Quotes of the Day:
“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.”
- George Jean Nathan
“Stay focused on the mission. Line up military tasks with political objectives. Avoid mission creep and allow for mission shifts. A mission shift is a conscious decision, made by political leadership in consultation with the military commander, responding to a changing situation.”
- General Anthony Zinni
"Mankind will never see an end of trouble until lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power become lovers of wisdom."
- Plato
1. Human rights concerns must not be an obstacle to peace with North Korea
2. Moving North Korean Women’s Rights Issues Center Stage on Human Rights Day
3. U.S. designates N. Korean defense minister, others for human rights violation
4.. Louis Nelson: Veteran, Designer of the Korean War Veterans Memorial
5.. S.Korea’s president, top diplomat attend global summits excluding China
6. Korean defense industry expanding presence in global market
7. At Biden's summit, Moon bills S. Korea as 'exemplary testament' to democracy
8. ＜Breaking News North Korea＞ Three people were shot for trying to cross the border into China, one dead, on the Yalu River.
9. North Koreans scour farms for burnable waste to cope with fuel shortage
1. Human rights concerns must not be an obstacle to peace with North Korea
First, let me say upfront that I support peace (and peaceful unification under a UROK) on the Korean peninsula. The challenge with a discussion and critique of the end of war declaration is those who support it devolve to ad hominem attacks against those who are rightly concerned with the security of the Korean people, the Republic of Korea, and the effectiveness of the ROK/US alliance in deterring war and defending the ROK.
Christine Ahn
@christineahn
Another white male NK watcher trying to undermine women peace activists. What Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire actually said was she saw “wonderful work … being done in Pyongyang for the people, for the children, for the healthcare.
I am all for an end of war declaration if, and only if, there is a substantial reduction in the offensives forces along the DMZ that threaten the ROK. While proponents of the end of war declaration blame the so-called "hostile policy" of the US and the ROK/US alliance they refuse to acknowledge the real hostile policy of the Kim family regime which seeks to dominate the Korean peninsula and continues to prepare to use force to achieve that objective. We must first and foremost be concerned with the security of the Republic of Korea and at the same time seek denuclearization through negotiation while working toward that objective while sustaining a human rights upfront approach.
With all due respect the basic assumption upon which the authors' logic rests is flawed. I think every paragraph of this essay can be challenged. I will focus on the three arguments. These arguments could have been provided by the United Front Department of any communist country.
First, peace can sap the militarism that fuels human rights abuses. The North Korean government perceives outside governments’ attempts to address its human rights situation as ploys to undermine its security. They name those same security concerns as the top obstacle to enjoyment of human rights. They have proven themselves resilient against sanctions and pressure, and more militarism only continues to play into this dynamic. The security assurances that come from a state of peace could remove this justification for internal repression.
Second, peace could help cool the arms race and dissuade North Korea from pouring resources into weapons at the expense of its people’s human needs. (This is something we would like to see happen in the United States and South Korea, too). Pyongyang says that its nuclear ambitions are intended to be a deterrent against renewed hostilities. A peace agreement could help curb the stated justification for a weapons buildup and free up resources to address hunger and poverty.
Third, a transformed relationship that leads with peace could build confidence and trust between our governments and result in more substantive talks on a number of issues, including human rights. Further, opening more avenues for travel and people-to-people exchanges between the Koreas could increase social and economic opportunities and access to humanitarian support, and prevent the abuse that defectors and separated families face when they try to contact one another or move between borders.
First, the authors implicitly argue the Kim family regime is justified in its human rights abuse because they are necessary for the north to remain strong to deter and defend against the ROK/US alliance. They blame everything in the alleged hostile policy of the US and the ROK/US alliance. They do not assess or analyze (aor acknoedlged the Kim family regime's hostile policy toward South Korea.
We must never forget the reason why KimJong-uns denies the human right of the Korean people living in the north. It is for one purpose and that is to ensure the Kim family regime remains in power. The Songbun social classification system which in itself is the foundation for human rights abuse was designed based on the basic belief that it is the people that pose the existential threat to the survival of the regime and therefore the regime must exert complete control over the population.
None of the arguments made by the authors are valid unless there are positive answers to these key questions.
Do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime?
In support of that strategy do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the objective to split the ROK/US Alliance and get US forces off the peninsula? Has KJU given up his divide to conquer strategy - divide the alliance to conquer the ROK?
Unfortunately the authors write from a lack of understanding of the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime.
The bottomline is the only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and military threats as well as the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity being committed against the Korean people living in the north by the mafia-like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a United Republic of Korea that is secure and stable, non-nuclear, economically vibrant, and unified under a liberal constitutional form of government based on individual liberty, rule of law, and human rights as determined by the Korean people. In short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
Human rights concerns must not be an obstacle to peace with North Korea
The Hill · by Elizabeth Beavers and Su-mi Jeon, opinion contributors · December 10, 2021
As the United States and South Korean governments reportedly contemplate an end-of-war declaration that could formally end the 70-year-old Korean War, some have suggested that peace with North Korea is not appropriate until certain conditions are met, including improvements in its human rights practices.
The issue of human rights often arises when the prospect of peace with North Korea is on the table. The argument goes that the global community would lose key leverage to pressure North Korea to improve its human rights, or that unconditional peace in some way legitimizes a repressive regime. As a South Korean human rights lawyer who represents North Korean defectors, and an American peace advocate lobbying Congress to support a peace agreement, we’ve seen how the ongoing state of war on the Korean Peninsula directly hurts human rights — and yet, human rights concerns are repeatedly cited as a reason not to end that war.
That is why, on this Human Rights Day, we urge our fellow Americans and Koreans alike to view peace and human rights as mutually reinforcing, and not mutually exclusive, when it comes to North Korea.
It is clear that the status quo has been an unmitigated failure in terms of improving both rights and security. It’s been more than 70 years since the devastating violence of the Korean War settled into a fragile ceasefire. But North and South Korea remain separated by a militarized border and continue to regard one another as enemies. The North, the South and the United States spend billions of dollars preparing for resumed military conflict, which would put millions of lives in peril.
Regular people suffer the consequences. About 70 percent of those who leave North Korea are women, and they often rely on smugglers in China or another third-party country to get them to South Korea since they cannot cross the border directly. They are especially vulnerable to exploitation, sexual violence and discrimination. South Korea’s National Security Act has been used to suppress democracy and punish those who attempt to visit family in North Korea or even speak in positive terms about the North. North Korea cites “hostile policy” from the United States and the need to protect itself as justification for its own repressive behaviors. Women are also disproportionately affected by sanctions leveled against North Korea that contribute to widespread poverty and hunger. Families have been separated by the impenetrable border for decades, and many have died before having the chance to reunite.
We believe that a peace agreement would help create the conditions to better protect the rights and security of all people. To be sure, a peace agreement is not a panacea. But we have many reasons to believe that a peace-first approach can be more successful than decades of pressure.
First, peace can sap the militarism that fuels human rights abuses. The North Korean government perceives outside governments’ attempts to address its human rights situation as ploys to undermine its security. They name those same security concerns as the top obstacle to enjoyment of human rights. They have proven themselves resilient against sanctions and pressure, and more militarism only continues to play into this dynamic. The security assurances that come from a state of peace could remove this justification for internal repression.
Second, peace could help cool the arms race and dissuade North Korea from pouring resources into weapons at the expense of its people’s human needs. (This is something we would like to see happen in the United States and South Korea, too). Pyongyang says that its nuclear ambitions are intended to be a deterrent against renewed hostilities. A peace agreement could help curb the stated justification for a weapons buildup and free up resources to address hunger and poverty.
Third, a transformed relationship that leads with peace could build confidence and trust between our governments and result in more substantive talks on a number of issues, including human rights. Further, opening more avenues for travel and people-to-people exchanges between the Koreas could increase social and economic opportunities and access to humanitarian support, and prevent the abuse that defectors and separated families face when they try to contact one another or move between borders.
As U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in the DPRK Tomás Ojea Quintana said in his 2020 report on the situation, “A declaration on peace and development in the Korean Peninsula, and a swift resolution of the armistice status, would create the atmosphere and space needed for further discussions on denuclearization, less isolation, more access, and respect for human rights.”
Peace should be the norm between countries, and it should not be conditioned or withheld for perceived leverage. Peace and human rights are not forces working against one another; they are inextricably linked. Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes this dynamic by stating that the “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
So, on this Human Rights Day, we have one simple ask: Give peace with North Korea a chance.
Elizabeth Beavers is a Washington-based attorney and advocate focused on national security and human rights law and policy. She consults on efforts to demilitarize U.S. foreign policy. Follow her on Twitter @_ElizabethRB.
Su-mi Jeon is a South Korean human rights attorney and chair of the Conciliation and Peace Society. She has been engaged on North Korean human rights issues for almost 20 years. Follow her on Twitter @SumiJEON_CPS.
The Hill · by Elizabeth Beavers and Su-mi Jeon, opinion contributors · December 10, 2021
2. Moving North Korean Women’s Rights Issues Center Stage on Human Rights Day
Rosa Park-Tokola is a voice we must listen to on north Korean human rights. I wish other NGOs focusing on north Korea would follow her lead.
Moving North Korean Women’s Rights Issues Center Stage on Human Rights Day
There are barriers to the participation of young North Korean women in the human rights movement.
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Today, December 10, marks Human Rights Day. For 73 years, the world has celebrated the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. We have come so far, but every Human Rights Day, I reflect with a heavy heart on the women in North Korea. They continue to suffer blackmail, corruption, sexual assault, trafficking, and even forced abortions and infanticide. They are consigned to a bleak future if further action is not taken.
Speaking with Timothy Cho, a North Korean escapee in the U.K. with the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, we shared the biggest challenge about working on North Korean human rights: insufficient action being taken. With the systematic, widespread, and grave crimes against humanity in North Korea, proactive steps must be taken to address North Korean women’s rights issues. Here are some preliminary steps.
Democratic countries should provide platforms for women who have escaped North Korea. There are prominent North Korean women sharing their stories through books, media appearances, social media, and even a local election, including Jihyun Park, Hyeonseo Lee, Seohyun Lee, and Yeonmi Park. Just sharing their stories can be an act of empowerment.
However, as the Korea Future Initiative has uncovered, there are “barriers to the participation and leadership of young North Korean women in the human rights movement.” These barriers should be dismantled. According to Jiyeon Kim, a North Korean escapee based in the United States, “the barriers that North Korean escapee women face in leadership and participation in the human rights movement stem from discrimination against women and North Korean defectors in South Korea.” South Korean policymakers can play a part by genuinely addressing these issues. Kim further elaborates that steps must be taken “to systematically educate and train North Korean women who have an active will to participate in human rights activities so that they can become leaders for North Korean women’s human rights.”
We can all contribute by giving women escapees from North Korea a more prominent role on speaking panels (“manels” should be a thing of the past), in publications and books, and in the media. They should be encouraged to start their own organizations highlighting North Korean women’s rights and speaking to the abuses they endured.
In the United States, the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 and the reauthorization of 2017 do address North Korean women’s rights. However, North Korean women escapees are not explicitly included as a group to support with funding and the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues’ responsibilities do not detail women’s rights issues specifically. In the 2022 reauthorization, specifying financial support for North Korean women escapees and detailing women’s rights issues as a part of the Special Envoy’s mandate would strengthen the North Korean women’s rights movement.
Civil society organizations working on North Korean human rights mainly operate based on grants awarded for specific projects. With the South Korean government’s defunding of civil society working on North Korean human rights, this responsibility has largely fallen on funding organizations in the United States. U.S.-based grant-providing institutions can take a stand by calling for grants specifying North Korean women’s rights issues, whether for activism or research. There have been noteworthy efforts by academics and NGOs to publish reports on North Korean women’s rights, but there is room for greater development and focus.
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Today on Human Rights Day, we in the United States and our international partners must remember the women of North Korea and place them center stage until freedom and justice can be achieved.
GUEST AUTHOR
Rosa Park-Tokola
Rosa Park-Tokola is the director of programs and editor at the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, a 501(c)3 and a DINSN/New America AAPI in National Security and Foreign Policy Next Generation Leader.
3. U.S. designates N. Korean defense minister, others for human rights violation
Again, enforcement.
(LEAD) U.S. designates N. Korean defense minister, others for human rights violation | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with additional information in paras 2-5; CHANGES headline, lead; RESTRUCTURES)
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- The United States on Friday designated North Korea's new Defense Minister Ri Yong-gil and a number of other entities in North Korea, China and Russia for human rights violations.
The U.S. Department of Treasury also designated North Korea's Central Public Prosecutors Office.
Ri, currently serving as North Korea's defense minister, was designated for his role as the former head of minister of social security, which, the department said, uses the court system to "prosecute and punish persons for political wrongdoing in a legal process involving fundamentally unfair trials."
"These trials sometimes end in sentencing to the DPRK's notorious prison camps, run by the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Social Security," it added, also noting the death of Otto Warmbier, an American university student who died in 2017 after returning home following a yearlong detention in North Korea.
"The treatment and eventual death of Otto Warmbier, who would have turned 27 years old this year, were reprehensible. The DPRK must continue to be held to account for its abysmal human rights record," the department said.
The department also designated a number of individuals and organizations in China and Russia for violating U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit U.N. member states from employing or hosting North Korean workers.
"DPRK nationals often work in other countries, including for the purpose of generating foreign currency earnings that the DPRK can use to support its unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs," it said in a press release, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"UN Security Council resolution 2397, adopted on December 22, 2017, requires UN Member States to have repatriated DPRK nationals earning income in their jurisdictions by December 22, 2019, subject to limited exceptions," it added.
The department noted those illegally employing North Korean workers often contribute to the poor treatment of those workers that include "constant surveillance" and having a significant portion of their wages confiscated by the DPRK regime."
The latest designations were made on the international Human Rights Day.
Those newly designated include the European Institute of Justice, a Russian university based in Moscow, and its provost, Dmitry Yurevich Soin, who, according to the treasury department, "sponsored hundreds of student visas for DPRK construction workers in Russia."
"Some of these workers were affiliated with a DPRK WMD entity, and the revenue they generated from their labor could have been used to support DPRK WMD programs," it said.
The department also designated SEK Studio, a North Korean animation studio with workers in North Korea and China.
"SEK Studio has utilized an assortment of front companies to evade sanctions targeting the Government of the DPRK and to deceive international financial institutions," it said.
Lu Hezheng, a senior employee and former shareholder of Nings Cartoon Studio in China, worked with representatives of SEK Studio to facilitate wire transfers through Nings Cartoon Studio and other front companies in China, according to the department.
The department designated Lu and a range of companies affiliated with him, including Nings Cartoon Studio and Shanghai Hongman Cartoon and Animation Design Studio.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. Louis Nelson: Veteran, Designer of the Korean War Veterans Memorial
Mr Nelson was not asked about the current renovation project and the new 100 panels with the names of some 36,000 Americans, and 7,000 Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA) who fought and died side by side with American soldiers in US Army units (and continue to serve in US Army units in Korea to this day).
Louis Nelson: Veteran, Designer of the Korean War Veterans Memorial
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Louis Nelson is living a fascinating life. Former Army helicopter pilot. Visionary artist and designer of the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall. Author of a new memoir about that memorial, what he calls a "war monument mystery." And husband of iconic singer-songwriter Judy Collins. But for all the interesting experiences over many years, Nelson will never forget the silence of childhood growing up in Long Island City. "I didn't question things a lot," he told me in a phone conversation from his home in Manhattan's Upper West Side. Nelson was born during the Great Depression, somewhere between the Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation. "I don't believe people fit comfortably into these generations, but there's some sense to it." It was the era of Truman and Eisenhower, the afterglow of victory in World War II fading and America entering a new war on the Korean peninsula. "Korea was heavy in the wind," Nelson recalled.
In his new book Mosaic: a War Monument Mystery (BookBaby, 2021), Nelson casts Korea as the first modern war, the start of a new period in history. The first war America fought with the newly formed United Nations. The first war fought against Chinese communists. And the first in a series of wars spanning seven decades that America failed to win. By an act of Congress in 1986, the Korean War Veterans Memorial continued the theme, becoming the first memorial dedicated not to the Nation or the military but to the individual men and women who served. For anyone who has been to the monument and looked on the faces etched into the wall, the figures marching in column, there’s an appreciation for silence. It’s a moment of focus and amazement, a way of expressing what’s important. Lives change at memorials and so do ideas, Nelson writes. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.
Why did you write ‘Mosaic’?
Because it was time, I started doing some writing on the memorial after we finished it, but there’s been some dramatic changes not only in Korea but also in the world. At the time, the North invaded the South because they wanted to “unify Korea,” but I’m not sure that’s the reason. Two generations later you have a young man in Kim Jong Un who is very savvy and knows what he wants, knows the pressures he has to apply in order to achieve the Nuclear grail. He wants this and he wants respect, I think, but evidence shows the prosperity has been in the South. You look at the economy in the United States and so many of our modern innovations are built in South Korea. I say this as a designer; there’s phenomenal quality in South Korean products. North Korea has its hands full just trying to feed its own country.
As I looked back, the Korean War becomes a seminal war, from my perspective. The first war we didn’t win, and we haven’t won anything after it. This was also the first war we fought under the auspices of the United Nations. Hopefully, this was the first and last war against the Chinese. So, a number of events have made this a very important war. People didn’t know where Korea was at the time, and many more people know today.
Tell me about the Korean War Memorial, from a designer’s perspective.
The memorial is a veterans memorial. When I was first being considered, I looked at the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Washington Monument and thought about new ways to commemorate the act of service. I thought this memorial ought to be devoted to the men and women who fought over there, and so I started to develop the idea more, becoming interested in the men and women themselves, their faces. I was in my 60’s when I was designing this, mind you, but the people who served were teenagers, people in their twenties were doing the fighting. A lot of the people had fought in the Second World War and they were just so young. That was my idea. I wanted visitors to see who was there, and I wanted a dialogue, as if these were your brothers and sons and daughters -- I wanted to create a relationship. Only as I began working through the idea did I come up with the portraits of men and women. I didn’t have any difficulty getting the Board to agree, but still we had some of the implements of war included. It was important to the Board members to include some of these weapons, while my idea was the focus needed to be on men and women. The nature of what faces look like was important to me. On dedication day, I got there early in the morning and had tears in my eyes seeing the thing for the first time. A man came up to me and said this was the first time in his life he could talk about the war, I found this was a common sentiment. You just “did” Korea and came home and went back to work, and the feelings went underground. This memorial should happen in the visitor, either there or a day or two later or five years later.
Frank Gaylord sculpted the figures on patrol at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, what’s called “The Column.” He was a World War II veteran and native of West Virginia. What was Frank like?
Frank Gaylord was a crusty old guy who lived an extraordinary life. He had this idea of sculpting 38 sculptures. That was the magic number in the early days of the memorial, which had to be cut back because of space considerations. They wanted then to build out the theme of 38 – 38 months of the war, and other numerology. We decided the sculptures would be too close together to be realistic, and so we cut it back to 19. We had very few words together. There were nods and grunts. We liked what each other did and it was fine. When Schwarzkopf came back from winning the Gulf War, there was a big parade in NYC and in Washington, D.C., where they put all sorts of implements of war out on the National Mall and this coincided with our design going up for review. The Washington public was not comfortable with seeing war implements up close, and there were questions about why Frank had put weapons in the hands of his sculptures. We thought we wouldn’t get the project, so I approached Frank and said, “let’s just put ponchos over these soldiers.” Frank agreed. There were no if’s and’s or but’s. The architects didn’t think it would sell, but the concept sold itself.
What was it about the ‘implements’ of war that bothered you?
The emphasis had to stay on the men and women. Once you get into planes and ships and fighter jets, you get away from the source. Most of the pictures we had from Korea were people trudging through the muck. The photographer David Douglas Duncan showed us the power of the individual.
Did you serve in the military?
Yes, I was sent to Germany when they built the wall in Berlin. I was flying helicopters at that time, and had decided to resign my commission and go back to design school. There was always fear of the Russians coming across the Fulda Gap and invading West Germany, a tremendous amount of fear in that era. You notice there’s been so much work to make World War II into the good war, but it was terrible. It was terrible for us and worse for the Russians because there’s nothing wonderful about war. Absolutely nothing. I didn’t want to make this a pretty memorial.
You left the Army to go back to design school. Designer and soldier. How do you reconcile them?
I never tried to explain these two different things. I was born during the depression and raised during the Second World War. I grew up in Long Island City, in Astoria. We had troops that would march under our window in the house where we lived. My dad never finished high school, but trained himself to be an electrical engineer, you know, he struggled but did extraordinary work, building custom music systems for Cole Porter and others who were big celebrities at that particular time. He had that kind of nature; he liked to get things made. That’s always been in the back of my mind, too. I don’t think I grew up with a sense of obligation, but a sense of pride in the country, which probably came out of the Second World War. When I went to college, I decided to go into ROTC to help pay for part of my tuition and living expenses because I didn’t want to live off my parents. I did pretty well at ROTC and was offered a regular Army commission. When I got down to Fort Benning, they were trying to teach me how to see things as a forward observer. I got into the helicopter and the guy took off from a hover and it just dropped my jaw—what an extraordinary view! I had never seen anything like that before and I wanted more. I never got qualified in the Huey otherwise I probably would have been sent to Vietnam in the early ‘60s.
So, you served between two wars, between two generations?
That’s right. I grew up in an era of silence. I graduated Pratt in 1958 and then was in the military just shy of 5 years. I went back to Pratt in the early 1960’s because it’s phenomenal in design, but the sixties were an extraordinarily difficult time. I say that as someone born and raised in New York. We were the only Norwegians in my neighborhood. There was identity among people, even in the slang. Everything was different in the South because of segregation. I remember a restroom door that said “Colored” on it, and it couldn’t have been more than five feet high, so a person would have to bow down just to walk through the door.
At Pratt, in the late 1950’s, there was instruction on the dogma of drafting. You could break the rules after you graduated, but you had to learn the fundamentals. When I went back to Pratt later in the mid-1960’s, after serving in the Army, there was a rejection of dogma. Change was happening and a resistance to learning how to do things. People wanted to experiment in their own kind of way and not learn principles. I think this change in education happened all over the country, in design but also in law and architecture and other subjects. Everything that happened in the sixties played some part in upsetting the dogmas of the prior generation.
How do you characterize differences between the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Korean War Memorial?
Vietnam and Korea were two different wars, fought with two different groups of people in much different places. Korea was much shorter in duration. People think of Vietnam as taking place for a period in the 1970’s, but our presence in Vietnam began in 1945. Korea was a bloody war for its very short duration by comparison with the 30 years in Vietnam. The memorials are different as well. The Vietnam War is a memorial to the people who died. That was the designers’ point of view. They ended up adding three soldiers to give clarity about the nationalities and genders, and there’s a nurses’ memorial, too. These things happened later because the first memorial was not all-inclusive. Congress wanted the Korean War Memorial to be as inclusive as possible and to honor those who served. The important thing is this: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial healed a Nation. I have always felt that. It’s one of the most important memorials. The late 1970’s in the United States was a miserable time. The purpose for Korea became another thing entirely, and the wall of faces shows you who the people were, the ones who went to war.
John Waters is a writer in Nebraska.
5. S.Korea’s president, top diplomat attend global summits excluding China
S.Korea’s president, top diplomat attend global summits excluding China
Seoul decides to participate in democracy summit, G-7 ministerial meeting
Published : Dec 10, 2021 - 16:47 Updated : Dec 10, 2021 - 18:44
President Moon Jae-in (R) and Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong (L) attend the virtual Summit for Democracy hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden from the presidential office in Seoul on Dec. 9. (Yonhap)
High-profile international meetings attended by the South Korean president and diplomat this week are mainly aimed at countering China's influence, increasing the difficulty of Seoul’s diplomatic balancing act amid the growing US-China rivalry.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday took part in a global democracy summit hosted by his US counterpart Joe Biden, and Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is set to join the meeting of G7 foreign ministers this week.
The US President hosted the two-day Summit for Democracy to rally the world against the backsliding of democracy and the resurgence of autocracy, gathering leaders and officials from over 100 countries, including India, South Korea, Taiwan, and Ukraine.
Notably, the South Korean president is one of the 12 world leaders, including Indian and Canadian prime ministers, who attended the closed-door Leaders’ Plenary Session hosted by Biden.
In his opening speech, Biden warned that democracy and freedom have been in retreat across the world, calling on the world’s leaders to join Washington’s democracy promotion efforts.
Biden underscored that the trends of democratic regression had been compounded by global challenges, including autocrats’ efforts to “advance their own power, export and expand their influence around the world, and justify their repressive policies and practice.”
“Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to renew it with each generation. And this is an urgent matter on all our parts, in my view,” Biden said. “In my view, this is the defining challenge of our time.”
At the summit, the US President sought to enhance the US global leadership and to establish a broad coalition of the democratic governments against rising anti-democratic tides spearheaded by China and Russia. But Biden did not point the finger at China and Russia, with which the US has experienced increasing tensions.
The South Korean presidential office Thursday said Moon also delivered a speech at the Leaders’ Plenary Session.
Moon pledged that Seoul would “actively join and contribute to efforts to promote democracy based on its successful experience in simultaneously achieving democratization and economic development” in Asia, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said.
The Cheong Wa Dae also assessed that Moon’s participation in the democracy summit showed South Korea’s “strong commitment to contributing to the international community’s solidarity and cooperation in promoting democracy.”
But in his speech, Moon did not target China, which South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun previously described as a “strategic partner.”
The Moon Jae-in government has maintained strategic ambiguity amid the growing US-China rivalry. But this week, South Korean high-ranking officials continue to attend international events led by the US and its allies, whose major goal is to counter rising challenges by China.
Chung to attend G7 summit with ASEAN, Australian leaders
South Korea’s Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is set to attend the G7 Summit of Foreign and Development Ministers, which will be held from Friday to Sunday in Liverpool, England.
G7 countries consist of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, US, and UK, and also include the EU.
The minister will “discuss a range of global issues, including economic resilience post-COVID, global health, and human rights,” according to the UK Foreign Office.
But the China challenge in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to be one of the top agenda topics for the ministerial meeting.
Especially, the UK’s major goal is to build a “worldwide network of liberty” at the meeting. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss previously explained the network aims to advance “freedom, democracy, and enterprise” and encourage “like-minded countries to work together from a position of strength.”
Notably, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN will attend the meeting for the first time as guests, the UK Foreign Office confirmed, underscoring that the participation is a “sign of the UK’s growing Indo-Pacific tilt.”
Amid Washington and Beijing scrambling to win over the ASEAN, Beijing would view the invitation as the US allies’ attempt to extend their influence on the regional bloc and have broad support for the AUKUS trilateral security pact.
Australia, who signed the AUKUS with the UK and US, was invited along with India, South Korea, and South Africa.
The meeting comes at a critical juncture when member countries of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance (US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) have joined the US-led diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Games. But South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said the government was not considering a diplomatic boycott for the Olympics.
6. Korean defense industry expanding presence in global market
Korean defense industry expanding presence in global market
People look around the exhibition booth of aircraft maker Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) at Expodefensa 2021, one of the main security and defense fairs in Latin America, held in Bogota, Colombia, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Industries
By Jung Da-min
The Korean defense industry is expanding its presence in the global market, with some successful promotions of domestic weapons to other countries' militaries in recent months.
Among such successful cases are: the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) decision in mid-November to purchase Korean-made mid-range surface-to-air missiles (M-SAM) and Slovakia's planned purchase of Korean-made trainer jets, following the signing of an agreement between local aircraft maker Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Slovakia's state-run defense firm, Letecke opravovne Trencin (LOTN), in early November.
In the case of the UAE, the country's defense ministry announced via Twitter its intention to acquire the Korean air defense system named Cheongung-II, adding that the value of the deal may reach about $3.5 billion ($4 trillion won). If struck, the deal will be the single most lucrative weapons export in the history of the nation's defense industry, four times larger than the current 1-trillion-won export record of submarines to Indonesia.
This photo shows the Cheongung-II, the upgraded version of the country's first internally-developed, medium-range surface-to-air guided missile. Korea Times fileWith LIG Nex1 being the main contractor that has been mass-producing the M-SAM since 2018, other local companies, such as Hanwha Systems, Hanwha Defense and Kia, also participated in the project, which was launched by the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in 2012. The missile passed a suitability evaluation for field operations in 2017.
In the case of Slovakia, the country has been pushing for a $500-million defense project to replace its aging fleet of L-39 trainer aircraft, and so decided to import KAI's FA-50 fighters for the project. LOTN and KAI signed an agreement to ensure smooth bilateral cooperation in the introduction of FA-50 aircraft to Slovakia, on Nov. 3. If the aircraft are introduced, it will be the first export of Korean-made aircraft to a member state of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) CEO Ahn Hyun-ho, left, shakes hands with Letecke opravovne Trencin (LOTN) Executive Director Juraj Laus during a signing ceremony of memorandum of understanding to ensure smooth bilateral cooperation in the introduction of Korea's FA-50 aircraft to Slovakia, held in Budapest, Hungary, Nov. 3, on the sidelines of the V4-Korea summit. Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Industries
Korea Aerospace Industries' (KAI) FA-50 fighter / Courtesy of KAI
Korea seeks more export opportunities in global defense market
For Korea, where the economy largely depends on trade and export, the global defense market offers many important opportunities.
This situation is especially so as the country's defense budget for improving its weapons systems has been cut by 606.7 billion won for next year ― from 17.33 trillion won in 2021 to 16.69 trillion won in 2022. It is the first time in 15 years that the budget has been reduced.
With Korean firms seeking to find new opportunities abroad, the African and Middle East markets, as well as the South American market, are emerging as potential prospective markets. In particular, defense officials are eyeing Egypt, as the Egyptian Armed Forces is currently modernizing its military forces and diversifying its supplier nations. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Egypt is the world's third-largest arms importer, after Saudi Arabia and India, as of the period of 2015 to 2019.
Seeking new opportunities in the African and Middle East region, a total of 14 Korean companies participated in the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) 2021 that ran from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3. Among the 14 companies were four big ones, including: Hanwha Defense, Hyundai Rotem, Poongsan and Hancom Lifecare, as well as other small-and medium-sized companies.
A visitor takes a photo of Hanwha Defense's K9 self-propelled howitzer on display at the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) 2021, at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo, Nov. 29. Courtesy of Hanwha DefenseEgyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, on the right facing the left, visits the Hanwha Defense booth to listen to the progress of the K9 project in Egypt, Nov. 29, after inaugurating the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) 2021, at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo. Screenshot from the YouTube channel of the Egyptian presidential office
Hanwha Defense's promotion of its K9 self-propelled howitzer (SPH) drew attention there especially, with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi visiting the Hanwha booth on the inauguration day of the EDEX to listen to the progress of Egypt's contemplation of purchasing the K9. The Egyptian Armed Forces are considering acquiring a package of K9s and support vehicles, raising hopes for Hanwha and other smaller companies participating in the project to make their debut in the African market and pave the way for other local companies to gain standing in the African and Middle Eastern markets.
For Hyundai Rotem, it promoted its K2 Black Panther, a next-generation, Korean-made battle tank designed by the ADD and manufactured by the company.
Seo Jun-mo, leader of global defense sales and the marketing team for the company, said Hyundai Rotem has a favorable brand image among Egyptians, as it has sold its electric locomotives for use in Cairo Metro's Lines 1 and 3, and it will further promote its K2 tanks as a long-term sales goal on such bases.
"The Egyptian market is considered to be a market with a lot of potential in the Middle Eastern and African region. For Hyundai Rotem, we have already successfully exported our electric trains, acquiring a good brand image," Seo said.
"As the Egyptian Armed Forces are also showing interest in acquiring new tanks, along with the recent successful completion of the test operations of K2 tanks in the Middle East region, we expect that there will be good results in the tank business as well, with a long-term vision."
The Hyundai Rotem booth at the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) 2021, at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo, Nov. 29 / Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min
While companies selling ground weapon systems are seeking new opportunities in the Middle Eastern and African markets, aircraft seller KAI is eyeing the South American market.
KAI participated in the Expodefensa 2021, one of the main security and defense fairs in Latin America, held in Bogota, Colombia, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, to promote its FA-50 fighters in the Central and South American markets. As Colombia is carrying out a $1-billion project to replace 24 units of the A-37, an aging light attack aircraft, KAI proposed the export-type FA-50, with air-to-air and air-to-ground armaments and extended flying range, for the project.
Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez visited the KAI exhibition booth and said, "During my recent visit to Korea, I discussed defense cooperation with President Moon Jae-in." The Colombian president visited Korea in late August and held a summit with Moon. "As we are well aware of the excellence of the FA-50, we hope that it will contribute to the modernization of the Colombian Air Force with a good proposal," he said.
Colombian President Ivan Duque, left, shakes hands with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) Managing Director Kim Han-il, on the former's visit to Expodefensa 2021, one of the main security and defense fairs in Latin America, held in Bogota, Colombia, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. Courtesy of Korea Aerospace IndustriesThe Central and South American market is a key sales area for Korea, as about 60 units of light attack aircraft worth $3 billion are expected to be introduced in countries there, including Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Uruguay.
KAI entered the South American market by exporting 20 KT-1P basic training aircraft to Peru in 2011, and is strengthening its marketing in the Latin American market based on the stable operation of and good feedback on the KT-1P aircraft, within the Peruvian Air Force.
Also participating in the Dubai Airshow 2021 that ran from Nov. 14 to 18, KAI promoted its FA-50 and T-50 trainer jets ― which can be upgraded to FA-50 by adding armaments ― to the Uruguayan Air Force. KAI also participated in Peru's SITDEF 2021 held in Lima from Oct. 28 to 31 to promote its FA-50.
7. At Biden's summit, Moon bills S. Korea as 'exemplary testament' to democracy
Excerpts:
"Korea is an exemplary testament to the value of democracy," Moon told the summit. "Although having undergone colonial rule and a war, we have developed in compliance with international free trade norms and became the first country that ascended to the ranks of developed economies from a developing country."
"Every time authoritarianism suppressed the Korean people, they protected democracy and moved it forward through peaceful civil revolutions," Moon said.
"Korea will build on this experience and contribute to global democracy," Moon said. "Democracy never stopped, not even for a second. It is only renewed every time."
Moon said the world could overcome the COVID-19 crisis through democracy.
"Although a new variant 'omicron' is spreading, we will surely surmount the COVID-19 crisis together," Moon said. "As always, the strongest power we have in overcoming crises is our collective intelligence - democracy."
"Democracy did not stop at fighting authoritarianism," Moon said. "It enabled humanity to prosper with the power of freedom and creativity."
The summit came just days after the U.S. announced it will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing due to China's human rights abuses.
(LEAD) At Biden's summit, Moon bills S. Korea as 'exemplary testament' to democracy | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS photo)
By Kim Deok-hyun
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in said Friday that South Korea is an "exemplary testament" to the value of democracy, citing the Korean people's struggle against authoritarianism and move for peaceful revolutions.
Moon made the remarks at a virtual democracy summit of leaders of more than 110 countries hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden.
The summit was a campaign promise of Biden, who has prioritized achieving the goal of rallying the nations of the world against the forces of authoritarianism. Key U.S. competitors, including China and Russia, that were not invited, have strongly denounced this week's summit as causing global division.
"Korea is an exemplary testament to the value of democracy," Moon told the summit. "Although having undergone colonial rule and a war, we have developed in compliance with international free trade norms and became the first country that ascended to the ranks of developed economies from a developing country."
"Every time authoritarianism suppressed the Korean people, they protected democracy and moved it forward through peaceful civil revolutions," Moon said.
"Korea will build on this experience and contribute to global democracy," Moon said. "Democracy never stopped, not even for a second. It is only renewed every time."
Moon said the world could overcome the COVID-19 crisis through democracy.
"Although a new variant 'omicron' is spreading, we will surely surmount the COVID-19 crisis together," Moon said. "As always, the strongest power we have in overcoming crises is our collective intelligence - democracy."
"Democracy did not stop at fighting authoritarianism," Moon said. "It enabled humanity to prosper with the power of freedom and creativity."
The summit came just days after the U.S. announced it will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing due to China's human rights abuses.
In response to the U.S. announcement, the South Korean government repeated its principled support for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, again expressing hope that it will contribute to peace and inter-Korean relations.
The Moon Jae-in administration hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to revitalize the Korea peace process from the Beijing Olympics, similar to that from the 2018 PyeongChang games.
Some view the Beijing event as a potential chance for significant progress in the Moon government's push for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.
kdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
8. ＜Breaking News North Korea＞ Three people were shot for trying to cross the border into China, one dead, on the Yalu River.
north Korean apologists will deny that shoot to kill orders were actually given.
Excerpts:
It is reported that the shooters were soldiers of the "Seventh Army Corps" deployed for border security. Last August, the Kim Jong-un regime issued a declaration that anyone approaching the border river without permission would be shot without warning. As a result, the border with China has been on high alert since last year under the guise of preventing the influx of coronavirus.
News about the shooting has spread throughout the Ryanggang region. Residents are said to have voiced sympathy for the three men and anger at the authorities for shooting them, saying, "How hard life must have been for them to try to cross the border," and " The last thing they should have done was to escape, even if it meant death."
＜Breaking News North Korea＞ Three people were shot for trying to cross the border into China, one dead, on the Yalu River.
(Photo) A border guard team in training for gun maintenance, taken by ISHIMARU Jiro from the Chinese side in August 2004 (ASIAPRESS).
In the northern region of Ryanggang Province, Kimjongsuk County, North Korea's border guard soldier shot three residents who were trying to flee across the Yalu River into China, resulting in one death.
According to several reporting partners living in Ryanggang Province, the incident occurred on December 2. One person was hit in the head and died instantly, while two others were arrested at the scene. The gender and age of the three people who tried to flee to China and their motives for crossing the border are unknown.
It is reported that the shooters were soldiers of the "Seventh Army Corps" deployed for border security. Last August, the Kim Jong-un regime issued a declaration that anyone approaching the border river without permission would be shot without warning. As a result, the border with China has been on high alert since last year under the guise of preventing the influx of coronavirus.
News about the shooting has spread throughout the Ryanggang region. Residents are said to have voiced sympathy for the three men and anger at the authorities for shooting them, saying, "How hard life must have been for them to try to cross the border," and " The last thing they should have done was to escape, even if it meant death." （Kang Ji-won)
※ ASIAPRESS contacts its reporting partners in North Korea through smuggled Chinese mobile phones.
Map of North Korea ( ASIAPRESS)
9. North Koreans scour farms for burnable waste to cope with fuel shortage
Every night must be an ordeal for the people who cannot even keep their homes at a decent level of warmth.
North Koreans scour farms for burnable waste to cope with fuel shortage
Poor citizens struggle to stay warm amid a firewood shortage and rising fuel prices.
A severe firewood shortage and rising fuel costs in North Korea have left citizens scrounging harvested cornfields for anything burnable to keep warm this winter, sources in the country told RFA.
North Korea is typically able to import charcoal or heating fuel to make up for a lack of wood, but with the border closed this year as a protection against the coronavirus pandemic, poorer citizens are scrambling to dig up the roots of harvested crops.
“Every year in late autumn, the people are busy buying things to burn like firewood and coal to get through the winter,” a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA’s Korean Service Dec. 3.
“This year the price of charcoal and firewood has risen astronomically, so people without money are unable to afford it. So, they are flocking to the corn fields to dig up the roots, dry them, and use them as firewood.”
Beijing and Pyongyang closed the Sino-Korean border and suspended all trade in January 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. As domestic supplies dwindled, prices shot up.
“Until a month ago, people who have a personal connection with the farm were competing with each other to get the corn cobs left over from threshing. Now the cobs have run out, so people are out in the fields digging up the roots,” the source said.
“When the public learned that corn roots can be used as a substitute for firewood, the farm began stopping ordinary people from coming to the fields to dig for roots. If you want to get into the fields now you must bribe the head of the farm’s working group or the leader of the work team,” the source said.
In years past, the government often had to force citizens to clear the fields of roots and then burn them as waste in preparation for next year’s crop, the source said.
Now those roots are “a precious commodity,” the source said.
Even though there are widespread food shortages in North Korea, people in the eastern province of South Hamgyong are more interested in corn for its burnable roots, a resident there told RFA.
“A few days ago, I got mobilized to work on road restoration about 5 miles away from my house, and I almost couldn’t have my lunch that day. I asked a local resident to cook some rice with the food I brought for lunch, but I was rejected because there was no firewood,” said the second source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
“So now, when the neighborhood watch unit puts you on road restoration, you have to bring firewood with you to have lunch. The lack of food is a problem, but the lack of firewood to cook it is also a serious problem,” the second source said.
Two sacks of corn roots will provide enough heat to cook rice for 10 mobilized workers, according to the second source.
“The person in charge of the mobilized workers was only able to get two sacks of corn roots after promising to deliver two kilograms of corn later on,” the source said. “But at least the residents who toil all morning digging up the mountains and carrying soil were finally able to eat their lunches.”
RFA reported in October that coal prices have doubled from last year, while the price of firewood has increased between two and threefold.
Plastic shortage
Another strategy for keeping out winter cold is to seal drafty doors and windows with plastic film, normally used in agriculture, but plastic is also in short supply this year.
“Residents without adequate heating insulate their homes with plastic film… but the price has risen sharply over the last few days,” a resident from North Hamgyong province in the northeast told RFA.
The source said the price of plastic film almost doubled between November and December, and that the plastic film available this year is of poor quality.
“Most of the plastic film on the market these days is not really transparent and has an uneven thickness. The price is soaring even though it’s not farming season,” the source said.
“In fact, if you want to add plastic film to the door, window, or balcony of a house for wind protection and heat insulation, you need at least 5 to 10 square meters, depending on the size of the house. Ordinary residents who have difficulty finding food every day cannot afford that,” the source added.
Electricity shortages have made even the relatively privileged residents of the capital Pyongyang scramble to get their hands on plastic film.
“In the apartments in Sosong district, they only get electricity for one or two hours a day during the mealtimes, so the residents maintain temperature with plastic film,” a resident of Pyongyang told RFA.
“Except for the apartments where the elite live in the central district of the city, most houses here in Pyongyang do not have heating this winter, so they need to use plastic film, said the Pyongyang resident.
Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
