Quotes of the Day:
"Truth is the only safe ground to stand upon."
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
"A person's success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have."
- Timothy Ferriss
"You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life."
- Winston Churchill
1. [VOA: Washington Talk] “The end-of-war declaration coordination is quite complete”… “Prospects for progress are difficult.”
2. North Korea sends delegation to China for emergency supplies
3. Risking China’s wrath, South Korean presidential front runner Yoon Seok-youl says more US Thaad missile deployments are possible
4. S. Korean candidate takes tough line on North's nuclear program
5. Ending the Korean War could be Biden's biggest mistake yet
6. US diplomat embroiled in controversy over alleged hit-and-run
7. Only 6 percent of South Koreans have favorable impression of Japanese PM
8. Seoul’s flying taxi offers a glimpse into the future
9. Korean presidential hopeful vows big foreign policy shifts
10. Decoupling of Korean, US stock markets deepens
11. Kim Jong-un’s longest absence in seven years sparks ill health rumours
12. The 'floating hotel' rusting away in North Korea
1. [VOA: Washington Talk] “The end-of-war declaration coordination is quite complete”… “Prospects for progress are difficult.”
This week's Washington Talk from Voice of America for broadcast into Pyongyang (target audience: the elite).
Kim Young Gyo hosts Andrew Yeo and me to discuss the proposed end of war declaration, the 78,000 ROK POWs that remain in north Korea after the Armistice, and human rights in north Korea
[Washington Talk] “The end-of-war declaration coordination is quite complete”… “Prospects for progress are difficult.”
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South Korea's Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said that discussions between South Korea and the United States for an end-of-war declaration have been fairly coordinated. On the other hand, Daniel Crettenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, who is visiting Korea, said that it is difficult to predict progress even though productive consultations are in progress. Under these circumstances, the United States participated as a co-sponsor of the North Korean human rights resolution submitted to the UN General Assembly, but it is still unclear whether the South Korean government will participate. Let's talk with the experts. Moderator: Kim Young-kyo / Conversation: David Maxwell (Senior Research Fellow, Democracy Defense Foundation), Andrew Yeo (Korean Chair, Brookings Institution)#washington talk #FLY #North Korea #Denuclearization #NorthKorea #denuclearization #nuclear #missile #KoreanWar #endofwar #declaration #WashingtonTalk #VoiceofAmerica
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2. North Korea sends delegation to China for emergency supplies
Another sign of the serious problem they face.
I hate to sound like the boy who cried wolf or Chicken Little, but we need to ensure we are ready with our contingency plans for north Korean instability.
North Korea sends delegation to China for emergency supplies
The unofficial trip came as the border was closed following a brief reopening in response to new COVID cases.
An unofficial delegation from North Korea travelled to China for emergency supplies on the same day the newly reopened border was shut down due to a spike in coronavirus cases, sources in China told RFA.
The border with China was closed in January 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a move that all but destroyed the nascent North Korean market economy, much of which relies on Chinese trade to stay afloat.
Rail trade resumed on Nov. 1, with trains travelling from Dandong, China, over the Yalu River to Sinuiju, North Korea. But eight days later, the link was closed again due to a lockdown in Dandong from a new spike in coronavirus cases.
China typically accounts for more than 90 percent of North Korea’s international trade. North Koreans have held out for almost two years without any Chinese imports, but supplies of many goods are running low.
Sources said the delegation asked Chinese officials in Dandong for cooking oil and seasonings, construction materials and several kinds of fabrics.
“Two train cars crossed the bridge on Nov. 8 from North Korea, and at first we thought it was just a maintenance team coming to inspect the condition of the railroad connection between Sinuiju and Dandong, because we heard they’d be coming,” a Chinese citizen of Korean descent from Dandong told RFA’s Korean Service Wednesday.
“The railway maintenance team were in the front car, but there were three unofficial delegations from Pyongyang in the second car. They were here to request emergency supplies,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
The delegation made their way to the North Korean consulate in the city to meet with Chinese officials, according to the source.
“We don’t yet know whether the Chinese officials they met were from the central government in Beijing, or if they were from the local government in Dandong, entrusted to act on behalf of the central government,” the source said.
The discussion in Dandong was not about receiving food aid, according to the source. Reports out of North Korea have indicated that the food situation there is dire, with the government telling people to prepare for shortages that could rival the 1994-1998 famine that killed millions of North Koreans. The shortages have already led to starvation deaths.
But the just-completed harvest appears to have alleviated some of the fear about mass famine in the short-term, the source said.
“Considering that the North Koreans sent their delegation to request supplies to the North Korean consulate, it’s likely that the two governments have already reached an agreement and these were working-level discussions,” said the source.
“The delegation was willing to risk coming into Dandong, where the coronavirus is raging strong. That proves that the shortage of supplies in North Korea is extremely serious,” the source said.
At the beginning of 2021, when it was apparent that the border would stay closed for at least several months, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called on the country to overcome its food and resource problems in accordance with its founding “juche” ideology, which preaches self-reliance on the individual, local and state level.
“How desperate North Korea must be. The government told the people to endure the border closure by pushing self-reliance, and now here they are, requesting emergency supplies from outside,” a second source in Dandong, also a Chinese citizen of Korean descent, told RFA.
The Chinese officials partially accepted North Korea’s request for the various raw materials, food enhancers and seasonings, and construction materials, the second source said.
“With the coronavirus spreading again in all parts of China, including in Dandong and the three northeast provinces, there’s no telling as to when railway trade will resume. It was supposed to reopen this month,” the second source said.
The halt in trade is not only harmful for North Korea. Chinese trading companies had stocked up to prepare for the reopening, but now must watch the goods sit in warehouses, the second source said.
“The delay in resuming rail trade has resulted in the Chinese companies becoming increasingly impatient,” the source said.
Though rail trade between North Korea and China was suspended for almost two years, RFA reported that China in April 2021 sent a train load of about 300 tons of corn, likely as food aid but registered as animal feed.
Many were hopeful at that time that rail trade would resume, but the border remained closed for another six-and-a-half months before it briefly reopened.
Translated by Leejin Jun for RFA’s Korean Service. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
3. Risking China’s wrath, South Korean presidential front runner Yoon Seok-youl says more US Thaad missile deployments are possible
We need to ensure we stay out of South Korean politics. I wonder if Candidate Yoon's strategy here may backfire. The policy statements he is making about north Korea, China, end of war declaration, and the alliance sound good to many Americans. But if there is vocal US support for him from Americans he may be vulnerable to opposition (and north Korean and CHinese) claims that he will be a puppet of the US because he appears to be aligned with the US on key security issues.
Risking China’s wrath, South Korean presidential front runner Yoon Seok-youl says more US Thaad missile deployments are possible
- The conservative opposition People Power Party’s Yoon Seok-youl says he is also open to deeper military cooperation with America and Japan
- His remarks threaten to upend President Moon Jae-in’s delicately balanced relationship with China, which unleashed a slew of retaliatory measures when the systems were first installed
By Park Chan-Kyong South China Morning Post3 min
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defence interceptor is test-launched. Photo: Reuters
The conservative opposition party candidate seeking to replace South Korean President Moon Jae-in at next year’s election has kept open the possibility of further deployments of an American missile system that China sees as a threat.
The People Power Party’s Yoon Seok-youl, a former top prosecutor, said it would be up to Seoul to decide “how much we bolster missile defence systems including Thaad and how deeply we coordinate with the United States and Japan [for defence]”.
“These issues should be decided upon in accordance with our security situations,” he said.
Yoon was referring to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) system that arrived in the country in 2017 to defend the South from an attack by North Korea. China said the system’s radar could be used by the US to spy on it, threatening its security, and unleashed a slew of retaliatory measures that hit South Korea’s trade and tourism sectors.
The dispute went on for a year before Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to “normalise exchanges”.
Yoon, who is the front runner among presidential candidates according to polls – though pundits caution that support could fluctuate as the March 9 election nears – stressed that Thaad was meant to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
“It is regrettable that it is misunderstood as a provocative act to China,” he added.
Yoon’s remarks are the clearest indication yet that the resurgent conservative party – which lost power in 2017 when former leader Park Geun-hye was removed from office – will upend Moon’s precarious balancing act between the country’s traditional ally, the US, and its largest trade partner, China, amid the mounting rivalry between the two superpowers.
Choi Kang, vice-president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said the conservatives could be bad news for both China and North Korea as they preferred a tougher stance towards both countries.
“Naturally, China wouldn’t be much excited to see Yoon triumph over Lee,” he said, in a reference to Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of Moon’s Democratic Party.
Still, Yoon in his remarks on Friday pledged to open a “new era of cooperation” with China based on mutual respect and push for regular high-level strategic talks if elected.
00:41
US deploys THAAD missile defense system to South Korea
Yoon, who was speaking to foreign correspondents, also said he was opposed to a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean war, as suggested by Moon to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. Moon has consistently pushed for inter-Korean engagement as the first step to a broader discussion with the US on denuclearisation, and eventual reunification.
Efforts to declare an end to the war – which technically continues as the fighting resulted in an armistice rather than a peace treaty – appear to be gathering steam, with US and South Korean officials working on the wording of such a declaration and North Korea signalling conditional interest.
But Yoon said such a gesture could send the wrong signal to Pyongyang at a time when it was continuing to build its nuclear and missile capabilities.
As Moon cannot run again for election, his Democratic Party is battling to stay in power through Lee, the former governor of the country’s most populous Gyeonggi province.
Lee on Monday said he was not in favour of Japan joining the US and South Korea in a three-way military alliance, and that he opposed any further deployment of Thaad.
Park Chan-kyong is a South Korean journalist who has worked for the Agence France-Presse Seoul bureau for 35 years. He is now working for the South China Morning Post. He studied political science at Korea University and economics at the Yonsei University Graduate School.
4. S. Korean candidate takes tough line on North's nuclear program
More comments from Candidate Yoon. Again, As Americans we need to be measured in our comments about the presidential candidates.
S. Korean candidate takes tough line on North's nuclear program
Yoon Suk Yeol stressed the need to boost cooperation with Washington and Japan to make up for South Korea’s relative lack of ability to monitor North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.
Yoon Suk Yeol has been leading public opinion surveys since becoming the conservative main opposition party’s nominee last week for next March’s presidential election. | Lee Jin-man/AP Photo
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
11/12/2021 06:25 AM EST
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s main opposition presidential candidate said Friday he will strengthen military cooperation with the United States and Japan if elected to better cope with North Korea's nuclear threat and would strive to make the North a leading foreign policy priority for the U.S.
Yoon Suk Yeol has been leading public opinion surveys since becoming the conservative main opposition party’s nominee last week for next March’s election to choose the successor of current liberal President Moon Jae-in.
He is expected, however, to eventually face an extremely tight race against governing party candidate Lee Jae-myung.
Meeting with foreign media on Friday, Yoon stressed the need to boost cooperation with Washington and Japan to make up for South Korea’s relative lack of ability to monitor North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.
“At a time when North Korea refuses denuclearization, bolsters its nuclear armaments and continues provocative missile tests, it’s accepted as an obvious fact that we have to upgrade our sharing of reconnaissance and intelligence assets and military cooperation” with the U.S. and Japan, Yoon said.
South Korea and Japan are both key U.S. allies in East Asia and host a total of about 80,000 American troops. But their three-way cooperation has been tested in recent years over history and trade disputes between Seoul and Tokyo stemming largely from Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Moon’s government once threatened to terminate a trilateral intelligence-sharing agreement amid wrangling with Japan.
Stressing the need to improve ties with Tokyo, Yoon accused the Moon government of using tensions with Japan for domestic political gain. He said foreign policy should be implemented with pragmatism that prioritizes national interests over other matters.
Policies for pursuing North Korea's denuclearization are likely be a leading issue in the March 9 election after Moon’s appeasement approach failed to convince the North to abandon its nuclear program, though it led to a temporary conciliatory mood between the rivals.
Lee has said he would follow an approach similar to Moon’s, and would seek exemptions from international sanctions on North Korea to allow a resumption of dormant joint cooperation projects. Yoon accused Moon of neglecting North Korean threats and said he would seek a stronger U.S. defense commitment to neutralize the North’s nuclear and missile threats.
Nuclear diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea has been largely deadlocked since early 2019. North Korea isn’t a top priority for President Joe Biden, who faces challenges from China and Russia and mounting domestic issues.
Yoon said he would encourage the Biden administration to consider North Korea a leading priority. To do so, he said he would push strongly for North Korea's denuclearization and present a concrete roadmap to achieve that.
Yoon’s stance could draw an angry response from North Korea, which has called previous South Korean conservative governments U.S. puppets, and avoided serious negotiations with them over its nuclear program.
5. Ending the Korean War could be Biden's biggest mistake yet
Despite the push for an end of war declaration, I think South Korean and US diplomats have worked out a diplomatic approach to this issue that will not put South Korean security at risk and will NOT result in a premature and unilateral end of war declaration.
I would note that I have been a "victim"of selected reporting on this issue and in particular the critical comments I've made about the South Korean positions on an end of war declaration. We do not always get a full translation of remarks by such people as FM Chung in which he does recognize the problems with an end of war declaration and that he knows we must move cautiously on this.
I think we will dodge a bullet on this (though the efforts of Rep Sherman and his comrades in Congress still need to be challenged).
In the end this whole incident will show the strength of our diplomats to resolve complex and sensitive issues within the alliance. it will be a "Nietzsche event:" that which does not kill me makes me stronger. The alliance may very well be stronger by the way our diplomats have worked through this.
But as I noted we need to be aware of HR 3446 and its potential impact as well as Congressman Sherman's recent letter to President Biden. I am confident that POTUS will heed the advice of his diplomats on his Korea team.
Ending the Korean War could be Biden's biggest mistake yet
Joe Biden sold his candidacy on the promise that the adults would be back in charge. He took that same message to world leaders. Reality was different.
Rather than define itself with competence, Biden’s mismanagement and the gross incompetence of his national security team have hemorrhaged U.S credibility, empowered terrorists, and shot adrenaline into the ambitions of global rivals Russia and China.
Lifting sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 energy pipeline scored a generational victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Afghanistan withdrawal displayed gross incompetence and all but guaranteed an al Qaeda and Islamic State resurgence. The list goes on: A Haitian gang leader holds Americans hostage, Houthi rebels seized the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa just months after the State Department took them off the terror list, and Iran Envoy Rob Malley’s apologia for Iran’s behavior seems to have no limit. For Biden’s aides to walk back the president’s commitment to defend Taiwan at best highlighted the president’s senility and at worst encouraged hawks in Beijing.
None of these mistakes, however, approaches what South Korea’s foreign minister suggests was a hitherto fore secret Biden administration initiative to end the Korean War. The Korean War, of course, began more than 70 years ago just months after then-Secretary of State Dean Acheson omitted Korea from his outline of America’s defensive perimeter in the Pacific. The war technically never ended: While the 1953 Armistice Agreement ceased hostilities and created a demilitarized zone along the 38th parallel, it was not a formal peace treaty.
Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, however, says that the Biden administration is prepared to issue a declaration formally ending the war. "We have recently had very close consultations with the U.S. about the format and contents of an end-of-war declaration," he said. "Coordination between South Korea and the U.S. has almost been completed." The South Korean administration hopes to use such a declaration "as a starting point" for a renewed effort to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
To declare the war over on the hope of peace is naive. To do so before achieving such goals, however, actually risks a far hotter conflict.
The problem is that the U.S. operates under the U.N. flag on the peninsula and can continue to do so long as a peace agreement is allusive. To declare the war over would instantly delegitimize the American role and those of neutral monitors along the DMZ. The South Korean peace camp might whisper sweet nothings into Secretary of State Antony Blinken's or national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s ears, but reality is stark. Not only Pyongyang, but also Beijing and Moscow would demand America’s exit the day after any declaration ending the conflict. In effect, what Biden proposes is not peace but a surrender that would make a dry run of the chaos in Afghanistan.
It is not a cheap or far-fetched analogy: Biden justified the Afghanistan withdrawal in his promise to end "forever wars." What liberals and isolationists deride as "forever wars ," however, is really just a rebranding of traditional containment and deterrence. Nowhere has that deterrence kept tyranny at bay more starkly than in Korea. While President Harry S. Truman’s contemporaries lambasted him for embroiling the U.S. in an endless war and throwing a lifeline to Syngman Rhee’s corrupt South Korean regime, America’s intervention and strategic patience allowed South Korea’s economy and democracy to evolve. Juxtaposing North and South Korea today shows the wisdom of that investment.
For Biden to undercut that now would represent a penchant for naivete and self-destruction that, just a few years ago, would be beyond the realm of imagination for America’s enemies.
Michael Rubin (@mrubin1971 ) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
6. US diplomat embroiled in controversy over alleged hit-and-run
I hope the report is wrong. We do not need this kind of self inflicted wound.
As an aside I do not think many know that on Yongsan Garrison is the US Embassy Housing compound.
And this is what is most troubling to Koreans:
Police had no choice but to let the car enter the garrison, which is off limits to them. Police could not apprehend the diplomat at the scene either, due to diplomatic immunity which protects diplomats and their families against prosecution under the host country's laws.
US diplomat embroiled in controversy over alleged hit-and-run
A captured image shows a collision between a taxi and a vehicle driven by a U.S. diplomat in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times file
By Jun Ji-hye
Controversy has been growing over an alleged hit-and-run incident involving a U.S. diplomat stationed in Korea, after it was revealed that a vehicle with four U.S. diplomats, including the driver, allegedly fled after hitting a taxi while driving in central Seoul.
According to police, Friday, the vehicle was suspected of hitting the taxi on the right side from behind while changing lanes near Namsan No. 3 Tunnel, Wednesday. Rather than stopping the car to deal with the accident, the driver kept driving to Gate 3 of U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan.
The taxi driver chased the diplomat's car up to the gate.
Police officers also came to the gate and attempted to identify the diplomat who had been behind the wheel. But the diplomat refused all police requests, including a breathalyzer test.
The three other passengers did not cooperate with police either, not even opening the car windows.
Police had no choice but to let the car enter the garrison, which is off limits to them. Police could not apprehend the diplomat at the scene either, due to diplomatic immunity which protects diplomats and their families against prosecution under the host country's laws.
On the following day, police sent an official document to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, asking for its cooperation in their investigation.
Police said they already checked video footage of the accident and are planning to investigate whether the diplomat left the scene deliberately without pulling over to deal with the accident.
"We will decide on which charges should be applied after listening to the diplomat's statement," a police officer said.
Regarding the issue, the U.S. Embassy said it disputed the account of the incident as reported in media.
The embassy, however, did not provide details about which parts of the account it disputed.
"We trust that the competent Republic of Korea law enforcement authorities will conduct a thorough and fair investigation of the matter, and we will refrain for providing further comment until that investigation has been completed," the embassy said in a statement.
According to an official from the foreign ministry, Friday, the U.S. Embassy expressed its willingness to cooperate with the police investigation.
"The U.S. Embassy is well aware of the sensitiveness of the case," the official said. "The embassy told us that it will keenly cooperate in accordance with due procedures."
Ministry spokesman Choi Young-sam also said, Thursday, "The ministry has always strictly handled unlawful acts committed by foreign diplomats stationed in this country. We will strictly handle this latest case as well, in cooperation with investigative authorities."
7. Only 6 percent of South Koreans have favorable impression of Japanese PM
Obviously not a good sign for the future of ROK-Japan relations.
Only 6 percent of South Koreans have favorable impression of Japanese PM
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, in this Oct. 14 file photo. AP-Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
Only six percent of South Koreans have a favorable impression of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who took office in early October, a survey showed, Friday.
According to the opinion poll on the leaders of five neighboring countries including the U.S., Japan, China, Russia and North Korea, conducted of 1,000 adults by local pollster Gallup Korea from Tuesday to Thursday, those who said they had a good impression of Kishida recorded the lowest proportion at 6 percent.
About 49 percent of the respondents said that they had a good impression of U.S. President Joe Biden, 19 percent for Russian President Vladimir Putin, eight percent for Chinese President Xi Jinping and seven percent for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Koreans had an unfavorable view of Kishida, with 80 percent of the respondents saying they had a negative impression of the new Japanese prime minister who took office about a month ago.
The pollster attributed the low favorability of the Japanese prime minister to strained bilateral relations between Tokyo and Seoul over historical issues, including compensation for surviving South Korean victims of wartime forced labor and sex slavery during Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
Koreans also had negative views of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Kishida's predecessor, with only about 5 percent reporting favorable views in six previous opinion polls since 2013.
8. Seoul’s flying taxi offers a glimpse into the future
Can't wait!!
Seoul’s flying taxi offers a glimpse into the future
Ecosystem required to commercialize Urban Air Mobility by 2025 is set out as Korean pilot takes prototype for a spin
SEOUL – The excitement did not quite match the Apollo Moon landing but it came close as South Korea trialed a flying taxi on Thursday.
A hanger at Seoul’s Gimpo Airport was repurposed as an expo space, populated with virtual-reality flight simulators, models of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) solutions from multiple firms and research bodies, and mock-ups of “vertiports.”
A swarm of VIPs, reporters and tech geeks massed to watch the spectacle. After the requisite speeches, orchestral music boomed as a German-made, Swiss-piloted UAM vehicle rose vertically into the sky above Gimpo’s runways and parked airliners.
To a chorus of “oohs” and “ahs” and the click of a thousand shutters, the vehicle made a modest aerial circuit of the building before returning.
After the drone-like vehicle had touched gently down, event-goers swarmed onto the tarmac to congratulate the pilot – and, of course, shoot selfies with him and his machine.
Similar technologies were last year showcased in central Seoul – albeit without a live human aboard. Thursday’s event offered secondary proof of concept, showing that not only was the vehicle safe to fly, but that it could synch its electronics suite with the air traffic management (ATM) system of a working, world-class airport.
This means that the national plan to adopt aerial cabs, which in their first-phase rollout will shuttle between Seoul’s two airports to and from its city center from 2025, is on course.
Further phases will follow, with the end result being autonomous flying vehicles whisking passengers from point to point through city skies.
South Korea, despite its tech-mad populace and a national habit of swiftly adopting futuristic gadgets, is unlikely to be the first country to roll out the service globally or regionally.
Korea’s ambitions in the UAM space were matched by the hoopla surrounding the test flight of a UAM taxi. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
State of play
While companies across the world are engaged in producing UAM vehicles, only two are willing to offer them for test flights, a Seoul official said: China’s EHang and Germany’s Velocopter.
While Korean conglomerates Hyundai Motors and Hanwha are both building UAM prototypes, their offerings are not likely to be ready for the clouds before 2023, the official said.
As an EHang vehicle was used in last year’s Seoul demo, a Velocopter machine won the honors this time. The battery-powered UAM solution can travel at 110km/h, over a range of 35km with a 400lb+ (180kg) payload.
“The industry is at an exciting inflection point, so we are thrilled to be here, to get personal engagement,” said Velocopter CEO Florian Reuter. “This is a milestone.”
An unusual visitor – a flying taxi – perches on the tarmac at Seoul’s Gimpo Airport. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Velocopter has partnerships with companies including German carmaker Daimler, Japanese airline JAL and US chipmaker Micron, officials said. It produces delivery drones as well as UAM vehicles, which explains another corporate partnership, with logistics firm DB Shenker.
Due to the necessity of embedding extensive safety protocols and the need to pre-generate public trust in UAM, the much-discussed autonomous flying cabs – essentially civilian versions of military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs – are off the table at present.
“No country in the world allows unmanned flights,” said Helena Treeck, head of PR at Velocopter.
While Treeck expects the EU regulatory agency to greenlight unmanned UAM around 2035, the industry is currently focused on piloted UAM solutions.
Given that old-school helicopters can do all that current generation UAM vertical-take-off-and-landing vehicles can do – what makes the new vehicles a game-changer?
Cost is foremost, Treeck explained. While helicopter taxies are the preserve of the rich, use of drone technologies in the UAM sector makes the vehicles much easier to maintain and therefore more economical than helicopters.
Price competitiveness will be boosted when UAM vehicles shift to mass production, Treeck said. For the end-user, a UAM fare will be “about the same as a premium taxi” she said.
Being battery-powered, UAM vehicles are not just clean, they are low-noise. “Eighteen small rotors are quieter than one big one,” she said. This is critical as many cities globally have noise regulations, she noted, and flying cabs will be operating at a much lower ceiling than fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
A flying taxi sets down in front of jet airliners. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Then there is safety. “The safety level we design to is for an airliner,” Treeck said. This gold-standard certification is essential, “because we fly over densely populated areas.”
The use of high-technology materials also makes UAM vehicles lighter – and so more economical, as well as more flexible in their landing options – than helicopters.
South Korea’s air map
South Korea stood up a task force, comprising personnel from six government bodies, in June 2020 to plan the country’s UAM strategy. Plans for the phased establishment of a UAM eco-system in Seoul were explained to Asia Times by Nah Jing-hang, director of the Drone Transport Division of South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, or MOLIT.
From 2025, piloted UAM vehicles will come into use, Nah said. From 2030, the sector is expected to shift to remotely flown vehicles – freeing up more space for passengers and luggage. And from 2035, the flying vehicles will be entirely autonomous.
That is the technological blueprint. A second road map – or, perhaps more germanely, air map – exists for service expansion. The two plans must move “step-by-step, and side-by-side” Nah said.
Thursday’s flying taxi test flight was preceded by a demonstration of a delivery drone and a “last mile” delivery robot. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
From 2025-2030, the plan is for the aerial vehicles to fly along dedicated, 300-600 meter-wide air corridors between Seoul’s duo of airports – Incheon (international) and Gimpo (largely domestic) – and a network of downtown “vertiports.”
From 2030, use will expand as the flying taxies swoop around different vertiports in the Seoul area, rather than being restricted to the airport-city corridor. These vertiports are likely to be built on or near transport hubs, such as rail or subway stations.
Finally, post-2035, there will be point-to-point services, in which the aerial taxies operate like their terrestrial counterparts, picking up and dropping off customers all over the city, though details of this have to be worked out.
In addition to flying along dedicated air corridors, verticality will be used to de-conflict airspace users.
Fixed wing aircraft will be at the top of the verticality; helicopters below them; UAM vehicles below them; and finally, delivery drones will occupy the lowest ceiling.
Regarding air traffic management, South Korea’s existing 5G mobile telecommunications have the appropriate bandwidth to manage UAM traffic, Nah said, without the need to create dedicated networks.
In addition to these de-confliction mechanisms, UAM manufacturers are embedding sensors in their vehicles as a fail safe, officials said.
When it comes to pilot training, professionalism will be to the fore – meaning taxi drivers are unlikely to transition from roads to skies.
“The first pilots will have civil aviation licenses,” Nah said – though UAM vehicles are “much easier to handle than a helicopter.”
You too can be an airborne cabbie….action at a flight simulator during Thursday’s aerial taxi test flight. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Looking further ahead, there may be demand for private citizens to own personal flying cars. But that projected trend is likely to be obviated by anticipated technological advances.
“By then, UAM vehicles will probably be fully autonomous,” Nah said.
The flying taxi industry will not be a monopoly, Nah said. The benchmark is civil aviation, with multiple companies flying models of different sizes and paying to use vertiports.
The groundwork
Though the Korea Airports Corporation was displaying mock-ups of vertiports at the event, the KAC will not be their exclusive operator, Nah said.
A KAC official at the event said four vertiports are planned for 2025: One at Incheon Airport, one at Gimpo Airport, one at the Cheongyangni rail and subway transport hub in northern Seoul, and one in the Samseong rail transport and convention center hub in southern Seoul.
Their five-story facilities will include five landing/take-off spaces, and 50 UAM taxi parking spaces. Unlike cab ranks, but in common with airports, there will be need to be weight checks for passengers and their luggage, plus security checks.
In addition to a phased expansion of vertiports inside Seoul, the facilities will also rise in the capital’s satellite cities, the official said.
Art showing the plan for a UAM taxi vertiport attached to an airport. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Regarding the long-term aim of true taxi-style point-to-point fares, Treeck said that her company is already getting inquiries from real estate developers to incorporate landing spaces in their buildings.
And in Korea, the rooftops of Seoul’s countless high rises – many of which feature rarely or never used helicopter landing pads – will make ideal pick up/drop-off points, Asia Times has learned.
Race for the sky
Korean conglomerates Hanwha and Hyundai Motor are both engaged in the UAM space. Both showcased – but did not fly – prototypes at the event.
Hanwha’s 4-rotor “Butterfly” UAM vehicle carries one pilot and five passengers. The Korean firm, which has competencies in energy and defense, has invested in UAM in the US, and is targeting certification from the US Federal Aviation Agency by 2025, said Yun Hun-woo, director of the company’s UAM Business Development Team.
UAM is “a top priority for Hanwha Group,” Yun said. The Korean government “wants to be a leader in UAM in Asia” he added.
Currently, Germany’s Velocopter and China’s Ehang may be ahead of the corporate pack in the vehicular space, but another race is on to decide which country – or city – will first roll out commercial UAM services.
Velocopter officials who spoke to Asia Times at the event reckon that the leaders at present are Paris or Singapore. But Paris has a specific boost: It has vowed to offer commercial UAM services before the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Given this, expectations are that the French capital will take the lead. Certainly, there is unity of purpose said Velocopter staff, who say they are working closely with the city.
“Any time you have the government and the regulator on board, odds are good,” Treeck said. “You need everyone at the table.”
A Korean-designed UAM vehicle mock-up at Gimpo Airport. Photo: Andrew Salmon / Asia Times
Nah and his colleagues are watching Paris’ progress with interest. Korea’s ATM and regulatory framework are closer to the US Federal Aviation Authority than the EU’s European Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, he said – but Seoul is flexible about benchmarking all solutions.
Clearly, the public mind is captured by the potential of UAM. In addition to rising above congestion, the UAM offers adventure and the aesthetic pleasure of viewing a city from the sky.
“Tourists will be able to take new looks at cities,” said Treeck. “UAM is more stable, quieter and safer than helicopters.”
Her statement was backed up by Swiss test pilot Damian Hirchier. “It’s a smooth ride,” he said.
Flight ceilings are likely to vary from city to city. “In New York, they may fly higher than Paris,” Treeck noted.
Still, the MOLIT plan for Seoul suggests that UAM solutions will fly at lower – and more visually impressive – altitudes than either helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft.
All this raises a big question. Given the vast potential of the sector, why are regulators around the world proceeding so cautiously rolling out existing, working technologies?
“The main issue is safety,” said Nah – who quoted a Korean proverb: “Even if you have a stone bridge, you should check it before crossing it.”
In tandem with the intense public interest in UAM, manned and autonomous, is intense public concern about accidents. Any crash would likely receive massive media attention, which could set back the entire project.
“If we have an accident with UAM, it will hinder the future adoption of UAM,” Nah said. “So, in a way, slow is fast.”
9. Korean presidential hopeful vows big foreign policy shifts
Again with caution. Many favorable alliance positions in these policy statements.
Korean presidential hopeful vows big foreign policy shifts
Yoon Seok-yeol puts forth bold new thinking on policy toward Pyongyang and better relations with Tokyo
SEOUL Conservative presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol put forth a new initiative on Friday (November 12) to bring the two Koreas and United States together under one roof, while delivering withering criticism of the current South Korean administration’s Japan policy.
Yoon, standing for the opposition People Power Party, was speaking to foreign reporters in Seoul as the campaign for South Korea’s presidency heats up. The former prosecutor-general is running against ex-human rights lawyer, former provincial governor and wealth-distribution firebrand Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea in the race for the presidential Blue House.
That race will climax with an election on March 9. Current President Moon Jae-in is constitutionally restricted to a single term.
Given the shortness of Yoon’s political career – which essentially kicked off after he resigned as chief of the prosecution service in March – major questions hang over his foreign policy chops.
Still, as one attendee noted, “any former prosecutor-general is very, very smart” and Yoon appeared well-briefed and on-form as he discussed wide-ranging geopolitical and geoeconomic issues.
In a swipe at the policy of the Moon administration – which right-wingers accuse of being overly eager or even deferential toward Pyongyang – he said North-South relations had “degenerated into a relationship between subordinates and superiors.”
He said he would rebalance matters by promoting the construction of a sustainable trilateral diplomatic office with representatives of both Koreas and the US. He suggested the DMZ truce village of Panmunjom or Washington DC as potential locations for the body and its headquarters.
Currently, neither Seoul nor Washington has formal diplomatic relations with Pyongyang. That means that – officially, at least – the key communications channels between the parties are cross-border hotlines at Panmunjom and other points on the DMZ, as well as the North Korean diplomatic mission to the United Nations in New York.
A more permanent trilateral arrangement would allow the parties to meet more often rather than “from time to time, as a one-off event, as we have done so far,” Yoon said.
He suggested keeping talks at the three-party level rather than expanding them to the four-party level – including China – or the prior six-party format – including Japan and Russia.
“Once the three parties agree on effective denuclearization we can have extended talks with four parties or six parties,” he said. “It would be only a matter of getting international endorsement on our progress.”
Perhaps so, but the existing truce village of Panmunjom itself is arguably emblematic of Yoon’s proposal. Moreover, Pyongyang hardly has a positive history toward joint sites. US troops were killed at Panmunjom in 1976, and North Korea blew up a North-South liaison office in 2020.
Cooperation is in the economic sphere is also troubled. High-profile joint Korean commercial projects – an industrial park at Kaesong and a related resort complex at Mount Kumgang, both established inside North Korea with South Korean capital – were closed under prior conservative administrations in Seoul.
Despite his predecessor’s policies, Yoon appeared to favor such projects.
“I will push forward the ‘Inter-Korean Joint Economic Development Plan’ to prepare for the post-denuclearization era,” Yoon said. However, he had a pre-condition: It would require a “bold decision” by Pyongyang on denuclearization.
North Korea is always a core policy issue for South Korean presidential candidates. Here, paramilitary and public security forces march to celebrate the 73rd founding anniversary of North Korea at Kim Il Sung Square. Photo: AFP / KCNA / KNS
Yoon also dangled a carrot, proposing to revive currently frozen humanitarian exchanges, “…so North Korea can come back to the denuclearization negotiating table.”
While admitting that US administrations have never made North Korea a top priority, he also slammed past South Korean governments for their inconsistency. He would be a more responsible curator of inter-Korean relations, he insisted.
“If I become president, I will present a clear roadmap for denuclearizing North Korea,” Yoon said. “We need to convince our allies the US and Japan that the North Korean issue can be resolved.”
That reference to Japan as an ally was highly unusual for a South Korean politician. But Yoon spent a considerable portion of his time discussing improving ties with South Korea’s democratic neighbor while slamming Seoul’s recent antagonistic policies toward Tokyo.
A gentler stance toward Japan…
“I believe the current administration has almost zero diplomacy toward Japan,” he stormed. “Communications with Japan’s foreign ministry are almost non-existent.”
Modern Korean relations with Japan have consistently fallen afoul of disputes over Japan’s colonization of the peninsula and resultant legacies. In the last five years, ties have deteriorated to what are widely considered their nadir since diplomatic relations were normalized in 1965.
Under Moon, Seoul first overturned a prior bilateral agreement and related Japanese compensation package for surviving “comfort women.” Subsequently, Korean courts have seized Japanese corporate assets to compensate colonial-era forced laborers.
Tokyo, already seething over the comfort women issue, insisted that the latter step breached a 1965 agreement and compensation package, and withdrew trade privileges South Korea had enjoyed. Seoul swiftly retaliated in kind.
Yoon accused Moon of leveraging simmering anti-Japanese sentiment – an ever-present force in South Korea’s body politic – for domestic gain.
“Diplomacy should be well managed to create benefits for both parties but as of now, Japanese relations and diplomacy are used for Korean political purposes,” he said. “The current administration has almost ruined relations with Japan.”
In fact, over the last year, Moon has publicly reached out to Japanese leaders in an apparent attempt to initiate a reset. However, Tokyo’s position is that Seoul must first resolve the court impasse.
South Korean sentiment toward Japan could not be described as amicable. South Korean protesters tear a huge Japanese flag during a rally near the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2019. Photo: AFP / Jung Yeon-je
Yoon suggested a broad-based policy. “I will seek a comprehensive solution with Japan over past history issues, economic cooperation and security cooperation,” he said.
Security cooperation with Japan could raise eyebrows in South Korea’s other neighbor: China.
Policy toward China is an increasingly ticklish matter for South Korea. On the one hand, the country relies on the United States for security, while relying heavily on China, its leading trade partner, in the economic sphere. At a time when Beijing-Washington relations are tense, Seoul is increasingly pulled in both directions.
Yoon leaned toward Washington in his remarks, citing a famous – or infamous – promise made by Moon to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The ‘3 Nos’ policy of the Moon administration, I believe, is not a formal agreement, it is not an official promise, it is the current administration’s position,” he said.
Under the so-called “3 Nos,” Moon said South Korea would not join a security alliance with Japan; would not join a US missile-defense program; and would not extend the US deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile units on the peninsula.
A THAAD unit was ostensibly deployed to defend against North Korean missiles before Moon entered office, but China angrily insisted that the unit’s radars can snoop on its own strategic assets. Resultant economic retaliation cost South Korea billions in boycotts of its products and companies in China, as well as via a drying up of Chinese tourists to South Korea.
The emplacement of a US THAAD missile battery led to Beijing launching economic retaliation against Seoul. Photo: AFP / Missile Defense Agency
South Korea’s foreign policy focus has traditionally been largely limited to familiar horizons: North Korea, China, Japan and the US.
At a time when Indo-Pacific security issues are generating greater attention across the region, Yoon seemed to follow in that policy groove, which may give some comfort to Beijing.
He was lukewarm on the possibility of joining the US-led “Quad” alliance and its “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing network. He also suggested that South Korea did not need the kind of nuclear submarine technologies that the US is transferring to Australia under the “AUKUS” framework.
Speaking more broadly, Yoon argued for a rebalancing of Korea’s global relations along two separate axes: a Japan-South Korea-US axis and a China-Japan-South Korea axis.
And he was at pains to assure his audience that he is no dunce when it comes to foreign policy.
“As a prosecutor, I was interested in many different areas, not just indicting criminal cases. I dealt with cases on the economy and international issues,” Yoon said. “I read a lot of books…my knowledge and interest is broader than you think.”
He said that if he wins the presidency, he would extend Seoul’s global affairs outreach into advanced technologies, space development and climate change, while expanding its current overseas development aid programs.
10. Decoupling of Korean, US stock markets deepens
Excerpts:
Regarding how long the decoupling will continue, analysts have divergent views. Some expect the phenomenon will be ameliorated by the country's favorable export figures in October; but others believed the local stock markets are unlikely to see any growth momentum until the global supply disruptions are settled.
Due to the deepened decoupling, the average amount of trading by retail investors on the KOSPI has fallen by 20 percent, compared to previous months, as many are opting to invest in U.S. markets instead.
According to data compiled by the Korea Securities Depository, Korean nationals' ownership of overseas stocks reached an all-time high in the third quarter, at around 106 trillion won ($89.7 billion), and over 63 percent of these are U.S. shares.
Decoupling of Korean, US stock markets deepens
Supply chain disruptions, inflation woes weigh on domestic markets
By Anna J. Park
While U.S. stock markets have been continuing to renew record highs lately, markets here have been fluctuating severely recently, logging a fall of around 10 percent from three months ago. The level of "decoupling" between the two countries' stock markets has reached its widest since 2011, when comparing their respective index levels.
The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq indices have all been rewriting all-time highs this month, thanks to strong corporate performances as well as solid employment figures. The passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill also contributed to their bullish moves.
Yet, Korea's main benchmark KOSPI has been trapped in a boxed range around the 3,000-point level for months. Since the index hit its all-time high of 3,305 in early July, the index has fallen more than 10 percent, sliding back to 2,960 at the close trading Nov. 8, while edging up to 2,968.80, Friday.
This year alone, the S&P 500 has risen more than 27 percent from 3,700 points to 4,701 early this week; while the KOSPI increased just 3.3 percent over the same period.
Market watchers say the Korean economy's higher susceptibility to global supply chain disruptions as well as inflation worries caused by increases in raw material prices are part of the cause of the deepening decoupling.
"One of key reasons behind the decoupling is supply chain bottlenecks. Emerging economies' industrial structures, including that of Korea, have a huge dependency on external markets, which makes the country's economy more susceptible to prolonged global supply chain disruptions," said Lee Kyoung-min, a strategist at Daishin Securities. "Exacerbated concerns over global supply chains due to power shortages in China are one of the reasons for Korean stock markets faltering."
Another analyst also shared the view that the country's export-driven industrial structure makes the local stock markets more vulnerable to external factors, such as "China risks."
"Compared to the U.S. where the services sector makes up a greater portion of the economy, Korea's heavier reliance on manufacturing makes it more susceptible to concerns over any slowdown in the Chinese economy," explained Shin Seung-jin, an analyst at Samsung Securities.
Businesses related to the cyclical, IT and automotive sectors ― which are all highly affected by global supply chain issues ― make up 58.9 percent of KOSPI-listed companies, while it only accounts for about 28 percent of firms listed on the S&P 500.
In addition, relatively weaker corporate earnings are also a reason for decoupling, according to other market watchers.
"One of the reasons why the U.S. and Korean stock markets continue to decouple is that the U.S. is enjoying a relative advantage in growth during the third-quarter earnings season. In the end, what is key in resolving the decoupling is a recovery of earnings in our emerging market," said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.
Regarding how long the decoupling will continue, analysts have divergent views. Some expect the phenomenon will be ameliorated by the country's favorable export figures in October; but others believed the local stock markets are unlikely to see any growth momentum until the global supply disruptions are settled.
Due to the deepened decoupling, the average amount of trading by retail investors on the KOSPI has fallen by 20 percent, compared to previous months, as many are opting to invest in U.S. markets instead.
According to data compiled by the Korea Securities Depository, Korean nationals' ownership of overseas stocks reached an all-time high in the third quarter, at around 106 trillion won ($89.7 billion), and over 63 percent of these are U.S. shares.
11. Kim Jong-un’s longest absence in seven years sparks ill health rumours
The speculation continues. Of course one of these days something might actually happen. Which should prompt the question now and not wait until then: What would we do if we learned today that Kim Jong-un was dead? Have we done a tabletop war game to at least consider this? What will be our initial actions? What will be our policy and strategy for dealing with both the possible chaos due to the lack of a succession mechanism (and no apparent designated successor) and then with a potential follow-on leader should one emerge?
Kim Jong-un’s longest absence in seven years sparks ill health rumours
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for more than a month, the latest absence in a series of breaks this year and sparking new rumours of possible ill health.
This is the longest Mr Jong-un has remained out of public view and activities since 2014, a six-week absence that ended with him returning with the addition of a walking stick.
The North Korean leader was last seen in state media reports on 12 October, which detailed his attendance at a missile exhibition in Pyongyang the day before. Since then there have been no media reports involving Mr Jong-un making a public appearance.
According to the Washington-based watchdog website NK News, satellite imagery has shown a spike in activities around Mr Kim’s east coast beach house and a lakeside mansion in Pyongyang, where he is often reported to go during episodes of illness.
A leisure boat has been seen moving in the waters outside Mr Jong-un’s Wonsan beach mansion around the end of October.
State media reported that despite the lack of public engagements, Mr Kim continues to work and has written to other heads of state during this period.
The absence comes after a particularly busy period for North Korean military activity, with tests including a claimed first hypersonic missile and a number of ballistic missiles in breach of UN resolutions, alarming neighbours South Korea and Japan.
Unless he is suffering from a very serious illness, it is likely that Mr Kim will be required to make a public appearance next month — he is still expected to make his annual visit to father Kim Jong-il’s mausoleum on his death anniversary of 17 December.
Given the closed-off nature of the hermit kingdom, Mr Kim’s public appearances are watched closely for clues about the state of North Korea’s leadership.
And in 2021 alone, the 37-year-old has taken eight breaks from public engagements spanning at least 14 days.
The only other year in which the leader has taken more absences was 2020, when his lack of involvement in celebrations for North Korea’s 15 April national holiday — the most important of the year, marking founder Kim Il-sung’s birthday — sparked reports of a serious cardiovascular condition.
He returned then after nearly three weeks but wasn’t seen walking, and used a golf cart to conduct a public visit. Observers noted a mark on his arm, suggesting he could have undergone a medical procedure.
Mr Kim became leader of North Korea after the death of his father in 2011 at the age of just 27, at a time when he was known for his love of smoking and alcohol and generally in a poor shape, not least given his family’s history of heart disease.
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File: A pedestrian walks past a huge screen displaying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
12. The 'floating hotel' rusting away in North Korea
A picture is worth a thousand words. This describes the "bankruptcy" of the Kim family regime ideology and rule. Please go to the ink to view the photos.
The 'floating hotel' rusting away in North Korea
CNN · by Jacopo Prisco, CNN
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Jacopo Prisco, CNN • Updated 12th November 2021
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(CNN) — It was once an exclusive five-star resort floating directly over Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Today, it sits dilapidated in a North Korean port, a 20-minute drive from the Demilitarized Zone, the restricted area that separates the two Koreas.
For the world's first floating hotel, that's the last stop in a bizarre 10,000-mile journey that began over 30 years ago with glamorous helicopter rides and fine dining, but ended with a tragedy.
Now marked for demolition, this rusty vessel with a colorful past faces an uncertain future.
A night at the Reef
The floating hotel was designed as a luxury stopover for divers.
Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images
The floating hotel was the brainchild of Doug Tarca, an Italian-born professional diver and entrepreneur living in Townsville, on the northeastern coast of Queensland, Australia.
"He had much love and appreciation for the Great Barrier Reef," says Robert de Jong, a curator at the Townsville Maritime Museum. In 1983, Tarca started a company, Reef Link, to ferry day-trippers via catamaran from Townsville to a reef formation off the coast.
"But then he said: 'Hang on. What about letting people stay on the reef overnight?'"
Initially, Tarca thought of mooring old cruise ships permanently to the reef, but realized it would be cheaper and more environmentally friendly to design and build a custom floating hotel instead. Construction began in 1986 at Singapore's Bethlehem shipyard, a subsidiary of a now defunct large US steel company.
The hotel cost an estimated $45 million -- over $100 million in today's money -- and was transported by a heavy-lift ship to the John Brewer Reef, its chosen location within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
"It's a horseshoe-shaped reef, with quiet waters in the center, so ideal for a floating hotel," says de Jong.
The hotel was secured to the ocean floor with seven huge anchors, positioned in such a way that they wouldn't damage the reef. No sewage was pumped overboard, water was recirculated and any trash was taken away to a site on the mainland, somewhat limiting the environmental impact of the structure.
Christened the Four Seasons Barrier Reef Resort, it officially opened for business on March 9, 1988.
"It was a five-star hotel and it wasn't cheap," says de Jong. "It had 176 rooms and could accommodate 350 guests. There was a nightclub, two restaurants, a research lab, a library and a shop where you could buy diving gear. There was even a tennis court, although I think most of the tennis balls probably ended up in the Pacific."
A whisky bottle
The hotel didn't cope well with bad weather, with guests often left stranded.
Townsville Maritime Museum
Getting to the hotel required either a two-hour ride on a fast catamaran, or a much quicker helicopter ride -- also more expensive, at an inflation-adjusted $350 per round trip.
The novelty of it all generated quite a buzz at first, and the hotel was a dream for divers. Even non-divers could enjoy incredible views of the reef, thanks to a special submersible called The Yellow Submarine.
However, it soon became clear that the impact of bad weather on guests had been underestimated.
"If the weather was rough and you had to go back to town to catch a plane, the helicopter couldn't fly and the catamaran couldn't sail, so that caused a lot of inconveniences," says de Jong.
Interestingly, hotel staff lived on the top floor, which in a floating hotel is the least desirable location because it swings around the most. According to de Jong, staffers used an empty whisky bottle hanging from the ceiling to gauge the roughness of the sea: when it started to sway out of control, they knew a lot of guests would be seasick.
"That was probably one of the reasons why the hotel was never really a commercial success," he says.
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There were other problems: a cyclone struck the structure just one week before opening, damaging beyond repair a freshwater pool that was part of the complex. A World War II ammunition dump was found two miles from the hotel, scaring off some customers. And there wasn't really much to do besides diving or snorkeling.
After just one year, the Four Seasons Barrier Reef Resort had become too expensive to run, and closed down without ever having reached full occupancy.
"It disappeared really quietly," says de Jong, "And it was sold to a company in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, which was looking to attract tourists."
An unlikely destination
After failure off the coast of the Great Barrier Reef, it spent a year in Vietnam, then moved to North Korea.
Hyundai Asan Corporation
In 1989 the floating hotel embarked on its second journey, this time 3,400 miles northward. Renamed Saigon Hotel -- but more colloquially known as "The Floater" -- it remained moored in the Saigon River for almost a decade.
"It became really successful, and I think the reason was that it was not in the middle of nowhere but on a waterfront. It was floating, but it was connected to the mainland," says de Jong.
In 1998, however, The Floater ran out of steam financially and closed down. But instead of being dismantled, it found an unlikely new lease of life: it was purchased by North Korea to attract tourists to Mount Kumgang, a scenic area near the border with South Korea.
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"At that time, the two Koreas were trying to build bridges, they were talking to each other. But many hotels in North Korea weren't really tourist friendly," says de Jong.
After another 2,800-mile journey, the floating hotel was ready for its third adventure, with the new name of Hotel Haegumgang. It opened in October 2000 and was managed by a South Korean company, Hyundai Asan, which also operated other facilities in the area and offered packages for South Korean tourists.
Over the years, the Mount Kumgang region has attracted over 2 million tourists, according to Hyundai Asan spokesman Park Sung-uk.
"Also, Mount Kumgang Tour improved inter-Korean reconciliation and served as a pivotal point for inter-Korean exchange, as the center for the reunion of separated families to heal the sorrows from national division," he says.
A tragedy
It's thought access to the hotel was restricted to North Korea's political elite.
Hyundai Asan Corporation
In 2008, a North Korean soldier shot and killed a 53-year-old South Korean woman who had wandered beyond the boundaries of the Mount Kumgang tourist area and into a military zone. As a result, Hyundai Asan suspended all tours, and Hotel Haegumgang shut down along with everything else.
It's unclear whether the hotel has operated at all since then, but certainly not for tourists from South Korea.
"Information is sketchy, but I believe the hotel was operating only for members of the North Korean ruling party," says de Jong. On Google Maps, it can still be seen moored at a pier in the Mount Kumgang area, rusting away.
In 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visited the Mount Kumgang tourist area and criticized many of the facilities, including Hotel Haegumgang, for being shabby; he ordered the demolition of many of them as part of a plan to redesign the area to a style more fitting to North Korean culture. But then, the pandemic happened and all plans were put on hold. It's unclear whether the plan to demolish everything will go through anytime soon, or at all.
In the meantime, the floating hotel lives another day, its legacy still intact. It will likely remain one of a kind, as the idea of floating hotels hasn't really caught on.
Or -- in a sense -- it has.
"The ocean is full of floating hotels," says de Jong. "They're just called cruise ships."
CNN · by Jacopo Prisco, CNN
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.
