Apologies for my tardiness. I had an early morning appointment that took up my normal news analysis time.
Quotes of the Day:
"The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."
– Jack London
"Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire."
– Robert A. Heinlein
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature."
– Marcus Aurelius
1. S. Korea undecided on co-sponsoring this year's U.N. resolution on N.K. human rights: FM
2. Humanitarian aid will not weaken U.S. sanctions but win hearts of people: U.S. officials
3. S. Korea seeking clues after nearly successful space mission
4. Take precautions against North Korea: Korea Herald
5. North Korea’s submarine missile effort is at ‘beginner level,’ South Korean defense chief says
6. Analysis: Moon's push for South Korean military independence may echo far beyond his presidency
7. Senate Committee Passes Otto Warmbier North Korea Censorship and Surveillance Act
8. U.S. envoy on N. Korea to visit Seoul to discuss ways to resume dialogue
9. North Korea among most vulnerable countries to climate change: report
10. Kim Jong Un scored with a Covid-19 Hail Mary pass
11. Pyongyang connects SLBM launch to matter of sovereignty
12. U.S. Secretary of Navy to visit S. Korea on first overseas trip
13. US, S. Korea discussing draft text of end-of-war declaration
14. Overlooked No More: Kim Hak-soon, Who Broke the Silence for ‘Comfort Women’
15. Does South Korea’s cultural clout make the country more powerful?
1. S. Korea undecided on co-sponsoring this year's U.N. resolution on N.K. human rights: FM
This is an indication to Kim Jong-un that the South will be negotiating and engaging from a position of weakness. There should be no hesitation to support this resolution. Not supporting will in no way appease the regime and help advance engagement and negotiation. The alliance must take a human rights upfront approach with north Korea.
S. Korea undecided on co-sponsoring this year's U.N. resolution on N.K. human rights: FM | Yonhap News Agency
By Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has yet to finalize its position on co-sponsoring this year's U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning North Korea's human rights abuses, according to Seoul's top diplomat Thursday.
Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit his ministry is "closely watching developments" and will make a decision by considering its measure last year.
South Korea had co-sponsored the resolution since 2009 but did not join as a co-sponsor for the past two years, largely citing the current situation on the peninsula as Seoul tries to revive long-stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
Chung did not give a direct answer whether Seoul would co-sponsor the resolution led by the European Union after repeated questioning by People Power Party Rep. Ji Seong-ho, saying various measures will be considered.
"Our stance regarding the recent North Korea human rights resolution has been mostly been established before, so we will make considerations in that direction," he added.
Seoul has refrained from moves that could undermine efforts to resume talks with Pyongyang.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. Humanitarian aid will not weaken U.S. sanctions but win hearts of people: U.S. officials
With all due respect to the US officials, I think this view indicates a lack of understanding of the nature, objectives and strategy of the Kim family regime. Even if the Korean people in the north know such aid is come from the ROK and US (if it even gets to the right people at all and that is a big "if" - and they will likely know it is from the ROK and US by the quality of the aid and even the quality of the packaging itself even if the names of the ROK and US are scratched off from the containers of the aid) and even if the people's hearts and minds are "won," how will that translate into better lives for the people in the north as well as accomplishing ROK and US objectives. How do we think this will translate to supporting ROK and US interests? Perhaps it will have an influence down the road when the real unification process begins that will result in a United Republic of Korea (UROK) but is a UROK the stated objective of the ROK/US alliance?
We need to provide humanitarian assistance because it is the right thing to do. But we must ensure it is provided with appropriate standards of transparency and assurances that it gets to the people in need. We should also acknowledge that many escapees from the north advise that we should not provide HA because it will legitimize the regime, the Propaganda and Agitation department will spin such aid for the benefit of the regime, and that most of the aid will never get to the people truly in need.
Humanitarian aid will not weaken U.S. sanctions but win hearts of people: U.S. officials | Yonhap News Agency
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Allowing humanitarian assistance to a country under U.S. sanctions does not weaken the sanctions against the regime but rather serves American interests in the long-term, U.S. officials said Thursday.
Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of treasury, also said providing humanitarian assistance to the people would better serve American interests and policy goals.
"We ultimately want to and need to and will ensure that our sanction regimes have an economic impact on their targets. But as (former) Secretary Lew said, our goal is never to have an impact on people who are suffering in these countries or in this region," he told the virtual event.
"Providing for legitimate humanitarian assistance is not only the right thing to do, it's something that is in our strategic interest in order for those people to know that, ultimately, the people who are denying them from access to opportunity are the regime or the actors in their region who are committing actions that are not in our national security interest or consistent with international norms," added Adeyemo.
The deputy secretary also noted there was an ongoing review of U.S. sanctions regimes that he said is aimed at creating better tools to serve the U.S.' overarching diplomatic objectives for generations to come.
His remarks come amid discussions between South Korea and the United States on the possible provision of humanitarian assistance to North Korea.
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim has said the U.S. supports "humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable North Koreans."
A ranking South Korean official said earlier this week that Seoul and Washington may begin to provide humanitarian assistance to the North pending the reclusive state's agreement.
"Humanitarian assistant projects for North Korea have been discussed for months between South Korea and the U.S. as joint projects. South Korea and the U.S. have nearly reached a consensus on issues such as how they will be proceeded, but I believe there still need to be discussions on when they would be pursued since humanitarian cooperation projects require North Korea's consent," the official said Tuesday, while speaking on condition of anonymity.
North Korea faces various U.S. sanctions, in addition to U.N. Security Council sanctions that prohibit or limit shipments of a long list of items, ranging from luxury goods to refined petroleum products, to and from the impoverished country.
Jacob Lew, former U.S. secretary of treasury also known as Jack Lew, said the goal of sanctions was to win, not lose the hearts of people.
"If you allow any kinds of things like humanitarian relief or relaxation when you accomplish the goal, you are either reducing the pain or increasing the well-being in the country that you sanction. That doesn't mean you've done something that's inconsistent with the sanctions regime," the former secretary said in a webinar hosted by the Center for a New American Security, Washington-based think tank.
"And in fact, if you think about it in the broader conceptual terms, our goal is to win, not lose the hearts and minds of people in those countries. We don't want the United States as the imposer of sanctions, to become the organizing principle to drive nationalism and allegiance to a bad regime," he added.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. S. Korea seeking clues after nearly successful space mission
In the immortal words of Field Montgomery Montgomery, the operation was a 90% success. Recall how many failures the US and Russians had during the space race. Rocket science is ...well...rocket science. It isn't easy.
S. Korea seeking clues after nearly successful space mission | Yonhap News Agency
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Friday it will set up a committee to closely look into what went wrong in a mission to put a dummy satellite into orbit with its first homegrown space rocket.
The committee -- to be composed of researchers of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and other aerospace experts -- will comb through data to fix technological glitches ahead of a second launch in the coming months, officials of the state-run institute said.
Nuri, also known as the KSLV-II, flew to a target altitude of 700 kilometers but failed to put the dummy satellite into orbit, as its third-stage engine burned out 46 seconds sooner than expected.
Aerospace experts said a possible malfunction in the valves or the pressure system may have led the third-stage engine to burn up sooner than planned but stressed that determining the exact cause requires further data analysis.
"It's possible the valve that controls the fuel shut down sooner than expected for various reasons, like a sensor malfunction," Kong Changduk, professor of Aerospace Engineering at Chosun University, said. "But if we can analyze the problems in the launch and fix them, I believe we'll have no problem launching the Nuri next year."
South Korea plans to launch the Nuri rocket in May next year as part of its four other scheduled launches until 2027.
President Moon Jae-in has called the launch "a very creditable achievement," though it did not perfectly reach the goal.
Aerospace experts described this week's mission as a major advancement in South Korea's space program, which began in 1990.
They said the Nuri rocket marked significant progress from South Korea's rocket launches in recent years, noting Nuri successfully completed all flight sequences using domestic technology.
In 2010, South Korea's two-stage Naro-1 rocket exploded about 137 seconds after liftoff following a failure in 2009. In 2013, South Korea successfully launched the Naro rocket, but the key first-stage rocket was built in Russia.
"I believe the launch was a remarkable success as we succeeded in the clustering, separating the fairing and all other sequences up until the last steps. ... I'd say we succeeded up to 80 to 90 percent," Kong said.
Nuri uses a clustering of four 75-ton liquid engines in its first stage, propelling the rocket forward with a 300-ton thrust. The clustering of the engines requires advanced technology, as each of them must ignite simultaneously at exactly equal thrusts to ensure the rocket flies along the intended trajectory.
So far, only six countries -- Russia, the United States, France, China, Japan and India -- have developed a space launch vehicle that can carry a more than 1-ton satellite and have the technology to develop 75-ton liquid engines.
KARI said the success rate for newly developed rockets on the first attempt is 30 percent to date.
Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at Korea Aerospace University, also hailed the development and successful testing of the 75-ton engine as a "remarkable achievement."
"The problem was at the end when the satellite had to reach a speed of 7.5 kilometers per second at an orbital altitude of 700 kilometers, but the rocket only gave a thrust of around 6.7 kilometers per second," he said.
Chang said researchers will now analyze all data that the ground controllers received from the rocket, including pressure and temperature, to find the exact cause, a process that could take as little as a week or up to several months.
"Since the rocket did not explode and successfully reached the target altitude, I think it's unlikely to be a serious problem, and the analysis won't take long," he added.
South Korea, a relative latecomer to the global space development race, has recently ramped up efforts in its space program, with plans to launch its first lunar orbiter next year.
South Korea has invested nearly 2 trillion won (US$1.8 billion) in building the three-stage Nuri since 2010. The whole process of the launch of Nuri was carried out with domestically made technology on its own soil, including design, production, testing and launch operation.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. Take precautions against North Korea: Korea Herald
I hope the Moon administration (and all of us) will heed this warning from the Korean Herald editorial board. If you start with any other strategic assumptions that are counter to these, your policy and strategy are destined for failure.
Excerpts:
Pyongyang has never given up on the ultimate objective of communising the South. For North Korea, the declaration of the end of the Korean War is just one steppingstone on the path to that goal.
If Seoul wants an end-of-war declaration to advance true peace on the Korean Peninsula, it must put pressure on Pyongyang to first declare its nuclear weapons programs and then present its road map for scrapping them.
The South Korean government must grasp North Korea's intentions correctly and take precautions to deter its threats. Now is not the time to rush to declare the end of the war.
Take precautions against North Korea: Korea Herald
By The Straits Times3 min
SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - North Korea's test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a serious threat indeed. It is the North's eighth missile launch this year, and its fifth since September. All of the missiles are hard to intercept, and they target South Korea.
SLBMs, regarded as a game-changer in battle, are particularly threatening in that subs can move and fire missiles stealthily underwater.
The SLBMs recently developed by South Korea without nuclear weapons are entirely different from North Korea's, which can carry nuclear warheads.
It is easygoing and naive to view North Korea's missile provocations as an attempt to attract attention from the US or gain the upper hand in dialogue, despite the fast-paced upgrade of its arsenal.
President Moon Jae-in said late last month that North Korea was only raising tensions at a low level. Regarding North Korea's latest SLBM test, Song Young-gil, leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, made the absurd comment Wednesday (Oct 20) that it was comforting that the North had neither launched a long-range missile nor conducted an additional nuclear test, and that the need for dialogue had grown stronger.
The Moon regime tries hard to turn a blind eye to the North's threats in a bid to implore dialogue. North Korea's intentions are obvious. In January, it declared that it would develop new strategic nuclear weapons and strengthen its nuclear capabilities. According to plan, it has been test-firing an array of missiles.
That flies in the face of the South Korean government's view that the North is firmly committed to denuclearisation.
Though it is clear that Pyongyang has not changed course, the Moon administration is now absorbed in the push for a declaration of the end of the Korean War, which is technically in a state of truce, as if that were the holy grail.
South Korea's Unification Minister Lee In-young on Monday revealed his expectations of such a declaration, calling it a starting point for negotiations to denuclearise the North.
Seoul and Washington are said to have entered consultations on the issue after a series of visits to the US by South Korean officials.
In a situation where the North has never walked back its nuclear and missile threats, the Moon administration is pushing for an end-of-war declaration. This sends the North the message that it will be rewarded for escalating tensions.
Pyongyang has persistently demanded that South Korea and the US suspend their combined military drills and that Washington abandon its hostile policy toward the North. This is intended to drive a wedge between South Korea and the US -- and, further, to cause division in the South.
Pyongyang says merely declaring an end to the war would be of no use. It simply wants to use it as a means to get what it wants.
It is questionable if the government's push for an end-of-war declaration is based on wishful thinking, rather than an accurate analysis of reality.
Seoul and Washington ought to examine carefully whether declaring an end to the war as a way to start dialogue is worth accepting the North's demands for the permanent suspension of the US-South Korea combined exercises and the deployment of US military assets.
North Korea has developed its nuclear weapons and missiles through the repetition of a cycle of dialogue and provocation.
A rash declaration of the end of the war is likely to boost the North's persistent demands for a US troop withdrawal from the South and undermine South Korea's defence posture.
Pyongyang has never given up on the ultimate objective of communising the South. For North Korea, the declaration of the end of the Korean War is just one steppingstone on the path to that goal.
If Seoul wants an end-of-war declaration to advance true peace on the Korean Peninsula, it must put pressure on Pyongyang to first declare its nuclear weapons programs and then present its road map for scrapping them.
The South Korean government must grasp North Korea's intentions correctly and take precautions to deter its threats. Now is not the time to rush to declare the end of the war.
- The Korea Herald is a member of The Straits Times media partner Asia News Network, an alliance of 23 news media organisations.
5. North Korea’s submarine missile effort is at ‘beginner level,’ South Korean defense chief says
We underestimate the north at our peril. They have proven more capable than we thought in the past (especially when we are not applying sufficient pressure or are appeasing them - e.g., the Sunshine Policy, etc)
North Korea’s submarine missile effort is at ‘beginner level,’ South Korean defense chief says
Images released by the Korean Central News Agency show a submarine-launched ballistic missile test by North Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (KCNA)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missile program is “at the beginner level” and years behind in development, South Korean military officials told lawmakers Thursday.
Defense Minister Suh Wook during a parliamentary meeting with lawmakers in Seoul said North Korea’s SLBM test earlier this week “cannot yet prove” its intended functionality compared to the South’s missile capabilities.
Suh’s comments follow North Korea’s test-firing of at least one SLBM on Tuesday morning. The missile, according to the communist regime’s state-run news outlet, was successfully fired from an older submarine and included “lots of advanced control guidance technologies.”
South Korean military officials estimated the short-range ballistic missile flew 279 miles at a maximum altitude of 37 miles. The Japanese military, however, said North Korea fired two missiles, an assessment Suh disputed, citing “a number of sources.”
“North Korea’s SLBM launched this time is, we think that it is at the beginner level and cannot yet prove its platform itself,” the defense minister told lawmakers.
South Korea in September joined a handful of other countries to successfully test-fire an SLBM from a submarine and is the first country without nuclear weapons to have done so. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who attended that test, said the country now had the capability to deter “against omnidirectional threats,” including from North Korea.
North Korea is believed to be developing a new submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles. Most of its few dozen submarines are outdated, according to military analysts, and only capable of firing older weapons, such as torpedoes.
Park Jong-seung, the president of the Defense Development Agency, told lawmakers during the briefing that North Korea may be at least five years behind South Korea in its development of submarine-launched missiles. Park noted that the North’s SLBM specification had an “abnormal launch platform.”
“Our SLBM’s accuracy is very high to compare with North Korea’s,” Park said. “In fact, North Korea is currently conducting various tests, but its videos of precision strikes have been rarely made public. In my judgment, North Korea has no ability to do such a measurement.”
North Korea’s latest SLBM test is its fifth such weapon test in recent weeks. A North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson in a statement said the test “was part of the normal activities” and that it “did not pose any threat or damage to the security of the neighboring countries and the region.”
“We did not have the U.S. in mind nor aimed at it,” the spokesperson said in a statement from the state-run Korean Central News Agency. “There is no need for the U.S. to worry or trouble itself over the test-firing.”
David Choi
6. Analysis: Moon's push for South Korean military independence may echo far beyond his presidency
This is a subject often misunderstood. A strong independent ROK military and a strong combined alliance military force are not mutually exclusive. In fact they are mutually supported. The stronger the ROK military with independent warfighting capabilities the stronger the combined force will be.
It is also imperative that the ROK/US Combined Forces COMmand be made as strong as ready as possible but it is this combined command, whether commanded by a ROK or US general officer that is charged with deterrence and defense of the ROK. And if we want the mythical OPCON transfer to occur (it is actually a change of commanders not an OPCON transfer to the ROK as the CFC will still answer to the combined Military Committee made up of representatives of both nations national Command and MIlitary Authorities. The ROK government will not have OPCON of US forces just as the US government doe not have OPCON of Korean forces now).
Analysis: Moon's push for South Korean military independence may echo far beyond his presidency
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in speaks during the 76th Session of the General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York on September 21, 2021. Timothy A. Clary/Pool via REUTERS
Under Moon, South Korea has not only continued many of the military programmes approved under his conservative predecessors, but pushed already large defence budgets to new highs, negotiated an end to U.S. restrictions on its missile programme, and announced plans for the nation's first aircraft carrier, among a plethora of other advanced weapons.
It seems at odds with the liberal president's drive to foster inter-Korean peace, and Pyongyang has cited the arms buildup as an example of hostile duplicity by Seoul and its allies in Washington.
But among Moon's main motivations - and one that he appears to have believed is worth the risk of provoking the North - was his desire to build more autonomy within South Korea's alliance with the United States and eventually win operational control of allied forces in the event of a war, according to officials and analysts.
"When this government unveiled F-35 fighter jets in 2019 after buying them from the U.S., I wondered why they would do that even as they want to champion inter-Korean engagement, knowing the North hates it so much," one diplomatic source in Seoul said. "But I later realised that in Moon's concept of self-reliant defence, they do what they plan to do, come rain or come shine."
Since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the U.S. military has retained control over hundreds of thousands of South Korean forces alongside the roughly 28,500 American troops in the country if another war breaks out.
Moon made obtaining control of the joint forces a major goal, but a delayed review amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues has made it impossible in what is left of his term.
Nevertheless, Moon "seems to have decided to continue laying the groundwork for a future transfer through military buildup, no matter who succeeds him," the source said, speaking on anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivity.
His push for more military power has been influenced by other factors, most prominently a genuine concern about countering North Korea's growing threats, officials said.
It has also driven new business to South Korea's defence contractors, boosted national prestige and helped Moon blunt criticism from conservatives that his outreach to North Korea might endanger the South and the U.S. alliance.
'STRENGTH FOR PEACE'
To Moon, having a strong military is a natural part of making peace with North Korea from a position of strength, with reduced reliance on the United States, a South Korean military source said.
"Moon's push brings important suggestions that South Korea is now ready to take the lead in establishing peace on the peninsula on its own, not as part of allied forces," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
"As we promote strength-based peace, this government has not given up on cross-border ties," the source added. "They will strive to bring the North back to the table till the end, and have raised the issue of ending the war in line with that effort."
Pyongyang has repeatedly complained about South Korea's weapons acquisitions and joint drills with the Americans, accusing Seoul of applying double standards over military development while destabilising the peninsula with its own buildup.
But Pyongyang has also shown willingness to overlook or downplay the South's military moves when it sees fit, Seoul officials said.
"There was no strong backlash, though South Korean weapons are obviously not welcome to the North, and I think it's their strategy to pretend to be a normal state and legitimise their own weapons development," the first source said. "But the arms race is headed in a quite dangerous direction, with no arms control mechanisms or confidence-building measures whatsoever between both sides."
Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Writing by Josh Smith. Editing by Gerry Doyle
7. Senate Committee Passes Otto Warmbier North Korea Censorship and Surveillance Act
This is not making the news but it is a very important bill that I hope will get passed soon.
The three key excerpts from the bill are these. I hope the statement of policy becomes operational through an information and influence activities campaign. I will provide links to three critical reports that support this effort. But the key question for me is who in the US government is going to take the lead for information and influence in north Korea when this bill is passed?
I would be happy to recommend members of an expert task force to put together a campaign.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States—
(1) to provide the people of North Korea with access to a diverse range of fact-based information;
(2) to develop and implement novel means of communication and information sharing to ensure that audiences in North Korea can safely create, access, and share digital and non-digital news without fear of repressive censorship, surveillance, or penalties under law; and
(3) to foster and innovate new technologies to counter North Korea’s state-sponsored repressive surveillance and censorship by advancing internet freedom tools, technologies, and new approaches.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO COMBAT NORTH KOREA’S REPRESSIVE INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT.
(a) In General.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall develop and submit to Congress a strategy on combating North Korea’s repressive information environment.
(b) Elements.—The strategy required by subsection (a) shall include the following:
SEC. 6. PROMOTING FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND COUNTERING CENSORSHIP AND SURVEILLANCE IN NORTH KOREA.
(a) Authorization Of Appropriations.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the United States Agency for Global Media $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to provide increased broadcasting and grants for the following purposes:
(1) To promote the development of internet freedom tools, technologies, and new approaches, including both digital and non-digital means of information sharing related to North Korea.
Three reports that could contribute to development of the information strategy (note: I contributed to all of these projects and co-authored the third on information and influence).
1. An Information Based Strategy to Reduce North Korea’s Increasing Threat: Recommendations for ROK & U.S. Policy Makers
2. A Policy of Public Diplomacy with North Korea: A Principled and Pragmatic Approach to Promote Human Rights and Pursue Denuclearization
Author: Jieun Baek | August 2021
I would also refer to Suzanne Scholte's great organization, Defense Forum Foundation, because she is actually leading efforts to get information into north Korea. https://defenseforumfoundation.org/
Senate Committee Passes Otto Warmbier North Korea Censorship and Surveillance Act
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Legislation Authored by Portman, Brown and Coons Designed to Hold North Korea Accountable for Human Rights Abuses
October 19, 2021 | Press Releases
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Chris Coons (D-DE) announced that their bipartisan legislation, the Otto Warmbier North Korea Censorship and Surveillance Act, was reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This legislation, introduced in June, provides $10 million annually for the next five years to counter North Korea’s repressive censorship and surveillance state, while also encouraging sanctions on those who enable this repressive information environment both in and outside of North Korea.
The bill is named after Otto Warmbier, a Cincinnati, Ohio, native who was wrongfully imprisoned by the brutal North Korean regime and died as a result of the injuries he sustained while in custody.
“I am pleased that the Otto Warmbier North Korea Censorship and Surveillance Act was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today,” said Portman. “Otto Warmbier was the best of America, the Midwest, and Cincinnati. This legislation will help ensure that his memory lives on and that the brutal regime responsible for his unjust death is held accountable for this and its myriad of other human rights abuses.”
“The brutal treatment of Otto Warmbier by North Korean authorities that ended in his death was a powerful reminder of the brutality of Kim Jong Un’s regime,” said Brown. “This is an important step in the right direction to reaffirm our commitment to combating North Korea’s human rights violations against its own people and others who have been held captive, and to countering North Korean surveillance, censorship and repression.”
“I am pleased that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has taken a step today toward honoring the legacy of Otto Warmbier, who was just 22 years old when his life was taken,” said Coons. “I will continue to work with Senators Portman and Brown to commemorate Otto’s life by advancing this bill into law.”
The Otto Warmbier North Korea Censorship and Surveillance Act directs:
- No later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the president must develop and submit to Congress a strategy on combating North Korea’s repressive information environment;
- That the president may impose sanctions with respect to each person identified in the Act, via the blocking of their property in the U.S. or subject to U.S. jurisdiction and via ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole; and
- The United States Agency for Global Media receive $10 million for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to provide increased broadcasting and grants for the following purposes:
- To promote the development of internet freedom tools, technologies, and new approaches, including both digital and non-digital means of information sharing related to North Korea.
- To explore public-private partnerships to counter North Korea’s repressive censorship and surveillance state.
- To develop new means to protect the privacy and identity of individuals receiving media from the United States Agency for Global Media and other outside media outlets from within North Korea.
- To bolster existing programming from the United States Agency for Global Media by restoring the broadcasting capacity of damaged antennas caused by Typhoon Yutu in 2018.
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8. U.S. envoy on N. Korea to visit Seoul to discuss ways to resume dialogue
Better to jaw jaw than war war. (always)
But seriously, it is up to Kim to come to the table without pre-conditions. I know that upsets a lot of the maximum engagers but if we appease the regime in any way we will only make the situation worse and prolong the agony.
U.S. envoy on N. Korea to visit Seoul to discuss ways to resume dialogue | Yonhap News Agency
By Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- The top U.S. envoy for North Korea will visit Seoul this weekend, with his arrival delayed a day for an unspecified reason, an informed source said Friday.
Sung Kim, special representative for North Korea, was initially scheduled to begin a three-day trip here Friday for consultations with his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk. But his itinerary has changed, and he plans to fly to Seoul on Saturday, according to the source, who requested anonymity and did not elaborate on the reason.
Kim and Noh are widely expected to meet again Sunday and continue discussions on pending issues related to the Korean Peninsula, including South Korean President Moon Jae-in's proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, as Seoul and Washington step up diplomacy to revive long-stalled talks with the reclusive regime.
Seoul hopes to use the declaration as a stepping stone to improve cross-border relations and achieve lasting peace on the peninsula.
"The end-of-war declaration is one of several options to restart the peace process," Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit Wednesday. "It is the first gateway for the peace process on the Korean Peninsula and an essential step."
Pyongyang has sent mixed signals regarding a possible return to dialogue, firing a submarine-launched ballistic missile Tuesday -- its eighth known major missile test this year.
The North, however, backed off from further ratcheting up tensions as its foreign ministry spokesperson said the launch was not aimed at the United States.
Kim and Noh met in Washington on Monday for consultations on North Korea. They were joined by their Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, the following day for trilateral discussions where the three agreed to work closely together to restart the peace process on the peninsula at an early date.
Denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang remain stalled since the no-deal Hanoi summit in 2019, although the Joe Biden administration has maintained that it is willing to meet with the North "without preconditions."
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
9. North Korea among most vulnerable countries to climate change: report
I have not gone into the DOD and IC reports on the climate change threat. But I noticed this article.
North Korea among most vulnerable countries to climate change: report
A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva, Oct. 2, 2014. Reuters-YonhapClimate change may lead to increased risks for the United States on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea stands unable to cope with growing physical effects of the environmental challenge, a U.S. intelligence report said Thursday.
The report, National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on climate change, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, lists North Korea as one of 11 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change.
"Scientific forecasts indicate that intensifying physical effects of climate change out to 2040 and beyond will be most acutely felt in developing countries, which we assess are also the least able to adapt to such changes," said the NIE report.
"These physical effects will increase the potential for instability and possibly internal conflict in these countries, in some cases creating additional demands on U.S. diplomatic, economic, humanitarian, and military resources," it added.
The report said the 11 countries of concern, including North Korea, are "highly vulnerable to the physical effects and lack the capacity to adapt, suggesting that building resilience to climate change in these countries would be especially helpful in mitigating future risks to US interests."
"North Korea's poor infrastructure and resource management probably will weaken its ability to cope with increased flooding and droughts, exacerbating the country's chronic food shortages. Increasing extremes in seasonal weather variations may reduce reservoir water stores during droughts while damaging infrastructure during the rainy monsoon season," it said.
North Korea periodically suffers heavy damage from seasonal droughts and floods.
The U.S. accuses Pyongyang of diverting its resources needed to feed its people to build up its weapons of mass destruction.
The North has staged eight known projectile launches so far this year, with its latest missile tests involving a self-claimed hypersonic missile and a new submarine-launched ballistic missile.
The NIE report comes before global leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, will gather in Glasgow, Britain early next month for the 26th annual summit on climate change, known as the Conference of the Parties. (Yonhap)
10. Kim Jong Un scored with a Covid-19 Hail Mary pass
The bottom line is Kim has ex[oited the COVID crisis to impose draconian population and resources control measures to further repress and oppress the Korean people living in the north to protect his position of totalitarian rule over the Guerrilla Dynasty adn Gulag State,.
Kim Jong Un scored with a Covid-19 Hail Mary pass
He inflicted enormous economic pain on North Koreans in the process – and by no means is the game over and won
According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement early in the pandemic, North Korea’s ability to maintain zero cases within its borders was due to “the measures of isolation and quarantine” taken early enough “by the Party and the government of the DPRK” and the “concerted action and mobilization of the whole society and entire people.”
Kim Jung Un has continued to boast of a special North Korea sauce. Last month he called for an epidemic prevention campaign in “our style.”
To many outsiders, meanwhile, rather than a normal country’s systematic effort to ensure good quality of life for all its people, the Pyongyang regime’s actions look more like an ad hoc, desperate scheme to do something, anything, to spare a vulnerable health care system from catastrophic shocks.
American football has a term for such a last-ditch response: “Hail Mary pass.” (Translation: Throw the ball high and pray that your team’s receiver will be in the right place to catch it.)
When an Amnesty International report came out 11 years ago, North Korea already was stuck with healthcare facilities that the report said were “decades old,” and that suffered from “a lack of upkeep and maintenance.”
Reports since then indicate further deterioration. Hospitals, for example, lack electricity, heat and running water while doctors, many of whom are underqualified, are forced to work without pay. Due to a lack of supplies, they must rely on patients to bring everything needed for treatment.
Another critical issue within North Korea’s health system is a disparity of access. Members of the North Korean Worker’s Party enjoy privileged access to formal healthcare while non-elite citizens face strong barriers when attempting to access healthcare.
North Korean medical students wearing face masks disinfect their hands and undergo a temperature check as they arrive for a lecture on preventive measures against Covid-19 at the Pyongyang University of Medicine in the capital. Photo: AFP / Kim Won Jin
A rising middle class in North Korea is making it harder for ordinary people living in poorer areas of the country – areas in which Covid-19 could easily spread – to access adequate healthcare. It’s not only the strength of your political connections but also how much money you have that will determine whether you live or die.
A healthcare system with grave vulnerabilities presented the Kim regime with a critical policy conundrum: The regime needed to prevent a large Covid-19 outbreak in North Korea while also ensuring access to the healthcare system for the elite. By taking three critical steps, the Kim regime sought to address this problem.
First, as the Coronavirus started to spread in China, North Korea closed its border to international tourists and travel. This move benefited the regime in multiple ways. Apart from public health, it minimized the possibility of leaks of restricted information – which in North Korea is most information – by international tourists to their home countries. Meanwhile, it protected the North Korean medical system by preventing the virus from being brought into the country unknowingly.
While closing the border may have prevented an early outbreak of Covid-19, it eliminated a critical economic lifeline—international tourists typically bring in about $40 million yearly – and made it difficult for the regime to access much-needed technology and know-how to bolster its healthcare system against an outbreak.
Second, in the months following the international ban, North Korea enacted draconian domestic travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. In February 2020, North Korean authorities banned all travel between provinces, prohibited teachers from traveling, and worked to prevent “any vehicles or persons from transiting the border region to the interior of the country and the other way around.”
In this photo taken on October 29, 2020, a public security officer uses a red flag to stop a taxi for disinfection as part of preventative measures against the coronavirus, on a road at the entrance to Wonsan, Kangwon Province. Photo: AFP / Kim Won Jin
Such policies, although ostensibly designed to stop the potential spread of Covid in North Korea, also ensured that highly privileged citizens – those living in the capital, Pyongyang, in particular – did not face higher competition when trying to access healthcare services. In short, Kim Jong Un’s travel restrictions limited the ability of regular citizens to travel and access healthcare facilities while ensuring access to those close to the regime.
Finally, the regime enacted strict quarantine regulations to deal with plausible – if formally unacknowledged – Covid-19 cases within North Korea. Following the complete lockdown of Kaesong in response to a suspected case, Minju Choson, a government-run newspaper, made public a new “Emergency Quarantine Law” that outlined three levels of quarantine and lockdown procedures based on the severity of an infectious disease outbreak in a region.
Since implementing these regulations, authorities have focused on effectively enforcing them. Violators of the new restrictions reportedly are sent to a newly constructed prison, charged with violating party policies and treated as political prisoners.
Acting in such a manner provided the Kim regime a much-needed political victory: Kim Jong Un was able to effectively stave off a run on the vulnerable healthcare system in North Korea while continuing to provide privileged access to the elite.
Increased security and travel restrictions are also contributing to a record low number of defections. Since 2019 the number of defectors entering South Korea has decreased % per year; only 229 defectors entered South Korea in 2020 and, as of this writing, only 36 have entered in 2021.
Regardless of the political victory, North Korea’s Covid prevention measures are impacting the country negatively. In a June meeting of the Politburo, Kim chastised senior officials over a “grave incident” regarding Covid-19. It is also possible that Covid cases in the countryside go unreported due to lack of infrastructure and the widespread inability of the medical system to accurately diagnose and track the virus in North Korea.
While swift action may have insulated the elite from the pandemic, these measures have also impacted regular North Korean citizens in a variety of ways. Foremost among them, draconian trade restrictions intended to keep the virus from crossing borders into the country have stunted the economy.
In 2020, GDP shrank by an estimated 4.5%. While many factors are behind such a decrease, the implementation of strict Covid protocols greatly contributed to the worst economic slump of the Kim Jong Un era.
Unless the regime clearly addresses such issues, North Korea’s economic maladies may well worsen before they improve. It’s probably premature to congratulate Kim for scoring via that Hail Mary pass since the game’s not over yet.
Texas-based Benjamin Zimmer is the creator and author of a blog, The Korea Page: News and Analysis from the Korean Peninsula. His research interests include North Korean politics, the North Korea-United States relationship and nuclear proliferation. His writings have appeared in Security Challenges, NKNews, Asia Times, Charged Affairs, and The Peninsula Report, among others. He can be found on Twitter at @bzimmer8.
11. Pyongyang connects SLBM launch to matter of sovereignty
Ah the sovereignty argument. What about the regime's threat to South Korean sovereignty? Neither the ROK nor the US has made a threat against north Korean sovereignty (unless the north attacks the South). But the north's founding documents and consistent statements (and actions) for the past 70 years illustrate that the regime's ultimate goal is domination of the Korean peninsula under the rule of the guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.
Pyongyang connects SLBM launch to matter of sovereignty
Posted October. 22, 2021 07:31,
Updated October. 22, 2021 07:31
Pyongyang connects SLBM launch to matter of sovereignty . October. 22, 2021 07:31. by Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com.
North Korea called on South Korea and the United States to withdraw from a “double standard,” by claiming that the recent launch of a new SLBM is a way of exercising sovereignty in normal and legitimate manners. The North made it clear that it will refuse to join discussions on a declaration of end of war if the two nations do not revert a “double standard and hostile policy,” which have been part of their recent talks of an end-of-war declaration.
“The United States falsely defines our legitimate way of exercising the right to self-defense not only as a violation against the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)’s resolutions but also as a threat to regional peace and stability, showing provocative responses by requesting an emergency UNSC meeting,” said North Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Thursday in a Q&A session with the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). “We have already expressed strong concerns about Washington and the UNSC fiddling with a dangerous ticking bomb.”
The spokesperson went on to say that tensions on the Korean Peninsula will never increase if not any attempt is made to get in our normal and legitimate way of pursuing sovereignty. “Washington and its followers can invite grave and serious consequences by making the wrong decisions,” the spokesperson said. “The U.S. government applies a downright double standard in criticizing Pyongyang for developing and testing arms systems equivalent to those already possessed or being developed by Washington.” Nevertheless, it is obvious that North Korea’s launch of ballistic missiles goes against the UNSC resolutions on North Korea agreed by the international community.
“We do not launch SLBMs with Washington in mind or with the goal of targeting its territory. We have long worked on this enterprise for the sake of national defense,” said the spokesperson of Pyongyang. “Seoul and Washington have been delisted from its main opponents.”
12. U.S. Secretary of Navy to visit S. Korea on first overseas trip
U.S. Secretary of Navy to visit S. Korea on first overseas trip | Yonhap News Agency
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro will visit South Korea as part of his first overseas trip that will also take him to Japan, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.
The secretary was set to embark on his trip on Thursday, according to the Navy.
"Secretary Del Toro will meet with senior leaders in Hawaii, Japan, Republic of Korea, Guam, and Papua New Guinea to discuss the importance of international defense partnerships, and reinforce the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region," it said in a press release, referring to South Korea by its official name.
The U.S. Navy noted the secretary's trip comes after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a strategic guidance for the Navy that included "his priorities on maintaining U.S. maritime dominance, and bolstering strategic partnerships to further strengthen collaboration with partner nations in the region."
"The Indo-Pacific region is a priority for the Department of Defense and the Department of Navy," Del Toro was quoted as saying.
""To ensure U.S. dominance against an evolving threat environment, we must be present, persistent and powerful in our integrated maritime strategy," Del Toro said, according to the press release.
The secretary's trip to region also follows a series of missile tests by North Korea that the country claims included the test launch of a new hypersonic missile in late September. The North also test fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile this week.
The trip marks Del Toro's first overseas trip since coming into office in August.
The U.S. maintains some 28,500 troops on the Korean Peninsula under its bilateral treaty of mutual defense with South Korea.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
13. US, S. Korea discussing draft text of end-of-war declaration
But what about talking to north Korea first? Is tis going to be a unilateral declaration?
If we do this we should not do this unilaterally. We should use this to conduct a superior form of political warfare . We should use it to drive confidence building measures (conventional force redactions) to reduce the threat to the South. We should not agree to an end of war declaration without sufficient force reductions to ensure the security of the ROK.
We must understand who Kim will exploit this declaration. How will it support his political warfare strategy and blackmail diplomacy?
Most importantly before we do this in whatever form, we need to have a ROK/US alliance strategy to counter the inevitable political warfare that will be conducted by the United Front Department, the RGB, and the 225th Bureau to influence the the north Korean sympathizers in the ROK and the US who will begin the part 2 of this effort = which will be focused on getting US forces off the peninsula. We should be under no illusion that although Kim has said it is not the right time, he may really favor this because he may believe he can exploit this by supporting the north Korean sympathizers and useful idiots who will bring the pressure campaign on the ROK and US governments to withdraw US troops and end the ROK/US alliance.
Be careful what you wish for.
US, S. Korea discussing draft text of end-of-war declaration
Posted on : Oct.21,2021 17:43 KST Modified on : Oct.21,2021 17:43 KST
Washington is said to have gone as far as hiring lawyers to review the declaration's text
Top envoys for the North Korean nuclear issue, Noh Kyu-duk of South Korea (left) and Sung Kim of the US (right), remove their masks to answer questions from the press after bilateral discussions on Monday in Washington. (AFP/Yonhap News)
South Korea’s government is pushing for a declaration to formally end the Korean War as a way of bringing North Korea back to the dialogue table, and South Korea and the US are reportedly discussing the text of such a declaration.Speculation is mounting over whether Washington — whose opinion on the declaration remains unclear — will publicly announce its position on the matter.A high-ranking South Korean official in Washington on Tuesday spoke to reporters after a meeting of the top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the US and Japan, saying, "South Korea and the US have reached a consensus that the declaration on the war's end is quite useful as an opportunity to resume dialogue with North Korea.”"This consensus is gradually growing," they added.This signals a narrowing of the gap between Seoul and Washington in their views on the declaration through intensive talks before and after Sept. 21, when President Moon Jae-in proposed the declaration at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.Seoul's top nuclear envoy Noh Kyu-duk and his Washington counterpart Sung Kim held five rounds of talks over the past 50 days in South Korea, the US and Indonesia.On Oct. 12, National Security Office Director Suh Hoon held talks with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington on measures for resuming the Korean Peninsula peace process, including an end-of-war declaration. In the process, both governments are known to be discussing a specific text for the declaration.A high-ranking government official said, "The US deems it highly necessary to examine the impact of adopting the end-of-war declaration, and is considering it in depth internally."Talks between South Korea and the US on the declaration's text could be a sign that Washington is seriously considering President Moon's proposal to formally end the war. It is premature, however, to consider a review of the text as a sure sign of it being formally agreed upon.The US is apparently mindful of the potential for unforeseen problems such as the presence of the Republic of Korea-US Combined Forces Command, the US Forces Korea, and the United Nations Command-Rear in Japan if the Korean War is declared over.In addition, Seoul might invite opposition if it agrees to the declaration without nailing down specific benefits in return for the sake of offering an "opening" for talks on denuclearization.Washington is also said to have gone as far as hiring lawyers to review the declaration's text. While South Korea considers the proposed proclamation a "political declaration" with little practical significance, the US is a bit more sensitive to the political effects and legal impact.A government official said, "It's still too early to definitively say what the US position on the declaration will be," adding that "it should be seen as a process of enhancing the understanding of each side's position."Regarding US nuclear envoy Kim’s scheduled visit to Seoul this weekend, the official said Kim will "continue talks on the results of internal discussions by Washington on its consultations with Seoul and the declaration on the end of the war."Turning to humanitarian aid to the North, the official said, "Practical discussions are almost complete," adding that over the past several months South Korea and the US have discussed such assistance including that for health, quarantine, potable water and sanitation."Since this project requires North Korea's consent, when to do it must be decided based on the circumstances," the official said.Such aid is one of two pillars Seoul is pushing for along with the declaration to persuade Pyongyang to pick up dialogue again.By Hwang Joon-bum, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
14. Overlooked No More: Kim Hak-soon, Who Broke the Silence for ‘Comfort Women’
Such a brutal tragedy. When I speak with Koreans about this issue they tell me they only want one thing: Not apologies. Not compensation. Not statutes. They want an acknowledgement of the crimes against humanity by the Japanese government. They want Japan to acknowledge their illegal actions.
Overlooked No More: Kim Hak-soon, Who Broke the Silence for ‘Comfort Women’
Her public testimony about the horrors of sexual slavery that Japan had engineered for its World War II military encouraged other survivors to step forward.
Kim Hak-soon, right, in 1992 at a weekly protest that she and others started in Seoul to demand that Japan apologize for brutalities toward women during World War II.Credit...Associated Press
By
Oct. 21, 2021
This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.
SEOUL — On Aug. 14, 1991, a woman who lived alone in a flophouse here faced television cameras and told the world her name: Kim Hak-soon. She then described in gruesome detail how, when she was barely 17, she was taken to a so-called comfort station in China during World War II and raped by several Japanese soldiers every day.
“It was horrifying when those monstrous soldiers forced themselves upon me,” she said during a news conference, wiping tears off her face. “When I tried to run away, they caught me and dragged me in again.”
Her powerful account, the first such public testimony by a former “comfort woman,” gave a human face to a history that many political leaders in Japan had denied for decades, and that many still do: From the 1930s until the end of the war, Japan coerced or lured an estimated 200,000 women into military-run rape centers in Asia and the Pacific, according to historians. It was one of history’s largest examples of state-sponsored sexual slavery.
Kim died of a lung disease when she was 73, on Dec. 16, 1997, just six years after the testimony. But she left a long-lasting legacy and inspired other former sex slaves to come forward in Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Australia and the Netherlands.
“Nothing that I wrote could come close to the impact of the personal firsthand account given publicly by Kim Hak-soon 30 years ago,” Gay J. McDougall, a former United Nations special rapporteur whose 1998 report defined Japan’s wartime enslavement of comfort women as crimes against humanity, said this year at a conference about Kim’s legacy.
In South Korea, 238 former comfort women would eventually step forward. A protest started by Kim and others in 1992 is held outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday. Amid the uproar triggered by her testimony, Tokyo issued a landmark apology in 1993, admitting that the Japanese military was, “directly or indirectly, involved in the establishment and management of the comfort stations,” and that “coaxing” and “coercion” were used in the recruitment of comfort women.
Kim in 1991, when she gave the first public testimony of horrors experienced by comfort women. Her account inspired others around the world to break their silence.Credit...Yonhap News Agency
“She remains one of the bravest people of the 20th century,” said Alexis Dudden, a history professor at the University of Connecticut who specializes in Korea-Japan relations. “Kim Hak-soon’s initial statement propelled researchers to unearth documentary evidence to support her claims, which began the still-ongoing process of holding the Japanese government accountable for what the United Nations defines as a war crime and crime against humanity.”
Kim Hak-soon was born on Oct. 20, 1924, in Jilin, in northeastern China, where her parents had migrated during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea. Her father died shortly after her birth. She and her mother returned to Korea, where her mother remarried.
When Kim was 15, she was adopted by another family, which enrolled her in a school for kisaeng, female entertainers who learned to sing, dance, play musical instruments and write poems to entertain upper-class men. After her graduation in 1941, her adoptive father took her and another adopted daughter to China to find them jobs. But shortly after they arrived in Beijing, Japanese soldiers detained them.
The two girls were taken by truck to a military unit with a red brick house attached to it. Kim was raped by a Japanese officer on the first night in that house, she said in “The Korean Comfort Women Who Were Coercively Dragged Away for the Military, Vol. 1” (1993), a book of testimonies by former comfort women.
There were five Korean girls there, at least three of whom were teenagers. The soldiers guarded the house, supplied food and used the girls for sex, even when they had their periods. Once a week, a military doctor came to check them for venereal diseases. When Kim tried to run away or resist the soldiers, she was kicked and flogged.
Kim on the phone in 1991 in the office of Korea Church Women United, where a hot line was opened to accept calls from former comfort women.Credit...War & Women's Human Rights Museum
“On days when the soldiers returned from expeditions, we each had to take as many as 10 to 15 men,” Kim said on South Korea’s KBS-TV in 1992. “They took us as if we were some kind of object, and used us however they wanted. When we broke down with problems like diseases, they abandoned us like objects or killed us.”
After two months, the soldiers moved to another location, taking the girls with them. Kim was there for more than a month when a Korean man entered her room for sex one day while the Japanese soldiers were away. The man helped her escape, and she tagged along as he moved across China delivering opium. The couple had a son and a daughter.
Life with him was not easy.
“When he was drunk and upset over something, he called me a dirty military prostitute,” Kim was quoted as saying in the book. “He said that even when our son could hear us.”
After Japan’s surrender in 1945, the family settled in Seoul. Both children died young, and Kim’s husband died during the Korean War.
Kim took odd jobs around South Korea and later worked as a housemaid in Seoul. She never remarried.
By 1987, Kim was living in a slum, subsisting on welfare handouts and working temporary jobs like sweeping parks. In 1991, she heard news that the Japanese government denied having recruited comfort women, and she contacted a women’s rights group.
Kim in an undated photo at the weekly protest rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. Riot police were dispatched to block the protesters. Credit...War & Women's Human Rights Museum
At the time, in a culture in which female victims of sexual violence were expected to live in shame and silence rather than seek redress, most former comfort women concealed their past.
“I wanted to protest to the Japanese people, ‘You say nothing like that happened, but I survived all that and am living evidence that it did,’” she said in 1991.
Since 2018, South Korea has celebrated Aug. 14 — the day Kim made her first testimony — as a national memorial day for former comfort women.
For the rest of her life, Kim campaigned tirelessly, demanding that the Japanese government take legal responsibility for sexual slavery and offer compensation. But she died with her wish unfulfilled.
In her last interview, with the online newspaper Newstapa, Kim said she was trying to live on — “to be 110 or 120, if I have to.”
“I wanted to speak out before I died because no one else would on my behalf,” she said. “I have no desire left other than to hear them say they are truly sorry.”
Kim played the janggu, a traditional Korean instrument, during a hunger strike in front of the Japanese parliament in Tokyo in 1994.Credit...War & Women's Human Rights Museum
15. Does South Korea’s cultural clout make the country more powerful?
On the whole I think this is very good for Korea.
And we should consider this conclusion (especially in light of the Senate's Otto Wambier act on information - we need an alliance approach to getting information in to north Korea and the best content is from South Korea),:
The best evidence for the political importance of South Korea’s culture may thus be attempts to suppress, rather than co-opt it. Since the K-pop gig in Pyongyang, North Korea has tightened its rules against southern tastes and fashions, which it regards as threats to social stability. China has cracked down on gaming, dealing a blow to what is by far the largest chunk of South Korea’s cultural exports. And South Korea itself is no stranger to regarding artists as dangerous renegades. Mr Moon may be courting musicians and film-makers. But previous governments kept blacklists of those whose political views they disliked, cutting them off from state funding. Such policies made life difficult for individual artists. They did nothing to dampen the popularity of their work.
Does South Korea’s cultural clout make the country more powerful?
Explaining the world, daily
Attempts by governments to co-opt popular culture have mixed results
Oct 22nd 2021
SEOUL
THE GLOBAL hype over “Squid Game”, a violent South Korean survival drama released on Netflix last month, has revived interest in the relationship between the success of South Korean pop culture and the influence of its government. Much of this analysis presents South Korea’s cultural success as an important tool of “soft power”—a state’s ability to wield influence in the world by getting other countries to align with its interests without coercion or threat. But does cultural appeal really beget political power?
Governments would like to think so. Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, is keen to use his country’s increasingly hip reputation for political purposes. In April 2018, Mr Moon took a group of K-pop stars to a concert in Pyongyang as part of an effort to improve relations with North Korea. In February 2020 he hosted a celebratory lunch for the director and cast of “Parasite”, which had just won the Oscar for best picture. More recently he appointed the members of BTS, the world’s biggest boy band, as “special presidential envoys for future generations and culture.” The stars appeared alongside him at the UN in September to promote covid-19 vaccination and sustainable development.
Mr Moon is not the first world leader to hope that co-opting cool kids may have political benefits. During the Cold War, both America and the Soviet Union enlisted artists in their ideological confrontation, a practice that prompted Joseph Nye, a political scientist at Harvard, to coin the term “soft power”. Tony Blair, Britain’s prime minister between 1997 and 2007, invited artists and rock stars to his flat in Downing Street. He sought to capitalise on the appeal of “Cool Britannia”, a vague term intended to capture the universal appeal of 1990s British culture in a way not dissimilar to the “Korean wave” branding.
Yet it is hard to tell if such efforts pay off. Some might argue that American pop culture contributed to the demise of the Soviet Union, but the eastern bloc’s dysfunctional economic system probably had more to do with it. Soft power is not strong enough to overcome great missteps or weaknesses. The best South Korean film and television draws far too much attention to social problems to lend itself to nationalist PR campaigns. The portrayal of inequality in “Squid Game” was so brutal that a North Korean propaganda outlet used it to illustrate the horrors of life in the South.
The best evidence for the political importance of South Korea’s culture may thus be attempts to suppress, rather than co-opt it. Since the K-pop gig in Pyongyang, North Korea has tightened its rules against southern tastes and fashions, which it regards as threats to social stability. China has cracked down on gaming, dealing a blow to what is by far the largest chunk of South Korea’s cultural exports. And South Korea itself is no stranger to regarding artists as dangerous renegades. Mr Moon may be courting musicians and film-makers. But previous governments kept blacklists of those whose political views they disliked, cutting them off from state funding. Such policies made life difficult for individual artists. They did nothing to dampen the popularity of their work.
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.
