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Quotes of the Day:
“So far as I know. It's not enough to be able to lie with a straight face; anybody, with enough gall to raise on a busted flush can do that. The first way to lie artistically is to tell the truth – but not all of it. The second way involves telling the truth, too, but is harder: tell the exact truth, and maybe all of it …but tell it so unconvincingly that your listener is sure you are lying.”
- Robert A. Heinlein. Time Enough For Love
“Laws can embody standards; government can enforce laws – but the final task is not a task for government. It is a task for each and everyone of us. Every time we turn our heads, the other way, when we see the law flouted – when we tolerate what we know to be wrong – when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt, because we are too busy, or to frightened – when we failed to speak up and speak out – we strike a blow against freedom and decency and Justice.”
- Robert F Kennedy.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread, winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’ ”
- Isaac Asimov
1. U.S. congressional leaders say Yoon's address will provide vision for future of alliance
2. China, others have obligation under U.N. resolutions to engage N. Korea: State Dept.
3. N. Korea unresponsive to regular contact via inter-Korean liaison line, military hotline
4. S. Korea, Japan hold working-level consultations after Yoon-Kishida summit
5. Yoon taps ambassador to Russia for first vice foreign minister
6. U.S. nuclear envoy hopes Yoon's state visit to U.S. will reaffirm Seoul-Washington alliance
7. N.Korea Rallies Propaganda Machine
8. What impact will N. Korea’s revised mobile telecommunications law have on cell phone users?
9. Treasury Releases 2023 DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment (north Korea)
10. US, S.Korea, Japan concerned over N.Korea's 'malicious' cyber activities
11. President Yoon will be first Korean leader to address U.S. Congress in a decade
12. North Korea accelerates nuclear missile programme with ‘treasure sword’ — $1.7bn from crypto heists
13. S. Korea warns of actions over N. Korea's unauthorized use of Kaesong complex
14. All Quiet, For Now, On The Northern Front
15. Saudi Arabia Deploys Korean Rocket Launchers
16. SKorea, US, Japan call for support of ban on NKorea workers
17. The story behind North Korea's wacky homegrown version of the AK-74 rifle
18. A National Strategy for Countering North Korea (webcast)
1. U.S. congressional leaders say Yoon's address will provide vision for future of alliance
I am hoping that he (and President Biden in their joint statement) will make the pursuit of a free and unified Korea focus of the alliance in honor of the 70th Anniversary of the alliance.
U.S. congressional leaders say Yoon's address will provide vision for future of alliance | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · April 7, 2023
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Yonhap) -- U.S. congressional leaders have invited South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to address a joint session of Congress, noting it will provide an opportunity to share his vision for the future of U.S.-South Korea alliance, an invitation letter to Yoon released Thursday showed.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also said the historic event will highlight the progress made by the allied countries over the years.
Yoon's office earlier said the president has been invited to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress on April 27, one day after he will hold a bilateral summit with President Joe Biden.
President Yoon Suk Yeol (6th from L) poses for a photo with members of a U.S. congressional delegation at the presidential office in Seoul on April 5, 2023, in this photo provided by the office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
"The relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea is one of great importance and significance," says the letter, also signed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
"Your leadership has been instrumental in strengthening this partnership, and we believe the Joint Meeting would provide a platform for you to share your vision for the future of the U.S.-Korea alliance and to highlight the progress that has been made in recent years," it adds.
The South Korean president is set to make a state visit to the U.S. from April 24, becoming the first South Korean president to do so in 12 years. He will be the first South Korean head of state to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress since 2013.
The congressional leaders also noted that Yoon's trip to the U.S. will highlight the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
"With this year marking the 70th anniversary of the alliance between our two countries, it is an especially important time to reflect on the achievements of our partnership and reaffirm our shared commitment to democracy, economic prosperity and global peace," they said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · April 7, 2023
2. China, others have obligation under U.N. resolutions to engage N. Korea: State Dept.
We must not expect China to act responsibly when it comes to north Korea. China will not work to solve what it perceives as a ROK and US security problem particularly when it blames the US for the problem.
Excerpts:
"We have been very consistent that countries that have influence and relationships with the DPRK have a responsibility to engage with them and to encourage them to cease their dangerous, reckless and destabilizing activities that have the potential to impact not just across the Indo-Pacific but the region more broadly," he told a daily press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"We believe that needs to be a case under the auspices of the U.N. Security Council as there are a number of U.N. Security Council sanctions in place as it relates to (the) DPRK," he added when asked if the U.S. had any means to pressure China, a close neighbor of North Korea, to stop Pyongyang from conducting what will be its seventh nuclear test.
(LEAD) China, others have obligation under U.N. resolutions to engage N. Korea: State Dept. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · April 7, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks from a NSC spokesperson, more background in last 5 paras; ADDS photo)
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Yonhap) -- China and any other countries that have a relationship with North Korea have an obligation to encourage Pyongyang to halt its provocative actions, a state department spokesperson said Thursday, amid reports that the North is prepared to conduct a nuclear test at anytime.
Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the state department, added the U.S. will continue to implement United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea to prevent further escalation.
Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the Department of State, is seen speaking during a press briefing at the department in Washington on April 6, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)
"We have been very consistent that countries that have influence and relationships with the DPRK have a responsibility to engage with them and to encourage them to cease their dangerous, reckless and destabilizing activities that have the potential to impact not just across the Indo-Pacific but the region more broadly," he told a daily press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"We believe that needs to be a case under the auspices of the U.N. Security Council as there are a number of U.N. Security Council sanctions in place as it relates to (the) DPRK," he added when asked if the U.S. had any means to pressure China, a close neighbor of North Korea, to stop Pyongyang from conducting what will be its seventh nuclear test.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), earlier said indications of activity have been detected at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site in what he called a "deeply troubling" development, also noting that the site "remains prepared to support a nuclear test."
North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017.
Patel declined to comment when asked if China may have enough influence over Pyongyang to stop the country from conducting a nuclear test.
John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, is seen speaking during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on April 6, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)
John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, was more forthcoming in urging China to play a role.
"We know that China has influence in Pyongyang and we have long urged them to use that influence to get Mr. Kim to do the right thing and to be willing to sit down with us as we have said we are, without preconditions to diplomatically try to deal with the denuclearization of the peninsula," he told a White House press briefing, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
China, together with Russia, have successfully blocked more than a dozen U.N. Security Council meetings held since last year to discuss accountability for North Korea's military provocations.
Both China and Russia are veto power-wielding permanent members of the Security Council and have friendly relations with North Korea.
Pyongyang fired 69 ballistic missiles in 2022 alone, marking a new record of ballistic missiles fired in a single year.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · April 7, 2023
3. N. Korea unresponsive to regular contact via inter-Korean liaison line, military hotline
Not unsurprising. The north always plays "hard to get" to the alliance's unrequited love (note sarcasm).
I recall many years ago that some of the "technical reasons" for the inability to communicate were the lack of batteries for the TA-312 field phones that the alliance provided to connect both sides. That could be urban legend but would not be surprising given the nature of the regime.
(2nd LD) N. Korea unresponsive to regular contact via inter-Korean liaison line, military hotline | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · April 7, 2023
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with more details throughout)
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- Daily communication between the two Koreas was suspended Friday, as North Korea did not respond to regular contact via a cross-border liaison line and a military hotline, the South Korean government said.
The suspension comes amid heightened tensions caused by North Korea's weapons tests in protest of joint military drills between South Korea and the United States.
"The North was unresponsive to the closing call via the joint liaison hotline at 5 p.m. after it did not answer the opening call at 9 a.m.," Seoul's unification ministry said.
The ministry earlier said as there was no problem with communication lines in the South, it will closely monitor the situation, including the possibility of a technical problem in the North.
This file photo, provided by the unification ministry, shows a South Korean liaison officer talking to his North Korean counterpart at the Seoul bureau of their joint liaison office on Oct. 4, 2021. After a two-month suspension, the two Koreas restored cross-border communication lines that Pyongyang suspended in protest against an annual combined military exercise of South Korea and the United States. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The two Koreas typically hold phone calls twice a day at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. via their joint liaison office channel.
The North also did not respond to two regular daily calls via the military communication channel, according to the South's military.
The government is seeking to find out the reason for the North's unresponsiveness, including the possibility of technical glitches.
The North may have severed the communication channels to protest the allies' military exercises or the ministry's latest publication of a report on the North's human rights violations.
Regular phone calls via inter-Korean communication channels have previously gone unanswered due to technical reasons. Last June, Pyongyang did not respond to a regular hotline call apparently due to technical glitches caused by heavy rains.
In July 2021, the North restored the inter-Korean hotline, about a year after it severed the contact channel in protest against Seoul activists' leaflet campaigns critical of Pyongyang. The liaison line was again cut off in October and restored later.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · April 7, 2023
4. S. Korea, Japan hold working-level consultations after Yoon-Kishida summit
Another positive step forward. I hope they can sustain the momentum.
(LEAD) S. Korea, Japan hold working-level consultations after Yoon-Kishida summit | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · April 7, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with ministry's press release)
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Japan held working-level diplomatic consultations here Friday as a follow-up to last month's summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The meeting between Seo Min-jung, director general for Asia and Pacific affairs at South Korea's foreign ministry, and her Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, comes amid a recent attempt to mend bilateral ties after South Korea announced a plan to compensate forced labor victims on its own without asking for Tokyo's contribution.
During their talks, Seo and Funakoshi were expected to discuss follow-up measures to the compensation plan, as well as ways to resume a long-suspended security consultative meeting involving senior officials from the defense and foreign ministries of the two countries.
"The two sides exchanged views on the direction of the development of bilateral ties and areas of mutual interest based on the results of the South Korea-Japan summit last month," the ministry said in a press release after the meeting.
Seoul and Tokyo agreed to maintain close coordination at various levels, including among high-level officials, to further deepen their relations, it added.
Funakoshi is currently in Seoul for South Korea-Japan bilateral talks, as well as a trilateral meeting with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts.
Japanese chief nuclear negotiator Takehiro Funakoshi speaks during talks with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts over North Korea's denuclearization at the foreign ministry in Seoul on April 7, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Last month, South Korea decided to pay the victims through a South Korean government-affiliated foundation using donations from local companies, not the accused Japanese firms.
Victims and supporting civic groups have rejected South Korea's compensation plan, demanding Tokyo's apology and blasting Yoon for cozying up to Japan at the expense of the national interest.
Meanwhile, the South Korean government has called for Japan's "sincere response" to the resolution and voiced hopes that the Japanese companies will make voluntary contributions.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · April 7, 2023
5. Yoon taps ambassador to Russia for first vice foreign minister
The effects of the NSA's resignation.
Yoon taps ambassador to Russia for first vice foreign minister | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · April 7, 2023
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday tapped Ambassador to Russia Chang Ho-jin for first vice foreign minister, his office said.
Yoon also nominated current First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong to be ambassador to the United States, according to presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon.
The nominations come after the sudden replacement of National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han last week over alleged lapses in planning for Yoon's state visit to Washington later this month.
Kim was replaced by Ambassador to the U.S. Cho Tae-yong.
Both Chang and Cho are career diplomats. Chang previously served as ambassador to Cambodia, while Cho Hyun-dong served as minister at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, among other posts.
This file photo shows President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) posing with Ambassador to Russia Chang Ho-jin after presenting him with credentials at the presidential office in Seoul on Aug. 12, 2022. (Yonhap)
First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong speaks during a press conference with foreign correspondents at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Seoul in this file photo taken March 10, 2023. (Yonhap)
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이해아 · April 7, 2023
6. U.S. nuclear envoy hopes Yoon's state visit to U.S. will reaffirm Seoul-Washington alliance
I do tno think the headline really captures the Ambassador's views. it seems to imply that there would be a question about whether we will reaffirm the ROK/US alliance. I would imagine he, like many others in both the ROK and the US, would view the state of the alliance as being in a very good place at the current time and there is no question that we will reaffirm the alliance during President Yoon's visit.
U.S. nuclear envoy hopes Yoon's state visit to U.S. will reaffirm Seoul-Washington alliance | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · April 7, 2023
SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- The top U.S. nuclear envoy said Friday that President Yoon Suk Yeol's upcoming state visit to the United States would be a "historic" occasion to show the strong alliance between Seoul and Washington to the world.
Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for North Korea, made the remarks during a meeting with Unification Minister Kwon Young-se in Seoul to discuss the North's nuclear issue and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Yoon will make a state visit to the U.S. for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden on April 26 as the two nations mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the alliance this year.
"We're excited about President Yoon's upcoming state visit. It would be a historic occasion to highlight for the international community the strength of the U.S.-ROK alliance," Kim said, using the short form of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
Kwon voiced hope Seoul-Washington relations will further develop and the strong alliance could pave the way for better inter-Korean ties, according to his office.
This photo, taken April 7, 2023, shows Unification Minister Kwon Young-se (R) meeting with Sung Kim (L), U.S. special representative for North Korea, at the government complex building in Seoul. (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 김수연 · April 7, 2023
7. N.Korea Rallies Propaganda Machine
I would say that the "propaganda machine" is all the regime has.
"Devoted spokespeople" of the party are necessary to tell the regime's lies.
N.Korea Rallies Propaganda Machine
english.chosun.com
April 06, 2023 11:44
North Korean state media workers gathered for the first time in 22 years in an apparent effort to rally the propaganda machine around leader Kim Jong-un.
The official Rodong Sinmun daily said Wednesday that the two-day conference of the Journalists Union of [North] Korea took place in Pyongyang on Monday and Tuesday.
Ri Il-hwan, the Workers Party's head of propaganda, was quoted as saying Kim instructed journalists to become "devoted spokespeople" of the party.
A star of the gathering was veteran news presenter Ri Chun-hee, who has amused viewers around the world with her fervent hail and praise of the regime.
In principle the journalists union is required to convene every five years, but in reality there has been little to confer about, and rallies were only held on special occasions like 1979, when the U.S. and China established diplomatic relations, in November 1987 after the North blew up Korean Air flight 858, in November 1993 when the first North Korean nuclear crisis erupted, and after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the U.S.
State media workers gather for a rare conference in Pyongyang, in this photo from the [North] Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday.
But now the North faces an economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus lockdown, international sanctions and the regime's squandering of all its resources on its missile and nuclear programs. In recent weeks South Korea has published a report on North Korea's human rights abuses and co-sponsored a UN resolution condemning them.
In response, North Korea has cracked down on people who watch South Korean movies, TV dramas or music videos.
Last year, Reporters Without Borders ranked North Korea as the worst violator of press freedom in the world. State media are comically inept and still cover mostly turnip quotas or Kim instructing bottle-factory workers how to do their jobs.
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
english.chosun.com
8. What impact will N. Korea’s revised mobile telecommunications law have on cell phone users?
Obviously this bears watching.
But this tells us a few important things.
First, the regime is deathly afraid of external information getting to the Korean people. This means our current paltry efforts to get information into the north is having an effect on the regime.
Second, The Korean people in the north are hungry for outside information.
Third, this should provide rationale for drastically and aggressively increasing our information and influence activities efforts.
Here are some recommendations:
Create a "Korea desk" at the Global Engagement Center (GFC) to coordinate the information and influence activities and synchronize messaging. (one consistent message must be to include human rights in every mention of the north's nuclear and missile programs - that Kim Jong un prioritizes nuclear weapons over the welfare of the Korean people and that they are suffering because of Kim's policy decisions).
Establish a Korean Escapee (Defector) Information Institute to harness the power of escapees to develop themes and messages appropriate for the Korean people in the north.
Empower (turn loose) the Army's PACOM PSYOP battalion to work aggressively with the ROK military PSYOP organization to conduct strategic psychological operations.
Develop technical solutions and techniques to help the Korean people counter north Korean surveillance and censorship. Ask the IT/Telecom industry to develop new technology to help the Korean people in the north.
Make effective use of the Otto Warmbier act recently approved in the NDAA for 2023.
Fully support the work of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia (and they will benefit from the $40 million (over next 4 years) recently authorized in the Otto Warmbier act)
What impact will N. Korea’s revised mobile telecommunications law have on cell phone users?
“The desired effect of the mobile telecommunications law's revision is to stop people from sharing and communicating information,” a reporting partner told Daily NK
dailynk.com
FILE PHOTO: A North Korean businessperson using a cell phone at a local market. (Daily NK)
North Koreans are using their mobile phones to exchange information from the outside world and complain about their own society. A reporting partner inside North Korea recently told Daily NK that the country’s recent amendment of its mobile telecommunications law is aimed at eradicating this phenomenon.
“Mobile phones have become a beloved item people can’t live without. However, with the protracted closure of the border due to COVID-19, people suffering severe food shortages are using their mobile phones to complain to one another about the state, and this has been criticized as a serious social problem [by the government],” the reporting partner told Daily NK on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
“As people in the border regions talk on the phone with people in interior regions such as Pyongyang, Pyongsong, Nampo, Haeju and Sariwon, they are also conveying news from the outside world,” he continued, adding, “People who hear about the news [from the outside world] often spread it further to other people in the region where they live.”
According to the results of a 2022 survey of 50 North Koreans conducted by Daily NK and Unification Media Group, 41 of the 50 North Koreans (82%) surveyed said they owned a North Korean mobile phone. Asked what they use their mobile phones for, 44 (97.8%) said they use their devices to place domestic phone calls.
In a briefing last year on North Korea’s telecommunication infrastructure, North Korea-focused media outlet 38 North estimated that “North Korea’s cellular networks likely have a total of between 6.5 million and 7 million subscriber lines.”
Although North Koreans are passing along information to others through their mobile phones, the country’s authorities believe phone conversations between people are a serious social problem that could hurt regime cohesion, the reporting partner told Daily NK.
He explained that the recent amendment of the country’s mobile telecommunications law reflected this understanding on the part of the North Korean authorities.
“The desired effect of the mobile telecommunications law’s revision is to stop people from sharing and communicating information,” the reporting partner said. “It intends to prevent people from sharing and spreading information from the outside world or from complaining to each other about the state.”
In fact, North Korea imported telecom bugging equipment in 2020 to better conduct surveillance and implement controls on cell phone users. This was part of an effort to build a system capable of bugging any mobile phone call using North Korea’s mobile telecom networks Koryolink (numbers beginning with 191) and Kang Song NET (numbers beginning with 195).
PEOPLE MORE CAREFUL+ ABOUT WHAT THEY SAY ON PHONES
Even though North Koreans have known they could get in trouble if their conversations are bugged, they have still used their mobile phones to share information from the outside world or complain about the state. Since the revisions to the mobile telecommunications law, however, people have become more cautious about what they say because they fear punishment, the reporting partner claimed.
“Since the law was amended, people can’t say just anything over a mobile phone,” he explained. “Specifically, they can’t convey information about the region they live in when talking with somebody in another region.”
What this suggests is that North Koreans are lying low, lest they become targeted by the government for punishment under the revised law.
“It seems the government only thinks about and researches laws to control and harass people,” the reporting partner further claimed, adding, “Many people think [the government] made the law to suffocate them.”
He also claimed that the amendment of the mobile telecommunication law was a measure to stop people from using phones registered under another person’s name, otherwise known as daepo phones.
“People who conduct illegal commercial activities buy SIM cards from marketplaces or individuals to use daepo phones, not regular phones,” the reporting partner said. “[The revision of the bill] also aimed to stop people from buying and selling illegal mobile phones whose IDs cannot be verified.”
Daily NK reported in March that North Korea amended its mobile communication law to eradicate the use of daepo phones.
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.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
9. Treasury Releases 2023 DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment (north Korea)
Treasury Releases 2023 DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment
home.treasury.gov
WASHINGTON — Today the U.S. Department of the Treasury published the 2023 DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment, the first illicit finance risk assessment conducted on decentralized finance (DeFi) in the world. The assessment considers risks associated with what are commonly called DeFi services. While there is currently no generally accepted definition of DeFi, the term broadly refers to virtual asset protocols and services that purport to allow some form of automated peer-to-peer transactions, often through use of self-executing code known as “smart contracts” based on blockchain technology. This term is frequently used loosely by the private sector, often for services that are not functionally decentralized.
Actors like the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), cybercriminals, ransomware attackers, thieves, and scammers are using DeFi services to transfer and launder their illicit proceeds. They are able to exploit vulnerabilities, including the fact that many DeFi services that have anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations fail to implement them.
“Risk assessments play a foundational role in promoting understanding of the illicit finance risk environment and more effectively protecting the integrity of the U.S. financial system,” said, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Our assessment finds that illicit actors, including criminals, scammers, and North Korean cyber actors are using DeFi services in the process of laundering illicit funds. Capturing the potential benefits associated with DeFi services requires addressing these risks. The private sector should use the findings of this assessment to inform their own risk mitigation strategies and to take clear steps, in line with AML/CFT regulations and sanctions obligations, to prevent illicit actors from abusing DeFi services.”
The primary vulnerability that illicit actors exploit stems from non-compliance by DeFi services with AML/CFT and sanctions obligations. DeFi services engaged in covered activity under the Bank Secrecy Act have AML/CFT obligations regardless of whether the services claim that they currently are or plan to be decentralized. Other vulnerabilities include the potential for some DeFi services to be out of scope for existing AML/CFT obligations, weak or non-existent AML/CFT controls for DeFi services in other jurisdictions, and poor cybersecurity controls by DeFi services, which enable the theft of funds.
While risk assessments are primarily designed to identify the scope of an issue, the study also includes recommendations for U.S. government actions to mitigate the illicit finance risks associated with DeFi services. These include:
- strengthening U.S. AML/CFT regulatory supervision
- considering additional guidance for the private sector on DeFi services’ AML/CFT obligations
- assessing enhancement to address any AML/CFT regulatory gaps related to DeFi services
The DeFi risk assessment builds upon Treasury’s other recent national risk assessments and furthers the work outlined in Executive Order 14067 on “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.” It also includes a request for input from the private sector to inform next steps; Treasury welcomes feedback about the assessment.
###
home.treasury.gov
10. US, S.Korea, Japan concerned over N.Korea's 'malicious' cyber activities
As we should be. The all-purpose sword of north Korean cyber may be more important to the survival of Kim Jong Un than his treasured sword of nuclear weapons.
US, S.Korea, Japan concerned over N.Korea's 'malicious' cyber activities
Reuters · by Soo-Hyang Choi
SEOUL, April 7 (Reuters) - The United States, South Korea and Japan expressed deep concern over North Korea's "malicious" cyber activities to support its weapons programmes, in comments released in a joint statement on Friday.
Crypto currency funds stolen by North Korean hackers have been a key source for financing the sanctions-stricken country's weapons programmes, officials and experts in the United States and its allies say.
A report released by the U.S. Treasury Department on April 6 said actors such as North Korea were using decentralised finance (DeFi), a thriving segment in the crypto sector, to transfer and launder their illicit proceeds.
North Korea has denied allegations of hacking or other cyberattacks.
Amid North Korea's rising nuclear and missile threats, South Korea's nuclear envoy held talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts in Seoul this week and condemned the isolated country's weapons tests.
"We reiterate with concern that overseas DPRK IT workers continue using forged identities and nationalities" to evade U.N. sanctions and raise funds for missile programmes, according to the envoys' joint statement, using the acronym for North Korea's official name.
They called on United Nations member states to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions to repatriate North Korean workers.
"We are also deeply concerned about how the DPRK supports these programmes by stealing and laundering funds as well as gathering information through malicious cyber activities," the statement said.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are running high.
On Friday, North Korea was unresponsive to daily contact through a liaison phone line with South Korea, according to the South's Unification Ministry which handles inter-Korean affairs.
It is unclear why North Korea did not respond, but the ministry said it would closely monitor the situation.
U.S. and South Korean forces have been conducting a series of annual spring military exercises since March.
Angered by those exercises, Pyongyang has ramped up its military activities in recent weeks. It unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads and fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States.
As those exercises and tests continue, there has been an exchange of harsh rhetoric. On Thursday, North Korea accused Washington and Seoul of pushing tensions to the brink of nuclear war through their military drills.
Kim Gunn, South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, said North Korea's nuclear ambition was "nothing more than a self-destructive boomerang" shattering its economy.
"North Korea is misguiding its people to believe that nuclear weapons are a magic wand that can solve all of its problems," Kim said in his meeting with U.S. and Japanese officials on Friday.
Japan on Friday announced a two-year extension of its trade ban on North Korea, with exemptions for humanitarian reasons.
Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Ju-min Park; additional reporting by Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo, editing by Kenneth Maxwell, Mark Heinrich and Jason Neely
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Reuters · by Soo-Hyang Choi
11. President Yoon will be first Korean leader to address U.S. Congress in a decade
I think this is an indication of the current strength of the alliance.
An image of the letter is at the link.
Friday
April 7, 2023
dictionary + A - A
President Yoon will be first Korean leader to address U.S. Congress in a decade
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/04/07/national/diplomacy/Korea-Yoon-Suk-Yeol-US-Congress/20230407170658249.html
President Yoon Suk Yeol, center left, holds a meeting with a U.S. congressional delegation at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Wednesday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]
President Yoon Suk Yeol will become the first Korean leader to make an address to a joint session of Congress in nearly a decade on April 27, which U.S. lawmakers see as an occasion to highlight the two countries' shared commitment to democracy, economic prosperity and global peace.
A formal invitation asking Yoon to address a joint meeting of the Congress on behalf of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate was made public on Thursday by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
"With this year marking the 70th anniversary of the alliance between our two countries, it is an especially important time to reflect on the achievements of our partnership and to reaffirm our shared commitment to democracy, economic prosperity, and global peace," read the letter.
The letter was signed by McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. It is rare for the so-called "big four" congressional leaders to co-sign such an invitation.
"Your leadership has been instrumental in strengthening this partnership, and we believe the Joint Meeting would provide an ideal platform for you to share your vision for the future of the U.S.- Korea alliance and to highlight the progress that has been made in recent years," it continued.
Yoon, accompanied by first lady Kim Keon-hee, will kick off a state visit to the United States later this month for a bilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on April 26, in a trip meant to highlight the Korea-U.S. alliance forged from the signing of their Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953.
The U.S. president and first lady Jill Biden will host Yoon and Kim for a state dinner. Yoon will be Biden's second state guest since he took office in 2021, after French President Emmanuel Macron was invited last December.
The next day, Yoon will make an address to the Congress, making him the first Korean president to do so since Park Geun-hye in May 2013.
"We would be honored to host you at this historic event," the congressional leaders wrote, thanking Yoon for his leadership and commitment to "reinforcing the bonds between our two great nations," adding they look forward to welcoming him to the United States soon.
On Wednesday, Yoon met with a delegation of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led by committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican of Texas, and U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat of Georgia leading a separate trip, at the Yongsan presidential office in Seoul.
The U.S. lawmakers extended an invitation for Yoon to speak to Congress during this meeting, and the president replied he would be "delighted" to have the opportunity to give a "historic" address to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance.
It is rare for a congressional delegation to extend an invitation like this in person, said a presidential official regarding the meeting.
A letter signed by the “big four” leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives inviting Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to give an address at a joint session of the Congress on April 27 is revealed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on his website on Thursday. [YONHAP]
On Friday, Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that President Yoon received the official invitation letter to address the joint session of Congress on Thursday through the U.S. Embassy in Korea.
"The address at the joint meeting of Congress is expected to provide a meaningful opportunity to reflect on the historical achievements of 70 years of the history of the Korea-U.S. alliance, considered the most successful case in the history of alliances, and to present a vision for its future," said the ministry in a statement.
Six Korean presidents have given a speech at Congress in the past, including Kim Young-sam in 1995, Kim Dae-jung in 1998 and Lee Myung-bak in 2011.
These three leaders, along with Park, received invitations signed by the House speaker.
The Foreign Ministry said that Yoon's invitation letter signed by all four major congressional leaders "reflects the bipartisan and unwavering support of the U.S. Congress for the first state visit to the United States by a Korean leader in 12 years."
In his congressional address, Yoon is expected to reflect on the significance of the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance and emphasize solidarity among countries that share universal values. He may also discuss strengthening deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Yoon is reviewing giving his speech in English, according to officials.
Four of the six Korean presidents who previously addressed the U.S. Congress gave their speeches in English, including Park who gave a 30-minute address and proposed an initiative for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia as the two countries marked the 60th anniversary of the alliance.
Yoon has previously given short prerecorded speeches in English, including at the Biden-led Summit for Democracy last week, which South Korea was a co-host of, and a recent video message support Busan's bid for the 2030 World Expo.
In a Twitter message to McCarthy on Friday afternoon, Yoon wrote it is "a great pleasure and honor" to be invited to address the U.S. Congress.
"Looking forward to speaking about the strong bond that binds our two great nations together," he added. "Alliance in Action Towards the Future!"
President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, poses for a photo with members of a U.S. congressional delegation at the presidential office in Yonsan, central Seoul on Thursday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]
Yoon will be accompanied by a parliamentary delegation on his upcoming trip to the United States, Kim Eun-hye, senior presidential secretary for press affairs, told reporters on Thursday.
A senior presidential official said that the National Assembly delegation is expecting to include opposing Democratic Party lawmakers as well.
Yoon is also expected to be accompanied by a large-scale business delegation, which could include leaders of Korea's major conglomerations with strong ties with the United States.
Their role will be important as economic security amid the global supply chain crisis will be an important issue during Yoon's visit.
On Friday, Yoon tapped First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong as the new Korean ambassador to the United States.
He replaces Cho Tae-yong, who was appointed as new national security adviser after Kim Sung-han's sudden resignation last week over alleged communication issues related to arranging the state visit to the United States.
Yoon also named Ambassador to Russia Chang Ho-jin as new first vice foreign minister, said the presidential office Friday.
From left: Chang Ho-jin, Cho Hyun-dong
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
12. North Korea accelerates nuclear missile programme with ‘treasure sword’ — $1.7bn from crypto heists
(equal to the treasured sword).
North Korea accelerates nuclear missile programme with ‘treasure sword’ — $1.7bn from crypto heists
dlnews.com · by Tom Ough · April 7, 2023
The short-range ballistic missile that North Korea fired into the Sea of Japan on March 19 was the country’s fourth in a week. Three days earlier, the Hermit Kingdom test-fired an inter-continental ballistic missile, its second of the year.
This high rate of testing consumes a lot of funding, especially for a pariah nation that has long been sanctioned economically by the US and its allies for failing to stop developing and testing nuclear weapons.
But Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s supreme leader, has tapped a new wellspring of funds to finance his nuclear weapons programme — cryptocurrency heists.
All-purpose sword
North Korea calls crypto its “treasure sword,” said David Maxwell, senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan think tank in Washington.
While the regime has long engaged in drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and other illicit activities to raise cash, the biggest money spinner now appears to be the “all-purpose sword”: its cyber operations.
North Korea deploys its blade in various ways, said Maxwell, a retired US Army Special Forces colonel who specialises in North Korea and China: “To conduct espionage, to conduct cyber reconnaissance for future activities, and of course, most importantly, the cyber-hacking of crypto to really gain a lot of money.”
And it really is a lot of money. In 2022, North Korea stole a record $1.7 billion of crypto, according to a report released in February by the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. That is more than 12 times the $142m of exports that the country managed in 2020.
‘All the money [the North Korean hackers] cash out goes to fund their missile programme.’
— Erin Plante
“All the money [the North Korean hackers] cash out goes to fund their missile programme,” Erin Plante, vice-president of investigations at Chainalysis, told DL News.
North Korea’s cryptocurrency operations made headlines last August after the US Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash, a so-called crypto mixer that anonymises transactions. Officials said the Lazarus Group, a state-sponsored hacking outfit, laundered $455 million in money stolen in the biggest crypto heist ever through Tornado Cash.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits Nuclear Weapons Institute, Pyongyang, Korea on March 27, 2023. (KCNA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/KCNA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
While the US has more than a billion internet protocol addresses, North Korea has little more than 1,000, a sign of how isolated the Asian nation is from a digitally-connected world.
How does its regime run the world’s most advanced crypto theft operation? What does this mean for individual crypto owners? And is it possible to break the all-purpose sword?
If you are born North Korean, you are born into one of three castes and 51 classes. It is a brutal system. If you are in one of the lowest classes, you will be condemned to a life of slave labour. The labourers probably form the bulk of North Korea’s uranium miners — another key component of the country’s nuclear programme.
But there are ways of making a better life for yourself. Perform well in school and the regime will take note. Those with an aptitude for sport might be trained as athletes, while those who shine intellectually might be identified as potential recruits for North Korea’s 7,000-strong army of hackers.
Every action monitored
These individuals’ intellectual capabilities allow them to live a somewhat better life: better rations, maybe even some luxury goods. But they are by no means treated like world-class athletes, Maxwell told DL News. Their every word and action is monitored.
“They are working for the Kim family machine and they are subject to the same oppression as all North Koreans,” said Maxwell.
The hackers are trained for six years at schools such as Kim Chaek University of Technology and Kim Il-Sung University.
The hackers are trained for six years at schools such as Kim Chaek University of Technology and Kim Il-Sung University.
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Then they are put to work in what Plante said may be “a factory environment where you’re working for long hours and it’s difficult to leave.” The hackers are reported to work seven days a week, up to 20 hours a day.
Lazarus operatives
The pointy end of the “all-purpose sword” is the unit known to the North Korean government as 414 Liaison Office, but to the rest of the world as the Lazarus Group. It is believed to have two arms: one interferes with South Korea and the other, known as BlueNorOff, is tasked with raising money.
The money-raising attacks come in two parts, says Plante. First, there is “the technical part where you’re actually hacking in.” Lazarus targets crypto exchanges, DeFi protocols and cross-chain bridges, sometimes finding existing vulnerabilities, and sometimes using “social engineering.”
This refers to activity in which a human is duped into handing over key information or unwittingly downloading malware into the system. Lazarus is then able to gain access to private keys.
More elliptically, Lazarus operatives sometimes infiltrate businesses by applying for jobs and working for more than a year before initiating an attack. “They’re very patient and sophisticated in that way,” said Plante.
Jon Wu, head of growth at the web3 privacy layer company Aztec Network, has told the story of interviewing a job candidate giving himself away as a North Korean hacker.
The applicant did not turn his camera on, spoke stilted, over-formal English with a thick Korean accent, and sounded like he was in a cramped room full of other people talking loudly.
‘It’s sad to imagine this as a North Korean sweatshop, or worse, full of potentially innocent people forced into spam-interviewing crypto firms until they get an in.’
— Jon Wu
“I’ve had loads of friends, acquaintances, and industry peers come out not only saying they’re convinced they’ve interviewed North Korean workers but fallen victim to actually hiring them,” Wu told DL News. “It’s sad to imagine this as a North Korean sweatshop, or worse, full of potentially innocent people forced into spam-interviewing crypto firms until they get an in.”
After the infiltration comes the laundering. Immanuel Chavoya, of the cybersecurity company SonicWall, explains that Lazarus’ hackers take those illicit crypto gains and then blend them.
Mixers
“They distribute them to try to make it difficult for researchers to attribute the threat activity and follow it all the way back.” These blending services are also known as mixers.
Last March, Lazarus authored the biggest crypto hack of all time: a $625m raid on the bridge connecting Ronin Network, a blockchain that hosts games such as Axie Infinity, to the main Ethereum blockchain. The attack was the result of successful phishing, says Plante.
The attack, said Plante, was “a turning point event where suddenly the US National Security Council cared and wanted to hear about it.”
Plante herself briefed the NSC. Some of the money has been clawed back. A year on from the attack, “we’ve seen three major actions against mixers. We’ve seen many successful seizures of their funds. We’ve seen a lot of positive momentum to stop North Korea.”
Tides are turning
As for individual crypto investors, they should be aware of the risks of having their assets in these exchanges, said Chavoya. North Korean crypto hacking is so important to the Kim regime that it is going to continue scaling despite tighter restrictions, Chavoya said.
Plante thinks that the crackdown on mixers will contribute to North Korea finding it more difficult to cash out. “The people fighting Lazarus are getting much stronger. The tides are turning.”
If so, North Korea’s record crypto plunder of 2022 might not be matched in 2023, and those missile tests might become a little less frequent.
dlnews.com · by Tom Ough · April 7, 2023
13. S. Korea warns of actions over N. Korea's unauthorized use of Kaesong complex
north Korea: lie, cheat, and steal.
S. Korea warns of actions over N. Korea's unauthorized use of Kaesong complex
The Korea Times · April 6, 2023
This photo shows the Kaesong Industrial Park, a joint industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong, March 13. Yonhap
South Korea's unification ministry said Thursday it will take necessary steps if North Korea does not respond to Seoul's call to stop the unauthorized use of a now-shuttered joint industrial park in the North.
The ministry's call came as Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, carried photos of a South Korean bus running in Pyongyang on Wednesday. It was presumed to be one of about 300 buses used in the Kaesong Industrial Park to transport North Korean workers before the complex was closed down in 2016.
Seoul's unification ministry said it attempted to notify North Korea of stopping the unauthorized use of the Kaesong complex earlier in the day, but the North has not responded as of now.
"The North's operation of factories in the complex without authorization constitutes a clear violation of South Korean businessmen's right to property and a related inter-Korean agreement," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
"The North should immediately stop its act. If the North does not reply to our call, the government will take necessary steps on the grounds that the North concedes its unauthorized use of the complex," the official said, without elaborating.
In July last year, a South Korean commuter bus first appeared in footage on the North's state TV network, in which it was driving in downtown Kaesong.
There have also been signs of the North resuming production at some factories in the complex, according to the ministry.
South Korea shut down the industrial park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong in February 2016 in response to North Korea's nuclear and long-range missile tests. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · April 6, 2023
14. All Quiet, For Now, On The Northern Front (Korea)
While Mr. Carlin is likely correct about north Korea reluctantly looking to China and Russia, I think he should leave the JSA analysis to those with knowledge of how the JSA works. I do not think the north puts as much stock in the 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement as he thinks. We are all grasping at straws to consider what Kim will do next. Although counterintuitive to some, the best way to limit escalation is to demonstrate the strength of the alliance and to respond to kinetic provocations decisively at the time and place of the provocation. Waiting to conduct a kinetic response or conducting a kinetic response against targets not associated with the provocation is what can lead to escalation.
Excerpts:
“The U.S. and South Korean puppet traitors are becoming ever more bellicose and frantic in their attempt to invade the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea),” the March 28 commentary said. It accused the U.S. of preparing for a preemptive strike and touted its own nuclear forces readiness to act in “self-defense.”
The North Korean regime has basically abandoned any hope of engaging the U.S., says former long-time U.S. intelligence analyst Robert Carlin, who drew attention to these commentaries in an article on 38North, a web-based publication on Korea.
“Much as they probably don’t like it,” he told this writer, “they have decided China (and China+Russia) are the geopolitical basket they have to adjust to.” While Carlin doesn’t see evidence that they are seeking conflict, he fears Pyongyang may be thinking of ways to “bait” the Yoon administration.
One goal may be to provoke the South Koreans to end the 2018 South-North agreement, reached by the previous progressive government, which established new demilitarized rules for the JSA, including barring carrying weapons.
“Then we would have increased chances of an incident blowing up,” Carlin worries. If forward NK units really have tactical nuclear weapons, the consequences of a dangerous accident are potentially dire.
U.S. officials, however, see no evidence of movement toward a conventional military clash, along the lines of the ones that took place in 2010. At that time, the North Koreans sunk a South Korean naval vessel and subsequently shelled a South Korean-controlled island in the waters west of the lines of control established by the 1953 armistice that ended fighting.
...
Whatever the intent of Kim Jong Un, the buildup of forces and the rise in rhetoric that suggests war is on the horizon creates the danger of things spiraling out of control.
“There is no utility in conventional military confrontation,” said the U.S. official, who closely monitors North Korea statements and active deployments. “I am more worried about an accidental incident that triggers an escalation cycle from which we can’t break free.”
All Quiet, For Now, On The Northern Front | World | The ORIENTAL ECONOMIST
By Daniel Sneider : Lecturer, International Policy at Stanford University
April 05,2023
toyokeizai.net
(Photo by SeongJoon Cho／Bloomberg)
On a recent visit to the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, as joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises were underway, there was no sign of tension.
Instead, I found an eerie quiet, marked by the almost complete absence of North Koreans. Even in the truce village where North Korean guards used to strut proudly, not a single North Korean could be seen.
On rare occasions, the United Nations Command told me, they emerge fully covered in hazmat suits, the norm since the Covid pandemic began. The sighting that day of three North Korean soldiers in the distance, crossing a field in the JSA, was a rarity.
The strange calm belied the wave of vitriolic North Korean propaganda that accompanied the restarting of large-scale joint military field exercises in March after a five-year hiatus. State-run North Korean media showed rallies of teens eager to sign up for the military, holding signs declaring “Death to America” and vowing to “slice them into pieces.”
A joint U.S., South Korean and Japanese naval drill on April 3 prompted a North Korean denunciation of “war maniacs” and a pledge to meet this “military provocation” with their own response.
A couple of days earlier, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean dictator, issued a statement assailing a purported Ukrainian desire to deploy U.S. nuclear weapons. It was widely interpreted as a barely veiled response to South Korean calls for shoring up deterrence with a return of U.S. nuclear weapons.
Kim, who is often unleashed as an attack dog aimed at the South, dismissed “those stooges serving the U.S. as their master and blindly believing in its poor promise,” and predicted, “they will drive the country and the nation into the abyss of ruin.”
This inflammatory rhetoric has accompanied the continued accelerated pace of North Korean missile testing. In recent weeks, they have tested a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a submarine-launched “strategic cruise missile” and simulated tests of an underwater nuclear detonation device.
On March 28, state media showed leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a newly designated Hwasan-31 nuclear warhead capable of being fitted onto a range of shorter-range missiles that can target U.S. and South Korean military bases.
Looking for evidence of North Korean intentions, some observers of North Korea point to a pair of articles by an unnamed “commentator” that appeared on March 17 and March 28 in the official party daily Rodong Sinmun, an attribution often used to signal an authoritative view.
Both articles characterized the military exercises as “reckless military provocations” and linked them to a broader buildup in the region, including the recently announced Japanese increase in defense spending.
The commentators also took aim at the conservative South Korean government of Yoon Suk-yeol which came to office last year and has shifted policy away from the previous government’s pursuit of engagement with the north to a tough, security-focused stance.
“The U.S. and South Korean puppet traitors are becoming ever more bellicose and frantic in their attempt to invade the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea),” the March 28 commentary said. It accused the U.S. of preparing for a preemptive strike and touted its own nuclear forces readiness to act in “self-defense.”
The North Korean regime has basically abandoned any hope of engaging the U.S., says former long-time U.S. intelligence analyst Robert Carlin, who drew attention to these commentaries in an article on 38North, a web-based publication on Korea.
“Much as they probably don’t like it,” he told this writer, “they have decided China (and China+Russia) are the geopolitical basket they have to adjust to.” While Carlin doesn’t see evidence that they are seeking conflict, he fears Pyongyang may be thinking of ways to “bait” the Yoon administration.
One goal may be to provoke the South Koreans to end the 2018 South-North agreement, reached by the previous progressive government, which established new demilitarized rules for the JSA, including barring carrying weapons.
“Then we would have increased chances of an incident blowing up,” Carlin worries. If forward NK units really have tactical nuclear weapons, the consequences of a dangerous accident are potentially dire.
U.S. officials, however, see no evidence of movement toward a conventional military clash, along the lines of the ones that took place in 2010. At that time, the North Koreans sunk a South Korean naval vessel and subsequently shelled a South Korean-controlled island in the waters west of the lines of control established by the 1953 armistice that ended fighting.
“The North Koreans are talking a lot, but they are not doing anything that moves toward conventional military confrontation,” a senior U.S. government official stationed in Korea who closely follows the situation along the border told me.
There is no visible change in the posture of North Korean forces along the northern half of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), no changes in their deployment in the Yellow Sea to the west, he reports.
The incidents in 2010 were exceptional, the American official argues. They came at a time when Kim Jong Un, then a 27-year-old, was being groomed for succession by his father, Kim Jong Il. The younger Kim is believed to have orchestrated those attacks to build his credentials for leadership. “We are not in that situation now and we are not seeing anything that suggests a 2010-level event, from the Korean People’s Army (KPA) or otherwise,” he says.
“It’s hard to imagine the KPA running that kind of risk right now with so much U.S. firepower in the area, with both the ROK (Republic of Korea) and U.S. militaries better tuned and prepared than they have been for a long time, and with Yoon keen to show his intolerance of North Korean provocations,” observes former senior State Department official and long-time Korea hand Evans Revere. “Nevertheless, the North Koreans have surprised us before with their occasional stupidity.”
The recent commentaries and rhetoric are mainly aimed at the internal audience, the U.S. official in Korea believes, to justify continued spending on missile and nuclear development at a time when the economy is undergoing severe contraction, including food shortages.
To the extent it is aimed at external audiences, it is an attempt to “shape the information space, to promote the narratives that the U.S. and South Korea are the ones escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.”
What is visible is a concerted effort by the Kim regime to demonstrate it has a credible nuclear deterrent, one that can survive an attack and retaliate, and flaunt its dismissal of denuclearization. “That is what I am seeing,” the senior U.S. official told me.
Rather than the anonymous commentators, he gives far greater importance to the statements attributed to Kim himself in a March 28 official report on his visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the Missile General Bureau where he was photographed inspecting rows of purported tactical nuclear warheads that could be interchangeably used on different missile systems.
Kim reportedly examined a plan and written orders for a drill simulating “a nuclear counterattack.” In the official account, he pronounced that North Korea’s “powerful deterrence” was not aimed at “any state and specific group but [at] war and nuclear disaster themselves,” avoiding any language that targeted the U.S. or South Korea. “This is not posturing for confrontation,” the official concludes.
Deterrence is part of the purpose, agrees David Albright, a former nuclear inspector who heads the respected Institute for Science and International Security.
But the credibility of that goal is undermined, he explained, by North Korea’s actions – “calls for exponential growth in its nuclear arsenal, expansion of fissile material production, production of powerful nuclear weapons, interchangeable nuclear warheads, and underwater drones tipped with nuclear weapons.”
“It looks like North Korea is producing a nuclear arsenal that envisions (albeit it is crazy) warfighting,” Albright said. In any case, the North Korean tests and the development of its nuclear warhead production capability have been steady, not apparently done with the idea of influencing negotiations, the senior U.S. official said.
Whatever the intent of Kim Jong Un, the buildup of forces and the rise in rhetoric that suggests war is on the horizon creates the danger of things spiraling out of control.
“There is no utility in conventional military confrontation,” said the U.S. official, who closely monitors North Korea statements and active deployments. “I am more worried about an accidental incident that triggers an escalation cycle from which we can’t break free.”
toyokeizai.net
15. Saudi Arabia Deploys Korean Rocket Launchers
Saudi Arabia Deploys Korean Rocket Launchers
english.chosun.com
April 05, 2023 13:16
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday showed off its new Korean-made Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers.
The Saudi Defense Ministry tweeted pictures and a video clip of Saudi military chief Lt. Gen. Fayyad al-Ruwaili being shown two Chunmoo MRLs and an ammunition resupply vehicle during a visit to military units on the border with Yemen on March 31.
Military boffin site Janes.com wrote, "The MRLs clearly had Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) markings. The two MRLs were numbered 878 and 885, indicating the RSLF has acquired several more."
A government source here said Saudi Arabia has already finished live-fire Chunmoo launch training, adding, "We will cooperate more closely in the defense industry in the future."
Saudi Arabian military officers look at a Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher in an unidentified location on March 31, in this picture posted on Twitter.
Riyadh, one of the world's most enthusiastic arms buyer, has been keen to diversify supplies as relations with the U.S. and Europe cooled.
In March last year, the official Saudi Press Agency reported that the country signed a US$800 million contract to buy Chunmoo MRLs from Hanwha Aerospace. But there was no confirmation that they had been shipped.
A precision guided rocket launcher with a range of 80 km, the Chunmoo is capable of firing 12 rockets at 12 targets in 60 seconds with an automatic fire control system. It is also capable of firing 230-mm guided and unguided artillery rockets, 130-mm rocket pods, and even U.S.-made MRL rockets.
Saudi Arabia has been waging a deadly proxy war with Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen that prompted several governments to freeze arms sales to the Gulf country.
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- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
english.chosun.com
16. SKorea, US, Japan call for support of ban on NKorea workers
Of course most are in China and Russia.
SKorea, US, Japan call for support of ban on NKorea workers
AP · by HYUNG-JIN KIM · April 7, 2023
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea, the U.S. and Japan called for stronger international support of efforts to ban North Korea from sending workers abroad and curb the North’s cybercrimes as a way to block the country’s means to fund its nuclear program.
The top South Korean, U.S. and Japanese nuclear envoys met in Seoul on Friday in their first gathering in four months to discuss how to cope with North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal. The North’s recent weapons tests show it is intent on acquiring more advanced missiles designed to attack the U.S. and its allies, rather than returning to talks.
Despite 11 rounds of U.N. sanctions and pandemic-related hardships that have worsened its economic and food problems, North Korea still devotes much of its scarce resources to its nuclear and missile programs. Contributing to financing its weapons program is also likely the North’s crypto hacking and other illicit cyber activities and the wages sent by North Korean workers remaining in China, Russia and elsewhere despite an earlier U.N. order to repatriate them by the end of 2019, experts say.
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In a joint statement, the South Korean, U.S. and Japanese envoys urged the international community to thoroughly abide by U.N. resolutions on the banning of North Korean workers overseas, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.
The ministry said a large number of North Korean workers remains engaged in economic activities around the world and transmits money that is used in the North’s weapons programs. It said the three envoys tried to call attention to the North Korean workers because the North may further reopen its international borders as the global COVID-19 situation improves.
It is not known exactly how many North Korean workers remain abroad. But before the 2019 U.N. deadline passed, the U.S. State Department had estimated there were about 100,000 North Koreans working in factories, construction sites, logging industries and other places worldwide. Civilian experts had said that those workers brought North Korea an estimated $200 million to $500 million in revenue each year.
“We need to make sure that its provocations never go unpunished. We will effectively counter North Korea’s future provocations and cut their revenue streams that fund these illegal activities,” Kim Gunn, the South Korean envoy, said in televised comments at the start of the meeting.
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Sung Kim, the U.S. envoy, said that with its nuclear and missile programs and “malicious cyber program that targets countries and individuals around the globe,” North Korea threatens the security and prosperity of the entire international community.
South Korea’s spy agency said in December that North Korean hackers had stolen an estimated 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in cryptocurrency and other virtual assets in the past five years, more than half of it last year alone. The National Intelligence Service said North Korea’s capacity to steal digital assets was considered among the best in the world because it has focused on cybercrimes since U.N. economic sanctions were toughened in 2017 in response to its earlier nuclear and missile tests.
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Friday’s trilateral meeting will likely infuriate North Korea, which has previously warned that the three countries’ moves to boost their security cooperation prompted urgent calls to reinforce its own military capability.
North Korea has long argued the U.N. sanctions and U.S.-led military exercises in the region are proof of Washington’s hostility against Pyongyang. The North has said it was compelled to develop nuclear weapons to deal with U.S. military threats, though U.S. and South Korean officials have steadfastly said they have no intention of invading the North.
Earlier this week, the United States conducted anti-submarine naval drills with South Korean and Japanese forces in their first such training in six months. The U.S. also flew nuclear-capable bombers for separate, bilateral aerial training with South Korean warplanes.
North Korea hasn’t performed weapons tests in reaction to those U.S.-involved drills. But last month, it carried out a barrage of missile tests to protest the earlier South Korean-U.S. military training that it sees as an invasion rehearsal.
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Takehiro Funakoshi, the Japanese envoy, said North Korea’s recent weapons tests and fiery rhetoric pose a grave threat to the region and beyond. “Under such circumstances, our three countries have significantly deepened our coordination,” he said.
Sung Kim reiterated that Washington seeks diplomacy with Pyongyang without preconditions. North Korea has previously rejected such overtures, saying it won’t restart talks unless Washington first drops its hostile policies, in an apparent reference to the sanctions and U.S.-South Korean military drills. Many experts say North Korea would still eventually use its enlarged weapons arsenal to seek U.S. concessions such as the lifting of the sanctions in future negotiations.
There are concerns that North Korea could conduct its first nuclear test in more than five years, since it unveiled a new type of nuclear warhead last week. Foreign experts debate whether North Korea has developed warheads small and light enough to fit on missiles.
AP · by HYUNG-JIN KIM · April 7, 2023
17. The story behind North Korea's wacky homegrown version of the AK-74 rifle
I had to include this one. Simply bizarre.
The story behind North Korea's wacky homegrown version of the AK-74 rifle
Business Insider · by Travis Pike
North Korean troops march during a military parade in Pyongyang in January 2021.
KCNA via REUTERS
- North Korea's military uses the Type 88-2 assault rifle, which is based on a clone of the AK-74 series.
- In most regards, it's a fairly standard rifle, with the same ergonomics and design as an AK.
- But other features of the Type 88-2 rifle raise questions about what the designers were thinking.
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The North Korean military wields the Type 88-2 assault rifle, which is based on a clone of the AK-74 series.
In most regards, the rifle is fairly standard, and on a basic level, it has the same ergonomics and design as an AK: It uses a long-stroke gas piston system with a rotating bolt, chambers the Russian 5.45 cartridge, and offers selective fire capability.
However, this is where normalcy ends.
What's wrong with the Type 88-2?
North Korean troops during an exercise in August 2017.
STR/AFP via Getty Images
North Korean engineers inexplicably made the rifle's stock extremely small and, as a result, it offers hardly any support or a cheek weld for easy aiming. Further, the stock is metallic, ensuring that it's uncomfortable and even downright painful to use in the North Korean winter.
Additionally, North Korean engineers, in their infinite wisdom, designed the Type 88-2 to use a top folding stock, so troops could use their iron sights; this may be the only top folding stock design for the AK series rifles.
The reason to have a top folding stock is to reduce the size of the weapon; they are typically designed for paratroopers and personnel working in armored vehicles who benefit from smaller weapons.
However, what they ended up doing was sacrificing the sheep and the shepherd. Sure, troops can use the iron sights with the stock folded, but not very well, and when they unfold the stock, they can barely use the sights due to how small the stock is.
Initially, the North Korean military had a side-folding variant of the Type 88 known as the Type 88-1, but it moved to the top folding stock because certain North Korean troops were using helical magazines.
A helical magazine extends from the magwell forward rather than directly downward thereby holding more rounds than a typical magazine without being excessively long.
North Korean helical magazines seem to be primarily aimed at the much longer rifle calibers and likely hold anywhere from 100 to 150 rounds. But helical magazines come with many problems.
The problem with helical magazines
North Korean troops in a military parade in Pyongyang in April 2017.
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
Because of their size and length, helical magazines have to be mounted on the magwell and on the bayonet lug as well.
On rifle calibers, like the 5.45 that the AK 88-2 uses, helical magazines are even tougher to deal with and unreliable. Rifle calibers are known as bottleneck cartridges because their case is significantly wider at the end than the projectile. This design bottlenecks at the projectile and likely creates issues with helical magazines' stability.
Further, these magazines are very slow to reload, and while 150 rounds are probably enough ammo to shoot your starving citizens, in a real fight it's what we call a warm-up. Actually reloading and carrying spare helical magazines is very difficult due to their size and weight.
These magazines are likely fragile in design, and when broken, they can't be easily repaired, especially in the field, and if they become dented they are disabled. Also, the shooter fires a few rounds and then tries to bump a helical magazine, then it has a high chance of failing.
It seems only certain North Korean units carry these magazines, and this includes the bodyguards of Kim Jong Un.
It almost seems as if the Type 88-2 was designed badly on purpose since it uses an inferior stock and magazines. Who knows … maybe the North Korean engineers who designed it were mutineers.
Business Insider · by Travis Pike
18. A National Strategy for Countering North Korea (webcast)
It is worth 90 minutes to hear these four gentlemen discuss the new proposed strategy to counter north Korea.
Video at the link: https://www.aei.org/events/a-national-strategy-for-countering-north-korea/
It is also on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/UMwCYr6S3Js
Wednesday, April 5, 2023 | 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM ET
In-Person Event
A National Strategy for Countering North Korea
With Nicholas Eberstadt
Asia Foreign and Defense Policy
AEI, Auditorium
1789 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
Contact Information
Event: Peter Van Ness | Peter.Vanness@aei.org
Media: MediaServices@aei.org | 202.862.5829Event Summary
On April 5, AEI’s Nicholas Eberstadt hosted coauthors of a report that proposes reorienting US policy on North Korea following 30 years of failed diplomacy.
Robert Joseph of the National Institute for Public Policy noted the report’s merging of security and human rights expertise and asserted that, as long as the Kim regime persists, danger from North Korea will only grow. Therefore, Amb. Joseph concluded, the regime’s vulnerabilities in the nation—namely, its alienation of the North Korean people—should be addressed with a human rights–focused policy.
Greg Scarlatoiu of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea advanced this theme by discussing information-dissemination strategies. Mr. Scarlatoiu emphasized that this information should demonstrate to the North Korean people their political leadership’s corruption, the people’s rights codified by North Korea’s accession to the UN, and the injustice of the political class system imposed by the regime.
Joseph DeTrani of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea noted that North Korea desires normal relations with the US, but not at the expense of rectifying human rights violations. Amb. DeTrani added that the US has leverage due to North Korea’s desire for independence from China but that the issue lacks attention from US policymakers.
—Peter Van Ness
Nicholas Eberstadt et al.: National Strategy for Countering North Korea
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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