Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners


Quotes of the Day:


"Reality cannot be ignored except at a price; and the longer the ignorance persisted in, the higher and more terrible becomes the rice that must be paid" 
- Aldous Huxley

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to blow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." 
- Albert Einstein.

“Is America the greatest country in the world?


It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed. We cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases. We cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars and acted like men. We aspired to intelligence, we didn't belittle it. It didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn't scare so easy.


We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed by great men, men who were revered. First step to solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.”

The character played by Jeff Daniels in HBO’s “News Room,” Episode 10, The Greater Fool
(You Tube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W86k1cmCuGo&t=10s


1. N. Korea continues to provide ammunition to Russia in violation of UNSC sanctions: White House

2. North Korean National Sentenced for Money Laundering Offenses

3. Over 3,600 'separated' S. Koreans died last year without family reunions: gov't data

4. ‘Food shortages in N. Korea worst since 1990s,’ says 38 North

5. INTERVIEW: U.S. cyber crime czar discusses readiness to stop North Korean threats

6. With the collapse of the medical system, Kim Jong-un orders crackdown on home remedies to treat illnesses…Why?

7. Withdrawal of ammunition from USFK stockpile will not affect readiness: Pentagon

8. North Korea intensifies war against South Korean culture

9. US should prepare for possible deployment of nuclear assets to S. Korea: CSIS

10. Military ends search for drone near Thaad base, citing 'low' espionage possibility

11. South Korea to expand military drills with Japan amid North Korean threats, defense chief says

12. US share with UN proof of North Korea supplying weapons to Russia

13. Google Earth offers clear views of where Kim Jong-un works, lives





1. N. Korea continues to provide ammunition to Russia in violation of UNSC sanctions: White House



(LEAD) N. Korea continues to provide ammunition to Russia in violation of UNSC sanctions: White House | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · January 21, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks, more details and information; ADDS photo)

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea continues to provide ammunition to Russia in support of Moscow's unprovoked war against Ukraine, a White House official said Friday, calling it a clear violation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on Pyongyang.

John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said the U.S. has shared its intelligence on the delivery of North Korean ammunition to Russia with the UNSC Panel of Experts on North Korea sanctions.

The NSC official earlier said the North has delivered ammunition to a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, for use in Ukraine.


John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, is seen speaking during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington on Jan. 20, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

"We obviously condemn North Korea's actions and we urge North Korea to cease these deliveries to Wagner immediately," Kirby said at the top of a daily press briefing at the White House.

"As we have stated previously, the arms transfers from the DPRK are in direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. So today, (we are) sharing information on these violations with the Security Council's DPRK Sanctions Committee panel of experts," he added.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

In a rare move, the NSC also released satellite imagery of Russian railcars traveling between Russia and North Korea on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 for what Kirby called the initial delivery of North Korean weapons to the Russian company, which has been designated by the U.S.


The captured image shows a photo released by National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby at a White House press briefing in Washington on Jan. 20, 2023 that shows a set of Russian railcars traveling between Russia and North Korea on Nov. 18-Nov. 19, 2022 for a suspected delivery of North Korean military equipment to Russia's private military company, the Wagner Group. (Yonhap)

"Now while we assess that the amount of material delivered to Wagner has not changed battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, we do expect that it will continue to receive North Korean weapons systems," said Kirby.

The NSC official said the U.S. currently has no plan to pursue additional sanctions against North Korea when asked, but noted it was still an option.

"We are certainly not going to rule out the possibility for additional sanctions if that seemed fit inside the U.N., Kirby told the press briefing.

North Korea also continues to evade sanctions, Kirby noted, with the help of Russia and China.

"Not every country that should observes the sanctions regime. So they are still able to trade with countries like Russia and with China. And, obviously, that's a whole different set of problems, but they are able to skirt sanctions to continue to funnel money into their economy," said Kirby.

"But let's keep it in perspective. This is not a burgeoning economy. This is not a country that is wealthy by any stretch or is necessarily viable and flexible in the in the global economy," he added.

bdk@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · January 21, 2023



2. North Korean National Sentenced for Money Laundering Offenses



​Compared to the gulags in north Korea, US prisons will be paradise.


But he will be subject to deportation at the end of his sentence. That is the real punishment. How much do you want to bet he will have some bad behavior while in US prison to try to have his sentence extended.

North Korean National Sentenced for Money Laundering Offenses

justice.gov · January 20, 2023

Mun Chol Myong (Mun), 55, a national of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to time served of 45 months’ imprisonment for multiple money laundering offenses. Mun laundered funds through the U.S. financial system as part of a scheme to raise capital and acquire goods for North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions. Mun is the first ever North Korean national to be extradited to the United States and is subject to deportation following the successful completion of his sentence.

The indictment alleged that between April 2013 and November 2018, Mun and others conspired to transmit funds through the United States for the purpose of promoting bank fraud. Specifically, the indictment alleges that Mun and his co-conspirators used a network of front companies and falsified transaction records to conceal that the payments benefitted sanctioned North Korean entities and thereby deceived U.S. correspondent banks into executing correspondent banking transactions that they would otherwise have rejected. The indictment identifies more than $1.2 million in illicit transactions.

The indictment further alleged that Mun was affiliated with the DPRK’s primary intelligence organization, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, which is the subject of U.S. and U.N. sanctions. Mun pleaded guilty to all counts of the indictment, including one count of money laundering conspiracy, and four counts of money laundering, pursuant to an “Alford” plea, over the objection of the United States. Under the Alford plea, Mun pleaded guilty and avoided a trial but did not admit to the facts and conduct alleged in the indictment.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office and coordinated by the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. The Department of Justice would also like to thank the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the U.S. Marshals Service Investigative Operations Division for providing analytical support during the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tejpal S. Chawla and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Grady for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney David C. Recker of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case, with support from Paralegal Specialist Brian Rickers and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing Mun’s arrest and extradition. The FBI’s Washington Field Office also provided substantial support during the extradition and investigation.

justice.gov · January 20, 2023


3. Over 3,600 'separated' S. Koreans died last year without family reunions: gov't data


One of the many human rights atrocities committed by the Kim family regime. There is no need to maintain this separation expect a da method of psychological "torture" of the Korean people in the South and any Koreans in the north have heve connections to the South.


Over 3,600 'separated' S. Koreans died last year without family reunions: gov't data | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · January 21, 2023

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- More than 3,600 South Koreans died last year without having a chance to reunite with their family members in North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War-driven separation, government data showed Saturday.

A total of 3,647 people died last year among around 134,000 applicants who had registered with the government for family reunions, according to the data from the unification ministry.

As of the end of last year, the number of surviving members of such families had reached 42,624, with almost 66 percent of the total aged 80 or older, the data showed.

Since the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, the two Koreas have held 21 rounds of face-to-face family reunions events, including the latest one in August 2018.

State-arranged family reunion events have been halted amid frosty inter-Korean relations following the no-deal summit between the North and the United States in Hanoi in early 2019.

On the eve of the Chuseok fall harvest holiday in September 2022, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se proposed talks with the North to discuss the issue of families torn by the war. But Pyongyang has not responded to Seoul's offer.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, as the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.


This file photo, taken Sept. 8, 2022, shows an official at the Korean Red Cross checking a collection of video messages by South Korean families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. The video letters were produced for the delivery to separated families' kin in North Korea. (Yonhap)

sooyeon@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · January 21, 2023


4. ‘Food shortages in N. Korea worst since 1990s,’ says 38 North


I forwarded the 38 North report yesterday but I cannot over-emphasize the seriousness of the conditions in the north. The difference between then and now is that now there are no relief mechanism for the population. The Sunshine Policy in 1997 bailed out the regime but with the collapse of the party's public distribution system in the 1990s, the people developed markets that resulted in a level of resilience. But Kim's crackdown on market activity means that the people have no alternatives. Is there an upcoming breaking point?



‘Food shortages in N. Korea worst since 1990s,’ says 38 North

donga.com

Posted January. 21, 2023 09:47,

Updated January. 21, 2023 09:47

‘Food shortages in N. Korea worst since 1990s,’ says 38 North. January. 21, 2023 09:47. newsoo@donga.com.

North Korea is suffering from the worst food insecurity since the so-called ‘March of Pain’ in the 1990s when hundreds of thousands or millions of people starved to death, a news report says.


38 North, the U.S.-based outlet specializing in North Korea affairs, reported Thursday that an analysis of grain demand and supply and food prices in the North revealed grains inventory has fallen below the bare minimum. The North is estimated to possess only 80 percent of the bare minimum based on the Food and Agriculture Organization’s standard. The bare minimum is required to sustain the North’s society under the assumption that food is rationed equitably.


Since the outlet started measuring in 2009, the prices of grains in the North constantly remained above the international grain prices, but, unusually, the difference has become this big. According to 38 North’s analysis, the difference in rice prices in the North and the international rice price increased to more than 50 cents per kilogram in the first half of 2021. 38 North said it could be a sign that the food supply network in the North has collapsed.


The food price in the North surged in January 2020 when it shut down its border with China due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and in the fall of 2021 when it issued ‘money certificates (banknote substitute)’ due to lack of paper and ink for printing banknotes. Notably, the corn price gained more than the rice price. This is believed to be caused by the Stalinist country’s growing dependence on corn, a substitute grain, due to a shortage of the staple food rice, 38 North explained.


38 North said the North was dealt a heavier blow due to increased instability in international food supply caused by the pandemic and the Ukraine war coupled with Pyongyang’s economic mismanagement that lasted decades. If global food demand increases as China has dumped its ‘zero-Covid’ policy, the food crisis in North Korea could only get worse before getting better, the outlet said.

한국어

donga.com



5. INTERVIEW: U.S. cyber crime czar discusses readiness to stop North Korean threats


Excellent. Yes, the information is important. But it is also good to see a current US government official speaking on Radio free Asia. We need current officials to be regularly interviewed on Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.


INTERVIEW: U.S. cyber crime czar discusses readiness to stop North Korean threats

‘We can use every element of national power’ to counter illicit cyber activity.

By Jaewoo Park and Hyung Jun You for RFA Korean

2023.01.18

rfa.org

Nathaniel C. Fick is the U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy.

As the first person to ever hold that office, Fick leads the State Department’s newly created Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, which addresses national security challenges, economic opportunities, and implications for U.S. values associated with cyberspace, digital technologies, and digital policy.

Chief among the bureau’s responsibilities is ensuring the digital security of the U.S. and its allies, including against cyberattacks sponsored by foreign governments.

Increasingly frequent cyberattacks from North Korea have targeted the U.S.,South Korea, and other allied countries in recent years. The South Korean National Intelligence Service estimates that Pyongyang has stolen around U.S.$1.72 billion in cryptocurrencies worldwide since 2017.

Fick recently spoke with RFA Korean about the threat that North Korea poses, and strategies that the Bureau has to deal with it. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Fick: The North Korean government uses malicious cyber activity to steal military secrets and intellectual property, which further isolates North Korea and the North Korean people, and the North Korean government uses malicious cyber activity to target human rights activists, dissidents and defectors around the world.

So we are very interested in containing and deterring North Korean malicious cyber activity. The State Department has a Rewards for Justice program that offers up to $10 million in rewards for information that leads to the dismantling of some of these North Korean cyber organizations targeting critical infrastructure and financial services around the world.

The North Korean people have a wealth of IT skills. And the North Korean regime has sent many North Korean IT workers around where they are posing in order to work in Western technology companies [to engage in] malicious cyber activity. We would far prefer for the skilled and talented people of North Korea to use those skills for the benefit of their own society.

RFA: How serious is the North Korean cyber threat to the United States and its allies like South Korea and Japan? Can we say that North Korea's threats have increased more over the past few years?

Fick: So the United States and its allies in Asia including South Korea and Japan, take the North Korean cyber threat very seriously for all of the reasons that I've described. Because of illicit financing, because of the theft of IP, because the North Korean government is developing new malware and is launching new attacks that are inherently global in their ability to threaten stability in cyberspace.

Protesters burn portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il [right] and his son Kim Jong-un during an anti-North Korea rally denouncing the North's cyber attacks in Seoul, South Korea, in 2009. Credit: Reuters

RFA: How active do you expect North Korea to be this year in terms of cyberattacks and other threats?

Fick: Well, Kim Jong Un has been explicit in talking about his desire to see an exponential increase in the size of his nuclear arsenal and that would require an increase in the ballistic missile forces including ICBMs. So I think we can anticipate an increase in malicious cyber activity in order to fund that military buildup. So our working assumption is that North Korea will remain a capable, destabilizing, and dangerously irresponsible cyber actor globally this year.

RFA: What plans does the Bureau have to counteract any potential North Korean moves?

Fick: So, the United States State Department, in concert with our other elements of the U.S. government, have a robust set of policies to maintain strategic stability in cyberspace to deter malicious activity and to respond to it when necessary. So I think it's essential to understand that this isn't only a cyber response to malicious cyber activity, we can use every element of national power to respond to and deter cyber activity. So that's diplomatic tools, economic tools, informational tools, and, if necessary, military.

It's a whole government approach to do things like [identify] individuals who [have] conducted these kinds of activities, usually using sanctions tools, and and financial forensic tools in order to recover stolen funds and return them to the victims.

RFA: Are you aware of any new tactics North Korea is trying to use recently that the public don't know about?

Fick: Something that's interesting about cyber tools. And one of the reasons that regimes like North Korea use them is that they are relatively inexpensive. They are relatively hard in some cases to attribute and so we believe that they're constantly changing, right? They're innovative and dynamic. We're particularly concerned right now about North Korea's focus on decentralized financial exchanges, particularly cryptocurrency exchanges. And these are new financial instruments where regulation is still developing. And so, they're comparatively easy to penetrate and disruptive.

North Korea launches an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in this undated photo released Nov. 19, 2022 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Credit: KCNA via Reuters

RFA: There are reports that North Korean cyber hackers are living abroad, even in South Korea. They hide their identity and work with South Korean IT companies. So do you know how many North Korean hackers live abroad? Could they be in the U.S. as well?

Fick: So, before coming to the State Department, I ran a global technology business with smart young people working on our business, all of them. And so I have a real conviction and belief in the power of technology to help transform societies to bring economic opportunity to people. And I think that young people in North Korea are no different. I have no doubt that there are thousands and thousands of talented, capable young IT professionals in North Korea. Many of them have left the country many of them have been sent out of the country to work undercover in western, South Korean and even American technology firms in order to use their skills to advance the agenda of the North Korean regime in order to steal money, in order to steal secrets, and in order to empower the regime. My request to them. My hope for them is that instead, they would use their skills to build things, to build tools, to build applications to build IT capability, to help their society and help their people rather than to undermine strategic stability.

RFA: North Korea fired more than 60 ballistic missiles last year and has carried out many other provocations. People are wondering where all the money to fund the missiles has come from since U.N. and U.S. sanctions still remain in place. North Korea has also been even more isolated after the COVID-19 pandemic. What role do you think illegal cyber activities play in North Korea to evade sanctions?

Fick: So North Korea is one of the most highly isolated countries in the world. And we have a deep and abiding belief that it is worthwhile to connect the North Korean people to the world. The government, if it's going to do things like test missiles and increase the sizes of its offensive forces and its nuclear forces, needs money. And so illicit cyber activity is a key means for the DPRK regime to evade sanctions to steal money in order to fund its military buildup. We would far prefer to see the government spending those same resources on food, education, housing, and development for the benefit of the North Korean people.

RFA: Is the Bureau prepared for the North Korean cyber threat, and prepared to prevent Pyongyang’s illegal cyber activity?

Fick: We're very focused on North Korea's illicit cyber activity and highly motivated to stop their theft of money, their theft of intellectual property in their evasion of sanctions in order to continue the military buildup on the peninsula instead of caring for the well being of their people.

rfa.org


6. With the collapse of the medical system, Kim Jong-un orders crackdown on home remedies to treat illnesses…Why?


Note the comments on Kim that he has lost patience with the lack of law and order.


<Confidential Document> With the collapse of the medical system, Kim Jong-un orders crackdown on home remedies to treat illnesses…Why?

asiapress.org

A photograph of the document recently obtained by ASIAPRESS. The spread of “illegal medical activity” is due to the dramatic fall in Chinese medicine imports stemming from North Korea’s overreaching anti-coronavirus policies.

◆ Inexperienced acupuncturist harms patient

North Korea has seen a collapse in its medical system due to a severe lack of medications. The country’s people have been forced to rely on traditional Chinese medicine such as acupuncture and cupping to treat their illnesses. However, there appears to have been cases where patients have been harmed due to inexperience home remedy practitioners. In November 2022, Kim Jong-un ordered the elimination of “illegal medical activity,” which has led the authorities to mount a massive crackdown on such activity. ASIAPRESS recently obtained a document labelled “top-secret,” and will now reveal the key points of the document along with results from a recent survey of the situation by reporting partners in the country. (KANG Ji-won / ISHIMARU Jiro)

North Korea’s crackdown on traditional Chinese medicine practitioners turned more serious in December of last year. However, full-fledged efforts to crackdown on such activity started in the early days of 2023. A reporting partner in Yanggang Province provided the following report:

“We were given a strict notice by the authorities not to get treatment for our illnesses and that an order (regarding this) had been handed down by Kim Jong-un. They say that anyone conducting acupuncture, cupping or any other similar type of medical treatment will be sent to a forced labor brigade. People are even banned from going to see practitioners for treatment.

“The notice explained that a person (in the southern part of the country) who had only been trained through books conducted acupuncture on a child, which led to the bursting of the child’s intestine. There are frequent cases of inexperienced practitioners causing medical incidents in Yanggang Province as well.”

※ A "forced labor brigade” is a "short-term forced labor camp" where those who are deemed to have disturbed the social order, disobeyed the authorities, or committed minor crimes are detained without judicial procedures and sentenced to forced labor for up to one year. These camps are in cities and counties throughout the country and are managed by the security bureau (police).

◆ Lack of medicine leads to popularity of home remedies

While acupuncture and other traditional Chinese medicine practices have been practiced by unlicensed practitioners for a long time in North Korea, demand for such remedies increased significantly following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020. Chinese medicine stopped entering the country after the Kim Jong-un regime halted almost all trade with China, and people suffering from illnesses began relying on alternative remedies to find relief from their symptoms.

“There are four people who conduct acupuncture within my neighborhood watch unit. None of them are experts. They simply studied with books or learned from experienced practitioners. (In May 2022), when COVID-19 was spreading heavily throughout the country, these people earned quite a lot of money. The cost of one acupuncture session is 5 yuan for those with little experience, while those with a lot charge 10 yuan. A lot of people are relying on them for treatment because there’s no medication available. Even cadres are asking them for help.”

※ Neighborhood watch units are North Korea’s lowest administrative units. They are typically made up of 20-30 households.

※ One yuan equals around 184 won.

◆ What does the top-secret document say?

ASIAPRESS recently obtained a top-secret document that contains Kim Jong-un’s orders to crackdown on home remedies for illnesses. The document is entitled, “The Respected Supreme Leader Comrade Kim Jong-un’s Order of November 26, 2022, Regarding the Phenomenon of Illegal Medical Activity.”

After having received the order to eliminate “illegal medical activity” from Kim Jong-un, the Workers’ Party appears to have disseminated it to state-run company cadres in the provinces. Key parts of the document are quoted below. Areas with parenthesis have been added by the editor.

(The government) aims to strengthen education and controls with a view to eliminate the phenomenon of people earning money through illegal medical activity in the Workers’ Party, labor organizations, and among ordinary people and employees.
“The Ministry of Social Security (the police) and other law-and-order agencies will strengthen their crackdowns and controls on preventing illegal medical activities with a view to make it clear to ordinary people and employees that anyone who has caused harm to patients by conducting illegal medical activities will face a public struggle (denunciation rally) and be severely punished under the law.

◆ Kim Jong-un loses patience with the lack of law-and-order

Why is Kim Jong-un making an issue about eliminating home remedies? It may be that since many people have been harmed by practitioners, the North Korean leader has no intention to just stand by and watch people conducting medical treatments outside the purview of the state-run medical system.

A reporting partner told ASIAPRESS in regards to the major crackdown on illegal medical activity that, “People who have practiced home remedies are keeping up with their medical practices by avoiding the attention of the authorities. Ordinary people are worried about not being able to receive acupuncture treatment when they’re sick.”

※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.

asiapress.org


7. Withdrawal of ammunition from USFK stockpile will not affect readiness: Pentagon


Here are my comments to a journalist who asked a series of questions about the effect on readiness if ammunition stocks are transferred to Ukraine. I have not seen the comments published yet so I will share these.


I suspect that the US industrial base is having some challenges with assisting in sustaining a mid-to high intensity conflict such as Putin's War in Ukraine. I doubt there are critical shortages but I imagine the logistics experts are drawing on US ammunition depots and storage facilities around the world to continue to provide support to the defense of Ukraine. The logisticians have to balance the the production, storage, and transfer of ammunition and equipment supplies and they are continually assessing the situation and developing courses of action to balance risk to US national security interests around the world while providing necessary support to Ukraine to defeat Putin's army.

The Pentagon in conjunction with the Commander of the ROK/US CFC has conducted a risk assessment based on the approved defense plans, intelligence about the north Korean threat, along with production and resupply timeliness to replenish any reserve stockage items sent from US supplies in Korea to Ukraine. This will not have any impact on readiness because the ammunition will come from stocks that are for resupply and use after the first 30 days of a conflict and the analysis conducted by the Pentagon and the ROK/US CFC must be that the US industrial base will be able to replenish any transferred ammunition before all existing stocks are expended for the defense of Korea. The risk is well understood, is assessed as acceptable, and will be mitigated so that there is no impact on readiness. US forces will have more than sufficient ammunition and supplies to continue to be ready to fight tonight and if conflict occurs in the near future any ammunition sent to Ukraine would be replenished well before current warfighting stocks are expended.

Regarding requests to South Korea to provide support to Ukraine: 

President Yoon has called South Korea a Global Pivotal State. Providing support to Ukraine directly or indirectly is an example of that. Sales of tanks and artillery to Poland indicates that South Korea is a partner in the Arsenal of Democracy. South Korea can produce large amounts of the type of ammunition needed by Ukraine, e.g. 155mm and 105mm artillery and tank ammunition. President Yoon has made it clear that South Korea stands for the rules based international order and there is no more egregious and immediate threat to that order than Putin's brutal attack on Ukraine. South Korea appears to be stepping up on the world stage to be a force for good.

I am sure South Korea will suffer criticism from Russia and probably economic retaliation. This is a risk but a risk that a global pivotal state must be willing to take.

Regarding support to Ukraine by South Korea and the US and the possibility it will cause conflict with China, Iran, and north Korea:

No one can predict what countries like Iran and north Korea will do. The best way to prevent their acting out and conducting hostile actions is to demonstrate strength and resolve. Showing weakness and fear of their actions invites them to conduct hostile activities. That is why like minded democracies must support Ukraine. Failure to do so puts all like minded democracies at risk. It appears that China understands that Putin has backed himself into a corner and has miscalculated about Ukraine. China does not seem to want to provide direct support to Putin because the regime likely realizes Putin cannot win and to provide support to a losing cause will damage China.


​​



Friday

January 20, 2023

 dictionary + A - A 

Withdrawal of ammunition from USFK stockpile will not affect readiness: Pentagon

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/01/20/national/defense/usfk-ukraine-dod/20230120100915755.html


Sabrina Singh, principal deputy spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, speaks during a daily press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington on Thursday. [DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE]

 

Withdrawing ammunition and military equipment from U.S. stockpiles in Korea and other countries to support Ukraine will not affect the U.S.' capabilities or defense readiness, a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday.

 

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) earlier said the Pentagon has requested it to offer some of its equipment to support Ukraine.

 

"We are supplying Ukraine pretty regularly with different munitions, materials, capabilities and equipment, and part of that is making sure that we can do so quickly, and we have been working with Korea and Israel when it comes to withdrawing from our stocks and communicating that with them," Sabrina Singh, principal deputy spokesperson for the defense department, told a daily press briefing.



 

"But that doesn't mean it impacts our readiness. It doesn't impact our capabilities to protect Americans here at home or abroad. And so we feel confident on what we have been able to withdraw and what we have been able to get to the Ukrainians," she added.

 

Singh insisted the plan to withdraw from U.S. stockpiles overseas had little to do with dwindling inventories at home.

 

"The secretary has always said we are not going to drop below our readiness levels. But we also have to pull from different stockpiles from all around the world," she said.

 

"We have to go to other sources, other places to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, and to also be able to backfill our own stocks and work on backfilling partners and allies," she added.

 

The Pentagon earlier said the U.S. was in consultations with Korean defense companies to purchase ammunition for its own stockpile.

 


Yonhap


8. North Korea intensifies war against South Korean culture


Information, especially from the South, is an existential threat to the Kim family regime. And the post effective response to the regime's political warfare and blackmail diplomacy strategies is information (along with a human rights upfront approach). This calls for a superior political warfare program executed by the ROK/US alliance.


North Korea intensifies war against South Korean culture

The Korea Times · January 19, 2023

Young people hold a rally in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this Jan. 10 file photo. In recent years, the regime has intensified its campaign against behaviors that run contrary to its interests, according to a new report released Thursday.

 Yonhap


Surviving crackdown has become more difficult under Kim Jong-un, report shows


By Jung Min-ho


It's almost impossible to meet all the requirements as a true Juche socialist in North Korea. Having a birthday party, divorcing a spouse, watching a South Korean movie and being unemployed can all be regarded as "non-socialist" or "anti-socialist" behaviors.


According to a new report released Thursday, the regime under Kim Jong-un has intensified its campaign against such people, particularly those who enjoy South Korean pop music or TV content, which it increasingly views as a threat to its stability in recent years.


The study on the Non-Socialist Groups, a shadowy surveillance operation inside North Korea, was conducted by the Seoul-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. A web-like network of informants keeps ordinary North Korean people in fear and helps embed the culture of bribery, it says.


In a country where everyone breaks the rules, everyone is a potential criminal. The network stifles not just the general public but also the officials who enforce the rules, reinforcing the concentration of power for a very few top leaders. The research is based on interviews with 32 North Koreans who defected to South Korea between 2018 and 2020.


"After Kim took power, the regime has largely targeted outside information, including illegal videos from the South, because it knows such things change the way people think," a North Korean defector said.


More than 25 percent of the North Korean defectors said, "illegal videos" ― mostly from South Korea or the United States ― were the main target of the crackdown, followed by narcotics (17.3 percent), defection attempts (14.7 percent) and "capitalist-like lifestyle" (12 percent). Among them, more than 40 percent said they experienced such inspections daily.


While some North Koreans simply get a slap on the wrist for violating the rules, a few unlucky ones end up dead. If the video in question contains explicit content, execution is almost unavoidable, the report found.


Pyongyang created these surveillance groups in the early 1990s. The once-mighty Soviet Union had fallen and millions of its North Koreans were dying from starvation. Many people lost their faith in the system of rationing and started to trade food and other goods in black markets. Threatened by the change, the regime activated the groups, which have operated on and off ever since.


Without any due process, the enforcers break into the houses of those whom they deem suspicious, search inside and beat them if they resist. If caught, victims offer bribes in many cases, which makes the job lucrative. The enforcers often have a quota to fill and if they do well, they receive rewards such as promotion, the report shows.


Some North Korean defectors say that's why the surveillance groups usually target the rich, who can afford to pay large sums for freedom. Over 36 percent of those interviewed said the enforcers actively exploit the rules for their economic advantage.


Some human rights activists have promoted the message that smuggling USB drives loaded with K-pop music or Hollywood films into the North could be an effective way to expose lies of the regime, which tries hard to restrict outside information from reaching its people.


The researchers said that it is a "double-edged sword," which could jeopardize the people in North Korea.


"It satisfies their right to know by accelerating the free flow of information in the North, but it also contains the risk of exposing them to the violation of human rights," they said in the report.



The Korea Times · January 19, 2023


9. US should prepare for possible deployment of nuclear assets to S. Korea: CSIS


I am now thinking that President Yoon's various remarks over the past week or so was a coordinated effort to lay the groundwork to redeploy US tactical weapons. I have no knowledge to confirm that so it is just my speculation. But given the CSIS report that came out this week this may be to regain confidence in Extended Deterrence.


US should prepare for possible deployment of nuclear assets to S. Korea: CSIS

The Korea Times · January 19, 2023

Victor Cha, senior vice president and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), speaks during a news conference held at the U.S. think tank in Washington, D.C. to preview a new report set to be published by the CSIS' North Korea Commission, Jan. 17. Yonhap


The United States should consider possible deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea in the future, a U.S. think tank said Wednesday, in what it called "pre-decisional" efforts to lay groundwork for the possible deployment in the future.


The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also recommended the U.S. and South Korea begin holding tabletop exercises to that end.


"The allies should consider tabletop planning exercises for the possible redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea," the CSIS' North Korea Commission said in a report on North Korea policy and extended deterrence.

"This planning should be explicitly pre-decisional. The timeline and scope of weapons ... should be left deliberately ambiguous," it added.


Victor Cha, CSIS senior vice president for Asia and Korea Chair, explained such "pre-decisional" or preliminary work can help the actual or final decision to move in either direction.


"The purpose of that is that once you get that planning process started, you can make a decision to accelerate it or to decelerate it, depending on changes to the external environment," he said while meeting with reporters for a preview of the report that is set to be released early Thursday.


The report, the second of its kind to be published by the CSIS commission, proposes six policy recommendations each for North Korea policy and U.S. extended deterrence.


On U.S. extended deterrence, the report says Washington must demonstrate its nuclear capabilities, as well as its political will to use them if necessary.


To this end, the report suggests the U.S. must underscore its commitment to the defense of South Korea partly by emphasizing that Washington and Seoul share the same fate.


"When referencing the "full range of U.S. defense capabilities," the United States should emphasize that the U.S.-ROK "community of fate" ― anchored in the presence of 28,500 U.S. troops on the peninsula ― forms the core of extended deterrence," it said.


ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.


U.S. military armored vehicles park in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Jan. 11. AP-Yonhap


On the same note, the report recommends the U.S. consider changing its strategic and nuclear posture to allow or increase "continuous presence of U.S. strategic assets around the Korean Peninsula."


South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has said Seoul may be forced to arm itself with nuclear weapons should the military tension with North Korea continue to increase.


Pyongyang staged a record-breaking 69 ballistic missile launches last year, far exceeding its previous annual record of 25.


The CSIS commission clearly expressed its opposition to South Korea's nuclear armament.


"Do not, under current circumstances, deploy U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula nor condone the acquisition of nuclear weapons by South Korea," says the report.


The report suggests the U.S. should instead support the improvement of South Korea's conventional defense capabilities, including by deploying additional THAAD missile defense units to South Korea if needed.


"The ultimate policy objective is to achieve complete and irreversible denuclearization. While there may be interim steps along the way, the two allies should work toward this final goal," it said.


To this end, the report recommends the U.S. and its allies prepare for North Korea's eventual return to negotiations.


"The United States and South Korea should continue to express a willingness to engage with North Korea. This could involve sending joint communications from senior envoys indicating a readiness to talk without preconditions," it said.

The commission also insists the U.S. should consider appointing "a full-time special representative for North Korea," saying, "Even in the absence of negotiations, the envoy could work to coordinate potential road maps for North Korea's denuclearization among key stakeholders in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo."


Currently, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Sung Kim is also serving as U.S. special representative for North Korea.


Other policy recommendations for North Korea policy and extended deterrence include enhancing the enforcement of sanctions on North Korea, strengthening U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral cooperation and increasing support for North Korean human rights. (Yonhap)



The Korea Times · January 19, 2023


10. Military ends search for drone near Thaad base, citing 'low' espionage possibility



Friday

January 20, 2023

 dictionary + A - A 

Military ends search for drone near Thaad base, citing 'low' espionage possibility

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/01/20/national/defense/thaad-drone-usfk/20230120145958654.html


Police officers on Wednesday morning search for the drone that was brought down and went missing after approaching the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (Thaad) missile base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang. [NEWS1]

 

South Korea's military has withdrawn from a fruitless search for a drone thought to have crashed near a U.S. missile defense unit in a southern county earlier this week, its officials said Friday, citing "low" chances that it was used for spying activities.

 

It has left the search operation to police, which will also continue a probe into who flew the drone near the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (Thaad) base in Seongju, 217 kilometers south of Seoul, and for what purpose.

 

On Tuesday, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) personnel used a jamming gun to bring down the presumed civilian drone after it flew toward the Thaad base. Some 200 military and police personnel had engaged in the search operation in areas close to the base.



 

The military cited a "comprehensive analysis of the circumstances and data," including those from the U.S. side, to back its conclusion that the likelihood of the drone being mobilized for espionage is "low."

 

South Korea's military has been striving to build counter-drone capabilities in the wake of North Korean drone infiltrations last month, which laid bare shortcomings in its air defense capabilities.


Yonhap




11. South Korea to expand military drills with Japan amid North Korean threats, defense chief says



Excellent development. north Korea (and China) is miscalculating. The more north Korea does (and with Chinese support) the more ROK/Japan and trilateral cooperation will improve.


South Korea to expand military drills with Japan amid North Korean threats, defense chief says

Stars and Stripes · by David Choi · January 19, 2023

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pose during their first summit in New York, N.Y., Sept. 21, 2022. (South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs)


CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The South Korean military intends to deepen its ties with Japan this year by restarting joint military exercises suspended since 2018, according to Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup.

Lee, in a report Monday by the Segye Ilbo newspaper, said the Ministry of National Defense will promote its security cooperation with Japan this year through joint missile-warning drills, antisubmarine and maritime interdiction exercises, and search-and-rescue training.

“The real-time intelligence operation system among [the United States, Japan and South Korea] will be further upgraded,” he said in the report. “It is our goal to hold the trilateral meeting to hold discussions on it as soon as possible.”

Lee cited North Korea’s military threat in the region for the increased cooperation. Pyongyang fired about 75 missiles last year in 36 days of testing, an annual record. It’s latest launch, a short-range ballistic missile, happened Jan. 1.

U.S., South Korean and Japanese warships conducted an antisubmarine drill on the East Sea, or Sea of Japan, in September. The drill was “defensive” in nature and a “measure to restore the levels of … trilateral cooperation,” the defense ministry said in a statement at the time.

The South Korean navy also attended Japan’s International Fleet Review in November, the first such appearance by Seoul in seven years.

Lee’s comments are part of South Korea’s broader shift in diplomatic relations with Japan. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was inaugurated in May, vowed to mend ties with Japan after a long-standing division between the countries.

The Japanese and South Korean government have historically been at odds over several issues. The two have a territorial dispute over Dokdo, also known as Takeshima, remote islets between South Korea and Japan, and have argued whether Tokyo ought to compensate South Korean forced-labor victims from World War II.

Military relations have also been strained in recent years. In 2018, Japan’s Ministry of Defense said a South Korean navy destroyer pointed a fire-control radar at a Japanese patrol aircraft off the Noto Peninsula, a move described by the ministry as an “extremely hazardous act that may cause unintended consequences.”

South Korea’s defense ministry said the destroyer was conducting a search-and-rescue operation using a different radar system.

Yoon, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged during a summit in Cambodia on Nov. 13 to work together “out of a shared concern for … the nuclear and missile threats North Korea poses,” according to a White House statement that day.

Stars and Stripes reporter Yoo Kyong Chang contributed to this report.

David Choi

David Choi

David Choi is based in South Korea and reports on the U.S. military and foreign policy. He served in the U.S. Army and California Army National Guard. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Stars and Stripes · by David Choi · January 19, 2023



12. US share with UN proof of North Korea supplying weapons to Russia


US share with UN proof of North Korea supplying weapons to Russia

news.yahoo.com · by Ukrainska PravdaJanuary 20, 2023, 1:23 PM·2 min read

The United States of America have shared proof of North Korea supplying weapons to Wagner Group, which it uses in the war against Ukraine, with the group of experts of the United Nations Security Council Committee on Sanctions Against North Korea.

Source: Ukrinform citing John Kirby, White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator, during a briefing on Friday; European Pravda reports

Quote: "We have seen how the representatives of the North Korean authorities falsely denied the supply of weapons to Wagner PMC," Kirby reminded and added that the American side had already cited specific cases of such supplies.

Details: Kirby showed to reporters in Washington the satellite images taken on 18 October, which show "that on 18 November, five Russian rail cars left Russia for North Korea".

"The next day, North Korea loaded these railway cars, containers, after which the train returned to Russia," Kirby added.



Quote: "The supply of weapons from the DPRK is a direct violation of the UN Security Council resolution, so today we shared information about these violations with the group of experts of the RB Committee on Sanctions Against North Korea. We will continue to speak about these violations in the Security Council together with our allies and partners," Kirby emphasised.

Details: Kirby noted that the volumes of supplies from North Korea for the Wagner Group did not change the dynamics of hostilities in Ukraine. However, Russia wants to continue receiving weapons from North Korea.

Background: It became known at the beginning of November 2022 that the United States accused North Korea of secretly supplying Russia with a significant amount of artillery shells for use in the war in Ukraine and of trying to hide these supplies. According to intelligence, the munitions are allegedly being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa, but are actually meant for Russia.

In December, a high-ranking US representative stated that Wagner Group, which is participating in the war in Ukraine, received a shipment of weapons from North Korea last month.

North Korea has denied all these claims.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!

news.yahoo.com · by Ukrainska PravdaJanuary 20, 2023, 1:23 PM·2 min read



13. Google Earth offers clear views of where Kim Jong-un works, lives



Images at the ink: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230119000454&np=1&mp=1


[Newsmaker] Google Earth offers clear views of where Kim Jong-un works, lives

koreaherald.com · by Kim So-hyun · January 19, 2023


Satellite image of Pyongyang's "Workers' Party complex No. 1," where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's office is located. (Screen capture from Google Earth)

Commercial satellite imagery can clearly capture North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s office, residence and other key facilities of Pyongyang, US state-owned broadcaster Voice of America reported Wednesday, as it released Google Earth images of those locations.

Last month, North Korea disclosed photos of downtown Seoul including the area around President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office and the Incheon port, claiming they were taken by a prototype of its reconnaissance satellite under development, though those photos had lower resolution than Google Earth photos.

One does not have to launch reconnaissance satellites to track the North Korean leader’s whereabouts, as Google Earth photos are enough to get clear views of the key places he frequents, VOA said.

“This means that in case of an armed conflict with North Korea, the US and South Korea, whose reconnaissance assets are much (more) advanced than Pyongyang’s, can immediately target the movements of the North Korean leadership which they have precisely confirmed and analyzed so far,” the US radio broadcaster said.

Showing Google Earth images of the government complex comprising three connected buildings known as the North’s Worker’s Party of Korea complex No. 1, where Kim’s office is located, VOA explained how one has to pass through at least three guard posts on a route of about 600 meters to enter the complex.

“As dozens of satellite photos of the area taken from 2000 until last year have been released, one can closely observe how the area has changed,” VOA said.

The Google Earth photos are high-resolution enough to show streetlamps within the government site.

According to the Google Earth images, the center of what is now the main building of the No. 1 complex of the North’s Workers’ Party of Korea was unoccupied without a roof until 2017, but became roofed in 2018.

Previously, there were only two passages connecting the main building and the building to the west, but now, one can see an additional structure with a roof next to one of the passages.

Near the building to the south is an entrance to a tunnel, above which is a garden.

North Korea's "official residence No. 15," which is known as leader Kim Jong-un's house. (Screen capture from Google Earth)

About 100 meters south across the garden is Kim Jong-un’s residence, known as official residence No. 15.

“Currently in Pyongyang, large houses with entrances to tunnels next to them can be easily spotted. They are presumed to be official residences of Kim or other high-ranking officials,” VOA said.

Nick Hansen, an imagery technology expert affiliated with the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, said North Korea launched two satellites into orbit, “but once they achieved orbit, they failed.”

The purported “reconnaissance satellite” that Pyongyang is developing is unlikely to be of higher performance compared to US commercial satellites, according to Hansen.



By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)

koreaherald.com · by Kim So-hyun · January 19, 2023




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



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."

Access NSS HERE

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