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Quotes of the Day:
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
- Leonardo da Vinci
“Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it.”
- Albert Camus
“We live in a world where the intelligent must keep quiet so the stupid will not be offended.”
- Internet Meme
1. Naval Operations Commander Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo named as new JCS chairman
2. S. Korean patrol ship spots N.K. vessel stranded near eastern maritime border: JCS
3. Yoon vows to create safe country on 1st anniversary of Itaewon tragedy
4. The Hunt for Crypto’s Most Famous Fugitive. ‘Everyone Is Looking for Me.’4.
5. S. Korea play N. Korea to draw in women's Olympic football qualifying match
6. Navy provides humanitarian aid to NK ship near East Sea border
7. Stop China’s repatriation of North Koreans
8. Ruling party's innovation committee off to rocky start
9. Northern lights and Korea
10. North Korean Hackers Are Trying to Stage Another Supply Chain Hack
11. This Country Punishes Three Generations Of The Convict For Committing A Crime (north Korea)
12. South Korea, US troops hold drills with drones, laser sensors
13. Does North Korea have its own TikTok?
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1. Naval Operations Commander Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo named as new JCS chairman
(LEAD) Naval Operations Commander Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo named as new JCS chairman | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · October 29, 2023
(ATTN: REVISES lead; UPDATES with more details, background in paras 4-9)
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- Naval Operations Commander Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo has been named as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the defense ministry said Sunday, which would make him the top-ranking military officer from the Navy for the first time in a decade if confirmed.
Kim was promoted to four-star general in the latest military personnel reshuffle to replace the incumbent JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, according to the ministry.
It is the first time in 10 years that a Navy officer has been appointed to the top military post since Adm. Choi Yoon-hee served as the JCS chairman from 2013 to 2015.
Naval Operations Commander Vice Adm. Kim Myung-Soo, who was appointed as the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is seen in this photo provided by the Ministry of National Defense on Oct. 29, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
His promotion from a three-star general and appointment to the JCS was seen as a surprise reshuffle as it marks the first time since 1994 when South Korea retook the peacetime operational control of its troops from the U.S.-led United Nations Command.
While the JCS chairman post has been predominantly from the Army, Kim is the fifth from a different branch of the military.
His appointment will be subject to a parliamentary confirmation hearing followed by an approval at a Cabinet meeting Monday.
In the major military personnel reshuffle, the second under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration which took office in May 2022, Kim and six other three-star generals were promoted to four-star generals.
Among them are Lt. Gen. Park An-su, Vice. Adm. Yang Yong-mo and Lt. Gen. Lee Young-su, who were named as the chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force, respectively.
Kang Shin-chul, the head of the JCS operation headquarters, has been appointed as the deputy commander of S. Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · October 29, 2023
2. S. Korean patrol ship spots N.K. vessel stranded near eastern maritime border: JCS
An interesting situation that appears to be well handled by the ROKN. The question is will the nKPA Navy come to its rescue? We need to observe the norths efforts to rescue these KOrean people fromthe north.
(LEAD) S. Korean patrol ship spots N.K. vessel stranded near eastern maritime border: JCS | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · October 29, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout; ADDS photo)
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean patrol ship on Sunday spotted a North Korean vessel stranded near the de-facto inter-Korean sea border in the East Sea and provided humanitarian assistance, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The patrol ship was dispatched after a maritime patrol aircraft spotted the distressed vessel drifting in waters 200 kilometers east of the coastal town of Jejin and around 3 km north of the eastern Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 2:16 p.m., according to the JCS.
The South Korean ship initially deployed one inflatable boat to approach the vessel and confirmed it as a North Korean ship.
The North Korean vessel is suspected to be a small commercial ship some 10 meters long, according to an informed source. The military reportedly did not inspect the identities of those on board as the ship was in waters north of the NLL.
The people on board the North Korean ship said they have been adrift for 10 days and wished to return to their homeland, requesting assistance with food and water.
The South Korean military provided food and water "on humanitarian grounds," and notified the North of the situation through the United Nations Command and international maritime communication channels for its assistance.
Inter-Korean communication lines have been severed since North Korea stopped responding to the South's regular hotline calls in April.
As of 6 p.m., the ship had been in the waters north of the NLL, waiting to be rescued by North Korean authorities.
The incident comes just five days after a North Korean vessel carrying suspected defectors crossed the eastern NLL into South Korean waters.
This file photo, taken Oct. 27, 2017, shows a South Korean patrol ship departing a port in Sokcho, 151 kilometers northeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · October 29, 2023
3. Yoon vows to create safe country on 1st anniversary of Itaewon tragedy
(LEAD) Yoon vows to create safe country on 1st anniversary of Itaewon tragedy | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Jee-ho · October 29, 2023
(ATTN: ADDS details at bottom)
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday he will continue working toward building a safe South Korea, as the country observed the first anniversary of the deadly crowd crush in Seoul.
Yoon made the point during his memorial speech at Youngahm Church in Seoul, while attending a service commemorating the 159 people killed in the crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon on Oct. 29, 2022, during Halloween celebrations.
"This day last year was the saddest day of my life, and I believe everyone in South Korea feels the same way that I do," Yoon told the audience. "I'd like to express my condolences to those who lost their lives in this unfortunate accident. As citizens of the country that those people loved, we have the responsibility to build a better world.
"Over the past year, our government has put in a lot of work to build a safe Korea," Yoon added. "And we will keep working hard to achieve the goal of ensuring safety in the country. We must make sure the sacrifices of the victims will not go to waste."
According to the presidential office, Yoon attended the Seoul church throughout his elementary school years and until the first year of middle school.
High-ranking officials from the government, the ruling People Power Party and the presidential office were also on hand for the service at the church, Yoon's office added.
President Yoon Suk Yeol gives a memorial speech at Youngahm Church in Seoul on Oct. 29, 2023, during a service commemorating the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush on the first anniversary of the accident, in this photo provided by the presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Jee-ho · October 29, 2023
4. The Hunt for Crypto’s Most Famous Fugitive. ‘Everyone Is Looking for Me.’
A little bit of "Catch me if you can?" for a while until his time ran out.
I did not know there was a Korea – US extradition conflict.
Excerpts:
The 32-year-old Kwon now sits in a Montenegrin prison, where he is kept in isolation. Officials found that the Costa Rican passport he showed at the airport was a fake. The U.S. and South Korea are battling for his extradition. If sent to the U.S., he would likely end up in the same New York jail that now houses Sam Bankman-Fried—another disgraced crypto tycoon, whose companies were fatally weakened by fallout from the TerraUSD-Luna crash.
This account of Kwon’s life on the lam is based on interviews with officials in South Korea and Montenegro, current and former employees of his company, Terraform Labs, and people close to Kwon. He didn’t respond to requests for comment given to his Montenegrin lawyer.
The Hunt for Crypto’s Most Famous Fugitive. ‘Everyone Is Looking for Me.’
After a $40 billion cryptocurrency crash, Do Kwon hopscotched across Asia and Europe to evade authorities
https://www.wsj.com/finance/do-kwon-crypto-crash-0d0dc50b?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1
By Alexander OsipovichFollow
, Jiyoung SohnFollow
, Weilun SoonFollow
and Drew HinshawFollow
Oct. 29, 2023 7:20 am ET
Fallen crypto tycoon Do Kwon was ready to get out of Montenegro. He and his colleague arrived at the small Balkan country’s main airport, where a Bombardier business jet was waiting to take them to Dubai.
Inside the VIP terminal, Kwon handed his passport to an immigration officer, who swiped it. An alert flashed across the officer’s screen. Kwon, it said, was the target of an Interpol red notice—a request to police around the world to arrest him.
Kwon had been lying low in the Balkans for months, but his luck was running out. About two hours earlier that day, March 23, a tipster had separately warned Montenegro’s top cop, Interior Minister Filip Adžić, that Kwon was likely in the country.
The tipster sent Kwon’s passport details to the interior minister’s phone, according to Adžić, who recounted the arrest for The Wall Street Journal. When Adžić called the border police chief, officers had just detained Kwon at the airport.
“Do you know who that person is?” the interior minister said he told the chief. “He is famous and he has a lot of money.”
Do Kwon in the Seoul office of Terraform Labs in April 2022, before the the crash of TerraUSD and Luna. PHOTO: WOOHAE CHO/BLOOMBERG NEWS
U.S. and South Korean authorities had been investigating Kwon over his role in one of the biggest disasters in cryptocurrency history. In May 2022, two tokens that he created, TerraUSD and Luna, crashed in value. The implosion erased $40 billion from the cryptocurrency markets and triggered a chain reaction that pushed other digital-asset firms into bankruptcy. Investors around the world lost their savings.
The investigators concluded that he lied to investors, and suspected he was secretly sitting on a crypto fortune. He now faces charges in both the U.S. and South Korea, including fraud and violations of capital-markets laws. Prosecutors in South Korea have said that if convicted there, Kwon would likely face the longest jail term for a financial crime in the country’s history.
Kwon denied committing fraud. But just before he faced potential arrest, he vanished from his home in a Singapore luxury high-rise. He taunted authorities by tweeting and giving interviews from his undisclosed location. Even after his capture, he kept stirring up drama: A letter he sent from prison to Montenegro’s prime minister unleashed a major political scandal in the tiny U.S. ally.
The 32-year-old Kwon now sits in a Montenegrin prison, where he is kept in isolation. Officials found that the Costa Rican passport he showed at the airport was a fake. The U.S. and South Korea are battling for his extradition. If sent to the U.S., he would likely end up in the same New York jail that now houses Sam Bankman-Fried—another disgraced crypto tycoon, whose companies were fatally weakened by fallout from the TerraUSD-Luna crash.
This account of Kwon’s life on the lam is based on interviews with officials in South Korea and Montenegro, current and former employees of his company, Terraform Labs, and people close to Kwon. He didn’t respond to requests for comment given to his Montenegrin lawyer.
Kwon has been held in Montenegro’s Spuž prison since his arrest. PHOTO: MILOS VUJOVIC FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
‘Steady lads’
TerraUSD was a stablecoin, designed to maintain a price of $1. Crypto investors often use stablecoins as a haven to save profits from successful trades. TerraUSD differed from many other stablecoins because it wasn’t backed by dollars in a bank. A so-called algorithmic stablecoin, it relied on complicated financial engineering and the collective efforts of traders to keep its $1 peg.
Kwon hailed TerraUSD as the centerpiece of a new monetary system, uncontrolled by banks and governments. Some crypto observers warned it was a ticking time bomb.
On May 7, 2022, its price began to slip, spooking investors. The trigger for the decline was a few big withdrawals from Anchor Protocol, a sort of pseudo-bank that offered investors annual returns of nearly 20% for TerraUSD deposits.
“Deploying more capital – steady lads,” Kwon tweeted as TerraUSD tumbled. His team tapped a $3 billion reserve fund to bolster the stablecoin. He scrambled to arrange a bailout. Nothing worked. Within days, TerraUSD was worth pennies.
Investors were furious. They had poured billions into TerraUSD, putting most of it in Anchor, which many treated as a savings account. Others had gambled on Luna, a related coin that fell more than 99%.
While Terraform Labs was based in Singapore, Seoul was perhaps the crash’s epicenter. Kwon, a South Korean citizen who graduated from an elite foreign-language high school in Seoul and studied computer science at Stanford University in California, had been a figure of national pride. Some 100,000 South Koreans lost money on TerraUSD and Luna, officials there say. Complaints flooded into prosecutors’ offices.
It was Dan Sung-han’s job to lead the investigation. A boyish-looking 49-year-old, Dan heads the Financial Crime Investigation Bureau of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office. Local media have dubbed the unit the Grim Reaper of Yeouido, referring to Seoul’s financial district, for its fights against stock-market fraud and manipulation.
“It took us a good amount of time to build a solid understanding of the crypto market,” Dan said.
Dan Sung-han of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office; investigators carried boxes of evidence from a cryptocurrency exchange in July 2022.
JUN MICHAEL PARK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; ZUMA PRESS
The South Korean investigators raided Terraform’s local office. They questioned current and former employees. They seized evidence from seven South Korean crypto exchanges, hauling away blue boxes stuffed with documents, laptops, smartphones and external hard drives.
Crypto high roller
Kwon at the time was living with his wife and infant daughter in the Sculptura Ardmore, a ritzy Singapore high-rise. His duplex apartment included a 46-foot-long cantilevered outdoor swimming pool. He kept Japanese whisky and Cuban cigars on hand for guests.
The baby had been born just weeks before the crash. Kwon named her Luna, after his cryptocurrency. “My dearest creation named after my greatest invention,” he tweeted just after her birth, posting a picture of the newborn.
That summer, Kwon met friends at French and Japanese restaurants including Les Amis, with three Michelin stars. He mused to some associates about visiting Europe with his family on an extended trip, so he could be relatively anonymous in a new city.
At one party he attended in Singapore, not long after the crash, many of the attendees were crypto entrepreneurs who came to show their support for Kwon. Cristal Champagne and Martell XO cognac flowed freely, according to one person familiar with the event.
Meanwhile, Kwon’s investors were suffering.
The Sculptura Ardmore in Singapore. PHOTO: WEILUN SOON/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
In war-torn Ukraine, web designer Yuri Popovich said he lost $9,000 that he had stashed in TerraUSD because he didn’t trust his country’s banks. In Britain, a 36-year-old IT consultant lost more than $30,000. He said it took him two months to muster the courage to tell his wife. He took a job as a window cleaner to pay the bills.
In Taiwan, local media reported that a man fell to his death from his 13th-floor apartment in an apparent suicide, after telling friends and relatives that he had lost some $2 million on Luna.
Kwon told the Journal through a spokesman in June 2022, “I’ve been devastated by recent events and hope that all the families who’ve been impacted are taking care of themselves and those that they love.”
A Singapore law firm, Drew & Napier, prepared to sue Kwon on behalf of a group of TerraUSD investors who said they collectively lost more than $50 million.
On Sept. 6, 2022, Kwon marked his 31st birthday at home. His wife shared photos with friends of him enjoying a Korean meal with her and playing with their baby.
The next day, a representative of Drew & Napier arrived at the Sculptura Ardmore to serve him with lawsuit papers—but he was already gone.
Red notice
On Sept. 7, Kwon flew to Dubai, and then Serbia, South Korean prosecutors say. He settled in the capital, Belgrade, known for its nightlife scene and tech sector.
Days later, South Korean prosecutors obtained a warrant for Kwon’s arrest on charges that he had violated the country’s capital-markets law. They had worked long hours, feeling intense public pressure to bring Kwon to justice. Dan, their leader, sometimes napped on a black recliner in his office.
Among other alleged irregularities, Dan’s investigators zeroed in on the relationship between Terraform Labs and Chai, a South Korean payment app that at one point boasted two million users.
Before the crash, Kwon had repeatedly claimed that Chai used his firm’s Terra blockchain to move funds between users and merchants. The claim was a key selling point for investors, who saw Chai’s use of Terra as a rare real-world use of blockchain technology. Proponents see blockchain—the underlying technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—as a way to empower individuals while cutting out banks and other traditional middlemen.
But Kwon’s claim was false, South Korean prosecutors alleged. In reality, they said, Chai used traditional payment systems to settle transactions and its use of blockchain was a sham. Lawyers for Chai founder Daniel Shin said Chai initially used the Terra blockchain to process payments, but stopped in 2020. Shin, a former business partner of Kwon’s, has denied wrongdoing. Lawyers for Kwon have defended his statements about Chai.
Chai founder Daniel Shin arriving at the Seoul Southern District Court. PHOTO: SEONGJOON CHO/BLOOMBERG NEWS
“I am not ‘on the run’ or anything similar,” Kwon tweeted on Sept. 17 after news of the arrest warrant. He still refused to reveal his location, citing threats to his security.
South Korean prosecutors filed a red notice through Interpol, the global policing body, effectively asking cops worldwide to capture Kwon.
From Serbia, Kwon told one crypto-industry associate that he had a deal with the local government. He told another that Serbian law enforcement allowed him to remain even after learning about the Interpol red notice.
Serbia’s Interior Ministry, Justice Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry and main public prosecutor’s office didn’t respond to interview requests.
Kwon continued to manage Terraform Labs from hiding, and pushed a long-shot plan to revive its Terra blockchain. He joked with colleagues in Terra Rebirth League, a group on the Telegram messaging app with over 300 members, according to messages seen by the Journal.
Early in his stay in Belgrade, Kwon lived in an apartment near Knez Mihailova, a pedestrian street in central Belgrade known for its shops, sidewalk cafes and 19th-century architecture, said Milojko “Mickey” Spajić, a politician from Montenegro who met Kwon there.
Belgrade’s Knez Mihailova street. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Spajić told the Journal that Kwon invited him for a visit, and the two spent about an hour chatting over coffee, including about Kwon’s ambitions to revive Terra.
The two had known each other since 2018, when Spajić—then a Singapore-based partner with venture-capital firm DAS Capital—agreed to invest $75,000 in Luna. He later returned to his homeland and entered politics, and hoped to turn Montenegro into a blockchain development hub.
Spajić said he didn’t know at the time that Kwon was a fugitive.
On Oct. 12, Kwon registered a company called Codokoj22 d.o.o. Beograd, listing himself and Chang-joon Han as directors, according to Serbia’s corporate registry.
Han was a former Terraform Labs and Chai executive who joined Kwon in the Balkans. Serbian real-estate records from December 2022 show Han owned a 4,300-square-foot apartment in an affluent neighborhood of Belgrade.
On Nov. 8, Kwon made an appearance on UpOnly, a livestreamed crypto podcast. He bantered with another guest: Martin Shkreli, the former hedge-fund manager who had been imprisoned on securities-fraud charges.
“Jail’s not that bad,” Shkreli told him. “It sucks, but it’s not the worst thing ever.”
“Good to know,” Kwon replied.
Kwon, top right, appeared on UpOnly in November 2022, along with former hedge-fund manager Martin Shkreli, top center.
The pressure builds
Within days of Kwon’s departure from Singapore, investigators in South Korea learned through Interpol bureaus that he was in Serbia, said Dan, the head prosecutor. On Dec. 12, prosecutors in Seoul publicly confirmed his whereabouts. Kwon’s activity on Twitter dropped off sharply.
Later that month, South Korea formally asked Serbia to arrest Kwon and extradite him.
In late January, Dan and a South Korean Justice Ministry official flew to Belgrade. Over several days, they met Serbian law-enforcement officials. The Serbians shared details on the company Kwon had incorporated and his internet address, Dan recalled. They promised to hand over Kwon if he was caught.
On Feb. 16, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Kwon for fraud, accusing him of lying about the stability of TerraUSD and Chai’s use of blockchain. The agency also said Kwon and Terraform Labs converted thousands of bitcoin into cash via a Swiss bank, and withdrew more than $100 million after the crash.
Lawyers for Kwon and Terraform Labs criticized the SEC’s lawsuit as government overreach. They denied the Swiss bank allegations, saying the money transfers were for business expenses, and disputed the SEC’s allegations about Chai.
On March 11, Kwon posted his final message in Terra Rebirth League. Replying to a message from an admirer in the private Telegram group, Kwon posted a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un raising his hand in a triumphal greeting.
Two days later, the Journal reported that the U.S. Justice Department was also investigating the TerraUSD crash.
Goran Rodić, Kwon’s lawyer in Montenegro. PHOTO: MILOS VUJOVIC FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Arrest
Kwon slipped across the border into Montenegro in mid-March and hunkered down in Petrovac, a resort town on the Adriatic Sea, police say.
On March 23, he and Han took a taxi to the airport in the country’s capital of Podgorica, a drive that usually takes about an hour. They paid their driver 4,000 euros ($4,230), a huge sum for ordinary Montenegrins.
After Kwon’s passport triggered the alert, officers detained him and Han, who was also found to have a fake Costa Rican passport. Border police searched the men’s luggage and found three laptops, five phones and one more set of fake passports from Belgium.
“Everyone is looking for me,” a downcast Kwon told the officers, according to Adžić, the interior minister.
Han protested their detention, according to Adžić, saying, “We are VIPs everywhere that we go.” Han didn’t respond to requests for comment through his lawyers.
Montenegro’s Podgorica Airport. PHOTO: MILOS VUJOVIC FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Hours later, federal prosecutors in New York filed fraud charges against Kwon. A South Korean ambassador soon showed up at Adžić’s office to discuss extradition proceedings.
A Montenegrin court convicted Kwon and Han for using forged passports. It sentenced them to four months in prison, but they can be held longer as they await extradition. Kwon has said he didn’t realize the passports were fake, and that he was swindled by the agency in Singapore that obtained them for him.
Since his arrest, Kwon has been confined to Spuž prison, a cluster of brick buildings in a valley near Podgorica. He is allowed outdoors for one hour a day in a yard surrounded by a barbed-wire fence, overgrown fields and a rock-strewn mountainside.
After being jailed, Kwon had a tearful reunion with his wife, in which he expressed regret for the trouble he had caused her and their young daughter, a person familiar with the matter said.
Kwon is taken to court in Podgorica, March 24. PHOTO: STEVO VASILJEVIC/REUTERS
Kwon tried to post bail of 400,000 euros ($423,000), but prosecutors opposed his request, calling him a flight risk.
On June 5, a one-page letter from Kwon arrived at the office of Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović. The letter, in Kwon’s tidy handwriting, described his friendly ties with Spajić, the politician who had met Kwon in Belgrade—and a rival of the incumbent prime minister. Spajić’s party was expected to win an election days away.
The letter said Spajić tried to raise funds from Kwon and other “friends in the crypto industry,” according to a copy seen by the Journal.
Spajić denied asking Kwon for money. He said the letter was a trick masterminded by his political foes and the Serbian secret police. He suggested that Kwon was duped into writing the letter with a promise that Montenegrin authorities would free him on bail and let him escape the country. Serbia’s intelligence agency didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The letter prompted an uproar. Rival politicians attacked Spajić, who had built up an image as a corruption fighter, saying he had cozied up to a crypto fugitive. Spajić’s party narrowly won the June 11 election, putting him on track to become Montenegro’s next prime minister.
Milojko ‘Mickey’ Spajić spoke at a polling station during elections in Podgorica, June 11. PHOTO: STEVE VASILJEVIC/REUTERS
Kwon hasn’t disputed that he wrote the letter. His Montenegrin lawyer, Goran Rodić, said Kwon didn’t donate to Spajić. The lawyer declined to share more details, citing an open investigation.
European officials who visited Spuž prison last year said its cells were poorly ventilated and stiflingly hot in the summertime. They also noted poor hygiene and overcrowding.
To occupy his time, Kwon watches television with a limited number of English-language channels in his cell, his lawyer said during a sweltering day this summer.
“Considering the current weather conditions, and considering the general nature of being in prison, I think he is doing OK,” Rodić said.
Marko Vešović, Bojan Stojkovski, Ivan Cadjenovic and Paul Kiernan contributed to this article.
Write to Alexander Osipovich at alexo@wsj.com, Jiyoung Sohn at jiyoung.sohn@wsj.com, Weilun Soon at weilun.soon@wsj.com and Drew Hinshaw at drew.hinshaw@wsj.com
5. S. Korea play N. Korea to draw in women's Olympic football qualifying match
S. Korea play N. Korea to draw in women's Olympic football qualifying match | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Jee-ho · October 29, 2023
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea played North Korea to a goalless draw in their women's Olympic football qualifying match Sunday, staying alive in their bid to qualify for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
South Korea couldn't capitalize on a couple of chances and dodged a few bullets in their own end in Group B action in the second round of the Asian Olympic qualifiers at Xiamen Egret Stadium in Xiamen, China.
South Korea couldn't avenge their 4-1 loss to North Korea in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games in China on Sept. 30.
South Korea remained atop Group B tables with four points, having earned three points with a 10-1 rout of Thailand last Thursday.
North Korea, who beat China 2-1 last week, also have four points but trail South Korea in goal difference, 9-1.
In this file photo from Oct. 16, 2023, members of the South Korean women's national football team train at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in preparation for the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in China. (Yonhap)
South Korea will close out the second round against China in Xiamen on Wednesday, with the kickoff at 8:35 p.m. Korean time.
The second round features three groups of four nations. The three group winners, plus the best runner-up team, will move on to the third round.
The two winners from the two-legged third round, scheduled for February 2024, will punch their tickets to Paris.
China are expected to beat Thailand on Sunday evening and reach three points, while North Korea should also handle Thailand easily Wednesday. This means South Korea must beat China and maintain their goal difference edge over North Korea to win Group B.
In 21 inter-Korean meetings, South Korea have managed just one win against four draws and 16 losses.
Against China, South Korea have lost 29 out of 41 meetings, while registering just five wins and seven draws. The most recent win came in 2015.
Women's football joined the Olympics in 1996, and South Korea have never played at the quadrennial competition.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yoo Jee-ho · October 29, 2023
6. Navy provides humanitarian aid to NK ship near East Sea border
Navy provides humanitarian aid to NK ship near East Sea border
koreaherald.com · by Shin Ji-hye · October 29, 2023
By Shin Ji-hye
Published : Oct. 29, 2023 - 18:43
A small wooden boat carrying four North Koreans who navigated across the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea is seen being towed. (Yonhap)
The South Korean Navy detected a North Korean ship requesting rescue near the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea and temporarily crossed the NLL to provide humanitarian assistance, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sunday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said on the same day the military dispatched a patrol ship at 2:16 p.m. after capturing an unknown ship that was being held in waters 200 kilometers east of Jejin in the East Sea and about 3 kilometers north of the NLL.
“A patrol vessel visually detected a request for rescue from an unknown drifting ship, and as it approached it, it was confirmed to be a North Korean ship,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff explained.
It was reported that the personnel on the North Korean ship sent a rescue request by waving a white object.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the ship, which had been adrift for 10 days, requested food and water and had hopes of returning to the North. Accordingly, the military authorities provided supplies on a humanitarian basis as requested by the ship.
koreaherald.com · by Shin Ji-hye · October 29, 2023
7. Stop China’s repatriation of North Koreans
We must keep the pressure on China for its complicity in north Korean human rights abuses. This must be part ot he ROK/US alliance human rights upfront approach.
Sunday
October 29, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Published: 29 Oct. 2023, 20:22
Stop China’s repatriation of North Koreans
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-10-29/opinion/editorials/Stop-Chinas-repatriation-of-North-Koreans/1901099
Human rights advocacy groups are alarmed at Beijing readying to send back hundreds of North Korean escapees after it forcibly repatriated around 500 defectors earlier this month. Reports say that Chinese police would be returning 620 North Koreans out of 2,000 detained in China after borders reopened on Aug. 27 following the three-year pandemic seal. The deportation despite their apparent torture, imprisonment and execution back home raises serious humanitarian issues.
According to human rights watch groups, recent repatriates included a 40-something woman who had lived in China for 25 years after fleeing her homeland in the late 1990s during the Great Famine when more than 1 million died from hunger. Chinese authorities discovered unregistered North Koreans while inspecting their homes across the three border provinces to fight Covid-19. They even used biometrics technology to filter out defectors to strengthen public security control. China does not recognize North Koreans as refugees and treats them as aliens violating its domestic law through illegal stay.
The conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which places highest value on human rights and civil rights, has been tepidly responding to Beijing’s forced repatriation of North Koreans.
When it was the opposition, the People Power Party strongly criticized the liberal government under President Moon Jae-in for sending two fishermen back to the North against their will in 2019. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo reportedly expressed concerns about the repatriation when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping while attending the opening of the Hangzhou Asian Games last month. But our foreign ministry or unification ministry issued no statements against Beijing’s latest action. The government is keeping silence even when North Korean defectors are legally recognized as South Korean citizens under the Constitution.
Seoul must mobilize both direct and indirect diplomatic channels and all other means to stop further repatriation. It must persuade Washington to raise the issue during the summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart to be held on the sidelines of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco next month. The government also must heighten international awareness and campaign when the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution on human rights conditions in the North.
Recently, four North Koreans were found in a small wooden boat in waters off the east coast of South Korea. More North Koreans could attempt the risky sea voyage to the South to flee from oppression and food shortages amid the repatriation by the Chinese. South Korea must prepare a contingency plan now.
8. Ruling party's innovation committee off to rocky start
Ruling party's innovation committee off to rocky start
The Korea Times · October 29, 2023
Ihn Yo-han, chairman of the innovation committee of the ruling People Power Party, speaks during its meeting at the party's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Committee’s suggestion to give second chance to disgraced party members snubbed
By Lee Hyo-jin
The innovation committee of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) is experiencing a bumpy start after its proposal to reinstate membership of disgraced party members was met with criticism from within and outside the party.
Led by naturalized Korean physician Ihn Yo-han, the committee was launched Thursday to reinvent the conservative party ahead of the general elections slated for April 2024. The 13-member committee will operate for 60 days through Dec. 24, during which it will offer various proposals including nomination rules for the general elections.
The first official proposal made by the committee on Friday was to lift membership suspensions imposed on former party leader Lee Jun-seok and Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, in what is viewed as a move to embrace the two figures who have been at odds with the party leadership.
Lee was slapped with a six-month membership suspension over sexual bribery allegations in July, and another one-year suspension in October for his “toxic” remarks toward the party and President Yoon Suk Yeol. These measures have thwarted Lee from running in the upcoming general elections on the PPP's ticket.
Hong, a five-term lawmaker, had his membership suspended for 10 months in July shortly after he was surrounded by controversies for golfing while his region was devastated by heavy rains and flooding.
Both Lee and Hong reacted furiously to the innovation committee's so-called "grand amnesty" proposal.
Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Oct. 16. Yonhap
Hong wrote on Facebook, Friday, that he had done nothing wrong and thus there is absolutely no reason for the party to grant him amnesty. The mayor went on to criticize the PPP, Sunday, saying that he has already parted ways with its leadership.
Lee also refused the committee's proposal.
"The role of the committee is to point out the past wrongdoings of the party and reflect on them. This kind of approach, which is just a forced generosity, will only worsen the situation," he wrote on Facebook, Friday.
Kim Hyung-joon, a professor at Pai Chai University and former president of the Korean Association of Electoral Studies, viewed that Ihn's committee should get its priorities straight in order to properly reform the party.
"What the public wants from the PPP are gestures that show it is listening sincerely to and reflecting public opinion, not discussions about whether to give second chances to its party members. The latter is absolutely not a decisive issue for the party's win in the elections," he said.
Kim pointed out a lack of sincerity coming from the innovation committee, which was formed in the aftermath of the PPP's crushing defeat in a recent by-election to pick the head of Seoul's Gangseo District.
Hong Hyeong-sik, a political analyst who runs Hangil Research, a pollster, commented that Ihn does not seem to fully understand the nature of Korean politics.
"The proposal for amnesty itself is an embarrassment for Lee Jun-seok. He has little reason to come back to the party at this point after all he went through before being kicked out," Hong said.
The analyst said the committee should focus more on its fundamental goal of tackling vested interests among conservative politicians, which he said is the main reason voters are turning their backs on the party.
Ihn, in his first few days as chairman, said experienced lawmakers of the PPP should consider leaving their traditional home ground in the Gyeongsang provincial region for the upcoming elections and run for constituencies in Seoul and its surrounding areas instead, thereby giving more chances to the party's young politicians. This idea, which Ihn said was purely his personal view, prompted backlash from some PPP members.
"I don't think that Ihn actually has the power to make these lawmakers leave their home turf given his weak influence in the conservative bloc," Hong of Hangil Research said. "I'm also skeptical of what the committee can do in the next couple of months to appeal to young voters."
Amid ongoing controversies, Ihn attended a ceremony in front of Seoul City Hall, Sunday, to commemorate the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush, in an apparent move to show understanding of the public sentiment accusing the government of its lack of response measures for the disaster that took 159 lives last year.
Yoon and the PPP leadership refused to participate in the ceremony, as they viewed the event ― hosted by opposition parties ― as politically charged. The opposition sides later decided not to co-host it, but the president did not show up.
"Ihn's attendance at the memorial ceremony did not carry big meaning because he didn't show up with the president or the party leader. Rather, his attendance alone shows that the committee is taking a different path from the party leadership," Kim said.
The Korea Times · October 29, 2023
9. Northern lights and Korea
Northern lights and Korea
The Korea Times · October 29, 2023
By Bernard Rowan
This month I visited Iceland for the first time. It's a wonderful place of varied cultures, including the Vikings, and marvelous for viewing nature’s beauty and grandeur across the seasons. My wife and I tasted delicious seafood, lamb and other things. We enjoyed a dip in the Blue Lagoon and another geothermal spa. The people are uniformly welcoming and tolerant of lost foreigners. My wife and I rode horses there. We thought about life, our love and family, and the future.
But our favorite experience was to see the northern lights. I hadn’t realized the lights occur because of pieces of the sun hitting the Earth’s atmosphere and traveling to the poles. Amazing! Eriks Esenvald’s composition, “Northern Lights,” helps me. It’s a song about a ship’s crew seeing the northern lights, thinking “the world’s on fire,” and understanding life in its fullness as a result. That’s how I viewed the experience. To be there on my wife’s birthday was moving. It's a singular moment in my life. I look back to understand better life’s beginning and its end.
My visit to Iceland has parallels to my travels in Korea. In many senses, cultures are distinct, or so say anthropologists and other social scientists. But there were many likenesses to my experience of Korea: appreciation of nature, order and reason, a sense of bitterness and happiness, healthy foods, wonderful spas and horses particular to a place.
I can’t forget the DMZ or Panmunjeom. The starkness of absent harmony across the line stays with me. This monstrosity will one day be no more. I understand why it's there. Recent events with North Korea and Russia signal it's going to be there decades more, even to a century, should events remain the same.
I visited Boseong-gun one summer and toured Daewonsa. Gentle streams run like a brook by the temple. The walk through the grounds prompted life reflection for me. These moments are our friends. They call us to greater intentionality, learning and appreciation for what guides us onward.
The Korean people may look too homogeneous, provincial, in particular about their language and culture, and passive-active. The Confucian behavioral norms and deep-running ferment of feeling below the surface make etiquette important. I don’t think that’s wrong or anything other than good. Korean people are wonderfully friendly if one shows oneself friendly. I’ve enjoyed many good moments and next to no bad ones. Some of the best were with complete strangers, in my broken Korean, and keep me thinking well of the possibilities for humanity. Among the best ambassadors are Korean people in daily life.
I’ve enjoyed several mountain climbs in Korea. Mount Dobong, and Mount Nam near Gyeongju are examples. The challenges of climbing brought relief on reaching the summit, even if it wasn’t “the summit.” Stopping to breathe, drink some water and think about the wonder of a beautiful summer or fall day still lingers in my mind. I enjoyed the experience of hearing Koreans sing at mountaintops. Climbing with friends and sharing conversations about life and dreams remain memories for me.
My best friend’s great-aunt remains a person of particular fondness. She had lived through the Korean War and the ferment following it. When I met her, halmoni was enjoying her old age. A great sense of humor, direct, and possessed of a love for food and family, I considered her like a grandmother or great-aunt. Her urgings to aim for and find love in life were gifts of spirit. She remains an example of how I want to live as an older man.
What events and experiences move us to love and celebrate life, even as they mark passing time and our evanescence? I suspect they are many and varied. That’s another way of interpreting the northern lights, the wonder of Korea, and the chances to learn and grow together.
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and academic services and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.
The Korea Times · October 29, 2023
10. North Korean Hackers Are Trying to Stage Another Supply Chain Hack
All purpose sword.
North Korean Hackers Are Trying to Stage Another Supply Chain Hack
https://www.pcmag.com/news/north-korean-hackers-are-trying-to-stage-another-supply-chain-hack
Infamous North Korean hacking group Lazarus repeatedly infiltrated a software vendor to spread malware, according to antivirus provider Kaspersky.
By Michael Kan
October 27, 2023
(Credit: Getty Images)
Antivirus provider Kaspersky says it caught North Korean hackers trying to spread malware through a “high-profile” legitimate software meant to encrypt web communications.
Kaspersky did not name the software program, but it says the vendor behind the product “had previously fallen victim” to the North Korean hacking group “several times.”
“This recurring breach suggested a persistent and determined threat actor with the likely objective of stealing valuable source code or tampering with the software supply chain, and they continued to exploit vulnerabilities in the company’s software while targeting other software makers,” Kaspersky said in a Friday report.
The antivirus provider uncovered the threat in July when it noticed a series of attacks on several victims, which had been targeted “through legitimate security software designed to encrypt web communications using digital certificates,” it said.
(Credit: Kaspersky)
Kaspersky then identified “post-exploitation activity within the processes of the legitimate software” that showed the presence of a malware program, which has been dubbed “SIGNBT.” The malicious code includes several backdoor functions to remotely tamper with a Windows PC and install additional malware capable of stealing passwords.
Kaspersky adds that the original software vendor that was compromised rolled out patches to fix the vulnerability the North Korean hackers were exploiting. But “organizations worldwide still used the flawed version of the software, providing an entry point."
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The antivirus provider has linked the malware to notorious North Korean hacking group Lazarus by identifying similar tactics used between the two. This includes how SIGNBT was found installing another malicious payload, called LPEClient, which Kaspersky has also found targeting the defense and cryptocurrency industry.
(Credit: Kaspersky)
The report arrives months after software vendor 3CX was exploited to circulate North Korean malware through the company’s desktop app. This allowed the hackers to stage a supply chain attack on unsuspecting customers, who relied on 3CX for VoIP calling. In response, 3CX developed a new desktop app to protect users from the threat. But it remains unclear if every user downloaded it or updated.
11. This Country Punishes Three Generations Of The Convict For Committing A Crime (north Korea)
I think it is accurate to say no other country in the world commits this kind of human rights abuse.
This Country Punishes Three Generations Of The Convict For Committing A Crime - News18
news18.com · by Buzz Staff · October 28, 2023
Committing a crime is illegal all around the world. Crimes are punishable by law, and there are different levels of punishment for every crime. Every country has its own set of rules. There are some countries which ban wearing of jeans, while there are others where even feeding a pigeon is considered illegal.
These strange and unique rules help maintain law and order in these countries. Now, there is one country where the rules are quite strict. It has been found that even if one person commits a crime, then their three generations will have to face the repercussions. The country that has such a law is North Korea.
North Korea is a totalitarian dictatorship in Asia and is run by its Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un. The country has time and again been famous for its dictatorship and has some strange rules that are quite different from the rest of the world. As per reports, it has been found that there is a law in North Korea that states that if a person commits a crime in the country, then not only that person but his parents, grandparents, and even children will be punished by the law.
One of the main reasons is that a strict law has been made in the country so that no prisoner can escape. The jails in the country are built in such a way that even women are tortured. The prisoners are expected to sit on a cross and have to keep their hands on their knees. They are not even allowed to move for the next 12 hours. Even the slightest movement is punished severely. For food, a few corn and water are served.
There are many other such strange laws in North Korea, like the government having fixed 28 hair styles for the citizens. Out of these, 18 are for women and 10 are for men. The citizens are not allowed to have another hairstyle. Apart from that, the public has the freedom to access only 28 websites. There are specific rules for buying a computer, and very few people can buy them.
news18.com · by Buzz Staff · October 28, 2023
12. South Korea, US troops hold drills with drones, laser sensors
South Korea, US troops hold drills with drones, laser sensors
By CUE The Straits Times2 min
October 27, 2023
View Original
K-9A1 and K-55A1 howitzers under the army’s 5th Artillery Brigade firing shells in a drill at a firing range in Cheorwon, South Korea, on Oct 27, 2023. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
INJE, South Korea - South Korean and United States troops held joint future combat drills involving drones, an unmanned vehicle and wearable laser sensors this week as part of efforts to modernise their militaries, Seoul’s army said on Saturday.
The training came as South Korea’s military conducts a series of annual Hoguk autumn exercises aimed at improving responses to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
Over 120 soldiers from both sides joined forces to fight against a trained team of opposing forces in a mock-up town that appeared similar to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, built at the Korea Combat Training Centre in the mountains of South Korea’s eastern city of Inje.
The drills mobilised various high-tech weapons systems aimed at beefing up future combat capabilities, with troops wearing multiple integrated laser engagement systems (Miles), which use lasers to simulate actual battle.
Several drones were flown for reconnaissance purposes, with some firing assault rifles, while South Korea dispatched a multi-purpose unmanned vehicle to carry wounded personnel.
Captain Choi Jeong-il of the South Korean army’s 25th Infantry Division, nicknamed the Tiger brigade, said the unmanned assets and the Miles gear helped identify enemies and gauge allied troops’ casualties.
“We were able to confirm the enemy’s movements using the drones, and hit them with cutting-edge strike equipment, which allowed us to maximise the results of the operation while minimising damage to our forces,” he said.
First Lieutenant Derek Chen from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the US 4th Infantry Division said the drills offered an “eye-opening experience” and the assets would be beneficial in future combat operations.
South Korea’s army launched the Tiger brigade in 2022 as a pilot unit for future warfare operations using artificial intelligence-powered drones and highly mobile fighting vehicles. It aims to transform all combat units based on that model by 2040.
The army also held what it called its first international future warfare competition for five days until Saturday. Some 300 troops from five countries including Britain, Uzbekistan and Cambodia participated in it. REUTERS
13. Does North Korea have its own TikTok?
Does North Korea have its own TikTok? Mystery account gives glowing insight into life in hermit state from party nights to beautiful landscapes leading to suspicion it is propaganda for Kim Jong Un's repressive regime
- northkoreanlife was created in February 2023 and posted 19 videos that month
- Now has more than 227,000 followers and a total of 4.9m likes on all its uploads
- Many believe it is being used by Kim Jong Un's government as a propaganda tool
PUBLISHED: 08:01 EDT, 28 October 2023 | UPDATED: 08:17 EDT, 28 October 2023
Daily Mail · by Frankie Elliott · October 28, 2023
Social media users have been questioning who is behind a TikTok account that posted videos showcasing everyday life in North Korea.
The page, named northkoreanlife, features a compilation of 19 videos of North Koreans walking to work, playing games on mobile phones and driving cars from brands including Audi, Hyundai and Mercedes.
All of the posts were uploaded in February of this year, with no activity on the page since then.
It is unclear who runs or owns the account, but many believe it was used as a propaganda tool by the North Korean government.
The account has more than 227,000 followers and 4.9m likes on its posts, but the majority who have viewed and commented have not been fooled by this shiny presentation of one of the most repressive countries in the world.
The Tik Tok account, named northkoreanlife, features a compilation of 19 videos of North Koreans seemingly enjoying their life
One post showed a local playing games on a smart phone, despite internet access only be accessible to
It also showcases the driving of western cars from brands including Audi, Hyundai and Mercedes
Each post contains a caption portraying the joys of living in the Asian country.
Panoramic shots of the capital city and the surrounding countryside are tagged with statement such as 'busy street in North Korea’, ‘Pyongyang has the best nightlife’ and ‘driving through the North Korean countryside’, followed by love-heart eyed emoji.
Under the rule of Kim Jong Un, the third leader of the nearly 75-year Kim dynasty, North Korea has become a state with no opposition, no free media and no religious freedom.
The totalitarian government maintains its fearful obedience using threats of execution, imprisonment and enforced disappearance, with thousands of political opponents said to be kept in large forced labour camps.
There is tight restrictions on communication with the outside world, with internet access only granted to members of Kim's government and TVs limited to three channels - all controlled by those in power.
This isolation from the rest of the world means we do not truly know what life in North Korea is like, but the cultural and economic separation means the 26m natives suffer from malnutrition and live in extreme poverty.
Of course, this is not shown on this TikTok account, which films people dressed in suits walking to and from work, or youngsters in school uniform spending time in the playground.
Even then, there is only a small handful of these people in the shots, with most of the videos containing desolate streets, empty roads and everybody walking in the same direction.
This has led to a number of claims online that the videos have been staged by the government, as they continue to pump out their warped version of North Korean reality to the western world.
It is unclear who runs or owns the account, but many believe it was used as a propaganda tool by the North Korean government
Each post contains a caption portraying the supposed joys of living in the Asian country
Most of the videos contain desolate streets, empty roads and everybody walking in the same direction
A number of TikiTok users have claimed the videos have been staged by the ruling authorities
One user commented: 'Why is everyone walking in the exact same direction'
Another said: ‘Why do i feel like these are actors’
A third typed: ‘Notice how no one else has a phone’
Some were sympathetic to those in the clips, with one person writing: '‘I feel really sorry for them’
A further added: ‘That’s a simulation’
Others accused the videos of being edited, claiming the cars showcased were actually computer-generated.
'Literally CGI cars,' one person said.
The country is also known for its absurd laws that force rigid and controlled lives on the population.
Residents are only allowed one of 28 haircuts - 18 for women and 10 for men - not including that of Kim Jong Un.
Following a visit to the country in 2013, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt labelled the nation a 'strange place', which was full of highly-staged encounters.
Daily Mail · by Frankie Elliott · October 28, 2023
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
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