Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners

Quotes of the Day:

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."

- John Quincy Adams

"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value."

- Thomas Paine

"Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt."

- Herbert Hoover

1. S. Korea, U.S. working together to search for and salvage sunken parts of N. Korea's space rocket

2. N. Korea's failed satellite launch is provocative, destabilizing: Pentagon

3. Unification Ministry cuts staff amid deep freeze with Pyongyang

4. Tornado Cash crypto firm founders indicted for allegedly laundering money for North Korean hackers

5. Escape China by Jet Ski? A Dissident Is Said to Have Planned It for Years

6. Korea-U.S.-Japan summit builds strong foundation for trilateral cooperation: Amb. Cho

7. ‘Abnormal flight’ detected in second-stage flight of North’s botched satellite launch: Defense minister

8. S. Korea, US, Japan weigh more unilateral sanctions over NK's space launch

9. Seoul calls for abolition of 'K-pop ban' in North Korea

10. South Korea’s Rapprochement With Japan Faces One More Hurdle — and It’s in the Water

11. N. Korea hands down severe punishments for watching S. Korean dramas, movies

12. North Korea's space launch program and long-range missile projects

13. North Korean Hackers Are Getting Smarter and More Dangerous

14. US Army stages 1st key wartime deployment drills in Korea in 6 years amid growing NK threats

15. North Korea says US driving Ukraine crisis toward nuclear disaster

16. Camp David Agreement Seen Likely to Fuel China's Aggression in S. China Sea

17. Yoon’s triumph at Camp David

18. Kim Jong-un hires 'briefcase-wielding bodyguards' as 'protection from assassins'

19. Opinion: I’m banned from visiting my family in North Korea. When will the U.S. change this policy?

1. S. Korea, U.S. working together to search for and salvage sunken parts of N. Korea's space rocket

As many times as we have to do this, perhaps we do need to recommission the Glomar Explorer.

S. Korea, U.S. working together to search for and salvage sunken parts of N. Korea's space rocket | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · August 25, 2023

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States are currently in coordination to search for and salvage the sunken parts of North Korea's failed launch of a purported space rocket earlier this week, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said Friday.

Lee told lawmakers that South Korea and the U.S. have been sharing information and coordinating together in the search efforts after the North's launch of the rocket carrying what it claims to be a spy satellite ended in failure early Thursday.

In a report, the defense ministry said the first stage of the rocket fell into waters west of the Korean Peninsula, while the second stage plunged into waters northeast of the Philippines.

The ministry assessed that North Korea carried out the launch to make up for its first failed attempt in May and to demonstrate its capabilities and willingness to respond to an ongoing major South Korea-U.S. military exercise and recent efforts for trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.

Lee denounced the North's launch as a "clear provocation," noting that it violates U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from the use of ballistic missile technology.

He also vowed to strengthen the allies' combined defense posture through the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which kicked off Monday and is set to end on Aug. 31.

"By applying scenarios that account for North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities in the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, our military is focusing on substantively strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance's crisis management and response capabilities and enhancing the combined defense posture," he said.

This file photo, taken Aug. 21, 2023, shows Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup (L) attending a session of the National Defense Committee at the National Assembly in western Seoul. (Yonhap)

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · August 25, 2023

2. N. Korea's failed satellite launch is provocative, destabilizing: Pentagon

Perhaps it is destabilizing but not for the reasons we may think. Although counterintuitive, Kim Jong Un's strategies are failing across the board. His political warfare and blackmail diplomacy strategies are failing. And some of his advanced military capabilities are failing.

Unfortunately these failures may drive Kim Jong Un to make decisions unlike any he has made before.

N. Korea's failed satellite launch is provocative, destabilizing: Pentagon | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Duk-Kun Byun · August 25, 2023

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's failed attempt to launch a military satellite is a provocative action that destabilizes the region, a Pentagon spokesperson reiterated Thursday, after the White House condemned the launch as a direct violation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

The Pentagon spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, said the United States will continue working closely with its South Korean and Japanese allies to ensure stability in the region.

"What we see here is another failed space launch," Ryder said of the North Korean launch in a daily press briefing.

"They are provocative. They are destabilizing, and so again, we'll continue to work closely with our Republic of Korea allies, our Japanese allies to ensure that we share common understanding of the situation and work together to ensure stability and security in the region," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name.

U.S. Department of Defense Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington on Aug. 24, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

North Korea launched its second space launch vehicle (SLV) in less than three months on Thursday (Korea time), carrying what it claims to be its first military reconnaissance satellite, only to report its failure hours later.

National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Adrienne Watson earlier said the U.S. strong condemns the launch, "which despite its failure, is a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, raises tensions, and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond."

Watson added the U.S. will take "all necessary measures" to ensure the security of the United States and its allies, while urging "all countries to condemn this launch and call on the DPRK to come to the table for serious negotiations."

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

South Korea's ambassador to the United States, Cho Hyun-dong, said while meeting with reporters in Washington on Thursday that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will spearhead international efforts to hold North Korea accountable and impose additional sanctions on the reclusive state.

Pyongyang has said it will make a third attempt to put a military spy satellite into orbit in October.

bdk@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Duk-Kun Byun · August 25, 2023

3. Unification Ministry cuts staff amid deep freeze with Pyongyang

Here are my recommendations for the Ministry.

It should have a number of critical planning functions:

1. Long term unification planning as the primary focus.

2. In conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense it should focus on crisis action unification planning - hastily converting the long term planning efforts into crisis action implementation if there is war or regime collapse.

3. The interagency focal point for coordinating unification planning among all Korean government agencies as well as with the international community.

4. Support for a human rights upfront approach to north Korea

5. Design,development, and implementation of an information campaign to inform and educate multiple target audiences (north, South and international community) on the importance of unification and how it will happen).

It if focuses on the major tasks it can be streamlined and made efficient. The problem as I have heard is that there are many in the ministry who have been appointed by the previous administration who do not really support the pursuit of a free and unified Korea but instead a form of coexistence.

Wednesday

August 23, 2023

dictionary + A - A

Published: 23 Aug. 2023, 18:49

Updated: 23 Aug. 2023, 18:57

Unification Ministry cuts staff amid deep freeze with Pyongyang

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-08-23/national/northKorea/Unification-Ministry-cuts-staff-amid-deep-freeze-with-Pyongyang/1853537

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks during a meeting with representatives of civic groups that advocate the return of South Koreans presumed to be held against their will in North on Aug. 3. [YONHAP]

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday it plans to reduce staffing in departments that oversee inter-Korean exchanges in order to downsize amid a deepening freeze in relations with Pyongyang.

Under the plan, the ministry plans to cut 81 employees, roughly 13 percent of its workforce, and merge four teams that oversee inter-Korean exchanges and the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North into one, according to the ministry’s press release.

The tentative overhaul comes after President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a fundamental re-examination of the ministry’s purpose, arguing it should no longer act like a “support agency” for the North.

While acknowledging the possibility that policy blind spots could arise as a result of the downsizing, the ministry said it would operate with “flexibility” to accommodate a return to dialogue and exchange with Pyongyang.

The changes also signal a shift in focus from engagement to pressure in the Yoon administration’s priorities when it comes to North Korea.

New units to be established under the plan include a task force that will focus on the issue of South Koreans abducted or detained in the North.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, who was appointed at the end of July, pledged to prioritize the return of South Koreans held captive by the North in a meeting with civic groups earlier this month.

Up to 50,000 South Korean prisoners of war (POW) were never repatriated despite the terms of the armistice that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War, according to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea.

In addition to unrepatriated POWs, 3,835 South Korean civilians have been abducted by the North since the end of the war. Of this number, 3,319 were released or successfully escaped back to the South, leaving 516 who have never returned.

At least six South Koreans, including three pastors, have been taken to North Korea from China since 2013 and sentenced to prison for conducting activities that the North considers antistate crimes.

The ministry said it would also use the restructuring to strengthen its intelligence capabilities and raise public awareness on North Korean issues, including reunification scenarios.

According to the ministry, the restructuring is intended to reflect the ongoing freeze in relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.

“The [restructuring] plan factored in the suspension of inter-Korean exchanges and dialogue and is grounded in the belief that a flexible, competitive and efficient organization that can adapt to international political circumstances is necessary,” Vice Unification Minister Moon Seoung-hyun told reporters last month.

The ministry plans to begin downsizing at the end of the six-day public notice period and after a vice-ministerial meeting on Aug. 31 and a Cabinet meeting on Sept. 5.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]

4. Tornado Cash crypto firm founders indicted for allegedly laundering money for North Korean hackers

Tornado Cash crypto firm founders indicted for allegedly laundering money for North Korean hackers

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN

Published 7:54 PM EDT, Wed August 23, 2023

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/23/business/tornado-cash-crypto-roman-storm/

North Korean crypto heist funding nuclear ambitions

03:25 - Source: CNN

New YorkCNN —

Two co-founders of cryptocurrency giant Tornado Cash, one of them a Russian national and the other an executive in Washington state, have been charged with operating a crypto scheme that allegedly laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for North Korean hackers, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Southern District Court of New York.

Roman Semenov, the Russian national, and Roman Storm, were charged with laundering and violating sanctions through Tornado Cash, a crypto “mixer” that allegedly laundered more than $1 billion, including hundreds of millions that went to Lazarus Group, a North Korean cybercrime organization, the indictment alleged.

A cryptocurrency mixer, or tumbler, is a service that helps protect the privacy of users by mixing up a transaction’s origins before being transmitted to a recipient.

“While publicly claiming to offer a technically sophisticated privacy service, Storm and Semenov in fact knew that they were helping hackers and fraudsters conceal the fruits of their crimes,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Semenov is still at large, and Storm had been arrested in Washington, according to the statement from the US Attorney’s Office.

The Treasury also personally sanctioned Semenov Wednesday in coordination with the DOJ. The third co-founder of Tornado Cash, who was unnamed in the indictment, was arrested on money laundering charges in the Netherlands last year, the Treasury said.

“We are incredibly disappointed that the prosecutors chose to charge Mr. Storm because he helped develop software, and they did so based on a novel legal theory with dangerous implications for all software developers,” said Storm’s lawyer, Brian Klein, in a statement.

“Mr. Storm has been cooperating with the prosecutors’ investigation since last year and disputes that he engaged in any criminal conduct,” Klein said.

Tornado Cash is one of the most well-known mixers, and it, along with much of the crypto industry, was under growing regulatory scrutiny. The US Treasury said crypto mixers are commonly used to launder stolen funds.

The Tornado Cash founders made millions advertising its services to provide untraceable financial transactions, the DA said, but they “chose not to implement know your customer or anti-money laundering programs as required by law” despite customer complaints.

Lazarus Group, the North Korean organization, allegedly used Tornado Cash in April and May 2022, the US attorney’s office said, in violation of US sanctions. Storm and Semenov continued to facilitate the sanctions-violating transactions, the indictment alleged.

Both are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to violate the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A charge of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business has a maximum sentence of five years.

The US Department of the Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash last year, alleging it laundered more than $7 billion worth of crypto since 2019. The sanction prohibits Americans or those under US jurisdiction from using the mixer.

5. Escape China by Jet Ski? A Dissident Is Said to Have Planned It for Years

Escape China by Jet Ski? A Dissident Is Said to Have Planned It for Years

The New York Times · by John Yoon · August 24, 2023

Officials in South Korea aren’t saying who crossed 200 miles of ocean to reach its shores. But people who know Kwon Pyong say it wasn’t his first audacious move.

South Korea’s Coast Guard, which released this image, said it had detained a man who was found stranded with this vehicle off the country’s west coast last week. The front of the watercraft was blurred by the source.

Aug. 24, 2023Updated 7:17 p.m. ET

Kwon Pyong, a Chinese critic of his country’s ruling Communist Party, already had a reputation for boldness.

Seven years ago he posted a photo of himself on Twitter in a T-shirt that referred to Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian leader, as “Xitler.” This, and a spate of similarly provocative antigovernment comments from Mr. Kwon, who lived in the northeastern Chinese city of Yanbian, led to a charge of inciting subversion and a stint in prison.

Last week, Mr. Kwon, 35, made another bold move, according to one South Korean human rights activist: He fled China on a personal watercraft, crossing about 200 miles of ocean to reach South Korea, where he had long hoped to seek asylum.

“He was aware of the risk he was taking,” the activist, Lee Dae-seon, who has known Mr. Kwon for years, said on Wednesday. He said Mr. Kwon had told him he was coming, and that they had stayed in contact since the South Korean authorities took him into custody.

The South Korean Coast Guard has confirmed that on Aug. 16 it found a man stranded with a Jet Ski-type vehicle on a mud flat off the country’s west coast, near the city of Incheon. In a statement, it said the man, whom it did not identify, had been detained Sunday on suspicion of entering South Korea illegally by sea from China.

He had set off from the Shandong Peninsula with a helmet, a life jacket, a telescope and a compass, according to the Coast Guard. He also had five containers of fuel, which he’d tied to the watercraft and used to keep the tank filled during the 14-hour journey, the Coast Guard said.

Map shows the distance over the ocean traveled by a Chinese dissident on a jet ski, from the Chinese Shandong Peninnsula to the town of Incheon in South Korea.

By The New York Times

Matt Ran, an engineer from China who lives in New York City and has known Mr. Kwon since 2016, said those details matched plans for escaping China that his friend had shared with him years ago, before the start of the Covid pandemic.

“He felt depressed living in China due to the autocracy and lack of freedom of speech,” said Mr. Ran, 36, who met Mr. Kwon on an online forum about Chinese history. He said they had yet to meet in person, but he called Mr. Kwon a close friend with a “sunny” personality who had taught him to make the “best cold noodles.”

Mr. Kwon, who is of Korean descent, graduated from Iowa State University in 2014 with a degree in aerospace engineering. His Chinese name is Quan Ping, but he preferred to use his Korean name online. Mr. Ran said he “wanted to be a great entrepreneur” and “cared much about China’s democratization.”

Mr. Kwon disappeared into Chinese police custody in September 2016, soon after posting the photo of himself in the shirt that likened Mr. Xi to Hitler. “Let’s work together and topple this invisible wall,” Mr. Kwon wrote in that post. In his Twitter profile, he described himself as a “perpetual student, citizen, dedicated to overturning communism.”

He went on trial for inciting subversion in February 2017 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to Mr. Lee, the Korean activist. The charge was based on 70 or more comments, images and video that Mr. Kwon had shared on social media, his Chinese lawyers said at the time of his trial.

Mr. Kwon was released from prison in March 2018, but the authorities continued to monitor him and barred him from leaving China, Mr. Lee said. He said Mr. Kwon had contacted him in 2019 through connections to other human rights activists, expressing interest in seeking asylum in South Korea.

This month, Mr. Lee said, he received a message from Mr. Kwon after years of silence, saying that he was coming to South Korea.

A South Korean lawyers’ organization, Advocates for Public Interest Law, said that Mr. Kwon had applied for asylum and that it had been asked to represent him in that process. Kim Joo-gwang, a lawyer assigned to Mr. Kwon’s case, declined to comment, saying that he was still reviewing the matter. Efforts to reach Mr. Kwon directly were not successful.

Mr. Kwon’s bid for asylum is far from assured. In recent years, South Korea has granted asylum to fewer than 200 of the more than 10,000 people who have applied for it each year, according to data from the Justice Ministry.

John Yoon reports from the Seoul newsroom of The Times. He previously reported for the coronavirus tracking team, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2021. He joined The Times in 2020. More about John Yoon

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 9 of the New York edition with the headline: Dissident Is Said Have to Fled China on a Personal Watercraft

The New York Times · by John Yoon · August 24, 2023

6. Korea-U.S.-Japan summit builds strong foundation for trilateral cooperation: Amb. Cho

Korea-U.S.-Japan summit builds strong foundation for trilateral cooperation: Amb. Cho | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Duk-Kun Byun · August 25, 2023

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- The recently held three-way summit between the leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States has built an unprecedentedly strong foundation for trilateral cooperation that will help develop their ties under any circumstances, South Korea's ambassador to the U.S. Cho Hyun-dong said Thursday.

Cho also insisted that the trilateral summit has created a small multilateral forum that he said is stronger or more powerful than other regional gatherings, including the Quad, a grouping of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, and AUKUS, a three-way security partnership between Australia, Britain and the U.S.

"The cooperation mechanism between South Korea, Japan and the U.S. has been upgraded to a small multilateral consultative body of the highest level," Cho said while meeting with reporters in Washington.

"I believe the Korea-U.S.-Japan (grouping) is more powerful than other regional, small multilateral bodies, namely the Quad and AUKUS, that the U.S. sees as very important," he added.

South Korean Ambassador to the United States Cho Hyun-dong speaks while meeting with reporters in Washington on Aug. 24, 2023. (Yonhap)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to a range of steps aimed at boosting their countries' trilateral cooperation at their historic summit held Friday at Camp David.

Those steps include holding annual three-way meetings between the countries' leaders, as well as defense, foreign, commerce and treasury ministers.

"The agreement to hold regular meetings at ministerial-levels, including national security advisers, foreign and defense ministers, as well as commerce and treasury ministers, is something that is hard to find in other small multilateral consultative bodies," said Cho.

"The summit was a meeting that drew a blueprint for three-way cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan in the future. It is meaningful in that has created a foundation to stably and fundamentally develop South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation even if conditions change in the future," he added.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) poses for a photo with U.S. President Joe Biden (C) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as they attend a luncheon following a trilateral summit meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Aug. 18, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

On the failed launch of a North Korean space rocket on Thursday (Korea time), the top South Korean diplomat in the U.S. said the launch marked a "clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions" regardless of its success or failure.

"We must continue to stay alert and prepare for additional provocations in that North Korea continues to make reckless provocations," he told the meeting.

"Not only South Korea and the U.S. but also South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will work closely together systematically against any North Korean provocation," added Cho. "The three countries will also lead international community's stern and effective measures (against the North Korean launch), including strong condemnation of the launch and additional sanctions against North Korea."

bdk@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Duk-Kun Byun · August 25, 2023

7. ‘Abnormal flight’ detected in second-stage flight of North’s botched satellite launch: Defense minister

Friday

August 25, 2023

dictionary + A - A

Published: 25 Aug. 2023, 17:23

Updated: 25 Aug. 2023, 17:27

‘Abnormal flight’ detected in second-stage flight of North’s botched satellite launch: Defense minister

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-08-25/national/northKorea/Abnormal-flight-detected-in-secondstage-flight-of-Norths-botched-satellite-launch-Defense-minister/1855374

South Korean and U.S. special warfare troops take part in joint drills at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Friday, amid the ongoing annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise which runs to the end of the month. [KOREAN NAVY]

An error may have occurred in the second stage of flight for the Chollima-1 space launch vehicle (SLV) launched by North Korea Thursday, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup told lawmakers Friday.

In a meeting of the National Assembly's defense committee, Lee said that there are some grounds to believe that the SLV had an "abnormal flight from the second-stage engine."

He said that South Korea's Agency for Defense Development and U.S. experts are still conducting a detailed analysis of the latest botched launch but that the final results will take some time to be revealed.

This is contrary to North Korea's claims Thursday that its second attempt to launch a reconnaissance satellite had failed "due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight."

On Thursday morning, the South Korean military confirmed that North Korea launched a space launch vehicle from the Tongchang-ri area in North Pyongan Province, which flew over international waters west of Ieodo Ocean Research Station south of Jeju Island.

The North's state media confirmed later that its reconnaissance satellite, the Malligyong-1, mounted on a "new-type" Chollima-1 rocket launched from the Sohae satellite launching station in Cholsan County, had ended in failure.

Pyongyang also previously admitted to failing to launch a spy satellite on May 31.

Lee also told lawmakers that South Korea and the United States have been sharing information and coordinating search and salvage efforts to retrieve the sunken satellite wreckage from the ocean.

His ministry said that the first stage of the rocket landed in the seas west of the Korean Peninsula, similar to what North Korea had predicted, and the second stage fell into waters northeast of the Philippines, slightly off course from the designated area.

Lee also said that the South Korean and U.S. militaries are strengthening the alliance's crisis management and response capabilities and enhancing the combined defense posture through the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield, an 11-day annual joint exercise that runs to Aug. 31.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup speaks to lawmakers of the parliamentary defense committee on North Korea’s botched spy satellite launch at the National Assembly in western Seoul Friday. [NEWS1]

On Tuesday, Pyongyang warned Japan's coast guard of its plans to launch a satellite in the coming days and designated three maritime danger zones that could be affected by the planned satellite launch: around the Yellow Sea, southwest of North Korea, in the East China Sea and east of the Philippine island of Luzon.

The U.S. Defense Department in turn warned that North Korea's failed attempt to launch a military satellite is a "provocative" action that is "destabilizing" to the region.

"We'll continue to work closely with our Republic of Korea allies, our Japanese allies to ensure that we share common understanding of the situation and work together to ensure stability and security in the region," Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, said in a briefing in Washington Thursday.

Pyongyang said it will make a third attempt to launch a spy satellite in October, which Seoul officials say could fall around the founding of the North's ruling Workers' Party on Oct. 10.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]

8. S. Korea, US, Japan weigh more unilateral sanctions over NK's space launch

S. Korea, US, Japan weigh more unilateral sanctions over NK's space launch

The Korea Times · by 2023-08-24 07:08 | North Korea · August 24, 2023

From left, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin hold a trilateral meeting in Jakarta to discuss measures against North Korea's missile provocations, July 14. Yonhap

The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan "strongly condemned" North Korea's latest space rocket launch Thursday while agreeing to review additional unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The North said it launched a spy satellite, the Malligyong-1, mounted on a new type of rocket named the Chollima-1, but it failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight, according to the country's state media.

In their phone consultations earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Park Jin and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Antony Blinken and Yoshimasa Hayashi, respectively, "strongly condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launch under the pretext of a so-called space launch vehicle," according to the ministry.

Park stressed the urgent need for resolute and united international responses to the North's unlawful provocations. Blinken and Hayashi agreed on the need for ongoing coordination among the three countries in delivering a unified message to the North on the international stage.

N. Korea says 2nd attempt to launch spy satellite fails: state media

According to the ministry, the top diplomats agreed to review imposing additional unilateral sanctions against the North in response to Thursday's launch.

Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Hiroyuki Namazu, respectively, also condemned the North in their separate trilateral phone consultations.

The nuclear envoys emphasized that the North's latest launch "constitutes a grave violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit any launches by North Korea using ballistic missile technology."

The officials also emphasized that cooperation among the three countries, as well as with the international community, against the North will strengthen even more as Pyongyang continues its provocations.

Pyongyang's first spy satellite launch was carried out in May but ended in failure. The North said it plans to conduct a third space launch attempt in October. (Yonhap)

The Korea Times · by 2023-08-24 07:08 | North Korea · August 24, 2023

9. Seoul calls for abolition of 'K-pop ban' in North Korea

Human rights upfront approach.

The anti-reactionary thought law is much more than a K-pop ban though that is an easy shorthand to describe it. It is really reinforcing one of the facts from the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry in the the forced isolation of and the denial of information to the Korean people in the north is a human rights abuse.

Seoul calls for abolition of 'K-pop ban' in North Korea

The Korea Times · August 25, 2023

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK members stand on stage at the MTV VMAs at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., in this Aug. 28, 2022 photo. Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho urged Pyongyang to abolish its "anti-reactionary thought law," also known as the "K-pop ban," which was adopted in late 2020 to specifically target South Korean cultural content. AFP-Yonhap'

Anti-reactionary thought law' is sign of growing influence of South Korean culture: scholar

By Jung Min-ho

Since its founding in 1948, the dictatorial regime in North Korea has strictly blocked the entry of any information from the outside that could threaten its stability and legitimacy.

Those who spread messages deemed to deviate from its totalitarian principles have always been at risk of punishment under its publication law and administrative guidelines.

This is why North Korea's decision in 2020 to adopt an "anti-reactionary thought law," a move specifically targeting South Korea's cultural content, drew little attention here at the time.

Nearly three years after the law came into force in North Korea to crack down on K-pop and other types of South Korean cultural content, Seoul released its first official message calling on Pyongyang to revoke what is also known as the "K-pop ban."

"We strongly urge North Korean authorities to abolish the anti-reactionary thought law that denies its citizens access to outside information," Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said at a seminar on the human rights of North Koreans in Seoul, Thursday.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks during a seminar on human rights in North Korea at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Thursday.

The demand comes days after his meeting with reporters, during which Kim said the ministry under him would be more vocal in rights issues involving the North by, for example, criticizing "policies such as the K-pop ban" more directly and proactively.

The law, adopted by the North in December 2020, prohibits the creation, distribution and consumption of any content "aimed at breaking down our system." It says violators could face, in serious cases, more than 10 years of hard labor.

According to human rights experts, the reality is harsher than what the law indicates. Citing North Korean defectors, they say one could be sentenced to life imprisonment for watching a South Korean movie for just several hours, while execution is among the possible consequences for distributors, with the regime stepping up crackdowns to unprecedented levels in recent years.

This suggests a growing influence of South Korea's culture in North Korea, one scholar told The Korea Times.

"Despite all the administrative guidelines and other rules against such content, North Korea enacted the new law, which suggests that its ruling elite increasingly feels that South Korean pop culture threatens their control," said the researcher, who declined to be named.

"Unlike content from other countries, North Korean people can relate easily with K-drama actors who speak in a language they can understand, which could influence how they see their own society ― and possibly whether it needs to change," the researcher added.

She said the minister's open demand for the abolition of the law could be helpful in terms of promoting human rights internationally and galvanizing support from like-minded countries.

But in order to make the message more convincing, South Korea should lift its own ban on public access to North Korean media, she added.

Lifting of the ban, a policy pledge made by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, has made little progress over the last year as many remain concerned about security problems among other possible ramifications, which the scholar thinks are overblown.

In response to such criticism, Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for the ministry, said officials will continue to step up efforts to make progress on both fronts.

The Korea Times · August 25, 2023

10. South Korea’s Rapprochement With Japan Faces One More Hurdle — and It’s in the Water

South Korea’s Rapprochement With Japan Faces One More Hurdle — and It’s in the Water

Fury erupts over Japan’s plan to drain from the Fukushima reactor water that some reckon is less contaminated than normal sea water.

DONALD KIRK

Thursday, August 24, 2023

12:51:05 pm

By Donald Kirk

nysun.com4 min

August 24, 2023

View Original

SEOUL — It turns out that South Korea and Japan now have yet one more insoluble, never-ending issue to upset all attempts at patching up their centuries of hostility — and, strangely, it’s in the water.

No sooner had the Japanese begun what promises to be a decades-long process of draining the slightly radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant than protesters — screaming slogans — were attempting to get into the Japanese embassy here.

Sixteen of them were quickly arrested, but the demonstration was just the most visible sign of the response to assurances by both Japanese and Free Korean leaders that the water’s fine, probably less radioactive than all the other water in the sea, and no danger to fish or humans.

Scientific tests, the testimony of experts, and the results of any number of studies aren’t going to stop the critics. They range from North Korea to opposition politicians to fishermen. They won’t be stopped from pillorying the government of President Yoon for endorsing Japan’s decision to begin draining the storage tanks.

The tanks are brimming with 1.3 million tons of contaminated sea water from the disaster that killed nearly 20,000 persons caught in the tsunami that inundated the plant and surrounding region in March 2011.

The worst fallout from Mr. Yoon’s decision to go along with Japanese pleas for him to endorse the draining is that it could undermine goodwill displayed in their trilateral summit at Camp David. If Mr. Yoon, President Biden, and Prime Minister Kishida mentioned behind closed doors the need to drain the nuclear plant, they definitely skipped over it in all the statements from the confab.

Plus, too, the problem for Messrs. Yoon and Kishida is that the fallout from the drainage is unlikely to blow away any time soon. It will take at least 30 years to empty the storage tanks, and their foes are not going to let up after a flurry of objections.

The chairman of South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, signaled the enduring nature of the protest when he accused Japan of making “the vicious decision to discharge contaminated water into the ocean, which belongs to all humans without scientific proof, understanding from neighboring countries or agreement by the Japanese people.”

That statement contradicts any number of tests showing only minimal risks, but politics trumps science. In the 2022 presidential election, the leftist Mr. Lee lost to the conservative Mr. Yoon by only an eyelash, and he plans to try again in 2027 against another conservative. Mr. Yoon cannot seek a second term under Korea’s constitution.

As might be expected, the most vituperative criticism has come from North Korea, which has denounced “the evil, anti-humanitarian and belligerent action.” The Communist Chinese and Russians joined the chorus, China claiming “Japan has yet to provide sufficient scientific and convincing explanations” and banning imports of seafood from Japan.

Lost in the criticism is that the International Atomic Energy Agency has said the danger from the water, after it’s been processed, will be negligible.

The agency’s director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said his experts were “on the ground to serve as the eyes of the International community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned consistent with IAEA safety standards.”

Also, the agency said its “on-site analysis confirmed that the tritium concentration in the diluted water” was “far below the operational limit of 1,500 becquerels per liter.” The science magazine Nature, though, does not give the released water quite such a clean bill of health.

“Radiation in the water will be diluted to almost-background levels,” Nature’s report says, “but some researchers are not sure this will be sufficient to mitigate the risks.”

The power-station operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, according to Nature, used an advanced liquid-processing system to treat the water in a five-stage process. “But that process does not remove carbon-14 and tritium,” Nature says, “so the treated water needs to be diluted further to less than one part per 100 parts of seawater.”

Nature quotes an environmental scientist at Britain’s University of Portsmouth, James Smith, as preferring to say the risk is “close to zero,” hesitating to say the risk is zero. “The risk of another earthquake or a typhoon causing a leak of a tank is higher,” he tells Nature. “They’re running out of space.”

None of which is all that reassuring to fishermen and seafood eaters. The release of water from the Fukushima plant “deepened concerns among South Koreans over the safety of seafood,” South Korea’s Yonhap News said.

“Restaurant owners and fishermen,” Yonhap News reports, “are already feeling the pinch of the controversial discharge.” Seoul has “flatly dismissed chances” of lifting a ban on Japanese seafood imports, Yonhap said, “while intensifying monitoring and testing to dispel public jitters.”

11. N. Korea hands down severe punishments for watching S. Korean dramas, movies

This is criminal. Not watching K-dramas but the ban on them and the punishment for watching them. The regime is the criminal.

N. Korea hands down severe punishments for watching S. Korean dramas, movies

Two men were recently given time in political prison camps, a punishment that many North Koreans equate with the death penalty

By Seulkee Jang - 2023.08.25 10:00am

dailynk.com

N. Korea hands down severe punishments for watching S. Korean dramas, movies | Daily NK English

FILE PHOTO: Taken on on the Chinese side of the Yalu River, this photo shows apartments being built in Sinuiju’s Ponbu District. (Daily NK)

North Korea has recently been increasing the severity of punishments for watching “impure videos” such as South Korean dramas and movies, Daily NK has learned.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Aug. 14 that a man in his twenties living in Cholsan County was sent to a political prison camp in July after being accused of watching South Korean videos.

As it is almost impossible to survive in political prison camps, North Koreans regard being sent to such camps as a death sentence.

In the past, the man had been sentenced to reform through labor for watching South Korean videos. This time, however, he was sentenced to time in a political prison camp, leading his friends and family to express their deep frustration at the excessive punishment.

Their belief that the man was excessively punished stems from the fact that he was accused of watching South Korean videos, not importing or distributing them.

In late 2020, North Korea enacted the “Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act,” also known as the anti-reactionary thought law. Article 27 of the Act, which is entitled the “Crime of Distributing Puppet (South Korean) Ideology and Culture,” stipulates that “any person who views, listens to, or possesses South Korean movies, video recordings, compilations, books, songs, drawings, or photographs, or who brings in and distributes South Korean songs, drawings, photographs, or designs shall be sentenced to five to 10 years of reform through labor. If the severity of the crime is deemed high, the offender shall be sentenced to reform through labor for 10 years or more.”

Based on the law, the man should have been sentenced to five to 10 years of reform through labor or more than 10 years if his crime was deemed severe; however, he was sentenced to time in one of North Korea’s political prison camps instead.

Another man arrested in Sinuiju for watching porn

The source told Daily NK that another man in his twenties was arrested in Sinuiju in June for watching pornography. This man was also sentenced to time in a political prison camp in the court’s final ruling.

When the authorities searched the man’s house, they found that his portable storage device contained not only pornography but also many South Korean dramas and movies.

Some had expected the man to be sentenced to reform through labor, but when he was sentenced to time in a political prison camp, people expressed concern that the authorities are intensifying their punishments of violators of the law.

“Before, even if you were caught watching South Korean dramas or movies, you could sometimes be released if you made use of your connections or paid bribes to the crackdown team,” the source said. “Recently, however, it’s difficult to avoid punishment even if you pay over USD 1,000.”

On July 20, the central government also ordered the propaganda departments of provincial, city, and county party committees to strengthen ideological education regarding the influx of foreign information.

According to the source, the order included the following instructions: a) strengthen the monolithic ideology system of the Workers’ Party; b) systematically carry out ideological education; c) intensify systematic surveillance and reporting systems such as inminban (neighborhood watch unit); d) strengthen efforts to ensure impure material such as puppet (South Korean) videos and pornography cannot be accessed; and e) intensify education related to the socialist revolution.

Given this, North Korea’s government looks set to intensify its ideological education and crackdowns on violators of the anti-reactionary thought law.

Translated by Annie Eun Jung Kim. Edited by Robert Lauler.

Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.

Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

Seulkee Jang

Seulkee Jang is one of Daily NK’s full-time journalists. Please direct any questions about her articles to dailynk@uni-media.net.

dailynk.com

12. North Korea's space launch program and long-range missile projects

North Korea's space launch program and long-range missile projects

theprint.in · by Reuters · August 23, 2023

Aug. 31, 1998: North Korea sets out its space program by launching a Kwangmyongsong-1 satellite on a Paektusan rocket from the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground near the east coast. Pyongyang declares it a success, but U.S. officials said it broke up over the Pacific Ocean.

April 5, 2009: Then-leader Kim Jong Il oversees the launch of the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite from the Tonghae complex, but it once again fails and crashes in the ocean. State media suggest that 14 North Korean soldiers were killed during the launch.

April 13, 2012: The Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite is launched from the newly completed Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the western region. Foreign media are invited to observe the launch, which once again is unsuccessful.

Dec. 12, 2012: North Korea successfully launches the Kwangmyongsong-3, putting an object in orbit. While the North claimed it to be an observation satellite, it is not believed to carry a functioning transmission system.

April 2013: North Korea establishes the National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) which purports to pursue space exploration for peaceful purposes.

Feb. 7, 2016: North Korea sends up a satellite. The United States calls it a disguised test of an engine powerful enough to launch an ICBM. International observers said the satellite appears to be under control, but there is lingering debate over whether it sent any transmissions.

Aug. 24, 2016: Hyon Kwang-il, director of scientific research at the North’s National Aerospace Development Administration says “our aerospace scientists will conquer space and definitely plant the flag of North Korea on the Moon.”

June 23, 2016: North Korea says it successfully tested an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM), with a range of 2,000 to 3,400 miles (3,200-5,400 km).

July 4, 2017: North Korea tests an ICBM for the first time, saying the missile can reach the continental United States. The missile, Hwasong-14, is tested again three weeks later, this time in a night launch.

Aug 29, 2017: North Korea fires an intermediate range missile over northern Japan, prompting warnings to residents to take cover. The missile falls into the Pacific Ocean, but sharply raises tensions in the region.

Jan. 13, 2021: During a party congress, leader Kim Jong Un reveals a wish list that includes developing military reconnaissance satellites.

Dec. 19, 2022: North Korea said it has conducted a “final phase” test for the development of a spy satellite at the Sohae launch station to check satellite imaging, data transmission and control systems.

March 16, 2023: North Korea test launches the Hwasong-17 ICBM, its biggest missile, which some analysts believe incorporates technology for space launch vehicles.

May 25, 2023: Construction and preparations at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station is moving forward at a “remarkable pace,” a U.S.-based think tank says.

May 29, 2023: North Korea notifies Japan and the International Maritime Organization of a plan to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11.

May 30, 2023: Ri Pyong Chol, the North’s highest-ranking military official after leader Kim, said joint military drills by the United States and South Korea required Pyongyang to acquire the “means capable of gathering information about the military acts of the enemy in real time”.

May 31, 2023: North Korea attempts to launch a reconnaissance satellite, but the rocket plunged into the sea “after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine,” state media KCNA reported.

July 5, 2023: South Korea’s military says it retrieved the wreckage of the spy satellite from the sea, and found it had no meaningful military use as a reconnaissance platform.

Aug. 22, 2023: North Korea notifies Japan it would launch a satellite between Aug. 24-31 and the rocket would fly over the waters west of the Korean peninsula, East China Sea and the Pacific.

Aug. 24, 2023: North Korea makes a second attempt to put a spy satellite in orbit, but it failed when the rocket booster experienced a problem during its third stage. The pre-dawn launch prompts emergency warnings in Japan. North Korea’s spy agency says the cause of “the accident” was not a major issue and vows to try another launch in October.

(Reporting by Jack Kim, Josh Smith and Ed Davies; Editing by Sonali Paul)

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.

theprint.in · by Reuters · August 23, 2023

13. North Korean Hackers Are Getting Smarter and More Dangerous

Coincidentally, I received an email last night that was allegedly from a prominent Korea watcher, one of the most well known in the community. However, it was strangely worded (grammatically correct but the tone did not match the personality of the person I know). I looked closely at the email address and checked my contact list (he has multiple email addresses, work and personal) and the email address was off by one single character from one of his personal email addresses. I contacted him and he confirmed that he did not send the email. He also confirmed another Korea watcher received an email allegedly from him that was not.

We all need to be vigilant. Just because we are paranoid doesn't mean Kim Jong Un is not out to get us.

North Korean Hackers Are Getting Smarter and More Dangerous

Published 08/24/23 08:00 AM ET|Updated 23 hr ago

Eric Gelle

themessenger.com · August 24, 2023

North Korean hackers are demonstrating a growing interest in breaching the critical infrastructure underpinning all of modern life, and they’re getting better at thwarting attempts to stop them.

Latest example: the North Korea-based “Lazarus Group” hacker team broke into a U.S. healthcare company and a British company that operates part of the internet’s core infrastructure. The U.K. cyberattack took advantage of a software vulnerability that had only been demonstrated five days earlier, according to new research published on Thursday by Cisco cybersecurity experts.

It was the group’s third documented campaign in less than a year, a series of attacks that included one in September 2022 in which North Korean hackers penetrated U.S., Canadian and Japanese energy companies using a major vulnerability in widely used open-source code.

Pyongyang’s cyber army is best known for hacking Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014 and breaking into an endless series of cryptocurrency companies to steal money to fund the country’s heavily sanctioned government. For years, U.S. intelligence officials have treated North Korea as a junior player in a space dominated by more disruptive and sophisticated Russian, Chinese and Iranian cyberattacks. But the new research from Cisco suggests that North Korea is becoming a more serious threat.

Cisco’s report did not name the U.K. infrastructure provider or the U.S. healthcare company hacked in the newly disclosed campaign. But the infrastructure firm is a medium- to large-sized operator, a Cisco spokesperson told The Messenger.

The report, combined with a February warning from U.S. and South Korean security agencies about North Korean ransomware attacks on healthcare companies, sheds light on the increasing boldness and potential destructiveness of North Korea’s operations.

The consequences of cyberattacks on healthcare companies have been well documented, including the closures of emergency rooms and the cancellations of important elective procedures. But less attention has focused on the damage that North Korean hackers might be able to do by sabotaging the internet’s “backbone” infrastructure—the core networks run by companies like AT&T and Verizon to which all other internet service providers connect.

With the right access to a backbone provider like the one they hacked in the U.K., Pyongyang’s cyber warriors could intercept, redirect, tamper with or block internet traffic. This kind of interference could enable them to steal or corrupt valuable data. And while the U.S. and its allies transmit classified intelligence through secure means, less well-protected data—potentially including people’s private photos and emails—could be vulnerable to hackers camped out on an infrastructure provider’s networks.

Cisco only observed limited activity on both recent victims’ networks after the intrusions, the Cisco spokesperson said. Researchers aren’t sure why this was, but the spokesperson said that it could have been “because the activity was detected within a reasonable time frame or Lazarus deemed that the victims weren't valuable enough to pursue further malicious activity.”

The new report contains other interesting details about how North Korean hackers do their work. It describes a new remote access trojan, or RAT, called CollectionRAT, which gathers information about infected computers and executes commands transmitted by the hackers. The report also describes how the hackers are increasingly relying on publicly available hacking tools instead of custom-built malware in the initial stage of their attacks.

In a separate report also published Thursday, Cisco researchers explained how North Korea made one piece of its hacking arsenal—a tool that it used to breach the British internet infrastructure company—hard for experts to study.

The hackers wrote their code in a program called Qt, which “increases the code complexity, making human analysis harder,” the researchers wrote. Plus, because Qt is “rarely used” to write malware, automated analysis is also “less reliable.”

Notably, the North Korean attacks aren’t especially novel. Rather, they’ve continually reused internet servers and attack strategies that have been well documented. Hackers generally avoid reusing servers tagged as malicious and strategies that defenders know to look out for. North Korea’s continued success using these straightforward techniques shows how weakly guarded much of the internet remains.

The Lazarus Group’s approach “highlights the group’s confidence in their operations,” Cisco researchers wrote, “but also presents opportunities for security researchers” to spot hackers’ activities and uncover their new tools.

themessenger.com · August 24, 2023

14. US Army stages 1st key wartime deployment drills in Korea in 6 years amid growing NK threats

The headline and article makes it sound like the Army has been sitting on its a** for the last 6 years. Yes, exercises have been cancelled by the previous administration, and postponed and scaled back but the US Army in Korea continued to train, but just not at the optimal level. We should not disrespect the soldiers who served in Korea for the past 6 years.

I understand (and agree with ) the ideas that we are creating a new normal for sustained readiness. I think that is very important. But it makes it seem as if the Army and military were doing nothing for the past 6 years.

That said , it is also important to articulate why training was cancelled, postponed and scaled back. It confirmed that it is a myth that doing so will generate reciprocity from the north and influence Kim to return to the negotiating table. It did neither.

In terms of deploying troops from the US we should recall that one of the major purposes of Team Spirit (and later RSOI and then Key Resolve that began after the last Team Spirit Exercise in 1993) ) was to reinforce the peninsula with US troops. This made it the largest exercise in the free world. Perhaps we should consider restarting Team Spirit (though I think it would be impossible today as we cannot conduct the same type of maneuver over the countryside that we used to be able to do because Korea was aas advanced and urbanized as it is today)

US Army stages 1st key wartime deployment drills in Korea in 6 years amid growing NK threats

The Korea Times · August 24, 2023

U.S. military stages a key wartime "deployment readiness" exercise in South Korea in this captured image from the Pentagon's Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, Aug. 24. Yonhap

The U.S. military has conducted a key wartime "deployment readiness" exercise in South Korea, the first such event involving U.S.-based troops since the last publicly known training in 2017, informed sources said Thursday, in an apparent move to strengthen defense against growing North Korean threats.

The exercise took place earlier this month, ahead of the annual South Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise that kicked off Monday and is set to end on Aug. 31. The U.S. Army is known to have staged the last such public training in September 2017.

The 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-U.S. Combined Division, a U.S. Forces Korea unit here, posted a video clip showing the exercise under way on Aug. 17 on the Pentagon's Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS). ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

The exercise demonstrated U.S. troops' "fight tonight" readiness on the heels of a "no notice" Deployment Readiness Exercise (DRE), the division wrote on the DVIDS.

"The DRE enabled forces to rehearse routine processes for reception, staging, and onward integration in order to respond to any emergency in the Korean Peninsula," it said of the exercise featuring troops from the 1st Battalion, 77th Armored Regiment based in Fort Bliss, Texas.

"Deployment readiness exercises are required by the Department of Defense in order to ensure that the U.S. military remains at a high state of readiness in support of peace and security across the U.S. Army Pacific area of responsibility," it added.

Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, commander of the combined division, said that during the exercise, the South Korean military facilitated the ability to conduct the exercise enabling the U.S. Army to "respond quickly to any emergency or requirement here on the Korean Peninsula by rapidly deploying combat troops."

"The constant improvement of our planning or synchronization and using our rotational forces in coordination with our host nation really makes us better," he added.

The latest DRE coincided with a crisis management exercise (CMX) that took place last week with a focus on a pre-war scenario. The CMX is a routine training program that is conducted before a major allied exercise, like the UFS.

The exercise came as Pyongyang has been ratcheting up tensions as seen in its failed but defiant launch of a claimed space rocket early Thursday.

With the Yoon Suk Yeol administration pushing for sturdier defense under its mantra of "peace through strength," Seoul and Washington have been striving to reinforce allied drills and trilateral security cooperation with Tokyo. (Yonhap)

The Korea Times · August 24, 2023

15. North Korea says US driving Ukraine crisis toward nuclear disaster

The north Korean Propaganda and Agitation Department is hard at work.

North Korea says US driving Ukraine crisis toward nuclear disaster

Reuters

SEOUL, Aug 24 (Reuters) - North Korea accused the United States on Thursday of driving the Ukraine crisis toward a global nuclear disaster by supplying F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv's forces, saying Washington had no right to criticise Pyongyang's military cooperation with Russia.

North Korea has previously condemned Washington for supplying arms including cluster munitions to Ukraine and denied that it had provided artillery, rockets and missiles to Russia despite its support of Moscow over its war with Ukraine.

The United States has "no legal right or moral justification to criticise normal cooperation between sovereign states in the defence field," the North's defence minister Kang Sun Nam said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

Pyongyang has sought to deepen relations with Russia and last month invited Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to events marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.

"The United States is responsible for driving the Ukraine crisis to the brink of a global nuclear war by supplying F-16 fighter jets to the Zelenskiy puppet regime," Kang said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"We once again send full support and solidarity to the Russian people's fight of justice waged to defend its sovereign rights and achieve international justice and will increase by hundredfold the military friendship with Russia," he said.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, calling it a "special military operation" to eliminate security threats arising from Kyiv's deepening ties with the West. Kyiv and its Western supporters call Russia's actions an unprovoked war of conquest.

The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to help Kyiv in its counter-offensive against Russian forces.

Reporting by Jack Kim and Soo-hyang Choi; editing by Christina Fincher and Mark Heinrich

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Acquire Licensing Rights, opens new tab

Reuters

16. Camp David Agreement Seen Likely to Fuel China's Aggression in S. China Sea

Chicken and egg? Which came first – Chinese aggression in the SCS or Camp David?

Camp David Agreement Seen Likely to Fuel China's Aggression in S. China Sea

August 25, 2023 2:34 AM

Chetra Chap

voanews.com · August 25, 2023

washington —

The Camp David trilateral security agreement between the United States, Japan and South Korea is likely to drive Beijing to be more aggressive in the South China Sea, analysts say.

The trilateral summit, the first stand-alone gathering of leaders from the three countries, yielded security measures aimed directly at what the participants described in a joint statement as China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior," especially in the South China Sea.

The agreement calls for the three allies to commit to consult with each other to coordinate their response to regional threats.

It also requires them to expand joint military drills and hold annual talks. In a statement, the three countries called out China for "dangerous and aggressive behavior supporting unlawful maritime claims" in what appeared to be a rebuke of China's aggression in the South China Sea.

Clint Work, a fellow and director of academic affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America, told VOA Korean in an interview that direct mentions of China's behavior in the South China Sea and its claims had not appeared in previous U.S.-South Korea statements.

"To mention all these specific Chinese behaviors and claims is a new development. And to have it in a trilateral document is notable," he said.

China's protest

Beijing expressed deep displeasure with the summit.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the meeting "an act of gross interference in China's internal affairs, a deliberate attempt to sow discord" between Beijing and its neighbors.

The spokesperson also rejected criticism of Beijing’s behavior in the South China Sea.

"The U.S., together with its allies, frequently conducted military exercises and close-in reconnaissance in waters around China, including the South China Sea, to flex muscle and intensify tensions in the region," the spokesperson said at a news briefing on Monday.

'Salami-slicing approach'

Analysts say the trio's military exercises and increased ballistic missile cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region will likely push China to strengthen its existing aggressive approach in the disputed waters.

"China will stage its own military exercises in response, perpetuating the action-reaction cycle," said Carl Thayer, professor emeritus of politics at the University of New South Wales Canberra, in an email to VOA Khmer.

Thayer added that although the trilateral partnership on ballistic missiles is mainly directed at North Korea, "the greater interoperability and proficiency in ballistic missile defense" resulting from the partnership will offset the threat posed by China's ballistic missiles.

"China's response will be to improve its offensive capabilities and increase the number of ballistic missiles it can deploy," he said.

John Ciorciari, professor of research and policy engagement at the University of Michigan, said in an email to VOA Khmer that in the short term, China will likely act assertively to show that closer cooperation among South Korea, Japan and the U.S. is counterproductive, but in the long term, "the stronger trilateral cooperation is likely to induce more caution in Beijing."

"China is not likely to engage in dramatic military escalation, but it will probably take economic measures to punish South Korea and Japan. This could accelerate economic decoupling," Ciorciari said.

"China will likely continue pursuing its salami-slicing approach in the South China Sea, building steadily without escalating to major-power armed conflict," he added.

Sweeping maritime claims

China has made sweeping claims to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, a combined area estimated to hold 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The claims have angered competing claimants, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

In July 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled against China in a claim brought by the Philippines under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China, despite being a signatory to the treaty that established the tribunal, refused to accept the court's ruling.

China has been increasingly aggressive in asserting its claim, using naval presence and exercises to deter opponents from inside and outside the region, and carefully conducting gray zone operations — offensive tactics below the use of armed force by its coast guard, maritime militia and fishing vessels — to harass and intimidate littoral states.

Beijing is also constructing what appears to be an airstrip on Triton Island, a contested territory that is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

Yoon’s triumph at Camp David

Washington Examiner · August 25, 2023

The outcome of this month’s Camp David summit is anything but ordinary. The national leaders of the Republic of Korea and Japan met with President Joe Biden to discuss mutual commitments to fair economic practices, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, along with rather specific and pragmatic steps to mature hard power within a tripartite regional security architecture. While such statements might seem routine, what the summit represents is the start of a political-military regional alliance architecture for Asia. And though much depends on the next presidential election, Washington's ability to seize this momentum could go a long way in deterring military aggression from the biggest threat to peace in the region and the world: Xi Jinping.

South Korea and Japan, both important democratic allies of the United States, have had to overcome vexing hurdles to get to the success of Camp David.

CHINA BOASTS RECORD-HIGH MILITARY RECRUITMENT WHILE US FACES A DEFICIT

Before a bilateral meeting in Tokyo in March, their regular meetings had taken a decadeslong break. Despite being modern and free societies, with democratic systems of government, robust and dynamic economies, and close alliances with the U.S., historical memories are long and national and family loyalties are powerful.

The brief and oversimplified history is that Imperial Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945, and the emperor’s regime ruled with an iron fist and forced many Korean men into labor camps and women into prostitution (the tragically titled “Comfort Women”) before and during its aggression in World War II.

On and off, as Japan transformed into the indispensable ally of America it is today, Tokyo has tried to make amends with Seoul. But the moves have largely been viewed by the families of those abused by Imperial Japan as insultingly inadequate. Adding to the prickly political dynamics, under the leadership of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the former pacifist nation dramatically began to rearm. Japan came to terms with the threat the Chinese Communist Party-led People's Republic of China posed to Japan, the region, and the international order led by the U.S.

The charismatic, politically shrewd, and strikingly skilled politician navigated President Donald Trump better than perhaps any world leader except for NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Abe was tragically assassinated in July of 2022, his loss devastating loved ones and admirers who saw his leadership as key to the progress Japan was making.

Abe guided Japan toward a robust rearmament and a more prudent posture toward its own defense and deterrence with close ties to the U.S. And South Korea was not politically ready for that. China remains South Korea's biggest economic partner, and Seoul has been painfully reluctant to speak starkly about the threat the PRC poses.

This stands in contrast to South Korea's condemnations of the aggressive behavior by its northern authoritarian neighbor, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. To this point, at least publicly, security cooperation between the two Asian democracies has been defined by the shared interest in keeping Kim Jong Un under control and from firing off nuclear-capable missiles near and over their countries. And in this regard, their shared security interests were focused on collaborative efforts on the Korean Peninsula, always with the coalescing support of the U.S.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a departure ceremony following a three-day state visit to Russia at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia.

(Aleksey Nikolskyi/Sputnik via AP)

And, notably, the statement from Camp David noted the goal of the denuclearization of North Korea, not the “Korean Peninsula,” which is North Korea's preferred characterization and one the Biden administration has been willing to adopt in the recent past. The U.S.’s security guarantees to those Asian allies, not least of which the nuclear umbrella, has been the foundation of the U.S.-led order since World War II. But the U.S.’s power has declined relative to its apex following the Cold War.

And American politics are deeply unsettling to allies in the most dangerous neighborhoods, especially to those who prefer the U.S. to remain the preeminent power if the choice is Uncle Sam or Xi. But despite the insistence of Biden cheerleaders in the media and his administration, America does not always feel “back.” For example, although the U.S. is critical for the international effort to support Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression, it has not been lost on nations such as Japan and South Korea that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats have prevented Washington from helping Ukraine “too much” for fear of escalation.

No doubt the efficacy of this approach has also not been lost on Xi. Wisely, allies want greater nuclear assurances. That became especially clear when South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol insisted Biden provide more robust nuclear guarantees.

But the creeping doubt in U.S. commitments isn’t tied to any one specific foreign policy matter. The entire Biden foreign policy agenda remains conflicted, with goals from climate policy to liberal domestic ideology taking precedence. Administration instincts remain more inclined toward risk aversion when courage is needed and appeasement when a matter calls for punishment. And then there is the matter of the president’s own political, legal, and health troubles. The Republican Party doesn’t offer much by way of reassurance, with no conservative internationalist candidate coming near the ethically and legally beleaguered showman, Trump.

Tough times call for breakthroughs in leadership. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has carried on the legacy of Abe. What was needed was an equally committed and courageous leader from South Korea. Yoon is that man. Yoon is a conservative former prosecutor and something of a political outsider and has deftly and persistently steered South Korea toward a more muscular approach against authoritarian countries and cooperation with the U.S. and its longtime democratic neighborhood rival. His determination to move South Korea to sounder footing to deter China and deepen meaningful military ties with Japan is truly remarkable, though his successors must build on this very new progress.

And although China’s meteoric economic rise looked poised to surpass the U.S. and set the conditions for Xi to reorient the international “rules” to favor the CCP model and away from liberty and national determination, it has hit an economic plateau. But a flagging authoritarian nation could be quite dangerous, especially since Xi has tied his own fate to imperialist aims such as conquering Taiwan and pushing the U.S. out of the Pacific.

The new tripartite military plans, missile defense cooperation, and technology sharing between South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. will be enormously beneficial to convincing Xi that any aggression in the region could be met with responses that would make him regret his move. But the U.S. seems to be in the wilderness. While it works its way out, other capitals will be required to do exceptionally difficult and remarkable things, and the Camp David outcomes are Yoon’s triumph.

Rebeccah Heinrichs is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics.

Washington Examiner · August 25, 2023

18. Kim Jong-un hires 'briefcase-wielding bodyguards' as 'protection from assassins'

I have not seen any credible reporting about the alleged "bomb attack" in Pyongyang or confirmation of the Donga Ilbo article.. That said the north is the proverbial hard target so it is not surprising that we cannot get ceredible reporting from Pyongyang.

Kim Jong-un hires 'briefcase-wielding bodyguards' as 'protection from assassins'

MetroUK · by Metro News Reporter · August 24, 2023

Kim Jong-un touring his space agency back in April – pictured are several men holding briefcases (Picture: Pen News)

Pyongyang has been rocked by a bomb attack, sources within the country revealed, after Kim Jong-un beefed up his security with a phalanx of briefcase-wielding bodyguards.

The explosion in the North Korean capital was disclosed to The Dong-a Ilbo, a newspaper in South Korea, by a source citing testimony from local residents.

The source said it happened within the past two months and that they could not rule out the possibility that it targeted a ‘high-ranking’ regime figure.

And though the blast could have been accidental, or part of a heist, the report said Kim Jong-un was ‘feeling uneasy about his safety’.

It said he had imported new explosive detection equipment, and had added briefcase-wielding guards to his security team.

Michael Madden, a leading expert on the North Korean elite, said: ‘There has certainly been a tightening of security measures around Kim Jong-un.’

The briefcases were, he added, a defence against assassins.

He said: ‘These are known as ballistic bags or ballistic briefcases.

In another picture, from April – men are carrying briefcases in the background (Picture: Pen News)

‘They are made of carbon fiber. In addition to being bulletproof, they also protect against tasers and other electronic-based ordnance.

‘If the spotters radio the guards about suspicious activity or if a shot is fired , they can raise the bags to protect Kim Jong-un.

‘These bags also unfold – there is either velcro or a clasp which can be undone, which turns the bags into a kind of fabric shield.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (Picture: Getty Images)

‘So if someone takes a shot at Kim they would open these bags, surround and then cover him until he can be tossed into a car.’

He noted that Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader’s father and predecessor, had equipped his guards with ballistic briefcases too.

In his case, however, they served a dual purpose – carrying medical equipment, including a portable defribillator, for the ailing tyrant.

Mr Madden said: ‘This begs the question: do these briefcases contain similar measures for Kim Jong-un? Especially when we consider his immediate bodyguards are carrying them around.’

The analyst highlighted two occasions in April when Kim’s bodyguards carried the cases – a visit to the North Korean space agency, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Pyongyang.

Around that time, the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida had survived an assassination attempt when an explosive was thrown at him during a campaign visit.

It came less than a year after Kishida’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, was gunned down.

Mr Madden, a fellow of the Stimson Center in Washington DC, also noted the increasingly irregular public appearances of senior regime figures.

The South Korean government says Kim’s public engagements so far this year are down by half.

Mr Madden said: ‘In 2017 or 2019 we would see senior officials presiding over or attending certain non-holiday or non anniversary events.

‘Since 2020 it has been highly uneven – putting aside, of course, social distancing.

‘Sometimes we see these gents, sometimes we do not.’

South Korea’s spy agency was unable to confirm the explosion.

Pyongyang locals browsing the day’s newspaper in a subway (Picture: Pen News)

‘The outbreak of a bombing attack has not been identified, but we are tracking related situations,’ a spokesperson told the press.

It’s unclear how many people were hurt in the blast, but The Dong-a Ilbo article said that there had been casualties.

The newspaper speculated that a bomb attack could have been motivated by anger at the country’s worsening food crisis and the threat of starvation.

Mr Madden said it could also have been an attempt to steal food rather than exact revenge.

He said: ‘Another theory is that the explosion was staged so that a group could steal supplies off of a truck.

‘In the west, if we want to carjack someone we get them at a red light or maybe fake a car malfunction and flag them down from the side of the road.

‘In North Korea that wouldn’t fly, especially with trucks or van carrying food. So, they detonate an explosive, tip the truck and take the supplies.’

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MetroUK · by Metro News Reporter · August 24, 2023

19. Opinion: I’m banned from visiting my family in North Korea. When will the U.S. change this policy?

We should not be duped by this phony and disingenuous argument. The reason she and other separated families cannot see their relatives in the north is due solely to the regime's deliberate decision to not all reunions. I do not know of any case where a Korean family member from either the South or the US or anywhere else was able to travel to the north and visit family. The only visits that have been allowed were those the regime allowed and then they were very tightly controlled and limited. It is not the US travel ban that is preventing reunions. The US travel ban is about protecting Americans so they do not suffer the same fate as Otto Warmbier.

Ms Choi and those belonging to her group too often parrot north Korean talking points.

Opinion: I’m banned from visiting my family in North Korea. When will the U.S. change this policy?

By Cathi Choi Los Angeles Times4 min

August 24, 2023

View Original

My grandfather rarely spoke, except through his saxophone. He was a man of few words but a lot of heart. I can’t pinpoint when exactly I learned that he was born in what is now called North Korea, but I do remember thinking, “I’m too old to be learning this for the first time.” Like thousands of Korean Americans, my family is still divided by the ongoing war in Korea and the current U.S. travel ban to North Korea.

On Tuesday, the State Department announced that the Biden administration will extend the travel ban to North Korea for another year. This draconian ban was initially instituted in 2017 under former President Trump and prevents thousands of Korean Americans from reuniting with family in North Korea. Americans can still use their U.S. passports to visit some countries with travel restrictions, such as Cuba and Iran. But no U.S. passport is valid for travel to North Korea. Instead, U.S. citizens must apply for a totally separate “special validation passport.” The State Department has unfettered discretion as to whether it grants this passport, and does so only in exceedingly exceptional circumstances.

Before 2017, thousands of U.S. citizens traveled to North Korea, many of them Korean Americans seeking to reunite with family from whom they became separated during the Korean War. The State Department made this decision despite the repeated urging of activists to lift this inhumane ban.

My paternal grandfather fled North Korea during the war and lived the rest of his life separated from his siblings and family members. Decades after this separation, he participated in an effort coordinated by a nongovernmental organization to reunite split Korean families when travel to North Korea was still permitted prior to 2017. In North Korea, he was shown a faded photograph of his elementary Sunday school class to verify that he was, in fact, related to family members with whom he sought to reunite. My grandfather failed to recognize his younger self in this photograph but recognized his teacher. This happenstance recognition permitted him to meet his sister, from whom he had been separated for nearly 50 years. He was able to meet her children for the first time and learned that his younger brother had passed away.

Our family has otherwise remained divided.

For years, I hesitated to look at photographs of our relatives in North Korea because I was afraid of what I’d feel. To even dream about the possibility of lifting this travel ban felt frightening because fighting for change would open me up to heartbreak. I have been tempted to settle into pessimism and dismiss attempts for change as naive. An elder Korean peace activist described this tendency as “so Korean”: to break my own heart before anyone else could break it for me. She counseled me instead to engage in peace advocacy and learn from intergenerational Koreans from across the diaspora who have kept the fight aflame for decades.

If it weren’t for the wise council of elders who map movements in lifetimes, this week’s announcement would have been another reason for pessimism. However, we must remember that we in the U.S. — especially Korean Americans (gyopo) — have an important role to play. In the days before his election, President Biden pledged “to reunite Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades.” But his administration has yet to make good on that promise. Biden instead escalates militarization and hurtles us closer to nuclear conflict, sending nuclear-capable submarines to Korea for the first time in 42 years. He also recently convened a trilateral summit with South Korea and Japan, further entrenching an escalatory militarized approach illustrated by this week’s large-scale “Ulchi Freedom Shield” war drills which involved the participation of 12 countries total.

Activists have been fighting against this alarming militarization and forever war-making, including through a congressional bill, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act. This bill calls for urgent diplomacy in pursuit of a peace agreement to formally end the Korean War and urges the State Department to review and revise its travel restrictions. While the majority of the U.S. public supports the peace process in Korea, it is up to constituents to ensure our elected officials reflect this. Currently, 34 members of Congress are co-sponsors of the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, and through our advocacy, we can grow this number.

On the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement last month, scholars and activists gathered to call for a peace agreement to formally end the Korean War. Among them, Dr. Kee Park, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, decried the current sanctions imposed on North Korea by the U.S., U.N. and others as deadly and “immoral.” Park has traveled to North Korea over 20 times, and said Korean Americans must act as a bridge from our community to the general U.S. public.

While the two Korean governments have facilitated a handful of brief “reunions” between residents of South and North Korea, Korean Americans have been left out of this process entirely. This U.S.-imposed travel ban is unjust and inhumane. For Korean Americans, we cannot heal this intergenerational pain until this travel ban is lifted. We must strategize, organize and educate our communities to ensure that this draconian ban is not renewed again.

Cathi Choi is the director of policy and organizing for Women Cross DMZ and co-coordinator of Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network. She is based in Los Angeles. @CathiSChoi

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

Phone: 202-573-8647

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com

If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:

"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."

Access NSS HERE

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