Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners


Quotes of the Day:


"The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts... everything we do, we do for the young." 
- Queen Elizabeth II

“When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, this you may not read; This you may not see; This you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.”
- Robert Heinlein

“Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”
- Socrates





1. S. Korea against N. Korea’s enactment of nuclear law: ‘We will overwhelm the North’

2. Ruling party proposes bipartisan resolution against N. Korean leader's vows to keep nukes

3. Minjoo Party Is Stuck in Its Own Lies About N.Korea

4. North Korea rules out denuclearization. The West should prioritize human rights

5. North Korea's Nuclear Declaration 'No Surprise': Former White House Official Allison Hooker

6. North Korea’s proclamation on preemptive nuclear strikes was no surprise, South says

7. North Korea cracks down on soldiers singing and joking like ‘South Koreans’

8. Yoon gov't gets going on diplomacy on North with U.S., China

9. Kim Jong-un must learn from Gorbachev

10. Much Ado About Nothing: North Korea’s New Nuclear Law

11. China's state museum accused of distorting Korean history

12. Unification ministry ends 'fake news' monitoring on North Korea

13. UN human rights office Seoul names new head

14. S. Korea, US to discuss 'concrete' deterrence steps against NK threats in this week's talks: official

15. Don't shake alliance with ROK (IRA Issue)

16. No to 'America first' (IRA Issue with ROK)

17. Unilateralism is no answer to friendshoring (IRA Issue)

18. N. Korean man in Pyongyang beaten to death by group of soldiers on Youth Day





1. S. Korea against N. Korea’s enactment of nuclear law: ‘We will overwhelm the North’


​I  think we must keep in mind the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime. While the regime seeks survival, it assess that long term survival requires that it dominate the peninsula under its rule. Therefore it is executing a three fold strategy of political warfare, blackmail diplomacy, and development of advanced warfighting capabilities. All three are designed to be mutually supporting and reinforcing to achieve the ultimate objective of domination of the peninsula. It will do so through subversion to undermine the political stability of the ROK/US alliance, and the ROK itself. If that fails then it will be prepared to use forces. The development of advanced military capabilities is designed for attack but also to support blackmail diplomacy which is the use of increased tensions, threats, and provocations to gain political and economic concessions as well to support political warfare to undermine the legitimacy of the alliance ​and ​South Korea.


Since the Biden and Yoon administrations have been in office they have offered Kim the oppporntuity to talk without preconditions, anywhere and anytime. Kim has responded with political warfare and blackmail diplomacy as he tries to weaken the alliance and force concessions, specifically an end to sanctions. The alliance has shown Kim that his strategy is failing at every turn and that one cannot coerce the ROK and the US.  The ultimate realization of failure cae in President Yoon's CNN interview after the Yoon-Biden summit in which President Yoon said there would be no more appeasement of the north.  Despite the new audacious proposal that Yoon describine on August 15th, Kim saw the writing on the wall based on Yoons "no more appeasement" statement and realized his strategy cannot be successful. He has decided to resort to extreme rhetoric to ratchet up tensions in the hopes that tensions will be sufficiently high to make the ROK or the US or both give in to his demands. The alliance will not give in. It must not.


In response to Kim's rhetoric the alliance must demonstrate its commitment to the defense of South Korea. It must make sure the regime knows that the use of WMD will result in its destruction. The recent message from the South Korean spokesman are appropriate remarks to demonstrate strategic reassurance and strategic resolve.


Again, the north is executing a three part strategy of political warfare, blackmail diplomacy, and advanced warfighting capabilities to dominate the peninsula. The regime's recent statement on nuclear use confirms its strategy and confirms its intent to execute it some day in the future and this demands a strong response from the alliance to ensure the regime fully understands the consequences of its actions.


It is imperative that the alliance demonstrates strength and resolve in the face of north Korea's statements so, again, the spokesman's comments are appropriate.


The most important aspect of deterrence is the presence of US troops and extended deterrence with the US nuclear umbrella.


Pre-emption or a preventative action is a difficult decision because it requires superior intelligence on Kim Jong Un's intent to launch an attack. If the leaders of the ROK and US have sufficient belief that a north Korean strike is imminent a pre-emptive or preventative strike may be required. This is the most difficult decision a national leader will ever have to make but defense of their country is paramount.


By demonstrating ROK/US alliance strength and resolve, the alliance has successfully deterred a resumption of north Korean hostilities for some seven decades. But as the great scholar, Sir Lawrence Freedman has said, "Deterrence works, until it doesn't." This means that we cannot know for sure Kim Jong Un's decision making rationale and he could decide at any time to launch a strike despite the consequences, especially if he feels he has no other option to try to survive​.



S. Korea against N. Korea’s enactment of nuclear law: ‘We will overwhelm the North’

donga.com

Posted September. 14, 2022 07:58,

Updated September. 14, 2022 07:58

S. Korea against N. Korea’s enactment of nuclear law: ‘We will overwhelm the North’. September. 14, 2022 07:58. by Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com.

Concerning North Korea's resort to the tactic of “enacting nuclear force,” including a preemptive nuclear strike, and significantly increasing the intensity of its nuclear threat to South Korea, the South Korean military has responded strongly by even using the term “self-destruction.”


"The South Korean government warns that if North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face an overwhelming response from the ROK and the U.S., and the North Korean regime will go down a path of self-destruction," Moon Heung-sik, deputy spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said at a briefing on Tuesday. “In close cooperation with the U.S., we will further strengthen the enforcement power of the ROK-U.S. alliance for extended deterrence, and further strengthen deterrence against the North’s nuclear threat, such as the far-reaching expansion of the South Korean-style three-axis system and the establishment of the Strategic Command, so that North Korea will not be able to use its nuclear weapons.”


Military observers believe that at the 3rd round of ROK-U.S. foreign affairs/defense (2+2) bilateral Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) to be held in Washington, D.C. on Friday (local time), a plan to strengthen the extended deterrence capability of the U.S. in response to the worsening nuclear provocation by the North will be discussed intently. The EDSCG, held for the first time in four years and eight months since January 2018, is a consultative body that discusses countermeasures against North Korea’s attack on South Korea by mobilizing all available nuclear and conventional nuclear weapons, by regarding it an attack on the U.S. mainland. "The 'five conditions listed for the use of nuclear force' specified by North Korea in its enactment of nuclear force law are threats that it will use nuclear weapons in any given situation,” a South Korean military source said. “(EDSCG) will discuss in detail the deployment method, timing, and scale of U.S. strategic assets for each scenario of North Korea’s nuclear provocation.” At the meeting, plans for the timely deployment of U.S. strategic assets such as strategic bombers and nuclear-powered aircraft carrier strike groups are also expected to be coordinated in the event of North Korea's seventh nuclear test and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch.


In addition, at this meeting, the schedule of the Table Top Exercise (TTX) to be held within this year will be decided in which military countermeasures for each stage of North Korea's nuclear provocation will be devised. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, under the U.S. Pacific Fleet, 7th Fleet, is expected to arrive in South Korea at the end of this month to conduct joint exercises with the South Korean navy.

한국어

donga.com


2. Ruling party proposes bipartisan resolution against N. Korean leader's vows to keep nukes


Can they generate bipartisan unity against north Korea?


Ruling party proposes bipartisan resolution against N. Korean leader's vows to keep nukes | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 이민지 · September 14, 2022

SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- The ruling People Power Party (PPP) suggested Wednesday that the rival parties adopt a joint resolution against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's pledge to keep the country's nuclear weapons.

"I urge the ruling party and the main opposition to react in a bipartisan manner amid an unprecedented security crisis," Emergency Committee Chairman Chung Jin-suk told a party meeting. "It has become clear that Kim Jong-un's 2018 promise to former President Moon Jae-in to give up nuclear weapons was a blatant lie."

The proposal came five days after the North Korean leader made clear that Pyongyang is determined not to give up its nuclear weapons and has no intention of resuming talks for denuclearization.

The country passed a new law declaring itself a nuclear weapons state and enshrining a right to use preemptive nuclear strikes for self-protection, a move Kim called "irreversible."

While Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition, expressed regret over the development in a Facebook post, his party has not issued an official statement.



mlee@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 이민지 · September 14, 2022



3. Minjoo Party Is Stuck in Its Own Lies About N.Korea


It is hard to deny that the recent statements of Kim Jong Un mea denuclearization is an unattainable goal.


It is time to jettison the fantasy that Kim Jong Un will ever act as a responsible member of the international community.


Conclusion:


The Minjoo Party must know by now that the North has no intention to relinquish his nukes. But in order to use rapprochement as a political tool, the party creates the permanent illusion of North Korean denuclearization and attacks anyone who criticizes the fantasy. Now the North has enshrined in law its right to launch a preemptive nuclear strike, there is eerie silence on the opposition benches.


Minjoo Party Is Stuck in Its Own Lies About N.Korea

english.chosun.com

September 14, 2022 13:25

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country will "never give up nuclear weapons and there is absolutely no denuclearization, no negotiation, and no bargaining chip to trade in the process." According to a new law passed last week, North Korea will retaliate with an immediate nuclear strike if the country is attacked by "hostile forces." It hardly comes as a surprise that after spending the last three decades developing nuclear weapons, the North has now given itself the authority to launch a preemptive nuclear strike. The Kim regime has developed nuclear weapons in order to protect its rule over the North, and it takes no rocket scientist to see why it will not relinquish them.


Many previous South Korean administrations have deceived the public into thinking that the North would give up its nuclear weapons if offered the right incentives. The Roh Tae-woo administration signed a denuclearization agreement with then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in 1992, and Roh claimed "significant progress" had been made in realizing the dream of a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear fears. President Kim Dae-jung held a landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and said, "The North has not developed nuclear weapons and does not have the ability to do that. I can guarantee that." Key security officials at the time even claimed North Korea does not have the will to develop nuclear weapons. It remains unclear whether they were duped by the North or if the South Korean public was duped by its leaders.


President Roh Moo-hyun said in 2004, "North Korea will surely give up its nuclear weapons" and, "There are no signs of a nuclear test." The unification minister at the time said, "Kim Jong-il is not a person who would make such a futile choice as a nuclear weapon." Soon afterwards, North Korea duly conducted its first nuclear test. Any reasonable person would reflect on themselves and change their mind under such circumstances, but the Minjoo Party under its various names is an exception. It started blaming the U.S. when North Korea began stepping up its nuclear weapons development drive, and the Moon Jae-in administration blatantly sided with the North even though it had conducted four nuclear tests and fired an intercontinental ballistic missile. Moon said, "Kim Jong-un's will to achieve denuclearization is clear" and former U.S. President Donald Trump agreed. Last year, Kim Jong-un vowed to develop tactical nukes, and Moon still insisted that the North is willing to scrap its nuclear weapons even though his portly friend was no longer speaking to him.


The Minjoo Party must know by now that the North has no intention to relinquish his nukes. But in order to use rapprochement as a political tool, the party creates the permanent illusion of North Korean denuclearization and attacks anyone who criticizes the fantasy. Now the North has enshrined in law its right to launch a preemptive nuclear strike, there is eerie silence on the opposition benches.


Read this article in Korean

  • Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com

english.chosun.com




4. North Korea rules out denuclearization. The West should prioritize human rights


I concur with Joe. A human rights upfront approach is required (along with information and influence activities and n objective of a free and unified Korea)



North Korea rules out denuclearization. The West should prioritize human rights

BY JOSEPH BOSCO, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 09/13/22 10:00 AM ET

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL

The Hill · · September 13, 2022

Kim Jong Un proclaimed last week that North Korea will “never give up” its nuclear weapons and that ongoing nuclear arms development is “irreversible.” With that stark declaration, he put another nail in the coffin of denuclearization and threw down the gauntlet to the West to accept reality or try to reverse it. “There will no longer be any bargaining over our nuclear power,” Kim told the Supreme People’s Assembly last week.

After decades of futile Western strivings and bitterly dashed hopes, Kim said Pyongyang will offer “absolutely no denuclearization, no negotiation and no bargaining chip to trade.”

As it happens, just days before Kim’s speech, James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, addressed the Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) and publicly stated his “heretical” view that peaceful denuclearization of North Korea is a hopeless mission: “We should recognize and acknowledge as de jure what is true de facto — North Korea is already a member of the nuclear club.”

Instead of continuing the surreal denial policy, Clapper argued, Washington and its allies should arrange relations with Pyongyang so that its nuclear program is carried out in a safe and responsible manner. He pointed to India’s and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, which arouse no undue concern thanks to their wise management.

As Clapper expected, ICAS members mostly disagreed, noting that if the world accepted North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, South Korea and Japan would seek their own nukes, potentially followed by Taiwan and other regional states. Iran would be encouraged to persist in its relentless nuclear ambitions.

The nonproliferation regime would disintegrate, and the world would become infinitely more dangerous. Pyongyang’s bluff-calling of the West would be validated, and other lawless regimes would be emboldened to follow its reckless power preservation example.

Pyongyang has always kept the West teetering on the edge between fear and hope, but now Kim has discarded those diplomatic games. He has escalated his brinkmanship to an entirely new level and expanded the doomsday scenarios under which North Korea would use nuclear weapons. No longer is it simply in response to a full-fledged nuclear or conventional attack on his country. Now, he says he would launch a preemptive nuclear strike if there is any military attempt to remove him from power.

In fact, South Korean channels have openly speculated about efforts to target Kim personally as the head of the “kill chain.” Pyongyang’s response to such a decapitation attempt is to threaten nuclear war even if Kim is killed or physically incapacitated: “In case the command-and-control system over the state nuclear forces is placed in danger owing to an attack by hostile forces, a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately to destroy the hostile forces. including the starting point of provocation.”

If recognizing North Korea as a nuclear weapons state is a dangerously defeatist policy, and if preemptively initiating the use of force and risking a nuclear exchange would be unacceptable to the American public and the international community, what alternative course of action is available to Washington and its allies?

A potential non-kinetic option lies in the other major challenge North Korea poses to international law and norms: its execrable record on human rights. Pyongyang’s gulags and other humanitarian outrages violate every precept of civilized behavior, akin to the Nazi death camps during history’s darkest days.

Even the treatment of ordinary North Koreans in their day-to-day lives falls far short of normal modern governance. Human Rights Watch has found, year after year, that North Korea “remains one of the most repressive countries in the world … and maintain[s] fearful obedience in the population through threats of execution, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, and forced hard labor in detention and prison camps.”

The only fear that may be greater than what the North Korean people feel for the regime is the regime’s fear of the people. Former President Trump effectively played on this regime insecurity when, in 2017 and 2018, he delivered three major speeches exposing the horrors of Pyongyang’s repressive rule — at the United Nations, the South Korean National Assembly, and his State of the Union message — and Vice President Mike Pence met with North Korean defectors at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

The net impact of the new U.S. message was: Unless Kim significantly changes his ways, he is not fit to govern the nation of 25 million political prisoners in the modern civilized world. The condemnation got the regime’s attention. Contrary to academic and think tank concerns, “naming and shaming” Kim did not result in a kinetic reaction, a breaking off of communications, or an unwillingness to advance discussion of denuclearization. On the contrary, Kim was suddenly amenable to discussing at least the possibility of denuclearization, if only to get Trump off his moralistic warpath. “Love letters” and prestige-enhancing meetings with the American president were far more appealing than the human rights tirades that portrayed Kim’s regime as a world pariah.

Unfortunately, Trump’s own ego got in the way of progress and, as Clapper noted, he failed to extract sufficient concessions from Pyongyang in exchange for the global recognition his one-on-one meetings accorded Kim. In addition, Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s alarm that Kim was about to make a deal with Trump brought a summons for a woodshed session in Beijing, after which Kim’s enthusiasm to make history with Trump noticeably cooled.

Different as President Biden’s style is from Trump’s, he should reopen the U.S. focus on North Korea’s human rights record as a global concern different but equal to the nuclear weapons problem. While the nuclear threat is potentially catastrophic, it remains in the realm of possibility and is being managed relatively responsibly. But the human rights disaster is an ongoing nightmare for the North Korean people, a perennial holocaust that the world pledged it would “never again” tolerate.

The US must reconsider its role in the Arctic Mellman: Changing fundamentals boost Democrats

Some in the West will fear that even a non-kinetic campaign for regime reform, or removal by the North Korean people, would cause Pyongyang to lash out at perceived external enemies. Yet that did not happen when Trump launched his high-visibility, high-volume attacks on the Kim regime’s legitimacy over a period of more than five months. Nor does Pyongyang include it as one of its new nuclear threat scenarios.

To add economic teeth to the human rights pressure, Biden should impose expanded secondary sanctions on China for its collusive role with Pyongyang. If denuclearization of North Korea is now a fantasy, rehumanization of the North Korean people should become the West’s priority.

Joseph Bosco served as China country director for the secretary of Defense from 2005 to 2006 and as Asia-Pacific director of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief from 2009 to 2010. He served in the Pentagon when Vladimir Putin invaded Georgia and was involved in Department of Defense discussions about the U.S. response. Follow him on Twitter @BoscoJosephA.

The Hill · by Alexander Bolton · September 13, 2022


5. North Korea's Nuclear Declaration 'No Surprise': Former White House Official Allison Hooker



North Korea's Nuclear Declaration 'No Surprise': Former White House Official Allison Hooker

We spoke to a top former U.S. government official who has direct experience in dealing with Pyongyang at the highest levels from the White House to give us her assessment of North Korea’s latest nuclear threat.

19fortyfive.com · by Harry Kazianis · September 13, 2022

North Korea last week – and once again – declared itself a nuclear weapons state and reserved the right to use those weapons in various preemptive ways if it felt the need.

Indeed, Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons doctrine amounts to one nightmarish fact: it will use nuclear weapons when and how it wants to and won’t give them up under any circumstances.

Not exactly a shocker, as the DPRK has made somewhat similar statements in the past, but still chilling nonetheless and clearly not something the Biden administration can ignore – even though it wants to, considering tensions in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Of course, South Korea has now responded, explaining it will double down on its own conventional military power and missile defenses and increase U.S.-ROK joint alliance capabilities.

While for sure the right call to make on Seoul’s part, that means, of course, some outlandish North Korean response. And there is always the looming threat of a North Korean nuclear test, which seems could happen at any moment.

While it did not make it in time for my North Korea nuclear weapons symposium last week (11 different experts sounded off), we were able to speak to Allison Hooker, a former member of the Obama and Trumps Administration National Security Council and respected North Korea expert. Hooker last served as Deputy Assistant to President Trump and a Senior Director on the National Security Council for Asia.

Hooker had this to say to 19FortyFive on North Korea’s recent nuclear declarations:

“North Korea’s declaration last week that it has codified the right to “automatically” use preemptive nuclear strikes to protect itself, making its nuclear status “irreversible” comes as no surprise, given that Pyongyang’s goal has been – for nearly thirty years – to gain recognition as a nuclear weapons state.

Certainly, the lesson of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which like Libya, was made vulnerable by giving up its nuclear weapons has also reinforced Kim Jong Un’s determination to cement its status.

For Kim, this is the perfect time to make such a move, with the world distracted by more urgent crises – COVID, the Russia-Ukraine war, China’s rumblings around Taiwan, and [the absence of strong US leadership on the issue], Kim must believe there is very little that stands in the way of achieving the regime’s decades old dream.

In 2022 alone, North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests and is reportedly prepared to conduct its 7th nuclear test at a time of Kim’s choosing, while continuing to produce fissile material at its plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities – both of which were restarted within the last 12 months. Not to mention recent reports that Pyongyang is selling ammunition to Moscow to aid in the war on Ukraine. Each of these would be a headline-dominating crisis just a few short years ago.

What can be done to constrain North Korea?

Although the UN Security Council remains hamstrung by the war in Ukraine—as demonstrated by its flimsy response this spring to Pyongyang’s first ICBM test since 2017, implementation of existing sanctions remains a potentially powerful tool. But it will take allies, partners and like-minded countries turning attention and effort back to the issue in a focused way to make an impact.

North Korea Ballistic Missile Test. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Meanwhile, the time-proven concept of “peace through strength” is also a key to holding in check North Korea’s ambitions. Along these lines, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol has done much to strengthen his country’s military posture in the four months since inauguration – including through resuming large joint exercises with the U.S., restarting extended deterrence talks with Washington, and re-engaging in trilateral security dialogue with the U.S. and Japan. He’s on the right track.

It is time our like-minded partners and allies dust off their North Korea policies and get back to work on this issue before Kim takes the spotlight from Putin and Xi.”

Expert Biography: Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) serves as President and CEO of Rogue States Project, a bipartisan national security think tank. He has held senior positions at the Center for the National Interest, the Heritage Foundation, the Potomac Foundation, and Pacific Forum. Kazianis has also worked as a defense journalist, serving as Editor-In-Chief of the Diplomat and Executive Editor of The National Interest. His ideas have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, CNN, CNBC, and many other outlets across the political spectrum. He holds a graduate degree focusing on International Relations from Harvard University and is the author of the book The Tao of A2/AD, a study of Chinese military modernization.

19fortyfive.com · by Harry Kazianis · September 13, 2022


6. North Korea’s proclamation on preemptive nuclear strikes was no surprise, South says




North Korea’s proclamation on preemptive nuclear strikes was no surprise, South says

Stars and Stripes · by David Choi · September 13, 2022

North Korea will not negotiate or discontinue its nuclear weapons program, the state-run Korean Central News Agency announced Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. (KCNA)


South Korea’s military was not surprised by the North’s latest threats and will take appropriate countermeasures if the communist regime conducts its first nuclear test since 2017, a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said Tuesday.

The ministry expected Pyongyang to announce new legislation that codified the development and use of nuclear weapons, acting spokesman Moon Hong Sik said during a press briefing in Seoul.

“[North Korea’s] announcement … shows off that [it] is a nuclear power at home and abroad, expressed it will not give up nuclear weapons and shifts the responsibility on the situation in the Korean Peninsula to South Korea and the [United States],” he said.

But the U.S. and South Korea, which remain “firm” on their goal of denuclearizing the North, had “already anticipated” Pyongyang’s desire to pursue its nuclear program, Moon added.

Pyongyang will not negotiate or discontinue its nuclear weapons program, state-run media announced Friday.

The regime will “automatically” attack hostile forces using nuclear weapons if its leaders are also attacked, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The updated nuclear plans were codified into law Thursday during a Supreme People’s Assembly session presided over by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to KCNA.

The North has conducted six nuclear tests and is preparing for its seventh, according to U.S. and South Korean officials.

Commercial satellite images have picked up activity around the sites where North Korea previously carried out its tests, according to recent reports by 38 North, a website devoted to analysis about North Korea, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

The growing evidence has prompted the International Atomic Energy Agency and other nuclear watchdog groups to warn against the threat throughout the year, including in June, when Director General Rafael Grossi said the “conduct of a nuclear test would contravene U.N. Security Council resolutions and would be a cause for serious concern.”

The regime has conducted 18 rounds of weapons tests – more than 30 missiles launched – so far this year, a record.

North Korea’s stance will only “further strengthen deterrence and reaction capabilities” from the U.S. and South Korea, and cause more suffering for the regime’s people, Moon said.

“If North Korea tries to use nuclear weapons, the North will face overwhelming responses of the [South Korea]-U.S. alliance, and we warn that the North Korean regime would walk into a path to self-destruction,” he said.

Moon did not elaborate on what South Korea would do in response to a North Korean nuclear attack but said Seoul will work closely with Washington.

Minister of Defense Lee Jong-sup on Aug. 11 said a new North Korean nuclear test would evoke an “entirely different” response from South Korea.

The results of North Korea’s parliamentary meeting basically rejects South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s self-proclaimed “audacious” offer last month. He offered North Korea significant economic assistance in exchange for denuclearization.

Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s sister and a senior party official, described Yoon’s offer as the “height of absurdity” and accused the leader of the democratic state of trying to score political points to boost his record-low approval ratings.

Stars and Stripes · by David Choi · September 13, 2022


7. North Korea cracks down on soldiers singing and joking like ‘South Koreans’


Soldiers will be soldiers. An indication of the power and influence (and threat) of information from the South. Sing like a Korean from the South. Joke like a Korean from the South. But they are all Koreans. One Korea. One Korean people. Someday there will be a free and unified Korea.




North Korea cracks down on soldiers singing and joking like ‘South Koreans’

High-ranking officials spotted soldiers in a talent show emulating South Korean singers and comedians.

By Myung Chul Lee for RFA Korean

2022.09.13

rfa.org

North Korea is cracking down on South Korean culture infiltrating its military ranks after soldiers in a talent show were caught performing in ways that resemble the South’s flashy television programs, sources in the country told RFA.

Their performances in a country with staid, state-run TV sparked an investigation that led to nationwide countermeasures, a source from the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service Sept. 5 on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“During the show, some of them told jokes that resembled South Korean stand-up comedians, and others sang songs like South Korean singers,” said the source.

“The Central Committee judged it to be a serious breach of discipline and ordered a thorough investigation and punishment of those involved,” the source said.

North Korea has been vigilant about trying to prevent its youth from being swallowed up in the pop culture of the democratic and far more prosperous South.

In late 2020, the government passed the draconian Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act, which punishes citizens for a wide variety of offenses, mostly related to watching, keeping or distributing media from capitalist countries, particularly from South Korea and the U.S. The law carries a maximum penalty of death for serious offenders.

The law has also been used to punish drivers for tinting their car windows, students for using South Korean-style speech and slang, and even dance instructors, for teaching youth to emulate the moves of foreign pop stars.



Because the soldiers involved in the talent show incident are in a unit under the Ministry of State Security, they are essentially police, and could one day be tasked with cracking down on South Korean and other “anti-socialist” influences among the people, according to the source.

“They should be at the forefront of protecting the system,” the source said. “Anti-socialist phenomena have also emerged in other units. The Central Committee [of the Korean Workers’ Party] called for an emergency measure [nationwide] … ordering the eradication of socialism within the units.”

“The reason this is so serious is because there were high-ranking officials at the talent show who saw what happened,” said the source. “Officers and soldiers are nervous because the Central Committee emphasized the severity of the incident.”

By emulating South Korean stand-up comedians and singers, the ministry considers the soldiers to have been helping the enemy, the source said.

“From Sept. 10, the unit, including its officers, will attend a month-long large-scale ideological lecture series,” the source said.

The nationwide emergency measure order immediately went into effect after the investigation, and authorities in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong began education sessions for soldiers there, a judicial source from the province told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

“The Central Committee will greatly expand political and ideological projects for all soldiers and agents. This expansion will serve to block the channels of anti-socialist behavior that recently enlisted soldiers and officers could bring to their units,” the second source said.

“In addition, the soldiers and officials are prohibited from contacting ‘unhealthy’ civilians so that the ministry can establish a strict command system and strong military discipline within the social security forces,” the second source said.

Regardless of the measures authorities take, however, the attraction of the South’s culture will persist, the second source said.

“It's nothing new that young soldiers are influenced by anti-socialist [media]. Whenever a problem was previously raised, the Central Committee took measures by making a fuss as if something was wrong, but this kind of behavior has not disappeared yet,” the second source said.

“No matter how many long extensive lectures they hold, or how loudly they scold, it’s just a temporary measure. They cannot completely block the flow [of media] to curious people among the younger generation.”

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

rfa.org


8. Yoon gov't gets going on diplomacy on North with U.S., China



Wednesday

September 14, 2022

 dictionary + A - A 

Yoon gov't gets going on diplomacy on North with U.S., China

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/14/national/diplomacy/South-Korea-North-Korea-nuclear-test/20220914153834479.html


South Korean Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul speaks to reporters at Dulles International Airport near Washington on Monday, ahead of an Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) meeting set for Friday. [NEWS1]

 

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is engaging in a series of diplomatic efforts this month that could focus on North Korean nuclear issues with key countries including the United States, China and Japan.  

 

The Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG), involving vice-ministerial defense and foreign affairs officials, is scheduled to meet on Friday in Washington to discuss ways to strengthen deterrence against North Korea's advanced nuclear and missile capabilities.

 

Seoul's delegation will be led by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul, while the U.S. side will be led by Bonnie Jenkins, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, and Colin Kahl, under secretary of defense for policy.

 

The EDSCG, a high-level consultative mechanism established in October 2016, last met in January 2018. President Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to reconvene the EDSCG during a bilateral summit in Seoul in May. 

 

Pyongyang's new nuclear strike law and continued indications of preparations for a seventh nuclear test are expected to be discussed. 

 

Last Thursday, the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament, adopted a law stipulating that Pyongyang will "automatically and immediately" launch a nuclear strike to attack the origin of any provocation if the "command and control system" of its nuclear forces is in danger of an attack, an apparent reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. 

 

"We will confirm the United States' commitment to strengthened extended deterrence and discuss concrete steps to enhance its implementation," Vice Defense Minister Shin told reporters after arriving at Dulles International Airport Monday for the EDSCG meeting. "We will focus on building confidence to reassure the public and that the U.S. extended deterrence will actually work well in the case North Korea conducts a nuclear test."

 

He continued, "In the broader context, there has been progress in discussions that are underway on how the South and the United States will share assessments and countermeasures on North Korean threats and specifically how we will develop extended deterrence to reassure the public."

 

In a briefing Tuesday, Col. Moon Hong-sik, deputy spokesman for Seoul's Ministry of National Defense, warned that if North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, the regime would "face an overwhelming response from the South Korea-U.S. alliance" and "enter a path of self-destruction."

 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed in a briefing last Thursday that the United States remains "fully committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea, using the full range of defense capabilities."

 

She told reporters, "We have made clear: We have no hostile intent toward the DPRK," using the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

 

However, she added that the United States continues to seek diplomacy and is "prepared to meet without preconditions," while noting that the North has yet to respond.

 

Li Zhanshu, chairman of China's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, is expected to visit Seoul on the invitation of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo from Thursday to Saturday.

 

Li will lead a 66-member delegation including four ministers and three vice ministers.

 

He is expected to meet with Yoon at the Yongsan presidential office on Friday.

 

This will mark the beginning of Yoon's diplomacy with China. The two could discuss a possible visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Korea as the two countries commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year.

 

Li's visit also comes as Seoul seems to be tilting more to Washington amid the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry since the launch of the new administration. It could be a chance for talks about cooperation on North Korean denuclearization and other bilateral and regional issues including assuaging China's concerns about the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system. 

 

Yoon will then kick off a weeklong overseas trip that takes him to Britain, the United States and Canada from Sunday to Sept 24. 

 

He is scheduled to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London on Sunday. 

 

Next Tuesday, Yoon will deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York for the first time. The theme of this year's assembly is "A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges."

 

National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han said in a briefing Monday that Yoon will "present the role of South Korea as a global leader that substantively contributes to the resolution of international issues and takes the lead in establishing an international order based on universal values."

 

Yoon's speech is also expected to include his so-called "audacious initiative" to support North Korea's economy if Pyongyang takes substantive steps toward denuclearization, a policy he outlined in a Liberation Day address last month. 

 

In New York, Yoon could possibly hold a first summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Yoon and Kishida had brief encounters on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, in late June, but the two have yet to sit down for an official bilateral summit. 

 

Yoon could also have a chance to meet with U.S. President Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. 

 

Yoon will then head to Canada for a summit with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

 

On Sept. 27, Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is set to attend a state funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in July. This could be an opportunity to discuss trilateral cooperation with the United States on North Korean denuclearization as well as other pending bilateral issues. 

 

Later in the month, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Seoul and meet with Yoon on Sept. 29 to discuss the bilateral alliance, North Korea and other issues. 

 


BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]


9. Kim Jong-un must learn from Gorbachev


Two words: Wishful thinking



Wednesday

September 14, 2022

 dictionary + A - A 

Kim Jong-un must learn from Gorbachev

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/09/14/opinion/columns/Kim-Jongun-Gorbache/20220914200148216.html



Kim Byung-yeon


The author is a professor of economics and head of the Institute for Future Strategy at Seoul National University.


Mikhail Gorbachev — the last leader of the Soviet Union — changed world history. Thanks to him, the Soviet Union dissolved to bring the crumbling of socialist states and the end of the Cold War. Whether he intended or not, his conviction to uphold peace made the world freer and safer. The leader of North Korea must ask himself if he is contributing to the peace of the Korean Peninsula and bringing hope to the people of North Korea. So far, Kim Jong-un has not moved in the direction due to his obsession with nuclear weapons. The nuclear arms he prizes as protection for his state and regime are actually endangering the safety of North Koreans.


North Korea studied hard the causes of the Soviet collapse. After he became the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985, Gorbachev tried to revive the economy through perestroika (reform). At the time, the country was extremely short of consumer goods. People had to wait for an average three hours to buy food at state-run shops daily. The economy stopped growing, and productivity was negative. Cash bills had to be printed to cover the yawning fiscal deficit. When a series of reform actions under perestroika did not produce desired effect, he attributed it to resistance from the establishment, including KGB. He then pursued glasnost (openness) to make the political and bureaucratic apparatus more transparent, communicative and law-abiding. He tried to set examples of glasnost. North Korea thought that glasnost weakened state control and eventually led to the collapse of the communist regime in Moscow.


To avoid such consequences, Kim Jong-un strongly refused political opening while condoning market activities and easing control over the economy. By toughening a reign of terror and political purges, he made sure that his regime did not weaken from economic decentralization. Such dictatorship may not last long but could be effective for a short term. Defying the early prediction that the third-generation leader may not reign long, Kim succeeded in cementing his political hold. The economy was not in a bad shape, either. It grew 2 to 3 percent annually from 2012 to 2015.

 


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at an expanded meeting of members of the Secretariat for the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, June 27, in Pyongyang. [NEWS1]


But Kim Jong-un must have missed the fundamental cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The ineffectiveness of state controlled economic system accumulated to the point where it had to be abandoned to save the ailing economy in the 1980s. It had to follow in the footsteps of China toward reform and opening and adopt capitalism to some extent. But Gorbachev only tried to restructure the socialist system. Kim tried practical policies by 2018, but fell short of pursuing full-fledged reforms. He believed that economic progress was possible through policies within the socialist framework. But such efforts are in vain. Divorce from socialism is essential to advance the economy. If socialism cannot be forsaken, the economy is victimized. Gorbachev had been in the dilemma 30 years ago. Kim also faces the conundrum.


Just as Gorbachev helped trigger the Soviet collapse with policies designed to protect socialism, nuclear weapons are endangering the North Korean regime. Gorbachev believed that people’s heavy drinking hurt productivity and economic growth. Through nationwide campaign of sobriety and efforts to reduce alcohol consumption, liquor sales became halved in official statistics. But undisclosed data on household expenditure showed that the consumption of bootleg liquor actually increased. Due to a plunge in tax revenue from alcohol consumption, the fiscal deficit widened. Naïve policy ideas from a leader with a lack of understanding of economic complexities worsened the situation.


Kim’s obsession with nuclear weapons could be more fatal to the society than the failed policies of Gorbachev. For some period, Kim could strike a balance between economic decentralization and toughened political control. But his adherence to nuclear development broke the balance. As a result, Kim is reinforcing state control over economic activities for the sake of self-sufficiency to fight international sanctions. He upholds an ideological struggle to prevent economic troubles from threatening the regime. In the meantime, the economy worsened. No one would welcome stronger political oppression while their lives hardened. The regime inevitably has become unstable. Nuclear arms that were supposed to protect his power is actually jeopardizing his power and regime. North Korea nevertheless legalized its nuclear weaponization. It is a delusion to believe the cause of a crisis could solve the crisis.


Nearsighted obsession of a dictator can trigger a crisis. In such societies, statistics and expertise won’t matter. The dictator’s standard would define policy standard. Recently discovered documents showed that Gorbachev had delayed decisions despite repeated reports warning of grave disasters in the economy. Statistics could have been cooked up to indulge the leader. What do the North Korean people want today?


Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.



10.Much Ado About Nothing: North Korea’s New Nuclear Law


It may "not significantly alter Pyongyang's implied nuclear doctrine." It simply confirms and reinforces what we have long assessed.




Much Ado About Nothing: North Korea’s New Nuclear Law

Alarm over North Korea’s new law concerning its nuclear weapons policy is unwarranted, as the legislation does not significantly alter Pyongyang’s implied nuclear doctrine.

thediplomat.com · by Nah Liang Tuang · September 13, 2022

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The news came on September 9 that Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament had introduced a new law codifying North Korea’s status as a nuclear weapons power, which has apparently aggravated media alarm regarding a possible nuclear arms race in East Asia. However, a dispassionate analysis indicates that strategic nuclear realities remain essentially unaltered, despite the Kim regime’s irresponsible saber-rattling via the aforementioned law.

Casting the North’s Nuclear Status in Stone

One of the pillars of this newly promulgated law is that top leader Kim Jong Un pledged that North Korea’s nuclear weapons would never be surrendered or bargained away even if his nation faced 100 years of sanctions. Setting aside the dubious certainty that North Korea, or any nation for that matter, could survive such sustained isolation, it can be argued that few serious analysts expected Kim to relinquish his nuclear weapons, even when he appeared interested in negotiations ostensibly toward that end. Even those who made policy recommendations to keep the door to denuclearization open still acknowledged serious obstacles to truly denuclearizing North Korea.

Moreover, in this writer’s conversations with various senior U.S. military officers and South Korean officials, they did not express confidence that Pyongyang would ever willingly relinquish its nuclear deterrent. Consequently, the aforementioned law changes nothing about Kim’s nuclear weapons policy, only serving to remind the international media of his regime’s intractable nature.

A Nuclear First-Strike Doctrine?

The other pillar of the new law is that it authorizes preemptive nuclear strikes. Such an antagonistic and belligerent “first-strike” doctrine stands in stark contrast to a No First Use (NFU) nuclear strategy where a nuclear weapons possessor, like India, pledges to only launch nuclear warheads in retaliation to an initial nuclear or WMD attack on its forces, people, or territory. Essentially, a NFU doctrine commits a state to abstain from nuclear attacks against a non-nuclear or WMD armed adversary, keeping any conflict conventional, thereby maintaining an escalatory ceiling on the violence or destruction inflicted.

As befitting North Korea’s reputation as a rogue state, however, it has declared that it will use its nuclear munitions in the event that it perceives an impending nuclear attack; if the Kim regime, North Koreans, or the state’s existence were threatened; or as an offensive war option. For casual observers, such a provocative enunciation is worrying because the Kim regime could define these “first-strike” conditions in any way that suits the unstable priorities of a government under pervasive international pressure.

For instance, Kim might use this law to initiate nuclear brinksmanship during the next round of South Korea-U.S. military exercises, threaten a nuclear strike if already choking sanctions are further tightened after another nuclear test, or detonate a nuclear device above ground if any future military adventurism like the 2010 bombardment of Yeonpyeong island turns sour for the Korean People’s Army (KPA).

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However, it can be argued that from a governmental perspective, there should be no change to the current military or nuclear deterrence postures of the North’s neighbors. Just because Kim Jong Un did not clearly enunciate his pre-emptive nuclear strike policy in the past did not mean that he was unwilling to authorize the launch of nuclear weapons whenever he saw fit. The military planners in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, and most importantly Washington are surely worth their salt and have definitely factored North Korean unpredictability into their contingency measures.

Also, for all his chest-thumping nuclear aggrandizement, Kim should realize that any nuclear first strike dooms the survival of his government as both South Korea and Japan are protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, and nuclear retaliation by Washington is a truly horrific prospect.

North Korean Nuclear “Responsibility”?

Third, this recent clarification of Pyongyang’s nuclear armaments policy claims that the North will not share nuclear arms or technology with other countries. This official pronouncement is nothing new as the Kim government has since 2006 denied that it will ever export nuclear technology. However, North Korean actions have not tallied with declarations of nuclear weapons non-proliferation as ample evidence exists of North Korea: i) selling missile technology to the Middle East in the late 2010s (missiles are vital for delivering nuclear warheads); ii) helping Syria construct a nuclear reactor in the early 2000s (a vital facility for nuclear warhead production); and even iii) experiment with a U.N.-detected online attempt to sell Lithium-6 (Li-6), an isotope used in the production of thermonuclear weapons, in the early 2010s.

Consequently, Pyongyang’s behavior in practice will not be limited by earlier policy promulgations, including the recent nuclear policy legislation. During the 1990s and most recently as an outcome of the first Kim-Trump summit, it re-affirmed its in-principle commitment to denuclearization, but its most recent law has rendered all earlier denuclearization comments null and void.

Essentially, nothing that the Kim regime says can be trusted. The only things that matter are what Pyongyang does, not what it says.

So What Now?

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Having established that the Kim dynasty has affirmed North Korea’s nuclear status and claimed the right to aggressive pre-emption, and that Pyongyang’s non-proliferation ethnics cannot be trusted, what should the international community do?

Practically, denuclearization efforts by South Korea and the United States are at a dead end. Kim will not even countenance steps toward nuclear tension reduction over the next few months because that would make him look weak after having drawn the proverbial “line in the sand” so clearly. Additionally, with Washington’s deteriorating relations with Moscow and Beijing, we might expect the latter two states to be less stringent on enforcing sanctions against North Korea. This might give the North breathing room to persist in its policy of nuclear intransigence.

Yet anything could happen in the future. Since North Korea is sensitive to the dynamics of regional power politics, any policy changes in Beijing or any other world capitals that result in vital resource imports or exports being strictly denied to the North could bring about significant softening in its nuclear stance over the medium to long term.

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In the meantime, the U.S., South Korea, Japan and all their allies should maintain unyielding pressure on the Kim regime via watertight implementation of all UNSC and unilateral sanctions, making use of all available intelligence, law enforcement, and even military assets to crack down on smuggling attempts. The aforementioned governments should also redouble efforts to combat North Korean cybercrime, online heists, and cryptocurrency fraud to minimize Pyongyang’s funding lifelines. If all of this is diligently done, the latter’s boast that it can resist a century’s worth of sanctions will remain just that – a mere idle boast.

thediplomat.com · by Nah Liang Tuang · September 13, 2022



11. China's state museum accused of distorting Korean history


A revisionist power revising history.


China's state museum accused of distorting Korean history

The Korea Times · September 14, 2022

The chronology of ancient Korean history showcased at the National Museum of China does not include any content about Goguryeo and Balhae kingdoms. Captured from Weibo


By Dong Sun-hwa


China's state-run museum has been accused of distorting Korean history by excluding information about two ancient kingdoms ― Goguryeo (37 B.C.-A.D. 668) and Balhae (A.D. 698-926) ― from its chronology of ancient Korean history.

The controversial chronology at the National Museum of China was showcased at the "Auspicious Metals from the Orient: Ancient Bronzes of China, Korea and Japan" exhibition, which premiered on July 26 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Korea-China ties and the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations. The exhibition was held jointly with the National Museum of Korea and the Tokyo National Museum.


The chronology only included information about kingdoms like Baekje (18 B.C.-660 A.D.) and Silla (57 B.C.-935 A.D.) which were located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, while omitting Goguryeo and Balhae, whose main territories belonged to the current North Korea and some parts of Manchuria, the current Chinese territory.


This is raising speculation that Beijing is reactivating its "Northeast Project" that was launched by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2002.


Beijing claims the project intends to "restore historical facts" about its northeast region, but numerous scholars and experts believe its ultimate goal is to distort world history in its favor. Although Goguryeo and Balhae were sovereign kingdoms, China has been insisting that they were the local governments of its Tang Dynasty (618-907).


The "Auspicious Metals from the Orient: Ancient Bronzes of China, Korea, and Japan" exhibition has been taking place since July at the National Museum of China in Beijing. Captured from the official website of the National Museum of ChinaThe National Museum of China ― the largest museum in the country with a permanent collection of more than 1 million objects ― stated that the chronology was provided by the National Museum of Korea. But the latter denied this, saying its original chronology did include content about Goguryeo and Balhae.


"The National Museum of China arbitrarily edited the chronology we provided, so we asked for an apology and a correction," the Korean museum said in a release, Tuesday. "It is an international practice to faithfully reflect the data provided by other organizations when holding an exhibition. But what China did this time was an act undermining trust (between Seoul and Beijing)."


An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Korea said the government will "take necessary action."


"Historical issues are tied to our national identity, so the Korean government has been responding firmly to all distortions of history based on fact-checking," he added.


However, regarding the ongoing dispute, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a regular briefing on Tuesday, "The Goguryeo issue is an academic issue. Views regarding academic issues can be shared and discussed in a professional way in the academic sphere. There is no need to hype it up politically."



The Korea Times · September 14, 2022


12. Unification ministry ends 'fake news' monitoring on North Korea



Unification ministry ends 'fake news' monitoring on North Korea

The Korea Times · September 14, 2022

By Kang Seung-woo


The Ministry of Unification is poised to finishing monitoring "fake news" on North Korea only one year after starting the program amid lingering questions on its effectiveness.


According to the ministry, Wednesday, it has decided not to earmark a budget for the program for 2023. Last year, 200 million won ($143,000) was budgeted to counter disinformation in 2022.


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / Korea Times file


The project was launched amid growing concerns that the spread of unsubstantiated rumors and speculation about the secretive state could trigger confusion and instability in society and financial markets. The monitoring system has provided corrections on unreliable information and the ministry's countermeasures on its official website.


A ministry official said the ministry decided to cut the program after considering a variety of relevant factors.


From the beginning, the project faced strong criticism for being ineffective and wasteful. In addition, it was also pointed out that the standards for classifying fake news and the countermeasures to be used were unclear and could weaken the critique function of the media.


At that time, the ministry explained that it would materialize the project as a program to monitor false, distorted and manipulated information about North Korea circulated in the news media.


In that respect, the ministry decided to limit the monitoring target to new media such as blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, excluding established media, a departure from the original purpose of monitoring misinformation on North Korea as proposed by the Democratic Party of Korea.


In 2020 when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was absent from public view for 20 days, speculation was rampant about his health and even the possibility of his death, sparked by a CNN report, thereby causing instability in local financial markets amid jitters about a possible power vacuum and instability in the nuclear-armed country.


As a result, there were growing calls for tough measures to stem the spread of unsubstantiated news and groundless rumors about Pyongyang.




The Korea Times · September 14, 2022



13. UN human rights office Seoul names new head



UN human rights office Seoul names new head

The Korea Times · September 14, 2022

New United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner Seoul head James Heenan / Screenshot from United Nations website


By Nam Hyun-woo


United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner Seoul (OHCHR Seoul) will have an Australian human rights adviser as its new head, ending a two-year leadership vacuum.


According to Voice of America, a spokesperson for the office of the U.N. Secretary General said Tuesday that it has appointed James Heenan as the head of OHCHR Seoul, without specifying his term.


"The head of the office is James Heenan and he will begin his role shortly," the office was quoted by the news outlet.


Heenan was a practicing lawyer in Australia and the U.K., focusing on labor rights issues. After joining the U.N., he has worked with OHCHR for 16 years and most recently served as the head of OHCHR's office in the occupied Palestine territories.

As OHCHR Seoul appoints its new head, the organization's activities for monitoring North Korea's human rights situation will likely get back on track.


After its inaugural head, Signe Poulsen, served her five-year term and left the office for a new position in the Philippines in 2020, the office has been operating without a chief, triggering concerns from multiple North Korea human rights civic groups.


In August of last year, seven civic groups in the U.S., Canada and South Korea sent a joint letter to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and urged the prompt appointment of OHCHR Seoul's chief, saying it "has lacked an effective chief who can speak with authority to the press and civil society to maintain visibility of the issue or to guarantee access to North Korean escapees for documentation, devoid of politics or bureaucracy."


OHCHR Seoul opened in June 2015 to monitor human rights in North Korea, and to work with relevant governments, civil society and others to promote and protect human rights.



The Korea Times · September 14, 2022


14. S. Korea, US to discuss 'concrete' deterrence steps against NK threats in this week's talks: official



S. Korea, US to discuss 'concrete' deterrence steps against NK threats in this week's talks: official

The Korea Times · September 14, 2022

South Korea's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul speaks to the press upon arrival at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., Sept. 13.


 YonhapSouth Korea and the United States will discuss "concrete" steps to sharpen deterrence against North Korea's evolving military threats during their high-level security talks later this week, according to a senior Seoul official Tuesday.


Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul made the remarks upon arriving at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., to attend a session of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) slated for Friday (local time).


The first vice-ministerial EDSCG session since 2018 has been arranged as the allies are cranking up security coordination amid concerns about the possibility of the North conducting a nuclear test or other provocative acts.


"(We) will see the U.S.' strengthened extended deterrence commitment (to the South) and discuss concrete steps to enhance its credibility," Shin told reporters without elaborating. "In a broad context, there's been progress in discussions that have been under way as to how the South and the U.S. will share assessments on North Korean threats and how specifically we will develop extended deterrence to reassure the public."


Extended deterrence refers to America's stated commitment to mobilizing the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear options, to defend its ally.

Shin also pointed out that at the EDSCG session, the two sides will discuss steps to "address public concerns in the event of the North conducting a nuclear test and ensure the U.S.' extended deterrence works well in actuality."


The EDSCG, a gathering of the two countries' vice-ministerial defense and diplomatic officials, will come after North Korea codified its nuclear policy in a law last week, which hinted at the possibility of the regime launching a preemptive nuclear strike in a contingency.


Asked if any specific agreement will be reached at the EDSCG session, Shin said that Seoul and Washington have been "doing their utmost toward that end."

During his stay in the U.S., Shin plans to visit a set of key American military units, including Andrews Air Force Base just outside Washington, D.C., where he said he expects to see U.S. strategic military assets.


"I think proper photos (of the strategic assets) may be released later," he said.

The EDSCG has not been held since its second and last session in January 2018, when the then liberal Moon Jae-in administration pushed for an initiative to promote inter-Korean rapprochement and cooperation.


Seoul's vice defense and foreign ministers, Shin and Cho Hyun-dong, respectively, will attend the session while the U.S. side will be represented by Colin H. Kahl, under secretary of defense for policy, and Bonnie Denise Jenkins, under secretary of state for arms control and international security.


The planned reactivation of the EDSCG came after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, agreed on it during their summit in May in Seoul as part of joint efforts to address Pyongyang's growing nuclear and missile threats. (Yonhap)



The Korea Times · September 14, 2022



15. Don't shake alliance with ROK (IRA ISSUES)



Don't shake alliance with ROK

The Korea Times · September 14, 2022

By Shim Jae-yun

The United States has taken flak here for its introduction of the controversial Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The bill offers subsidies of up to $7,500 to consumers purchasing electric vehicles (EVs) manufactured domestically, effectively stripping overseas EV makers of marketability in the U.S. In the case of Korea, this is particularly likely to affect Hyundai Motor.


This prompted North Korea to scornfully comment. "The U.S. and the southern puppet (referring to South Korea) have been vociferously touting their alliance. Yet the so-called 'light-proof alliance' proved to be nothing but a 'glossy wild apricot' as they have been at odds over major issues," the North said via its propaganda mouthpiece "Maeari," meaning "echo," last Tuesday. The North even cynically described the South as a "pet abandoned by its master (the U.S.)."


The U.S. move is totally inappropriate as it came when the bilateral alliance has become more essential than ever. It will lead to an undermining of the crucial alliance in terms of both security and economics and possibly trigger anti-U.S. sentiment here. A negative public view on the U.S. heightened as the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo reportedly "intercepted" a $5 billion investment deal from Taiwan's GlobalWafers Co. that was originally supposed to be made with South Korea.


Furthermore, military tension on the Korean Peninsula has shown signs of escalating recently. While passing a new law, North Korea declared itself as a nuclear weapons state. Its leader Kim Jong-un clarified there would be no more negotiations over the "denuclearization." Kim hailed the adoption of the new law as a remarkable event with regard to the North's nuclear policy. He said the North's road to fortifying its nuclear force will never end, according to Pyongyang's state media Friday.


Official contacts are underway to tackle the IRA issue between the two allies, yet without any prospects for an early settlement ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. Criticism is expected to flare up further against the U.S. regarding the issue as it can be interpreted as a "stab in the back," having come on the heels of Korean companies' ― SK, Samsung and Hyundai ― announcements of huge investments in the U.S.


The ongoing war in Ukraine has nudged the North to come closer to China and Russia. Amid disrupted global supply channels and the growing conflicts with the U.S., China and Russia have been strengthening bilateral ties via barter trade of Moscow's low priced natural gases and China's end-user goods. The "Chissia" (a portmanteau of China and Russia) partnership highlights new amicable and collusive relations between the two super powers toward mutual survival circumventing various retaliations from the international community.


This comes amid soaring commodity prices and a looming energy crisis gripping many other countries. The rapidly changing situation poses challenges for South Korea. For starters, its reliance on China for purchase of resources and parts needed for batteries and EVs reaches up to 90 percent. Against this backdrop, Seoul has no choice but to adopt well-conceived diplomatic tactics coupled with a competitive industrial edge.


Desperate to find a breakthrough in stalled inter-Korean relations, Unification Minster Kwon Young-se proposed talks with the North to discuss the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. But the North rebuffed it, only venting out fierce antipathy toward the Yoon Suk-yeol government, going so far as to refer to him as "disgusting." Such sharp reactions are evidence of a growing sense of crisis among the North's elites.


The North's sense of instability will likely accelerate as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is poised to launch a satellite-free Starlink service for Korea from next year. Once launched, the service will enable all mobile phone carriers to have communications, upload images and videos from outside the reclusive nation. Without the satellite signals, the service will expose its people to the external world, thus posing a serious threat on the secretive regime.


Now some 500,000 mobile phones are available in the North, mostly subject to tight surveillance. The North may strictly check the existing phones, yet it is almost impossible for the North to control all the phones funneled through smuggling.

 The growing threat on its regime survival will prompt the North to seek further military provocations including the envisaged seventh nuclear test. These and other matters intensify the need for South Korea and the U.S. to cement their alliance. Now the ball is in the U.S.' court.


The author (jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr) is an editorial writer of The Korea Times.

The Korea Times · September 14, 2022



16. No to 'America first' (IRA Issue with ROK)



No to 'America first'

The Korea Times · September 14, 2022

US hit for unilaterally pursuing self-interests


The United States has come under criticism again for launching a new initiative designed to favor domestically manufactured bio, drug and other medical products. U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday to implement the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative to expand domestic production and create new jobs in the U.S.


"(The initiative) will ensure we can make in the United States all that we invent. It will create jobs at home, build stronger supply chains and allow lower prices for American families," the White House said in a statement. "The U.S. has relied too heavily on foreign materials and bioproduction and our past offshoring of critical industries, including biotechnology, threatens our ability to access materials like important chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients."


To sum it up, the new initiative seeks to revive the U.S.' manufacturing industries and generate jobs while effectively containing China in the global market. The U.S. move has caught domestic companies off guard again, as it came on the heels of the U.S. legislation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which calls for the provision of tax incentives for buyers of electric vehicles (EVs) manufactured in North America. The act will deal blows to Korean carmakers such as Hyundai Motor which have no EV assembly lines there.


This "Made in America" policy will inflict serious setbacks on South Korea's mainstay and next-generation industries. For instance, the overseas sales of bio and health products have continued to increase in the first half of this year, emerging as one of the country's top 10 major export items. Domestic companies have been leading the global market, riding on their tech prowess based on the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) device.


For starters, Samsung Biologics and SK Bioscience are producing vaccines of Modena and Novavax, respectively, here. Yet the domestic firms will suffer heavily should the U.S. block production outside America. If the firms relocate their plants to the U.S., they will have to cut jobs here. South Korea has been nurturing the bio sector as a new growth engine. Unless modified, the U.S. egocentric move could shake the foundations of the fledgling domestic bio industry.


The Biden administration cannot avoid criticism, as such a unilateral trade policy trespasses on the long-cherished value of free trade. The U.S.' self-centered policies, mainly aimed to maintain the upper hand over China, will also seriously undermine its alliance with South Korea. The Yoon Suk-yeol government has already decided to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) to boost economic and technological cooperation with the U.S. and its allies in the region.


Yet the U.S. move discriminating against Korean-made goods runs counter to the principles of free and fair trade as well as the spirit of economic security alliance. The discriminatory nature of the IRA also violates the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. The U.S. should stop its "America first" initiatives. Instead, it must push for its policies based on mutual respect to promote free trade and enhance co-prosperity. The Yoon administration should spare no efforts to protect our national interests.



The Korea Times · September 14, 2022


17. Unilateralism is no answer to friendshoring (IRA issue)




Unilateralism is no answer to friendshoring

The Korea Times · September 13, 2022

By Song Kyung-jin


Unilateralism tends to create more problems than solutions. The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a good case in point. Enacted on Aug. 16, the IRA is meant to deal with challenges the U.S. economy is faced with ― to fight high inflation, combat climate change and create a 15 percent minimum corporate tax rate.


The causes are noble; however, it is centered on investments and jobs in the U.S. at the expense of its trading partners and friends. Unilateralism imbued in the Act with little concerns for its global impact is hurting carmakers and workers of its friends and partners in global supply chains and the U.S.' global leadership.


While there are differing views and estimates, with regards to its possible effect on inflation and confidence of its friends and partners, the U.S. global leadership is undoubtedly likely to weaken further as it stands. The estimated impact does not look big enough to offset the damaged confidence of friends and partners. The Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania estimated a low impact on inflation. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office is also skeptical of the IRA's effect on reducing inflation at least until 2023.


The U.S.' global leadership was instrumental to the world's peace and prosperity in the post-World War II era characterized by democracy, free trade, globalization, and multilateralism. Deepened economic interdependence and economic successes such as Korea and China are the products of the U.S.-led world order that is now almost in tatters due to increasingly permeating nationalism, protectionism and unilateralism.


With just 55 days left as of Sept.14 until the midterm elections U.S. politicians are a distinct group of people more positive about the IRA's impact on inflation, clean energy transition, and employment.


The main provisions of the IRA include subsidies up to $7,500 to be given to buyers of electric vehicles (EVs) of which final assembly is conducted in North America. It is expected to affect negatively several carmakers in the European Union, Japan and Korea whose final assembly takes place outside the United States. It is clearly discriminating against EVs manufactured outside the United States in a breach of the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the KORUS FTA. More importantly, the countries concerned are all critical friends and partners in its friendshoring and allyshoring endeavor.


The Korean automakers, Hyundai and Kia. Hyundai and Kia, are expected to be hit particularly hard, given its growing share in the US market. Their share combined accounts for 9 percent in the US EV market, trailing Tesla whose U.S. market share exceeds 75 percent.


Quickly after the IRA was put in place, the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expressed its intention to explore the possibility of lodging a complaint with the WTO over the issue, while continuing its negotiations with the Biden administration to minimize losses. Some pundits argue against the idea of filing a complaint with the WTO, which they say will be a long and complicated process.


One should be advised that the WTO has never been a place for a quick fix even when it functioned fairly well and the symbolism it carries transcends the long, complicated procedures even now when it functions less efficiently. I am of the view that it is a right approach to give a clear signal to the world that unilateralism, especially to its friends and partners, would be refuted and rejected.


One official after another is flying to Washington, D.C. to find the best possible solution. The Biden administration promised to review the IRA's impact on Korean EV manufacturers. Nonetheless, given the U.S. political schedule, any immediate action is unlikely ahead of the mid-term elections to change course out of fear that it may give the wrong signal to U.S. voters.


In the meantime, another useful and more neutral venue to put the issue on the negotiating table and seek assistance would be the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). Its core objective is to advance resilient, broad-based economic connectivity and integration in the Indo-Pacific region. Moreover, the IPEF's four main pillars ― trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy ― have direct relevance to the IRA's impact on the member countries. If the United States wishes to keep its IPEF initiative intact, concrete mutual benefits should be developed for all 14 members.


Also, the outcome documents of the IPEF ministerial meeting held on Sept.8-9 in Los Angeles laid the groundwork conducive to including discussions on the IRA. The ministerial statements repeatedly emphasized respecting and observing the ILO's Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work that stresses the importance of workers' rights and decent jobs. Workers' rights and decent jobs do not stop at the U.S. workers. The Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work apply to all workers.

It is time for the United States to move from a talk-the-talk mode to a walk-the-walk mode.


Dr. Song Kyung-jin (kj_song@hotmail.com) led the Institute for Global Economics (IGE), based in Seoul, and served as special adviser to the chairman of the Presidential Committee for the Seoul G20 Summit in the Office of the President. Now, she is executive director of the Innovative Economy Forum.



The Korea Times · September 13, 2022

​18. N. Korean man in Pyongyang beaten to death by group of soldiers on Youth Day


Using a defense of " lack of romantic opportunities while being a soldier."


Excerpt:


“While soldiers are occasionally involved in violent incidents, it’s unusual for those incidents to cause fatalities as this one did. Along with being due to poor character, the violent behavior of these soldiers may also have been an erratic outburst based on frustration over their complete lack of romantic opportunities during their long years of military service,” the source said.


N. Korean man in Pyongyang beaten to death by group of soldiers on Youth Day

The police are taking the incident very seriously and are viewing it in political terms

By Kim Chae Hwan - 2022.09.14 3:54pm

dailynk.com

North Korean soldiers (KCNA)

A North Korean young man in his twenties was beaten to death by a group of soldiers on Aug. 28, which is celebrated as Youth Day in North Korea.

A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Sept. 8 that a young man who had attended a Youth Day dance party in the Munsu neighborhood of the Taedonggang (Taedong River) District of Pyongyang was on his way home around 10 pm when he was ganged up on by soldiers. The young man later died from his injuries.

The young man and a woman in his company got into a quarrel with three soldiers who provoked them by making flirtatious comments to the woman. The quarrel soon turned physical, and the young man was knocked out in a savage beating by the soldiers.

The woman who was with him reported the incident to the police, but by the time they arrived, the assailants had already vanished, the source said.

The police took the unconscious young man to a nearby hospital, where he died the next day, the source explained.

The woman who had been at the scene reportedly described the events in detail during police questioning, saying that soldiers who seemed to be drunk had ruthlessly pummeled the young man with their fists and feet until he lost consciousness.

The police have begun searching for suspects in the case based on the woman’s testimony. More specifically, they asked army bases in the area to help them find soldiers of an age and rank that match the woman’s description.

According to the source, the Pyongyang police are currently narrowing the scope of their investigation given the likelihood that the assailants are among the soldiers mobilized for the “10,000 homes” building project in the city’s Hwasong District.

The police are reportedly taking the incident very seriously and are viewing it in political terms because it took place in Pyongyang on Youth Day.

“While soldiers are occasionally involved in violent incidents, it’s unusual for those incidents to cause fatalities as this one did. Along with being due to poor character, the violent behavior of these soldiers may also have been an erratic outburst based on frustration over their complete lack of romantic opportunities during their long years of military service,” the source said.

Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

dailynk.com




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





V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
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FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:

"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."

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