Quotes of the Day:
“War is not courtesy but the most horrible thing in life; and we ought to understand that and not play at war. We ought to accept this terrible necessity sternly and seriously. It all lies in that: get rid of falsehood and let war be war and not a game. As it is now, war is the favorite pastime of the idle and frivolous. The military calling is the most highly honored.”
― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct acts sooner or later to eliminate the individual and thereby fails to show up in future generations. . . . A scientifically verifiable theory of morals must be rooted in the individual's instinct to survive--and nowhere else!--and must correctly describe the hierarchy of survival, note the motivations at each level, and resolve all conflicts.
We have such a theory now; we can solve any moral problem, on any level. Self-interest, love of family, duty to country, responsibility toward the human race . . . .
The basis of all morality is duty, a concept with the same relation to group that self-interest has to individual.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers
“War has a momentum of its own and it carries you away from all thoughtful intentions when you get into it. You know where you begin. You never know where you are going to end”
― George F. Kennan
1. Moon meets with CIA chief, touts Korea-U.S. alliance: Cheong Wa Dae
2. U.S. awaits N. Korean response to U.S. proposals for dialogue: State Dept.
3. S. Korea considering 'diverse' ways with U.S. for N. Korea dialogue: ministry
4. N. Korea opens western sea route to receive medical supplies: UNICEF
5. Ransomware suspects nabbed in int'l probe involving S. Korea
6. Can the Biden Administration Tempt North Korea Back to the Table?
7. North Korea Forces New Military Officers to Volunteer for Harsh Front-Line Duty
8. The Korean Invasion – Can Cultural Exports Give South Korea a Geopolitical Boost?
9. ＜Inside N. Korea＞ "Shoot Anyone Who Steals the Harvest." Live Ammunition Distributed at Cooperative Farms and Security Measures Taken on a 24-hour Basis.
10. Some regions of N. Korea sell rice and corn to population to mark Party Foundation Day
11. Young children in N. Korea still being forced to fulfill "non-tax burdens" ahead of the winter
12. North Korea's Kim Jong-un faces 'paradise on Earth' lawsuit
13. Navy to press ahead with aircraft carrier project despite skepticism
14. Deciphering Kim Jong-un’s Second Policy Speech
15. The four shadows cast by AUKUS
1. Moon meets with CIA chief, touts Korea-U.S. alliance: Cheong Wa Dae
Moon meets with CIA chief, touts Korea-U.S. alliance: Cheong Wa Dae | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in held a meeting with the chief of U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Friday, touting the Korea-U.S. alliance as a foundation of the nation's security.
CIA Director William Burns, who is on his first visit to South Korea after taking the job, expressed his deep respect to Moon's efforts to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement.
Moon and Burns, who was a career diplomat before taking the job, also exchanged views about intelligence cooperation between the two allies and the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, the statement said.
In August, about 400 Afghans, who had helped the Korean government in their war-torn country, were evacuated to South Korea.
Moon thanked Burns for actively helping evacuate the Afghans, according to the statement.
Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have remained stalled since the Hanoi summit in 2019 between then U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended without a deal.
kdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. U.S. awaits N. Korean response to U.S. proposals for dialogue: State Dept.
Probably anything less than full support for the regime's objectives will result in a continued stiff arm to the US. Kim wants sanctions relief and recognition as a nuclear power. He will probably accept partial lifting of sanctions and waivers and carve outs along with a shift from denuclearization to arms control negotiations. Is it acceptable to accept north Korea as a nuclear power and to lift sanctions that have not in any way been complied with?
Remember that one of the pillars of the Biden Administration's Korea policy is full implementation of all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.
U.S. awaits N. Korean response to U.S. proposals for dialogue: State Dept. | Yonhap News Agency
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- The United States continues to be prepared to meet with North Korea without preconditions as it awaits the North's response to its "specific proposals," a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.
Ned Price also stressed that the U.S. remains actively engaged in diplomacy with its allies to discuss ways to enhance their collective security.
"We do stand prepared to meet with the DPRK without preconditions. We have made, in fact, specific proposals to the DPRK and we will await a response. We will await outreach from the DPRK," the spokesperson said in a daily press briefing.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
Price did not directly comment on whether the U.S. proposals to the North included the reduction or removal of sanctions on the impoverished North when asked.
Many U.S. officials have noted the U.S. may be prepared to discuss such issues with the North if the reclusive country returns to the dialogue table.
North Korea has stayed away from denuclearization talks with the U.S. since early 2019. It also remains unresponsive to U.S. overtures made by the Biden administration since taking office in January.
"We believe diplomacy, including direct diplomacy with the DPRK, is the most effective means to meet the policy objective that has emerged from a review of our DPRK policy that we completed some months ago, and that objective remains the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," said price.
The State Department spokesman also said the U.S. was not at a standstill despite its stalled talks with North Korea.
"We are engaged in vigorous diplomacy with our allies in the Indo Pacific, including with the Republic of Korea, including with Japan, including with our other allies and partners in the Indo Pacific," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"The threat of DPRK's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, these are threats to collective security that we discuss with partners and allies the world over, and we'll continue to do that," added Price.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. S. Korea considering 'diverse' ways with U.S. for N. Korea dialogue: ministry
Just as long as those diverse measures do not fall into the appeasement category and victory for Kim Jong-un's political warfare strategy and blackmail diplomacy.
S. Korea considering 'diverse' ways with U.S. for N. Korea dialogue: ministry | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is closely cooperating with the United States on "diverse" measures to restart talks with North Korea, the unification ministry said Friday, after the U.S. said it had made overtures to Pyongyang.
"Through close communication, South Korea and the United States have pursued a completely coordinated North Korea policy," Cha Duck-chul, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, said in a regular press briefing. "Diverse measures to engage with the North are being closely discussed."
He also noted that the U.S. has consistently said it is open to meet with North Korea anytime and anywhere.
The statement came after a U.S. State Department spokesperson said his country is awaiting the North's response to its "specific proposals" as it seeks to revive dialogue that has broken down since 2019.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. N. Korea opens western sea route to receive medical supplies: UNICEF
I think this may be an indication that the regime may feel it must get outside help because it may not be able to control the effects of the failed economy, failed harvest, natural disasters, sanctions, and COVID mitigation measures.
(LEAD) N. Korea opens western sea route to receive medical supplies: UNICEF | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS minister's remarks in last 2 paras)
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has opened a key sea route on the western coast to receive humanitarian aid deliveries following its closure attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, a United Nations agency official said Friday.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has begun shipping medical supplies from the Chinese port of Dalian to North Korea's Nampo and plans to deliver more items, according to its Seoul office.
"The sea route from China's Dalian to Nampo has been opened," Oren Schlein, the head of the Seoul liaison office for UNICEF, said during a peace forum held in Incheon, west of Seoul. "Some medical supplies have been shipped (to North Korea), and more will be delivered."
North Korea has tightened border controls since the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, closing sea and land routes for key materials and medical supplies sent by U.N. agencies and other humanitarian groups.
Marian Yun, a senior policy advisor at World Food Program, another U.N. agency in charge of food aid, said Pyongyang needs to ease its border restrictions to receive crucial aid to address its food shortage.
"The WFP's food stockpile in North Korea has already run out this year," Yun said. "The most important factor in North Korea's food situation is whether or not its government approves the deliveries of humanitarian aid."
Last week, the World Health Organization said it has begun the shipment of COVID-19 medical supplies to North Korea through Dalian, raising the possibility that the reclusive state might be easing its long-enforced tight border controls amid the global pandemic.
Pyongyang has claimed to be coronavirus-free and rejected outside help for its anti-epidemic campaign for fear that any shipment could spread the virus to its soil.
Unification Minister Lee In-young reaffirmed Seoul's commitment to continued efforts for lasting peace on the peninsula in a video message delivered to the forum.
"Through the end-of-war declaration, (we) will finally end the war on the Korean Peninsula, and efforts for denuclearization and permanent peace will not be stopped," he said, referring to President Moon Jae-in's proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. Ransomware suspects nabbed in int'l probe involving S. Korea
No mention of north Korea in the report (could be an unnamed foreigner mentioned but I am not sure why a north Korean connection would not be mentioned if there was one). But of course north Korea is not the only cyber threat against South Korea.
Ransomware suspects nabbed in int'l probe involving S. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- Key members of an international criminal organization suspected of carrying out massive ransomware attacks on South Korean companies and universities in 2019 have been arrested in a joint investigation by South Korea and a few other countries, police here said Friday.
The joint investigation, which also involved Ukraine's police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States and Interpol, busted four members of the unnamed criminal organization, including its money laundering chief, according to the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA).
The four -- three Ukrainians and a foreigner of another nationality -- are accused of distributing the Clop ransomware to four South Korean universities and companies in February 2019, paralyzing some 720 computer systems containing their academic and business data and extorting a total of 65 bitcoins, currently valued at 4.5 billion won (US$3.8 million), from them in return for decrypting their computer networks, the KNPA said.
The KNPA said it has booked the four suspects on charges of hacking offenses, blackmail and concealment of crime proceeds, and began the procedures to bring two of them here for whom arrest warrants were issued in the unidentified country.
Clop is a malicious program used to paralyze computer systems by changing their file extensions and then using it as blackmail to demand money.
The suspects allegedly targeted universities, as well as small and midsized manufacturers with relatively weak security levels before infiltrating their internal computer networks, infecting their central management systems with Clop and demanding the payment of cryptocurrency, the police agency said.
Soon after the hacking incidents, the KNPA shared information on the suspects' methods of attacks and infiltrations with 20 countries. It has been confirmed that the virtual assets extorted by the suspects were converted into cash at overseas exchanges.
"Amid the global spread of ransomware-related damage, it is meaningful that a major money laundering offender has been arrested for the first time through international cooperation. The cooperation will be continued until the apprehension of all the suspects who distributed the malicious program," an official at the KNPA said.
According to U.S. data, the amount of ransomware damage worldwide has surged from 380 billion won in 2015 to 23.6 trillion won this year and is expected to exceed 312 trillion won by 2031.
The KNPA said it will present its latest achievement at the "2021 International Symposium on Cybercrime Response," set to kick off Monday.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
6. Can the Biden Administration Tempt North Korea Back to the Table?
Kim Jong-un will only come to the negotiating table if he believes the conditions are right and that he has an advantage and can achieve his objectives.
When he assesses his political warfare strategy and blackmail diplomacy are successful then he will negotiate.
Can the Biden Administration Tempt North Korea Back to the Table?
Even though Washington has reached out to Pyongyang with detailed messages through multiple channels, North Korea has not responded.
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The clock is ticking on South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s administration, as his single five-year term will end in May 2022. Moon had tried to create a last bit of momentum to restart inter-Korean cooperation and denuclearization negotiations by urging a declaration to the end of the Korean War in his speech at the United Nations last month, but Washington has not followed his lead with concrete steps.
Pyongyang once responded positively to Moon’s proposal, during the height of summit diplomacy in 2018 and 2019. But since the failed North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, Pyongyang has consistently demanded that the U.S. and South Korea remove their so-called “hostile policy” as a precondition for any negotiations. According to statements from Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a leading voice on inter-Korean relations, the “hostile policy” refers to the joint South Korea-U.S. military drills and the presence of U.S. troops on the South’s soil.
Washington and Seoul have emphasized the importance of their alliance and reaffirmed their common goals in the region, including a peaceful Korean Peninsula with no nuclear missiles. However, since the Biden administration has not made North Korea a diplomatic priority, Seoul has no choice but to find its own way to deal with North Korea. The result: an arms race has kicked off on the Korean Peninsula.
On Monday, North Korea celebrated the 76th anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party foundation in an unusual way: by holding a defense development exhibition. State media reported on the event, which included displays of the North’s long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles and advanced missile systems.
In his address at the exhibition, Kim justified his moves toward boosting military capabilities while deeming the U.S. outreach renew dialogues with his country as unreliable.
“Recently, the United States has frequently sent signals that it is not hostile to our state, but its behaviors provide us with no reason why we should believe in them,” Kim said.
Kim fully showed his distrust over the Biden administration’s remarks that it has “no hostile” intent toward North Korea in his address, implying that he has not yet overcome the wound from the Hanoi Summit. Kim met then-U.S. President Donald Trump in the Vietnamese capital, but Trump walked out of the summit meeting with no deal.
Kim also criticized South Korea’s recent moves in strengthening its military capabilities but delivered an eye-catching message: “our arch-enemy is the war itself, not South Korea, the United States or any other specific state or forces.”
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Getting to the Table
Experts and analysts view this message as a signal from Kim toward Washington to provide some detailed incentives or motivations he could use to justify coming back to the negotiating table. Kim would need to have a clear reason to come back to the table after he failed to remove any of the crippling economic sanctions against his country two years ago. Experts and analysts believe that North Korea could respond to detailed proposals from Washington in the lead-up to the Beijing Winter Olympics.
However, Washington cannot offer incentives that would perfectly match Pyongyang’s demands.
“North Korea has called ‘hostile policy’ as the main agenda to be removed but it could be seen that its de facto demand is a partial removal of economic sanctions,” Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told The Diplomat. Park added that the Biden administration’s firm stance is that lifting economic sanctions cannot happen unless the North returns to the table.
Additionally, Washington cannot permanently halt joint military drills or withdraw the U.S. troops from South Korea, which North Korea has defined as the main elements of the “hostile policy.” However, the United States can offer a “declaration of the end to the Korean War” as an alternative card to Pyongyang, as Moon proposed, in a bid to rebuild the relationship between the two countries, Park said.
Denuclearization
Getting back to negotiations is challenging enough – actually achieving something in talks is the next obstacle.
The biggest reason for the U.S. and South Korea to try to talk with North Korea is the North’s growing nuclear and military capabilities. This is the most important topic to be addressed if the U.S. and North Korea restart negotiations at some point in the future. It has been disclosed that Kim offered to dismantle some of his nuclear arsenals, including the Yongbyon nuclear complex, in the Hanoi Summit but Trump rejected the offer.
Clearly, dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear complex is not enough for Washington to remove the U.N.-led economic sanctions, as they believe the North has other options to replace the nuclear activities at Yongbyon. That said, it’s unlikely that the Biden administration would demand that North Korea completely dismantle every nuclear complex in a short period under the international community or International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspection, Park said. Instead, Washington would ask Pyongyang to follow a long-term denuclearization process on the basis of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Kim had demanded the United States recognize his country as a nuclear state, considering his country’s growing nuclear capabilities and successful nuclear test in 2006. However, the U.S. would never give a formal recognition of North Korea as a nuclear power, due to the impact on both U.S. extended deterrence on the Korean Peninsula and the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.
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“When the United States recognizes North Korea as a nuclear-owned state, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) would immediately break down,” Park said, adding that the U.S. would never accept this deal. It could create a domino effect around the world, incentivizing other countries to develop nuclear weapons simultaneously. For that reason, China – North Korea’s sole ally – would not let it happen either.
At this moment, it is believed that the Biden administration has not yet specified what specific incentives it is willing to provide to North Korea. No one knows what offers are on the table, as the Biden administration has never made it clear in public. The administration has emphasized that its “calibrated and practical” approach is clearly different from Trump’s “top-down” and Obama’s “strategic patience” approaches, however. With that in mind, experts say Washington is waiting to see how North Korea reacts to its approach and will convey the specifics of what it can provide to North when the right time comes.
7. North Korea Forces New Military Officers to Volunteer for Harsh Front-Line Duty
Hmmm.... our information and influence activities organization should be able to develop some useful themes and messages to cause dissent and discord within the nKPA (if we had such an organization to execute a comprehensive influence campaign).
An interesting difference among militaries. Most new officers such as in the US will want to go to the units that have the best chance of deploying and seeing action.
North Korea Forces New Military Officers to Volunteer for Harsh Front-Line Duty
Service at the front is more difficult and dangerous, so everyone wants to serve in rear units.
North Korea is “encouraging” newly graduated military officers to take up harsh assignments on the front lines in yet another example of forcing less privileged people to “volunteer” for unpleasant duties, sources in the country told RFA.
As it is still technically at war with prosperous South Korea, North Korea makes every male serve at least seven backbreaking years in the armed forces after finishing high school, but those who are well connected or show promise can enter military academies and become officers with easier duties.
The 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Corps of the Korean People’s Army are front-line units stationed in areas of North Korea closest to the Demilitarized Zone which separates North from South. Even for officers, service on the front is more difficult, more dangerous, and requires much more labor than other assignments.
“My son and most of his classmates in this year’s graduating class at O Jin U Artillery Academy have been assigned to the 1st and 5th Corps, front units in Kangwon province,” a farmer from Ryanggang province in the country’s north told RFA’s Korean Service Thursday.
“The academy’s political department forced them to volunteer, saying it was a request of the party,” said the farmer, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
The farmer said his son had previously been assigned to the 7th Corps in South Hamgyong province in the country’s east, a relatively easy assignment in the rear.
“When he went to the military academy, he expected to return to his original unit, but when graduation approached… they gathered all the students from rear units and said, ‘You’ve had a comfortable time in the military in the rear. It is your duty as soldiers and members of the party to go to the front lines and follow the will of the Supreme Commander,” said the farmer, referring to the country’s leader Kim Jong Un.
“In a meeting ahead of graduation, the head of the academy told our son, ‘The General Secretary’s request is for you to go to the 1st Corps, the main outpost of the country,’ basically forcing him to volunteer,” the farmer said.
The head of the academy told his son that it would be helpful for his future if he volunteered for duty in the 1st Corps and would be a good display of his loyalty, according to the farmer.
“If he were to disobey the request to join the unit on the front line, it would leave a mark on his personal record and follow him for the rest of his days. Moreover, all his hard work over the past three years becoming a military officer as the son of a lowly farmer will have been in vain,” said the farmer.
All the graduates from the rear naturally volunteered for service on the front, according to the farmer.
“Who could possibly dare to disobey the demands of the party?”
A former soldier who served in the 1st Corps told RFA that frontline service is so bad that nobody wants to serve in those units.
“Kangwon province is very mountainous, so there are not many people, and the transportation situation is very inconvenient. Working and living conditions are awful,” said the former soldier, who now lives in North Hamgyong in the country’s northeast.
“Once assigned to a front unit, it’s almost impossible to be reassigned to the rear. The greatest wish for 1st Corps soldiers and their families is to go to a rear unit north of Chollyong,” said the former soldier, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Chollyong is an area of Kangwon province notorious for its 99 steep peaks and valleys. The rough terrain makes any assignment there extremely difficult, and anything north of Chollyong is a cushy rear assignment in comparison.
“The 1st and 5th Corps are all-round corps, larger than the others and are the core units that the party is most focused on,” the former soldier said.
Kim Jong Un’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il visited the 1st and 5th Corps during the 1994-1998 North Korean famine to encourage them to prevent any unexpected chaos at a time when the country was on the brink of collapse, the former soldier said.
“I don’t know how I endured more than 20 years at the base in that mountain range in Kangwon province. I still get goosebumps thinking about that time,” the former soldier said.
The former soldier said that all the officers at the front are always trying to transfer to the rear, and nobody wants to serve there when they graduate from the academy, so therefore authorities are forcing them to volunteer.
“In the end, the reality of this country’s military is that the children of the poor and powerless have no choice but to serve at the front.”
Reported by Chang Gyu Ahn for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
8. The Korean Invasion – Can Cultural Exports Give South Korea a Geopolitical Boost?
Dr. Terry makes a key point in this excerpt. South Korea has enormous information and influence potential for activities in the north but is too timid and risk averse because it does not want to "offend its neighbor!" The ROK, the US, the alliance, and the international community should be working hard to get the full range of South Korean media content into north Korea. Recall that one of the major human rights abuses identified by the. 2014 UN Commission of INquiry is the restriction on outside information for the Korean people in the north. The Korean people in the north have every right to access the same content that Koreans living in the South can access. South Korea should be focused on providing access. This is not propaganda or an attack on the regime (though the regime of course interprets it that way) but simply providing information to the people who have a right to see it.
Excerpt:
Instead of capitalizing on its cultural allure, however, South Korea is so concerned about offending its neighbor that it recently banned the distribution of propaganda—in the form of USB flash drives, CDs, books, and other publications—into the North via balloon. The ban also criminalizes the use of loudspeakers and placards in the border area. Going forward, Seoul would be well advised to do the opposite—devote greater resources to helping South Korean culture penetrate the North. Such exports could help foster the peaceful reunification of the peninsula by making the South Korean model more attractive for Northerners, much as Western culture helped to break down the Berlin Wall. Moreover, South Korean soft power could also make any future reunification less painful by fostering a shared culture on both sides of the DMZ.
Beyond North Korea, South Korea also has the opportunity to harness its soft power to promote democratic values, particularly in Asia, where its cultural offerings already resonate. Of course, films such as Parasite and shows such as Squid Game are double-edged swords; they showcase the power of capitalist culture while simultaneously illustrating the dangers of excessive income inequality in a capitalist system. The fact that South Korea produces such self-aware and critical narratives, however, is itself a tribute to free expression that would be unimaginable in many countries, including China.
South Korea has done a superb job of growing its soft power in ways that other countries can only envy and emulate. But Seoul now has a far tougher job: figuring out how to harness that power to achieve the country’s foreign policy aims. As part of this process, South Korea needs to decide what it stands for. Does it want only to export entertainment, or does it also want to export its democratic ideals—solidifying its cultural star power along the way?
The Korean Invasion
Can Cultural Exports Give South Korea a Geopolitical Boost?
Squid Game, the South Korean television show in which deeply indebted people compete with one another in a deadly tournament, has become Netflix’s top offering in 90 countries, including the United States, and is already the streaming service’s most popular original program ever. I am one of the millions of viewers who binge-watched all nine episodes as soon as they came out. Not only is the series well plotted, but it also captures deep-seated concerns among many people in prosperous societies about ever-widening income inequality.
The show is only the latest cultural export from South Korea to take the world by storm. From pop music acts such as the boy band BTS to movies such as Parasite (which became the first foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020), Hallyu, or the Korean “wave,” is enjoying unprecedented global success. Historically more worried about fending off Chinese and Japanese cultural domination than spreading its own culture abroad, South Korea has now become a global soft-power juggernaut.
Although millions of people around the world now regularly engage with South Korean culture, few know how it became so successful. The country’s cultural growth was not simply the work of a handful of inspired creators. It was the result of a long-term government effort to expand specific creative industries, a strategy that has paid hard-power dividends in the form of economic growth and greater global influence. With this newfound clout, Seoul has a chance to take on a more active role in contemporary international politics—spreading its democratic ideals alongside its increasingly ubiquitous popular culture.
A STAR IS BORN
South Korea’s cultural renaissance was born out of adversity. President Kim Dae-jung, who had come to power in 1998 when South Korea was still reeling from the Asian financial crisis, targeted media and popular culture as a major source of economic growth. Under the aegis of the “Hallyu Industry Support Development Plan,” his administration set a goal of increasing the value of South Korea’s cultural industry (“music, soaps, movies, animations, games, and characters”) to $290 billion in two years, larger than the country’s semiconductor sector, which was then worth $280 billion. The government also expanded the cultural industry budget from $14 million in 1998 to $84 million in 2001.
To boost the production of Korean popular culture, the South Korean government used the same public-private partnership template that Seoul originally developed to grow its electronics, shipbuilding, automaking, and other export industries. In conjunction with public relations firms, technology companies, and other parts of the private sector, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism began developing detailed business plans designed to grow overseas markets for Korean TV dramas, movies, and popular songs and offered loans to entrepreneurs and training for aspiring artists.
The 2002 television drama Winter Sonata marked the first big success of this initiative. The show—a tearjerker about two young lovers—became a global hit partly as a result of deals the Korean government struck with foreign broadcasters and quickly attracted a cult following worldwide. Sales of Winter Sonata merchandise surpassed $3.5 million in Japan alone, and when the show’s lead actor visited Tokyo in 2004, thousands of middle-aged women came out to the airport to greet him. Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists traveling to South Korea grew by nearly 75 percent from 2003 to 2004. The bulk of the growth, according to South Korean tourism officials, stemmed from the allure of Korean popular culture.
Subsequent South Korean governments have sought to capitalize on these early successes. Roh Moo-hyun, who assumed the presidency in 2003, coined the phrase “Creative Korea” and increased subsidies for cultural startups. His conservative successor, Lee Myung-bak, prioritized cultural exports as a means of enhancing South Korea’s national image and fostering economic growth. Lee was particularly keen on promoting Korean food, such as kimchi.
The next president, Park Geun-hye, promised in her inaugural speech that “cultural enrichment” would be one of her administration’s main objectives. Park’s term in office also coincided with the release of pop singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” which quickly exploded in popularity; the video has since been viewed more than four billion times on YouTube. Park took advantage of the song’s global reach by showcasing K-pop in her visits abroad. Psy’s success also helped justify the government’s plans to pour millions of dollars into the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism for projects that included a series of giant auditoriums and cultural centers.
With its newfound clout, Seoul has a chance to take on a more active role in contemporary international politics.
President Moon Jae-in, a progressive who took power in 2017, has continued to support cultural production with tax incentives and subsidies. Moon’s government has also sought to use soft power to enhance South Korea’s international standing. His signature foreign policy initiative—the New Southern Policy, designed to expand Seoul’s ties with India and countries across Southeast Asia—has helped turn the broader region into one of the largest markets for Korean pop culture. Moon also arranged for K-pop acts such as Red Velvet and Baek Ji-young to perform in Pyongyang during his 2018 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and his government appointed the singers of boy band BTS as “special presidential envoys” to the United Nations “for future generations and culture.” More than one million people around the world tuned in to watch the band’s speech at the UN General Assembly.
The economic payoff of these policies has been immense. In 2019, South Korea exported $12.3 billion in pop culture (up from a mere $189 million in 1998), including computer games, musical tours, and cosmetics. By one estimate, the number of South Koreans employed in cultural fields grew to 644,847 in 2017—three percent of the entire workforce. BTS alone is an economic powerhouse. According to the Hyundai Research Institute, the band generates an estimated $3.5 billion per year in economic activity. In 2017, around 800,000 tourists—about seven percent of all arrivals in South Korea—visited because of their interest in the group.
Some of the other economic benefits of Korean soft power are subtler but no less important. Many people around the world perceive South Korea as small, unthreatening, and increasingly “cool.” Korean exports and investment have sparked little backlash among Americans, even though South Korea runs a trade surplus with the United States. Korean companies such as Samsung, LG, Kia, and Hyundai have become uncontroversial parts of everyday American life—in sharp contrast to Japanese companies such as Toyota, Sony, and Honda in the 1980s and Chinese firms such as Huawei today. A Gallup poll found that 77 percent of Americans have a positive view of South Korea, up from only 46 percent in 2003. That is far more positive than American views of traditional allies such as Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—to say nothing of other Asian countries.
Soft power also strengthens the long-standing military alliance between the United States and South Korea, which withstood former President Donald Trump’s accusations that Seoul was a military freeloader seeking to take advantage of U.S. largess. Such claims failed to resonate in the United States not only because of a shared history of sacrifice dating back to the Korean War but also because of the positive attitude toward South Korea held by many Americans, a view largely fostered by cultural exports.
Beyond these economic and political benefits, soft power is changing the very nature of South Korean society. Thanks in part to bustling cultural industries, the country’s Confucian, respect-your-elders traditions are yielding to a more vibrant and freewheeling ethos—even as the population ages and the workforce declines. Young South Koreans are now more likely to aspire to artistic and creative careers than to jobs as salarymen in large corporate conglomerates. The old hierarchical system worked well in the industrial age, but this new entrepreneurial model is more appropriate for the information age and will help South Korea accelerate its difficult transition from an economy organized around heavy industry to one focused on the production of intellectual property. Creativity, after all, is just as important in information technology as it is in art—especially as Korean firms begin to compete with dynamic U.S. companies such as Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon.
HARD-POWER CHOICES
South Korea’s cultural efflorescence poses a challenge to its leaders. For decades, other countries such as Japan and the United States have used their cultural cachet to advance human rights, encourage economic development, and support global democracy. Seoul can follow suit. A good start would be to increase spending on development assistance. South Korea currently lags behind wealthy governments in the percentage of GDP that it allocates for development aid, ranking well below Japan, the United States, and most European countries.
South Korea also generally refrains from criticizing the growing list of human rights abuses committed by China, its biggest trade partner. Seoul fears a repeat of 2017 when Beijing lashed out after Moon Jae-in’s government agreed to host a new U.S. missile defense system. China canceled tourism visits, reduced purchases of South Korean goods, removed South Korean music videos and dramas from Chinese streaming services, and canceled K-pop tours of China. South Korea suffered at least $7.5 billion in economic losses, demonstrating that soft power can be a point of vulnerability as well as strength. But South Korea is quickly becoming strong enough that, while still treading carefully with regard to China, it can afford to be more outspoken in standing up for democratic values.
South Korean soft power will matter only at the margins when it comes to changing Chinese behavior, but it can be far more powerful in North Korea. Much as Western cultural exports such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss, Hershey, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles once helped to undermine the Soviet bloc and win the Cold War, South Korean soft power has the potential to challenge North Korean despotism by tempting its population with the seductive fruits of democracy and capitalism.
South Korea also has the opportunity to harness its soft power to promote democratic values.
The North Korean government, for its part, describes these cultural exports at once dismissively as nampung (“Southern wind”) and with more alarm as a “weapon.” Nevertheless, many North Koreans still manage to watch South Korean dramas and listen to K-pop on USB drives smuggled in from China and sold on the black market. The most realistic part of the popular South Korean series Crash Landing on You—the story of a South Korean heiress who accidentally paraglides into North Korea, lands on a soldier, and falls in love with him—is its depiction of North Korean villagers secretly watching South Korean dramas. Some defectors to the South say they had grown to admire and even yearn for South Korea after watching its television programs. Pyongyang has predictably responded by warning citizens to stay away from all things South Korean, including its fashion, music, hairstyles, and even slang, such as oppa (“older brother”), a term made famous in “Gangnam Style.”
Instead of capitalizing on its cultural allure, however, South Korea is so concerned about offending its neighbor that it recently banned the distribution of propaganda—in the form of USB flash drives, CDs, books, and other publications—into the North via balloon. The ban also criminalizes the use of loudspeakers and placards in the border area. Going forward, Seoul would be well advised to do the opposite—devote greater resources to helping South Korean culture penetrate the North. Such exports could help foster the peaceful reunification of the peninsula by making the South Korean model more attractive for Northerners, much as Western culture helped to break down the Berlin Wall. Moreover, South Korean soft power could also make any future reunification less painful by fostering a shared culture on both sides of the DMZ.
Beyond North Korea, South Korea also has the opportunity to harness its soft power to promote democratic values, particularly in Asia, where its cultural offerings already resonate. Of course, films such as Parasite and shows such as Squid Game are double-edged swords; they showcase the power of capitalist culture while simultaneously illustrating the dangers of excessive income inequality in a capitalist system. The fact that South Korea produces such self-aware and critical narratives, however, is itself a tribute to free expression that would be unimaginable in many countries, including China.
South Korea has done a superb job of growing its soft power in ways that other countries can only envy and emulate. But Seoul now has a far tougher job: figuring out how to harness that power to achieve the country’s foreign policy aims. As part of this process, South Korea needs to decide what it stands for. Does it want only to export entertainment, or does it also want to export its democratic ideals—solidifying its cultural star power along the way?
9. ＜Inside N. Korea＞ "Shoot Anyone Who Steals the Harvest." Live Ammunition Distributed at Cooperative Farms and Security Measures Taken on a 24-hour Basis.
Another indicator of how serious the situation is in the north. The suffering is likely on a scale not seen since the arduous march of 1994-1996 and the regime is willing to use brutal measures to maintain control.
＜Inside N. Korea＞ "Shoot Anyone Who Steals the Harvest." Live Ammunition Distributed at Cooperative Farms and Security Measures Taken on a 24-hour Basis.
(Photo) A man carries food purchased in a farming village on a bicycle. He makes money by reselling the food to urban markets. Photographed by Kim Dong-chul, South Pyongan Province, October 2010.
Since mid-September, North Korean authorities have ordered all cooperative farms across the country to prevent the theft and outflow of harvested food, and farming villages have been put on high alert. In addition, fields, warehouses, and roads leading to farming villages are guarded for 24 hours by armed personnel. The aim is to prevent harvested grain from flowing into the market before it can be delivered to the state (Kang Ji-won / Jiro ISHIMARU).
◆Concerns over dwindling state food stocks
The harvest of staple food corn, which began in early September, has been completed, potatoes and soybeans are still being harvested, and rice harvesting has already started. Threshing, drying, and finalizing production figures continue at cooperative farms across the country. The harvested food is roughly divided into the following categories.
1) Distribute to farmers
(2) Held by cooperative farms
(3) Payment to the state
(4) "Military rice" for the military.
(3) and (4) are "state-owned foodstuffs" to be supplied to the Party, the administration, the police, munitions factories, Pyongyang citizens, the army, and other targets essential to the maintenance of the regime.
The authorities intensify their crackdown every fall to prevent " state-owned food" from leaking out of farms. The purpose is to prevent theft in warehouses and fields and avoid the flow of food to markets through traders. This year's security is said to be much stricter than in previous years. At the beginning of October, our reporting partner in Ryanggang Province reported the following.
◆Instructions to shoot grain thieves
"The crackdown is terrible. 'Every grain of food is state property. Anyone who messes with it will be legally punished without mercy,' the authorities announced. The authorities have formed a security unit consisting of discharged military personnel assigned to the farms and have even mobilized the Labor and Agriculture Red Guards' militia to provide 24-hour security. The security bureau (police) approves and provides live ammunition at 5:00 p.m. and collects it at 7:00 the next morning. We were told that we could shoot thieves."
The most important thing to watch out for is grain theft by city dwellers. The reporting partner continued.
“People from the city who are tired of living in the town come to the farm, but the road to the farm is heavily guarded, and there are coronavirus quarantine checkpoints, so they detour to the mountain road to enter the farm and steal. So, traps and boards with nails are set along the detour route. The other day, some people were caught stealing unripe soybeans and selling them.”
The authorities are having a hard time dealing with grain theft by students and pupils. The damage is severe because students from elementary and junior high schools to university are constantly entering the fields and stealing. The Workers' Party of Korea has taken note of the problem and has even instructed each organization to come up with a plan to 'stop students and students from stealing crops.'
◆The market investigates the origin of the grain sold
The market is also being affected. Even though the harvest is over, the prices of corn and other grains have hardly fallen. This is because the inflow has decreased.
"When we sell our produce at the market, we have to notify the market administration where the produce was harvested. We are asked to explain where the corn came from, even though we are just selling boiled corn," said another reporting partner.
※ASIAPRESS contacts its reporting partners in North Korea through smuggled Chinese mobile phones.
10. Some regions of N. Korea sell rice and corn to population to mark Party Foundation Day
These are the policy decisions that illustrate the incompetence of the regime and its utter lack of concern for the welfare of the people. of the regime.
Some regions of N. Korea sell rice and corn to population to mark Party Foundation Day - Daily NK
No holiday provisions took place in regions such as Yanggang Province and North and South Hamgyong provinces
The authorities in some regions of North Korea sold rice and corn to locals as “commemorative provisions” to mark the Party Foundation Day holiday on Oct. 10, a source in South Pyongan Province reported on Wednesday.
There was a rise in public discontent, however, because the authorities sold the holiday grain at near-market prices after previously providing it at state-set prices, or about one-tenth of market prices.
The grain sale was issued through state-run food shops. The food policy departments of local people’s committees reportedly handled planning and administration of the distributions.
The rice cost KPW 4,000 a kilogram and corn cost KPW 2,000 a kilogram. Though this was slightly lower than market prices, local residents were reportedly displeased that the price difference was not greater.
In fact, the market price of rice in North Korea as of Oct. 4 was KPW 5,000 a kilogram in Pyongyang, KPW 5,000 in Sinuiju, and KPW 5,500 in Hyesan. Meanwhile, corn cost KPW 2,000 in Pyongyang, KPW 2,100 in Sinuiju, and KPW 3,000 in Hyesan.
Rice sold for about KPW 1,000 a kilogram less than its market price, but the corn was at about market price. This reportedly prompted locals to complain that “the state has begun using holiday provisions to make money,” and that “we would have been better off buying food at the market.”
Though the sale was ostensibly a holiday provision, with the authorities selling the rice and corn at market prices, many families reportedly could not afford to purchase the grain at state-run food shops.
Regional varieties of alcohol sold in markets in North Korea. / Image: Daily NK
The sale appears not to have gone as planned because the state-run food shops were unable to obtain sufficient supplies of grain.
According to the South Pyongan Province-based source, the food shops initially announced they would sell six days worth of Party Foundation Day provisions — three days worth for the first half of the month, and three days worth for the second half. However, they sold only three days worth at 500 grams of grain per person a day. The provision for the latter three days did not happen due to insufficient supplies.
Meanwhile, no holiday provisions took place in regions such as Yanggang Province and North and South Hamgyong provinces.
A source in Yanggang Province said Wednesday that authorities sold rice and corn through state food shops in late September, but “no gifts were provided or sold in October for Party Foundation Day.”
“Last year for the 75th Party Foundation Day, they gave out confections or spirits, but this year, they didn’t even provide that,” he said.
It appears the holiday provision represented the initiative of local party branches and food shops in certain regions rather than a comprehensive decision by the national authorities.
Generally, North Korean authorities provide a bottle of spirits, a kilogram of pork, towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other goods as part of holiday distributions. In recent years, however, they have often failed to provide these provisions to the people.
The authorities did reportedly sell 80 grams of seasonings and 120 grams of cooking oil through party agencies and other government-run organizations.
According to a report on North Korean trade published late last month by the Seoul-based Korea International Trade Association (KITA), North Korean authorities imported cooking oil, sugar and seasonings for the first time this year in August.
It appears highly likely that North Korean authorities distributed the foodstuffs recently imported from China to government organizations and workplaces, with some of it being sold as holiday provisions.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
11. Young children in N. Korea still being forced to fulfill "non-tax burdens" ahead of the winter
And the suffering of the Korean children in the north. is simply terrible and is a result of Kim Jong-un's policy decisions and national priorities. He palces the the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, military advancement, and support to the elite over the welfare of the Korean people and Korean children in the north.
Young children in N. Korea still being forced to fulfill "non-tax burdens" ahead of the winter - Daily NK
Students at a kindergarten in Chongjin were recently ordered to cough up KPW 100,000 per person, ostensibly so the school can buy firewood
Young children are reportedly being tasked with “non-tax burdens,” ostensibly for winter preparations, in kindergartens in North Hamgyong Province.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Thursday that winter preparations in kindergartens in Chongjin began in earnest this month. “However, the kindergarteners are being given non-tax burdens in the name of the winter preparations,” he said.
During the Eighth Party Congress earlier this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for the elimination of non-tax burdens, ordering an intensified party, administrative and legal “battle” against the practice. However, in reality, local residents, students and even kindergarten children are still being subject to non-tax burdens.
In fact, in the case of Sunan Kindergarten in Chongjin, students were recently ordered to cough up KPW 100,000 per person, ostensibly so the school can buy firewood. Firewood currently sells for KPW 85,000 per cubic meter in local markets.
North Korean children / Image: Seokwang
The school even pressured the students by telling them they would be evaluated based on how quickly they performed the task.
This basically amounts to inflicting psychological pain and mental scars on young children.
North Korea calls young children “the kings of the country.” Contrary to the regime’s claims, however, North Korean children are not receiving proper nursery care and education from the authorities.
To mark International Children’s Day on June 1, the Korean Central News Agency reported that the country’s children were happily living under the nation’s nursery and education system.
However, the reality is that children receive no state benefits at all, the source claimed.
“Since the Kim Jong Un era began, state benefits have disappeared. Instead, kindergarten children are being subjected to non-tax burdens in the name of education,” said the source. “Children from poorer households are even avoiding going to kindergarten.”
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
12. North Korea's Kim Jong-un faces 'paradise on Earth' lawsuit
The ultimate bait and switch.
North Korea's Kim Jong-un faces 'paradise on Earth' lawsuit
Published
1 day ago
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un should pay damages for a 1959-84 scheme that saw more than 90,000 people move there from Japan, a Tokyo court is hearing.
The repatriation campaign was later condemned by some as "state kidnapping".
Five people who took part and later escaped the North have demanded 100m yen ($880,000; £640,000) each.
They do not expect Mr Kim either to appear or to pay up, but hope a ruling may help in future negotiations.
Thousands of Koreans moved to Japan - many against their will - during its colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The vast majority of people involved in the resettlement scheme were ethnic Koreans being sold a vision of the "Fatherland" as "paradise" - and some Japanese spouses went with them.
Both North Korea and Japan supported the campaign.
The North was desperate to rebuild after being ravaged by World War Two and the Korean War.
Japan regarded the Koreans as outsiders and was happy to help with their relocation.
The combination of discrimination in Japan and North Korean propaganda promising an idyllic life of free healthcare, education and jobs in the homeland was a huge temptation.
For many the reality was forced manual labour in farms, mines or factories, violation of human rights, and an inability to leave.
The court case has a symbolic feel - the five plaintiffs accept that.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, The North needed labour after devastation in the Korean War
The four ethnic Koreans, and the Japanese wife of a Korean who joined the programme, all later defected back to Japan.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Kenji Fukuda, has said: "We don't expect North Korea to accept a decision nor pay the damages."
But if they win "we hope that the Japanese government would be able to negotiate with North Korea".
The countries have no formal diplomatic relations.
Mr Kim is named as he is the current leader of the North.
The lawsuit claims the North deceived plaintiffs by "false advertising to relocate to North Korea", where "the enjoyment of human rights was generally impossible".
One of the plaintiffs, ethnic Korean Eiko Kawasaki, 79, told the Associated Press none would have gone if they had known what awaited. She fled the North in 2003, leaving behind her adult children.
Another struggler for compensation is Lee Tae-kyung, who sailed to the North aged eight in 1960.
He told the New York Times: "We were told we were going to a 'paradise on Earth'. Instead, we were taken to a hell and denied a most basic human right: the freedom to leave."
Mr Lee fled North Korea after 46 years.
13. Navy to press ahead with aircraft carrier project despite skepticism
I would rather see an aircraft carrier than a nuclear powered submarine.
Navy to press ahead with aircraft carrier project despite skepticism | Yonhap News Agency
By Kang Yoon-seung and Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's chief of naval operations vowed Thursday to press ahead with a project to build the country's first light aircraft carrier by 2033 despite persistent doubts over its feasibility and necessity.
During a parliamentary audit at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, Adm. Boo Suk-jong reiterated the project will proceed "no matter what challenge lies ahead."
Critics have said the military as a whole should focus instead on beefing up its defense capabilities in other areas, including underwater operations. They also stressed the carrier could be readily exposed to threats from evolving anti-ship weapons and torpedoes.
"No matter what challenge lies ahead, all Navy personnel will work together to ensure that the project moves ahead as planned," Boo said.
The Navy has been seeking to build a 30,000-ton carrier, as it wishes to bolster deterrence against North Korea and enhance its long-distance operational capability in a region surrounded by major maritime powers, such as China and Japan.
Earlier this year, the Navy released a handbook highlighting that a light aircraft carrier would help the country stamp out the North's provocations and "put an end to a war at an early stage,"
The defense ministry, meanwhile, already allocated a 7.2 billion won (US$6 million) budget for next year as part of the project.
The Navy said while the total budget is estimated at around 2 trillion won, but it will not be a huge financial burden considering the construction takes more than 10 years.
colin@yna.co.kr
(END)
14. Deciphering Kim Jong-un’s Second Policy Speech
The subtitle sums it up. Nothing really new here. All in accordance with the Kim family regime playbook adapted for the current situation.
I disagree with the conclusion. I am skeptical that "vaccine diplomacy" will kick start engagement and negotiations.
Conclusion.
As the situation evolves, close attention needs to be paid to whether South Korea will begin using vaccine diplomacy to kickstart stagnant U.S.-North Korea relations. North Korea does not trust Chinese vaccines, while vaccines made in Russia, unlike those from China, do not come free of charge. As such, could North Korea be exploring the possibility of obtaining vaccines from the U.S.?
Deciphering Kim Jong-un’s Second Policy Speech
A familiar mix of hard and soft tactics.
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Late last month, Kim Jong-un delivered his second policy speech to North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly (his first was in April 2019). The speech was very much directed at South Korean President Moon Jae-in, with a mix of hard and soft tactics designed to produce concessions – a familiar North Korean approach.
Kim accused Seoul of “following the U.S.” in conducting joint military exercises with the United States, despite Pyongyang’s repeated calls to halt the maneuvers. Responding to Moon’s call for an end of war declaration in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September, the North Korean leader called for the declaration to be preceded by the withdrawal of an “unfair double standard” against North Korea.
North Korea has often used the expression “unfair double standard” recently. It expresses a sense of frustration at the fact that missile tests conducted by North Korea are condemned, yet all the while the U.S. and South Korea are expanding their arsenals. The term is also used in the sense that the “dialogue” that the U.S. and South Korea seek from North Korea is at odds with their “hostile policy.”
Despite criticizing South Korea in his policy speech, Kim announced a restoration of the lines of communication with Seoul “as part of the efforts for realizing the expectations and desire of the entire Korean nation” for recovery and durable peace. This unilateral announcement is an attempt to entice Moon, who has staked his political legacy on an end of war declaration. If South Korea shows flexibility, Kim is likely to have an ace up his sleeve. For example, if Kim’s visit to South Korea – agreed as part of the three-year Inter-Korean summits – actually goes ahead, it will encourage a mood of reconciliation within South Korea even if the visit lacks substance. This will create a favorable environment for any candidate who adopts the reconciliation line in the South Korean presidential election in March 2022.
Since September, North Korea has launched a series of missiles, including a railroad mobile missile and a hypersonic missile. In January 2021, at the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim Jong-un issued a decree for the development of missiles, which has now been implemented. The aim is to steadily boost North Korea’s military capabilities and use this as leverage in negotiations with the U.S. At this point, however, U.S. President Joe Biden is less enthusiastic about the North Korea issue than his predecessor, President Trump.
Kim Jong-un’s speech dismissed the Biden administration’s offer of dialogue as “no more than a petty trick for hiding its hostile acts.” The distinction in the tone of his messages to South Korea and the United States was very clear.
Kim’s likely goal is to win over Moon Jae-in while distancing himself from the U.S. Alternatively, he may be hoping that the U.S. will be persuaded to compromise with North Korea. With only around seven months left in Moon Jae-in’s term of office, it is clear that North Korea is looking to begin influencing relations with South Korea and the U.S.
Particular attention needs to be paid to the members appointed to the State Affairs Commission announced at the recent Supreme People’s Assembly. The biggest surprise was the selection of Kim Yo-jong, who had been removed as a member of the Central Committee’s Political Bureau in January. While her special status as the younger sister of Kim Jong-un should have obviated the need for her to be given a title, she was named a Member of the State Affairs Commission. Going forward, Kim Yo-jong will not only have responsibility for intraparty business, but will also be the public face for the work of the nation-state.
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The State Affairs Commission is headed by Kim Jong-un, who acts as president, with the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly as first vice-president, the premier as vice-president, and ten ordinary members. Although North Korean diplomacy has been inactive of late, four of the ten members oversee diplomacy and relations with South Korea. Previous members have included the director of the Unified Front Department of the Central Committee Kim Yong-chol, the former director of the International Department Kim Hyong-jun, Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon, and First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui. Kim Hyong-jun and Choe Son-hui were replaced with director of the International Department Kim Song-nam and Kim Yo-jong. Namely, Kim Yo-jong has replaced Choe Son-hui, who was in charge of the operation of the U.S.-North Korea Summit Meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Despite her official title of Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department, Kim Yo-jong has attracted attention since March 2020 for her strident condemnations of the U.S. and South Korea. This latest appointment seems to have persuaded the Moon Jae-in administration that North Korea is serious about advancing North-South relations. When North Korea conducted an anti-aircraft missile test the day after the Supreme People’s Assembly, the South Korean government responded calmly. Meanwhile, the South Korean foreign minister has begun to publicly declare the need to ease economic sanctions on North Korea. Moon is seduced by the prospect of legacy building, and the potential reward is too tempting to resist.
As the situation evolves, close attention needs to be paid to whether South Korea will begin using vaccine diplomacy to kickstart stagnant U.S.-North Korea relations. North Korea does not trust Chinese vaccines, while vaccines made in Russia, unlike those from China, do not come free of charge. As such, could North Korea be exploring the possibility of obtaining vaccines from the U.S.?
15. The four shadows cast by AUKUS
Thanks but no thanks for your analysis Professor Moon, You are no friend of the ROK/US alliance.
Excerpts:
AUKUS can be seen as a strategic move by the Biden administration to balance power and balance threats in response to the rise of China. That follows similar moves by the Obama administration (the pivot to Asia) and the Trump administration (the Indo-Pacific strategy and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad).
But rather than blocking the path to a new Cold War with China, this only pushes us even further in that direction. It also shows that the Biden administration, despite its public-facing endorsement of international liberalism, has actually been captured by the schemes of realists.
Thus, the US-led AUKUS must be seen as a harbinger pointing toward the beginning of a new Cold War through the return of geopolitics.
Can such a move really be seen as strategically desirable? It may provide Washington with short-term benefits in domestic politics, given anti-Chinese sentiment. But in light of the overall order in the Asia-Pacific region, the move is liable to bring the opposite results in the long term.
That’s why we need a change of mindset in Washington, which is currently more concerned with the logic of force than with alternatives to the current order.
[Column] The four shadows cast by AUKUS
The US-led AUKUS must be seen as a harbinger pointing toward the beginning of a new Cold War through the return of geopolitics
US President Joe Biden (center), in the White House, is joined virtually by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) to announce the establishment of a new security partnership called AUKUS on Sept. 15. (EPA/Yonhap News)
Moon Chung-in
By Moon Chung-in, chairman of the Sejong Institute
On Sept. 15, the leaders of the US, the UK, and Australia convened in Washington, where they agreed to form a new security pact called AUKUS. Considering that the three countries have already been allies for quite some time, it’s striking that they would establish yet another partnership for sharing military technology. That represents an evolution of their alliance.Under the pact, the US and UK will provide Australia with the technology and nuclear material needed to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. By sharing and cooperating on technical issues in the areas of missiles (including long-range guided missiles), artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and cyber capabilities, the three countries have made their militaries more mutually compatible.As many have observed, AUKUS is designed not only to enhance Australia’s defensive capabilities but also to create a counter to China’s naval augmentation. With the acquisition of these nuclear-powered submarines, Australia gains the capacity not only to defend itself but also to protect US carrier strike groups and counter China’s nuclear submarines in the South China Sea, Southeast Asia and even Northeast Asia.We should also note that despite being located in Europe, the UK has made official its plans to involve itself militarily in the Indian and Pacific oceans.While the creation of AUKUS is obviously a huge boon for the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy, it creates four big concerns for the US alliance system and the regional security order.First is the issue of hierarchy within the alliance system. That’s illustrated by how France was snubbed in the AUKUS pact. Australia pulled out of negotiations for an order of French diesel-electric submarines worth US$64 billion shortly before the contract was to be signed.When it comes to US allies, some have griped that the UK and Australia are at the head of the pack, followed by Canada and New Zealand, while non-Anglo-Saxon countries such as France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea bring up the rear. The disaffection and antipathy prompted by AUKUS could cause major fissures in the US’ alliance system.Second, South Korea will be forced to reassess the US government’s double standards. Since his inauguration, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has asked the US government to provide technical support and fissile material so that Korea can acquire nuclear-powered submarines. But the Trump administration rejected that request on the grounds that the two countries’ nuclear power agreement forbids using nuclear power for military ends.But with AUKUS, the US made an exception for Australia. The US government said that was only possible because Australia has maintained transparency in regard to antiproliferation efforts while making clear that it won’t make another exception.The South Korean government must be disconcerted by the US’ duplicitous behavior. I believe the South Korean public must feel the same.The third issue concerns the bigger picture. AUKUS elicits the possibility of an arms race in the Asia-Pacific region and even raises questions about the antiproliferation regime.To be sure, the pact will help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, not nuclear-armed submarines, which would have a completely different implication. But these trends could give countries such as South Korea and Japan a powerful impetus to acquire nuclear-powered submarines of their own.As pushback to the US’ decision, the French government is likely to actively seek cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines with South Korea. That would almost certainly be welcomed by the South Korean government, which has already included the construction of nuclear-powered submarines in its mid-term defense plan.Such moves would obviously have an impact on Japan’s behavior as well. They could also rile Beijing, Moscow, and Pyongyang, further inflaming the arms race in Northeast Asia. If such currents become the mainstream, it would seriously undermine the antiproliferation system in the region.Finally, the formation of AUKUS will bring considerable changes to the regional security order in a number of contexts.AUKUS can be seen as a strategic move by the Biden administration to balance power and balance threats in response to the rise of China. That follows similar moves by the Obama administration (the pivot to Asia) and the Trump administration (the Indo-Pacific strategy and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad).But rather than blocking the path to a new Cold War with China, this only pushes us even further in that direction. It also shows that the Biden administration, despite its public-facing endorsement of international liberalism, has actually been captured by the schemes of realists.Thus, the US-led AUKUS must be seen as a harbinger pointing toward the beginning of a new Cold War through the return of geopolitics.Can such a move really be seen as strategically desirable? It may provide Washington with short-term benefits in domestic politics, given anti-Chinese sentiment. But in light of the overall order in the Asia-Pacific region, the move is liable to bring the opposite results in the long term.That’s why we need a change of mindset in Washington, which is currently more concerned with the logic of force than with alternatives to the current order.Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
16.
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.
