Quotes of the Day:
"One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion."
- Simone de Beauvoir
"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret."
- Ambrose Bierce
"Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on 'I am not too sure.' "
- H.L. Mencken
1. North Korea remains unresponsive to South Korea's hotline calls even after joint exercise wraps up
2. Seoul's vice defense chief calls for N. Korean cooperation
3. North Korean border guards kill man along the border, leaving his body in place for two weeks
4. N.Korea Scared of Dissent Among Young People
5. Repatriated remains of soldiers show South Korea and China have restored military cooperation
6. The silly Peace Agreement proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives…who is behind the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act’?
7. Criticism of 'fake news' bill rises within ruling party
8. The Trouble With South Korea’s ‘Fake News’ Law
9. USFK reports cluster infection at Osan base after recent no-mask dance party
10. Military officers deployed to work on makeshift structures on North Korea-China border
11. Hyesan residents complain about being forced to come up with recycleables
12. Controversial Comedy Movie Returning To Netflix
13. UN asks N Korea to clarify alleged shoot-on-sight orders
14. ‘We were punch bags’: North Korean prison beatings form of torture, says UN
15. North Korea’s Potential Long-Term Prison-Labor Facility at Sŏnhwa-dong (선화동)
16. U.S. currently has enough capabilities to counter N. Korean threat: Strategic Commander
17. N. Korea's main paper urges ideological education for youth ahead of anniversary
18. For North Korean Defectors, Pandemic Severs Few Remaining Links to Home
1. North Korea remains unresponsive to South Korea's hotline calls even after joint exercise wraps up
No surprise here. It is the Kim regime that plays hard to get in the north-South relationship (and the South has unrequited love!)
North Korea remains unresponsive to South Korea's hotline calls even after joint exercise wraps up
North Korea did not answer liaison calls from South Korea on Friday morning, a unification ministry official said, dashing hopes Pyongyang could pick up the phone now that joint military exercises between the South and the United States are over. Yonhap
North Korea did not answer liaison calls from South Korea on Friday morning, a unification ministry official said, dashing hopes Pyongyang could pick up the phone now that joint military exercises between the South and the United States are over.
The calls via the inter-Korean liaison office went unanswered at 9 a.m., the official said. North Korea also refused to respond to the military communication channels in the eastern and western border regions.
The inter-Korean communication lines were restored late last month following a yearlong severance after President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to improve their chilled ties amid little progress in nuclear negotiations.
For two weeks, however, the North has not answered daily phone calls in apparent protest against the joint drills.
Observers earlier had raised the possibility that the North might respond to the hotline calls after the military exercise.
When the North previously cut the military hotline and restricted travel to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in 2009, it restored the inter-Korean military communication channels shortly after the South Korea-U.S. joint drills ended.
The ministry will continue attempting to hold regular phone calls twice a day, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
(Yonhap)
2. Seoul's vice defense chief calls for N. Korean cooperation
This is another indication of the north's lack of cooperation. The comprehensive military agreement has never been fully implemented although the ROK and the alliance have executed their responsibilities in good faith. But the north has not.
Excerpt:
While it will be up to leaders and diplomats to persuade North Korea to go in a different direction, South Korea’s military is “thoroughly” prepared to push forward with inter-Korean military cooperation whenever diplomacy creates room for it, Park said.
“We are very hopeful that the North would respond to our calls to form the joint military committee,” Park said.
He said such a committee would allow both sides to move forward with an agenda agreed to in 2018 and also “explore other agendas to strengthen trust between the militaries.”
The inter-Korean military agreement is one of the few tangible remnants from South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s ambitious diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Moon’s efforts helped set up Kim’s first summit with former U.S. President Donald Trump in June 2018.
Seoul's vice defense chief calls for N. Korean cooperation
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · August 26, 2021
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s vice defense minister on Thursday called for North Korea to resume cooperation under a 2018 military agreement on reducing tensions, which the North has threatened to abandon over U.S.-South Korean military exercises.
The agreement, which created buffer zones along land and sea boundaries and no-fly zones above the border to prevent clashes, has been crucial in maintaining stability between the Koreas as their relations worsened in recent months, Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min said in an interview with The Associated Press.
While there haven’t been major skirmishes, North Korea has held back from some critical parts of the agreement, including forming a joint military committee to maintain communication and avoid crisis situations and jointly searching for remains from the 1950-53 Korean War.
Since the collapse of its nuclear diplomacy with the Trump administration in 2019, North Korea has suspended all cooperation with South Korea and threatened to scrap the inter-Korean military agreement while expressing anger over the South’s joint military exercises with the United States, which it insists are invasion rehearsals. The allies describe the drills as defensive in nature but have downsized them in the past few years to provide space for diplomacy and because of COVID-19.
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While it will be up to leaders and diplomats to persuade North Korea to go in a different direction, South Korea’s military is “thoroughly” prepared to push forward with inter-Korean military cooperation whenever diplomacy creates room for it, Park said.
“We are very hopeful that the North would respond to our calls to form the joint military committee,” Park said.
He said such a committee would allow both sides to move forward with an agenda agreed to in 2018 and also “explore other agendas to strengthen trust between the militaries.”
The inter-Korean military agreement is one of the few tangible remnants from South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s ambitious diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Moon’s efforts helped set up Kim’s first summit with former U.S. President Donald Trump in June 2018.
The Korean leaders met three times that year, exchanging vague vows about a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and expressing ambitions to reboot inter-Korean engagement when possible, voicing optimism that international sanctions on North Korea could end and allow such projects.
But such hopes were crushed following the collapse of the second meeting between Kim and Trump in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial reduction of its nuclear capabilities.
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Critics say North Korea has already damaged the spirit of the inter-Korean military agreement with a series of belligerent acts in 2020. It blew up an empty inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong in June and its troops shot and killed a South Korean government official who was found drifting near their sea boundary in September.
While North Korea has suspended its testing of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that could hit the United States since 2018, it has tested various new short-range missile systems that experts say potentially expand its ability to deliver nuclear strikes at targets in South Korea, including U.S. military bases.
Park and other South Korean military officials plan to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue and other security matters with global counterparts during next month’s annual Seoul Defense Dialogue forum.
The Sept. 8-10 event in Seoul will involve military officials and experts from around 60 countries participating either in person or by video.
Park said there’s greater need for dialogue between military officials as the world faces an “unprecedented security crisis” in which traditional threats such as tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the heated competition between Washington and Beijing, and the turmoil in Afghanistan are coinciding with non-traditional threats such as COVID-19.
South Korea’s military has played a central role in its pandemic response, deploying thousands of medical personnel and troops to assist with tests, contact tracing and quarantine enforcement and providing hospitals and shelters to treat virus carriers.
Park said South Korean defense officials will share details of their experiences at the Seoul forum, where participants will explore the possible roles militaries could serve in fighting the virus and expanding international cooperation.
South Korean officials are also hoping to use the forum to pursue stronger military ties with European nations, including Britain. Officials are expecting a high-level British official, possibly Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, to attend the forum in person and participate in discussions to facilitate exchanges between the countries’ militaries and defense industries.
The Seoul Defense Dialogue will begin days after the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its strike group are to participate in planned training with the South Korean navy in waters near the country.
South Korea earlier this year confirmed its plans to build and deploy its first aircraft carrier by 2033 and some experts say the country may seek to tap into British experience in operating carriers.
“Regarding the aircraft carrier strike group, meetings are planned between people of both countries involved in related technologies and defense industries,” Park said.
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · August 26, 2021
3. North Korean border guards kill man along the border, leaving his body in place for two weeks
Another example of the brutality of the Kim family regime.
North Korean border guards kill man along the border, leaving his body in place for two weeks - Daily NK
Leaving the body is aimed at "generat[ing] a climate of fear and heighten a sense of tension," a source told Daily NK
North Korean border guards have once again shot somebody and left the body to rot along the river.
A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Wednesday that “a young man in his 20s was shot to death by border patrol troops” along the Yalu River in Hyesan on Aug. 11. However, he said locals “cannot hide their astonishment” with troops “simply leaving the body at the Yalu riverside” where it fell.
He said no measures have been taken to move the body, despite the shooting taking place two weeks ago.
According to the source, the young man was a member of a labor brigade from South Pyongan Province mobilized to build homes in Samjiyon. Woe befell him when he deserted his unit after going to Hyesan to buy food.
The young man entered the riverside at around 10 PM on the day of the shooting. He was discovered by border patrol troops who were patrolling under cover. The soldiers immediately fired off 20 rounds, said the source.
North Korea issued an order in late August of last year establishing a buffer zone one to two kilometers from the border closure line, calling on troops to “unconditionally” fire on any people or animals that enter.
A border patrol checkpoint in Pungso County, Yanggang Province. This photo was taken in February 2019. / Image: Daily NK
North Korea has since done everything it can to seal the border, deploying large numbers of troops from the “Storm Corps” special forces unit and Seventh Corps to the Sino-North Korean frontier, erecting an electrified fence and laying mines. However, there have been repeated shootings by troops along some stretches of the border.
Even more shocking has been the North Korean authorities’ handling of the shootings. Not only have they encouraged the shooters, telling them that they did “a good job,” but they have also given out commendation leave. By elevating shooters as “role models” of highly loyal soldiers, the authorities are creating an atmosphere in which soldiers believe they can distinguish themselves by shooting people, the source claimed.
Such was the case in the latest shooting as well. The source said the soldiers in question received thanks from the border patrol bureau and their brigade commander, as well as 15 days of commendation leave.
He said this aims to “boost the morale” of dispirited soldiers and thoroughly block defections.
Leaving the body where it fell can be attributed to irrational “North Korean-style” methods of preventing the spread of COVID-19. That is to say, North Koreans believe the body could be infected with the virus.
In fact, soldiers shot and killed an unidentified individual who was entering North Korea from China in December, intentionally leaving the body where it fell.
“Even though the person [this time] was someone who approached the river from our side rather than somebody coming from China, they are leaving the body where it is,” said the source. “This is to generate a climate of fear and heighten a sense of tension.”
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
4. N.Korea Scared of Dissent Among Young People
We must not forget that Kim Jong-un fears the Korean people living in the north more than he fears the US. We should keep that in mind as we develop and execute our information and influence campaign. This fact explains so much of Kim Jong-un's strategy and actions.
N.Korea Scared of Dissent Among Young People
August 27, 2021 12:47
The North Korean regime seems increasingly terrified of dissent among the younger generation, threatening draconian punishment for the slightest deviation from the puritanical Stalinism that is its ruling ideology.
The rubberstamp Supreme People's Assembly is to discuss a law on "ensuring education of young people" next month to try and brainwash a generation that has grown up with some nascent freedoms and glimpses of the outside world thanks to open-air markets.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in April called for crackdown on creeping decadence like South Korean-style clothing, slang and other behavior among young North Koreans.
The assembly meets on Sept. 28 to deliberate on the law, the official Rodong Sinmun reported Thursday.
North Korean officials attend a session of the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang on Tuesday, in this grab from the [North] Korean Central News Agency on Thursday.
Last December, the regime also made distributing South Korean films and videos punishable by death and watching or listening to them by up to 15 years in prison. The state media have repeatedly inveighed against "anti-socialist" behavior and demanded absolute ideological fealty.
At a Workers Party meeting in April, Kim said, "Turning all party cells into healthy and viable ones which are closely knitted in bonds of human feelings... Those that are not knitted in bonds of human feelings cannot become loyal cells."
Prof. Nam Sung-wook of Korea University said, "This aims to suppress free thought and expression of the 'open-air market generation' who have got used to a capitalist way of thinking due to the influence of markets and South Korean pop culture."
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
5. Repatriated remains of soldiers show South Korea and China have restored military cooperation
Relations "back on track?"
THAAD will continue to cast a long shadow over the Korean peninsula.
Excerpts:
Park reiterated that THAAD is purely defensive and is intended solely to target North Korean missiles, although China regards it as a direct security threat.
“The radars’ angles and directions are all set with a view to intercepting the North’s ballistic missiles and you can’t change the modes for other purposes,” Park said. “Relations with China are on the mend following the fallout from the deployment of the THAAD.”
Park also highlighted new military communication hotlines between China and South Korea. In March, new channels were established linking South Korea’s navy and air force to its counterparts in China’s Eastern Theatre Command. Such lines are crucial to avoid military mishaps between the two countries.
Repatriated remains of soldiers show South Korea and China have restored military cooperation
- Park Jae-min, South Korea’s vice-defence minister, said the remains of 109 Chinese soldiers who died during the Korean war would be sent home next month
- Military cooperation between China and South Korea was disrupted in 2017 when Beijing criticised Seoul for deploying the US-made THAAD anti-missile defence system
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Published: 7:00am, 27 Aug, 2021
The military-to-military relationship between South Korea and China is now “back on the right track”, according to South Korea’s vice-defence minister, who on Thursday confirmed Seoul would return the remains of 109 Chinese soldiers killed during the Korean war.
Park Jae-min described the repatriation of remains – the eighth time this has happened since a pledge made by Seoul in 2014 – as an ongoing goodwill effort that has continued despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Chinese remains will be returned on September 2 following meticulous rituals and ceremonies in both countries. During the Korean war, which was fought from 1950-53, Chinese soldiers fought alongside North Korea against the United States and South Korea.
Between 2 million and 3 million soldiers died during the war.
“This [repatriation] is a result of efforts by the defence ministries of the two countries to prevent conflict and build mutual trust even as strategic competitions within the region are growing,” Park said.
“We expect defence exchanges between the two countries will continue developing down the road despite difficulties stemming from the pandemic.”
Military cooperation between China and South Korea was disrupted in 2017 when Beijing criticised Seoul for deploying the THAAD anti-missile defence system, built by the US, after North Korea launched an intercontinental-range ballistic missile (ICBM). Ties have improved since but the Covid-19 pandemic has created new obstacles.
The THAAD anti-missile defence system is installed on a golf course in Seongju, South Korea. File photo: Yonhap via AP
Park reiterated that THAAD is purely defensive and is intended solely to target North Korean missiles, although China regards it as a direct security threat.
“The radars’ angles and directions are all set with a view to intercepting the North’s ballistic missiles and you can’t change the modes for other purposes,” Park said. “Relations with China are on the mend following the fallout from the deployment of the THAAD.”
Park also highlighted new military communication hotlines between China and South Korea. In March, new channels were established linking South Korea’s navy and air force to its counterparts in China’s Eastern Theatre Command. Such lines are crucial to avoid military mishaps between the two countries.Regarding North Korea, Park said Seoul was committed to easing military tensions, as agreed by the countries’ leaders during a 2018 summit in Pyongyang.
South Korea has been on high alert against provocations from the North during its annual joint military drills with the US after Pyongyang warned it would make the two countries feel a “serious security crisis”. But the 10-day exercises ended on Thursday without any action by North Korea.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul’s Ewha Womans University, said the crisis in Afghanistan might have shifted Pyongyang’s calculations.
“The North is possibly concerned that it would be a target for backlash from the US should it do something provocative immediately after the collapse of Kabul,” Park said.
After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan earlier this month, alongside the chaotic withdrawal of US forces, President Joe Biden reiterated Washington’s commitment to its allies, including South Korea, which hosts 28,500 US troops.
Park, the vice-defence minister, also discussed the Seoul Defence Forum (SDD), which will be held via video conference next month, where he will talk about the South Korean military’s work combating Covid-19. In South Korea, troops have been contributing to the country’s coronavirus response by rolling out vaccines and enforcing quarantine.
“The global security atmosphere is more complicated than ever,” he said. “In addition to traditional security threats such as tensions on the Korean peninsula, competition among powerful states and territorial disputes, the world faces new security threats from pandemics, cyberattacks and climate change.
“This is a crisis without borders indeed. That is why we’ve set the agenda for the forum focusing on ways to cope with the crisis collectively.”
6. The silly Peace Agreement proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives…who is behind the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act’?
Groups like Women Cross DMZ have an outsized influence over congress. While their intentions are laudable, what everyone in Congress needs to know is they are carrying the water for north Korea and the Kim family regime either wittingly or unwittingly. Women Cross DMZ have received direct support from north Korea for their activities (such as when they crossed the DMZ). Yes, we all want peace on the Korean peninsula. We need to realize what are the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime and how it intends to dominate the Korean peninsula. It will exploit these peace overtures to try to drive US forces off the peninsula and that will lead to conflict.
For those who truly want peace they must know that the north must be deterred to maintain the peace and that the number one capability for deterring Kim Jong-un is the presence of US forces and the support of the US for the ROK. Kim knows he cannot defeat South Korea if the US supports it.
It would be better for groups such as Women Cross DMZ to focus on the human rights abuses and the crimes against humanity in north Korea. The path to denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula must include a change in the regime's behavior toward human rights in the north. If the regime's human rights behavior cannot be changed there is no way it will change to commit to denuclearization and peace. Women Cross DMZ has never used its relationship with north Korean officials to pressure the regime on human rights. That is a shame.
The silly Peace Agreement proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives…who is behind the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act’? - OKN
The bill was proposed in May in time for Moon’s U.S. visit…a ‘birds of a feather flock together bill’ that is only supported by leftist Democrats includes a declaration to end the war on the Korean Peninsula, to establish U.S.-North Korea liaison office…experts say, “without the North’s denuclearization, it’s just a piece of paper.”
Reporter Jeon Kyung-woong
Posted on August 25, 2021 15:08; Edited on August 25, 2021 18:16
▲ Rep. Kim Kyung-hyup of the Democratic Party of Korea (DP) emphasized his friendship with Rep. Brad Sherman of the U.S. Democratic Party, saying that he proposed a bill to revitalize local governments’ aid to North Korea in May. ⓒ Rep. Kim Kyung-hyup (DP) official blog.
The ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act’ proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May is drawing attention once more as there are plans to amend the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, which will allow local governments to freely give aid to North Korea. The bill includes proposals such as ‘calling for a formal end to the Korean War and a peace agreement’ and ‘establishing liaison offices of North Korea and the United States.’
U.S. security experts stated that, “Without North Korea’s denuclearization, this bill is meaningless,” and predicts, “It will be difficult to pass.”
U.S. Representative Brad Sherman introduced the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act’ in May
On May 20 (local time), U.S. House Democrats Brad Sherman, Andy Kim, Ro Khanna, and Grace Meng introduced the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act.’
Sherman, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said, “Common sense tells us that [the Korean War (armistice signed)] ended in July 1953…Therefore, we technically remain in a state of war with North Korea. This situation does not serve anyone’s interest.”
Sherman went on to explain that “the bill calls for a peace agreement constituting a formal end to the Korean War, to establish liaison offices of North Korea and the United States, and to conduct a full review on the restrictions barring United States nationals from traveling to North Korea.”
Based on the April 27, 2018, joint Panmunjom Declaration, to establish a permanent and stable peace regime on the Korean peninsula, the bill requires the Secretary of State along with the two Koreas work in pursuit of a binding peace agreement constituting a formal and final end to the state of war. This means that the armistice will be replaced by a peace treaty. It goes on to stipulate that within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this bill, a report that describes a clear roadmap for achieving a permanent peace agreement shall be submitted to Congress.
Based on the joint statement made at the June 2018 U.S.-North Korea Singapore Summit, the bill also requires the State Department to enter negotiations to establish liaison offices in Washington, D.C. and Pyongyang as well as to conduct a full review of the restrictions barring U.S. nationals from traveling to North Korea.
How is the Democratic Party of Korea (DP) involved with the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act’?
Sherman introducing the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act’ has become a hot topic in South Korea because the following day was President Moon Jae-in’s scheduled visit to the U.S. At that time, a press release released by Rep. Kim Kyung-hyup of the DP raised suspicions that the South Korean ruling party was involved with Sherman’s bill.
Casey Choi, president of the Korean American Public Action Committee (KAPAC). Photo from Twitter.
Rep. Kim’s office released a press release on its official blog, “The U.S. [will introduce] the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act and South Korea [will amend] the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act for local governments.” “The relationship between Brad Sherman (12th term, Democratic Party, California), a member of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Kim Kyung-hyup, is a hot topic,” Kim’s office said. “The two lawmakers met on October 12, 2019, at the ‘KAPAC Gala’ in L.A., hosted by the Korean American Public Action Committee (KAPAC, President Choi Kwang-chul). They met while making keynote speeches and lectures on ‘ROK-U.S. alliance needed for peace on the Korean peninsula’ at the gala and formed a shared bond on the peace process on the Korean peninsula.”
At the time, Rep. Kim said, “Rep. Brad Sherman is an American congressional diplomatic expert who has continued to pay close attention to issues on the Korean peninsula, including sponsoring a resolution to end the Korean War during his previous term” and he added, “We will continue to exchange opinions to establish a peace process on the Korean peninsula.”
The resolution ‘Calling for a formal end of the Korean war’ mentioned by Rep. Kim was a bill introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna in [April 2019]. However, the resolution was automatically scrapped without being reviewed by the committee. Rep. Khanna became a co-sponsor of Sherman’s ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act.’
Why did ‘Women Cross DMZ’ campaign to pass the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act’?
Christine Ahn, founder and executive director of Women Cross DMZ. Photo from Ploughshares Fund.
In July, Voice of America (VOA) broadcasted a report on the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act.’ The broadcast reported, “The Korea Peace Partnership, which includes an organization that promotes peace and defense on the Korean peninsula, is holding a week-long lobbying event called the ‘National Action to End the Korean War’.”
According to the report, about 230 constituents from 31 states participated in this lobbying event directed at Congress. Through virtual lobby visits with 167 Congressional offices, they reportedly called for support to bills related to signing a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula, strengthening humanitarian aid to North Korea, and U.S.-North Korea separated family’s reunion.
The broadcast claimed, “In a statement made by the Women Cross DMZ, one of the organizations that hosted the event, by officially ending the Korean War with a peace treaty, it will be the most realistic way to prevent an arms race in Korea and Northeast Asia.”
The broadcast added, “However, the left-wing faction (progressive camp) of the Democratic Party is the only ones who support the declaration of the end of the war, the signing of a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula and strengthening humanitarian aid to North Korea.” Brad Sherman, Ro Khanna, Andy Kim, and Grace Meng, who co-sponsored the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act,’ are all members of the ‘Congressional Progressive Caucus’, and although five more have sponsored the bill since, they are mostly members of the ‘Progressive Caucus’.
The broadcast quoted Ami Bera, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation, “The general perception in the U.S. Congress is that the declaration of the end of the war should be linked to North Korea’s specific denuclearization measures, and having access is important for humanitarian aid to North Korea, but North Korea does not allow it,” and went on to criticize that, “The declaration of the end of the war and the peace treaty should not viewed from only one side.”
U.S. security expert says, “The Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act? It could undermine South Korea’s security.”
The day after Rep. Sherman introduced the ‘Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act,’ U.S. security experts criticized the bill and said it would be “difficult to pass,” according to a report by Radio Free Asia (RFA).
David Maxwell, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), said at the time, “The declaration of the end of the war urged by the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act could undermine the security situation in South Korea, so there will be opposition from within the U.S. Congress.” He also pointed out, “As a result, the U.S. Congress can break bipartisan cooperation on security issues on the Korean peninsula that have lasted for a long time.”
Maxwell criticized, “The declaration of the end of the war without change from North Korea’s hostile attitude is no help to South Korea’s national security, and it can weaken its negotiating power by granting conditions demanded by North Korea.”
Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, slammed, “The transition to a peace regime on the Korean peninsula, including the declaration of the end of the war, should be part of the process of denuclearizing North Korea and reconciliation between the two Koreas,” and went on to say, “This bill (the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act), which does not include denuclearization of North Korea, is just a mere document.”
http://www.newdaily.co.kr/site/data/html/2021/08/25/2021082500147.html
7. Criticism of 'fake news' bill rises within ruling party
Maybe this faction can get this bill shut down.
Criticism of 'fake news' bill rises within ruling party
Main opposition People Power Party floor leader Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon makes a speech in front of the National Assembly, Wednesday, during a protest against the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's unilateral move to pass a controversial bill aimed at curbing what it calls "fake news." Yonhap
Controversial bill to be put to vote Aug. 30
By Jun Ji-hye
The ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) unilateral move to pass a controversial bill aimed at imposing punitive damages on what it calls "fake news" is facing criticism even from its own members, with concerns being raised that the bill could hamper the media's role in holding political or economic power in check.
The DPK, which holds a majority of National Assembly seats, endorsed the bill to revise the Act on Press Arbitration at the Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Wednesday, despite heated protests from opposition parties and journalists' associations.
The party is planning to pass it at a plenary session scheduled for Aug. 30.
Rep. Cho Eung-cheon of the ruling party said the revised regulation could lead to weakening the media's role in scrutinizing the powerful, and this will result in violating the people's right to know and disturbing the development of democracy.
"The ruling party was criticized for its arrogance and self-righteousness as seen in the results of the April 7 by-elections. If the party continues to push ahead with the passage of the bill, this criticism will be invited again. And this will damage the value of democracy we have protected so far," Cho wrote on Facebook.
Cho noted that reforming the media is necessary, but the procedures and direction are more important than the speed.
"More discussion and review are needed, so that our original goal can be achieved through the revision of the law," he said.
Rep. Park Yong-jin, one of the presidential contenders of the ruling party, also raised concerns over the party's move, saying that the revised law will reduce the courage of reporters and media companies in criticizing political or economic power.
"The idea to revise the law had good intensions originally. The leadership of the party should have given more efforts to persuade opposition parties as well as people to resolve growing concerns," Park said during his radio appearance, Thursday.
National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, center, holds discussions about scheduling a plenary session with floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties at his office, Wednesday. They decided to delay the session supposed to be held on the day to Aug. 30. Yonhap
The bill, aimed at sharply increasing punishment for so-called fake news, was spearheaded by the DPK as part of its efforts to "reform" the media.
Controversy has been heating up as it excluded YouTubers from those subject to the revised law, although some YouTube channels have been accused of being a hotbed of disinformation and slander.
According to a report issued by the Korea Press Foundation in December, 70.6 percent of people surveyed said they have experienced fake news through YouTube.
Critics said exclusion of YouTubers will tarnish the "good intensions" of the revised law.
Rep. Lee Nak-yon, a presidential contender and the former DPK chairman, also said during a radio appearance, Aug. 20, "I think the bill should include YouTubers too."
But the party's leadership expressed its intent to continue pushing ahead with the passage of the bill.
"There is little possibility that the law could be abused to weaken the media's role," DPK Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil said during a DPK Supreme Council meeting on Wednesday.
Regarding the exclusion of YouTubers, Song said YouTube is not a media organization under a legal categorization, thus it is a separate issue from revising the Act on Press Arbitration.
"A bill to revise the Telecommunications Business Act to regulate fake news spread through YouTube has been submitted to a relevant Assembly committee. Opposition parties' cooperation will be necessary to pass that bill," Song said.
8. The Trouble With South Korea’s ‘Fake News’ Law
The South Korean government should reflect on the subtitle highlighted below. This is not something it should want to be known for.
The Trouble With South Korea’s ‘Fake News’ Law
South Korea may be the only liberal democracy using a “fake news” law to target large traditional media companies.
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South Korea’s National Assembly is expected to soon pass a change to the Press Arbitration Act that will dramatically increase the punishment for publishing “false or deceptive” information. The government in Seoul is hardly alone in seeking a legal solution to this problem befuddling states across the world. But South Korea may be the only liberal democracy using a “fake news” law to target its largest media companies.
The bill introduces a penalty of five times the estimated damages if a media outlet publishes false information, intentionally or not. It does not include a detailed definition of false information. The damages themselves will be determined by the “social influence and total sales” of the outlet. This clause, though vague, means the country’s most prominent newspapers and TV channels will suffer the most if they’re found guilty of spreading falsities.
Like most countries, South Korea’s political climate is increasingly shaped by conspiracy theorists, who have found huge audiences on internet forums like Ilbe and right-wing YouTube channels. But unlike Singapore’s “fake news” law, which mandated action from Facebook, or Germany’s zero-tolerance policy for social media hate speech, South Korea is going after large, traditional media companies – the very outlets many in other countries see as bulwarks against disinformation.
“Media reform,” as it’s called in Korean, is the latest in a series of bitter battles President Moon Jae-in and his liberal Democratic Party have fought over the laws governing South Korea’s institutions. These debates over how to best govern South Korea’s future are defined by a divide between liberals and conservatives over how to address the country’s tortured history.
Under the authoritarian juntas that ruled South Korea until the first democratic presidential election in 1987, the odds were stacked against the common person and free expression alike. Conglomerates collaborated with the state to build their fortunes and the law came down harshly on advocates for political and labor rights. The mainstream press was either led by government-friendly business interests (see the Samsung family’s control over the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper) or censored to submission by draconian laws.
The biggest media companies from the authoritarian era are still dominant today, with the top three newspapers – the Chosun, JoongAng, and Dong-A dailies – showing a markedly conservative bent. Liberals from Moon’s Democratic Party are uncomfortable with this imbalance, and blame media bias for recent electoral struggles. These conservative papers’ articles make up the bulk of content on portal site Naver, where most Koreans get their news. Only 32 percent of South Koreans trust the media, according to this year’s Oxford-Reuters Institute Digital News Report, ranking 38th out of 46 countries. It’s tempting to link conservative dominance of the press to this low trust, as the Democratic Party is doing.
This is hardly South Korea’s first conflict over laws restricting freedom of expression. The Cold War-era National Security Act bans speech praising North Korea. South Korea’s defamation statute has been used by successive governments, including democratic ones, to quiet political opponents. Unlike almost anywhere else, fact is no defense against a defamation charge in South Korea.
South Korea has made remarkable strides in freedom of expression over the past several decades, however. On Reporters Without Borders’ 2021 World Press Freedom Index, it ranks 42nd overall, the highest in Asia. Yet this toxic divide over who gets to write the narrative over the country’s history has the potential to derail South Korea’s status as a haven of press freedom in a relatively unfavorable region. This year’s “fake news” bill could redefine the future of the press in South Korea in ways that both opponents and proponents would find hard to predict.
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Thanks to a late revision, the bill will not allow high-ranking officials and executives at major companies to lodge complaints over false news stories. However, it’s easy to imagine both the dominant conservative press and newer liberal outlets like OhMyNews and Sisain further restricting their coverage over fears of lawsuits from the public that could threaten their survival. Due to the threat of defamation suits, it is already common for South Korean outlets to omit key details, such as the names of individuals and companies, even when that information is either crucial or easily determined from the context of a story. The media is further cowed due to the hold large conglomerates have over advertising revenue.
The bill is facing substantial criticism from local and international media organizations, but the Democratic Party is holding firm. After Reporters Without Borders condemned it as a “threat to journalism,” party leader Song Young-gil fired back, asking “How can they know about our situation?” But by taking this step to correct what they see as a hopelessly biased media landscape, the Democratic Party could be setting the stage for a severely weakened press.
9. USFK reports cluster infection at Osan base after recent no-mask dance party
An own goal or self inflicted wound on our part.
The right statement from USFK. In the ROK house you follow ROK rules.
"The USFK community must continue to follow all South Korean laws, rules and directives, including ROK social distancing levels and wearing masks when off USFK installations, and adhere to USFK core tenets both on and off-installation," USFK said in a release. ROK is the acronym of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
(LEAD) USFK reports cluster infection at Osan base after recent no-mask dance party | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS new COVID-19 guidance in last 7 paras)
By Oh Seok-min
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- At least 33 American service members stationed at Osan Air Base tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Friday, after the base came under fire for a no-mask dance party in disregard of social distancing rules.
The infections were reported on Thursday and Friday at the base, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and contact tracing is under way, according to South Korean government officials.
A dance party took place at the base Saturday involving dozens of individuals not wearing face masks.
The incident has drawn criticism, as South Korea is experiencing the fourth wave of COVID-19 and the country has enforced the highest level of social distancing for the greater Seoul area since mid-July.
At that time, South Korea and the United States were also conducting the major combined exercise while enforcing strict antivirus rules. The nine-day exercise was concluded Thursday.
"We've been conducting virus tests on about 800 South Korean service members as a preventive step," a defense ministry official said, adding that no virus cases have been reported among them so far.
U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said in a release sent to Yonhap News Agency that it is aware of the Osan cluster infections and is "continuing to gather the facts and information surrounding these positive cases."
"As a matter of policy, USFK does not publicly discuss specific details about confirmed cases but maintains an open and transparent posture with our USFK and ROK communities by announcing confirmed cases through a variety of platforms on a routine basis," it added. ROK is the acronym of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
The U.S. military has yet to officially announce detailed information on those cases. The USFK last released official data on COVID-19 cases Tuesday, and the total caseload among its population came to 1,286.
Meanwhile, the USFK said it will abolish the on-installation mask mandate for vaccinated members if the regions where their bases are located log a lower COVID-19 incidence rate than 50 infections per 100,000 people, a criteria set by the U.S. Defense Department.
Under the new guidelines set to be implemented on Saturday, vaccinated USFK members do not have to wear masks indoors and outdoors on their bases if their districts report infection rates lower than the criteria for seven straight days.
Currently, vaccinated USFK members can stay without face masks outdoors only.
Fully vaccinated people can also visit bars, clubs and such public facilities as saunas and off-installation gyms starting Saturday, the USFK said.
If the incident rate of a region is greater than or equal to 50, all members are required to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status, and travel to the region is prohibited with an exception of mission-essential and life-related activities, it added.
The new standard based on the incidence rate is in accordance with the U.S. defense department's substantial transmission threshold definition, the USFK said, adding the new guidelines will be applied to around 230 districts in South Korea.
"The USFK community must continue to follow all South Korean laws, rules and directives, including ROK social distancing levels and wearing masks when off USFK installations, and adhere to USFK core tenets both on and off-installation," USFK said in a release. ROK is the acronym of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)
10. Military officers deployed to work on makeshift structures on North Korea-China border
The regime is conducting its own strategic self-strangulation campaign.
But this is an indicator of a potential loss of coherency in the nKPA. This could develop into instability. We must be observant.
Excerpts:
“They seem intent on using any means possible to prevent people or animals from entering or leaving.”
The mobilization of officers is an interesting development. The source says this, too, is aimed at preventing defections.
“Food provisions to soldiers this year were even more miserable than last year,” he said. “Officers with families were organized for the work because with malnutrition getting worse, ordinary soldiers could try to defect while they worked on the project.”
However, with even the officers suffering poor nutrition, locals sarcastically wonder “whether such a miserable army has ever before existed.”
Military officers deployed to work on makeshift structures on North Korea-China border - Daily NK
Officers rather than ordinary enlisted soldiers have recently been deployed to build makeshift structures as part of efforts to prevent border crossings and defections in Yanggang Province, a region along the Sino-North Korean border.
A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Tuesday that in the middle of August, the authorities began building temporary structures to prevent defections in border regions such as Samsu and Sinpa (Kimjongsuk) counties. “Officers over the rank of major from the 10th Corps, which is based in Yanggang Province, have been mobilized for the effort,” he said.
North Korea has been building a wire fence and wall along the Sino-North Korean border since last year, ostensibly to protect against COVID-19.
However, critics find it highly unlikely that the project will be completed by the initially targeted date of Oct. 10 — Party Foundation Day — due to difficulties brought about by supply shortages and pilfering.
Accordingly, in some areas, soldiers have been seen erecting makeshift structures with empty bottles and tins hanging from them.
This appears aimed at putting a thorough stop to defections resulting from economic difficulties. North Korean authorities have closed off the border with two-fold and even three-fold security, deploying the “Storm Corps” special forces unit and Seventh Corps to the frontier. However, with defection attempts continuing through more loosely surveilled areas, the authorities have moved to “completely seal” the border.
North Korean soldiers seen constructing fences along the border last year. / Image: Daily NK
The source said soldiers “are felling commonly seen trees such as larches and oaks and [using the logs] to block the border with big Xs.”
“They seem intent on using any means possible to prevent people or animals from entering or leaving.”
The mobilization of officers is an interesting development. The source says this, too, is aimed at preventing defections.
“Food provisions to soldiers this year were even more miserable than last year,” he said. “Officers with families were organized for the work because with malnutrition getting worse, ordinary soldiers could try to defect while they worked on the project.”
However, with even the officers suffering poor nutrition, locals sarcastically wonder “whether such a miserable army has ever before existed.”
That is to say, rumors are reportedly spreading that “while majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels have been mobilized for the work, they are so thin they look malnourished” and “the officers look so unwell, it goes without saying that the enlisted men must be even worse.”
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
11. Hyesan residents complain about being forced to come up with recycleables
I cannot overlook or ignore the tremendous suffering of the Korean people living in the north because of the brutality of the Family regime.
Hyesan residents complain about being forced to come up with recycleables - Daily NK
North Korean authorities are reportedly incurring the ire of Hyesan residents after ordering local families to provide materials for recycling.
According to a Daily NK source in Yanggang Province on Sunday, inminban (people’s units) in Hyesan have been engaged in a focused campaign to gather recyclables since Aug. 1. People already struggling due to economic difficulties are reportedly being forced to provide 500 grams of waste paper and one kilogram of rubber.
Local authorities ordered residents to “precisely execute the planned amounts,” warning locals against “fobbing off” their quotas. Residents who fail to fulfill their tasks are being “mobilized” to repair roads.
The source says residents are complaining about the move, with some noting that while the authorities fail to properly provide the food they have promised, “they are mercilessly persistent about taking [what they need].”
A view of Hyesan, Yanggang Province, in August 2018. / Image: Daily NK
North Korea has long established recyclable purchasing centers throughout the country, tasking locals with collecting waste and recyclables such as waste paper, scrap metal and disused glass, plastic and aluminum.
In the 1990s, locals could exchange waste or recyclables for manufactured goods they needed at sundry shops in residential districts. Recently, however, authorities are merely giving people certificates that they completed their tasks.
“This campaign is basically a trick to get free labor out of the people,” said the source. “Calling on people to gather recyclables when not just food, but even firewood is in short supply is ultimately just an excuse to mobilize the people [for labor].”
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
12. Controversial Comedy Movie Returning To Netflix
Will NETFLIX prepare for a Sony-like attack from north Korea's all purpose sword?
Controversial Comedy Movie Returning To Netflix
In case you weren't paying attention at the time, this movie caused quite a stir worldwide. Though announced in 2013 when production began, the North Korean government didn't acknowledge it until the summer of 2014 with the BBC reporting that a foreign ministry spokesman issued a statement via state media that Sony's planned release of the film could be considered an "act of war." After a bit more posturing in vague threatening statements, Sony eventually delayed the release of the film and reportedly edited it as a means to tone it done, but that's when the real problems started.
In November of 2014 a hacker collective known as "Guardians of Peace," a group with reported ties to North Korea, leaked a tremendous amount of data and information that they claimed to have stolen from Sony Pictures. This included not only personal emails from the studio heads but also plans for future releases, scripts fo upcoming movies, and even full versions of completed films that hadn't been released yet like Annie, Mr. Turner, Still Alice and To Write Love on Her Arms.
(Photo: SONY PICTURES)
"It was a horrible experience, yes. It's bad to be blamed for almost starting a war," Rogen said on The Graham Norton Show back in 2016 while reflecting on the film. "It's not fun; it's super weird... I had personal security, and then one day they just went away. I was like, 'I guess I'm safe now.' The studio provided the filmmakers with security in case someone from North Korea was gonna kill us, I guess. And then literally, one day, they were just gone... the studio just didn't want to pay for security any more."
In the years since this all took place though, Rogen has cast doubt on the legitimacy of the claims that North Korea themselves hacked Sony. Speaking in an interview with Vulture back in 2018 the actor/director said he doesn't believe the story that it was North Korea and that it may have been an inside job that was carried out physically at Sony HQ, or as Rogen says "it required plugging sh-t into other sh-t."
"When the trailer for The Interview came out we were called into a meeting at Sony, where they told us that North Korea had probably already hacked into their system and seen the movie and that the statements they’d put out was their response," Rogen revealed to the outlet. "Then, months later, when the movie itself finally came out, all this hacking sh-t happened. This was months after North Korea had probably already seen the movie. Why would they wait? And they never did anything like that before and haven’t done anything like it since. So things just never quite added up. The guy I’d hired to do my cybersecurity even told me, 'There’s no way this was a hack. It had to be a physical act.' The amount of stuff that was stolen would have had to have physical mass to it.
Rogen further noted that he'd heard it was perhaps "a disgruntled Sony employee" or someone "hired" to do it as a means of getting rid of Pascal. He added, "I don’t know if I subscribe to those theories, but I kind of don’t think it was North Korea."
Now if after reading all of that you want to see the movie that caused this extreme amount of controversy, you can, starting September 1st on Netflix.
13. UN asks N Korea to clarify alleged shoot-on-sight orders
i am glad the UN is calling out the regime. We need to press hard on north Korean human rights abuses.
UN asks N Korea to clarify alleged shoot-on-sight orders
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · August 27, 2021
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.N. human rights investigators have asked North Korea to clarify whether it has ordered troops to shoot on sight any trespassers who cross its northern border in violation of the country’s pandemic closure.
They were referring to a report by a news site focused on North Korea, Daily NK, which published a photo of what it said was a poster describing an August 2020 proclamation prohibiting acts that impede the closure of the northern border, shared mostly with China and a smaller section with Russia.
The poster describes a 1-2 kilometer (0.62-1.24 mile) buffer zone and says any person who makes an unauthorized entry to North Korea “shall be shot unconditionally.” It also says trespassers from other countries found on the North Korean side of the Yulu and Tumen rivers will be “shot without prior warning.”
In an Aug. 23 letter posted on the website of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the special rapporteurs expressed concern about the alleged order. They also asked North Korea to confirm reports that it made the distribution of South Korean cultural products or sexual content punishable by death under a law adopted last December.
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Daily NK published photos of a document that supposedly spells out the law, aimed at stemming out “reactionary thought and culture.” The site said the law prescribes the death penalty for import or distribution of cultural contents from South Korea and other “hostile” nations such as the United States and Japan and does the same for sexual material.
The U.N. rapporteurs’ letter came weeks after activists from the South Korea-based Transitional Justice Working Group asked the U.N. to press North Korea over the alleged moves.
“We are concerned over the shoot-on-sight policy for unauthorized entry into the buffer zone along the northern border, as well as over the death penalty, without judicial guarantees, imposed on acts that appear to be guaranteed by international human rights law relating to the rights of freedom of opinion and expression and the right to take part in cultural life,” said the U.N. letter. It asked the North to provide information on the number of executions carried out under the alleged law against reactionary culture.
The letter was signed by Tomas Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea; Morris Tidball-Binz, special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Irene Khan, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
North Korea has never publicly acknowledged shoot-on-sight orders or executions over consumption of capitalist cultural content, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether the country would respond to the U.N. letter. The rapporteurs said they would release the reply if they received one.
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Army Gen. Robert Abrams, who was the top commander of U.S. troops in South Korea before retiring this year, told a forum last September that North Korea had put special forces along its border with China to keep out smugglers and that they had “shoot-to-kill orders in place” aimed at preventing the virus from entering the country. Later that month, North Korean troops shot and killed a South Korean government official who was found on a makeshift raft drifting near the sea boundary between the countries. The North said its troops then burned his raft in an anti-virus step. North Korea’s northern border with China was a transit point for smuggled goods, and it was unclear whether the alleged order would apply to the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone separating the Koreas.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles affairs with the North, said Friday it couldn’t confirm the reports about the North’s extreme border controls and death penalties.
North Korea closed its border to nearly all traffic nearly from the start of the pandemic last year, banned tourists and flew out diplomats and other authorized foreigners in hopes of sealing itself off from the coronavirus. It claims to have not confirmed a single case of infection, despite widespread skepticism.
AP · by KIM TONG-HYUNG · August 27, 2021
14. ‘We were punch bags’: North Korean prison beatings form of torture, says UN
Yes. I continue to beat the horse.
‘We were punch bags’: North Korean prison beatings form of torture, says UN
Reports of forced labour and severe punishments for detainees add to growing evidence of abuses worsening during the pandemic
Detainees in North Korea are forced into gruelling manual labour and beaten so severely it may be a form of torture, the UN has said, as it warned that Covid-19 had exacerbated human rights concerns in the notoriously oppressive country.
In a report to be presented at the UN general assembly in September, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said fresh accounts given to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) had added to “a growing body of information confirming consistent patterns of human rights violations”.
They included a woman who said she was hit so hard with firewood that “the skin on my face tore open, my chin became dislocated and four of my teeth were knocked out”. Another described how she and her fellow inmates were forced into agricultural work: “[I] dragged the cart that cows normally pull,” she told the OHCHR.
In February the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, said torture and forced labour were rife in North Korea’s detention centres, and amounted to possible crimes against humanity.
The new report, including accounts from 2010 until 2019, focuses again on the “systematic and widespread” use of beatings and other disproportionately harsh punishments meted out to detainees, as well as forced labour.
One former detainee said she was beaten with a stick, chair and leather belt by officers from the security ministry, adding: “Some detainees were asked to place their heads on the bars [of the cell] and the guards would beat us with a club … we were just like punching bags to them.”
“The severity of beatings described may constitute torture, which is prohibited without exception under international law,” the report noted.
A man drags a cart across a square in Rason. People who escaped from North Korea’s prisons say inmates are used as draught animals. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty
Mistreatment documented “may also constitute torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”, it added, including severe forms of physical punishment for minor infractions.
One person said that, after a detainee had been found to be snoring at night, all 12 cellmates were ordered to do 1,000 squats. “I was young so it was OK, but those who were older fainted on the spot,” they said.
The use of stress positions was also detailed, with one man saying: “In the fixed position, you had to be on your knees with the rest of your body off the ground, with your hands extended forward; you had to stay like that for hours. If you moved, they made you stick your hands out and hit them with a cane.”
With the pandemic restrictions having cut off the “lifeline” of essential humanitarian supplies, the UN said it also feared the food situation for detainees – and for the population as a whole – had worsened. The country has seen a steep decline in trade with China during the pandemic, which, along with a series of natural disasters and the impact of international sanctions, has triggered an economic crisis.
Accounts given to the OHCHR indicated the food received was inadequate and poor quality. Two escapers separately stated that they had been aware of deaths as a result of malnutrition. “We were fed only corn meal, about 100 grams three times a day,” said one former inmate.
Many accounts centre on North Korea’s continued reliance on forced labour, including from conscripted soldiers, members of the general population, and children. Detainees described their work to OHCHR, ranging from making artificial eyelashes to hard manual labour such as farming, logging and construction.
A policeman stops a taxi for disinfection near Wonsan. Covid had worsened human rights concerns in North Korea, the UN report says. Photograph: Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty
Those who had escaped said that if they did not meet their quotas they were punished with beatings, cuts to their already meagre food rations, and spells in solitary confinement.
One worker described how “two to three guards watch over you while armed with automatic guns”.
Most of the testimonies come from former detainees of North Korea’s prisons, pre-trial holding centres or labour camps. But the report also says escapers spoke of people they knew who had been sent to political prison camps for “disloyalty”, such as attempting to go to South Korea, religious activity or criticism of the state.
North Korea denies the existence of the camps, but the UN noted: “The threat of being sent to a political prison camp (kwanliso) permeates all aspects of civil and political life.”
The OHCHR said recent accounts indicated that crackdowns had been intensified against anyone found to be involved with foreign media, particularly films, television dramas and music from South Korea.
“Although cellphones are becoming increasingly prevalent, using cellphones to call abroad is also monitored with harsh sentences imposed on those caught, such as imprisonment of up to two years in a kyohwaso [prison],” the report said.
In July, young North Koreans were warned by the official newspaper of the ruling party to adhere to the country’s “superior” standard language – the dialect from around Pyongyang – and follow “traditional lifestyles” as part of efforts by Kim Jong-un’s regime to stamp out cultural influences from South Korea.
The OHCHR said it had invited the North Korean government to contribute to the report but that at the time of writing no response had been received.
15. North Korea’s Potential Long-Term Prison-Labor Facility at Sŏnhwa-dong (선화동)
The latest report from HRNK on north Korean prisons.
North Korea’s Potential Long-Term Prison-Labor Facility at Sŏnhwa-dong (선화동)
Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., Greg Scarlatoiu, Amanda Oh, & Rosa Park
Aug 26, 2021
Through satellite imagery analysis and witness testimony, HRNK has identified a previously unknown potential kyo-hwa-so long-term prison-labor facility at Sŏnhwa-dong (선화동) P’ihyŏn-gun, P’yŏngan-bukto, North Korea. While this facility appears to be operational and well maintained, further imagery analysis and witness testimony collection will be necessary in order to irrefutably confirm that Sŏnhwa-dong is a kyo-hwa-so.
16. U.S. currently has enough capabilities to counter N. Korean threat: Strategic Commander
What does KimJong-un think about this. Doe he believe the US not only has the capability but the will to employ those capabilities? How are we ensuring Kim understands that we do have the will?
U.S. currently has enough capabilities to counter N. Korean threat: Strategic Commander | Yonhap News Agency
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- The United States has enough capability, including missile interceptors, deployed to counter any threats emanating from North Korea at least for now, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command said Thursday.
Adm. Charles Richard still highlighted the importance of an early warning system that he said can allow his country to do more with less.
"I am confident that, in the least now, that we have paced the threat," the Navy admiral said when asked if he thinks the U.S. has deployed enough interceptors to stay ahead of the threat posed by North Korea to the U.S. homeland.
Richard highlighted two "attributes" that he said are critical to addressing the threat and inserting "doubt on aggressors' mind" that their plan may not work.
"The first thing that I think we need to address is warning: our ability to warn birth-to-death track such that we can re-posture, or if we don't think we can, can we re-posture such that we account for that," he said in a webinar hosted by the Washington-based Hudson Institute think tank.
"My point being is warning and posture are related. The more you have of one allows changes in the other and vice versa," he added.
North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and ballistic missile testing since late 2017, but leader Kim Jong-un has said that his country feels no longer bound by such restrictions.
Pyongyang has also threatened to make the U.S. and South Korea feel a "serious security crisis" that it claims they created by staging their annual joint military exercise this month.
Taylor insisted that missile defense is not ensured by a sheer number of deployed interceptors alone, but through integrated efforts and mechanisms.
"There is a broader class of things you can do inside a missile defeat construct that then has to be integrated with the other pieces that you're doing," said the strategic commander.
"And so getting a good common understanding of what the larger whole looks like, which commander is responsible for what, and then what is the optimum arrangement inside that to achieve our defensive objectives at the lowest total resource commitment, I think, is one where we are headed, but we have work to do," he added.
His remarks come as the U.S. continues to conduct an extensive global defense posture review, along with nuclear and missile posture reviews.
Taylor said the U.S. is closely communicating with its allies, such as South Korea and Japan, to solicit their input into its nuclear posture review.
"I had calls on senior Japanese leadership, senior South Korean leadership, and those mechanisms are working. Those nations, others of our allies through our Department of State, are providing their views to our nuclear posture review, and I think they will get full consideration inside, but they've made their positions very clear," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
17. N. Korea's main paper urges ideological education for youth ahead of anniversary
The people cannot eat "ideology" but ideological loyalty and purity is the key to regime survival. It is the primary method of control of the population.
N. Korea's main paper urges ideological education for youth ahead of anniversary | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's main newspaper on Friday stressed the importance of ideological education for younger generations ahead of the county's Youth Day, urging officials to look out for any "exotic elements" in their lifestyles.
The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, made the appeal in an editorial, referring to the youth as a generation vulnerable to capitalistic ideas and foreign culture as they have "never experienced the hardships of a revolution."
"The hostile forces are obsessed over schemes to infiltrate their reactionary ideology and culture to corrupt the new generations both mentally and morally," it said.
The paper called on officials to stay "sensitive in capturing the psychological changes" of the youth and warned against overlooking even the slightest "exotic elements."
The North has celebrated Youth Day on Aug. 28 annually since 1991, claiming that its founder Kim Il-sung established the Communist Youth League on the same day in 1927.
The article appears to reflect the country's concerns that young North Koreans may be overly exposed to foreign cultures and the principles of a market economy amid Pyongyang's increasing trade with neighboring countries.
The North has stressed discipline and ideological education to its people as efforts to prevent an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in the North have protracted in an economy already faltering under international sanctions.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
18. For North Korean Defectors, Pandemic Severs Few Remaining Links to Home
Severe and long term effects of COVID and not just on health.
Excerpts:
The North Korean pandemic restrictions may not be relaxed anytime soon.
Many of those who have escaped North Korea now acknowledge it may be a long time before they will hear from family.
“It’s a real double whammy,” said Park. “Along with everything else, so much of the contact is being shut off at the time when North Korean people face their biggest challenges in 20 years.”
For North Korean Defectors, Pandemic Severs Few Remaining Links to Home
By William Gallo, Lee Juhyun
August 27, 2021 03:28 AM
SEOUL - When Hong Gang-chul, a North Korean border guard, decided to escape his homeland in 2013, he knew his relationship with his family would never be the same.
Hong, who had helped other North Koreans escape, left the country in a hurry, believing he was wanted by North Korean authorities.
In doing so, he left two young daughters with their mother in North Korea. When he later began to arrange for them to defect, they refused.
A stocky, soft-spoken 48-year-old, Hong now lives in a simple apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, where he looks after his elderly mother, who also fled the North.
Like many defectors, Hong at times struggles to adjust to his new life in South Korea.
In North Korea, he manned a guard post along the demilitarized zone; now, he hosts a YouTube channel and works as a writer and commentator on North Korea issues.
When punditry doesn't provide enough income, he takes work as a low-skilled laborer at construction sites -- anything to scrape together enough to send his daughters money at least once a year.
“It’s impossible now for me to do the things a typical father would do for his children,” he told VOA in a matter-of-fact tone that only partly hides his distress. “The only thing I can do to look after them at this point is to send money.”
North Korean escapees have long sent funds to relatives back home using a network of brokers who smuggle cash and goods across what used to be a relatively porous border with China. The remittances can be a major source of income in North Korea, where the economy is tightly regulated.
Such money transfers have become trickier and much more expensive during the coronavirus pandemic. Many North Korean officials who used to look the other way, or who even accepted bribes to assist with smuggling, now report brokers to authorities, amid a wider crackdown on cross-border activity.
The increased risk has driven prices way up. Before the pandemic, remittance brokers would typically charge a commission of around 30%, but that figure is now closer to 50%, according to several Seoul-based defectors and activists.
“The money I send to North Korea has basically been cut in half,” said Hong, who also cited unstable foreign currency exchange rates in the North.
Some brokers charge as much as 70% commission, he added.
Links severed
The remittance crackdown is one of many ways the coronavirus pandemic is severing the already fragile links between North Korean defectors and their families back home.
Since the pandemic began, North Korea has imposed one of the world's toughest lockdowns, not only sealing its external borders but also expanding domestic travel restrictions.
As a result, many defectors, including Hong, haven’t heard from their families in months.
That is partly because brokers often help pass messages between separated family members, according to Sokeel Park of Liberty in North Korea, a group that helps North Korean defectors settle in the South.
Even for North Koreans who talk with the outside world via smuggled Chinese cellphones, communication has become much harder.
“Most of the time people are not making calls from inside their house. They are moving around to other places close to the border,” either to get a better signal or avoid state surveillance, Park said.
However, any movement is now difficult, especially near the border, he added.
‘Worse than ever’
The crackdown on money brokers seems to have become especially intense in the last several months.
The Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that relies on a network of anonymous sources inside North Korea, reported a “massive campaign” of broker arrests beginning in May.
Whereas brokers who were caught used to receive three to five years of reeducation as punishment, North Korean authorities have now tripled those sentences to 10 to 15 years, the Daily NK reported.
“The punishment is worse than ever,” said Ju Chan-yang, another Seoul-based defector, who told VOA she has stopped trying to send money to North Korea altogether.
Even when offered a 70% commission, a broker refused to send money from one of her friends to a family member in Pyongyang who has cancer and needed money for treatment, Ju said.
No escape
North Korea’s lockdown is also preventing defections, which have plummeted to historic lows.
In 2019, 1,047 defectors arrived in South Korea, according to data from Seoul’s Unification Ministry. In 2020, only 229 defectors arrived in South Korea.
During the second quarter of 2021, only two North Koreans reached the South. That is the smallest quarterly figure since Seoul began counting in 2003.
Lee Se-jun, a South Korea-based defection broker, told VOA he has not helped facilitate an escape from North Korea in over a year, due to the intense security buildup on the North Korean side of the border.
Another factor is the skyrocketing cost of defections.
Hong, the former North Korean border guard, said it now costs up to $21,000 for North Koreans to defect, compared to a previous rate of about $13,000.
No end in sight
The North Korean pandemic restrictions may not be relaxed anytime soon.
Many of those who have escaped North Korea now acknowledge it may be a long time before they will hear from family.
“It’s a real double whammy,” said Park. “Along with everything else, so much of the contact is being shut off at the time when North Korean people face their biggest challenges in 20 years.”
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.
