overwhelming topic. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his wife and Ukraine’s security chiefs were all attending online, and former President Petro Poroshenko participated in person. They strongly set forth that the war in Ukraine is not just a war for Ukraine itself, but a war for global security, and that the reason it has to win lies in its sense of mission for democracy. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also made this point clear in his speech. Russia’s militancy in Ukraine has not ruled out the possibility of using nuclear weapons. He stressed the need to "defend every inch of NATO territory" under a rules-based international order, as Russia shows the "justification for the use of force" -- just as China does -- when national interests collide.
Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, pointed out that China is economically outpacing unstable areas while democratic countries falter. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, noted how challenging it is to unravel the complex web of tyranny, and the risks of competition between powers beyond time and region. Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand echoed the necessity to actively deal with Russia’s invasion and maligning China in the Indo-Pacific region to protect the rights and values of democracy.
The consistent theme of the forum was support and solidarity for democratic values. The threat to democracy is becoming more diverse and growing larger. Global democracy has fallen into a recession, and the Ukraine war is a serious case that proves it.
How will the US and its allies and partners save democracy? There are numerous democratic countries around the world, but unity is weak.
Tyranny, on the other hands, shows its strength in solidarity. If not for the US and Western Europe, democracy is still weak in self-sustainability. Ukraine is now praised as a fighter for democracy, yet it had flaws in its system before the war, and as we have already seen in Afghanistan, a system without the will to stand on its own feet does not last long.
The US was clearly an attractive model as a value of freedom and a market economy, and as a preferred option for many countries in terms of choosing their systems.
However, amid the recent confusion in leadership, it is necessary to restore its competitiveness and confidence. Many countries are still not so happy with the "America First" agenda, but they have not deserted expectations for American leadership.
The US must believe in its own solid alliance infrastructure and the tight networks it has built for more than 70 years. As many HISF participants have emphasized, unity may be the best answer. And above all, as HISF President Peter Van Praagh said, “Don’t be afraid.”
Now the US must prepare for another competition.
The US has surpassed the Soviet Union in military competition and Japan in economic competition. However, China, which has chased the US to more than two-thirds in terms of total power, is an unprecedented non-Western competitor that is qualitatively different. As seen in the embarrassing scene where President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s bilateral talk was exposed in the media, the difference in communication, expression and cultural and civilization distance is great between Western countries and China. Now, a real battle with China awaits the US as it overcomes Russia with the war in Ukraine.
The NATO Summit recognized China as a systemic threat, and the White House’s National Security Strategy sees the next decade as a strategically critical period.
China’s emphasis on Chinese-style modernization suggests that the Western style is not the only path for modernization, but that China also can be an alternative. The fierce competition between the US and China has already begun, as the US tightly tied up its shoelaces and showed its temper at the HISF.
What is more important along with the unity between the US’ alliance is that the US itself has to prove its vision as a leader and its capability in providing public goods. Only then will the unity of the democratic camp become more solid and the middle ground be more attractive. But for now, I could catch a glimpse of US’ will and determination in Halifax.
---
Hwang Jae-ho is a professor of international studies at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He is also the director of the Institute for Global Strategy and Cooperation.
By Hwang Jae-ho (koreadherald@heradcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Hwang Jae-ho · November 25, 2022
9. [Lee Kyong-hee] Muffled voices haunt the ‘Alley of Wailing’
Conclusion:
After four decades of running business in the neighborhood, Nam hopes the alley for wailing will be turned into a memorial park – after all the facts are brought to light. He believes it will be a way for the innocent young souls to be properly remembered with their names and for Itaewon to be resurrected.
[Lee Kyong-hee] Muffled voices haunt the ‘Alley of Wailing’
koreaherald.com · by Korea Herald · November 23, 2022
Kim Ji-hyeon and Kim Hyeon-su were probably headed for marriage – but they decided to celebrate Halloween in Itaewon. An envelope for a cash wedding gift beside a drying stalk of white chrysanthemum implies the couple’s unfulfilled dreams. Post-it notes surround the tragic mementos, conveying the wishes of their family members.
“Live happily in heaven. From Your Daddy, Mommy and Little Brother.” “Dear Hyeon-su, please take good care of Ji-hyeon. My beloved daughter, I will always remember you.” “I regret a lot that I wasn’t kinder to you. Go to a nice place. Goodbye, sister.”
With the police cordon lifted, the alley that became a crushing death trap for nearly 160 young lives beckoned an endless stream of mourners last Sunday. Under the late autumn sun, a deep silence pervaded the sloping narrow byway as visitors laid flowers, offered prayers, or quietly gazed at a wall covered with sympathy notes and gifts. In a few photos, mostly of foreigners, young adults smiled brightly. In a few words beneath an image of a Halloween pumpkin, the nameless site got a name: “Alley of Wailing.”
I heard silent wailing all around. A pair of small notes pasted side by side caught my eye. One said, “Dear Mi-gyeong, I pray for your reincarnation in paradise. Grandpa.” The other said, “Dear Min-gyeong, I pray for your reincarnation in paradise. Grandpa.” It’s hard to imagine how a man should feel after losing two young granddaughters in the deadly crowd crush on a road in the heart of the capital.
A young woman who was standing next to me quietly approached the wall, posted a note, and paused. The note read, “Rauf Naziralev / Incheon National University / Uzbekistan.” A long silence followed, perhaps to remember shared classes and campus life.
To the general public, the victims remain anonymous. We need to see the Alley of Wailing to know names. But as the wall suggests, contrary to loud disputes between rival political camps, not all of the bereaved families oppose disclosing the names of their loved ones. Instead, they might find some comfort in talking about their loved ones who died prematurely and exchanging their feelings and thoughts with one another.
So far, there has been little effort by authorities to help the bereaved families get together. Rather, some families are heard complaining that authorities won’t put them in touch.
Considering the echoes easily found between the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon and the Sewol ferry sinking in coastal waters in 2014, both deemed as avoidable disasters that claimed hundreds of young lives, it isn’t difficult to guess why authorities are reluctant to bring the bereaved families together. Declaring a weeklong period of national mourning on the day after the disaster, the government asked the nation to focus on “grieving, not inquiring.”
Now, almost four weeks since the horrific catastrophe, which also injured 196 young Halloween revelers, 31 of them seriously, nobody has taken responsibility. There have been no high-profile resignations. Verbal blunders by irresponsible high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, have incited public fury.
It is increasingly evident that the disaster could have been prevented. Authorities were aware that Itaewon, a popular nightlife district, has a huge throng on Halloween. Yet, they were ill-prepared. Moreover, they failed to respond quickly to emergency calls that began pouring in hours before the fatal crush occurred. But the police’s special investigation is conspicuously focused on the wrong targets – police officers and firefighters in the field. There are no signs that the investigation will move up the chain of command before its scheduled completion this weekend.
President Yoon Suk-yeol seems oblivious to political and moral responsibility beyond legal accountability. There is no overt reaction to warnings that the disaster in Itaewon can be a lethal challenge for his already deeply troubled administration. Instead, there are increasing indications that he will bury his head in the sand like Park Geun-hye, the disgraced president. Park’s inept response to the Sewol sinking triggered her downfall.
Rather than scolding the police officers in the field, Yoon should have asked himself what he did that night and why he failed to direct the concerned agencies and officials to cope more effectively to save as many lives as possible. He also cannot evade the widespread question if his abrupt, highly criticized relocation of the presidential office has overburdened the district police. The new presidential office is a short distance to the ill-fated alley.
“Just a few more police officers on the scene could have stopped the tragedy,” said Nam In-seok, who runs a clothing store along the alley. “They could have redirected the crowd at either end of the alley. That would have been enough, I believe.”
Nam witnessed the disaster unfold. He helped victims through the night, and as dawn broke, he began preparing a ritual table. He offered rice and soup along with some fruits for the dead on their final journeys. “I just couldn’t let the kids go in such a way,” he said.
Nam is still haunted by what he saw. But he keeps his store open while most of the neighboring shops and bars remain closed. “I just can’t leave. So, I live here, watching people mourn outside,” he said.
After four decades of running business in the neighborhood, Nam hopes the alley for wailing will be turned into a memorial park – after all the facts are brought to light. He believes it will be a way for the innocent young souls to be properly remembered with their names and for Itaewon to be resurrected.
Lee Kyong-hee
Lee Kyong-hee is a former editor-in-chief of The Korea Herald. -- Ed.
By Korea Herald (khnews@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Korea Herald · November 23, 2022
10. Korea aims to become world's No. 4 arms exporter
We are not joking when we say that South Korea is a partner in the Arsenal of Democracy. This is serious in a good way.
Thursday
November 24, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Korea aims to become world's No. 4 arms exporter
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/11/24/business/economy/KAI-Defense-export/20221124151307176.html
President Yoon Suk-yeol saluted in front of Korea’s supersonic fighter jet KF-21 at the Korea Aerospace Industries’ headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, on Thursday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]
Increasing Korea's defense exports and becoming the world's No. 4 seller of arms in 2027, from No. 8 in 2021, has been established as a priority by the government.
In the first 11 months of the year, Korea's defense exports totaled $17 billion, a record. Through 2020, weapons exports had been running at about $3 billion annually. They hit $7.25 billion won in 2021, for a 2.8 percent market share.
If the 2027 goal is reached, Korea's share of global defense exports will be 5 percent.
The plan was announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of National Defense during a meeting on defense exports headed by President Yoon Suk-yeol at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, on Thursday.
The Industry Ministry will be allocating 50 billion won ($38 million) annually to strengthen Korea’s defense industry. Goals include the development of 40 key materials and parts, such as carbon composite materials, and educating 3,300 people in relevant fields, including machinery and aviation materials.
The ministry plans to release a more detailed plan, which will include a goal of a 10 percent market share in carbon composite materials, next month.
An estimated 1 trillion won will be invested in government-private sector technological development, including transferring defense technologies from state-owned institutions to the private sector and using innovative technologies developed from the private sector in national defense.
The Defense Ministry will be allocating a minimum 10 percent of its annual budget to R&D spending by 2027 and create a 120-billion-won defense technology innovation fund that will fund start-ups. It will also establish a start-up incubation project, where some 20 or so companies will be selected every year through 2026 for a wide range of support.
The Korean military will provide post-sale services to countries that purchase Korean defense goods, including the sharing of operational know how through joint training and technology education.
Diplomatic sales will be increased.
The Industry Ministry said it will link the defense sales efforts to the strategies of major Korean industries.
Yoon stressed that the defense industry is a "future growth engine" and that it will play a central role in leading Korean high-tech.
He stressed the importance of technological competitiveness in developing a game changing weapons system for future warfare.
“We need to create an ecosystem so that the defense industry can grow on its own,” Yoon said. “Defense exports not only contribute to our own security but also to the peace and stability of international society.”
The president said the government will increase its support of defense exports so that it can increase the chances of winning large overseas projects, including nuclear power plant and infrastructure deals.
“From a country that wasn't able to build a weapon of our own, today we have become one of the leading defense developers,” Yoon said. “This year we have achieved an all-time record in defense exports.”
BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]
11. As Trump Looms, South Koreans Mull Their Own Nukes
As Trump Looms, South Koreans Mull Their Own Nukes
November 24, 2022 5:22 AM
William Gallo
voanews.com
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA —
In December 2019, then-U.S. President Donald Trump was asked whether he thought it was worth it to have “all those” U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
“It could be debated. I could go either way,” Trump answered.
The comments came at the height of tense negotiations over Trump’s demand that Seoul pay much more to host approximately 28,000 U.S. troops.
Trump's answer did not come out of the blue. Throughout his time as president -- and in fact, even before and after his presidency -- Trump regularly questioned the value of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
According to I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year, a 2021 book by two Washington Post journalists, Trump privately told close aides that he planned to “blow up” the U.S.-South Korea alliance if he won reelection in 2020.
In part because he lost that election, no one knows how serious Trump was about upending the U.S. relationship with South Korea.
Some analysts say Trump was only being transactional, as he was with many other allies, and that he never intended to abandon Seoul.
Others are not so sure, noting Trump once went so far as to suggest South Korea should get its own nuclear weapons so that Seoul could protect itself.
Faced with an increasingly hostile and nuclear-armed neighbor, South Korea can afford little ambiguity on the matter, which helps explain why a growing number of prominent voices in Seoul would like to see if Trump’s nuke offer still stands.
Going mainstream
One of the most outspoken advocates of South Korea getting its own nuclear weapons is Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, a nonpartisan foreign policy research organization outside Seoul.
Cheong spoke to VOA several days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential bid. He said it is not just the possible return of Trump that is concerning -- it’s the chance that his America First ideas will have a lasting impact on U.S. foreign policy.
“The United States has a presidential election every four years…[it] may go back to isolationism, which is why South Korea’s own nuclear armament is essential to maintain stable security and deter North Korea,” Cheong told VOA.
Fringe figures have long called for South Korea to acquire nuclear weapons, but recently the proposal has gone mainstream. This year, several well-known scholars have proposed Seoul either acquire its own nuclear arsenal or request the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons that were removed in the early 1990s.
A poll published in May by the conservative Asan Institute for Policy Studies suggested that more than 70% of South Koreans support their country developing indigenous nuclear weapons -- the highest level of support since the organization began asking the question in 2010.
FILE - Protesters rally to demand peace on the Korean peninsula in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 3, 2022. The signs read 'South Korea and the US should scrap nuclear umbrellas.'
Cheong is trying to turn that support into something more organized. In early November, he launched the ROK Forum for Nuclear Strategy, which promotes South Korea’s nuclear armament and discusses plans to make it happen. In its infancy, the group already has more than 40 members, according to Cheong.
Not just Trump
Trump is far from the only factor driving South Korea’s nuclear arms debate.
South Korean leaders are also alarmed at the rapid development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. North Korea has conducted a record number of launches this year, including both long-range missiles that could reach the United States and shorter-range ones that threaten Seoul. U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea could conduct another nuclear test soon.
North Korea has also embraced a more aggressive nuclear posture. In October, leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a series of launches simulating a tactical nuclear strike on South Korea. The North is likely moving ahead with deploying tactical nuclear weapons to frontline positions, analysts say.
In addition, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underscored the risks that non-nuclear states face when confronted with an aggressive, nuclear-armed neighbor.
Although South Korea is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, some South Korean analysts believe the United States may be reluctant to respond to a North Korean attack if Pyongyang has the ability to destroy a major U.S. city -- in essence, the fear is that the United States would not want to risk San Francisco to save Seoul.
“North Korea believes there’s a slight chance that they could get away with a nuclear attack without getting a reprisal from the United States,” said Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general in the South Korean army.
Big obstacles
In Chun’s view, acquiring nuclear weapons is one way for South Korea to guarantee its security, although he acknowledges major barriers.
Among the uncertainties is the question of how China, Russia, and others in the region would respond. For instance, would Japan, another U.S. ally in Northeast Asia, feel compelled to get its own nuclear weapons?
Analysts are also unsure exactly how the United States would react if South Korea eventually did begin pursuing nuclear weapons. And many South Koreans who support acquiring nukes hint they would tread cautiously with that in mind.
“It’s not as if I’m going to risk the alliance in order to have South Korea get nuclear weapons. But what happens if the U.S. president says he’s going to pull U.S. troops from Korea? What if that becomes a reality?” asked Chun.
In some ways, the situation mirrors the 1970s, when South Korea briefly pursued a nuclear weapons program amid questions about the long-term U.S. security commitment.
Instead, South Korea ratified the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It is now uncertain what consequences South Korea would face for abandoning its commitments under the pact.
Reassurance limits
When asked about the issue in recent months, Pentagon and State Department officials have ruled out the idea of returning tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. Instead, they have focused on how the U.S. is prepared to use the full range of its capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend South Korea.
At a meeting earlier this month with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said Seoul is not considering the return of tactical nuclear weapons and remains committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
At that Pentagon meeting, both sides agreed to several measures meant to reinforce the U.S. security commitment. The steps included increasing the deployment of U.S. strategic assets, such as long-range bombers and aircraft carriers, to South Korea, and vowing that any North Korean nuclear strike “will result in the end of the Kim regime.”
What they didn’t discuss, at least according to the 10-page joint communique released following the meeting, was Trump or his America First ideas -- perhaps the one area where U.S. officials can offer the least reassurance.
“You can’t,” said Jenny Town, a Korea specialist at the Washington-based Stimson Center.
“Democracies are democracies and policies can shift,” she said.
Much depends on how Trump and his ideas fare in the 2024 elections. But even if Trump loses again, Town said, many in South Korea will have concerns about the future.
“It isn’t business as usual anymore,” she said. “It’s recent memory, and it doesn’t fade very quickly.”
voanews.com
12. North Korea's crypto-heists show vulnerabilities in Western security: experts
North Korea's crypto-heists show vulnerabilities in Western security: experts
foxnews.com · by Peter Aitken | Fox News
Video
Former national security adviser addresses North Korea and China fears
Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg joins "Your World" and weighs in on North Korea's long-range ballistic missile launch and China's belligerence toward Taiwan.
North Korea’s tireless cryptocurrency theft operations have highlighted vulnerabilities in the U.S. security ecosystem, raising questions of safety in the face of more effective cyberthreats from Russia and China.
"They've gotten into U.S. government websites," Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "They’ve gotten into the U.S. financial systems, companies, systems, [and] they were even going after COVID vaccine companies like Pfizer and others to try to get information on the vaccine."
"It really is an amazingly extensive and capable system," he added.
Some estimates indicate Pyongyang stole approximately $400 million in 2022 and took in $1 billion in the first nine months of 2022, making cryptocurrency a significant source of income.
FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER ADDRESSES NORTH KOREA AND CHINA FEARS
North Korean hackers were able to secure $615 million in assets in March alone, making it the largest cryptocurrency heist on record.
What started as purely espionage-based cyberattacks quickly led to extensive and sophisticated operations to obtain cryptocurrency in order to fund missile programs and other military operations.
North Korean hackers were able to secure $615 million in assets in March alone, making it the largest cryptocurrency heist on record. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
North Korea’s missile tests this year cost at least $620 million, with plans to resume nuclear testing amid an economic crisis, according to Reuters.
"I remember doing interviews about the Sony hack in 2014 when a lot of the interviewers were just thinking, 'Well, North Korea can't even keep the lights on at night,'" Klingner said. "If you look at the famous nighttime satellite photos, how could they possibly do something like a Sony hack?"
NORTH KOREA UNVEILS DAUGHTER OF KIM JONG-UN AT MISSILE LAUNCH SITE
"Well, it was North Korea, and they've only gotten better," he continued. "But even I was astounded when I was doing the research for this paper last year about how broadly they've expanded their cyberattacks."
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) outlined two main ways by which Pyongyang’s hackers succeed in stealing traditional funds: first, by seizing control of a bank’s financial transfer system run by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications – the infamous SWIFT system; second, breaching ATMs to dispense cash, which agents can then collect.
North Korea leader Kim Jong-un oversees a missile launch at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this photo released on Oct. 9, 2022, by the Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
But North Korea has developed long-term "spear phishing" operations, which involve malicious emails spoofing attacks against individuals or groups, in some cases developing entire profiles on websites like LinkedIn or Facebook to convince targets of their authenticity.
North Korea committed at least 49 hacks from 2017 to 2021, according to New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
HEZBOLLAH TRANSPORTING CHEMICAL WEAPONS TO LEBANON WITH HELP OF IRAN AND NORTH KOREA, REPORT CLAIMS
The fluctuations in the crypto market this year have dampened the success of those hacks, with crypto losing 80% to 85% of value in June 2022, but the realities are that these hacks have exposed far more alarming questions about North Korea’s cybercapabilities and Western nations’ vulnerabilities.
"Within the cybersecurity space, the large-scale significant theft of cryptocurrencies is demonstrating North Korea's capabilities to engage both in attacks that leverage and cybervulnerabilities, problems with code itself, as well as engaging in social engineering attacks," Annie Fixler, deputy director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the FDD, told Fox News Digital.
North Korean men and women use computer terminals at the Sci-Tech Complex in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 16, 2017. (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
"The attacks we've seen have leveraged both where North Korean hackers can track a U.N. administrator and someone [who] has access to systems to click a malicious link as hackers often do," Fixler said. "Then, in other instances, North Korean hackers have exploited problems with code, particularly as it relates to cryptocurrency bridges, the pieces that connect differently, how you can transfer assets from one blockchain to another, blockchain for bridges."
NORTH KOREA TEST LAUNCHES BALLISTIC MISSILE CAPABLE OF STRIKING ANYWHERE IN US
"So, there have been vulnerabilities in those systems that North Korea has demonstrated their capabilities, sophistication and ingenuity and determination that this is a worthwhile avenue for them to pursue in the broader national security space."
Fixler noted that despite the capabilities North Korea has displayed, she would still rank them third compared to China and Russia – who continue "vying for the top spot on any given day" – and with Iran as a distant fourth in terms of cyberthreats.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
But in all cases, the rogue nations have developed "more sophisticated, more determined and more innovative" operations, according to Fixler.
She argued that North Korea’s actions indicate a longer-term risk to the financial integrity, national security and traditional operations of the United States.
Peter Aitken is a Fox News Digital reporter with a focus on national and global news.
foxnews.com · by Peter Aitken | Fox News
13. “We played this vodka game” — Dennis Rodman on his wild drinking games with Kim Jong-un
Ugh... cultural intelligence preparation from Mr Rodman. Prepare to drink heavily, though I have never seen any reporting along these lines from US diplomats who have met with KJU. Unlike Rodman, perhaps they observe what happens in Pyongyang stays in Pyongyang.
“We played this vodka game” — Dennis Rodman on his wild drinking games with Kim Jong-un
Dennis the Menace didn't disclose too much information. All he said was that they played a game involving 50 bottles of vodka.
basketballnetwork.net · by Virgil Villanueva
Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong-un
© Bob Donnan - USA TODAY Sports
During his playing career, Dennis Rodman attended lots of parties. The same could be said in his post-basketball career. But being the legend that he is, Rodman doesn’t just party with your average celebrity. He goes drinking with North Korea's Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un.
Vodka game
Rodman talked about his impression of the North Korean Supreme leader vis-a-vis how the world sees him. After this, Rodman shared bits and pieces about his wild drinking games with Kim Jong-Un, which included a lot of vodka.
“We had 80, 90 people there. We had a good time playing that one game. This shot game, this vodka game. We had vodka bottles this high... there’s about 50 bottles of vodka around the table.... Then we’d drink that for a day. We had tequila one day, we had this other stuff one day. They like to have fun, too. But in their own little way. But it’s like... when they do it, it’s like Russian Roulette!” Rodman said, per Growth Minds with Sean Kim.
It’s obvious how careful Rodman was narrating his vacations in North Korea. Perhaps he knows a bit too much? Or is he simply protecting his good friend? Whatever the case, we can tell that Rodman had a good time.
The most interesting man
Rodman definitely has a claim to the title of one of the most interesting men in the world. He entered mainstream consciousness as a member of the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys — one of the most notorious and most popular teams in NBA history. Apart from their back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990, the Bad Boys were known for stonewalling Michael Jordan’s early playoff campaigns.
In a strange turn of events, after his stint in Detroit and San Antonio, Rodman found himself donning the Chicago Bulls jersey alongside Michael Jordan. This was where Rodman rose to a rockstar-like figure. After all, it would be foolish to discount Rodman’s contribution to the Bulls’ second three-peat and Jordan’s legacy. Rodman was an absolute defensive beast. Snagging 15-20 rebounds a night was a hobby for him.
So there you have it. Rodman has certainly been living life to the fullest. The man does have a troubled personal life but considering everything he has experienced during, and after his NBA career, Rodman should feel good about himself. He’s done a lot to put a smile on people’s faces.
basketballnetwork.net · by Virgil Villanueva
14. Why is South Korea called Korea Republic at the World Cup?
Occam's razor.
Perhaps it comes from the common listing of the Koreas which is often presented this way:
Korea, Democratic People's Republic (northKorea)
Korea, Republic (South Korea)
And we should never forget that north Korea is neither democratic nor a republic.
Why is South Korea called Korea Republic at the World Cup?
The Sun · by Jack Robinson · November 24, 2022
SOUTH KOREA are taking on Uruguay at the World Cup in Qatar.
But viewers have been confused to find the country's name listed as Korea Republic in the tournament.
South Korea will be known as Korea Republic at the 2022 World CupCredit: AP
Why is South Korea called Korea Republic during the World Cup?
The name Korea Republic came about after World War Two, when Korea as a whole gained independence from the Japanese.
North Korea and South Korea are actually geographical terms that are not the official names of the countries.
Both the North, which is called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the South claim to rule the whole of the Korean Peninsula and be the home of all Koreans.
As the Korean War is yet to officially come to an end despite and improvement in relations between the two governments, it could be argued that Korean Republic is an even more fitting name for Korea's only representatives at the competition.
What is South Korea's official name?
South Korea is actually called the Republic of Korea and Korea Republic is a shortened version of that name.
The country has a population of over 51.7 million.
What is South Korea's best World Cup performance and who are they playing in Qatar?
South Korea shocked the world to reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2002, before losing to Germany.
Two decades later, they face Portugal, Ghana and Uruguay.
World Cup 2022
Everything you need to know about the World Cup
World Cup 2022 LIVE: Latest news and updates from Qatar
World Cup schedule: What are the kick-off times for all the matches?
World Cup prize money: How much does each winner earn?
Who are the ITV pundits and commentators?
Who are the BBC pundits and commentators?
Meet England's World Cup wags who are staying on a £1bn cruise ship
The Sun · by Jack Robinson · November 24, 2022
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
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
| 
