Quotes of the Day:
“To educate a person in mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
“History by apprising them [the people] of the past will enable them to judge of the future. . . . It will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men: it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views.”
- Thomas Jefferson
“The chief source of man’s inhumanity to man seems to be the tribal limits of his sense of obligation to other men.”
- Reinhold Niebuhr
1. S. Korean official voices optimism on accord with U.S. on end-of-war declaration
2. End-of-Korean-War Declaration Could Have Serious Consequences for Alliance Security
3. How Can Unvaccinated N.Korea Escape Pandemic?
4. UNC says commander OKs expansion of visitation to Panmunjom
5. S. Korea cuts Indonesia's payment for joint fighter development: arms agency
6. North Korea building project points to reopening of border with China
7. N. Korea to hold conference on 'three revolutions' to boost internal unity
8. N. Korea replaces, punishes 14 cadres and technicians working on nuclear-powered submarine program
9. North Korea's human rights and COVID-19 crackdowns
10. High Court sets Nov 24 for decision on AGC’S bid to strike out N. Korean’s suit over extradition
11. North Korea tried to vaccinate people against waterborne diseases in August
12. N. Hamgyong Province party committee holds meeting about progress in improving childrearing policies
13. Vaccines from abroad don't cut it in Korea
14. Japanese-Korean-Turkish language group traced to farmers in ancient China
1. S. Korean official voices optimism on accord with U.S. on end-of-war declaration
I think what we may soon see is an agreement in principle that we should seek the end of war declaration. But I think diplomats on both sides will state this is an aspirational goal and cannot be achieved until the north ceases its continued hostile policy and provocations. As long as the north continues to conduct advanced military weapons tests and maintains a hostile presence on the DMZ it is premature to consider making an end of war declaration. I am sure both sides agree that a unilateral declaration by the alliance would be unproductive and provide no value to the alliance and protect the security of the ROK. However, they will likely announce their willingness to propose this as the first agenda item for negotiations with north Korea. At that point they can attempt to negotiate all the necessary conditions to make an end of war declaration to include conventional force reductions/withdrawal and a denuclearization process. Until those conditions take place an end of war declaration is premature.
The bottom line is I think the diplomats are doing a lot of work behind the scenes to prevent a mistake.
Recall the north Korean statement that there can be no end of war declaration without sanctions relief. This is an unacceptable condition but it is setting the groundwork to be able to "blame" the US for blocking peace. China and Russia are complicit in this influence operations plan in that they are calling for lifting UN sanctions which they know will be blocked by the US (or the UK or France). The US cannot be walked into this L-shaped IO ambush. Therefore ROK and US diplomats are seeking a way to support an end to war declaration by putting the ball in Kim Jong-un's court to negotiate one.
S. Korean official voices optimism on accord with U.S. on end-of-war declaration | Yonhap News Agency
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States are expected to reach an agreement soon related to Seoul's offer of declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, according to a senior diplomat.
Arriving in Washington D.C. for consultations with American officials, South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun told reporters Sunday (local time) he expects a "good result" to be produced "before long."
He stressed there is no major difference between the allies on the push for the end-of-war declaration and at issue is how, as he is scheduled to meet with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Tuesday.
Choi also plans to attend trilateral talks with Sherman and Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori the next day to discuss pending issues.
"South Korea and the U.S. do not differ on the push for the end-of-war declaration, and they have been discussing details on when and how to push for it," Choi said at Washington's Dulles International Airport. "It is the year-end season, and I think there will be a good result before long"
And the next step will be making a proposal to North Korea, he added amid news reports that Seoul and Washington are in talks to draft a declaration. It remains to be seen how Pyongyang will respond to the suggestion if made, Choi pointed out.
He said the allies are also preparing for humanitarian aid to Pyongyang, which is now waiting for "political determination" to "make a step forward."
A flurry of high-level talks have been underway between the allies since President Moon Jae-in renewed his call for the end-of-war declaration in his U.N. address in September as a way to help restart the stalled dialogue with Pyongyang.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan hinted at possible differences between Seoul and Washington over details of the envisioned declaration. Despite a broad consensus on the need to break the current impasse on the Korean Peninsula, the two sides may have "different perspectives on the precise sequence or timing or conditions for different steps" for the declaration, he said publicly earlier this month.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. End-of-Korean-War Declaration Could Have Serious Consequences for Alliance Security
Excellent analysis as always from Bruce Klingner.
Conclusion:
An EOW declaration would be a historic feel-good and meaningless gesture without any tangible benefits, and would do nothing to improve the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. It would not reduce the North Korean military threat to the allies or alleviate distrust and suspicion on either side. It would only provide an amorphous hope that it would improve relations and lead Pyongyang to undertake undefined positive actions.
The United States and its allies should be wary of initiating peace talks with North Korea without a thorough understanding of the complexity of such negotiations as well as the wide-ranging strategic ramifications of such an agreement. While the armistice has provided the framework for peace, it has been the presence of strong South Korean and U.S. military forces that has actually guaranteed the peace.
End-of-Korean-War Declaration Could Have Serious Consequences for Alliance Security
SUMMARY
The United States and its allies should be wary of initiating peace talks with North Korea without a thorough understanding of the complexity of such negotiations, as well as the wide-ranging strategic ramifications of such an agreement. An end-of-war declaration would only provide an amorphous hope that it would improve relations and lead Pyongyang to undertake undefined actions. While the armistice has provided the framework for peace, it is the presence of strong South Korean and U.S. military forces that guarantees the peace.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
South Korean President Moon is increasingly pushing for an end-of-war (EOW) declaration with North Korea despite Pyongyang’s continuing provocations and threats.
A premature EOW declaration would be a feel-good gesture with no tangible benefits, and would do nothing to improve the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. recognizes that a declaration cannot be made as an inducement, and must be part of a comprehensive denuclearization agreement, and should stay the course.
South Korea continues to push for a declaration ending the Korean War despite U.S. resistance and North Korean rejection. With only a few months left in his administration, President Moon Jae-in is increasingly desperate to secure a legacy of improving inter-Korean relations despite Pyongyang’s continuing provocations and threats.
Prevented by international sanctions from providing economic largesse to Pyongyang, Moon resurrected his proposal for an end-of-war (EOW) declaration in an effort to jumpstart dialogue with the recalcitrant regime. Washington countered that a declaration should not be offered as an upfront inducement but as a component of a comprehensive denuclearization agreement. North Korea continues to reject all allied attempts at dialogue, instead demanding significant concessions before considering Seoul’s conciliatory offer.
President Moon Striving for Peace Legacy
During a September 2021 speech to the United Nations, President Moon stated that an EOW declaration could create “a new order of ‘reconciliation and cooperation’ on the Korean Peninsula [and] make irreversible progress in denuclearization.”REF Noh Kyu-duk, South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, describes a declaration as a “symbolic” gesture to demonstrate that Seoul and Washington harbor no hostility against Pyongyang and to provide momentum to coercing Pyongyang to resume dialogue.REF
Beyond the EOW declaration, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong urged that Washington “shouldn’t be timid on offering North Koreans incentives,” including humanitarian assistance and easing of sanctions.REF The foreign minister highlights that Pyongyang has maintained its moratorium on nuclear weapon and long-range missile testing for four years, ignoring the more than 40 missile-launch violations since 2019.
Minister of Unification Lee In-young calls for cancelling allied military exercises and providing economic benefits to North Korea. Moon’s administration is willing to overlook the regime’s repeated violations of United Nations resolutions, including unveiling several new weapons systems whose sole purpose is to heighten the military risk to South Korea.
U.S. Resists Hasty Action
The Biden Administration has repeatedly declared that it is willing to meet for discussions with North Korean diplomats “anywhere and at anytime” without preconditions.REF But the Administration rejects Seoul’s proposed EOW declaration without the inclusion of reciprocal North Korean actions in a broad denuclearization accord.
Publicly, Biden Administration officials politely acknowledge discussing the EOW declaration with South Korean counterparts, though with differing priorities. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described the EOW proposal as “productive and constructive,” but says that the two allies have “different perspectives on the precise sequence or timing or conditions for different steps.”REF
A recent Chicago Council survey indicated there is strong (76 percent) U.S. public support for negotiating a formal peace agreement—but only if North Korea agrees to suspend its nuclear weapons program. If North Korea keeps its nuclear weapons, public support for a formal peace agreement drops to 24 percent.REF
North Korea Blows Hot and Cold
Over the years, North Korea has asserted that the lack of an EOW declaration was both the greatest impediment to resolving the nuclear issue and a meaningless gesture. In 2018, the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that “the issue of announcing the declaration of the end of the war at an early date is the first process of defusing tension and establishing a lasting peace regime on the Korean Peninsula [and] constitutes a first factor in creating trust between [North Korea] and the U.S.”REF Pyongyang warned that bilateral talks were “again at stake and may fall apart” due to the U.S. reluctance to move forward on the peace issue.REF The regime emphasized, however, that an EOW declaration “can never be a bargaining chip for getting the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea] denuclearized.”REF
North Korea rebuffed President Moon’s latest proposal outright, as well as demanding additional preconditions. Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong-un, commented that an EOW declaration was “an interesting and an admirable idea [but] premature.”REF She dismissed its viability since the causes for tension remain intact, demanding that the United States first end its “hostile policy.” She referenced her earlier comments demanding the end of allied military exercises and the presence of U.S. forces in South Korea.REF
In a signal to Seoul, Kim Yo-jong linked restoration of inter-Korean relations and Moon’s desired EOW declaration to the South acquiescing to Pyongyang’s preconditions, including ending any criticism of regime actions or provocations. Any South Korean “slander” of the regime, she warned, would push inter-Korean relations toward “complete destruction.”REF Kim put the ball firmly in Seoul’s court as to whether it wants a “balmy breeze or a storm” to come from the North.REF
North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae-song struck a similar tone, stating it is too early to declare an end to the war and first required ending the presence of U.S. forces “on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity, including the ground, waters, air and underwater, and war drills annually held.” Signing an EOW declaration, Ri argued, would be “no help at all to stabilizing the situation on the Korean Peninsula” and instead could “entail disastrous consequences of upsetting the strategic balance in the region.”REF
Kim Jong-un offered improved inter-Korean relations moving toward “reconciliation and cooperation” but called on Seoul to end its “excessive arms buildup and allied military activities.”REF Pyongyang also demanded the lifting of sanctions on exports of North Korean minerals and the import of foreign refined oil.REF
Ramifications of a Premature End to the War
South Korean officials are seeking U.S. acceptance for an EOW document by emphasizing its uselessness. Advocates point out that the document would be only symbolic, non-binding, and without any real effect or consequences. However, they are unable to identify any tangible benefits—neither a quid pro quo that Pyongyang would provide, nor the expected change in North Korean policy or behavior.
An EOW declaration would not replace the armistice, bring about changes to North Korea’s military forces, or have any legal impact on United Nations Command, the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command, or the U.S. Forces Korea. U.S. military forces are in South Korea as the result of the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty between the U.S. and South Korea,REF not because of the United Nations Command charter.
However, an EOW declaration could still have serious negative consequences for alliance security by creating a false sense of security. Equating a simplistic peace declaration to actually securing peace could generate a domino-effect advocacy for prematurely signing a peace treaty, reducing U.S. deterrence and defense capabilities, ending combined U.S.–South Korean military exercises, removing U.S. forces from South Korea, and abrogating the Mutual Defense Treaty before reducing the North Korean threat that necessitated American involvement in the first place.
A document ending the Korean War that failed to reduce the North Korean conventional military threat would be an empty promise based on dangerous naïveté. A proper peace treaty should be the culmination, not the initiation, of a threat-reduction process. A peace agreement must create conditions that are more conducive to peace than the armistice, which it would replace. A viable peace agreement should not only conclude the existing hostilities, but also prevent the next war.
The threat that North Korea’s conventional forces continue to pose to South Korea should be addressed before concluding a peace treaty. This could be accomplished by requiring reduction and redeployments of North Korea’s massive array of artillery and maneuver units that are deployed near the border with South Korea, as well as by implementing confidence-building and security-building measures (CSBMs) and a comprehensive verification regime.
Without tangible progress toward denuclearization, an EOW declaration could endanger multilateral efforts to pressure Pyongyang to divest itself of its nuclear weapons.
U.S. and South Korea Should Not Rush to a Bad Agreement
Pyongyang declares that the U.S. must prove an end to its “hostile policy,” but it is North Korea that has habitually threatened, attacked, and killed U.S. and South Korean personnel. The U.S. has already repeatedly provided non-hostility declarations and promises not to attack North Korea with either conventional or nuclear weapons. These declarations had no impact on North Korea’s aggressive behavior or production of nuclear weapons.
There is no evidence that an EOW declaration would have any greater effect on North Korean behavior than those previously provided pledges. Pyongyang repeatedly violated the Korean War armistice before asserting that it had abrogated its adherence to the armistice as well as all other inter-Korean agreements. That does not bode well for regime compliance to another agreement.
What Washington Should Do
The U.S. should:
- Continue to resist President Moon’s overeagerness for conciliatory gestures toward North Korea, and insist that North Korea first resume dialogue and enter into negotiations before garnering any benefits or concessionary policy changes. An EOW declaration should not be a downpayment for inducing improved North Korean behavior;
- Reject an EOW declaration in favor of negotiating a comprehensive peace treaty as was being discussed in the Six Party TalksREF during the George W. Bush Administration. Such an accord should be the endpoint of detailed conventional arms-control negotiations to reduce the conventional force threat on the Korean Peninsula. A precedent for negotiations would be the 1990 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact.
- That agreement reduced forces and enhanced warning time by establishing overall limits on several categories of major conventional weapons systems, including tanks, artillery pieces, armored combat vehicles, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters. To constrain either side’s ability to conduct a surprise attack, there were additional geographically delineated sub-limits to reduce offensive weapons near the forward edge of the battlefield.
- The CFE Treaty also created a comprehensive and intrusive verification regime, including notification of unit movements, on-site inspections, challenge inspections for suspected cheating, and monitoring destruction of treaty-limited items.
- Stipulate that a peace treaty will not affect U.S. forces stationed in South Korea. The United States deploys military forces to South Korea under the Mutual Defense Treaty, not because of the U.N. Command charter.
- Advocate initiation of CSBM negotiationsto reduce the risk of surprise attacks and inadvertent escalation of hostilities. The 1992 Inter-Korean Basic Agreement included provisions for “the mutual notification and control of large-scale movements of military units and major military exercises, the peaceful utilization of the Demilitarized Zone, exchanges of military personnel and information, phased reductions in armaments including the elimination of weapons of mass destruction [WMDs] and attack capabilities, and verifications thereof.”REF
- Link peace treaty negotiations to North Korean denuclearization. U.N. resolutions require North Korea to refrain from conducting any nuclear or ballistic missile testing, as well as to abandon its WMD programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner. Negotiations must include a detailed, comprehensive road map to denuclearization, including an unambiguous and public North Korean commitment to the end state of eliminating its nuclear and missile-production capabilities and existing arsenals.
- Require a robust verification protocol in any agreement, including data declarations of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and arsenal, provisions for the dismantlement of those facilities, and destruction of the regime’s arsenals of WMDs. There should be international inspections and long-term monitoring of declared facilities, as well as the U.S. right to conduct short-notice challenge inspections of non-declared facilities. A data declaration should occur in the initial phase of implementation.
Conclusion
An EOW declaration would be a historic feel-good and meaningless gesture without any tangible benefits, and would do nothing to improve the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. It would not reduce the North Korean military threat to the allies or alleviate distrust and suspicion on either side. It would only provide an amorphous hope that it would improve relations and lead Pyongyang to undertake undefined positive actions.
The United States and its allies should be wary of initiating peace talks with North Korea without a thorough understanding of the complexity of such negotiations as well as the wide-ranging strategic ramifications of such an agreement. While the armistice has provided the framework for peace, it has been the presence of strong South Korean and U.S. military forces that has actually guaranteed the peace.
Bruce Klingner is Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia in the Asian Studies Center, of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, at The Heritage Foundation.
3. How Can Unvaccinated N.Korea Escape Pandemic?
The responsibility for the suffering of the Korean people lies with Kim Jong-un. But what will happen in north Korea when there is a major COVID outbreak? Especially one that could devastate the military ranks?
Conclusion:
The problem is that the entire world is trying to return to normal by boosting vaccinations, and it is a mystery to North Korea experts why Pyongyang is refusing free vaccines. The only fault of the North Korean people is that they have the wrong leader.
How Can Unvaccinated N.Korea Escape Pandemic?
November 15, 2021 13:03
Eritrea, between Sudan and Ethiopia on the Red Sea, gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 but remains riven with conflict and one of the poorest countries in the world. It is home to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and recently made the news because it remains one of only two countries in the world where nobody has been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The other is North Korea. So far 500 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been delivered to 144 countries though the WHO-led COVAX Facility that is intended to help the poorest countries, but North Korea and Eritrea have been left out. It allocated 2.1 million doses of vaccines to North Korea in March of this year but was unable to deliver them due to a lack of preparations. The North asked the WHO in September to deliver another 2.97 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine to another country because it does not want them.
North Korea claims to have no COVID-19 infections or fatalities after it tested 42,000 people last October who were all negative. Its sole strategy against the virus has been to seal its borders completely. That is also what it did during the outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Ebola in the past. The North appointed a new ambassador to China in March last year, but the outgoing ambassador, Ji Jae-ryong, remains in Beijing because he cannot go home. China also appointed a new ambassador to North Korea in January, but Wang Yajun has not been able to go to Pyongyang.
The North is also restricting imports for fear of contagion and storing any goods that get through in the open air while it waits for any traces of coronavirus to die out. The National Intelligence Service here said late last year that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un prohibited fishing and salt production for fear that the virus exists in seawater, and the official Rodong Sinmun daily reported on Nov. 4 that "malignant viruses" could spread through snow. The North's policies are being driven by total ignorance.
The problem is that the entire world is trying to return to normal by boosting vaccinations, and it is a mystery to North Korea experts why Pyongyang is refusing free vaccines. The only fault of the North Korean people is that they have the wrong leader.
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
4. UNC says commander OKs expansion of visitation to Panmunjom
I wonder about face to face contact between UNC guards and north Korea guards who are unvaccinated and the risk to soldiers and visitors. I wonder about how they will sanitize the negotiation room that all visitors traditionally get to enter. Do north Korean guards estill enter those spaces?
UNC says commander OKs expansion of visitation to Panmunjom | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- The U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) said Monday Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera has approved the expansion of visitation to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom, some four months after tours to the site were suspended due to COVID-19.
In a Facebook post, the UNC said it will soon finalize coordination with the South Korean government over when to restart the tours to Panmunjom, or the Joint Security Area (JSA), in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.
"In conjunction with the ROK 'Living with COVID-19' plan, the #UNC Commander has authorized the expansion of visitation to the #JointSecurityArea," the command said.
"We will soon finalize coordination with our ROK government teammates to announce when public tours will resume. Stay tuned!" it added, referring to South Korea by its official name, Republic of Korea.
Since this month, South Korea has implemented a phased scheme for a gradual return to normal life, which entails eased social-distancing rules.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. S. Korea cuts Indonesia's payment for joint fighter development: arms agency
(LEAD) S. Korea cuts Indonesia's payment for joint fighter development: arms agency | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with DAPA official's comments in paras 8, 10; RECASTS fighter name in paras 2-4)
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has lowered Indonesia's planned payment for its share of the cost for a joint fighter development project, as the warplane has been designated as "defense goods" eligible for a tax exemption, the state arms procurement agency said Monday.
Accordingly, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Indonesia is to pay 1.6 trillion won (US$1.35 billion) in total, down 100 billion won, for the 8.1 trillion-won project, called KF-21.
DAPA announced the change after it concluded years of negotiations with Indonesia last week on a cost-sharing deal, under which Indonesia reaffirmed its earlier pledge to shoulder 20 percent of the development cost and agreed to make in-kind payments for 30 percent of its share.
In Korea, once an item is classified as defense goods, it is exempt from value-added taxes. The designation for the fighter project came in 2017, but the change had not been reflected in the cost-sharing deal amid Indonesia's call for a renegotiation.
The two countries had held six rounds of negotiations, including Thursday's session in Jakarta, as Indonesia demanded a reduction in its share of the cost and other adjustments to the previous deal.
The two sides will have additional consultations on a detailed plan concerning how and when Indonesia will make its overdue payments for the defense project, which currently stand at around 800 billion won, DAPA officials said.
"Indonesia may find it difficult to make the overdue payments all at once due to the very difficult situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic," a DAPA official said. "But the negotiations had proceeded based on mutual trust."
As for Indonesia's plan for the in-kind payments, the official said no decision has been made yet on what goods it will offer. But he noted the possibility of the country providing its major export item, palm oil.
South Korea has been working on the fighter project since 2015 to develop an advanced homegrown fighter jet to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of F-4 and F-5 jets.
Since April, three prototypes of the single-seat KF-21 jet have been rolled out for testing purposes. The fourth one is set to be unveiled in December under a scheme to produce a total of six prototypes for the defense project, according to DAPA.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
6. North Korea building project points to reopening of border with China
Will the north reopen the border? Will it have effective controls to mitigate COVID? But what about smuggling? That is also very important to many of the markets. The regime is unlikely to relax the border control measures.
The key point to remember about COvid is that it has been an opportunity for the regime to impose even more strict controls of the population. Kim seized that opportunity.
North Korea building project points to reopening of border with China
North Korea is converting an air base near its border into a disinfection facility for containers transported by train, a move analysts say may lead to the resumption of trade with China and undermine US hopes that economic pressure might force Pyongyang back to the nuclear negotiating table.
Satellite images from the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank seen by the Financial Times show the building project at Uiju, near North Korea’s north-west border with China, following two years of isolation and economic struggle.
North Korea shut its land borders with China and Russia in January 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, leading to a mass exodus of foreign aid workers and diplomats. The country has subsequently conducted only limited trade by sea with China, by far its largest trading partner.
North Korea is also struggling under the effects of international sanctions and a food crisis, following a poor harvest and crop damage from heatwaves and flash flooding.
The regime maintains that it has recorded zero Covid-19 cases, a claim that international health experts have been unable to verify as they have been blocked from delivering aid or vaccines.
“The length and the completeness of the lockdown is a reflection of how deathly afraid [Pyongyang is] of virus transmission,” said Victor Cha, Korea chair at CSIS. “In that context, this effort to create a quarantine facility shows how desperate they are to open some level of trade, because they can’t stay closed much longer.”
The disinfection facility is located at the Uiju air base, across the border from Dandong, a city in north-east China and North Korea’s main access point for trade © CSIS/Beyond Parallel/Maxar 2021
Despite reports of chronic hunger across the country, the Kim regime has confounded observers by withstanding economic isolation far more extreme than envisioned under an international sanctions regime designed to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and weapons programmes.
“There has been no more effective sanctioning of the North Korean regime than this lockdown, and that calls into question the thesis that squeezing it as hard as we can with sanctions will somehow make them more pliable for denuclearisation,” said Cha.
South Korea has been pushing the US to support easing sanctions, while China and Russia recently circulated a draft proposal at the UN Security Council calling for sanctions relief.
“If you’re someone who believes in sanctions, then these images show you that the window for engagement with the west may be closing,” added Cha. “As they get more help from China, the pressure on the regime will start to be released.”
Work on converting the Uiju base began in March after North Korean authorities passed an import-disinfection law to establish a “system and order of disinfecting imports at border-passing spots”.
A satellite image view of the Uiju air base in November 2019 . . .
. . . and in October 2021, with the addition of new warehouse facilities and railroad links © CSIS/Beyond Parallel/Maxar 2021
“Trade via the sea route has been ongoing for months, but if you have trains crossing the border and heading into this facility every day, then you can have trains running from there down into Pyongyang, creating a much more frequent influx of imports,” said Colin Zwirko, a senior analyst at Seoul-based information service NK Pro.
He added that North Korean authorities appeared to be building similar facilities along the border with Russia.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service recently told MPs that Pyongyang was working with China and Russia to resume cross-border rail transport, according to parliamentarians who attended the briefing.
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7. N. Korea to hold conference on 'three revolutions' to boost internal unity
Check out the photo at the link. Have you ever seen people walk through a subway in such a formation?
That photo may be a visual representation of what the regime is try to do: ensure lock step adherence to regime ideology and now perhaps "Kimjongunism."
Excerpt:
The three-revolution movement is a mass movement devised under Kim Il-sung, the North's late founder and grandfather of the current leader Kim Jong-un, to continue "the revolution in the realms of ideology, technology and culture even after the establishment of the socialist system."
(LEAD) N. Korea to hold conference on 'three revolutions' to boost internal unity | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS unification ministry official's quotes in 7th para; CHANGES headline, lead)
By Choi Soo-hyang
SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea was to hold a conference on the country's "three-revolution movement" aimed at developing its ideology, technology and culture, state media reported Monday, in an apparent effort to bolster internal unity.
Participants for the 5th Conference of Frontrunners of the Three Revolutions "who set practical examples in carrying out the revolutions" arrived in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The three-revolution movement is a mass movement devised under Kim Il-sung, the North's late founder and grandfather of the current leader Kim Jong-un, to continue "the revolution in the realms of ideology, technology and culture even after the establishment of the socialist system."
This year's conference will be the second of its kind held under the current leader after the fourth event took place in November 2015. The previous sessions were held in 1986, 1995 and 2006.
The KCNA did not elaborate on the date or other details of the event, but it is expected to touch upon the first year outcome of the country's five-year economic development plan as it comes at a time when efforts are "briskly underway on all fronts" to successfully conclude the campaign for this year.
At the country's eighth party congress in January, the North Korean leader admitted to a failure in his previous development plan and unveiled a new scheme focusing on self-reliance amid a protracted border closure due to COVID-19 and global sanctions.
"It appears to be the latest in a series of events ... to encourage North Koreans to complete the tasks under the five-year national development plan following the eighth party congress earlier this year," Lee Jong-joo, spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry, said. "It also seems aimed at strengthening internal unity, as this year marks the 10th year since Kim Jong-un took power."
It remains unclear if Kim will attend the upcoming event in person.
During the 2015 conference, Kim sent a letter to the participants, calling for utmost efforts to build a "thriving socialist country."
scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)
8. N. Korea replaces, punishes 14 cadres and technicians working on nuclear-powered submarine program
So many things are wrong with the regime. "Localized" production? Note the punishment of the families. So much focus on blame and punishment. But the regime also shoots itself in its foot when it punishes technicians like these.
The Central Committee also criticized technicians for failing to follow party policy to “localize” production. That is to say, the committee took serious issue with designers handing over for final screening a complete comprehensive blueprint that called for large-scale imports of foreign technology and parts during the entire shipbuilding process.
Several basic errors were discovered as well, including a failure by designers to make the technical descriptions in the partial plans and assembly plans match when they drew the blueprints for the small nuclear reactors.
The Central Committee responded by excluding from the research team 14 cadres, researchers and technicians who took part in drawing up the plan. Six of them were kicked out of the party or disciplined.
One of the sources said the six who took responsibility for the failure were exiled with their families to remote areas. He added that the authorities now face snags in their plans, including the need to completely revise the designs for nuclear-powered submarines.
N. Korea replaces, punishes 14 cadres and technicians working on nuclear-powered submarine program - Daily NK
The Central Committee criticized the technicians for failing to follow party policy to “localize” production
North Korea recently replaced or punished 14 cadres and technicians tasked with designing small nuclear reactors for nuclear-powered submarines, apparently for failing to meet party criterion. The authorities will likely now face difficulties in their plan to acquire the capability of stealthily striking enemies.
According to multiple Daily NK sources in North Korea on Thursday, the Central Committee’s Military Industries Department began screening designs for nuclear-powered submarines on Nov. 5.
Work on the designs has been ongoing since October of last year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said during the Eighth Party Congress in January that “new planning research for a nuclear-powered submarine has been completed and is to enter the final examination process.”
Nuclear-powered submarines are highly stealthy as they need not surface for long periods of time, making them the most likely weapon to survive an enemy’s preemptive strike.
Focusing on advancing the country’s arsenal of asymmetrical strategic weapons, North Korea has assigned its top researchers to the project.
In particular, the authorities reportedly put experts on the task of producing small nuclear reactors, the key to building the submarines, imploring them to “exercise their top abilities, given their rich experience built up over six nuclear tests.”
A photograph of North Korea’s launch of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, called the Pukguksong-3. / Image: Rodong Sinmun homepage
However, the Central Committee apparently criticized the screening report, which included analysis of design flaws.
Firstly, the Central Committee reportedly said it would “take 10 more years” to build nuclear-powered submarines according to current designs, even though the goal is to complete them by 2025.
The Central Committee also criticized the designs for failing to meet three criteria put forth by the party to achieve its goals.
Though party leadership had stressed 1) improving the capabilities of conventionally powered mini-submarines that are currently deployed, 2) building a new class of submarines capable of carrying North Korea’s existing SLBMs and 3) building nuclear-powered submarines capable of carrying several nuclear launch systems, the Central Committee reportedly judged that these criteria had not been met on the ground.
The Central Committee also criticized technicians for failing to follow party policy to “localize” production. That is to say, the committee took serious issue with designers handing over for final screening a complete comprehensive blueprint that called for large-scale imports of foreign technology and parts during the entire shipbuilding process.
Several basic errors were discovered as well, including a failure by designers to make the technical descriptions in the partial plans and assembly plans match when they drew the blueprints for the small nuclear reactors.
The Central Committee responded by excluding from the research team 14 cadres, researchers and technicians who took part in drawing up the plan. Six of them were kicked out of the party or disciplined.
One of the sources said the six who took responsibility for the failure were exiled with their families to remote areas. He added that the authorities now face snags in their plans, including the need to completely revise the designs for nuclear-powered submarines.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
9. North Korea's human rights and COVID-19 crackdowns
Again all responsibility lies on Kim's shoulders.
North Korea's human rights and COVID-19 crackdowns
By John J. Metzler
The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic combined with a shroud of secrecy and indifference has hidden the fast deteriorating human rights situation in North Korea. Now yet another report by the U.N.'s rapporteur on human rights in the quaintly titled Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), underscores a grim reality in the "communist" country.
"Prolonged and strict COVID-19 measures have resulted in severe economic hardship and increased vulnerability to human rights violations amongst the general population. Over 40 percent of people were already food insecure prior to the COVID-19 pandemic … many of them suffering malnutrition and stunted growth. The number of food-insecure households has subsequently increased," the report warns.
While the North Korean government has exhibited virtually zero transparency about the state of its COVID-19 situation throughout the self-styled socialist country, the facts suggest massive lockdowns and increased restrictions on peoples' freedom of movement.
Indeed the report adds, "The authorities continue to enforce other public health measures such as mandatory mask-wearing, disinfection activities, lockdown of cities and regions, increased surveillance and severe restrictions on domestic travel."
Moreover the DPRK continues to use its traditional totalitarian methods to control the population through a vast network of political prison camps called kwalliso.
According to the U.N. report, "Kwalliso do not look like penitentiaries but more like villages … kwalliso No.18 and 21 located just south of the Taedong River, it was a large village that stretched up to 40 kilometers and consisted of accommodation, schools for the officers' children and the detainees' children, hospitals, farms and detention facilities. The children of inmates went to school for half-a-day and worked in the afternoon."
Camp No. 16 is reportedly the largest kwalliso with a capacity of 50,000 people. Such facilities have similarities with the old Soviet Gulag system of prison regions rather than actual jails.
The U.N. rapporteur noted, "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea denies the existence of political prison camps while acknowledging the presence of 'reform institutions.'" During the state's Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council in May 2019, the government delegation stated: "There is no such thing as 'political prisoner' or 'political prison camp.'"
People can easily fall afoul of the system; any jokes or veiled criticism of the ruler Kim Jong-un can bring political retribution.
North Korea strictly prohibits religious freedoms. The report stresses, "Christians are categorized as a "hostile class" under the songbun system of social classification and continue to be particularly targeted as a "serious threat to loyalty to the state."
The document adds, "Owing to COVID-19 travel restrictions, only 229 escapees arrived in the Republic of Korea in 2020, a significant drop from 1,047 in 2019. Only 36 escapees arrived in the first half of 2021."
Significantly, the report called on South Korea, the successful and democratic portion of the divided Korean Peninsula, to, "Integrate human rights into negotiations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" as well as to resume reunions of separated families. South Korea's role as a free beacon to the North becomes more significant than ever. It's incumbent on the Seoul government to care more for their suffering ethnic cousins in the North and to press for political and economic concessions in inter-Korean negotiations.
The U.N. report concludes, "The COVID-19 restrictions have worsened their ordeal due to further isolation, wider and harsher state command over people's lives, the further stifling of economic activity, and the exodus of humanitarian agencies from the country."
In other words, making the "hermit kingdom" even more isolated in a world of indifference.
John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism ― The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China."
10. High Court sets Nov 24 for decision on AGC’S bid to strike out N. Korean’s suit over extradition
High Court sets Nov 24 for decision on AGC’S bid to strike out N. Korean’s suit over extradition | Malay Mail
On March 8 this year, Mun Chol Myong filed the OS by naming the public prosecutor, Home Minister, Home Ministry (KDN), the government of Malaysia and the US government respectively as the first to fifth defendants. — Picture by Hari Anggara
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — The High Court here today fixed November 24 to decide on the Attorney General’s Chambers’ (AGC) application to strike out the originating summons (OS) filed by a North Korean businessman against the government of Malaysia, the government of the United States and three others over his extradition to the United States.
Judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin set the date after hearing submissions by Senior Federal Counsel (SFC) Ahmad Hanir Hambaly and counsel Datuk Nicholas Kow and Emile Ezra Hussain representing Mun Chol Myong, 56.
Nicholas submitted that the plaintiff’s fundamental rights have been breached and he was wrongfully extradited without compliance with the laws of this country as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
“The plaintiff submits that the OS deserves to be heard and decided on its merits, and dealing with it through a summary process would render his guaranteed right under Article 5 and 8 of the Federal Constitution out rightly denied,” he said.
He pointed out that in the event this court allows the defendant’s application to strike out the OS, the plaintiff will be heavily prejudiced as his rights under the Federal Constitution would have been stripped without any avenue to remedy the injustice.
Ahmad Hanir argued that the legal action brought by the plaintiff has become academic after he was extradited to the US on March 17, 2021 and therefore sought for the OS to be struck out.
On March 8 this year, Mun filed the OS by naming the public prosecutor, Home Minister, Home Ministry (KDN), the government of Malaysia and the US government respectively as the first to fifth defendants.
Mun applied for a declaration that Section 4 and Section 20 of the Extradition Act 1992 were unconstitutional, void and invalid and of no effect as they were contrary to the Federal Constitution as well as the 8th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.
He also sought an injunction to restrain the US government from taking action through the Home Minister of Malaysia, KDN and the government of Malaysia through an Extradition Agreement between the two countries signed on August 3, 1995.
On May 13, 2019, the prosecution applied to the Magistrates’ Court here for a warrant of temporary arrest on Mun which was allowed on the same day.
On June 10, 2019, the United States submitted an official application through diplomatic channels to the Malaysian government for Mun to be extradited.
In the extradition application, it was stated that Mun was a fugitive criminal who was required to attend trial in the US following an arrest warrant issued to him on charges of money laundering conspiracy. — Bernama
11. North Korea tried to vaccinate people against waterborne diseases in August
The subtitle says it all.
North Korea tried to vaccinate people against waterborne diseases in August - Daily NK
North Korean citizens have long been unable to receive proper treatment or prescriptions due to the collapse of the nation’s medical system
Daily NK has belatedly learned that North Korea vaccinated citizens in August against waterborne diseases. However, with disease running rampant everywhere, some North Koreans are criticizing the vaccine as essentially worthless.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Thursday that the government provided injections of what it described as “a new medicine good for preventing typhoid and paratyphoid” to hospitals nationwide. He said hospitals administered the drug to citizens aged 15 to 65.
However, waterborne diseases recently appear to be spreading in North Korea.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reportedly said during a parliamentary audit on Oct. 28 that North Korea is experiencing shortages of needed medications and that waterborne diseases such as typhoid are spreading.
In fact, the source said there were outbreaks of waterborne diseases in the municipalities of Chongjin, Hoeryong and Musan County in North Hamgyong Province from August to October. In Yanggang Province, too, there were outbreaks in Hyesan, Samjiyon, Samsu County, Kimjongsuk County and elsewhere.
The source said that there are many paratyphoid patients in Hoeryong in particular, with a flood of patients suffering from high fevers.
North Korea’s outbreaks of waterborne diseases may be due to floods in August. Downpours of nearly 600mm struck North Hamgyong Province in August, while neighboring Yanggang Province also suffered heavy rains.
In this undated photograph, North Koreans are seen peddling goods at a street market in Hyesan, Yanggang Province / Image: Daily NK
Waterborne diseases have long run rampant after heavy rains in North Korea since the country lacks good drainage facilities. North Korean authorities may have administered the vaccines after the heavy rains as a preventative measure.
The move does not appear to have worked, however. Some North Koreans believe the vaccine was ineffective. Some also cast doubt about the safety of the drug given the low state of North Korea’s pharmaceutical sector.
The source said neither the government nor health organs are saying exactly why there have been outbreaks despite the injections. He said the authorities are just advising locals to wash their hands three times a day or more to prevent diseases.
The source said the authorities are isolating or writing prescriptions for people with symptoms after they receive treatment in local hospitals. He added that people simply believe they got sick because they cannot properly eat.
North Korean citizens have long been unable to receive proper treatment or prescriptions due to the collapse of the nation’s medical system. People have responded by treating themselves with medications purchased in markets.
However, North Korea is now experiencing shortages of medical supplies due to the closure of the country’s borders to combat COVID-19. Because of this, North Koreans can only pace nervously and wait, unable to buy medicines.
The source said sick people usually self-isolate at home until their symptoms disappear. As of late, you cannot find medicines to treat diseases even in the markets, he added.
This means people are waiting to recover, relying on their own immune systems. It appears patients are practically being abandoned, unable to receive treatment.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
12. N. Hamgyong Province party committee holds meeting about progress in improving childrearing policies
Only in north Korea do inspectors inspect parenting. Everything is centrally controlled. And central control does not work.
N. Hamgyong Province party committee holds meeting about progress in improving childrearing policies - Daily NK
The meeting was held to discuss results of inspections conducted by prosecutors into how well officials were carrying out orders
By Jong So Yong - 2021.11.12 2:06pm
Daily NK has learned that the party committee of North Hamgyong Province recently held a meeting to evaluate how well the province was fulfilling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s order to improve the party’s childrearing policies.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Wednesday that the province’s party committee gathered organization and unit managers on Nov. 5 to review how well they have been carrying out Kim’s order to take up childcare as an “important policy” and craft relevant measures.
The provincial party reportedly ran the meeting based on the results of inspections conducted with prosecutors into how well officials were carrying out orders to provide processed foods such as milk products at state prices once a week to new mothers and children under the age of five.
According to the source, the meeting began with the provincial party saying they were reviewing how well local officials were fulfilling Kim’s statement — made during the Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee in June — that creating better childcare conditions was the “most important policy and supreme desire of the Party and State.”
North Korean children / Image: Seokwang
In particular, the party — hanging a big chart drawn in red on the platform — ripped into the assembled, telling them that the review based on the inspection results showed that “not even a single unit” had properly provided milk products and other supplementary foods in accordance with Kim’s verbal instructions, and even only a handful had occasionally provided them. The party criticized most work units as “lazy.”
The source said the meeting also examined the reasons for the failure. The provincial party pointed to official attitudes toward achieving Kim’s instructions. The key problem, it said, was that while there are shortages of basic supplies, officials have not properly provided even what they do have.
However, most officials reportedly complained that they are trying to fulfill Kim’s instructions, but with the state failing to provide things such as refrigeration equipment and vehicles, their efforts are coming to naught.
In fact, the officials brought up several instances. One tried to transport goat milk from a ranch that had undergone primary processing, but it had gone bad within a few hours. Another faced embarrassment after food he distributed caused enteritis due to food poisoning.
The source said even the provincial party failed to present concrete solutions, admitting that these problems could not be resolved overnight as machinery and other items needed to be imported. Failing to discuss important problems, the meeting ended with an indefinite call for organizations and units to form teams that would decide when to make provisions and confer with one another, the source added, along with party criticism that officials failed to produce results due to their “clumsy” work.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
13. Vaccines from abroad don't cut it in Korea
Monday
November 15, 2021
Vaccines from abroad don't cut it in Korea
Simon Smith, British ambassador to Seoul, posted a video message on the British Embassy’s Twitter account urging the Korean government to accept vaccination records of foreigners in Korea who are not eligible for quarantine exemptions [BRITISH EMBASSY SEOUL]
"I went to a movie theater with my friend last week," says Franziska, a 25-year-old German studying in Korea, "but was stopped at the door because the Korean system says I am not vaccinated."
Franziska is inoculated. She received her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in Switzerland in May, a few weeks before returning to Korea for the fall semester.
“Although I have been fully vaccinated, I didn't want to argue with the theater staff, so my friend and I just exchanged our tickets for another auditorium [for the unvaccinated]. It was a very unpleasant experience.”
Franziska ran up against a giant glitch in the Korean Covid response. So far, the Korean system only recognizes people inoculated here.
The glitch makes life difficult for a relatively small group of people like Franziska who got jabs abroad but reside here. It's going to be an even bigger problem as Korea tries to open its borders again and get back to normal -- without being able to accept foreign inoculation records.
Franziska made the effort to get her vaccine record registered at her local health center in Mapo District, western Seoul. It didn't work.
Flummoxed, she called another health center in Yongsan District, central Seoul, but was given the same reply: If you are a foreign national in Korea who was vaccinated overseas, your vaccine records cannot be registered with the Korean health system.
There is one way out for people in Franziska's situation: quarantine exemptions. These are given to foreigners entering Korea and allows them to skip the 10-day quarantine process that other visitors must endure. The exemption is a requirement to get an overseas vaccination registered in the Korean health system.
Quarantine exemptions are being issued in very limited circumstances, such as urgent business trips, humanitarian missions, or if the visitor has immediate family residing in Korea.
This policy by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has left many fully inoculated expats in Korea nonplussed and exasperated -- and excluded from some public facilities like movie theaters and gyms.
“Many foreigners in Korea like myself who have been vaccinated outside this country are placed in a very inconvenient and frustrating position where we cannot enjoy the incentives for the vaccinated because the government does not recognize our overseas vaccination records,” says Theo Cheng, 32, a Canadian expat who was transferred to Korea two months ago.
“My current options are to either wait until the KDCA changes the policy or just get vaccinated again in Korea, though I don’t know if it is even medically safe to get four jabs within a few months’ span," he says. "I also wouldn’t want to take a vaccine that can be used on someone else who needs it more than me.”
Since Nov. 1, the government has lifted most restrictions for the inoculated and rolled out a vaccine pass system.
Consequently, those who are unvaccinated in Korea are ineligible to bypass restrictions and can be denied admission to gyms, movie theaters, nightclubs, noraebang (singing rooms) and public bathhouses.
The Human Rights Counseling Coordination Center of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has assigned an investigator to determine whether the government is violating the human rights of foreign nationals in Korea who are without quarantine exemption, according to the center’s public relations department Friday.
Embassies in Korea have raised formal complaints.
“We have been in touch with the Korean authorities to ask them to ensure that the vaccine pass arrangements do not discriminate against foreign nationals in Korea,” said Simon Smith, British ambassador to Korea in a video message posted on the British Embassy’s Twitter account on Friday.
“We’ve said that if evidence produced by a Korean national of an overseas vaccination is good enough for that vaccination to be registered for the vaccine pass, the same evidence should be good enough to register the overseas vaccinations of foreign nationals too.”
While Korea does not recognize overseas vaccination records for foreign nationals, it does accept them for Korean nationals who received jabs outside the country.
Korean nationals who are vaccinated abroad can visit their local health center and put their vaccine records from abroad into the Korean health system.
The same overseas vaccine certificates are rejected in Korea when they are in the hands of a foreign national.
“The disparity in the treatment of Korean nationals vaccinated overseas and foreign nationals in the same position made me feel angry and discriminated against,” says Franziska.
“We have the same documents as Korean citizens, so it does not make sense that there is a distinction based on nationality.”
A number of local health centers in Korea mistakenly registered some overseas vaccination records of foreign nationals without quarantine exemptions.
“My local health center didn’t ask for my quarantine exemption papers, and I was able to register my Pfizer jabs that I received in Paris,” says a 32-year-old tech company worker from France who asked not to be named.
“The fact that I was able to register my vaccine records indicates that Korea does not lack a system or the technical ability to upload foreigners’ vaccine records onto their system.”
Heather Bryson, a 36-year-old U.S. national in Korea says that although she feels like she may be cheating a bit, she wants her vaccine records registered in the Korean system if some centers are doing it.
“I have two small children at home, so I am unable to easily take trips out to try different health centers to get my vaccination records accepted,” Bryson says.
“But I am still going to try one more on Monday since there is one other health center that I haven’t tried yet near my house.”
Bryson got vaccinated in July while she was visiting her family in the United States, thinking it was the responsible thing to do at the time because Korea had a vaccine supply shortage. In retrospect, she said she regrets that decision.
“Especially because I have children who are unvaccinated, it is very complicated to visit a place with friends who also have young unvaccinated kids because the current rules allow up to four unvaccinated people in cafes and restaurants,” says Bryson.
“I want to go out in confidence without worrying if I will be allowed into places.”
Some say they feel trapped in Korea because they cannot freely travel out of the country and return without going into quarantine if their vaccine records are not registered in Korea.
“My grandmother is in the hospital back in Germany, and if she passes away, I won't be able to attend the funeral because I cannot afford to quarantine again for 10 days when I come back to Korea from Germany,” says Franziska.
“It’s also Christmas soon, but some of us will not be able to visit our families because we cannot afford to take time off from work or school to quarantine.”
The 10-day self-quarantine is mandatory for those who are not fully vaccinated according to the Korean health system.
Koreans and foreign nationals who have their two vaccine records registered in the Korean health system can skip the quarantine requirement upon re-entry to the country.
The KDCA said it has plans to recognize more overseas vaccinations for foreign nationals in the future.
“For those foreign nationals who have entered Korea without quarantine exemptions, the KDCA is currently hammering out ways to safely open up the country to everybody in Korea,” says Choi Seung-ho, officer of crisis communication team at the KDCA.
“We will continue to expand vaccine verification program in stages.”
To the claims that the KDCA was discriminating against foreigners in Korea, the official says, “That was not the purpose of the policy.”
BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]
14. Japanese-Korean-Turkish language group traced to farmers in ancient China
Follow the money or follow the language.
Japanese-Korean-Turkish language group traced to farmers in ancient China
A study combining linguistic, genetic and archaeological evidence has traced the origins of the family of languages including modern Japanese, Korean, Turkish and Mongolian and the people who speak them to millet farmers who inhabited a region in northeastern China about 9,000 years ago.
The findings detailed earlier this month document a shared genetic ancestry for the hundreds of millions of people who speak what the researchers call trans-Eurasian languages across an area stretching more than 8,000 kilometers.
The findings illustrate how humankind's embrace of agriculture following the ice age powered the dispersal of some of the world's major language families. Millet was an important early crop as hunter-gatherers transitioned to an agricultural lifestyle.
There are 98 trans-Eurasian languages. Among these are Korean and Japanese as well as: various Turkic languages including Turkish in parts of Europe, Anatolia, Central Asia and Siberia; various Mongolic languages including Mongolian in Central and Northeast Asia; and various Tungusic languages in Manchuria and Siberia.
This language family's beginnings were traced to Neolithic millet farmers in the Liao River valley, an area encompassing parts of the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jilin and the region of Inner Mongolia. As these farmers moved across northeastern Asia, the descendant languages spread north and west into Siberia and the steppes, east into the Korean peninsula and over the sea to the Japanese archipelago over thousands of years.
Researchers engage in archaeological excavations at the Nagabaka site on Miyako Island, Okinawa Prefecture, as part of a study that explored the origins of the trans-Eurasian languages. | MARK HUDSON / VIA REUTERS
The research underscored the complex beginnings for modern populations and cultures.
"Accepting that the roots of one's language, culture or people lie beyond the present national boundaries is a kind of surrender of identity, which some people are not yet prepared to make," said comparative linguist Martine Robbeets, leader of the Archaeolinguistic Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
"Powerful nations such as Japan, Korea and China are often pictured as representing one language, one culture and one genetic profile. But a truth that makes people with nationalist agendas uncomfortable is that all languages, cultures and humans, including those in Asia, are mixed," Robbeets added.
The researchers devised a dataset of vocabulary concepts for the 98 languages, identified a core of inherited words related to agriculture and fashioned a language family tree.
Archaeologist and study co-author Mark Hudson of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History said the researchers examined data from 255 archaeological sites in China, Japan, the Korean peninsula and the Russian Far East, assessing similarities in artifacts including pottery, stone tools and plant and animal remains. They also factored in the dates of 269 ancient crop remains from various sites.
The researchers determined that farmers in northeastern China eventually supplemented millet with rice and wheat, an agricultural package that was transmitted when these populations spread to the Korean peninsula by about 1300 B.C. and from there to Japan after about 1000 B.C.
The researchers performed genomic analyses on ancient remains of 23 people and examined existing data on others who lived in North and East Asia as long as 9,500 years ago.
For example, a woman's remains found in Yokchido in South Korea had 95% ancestry from Japan's ancient Jomon people, indicating her recent ancestors had migrated over the sea.
"It is surprising to see that ancient Koreans reflect Jomon ancestry, which so far had only been detected in Japan," Robbeets said.
The origins of modern Chinese languages arose independently, though in a similar fashion with millet also involved. While the progenitors of the Transeurasian languages grew broomcorn millet in the Liao River valley, the originators of the Sino-Tibetan language family farmed foxtail millet at roughly the same time in China's Yellow River region, paving the way for a separate language dispersal, Robbeets said.
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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.
