Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners

Quotes of the Day:

"Strategy is the indispensable place of strength; it is our most important military resource. We must know how to employ it. To be sure, in the constant tension of the contest, its absence will prove a source of existential danger." (This was created by Ai interpreting Clausewitz)
-Codewitz@codewitz Artificial neural network trained on Clausewitz' “On War” deep-writing tweets. Feat.BonusBots thucy/bernardcodie/mach/sunny/Megatron. Created by @ElenaWicker

"Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket."
- Eric Hoffer

"The answer is simple and stark: the PRC is a coercive, expansionist, hyper-nationalistic, militarily powerful, brutally repressive, fascist, and totalitarian state. According to retired U.S. Navy captain James E. Fanell, “The world has seen what happens when expansionist
totalitarian regimes such as [the PRC] are left unchallenged and unchecked. In the world of this type of hegemon, people are subjects—simply property—of the state, and ideals such as democracy, inalienable rights, limited government, and rule of law have no place.”
- Kerry K. Gershaneck in Political Warfare: Strategies for Combating China’s Plan to “Win Without Fighting”

1.  N. Korea rejects Moon's proposal of end-of-war declaration as 'premature'
2. Press Statement of Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae Song (north Korea)
3. Moon: N. Korea sticks to moratorium on nuclear, ICBM testing, leaving door open for dialogue
4. Kim Yo-jong calls Moon's war-end declaration offer 'admirable idea,' demands end to hostile policy
5. Pentagon 'Open to Discussion' That Ties Formal End of Korean War to Denuclearization
6. Improved missile defense essential to countering North Korea, Iran
7. USFK makes public Teak Knife surgical strike drill amid N.K. military moves
8. U.S. open to 'confidence building' initiatives with N. Korea: Lambert
9. U.S. Senate Denounces 'Rogue' N.Korea as Moon Talks Peace
10. Ruling Party Must Drop Press Gag Bill
11. US Rules Out Redeploying Tactical Nukes to South Korea
12. N. Korea slams Suga for hostile policy, warns next leader against following in his footsteps
13. U.N. rapporteur voices concern media bill would hurt South Korea's reputation on press freedom
14. No talks if South 'provokes': North Korea
15. North Korea Calls Peace-Deal Proposal by South’s Moon Jae-in Premature
16. Defector caught trying to return to N. Korea
17. Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan reconfirm differences on history




1. N. Korea rejects Moon's proposal of end-of-war declaration as 'premature'
No surprise here. The Moon administration wants a peace regime and end of war declaration more than Kim Jong-un.

This is the key point that we should all keep in mind because if we do declare the end of the war this is exactly how the regime will view it -"a worthless scrap of paper."  The regime is telegraphing exactly what it will do when a worthless scrap of paper is signed. It will be a smokescreen for continued subversion of the ROK and for continued military preparations. We should know that an end of war declaration will not enhance the security of the ROK in any way and in fact will make the ROK more vulnerable to both subversion and use of force.

Excerpts:

Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae-song made the rejection in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, saying that an end-of-war declaration has "no legal binding force" and will "become a mere scrap of paper in a moment upon changes in situations."
...
He stressed that the withdrawal of the U.S. hostile policy is the "top priority" in bringing peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula.
"It should be clearly understood that the declaration of the termination of the war is of no help at all to stabilizing the situation of the Korean peninsula at the moment but can rather be misused as a smokescreen covering up the U.S. hostile policy," he said.

(LEAD) N. Korea rejects Moon's proposal of end-of-war declaration as 'premature' | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · September 24, 2021
(ATTN: ADDS more info throughout, photo)
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Friday rejected President Moon Jae-in's proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 war as "something premature," arguing that such a declaration would be meaningless as long as the U.S. "hostile policy" remains unchanged.
Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae-song made the rejection in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, saying that an end-of-war declaration has "no legal binding force" and will "become a mere scrap of paper in a moment upon changes in situations."
"There is no vouch that the mere declaration of the termination of the war would lead to the withdrawal of the hostile policy toward the DPRK, under the present situation on the peninsula inching close to a touch-and-go situation," he said.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
During his United Nations speech earlier this week, Moon proposed the two Koreas and the United States, possibly joined by China, declare a formal end to the 1950-53 war, saying it will mark a pivotal point of departure in creating a new order of reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.

In the statement, Ri said that the declaration will entail "disastrous consequences" that could upset the strategic balance in the region and push the two Koreas into an unending arms race.
He stressed that the withdrawal of the U.S. hostile policy is the "top priority" in bringing peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula.
"It should be clearly understood that the declaration of the termination of the war is of no help at all to stabilizing the situation of the Korean peninsula at the moment but can rather be misused as a smokescreen covering up the U.S. hostile policy," he said.
Ri also took issue with Washington's test-firing of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in February and August, and its recent decision to help build nuclear-powered submarines for Australia.
"The DPRK's just measures to bolster up the capability for defense to cope with the U.S. military threat to bring us down by force are described as 'provocations' while the arms buildup escalated by the U.S. and its vassal forces to threaten the DPRK is justified as 'deterrent,'" he said.
The North recently fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea following a long-range cruise missile test, raising concerns the latest launch could ratchet up tensions on the peninsula.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · September 24, 2021



3.  

Here is the entire statmenton the end of war declaration proposal from the Moon administration.

Key excerpts:

But the true situation proves that the adoption of the declaration of the termination of the war is something premature.

The whole world knows that the Minuteman-3 ICBM test-launch in Vandenberg air force base in California in the U.S. mainland in February and August this year, the hasty declaration of the termination of the U.S.-south Korea missile guidelines in May this year and the U.S. approval for the sale of billions of dollars worth military hardware to Japan and south Korea are all targeted against the DPRK.

We are also following with alert the U.S. recent decision to transfer a nuclear-powered submarine building technology to Australia.

There is no vouch that the mere declaration of the termination of the war would lead to the withdrawal of the hostile policy toward the DPRK, under the present situation on the peninsula inching close to a touch-and-go situation.

It is by no means accidental that some view that starting discussion about it seems difficult at the moment, given differing interests and methods of calculation of relevant parties over the declaration of the termination of the war.

Underlying all the issues cropping up on the Korean peninsula is, without exception, the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK.

Press Statement of Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae Song
Pyongyang, September 24 (KCNA) -- Ri Thae Song, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, issued the following press statement on September 23:

The issue of the declaration of the termination of the war on the Korean peninsula has emerged again at the 76th UN General Assembly.

It holds a symbolic meaning in that it is a political declaration of the termination of the ceasefire that the Korean peninsula has been in so far.

And it is clear that the termination of the war is what has to be dealt with for the establishment of peace-keeping mechanism on the peninsula in the future.

It will be truly admirable if peace comes to the Korean peninsula just by relevant parties holding a ceremony while having photos taken with the declaration document on the termination of war of no legal binding force.

But the true situation proves that the adoption of the declaration of the termination of the war is something premature.

The whole world knows that the Minuteman-3 ICBM test-launch in Vandenberg air force base in California in the U.S. mainland in February and August this year, the hasty declaration of the termination of the U.S.-south Korea missile guidelines in May this year and the U.S. approval for the sale of billions of dollars worth military hardware to Japan and south Korea are all targeted against the DPRK.

We are also following with alert the U.S. recent decision to transfer a nuclear-powered submarine building technology to Australia.

There is no vouch that the mere declaration of the termination of the war would lead to the withdrawal of the hostile policy toward the DPRK, under the present situation on the peninsula inching close to a touch-and-go situation.

It is by no means accidental that some view that starting discussion about it seems difficult at the moment, given differing interests and methods of calculation of relevant parties over the declaration of the termination of the war.

Underlying all the issues cropping up on the Korean peninsula is, without exception, the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK.

The U.S. forces and a huge number of its latest war assets which have already been deployed or are in the state of movement on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, including the ground, waters, air and underwater, and war drills annually held with various codenames all point to the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK getting vicious day by day.

The DPRK's just measures to bolster up the capability for defence to cope with the U.S. military threat to bring us down by force are described as "provocations" while the arms buildup escalated by the U.S. and its vassal forces to threaten the DPRK is justified as "deterrent". Such American-style double-dealing attitude is also a product of the hostile policy toward the DPRK.

Nothing will change as long as the political circumstances around the DPRK remains unchanged and the U.S. hostile policy is not shifted, although the termination of the war is declared hundreds of times.

On the contrary, the declaration will entail disastrous consequences of upsetting the strategic balance in the region and plunging the north and the south into an unending arms race, given the U.S.-south Korea alliance getting ever-toughened.

What's clear is that as long as there remains the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK, the biggest stumbling block in ending the war, the termination of the war will merely be nominal even though it is declared.

All these facts prove that it is still too early to declare the termination of the war.

It should be clearly understood that the declaration of the termination of the war is of no help at all to stabilizing the situation of the Korean peninsula at the moment but can rather be misused as a smokescreen covering up the U.S. hostile policy.

We have already clarified our official stand that the declaration of the termination of the war is not a "present" and it can become a mere scrap of paper in a moment upon changes in situations.

The U.S. withdrawal of its double-standards and hostile policy is top priority in stabilizing the situation of the Korean peninsula and ensuring peace on it. -0-



3. Moon: N. Korea sticks to moratorium on nuclear, ICBM testing, leaving door open for dialogue

A pretty low bar - no nuclear or ICBM testing and all is well.  But developing offensive missile and rocket systems for use in wartime to target ROK and US military bases in South Korea progresses with no push back..

Moon: N. Korea sticks to moratorium on nuclear, ICBM testing, leaving door open for dialogue | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · September 24, 2021
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in has said North Korea is maintaining its own moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, apparently leaving the door open for dialogue.
Pyongyang seems to be making "various considerations," refraining from taking serious provocative acts that would lead the United States to give up dialogue, Moon said in his rare in-flight press briefing on his way back to Seoul on Thursday following a five-day visit to New York and Hawaii.
He was explaining the background of his reiterated proposal for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War during his U.N. General Assembly speech earlier this week.
"I think it is time to hold dialogue again with North Korea quickly," and the U.S. has also expressed its "strong will" to do so, Moon emphasized.

There has been no significant dialogue with North Korea since the no-deal Hanoi summit in early 2019 between its leader Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump. There is a realistic problem as well in holding inter-Korean talks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
If the "dialogue vacuum" prolongs, various types of "crisis situations" may be created and peace and stability could be shaken, he said.
The North recently fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea following a long-range cruise missile test.
But North Korea engaged just in "low-intensity" acts of escalating tensions, which are not serious enough to make the U.S. abandon dialogue, maintaining the self-imposed moratorium on nuclear testing and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches, according to Moon.
"It appears to be making various considerations, keeping the door for dialogue open," he said.
Moon said he is not sure how the security situations will unfold, although Pyongyang is expected to conclude taking the path of dialogue and diplomacy would be in its interests.
The president said he has once again offered the end-of-war declaration at the U.N. since the time has come that dialogue is necessary again.
Regarding signatories to the war-ending declaration, Moon said the two Koreas and the U.S. need to make the push and China can join it if it wants.
He dismissed the view that some of the parties are lukewarm toward the suggestion.
"There is a consensus that the end-of-war declaration is necessary," he said, calling for a "more strategic consideration" on the timing of using the card in two-track negotiations on denuclearization and a process for a peace treaty.
Such a political declaration is different from a peace treaty itself, and it means entering talks on it without any change in related "legal status," the president pointed out.
It has nothing to do with the issues of the withdrawal of the U.S. Forces Korea and their alliance, as officially ending the conflict and normalizing Washington-Pyongyang relations are associated with the signing of a peace treaty, he added.
Moon said he had hoped for a breakthrough in stalled inter-Korean relations on the occasion of this year's U.N. General Assembly meeting, with the two Koreas marking the 30th anniversary of becoming U.N. members simultaneously.
"However, it was not done as intended," he said.
Asked about the possibility of the government easing social distancing rules in a new campaign to live with the coronavirus, he said it will be able to make public a relevant plan "around next month."
More than 70 percent of South Koreans are expected to be fully vaccinated by the end of October. He was also confident that South Korea will have sufficient vaccines secured, going forward.
On the ruling Democratic Party's controversial push for legislation on imposing heavier punishment against news outlets deliberately publishing false or fabricated news, the president agreed on the need to take into account concerns raised by the media, civic groups and the international community.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이치동 · September 24, 2021


4. Kim Yo-jong calls Moon's war-end declaration offer 'admirable idea,' demands end to hostile policy
The Moon administration has walked into the regime's political warfare trap. What Kim Yo-jong and the regime are doing is using Moon's call for an end of war declaration and a peace regime to point to the presence of US forces in the peninsula (the US ``hostile policy") as the impediment to peace. They are using this to give "ammunition" to progressives in South Korea and even select members of the US congress along with organizations such Women Across DMZ to be able to argue that the problem on the Korean peninsula is the presence of US forces.

The regime can use this to drive a wedge in the ROK/US alliance - they are blaming the US for being the reason why Moon's peace agenda cannot be accomplished.  

We must call attention to the regime's strategy and make the press, the politicians, the pundits, and the public in both South Korea and the US understand what Kim is trying to do.


(2nd LD) Kim Yo-jong calls Moon's war-end declaration offer 'admirable idea,' demands end to hostile policy | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · September 24, 2021
(ATTN: REVISES headline; ADDS expert's comments in paras 14-16)
By Koh Byung-joon
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Friday that President Moon Jae-in's proposal to declare a formal end to the Korean War is an "admirable idea" and Pyongyang is willing to discuss improving inter-Korean relations if Seoul ceases to be hostile toward it.
Kim Yo-jong stressed, however, that the right conditions should be created first before an end-of-war declaration is adopted, such as the removal of what she called "inveterate hostile policy and unequal double standards" toward the North.
Her statement came just hours after a vice foreign minister of the North dismissed Moon's end-of-war declaration proposal as "something premature," saying such a declaration would end up as nothing more than a scrap of paper as long as the U.S. hostile policy remains unchanged.
While the earlier statement from Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae-song appeared to be geared toward the United States, the statement from the North Korean leader's sister was seen as targeted more toward South Korea.
"The declaration of the termination of the war is an interesting and an admirable idea. ... But it is necessary to look into whether it is the right time now and whether there are conditions ripe for discussing this issue," Kim said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"Now double-dealing standards, prejudice and hostile policies toward the DPRK and speeches and acts antagonizing us persist. Under such situation it does not make any sense to declare the end of the war with all the things, which may become a seed of a war between parties that had been at odds for more than half a century, left intact," she added.
DPRK stands for the North's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kim said that such preconditions should be met first before both Koreas will be able to sit down face-to-face to have meaningful discussions on the matter.
Kim also said that North Korea is willing to discuss improvements in inter-Korean relations but that is also contingent upon whether South Korea stops applying double standards and hostile policy toward the North.
"We have willingness to keep our close contacts with the South again and have constructive discussion with it about the restoration and development of the bilateral relations if it is careful about its future language and not hostile toward us," she said.
Inter-Korean relations have significantly chilled since North Korea blew up a liaison office in its border town of Kaesong and cut off all cross-border communication lines in June last year.
The communication lines were back online briefly in late July, but the North did not respond to Seoul's regular calls again in protest of summertime joint military drills by South Korea and the United States, which Pyongyang usually denounces as a rehearsal for invasion.
North Korea has recently heightened tensions by test-firing a new type of long-range cruise missile, which was followed by ballistic missile launches.
Some cautiously raised the possibility North Korea could respond to calls for dialogue as indicated by its previous pattern of turning conciliatory after such military drills ended.
"North Korea has a track record of demonstrating a very hawkish stance during joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S., and then becoming conciliatory after the drills were over," said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute.
"In view of Kim Yo-jong's statement, the possibility has risen North Korea could restore the inter-Korean communication lines at an appropriate time and come out for dialogue with the South on occasion of such events as the Beijing Winter Olympics," he added.
The two Koreas are still technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · September 24, 2021


5. Pentagon 'Open to Discussion' That Ties Formal End of Korean War to Denuclearization
I would ask my DOD friends to please understand the north Korean strategy and understand the pressure that progressive inthe ROK and some organizations in the US and even members of Congress are going to exert to try and remove US troops from the peninsula. And beyond DOD we need a strategic communications plan to counter the north Korean political warfare strategy.

Unfortunately Matt Armstrong point this out:

Matt Armstrong
@mountainrunner
A reminder the admin has not nominated an Under Sec for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs or USAGM CEO, hired a VOA Dir or GEC chief… suggests the overall PD / info portfolio is ill-understood, not a priority, or “too confusing.” https://tinyletter.com/Mountainrunner/letters/corrected-whither-public-diplomacy-1

I recommend reading Matt's paper on Public Diplomacy here: https://tinyletter.com/Mountainrunner/letters/corrected-whither-public-diplomacy-1
Pentagon 'Open to Discussion' That Ties Formal End of Korean War to Denuclearization
military.com · by David Choi · September 23, 2021
The United States is open to discussing the possibility of formally ending the Korean War in an effort to achieve "the complete denuclearization of the peninsula," the Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.
"The United States remains committed to achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy with North Korea," John Kirby told reporters during a press briefing. "We continue to seek engagement with [North Korea] to address a variety of issues."
Kirby added that "we're open to a discussion about an end of war declaration," but qualified his remarks by noting that the ultimate goal is to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons.
"We know that this is a complex issue, and we're committed to supporting the role of our diplomats in having that kind of dialogue going forward," he said.
Although the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, the U.S. and South Korea technically remain at war with communist North Korea. Wartime hostilities have ended but the North is still subjected to international sanctions due to its development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons programs.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has floated the idea of formally ending the conflict throughout his tenure. Most recently, Moon renewed his call for the armistice signatories to "come together and declare that the war on the Korean Peninsula is over" during a speech before the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
"When the parties involved in the Korean War stand together and proclaim an end to the war, I believe we can make irreversible progress in denuclearization and usher in an era of complete peace," he said in his speech.
Moon also broached the subject during a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018, when the two leaders signed a document to "declare the end of war" that same year.
Formally ending the Korean War has led to some concerns among policy-watchers, particularly in light of Pyongyang's continued development of its weapons programs. It test-fired cruise missiles and ballistic missiles this month, and evidence it restarted its nuclear reactor also came to light in August.
The "biggest beneficiary" to the war's end would be Moon and his political party, according to professor Sung-Yoon Lee of the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
"All these illusory, very promising signs would boost Moon Jae-in and his supporters' approval rating," Lee told Stars and Stripes in a phone interview Thursday.
Lee cautioned that formally ending the war would be "basically meaningless to the United States," adding that it may be "playing right into Kim Jong Un's game plan."
Lee said an end-of-war declaration and a possible peace treaty with North Korea would call into question the legitimacy of the United Nations Command and the presence of American troops in South Korea. Roughly 28,500 U.S. service members are stationed on the peninsula to "deter aggression" and defend South Korea, ostensibly from the North, according to a statement from U.S. Forces Korea's website.
"Why would North Korea be so interested in another paper agreement when it has violated ... virtually every single major international agreement it's signed?" Lee said.
military.com · by David Choi · September 23, 2021


6. Improved missile defense essential to countering North Korea, Iran

Our allies need to improve their missile defenses. And we need to include developing increased integrated missile defense capabilities without allies.


Improved missile defense essential to countering North Korea, Iran
The Hill · by Patty-Jane Geller, Opinion Contributor · September 23, 2021

Earlier this month, the House Armed Services Committee unanimously agreed to an amendment expressing support for deploying the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) before the end of the decade. The NGI is intended to upgrade the nation’s homeland missile defense.
Consistent with longstanding policy from both Democratic and Republican administrations, the next-generation system would give our missile defenses the additional capacity and capabilities needed to keep ahead of growing ballistic missile threats from rogue states such as North Korea or Iran. The committee’s bipartisan support is reassuring in the face of calls to limit U.S. homeland defense.
America’s limited intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) defenses are clearly designed to defend against rogue states with only modest nuclear-strike capacity. Our defenses would be quickly overwhelmed by adversaries with large numbers of nuclear-armed long-range missiles. Yet Russia and China claim that advancements to U.S. missile defense would negate their abilities to successfully retaliate against a U.S. first nuclear strike. Thus, they say, next-gen defenses would disrupt any concepts of assured retaliation, and harm stability among great powers.
Some advocacy groups have echoed this accusation. They want the U.S. to agree to Russia’s demand for missile defense limitations in a future arms control agreement.
But as many in Congress recognize, NGI would make necessary upgrades to our defense against rogue threats without impacting strategic stability with peer competitors.
For one, the administration plans to field only 20 NGIs to augment the current inventory of 44 ground-based interceptors. That deployment could not possibly defuse Russia’s arsenal of around 1,550 warheads deployed on hundreds of ground-, sea- and air-based platforms. Such is simple math.
Similarly, the notion that adding 20 more interceptors by the end of the decade is somehow driving Beijing’s strategic breakout is nonsensical. So is the idea that 64 interceptors could keep pace with the burgeoning Chinese missile threat, which is now expected to exceed Russia’s capabilities as China builds hundreds of new missile silos.
To change the strategic stability calculus with Russia and China would require much larger numbers of interceptors, which the United States has no plans to acquire.
But this modest 20-interceptor increase is necessary to outpace the rogue state threat and retain a measure of insurance against deterrence failure. Congress initially agreed to this increase to defend against North Korea’s growing ballistic missile arsenal and a potential future Iranian capability. It hedges against the real possibility that the U.S. inventory will fall behind these threats.
But more important than this capacity boost are NGI’s capability upgrades. Compared to our current ground-based interceptors, which were fielded rapidly utilizing prototypes dating to the 1990s and repurposing other boosters, NGI will be specifically tailored to the missile defense mission.
For instance, NGI will carry multiple kill vehicles and advanced sensor and discrimination capability, meaning that a single NGI can more reliably defeat countermeasures or decoys, or potentially intercept multiple warheads.
Opponents may claim that the ability to intercept multiple warheads at once means the NGI can strike down a large number of incoming missiles. As a result, they say, NGI can affect a Russian or Chinese retaliatory strike, leading to that purported instability.
This claim is physically not true. The multiple-kill vehicle capability is needed to defeat multiple objects released from a single missile, not to defeat several missiles simultaneously.
As North Korea improves its capabilities to add multiple warheads and decoys to its ballistic missiles, an interceptor with a single-kill vehicle may no longer suffice to defend against even one missile.
Multiple-kill vehicles are therefore required to keep up with North Korean missile advancements. But as with its capacity increase, NGI’s multiple-kill vehicle capability could simply not match the decoys, penetration aids and multiple warheads carried by hundreds of Russian and Chinese missiles.
NGI will also have improved on-board sensor capabilities to detect and discriminate among incoming objects. As Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks testified before the Senate, advanced sensor and discrimination capabilities should take priority. Seeing the incoming threat is the first step to deterring attack — or if deterrence fails, denying the attack.
While the United States relies on nuclear deterrence to defend against Russia and China, it has long maintained the policy to maintain a missile defense system that outpaces the rogue state threat — and for good reason.
Missile defense can instill doubt in a rogue state that its plan will succeed. By removing the credibility of a homeland attack option, missile defense can prevent coercion or blackmail strategies used by rogue states to extract concessions from the U.S.
To continue to reap these benefits, the U.S. needs NGI to address the growing North Korean and potential Iranian threats. False accusations and claims about strategic stability should not interfere with the prudent and bipartisan pursuit of better defending the U.S.
Patty-Jane Geller is a policy analyst specializing in nuclear deterrence and missile defense at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense.
The Hill · by Patty-Jane Geller, Opinion Contributor · September 23, 2021


7. USFK makes public Teak Knife surgical strike drill amid N.K. military moves
Tactical readiness training with strategic messaging. SOCKOR and AFSOC punching above their weight.

(LEAD) USFK makes public Teak Knife surgical strike drill amid N.K. military moves | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · September 24, 2021
(ATTN: ADDS more info in para 5)
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. military in South Korea conducted a surgical strike drill simulating targeted attacks on major North Korean facilities, officials said Friday, amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the North's missiles launches.
The Exercise Teak Knife was conducted at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Sept. 13, which provided opportunities for U.S. special tactics airmen "to practice skillsets used in special operations across the Indo-Pacific," the U.S. Special Operations Command Korea said in its recent Facebook post.
The program included "a free fall insert, C-130J tactical landing, and fast rope insertions from three MH-60 Seahawks," and many garrison units and U.S. Navy members also took part in the exercise, which "maximized unit and individual readiness," it added.
The U.S. military has carried out the exercise regularly since the 1990s, often together with South Korean troops, but it is unusual for it to make the matter public. The exercise involves simulated attacks on key facilities in North Korea, such as its missile and nuclear installations, according to the officials.
The exercise took place one day after North Korea test-launched a new type of long-range cruise missile, and the command uploaded the post on Sept. 15 when the North fired two ballistic missiles in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The last time the U.S. military announced the details of the exercise was 2017. Peace efforts involving North Korea gathered pace in 2018, when the U.S.-North Korea summit was held for the first time ever.
Amid stalled denuclearization talks with the U.S., North Korea has been gradually heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula in recent months. In protest over the regular summertime exercise between South Korea and the U.S., Pyongyang last month warned of "a serious security crisis," and test-fired missiles earlier this month for the first time in nearly six months.
The North has also shown signs of restarting a plutonium-producing reactor and expanding uranium enrichment facilities at its mainstay Yongbyon nuclear complex. Earlier this week, Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said North Korea's nuclear program "goes full steam."

graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · September 24, 2021


8. U.S. open to 'confidence building' initiatives with N. Korea: Lambert
Mark Lambert covered a lot of ground last evening. Kudos to the Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) for hosting him.

Of course the focus of reporting is on north Korea but he also made these important comments. He has a tough job working on the relationship between Japan and the ROK.

Excerpts:
On the South Korea-Japan relationship, the U.S. official in charge of both countries at the State Department said it was in the best interest of his country to see the two U.S. allies work closely with each other.
"When our two closest allies in Asia have disagreements, it makes the United States less secure -- plain and simple. So that's not in our national interest to have the ROK and Japan fighting out," he said of the ongoing row between Seoul and Tokyo over what many South Koreans believe to be Japan's attempt to whitewash its war atrocities, such as sexual slavery and forced labor.
"The issues of the 20th century, particularly those surrounding World War II have to be addressed. We understand that. But we think it is very important we also work together to address the issues of the 21st century."


U.S. open to 'confidence building' initiatives with N. Korea: Lambert | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · September 24, 2021
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- The United States is open to engaging with North Korea in confidence building initiatives that may include humanitarian assistance, a senior U.S. diplomat said Thursday.
Mark Lambert, deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and South Korea, also reiterated the U.S. will go "anywhere" to talk with North Korea.
"We've made it very clear to Pyongyang. We will go anywhere. We will talk to the North Koreans anywhere. There are no strings attached. But unfortunately, they have not responded to date," Lambert said in a webinar hosted by the Institute for Corean-American Studies think tank.
"Moreover, we are open to exploring meaningful confidence building initiatives with the North," he added.

The remark comes shortly after Pyongyang again accused the U.S. of having a hostile intent toward it.
Rejecting South Korean President Moon Jae-in's recent proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, North Korea's vice foreign minister, Ri Thae-song, said the U.S. should first withdraw its hostile policy toward the North.
"We have already clarified our official stand that the declaration of the termination of the war is not a 'present,' and it can become a mere scrap of paper in a moment upon changes in situations," Ri said in a statement carried Friday (Seoul time) by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
"The U.S. withdrawal of its double-standards and hostile policy is top priority in stabilizing the situation of the Korean peninsula and ensuring peace on it," he added.
Lambert said the U.S. will support the provision of humanitarian assistance to the North, "regardless of progress on denuclearization."
"We are prepared to work cooperatively with the DPRK to address humanitarian concerns. We will continue to support the provision of humanitarian aid, consistent with international standards for access and monitoring, to the most vulnerable North Koreans, regardless of progress on denuclearization," he said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The top nuclear negotiators of South Korea and the U.S. earlier said the two countries may provide humanitarian assistance to the North as part of efforts to bring the impoverished nation back to the dialogue table.
North Korea has stayed away from denuclearization negotiations since early 2019.
Lambert said there could be multiple reasons why North Koreans remain unresponsive to U.S. overtures but stressed they should first talk to the U.S. if they wish to make progress.
"If the North Koreans want sanctions relief, if the North Koreans want a brighter economic future, if the North Koreans want to be accepted in the international community, sit down and talk to us about it," said Lambert.
"If we could sit down with the North and get a sense of what it is they want and stop guessing, I think we can make some progress," he added.
On the South Korea-Japan relationship, the U.S. official in charge of both countries at the State Department said it was in the best interest of his country to see the two U.S. allies work closely with each other.
"When our two closest allies in Asia have disagreements, it makes the United States less secure -- plain and simple. So that's not in our national interest to have the ROK and Japan fighting out," he said of the ongoing row between Seoul and Tokyo over what many South Koreans believe to be Japan's attempt to whitewash its war atrocities, such as sexual slavery and forced labor.
"The issues of the 20th century, particularly those surrounding World War II have to be addressed. We understand that. But we think it is very important we also work together to address the issues of the 21st century."
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · September 24, 2021

9. U.S. Senate Denounces 'Rogue' N.Korea as Moon Talks Peace

Sanity in the Senate.

Also a routine Joint Combined Exercise and Training event is getting a lot of attention.

Excerpts:
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forces Korea revealed it conducted a strike drill targeting North Korean facilities at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on Sept. 13, right after the North test-fired new cruise missiles the previous two days.
In the drill dubbed operation "Teak Knife," commandos from the U.S. Special Operations Command carried out nighttime infiltration training. It was a stark warning to North Korea against stepping up provocations.
C-130J transport aircraft and MH-60 helicopters also flew in from the U.S. mainland and the Indo-Pacific Command in Japan.
U.S. Senate Denounces 'Rogue' N.Korea as Moon Talks Peace
September 24, 2021 13:58
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday issued a warning against "rogue state" North Korea's development of nuclear weapons that threaten the U.S. and its allies.
The warning came after the International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this week said the North is resuming production of weapons-grade nuclear materials.
In a report as part of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act submitted on Wednesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee said North Korea "continues to pursue publicly announced plans to develop miniaturized nuclear warheads, tactical nuclear weapons, multiple independently targetable nuclear reentry vehicles for missiles, solid-fuel ballistic missiles of varying ranges, nuclear propulsion systems for submarines, and hypersonic boost-glide vehicles to threaten the United States and its allies in the region."
U.S. soldiers take part in a drill at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on Sept. 13.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forces Korea revealed it conducted a strike drill targeting North Korean facilities at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on Sept. 13, right after the North test-fired new cruise missiles the previous two days.
In the drill dubbed operation "Teak Knife," commandos from the U.S. Special Operations Command carried out nighttime infiltration training. It was a stark warning to North Korea against stepping up provocations.
C-130J transport aircraft and MH-60 helicopters also flew in from the U.S. mainland and the Indo-Pacific Command in Japan.
Meanwhile, North Korea rejected President Moon Jae-in's proposal at the UN General Assembly in New York to formally end the Korean War, calling it "something premature."
The official [North] Korean Central News Agency on Friday quoted Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae-song as saying, "Nothing will change as long as the political circumstances around [North Korea] remain unchanged and the U.S. hostile policy is not shifted, although the termination of the war is declared hundreds of times."

  • Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com

10. Ruling Party Must Drop Press Gag Bill
Yes it must. Do not undermine the legitimacy of South Korean democracy.

Excerpt:

Faced with mounting criticism from within Korea and abroad, the MP last month agreed to postpone the bill until Sept. 27 and opted to form a consultative group with the opposition. But nobody in the ruling party appears interested in revising or removing the most contentious parts. No solution can be found simply by fiddling with the embroidery. Korea's major journalists' associations on Thursday urged lawmakers to "immediately halt related discussions." When will the ruling party realize it has made a colossal mistake?

Ruling Party Must Drop Press Gag Bill
The International Press Institute, whose members include journalist from 120 countries around the world, at its congress in Vienna on Sept. 17 passed a resolution condemning Korea's planned media gag law that ostensibly aims to quell "fake news." The IPI included Korea among such egregious violators as China and Pakistan as targets of its condemnation. It was referring to the media reform bill the ruling Minjoo Party hopes to pass before the next presidential election to stifle criticism of the government’s dismal performance and corruption in its ranks. The MP floor leader accused the IPI of being "ignorant" and tried to push the bill through again on Thursday, but the condemnation clearly shows that journalists around the world are keeping a close eye on Korea as it attempts to suppress media freedom, just as China is doing in Hong Kong, the military junta in Myanmar and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
A whole slew of august international bodies have condemned the bill. The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, International Federation of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders also said such a law, which would make reporters liable to huge punitive fines in civil suits, should be unimaginable in a democratic country. Even the Office for the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights has blasted the bill as "utterly disproportionate" and limiting "a wide range of expression." Here, the National Assembly Research Service pointed out that punitive compensation for media reporting is unprecedented in major countries unless other laws have been breached, and a vice minister of culture and sports admitted such steps are "unprecedented." The National Human Rights Commission also said the bill threatens to suppress media freedom.
Faced with mounting criticism from within Korea and abroad, the MP last month agreed to postpone the bill until Sept. 27 and opted to form a consultative group with the opposition. But nobody in the ruling party appears interested in revising or removing the most contentious parts. No solution can be found simply by fiddling with the embroidery. Korea's major journalists' associations on Thursday urged lawmakers to "immediately halt related discussions." When will the ruling party realize it has made a colossal mistake?


11. US Rules Out Redeploying Tactical Nukes to South Korea

Good statement from Mark Lambert.

I would ask, what deters Kim Jong-un? WIll tactical nuclear weapons (which by policy we would not confirm or deny the presence of) deter Kim Jong-un? Would they provide a significant benefit to warfighting if north Korea attacked the South? Are they necessary? Or is the idea simply a "feel good" that provides some psychological satisfaction for those who advocate for their presences? 
US Rules Out Redeploying Tactical Nukes to South Korea
September 24, 2021 2:20 AM
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA —
The United States would not support redeploying tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea, or a nuclear weapons sharing arrangement with Seoul, according to a U.S. State Department official, after a leading South Korean presidential candidate proposed the move.
“All I can say is, U.S. policy would not support that. And I would be surprised that the people who issued that policy don't know -- or [who] issued those statements -- don't know what U.S. policy is,” said Mark Lambert, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and Korea, in an online forum.
The statement was in response to a question about Yoon Seok-youl, a conservative South Korean presidential candidate, who this week said he would ask Washington to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons or agree to a nuclear-sharing deal if South Korea were threatened by North Korea.
The U.S. withdrew tactical nuclear weapons, sometimes known as battlefield nuclear weapons, from South Korea in the early 1990s. Conservative South Korean politicians have for years called for their redeployment, especially as North Korea has expanded its own nuclear weapons program.
Yoon appears to be the biggest name in South Korean politics to recently make such a call. Opinion polls suggest Yoon, a former prosecutor general, would be locked in a tight race with Lee Jae-myung, a left-leaning provincial governor, for the presidential election in March. Both appear to be frontrunners to become nominees of their parties.
“It is not the first time for a conservative politician to make that promise. But certainly Yoon is the first leading candidate to do it,” said Lee Sang-sin, a political science expert at the Seoul-based Korean Institute for National Unification.
Nearly 70% of South Koreans support the country developing its own nuclear capability, suggested a poll released earlier this month by South Korea’s Asan Institute, a research organization. That finding is broadly in line with other polls on the issue, said Lee, who focuses on public opinion.
“Given the geopolitics and North Korea, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Of course, the public doesn’t understand the complexity and the possible costs of nukes. We have been under the nuclear threat from North Korea for so long, and it’s natural that people want something that makes them feel safe,” he added.
South Korea briefly pursued a nuclear weapons program in the 1970s, amid questions at the time about Washington’s long-term commitment to protect Seoul.
More recently, South Korean conservatives have either called for the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons, or a NATO-style arrangement in which South Koreans would be trained to deliver U.S. nuclear weapons in a conflict.
Either scenario is unlikely, according to Eric Brewer, a former White House National Security Council official who now focuses on nuclear policy at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“It would go against the [Biden] administration’s goal of reducing the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. strategy,” Brewer said. “And I don’t think they would view it as necessary to deter North Korea, which I happen to agree with.
“But I think this highlights that these calls for the return of U.S. nuclear weapons will continue. And may get louder, especially as North Korea continues to improve its nuclear arsenal,” he added.
Although South Korea’s conventional forces are vastly superior to the North’s, Seoul does not have nuclear weapons. Instead, it is under the so-called nuclear umbrella of the U.S., which has nuclear-capable forces in the wider region.
Some in South Korea are worried about long-term overreliance on U.S. protection, especially after experiencing former President Donald Trump's “America First” foreign policy (()), which strained the alliance.
“I understand those concerns and navigating them is going to be a challenge for the United States and South Korea,” said Brewer, who thinks the redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons would be unhelpful.
“But I think for those arguing for this in South Korea, it’s not about deterrence, but about assurance. It is psychological. It’s about the U.S. providing an unambiguous signal that the U.S. has South Korea’s back, and keeping the U.S. closely tied to the peninsula,” he said.
The United States is not the only country opposed to redeploying nuclear weapons to South Korea. Asked about Yoon’s nuclear weapons proposal, a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a briefing Thursday that such calls are "irresponsible."


12. N. Korea slams Suga for hostile policy, warns next leader against following in his footsteps

The Kim family regime spares no one with its criticism.

N. Korea slams Suga for hostile policy, warns next leader against following in his footsteps | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · September 24, 2021
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Friday accused Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of pursuing a "hostile policy" toward the North, warning the country's next leader against following in his footsteps.
In a post written by an individual researcher on Japan on its website, the North's foreign ministry said that Suga, along with his predecessor Shinzo Abe, should be entirely blamed for causing the relations between Pyongyang and Tokyo to fall to the "worst status ever."
"Suga and Abe deserve curse and accusation from our people forever for being endlessly bent on seeking the meanest and most barbarous containment machinations against North Korea," the ministry said. "Suga and Abe are among those who caused the ties between North Korea and Japan to fall to the worse status ever."
Suga earlier offered to resign as Japan's prime minister, and the process of electing the new chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who will serve as the next premier, is expected to take place later this month.
The ministry warned Japan's next leader not to repeat Suga's mistake of seeking a hostile policy toward the North.
"Politicians running for next LDP chairman have obviously demonstrated their intentions to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors' hostile policy toward the North," the ministry said.
"Should they continue to cling to such hostile policy, the only thing that they could get would be an abjectly crushing defeat."
kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · September 24, 2021



13. U.N. rapporteur voices concern media bill would hurt South Korea's reputation on press freedom

I hope the ROK ruling party heeds this warning.

U.N. rapporteur voices concern media bill would hurt South Korea's reputation on press freedom | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 김승연 · September 24, 2021
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean media bill under criticism for potentially undermining press freedom, if passed, could give a "negative message" to the world about the country's stance on freedom of media, a U.N. expert said Friday.
Irene Khan, a U.N. special rapporteur on promoting the right to freedom of expression, made the remark during a virtual press briefing, weeks after she sent a letter to the Seoul government calling for a revision of the bill.
The legislation, titled Press Arbitration Act, calls for punitive damages up to five times more than usual if a media outlet is found guilty of running false or manipulated news reports. Critics argue the bill could be used to silence critical media.
"I am afraid that if this amendment is adopted with this kind of disproportionate punishment being placed on the media, it will send a negative message to others around the world who are looking to Korea as a role model," Khan said at the briefing, noting that Korea has been a leading U.N. member country participating in efforts to protect press freedom and journalists.
"I would urge the Korean parliament to keep in mind also not only the domestic impact of this legislation but the international impact and to continue to be a leader in this area of supporting media freedom."
As for the revision, Khan called for some of the clauses in the draft law to be "removed or carefully reconsidered," such as the part on excessive punitive damages or the vague language about what defines "untrue information."
"Those elements are seriously detrimental to freedom of expression. Tinkering along the edges and changing a little word here or there will not serve the purpose," she said.
Khan said that whether the parliament will discard the provision on punitive damages will be a test as to whether "serious and fundamental change will be made" to the amendment. On Thursday, the ruling Democratic Party said it plans to put the bill to a plenary vote next Monday,
"What is needed now is very careful reconsideration not to rush through this amendment ... and to take time they need to consider this issue very carefully in consultation with all stakeholders," Khan said.

elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 김승연 · September 24, 2021


14.  No talks if South 'provokes': North Korea

Admit nothing, deny everything, make counter accusations. 

Perhaps a kind of mirror imaging. The regime is telling us what it does.

Who really conducts "provocations?" It is not South Korea.


No talks if South 'provokes': North Korea
perthnow.com.au · by HYUNG-JIN KIM · September 23, 2021
The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says her country is willing to resume talks with South Korea if it doesn't provoke the North with 'hostile policies and double standards'.
Kim Yo Jong's statement was a response to renewed calls by South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to bring back peace. Her proposal also came days after North Korea performed its first missile tests in six months and South Korea performed its first test of a submarine-launched missile.
"If (South) Korea distances itself from the past when it provoked us and criticised us at every step with its double standards and restores sincerity in its words and actions and abandons its hostility, we would then be willing to resume close communication and engage in constructive discussions about restoring and developing relations," Kim Yo Jong said.
Her comments were a contrast to an earlier statement by a senior North Korean diplomat that the end-of-war declaration could be used as a "smokescreen covering up the US hostile policy" against the North.
Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae Song said US weapons and troops deployed in South Korea and its vicinity and regular military drills in the region "all point to the US hostile policy toward (North Korea) getting vicious day by day."
In a response to Ri's statement, South Korea's Unification Ministry said it'll continue its efforts to adopt the end-of-the war declaration and strengthen cooperation with related countries. Cha Duck Chul, a deputy ministry spokesman, said declaring the war's end would be "a very meaningful step" as it could be a starting point for peace negotiations and denuclearisation on the peninsula.
The Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in a technical state of war.
Both Koreas called for an end-of-war declaration to be made and a peace treaty to be signed during the period of diplomacy with the United States that began in 2018, and there was speculation then-President Donald Trump might announce the war's end in early 2019 to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to commit to denuclearisation.
However, the diplomacy faded to a stalemate over easing economic sanctions in return for North Korea denuclearising.
In recent months, Kim has warned that North Korea would bolster its nuclear arsenal and introduce more sophisticated weapons systems unless the United States drops its hostile policy. Last week, North Korea conducted its first cruise and ballistic missile tests since March, demonstrating its ability to launch attacks on South Korea and Japan, two key US allies where a total of 80,000 American soldiers are stationed.
perthnow.com.au · by HYUNG-JIN KIM · September 23, 2021

15. North Korea Calls Peace-Deal Proposal by South’s Moon Jae-in Premature

Do not be duped by the regime's political warfare strategy, blackmail diplomacy, and long con.

Unfortunately the end of war declaration and peace regime proposals play into Kim's strategy.

I hate to beat a dead horse:

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?

The root of all problems in Korea is the existence of the most evil mafia- like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime that has the objective of dominating the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State. 




North Korea Calls Peace-Deal Proposal by South’s Moon Jae-in Premature
Pyongyang says it sees continuing aggression from Washington and Seoul
WSJ · by Dasl Yoon and Timothy W. Martin
Doing so, Mr. Moon said, would pave the way for “irreversible progress in denuclearization and usher in an era of complete peace.”
North Korea, in a pair of Friday state-media statements, rejected the timing of Mr. Moon’s proposal, while expressing some support for the underlying idea. A senior Pyongyang Foreign Ministry official said a peace declaration isn’t legally binding, adding that the biggest stumbling block was the U.S.’s “hostile policy” toward the Kim Jong Un regime.
Shortly after, Kim Yo Jong, the dictator’s sister, said a peace declaration could be adopted once the conditions are right, stipulating that Seoul must first drop its “prejudiced viewpoint, inveterate hostile policy and unequal double standards,” according to state media.
“Only when such a precondition is met, would it be possible to sit face to face and declare the significant termination of war and discuss the issue of the North-South relations,” said Ms. Kim, the regime’s main mouthpiece for relations with the U.S. and South Korea.
Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled in recent years. North Korea contends that denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula means that the U.S. must drop its “hostile policy” policy toward the Kim regime. Those demands have come to include suspending military exercises, sanctions relief, and the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea and the U.S. security ring across the Pacific.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Photo: Koji Sasahara/Associated Press
Those issues take priority over a peace deal for the country, said Rachel Lee, a nonresident fellow at 38 North, a website focused on North Korea.
“Pyongyang views an end-of-the-war declaration as a mere political gesture, albeit symbolic, that won’t fundamentally change the security dynamic on and around the Korean Peninsula,” Ms. Lee said.
The Korean War ended in an armistice, rather than a peace treaty, meaning the two Koreas technically remain at war.
Ending the state of war is a shared aspiration of the international community, which China supports, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, the day after Mr. Moon’s U.N. speech.
The U.S. is open to discussing a peace declaration and continues to seek engagement with North Korea, a Pentagon spokesperson said during a Wednesday press briefing. Biden administration officials have repeatedly stressed that the U.S. has no hostile intent toward North Korea.
Mr. Moon’s administration has repeatedly called for an end-of-war declaration, a less formal agreement than a peace treaty. In April 2018, when the two Koreas were engaging in bilateral talks, Messrs. Moon and Kim agreed to pursue a peace declaration to end the Korean War.
South Korea’s unification ministry reiterated Friday that a peace declaration is a political statement with important meaning and that Seoul would continue to pursue one.
North Korea has grown angrier in recent weeks and continued to ignore outreach by the Biden administration. Last week, Pyongyang returned to weapons provocations, conducting its first ballistic-missile test since March. The launch drew swift backlash from the U.S., Japan and others.
North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae Song took offense Friday over a recent U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile launch of its own, as well as the recent decision to transfer nuclear-powered submarine technology to Australia, among other matters. All were labeled as examples of hostile U.S. policy.
“All these facts prove that it is still too early to declare the termination of the war,” Mr. Ri said.
North Korea’s skepticism about pursuing a peace deal heightens pressure on Mr. Moon and South Korea to do more than make “bold concessions beyond a symbolic end-of-war declaration,” said Lee Sung-yoon, a Korea expert at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.
Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com and Timothy W. Martin at timothy.martin@wsj.com
WSJ · by Dasl Yoon and Timothy W. Martin
16. Defector caught trying to return to N. Korea


A sad story. Two points, escapees are often treated poorly and they have a hard time integrating into South Korea society. Second, we should keep in mind that many escapees long to return to their homeland like most people around the world. Despite the hardships they still pine for the home they grew up in.

Defector caught trying to return to N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 주경돈 · September 23, 2021
PAJU, South Korea, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- Police said Thursday that they have launched a probe into a female North Korean defector for seeking to cross the inter-Korean border to return to North Korea.
The woman, who is in her 60s, was taken into custody by the police near Tongil Bridge in the western border city of Paju around 3:40 a.m. on Sept. 13 after telling a military solider on duty that she wanted to return to North Korea.
It remains unclear why she sought to return to the communist homeland.
Tongil Bridge is the gate to the customs, immigration and quarantine office at Dorasan Station in Paju that is heavily guarded by the South Korean military.
The police said the case is currently under investigation, adding that the woman has not been booked yet for the violation of the national security law.
In 2017, a female North Korean defector appeared in a North Korean propaganda video, claiming she returned to North Korea after suffering "physically and mentally" in South Korea.
Last year, 229 North Koreans defected to South Korea, a sharp decline from 1,047 tallied in 2019 and 1,137 in 2018, according to the unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
The total number of North Korean defectors living in South Korea stood at 33,752 as of the end of last year.
kdon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 주경돈 · September 23, 2021

17. Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan reconfirm differences on history

Did that really need to be reconfirmed? But I remain very cautiously optimistic that someday national level leadership will emerge in both countries who will seek a future-oriented relationship.


Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan reconfirm differences on history | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · September 24, 2021
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan have reconfirmed differences on wartime history, but agreed to closely communicate for "future-oriented" relations during their talks on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly, Seoul officials said Friday.
Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, met in New York on Thursday to discuss thorny issues of Japan's wartime forced labor and sexual slavery, and its restrictions on exports of key industrial materials to South Korea.
Chung called on Motegi to accelerate bilateral diplomatic consultations to find solutions to the historical issues and reiterated that Tokyo's export curbs should be retracted at an early date, the foreign ministry said.
However, the two sides agreed to ensure that their ministries closely communicate for the future-oriented development of relations between the two countries.
Chung used the meeting to stress the importance of inter-Korean cooperation, dialogue and engagement for the complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the ministry said. Motegi pledged to continue cooperation for substantive progress in the peace efforts.
The ministers also agreed to continue cooperation between their countries and trilateral cooperation with the United States to promote peace on the peninsula, amid concerns over North Korea's military threats caused by its recent ballistic and cruise missile tests.
A day earlier, Chung and Motegi held trilateral talks with their U.S. counterpart, Antony Blinken in New York.
Thursday's talks marked the second face-to-face meeting between Chung and Motegi since the former took office in February.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)





V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Subscribe to FDD’s new podcastForeign Podicy
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Subscribe to FDD’s new podcastForeign Podicy
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:

"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."
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