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(My apologies. I had a meeting this morning that interrupted my morning news search)
Quotes of the Day:
"Political war is the use of political means to compel an opponent to do one's will, political being understood to describe purposeful intercourse between peoples and governments affecting national survival and relative advantage.' Political war may be combined with violence, economic pressure, subversion, and diplomacy, but its chief aspect is the use of words, images, and ideas, commonly known, according to context, as propaganda and psychological warfare."
- Paul Smith, On Political War
“He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh out.”
- Epictetus
Characteristics of the American Way of War (4 of 13)
4. Problem-solving and Optimistic. Holding to an optimistic public culture characterized by the belief that problems can always be solved, the American way in war is not easily discouraged or deflected once it is exercised with serious intent to succeed. That is to say, not when the American way is manifested in such anti-strategic sins against sound statecraft as the "drive-by" cruise missile attacks of the late 1990s. The problem-solving faith, the penchant for the engineering fix, has the inevitable consequence of leading U.S. policy, including its use of armed force, to attempt the impossible.67 After all, American history is decorated triumphantly with "impossible" achievements, typically against physical geography. Conditions are often misread as problems. Conditions have to be endured, perhaps ameliorated, and generally tolerated, whereas problems, by definition, can be solved.
There are two ways in which an American way of war imbued with a problem-solving spirit is apt to stray from the path of strategic effectiveness. First, irregular enemies, terrorist-insurgents, are not usefully regarded as problems to be solved. As we have observed already, these irregulars are waging a protracted war, eschewing the kind of open engagements that might just produce a clear-cut military decision. Since the irregular foe cannot be brought to battle en masse, he is not a problem that the Army can solve tactically or operationally. Instead, following classic COIN doctrine, the problem of the insurgent is best treated as a condition that has to be addressed indirectly, as security is provided for, and hopefully the trust is gained of, the local people. That has to be a slow, gradual process. If one does not understand that and act accordingly, one has no future in COIN.
-Colin Gray, 2006
1. North Korean leader supervises troops simulating attack on South
2. Cost of provocation will increase until N. Korea changes behavior: State Dept.
3. N. Korea still one of worst countries for human rights, freedom: report
4. South Korea, Japan to resume mutual diplomatic visits
5. North simulates artillery strike on South's airfield, warns of 'overwhelming response'
6. Allies considering trilateral security body: Reports
7. Next week's Seoul-Tokyo summit to open new chapter in relations: vice minister
8. Korea, US to continue discussing concerns over Chips Act: trade minister
9. S. Korea awaits Xi visit from China: official
10. Opinion | China is pushing America’s Asian allies together
11. Can We Liberate North Korea Through Its People?
12. South Korea says boosting 3-way defence ties with US, Japan won’t ‘antagonise’ China
13. Several state security agency agents busted for accessing Internet without permission
1. North Korean leader supervises troops simulating attack on South
As the ROK/US Combined Forces Command prepares to conduct defensive training, the regime tries to show off its offensive capabilities, perhaps to reinforce why the alliance must train for the defense of the ROK. (note sarcasm)
North Korean leader supervises troops simulating attack on South
militarytimes.com · by Kim Tong-Hyung, The Associated Press · March 10, 2023
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a live-fire artillery drill simulating an attack on a South Korean airfield and called for his troops to be ready to respond to the enemies’ “frantic war preparation moves” — apparently referring to the recent series of military drills between the United States and South Korea.
The North Korean state media report Friday came a day after South Korea’s military detected the North firing at least one short-range ballistic missile toward the sea from a site near the western coastal city of Nampo. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff was assessing whether more missiles may have been launched simultaneously.
The United States has recently sent long-range B-1B and B-52 bombers for several rounds of joint aerial drills with South Korean warplanes. The allies are also preparing this month for their biggest combined field training exercise in years to counter the growing threat of Kim’s growing nuclear arsenal. North Korea views regular U.S.-South Korean military exercises as invasion rehearsals.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim urged his troops to be prepared to “overwhelmingly respond to and contain” the military action of the North’s enemies, which he said were proceeding with “all sorts of more frantic war preparation moves.”
He said frontline units should sharpen their capabilities to carry out their two main “strategic missions, that is, first to deter war and second to take the initiative in war.”
RELATED
US, South Korea announce largest field exercises in five years
The 11-day Freedom Shield is part of an annual combined training with troops from South Korea and the United States which is scheduled this month.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry later Friday urged North Korea to stop raising tensions with “reckless nuclear and missile programs and military provocations.” Vice spokesperson Lee Hyo-jung told reporters that North Korea must focus instead on caring for people’s livelihoods and take a path toward building peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The KCNA report did not specify what types of weapons were involved in Thursday’s exercise or how many rockets were fired. Some of the North’s newer short-range weapons targeting South Korea includes large-sized multiple rocket launchers that experts say blur the boundaries between artillery and ballistic missile systems.
North Korea describes some of its more advanced short-range systems as tactical weapons, which implies an intent to arm them with lower-yield battlefield nuclear weapons.
Experts say the North with the wording is communicating a threat to proactively use those weapons during conventional warfare to blunt the stronger conventional forces of South Korea and the United States, which keeps about 28,000 troops in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from North Korea.
Kim’s comments were in line with an escalatory nuclear doctrine the North set into law last year, which authorizes preemptive nuclear strikes in situations where it may perceive its leadership as under threat, including conventional clashes.
Photos published by North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed at least six rockets being fired from launch vehicles lined up in an unspecified coastal forest area.
Kim watched the firings from an observation post along with military officials and his daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and around 10 years old.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with his daughter, inspects what it says is an artillery drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Thursday, March 9, 2023. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
She has appeared at several events tied to his military since first being showcased at an ICBM test launch in November, and analysts believe the events and elevated descriptions of her in state media are meant to show the world he has no intention to voluntarily surrender his nuclear weapons, which he apparently sees as the strongest guarantee of his survival and the extension of his family’s dynastic rule.
Coming off a record year in missile testing, North Korea has conducted additional weapons demonstrations in 2023. Experts say North Korea with its heightened testing activity and threats is trying to claim a dual ability to conduct nuclear strikes against South Korea and the U.S. mainland.
Kim’s campaign is aimed at forcing the United States into accepting the North as a nuclear power and negotiating badly needed economic concessions from a position of strength, analysts say. Diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea has stalled since 2019.
The South Korean and U.S. militaries will conduct computer-simulated command post training March 13-23 and will resume their largest springtime field exercises, which were last held in 2018. The allies’ regular drills were canceled or scaled back to support diplomacy or because of the COVID-19 pandemic but they renewed them after the diplomacy collapsed and North Korea’s threats and weapons testing escalated.
On Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s powerful sister and one of Pyongyang’s top foreign policy officials, warned that her country is ready if necessary to take “quick, overwhelming action” in the face of the allies’ expanded drills.
In previous statements, she threatened to turn the Pacific into North Korea’s firing range and repeatedly implied that the North might test-fire an ICBM toward those waters on a standard ballistic trajectory, which would be seen as one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations yet.
All of North Korea’s ICBM tests since 2017 have been conducted on a high angle to avoid the territories of neighbors.
Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this report.
2. Cost of provocation will increase until N. Korea changes behavior: State Dept.
One area that President Yoon has discussed is information. But so far the alliance has not embarked on a necessary large scale and sophisticated information and influence campaign.
The other thing that we must focus on is ensuring the failure of provocations.
The way to counter provocations is to ensure that Kim does not achieve the effects he desires by conducting the provocation. This requires exposing the regime's intent for the provocation in order to inoculate the Korean and American people against the provocations and then attack the regime's strategy with a superior form of political warfare.
Cost of provocation will increase until N. Korea changes behavior: State Dept. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · March 10, 2023
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will continue to face increased consequences unless it changes its behavior, a state department spokesperson said Thursday, hours after Pyongyang potentially fired multiple ballistic missiles in its latest provocation.
Ned Price said the U.S. remains equally committed to the defense of its allies as it is to dialogue with the provocative North.
"We are seeking with our partners around the world ... to make clear to the DPRK that the costs are going to continue to increase until and unless it changes its approach," the department spokesperson told a daily press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"We want to see the DPRK change its approach in the direction of dialogue and diplomacy," he added. "This is what we have put forward multiple times now. We believe that through dialogue and diplomacy we can make the kinds of incremental, real, practical progress towards that overall objective of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
Youtube
https://youtu.be/CoCC0GTHN8M
State Department Press Secretary Ned Price is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on March 9, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea late Thursday (Korea time), marking its fourth ballistic missile launch this year following its unprecedented 69 ballistic missile tests in 2022.
The South Korean military has said the North may have fired additional ballistic missiles on Thursday.
"We condemn the most recent ballistic missile launch," said Price.
"This launch, like previous lunches, is in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. It poses a threat to the DPRK's neighbors and the international community," he added.
On Wednesday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in its annual Global Threat Assessment that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "most certainly views nuclear weapons" and intercontinental ballistic missiles as the "ultimate guarantor" of his autocratic rule and will never give them up.
Price said the U.S. will continue to seek dialogue with the North, pointing to a difference between what he called "policy objectives" and "intelligence assessments."
"Our policy approach is predicated on what we would like to see," he said. "And it would be profoundly in the interest of the United States and countries around the world if we were to fulfill the objective that we set forth and that is an objective of complete denuclearization of the of the Korean Peninsula."
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · March 10, 2023
3. N. Korea still one of worst countries for human rights, freedom: report
No surprise here (except that Turkmenistan, Syria, and South Sudan are lower).
But this is one of the many reasons why we need to include a human rights upfront approach to policy and strategy toward north Korea.
N. Korea still one of worst countries for human rights, freedom: report | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · March 10, 2023
SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea was once again labeled one of the worst countries in terms of freedom, a recent report by a U.S.-funded freedom watchdog showed Friday.
In an annual Freedom House report titled "Freedom in the World 2023," the North received a combined freedom score of 3 out of 100 -- zero points for political rights and 3 points for civil liberties.
It ranked only above Turkmenistan at 2 points, and South Sudan and Syria with just 1 point each among 210 countries assessed by the organization.
South Korea scored 83 points in the index -- the same as the United States -- and was categorized as a "free" country.
The North has consistently been ranked in the group of the worst nations for freedom since Freedom House published its first annual report in 1972.
North Korean residents gather at a cultural hall in the North Korean town of Kaepung on the western front-line border with South Korea, in this file photo taken from an observatory in the South Korean border city of Paju on Feb. 15, 2023, a day ahead of the 81st anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, father of current leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · March 10, 2023
4. South Korea, Japan to resume mutual diplomatic visits
Some good news.
South Korea, Japan to resume mutual diplomatic visits
donga.com
Posted March. 10, 2023 07:48,
Updated March. 10, 2023 07:49
South Korea, Japan to resume mutual diplomatic visits. March. 10, 2023 07:48. sanghun@donga.com,jks@donga.com.
President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit Japan for a summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida next Thursday to signal the resumption of regular mutual visits between the two countries, which had remained dormant for the past 12 years. The restoration of the regular diplomatic visits, which will serve as a symbol of improved Korea-Japan relations, is picking up speed, with Prime Minister Kishida’s return visit as early as the latter half of this year, which will be his first to Korea, coordinated.
The Presidential Office stated on Thursday that President Yoon would visit Tokyo next week for a summit with Prime Minister Kishida at the invitation of the Japanese government. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also announced that President Yoon would visit Tokyo for the upcoming bilateral summit and banquet. “Taking President Yoon’s visit as the chance to resume regular mutual visits between the two countries, which had been suspended for the past 12 years, we expect this to serve as an important milestone for the improvement and development of the bilateral relations,” the South Korean presidential official said.
It has been reported that discussions are underway to restore mutual visits. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Korea and Japan have begun coordinating details on exchanging confirmation at this summit about the bilateral intention to resume mutual visits. The Japanese newspaper cited several sources and said that Prime Minister Kishida would make adjustments for his first visit to Korea as a return visit following the upcoming summit. The last visit by a Japanese leader to Korea was in February 2018, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
“Although there has been no official discussion between the two countries yet, it is a natural course of events for the Japanese leader to return a visit to South Korea after the South Korean leader’s visit to Japan,” a high-ranking government official said.
The regular mutual visits between the leaders of the two countries began in 2004 with then-President Rho Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, visiting each other once a year, and were finally cut off in December 2011 with then-President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Japan for a meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. If Prime Minister Kishida’s visit is actualized, this will revive regular mutual visits between the two countries’ leaders in 12 years. In July 2017, then-President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to restore the mutual visits, but they went in vain due to sour relations.
한국어
donga.com
5. North simulates artillery strike on South's airfield, warns of 'overwhelming response'
Airfields in South Korea are key targets for the north. They must prevent the ROK/US alliance from generating combat power in the air that will devastate the nKPA. Anything that moves can be seen and detected and will be engaged by allied airpower. While the north goes after existing airfields this is why the Air Force trains to fight through these attacks and also why dispersal airfields and non standard airfields are so important. A strike might interrupt sortie generation temporarily but this is why we train on a regular basis - to mitigate the effects of a north Korean attack to continue the fight.
Friday
March 10, 2023
dictionary + A - A
North simulates artillery strike on South's airfield, warns of 'overwhelming response'
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/03/10/national/northKorea/North-Korea-Kim-Jongun-Kim-Juae/20230310130512229.html
North Korea conducts an artillery drill observed by leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter on Thursday, in a photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency Friday. [YONHAP]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised a live-fire artillery drill Thursday simulating a strike on a South Korean airfield, reported state media Friday.
Kim also called for an "overwhelming response" to any enemy provocation.
The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim gave field guidance to the Hwasong artillery unit of the North's Korean People's Army on the western front and watched a "fire assault drill" the previous day.
Kim "examined the actual war response posture of the 8th fire assault company under the unit charged with striking the enemy's operation airport in the direction of the western front," according to the English-language report.
He was accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju-ae, who was spotted in photos released by the KNCA on the same day. Ju-ae, confirmed as Kim's second child out of three offspring by the South's National Intelligence Service (NIS), has made frequent public appearances next to her father since last November.
On Thursday evening, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired at least one short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) toward the Yellow Sea from Nampo at 6:20 p.m.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, inspects the Hwasong artillery unit with his daughter Ju-ae, far right, Thursday in a photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency Friday. [YONHAP]
The KCNA reported Friday that the fire assault company, trained in carrying out strike missions, "fired a powerful volley at the targeted waters in the West Sea of Korea set under the simulated conditions of the major elements of the enemy operation airport, thus confidently demonstrating its capability to counter an actual war."
Kim reportedly expressed "great satisfaction over the results of the drill" and stressed the need to always stay alert for "more frantic war preparation moves being committed by the enemy recently," apparently referring to South Korea-U.S. joint exercises.
Kim called on the artillery unit to maintain the "powerful capability to overwhelmingly respond to and contain them all the time so as to thoroughly deter the danger of a military clash on the Korean Peninsula."
They were told to be ready to carry out the two strategic missions: "first to deter war and second to take the initiative in war, by steadily intensifying various simulated drills for real war in a diverse way in different situations."
This would be in preparation for a "time when the enemy's moves for violating the sovereignty of our state and threatening its security cross the red-line set by the DPRK," reported the KCNA.
A photo released by KCNA showed at least six tactical guided weapons fired at the same time from six transporter‐erector‐launchers (TEL).
North Korea conducts an artillery drill, apparently testing tactical guided missiles Thursday, in a photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency Friday. [YONHAP]
Recently, the United States deployed its long-range B-1B and B-52 bombers to the Korean Peninsula for drills with South Korea.
Seoul and Washington are also scheduled to kick off the Freedom Shield exercise, their biggest combined military drills in five years, from Monday through March 23. The exercise will be carried out concurrently with large-scale field training exercises, called the Warrior Shield FTX.
Pyongyang has described the regular Seoul-Washington combined exercises as war rehearsals for invading the North.
On Tuesday, Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of Kim Jong-un, warned that Pyongyang is ready to take "overwhelming" actions against military activities by the South and the United States and that any U.S. attempt to intercept its missile will be seen as a "clear declaration of war."
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
6. Allies considering trilateral security body: Reports
Whoa. I hope someone is not out ahead of their ski tips on this. We do not want to jinx any effort for such trilateral cooperation. Of course this could be leaked by opponents of this effort. Or it could be a trial balloon: Get this out in the open now, discuss it, and then move past it to hopefully develop an effective trilateral organization and structure.
I wish they did not use the "NATO" term.
Friday
March 10, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Allies considering trilateral security body: Reports
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/03/10/national/defense/korea-japan-us/20230310190427463.html
Korea's Sejong the Great, front, USS Barry, middle, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Atago, rear, sail in the international waters of the East Sea on Feb. 22, as the three countries held a trilateral missile defense exercise amid heightened tensions caused by North Korea's recent missile launches, in this photo released by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [YONHAP]
South Korea, the United States and Japan may consider establishing an extended deterrence consultative body, or even an "Indo-Pacific NATO" scheme, to counter nuclear threats in the region, said a growing number of reports as the three countries discuss and prepare summits set to take place over the next few weeks.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, a local Japanese paper, reported on Wednesday that Washington had approached the governments of Japan and South Korea to “establish a new consultation body on nuclear deterrence,” adding that Japan is considering accepting the proposal, and that the response from South Korea has also been positive.
The Foreign Ministry in Seoul on the same day released a statement alluding to such a consultative body.
“The Republic of Korea and the United States are operating various consultative bodies to strengthen extended deterrence in preparation for North Korean nuclear and missile threats and are closely discussing ways to operate these consultative bodies more effectively,” it said, a statement that was echoed by the State Department as well.
The Republic of Korea is the official name of South Korea.
A trilateral extended deterrence body would transform Northeast Asia's hub-and-spoke security structure centered on the United States into a more integrated allied structure.
Seoul and Washington have their Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group that brings together the two allies' foreign and defense ministers regularly, and Tokyo and Washington have their Extended Deterrence Dialogue, but a trilateral extended deterrence scheme does not yet exist.
Such a body would be key in the case of a military contingency in the region, said Go Myong-hyun, a senior researcher on foreign policy at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a Seoul-based think tank.
“In the case of an emergency in the region, South Korea, the United States and Japan will have to move together in the form of a de-facto trilateral alliance,” Go said. “Hence the three countries taking steps early on to discuss possible options on the table, share information and coordinate training through a consultative body would only enhance their deterrence against North Korea.
“If South Korea and Japan can work together with same voice, the U.S. nuclear umbrella in the region would be further strengthened,” he added.
Some experts have gone so far to suggest that an Indo-Pacific version of the NATO body on nuclear matters, the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG), may be something that Washington and its allies in the region including Australia may be crafting long-term.
“In the long term, the U.S. will want to create a multilateral platform for extended deterrence discussions modeled after NATO's NPG, including trilateral consultations with South Korea, the U.S., and Japan,” said Jeon Kyung-joo, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. “The U.S. emphasis on such integrated deterrence against China and others will apply in the nuclear field as well.”
The implications for China, as well as how Beijing would respond to such alliance, has not been missed by the Korean administration.
“The main purpose of security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan is to protect the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas from North Korea's continuing threat,” said a senior-ranking Foreign Ministry official on Friday. “We have made it clear in our statements before that security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan does not have hostile intentions towards China.”
President Yoon Suk Yeol is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington next month, and with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida next week.
Korea and Japan, mired for years in diplomatic spats centering on historic issues, recently appeared to reach a breakthrough when the South Korean government announced a measure to have Korean companies compensate the victims of forced labor, which was followed by the invitation from Tokyo for the summit.
It remains to be seen if their intelligence sharing mechanism, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (Gsomia), is also on track. The agreement needs annual renewal, which was suspended by South Korea in 2019 after Japan placed export restrictions on Korea.
“If the export control issues between the two countries are resolved sooner or later, Gsomia will likely be resolved naturally,” said the Foreign Ministry official.
BY PARK HYUN-JU, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
7. Next week's Seoul-Tokyo summit to open new chapter in relations: vice minister
We must certainly hope so.
Next week's Seoul-Tokyo summit to open new chapter in relations: vice minister
The Korea Times · March 10, 2023
First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong speaks during a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club inside the Press Center in central Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
A summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, in Tokyo next week will open a new chapter in the two countries' bilateral relationship, First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong said, Friday.
Speaking to foreign media journalists in Seoul, Cho called Japan a partner country that shares universal values, saying South Korea's partnership with "the closest neighbor" in the region is more important today than ever before amid geopolitical uncertainties such as North Korea's military threats.
His remarks come four days after the Yoon administration announced its solution to the wartime forced labor of Japan's colonial era issue by compensating victims through a fund raised by South Korea's public foundation, rather than seeking payment from Japan. The proposal is widely considered a major concession by Seoul, which gave up its previous stance demanding direct compensation from Japanese companies and an apology following the South Korean Supreme Court's ruling on the case in 2018.
"Next week (March 16), there will be a historic exchange between South Korea and Japan," Cho said. "Yoon and his wife's visit to Japan will be meaningful as it is expected to open the window of opportunity for the two countries to take steps into the future after overcoming conflict and hostility … We will step up our efforts to continue to build this momentum of improving relations in order to expand it to the economy, security, culture and other areas."
The proposal has been welcomed by Tokyo and Washington among other governments. U.S. President Joe Biden said it is a "critical step to forge a future for the Korean and Japanese people that is safer, more secure and more prosperous."
Yet victims of wartime slave labor and their families have refused to accept it, with liberal politicians calling it a "humiliating" concession.
Apparently aware of the divided voices, Cho said the government would continue to listen to the victims and critics as the officials implement each step of the process.
"We have been trying to explain it to the victims and each member of their families since we announced the plan," he said. "Given that the Japanese government said it had no objection to Japanese companies' voluntary contribution, we look forward to seeing the participation of business people in both countries."
The Korea Times · March 10, 2023
8. Korea, US to continue discussing concerns over Chips Act: trade minister
Korea, US to continue discussing concerns over Chips Act: trade minister
The Korea Times · March 10, 2023
Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun speaks to reporters after arriving at Dulles International Airport on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., March 8. Yonhap
Korea and the United States will continue to consult closely over Seoul's concerns regarding the U.S. Chips and Science Act, Seoul's trade minister said Thursday.
The U.S. has also agreed to closely work with South Korean chipmakers in implementing the chips act, according to Ahn Duk-geun.
"The U.S. emphasized that Korea is one of the most important partners when it comes to cooperation on semiconductors, and said it will closely consult with the government and businesses of South Korea in the process of implementing subsidies under the chips act," the trade minister told reporters.
Ahn arrived here Wednesday for talks on what he called Korea's "concerns" over the act that offers up to $52.7 billion in subsidies to chipmakers, but in exchange for what many consider business secrets.
The U.S. announced details of subsidies under the chips act last week in what is known as the Notice of Funding Opportunity or NOFO.
The Korean minister earlier noted the U.S. demand for "too much information" from Korean chipmakers has created "concerns."
"We actively asked the U.S. side that the NOFO be implemented in a way that will not lead to increased uncertainties for businesses, intervention in business management or increased cost of investment in the U.S.," Ahn told reporters.
"In addition, our government emphasized that increased uncertainty due to the NOFO is not desirable for our companies' investment in the U.S. or cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the U.S. on semiconductor supply chain," he added.
Seoul has also asked the U.S. to make sure the chips act will not undermine business operations of Korean chipmakers in China, Ahn said.
The chips act bars chipmakers that receive U.S. subsidies from making new investments in China for a decade.
Alan Estevez, under secretary of commerce for industry and security, has also said Korean firms entitled to U.S. subsidies ― Samsung Electronics and SK hynix ― will likely have limits on the level of advanced semiconductors they can produce in China. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · March 10, 2023
9. S. Korea awaits Xi visit from China: official
It will be interesting to see if this visit happens.
Excerpts:
“The tenet of the strategy is inclusivity, meaning no single country is left out of outreach we’re making,” the senior official said, referring to China, Korea’s biggest trading partner.
Still, efforts for warmer ties with Beijing have seen little headway since January, when Korea and China had to deal with a tit-for-tat spat over suspending short-term visas as part of stronger pandemic curbs to prevent a spillover from rising infections. Last week, China lifted almost all travel restrictions on arrivals from Korea, a move that followed Seoul’s decision to drop its curbs on Chinese arrivals.
S. Korea awaits Xi visit from China: official
koreaherald.com · by Choi Si-young · March 10, 2023
South Korea is anticipating a potential visit this year by Chinese President Xi Jinping or at least big senior-level exchanges between the two countries, a senior Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said Friday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to sensitivity of the topic, said outside factors like pandemic travel curbs had prevented senior Seoul-Beijing exchanges, dismissing speculation that the two countries are at odds over policy.
In late February, China said it does not allow “meddling” in matters involving Taiwan, referring to South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin’s interview with CNN the same month.
Park stressed that Korea does not support “changing the status quo by force,” clearly undercutting previous ambiguity over where Seoul stands on the self-ruled democratic island that Beijing claims as its own. The US has vowed military action to help Taiwan defend from Chinese attacks.
“Our stance on this is very clear. Peace in the Taiwanese Strait is key to peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia,” the senior Foreign Ministry official in Seoul told reporters. The official added that the three-way military coalition of South Korea, the US and Japan is meant for a safer Korean Peninsula from North Korea’s nuclear threats.
The US-led group has recently found new momentum for tighter ties, as Seoul and Tokyo have come to terms with putting behind a dispute over a 2018 Korean ruling that mandated Japanese companies that forced Koreans to work for them during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the peninsula compensate the victims.
Seoul said Monday it will cover the payment while awaiting the firms’ potential participation in a fund meant to enhance ties.
The thaw in relations is expected to deepen the three-way ties, one of the foreign policy goals that President Yoon Suk Yeol says is the top priority. In late December, Yoon revealed the Indo-Pacific strategy, his signature foreign policy that essentially aims to raise South Korea's role on the global stage with backing from the US.
By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Choi Si-young · March 10, 2023
10. Opinion | China is pushing America’s Asian allies together
As Bonaparte said, "never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
Excerpts:
It’s fashionable these days in Washington to assign primary blame to the United States for the downturn in U.S.-China relations. Some claim America’s hawkish stance is the result of politicized groupthink in Washington. The Chinese government exploits this navel-gazing by claiming that Washington is the only reason that China’s international standing is at an all-time low. Chinese propaganda outlets even blamed the new South Korea-Japan thaw on the United States, accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of “serving as a pawn of the U.S.”
The reality, though, is that the new moves toward cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo are not the result of what people in Washington are thinking or saying. In fact, the U.S. government wasn’t significantly involved in this diplomatic achievement, although President Biden did praise it after the fact.
Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida each took a significant political risk by opening a new chapter in their countries’ relations. But they did it because they believe that the global strategic environment is changing fast and that China’s expansion poses a challenge neither can deal with alone.
Opinion | China is pushing America’s Asian allies together
The Washington Post · by Josh Rogin · March 9, 2023
South Korea and Japan have been estranged neighbors for decades, but now they’re moving to establish a new partnership — and not because the United States told them to. Both countries are rethinking their security posture because they realize the need to counter China’s increasingly aggressive regional expansion. America’s Asian allies are speaking clearly about the rising danger in the Pacific, and the United States should listen.
This week’s historic warming of ties between Seoul and Tokyo was almost completely overlooked in Washington, where pundits and politicians alike have chosen to focus on the latest kerfuffle with Beijing. China’s new foreign minister warned of “conflict and confrontation” unless Washington backs off of its competitive strategy. President Xi Jinping blamed China’s economic woes on the United States and its policy of “containment, encirclement and suppression.”
It’s fashionable these days in Washington to assign primary blame to the United States for the downturn in U.S.-China relations. Some claim America’s hawkish stance is the result of politicized groupthink in Washington. The Chinese government exploits this navel-gazing by claiming that Washington is the only reason that China’s international standing is at an all-time low. Chinese propaganda outlets even blamed the new South Korea-Japan thaw on the United States, accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of “serving as a pawn of the U.S.”
The reality, though, is that the new moves toward cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo are not the result of what people in Washington are thinking or saying. In fact, the U.S. government wasn’t significantly involved in this diplomatic achievement, although President Biden did praise it after the fact.
Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida each took a significant political risk by opening a new chapter in their countries’ relations. But they did it because they believe that the global strategic environment is changing fast and that China’s expansion poses a challenge neither can deal with alone.
Yoon made the first move, by pledging that South Korean funds will be used to compensate World War II victims of Japan’s forced-labor practices, thereby removing a major hurdle that had frozen Tokyo-Seoul collaboration. He said last week that Japan had “transformed from a militaristic aggressor of the past into a partner that shares the same universal values with us.”
Kishida responded this week by praising Yoon’s actions and pledging to deepen ties with Seoul. This sets the stage for Japan to resume cooperation on everything from intelligence-sharing to supply chains. Next week, Kishida is expected to host Yoon for a summit. Kishida might also invite Yoon to the Group of Seven leaders’ meeting in May in Hiroshima. In April, President Biden will host Yoon for a state dinner.
Washington policymakers tend to view Asia through only the lens of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship. But these moves by Tokyo and Seoul show that the problems with Beijing don’t originate in the United States. It is China’s behavior, not Washington’s hawkishness, that is exacerbating tensions in the region.
“Those waving their finger at what they call China policy ‘groupthink’ take a very Washington-centric view of how we got here,” said Eric Sayers, nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “This [Washington] consensus developed after years of diplomatic nudging from our allies in the region, asking us to do more to balance against Chinese coercion.”
Japan is doubling its defense spending over the next five years because it deems that necessary for its defense. South Korea is weaning itself off dependence on the Chinese market and supply chains to protect its own economy. To be sure, both countries also have an interest in managing tensions with China, but they realize that countering its challenge to regional security must take priority.
Asian allies are calling for more U.S. engagement in the region — but they want engagement with them, not with China. They have realized that like-minded countries need to spend more time working with one another and less time trying to conciliate leaders in Beijing and Pyongyang.
Washington needs to make more efforts to reassure Asian allies that the United States is committed to the region, and not just militarily. The U.S. economic investment strategy in Asia is seen as thin on substance. Regional leaders don’t see much impact from the Biden administration’s trade strategy.
“We don’t want a war with China, not a cold one, not a hot one,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), the ranking Democrat on the new congressional select committee on U.S.-China relations, told me. “We want peace. We want a durable peace. But to achieve that peace, we have to deter aggression.”
That’s not dangerous groupthink. That’s a rational, bipartisan approach for defending American interests and promoting American values. The demand signal is coming from U.S. allies in the region who are on the front lines. They are mobilizing to meet this challenge head-on, and Washington must respond to their calls for help.
The Washington Post · by Josh Rogin · March 9, 2023
11. Can We Liberate North Korea Through Its People?
Minds and will not hearts and minds.
A cautionary note yes. But north Korea is not Cuba. And the real lesson is did we ever really try in Cuba? (Bay of Pigs notwithstanding).
Yes, in war, (kinetic and political) everything is simple, but even the simplest thing is hard. (thanks to dead Carl) It will take hard work by the right people.
We can dismiss this as most people do and say it is impossible. But when did we ever really try? And do we think it is right for the 25 million people in the north to be left to suffer in the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag state under the thumb of the mafia-like crime family cult of the Kim family regime?
Can We Liberate North Korea Through Its People?
Changing hearts and minds enough to topple the regime is no picnic.
March 9, 2023 4:31 pm ET
https://www.wsj.com/articles/north-korea-kim-jong-un-regime-cuba-freedom-ca19ddad?mod=Searchresults_pos4&page=1
Melanie Kirkpatrick’s op-ed “To Disarm North Korea, Focus on Human Rights” (op-ed, March 6) boldly suggests that to achieve a strategic breakthrough with North Korea, we need to focus on the rights of its citizens, educating them about what life is like outside, rather than pursue endless, pointless disarmament negotiations with the leaders of the regime itself. This is certainly an interesting idea and a breath of fresh air.
But one has to wonder how such an idea could possibly work in North Korea when it so miserably failed in Cuba, which has had far more porous borders and access to information about the outside world.
Once upon a time, Radio y Televisión Martí was supposed to be the agent of truth that would liberate the minds of Cuba’s citizens, foment internal rebellion and force regime change in Cuba. Well, more than 37 years have passed since this bold idea was put into effect—in addition to countless visits to Cuba by a broad range of outsiders spreading information about the wider world, as well as access by Cubans to many other avenues of communication—and the Castro regime still stands. The revolutionary ideals put in place in 1959 persist.
Meanwhile, North Korea has made a science out of stifling dissent by imprisoning, torturing and executing those who don’t toe the party line and extol the enlightenment of Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un. It seems doubtful that information missives of the sort described by Ms. Kirkpatrick would have any real effect in changing the hearts and minds of the North Korean people.
George S. Springsteen
Washington
Appeared in the March 10, 2023, print edition as 'Can We Free North Korea Through Its People?'.
12. South Korea says boosting 3-way defence ties with US, Japan won’t ‘antagonise’ China
I think this is wishful thinking.
But this is the result of north Korean and Chinese malign behavior. They are driving the 'allies" together.
- A high-ranking government official said the initiative was aimed at tackling North Korea and expressed hope it will not affect Seoul’s strong trade ties with Beijing
- But as Yoon prepares for summit talks with Biden and Kishida, analysts say the move could ‘put the South in the front line of the new Cold War confrontation’
Park Chan-kyong
Published: 5:23pm, 10 Mar, 2023
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3213103/south-korea-says-boosting-3-way-defence-ties-us-japan-wont-antagonise-china?utm_source=rss_feed
South Korea has insisted it will not “antagonise” China despite the bolstering of a three-way defence cooperation with the United States and Japan as Seoul and Tokyo move closer to ease a long-standing dispute over wartime forced labour to tackle the threats posed by North Korea.
“The trilateral defence cooperation is aimed to preserve peace on the Korean peninsula in the face of the continuing threats from the North,” a high-ranking government official said on Friday.
“The strengthening of the three-way defence cooperation does not mean [South Korea] is antagonising China,” he said, adding Beijing will remain its top trade partner for years to come.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also hinted that South Korea would not get involved in a possible conflict between the US and China over Taiwan.
He repeated Foreign Minister Park Jin’s earlier statement that “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is crucial to maintain tranquillity in the northeast Asian region”.
Analysts said the existence of different perceptions and policies on China among the three countries could potentially weaken the unity of the latest security plan.
Seoul has adopted a more conciliatory posture toward China in the hope it can help rein in Pyongyang, while Washington and Tokyo seek to keep Beijing in check.
The official said the government is taking steps to ensure that the strengthening of cooperation with US and Japanese companies “does not become a zero-sum game” and disrupt South Korea’s strong trade ties with China.
His comments came as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol this week unveiled a plan to end a protracted dispute over Japan’s wartime forced labour. While the victims condemned the decision, the US welcomed it and invited Yoon to Washington for a state visit in April.
Japan also signalled it was ready to bury the hatchet as it announced Yoon will hold a summit meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida next week in Tokyo.
South Korea, instead of Japanese firms, to compensate families of WWII forced labour victims
Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University, said the March 16-17 talks will be an attempt to turn the page on the fraught Seoul-Tokyo ties.
Easley said though domestic political compulsions took centre stage in the past, the scope of Japan-South Korea cooperation is much larger, including trade, deterring North Korea and helping to build guardrails for China’s increasingly assertive international role.
Victor Cha, vice-president and Korea Chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, noted that Yoon’s coming summit with US President Joe Biden “will mark Seoul’s return to a prominent role in Asia and beyond.”
“[South] Korea went through a period when it was disconnected from Japan, hedging with China, and solely focused on North Korea. Yoon has changed this in a very short period, bringing Korea back into the fold,” Yonhap quoted him as saying.
Cha added Yoon prevented the trilateral relations with the US from plunging into the “deep abyss” by swiftly resolving the forced labour row. He said “North Korea, China and Russia would have loved it” if the issue had dragged on.
Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies was sceptical about the new security push, saying South Korea would not gain much from the initiative and it could result in more provocation from the North.
“For the US, the trilateral cooperation would help rein in China, but this would give more reasons for the North to bolster its nuclear arsenal.
“And South Korea would have to play a role as a soldier serving in the front line of the new Cold War confrontation. What kind of benefits would this bring to Seoul’s security?” Yang asked.
North Korea conducted an artillery drill at an undisclosed location on March 9. Photo: KCNA/KNS via dpa
Kim Jong-dae, a defence analyst and former lawmaker of the pro-labour Justice Party, said the security arrangement appears to be geared toward challenging China rather than bringing North Korea to heel.
“South Korea wants to curb threats from the North through the trilateral defence cooperation, but it would have no choice but play its own roles in restraining Beijing in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea,” Kim said.
“[For Washington and Beijing], the new defence regime is a knife to slaughter the cow in the form of China rather than the hen in the form of North Korea.”
CONVERSATIONS (27)
Park Chan-kyong
+ myNEWS
Park Chan-kyong is a journalist covering South Korean affairs for the South China Morning Post. He previously worked at the Agence France-Presse's Seoul bureau for 35 years. He studied political science at Korea University and economics at the Yonsei University Graduate School.
13. Several state security agency agents busted for accessing Internet without permission
Everyone in the north wants information.
Several state security agency agents busted for accessing Internet without permission
All the individuals involved were young mid-ranked and high-ranked security agents who arrived at Bureau 10 late last year after graduating from Ryongsan National Security University
dailynk.com
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can be seen speaking at the fourth plenary meeting of the Eighth Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee. (KCNA/Yonhap News)
Several security agents affiliated with the Ministry of State Security’s Bureau 10 regularly connected to the Internet without permission, Daily NK has learned.
The agents were busted as a result of a Ministry of State Security internal inspection conducted during the ministry’s first quarter review, a Daily NK reporting partner in North Korea said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bureau 10 carries out surveillance and oversight of all internal and external electronic communications, and the incident is leading to heavier crackdowns within the ministry, the reporting partner said.
According to Bureau 10’s internal regulations, agents must first fill out a temporary installation and viewing request and receive permission from their manager in charge before they can connect to the Internet.
However, the agents busted during the latest inspection were breaking the regulations by taking advantage of their job and their easy access to the Internet.
All the individuals involved were young mid-ranked and high-ranked security agents who arrived at Bureau 10 late last year after graduating from Ryongsan National Security University.
They had been handling the development of computer programs for the country’s domestic firewall, as well as managing remote access, bugging and security systems.
According to the reporting partner, the ministry investigated the individuals’ unauthorized Internet access and what they searched for and their leaks of outside information before passing on a general report of their findings to Bureau 10’s department heads.
One security agent ran frequent searches for “Kim Jong Un.” Inside the ministry, agents say this act alone — committed by a “security warrior tasked with defending the Greatest Dignity [Kim Jong Un] with his life” — could get him shot.
The reporting partner said it was a fellow agent in the same department who ratted the individuals out. “Bureau 10 departments are given access to the Internet, which had allowed agents to turn off their search word recording devices and search the web as much as they like without issue. But after a new bureau chief took over, even these previously routine issues have turned into major incidents,” he said, relaying an opinion held by those within the ministry.
The incident has caused alarm within the leadership of the Ministry of State Security, which has moved swiftly to deal with wayward agents.
The reporting partner said that the ministry condemned electronic surveillance agents who abused their Internet access privileges, saying such agents “were not qualified to be security warriors.”
He further noted that all the agents implicated in the recent inspection will be dishonorably discharged from service at the ministry.
The Ministry of State Security informed Bureau 10’s electronic surveillance bases in regions along the China-North Korea border of the incident in detail, urging them to prevent similar cases from occurring, the reporting partner added.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
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De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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