Quotes of the Day:
“Make the best of what is in our power, and take the rest as it occurs.”
-Epictetus
“No fight for civil liberties ever stays won.”
- Roger Baldwin
“If the reason I give is a good one, you will act upon it. If it is a bad one I cannot make it better by piling epithet upon epithet. There is no logic in abuse; there is no argument in an epithet.”
- Robert Ingersoll
1. South Korea Wants to Declare Peace—Without Peace
2. Pentagon chief to visit Korea this week for annual security talks
3. SCM will not work in Korea's favor: experts
4. No unusual N.K. activities detected on day marking 2017 ICBM launch
5. N.K. state media sends congratulatory message on 60th anniversary of OANA
6. Korea to provide $32 million worth of humanitarian aid to Afghans
7. N. Korea urges full vigilance against omicron variant
8. March 9 presidential election just 100 days away
9. She Fled North Korea for Freedom. Then She Was Arrested.
10. Victims of Late S. Korean Dictator Vow Fight for Historical Justice
11. The 'Hellbound' question (South Korea)
12. North-glorifying webtoon gets Gyeonggi in trouble
13. Seoul will be the first city to enter the metaverse
14. New Korean Research Network looks to unite Korean scholars
15. Giving Tuesday Recommendations
1. South Korea Wants to Declare Peace—Without Peace
A very important OpEd from Nick Eberstadt.
Conclusion:
At the moment North Korea seems all but incapacitated, overwhelmed by its Covid-19 emergency and the ensuing economic crisis that Pyongyang’s own mismanagement exacerbated. An end-of-war declaration would help the Kim regime get back on its feet and back to its familiar menacing playbook.
South Korea Wants to Declare Peace—Without Peace
Seoul’s government wants Biden to sign onto empty words that won’t deter Pyongyang’s aggression.
WSJ · by Nicholas Eberstadt
Press reports from Seoul suggest the Biden team has been going along with this charade. Washington has said little publicly about the initiative, but Sunshiners in the South, who have been pressing it on Mr. Biden since his inauguration, claim a joint U.S.-South Korea end-of-war declaration is in its “final stages.”
Let’s hope the reports are wrong. Pantomime statecraft and make-believe breakthroughs can’t enhance Korean security—though they could very well make the peninsula a more dangerous place.
In Sunshine (or “engagement”) doctrine—a theory of international relations—the signing of “peace declarations” has been a fixation for decades. For true believers, these declarations are talismanic: Somehow they will end peninsular hostilities. Believers never lose faith when the magic fails to work.
In 2007, in an earlier era of Blue House Sunshine, President Roh Moo Hyun and Kim Jong Il signed a joint statement in Pyongyang resolving, among other things, to “put an end to military hostilities, mitigate tensions and guarantee peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
North-South peace didn’t materialize. Instead, the Kim regime went on to sink a South Korean military vessel, shell civilians on a South Korean island near the Northern Limit Line, set off five atomic devices, and launch vast numbers of short- and long-range offensive missiles.
Nowadays, Kim Jong Un won’t talk to Mr. Moon about a peace declaration—or anything else. (Pyongyang’s propaganda chief, Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong, dismisses Mr. Moon as a “parrot raised in America.”) So Mr. Moon has pivoted and is now pressuring the U.S. to provide him with a joint declaration instead.
A bilateral “declaration” would serve obvious purposes for Mr. Moon and his party, whose nominee for the March presidential election is running far behind his conservative opponent in the polls. But a pretend celebration of the end of the Korean War will do no favors for the U.S.-South Korea alliance. Demonstrating a lack of seriousness about genuine security threats is almost certain to have serious real-world consequences.
With an end-of-war declaration by Seoul and Washington—the world’s only two countries committed by treaty to defend against North Korean aggression—denuclearization of the North would become effectively an abandoned global objective. How do you mobilize the international community to press North Korea on its nukes when you are throwing an end-of-war party for yourself?
By signaling that things aren’t as bad as we thought with the North, the declaration also stands to set back the international North Korea human-rights movement. And no matter how much the alliance tries to spin the declaration, Pyongyang can bank on an international law-enforcement break: for cybercrime, terror-network commerce and other illicit financial operations.
Empty words won’t move the peninsula any closer to peace because the threat of war in Korea today is set by the North, as it always has been. Pyongyang is still committed to wiping South Korea off the map. That is what its nuclear arsenal, missile program and million-man army are all about.
Kim Jong Un won’t be appeased by an “end of war” declaration from reviled U.S. “imperialists” and their South Korean “puppets.” He would regard such a gesture as a sign of weakness—a concession inviting still more demands. While deeming Mr. Moon’s end-of-war declaration “an admirable idea,” Kim Yo Jong, his sister, insisted that dialogue with the South would require an end to “hostile policies”—that is, an end to the U.S.-South Korea alliance, closing of U.S. bases in the South, and lifting of economic sanctions against North Korean proliferation.
As soon as that document is signed, the U.N. Command—the multilateral defense structure that still includes other international forces in Korean peacekeeping—would be doomed to vanish, as the North has long wished. The U.S.-South Korean alliance would come under greater scrutiny in America. After all, isn’t the Korean conflict the original “endless war”?
China and Russia would be emboldened, too. They would take the declaration as an invitation to violate the United Nations Security Council’s North Korea sanctions at will and to lobby for lifting those sanctions.
One immediate loser will be America’s key Asian ally. Such virtue-signaling in the Korean Peninsula would leave Japan more exposed and less secure. Throughout the postwar era, the U.S. has been one of Tokyo’s only reliable friends. Japanese leaders would start to question American credibility and act accordingly. Other allies would do the same.
At the moment North Korea seems all but incapacitated, overwhelmed by its Covid-19 emergency and the ensuing economic crisis that Pyongyang’s own mismanagement exacerbated. An end-of-war declaration would help the Kim regime get back on its feet and back to its familiar menacing playbook.
Mr. Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute.
WSJ · by Nicholas Eberstadt
2. Pentagon chief to visit Korea this week for annual security talks
An important annual meeting (actually two, the SCM and MCM). Based on the reporting in this article I will again renew my recommendation that the ROK/US Alliance must develop a comprehensive information plan to educate the ROK and US publics about OPCON transition. There continues to be too much understanding (and in some cases dare I say ignorance) about the command relationships, the vision and intent for OPCON transitions and most importantly the strategic and operational benefits of OPCON transition.
Excerpts:
Aside from Suh and Austin, the SCM will also be attended by the allies' top defense officials, including Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, as well as Adm. John C. Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Paul LaCamera, the chief of the U.S. Forces Korea.
On the eve of the SCM, Gen. Won and Gen. Milley, will also meet for the 46th Military Committee Meeting to discuss North Korea-related security situations and the defense posture of the allied forces.
Also on Wednesday, Suh and Austin are to attend an annual alliance dinner session hosted by the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation and the Korea Defense Veterans Association.
Pentagon chief to visit Korea this week for annual security talks
In this Sept. 28 file photo, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin listens during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP-YonhapU.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Seoul this week for annual defense talks with his South Korean counterpart on the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), North Korean threats, cybersecurity and other issues, Seoul officials have said.
Austin is set to depart for South Korea on Tuesday (Washington time) to attend the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) slated for Thursday. It marks the first SCM between Seoul's Defense Minister Suh Wook and Austin since the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration in January.
The SCM comes as Seoul and Washington have been stepping up coordination to resume nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, despite indications of Pyongyang doubling down on its nuclear and missile programs.
High on the agenda is the conditions-based wartime OPCON transition, after which a four-star South Korean general is to lead the allies' combined forces during wartime. Currently, the U.S. has the wartime OPCON, while the South has the peacetime OPCON.
The two sides are expected to discuss when and how they will conduct the full operational capability (FOC) test of the three-stage program designed to verify South Korea's capabilities required for the OPCON handover.
In 2019, the allies completed the initial operational capability (IOC) test. But they have yet to complete the FOC test, the second part of the verification program. The full mission capability (FMC) test is the last part of the program.
The allies' discussions related to the FOC test have been proceeding in a "very amicable" atmosphere, a Seoul official said last week ― remarks that raised hopes for progress in related consultations between the two sides.
Suh and Austin also plan to discuss ways to beef up cybersecurity cooperation, including the resumption of the "Cyber Cooperation Working Group" ― an apparatus that the allies agreed to form years ago but have yet to fully activate due to administrative and other issues.
Space cooperation is another key topic, as Washington has sought to rally its allies and partners to promote the secure, sustainable use of outer space amid signs of an arms race in the new security domain.
In addition, the minister and the secretary plan to discuss ways to back up ongoing diplomacy to encourage Pyongyang's return to dialogue and bring the stalled efforts for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula back on track.
At the SCM, the two sides are also expected to touch on the ongoing process of returning U.S. military bases at the Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul to ensure Seoul's mega project to build a national park there can proceed as planned.
In a press release last week, the Pentagon said that at the SCM, "both sides are expected to pledge to continue to develop the alliance ― the linchpin of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia ― in a mutually reinforcing and future-oriented manner."
Aside from Suh and Austin, the SCM will also be attended by the allies' top defense officials, including Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, as well as Adm. John C. Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Paul LaCamera, the chief of the U.S. Forces Korea.
On the eve of the SCM, Gen. Won and Gen. Milley, will also meet for the 46th Military Committee Meeting to discuss North Korea-related security situations and the defense posture of the allied forces.
Also on Wednesday, Suh and Austin are to attend an annual alliance dinner session hosted by the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation and the Korea Defense Veterans Association. (Yonhap)
3. SCM will not work in Korea's favor: experts
Again, we have to get the OPCON transition process right and a large part of that must be a n effective supporting information plan.
But the implication of the headline and some of the comments are problematic. The SCM should not be about one side "winning" or "benefiting" over the other side. There should only be one "winner" from the meeting: the ROK/US Alliance. The press and pundits appear to want to make this an adversarial meeting. We should understand that all the work has been done prior to the meeting by the action officers. Agreements have been reached and statements drafted. There should be no surprises. The meeting should be about formalizing and announcing agreements and initiatives and positions. Most importantly it should be about reinforcing the importance of and the strength of the alliance.
SCM will not work in Korea's favor: experts
Defense Minister Suh Wook, right, poses with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, during their meeting at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, March 17. Joint Press Corps
Mention of US troop levels to be included in joint communique
By Kang Seung-woo
In the lead-up to its annual defense ministerial talks with the United States, Korea is resolute to raise the issue of fixing a clear timeline for regaining wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops from Washington.
But diplomatic observers expect that the U.S. side will not be happy about this initiative and will subsequently stick to its existing position of Korea needing to meet prerequisites for a successful OPCON transition.
Defense Minister Suh Wook is scheduled to sit down with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul, Dec. 2, and the OPCON issue is highly anticipated to remain one of the most important issues ― if not the most important ― on the agenda, according to experts.
President Moon Jae-in has sought to take over OPCON before his term ends in May 2022, but the U.S. has the final say. Citing the Korean military's lack of preparedness, the U.S. is skeptical about this push. The U.S. claims that the two allies have not had adequate assessment of whether the Korean military has, or can acquire, the capabilities necessary to make this shift, as the required joint drills have been scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OPCON transfer has already been pushed back twice in the past. The two allies agreed upon a conditions-based OPCON transition plan in 2014, which means that the OPCON transition would take place only in the event that "critical ROK and alliance military capabilities were secured, and the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and the region was conducive to a stable OPCON transition." The ROK refers to the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.
However, during a parliamentary audit session, Oct. 21, Suh said that he plans to have "strong" consultations on setting a precise date for the OPCON transfer during the upcoming SCM.
"I have the impression that the ROK has been working on many things other than its commitments, and that it is unlikely to make the United States very happy or very willing to agree to an OPCON transition, for which the ROK appears to not be prepared," said Bruce Bennett, a senior international defense analyst at the RAND Corporation.
"If the OPCON transition is so important, why hasn't the Moon administration funded the capabilities it agreed to fund to become ready for OPCON? The United States has been clear that once the ROK has those capabilities, OPCON transition will be promptly concluded."
He added, "The ROK is nowhere close to meeting its commitments in 2022."
U.S. defense press secretary John Kirby also expressed a similar view, Nov. 10, saying during a press briefing that the two allies had more work to do before the conditions-based OPCON transition takes place.
Naval War College Professor of National Security Terence Roehrig said that U.S. officials were likely to give Seoul's demand considerable attention, but setting a precise date was "not a good idea."
"OPCON transfer is important and should happen in the future. However, there were crucial reasons for the shift to a conditions-based transfer, including the need for Korea to possess the necessary military capabilities and experience for the success of this change," he said.
"Moreover, on two occasions in the past, the date was set and then canceled, which was a problematic element of the process."
Currently, the Korean government has been urging the Biden administration to compromise on declaring an official end to the Korean War, with the two sides having a series of discussions on the issue, although the U.S. perceives that it is premature to make such a declaration.
However, Bennett said that Korea's push for the OPCON transition was something different from dealing with the end-of-war declaration.
"Having compromised on the 'end-of-war' declaration, I think the United States will feel taken advantage of if pressed too hard on a rapid OPCON transition without the ROK having met its commitments to achieving that outcome," he said.
"The ROK has tended to make the OPCON transition a political issue, trying to create a legacy for President Moon. But to the U.S., the OPCON transition is a military issue."
Following last year's SCM, the joint communique failed to get the U.S.'s commitment to keeping its troops here at the current level of 28,500, raising speculation that the U.S. government may withdraw some American troops from the peninsula as part of the U.S. strategic flexibility policy, aimed at optimizing its forces to respond successfully to challenges around the globe.
However, Roehrig said the mention of U.S. troop levels will return to the joint statement to be announced after the upcoming SCM.
"This is a very different administration (from the former Donald Trump administration), and I don't believe there is much interest in withdrawing some U.S. forces from the peninsula," he added.
4. No unusual N.K. activities detected on day marking 2017 ICBM launch
Not surprising given the internal conditions in north Korea. As we speculate on events we should always ask what is the objective of such a test, what effect would the regime be trying to achieve or would a test be simply to advance a military capability?
No unusual N.K. activities detected on day marking 2017 ICBM launch | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has detected no unusual North Korean military activities Monday, Seoul officials said, amid speculation Pyongyang could mark its 2017 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a celebratory event or show of force.
This year, the North's calendars began to mark Nov. 29 as an anniversary for its rocket development. On the day in 2017, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared the completion of his country's nuclear forces after firing the new ICBM, the Hwasong-15.
"As of now, there are no unusual (North Korean) activities to additionally mention," Col. Kim Jun-rak, the spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a regular press briefing.
Lee Jong-joo, spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry, echoed the view.
"There isn't anything that we can specifically comment on regarding any unusual activities of the North Korean military, including possible preparations for a missile launch," Lee told a press briefing.
Lee also said South Korea has yet to confirm any North Korean activities officially celebrating the newly designated anniversary.
The 2017 ICBM launch marked a culmination of Pyongyang's decadeslong pursuit of long-range nuclear delivery capabilities, though questions persist over whether it has mastered the technology that will allow warheads to withstand extremely high temperatures during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. N.K. state media sends congratulatory message on 60th anniversary of OANA
An interesting media organization of which I was not aware.
Excerpt:
Members include Yonhap, China's Xinhua News Agency, Japan's Kyodo News, the TASS Russian News Agency and North Korea's KCNA.
N.K. state media sends congratulatory message on 60th anniversary of OANA | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean state media outlet sent a message congratulating the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) on its 60th anniversary, the organization said Monday.
According to the OANA Secretariat on Friday, Kim Pyong-ho, head of the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), stressed the important role of the organization in the region in a message sent to Yonhap News Agency, which currently chairs the organization.
"The foundation of OANA 60 years ago has allowed news agencies in the region to exchange news in diverse areas, including politics, economic and culture, and to work closely for the diversification of news-related activities," Kim said in the letter.
"We would like to extend our sincere congratulations to all member agencies on the 60th anniversary of the foundation of OANA," he added.
Kim highlighted the role of OANA in delivering the "voices of the region" to the world in an accurate and timely manner, saying that he highly values the organization's efforts.
OANA, which was formed in 1961 on the initiative of UNESCO to promote regional news exchanges, holds its general assembly every three years. A total of 43 news agencies from 35 Asia-Pacific countries are members of the organization.
Members include Yonhap, China's Xinhua News Agency, Japan's Kyodo News, the TASS Russian News Agency and North Korea's KCNA.
(END)
6. Korea to provide $32 million worth of humanitarian aid to Afghans
Korea to provide $32 million worth of humanitarian aid to Afghans
In this Sept. 20 file photo, internally displaced persons receive food aid distributed by Red Crescent in Kabul, Afghanistan. EPA-YonhapSouth Korea said Monday it will provide Afghanistan with $32 million worth of humanitarian aid to help people there in urgent need of food and health care services.
Seoul plans to offer the fund through international organizations to support food, refugee protection and health care projects for Afghans, especially children and women in a more vulnerable situation, the foreign ministry said.
It also pledged to support food and health care services for Afghan refugees in the neighboring countries, including Iran and Pakistan, and vowed continued contributions to help resolve the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Some 23 million people are in need of food, and 97 percent of its 38 million population are at risk of sinking into poverty after the Taliban took power following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in August, according to United Nations Development Program.
The international community has not yet recognized the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan, and billions of dollars of its assets abroad are frozen under U.S. sanctions. (Yonhap)
7. N. Korea urges full vigilance against omicron variant
The north Korean COVID paradox: This could be deadly for the Korean people in the north and for the regime. But it is also an opportunity to increase control over the population and the rule of the iron hand of the party.
(LEAD) N. Korea urges full vigilance against omicron variant | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with S. Korean ministry's response in paras 7-9; ADDS photo)
SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Monday it has strengthened preventive measures against COVID-19 in response to growing concern about the Omicron variant, a move that heralds a further delay in easing its stringent border control.
The reclusive nation had been seen preparing to reopen its land border with China and Russia, at least partially, before the end of this year.
But the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus has put the country and many other parts of the world on high alert.
In a report, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) pointed out the variant, which is five times more contagious than the delta one, is causing serious worries around the globe.
The country's officials and other "workers" are concentrating all efforts on "thoroughly ensuring perfection" in the emergency virus control and prevention campaign, it added. The KCNA piece marked the latest in a string of omicron-related reports by the country's tightly controlled media outlets since Saturday.
In a bid to stave off the spread of COVID-19, North Korea has implemented strict virus curbs, including border lockdowns that have halted cross-border rail services, since the start of last year.
South Korea's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it has not detected any sign yet of the North taking antivirus measures on top of those already in place.
Whether the North Korea-China border shutdown will be lifted is a matter to be decided in comprehensive consideration of such things as consultations between the two sides, the trend of the spreading virus and situations related to virus prevention facilities, ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo told a regular press briefing.
Thus, it is difficult to conclusively speak in public about what the impact from the outbreak of the omicron strain will be, she added.
The North has claimed to be coronavirus-free and has reported no confirmed cases to the World Health Organization so far.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
8. March 9 presidential election just 100 days away
It is going to be an interesting 100 days.
March 9 presidential election just 100 days away
Posted November. 29, 2021 07:24,
Updated November. 29, 2021 07:24
March 9 presidential election just 100 days away. November. 29, 2021 07:24. by Kyung-Suk Kang, Sung-Hwi Kang coolup@donga.com,yolo@donga.com.
The next presidential election of South Korea is 100 days away as of Monday. On the surface, candidates of the ruling and opposite parties seem confident about their victory in the run-up to 100-day presidential race. However, a bitter competition for power is unfolding behind the scenes. Many opinion polls show that ruling Minjoo’s candidate Lee Jae-myung still fails to reach votes gained by the then elect Moon Jae-in in the 19th presidential election.
Likewise, main opposition People Power Party’s candidate Yoon Seok-yeol earns lower approval ratings than required levels for change of government. All of this is driving up competition between the two major candidates for finding a breakthrough.
The top priority of Lee’s and Yoon’s campaigns is to draw and unite their main supporters – liberals and conservatives, respectively. Yoon aims to gain the upper hand by winning over the hearts of those who have supported President Moon but are left dissatisfied with his administration. Spurring nimble effort to unite with the Open Minjoo Party, Lee visited Gwangju and South Jeolla Province over the weekend, emphasizing the close connection between the party and the region in question to solidify the party’s main supporters.
Meanwhile, Yoon has a goal of becoming a conservative candidate with the highest number of votes gained ever in the Jeolla provinces, according to an insider of his campaign. In this light, Kim Han-gil, a former leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) which is a forerunner to the Minjoo Party of Korea, was invited to Yoon’s campaign as a chairman in charge of preparations for a new era in its committee for the 2022 presidential election, he explained.
As voters in their 20s do not show an overwhelming support of either of the two candidates yet, both the ruling and opposite parties stand to compete fiercely to draw young generations who hold the casting vote in their hands.
9. She Fled North Korea for Freedom. Then She Was Arrested.
Korea is complex.
Excerpts:
“When I came to South Korea, I confessed to what I did in the North to make a fresh start in the South,” Ms. Song said in an August letter she sent from jail to her sister, also a North Korean defector in the South. “I was coerced to do what I did — but they say that doesn’t erase the crime.”
More than 33,800 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the 1990s. But since Mr. Kim took power a decade ago, at least 28 of them have mysteriously resurfaced in North Korea. How and why they went back to the totalitarian state they had risked their lives to flee has been one of the great mysteries in inter-Korean relations. (South Korean officials fear that some of the hundreds of defectors who have disappeared in recent years may have also ended up in the North.)
...
In August 2016, the ministry sent Ms. Song to China to spy on North Korean migrants there and on Christian missionaries who helped them flee the North. It gave her a code name: “Chrysanthemum.” But after two years, she fled to South Korea, where she told her debriefers what she did for the North’s Ministry of State Security.
“She thought she was cleared when she was released from the debriefing center to live a new life in the South,” said her lawyer, Park Heon-hong.
However, Ms. Song had unwittingly stepped into the fierce spy war over North Korean defectors.
She Fled North Korea for Freedom. Then She Was Arrested.
The case of “Chrysanthemum” offers a rare look at the covert battle the rival Koreas are waging over North Korean defectors living in the South.
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A photograph of Song Chun-son, who is in prison on espionage charges, being displayed by her sister, Song Chun-nyo.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
By
Nov. 29, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
SEOUL — Song Chun-son, a duck farm worker, endured two and a half years in a North Korean labor camp and was later coerced to work for its secret police, the Ministry of State Security. Then she defected to South Korea in 2018, trying to start a new life here. She studied to become a caretaker for nursing home patients while working part time as a waitress.
That was until South Korean counterintelligence officers caught up with the details of her past in North Korea.
In May, they arrested Ms. Song, 44, on charges of helping the Ministry of State Security lure or blackmail North Korean defectors living in South Korea into returning to the North. Her case has since provided rare glimpses into the clandestine battle the rival Koreas have waged over North Korean defectors living in the South.
Under its leader, Kim Jong-un, North Korea has plotted to lure North Korean defectors in the South back to their former homeland using whatever means it could, including recruiting people like Ms. Song. But the South’s counterespionage authorities are equally determined to thwart the North’s operation, carefully screening newly arriving defectors from the North, like Ms. Song, to catch anyone linked to its efforts.
On Tuesday, a court in Suwon, south of Seoul, sentenced Ms. Song to three years in prison. Instead of enjoying her new freedom, she finds herself sitting in a prison cell in the South, having become a pawn in the cloak-and-dagger war between her old and new home countries.
“When I came to South Korea, I confessed to what I did in the North to make a fresh start in the South,” Ms. Song said in an August letter she sent from jail to her sister, also a North Korean defector in the South. “I was coerced to do what I did — but they say that doesn’t erase the crime.”
More than 33,800 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the 1990s. But since Mr. Kim took power a decade ago, at least 28 of them have mysteriously resurfaced in North Korea. How and why they went back to the totalitarian state they had risked their lives to flee has been one of the great mysteries in inter-Korean relations. (South Korean officials fear that some of the hundreds of defectors who have disappeared in recent years may have also ended up in the North.)
“She had to cooperate to stay alive, she had no other choice,” Song Chun-nyo said of her sister, who is serving three years in prison for helping North Korea lure defectors back.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
North Korea has used the returnees for propaganda, arranging news conferences where they described how lucky they were to escape the “living hell” they found in the South to return to the “bosom of the fatherland.”
Ms. Song’s arrest showed that South Korea’s counterintelligence officials were not sitting idle. Between 2009 and 2019, they arrested at least 14 North Koreans who entered South Korea as defectors, accusing them of arriving here on spy missions that included plots to bring fellow defectors back to the North, according to government data submitted to the National Assembly.
Ms. Song told the court about how she ended up going to South Korea. A native of Onsong, a North Korean town near the Chinese border, she had been working as a broker, helping North Korean defectors in the South transfer cash remittances to their relatives in the North when the Ministry of State Security recruited her in 2016.
Confronting her about her illegal work as a cash broker, the ministry gave her a stark choice: serve time in a prison camp or cooperate with its agents to lure North Korean refugees in South Korea back to the North. For Ms. Song, who had already been in a labor camp from 2007 to 2009 for the crime of illegally entering China for food in the wake of a famine in the North, the choice was obvious.
“She had to cooperate to stay alive, she had no other choice,” said her sister, Chun-nyo, who defected to South Korea in 2019.
In the court hearing on Tuesday that sent Ms. Song to prison, the presiding judge, Kim Mi-kyong, dismissed her appeal, saying that she had helped the North Korean secret police for personal gain as well.
During her trial, Ms. Song admitted providing a secret police agent named Yon Chol-nam with the telephone number of a North Korean defector in South Korea she had known while working as a broker. She also admitted calling the defector to ask him help Mr. Yon, lying that the agent was her husband and that he worked for North Korean families trying to reach their defector relatives in the South.
With the defector’s help, Mr. Yon located three North Korean defectors in the South, prosecutors said. He tried to persuade them to return to the North by putting their North Korean relatives on the phone with them. One of the defectors, Kang Chol-woo, and his girlfriend, also a North Korean defector in the South, returned to the North through China in 2016 and later appeared on North Korean TV.
Flags of North Korea, rear, and South Korea, front, fluttering in the wind on the border between two Koreas near Paju, South Korea, in August.Credit...Im Byung-Shik/Yonhap, via Associated Press
In August 2016, the ministry sent Ms. Song to China to spy on North Korean migrants there and on Christian missionaries who helped them flee the North. It gave her a code name: “Chrysanthemum.” But after two years, she fled to South Korea, where she told her debriefers what she did for the North’s Ministry of State Security.
“She thought she was cleared when she was released from the debriefing center to live a new life in the South,” said her lawyer, Park Heon-hong.
However, Ms. Song had unwittingly stepped into the fierce spy war over North Korean defectors.
Under Kim Jong-un, North Korea has tightened its control over the border with China, the main escape route for defectors. And it has intensified its crackdown on the South Korean TV dramas and music smuggled from China through which North Korean defectors learned of life in the South.
Partly as a result of these crackdowns, the number of North Korean refugees arriving in the South dropped to 1,047 in 2019 from 2,914 in 2009. The number plummeted to 229 last year, as the pandemic led to further border restrictions.
North Korea has called the defectors “traitors” and “human scum.” But its online propaganda channels have also interviewed family members who tearfully appealed to defectors, telling them that Mr. Kim promised to forgive their crimes if they returned home.
South Korea has put its guard up, catching North Korean agents disguised as defectors who entered South Korea on clandestine missions to assassinate fellow defectors or lure them back to the North.
But South Korean counterintelligence officials also have a history of fabricating evidence in their overzealous hunt for North Korean spies. In 2016, South Korea announced the arrival of 12 young North Korean waitresses and their male manager, billing their defections as a major coup against Pyongyang. The manager later said that the South’s National Intelligence Service plotted with him to bring the women here against their will.
“Ms. Song thought she escaped from the grips of the Ministry of State Security when she defected to the South,” said Jung Gwang-il, a North Korean defector who leads No Chain, a civic group working for North Korean human rights. “But waiting for her in the South were counterintelligence officers eager to make what little score they could against the North.”
10. Victims of Late S. Korean Dictator Vow Fight for Historical Justice
Excerpts:
The crackdown still provokes political tension. Many of Chun’s conservative followers defend the use of force. They allege, without evidence, that the protests in Gwangju were directed by North Korean infiltrators. Gwangju citizens often still face accusations they were communist spies threatening national security.
Last month, conservative presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl came under criticism for praising Chun’s political skills, “aside from the coup and the events of May 1980.”
Yoon later visited Gwangju to apologize for his remark but was blocked by protesters from entering the victims’ altar. Instead, he delivered a silent tribute at the entrance.
Lee, the former Gwangju protester, said true healing and reconciliation will never be achieved while people continue to spread unfounded accusations. He said only when the shadows of Chun’s influence are fully lifted from South Korean society will the country be able to make meaningful progress towards democracy.
After Chun’s death, about 70 victims of the Gwangju massacre filed a lawsuit against the government, alleging emotional trauma.
Victims of Late S. Korean Dictator Vow Fight for Historical Justice
November 28, 2021 9:59 AM
Lee Hyun Choi
SEOUL —
Former South Korean military dictator Chun Doo-hwan died Tuesday at his home at the age of 90. Victims of his authoritarian regime and democracy activists are determined to continue the fight for historical justice even after his death.
Chun Doo-hwan, an army general at the time, seized power in 1979 through a military coup.
While Chun oversaw significant economic achievements during his rule, his legacy is marred by records of severe human rights violations.
Chun is held to be responsible for one of the bloodiest massacres in modern South Korean history: the Gwangju massacre.
In May 1980, more than 15,000 students took to the streets of the southwestern city of Gwangju to call for the end of Chun’s military dictatorship.
When Chun’s forces arrived in the city, local government figures showed they killed more than 200 civilians, injured several thousand, and arrested more than 1,800 civilians.
FILE - Riot police are trapped by attacking protesters during clashes in the center of Seoul as opposition groups mounted major demonstrations to demand the fall of the government of President Chun Doo-hwan, June 10, 1987.
Forty-one years later, the military strongman died in his home in Seoul, leaving no apology behind.
Now, families of victims and survivors of the Gwangju massacre are grappling with Chun’s sudden death.
Lee Gi-bong, who heads a civic group formed by victims of the Gwangju incident, said Chun’s death did not resolve the trauma.
He said that the criminals who wielded state violence lived long lives and died in wealth. Meanwhile, he says, the pain of Gwangju citizens continues.
Though Chun’s passing has left an open wound, many victims are determined to prevent his death from burying the truth of Gwangju.
Lee Jae-eui participated in the uprising as a university student.
He said it’s regrettable Chun denied the massacre and his responsibility until the very end. But now, he said survivors must attend to the historical task of completing the fact-finding mission in order to tie up the loose ends without him.
FILE - Former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan speaks in front of his home in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 2, 1995.
The crackdown still provokes political tension. Many of Chun’s conservative followers defend the use of force. They allege, without evidence, that the protests in Gwangju were directed by North Korean infiltrators. Gwangju citizens often still face accusations they were communist spies threatening national security.
Last month, conservative presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl came under criticism for praising Chun’s political skills, “aside from the coup and the events of May 1980.”
Yoon later visited Gwangju to apologize for his remark but was blocked by protesters from entering the victims’ altar. Instead, he delivered a silent tribute at the entrance.
Lee, the former Gwangju protester, said true healing and reconciliation will never be achieved while people continue to spread unfounded accusations. He said only when the shadows of Chun’s influence are fully lifted from South Korean society will the country be able to make meaningful progress towards democracy.
After Chun’s death, about 70 victims of the Gwangju massacre filed a lawsuit against the government, alleging emotional trauma.
It’s further evidence that even though a dark chapter of South Korea’s history has closed, much of the trauma remains unresolved.
11. The 'Hellbound' question (South Korea)
For those following South Korean soft power.
Another Netflix "blockbuster" from Korea. I have not seen this.
The 'Hellbound' question
By Jason Lim
What happens when a true-to-God (pun intended), undeniable miracle occurs on live social media, witnessed by both those onsite and online? How do people react to the truly unexplainable? More interestingly, how does the whole society react when the supernatural becomes real? Those are the underlying questions that I found so fascinating in "Hellbound," South Korea's latest blockbuster series on Netflix.
Originally, I thought that "Hellbound" would be another CG-driven, action-packed drama with heroes fighting against demons in a good vs. evil narrative framework. Simple, nice, and satisfying. I soon realized that this was much deeper and more disturbing than that. The hell demons were tangential to the story. This was about how a society adapts to a fearsome, supernatural miracle simultaneously witnessed by everyone.
We all know that humans have a need to explain things within certain framework that we can come to terms with. Most religions and spiritual traditions rose out of this need. Whole sociocultural structures were created based on explaining and influencing the turning of the seasons, the frequency and timing of rain, the dangers of the seas for the fishermen, and all the other overpowering natural phenomena that affected our ancestors' lives with cruel capriciousness. Gods were created and assigned roles, leading to colorful pantheons that span ancient cultures throughout the world. Clergy became the overlords of early societies, interpreting the intentions of the gods and meting out decrees and punishments. But all of these religious trappings were not able to control natural phenomena. However, they did impart an illusion of autonomy, mastery, and purpose to the rulers and the ruled alike, providing a structure by which society could exist in an uneasy balance with the unpredictability of our world.
We would scoff at these superstitious ancestors today, safely ensconced in today's modern, technical world gleaming with stainless steel and unbreakable Gorilla glass, able to reach out and touch anyone at any time via our ever-present smartphone. We would also glibly recite Clarke's Third Law ― Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic ― and believe ourselves to be too sophisticated to fall prey to Dark Age superstition and allow scaremongering fanatics to lord over us.
"Hellbound" directly challenges this notion about ourselves and explores how a modern, technology-centered, secular society will act in order to make sense of the insensible when faced with a supernatural phenomenon that cannot be understood and explained by today's knowledge.
I always found Daniel Pink's intrinsic motivation framework useful in understanding the underlying psychological mechanism that drives our need to make sense of our world. Pink's framework is based on three key factors: Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Autonomy is about having discrete control over one's own life and efforts: basically, what you do, how you do something, when you do something, and with whom you do something. Mastery is one's desire to improve one's skillset by striving; it reinforces the sense of autonomy by giving us the belief that we can make ourselves better by investing our discretionary energy into something that makes us better. Purpose is the sense that one is working toward something larger and more important than himself; this speaks to the social nature of our existence in which one's own place in a community is defined by what value that person brings to the larger community. All these intrinsic motivations come together to form meaning.
When faced with a supernatural death sentence 20 years from now, Jeong Jin-soo embarks on a journey that caters to these intrinsic motivational factors by weaving a whole religious canon around the phenomenon. What happened to him wasn't a random event. It wasn't just personally purposeful. It was divinely purposeful. Jeon was now the prophet who forces the eyes of the wayward people to be awed by God's miracles and live by His "intent" for us to become more just. By acting on the self-crafted purpose, he is able to escape being a helpless victim of an inexplicable phenomena to attain both mastery of God's will and autonomy to reshape the world according to his will.
Applying the same intrinsic motivational framework to a whole society is trickier, but what I found most terrifying in "Hellbound" was how readily and quickly our modern society turns to the supernatural to explain the supernatural. Wait, that's not quite true. The most disturbing thing was how readily people would turn to those who claimed to have the singular explanation for why such supernatural things were happening. We are so generous with our credibility in moments of ignorance and doubt. We gladly cede our political freedoms and mental clarity to grasp at straws when we feel overwhelmed by the waters of the unknown.
Ironically, as with an individual, this is done in order to increase our sense of autonomy, master, and purpose since we need a mediator to explain why something's happening and intercede on our behalf.
Jason Lim (jasonlim@msn.com) is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture.
12. North-glorifying webtoon gets Gyeonggi in trouble
What were these people thinking? How did they think these cartoons would be interpreted?
Excerpts:
An official from the Gyeonggi education office explained that the webtoon was not produced with the intent of spreading pro-North Korean propaganda.
“[The webtoons] are produced according to story submissions, but the company [contracted to create the series] produced the cartoon immediately after receiving the submission, so the education office was not aware of the problem in advance,” the official said.
The official added that the post was deleted because of the presence of “some expressions we realized could be controversial.”
Monday
November 29, 2021
North-glorifying webtoon gets Gyeonggi in trouble
One scene in a now-deleted webtoon, originally uploaded to the official Instagram account of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education on Friday, depicts South Korean schoolchildren exclaiming that they want to go to North Korea so they can keep their same homeroom teacher, as North Korean students do until they leave school. [INSTAGRAM]
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education was forced on Saturday to backtrack on a webtoon it posted to its social media depicting a seemingly rosy view of life in North Korea.
Titled "I envy my North Korean friends," the webtoon — an online comic strip where scenes are interspersed across consecutive slides — was posted on the Gyeonggi education office's official Instagram account at 7 p.m. on Friday. The account has over 13,000 followers.
The images and dialogue in the webtoon were produced by a private company and written based on a story submitted by a Gyeonggi elementary schoolteacher, who related interactions with her students when learning about the lives of North Korean students.
The webtoon, which shows a class where a South Korean teacher tells South Korean students about North Korean schoolchildren’s lives, came under fire for appearing to unfavorably compare life in South Korea with North Korea, which claims to have zero Covid-19 cases.
In the webtoon cells, the South Korean schoolchildren respond favorably to their teacher’s lesson about life in North Korea. As they look at photos of North Korean children at picnics and sports competitions — which have been almost entirely suspended in South Korea due to the Covid-19 pandemic and consequent restrictions on large gatherings — the South Korean children exclaim things like, “I envy North Korea!” and “I want to go on picnics, too!”
When the Gyeonggi schoolteacher in the comic tells her students that North Korean students keep the same homeroom teacher until they graduate from school, the South Korean students say, “Wow, I really want to go to North Korea!” and "I want to have you as my homeroom teacher forever, too!"
Gyeonggi students’ parents, however, were not impressed with the webtoon.
After parents submitted complaints about the office posting social media content praising school life in North Korea, the Gyeonggi education office deleted the post on Saturday, one day after it was uploaded.
An official from the Gyeonggi education office explained that the webtoon was not produced with the intent of spreading pro-North Korean propaganda.
“[The webtoons] are produced according to story submissions, but the company [contracted to create the series] produced the cartoon immediately after receiving the submission, so the education office was not aware of the problem in advance,” the official said.
The official added that the post was deleted because of the presence of “some expressions we realized could be controversial.”
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
13. Seoul will be the first city to enter the metaverse
Another fascinating concept from Korea.
Seoul will be the first city to enter the metaverse
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced on Monday it will be the first major city to enter the metaverse.
Provisionally called ‘Metaverse Seoul’, it intends to create a virtual communication ecosystem for all areas of its municipal administration. This would include economic, cultural, tourism, educational and civic service, in three stages from next year.
The Seoul Vision 2030 plan
The metaverse refers to a shared 3D virtual world in which all activities can take place using augmented and virtual reality equipment. These platforms have gained popularity in recent years as people have shifted their activities online, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The South Korean capital has invested KRW 3.9 billion (about €2.8 billion) into the project, as part of the city’s mayor Oh Se-hoon's Seoul Vision 2030 plan. It aims to make Seoul “a city of coexistence, a global leader, a safe city, and a future emotional city,” the mayor said.
If this project becomes a reality, Seoul citizens will soon be able to put on their VR headsets to meet city officials for virtual consultations. They will even be able to attend mass events.
Participants wearing 3-D movie glasses watch James Cameron's 3-D epic "Avatar" before film director Cameron delivers a speech at the Seoul Digital Forum in Seoul, South Korea,Lee Jin-man/AP
Celebration in a new dimension
When the 2022 New Year’s Eve traditional Bosingak Belfry bell will ring, it will happen in real life (IRL) but also in the metaverse.
The city announced in a statement that in 2023 the SMG will open the “Metaverse 120 Centre” (tentatively named), a virtual public service centre. The avatar public officials in the metaverse will provide convenient consultations and civil service, which was available only through the civil service centre at Seoul City Hall.
In addition, Seoul’s major tourist attractions, such as Gwanghwamun Plaza, Deoksugung Palace and Namdaemun Market, will be introduced through the “Virtual Tourist Zone”.
As for lost historical resources, such as Donuimun Gate (one of the four minor city gates to the capital destroyed in 1915), it will be recreated in the virtual space.
From 2023, Seoul’s leading festivals, such as the Seoul Lantern Festival, will also be held in the metaverse so that it can be enjoyed by all people around the world.
The SMG will also develop services for the socially vulnerable including safety and convenience content for people with disabilities using extended reality (XR).
A general view shows a digital board displaying current weather conditions (L) in downtown Seoul on August 6, 2012.JUNG YEON-JE/AFP
Overcoming temporal and spatial restrictions
Seoul becoming a metaverse city is a new step in the evolution of smart cities.
According to the website Quartz, the city is planning to use artificial intelligence to monitor its sewers and water waste centres. “An AI chatbot serves as a public concierge, fielding public questions and complaints related to everything from parking violations to COVID-19 protocols.”
This big leap could lead to overcoming restrictions in the real world that are posed by temporal or spatial limitations and language barriers (among others) through the metaverse platform developed with advanced technologies.
A photo taken on January 10, 2021 shows a general view of traffic passing over a bridge above the frozen Han river, before the Seoul city skyline.ED JONES/AFP
"Seoul will pioneer a new continent called 'Metaverse Seoul' by combining public demand with private technology," Park Jong-soo, Director General of Smart City Policy at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, concluded.
14. New Korean Research Network looks to unite Korean scholars
Excerpt:
“There is a lot of amateurish and misinformed talk about Korea based on ungrounded knowledge or misinformation,” she said. “So, we scholars must try to provide a much more in-depth understanding of history.”
New Korean Research Network looks to unite Korean scholars
A new interdisciplinary organization at the UI, called the Korean Research Network, hosted its inaugural conference over Zoom on Nov. 5 and 6. The network is a hub for professors pursuing Korea-related research in the Midwest.
Hyaeweol Choi is pictured. Photo from University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences website.
November 28, 2021
Intellectual interest in Korean culture is increasing at the University of Iowa, stemming from Academy Award-winning film “Parasite” and the popularity of K-pop, said Stanley Family and Korea Foundation chair in Korean Studies Hyaeweol Choi.
Choi, also a UI professor of religious studies and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, said this interest prompted a new Korean Research Network to connect scholars of Korean culture in Iowa and the Midwest.
Choi, who helped establish the Korean Research Network, said she went to the Korea Foundation, a South Korean nonprofit organization, with the idea in 2019 after noticing that professors of Korea-related studies had no central network to share their research.
The network would play that role, and since 2019, it has, Choi said.
“The Korean Research Network could be a useful platform for students and early career researchers to present a work-in-progress [and] get feedback, but also to be connected to fellow academics at Iowa and in the Midwest,” she said.
The Korea Foundation was eager to support the project, giving an annual $10,000, while UI International Programs gave $12,000 as seed funding to get things started, Choi said.
The network held its inaugural conference on Nov. 5 and 6 over Zoom and served as a platform for its keynote speaker David Kang, a professor of international relations and business at the University of Southern California, who spoke on North Korea’s nuclear program.
Choi said the network also has interdisciplinary aspects.
“Korean studies is very interdisciplinary, covering a large number of academic fields, such as history, gender, religion, communication, film and media studies, anthropology, sociology, and political science, among others,” she said.
Russell Ganim, UI associate provost and dean of international programs, also had a hand in initiating the network.
When he came to the UI in 2011 as the director of the division of world languages, literatures, and cultures, Ganim said he thought it necessary to expand Korean studies in the wake of the explosion of Korean pop culture across the U.S.
He said the cause of this explosion can be traced back to funding of the arts and culture by the South Korean government.
In addition to the humanities, Ganim said researchers involved in the network look at the business environment and the economic growth in Korea as well as sort of the military tensions that exist in Korea.
Additionally, Choi said the network goes beyond providing a superficial glimpse of Korean society and culture.
“There is a lot of amateurish and misinformed talk about Korea based on ungrounded knowledge or misinformation,” she said. “So, we scholars must try to provide a much more in-depth understanding of history.”
A former UI sociology student, Ji Hye Kim, is one such in-depth scholar, who presented her dissertation at a Korean Research Network lecture.
She said her research is focused on what she termed the younger “sample generation” in South Korea, who have been known to give up dating, marriage, and childbirth to a large degree.
“There’s a big trend, economic insecurity increased, so the marriage rate and childbirth rate has dropped significantly in Korea recently,” she said. “So, we want to know more about why people don’t get married and why they don’t have children, etcetera.”
Ganim said Korea’s pop-cultural prominence is not the only grounds for the creation of the new network.
“Korea has really become a player on the world stage,” he said. “Its emergence from the Korean War or really from colonization during the Second World War and before is nothing short of astounding.”
Because of its modernization and post-World War II significance, Choi said Americans can learn a lot about themselves through the study of Korean society.
“Korea, as a kind of a case, could be very relevant to our understanding of American society in general,” Choi said. “I think this comparison could give us new ideas, new perspectives, but also nowadays, we are literally interconnected globally. Any kind of regional specification does not make sense anymore.”
Choi said the Korean Research Network will host public lecture series and seminars in spring 2022, and she hopes next year’s fall conference will be in-person. Events during the spring semester, including a seminar on the #MeToo movement in February, will be posted on the Korean Research Network website.
Dear Friends,
I do not normally do this (except I did this last year and for the last few years now, too) and I certainly do not mean to use my email distribution and news service for solicitation so please forgive me. I was asked for recommendations of organizations to support so I thought I would share with you the organizations to whom I give. I support six main causes: The Green Beret Foundation, The Small Wars Journal, The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Spirit of America, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and the OSS Society (and I do also contribute to WAMU so I can get my daily dose of NPR as well as well as scholarship funds of various organizations of which I am an alum). As we near the end of the year and since it is "Giving Tuesday" (on November 30th) and people are making decisions to give to worthy causes I thought I would share this with you. Please give to your favorite organizations this year (despite the changes in the tax laws which may reduce the incentive for some to give). If you need a suggestion for giving please consider Spirit of America, The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, The Green Beret Foundation, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, the OSS Society, and Small Wars Journal. Lastly, I joined a new organization to help Afghan refugees, escape to safety, resettle, and integrate. Please consider supporting Shona ba Shona (shoulder to shoulder).
I would be remiss if I did not add the great organization to which I now belong, The Foundation for Defense of Democracy (a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy) which is a 501(c) research institute. It has the best mission for a retired Special Forces soldier (and anyone interested in national security and foreign policy): "FDD conducts in-depth research, produces accurate and timely analyses, identifies illicit activities, and provides policy options – all with the aim of strengthening U.S. national security and reducing or eliminating threats posed by adversaries and enemies of the United States and other free nations."
Shona ba Shona
The Committee For Human Rights in North Korea:
Spirit of America:
Green Beret Foundation:
Special Operations Warrior Foundation
OSS Society
Small Wars Journal:
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
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.
