|
Quotes of the Day:
"Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down to short the survivors."
– Ernest Hemingway
“The less talent they, the more pride, vanity and arrogance they have. All these fools, however, find other fools applaud them.”
– Erasmus, 1509
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
– Margaret Mead
(Similarly: "When the hour of crisis comes, remember that 40 selected men can shake the world." – Yasotay, Mongol Warlord)
1. The forgotten teenage guerillas who infiltrated North Korea during Korean War
2. Should Ireland, not Germany, now be the model for Korean reunification?
3. Report to Congress on U.S., South Korea Relations
4. —TRILATERAL STATEMENT— First Execution of Multi-Domain Japan - ROK - U.S. Exercise FREEDOM EDGE
5. “There is no need to overreact to the North Korea-Russia military alliance∙∙∙The extended deterrence of the U.S.-ROK alliance must be strengthened.”
6. Research expert tells UN it has 'irrefutably' established missile debris in Ukraine is North Korean
7. Russia, Western nations joust on Pyongyang-Moscow arms cooperation in UNSC meeting
8. Danger of War in East Asia Ignored in Debate Despite Beijing’s Growing Aggression
9. KDVA’s Congratulatory Message for U.S. Forces Korea Founding Day
10. North Korea executed man for listening to K-pop, report from defectors shows
11. N. Korea opens party plenary meeting with leader Kim in attendance
12. S. Korea, U.S., Japan wrap up 1st trilateral 'Freedom Edge' exercise
13. S. Korea marks 22nd anniversary of victorious inter-Korean naval skirmish
14. Exclusive: Trump will encourage Japan, South Korea ties, allies tell foreign officials
15. US diplomat says 'everything' should be on table if it helps progress on peninsula denuclearization
16. N. Korea enhances nuclear readiness ahead of military's summer exercises
17. Some N. Koreans avoid work as police informants due to no compensation
1. The forgotten teenage guerillas who infiltrated North Korea during Korean War
This history is not forgotten by members of the US and ROK Special Forces community.
One of the highlights of my service in Korea over the years was to pa=y respects to the veterans of the Korean partisan and guerrilla units, and the 8240th in particular. Going out to the memorial on Ganghwa Island every September for a ceremony and celebration was a memorable event.
I remember listening to stories from late Commander Park and his high school class who came South with the nKPA invaded. We could see his home across the Han RIver estuary. His entire high school class trained as partisan/guerrillas. Commander Park himself was given parachute training by US forces and made 51 parachute jumps into the north and walked out crossing the forward edge of the battle area (FEBA) every time to return with intelligence gathered behind enemy lines.
For further reading on Korean guerrilla and partisan forces during the war:
One Guerrilla’s Fight
Operating Behind Enemy Lines in the Korean War
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v8n2_one_guerrillas_fight_page_1.html
A History of Resistance
The Origins of the North Korean Anti-Communist Guerrillas, 1945-1950
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v8n2_history_of_resistance_page_1.html
Guerrillas in Their Midst
An Introduction to Veritas Vol. 8, No. 2
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v8n2_guerrillas_in_their_mist_page_1.html
Creating an Army Guerrilla Command
Part 1: The First Six Months
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v8n2_guerrilla_command1_page_1.html
The Army’s Guerrilla Command in Korea
Part II: The Rest of the Story
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v9n1_guerrilla_comm_page_1.html
The Combined Command for Reconnaissance Activities, Korea (CCRAK)
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v9n1_ccrak_page_1.html
Working with what you have
The Challenges of Guerrilla Warfare on the Korean East Coast, 1951-1953
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v8n2_working_with_what_page_1.html
Fight for the Northwestern Islands
September-December 1951
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v9n1_fight_northwestern_page_1.html
Catch as Catch Can
Special Forces and Line Crossers in the Korean War
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v2n2_catch_as_catch_page_1.html
A Combat First
Army SF Soldiers in Korea, 1953-1955
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v9n1_sf_in_korea_page_1.html
Closing Acts
The Special Warfare Campaign at the End of the Korean War
https://arsof-history.org/articles/v9n1_closing_acts_page_1.html
The forgotten teenage guerillas who infiltrated North Korea during Korean War
8240 Unit members hailed from DPRK and operated deep behind enemy lines, playing key role only now being recognized
https://www.nknews.org/2024/06/the-forgotten-teenage-guerillas-who-infiltrated-north-korea-during-korean-war/
Joon Ha Park June 28, 2024
Lee Jae-hyun and fellow operatives of a branch of the 8240 Unit on Daehwa Island near Sinuiju, North Korea in 1952 | Image: Courtesy of Lee Hyung-jin
The Korean War began 74 years ago this week — and with it, an extended nightmare for the teenager Park Chung-am.
For over two years, Park infiltrated deep into North Korean territory to gather intel, disrupt supply routes and rescue prisoners, facing the constant threat of death as he served in the U.S.-led 8240 Unit.
But despite the dangerous work that Park and fellow agents who hailed from the North carried out in support of the war effort, the secrecy of their missions and lack of military identification has meant that their heroics have gone almost entirely unrecognized — until now.
Over seven decades after the unit’s disbandment, the now-92-year-old Park became the first member to receive a decoration when South Korea awarded him the Hwarang Order of Military Merit this month, the country’s fourth-highest honor for military excellence.
The belated recognition has brought new attention to the story of the 8240 Unit and other guerilla forces, as well as long-awaited financial assistance for the few surviving members. But some of the veterans lament that it is still too little, too late.
8240 Unit operatives pose for photos on Daehwa Island near Sinuiju, North Korea in 1952. | | Image: Courtesy of Lee Hyung-jin
STUDENTS TO WARTIME OPERATIVES
When North Korean tanks crossed the 38th parallel into the South on June 25, 1950, many of those who would come to make up the 8240 Unit were still in school uniforms.
In the weeks and months after the invasion, many young people and students joined anti-communist guerrilla units that sprang up on the northern half of the peninsula, aiding the fight when U.N. forces pushed back against the DPRK army and advanced north.
As the frontlines stabilized in the central region in 1951, U.N. forces increasingly recognized the significance of these guerrilla activities and set up liaison offices to coordinate their activities. The 8240 Unit formed during this time.
Thanks to their intimate familiarity with the terrain in the North, the local guerrilla members were able to provide intelligence about North Korean and Chinese forces’ movements and positions.
Park Chung-am fled to South Korea from his hometown of Haeju in North Korea before the outbreak of the Korean War, and during the conflict, he saw an opportunity to return to his hometown, making the journey as South Korean and U.N. forces advanced northward.
Back in Haeju, Park eventually joined the 8240 Unit and became an intelligence officer, operating in his native Hwanghae Province even after Chinese and North Korean troops retook the village.
According to Park, military strategies in the 8240 Unit were often formulated through trial and error, and few received any formal intelligence training.
“With experience, our abilities gradually enhanced, although the learning curve was far from linear,” the veteran told NK News.
For Park and his fellow agents, survival was paramount in operations.
“Collecting information was essential, but staying alive to deliver that information was even more crucial,” he said. “Many of us died, especially during missions in North Korea. The constant threat of death never left us. Whether we were eating or trying to rest, the danger was omnipresent.”
Cho Sun-yeol, now 91, told NK News that he joined the unit at the age of 18. Operating from North Korea’s Yonbaek County, the unit embarked on missions at dawn, crossing from nearby islands to the mainland to launch attacks against enemy positions.
“Every week, we worked to prevent the enemy from advancing south by conducting raids day and night,” he said.
According to Park, the unit often had to make do with scant reserves, exacerbated by the priority given to frontline units. He recalled that the unit sometimes had only one gun for every 10 men, resorting to improvised weapons like stones or explosives.
“People who haven’t experienced this kind of fear often misunderstand or underestimate the psychological toll it takes. Each action and decision was made with the awareness that it could lead to death,” he said.
92-year-old Park Chung-am, a Korean War intelligence officer, pays respects to the fallen operatives of the 8240 Unit at Seoul National Cemetery. | Image: NK News (June 21, 2024)
A PIVOTAL MOMENT
Following the armistice agreement in July 1953, the need for guerrilla units waned, leading to the official disbandment of the 8240 Unit in Feb. 1954.
Some of the unit’s members were subsequently integrated into the regular South Korean army. Others returned to civilian life.
Among the unit’s ranks, 753 individuals were commissioned as officers and approximately 12,000 served as non-commissioned officers or soldiers. The unit’s members later formed the inaugural core of the ROK Army’s elite 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade, a unit that evolved into the esteemed ROK Army Special Warfare Command.
However, because the 8240 Unit fell under the command of the U.S. military during the Korean War, the South Korean military retained few official records chronicling their operations.
In recent years, veterans of the unit have taken steps to address their lack of recognition and long-standing issues related to veterans’ benefits.
A pivotal moment came in April 2021, when the South Korean government enacted the “Act on Compensation for Contributors to Irregular Warfare in Enemy Territory During and After the Korean War,” officially acknowledging these forgotten operatives for the first time.
This legislation paved the way for the approximately 200 surviving veterans of the 8240 Unit to finally receive government compensation.
“It’s been many years, but I’m deeply happy that the government finally acknowledges our efforts. It will always be my honor to participate in events commemorating our fallen brothers and sisters-in-arms,” the veteran Cho said, speaking at a memorial service last week for the 5,196 operatives of the unit who died during the Korean War.
While some veterans echoed Cho’s sentiment, Park emphasized that financial support remains a critical area in need of improvement.
The chair of the Korea Guerrilla Forces Association since 2012, Park said many 8240 Unit veterans and their families struggle to make ends meet, calling for increased government assistance.
“With each passing year, the cohort diminishes. Even now, many eligible veterans still have not received their due compensation,” Park said, calling the lack of recognition as “disheartening.”
“Who will volunteer to fight again after seeing what we get in return?”
Several veterans lingered after last week’s memorial service at Seoul National Ceremony. Some awaited assistance from their families, while others made their way to a monument honoring fallen operatives to pay respects and whisper prayers.
“We have to remember that these men and women were just kids at the time,” said Lee Hyung-jin, the son of the late 8240 Unit officer Lee Jae-hyun. “Students did what grown adults would fear,”
92-year-old Park Chung-am and veterans of the 8240 Unit salute their fallen brothers and sisters-in-arms during a memorial service at Seoul National Cemetery. | Image: NK News (June 21, 2024)
Edited by Alannah Hill
2. Should Ireland, not Germany, now be the model for Korean reunification?
Michael Breen should stimulate some critical thinking.
A few points of my views. Koreans must solve the Korea question (the unnatural division of the peninsula). The US cannot lead any effort on the peninsula but the US and the international community can support the Korean people.
Koreans must seek self determination of government as the solution to the Korea question (and in accordance with Article 21 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Change cannot occur until there is an internal transformation in the north.
Internal transformation will result from a human rights up front approach and an information campaign to support the Korean people in the north.
Internal transformation in the north is the only path to a free and unified Korea. A free and unified Korea will be a new Korea returning to its historical foundation with modern characteristics - A UnIted Republic of Corea (U-ROC). (You Rock).
Should Ireland, not Germany, now be the model for Korean reunification?
The Korea Times · June 27, 2024
By Michael Breen
At the beginning of this year, when Kim Jong-un announced he was abandoning reunification, South Koreans were flummoxed and did not know how to react.
But what Koreans agreed on, with hardly the need for debate, was that even if the North was walking away, the South still wants reunification.
That position continues to make sense half a year later, but only because Koreans are still trying to get their heads around whether Kim meant what he said.
If it becomes clear in time that the North Koreans really are giving up and forging a new and separate national identity, South Koreans will face a dilemma. How can South Korea, as a democratic state, force reunification on an unwilling partner? It can't.
South Korea would have to go dictatorial again before it can behave like Russia toward Ukraine and try to take over an unwilling United Nations member state.
What South Korea needs is a reset, a new model.
In the decades since the Korean War, South Koreans have had two models for reunification. For the first 40 years, if South Korea had the means, it would have probably invaded. People may dispute this claim, but I've seen Korean business leaders of the older generation directly recommend to very senior American political leaders that Americans bomb North Korea to solve the nuclear problem. As Korea was restrained by the Americans and by its own leaders' common sense, this was more sentiment than policy. Beyond that, reunification wasn't realistically imagined. It was talked about as a kind of fantasy. Every child from kindergarten onward wanted to grow up to achieve it.
After the Berlin Wall fell and the two Germanies united, this picture changed. In 1991, Seoul sent a team of specialists to observe the unification process between East and West Germany. When they reported back a year later, the government was shocked by the realization that reunification with North Korea would cause social and economic upheaval.
Within a short time, without anyone saying out loud that they didn't want reunification, a national consensus emerged for gradualism over absorption.
The Germanies had unified at the end of a 21-year process of familiarization, at the end of which the East Germans allowed themselves to be acquired wholesale. South Koreans, the new wisdom in Seoul went, are at the beginning, not the end, of that process.
The thinking in South Korea was that, in time, North Korea would change, or its regime would be removed, and South Korea would be invited in, like a vulture fund sorting out a failed bank, to make it our own. It will happen decades from now, South Koreans thought in 1992.
Well, those decades have passed. South Korea has had a few false starts. Three presidents have visited Pyongyang. But each time, something went wrong, and Koreans walked back to the blocks to start again.
But this time, only one athlete is walking back. The other guy has given up.
Perhaps what has to change now is the model. From Germany to Ireland, from acquisition to merger. In other words, the government in Seoul needs to play the long game and figure how, just as the larger Ireland has to figure out, how it can attract the people of the northern part, with their separate modern identity, into a new shared identity, without fear of loss, subjugation or disadvantage.
The good part of such a reset is that South Korean citizens will benefit from a reckoning with the aspects of the country that make it unattractive. One, for example, is the need to figure out why so many of the children of the workaholic generation that made the country great find no meaning in marriage and children of their own.
Another is to do something about the vicious political culture. A country that prosecutes the hell out of every outgoing administration is surely going to be as nasty as a medieval witchfinder with North Korean officials the day after the reunification celebrations.
There is also a need for South Korea to take charge of its vision and its own affairs, and particularly wrest the North Korea issue from Washington, which sees it through the military lens of its own security and has no interest in identities or reunification.
South Korea's hope in this approach is that given a glimmer of freedom, North Koreans will not be able to abandon reunification and will want to share what South Koreans have.
Michael Breen (mike.breen@insightcomms.com) is the author of "The New Koreans."
The Korea Times · June 27, 2024
3. Report to Congress on U.S., South Korea Relations
Download the 3 page CRS report here: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24781833/if10165-1.pdf
Report to Congress on U.S., South Korea Relations - USNI News
news.usni.org · by U.S. Naval Institute Staff · June 28, 2024
The following is the June 25, 2024, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, South Korea: Background and U.S. Relations.
From the report
Overview
South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea, or ROK) is one of the United States’ most important strategic and economic partners in Asia. The U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty, signed in 1953 at the end of the Korean War, commits the United States to help South Korea defend itself, particularly from North Korea (officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK). Approximately 28,500 U.S. troops are based in the ROK. The economic relationship is bolstered by the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), implemented in 2012. In 2022, South Korea was the United States’ seventh-largest trading partner (goods and services trade combined), and the United States was South Korea’s second-largest trading partner, behind the People’s Republic of China (PRC, or China). Over the past decade, congressional interest in U.S.-ROK relations often has focused on U.S.-ROK cooperation on North Korea, Indo-Pacific policies, the U.S.-ROK alliance, and U.S.-South Korea trade and investment flows.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, in office since May 2022, is seeking to transform South Korea into a “global pivotal state” by raising its profile beyond the Korean Peninsula and becoming a more active U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific. U.S. President Joseph Biden and Yoon have forged closer cooperation on North Korea policy, including through bilateral and trilateral (with Japan) military exercises. They also have committed to strengthening economic security in line with U.S. efforts to promote technological development and supply chain resiliency.
The increased U.S.-ROK alignment was on display during April 2023, when Biden hosted Yoon for a State Visit and Yoon spoke to a Joint Meeting of Congress. To address increased South Korean concerns about the credibility of the U.S. commitment to ROK security, Biden and Yoon issued “the Washington Declaration” on extended deterrence. In the document, the United States agreed to expand consultations with South Korea on the use of U.S. nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and to “enhance the regular visibility of strategic assets,” including nuclear-capable weapons systems deployed to the Peninsula. South Korea restated its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons. Since the late 2010s, as North Korea has advanced its nuclear and missile capabilities, opinion polls have shown the ROK public supports developing indigenous nuclear weapons. In August 2023, Biden hosted Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at Camp David, the three countries’ first-ever standalone summit meeting. The leaders announced a set of unprecedented initiatives for trilateral consultation and collaboration.
North Korea Policy Coordination
Historically, North Korea has been the dominant strategic concern in the U.S.-ROK relationship. Whereas the previous ROK government emphasized diplomacy with North Korea, Yoon and Biden have emphasized deterrence. They have reactivated high-level consultations on extended deterrence under the U.S. nuclear umbrella and expanded the scope and scale of combined military exercises (including with Japan), which President Donald Trump and Yoon’s predecessor had curtailed. The United States has increased deployments of strategic assets—such as nuclear-armed submarines—to South Korea, introduced new unilateral sanctions designations on North Korea, and proposed new DPRK sanctions measures in the United Nations.
Download the document here.
Related
news.usni.org · by U.S. Naval Institute Staff · June 28, 2024
4. —TRILATERAL STATEMENT— First Execution of Multi-Domain Japan - ROK - U.S. Exercise FREEDOM EDGE
NEWS | June 27, 2024
—TRILATERAL STATEMENT— First Execution of Multi-Domain Japan - ROK - U.S. Exercise FREEDOM EDGE
By U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs
https://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/3819042/trilateral-statement-first-execution-of-multi-domain-japan-rok-us-exercise-free/
AT SEA - Japan, the Republic of Korea, and United States began the inaugural execution of exercise Freedom Edge, a trilateral multi-domain exercise, June 27-29, 2024.
The execution of the exercise was announced at the Camp David Summit in August 2023 and at the Japan, ROK, and U.S. defense ministerial meeting, which took place in June during the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Freedom Edge expresses the will of Japan, ROK, and U.S. to promote trilateral interoperability and protect freedom for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including the Korean Peninsula.
Multiple ships and aircraft from Japan, ROK, and the U.S., participated in the exercise to include: Japan’s JS ISE, JS ATAGO, and P-1; Republic of Korea’s ROKS Seoae-Ryu-Seong-ryong, ROKS Kang-Gam-Chan, P-3, Lynx, and KF-16; and the United States’ USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Halsey, USS Daniel Inouye, P-8, F/A-18, E-2D, and MH-60.
The exercise will focus on cooperative Ballistic Missile Defense, Air Defense, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Search and Rescue, Maritime Interdiction, and Defensive Cyber training.
Starting with this iteration, Japan, ROK, and U.S. will continue to expand the Freedom Edge exercise.
5. “There is no need to overreact to the North Korea-Russia military alliance∙∙∙The extended deterrence of the U.S.-ROK alliance must be strengthened.”
This is a Google translation of a VOA report.
Some of my comments:
“The reason that Russia and North Korea are acting this way is because they are weak, they are desperate, they fear the ROK-US alliance and they're also envious of the ROK-US alliance. They know how strong the ROK US Alliance is. (omitted) So we should not overreact. That said we must continue to sustain a high level of readiness to deter any action by North Korea against South Korea or US interests in the region.”
Deputy Representative Maxwell diagnosed, “All of Kim Jong-un’s political warfare, intimidating diplomacy, and development of cutting-edge weapons are aimed at weakening the U.S.-ROK alliance, causing division, and driving the U.S. military from the Korean Peninsula.”
“There is no need to overreact to the North Korea-Russia military alliance∙∙∙The extended deterrence of the U.S.-ROK alliance must be strengthened.”
U.S. experts say the U.S.-ROK alliance is much stronger and there is no need to overreact to the recent signing of a mutual defense treaty between North Korea and Russia. There were also suggestions that the expanded deterrence power of the U.S.-ROK alliance should be further strengthened. Reporter Ahn Jun-ho reports.
2024.6.27
EMBED
SHARE
“There is no need to overreact to the North Korea-Russia military alliance∙∙∙The extended deterrence of the U.S.-ROK alliance must be strengthened.”
Produced by: VOA Korean
EMBED
SHARE
The code has been copied to your clipboard.
The URL has been copied to your clipboard
No media source currently available
0:00
8:51
0:00
Download
Play with pop-up player
Gary Seymour, former White House Coordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction. Photo = Brandeis University.
Gary Seymour, former White House Coordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction, said on the 26th that there is “no need to be overly concerned” about the recent signing of a mutual defense treaty between North Korea and Russia.
Former coordinator Seymour said, “We don’t know the full story of the new relationship between North Korea and Russia, and in particular we don’t know what kind of military support Russia will provide to North Korea.”
He continued, “The US-ROK alliance is clearly much stronger than the North Korea-Russia relationship,” emphasizing, “In particular, the US has 28,000 troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula, and the US and ROK are conducting close cooperation, information sharing, and joint military exercises.”
He added, “There is no such thing between Russia and North Korea,” adding, “Therefore, there is no need to be overly concerned because we do not yet know how important Putin’s visit to Pyongyang and the new defense treaty signed between the two countries will be.”
[Recording: Former Coordinator Seymour] “Nothing like that exists between Russia and North Korea. So I don't think we should be too alarmed by Putin's visit to Pyeongyang and the new defense treaty that the two countries have signed because we don't really know yet how significant it will be.”
We know that North Korea is providing ammunition to Russia and Russia is providing oil and food to North Korea, but beyond that, what is Russia providing to North Korea in terms of advanced military technology, and is that really changing the military balance on the Korean Peninsula? I'm not sure if I can bring it.
Former Coordinator Seymour said, “The U.S. and South Korea are continuing to strengthen their alliance in accordance with the Washington Declaration agreed upon by U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol last year.”
It was also evaluated that the Freedom Edge exercise, which is the first military exercise simultaneously conducted by the U.S., South Korea, and Japan in various areas including air, underwater, sea, and cyber, is demonstrating a strong expanded deterrence against North Korea.
“We must continue to do what we have done so far and what has been very effective in deterring North Korea from carrying out a serious attack on South Korea,” he said. “It is very effective in suppressing .”
[Recording: Former Coordinator Seymour] “I think we need to continue to do what we have been doing and so far that has been very effective in terms of deterring North Korea from carrying out any serious attack on South Korea. (omitted) So until North Korea does something that represents a greater threat, I think we can say that the US ROK alliance is very effective in terms of deterring North Korean threats.”
Evans Revere, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Evans Revere, former principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said on this day, “North Korea and Russia’s actions and declarations are intended to test the strength and solidarity of the U.S.-ROK alliance,” adding, “That is why it will be important for the U.S. and South Korea to demonstrate a thorough and strong partnership.” He said.
He also said, “The US and South Korea must show that they will not be scared or intimidated by the new North Korea-Russia structure.”
He continued, “The combined US-ROK deterrence is strong and credible,” and “The two allies can be confident that the alliance and partnership between our two countries can address any potential challenge.”
[Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Revere] “North Korean/Russian actions and declarations are designed to test the strength and solidarity of the US-RoK alliance. For that reason, it will be important for Washington and Seoul to demonstrate their seamless and strong partnership. The United States and the Republic of Korea must also show that they will not be intimidated or cowed by the actions of the new Pyongyang-Moscow axis.”
David Maxwell, Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy. Photo = Center for Asia Pacific Strategy.
David Maxwell, vice president of the Asia-Pacific Strategy Center and former chief of staff for the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, said in a phone call with VOA that day, “There is no reason to respond to the North Korea-Russia treaty or threats, and we should not overreact.”
He continued, “We must continue to maintain a high level of readiness to deter any actions by North Korea that run counter to the interests of the United States or South Korea in the region.”
[Recording: Deputy Representative Maxwell] “The reason that Russia and North Korea are acting this way is because they are weak, they are desperate, they fear the ROK-US alliance and they're also envious of the ROK-US alliance. They know how strong the ROK US Alliance is. (omitted) So we should not overreact. That said we must continue to sustain a high level of readiness to deter any action by North Korea against South Korea or US interests in the region.”
Deputy Representative Maxwell diagnosed, “All of Kim Jong-un’s political warfare, intimidating diplomacy, and development of cutting-edge weapons are aimed at weakening the U.S.-ROK alliance, causing division, and driving the U.S. military from the Korean Peninsula.”
He continued, “However, even if the U.S. military is not on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea cannot overcome South Korea’s power,” adding, “It is important not to overreact.”
He also stressed that “we must maintain our current strategy, remain prepared, send information to the North Korean people, and not be afraid of North Korea or Russia.”
When asked whether the U.S. and South Korea should show off stronger extended deterrence in response to escalating threats such as the North Korea-Russia military alliance, he said, “There is no need to do more because the U.S. and South Korea are the most powerful countries in the world as long as they are together.” “You just have to maintain consistent training,” he said.
“The U.S.-ROK alliance is already strong, so there is no need to respond individually to North Korea’s actions,” he said. “The way to deter North Korea is to conduct all exercises that are routinely conducted throughout the year and exercises such as Freedom Edge to ensure readiness and interoperability.” “He said.
[Recording: Deputy Representative Maxwell] “The United States and South Korea are the most powerful countries in the world together they don't need to do more. They need to continue to sustain ongoing exercises. They do not need to respond to everything that North Korea does.”
Regarding the need to adjust the level of response between the US and South Korea to ease tensions, he emphasized, “North Korea can ease tensions whenever it wants, and the cause (of heightened tensions) is North Korea itself,” and “The US and South Korea must never weaken their defense posture.”
Robert Rapson, Former Acting U.S. Ambassador to Korea
Former Acting U.S. Ambassador to Korea Robert Rapson said regarding the U.S.' expanded deterrence against North Korea, “The Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier's visit to Busan was a timely opportunity for the U.S. to reassure South Korea and deliver a message of firm deterrence against North Korea, and President Yoon Seok-yeol used this as much as possible. “I took advantage of it and visited the aircraft carrier in person,” he said.
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol visited the Roosevelt, anchored at the Busan Naval Base on the 25th, and emphasized the South Korea-U.S. alliance and joint defense posture against threats from North Korea.
Former Acting Ambassador Rapson said, “Theodore Roosevelt is named after the 26th president of the United States. The characteristics of his foreign policy in the early 20th century are well revealed in the phrase he frequently used, ‘Speak softly, but carry a big stick.’ “He said.
That's why the nickname for the Roosevelt was "The Big Club."
The Roosevelt's port call in Busan is interpreted as the United States showing off its strong expanded deterrence against North Korea while keeping the door open for dialogue with the North.
[Former Acting Ambassador Rapson] “The USS Roosevelt's visit to Busan this week provided a timely shot of US reassurance and deterrence messaging, which President Yoon took full advantage of by paying a highly publicized visit to the carrier. Interestingly, the USS Theodore Roosevelt is named after the US's 26th President, whose foreign policy approach at the turn of the 20th century perhaps was best characterized by a phrase he often used, namely 'talk softly but carry a big stick… ', hence the USS Roosevelt's nickname 'The Big Stick.'”
Some point out that the expanded deterrence power of the U.S.-ROK alliance should be further strengthened to counter the recent threat from North Korea and Russia.
Joseph DeTrani, former deputy U.S. representative to the Six-Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear program, said in a telephone interview with VOA on the same day, "We need to increase the deployment of U.S. strategic assets to South Korea," and "We need to further strengthen joint military training with South Korea."
The United States' commitment to extended deterrence against Korea must be upgraded.
“Until now, the US extended deterrence has been sufficient, but now that Putin’s visit to North Korea and the summit with Kim Jong-un have formed a comprehensive strategic relationship between North Korea and Russia, more is needed,” said former Deputy Chief of Staff DiTrani. “We must strengthen and upgrade our extended deterrence, and we must absolutely conduct more joint military exercises.”
[Recording: Former Vice President Detrani] “That was enough. Now with the comprehensive strategic relationship between North Korea and the Russian Federation, given Putin's visit to the UN with Kim Jong, we need to do more than that. We need to enhance that, we need to upgrade that, we need to have a greater number of those joint military exercises absolutely.”
He also emphasized that “US-ROK joint military exercises such as Freedom Edge and the US’ extended deterrence commitment to South Korea are inherently defensive in nature,” and that “since North Korea and Russia are heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula by concluding the Comprehensive Strategic Relations Treaty, the responsibility for easing tensions and building trust lies with them.”
Former Deputy Representative DeTrani said, “The future situation on the Korean Peninsula will be a very tense and dangerous situation,” and “We must thoroughly prepare for this.”
He continued, “We must continue dialogue with North Korea and work to ease current tensions,” adding, “While continuing efforts to engage in diplomatic dialogue with North Korea, we must also confront the nuclear and missile threats that are immediately before us.”
He said, “We must strengthen our efforts to further enhance our deterrence against the North through measures such as expanding the US-ROK joint military exercises, and we must also strengthen our efforts to engage China in dialogue with the North.”
Harry Harris, U.S. Ambassador to Korea. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Korea.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris, who served as commander of the Pacific Command, said, “(The U.S. and South Korea) must maintain the highest level of combined readiness to respond to any threats, provocations, or attacks from North Korea,” and added, “Freedom Edge training is an important part of that. “Partial,” he said.
He continued, “As North Korea is not interested in easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, we must always demonstrate readiness (to respond to any provocation).”
[Former Ambassador Harris] “By maintaining the highest level of combined readiness to meet any threat, provocation, or attack from the north. Freedom Edge is an important element of this.”
This is Ahn Jun-ho of VOA News.
6. Research expert tells UN it has 'irrefutably' established missile debris in Ukraine is North Korean
No surprise but it is good to see it documented at the UN.
Research expert tells UN it has 'irrefutably' established missile debris in Ukraine is North Korean
A research expert has told the United Nations Security Council that ballistic missile remnants found in Ukraine came from North Korea
ByEDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press
June 28, 2024, 9:25 PM
ABCNews.com · by ABC News
UNITED NATIONS -- The head of a research organization that has been tracing weapons used in attacks in Ukraine since 2018 told the United Nations Security Council on Friday it has “irrefutably” established that ballistic missile remnants found in Ukraine came from North Korea.
The United States and its Western allies clashed with Russia and North Korea at the meeting, saying both countries violated a U.N. embargo on arms exports from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name. Russia dismissed the “baseless accusations,” and the DPRK dismissed the meeting as “an extremely brazen act” to discuss “someone’s alleged 'weapon transfers.’”
Jonah Leff, executive director of Conflict Armament Research, gave the council a detailed analysis of the remnants of the missile that struck Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Jan. 2.
He said the organization documented the missile’s rocket motor, its tail section and almost 300 components manufactured by 26 companies from eight countries and territories, and it determined the missile was either a KN-23 or KN-24 manufactured in 2023 in the DPRK.
The organization reached its conclusion based on the missile’s unique characteristics — its diameter, distinct jet vane actuators that direct the missile’s thrust and trajectory, the pattern around the igniter, the presence of Korean characters on some rocket components, and other marks and components dating back to 2023, he said.
“Following the initial documentation, our teams inspected three additional identical DPRK missiles that struck Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia earlier this year,” Leff said. They also observed additional conventional weapons, including an artillery rocket produced in 1977, “that had been seized on the front lines and had not been observed on the battlefield previously in Ukraine” that were manufactured by the DPRK, and might have been part of a recent larger consignment of rockets.
The council discussed illegal arms transfers from North Korea at the request of France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The meeting followed Russia’s March 28 veto that ended the monitoring of sanctions against North Korea over its expanding nuclear program by a U.N. panel of experts. The U.S. and its European and Asian allies accused Moscow of seeking to avoid scrutiny as it allegedly violates sanctions to buy weapons from Pyongyang for its war in Ukraine.
U.N. disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu told the council Friday that before its mandate expired, the panel of experts was reviewing a report from Ukraine on missile debris it recovered “following information about short-range ballistic missiles manufactured in the DPRK and used by Russian armed forces in Ukraine.”
While the mandate of the experts, which had been extended since 2009 with Russia’s support, was terminated, Nakamitsu said “it is important to note” that the Security Council committee responsible for monitoring the implementation of sanctions against the DPRK “continues its work and will oversee the implementation of the sanctions regime.”
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood called Leff’s presentation with its many technical details “quite compelling,” and told the council that while Russia may have ended the panel’s monitoring with China’s “tacit support,” the briefing showed that Moscow and Beijing “cannot prevent the public from learning about the unlawful arms transfers occurring between the DPRK and Russia.”
He said the independent findings by Leff’s research organization corroborate open-source reports and analyses. And he said that, in addition to the dozens of missiles Russia has transferred from the DPRK, it has also unlawfully transferred over 11,000 containers of munitions.
“As a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia has a responsibility to uphold and strengthen international peace and security,” Wood said. “Yet, Russia is launching ballistic missiles, which it unlawfully procured from the DPRK, against the Ukrainian people.”
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the meeting's Western sponsors of attempting to use the Security Council “to trot out an anti-Russian and anti-North Korean narrative and to disseminate baseless accusations in order to detract attention from their own destructive actions which foment escalation in the region.”
He called the claims that Russia is using DPRK missiles in Ukraine “absolutely false,” questioning the professionalism and expertise of those who examined the wreckage in Ukraine.
Nebenzia accused the United States of constantly stepping up the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region and said Washington’s policy of “extended deterrence” on Russia’s eastern border “poses a real threat not just for the DPRK but also for our country.”
He said the purpose of the June 19 strategic partnership agreement signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “is to play a stabilizing role in northeast Asia amidst an unprecedented escalation of tensions.” As for Article 4 of the agreement, providing for the delivery of mutual military assistance if either country is subject to an armed attack, he said this should not arouse “national security-related concerns” for countries that don’t plan to attack the DPRK.
North Korean Ambassador Kim Song called the United States “the world’s biggest arms exporter,” and accused the Western countries that called the council meeting of being “the main culprits” of disturbing global peace. They have caused “tragic bloodshed by extensive shipment of weapons " and have cast “a cloud of war in every corner of the world.”
Song detailed U.S. arms shipments to South Korea and Japan and accused the U.S. and its followers of trying to obstruct the development of DPRK-Russia relations. He defended those relations as “completely of a peace-loving and defensive nature.”
China's deputy U.N. ambassador, Geng Shuang, warned that peace and security in all of northeast Asia will be affected if there is “more chaos” on the Korean peninsula.
He called on all parties to be “rational and pragmatic” and “work together to cool down the situation.”
China will play “a constructive role” to realize long-term peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, Geng said, and he called on the United States to end its pressure campaign against the DPRK and “the myth of deterrence,” and demonstrate its sincerity in holding an unconditional dialogue “through concrete action.”
U.S. envoy Wood retorted: “If, indeed, China is so concerned about the security situation on the Korean peninsula, then it needs to use its influence with the DPRK to persuade it from undermining regional and global security.”
“It should also use its influence that it has with Russia through its new 'No Limits’ partnership to end this increasingly dangerous military cooperation between DPRK and Russia,” he said.
ABCNews.com · by ABC News
7. Russia, Western nations joust on Pyongyang-Moscow arms cooperation in UNSC meeting
The ROK is exercising good leadership as the president of the UNSC.
Excerpts:
The meeting took place as concerns about a growing North Korea-Russia alignment escalated after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty seen as a revival of their Cold War-era military alliance.
Tension was palpable at the outset of the meeting as Russia expressed disagreement over the participation of Ukraine and the European Union in the UNSC meeting and described its weapons transactions with the North as "unfounded allegations."
"It is evident that this has nothing to do with a regional issue that has been proposed to discuss under the agenda item -- nonproliferation/the DPRK," Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vasily Nebenzya said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
He added, "We regret that the South Korean presidency -- yet again during its term for the advancement of the parochial interests of the collective West -- has been violating the principle of objectivity."
Russia, Western nations joust on Pyongyang-Moscow arms cooperation in UNSC meeting | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 29, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Yonhap) -- The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) held an open meeting Friday to discuss arms cooperation between North Korea and Russia, where Western nations condemned the two countries' transactions while Russia called them "completely false."
South Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook, this month's rotating UNSC president, presided over the meeting that at one point descended into an exchange of sharp criticism between the representatives of the United States, Russia and China.
The meeting took place as concerns about a growing North Korea-Russia alignment escalated after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty seen as a revival of their Cold War-era military alliance.
Tension was palpable at the outset of the meeting as Russia expressed disagreement over the participation of Ukraine and the European Union in the UNSC meeting and described its weapons transactions with the North as "unfounded allegations."
"It is evident that this has nothing to do with a regional issue that has been proposed to discuss under the agenda item -- nonproliferation/the DPRK," Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vasily Nebenzya said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
He added, "We regret that the South Korean presidency -- yet again during its term for the advancement of the parochial interests of the collective West -- has been violating the principle of objectivity."
Robert Wood, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., stressed that Ukraine's participation in the meeting was "relevant" as he highlighted that Russia used North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukrainian people.
"There is substantial and credible press reporting and open-source analysis referring to the DPRK weapons found in Ukraine," he said.
Pointing to an invited expert's analysis of North Korean weapons used in Ukraine and other assessments, Hwang said, "I wonder how much more proof is needed to verify that the munitions are from the DPRK."
"With lies and disparagement you may try to hide the truth or even run away from it. But you cannot cover the sky with your hand, as the saying goes," he added.
South Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Hwang underscored that Friday's meeting presents an "alternative" way to provide valuable information to U.N. member states "in a timely manner and on a regular basis," as a U.N. expert panel monitoring the enforcement of anti-North Korea sanctions has been disbanded due to Russia's veto of a resolution on its mandate renewal.
"From illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum and coal to frequent violations of sectoral bans and luxury goods, illicit cyber activities, overseas North Korean workers, and further arms dealings, there is a long list," he said. "We expect to have a series of briefings on one item after another."
Wood urged China to use its influence to help address security challenges from the North.
"If indeed, China is so concerned about the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, then it needs to use its influence with the DPRK to persuade it from undermining regional and global security," he said.
"It should also use its influence that it has with Russia through its 'no-limits' partnership to persuade its partner to end this increasingly dangerous military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia."
Robert Wood, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
His statement was a response to remarks by China's Deputy Representative to the U.N. Geng Shuang who said that "nobody is more concerned than China about peace and stability on the peninsula."
Geng hit back, repeating Beijing's stance that it has been promoting dialogue and making positive efforts for peace and stability on the peninsula.
"We need cooperation from other sides, particularly from the U.S," he said. "I would like to appeal to my U.S. colleagues. Maybe, you should change your old habits. That is whatever happens, you do not look at your own fault but try to blame others."
China's Deputy Representative to the U.N. Geng Shuang speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The Russian ambassador denounced the meeting as an attempt to use the UNSC platform to "trot out an anti-Russian and anti-North Korean narrative and to disseminate baseless accusations."
"It is no secret to anybody that the U.S. has long been engaged in the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region," he claimed. "They have been attempting to entrench their hegemony there and impose upon countries in the region block-based mindsets."
Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vasily Nebenzya speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
North Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Song also criticized the meeting as "irrelevant" and the U.S. as the "world's biggest arms exporter."
North Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Song speaks during a U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 28, 2024 in this photo captured from U.N. Web TV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · June 29, 2024
8. Danger of War in East Asia Ignored in Debate Despite Beijing’s Growing Aggression
As biased as I am about security in East Asia and northeast Asia in particular I think we all know foreign policy rarely significantly influences election outcomes so I do not expect the presidential candidates to have any substantive discussion of security issues there other than discussing love letters or China trade issues.
I also think when we talk about the danger of war in East Asia we need to consider the nature, objectives, and strategies of the regimes in the region and understand why we think they are on the path to war.
Danger of War in East Asia Ignored in Debate Despite Beijing’s Growing Aggression
America’s allies in the region are all embroiled in conflicts with Communist China or its surrogate, North Korea.
DONALD KIRK
Friday, June 28, 2024
13:36:47 pm
nysun.com
The showdown debate between presidents proved one thing for sure: the next election is not riding on the rising confrontation in East Asia between the forces of freedom and those of communism.
That is, unless war breaks out on the long Indo-Pacific frontier extending from South Korea through Taiwan and south to the Philippines.
All those entities stand on the front line of the Indo-Pacific, all are embroiled in conflicts with Communist China or its surrogate, North Korea.
Washington is committed to defending all of them against dire threats, including nuclear weapons brandished by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, supported by Communist China’s president, Xi Jinping.
Their fearsome names came up when Mr. Trump warned, “We are very, very close to World War III,” and that Mr. Kim, Mr. Xi, and President Putin, too, “don’t respect” and “don’t fear” Mr. Biden.
To which Mr. Biden, referring to notes between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim after their summit in Singapore in June 2018, said, “Those who he cuddles up to, from Kim Jong-un who he sends love letters to, or Putin, et cetera, they don’t want to screw around with us.”
The specter of nuclear war flashed briefly when Mr. Biden asked if Mr. Trump wanted “to start the nuclear war” that Mr. Putin “keeps talking about” if Washington fails to support its NATO allies. Neither breathed a word of the graver danger of Mr. Kim resorting to nuclear weapons against South Korea and Japan.
While the American aircraft carrier U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt docks at the South Korean port of Busan and South Korean and Japanese planes play war games off the coast, both candidates seemed oblivious to the danger of conflict between China, Russia and North Korea versus America, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines — and the island democracy of Taiwan.
Nor did they express concern about the signing by Mr. Kim and Mr. Putin of a pact that promises they’ll fight for each other if real war breaks out. Maybe the rhetoric is too hard to take seriously when North Korea, in a battle between K-Pop and K-poop, is reported dropping manure from balloons while South Korea beams raucous music for North Korean soldiers just above the North-South line.
More dangerously, “advancements in North Korean missile technology and growth of its nuclear force means that it poses a credible threat to the homelands of the United States and our Indo-Pacific allies,” writes a deterrence analyst, Jennifer Bradley, for the National Defense University Press.
Watching the debate, no one would have guessed “the prospects of China’s forced unification with Taiwan have dominated security analysis in the last few years,” as Ms. Bradley wrote, or that “China’s ambitions extend much further” — to “establishing its own sphere of influence.”
In a poisonous atmosphere in which a spark could ignite a war, tensions are at their highest in the South China Sea where Chinese ships have rammed Philippine vessels reclaiming rights to shoals and islets that the Chinese insist are theirs.
“The Chinese actions are certainly destabilizing to the region,” said the retiring commander of American forces in the Pacific, Admiral John Aqualino, in an interview with PBS. “They are putting at risk the Philippine Coast Guardsmen, sailors, and those fishermen that operate in their exclusive economic zone within the full rights of the Philippines” — and “could absolutely be a challenge for the United States.”
“The security environment has changed drastically,” said Admiral Aquilino. The Communist Chinese have not just “expanded their military capability,” he warned, “they have now accelerated to dangerous” — just not enough for presidential debate.
nysun.com
9. KDVA’s Congratulatory Message for U.S. Forces Korea Founding Day
For all those who have served in Korea I recommend joining KDVA (the largest Korea defense veterans network - https://kdva.vet/)
KDVA’s Congratulatory Message for U.S. Forces Korea Founding Day
https://kdva.vet/2024/06/28/u-s-forces-korea-founding-day/
JUNE 28, 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT
July 1, 2024
KDVA’s Congratulatory Message for U.S. Forces Korea Founding Day
The Korean Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) congratulates U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) for 67 years of standing ready to defend the Republic of Korea (ROK) to maintain stability in Northeast Asia. On this special day, we recognize and honor the Service Members, government civilians, and families who have or are serving in USFK. We are grateful for their commitment to one of the most successful and longest-standing alliances in modern history.
Since its inception in 1957, USFK has served as a tangible cornerstone for stability and security in the region, enabling South Korea to flourish economically and become a respected and thriving democracy. USFK’s enduring strength and evolving readiness posture demonstrate America’s commitment to common values, mutual interests, and democracy it shares with the Korean people.
USFK’s Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Marines, and Guardians who work with their ROK partners and the United Nation Command’s Member States on “Freedom’s Frontier” serve a purposeful mission. Their assignments are meaningful and often life changing. They experience a rich culture, forge enduring friendships with the Korean people, and preserve the legacy of those who served before them on the Korean Peninsula — we salute them all.
Anniversaries are a time for reflection. At KDVA, we often share stories of what our members have learned from their service in Korea. Collectively, these stories are a priceless memoir of what makes USFK and the ROK-U.S. Alliance so special. Please take time on this special day and visit https://kdva.vet/from-my-service-in-korea-i-learned/ to read some of the unforgettable stories our Alliance is built upon and share in the common bond of our 20,000 KDVA Members.
“Together for the ROK-U.S. Alliance.”
Curtis M. Scaparrotti
General, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Chairman and President
Korea Defense Veterans Association
10. North Korea executed man for listening to K-pop, report from defectors shows
We cannot emphasize this enough: Information (and more specifically the example of South Korea) is an existential threat to the Kim family regime.
North Korea executed man for listening to K-pop, report from defectors shows | North Korea | The Guardian
The 2024 report on North Korean human rights released by South Korea’s unification ministry details an ongoing crackdown on cultural imports
Raphael Rashid in Seoul
Fri 28 Jun 2024 00.20 EDT
amp.theguardian.com
Show caption
A North Korean was publicly executed for listening to K-pop, a new report from the North Korea unification ministry states. Photograph: Lee Jin-man/AP
North Korea
North Korea executed man for listening to K-pop, report from defectors shows
The 2024 report on North Korean human rights released by South Korea’s unification ministry details an ongoing crackdown on cultural imports
Raphael Rashid in Seoul
Fri 28 Jun 2024 00.20 EDT
A 22-year-old North Korean was publicly executed for watching and sharing South Korean films and music, a new report claims, highlighting Pyongyang’s desperate attempts to stem the flow of outside information and culture.
The case, detailed in the 2024 Report on North Korean Human Rights released by South Korea’s unification ministry on Thursday, compiles testimonies from 649 North Korean defectors.
According to an unnamed defector’s testimony, the young man from South Hwanghae province was publicly executed in 2022 for listening to 70 South Korean songs, watching three films, and distributing them, falling foul of a North Korean law adopted in 2020 that bans “reactionary ideology and culture”.
The report details extensive efforts by North Korean authorities to control outside information flow, especially targeting the youth.
Other instances of crackdown include punishments for “reactionary” practices such as brides wearing white dresses, grooms carrying the bride, wearing sunglasses, or drinking alcohol from wine glasses – all seen as South Korean customs.
Mobile phones are also frequently inspected for contact name spellings, expressions, and slang terms perceived to be of South Korean influence, the report claims. While both Koreas share the same language, subtle differences have emerged since the division after the Korean war of 1950–53.
The ban on K-pop is part of a campaign to shield North Koreans from the “malign” influence of western culture that began under the former leader, Kim Jong-il and intensified under his son Kim Jong-un.
In 2022, the US government-funded Radio Free Asia said the regime was cracking down on “capitalist” fashion and hairstyles, targeting skinny jeans and T-shirts bearing foreign words, as well as dyed or long hair, it said.
Experts say that allowing South Korean popular culture to seep into North Korean society could pose a threat to the ideology that demands absolute loyalty to the “infallible” Kim dynasty that has ruled the country since it was founded in 1948.
Despite such harsh measures, the influence of South Korean culture, including recent television shows, appears unstoppable, according to a recent North Korean defector.
“The speed of South Korean culture influencing North Korea is seriously fast. Young people follow and copy South Korean culture, and they really love anything South Korean,” a woman in her early 20s who defected from North Korea told reporters at a briefing in Seoul.
Even with the border to China largely sealed off after the outbreak of Covid-19, information is still seeping through and being distributed through informal networks.
In recent weeks, North Korea has sent thousands of balloons over the border containing waste, retaliating against the launch of balloons from the South whose cargo includes anti-Pyongyang leaflets, dollar bills, and USB sticks loaded with K-pop and K-dramas.
“After watching Korean dramas, many young people wonder, ‘Why do we have to live like this?’ … I thought I’d rather die than live in North Korea,” the defector told reporters.
The woman, who escaped from North Korea on a wooden boat last October, also shed light on the hidden resentment against the regime.
“Of course we cannot say anything bad against Kim Jong-un publicly, but among close friends, lovers or family members, we do say those words,” she claimed.
View on theguardian.com
amp.theguardian.com
11. N. Korea opens party plenary meeting with leader Kim in attendance
We will be scrutinizing every statement that comes from this meeting.
(LEAD) N. Korea opens party plenary meeting with leader Kim in attendance | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · June 29, 2024
(ATTN: CHANGES photos)
SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has convened a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), attended by its leader Kim Jong-un, state media reported Saturday, amid expectations that it would discuss follow-up measures to implement a new partnership treaty with Russia.
North Korea held the 10th enlarged plenary meeting of the WPK's 8th Central Committee on Friday to review state policy performances in the first half, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The meeting is also to "discuss and decide a series of important immediate issues arising in maintaining the upturn in the comprehensive development of Korean-style socialism," the KCNA said.
The report said five agenda items were approved by all members of the WPK Central Committee, and discussions on them are underway, without disclosing other details.
North Korea usually holds a party plenary meeting for a few days in June. But this year's meeting has drawn more attention due to the possibility that it could discuss detailed measures to expand cooperation with Russia following its signing with Moscow of a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty.
The North's leader Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Pyongyang on June 19, and clinched the treaty that calls for providing military assistance to each other without delay if either side comes under an armed attack.
Article 4 of the 23-point treaty could be seen as warranting automatic military intervention in the event of aggression against either country. That would amount to the restoration of a Cold War-era alliance for the first time in 28 years.
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 29, 2024, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un presiding over a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 29, 2024, shows the North holding the 10th enlarged plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · June 29, 2024
12. S. Korea, U.S., Japan wrap up 1st trilateral 'Freedom Edge' exercise
S. Korea, U.S., Japan wrap up 1st trilateral 'Freedom Edge' exercise | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Jee-ho · June 29, 2024
SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, the United States and Japan are scheduled to conclude their first trilateral multidomian military exercise Saturday afternoon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, as the three countries looked to strengthen their deterrence against North Korean threats.
Titled "Freedom Edge," the three-day exercise began Thursday in international waters south of South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju. Defense chiefs of the three nations had agreed to launch these drills earlier in June, in line with their leaders' agreement from last year.
The drills mobilized various warships and aircraft from the three sides, including the U.S. Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, the South's ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong destroyer and Japan's JS Ise helicopter destroyer.
"With Freedom Edge, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan enhanced our deterrence and response against North Korean nuclear and missile threats," the JCS said in a statement. "It was also significant that the three countries conducted cyber training together for the first time."
The name of the exercise comes from bilateral exercises the U.S. holds regularly with the Asian neighbors -- Freedom Shield with South Korea and Keen Edge with Japan.
The three have had combined maritime and aerial exercises before, but Freedom Edge was the first trilateral exercise held across multiple domains, including air, maritime, underwater and cyber.
This photo, provided by the U.S. Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier on June 28, 2024, shows F/A-18E Super Hornets during the Freedom Edge trilateral exercise involving South Korea, the United States and Japan. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Jee-ho · June 29, 2024
13. S. Korea marks 22nd anniversary of victorious inter-Korean naval skirmish
This is the season for the "crab wars." Expect fishermen from north Korea (and China) operating close to South Korean territory.
S. Korea marks 22nd anniversary of victorious inter-Korean naval skirmish | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Jee-ho · June 29, 2024
SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Saturday commemorated the 22nd anniversary of its victorious naval skirmish against North Korea, paying tribute to Navy sailors killed in action and vowing to honor their sacrifices with a firmer defense posture.
The ceremony marking the anniversary of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong took place at the Navy's 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Yang Yong-mo and Vice Veterans Minister Lee Hee-wan, who fought in the battle, attended the ceremony. They were joined by Navy sailors from the skirmish and the families of those who lost their lives on June 29, 2002. Leaders of major political parties were also on hand.
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik touches plaques depicting the faces of Navy sailors killed in the second Battle of Yeonpyeong during the ceremony for the 22nd anniversary of the inter-Korean naval skirmish held at the 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on June 29, 2024. (Yonhap)
The naval conflict occurred after two North Korean patrol boats crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border, and launched a surprise attack on the South's Chamsuri-357 warship near the western island of Yeonpyeong.
About 30 North Koreans are believed to have been killed or wounded, though South Korea also lost six sailors, with 19 others injured. In 2022, the Navy defined its annual anniversary event as the "victory" ceremony to honor the fallen sailors.
In his speech Saturday, Shin called out the names of the six late South Korean sailors and said, "The fighting spirit demonstrated by these six heroes and others who fought will stay in our hearts forever."
Citing a recent series of provocations by North Korea, Shin said, "North Korea has forgotten its bitter defeat from 22 years ago.
"If the enemy provokes once again, our military will respond promptly and firmly, and will battle until the end," he continued. "With our action, we will prove historical lessons that only strength can preserve peace."
South Korean Navy sailors who fought in the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong salute their fallen comrades during the ceremony for the 22nd anniversary of the inter-Korean naval skirmish held at the 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on June 29, 2024. (Yonhap)
Earlier Saturday, President Yoon Suk Yeol took to Facebook to mark the anniversary and express a similar sentiment.
"Peace is to be preserved by strength, not words," Yoon wrote. "We will honor our heroes' sacrifices by building an even stronger military and an even mightier South Korea."
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) offered its tributes while also calling for a more robust security posture against North Korea.
"Presently, we're faced with as grave a security situation on the Korean Peninsula as ever. With all forms of provocations, North Korea is threatening peace not only on the peninsula but all around the world," PPP spokesperson Kim Hye-ran said in a statement. "And there can be absolutely no compromise when it comes to protecting our people's lives and security in South Korea against any form of North Korean provocation. The PPP and the Yoon administration will protect South Korea and liberal democracy with a firm security posture."
Hwang Jung-a, spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party, said her party will do its best to build "a peaceful South Korea" on the foundation of strong security.
"We'd like to once again thank our soldiers for their services in protecting our territory, water and airspace," Hwang said.
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Jee-ho · June 29, 2024
14. Exclusive: Trump will encourage Japan, South Korea ties, allies tell foreign officials
Shaping a new narrative for Asia? Will it be different from the first Trump administration (if he is elected)?
Exclusive: Trump will encourage Japan, South Korea ties, allies tell foreign officials
By Trevor Hunnicutt, John Geddie, Hyonhee Shin and Michael Martina
June 28, 20247:45 PM EDTUpdated 12 hours ago
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-will-encourage-japan-south-korea-ties-allies-tell-foreign-officials-2024-06-28/#:~:
Item 1 of 2 U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a formal signing ceremony for the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement at the White House in Washington, October 7, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
[1/2]U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a formal signing ceremony for the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement at the White House in Washington, October 7, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
WASHINGTON/TOKYO/SEOUL, June 28 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's allies are assuring officials in Japan and South Korea that the Republican presidential candidate will support a Biden-era effort to deepen three-way ties aimed at countering China and North Korea, five people familiar with the conversations said.
In conversations over the past weeks, policy advisers with Trump's ear have delivered this message to officials in Seoul and Tokyo: if Trump takes office again, the ex-U.S. president will support the two capitals' work to warm once-frigid ties and advance military, economic and diplomatic cooperation to ease global tensions, the people said.
The conversations were described to Reuters by Republicans and officials from each of the Asian countries, several of whom were directly involved.
The previously unreported push is part of an effort by Trump's allies to convince Washington's closest friends in Asia that his smash-mouth approach to traditional alliances ends at the shores of the Indo-Pacific.
There, the U.S. faces ramped-up tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea, a new Chinese partnership with Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin's courtship of North Korea.
"I reassured them that the alliance will be strong, that Trump recognizes we have to work closely with our allies to defend their interests," said Fred Fleitz, a former chief of staff in Trump's National Security Council, who traveled to Japan and met officials there including national security adviser Takeo Akiba this month.
These conversations carry extra weight after Biden’s disastrous debate performance on Thursday, which may push undecided voters toward Trump and has spurred calls for him to step aside in the 2024 race.
Trump allies have floated other foreign policy plans if he wins in November, including a Ukraine peace plan and one to restructure NATO funding. The reassurances to Japan and South Korea go further because they include direct talks with foreign officials. In May, former Trump foreign policy officials met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Trump campaign has not confirmed whether he would accept these proposals.
"No one has the authority to speak to a foreign government and make promises on behalf of President Donald Trump," said Chris LaCivita, senior adviser to the Trump campaign, when asked about the assurances. The policy section of the Trump campaign's website does not address the topic.
Fleitz said he was not speaking for Trump and instead offering an assessment based on his experience with the candidate. He said the U.S., Japan and South Korea would likely work together to counter China and North Korea under another Trump term.
Dozens of meetings have been taken or scheduled at the highest levels of the Japanese and South Korean governments with right-wing think tanks, such as America First Policy Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Hudson Institute, known to be planning policy Trump could deploy in 2025, sources said.
One Asian official briefed on the recent regional meetings with Trump allies said their government was taking the meetings seriously and considered them a plausible representation of where Trump may stand.
TRUMP SECOND TERM PLANS
The conversations show the serious, early effort by Trump allies to sketch policy priorities for a second Trump presidency months before the 2024 U.S. election, in which Trump is leading in battleground states that could decide the race.
Trump's 2016 election win took countries by surprise and left them scrambling to understand the new president's views as he hastily assembled White House advisers.
The consortium of conservative think tanks known as "Project 2025" making detailed plans for a second Trump presidency describe South Korea and Japan in their playbook as "critical allies" in the military, economy, diplomacy and technology.
But the playbook also calls for pushing South Korea "to take the lead in its conventional defense against North Korea," reflecting Trump's concern about taking on too much financial responsibility for other countries' security. Project 2025 has said it does not speak for the Trump campaign.
BACKING BIDEN PLAN
Still, the outreach by Republicans to Asia represents one narrow area of potential continuity between Trump and Biden.
The Democratic U.S. president took over from Trump in 2021 after a bitter election campaign and has prioritized elevating traditional alliances like those Trump sometimes disparaged.
Biden encouraged South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to work together and overcome decades of mutual suspicion and enmity.
The effort culminated in a Camp David summit between the leaders last summer that pledged new defense cooperation amid North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's nuclear threats and Chinese President Xi Jinping's sovereignty claims over democratically governed Taiwan.
"My view, and President Trump shares this, is the deeper we can make the economic ties between the three countries, the stronger the bonds will be," said Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who served as ambassador to Japan in the Trump administration, remains in touch with Asian governments and is seen by some in those circles as a likely Trump second-term appointee.
Another former Trump official described the conversations as partly campaign tactics, adding that, "the main charge of the Democrats is that he abandoned friends and allies and acted alone. He's now more careful not to give Democrats any new room for attack."
WELCOME SIGNAL
In Seoul and Tokyo, where officials are weighing a possible Trump return to office, Republican messages of solidarity have been received as a welcome signal that Trump's Asia policy may vary from the hard-nosed approach that rankled allies from Ottawa to Brussels.
While polls show Biden and Trump in a close race, Yoon and Kishida face withering public opinion polls at home, raising the question of whether the spirit of Camp David will endure a change of leadership in any of the three countries.
South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement that it "is not only necessary but also natural" for the three countries to work together, and that the effort had won bipartisan support in the United States, including during the prior administration.
"Japan is following the U.S. presidential election with interest, but is not in a position to comment on elections in third countries individually," the country's foreign ministry said in a statement, adding the alliance enjoys bipartisan support.
Spokespeople for the Biden campaign and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
"I don't see any reason why trilateral cooperation would languish at all," said Alexander Gray, a former chief of staff of the White House National Security Council under Trump and now CEO of American Global Strategies, a Washington based think tank. "There's a general concern, that I think is unfounded, that President Trump would abandon things that Joe Biden started and, you know, just abandon them because Joe Biden was involved in them."
Get weekly news and analysis on the U.S. elections and how it matters to the world with the newsletter On the Campaign Trail. Sign up here.
Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Michael Martina in Washington, John Geddie in Tokyo and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; Additional reporting by Tim Kelly, Gram Slattery, and David Brunnstrom; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt. Editing by Heather Timmons and Josie Kao
15. US diplomat says 'everything' should be on table if it helps progress on peninsula denuclearization
US diplomat says 'everything' should be on table if it helps progress on peninsula denuclearization
The Korea Times · June 28, 2024
U.S. assistant secretary of State for East Asian Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink speaks during the the 6th Indo-Pacific Business Forum in Taguig, Philippines, May 21. AP-Yonhap
"Everything" should be on the table if it helps make progress towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a senior U.S. diplomat said Thursday, reiterating the United States' commitment to diplomacy with North Korea.
Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remarks, noting that Washington's dialogue overtures have been answered "in the form of missile launches and other forms of provocative actions," which he said warrant efforts to "double down" on deterrence.
"If we had regular dialogue channels with counterparts in Pyongyang, if we could make progress on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, I think everything should be on the table," he said during a hearing of the Indo-Pacific subcommittee under the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Kritenbrink was responding as Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) talked about a bill that he introduced to seek an agreement for a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce, not a permanent peace treaty.
The assistant secretary reiterated the Biden administration's continued pursuit of diplomacy with Pyongyang.
"We will never take off the table the fact that the door to dialogue in a better path remains open, but in the current circumstances, I think we have no choice but to double down on our deterrent capabilities," he said.
His remarks came as calls have grown for greater efforts to address North Korean threats amid Pyongyang's continued weapons tests and its tightening military alignment with Moscow.
Kritenbrink underscored the need to continue to strengthen bilateral and trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan and work with the international community to increase sanctions so as to deter North Korea and its partnership with Russia.
Commenting on the recent summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, the official voiced deep concerns.
"We thought that President Putin's visit was just the latest manifestation of this deeply disturbing and growing partnership. We are concerned about the implications both in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific," he said. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · June 28, 2024
16. N. Korea enhances nuclear readiness ahead of military's summer exercises
We should not overlook the north's Summer Training Cycle (or its winter one).
In addition to nKPA readiness and training, the regime must conduct these exercises to keep the people on a psychological war footing to justify their sacrifice and suffering,
N. Korea enhances nuclear readiness ahead of military's summer exercises - Daily NK English
The focus is on reviewing the "nuclear trigger," a comprehensive nuclear weapons control apparatus developed as a key element for conducting nuclear war
By Jeong Tae Joo - June 28, 2024
dailynk.com · by Jeong Tae Joo · June 28, 2024
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test-firing of a new land-to-sea missile, the Padasuri-6, on Feb. 14, 2024, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Feb. 15. (KCNA)
The North Korean military has ordered units to review nuclear weapons maintenance and nuclear command and control and conduct related drills ahead of the summer exercises starting in July, Daily NK has learned.
Amid predictions that military aid from Russia will accelerate North Korea’s nuclear weapons development, there are signs that North Korea is working to improve its ability to operate nuclear weapons in the field.
“The government’s Nuclear Weapons Supervisory Command had its Military Strategy and Analysis Department cable orders to the main missile and artillery units to conduct joint maneuvers to more effectively manage the state’s nuclear arsenal, clarify the chain of command and achieve technical consistency,” a source in the North Korean military told Daily NK on Wednesday.
According to the source, these orders are focused on reviewing the “nuclear trigger,” a comprehensive nuclear weapons control apparatus developed as a key element for conducting nuclear war, during the summer drills.
“The point of these drills is to check whether low-level units are technically capable of operating the launchers if the Nuclear Weapons Supervisory Command were to issue a nuclear counterattack order and to train military specialists in the operation of nuclear weapons,” the source explained.
Some military commanders believe that improving the practical ability of specialists to operate nuclear weapons is extremely important, the source added.
“Another purpose of these drills is to remind soldiers that North Korea, as a responsible nuclear weapons state, is capable of fully supervising and controlling its nuclear forces and that it’s a nuclear power ready to launch a nuclear counterattack at any time,” the source explained.
“In light of recent circumstances, there seems to be a constant emphasis on the importance of safely managing our nuclear arsenal and maintaining nuclear war readiness,” the source said.
These movements within North Korea are also believed to have the strategic goal of maximizing the North’s leverage as a nuclear weapons state based on cooperation with Russia, with which it has formed a “comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Jeong Tae Joo · June 28, 2024
17. Some N. Koreans avoid work as police informants due to no compensation
An indicator? Nascent resistance potential? If the informant system deteriorates what could happen to internal security?
Some N. Koreans avoid work as police informants due to no compensation - Daily NK English
Many existing police informants are upset about the disparity in compensation between them and Ministry of State Security informants
By Eun Seol - June 28, 2024
dailynk.com · by Eun Seol · June 28, 2024
A photo of Hoeryong taken in 2013 (Raymond Cunningham, Flickr, Creative Commons)
A source in North Hamgyong Province said on Monday that some people in Hoeryong have been avoiding becoming police informers lately.
Police in Hoeryong recently ordered “security team members” – essentially police informants – to be ideologically “rearmed” in accordance with the results of the Fifth National Conference of Public Security Branch Heads held from April 30 to May 1, the first such meeting in 10 years.
Police officers and security team members have been undergoing ideological training in accordance with the “concrete ways to bring about a revolutionary turn in the overall work of public security” presented by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the national conference.
Recently, however, the members of the security team have been trying to escape from their unpaid work by saying that they will do work where “Newton’s third law of motion” applies. In particular, they are outspoken about the disparity in compensation between them and Ministry of State Security informants.
“The Ministry of State Security materially rewards informants based on their results and provides them with perks like helping them get travel documents or solving business problems, but the security team members of the Ministry of Social Security receive nothing,” the source said.
“Quick-witted people do this kind of work, so why would they work for the powerless Ministry of Social Security when they could work for the Ministry of State Security, which pays?” he asked.
Security team members try to avoid police handlers as much as possible
Security team members are selected by the police officer in charge of their area and report what they see once a week. These days, however, they are frequently visited by police officers who ask them about this and that.
Constantly peppered with unpaid questions and recently ordered to undergo ideological “re-armament,” the security team members hardly welcome visits from their police handlers, the source said. So they scurry away when they see their police handlers coming.
“Police officers usually ride bicycles, and these days it seems the scorching sun has put some extra pep in their tires because of the order to ideologically rearm security team members,” the source said. “The policemen scoff at the reality they face, saying that as ‘policemen who make 100 rounds,’ they feel like they are making a real revolution.”
The “policeman who makes 100 rounds” is a phrase that originated during the time of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. It referred to police officers who uncovered crimes such as theft or smuggling while making 100 rounds in their jurisdictions – in other words, responsible police officers. But the term, which once referred to a revolutionary worker, lost its meaning in the 2000s.
“Today, we use the term ‘policeman who makes 100 rounds’ to refer to police officers who go around looking for people to shake down for bribes,” the source said. “That police officers are objects of public suspicion and discomfort shows the reality of today’s North Korea.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com · by Eun Seol · June 28, 2024
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
| 
