Quotes of the Day:
"Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page."
- Henry Ward Beecher
“It would seem as if the rulers of our time sought only to use men in order to make things great; I wish that they would try a little more to make great men; that they would set less value on the work and more upon the workman; that they would never forget that a nation cannot long remain strong when every man belonging to it is individually weak; and that no form or combination of social polity has yet been devised to make an energetic people out of a community of pusillanimous and enfeebled citizens.”
- Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America Volume 2
'Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.'
- Richard Armour
1. South Korea Says Individual Entered North Korea Through DMZ
2. N.K. leader visits mausoleum of grandfather, father to mark new year
3. National Flag-hoisting Ceremony Marks New Year (north Korea)
4. Unidentified person crosses eastern border into N. Korea: S. Korean military
5. Lack of discipline, vigilance (South Korea)
6. Off guard for three hours (Korean DMZ)
7. Question marks linger for S. Korea with Beijing Winter Olympics nearing
8. The New Political Cry in South Korea: ‘Out With Man Haters’
9. Rights watchdog rejects petition over gov't decision to penalize defector group over leafleting campaign
10. NK’s 2022 policy direction: Prioritize internal stability, wait and see on foreign policy
11. What lies ahead for Korea’s new president
12. Year of the Tiger: Why tigers have a special place in Koreans’ hearts
1. South Korea Says Individual Entered North Korea Through DMZ
The big news of the day in Korea since the news coming out of north Korea did not provide anything earth shattering from the WPK plenary that just took place. Nor has there been a New Year's statement or address from Kim ong -un (yet).
Security in the DMZ requires intensive manpower. I fear there is too much reliance on technical capabilities.
South Korea Says Individual Entered North Korea Through DMZ
Details about the person, motive and current status remain under investigation, South Korea’s military says
South Korea dispatched soldiers to the DMZ, though the effort to prevent the person from entering North Korea was unsuccessful. Details about the individual, motive and current status remain under investigation, South Korea’s military said. No South Korean border soldiers were missing from their units when the crossing occurred, a sign the individual is a civilian.
The South Korean government considers such crossings an illegal defection to North Korea. South Korea sent a message to North Korea to ensure the safety of the person who had defected but had yet to receive a response as of Sunday, Seoul’s military said.
Crossings from South Korea to North Korea have been extremely rare. The inter-Korean border, about 150 miles long and more than 2 miles wide, is guarded by barbed wire fences and minefields—and on the South Korean side, motion-detection sensors and other high-tech gear. In recent years, South Korean officials have faced criticisms for failing to quickly detect border crossings.
The latest breach comes at a time when North Korea’s borders are shut under strict anti-coronavirus measures, which came into place in early 2020. Pyongyang hasn’t reported any Covid-19 infections to date. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in a recent year-end speech, stated the country’s pandemic efforts remained the country’s top priority.
In July 2020, a defector who had been living in South Korea for three years swam back into North Korea. Pyongyang claimed that the man had been infected with the coronavirus, prompting the total lockdown of Kaesong, a North Korean border city. South Korean officials later said the man had never tested positive for the virus, but North Korea declared a maximum national emergency, according to Pyongyang’s state media.
In September 2020, a South Korean civil servant was shot and killed after drifting into North Korean waters. Seoul officials believed the man had wanted to defect and that North Korean sailors, who were wearing gas masks and protective gear, had burned the body over Covid-19 concerns.
North Korea’s Mr. Kim issued an apology for the civil servant’s brutal killing, in a letter sent to South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Pyongyang said it burned the man’s possessions and was executing orders established for Covid-19 protection, according to Mr. Kim’s letter.
Border lapses of North Koreans entering South Korea have also occurred. In November 2020, South Korean soldiers spotted a North Korean climbing a fence along the border, but sensors designed to detect movement failed to locate the man. He was later discovered nearly a mile inside South Korean territory.
In February 2021, a North Korean swam south across the border and slipped through a drainage conduit, triggering an hourslong manhunt.
About 34,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the late 1990s. But the number of defectors arriving in South Korea have declined to an all-time low during the pandemic, due to the Kim regime’s prolonged lockdowns.
2. N.K. leader visits mausoleum of grandfather, father to mark new year
Again, nothing really newsworthy coming from the meeting or the New Year'sevents
N.K. leader visits mausoleum of grandfather, father to mark new year | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the mausoleum of his late grandfather and father in his first reported public activity this year, Pyongyang's state media said Sunday.
Kim paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of state founder and his grandfather Kim Il-sung and his father, Kim Jong-il, are enshrined, on the occasion of the start of the new year, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The visit to the mausoleum came after he unveiled this year's policy priorities on developing the national economy and bolstering antivirus efforts during a rare five-day meeting of the ruling Workers' Party held until the last day of 2021.
The leader's influential sister, Kim Yo-jong, was spotted paying tribute to the statues of the late leaders.
Senior party and military officials accompanied Kim on his visit to the mausoleum, including Choe Ryong-hae, the country's de facto No. 2 leader, and Jo Yong-won, the leader's close aide, according to the KCNA.
Kim has paid tribute to the palace on New Year's Day since taking office in late 2011, except in 2018.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. National Flag-hoisting Ceremony Marks New Year (north Korea)
The images were not left on north Korean television for very long.
You can see the images of the flags in Maryn Williams tweet (he tracks north Korean television broadcasts).
My tweet in response to Martyn's was this: A metaphor for all that is limp within the Kim family regime.
(I could have been more crude and said the counterfeit viagra north Korea makes must not be working for the flag)
National Flag-hoisting Ceremony Marks New Year
A national flag-hoisting ceremony was solemnly held at Kim Il Sung Square on January 1, Juche 111 (2022).
The square was crowded with Pyongyangites to greet the moment when the national flag would be hoisted.
At 00:00 sharp, a bell tolled the start of the New Year and melodies of the immortal revolutionary hymns "Song of General Kim Il Sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong Il" reverberated far and wide, providing people with great pride and confidence of being members of Kim Il Sung's nation and Kim Jong Il's Korea.
Exemplary workers, farmers, intellectuals, young people and students of the capital city solemnly spread out the flag of the DPRK and it was slowly hoisted up amid the playing of the national anthem of the DPRK.
At this significant moment, everyone paid their respects to the national flag.
Gorgeous fireworks were displayed in the nocturnal sky over Pyongyang along with the fluttering flag of the Republic, adding to the festive mood.
Rodong Sinmun
4. Unidentified person crosses eastern border into N. Korea: S. Korean military
(2nd LD) Unidentified person crosses eastern border into N. Korea: S. Korean military | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 7-8, 10; RECASTS paras 5-6)
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military announced Sunday an unidentified person crossed the eastern inter-Korean land border into North Korea the previous night despite its eleventh-hour efforts to stop the move.
The person was spotted moving into the North across the Military Demarcation Line at around 10:40 p.m. on Saturday, some 80 minutes after being detected by surveillance equipment installed on the heavily fortified border, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The JCS has yet to identify the person, with an investigation under way, its officials said.
After first detecting the person in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas at around 9:20 p.m., the military authorities sent troops to the scene to capture the person but failed, according to the JCS.
"Due to various geographical conditions, including the mountain terrain, we failed (to capture the person)," a JCS official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
In a fact-finding process later, the authorities used monitoring equipment to find the person breaking through the barbed-wire fence to enter the DMZ at around 6:40 p.m. -- an indication they remained unaware of the border breach for nearly three hours.
"In our initial response, we think some part of our efforts were insufficient, something we think should have been done more actively," the official said, noting the military is looking to see what needs to be improved in its border defense.
It remains unknown whether the person in question is a South Korean citizen or a North Korean defector. The military is said to be putting more weight on the person being a civilian rather than a uniformed personnel.
On Sunday morning, the South Korean authorities sent a message to the North over the incident through a western military communication line, the official said.
The fate of the person was not immediately confirmed amid reports the North has a "shoot-to-kill" policy in place as part of tougher border control measures against COVID-19.
After the border crossing, no unusual North Korean military movements have been detected, the JCS said.
In September 2020, a South Korean fisheries official was apparently shot dead by the North's border guard after disappearing from a patrol ship near the Yellow Sea border.
The latest incident came in spite of the South Korean military's pledge to overhaul its border defense system with stronger surveillance equipment to forestall any security lapses in the wake of earlier border breaches.
In February last year, a North Korean man swam ashore into the South undetected, leading Defense Minister Suh Wook to offer a public apology. In November 2020, another North Korean civilian crossed the inter-Korean border undeterred.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. Lack of discipline, vigilance (South Korea)
The ROK military is being heavily criticized for lapses. As I have said and will say, it takes manpower to patrol the DMZ and over-reliance on technology is a problem.
Lack of discipline, vigilance
Military slammed for another security lapse
An unidentified South Korean was found to have crossed the heavily fortified border into North Korea, raising concerns about the military's security lapse. This case has demonstrated that there is a big hole in the military's readiness posture.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Sunday that the crossing took place on Saturday evening. The person was detected by surveillance equipment in the eastern part of the Demilitarized Zone, which bisects the two Koreas, at 6:40 p.m., on New Year's Day.
But the military had not noticed the person until 9:20 p.m. when a soldier watching the CCTV replayed the recorded footage. Then it carried out a search operation and confirmed that the person crossed the military demarcation line at around 10:40 p.m..
It is dumbfounding to know that the border guard failed to recognize the person's move instantly which was caught on the surveillance camera. More worrisome is that such border crossings have happened again and again in recent years. Our military cannot avoid criticism for repeated security lapses.
The JCS has yet to identify the person who is presumed to be a civilian. It sent a notice to the North through a military hotline asking for the defector's protection. The case occurred after a South Korean fishery official was shot dead by North Korean troops after he went missing near the maritime border in the West Sea in September 2020. The incident sparked criticism for the brutal killing which the North said was in line with its national emergency declared against COVID-19.
The Moon Jae-in administration needs to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, regardless of the reason the person fled to the North. It should also make all-out efforts to boost discipline among service members and tighten the surveillance network in frontline regions to ensure our national security.
The military has already taken flak for a series of sexual harassment and assaults on female members. A lack of discipline on the part of soldiers is to blame for various types of misdeeds and mishaps. Repeated surveillance failures in border areas have usually been caused by negligence and slackened vigilance. In July 2020, a North Korean, who escaped to the South three years ago, swam back to the North.
The military has also come under fire for not detecting North Koreans crossing the border into the South. In February 2021, a North Korean man swam across the eastern maritime border. At the time, our soldiers failed to spot the man although he was captured on surveillance cameras. In November 2020, a North Korean civilian was captured 14 hours after jumping over barbed wire fences to cross the inter-Korean border.
The government has modernized surveillance equipment to boost military preparedness. But state-of-the-art technology is of no use if soldiers remain negligent. It is time to take radical measures to boost the military's discipline and vigilance.
6. Off guard for three hours (Korean DMZ)
I will continue to beat the dead horse: To effectively secure the DMZ you need sufficient manpower to conduct aggressive patrolling 24/7. Over-reliance on technology (CCTV) provides a false sense of security.
Is the ROK military devoting a sufficient amount of manpower (infantrymen) to patrolling the DMZ? Should there be more rotational forces from non-frontline divisions patrolling the DMZ? Could US intranty units return to patrolling the DMZ and be integrated into a rotational scheme that ensures sufficient patrol manpower to secure the DMZ? My recommendation is yes, the US infantry should return to patrolling the DMZ. Not in an American sector but integrated throughout the ROK frontline divisions.
Sunday
January 2, 2022
Off guard for three hours
The barbed wire fence on the frontline was crossed again. On the afternoon of January 1, an unidentified person — supposedly a civilian — crossed the heavily-armed northeastern border to North Korea. Movements were captured by our military surveillance cameras installed on guard posts in the southern section of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). But soldiers in the 22nd Infantry Division missed the person. It turned out that the moment of the crossing was belatedly noticed by soldiers monitoring CCTV cameras installed there. The episode has revealed the lax guarding by our military on the frontline once again.
The lead-up to the botched detection rings louder alarms. The sensitive military equipment on the fence did alarm the troops, but they reportedly withdrew from the fence after finding no problem with it. Because they check the wire fences on a daily basis, they can immediately affirm any suspicious traces left behind. The wire fences were reinforced more than twice after a North Korean soldier defected to the 22nd division without any interruption in 2012. If the soldiers dispatched to the site on Saturday really brushed off repeated alarms simply as signs of animal movements, that’s a bigger problem.
Our military has been repeatedly caught off guard. The tense border monitored by the division on the east coast was penetrated by a North Korean soldier in November 2020 and even by a North Korean swimmer through the East Sea last year. As a result of the nearly annual crossings, the commander and other high-ranking officers of the division were demoted. Yet such disgraceful incidents occur again. We are dumbfounded that the soldiers in the division discovered the latest crossing of the border three hours later.
Such shameful incidents took place as many as 11 times over the past two years alone. And locations do not matter. North Korean sailors crossed the East Sea and safely landed at Samcheok Harbor without being caught by the Navy and the Coast Guard. North Korean soldiers also arrived at our naval bases in Jinhae and on Jeju Island to defect and even came to the air defense unit of the Capital Defense Command. The penetration has reached serious levels. Such penetrations cannot be found in any other administrations of the past.
Such lax military preparedness primarily originates with the incomprehensible defense posture under the liberal Moon Jae-in administration. The government does not regard North Korea as our enemy. Worse, appointments of military leaders were determined by political decisions from above. As a result, commanders have shunned from establishing strong military discipline in the barracks. But if the military forgets its duty to safeguard the country, the damage directly goes to the people.
7. Question marks linger for S. Korea with Beijing Winter Olympics nearing
Not the questions you were expecting. It is not about the diplomatic boycott but news about controversy within South Korean speed skating that goes back to 2018. But again we have to ask - don't people know that posting things on social media can be dangerous to your reputation?
Question marks linger for S. Korea with Beijing Winter Olympics nearing | Yonhap News Agency
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- With only about a month left until the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, South Korea still doesn't know if one of its best medal hopes will compete in China.
That bit of uncertainty is unwelcoming for a country that may fall well short of the glory it enjoyed as the host of the previous Winter Olympics four years ago.
The athlete in question is Shim Suk-hee, a two-time gold medalist in short track speed skating. On Dec. 21, Shim was suspended for two months by the Korea Skating Union (KSU) for making disparaging comments about her teammates and coaching staff in a text exchange with a coach during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Shim has declined to appeal that decision with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), and she may either file for a court injunction or simply accept her penalty.
Whether Shim ends up skating in Beijing or not, the ongoing saga will surely create a soap opera and circus-like atmosphere around the national short track team either way.
If Shim can't change her fate, then the remaining skaters will face persistent questions about whether they can bring home medals without her.
But if Shim is reinstated for Beijing, then some of the same skaters who had been mocked and denigrated by Shim in her texts will have to team up with her.
In the same text chain, Shim had also hinted at trying to push off or trip up one particular teammate, Choi Min-jeong, out of spite. Shim and Choi got tangled up and crashed into the wall during the women's 1,000m final at PyeongChang 2018, and the disclosure of Shim's text messages raised suspicions that the collision might have been premeditated on Shim's part.
However, the KSU let Shim off the hook on those charges. It said, while Shim appeared to have deliberately pushed off Choi, it couldn't determine whether Shim did so to protect herself or to prevent Choi from winning a medal.
Immediately after those text messages were leaked in the media, Choi demanded a thorough investigation and openly called on Shim to stop calling her in a belated attempt to apologize.
Against this backdrop, even if Shim gets the green light to go to Beijing, Shim and Choi, the national team's two most decorated skaters, will have little time to mend fences.
Also, if the two skaters somehow go up against each other in individual races, any collision or crash will probably be viewed in a suspicious light given their history.
These off-ice headaches are the last thing South Korea needs in short track, where it has been losing its stranglehold in international competitions.
The Olympic quota places were determined by skaters' performance in International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup competitions, four of them in total. South Korea won seven gold, six silver and six bronze medals, a total made more respectable by a late push in the final World Cup event in November.
Choi struggled with leg injuries she sustained during the first World Cup and walked away with just one gold. Kim Ji-yoo, who finished third behind Shim and Choi in the Olympic trials, suffered a broken ankle in November and is questionable for the Olympics.
On the men's side, Hwang Dae-heon led South Korea with three individual World Cup titles this season, but he has been hampered by a nagging back injury.
South Korea leads all nations with 24 Olympic gold medals in short track, and its 48 medals overall also put South Korea in first place. China and Canada are tied for second with 33 medals apiece, and the gap will likely have tightened by the end of the Beijing Olympics.
Given the state of affairs in short track and dearth of viable medal hopes in other sports, the KSOC has set a modest medal target. It is counting on two gold medals at most for a top-15 finish.
That would pale in comparison with what South Korea achieved at PyeongChang 2018. The host won five gold, eight silver and four bronze medals to finish seventh in the medal race then.
In PyeongChang, South Korea won medals from six different sports: short track, speed skating, skeleton, bobsleigh, curling and snowboarding.
South Korea will have a handful of PyeongChang medalists back in speed skating in Beijing, though few, if any, are considered serious gold medal contenders.
The reigning men's mass start gold medalist, Lee Seung-hoon, will be racing in his fourth Olympic Games. He finished the ISU World Cup standings in fifth place, one below his teammate, Chung Jae-won.
Cha Min-kyu, who won silver in the men's 500m four years ago, ranked 11th in the World Cup standings this season.
On the women's side, Kim Bo-reum will eye her second straight Olympic medal in the mass start after winning silver in 2018. She was eighth in this season's World Cup rankings.
Medal hopes are much bleaker in sliding events, with Yun Sung-bin, the 2018 Olympic men's skeleton gold medalist, not having been able to recapture that magic this season.
As of Dec. 31, Yun had competed at five International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup events this season and had yet to reach the podium. He was only 13th overall in the World Cup standings, two spots below his 22-year-old teammate, Jung Seung-gi.
Won Yun-jong, who led the four-man bobsleigh team to silver in PyeongChang, is 20th in the World Cup rankings this season and isn't seen as a medal threat this time around.
Betting on medals from curling or snowboarding may be the wiser course of action.
The women's curling team, led by skip Kim Eun-jung, will go for a second straight medal in Beijing, after stunning the curling world with a silver medal in PyeongChang.
Alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho, who also grabbed a surprise silver at PyeongChang 2018, is leading the International Ski Federation World Cup standings this season, on the strength of one gold and two silver medals in four events so far.
The deadline to submit entries for Beijing is Jan. 24. The KSOC said on Dec. 23 that it expects to send about 60 athletes in six sports.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)
8. The New Political Cry in South Korea: ‘Out With Man Haters’
An aspect of Korean politics and culture few of us as outsiders may observe or recognize in South Korea.
The New Political Cry in South Korea: ‘Out With Man Haters’
After slow gains in women’s rights, the country is facing a type of political correctness enforced by young men angry at feminists, saying they undermine opportunity.
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Bae In-kyu, the head of Man on Solidarity, one of South Korea’s most active anti-feminist groups, leading a rally in Seoul last month. “Feminists are a social evil,” he has said.Credit...Woohae Cho for The New York Times
By
Jan. 1, 2022
SEOUL — They have shown up whenever women rallied against sexual violence and gender biases in South Korea. Dozens of young men, mostly dressed in black, taunted the protesters, squealing and chanting, “Thud! Thud!” to imitate the noise they said the “ugly feminist pigs” made when they walked.
“Out with man haters!” they shouted. “Feminism is a mental illness!”
On the streets, such rallies would be easy to dismiss as the extreme rhetoric of a fringe group. But the anti-feminist sentiments are being amplified online, finding a vast audience that is increasingly imposing its agenda on South Korean society and politics.
These male activists have targeted anything that smacks of feminism, forcing a university to cancel a lecture by a woman they accused of spreading misandry. They have vilified prominent women, criticizing An San, a three-time gold medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, for her short haircut.
They have threatened businesses with boycotts, prompting companies to pull advertisements with the image of pinching fingers they said ridiculed the size of male genitalia. And they have taken aim at the government for promoting a feminist agenda, eliciting promises from rival presidential candidates to reform the country’s 20-year-old Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
South Korea is reckoning with a new type of political correctness enforced by angry young men who bristle at any forces they see as undermining opportunity — and feminists, in their mind, are enemy No. 1. Inequality is one of the most delicate issues in South Korea, a nation with deepening economic uncertainty, fed by runaway housing prices, a lack of jobs and a widening income gap.
Anti-feminists shouting, “Stop the misandry!” during a rally in Seoul. Many young South Korean men argue that it is men, not women, who feel threatened and marginalized.Credit...Woohae Cho for The New York Times
“We don’t hate women, and we don’t oppose elevating their rights,” said Bae In-kyu, 31, the head of Man on Solidarity, one of the country’s most active anti-feminist groups. “But feminists are a social evil.”
The group spearheads the street rallies and runs a YouTube channel with 450,000 subscribers. To its members, feminists equal man haters.
Its motto once read, “Till the day all feminists are exterminated!”
The backlash against feminism in South Korea may seem bewildering.
South Korea has the highest gender wage gap among the wealthy countries. Less than one-fifth of its national lawmakers are women. Women make up only 5.2 percent of the board members of publicly listed businesses, compared with 28 percent in the United States.
And yet, most young men in the country argue that it is men, not women, in South Korea who feel threatened and marginalized. Among South Korean men in their 20s, nearly 79 percent said they were victims of serious gender discrimination, according to a poll in May.
“There is a culture of misogyny in male-dominant online communities, depicting feminists as radical misandrists and spreading fear of feminists,” said Kim Ju-hee, 26, a nurse who has organized protests denouncing anti-feminists.
The wave of anti-feminism in South Korea shares many of the incendiary taglines with right-wing populist movements in the West that peddle such messages. Women who argue for abortion rights are labeled “destroyers of family.” Feminists are not champions of gender equality, but “female supremacists.”
In South Korea, “women” and “feminists” are two of the most common targets of online hate speech, according to the country’s National Human Rights Commission.
An San, right, has won three Olympic gold medals in archery. Male activists have criticized her for her short hair. Credit...Yonhap/EPA, via Shutterstock
The backlash represents a split from previous generations.
Older South Korean men acknowledge benefiting from a patriarchal culture that had marginalized women. Decades ago, when South Korea lacked everything from food to cash, sons were more likely to be enrolled in higher education. In some families, women were not allowed to eat from the same table as men and newly born girls were named Mal-ja, or “Last Daughter.” Sex-preference abortions were common.
As the country has grown richer, such practices have become a distant memory. Families now dote on their daughters. More women attend college than men, and they have more opportunities in the government and elsewhere, though a significant glass ceiling persists.
“Men in their 20s are deeply unhappy, considering themselves victims of reverse discrimination, angry that they had to pay the price for gender discriminations created under the earlier generations,” said Oh Jae-ho, a researcher at the Gyeonggi Research Institute in South Korea.
If older men saw women as needing protection, younger men considered them competitors in a cutthroat job market.
Rival protesters in the gender war in front of the Seoul offices of the opposition People Power Party. In the country’s presidential race, no major candidate is speaking out for women’s rights.Credit...Woohae Cho for The New York Times
Anti-feminists often note that men are put at a disadvantage because they have to delay getting jobs to complete their mandatory military service. But many women drop out of the work force after giving birth, and much of the domestic duties fall to them.
“What more do you want? We gave you your own space in the subway, bus, parking lot,” the male rapper San E writes in his 2018 song “Feminist,” which has a cult following among young anti-feminists. “Oh girls don’t need a prince! Then pay half for the house when we marry.”
The gender wars have infused the South Korean presidential race, largely seen as a contest for young voters. With the virulent anti-feminist voice surging, no major candidate is speaking out for women’s rights, once such a popular cause that President Moon Jae-in called himself a “feminist” when he campaigned about five years ago.
Yoon Suk-yeol, the candidate of the conservative opposition People Power Party, sided with the anti-feminist movement when he accused the ministry of gender equality of treating men like “potential sex criminals.” He promised harsher penalties for wrongfully accusing men of sex crimes, despite concerns it would discourage women from speaking out.
But Mr. Yoon also recruited a prominent 31-year-old leader of a feminist group as a senior campaign adviser last month, a move intended to assuage worries that his party has alienated young female voters.
By law, Mr. Moon cannot seek re-election. His Democratic Party’s candidate, Lee Jae-myung, has also tried to appeal to young men, saying: “Just as women should never be discriminated against because of their gender, nor should men suffer discrimination because they are men.”
A rally last month in support of feminism near the People Power Party offices. The protesters accused the party’s presidential candidate of siding with the anti-feminist movement.Credit...Woohae Cho for The New York Times
Mr. Lee sees the gender conflict largely as a problem of dwindling job opportunities, comparing young South Koreans to “chicks struggling not to fall off a crowded nest.” “We must make the nest bigger by recovering growth,” he has said.
It is hard to tell how many young men support the kind of extremely provocative and often theatrical activism championed by groups like Man on Solidarity. Its firebrand leader, Mr. Bae, showed up at a recent feminist rally dressed as the Joker from “Batman” comics and toting a toy water gun. He followed female protesters around, pretending to, as he put it, “kill flies.”
Tens of thousands of fans have watched his stunts livestreamed online, sending in cash donations. During one online talk-fest in August, Mr. Bae raised nine million won ($7,580) in three minutes.
Women’s rights advocates’ fear is that the rise of anti-feminism might stymie, or even roll back, the hard-won progress South Korea has made in expanding women’s rights. In recent decades, they fought to legalize abortion and started one of the most powerful #MeToo campaigns in Asia.
Kim Ju-hee, a nurse who has organized rallies denouncing anti-feminists, holding a sign saying, “Democracy without women is no democracy.”Credit...Woohae Cho for The New York Times
Lee Hyo-lin, 29, said that “feminist” has become such a dirty word that women who wear their hair short or carry a novel by a feminist writer risk ostracism. When she was a member of a K-pop group, she said that male colleagues routinely commented on her body, jeering that she “gave up being a woman” when she gained weight.
“The #MeToo problem is part of being a woman in South Korea,” she said. “Now we want to speak out, but they want us to shut up. It’s so frustrating.”
On the other side of the culture war are young men with a litany of grievances — concerns that are endlessly regurgitated by male-dominated forums. They have fixated, in particular, on limited cases of false accusations, as a way to give credence to a broader anti-feminist agenda.
Son Sol-bin, a used-furniture seller, was 29 when his former girlfriend accused him of rape and kidnapping in 2018. Online trolls called for his castration, he said. His mother found closed-circuit TV footage proving the accusations never took place.
“The feminist influence has left the system so biased against men that the police took a woman’s testimony and a mere drop of her tears as enough evidence to land an innocent man in jail,” said Mr. Son, who spent eight months in jail before he was cleared. “I think the country has gone crazy.”
As Mr. Son fought back tears during a recent anti-feminist rally, other young men chanted: “Be strong! We are with you!”
9. Rights watchdog rejects petition over gov't decision to penalize defector group over leafleting campaign
Troubling on a number of levels - human rights in South Korea as well as the necessity for effective information and influence activities to support the Korean people in the north..
Excerpts:
The ministry argued at the time that the leafleting campaign violated the law banning the sending of goods to the North without government permission, and endangered the safety of residents living near the border by provoking the North to threaten retaliatory action against the leafleting.
The petitioner, whose identify was not made public, claimed that the ministry's decision represents a violation of human rights, such as the freedom of speech and publication, and the freedom of assembly and association.
Rights watchdog rejects petition over gov't decision to penalize defector group over leafleting campaign | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- The state human rights watchdog has rejected a petition accusing the government of a human rights violation over its decision to revoke the license of an anti-North Korea group of defectors for sending propaganda leaflets across the border, sources said Sunday.
The petition was filed with the National Human Rights Commission in June last year after the unification ministry decided to revoke the license of Fighters for a Free North Korea and to file a criminal complaint against its head, Park Sang-hak, for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North.
The ministry argued at the time that the leafleting campaign violated the law banning the sending of goods to the North without government permission, and endangered the safety of residents living near the border by provoking the North to threaten retaliatory action against the leafleting.
The petitioner, whose identify was not made public, claimed that the ministry's decision represents a violation of human rights, such as the freedom of speech and publication, and the freedom of assembly and association.
But the state rights commission decided to dismiss the petition in August this year, citing that a related lawsuit was under way, and notified the petitioner of the decision in November, according to the sources.
The decision, which means the commission did not make any judgment on the case, drew criticism that the watchdog tried to avoid the politically sensitive case.
(END)
10. NK’s 2022 policy direction: Prioritize internal stability, wait and see on foreign policy
Ms. Ji's headline is probably the most accurate summary of the outcome of all the articles I have read on the recent meetings in the north. It provides an answer to the question:
Who does Kim Jong-un fear more: the US or the Korean people living in the north? It is the Korean people in the north (especially when armed with information about the South).
But I could also argue instead of a wait and see on foreign policy that this is another line of effort for its political warfare strategy which seeks to end sanctions while maintaining its nuclear program. The lack of emphasis on the hostile policies (theirs and the perceived alliance ones) may be an attempt to give its apologists and supporters what they want to hear so that they can try to argue for the lifting of sanctions by the UN and US.
NK’s 2022 policy direction: Prioritize internal stability, wait and see on foreign policy
Pyongyang’s silence on S. Korea, US could indicate its agony, internal difficulties
Published : Jan 2, 2022 - 14:52 Updated : Jan 2, 2022 - 17:11
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea held in Pyongyang between Dec. 27 and 31. (Yonhap-KCNA)
North Korea’s five-day party plenum was dominated by internal affairs including economic growth, agricultural development, and preventative measures for COVID-19, with Pyongyang’s recalibrated approach to South Korea and the US remaining veiled.
North Korean state media on Saturday announced the outcome of the fourth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which was held between Dec. 27 and 31 and attended by leader Kim Jong-un.
The report on the party plenum is of significance, despite its lack of details, as it lays out North Korea’s policy direction for the new year.
In essence, Pyongyang would prioritize internal affairs this year.
The Kim Jong-un regime would put more emphasis on enhancing the internal durability of the regime and combating innumerable internal challenges, including the sluggish economy, food insecurity, the rural-urban imbalance, and control on COVID-19. Half of the plenary session report was devoted to agricultural and rural developments.
But North Korea is expected to take a wait-and-see approach to Seoul and Washington in a year filled with major international and political events. The absence of the announcement on foreign policy directions could be either an indication of Pyongyang’s struggles to set a clear one or its attempt to expand room for maneuver in the uncertain external environment.
Internal stability first, foreign policy later
This year, North Korea would adhere to the original policy line of developing a self-reliant and self-sufficient economy and continuing nationwide ideological campaigns while developing national defense capabilities, Seoul-based experts and think tanks assess.
North Korea would push forward its frontal breakthrough campaign on the basis of self-reliance strategy, nuclear buildup, and the nationwide ideological campaigns of eradicating anti-socialist and nonsocialist practices, professor Kwak Gil-sup of Kookmin University said.
“It would be the year that put more emphasis on internal affairs. North Korea would give weight to enhancing internal durability of the system and resolving internally generated contradictions,” Kwak told The Korea Herald.
Experts share the view that Pyongyang would send a message to South Korea and the US pro re nata through various channels including official statements and implementing propaganda maneuvers while putting a priority on internal affairs.
“In a nutshell, North Korea takes the approach of ensuring internal stability ‘first’ and making strategic and tactical moves in inter-Korean and foreign relations ‘later,’” Kwak said.
Wait-and-see approach to S. Korea and US
In this context, North Korea will take a “wait-and-see approach” on foreign policy in a year filled with major domestic and international events, including the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the March 9 South Korean presidential election, and the US midterm elections.
North Korea conspicuously condensed the outcome of its review on foreign policy to one sentence and did not share the details on its recalibrated approach to South Korea and the US in the report.
“The conclusion presented principles and a series of tactical directions, which must be maintained in North-South relations and external affairs, in response to the eventful and rapidly changing international political situation and surrounding environment,” state-run Korean Central News Agency reported in a Korean-language dispatch.
The brief report is puzzling as a “sectoral workshop” on foreign policy was held during the plenary session, with the attendance of key officials including Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon, United Front Department director Kim Yong-chol, and International Department director Kim Song-nam.
But there are differing views on the intent behind North Korea’s perfunctory announcement.
On one hand, the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS) assessed in a report that North Korea intends to expand flexibility and room for maneuver in implementing foreign policy at a time of whirlwind uncertainties and changes in the external environment.
On the other, the government-run Korean Institute for National Unification (KINU) said in its report that the silence on a wide range of foreign policy issues including an end-of-war declaration, the US-China rivalry, the Beijing Olympics, could indicate that North Korea is still grappling with its foreign policy direction.
North Korea is in a conundrum over its foreign policy and only has limited options in the runup to the South Korean and US elections and the Beijing Winter Olympics, Cho Han-bum, senior research fellow at KINU, told The Korea Herald.
“This is a difficult situation for North Korea to clarify its position on foreign policy,” Cho said. “It would be burdensome for the country to make high-tier provocations. But on the other hand, North Korea has nothing more to yield to make a proposal on dialogue.”
Cho pointed out that Pyongyang was well-aware that the improvement in inter-Korean and US-North Korea relations are indispensable to tackling economic problems and vaccine supply challenges.
“North Korea’s hard-line approach particularly in the runup to the elections in South Korea and the US could lead to pulling the plug on dialogue and negotiations. It would bring nothing beneficial to North Korea.”
Bluffing on economic performances
The absence of a message to South Korea and the US also would indicate that “Pyongyang does not have the luxury of looking at the outside world” in light of its economic desperation, Cha Du-hyeogn, principal fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told The Korea Herald.
The common assessment is that North Korea has failed to spark economic growth, given that the country did not disclose specific results apart from a few construction projects in the report, despite its propaganda on economic achievements in the first year of the five-year plan.
In the report, Pyongyang did not announce whether the country achieved the goal set for the first year of the five-year plan.
North Korea’s overstatement could stem from concerns that the failure in the first year would cause a loss of impetus in implementing the five-year plan, according to the INSS.
North Korea’s bluff on economic achievements would ironically show the urgency it feels to develop its economy.
“The report of the plenary meeting appears to suggest that the five-year plan is falling through and shows the sense of urgency of properly implementing the plan this year,” Cha said, adding North Korea still faces several critical challenges this year.
During the meeting, Kim Jong-un notably said that North Korea would face “heavy yet responsible agony while becoming aware of the strategic importance” of 2022’s projects.
Cha pointed out economic growth was an essential component to consolidate Kim Jong-un’s ruling legitimacy, taking note that the party plenum’s report still highlighted the development of advanced weapons systems as the year’s front-page achievement.
“Fundamentally, Kim Jong-un must present tangible achievements to the North Korean people to reinforce the ruling legitimacy unlike his predecessors, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il,” Cha said. “But there have been no satisfying outcomes. Therefore, Kim Jong-un needs to bet on (economic achievements).”
Agricultural and rural developments
Also noteworthy, Pyongyang put a greater emphasis on agricultural and rural developments and discussed the matters as a separate agenda at the party plenary.
In a nutshell, the major objectives are to establish affluent farming villages and fundamentally improve the rural living environment. Kim Jong-un also personally proposed a 10-year plan to make great strides in developing agricultural productivity, although it was light on details as to how it would get there.
The necessity of pushing ahead agricultural and rural developments stems from the urgency of resolving chronic food shortages as the country faces hurdles in overcoming economic recession aggravated by sanctions and yearslong lockdown measures. The intensified imbalance between urban and rural areas is also a prime reason.
But Choi Eun-ju, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute, pointed out that there were fundamental and overarching reasons behind North Korea’s move to set “long-term” plans to develop rural areas and increase agricultural productivity.
“The plans reflect North Korea’s intent to resolve internal, essential problems to lay the foundation for (a self-sufficient and self-reliant economy) rather than to simply combat the food shortages,” Choi said.
More importantly, the plan for agricultural and rural developments can be seen as North Korea’s state-level response to the changing environments including a shift in diet, the expansion of agricultural land as a result of land reclamation projects.
“Against that backdrop, my view is that North Korea made the general overview of these matters as the necessity for restructuring agriculture was raised.”
Choi said the “new program for socialist rural construction” adopted at the party plenary was North Korea’s move to adapt to the changes in environment. The new program was largely seen as the updated version of the “Theses on the Socialist Rural Question” announced in 1964 by Kim Il-sung.
Although North Korea is expected to maintain lockdown measures and self-imposed isolation, there is a silver lining here.
Analysts have taken notice of North Korea’s plans to reinforce ways and capabilities to switch its epidemic prevention into an advanced and people-oriented one, underscoring the scientific and technological approach.
The plans could suggest North Korea’s openness to receive vaccines and proceed with health and medical cooperation on the COVID-19 vaccine, although it is too early to predict.
“We should keep an eye this year on whether there will be any changes in the way that North Korea implements preventive measures and the changes will lead to opening borders,” Choi said.
11. What lies ahead for Korea’s new president
Key excerpts:
"The biggest difference in their foreign policy is North Korea and the North’s nuclear weapons," said Shin Beom-chul, director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.
"Lee’s side talks about sanctions relief on the premise of a snapback (easing sanctions first and restoring sanctions if promises are not kept). Yoon’s camp talks about phased sanctions relief following North Korea’s practical denuclearization measures," Shin said.
What lies ahead for Korea’s new president
Published : Jan 2, 2022 - 17:30 Updated : Jan 2, 2022 - 20:22
Lee Jae-myung (R), the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party, shares a laugh with Yoon Suk-yeol, the nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, at an event in Seoul marking the 21st anniversary of former President Kim Dae-jung's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize, in the Dec. 9, 2021, file photo. (Yonhap)
The next president, to be elected in March and take office in May, will have a host of urgent issues.
Korea’s economy has been hit hard by the prolonged pandemic. Millions of small business owners and self-employed people are burdened with mounting debts. Housing prices have soared. The deepening US-China rivalry is posing a tricky policy challenge. Relations with the North and with Japan have turned sour.
Whoever becomes a new president, their top priority will, above all, be responding to COVID-19 and the economic recovery, said Seo Jung-kun, a professor at Kyung Hee University’s political science department.
Both Lee and Yoon call for greater support for small business owners and self-employed people, who have been damaged by social restrictions.
The government continues to expand the amount of compensation for losses, but the two candidates say it is not enough. They say up to 100 trillion won ($84 billion) worth of compensation for losses are needed to support the struggling people.
Both are also determined to address the nation’s chronic housing shortages by increasing the supply of houses.
Lee Jae-myung has pledged to come up with “unprecedented housing supply measures that exceed expectations.”
Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to supply 2 million units in the private sector separately from a government-led 500,000 units.
Regarding foreign policy, they share similar stances on stressing the importance of the Korea-US alliance, reciprocal cooperation with China and restoring relations with Japan.
"The biggest difference in their foreign policy is North Korea and the North’s nuclear weapons," said Shin Beom-chul, director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.
"Lee’s side talks about sanctions relief on the premise of a snapback (easing sanctions first and restoring sanctions if promises are not kept). Yoon’s camp talks about phased sanctions relief following North Korea’s practical denuclearization measures," Shin said.
Wi Sung-lac, who chairs the foreign affairs committee of Lee Jae-myung’s presidential campaign, said, "The declaration of the end of the war is one of the peace processes."
Kim Sung-han, who is in charge of diplomatic and security advice at the presidential candidate camp Yoon Suk-yeol, said, “There is a lack of clear explanation why we should do it now.”
If Lee becomes president, he will likely move more preemptively concerning the North Korean issue considering his engagement strategy with North Korea and his diplomatic and security aides, said Professor Seo Jung-kun.
"In the case of Yoon, as a conservative, he is expected to watch the situation of sanctions on North Korea a little more," he said.
"But even for Yoon, he will be pressed to solve the North Korean issue as time passes by and when the economy stabilizes. And, there is a sufficient possibility that he may show a preemptive policy toward North Korea, such as the establishment of a liaison office."
12. Year of the Tiger: Why tigers have a special place in Koreans’ hearts
Some Korean culture for the new year.
Year of the Tiger: Why tigers have a special place in Koreans’ hearts
Published : Jan 2, 2022 - 15:36 Updated : Jan 2, 2022 - 15:37
“Tiger and Magpie” from the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s collection. The painting was created in the 19th century. (NMK)
After winning the John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished children’s book in 2020 with “When You Trap a Tiger,” author Tae Keller said the book was inspired by a folktale that her Korean grandmother used to tell her.
The Korean folktale she was referring to was “The Sun and the Moon” that centers on two siblings and a tiger. Keller’s storybook also includes a tiger from a Korean folklore which appeared at a grandmother’s house to find something that was stolen.
During the exhibition “A Great Cultural Legacy: Masterpieces from the Bequest of the Late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee” at the National Museum of Korea, held from July to September this year, there was a painting of “Tiger and Magpie” from the 19th century during the Joseon era.
“Tiger and Magpie” by Shin Jae-hyun from the 19th century (Leeum Museum of Art)
The appearance of Keller’s tiger character and the tiger in the painting were not mere coincidences. Appearing frequently in Korean legends and art pieces, the animal is considered a national symbol and is associated with humor, bravery and nobility.
According to the Academy of Korean Studies’ database on folk literature, 1,283 stories include animals of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs. Among them, around 40 percent of them have a tiger in them.
During the Joseon era, tigers were considered the strongest beast that can provide protection and also a symbol of a person of virtue, so many hung paintings of the animal in their homes with hopes that they would drive away evil spirits and evoke blessings.
“When You Trap a Tiger” by Tae Keller (Tae Keller’s website)
How did the tiger become so popular?
Tigers have been with Koreans from the very beginning.
The “Dangun Wanggeom” legend, which tells the story of how the first Korean kingdom was established, also has a tiger character in it.
In the legend, a tiger and a bear ask Hwanung -- the son of Hwanin, the lord of heaven -- to transform them into humans. Hwanung tells them they can become human if the two only eat garlic and sacred mugwort for 100 days while staying in a cave without seeing the sunlight. However, the impatient tiger gives up shortly after. The bear stays in the cave and on the 100th day, the bear becomes a woman and later becomes the mother of the founder of Korea’s first nation.
“It makes more sense to have more stories about bears since the legend says that the bear is the one that became human, but it is difficult to see folktales with bears in them in Korea,” National Folk Museum of Korea curator Kim Hyung-joo told The Korea Herald.
Although the specific reason behind the tiger’s influence on Korean culture remains a mystery, Kim said it could be partially due to its familiarity.
“Tiger Under a Pine Tree” by Kim Hong-do from the late 18th century (Leeum Museum of Art)
“There used to be lots of tigers in Korea. Different from now. Now we can only see them in zoos,” Kim said. ”There are also some records written by foreign travelers that show there were lots of tigers on the Korean Peninsula.“
According to Kim, “Korea and Her Neighbors” written by Isabella Bird Bishop around 120 years ago says, “Joseon people hunt tigers for half a year, and tigers hunt Koreans for the other half year.”
“To Koreans, the tiger is an animal that holds the emotions and culture of our people,” National Folk Museum official Kang Kyo-pyo said in the “Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Symbols: Tiger.”
Love for tigers ongoing in K-pop
K-pop boy band SuperM (S.M. Entertainment)
Last year’s hit K-pop song “Tiger is Coming” by traditional Korean music-inspired band Leenalchi also tells a story related to a tiger. It is a reinterpreted song of the verses from the pansori “Sugungga,” a traditional type of narrative singing.
In the song, a turtle who comes on land to get a rabbit’s liver, a cure for an ailing Dragon King, mistakenly calls up a tiger instead and this mistake causes a commotion.
Leenalchi featured this song in the Korea Tourism Organization’s “Feel the Rhythm of Korea” promotional campaign video, which recorded more than 600 million views from around the world.
Popular K-pop boy band SuperM from Korean entertainment giant S.M. Entertainment also released the song “Tiger Inside” in September last year. S.M. Entertainment brought together members from established boy bands under its wing, including EXO, SHINee and NCT 127, to form the group.
“We chose the tiger to show the color of SuperM. It (The tiger) was chosen to show the synergy and concept that the seven members have. The song brings out the inner beast hidden in everyone,” an S.M. Entertainment official told The Korea Herald. “We also created a choreography that was inspired by the movement of a tiger. There is a growling sound in the song itself as well.”
“Tiger Inside,” an art film created jointly by artist Kim Jung-gi and S.M Entertainment’s boy band SuperM. (S.M. Entertainment)
Symbol of Korea
There are lots of illustrated characters and mascots of tigers that show Korea’s national identity.
Local illustration brand Muzik Tiger is a notable example. The brand, which is known for its cute orange tiger character, has been collaborating with various firms like LocknLock, Pascucci, 7-Eleven and Gucci.
Gucci’s emoticons launched in collaboration with local illustration company Muzik Tiger. (Muzik Tiger)
Muzik Tiger CEO Song Eui-sub said he created the character after working in a design team at Hyundai Motor.
“No matter how much we tried to make an American-style or European-style design, it was different from the ones that are created originally from America or Europe. We did not see a good result from them,” Song said. “When we tried blending in a Korean style, that was when we saw some meaningful results.”
Song said this is why when he started his own illustration company, he chooses the tiger, an animal he thinks can show Korea’s identity, to do business.
National Folk Museum of Korea curator Kim explains that the tiger started being a symbol of Korea around the early 20th century, thanks to Choi Nam-seon who was the first person to draw a map of the Korean Peninsula in the shape of a tiger. The map has since sparked a plethora of re-creations.
The symbolic image also became stronger when it was used to represent Korea in international sports events.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, an orange Amur tiger named Hodori became the official mascot. The Seoul Olympic committee at the time said the tiger was chosen because it is a familiar animal to Koreans and has a courageous image.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, a tiger once again appeared as the mascot. Soohorang is a white tiger, which is considered a sacred guardian animal in Korea.
“When the white tiger Soohorang was chosen as the mascot for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, many people called the Soohorang as a direct descendant of the Hodori,” National Folk Museum of Korea curator Kang said in “Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Symbols: Tiger.”
“It is believed that Soohorang has inherited the emotion of the national brand tiger, which has become a symbol of Korea during the Seoul Olympic Games.”
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V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
