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Quotes of the Day:
"The path to freedom is not easy, but it is the only path worth walking."
– Kim Koo
"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."
– Olive Wendell Holmes, Sr.
"America has been called a melting pot, but it seems better to call it a mosaic, for in it each nation, people, or race which has come to its shores has been privileged to keep its individuality, contributing at the same time its share to the unified pattern of a new nation."
– King Baudouin of Belgium
1. The Next Tripartite Pact? China, Russia, and North Korea’s New Team Is Not Built to Last
2. Report: North Korean missile fired by Russia against Ukraine contained US and European components
3. N.K. leader receives Russian-made car from Putin as gift
4. S. Korea notes U.N. sanctions obligations after report on Putin's gift to N.K. leader
5. N. Korean gov't delegations visiting Russia for cooperation
6. S. Korea to host 3rd Summit for Democracy on March 18-20
7. Blinken likely to visit S. Korea on occasion of upcoming democracy summit: sources
8. S. Korea's spy agency seeks to block access to N. Korea's propaganda YouTube channel
9. N. Korean missile used against Ukraine contained U.S., European parts: CNN
10. North Koreans gather cigarette butts to sell after large public events
11. What is to be done about Kim Jong-un's threats?
12. Putin's car gift to Kim showcases 'special' bond, defying UN sanctions
1. The Next Tripartite Pact? China, Russia, and North Korea’s New Team Is Not Built to Last
I thought of the Bonaparte quote about "never interrupting your enemies when he is making a mistake."
But Dr Skyler Mastro rightly points out that we can "make the most of the regional dynamics that will hasten a divide."
Excerpts:
The good news, however, is that this trilateral alignment turned out poorly for all three countries during the Cold War—and, if the United States plays its cards right, it can fail this time around, too. Chinese and Soviet backing helped North Korea fight South Korea and its allies to a draw, leading to an armistice agreement in 1953, but subsequent decades of poverty and international pariah status can hardly be considered a victory for Pyongyang. As for Beijing and Moscow, cooperation soon gave way to the Sino-Soviet split and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. Although today’s circumstances are different, familiar signs of unease are already visible among China, North Korea, and Russia—rifts the United States can exploit.
...
For now, coordination between North Korea and Russia makes it harder for the United States and its allies to compel either country to leave behind its revisionist, aggressive tendencies and assume a constructive role in the international community. But if their relationship sufficiently threatens China, Beijing may choose to distance itself from both Moscow and Pyongyang. It might even go so far as to try to push North Korea and Russia apart. The United States and its allies were not the primary reason for the Sino-Soviet split during the Cold War, and they will not be the cause of the next Chinese-Russian rift—but they can make the most of the regional dynamics hastening a divide.
The Next Tripartite Pact?
China, Russia, and North Korea’s New Team Is Not Built to Last
February 19, 2024
Foreign Affairs · by Upstart: How China Became a Great Power · February 19, 2024
North Korea has long been a source of instability, but a new development over the past year threatens to make things even worse: the country is teaming up with Russia. At a meeting in Pyongyang last July, North Korea’s defense minister, Kang Sun Nam, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, vowed to expand their countries’ military cooperation to “resolutely stand against” their “common enemy,” the United States. Then, at a September summit with President Vladimir Putin in Russia, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toasted the Kremlin’s “sacred struggle” against “a band of evil”—a reference to Western countries—and called Putin the “Korean people’s closest friend.”
The North Korean–Russian convergence goes beyond rhetoric. Russia has been propping up the Kim regime with food aid, along with fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, and equipment for ballistic missile production. There are signs that Russia is sharing its expertise, too. In July, North Korea conducted a test launch of a technologically sophisticated intercontinental ballistic missile, and in November, it managed to send its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit after several failed attempts.
The transfer of critical supplies goes both ways. North Korea is sending Russia much-needed artillery shells to use in its war in Ukraine, with U.S. officials confirming in October that more than 1,000 containers of arms had arrived in Russia by ship and by train. Pyongyang’s equipment is hardly world-class—its shells have a 20 percent failure rate, whereas most advanced U.S. munitions have failure rates in the low single digits—but many of North Korea’s missiles are difficult for Ukraine to defend itself against because they are long-range, which allows Russian forces to fire from deep within their own territory, and low-tech, which helps them evade detection. North Korean military assistance could therefore be decisive in Russia’s campaign to halt Ukrainian troops’ progress. For Pyongyang, meanwhile, the arms transfer is an opportunity to test its wares in battle.
In addition to undermining U.S. and allied efforts to defend Ukraine, expanding North Korean–Russian cooperation threatens to destabilize the Korean Peninsula. On January 5, less than a week after reports emerged that Russia had launched its first North Korean–made ballistic missiles into Ukraine, North Korea fired hundreds of artillery rounds into the sea near its disputed border with South Korea. On January 14, North Korea conducted its first intermediate-range ballistic missile test of the year and formally announced that it no longer considered South Korea to be a “partner of reconciliation and reunification” but an enemy that had to be conquered—through nuclear war, if necessary.
As if this were not enough, China is playing a counterproductive role. Beijing’s security relationship with Russia has deepened: Russia has provided critical weapons and defense-industrial expertise to China, and the two countries are engaging in more frequent and sophisticated joint military exercises. Beijing, in effect, has sanctioned a larger Russian military role in Asia and provided the political cover and economic lifeline Putin needs to continue fighting in Ukraine. China has also shielded North Korea from international sanctions and pressure designed to force Kim to give up his nuclear weapons program. There is historical precedent for the three countries’ working together, too. During the Cold War, China, North Korea, and Russia were all committed to “opposing imperialism”—code for their anti-Western activities. Their cooperation facilitated conflict around the world, including in eastern Europe, on the Korean Peninsula, and across the Taiwan Strait.
The good news, however, is that this trilateral alignment turned out poorly for all three countries during the Cold War—and, if the United States plays its cards right, it can fail this time around, too. Chinese and Soviet backing helped North Korea fight South Korea and its allies to a draw, leading to an armistice agreement in 1953, but subsequent decades of poverty and international pariah status can hardly be considered a victory for Pyongyang. As for Beijing and Moscow, cooperation soon gave way to the Sino-Soviet split and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. Although today’s circumstances are different, familiar signs of unease are already visible among China, North Korea, and Russia—rifts the United States can exploit.
AN UNSTABLE TRIANGLE
China, North Korea, and the Soviet Union’s falling out over the course of the 1950s is instructive. The decade began with the two larger powers, China and the Soviet Union, committed to each other’s security and to supporting other communist countries, including North Korea. In 1950, Beijing and Moscow signed an alliance agreement vowing mutual defense in the event of an attack and pledging to coordinate their activities against the West. Both supported Kim Il Sung, the founding father of North Korea and the grandfather of Kim Jong Un, in his bid to attack South Korea the same year. When China sent its own forces into the brutal fighting on the Korean Peninsula, the Soviet Union backed the Chinese effort with military aid and expertise.
But this cooperation was not to last. After the death of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, his successor, Nikita Khrushchev, introduced political reforms and pursued “peaceful coexistence” with the United States. The Soviet Union’s pivot threatened to undermine the Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s domestic project, which emulated Stalin’s harsh governance. Meanwhile, Chinese attacks on Taiwanese-controlled islands, China’s 1962 border war with India, and the Great Leap Forward—Beijing’s disastrous economic and social program of that period—elicited contempt in Moscow. Mao’s personal jabs at the Soviet leadership did not help matters, either. By 1960, the Soviet Union had canceled 12 aid agreements and roughly 200 science and technology projects in China.
Back then, as now, Beijing and Moscow were revisionist great powers with limited willingness to advance the other’s ambitions. Both expected more from a partnership than mere protection. Beijing sought financial assistance for its defense-industrial base and political support to lend legitimacy to the regime. Moscow wanted to lead an ever-expanding communist bloc and to secure China’s help in undermining the United States’ position in Asia. Although the two sides shared many of the same interests, their priorities differed. And they would clash over tactics, especially when it came to dealing with third parties. Beijing and Moscow disagreed, for instance, about how to respond to Polish and Hungarian resistance against Soviet control in 1956: Mao even warned that China would support Poland if the Soviet Union dispatched troops to quell the unrest.
The North Korean–Russian relationship undermines China’s influence.
Chinese and Soviet leaders weighed the benefits and risks of teaming up. Great powers can use alliances to strengthen their militaries and enhance their deterrence, but forming a partnership can also provoke a potential adversary or draw one of the great powers, against its wishes, into its ally’s disputes. During the 1950s, for example, Soviet leaders grew concerned that China’s dispute with Taiwan would undermine their plans to discuss détente with the United States.
Similar stresses could now be opening fissures between China and its partners. Closer cooperation between North Korea and Russia has highlighted a fundamental tension in Russia’s relationship with China: unlike Pyongyang, Beijing has been unwilling to aid Moscow’s war effort directly. Russia’s requests for military equipment and aid from China have gone unanswered. (Russian officials have claimed that China secretly agreed to provide lethal weapons, but U.S. assessments have found no evidence that this is true.) Beijing’s official stance on the war in Ukraine is to remain neutral. It has called for de-escalation, reiterated its opposition to the use of nuclear weapons, and affirmed the sovereignty of all nations. None of China’s statements have contained explicit rebukes of Russia, but they have not expressed full-throated support, either. The fact that Russia had to turn to North Korea for aid shows how little material assistance Moscow is receiving from Beijing. In the immediate term, Russia has no choice but to take what help it can get, but eventually the discovery that its “no limits” partnership with China does, in fact, have limits may force a reckoning with the risks of relying on Beijing.
For China’s part, the North Korean–Russian relationship undermines Beijing’s influence on the Korean Peninsula. With no indication of having consulted China, Russia opted to ignore United Nations trade sanctions (which both China and Russia had signed onto) and sell North Korea the advanced military technology its leaders have long desired. Now that Russia is willing to provide benefits that China will not, Pyongyang is turning closer to Moscow, and Beijing has lost significant leverage. To be sure, China is still North Korea’s largest trading partner. And even when North Korea was almost wholly dependent on China, Kim sometimes felt free to dismiss Chinese leaders’ preferences. But Russian support gives Pyongyang a stronger hand to take action that could impede Beijing’s regional and global ambitions. For example, Beijing will not want North Korea—or Russia, for that matter—to jeopardize its attempts to unify Taiwan with mainland China. But a crisis on the Korean Peninsula could spoil China’s plans by driving the United States and its allies toward deeper defense integration, just as the North’s 1950 invasion of the South pushed the United States to rethink its security interests in the region and sign a defense pact with Taiwan in 1954.
Beijing is clearly concerned that Moscow and Pyongyang’s actions will do China more harm than good.
The most damning consequence of North Korea’s military cooperation with Russia may be that it is damaging China’s broader diplomatic and security environment. An emboldened North Korea and an aggressive Russia do nothing to improve China’s image or help it compete with the United States. Nothing unites U.S. allies more than shared concerns about North Korean or Russian belligerence. And as a partner of both countries, China is expected to use its own political capital to solve the problems they cause. At a December summit with EU leaders in Beijing, for example, Chinese officials wanted to focus on long-term plans for bilateral relations and caution against a European “de-risking” strategy that threatens China’s technological ambitions and economic interests. But the European delegation instead opened the talks by urging China to leverage its economic influence over Russia “to put an end to the Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
China has long regarded a trilateral alliance among Japan, South Korea, and the United States as a critical threat to its security, even seeking guarantees from Seoul and Tokyo that they would not enter such a pact. Part of the case Beijing is making to reassure both capitals is that China is prepared to serve as the “stabilizer” of Northeast Asia—a message it repeated in a meeting with Japanese and South Korean officials after North Korea launched its spy satellite in November. At the same meeting, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin urged Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to encourage North Korea to halt its provocations and pursue denuclearization. But China’s commitment to playing “a constructive role” could amount to little if North Korea, bolstered by Russia, does not respond to Beijing’s overtures. At a certain point, even if other countries in the region do not see China as complicit in North Korea’s bellicose actions, Japan, South Korea, and the United States are bound to make defense decisions that will be unwelcome in Beijing.
China, recognizing the danger of being grouped with North Korea and Russia, has tried to publicly distance itself from the two countries. In late January, Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Voice of America that he was “unaware” that North Korea and Russia were cooperating on military matters. China has also denied playing any role in the two countries’ recent collaboration. In line with that claim, when Moscow suggested that North Korea join Chinese-Russian naval drills in September, Beijing did not respond. The official Chinese media has also downplayed the idea of a trilateral alliance among China, North Korea, and Russia. In China’s telling, such a partnership is “concocted” by Western media to justify closer military cooperation among Japan, South Korea, and the United States and generate a Cold War mindset by framing regional politics in terms of two opposing blocs. Beijing still sees real, if limited, benefits from its relationships with North Korea and Russia, but it is clearly concerned that Moscow and Pyongyang’s actions will do China more harm than good.
LET THE CHIPS FALL
The United States and its allies can encourage fissures in the emerging autocratic bloc, but they must proceed with caution. Erecting obstacles is the wrong approach. Taking a page from history, Washington should recognize that China, North Korea, and Russia will sabotage their triangular alignment all on their own. During the Korean War, for instance, Soviet air support for Chinese forces was not forthcoming despite promises from Moscow, and in the 1960s, the Soviet Union reneged on commitments to lend its nuclear expertise to China. Moscow’s continued reluctance to support Beijing, let alone extend security assistance, in times of crisis was a major contributor to the Sino-Soviet split.
Recently, the war in Ukraine provided a perfect opportunity for China to disappoint its partner by refusing to fully back Russia’s military campaign. But the Biden administration squandered that opportunity by threatening China with “consequences” should it assist the Russian war effort and by adding Chinese companies that it asserted were supporting the Russian military to a trade blacklist. Even without these warnings, Beijing would have been unlikely to provide significant aid. Now, however, Beijing can contain the damage to its relationship with Moscow by blaming the United States for China’s failure to help a friend. If Washington had left the issue alone or confined its threats to private channels, China and Russia’s disagreement might have snowballed into an even larger rift.
The best way for the United States to counter the Chinese-Russian alignment is by using it to rally U.S. allies and partners. Shared perceptions of a threat create a fertile environment for deepening alliances and breaking ground on new areas of defense cooperation. Such a mindset has already allowed Japan and South Korea to look past their historic animosities and work together more closely than ever before. Each country decided to reinstate the other’s preferred trade partner status last spring, and in December they resumed high-level economic talks after an eight-year hiatus. U.S. allies in Europe that were previously reluctant to push back against Beijing may also change their minds as they come to see China and Russia as a unified threat—perhaps enough to persuade them to help the United States deter Chinese aggression in Asia. China has been reluctant to support Russia’s military and political goals in Europe in part because Beijing values its economic relationships with European countries. If those countries join the United States in taking a harder line on China, Beijing may conclude that an association with Russia and its disruptive tactics comes with too a high a cost.
For now, coordination between North Korea and Russia makes it harder for the United States and its allies to compel either country to leave behind its revisionist, aggressive tendencies and assume a constructive role in the international community. But if their relationship sufficiently threatens China, Beijing may choose to distance itself from both Moscow and Pyongyang. It might even go so far as to try to push North Korea and Russia apart. The United States and its allies were not the primary reason for the Sino-Soviet split during the Cold War, and they will not be the cause of the next Chinese-Russian rift—but they can make the most of the regional dynamics hastening a divide.
Foreign Affairs · by Upstart: How China Became a Great Power · February 19, 2024
2. Report: North Korean missile fired by Russia against Ukraine contained US and European components
Photos and graphics at link.
Report: North Korean missile fired by Russia against Ukraine contained US and European components
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/20/politics/north-korean-missile-russia-ukraine-components/index.html
By Natasha Bertrand, CNN
4 minute read
Published 8:06 AM EST, Tue February 20, 2024
A bomb squad member works next to remains of an unidentified missile after residential buildings were heavily damaged during a Russian attack in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, on January 2, 2024. Reuters
CNN —
A North Korean ballistic missile fired last month by the Russian military in Ukraine contained hundreds of components that trace back to companies in the US and Europe, according to a new report.
The findings mark the first public identification of North Korea’s reliance on foreign technology for its missile program and underscore the persistent problem facing the Biden administration as it tries to keep cheap, Western-made microelectronics intended for civilian use from winding up in weapons used by North Korea, Iran and Russia.
The UK-based investigative organization Conflict Armament Research, or CAR, directly examined 290 components from remnants of a North Korean ballistic missile recovered in January from Kharkiv, Ukraine, and found that 75% of the components were designed and sold by companies incorporated in the United States, according to the report shared first with CNN.
A further 16% of the components found in the missile were linked to companies incorporated in Europe, the researchers found, and 9% to companies incorporated in Asia. These components primarily comprised the missile’s navigation system and could be traced to 26 companies headquartered in the US, China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan, the report says.
Last year, as CNN previously reported, CAR determined that 82% of components inside Iranian-made attack drones fired by Russia inside Ukraine were made by US companies.
Along with extensive sanctions and export controls aimed at curbing access to Western-made technology, in late 2022 the Biden administration also set up an expansive task force to investigate how US and Western components, including American-made microelectronics, were ending up in Iranian-made drones Russia has been launching by the hundreds into Ukraine.
It is not clear how much progress that task force has made — the National Security Council did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Circumventing 20 years of sanctions
The latest CAR report does not name the specific companies that produced the components, because there is no evidence the firms deliberately shipped the parts to North Korea — instead, the components were likely diverted somewhere in the vast global supply chain once the companies sold them to various international distributors. CAR therefore prefers to work with the companies to try to fix the problem rather than to name and shame them, a CAR spokesperson told CNN.
The tail section of the ballistic missile examined by the group Conflict Armament Research, which includes the missile's navigation system, and the countries where the components originated. Courtesy Conflict Armament Research
The research also shows that North Korea was able to produce the missile and ship it over to Russia quickly. The components examined by the researchers were manufactured between 2021 and 2023. Based on those production dates, the researchers say the missile “could not have been assembled before March 2023” and was being used by Russia in Ukraine by January.
The fact that North Korea’s missile production appears to be fueled by parts originating in the West underscores how difficult it is for the US and its allies to control where commercial electronics are going, particularly semiconductor components that are extremely challenging to track once they enter the global supply chain.
The findings indicate North Korea “has developed a robust acquisition network capable of circumventing, without detection, sanction regimes that have been in place for nearly two decades,” the CAR report says.
And while Russia continues to be supplied by North Korea and Iran, the Biden administration has been unable to send new weaponry and equipment to the Ukrainian military because Congress has not approved the required supplemental funding to do so.
More evidence of Russia, North Korea ties
The White House confirmed last month that Russia has been firing North Korean missiles at Ukrainian cities. North Korea has also likely provided Russia with “millions of artillery rounds” over the last year, according to a report published last week by the Pentagon’s inspector general.
Intelligence officials in Washington are increasingly concerned about the growing ties between North Korea and Russia, CNN previously reported, and the long-term implications of what appears to be a new level of strategic partnership between the two nations.
RELATED ARTICLE
US raises concerns about cozying relations between Russia and North Korea
CAR said its examination of the North Korean missile “shows that North Korea has been able to produce advanced weapons, integrating components produced as recently as 2023, in spite of United Nations Security Council sanctions in place since 2006 that prohibit the production of ballistic missiles by North Korea.”
Russia’s use of North Korean missiles on the battlefield in Ukraine may also give Pyongyang data it can’t get from a testing program that has seen dozens of the weapons fired over the past few years under leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea may also be seeking military assistance from Russia including “fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment, war materials and other advanced technologies,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said last month.
“This would have concerning security implications for the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region,” he added.
3. N.K. leader receives Russian-made car from Putin as gift
I guess this cements the relationship of the axis of totalitarians or dictatorships.
(3rd LD) N.K. leader receives Russian-made car from Putin as gift | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · February 20, 2024
(ATTN: UPDATES with the car's brand in 5th para)
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has received a Russian-made luxury car from Russian President Vladimir Putin as a gift demonstrating the special bonds between the two leaders, state media reported Tuesday.
The gift serves as a "clear demonstration of the special personal relations between the two leaders and as the best one," according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Russia conveyed the vehicle for Kim's personal use Sunday to Pak Jong-chon, a secretary of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea, and Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North's leader. She delivered Kim Jong-un's thanks to Putin to the Russian side, the report said.
The KCNA did not carry photos or reports about the details of the car.
Later in the day, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the car is a Russian-made Aurus Senat, according to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
This file image, captured from footage of North Korea's state-run Korean Central Television on Sept. 20, 2023, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin taking a seat in Putin's presidential Aurus Senat limousine at Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on Sept. 13. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Putin showed his presidential Aurus Senat limousine to Kim in September last year, when the North's leader visited Russia's Vostochny spaceport for the summit, and offered him the opportunity to take a seat in the Russian-made luxury vehicle.
But Putin's gift could be in violation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions that ban the supply, sale and transfer of luxury goods, including automobiles, to North Korea.
The North's leader has made public appearances in different Mercedes-Maybach S-class vehicles, including a limousine, snubbing international sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
Seoul's unification ministry assessed Putin's gift as being a luxury vehicle subject to U.N. sanctions, given that it was a present for the head of state.
"We condemned North Korea for its brazen attitude of publicly revealing the violation of the U.N. sanctions. Russia should also be aware of its responsibility as a permanent member of the UNSC and stop an act that undermines international norms," a ministry official told reporters.
He said the government will cooperate with the international community to deal with the act by North Korea and Russia to violate the UNSC resolutions.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · February 20, 2024
4. S. Korea notes U.N. sanctions obligations after report on Putin's gift to N.K. leader
Putin thumbs his nose at UN Sanctions.
S. Korea notes U.N. sanctions obligations after report on Putin's gift to N.K. leader | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · February 20, 2024
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Tuesday that Russia has an obligation to comply with U.N. sanctions resolutions against North Korea as a member state, after a report on President Vladimir Putin's gift of a luxury car to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The North's state media reported earlier in the day that Kim had received the Russian-made vehicle from Putin, delivered through their officials, as a token of special bonds between the two leaders.
The two held a rare summit in September last year. The two countries have since expanded the scope of their cooperation. Pyongyang is suspected of having provided artillery and munitions to Russia for use in Moscow's war in Ukraine in exchange for Russia's potential transfer of weapons technology.
The state media did not carry photos or provide more details of the car. The delivery of such a gift could be a violation of the U.N. sanctions banning any supply and transfer of luxury goods to the North.
"All U.N. member states have the obligation to fully comply with the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions resolutions against North Korea," foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a briefing.
"The sanctions ban the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer of all means of transportation to North Korea, regardless of origin, from HS Codes 86 to 89 by the international classification of traded goods, including luxury cars," Lim said.
The government will continue to work with the international community on the implementation of the UNSC sanctions, he added.
In this file photo, foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk speaks during a press briefing at the ministry building in Seoul on Dec. 19, 2023. (Yonhap)
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · February 20, 2024
5. N. Korean gov't delegations visiting Russia for cooperation
They are asking - so what more can we extract from Russia for our artillery ammunition?
N. Korean gov't delegations visiting Russia for cooperation | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · February 20, 2024
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- Delegations led by senior North Korean government officials in charge of technology, fisheries and sports affairs have left for Russia, state media reported Tuesday, as Pyongyang and Moscow have been expanding bilateral cooperation.
Information and Trade Minister Ju Yong-il and other delegates left Pyongyang on Monday to attend a global IT forum in Moscow, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The Eurasia IT forum will be held in Moscow on Tuesday and Wednesday under the theme of "digital sovereignty as the basis for long-term international cooperation," according to its website.
A delegation, led by Vice Fisheries Minister Son Song-kuk, departed for Russia the previous day to discuss ways to promote bilateral cooperation in the fisheries sector, the KCNA said.
Vice Sports Minister O Kwang-hyok also headed to Russia to attend a ceremony to sign a 2024 sports exchange protocol between the two nations.
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 20, 2024, shows Kim Su-gil (L), chief secretary of the Pyongyang Municipal Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, who recently visited Russia with a delegation of North Korean party officials. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Meanwhile, a delegation of North Korea's ruling party officials returned home Monday after wrapping up its latest trip to Russia, the KCNA said in a separate dispatch.
Kim Su-gil, an alternate member of the political bureau of the Workers' Party, met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and other Russian politicians.
North Korea and Russia have expanded the scope of their cooperation following the summit between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September last year.
Pyongyang is suspected of having provided artillery and munitions to Russia for use in Moscow's war in Ukraine in exchange for Russia's potential transfer of weapons technology.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · February 20, 2024
6. S. Korea to host 3rd Summit for Democracy on March 18-20
The Republic of Korea is a global pivotal state that chooses to be a peaceful nuclear powerful, is a partner in the arsenal of democracy, and supports the rules based international order.
S. Korea to host 3rd Summit for Democracy on March 18-20 | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · February 20, 2024
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will host the third Summit for Democracy from March 18 to 20 under the theme "Democracy for Future Generations," the presidential office said Tuesday.
The annual summit was launched in 2021 and has been led by the United States with the aim of strengthening democracy and confronting authoritarianism around the world.
The plenary session attended by the leaders of each country will be held virtually on the evening of March 20, the final day. The first day will consist of ministerial meetings and an experts' roundtable, while the second day will feature workshops and debates led by civic groups from home and abroad.
South Korea was one of five co-hosts of last year's summit in March, along with the U.S., Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Zambia.
In this file photo, President Yoon Suk Yeol gives welcoming remarks at the opening of the Indo-Pacific Regional Meeting of the second Summit for Democracy in Seoul on March 30, 2023. (Pool photo) (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · February 20, 2024
7. Blinken likely to visit S. Korea on occasion of upcoming democracy summit: sources
(LEAD) Blinken likely to visit S. Korea on occasion of upcoming democracy summit: sources | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · February 20, 2024
(ATTN: UPDATES 6th para with presidential office's announcement on date of summit)
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is likely to visit South Korea next month on the occasion of the upcoming session of the Summit for Democracy, a U.S.-led multination gathering aimed at promoting shared values and prosperity, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
Talks are ongoing with the U.S. side about the top U.S. diplomat's potential trip to Seoul, although it has not been finalized yet, sources familiar with the matter said.
This photo, published by Reuters, shows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken taking part in a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, southern Germany, on Feb. 17, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
If realized, it will be Blinken coming to South Korea again in just four months. He last visited Seoul in November last year and held talks with his then South Korean counterpart, Park Jin.
The likely in-person visit by Blinken would mean that U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to attend the summit virtually, the sources said.
The Summit for Democracy is led by the United States to reinforce the democratic bloc with like-minded countries in the face of various challenges posed by the rise in authoritarianism.
South Korea is hosting this year's summit, its third such session, from March 18-20, the presidential office announced. The ministerial sessions will be held on the first day, followed by panel discussions involving civic groups the next day. The leaders' session will take place virtually on the last day.
The previous summits took place in a hybrid format: a virtual plenary session involving the leaders and an in-person session of the ministers.
The U.S. hosted the inaugural session in 2021. The second session was co-hosted by the U.S., South Korea, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Zambia.
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · February 20, 2024
8. S. Korea's spy agency seeks to block access to N. Korea's propaganda YouTube channel
I strongly disagree with this. The ROK must hold the moral high ground and not ban any information, ESPECIALLY from north Korea. The Korean people in the South are not duped by north Korean propaganda. The ROK does not need to have any fears about this.
I am disappointed in the NIS.
S. Korea's spy agency seeks to block access to N. Korea's propaganda YouTube channel | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · February 20, 2024
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's spy agency on Tuesday asked the country's internet censorship body to block access to a North Korean propaganda YouTube channel, officials said.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) made the request to block access to the "Olivia Natasha" channel, run by a young North Korean female Youtuber, named YuMi, the officials of the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) said.
The KCSC plans to hold a meeting next week to review the request.
Last year, South Korea blocked access to three YouTube channels -- the Sally Parks SongA Channel, Olivia Natasha- YuMi Space DPRK daily and New DPRK -- on the grounds that they had been operated for North Korea's propaganda purposes.
U.S. tech giant Google shut down the Olivia Natasha channel in June last year, but new videos were uploaded on YuMi's new account.
The latest footage, uploaded in January, featured her showing off a luxurious life, including preparations for a year-end family dinner with king crab.
Mobilizing young North Korean women and children as key narrators, North Korea appears to attempt to shift away from its traditional propaganda method to a more engaging style targeting a wider global audience.
The NIS earlier said North Korea is expected to ramp up cyberattacks and psychological warfare against South Korea ahead of April's general elections.
These undated images are captured from footage of the "Olivia Natasha" channel, run by a young North Korean female Youtuber, named YuMi. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · February 20, 2024
9. N. Korean missile used against Ukraine contained U.S., European parts: CNN
N. Korean missile used against Ukraine contained U.S., European parts: CNN | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · February 21, 2024
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean ballistic missile that Russia fired against Ukraine last month contained many parts traced to companies in the United States and Europe, CNN reported Tuesday, citing a research report.
The Britain-based organization, Conflict Armament Research (CAR), produced the report that examined 290 components from remnants of a North Korean missile retrieved from Kharkiv in Ukraine, and discovered that 75 percent of the components were designed and sold by companies incorporated in the U.S., according to CNN.
The CAR report also showed that 16 percent of the missile's components were linked to companies incorporated in Europe and 9 percent to firms incorporated in Asia. The components in question primarily comprised the missile's navigation system and could be traced to 26 firms headquartered in the U.S., China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan, CNN said.
Citing a CAR spokesperson, the news channel said that the report does not name the specific companies as there is no evidence that the firms deliberately shipped the parts to North Korea.
"The components were likely diverted somewhere in the vast global supply chain once the companies sold them to various international distributors," CNN said.
The report followed the White House' revelations that the North supplied Russia with several dozen ballistic missiles, some of which were used to strike targets in Ukraine at least on Dec. 30, Jan. 2 and Jan. 6.
In October, the White House also said that the North provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions.
This image, provided by the White House, shows Russia's recent launch of North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · February 21, 2024
10. North Koreans gather cigarette butts to sell after large public events
The resilience of the Korean people in the north is hard to fathom. They are doing whatever is necessary to survive.
And of course this is an indication of Kim Jong Un's failed promise to bring peace and prosperity to the Korean people through nuclear weapons and missiles.
North Koreans gather cigarette butts to sell after large public events
The filters can be recycled into new cigarettes or made into clothing.
By Hyemin Son for RFA Korean
2024.02.20
rfa.org
Hungry North Koreans are swooping in ahead of cleaning crews for large public events to collect the butts of filtered cigarettes, which they then sell for meager sums of cash, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.
The cigarette butts have filters made of fibers that can either be recycled into new cigarettes or used to make clothing, sources said.
On Feb. 16, North Korea celebrated the Day of the Shining Star, the birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un’s late father and predecessor Kim Jong Il.
It is customary for every resident of every city to present flowers at statues of the late “Dear Leader,” and people can spend several hours in the town square waiting in line for their turn.
“The flower ceremony in Chongju ended at noon,” a resident of the northeastern province of North Pyongan told RFA Korean, speaking anonymously for reasons of personal safety. “After the event, many women came to pick up cigarette butts around the street and in front of the statue, where thousands of people had gathered to give flowers.”
He explained that men who are bored of waiting often light up a smoke, and then throw the butts on the ground when they’re done. RFA reported previously that there is a ban on smoking in public, but it is often only enforced for women.
The resident said that most of the people gathering the cigarette butts after the Day of the Shining Star were women.
Smiley faces are seen on the filtered ends of a pack of Pyongyang-brand cigarettes, Oct. 14, 2015. (Wong Maye-E/AP)
Filtered cigarettes were once a sign of wealth and status that only rich people could afford in North Korea, while most smokers used hand-rolled cigarettes with no filters.. In the 2010s, state-owned factories started making filtered cigarettes more cheaply and they became widely available, giving rise to more cigarette butt litter.
A resident of North Pyongan’s Ryongchon county reported a similar scene of women gathering cigarette butts following the laying of wreaths for Day of the Shining Star at an area monument called the Tower of Eternal life.
“You can get money for filtered cigarette butts if you take them to people who make winter clothes,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing security concerns. “But, if you take them to those who make cigarettes, you can sell them at a slightly higher price. So some farmers survive by picking up cigarette butts at stations and marketplaces.”
The price of 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs.) of filtered cigarette butts is around 10,000 won (US$1.13) which is the same price of about 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs.) of corn at the market, the resident explained.
“We know that we can find lots of cigarette butts at political events such as the Day of the Shining Star,” she said. “Some of the farmers choose to pick up cigarette butts rather than participate in the event itself.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.
rfa.org
11. What is to be done about Kim Jong-un's threats?
Wise words from our friend, the former ROK ambassador to the US.
Conclusion:
Kim Jong-un’s strident threats must be read against such facts. This is not a time to engage in the political game of criticizing the ROK government’s efforts to strengthen security ties with the U.S. and trilateral security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo. This is a time when we must pull together.
What is to be done about Kim Jong-un's threats?
The Korea Times · February 20, 2024
By Ahn Ho-young
Ahn Ho-young
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un started the new year with strikingly strident threats against the South. According to him, South Koreans are no longer brethren, but arch enemies at war with North Korea. North Korea says it must stop the mistake of treating southern scum as partners for reconciliation and unification. Kim then ordered his military forces to prepare for a grand war to subdue the whole territory of South Korea with all available capabilities, including nuclear force, if any situation arises.
North Korea threatened to turn South Korea into “a sea of fire” 30 years ago in 1994. The threat has been repeated from time to time, on such occasions as the joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States. The governments and citizens in both countries became used to the repeated threats. This time, Kim’s threat is causing unusually deep concerns in both Seoul and Washington that it might be more than empty words. There arise various speculations as to what his intentions may be. This is the time when we must prepare ourselves against whatever intentions the North Korean leader may hold.
First and foremost, we must understand the nature of the threat arising from North Korea. North Korea is a country with miserable human resource development in terms of economy, education, public health and social welfare. Still, it managed to develop highly advanced nuclear capabilities and missile technology. At the same time, its conventional military capabilities are far behind that of the ROK. In a word, it’s a country ridden with deep anomalies where people suffer in miserable conditions.
As for the conventional military capability, the Global Firepower Report, the most authoritative surveyor in the field, recently rated the ROK as the fifth-strongest in the world. The report degraded North Korea from 34th last year to 36th this year. With all these factors considered, most analysts assess the possibility of North Korea’s waging an all out war as extremely low. For them, a more likely scenario of North Korea’s military action will be a localized conflict, employing irregular means. They also warn that the ROK must make sure that these limited conflicts do not escalate to a bigger war, which will raise the risk of North Korea resorting to the use of nuclear weapons.
That’s why it is important to deter and defeat at an early stage North Korea’s military actions. We will have to think more deeply about the possible scenarios of North Korea’s military adventures. We will have to prepare and train our troops, especially those deployed along the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea and along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Second, Seoul and Washington will have to exert all possible efforts to implement the Washington Declaration of April 2023, which created the Nuclear Consultation Group (NCG) between the two countries. The objective set for the NCG is to raise Korea’s voice in the U.S. extended deterrence. The objective must be sufficiently met and reassure Korean citizens about U.S. commitment to extended deterrence.
There are still a large number citizens in South Korea who call for the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons or South Korea’s own nuclear weapon program. For the time being, the more realistic option we have is the effective implementation of the NCG. Pyongyang reacted vehemently against the launching of the group, even burning effigies of the leaders of the ROK and the U.S.
Third, this is the time when we must build and maintain consensus on foreign and security policies. Seoul declared the Indo-Pacific Strategy at the end of 2022, which reaffirmed its commitment to developing mutually beneficial relations with all countries, including China and Russia, based on the principles of the rules-based international order.
One of the core principles of the order is to reject the change of status quo through the use of force. North Korea is believed to have already provided millions of artillery shells and even precision tactical missiles to help with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. North Korea is known to be an important ally and supplier of weapons to such groups as Hamas and Hezbollah. These are the reasons why British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on the occasion of committing much needed support to Ukraine, said that Ukraine’s succumbing to the Russian invasion would only encourage countries like North Korea.
Kim Jong-un’s strident threats must be read against such facts. This is not a time to engage in the political game of criticizing the ROK government’s efforts to strengthen security ties with the U.S. and trilateral security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo. This is a time when we must pull together.
Ahn Ho-young is chair professor at the Kyungnam University. He served as Korean ambassador to the U.S. and vice foreign minister.
The Korea Times · February 20, 2024
12. Putin's car gift to Kim showcases 'special' bond, defying UN sanctions
The car is getting a lot of attention. I recall Kim was fascinated tight the" beast" (US presidential limo) in Singapore. Think of what he could have had had he made a deal. (note sarcasm)
Putin's car gift to Kim showcases 'special' bond, defying UN sanctions
koreaherald.com · by Ji Da-gyum · February 20, 2024
By Ji Da-gyum
Published : Feb. 20, 2024 - 15:17
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un attend a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, September 13, 2023. (File Pool Photo via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin presented North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with a gift of a Russia-produced car exclusively "for his personal use," North Korean state media reported Tuesday. The South Korean government decried the gift as a breach of UN Security Council resolutions.
The Rodong Sinmun, which primarily targets internal audiences as North Korea's most widely circulated newspaper, featured the news on its front page without disclosing specifics about the vehicle gifted to Kim, including its manufacturer and brand.
The newspaper reported that the gift was delivered to Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader and vice director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, along with Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the Party Central Committee, on Sunday.
At a delivery event, Kim Yo-jong said the "gift sent by President Putin to Comrade Kim Jong-un serves as a clear manifestation of the special relations of friendship forged between the leaders of the DPRK and Russia and is the finest gift," according to the Rodong Sinmun.
The DPRK is an abbreviation for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kim Yo-jong also "courteously conveyed Comrade Kim Jong-un's expression of gratitude toward comrade President Putin to the Russian side."
South Korea's Unification Ministry said Tuesday that the UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea prohibit the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of luxury items, such as luxury automobiles, to North Korea.
"Therefore, providing such item is considered a violation of sanctions on North Korea," a senior official at the Unification Ministry, who wished to remain anonymous, said during a closed-door briefing.
The ban on luxury goods was first introduced in Resolution 1718 in 2006. It was further reaffirmed in subsequent UNSC resolutions on North Korea in 2016 and 2017. UNSC Resolution 2397, adopted in 2017, also introduced a ban on the supply, sale or transfer to North Korea of all transportation vehicles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a news conference following a meeting of the State Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (File Pool Photo via AP)
Despite North Korean state media remaining silent on the specific type of car, the ministry believes it is likely to be a luxurious automobile, given the nature of gifts exchanged between the top leaders of Russia and North Korea.
But the ministry said it had no information on the method of delivery for the car.
"We condemn North Korea's shameless demeanor of publicly disclosing its violation of UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea. Russia must recognize its responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and cease actions that undermine international norms," the official said.
"We are committed to addressing and responding to every action by Russia and North Korea that violates UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions on North Korea in coordination with the international community, including the UN."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later confirmed that the car was a Russian-made Aurus, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.
Putin personally showcased his Aurus Senat limousine, renowned as the most luxurious Russian car, to Kim and extended an invitation for him to sit in the back seat during their in-person summit in September last year in the Amur region of Russia's Far East.
The South Korean government reportedly assessed the car gift as an attempt to mollify North Korea's potential dissatisfaction over what it has received from Russia in exchange for providing weapons.
Seoul notes that North Korea's gains from substantial weapons supplies to Russia remain publicly unclear. Although Russia continues to require weapons from North Korea, the Kim Jong-un regime's apparent desire for assistance with weapons programs might not align with Russian interests.
On that basis, Putin's car gift could be interpreted as a conciliatory gesture.
The government also reportedly interprets Pyongyang's publication of the gift in the Rodong Sinmun as an indication of its intention to convey to its people the strength of its relationship with Russia and the high regard in which Putin holds Kim Jong-un.
Kim Su-gil (left), an alternate member of the political bureau of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, returns home in Pyongyang on Monday, after a delegation of the ruling party, led by Kim, made a trip to Russia to hold talks with Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, in this photo taken from the website of North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)
The Rodong Sinmun on Tuesday reported the trips of senior North Korean officials overseeing information and technology, fisheries, and sports affairs to Russia, underscoring the dynamic exchange between the two countries.
Minister of IT Industry Ju Yong-il left Pyongyang on Monday to participate in the Euro-Asian IT Forum, which was scheduled to take place Tuesday and Wednesday in Moscow.
On Monday, a delegation from the DPRK-Russia Fishery Joint Committee, headed by Vice Minister of Fisheries Son Song-guk, embarked on a journey to Russia to partake in the joint committee meeting focused on fishery cooperation.
Simultaneously, Vice Minister of Physical Culture and Sports O Kwang-hyok also set off for Russia to attend a ceremony of signing a 2024 sports exchange protocol between the two countries.
The Workers' Party of Korea delegation headed by Kim Su-gil, an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee and chief secretary of the Pyongyang Municipal Party Committee, also participated in the inaugural international interparty forum, titled "For Freedom of Nations," organized by the ruling United Russia party last week in Moscow.
koreaherald.com · by Ji Da-gyum · February 20, 2024
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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