Quotes of the Day:
"America may not be interested in irregular, unconventional, and political warfare but IW/UW/PW are being practiced around the world by those who are interested in them."
(With no apologies to Trotsky)
"Congress in the 2017 NDAA: Irregular Warfare is conducted “in support of predetermined United States policy and military objectives conducted by, with, and through regular forces, irregular forces, groups, and individuals participating in competition between state and non-state actors short of traditional armed conflict.”
"In the future, we should anticipate seeing more hybrid wars where conventional warfare, irregular warfare, asymmetric warfare, and information warfare all blend together, creating a very complex and challenging situation to the combatants; therefore it will require military forces to posses hybrid capabilities, which might help deal with hybrid threats."
- Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono
1. US, S. Korea to Write New War Plan to Counter N. Korean Nukes, Missiles
2. No ICBM launch anniversary in N. Korea's 2022 calendars: Seoul official
3. Pentagon chief due in Seoul for annual security talks on N. Korea, alliance
4. Philippine Navy to Acquire 2nd Pohang-class Corvette from South Korea
5. Iran bans goods from South Korea’s Samsung and LG
6. Desperate North Koreans sell homes to raise money for food
7. North Korea orders people to pay for candies as gifts from leader Kim Jong Un
8. Korean defense firms eyeing Africa, Middle East markets
9. Real South Korean labor abuses inspired Squid Game
10. First suspected cases of omicron variant detected in S. Korea
11. N. Korea kicks up commemorative mood for late leader Kim Jong-il
12. Moon says S. Korea-U.S. alliance 'linchpin' of Northeast Asian peace
13. Pentagon chief stresses unity in S. Korea-U.S. alliance amid Sino-U.S. rivalry
14. Military veterans' groups join hands to help bolster Korea-US relations
15. N. Korean middle school student sentenced to 14 years of forced labor for watching S. Korean film
16. Ask a North Korean: What do North Koreans think of regime sympathizers?
1. US, S. Korea to Write New War Plan to Counter N. Korean Nukes, Missiles
Incomplete headline but not unexpected from the press because nukes and missiles are all anyone talks about.
This is nothing to be alarmed about because it is routine as we write new operational plans (or defense plans or war plans) every few years as conditions, capabilities, and guidance changes).
But it is significant also because of the conditions and the state of the alliance.
The new plan has to answer the fundamental question of how to optimize the combined military forces of the ROK and US to deter war and if deterrence fails,defend the Republic of Korea, defeat the north Korean People's Army (nKPA), and achieve the strategic objectives of the ROK and US.
The timing is important because we need to have the best operational plan and capabilities to support OPCON transition. The new ROK commander must have the best plan possible with the forces of the ROK and US optimized to meet strategic objectives when he takes command of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command.
The planning begins as perfectly described here:
The release of strategic planning guidance directing a new OPLAN “will inaugurate an extensive and intensive effort where we review all of our assumptions, objectives, and end states with our ROK allies,” the first official said.
We must have alignment of all assumptions and especially those about the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime and then alignment of alliance strategic objectives.
The plan must be focused on far more than nuclear weapons and missiles. Its first priority is on deterring attack and major war. Then it must defend the ROK and then defeat the north Korean People's Army (nKPA). It must defend against all forms of nKPA attacks from nukes and missiles to all WMD, to major attack along the main avenues of approach, defense of Seoul, successfully executing the counterfire fight, defense against infiltration by nKPA SOF, defense against cyber operations defense against influence operations, achievement and sustainment of air superiority (supremacy), maritime control of the Korean Theater of Operations, a defeat mechanism for the nKPA, special operations, contingency plans for provocations, refugees, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, loss of control of WMD inside north Korea, internal civil war in the north, stability operations (post conflict and post-regime collapse) and ultimately military support to the political outcome on the Korean peninsula. This last point is one of the most important reasons why we need OPCON transition because we need a ROK general officer commanding the ROK/US CFC in order to best support the political outcome on the Korean peninsula (otherwise known as unification following north Korea launching a major war or the regime collapsing).
The ROK and US military planners have a lot of work ahead of them. Military war planning is complex and also requires coordination with all the elements of national power of both the ROK and the US (e.g., detailed interagency coordination).
This is why I always focus on the "Big 5:"
The “Big 5” for the Korean Peninsula
1. War - must deter, and if attacked defend, fight, and defeat the nKPA.
2. Regime Collapse - must prepare for the real possibility and understand it could lead to war and both war and regime collapse could result in resistance within the north.
3. Human Rights and Crimes Against Humanity - (gulags, external forced labor, etc) must focus on as it is a threat to the Kim Family Regime and undermines domestic legitimacy - it is a moral imperative and a national security issue. KJU denies human rights to remain in power.
4. Asymmetric threats (provocations, proliferation, nuclear program, missile, cyber, and SOF) subversion of ROK, and global illicit activities.
5. Unification - the biggest challenge and the solution.
We should never forget that north Korea is master of denial and deception in all that it does from military operations to strategy to diplomatic negotiations
US, S. Korea to Write New War Plan to Counter N. Korean Nukes, Missiles
During visit, defense chiefs also expected to announce Seoul will test for long-awaited operational control of joint forces in 2022.
ONBOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT—The U.S. and the Republic of Korea are expected to announce this week they will begin writing a new war plan for North Korea that takes into account Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile launch advances, two U.S. senior defense officials said Tuesday.
At their annual Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul on Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Republic of Korea Defense Minister Suh Wook will announce new strategic planning guidance “to start the process of developing a new operational war plan,” said one of the officials, who briefed reporters traveling with Austin to Seoul.
“The DPRK has advanced its capabilities. The strategic environment has changed over the past few years,” the official said. “It’s appropriate and necessary that we have an OPLAN that is updated.”
The officials noted that the current war plan for North Korea is around 10 years old. While the upcoming revision was not prompted by any immediate threat, “we have seen, certainly, advances in North Korean capabilities, particularly with respect to missile delivery capability. That is one set of issues that a new OPLAN would need to address,” the first official said.
The new war plan will also take into account South Korea’s recent military advancements “and their ability to contribute to the plan” to counter North Korea, the second official said.
Since September, the North has conducted a cruise missile test; a rail-launched short-range ballistic missile test; a reported hypersonic glide vehicle test; and a submarine-launched ballistic missile test, the officials noted.
“We’re obviously in a period of somewhat heightened tensions,” the first official said.
The release of strategic planning guidance directing a new OPLAN “will inaugurate an extensive and intensive effort where we review all of our assumptions, objectives, and end states with our ROK allies,” the first official said.
Austin and his counterpart are also expected to announce that they will conduct a full operational capability, or FOC, assessment next year of Korea’s ability to command combined U.S.-Korean forces under a wartime scenario. This test of operational control is “a significant milestone on the way toward OPCON transition, something that’s very important to our ROK allies, something that is also very important to us,” the official said.
But transfer hinges on more than next year’s FOC test; Korea must also show that it has acquired certain military capabilities “related to ballistic missile defense,” the official said.
News of the OPLAN re-write comes days after the Biden administration approved a new Global Posture Review, which calls for moving military resources from other theaters to bolster U.S. influence in the Indo-Pacific.
One of the goals of that review was to return diplomatic norms to overseas force posture decisions; Korea was one of several nations the U.S. consulted during the review for input.
That has already resulted in the Pentagon approving permanent stationing of a previously rotational attack helicopter squadron and artillery division headquarters in Korea, in addition to the approximately 28,500 U.S. forces based there. Additional force posture decisions may come from this week’s consult, the officials said.
“Where we had issues that had been impediments and irritants, such as the special measures agreement related to U.S. forces on the peninsula, discussions about the size of the U.S. posture, that had been holding back progress in the alliance over the last couple of years— those have been resolved over the last several months,” the second official said.
While wider regional security will also be discussed, the officials did not offer many specifics on how they would further engage Korea to counter a rising China. Korea conducts more trade with China than it does with the U.S. and Japan combined, and the rising tensions between the two world powers has put it in a tough spot, Korea’s First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong Kun said Nov. 15 at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.
“Interaction between Beijing and Washington, as it gets more competitive, we get really high tension within our foreign policy communities,” Choi said. “What kinds of impact will it have on our exporters, our market actors?”
“Foreign policy also should serve the needs and interests of Korean citizens, namely middle income class,” he said.
That sensitivity is noted, the first U.S. official said.
“We don’t ask our partners in the region to choose between the United States and China. We ask our partners to contribute to the rules-based order,” the official said.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley is also in Seoul for the concurrent Military Committee Meeting, with his Korean counterparts. Both sides are expected to discuss future joint military exercises during those sessions, the officials said.
Large-scale joint exercises such as Foal Eagle and Ulchi Freedom Guardian were cancelled by former President Donald Trump as he pursued denuclearization talks with North Korea. Some lower-level exercises have resumed. For example, U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Paul LaCamera recently conducted a combined command post exercise, which is a computer-simulated exercise that involved hundreds of U.S. and Korean forces but no actual military movements. Previous large-scale exercises, for comparison, involved hundreds of U.S and Korean warplanes and thousands of personnel drilling together.
Whether the large-scale exercises will return is unclear. Korea is keen to make gains in peace talks with North Korea and is hopeful it will obtain an official declaration of the end of the Korean War which is still being negotiated with Pyongyang.
North Korea sees the large-scale exercises as a provocation and has often responded militarily, such as by missile test.
But a continued lag in such exercises between could erode U.S.-Korean readiness to respond and operate jointly in a conflict.
Whether large-scale exercises return “is something we are in constant sort of discussion with our ROK counterparts about,” the first official said. It will be discussed at the [Military Committee Meeting]. Both the proper scope, scale, and complexity of exercises is an ongoing discussion.”
2. No ICBM launch anniversary in N. Korea's 2022 calendars: Seoul official
I am sure there will be some who will want to interpret this as a signal from the north that it is willing to negotiate its nukes and ICBMs. This will be interpreted in a way to show the north no longer has a "hostile policy."
No ICBM launch anniversary in N. Korea's 2022 calendars: Seoul official | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's new calendars for next year have not marked its 2017 launch date of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as an anniversary unlike this year's, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.
South Korea has been monitoring North Korea's activities after its 2021 calendars marked Nov. 29 as an anniversary for rocket development for the first time. On the day in 2017, the North's leader Kim Jong-un declared the completion of his country's nuclear forces after firing a new ICBM, the Hwasong-15.
The North's newly published calendars for next year, however, do not mark the day as such an anniversary, an official at Seoul's unification ministry said.
"We have checked next year's calendars and found no marking on the day," the official told reporters on background. "We will continue monitoring to see if there are any other related moves."
Even after publishing 2021 calendars with the rocket development anniversary marked, the North has stayed silent on the designation of the new anniversary.
Seoul officials said Monday they detected no unusual North Korean military activities despite speculation Pyongyang could mark the day with a major celebratory event or show of force.
scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. Pentagon chief due in Seoul for annual security talks on N. Korea, alliance
Historically the SCM (and MCMC) has been a significant meeting. Of course all the hard work is done by action officers before the meetings.
I wonder if we will hear a decision on the exercises that are scheduled to take place around election time.
Excerpts:
The SCM originated in 1968 as the "Annual ROK-U.S. Defense Official Meeting" designed to discuss security matters amid high tensions caused by the North's seizure of USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence vessel. ROK stands for South Korea's official name, Republic of Korea.
In 1971, the meeting was elevated to the allies' annual security talks and renamed the SCM. The SCM has made a series of key decisions for the alliance, including the 1978 creation of both the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the MCM.
Pentagon chief due in Seoul for annual security talks on N. Korea, alliance | Yonhap News Agency
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is set to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday for annual security talks with his South Korean counterpart on the envisioned wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, North Korean threats and the bilateral alliance, Seoul officials said.
Austin is scheduled to land at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, in the afternoon, for a three-day trip on the eve of the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the defense ministry here.
This year's SCM comes days after Washington concluded nine months of a global defense posture review, calling for tighter cooperation with allies to confront security challenges from an increasingly assertive China and a recalcitrant North Korea.
At the SCM, Seoul's Defense Minister Suh Wook and Austin are expected to discuss when and how to conduct the full operational capability (FOC) assessment -- the second part of a three-phase program designed to verify if South Korea is ready to retake wartime OPCON.
The allies completed the initial operational capability (IOC) assessment in 2019, but they have yet to complete the FOC verification due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic. The full mission capability (FMC) assessment is the last part of the verification program.
On an upbeat note, a defense ministry official here has said the allies' discussions on the OPCON transition have been proceeding "very amicably," raising expectations that the FOC assessment could likely begin next year.
Lingering North Korean threats will also be high on the agenda, as Pyongyang has been seen as doubling down on its nuclear and missile programs while refusing to accede to the allies' repeated overtures for dialogue.
On Monday, Mara Karlin, a Pentagon official, told reporters that North Korea will be a "robust" topic for Austin's talks with Seoul officials, stressing the U.S. remains concerned about the North's "problematic and irresponsible" behavior.
What Austin has termed the "pacing challenge" from China is also expected to be discussed at the SCM, John Kirby, the spokesperson of the Pentagon, has said.
The U.S. has been striving to rally its allies and partners to preserve what it calls the rules-based order, which it believes has been eroded by China, in the midst of a Sino-U.S. rivalry over maritime security, technology, trade and other fronts.
The SCM is also expected to touch on the planned return of parts of the U.S. military garrison in Yongsan, central Seoul, to South Korean control to back a mega project to build a national park there, as well as cooperation in strategically crucial security realms of cyberspace and outer space.
Hours after his arrival in Seoul, Austin will attend an annual alliance dinner session hosted by the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation and the Korea Defense Veterans Association.
Also on Wednesday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, will hold the 46th Military Committee Meeting (MCM) to discuss North Korean threats and the defense posture of the allied forces.
The SCM originated in 1968 as the "Annual ROK-U.S. Defense Official Meeting" designed to discuss security matters amid high tensions caused by the North's seizure of USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence vessel. ROK stands for South Korea's official name, Republic of Korea.
In 1971, the meeting was elevated to the allies' annual security talks and renamed the SCM. The SCM has made a series of key decisions for the alliance, including the 1978 creation of both the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the MCM.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. Philippine Navy to Acquire 2nd Pohang-class Corvette from South Korea
South Korean security assistance.
Philippine Navy to Acquire 2nd Pohang-class Corvette from South Korea - Naval News
ROKS Andong will be the second ship that the Philippines Navy possesses after the first acquisition of another retired Pohang-class corvette, ROKS Chungju, which was renamed as BRP Conrado Yap by Filipinos.
After two years of operation at sea, the Philippines Navy evaluated that the Korean patrol corvette is apt to be able to defend 7,107 islands and has the best conditions for coastal patrol and defense.
The ROK Navy has transferred 40 ships to 10 friendly countries so far. These have been used as a means of facilitating defense cooperation and exports abroad with countries that received Korean vessels.
ROKS Andong was built by Hanjin Heavy industries on April 30th in 1987 and delivered to the Korean Navy in 1989. Then, it officially retired on December 31st in 2020, after service of 31 years in the 1st Fleet. 24 Pohang-class patrol combat corvettes were built from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and the ROK Navy currently has 10 of them.
It was designed to patrol coastal areas, equipped with 76mm and 40m guns, Mistral, Harpoon, light-weight torpedoes, and antisubmarine bombs. Its full displacement is 1200 tons, with 100 crews, the length of 88.3 meters, width of 10 meters, maximum speed of 32 knots.
ROKS Andong proved its operational performance by being chosen as the best gunnery ship in 2016, 2018, and even in 2020, the year of its decommissioning from the ROK Navy fleet.
About Pohang-class corvette
Pohang-class Chunju (PCC-762) transferred to the Philippine Navy as BRP Conrado.
The Pohang is a class of Patrol Combat Corvette (PCC) of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). A total of 24 ships were built by several South Korean shipyards: Korea Shipbuilding Corporation, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Korea Takoma.
The primary mission of the corvette is coastal line patrolling. Pohang class is deployed as a main force to monitor defence in the South Korean coast. These ships were equipped to perform anti-submarine, anti-ship and anti-aircraft warfare operations in the littoral environment.
As the Pohang-class ships are progressively being phased out of the ROK Navy (being replaced by the new generation Incheon-class frigates, and then eventually by the FFX batch II and FFX batch III), several of the corvettes have been transferred to South Korea’s allies (namely Peru, Vietnam, the Philippines, Colombia and Egypt). The first-in-class ship is now a museum in Pohang city. The 14th ship of the class, ROKS Cheonan, was sunk on 26 March 2010 by a torpedo launched by a North Korean Yeono-class submarine, killing 46 sailors.
Pohang-class Main specifications:
- Length: 88m
- Beam: 10m
- Draft: 2.9m
- Displacement: 1220 loaded
- Propulsion: CODOG configuration (gas and diesel engines)
- Speed: 32 knots maximum; 15 knots cruising
- Range: 4000 miles
- Crew: 95
- Weapons: 2 x OTO Melara 76 mm/62 compact cannon; 2 x 2 Otobreda 40mm/70 cal; 2 x 2 RGM-84 Harpoon Block 1B; 3 x 2 Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes
5. Iran bans goods from South Korea’s Samsung and LG
Excerpts:
“Such strategies are very similar to the classic infant industry protection policies that are tried and tested all over the world and often fail. I would not expect an exceptional successful result in this case in Iran,” said Sara Bazoobandi, a research fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
The University of Kansas’s Bhala considers Iran’s move to alienate South Korea, the world’s 10th largest economy, a miscalculation.
“South Korea achieved an economic miracle after the devastation of the 1950-53 Korean War and transcended the middle-income trap. Iran, which has suffered the scourge of war, is stuck, and even regressing, in its growth and development.
“Iran’s official concept of a resistance economy, redolent of what North Korea seeks, is a slogan that has failed to translate into real economic progress for most Iranians. Put differently, Iran would do well to see what lessons it can learn from South Korea’s open trade policies,” he told Asia Times.
Still, to many Iranians, the crackdown on household apparatus from South Korea is perceived as a tit-for-tat backlash to Seoul’s continued seizure of nearly $9 billion in Iran’s assets frozen in its banks. The money is South Korea’s outstanding debt to Iran over crude oil imports in the preceding years that it now refuses to discharge, citing the US sanctions.
The whopping arrears has been casting a dark shadow on the traditionally genial Tehran-Seoul relations, and the leaders of the two countries have been trading barbs publicly over the dispute as of late. Without the US sanctions being removed, it is unlikely the funds will be repatriated to Iran.
Iran bans goods from South Korea’s Samsung and LG
Tehran cracks down on household goods made by Samsung and LG, which have bent to US sanctions demands
While Iran finds itself throttled by US economic and banking sanctions that are still a far cry from being repealed, a new layer of complexity has been added to the country’s economic misfortunes – the government has put a wholesale ban on imports of home appliances from South Korea, and is gearing up to apply bans on other foreign products.
On September 29, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei instructed President Ebrahim Raisi to ban the importation of home appliances, specifically from “two South Korean firms” which he didn’t name, reportedly to stave off the insolvency of domestic manufacturers.
He noted in his brief memo that the domestic firms had only just begun to stand on their feet and the government would come to their assistance.
The leader’s thinly veiled reference to two South Korean firms was seen by the public as a reference to electronics and domestic appliances giants Samsung and LG, which have been household names in the Persian Gulf country for years and fixtures of Iranian homes in the absence of serious competitors from Europe and other Asian states.
Both corporations faced critical scrutiny by Islamic Republic authorities after keeping a low profile and downsizing their activities in Iran in deference to United States sanctions in the wake of its 2018 pullout from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Some unofficial estimates suggest that prior to the injunction, up to 55-70% of Iran’s market for home appliances, valued at about US$3.8 billion, was dominated by the two firms. Now, as the unanticipated ban enters force, the resulting void should inevitably be filled by local producers.
According to figures by an association of smartphone importers, in 2020, in excess of 7.14 million Samsung handsets were shipped to Iran and were worth $1.2 billion, which means a roughly 45% share of the country’s mobile phone business was held by the Suwon-headquartered producer.
The official reason given for the ban was to boost domestic production and give a facelift to the economy at a time the nation is ensnared by a full-throated embargo. Doing foreign trade has become increasingly difficult while businesses at home are jostling for survival, declaring bankruptcy one after another.
Samsung Electronics’ operating profits are rising, along with LG’s. Photo: iStock
Sanctions consequences
But the ulterior meaning of the decree, as flagged by more scrupulous observers, was the establishment trying to send a message to the two conglomerates, which had made substantial revenue by operating in Iran for years, that their decision to leave a lucrative market after the introduction of maximum pressure sanctions by former US President Donald Trump in May 2018 would have consequences.
In 2019, reports swirled that the two South Korean behemoths, which had long prevailed in their largest Middle East market of some 85 million consumers, and been running assembly lines in Iran employing hundreds of people, took the initial steps of scaling down their presence on the heels of the unilateral revocation of the JCPOA by the United States.
By the end of 2019, Samsung, unable to deliver key components to sustain its production lines due to the rapid broadening of US restrictions, suspended operations. A large number of electronics shops across Tehran and other major cities took down the Samsung signs, leaving citizens shell-shocked that one of the last major foreign brands was beating a hasty retreat from the country.
But the gesture did not translate into an irreversible breakup. Samsung still had stakes in Iran to protect, and LG equally wanted to maintain its foothold. Both Samsung and LG continued their exports, though in narrower quantities, and both presently run exclusive Persian-language websites mounted on their official domains, in which up-to-date contact details for their sales offices in Tehran are available.
The Iranian government is now knuckling down and flexing its muscles with entities it deems as unfaithful commercial partners and, in its own reading, raising the costs of compliance with the extraterritorial sanctions for non-US companies not legally bound by such measures.
Sheltering local manufacturers might be a motivation, but is certainly not the only reason.
Yet there is no certainty that by ejecting Samsung and LG, it will be the South Korean corporations that will be at a loss. Instead, Iranian consumers are already peeved that the government has stripped them of credible options for their choice of domestic appliances, and they are now discovering that low-quality, inefficient homemade products are an inevitability for the foreseeable future.
Women use their smartphones at a park in Tehran. Photo: AFP / Shota Mizuno / The Yomiuri Shimbun
Samsung, LG face small losses
In 2019, Samsung made $192.9 billion in global revenue and LG pulled in $53 billion, huge sums of money. But a total of no more than $4 billion in Iran-originated proceeds the two companies earned on average per year would be of little concern if they were to forfeit it. Their massive interests in European and North American trade may be at risk by preserving ties with Iran.
One of the immediate public responses to the ban was mounting speculation that the leader, despite having the final say on all major political and security matters, was trying to inordinately micromanage the economy. He has said on multiple occasions that he does not interfere in executive affairs.
Some analysts said he was hoodwinked by ill-informed advisers giving him false details about the capacity of domestic companies and the status of the commodity market.
The more salient ramification of the ban, however, was an outpouring of discontent by Iranians, who quickly took to the social media to share their unsavory experiences with Iranian-made refrigerators, washing machines, TV sets, vacuum cleaners, microwaves and dishwashers, in particular their energy-guzzling configuration and dismal after-sales service.
Manufacturing electronics and domestic appliances is not a sophisticated industry in Iran, and the know-how is predominantly sourced from countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, whose goods have continued to be accessible even when the sanctions were put on steroids.
In addition, the lion’s share of domestic production is monopolized by a handful of well-connected companies run by people who enjoy clout over religious institutions and security agencies.
One example is the Entekhab Group, a well-heeled firm that has more than 40% of the country’s home appliances market and is run by a 46-year-old propertied entrepreneur who is said to be an alumnus of the Qom Seminary – a clerical training institution.
The elimination of the South Korean makers of home appliances would pave the way for such factories to ramp up their interests in an uncompetitive supply and demand cycle and conquer the market without feeling the urge to improve the quality of their output or setting prices commensurate with people’s purchasing power.
People at a marketplace in Tabriz in 2020. South Korean appliances will soon be hard to come by. AFP / Anadolu Agency
Iranian-made compliances
Raj Bhala, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas specializing in international trade law, told Asia Times that assuming that the state-sanctioned ordinance would contribute to the improvement in quality of Iran-made appliances was unrealistic.
“If past is prologue, and if case studies from other countries can be applied, then it is far more likely Iranian home appliance manufacturers will consolidate their monopolistic or oligopolistic positions rather than use the protection from foreign competition the Supreme Leader has granted them to improve their quality and raise their standards,” he said.
“What tends to happen is that infant industries, or ailing industries, do not wish to see the protection they enjoy removed. So they lobby their government to continue the restrictions on free trade for far longer than is necessary. The protected industries become mollycoddled by the government,” he added.
Local media report that emboldened by the departure of their serious rivals, Iranian home appliances makers have multiplied their prices. Akbar Pazouki, chairman of the Tehran Home Appliances Sellers Trade Union, recently said an Iranian-made refrigerator sold for at least $850, the equivalent of the salary of a mid-ranking government clerk for five months. People cannot afford such hefty prices, he added.
Earlier this month, Ahmad Alirezabeigi, a conservative MP from Tabriz, raised the alarm in a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, warning that local home appliances companies, now assured that the marketplace has been vacated by foreign brands, had increased prices by 20-30%, and this has dispossessed people of the ability to purchase what they need.
Some experts thought the downsides of the ban, while Iran has been entangled in a web of taxing sanctions, certainly outweigh its benefits. They say as Iran’s rial has been hugely devalued and foreign currencies have appreciated, local manufacturers could capitalize on the absence of competition to offer affordable prices, but this is not happening.
“Currency depreciation provides price incentives for domestic producers that results in more efficient production. Ban and quota, on the other hand, generate monopolies without any positive effect on the efficiency of national industries,” said Hossein Abbasi, a senior lecturer at the University of Maryland’s Department of Economics.
“It encourages rent-seeking behavior of producers and creates a natural alliance between politicians and the lobby of industries toward strengthening the restriction. This is what we have observed in Iran’s auto industry for decades and politicians receive enormous rents from this industry in exchange for maintaining bans,” he told Asia Times, alluding to a long-standing prohibition on imports of foreign-made cars stipulated by the government.
A Germany-based academic also noted such inhibitory policies, at least in the case of Iran, do not end up giving a boost to the sovereign economy but merely compound what is already a dire situation and exacerbate the international isolation that is taking a toll on civilians.
A miscalculation
“Such strategies are very similar to the classic infant industry protection policies that are tried and tested all over the world and often fail. I would not expect an exceptional successful result in this case in Iran,” said Sara Bazoobandi, a research fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
The University of Kansas’s Bhala considers Iran’s move to alienate South Korea, the world’s 10th largest economy, a miscalculation.
“South Korea achieved an economic miracle after the devastation of the 1950-53 Korean War and transcended the middle-income trap. Iran, which has suffered the scourge of war, is stuck, and even regressing, in its growth and development.
“Iran’s official concept of a resistance economy, redolent of what North Korea seeks, is a slogan that has failed to translate into real economic progress for most Iranians. Put differently, Iran would do well to see what lessons it can learn from South Korea’s open trade policies,” he told Asia Times.
Still, to many Iranians, the crackdown on household apparatus from South Korea is perceived as a tit-for-tat backlash to Seoul’s continued seizure of nearly $9 billion in Iran’s assets frozen in its banks. The money is South Korea’s outstanding debt to Iran over crude oil imports in the preceding years that it now refuses to discharge, citing the US sanctions.
The whopping arrears has been casting a dark shadow on the traditionally genial Tehran-Seoul relations, and the leaders of the two countries have been trading barbs publicly over the dispute as of late. Without the US sanctions being removed, it is unlikely the funds will be repatriated to Iran.
6. Desperate North Koreans sell homes to raise money for food
But who really owns the houses??
Excerpts:
Private ownership of houses is technically illegal in North Korea. The constitution states that all property is owned by the state, and the government typically grants living spaces to its citizens for specific periods of time.
“The person who bought the house can bribe the Urban Management Department of the Administrative Committee and receive a new housing permit. If you have a connection with the Urban Management Department or use a bribe, you can buy a house,” the source said.
Desperate North Koreans sell homes to raise money for food
Some wealthy residents are snatching up real estate at bargain basement prices.
North Korean residents living near the border with China are selling their homes at rock bottom prices to raise money for food as the country prepares for winter amid the worst shortages since the 1990s famine.
Much of North Korea’s economy is dependent on trade with China, but commerce between the two countries largely came to a halt when the border was closed in January 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
The closure not only deprived industry of raw materials and merchants with goods to peddle, it cut off food imports that could cover the gap between North Korea’s domestic food production and demand. Food prices have skyrocketed.
In the northwestern border city of Sinuiju, all but the wealthiest North Koreans are downsizing, just to be able to afford food this winter.
“Strange housing transactions are increasing with the sudden drop in temperature. Poor residents, who are suffering from hardship, are selling their houses to buy food, while rich people are taking advantage of this opportunity to buy houses at low prices,” a resident of the city told RFA’s Korean Service Nov. 22.
“As the number of houses for sale this winter increases, the prices for units in the circular-shaped luxury apartment building along the Yalu River are also plummeting. It is one of the best apartments in Sinuiju,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Those selling their homes in the circular building originally paid 30,000 yuan (U.S. $4,698) for a unit overlooking the river. But deteriorating economic conditions due to the prolonged coronavirus pandemic have lowered the asking price to half of that, according to the source.
Private ownership of houses is technically illegal in North Korea. The constitution states that all property is owned by the state, and the government typically grants living spaces to its citizens for specific periods of time.
This February 2019 file photo shows the then under construction circle-shaped luxury apartment building in the North Korean town of Sinuiju, behind the Broken Bridge, which once spanned the Yalu River between China and North Korea, as seen from the Chinese border city of Dandong, in China's northeast Liaoning province on February 22, 2019. Credit: AFP
“The person who bought the house can bribe the Urban Management Department of the Administrative Committee and receive a new housing permit. If you have a connection with the Urban Management Department or use a bribe, you can buy a house,” the source said
A high-rise unit in the circle-shaped building used to be the envy of the city’s elites, but times have changed.
“In the past, rich residents competed to buy an apartment there. … Most of them made a lot of money through trade with China. Residents are now struggling to make a living as trade between North Korea and China has been blocked for nearly two years due to the coronavirus crisis,” said the source.
A source from Sinuiju’s surrounding North Pyongan province told RFA that homeowners desperate for money will sell their housing permits to richer residents, then turn around and buy less expensive homes in the countryside.
“It is now difficult to get enough food for the day in the city. In winter, residents have to prepare food and firewood,” said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
“Finding drinking water from a long distance away sometimes requires selling a two-room house they bought by saving hard-earned money for only 1,000 yuan ($156).”
City life can be incredibly expensive during times of economic crisis, so many are leaving for more rural locations as quickly as they can, according to the second source.
“They are leaving their city homes vacant and moving to the countryside, even if their homes do not sell.”
RFA reported in 2019 that the widespread purchase and sale of housing permits prompted the government to test private ownership in the northeastern city of Rason, part of a special economic zone located in the country’s northeastern corner near China and Russia.
Under that plan, Rason sold the homes to the people who were living in them at the time, and many residents were interested in becoming bona fide homeowners.
A source in that report, published about nine months before the pandemic began, expected that the rest of North Korea would follow Rason’s example.
Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
7. North Korea orders people to pay for candies as gifts from leader Kim Jong Un
Next, prisoners will have to pay rent for their sales and those sentenced to death will have to buy their own bullets for the firing squad.
It is almost as if someone in the regime is thinking up new ways to abuse the Korean people living in the north.
North Korea orders people to pay for candies as gifts from leader Kim Jong Un
Candy making campaign saps supplies of sugar and flour, driving prices up.
Local governments in North Korea are scrambling to make candies in preparation for a nationwide celebration of leader Kim Jong Un’s birthday in January, but the government is forcing hungry citizens to pay for it, sources in the country told RFA.
At a time when the country is struggling with food shortages said to be almost as bad as the 1990s famine, the nationwide baking project has made a huge dent in flour and sugar supplies, doubling prices, and funneling money away from the people who need it to buy food for themselves.
“Since yesterday, the price of one kilogram of flour has jumped from 12,000 won (U.S. $2.40) to 30,000 won ($6). The price of sugar has also jumped from 13,000 won to 25,000 won,” a resident of Unsan, South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA’s Korean Service.
“It’s all because the central government has ordered that each province must produce and supply confections as gifts for children from Kim Jong Un for his birthday on January 8,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
The gift of sweets to children on or around the birthday of the country’s leader or his predecessors has been a longtime tradition in the north, dating back to the era of Kim’s grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung.
Early on in Kim Jong Un’s rule, candies were supplied to expectant mothers and students in daycare and elementary schools on Jan. 8, but since 2019, the government expanded candy gifts to every child across the country, to be received on Jan. 1.
“The amount of imported flour and sugar circulating in local markets is very limited because border trade has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Prices for flour and sugar will continue to rise until food factories finish producing the confections,” said the source from Unsan.
The current economic devastation and widespread food shortages are due to North Korea’s closed border with China and suspension of all trade with Beijing at the start of the pandemic, almost two years ago.
The lack of food imports to bridge the gap between domestic production and demand made shortages more pronounced. The closed border also makes it harder for the country to scrape together enough sugar for candy, as most of it prior to the pandemic had been coming from China, according to the source.
With prices on the rise, some local governments are forcing the people to pay for the ingredients.
“Starting today, food factories in Uiju county have started producing confections for Kim Jong Un's birthday present,” a resident of the county in North Pyongan province, in the country’s northwest, told RFA.
“To purchase the raw materials for confections, the county party directly imposed a tax of 5,000 won on each household,” said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
The local government has a deadline to finish the candy by Dec. 20, so it has started directly controlling distribution of all flour and sugar in the county to secure enough of each ingredient to the food factories, according to the second source.
The result has been that even less flour and sugar reach the markets.
“They even demanded each house provide one egg for confection production. As people must purchase the eggs for donation at the local marketplace, the market is running out of eggs,” the second source said.
“Residents are angry that the authorities are wiping out the pockets of the people at a time like this to make candy for children, supposedly from Kim Jong Un for his birthday.”
RFA reported in March 2020 that celebrations, including production of candy gifts, for the birth anniversary of Kim Jong Un’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, were scaled down that February due to the start of the pandemic.
By March 2020, however, the whole country was ordered to scramble to make enough candy to celebrate Kim Il Sung’s birth anniversary in April that year.
Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
8. Korean defense firms eyeing Africa, Middle East markets
Security cooperation and assistance far and wide.
Korean defense firms eyeing Africa, Middle East markets
A joint booth for Korean defense firms participating in the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) 2021 is seen at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo, Monday. The booth was organized by the Korea Defense Industry Association. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min By Jung Da-min, Joint Press Corps
CAIRO ― Korean defense firms are eyeing the African and Middle East markets, with a total of 14 companies participating in the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) 2021, running from Monday to Friday at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo.
Since starting in 2018, the biennial EDEX is the biggest defense exhibition event in the African region. About 350 defense firms from around 40 countries across the world are participating in this year's event.
Among the 14 Korean companies were four big companies: Hanwha Defense promoting its K9 self-propelled howitzer (SPH); Hyundai Rotem with tanks; Poongsan with ammunitions; and Hancom Lifecare with gas masks. Ten other small- and medium-sized companies are also presenting their defense equipment, such as ballistic goggles or search light drones, in a joint booth organized by the Korea Defense Industry Association.
Their participation in the second edition of the international arms exhibition hosted by the Egyptian Armed Forces drew attention among global defense watchers, especially because it came weeks after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) defense ministry's announcement in mid-November of its plan to acquire Korean-made, mid-range surface-to-air missiles (M-SAM). Defense watchers are paying close attention to whether or not there is the possibility of a similar weapons export deal being struck in Egypt.
Currently, negotiations are underway between Hanwha Defense and the Egyptian military over the latter acquiring a package of K9 SPHs and other supporting vehicles. Expectations are high among defense industry officials that a future weapons export deal in Egypt, once made, would pave the way for local defense companies to gain global standing, especially in the African and Middle East markets.
The booth of Hanwha Defense, promoting the company's K9 self-propelled howitzer (SPH) is seen during the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) 2021, at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo, Monday. Joint Press Corps The Korean firms are eyeing future possible opportunities in the Egyptian market especially, as the Egyptian Armed Forces is currently carrying out a modernization of its military forces, while diversifying its supplier nations.
The EDEX 2021 was crowded with participants, including members of the Egyptian Armed Forces and other buyers and sellers from other countries around the world. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi inaugurated the event, Monday, and visited the Hanwha booth to listen to the progress of the K9 project in Egypt.
9. Real South Korean labor abuses inspired Squid Game
Sigh...I suppose the logical next part of the argument they did not make would be to ask is north Korea a better system?
Real South Korean labor abuses inspired Squid Game
Countless workers have been sacrificed for the nation’s economic gain
asiatimes.com · by Greg Sharzer and Sudol Kang · November 29, 2021
Squid Game addresses this problem in an escapist, dystopian tale, suggesting the extreme lengths people might go to in order to rid themselves of debt.
Squid Game alludes to the actual violence of South Korean labor history, as well as the need to overcome real inequalities of income and living conditions, in South Korea and globally.
Questioning capitalism
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, just over 2,000 billionaires controlled the same amount of wealth as the 4.6 billion people who constitute 60 per cent of our global population. During the pandemic, American billionaires added US$2.1 trillion to their hoard.
Sacrifice of workers for economic gain
These tensions can be observed in the plight of South Korean workers sacrificed for the nation’s push for economic prosperity.
Chun’s book, They Are Not Machines: Korean Women Workers and their Fight for Democratic Trade Unionism in the 1970s, relays how the modern South Korean labor movement emerged from women’s leadership in this period.
Worker abuses famously led Chun’s older brother, activist Chun Tae-il, to self-immolate in protest, an act that sparked the modern South Korean labor movement. Workers first joined official unions and later formed their own, independent organizations.
Pro-labor, democracy movements
This labor organizing was suffused with violence. Chun details police and strikebreaker attacks on factory sit-ins in the 1970s and 1980 when there were state-led torture and killings of workers and activists. As sociologist Paul Y. Chang demonstrates, in the 1970s, there were over 1,000 arrests, 130 forced firings, 348 acts of violence, six kidnappings and two killings.
Wave of mass strikes
The demands for political liberalization by the democracy movement led directly to the “Great Worker Struggle,” a wave of mass strikes that formed 4,000 new unions with 700,000 new union members, as sociologist Hagen Koo explains.
Despite victories, including unions gaining recognition and the relaxation of harsh workplace disciplinary measures, state repression of the labor movement continued. In April 1989, Koo writes, police launched a military-style attack on striking Hyundai Heavy Industries workers in Ulsan, using boats, helicopters and 15,000 riot police.
Prosecutors in 2016 got a five-year jail term for Han Sang-gyun, leader of South Korea’s 800,000-strong independent union federation. In December 2015, as he left the Buddhist temple where he had been taking sanctuary, Han wore a bandanna with the message, “Stop temporary hiring.” Photo: KCTU
This systemic violence evolved in the neoliberal era. Sociologist Lee Yoonkyung shows how chaebols, South Korea’s family-run conglomerates, fund their subcontractors to hire union-busting private security firms, particularly against the Metal Unions Federation, the country’s strongest union grouping.
Workers from Ssangyong Motors fought forced early retirement and termination in 2009. Lee notes that their defeat plunged many into depression and that eight workers died by suicide.
Poverty and inequality gathering pace
This final conflict, when VIPs watch Gi-hun and Sang-woo’s final battle from the safety of a viewing box, mirrors capitalism’s survival game, where owners rationalize their production processes and lay off workers. The fight to save costs and raise profits sends the system into periodic convulsions. This was seen in 2008’s global economic crisis, when working people were victims.
In the final episode of Season 1, Gi-hun leaves a case full of cash for Sang-woo’s mother, with the proviso that she care for Sae-byeok’s young brother. While touching, it implied hopelessness; even if all the contestants survived, they couldn’t ease the low wages and high debt of South Korea’s workers.
Change, not escapism
Squid Game hints that individual solutions to poverty and debt are insufficient: workers are subject to the whims of the labor market and economic crises.
These reforms are necessary for a front-line defense of living conditions. But they are only a step toward changing the problems with neoliberalism: as long as wages, housing and other essentials are bought and sold on the market, the inequalities Squid Game vividly portrays will continue.
asiatimes.com · by Greg Sharzer and Sudol Kang · November 29, 2021
10. First suspected cases of omicron variant detected in S. Korea
(3rd LD) First suspected cases of omicron variant detected in S. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES with more info in paras 3, 6, 9-10)
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- The first suspected cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected in South Korea, health authorities said Tuesday, as the nation tightened its entry restrictions for the African region to prevent it from spreading into the country.
Health authorities have conducted a genome sequencing test on a couple who recently arrived in South Korea from Nigeria and the couple's acquaintance. They tested positive for COVID-19.
The authorities expected the result to be announced after 9 p.m. Wednesday.
The couple, who were fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, visited Nigeria on Nov. 14-23 and tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Tests were under way to establish if they have contracted the omicron variant, the KDCA said.
After contact tracing, one acquaintance and the couple's teenage child were found to be infected with the coronavirus.
The acquaintance was suspected of being infected with the omicron variant in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
Health authorities have also carried out a whole-genome sequencing test on the acquaintance.
The authorities have been tracing passengers who boarded a flight from Nigeria to Seoul via Ethiopia, which the couple boarded.
Of 81 passengers, 45 arrived in South Korea, and the nationalities of the arrivals are under investigation, the government said.
The government has decided to form a task force to discuss ways of coping with the spread of the omicron variant and stopping the inflow of the variant into the country.
From Sunday, South Korea restricted visa issuance and arrivals from eight African nations, including South Africa, to block the inflow of the new COVID-19 strain, joining a host of nations in imposing travel bans from and to the African region.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the omicron variant, first identified by scientists days ago in South Africa, a "variant of concern."
Although it will take time to assess the level of severity of the new strain, the WHO suggested the omicron variant posed an "increased risk of reinfection."
ksnam@yna.co.kr
(END)
11. N. Korea kicks up commemorative mood for late leader Kim Jong-il
Yes I bet the Korean people are in a real "commemorative mood."
I will never forget our Ranger Instructor on the PT platform at Ranger School bellowing out - "false motivation will get you nowhere."
Unfortunately for the Korean people, false motivation is a survival mechanism.
N. Korea kicks up commemorative mood for late leader Kim Jong-il | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's main newspaper on Wednesday published a series of stories lauding late leader Kim Jong-il ahead of the 10th anniversary of his death this month.
Kim Jong-il, father of current leader Kim Jong-un, died on Dec. 17, 2011, having ruled the reclusive regime since the death of his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Kim Jong-un, the third son of the late leader, took over the helm of the North in another hereditary succession of power.
In an editorial, the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Kim Jong-il is a great leader who laid the foundation for building a strong socialist country.
"The great leader Kim Jong-il's aspiration for a strong country ... is turning into a shining reality thanks to Kim Jong-un," the paper said.
Eyes are on whether North Korea will hold a massive public event for the upcoming anniversary, as Pyongyang usually marks every fifth or 10th anniversary with larger events.
The North held a large-scale gathering in Pyongyang to commemorate Kim Jong-il's death on the first, second, third and fifth anniversaries.
Last year, Kim paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the body of the late leader lies in state, to mark the ninth anniversary of his death.
scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)
12. Moon says S. Korea-U.S. alliance 'linchpin' of Northeast Asian peace
Moon says S. Korea-U.S. alliance 'linchpin' of Northeast Asian peace | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in stressed Wednesday that the alliance between South Korea and the United States serves as a key pillar in maintaining peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.
At a dinner reception celebrating the bilateral alliance in Seoul, Moon said that the alliance served as the foundation for "South Korea's security and diplomacy" while describing it as the "linchpin of peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia."
Moon's speech was read by Suh Hoon, Seoul's national security adviser.
The event was hosted by the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation and the Korea Defense Veterans Association on the eve of the two countries' annual defense ministerial talks, the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), set for Thursday in Seoul.
The president praised the alliance for developing into a reciprocal partnership expanding across areas of economy, culture and science technology, and added that the friendship between the two nations has also deepened.
Moon added that the power of the alliance will "ceaselessly prove" how it benefits the Korean Peninsula and the world in terms of peace, and thanked the South Korean troops and U.S. soldiers stationed here for maintaining peace.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
13. Pentagon chief stresses unity in S. Korea-U.S. alliance amid Sino-U.S. rivalry
Excerpt:
"No one should set out on a long journey without a trusted partner, knowing that any perils encountered along the way were better faced together. That ideal drives our efforts to look across the horizon and to confront the challenges of tomorrow," Austin said.
Pentagon chief stresses unity in S. Korea-U.S. alliance amid Sino-U.S. rivalry | Yonhap News Agency
By Song Sang-ho and Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday stressed the importance of unity in the South Korea-U.S. alliance to confront the "challenges of tomorrow" amid an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry.
Austin made the remarks during a dinner gathering in Seoul, hours after he arrived in Seoul to attend the two countries' annual defense ministerial talks, the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) slated for Thursday.
"No one should set out on a long journey without a trusted partner, knowing that any perils encountered along the way were better faced together. That ideal drives our efforts to look across the horizon and to confront the challenges of tomorrow," Austin said.
"We'll do it the way old friends should together and may we go forward together now and for many, many decades to come," he added.
Austin also cast the bilateral alliance as a partnership built on "common values and principles."
"We share a special type of trust because we have fought and sacrificed alongside one another to defend freedom and democracy," the secretary said.
At the gathering, the Pentagon chief also highlighted the "ironclad" commitment to the defense of South Korea, amid lingering concerns over North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile programs.
The dinner session meant to celebrate the 53rd SCM was hosted by the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation and the Korea Defense Veterans Association.
On the margins of the event, former U.S. congressman Charles Rangel received a South Korean government award for his dedication to the alliance. He did not attend the ceremony in person.
Rangel, also a Korean War veteran, was given this year's Paik Sun-yup Award, which was named after the best-known South Korean hero of the 1950-53 conflict. The former congressman served as a representative in the district of New York from 1971 to 2017.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
14. Military veterans' groups join hands to help bolster Korea-US relations
The Korea Defense Veeteran's Association (KDVA) has become one of the strong voices for the alliance. It is great to see the KATUSAs being recognized for their unique and important contributions to the alliance.
The KATUSAs will be recognized and honored at the Korean War Memorial. It is unprecedented to have foreign soldiers recognized and named on a war memorial on the Mall. Having their names on the wall is a testament to the strength of the ROK/US Alliance.
Excerpt:
Currently, the Wall of Remembrance is being built in Washington, D.C. that will display the names of 36,595 U.S. soldiers and 7,174 KATUSA soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the 1950-53 Korean War. As part of efforts to enhance the Korea-U.S. alliance, the KVA has raised funds for the construction of the wall, the KVA chief added.
Military veterans' groups join hands to help bolster Korea-US relations
Korea Defense Veterans Association President Vincent Brooks, center, and KATUSA Veterans Association Chairman Kim Hae-sung, fourth from left, pose at the Millennium Hilton Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday, after signing a memorandum of understanding to work together to enhance the bilateral alliance between Korea and the United States. Third from right is Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin. Courtesy of KATUSA Veterans Association
By Kang Seung-woo
The Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) and the KATUSA Veterans Association (KVA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together to enhance the bilateral alliance between Korea and the United States.
KATUSA stands for Korean Augmentation to the United States Army. Under the program, Korean soldiers are given posts in U.S. military bases in the country.
The agreement was signed between KDVA President Vincent Brooks, former U.S. Forces Korea commander, and KVA Chairman Kim Hae-sung at the Millennium Hilton Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday.
According to the MOU, the two organizations will bolster cooperation in areas promoting the well-being of veterans and supporting the Korea-U.S. alliance by jointly setting up programs to facilitate education, discussion, exchanges, and research topics of interest to promote understanding between them.
Also, the two organizations will carry out joint charitable programs to honor and remember the sacrifices of armed forces personnel in Korea.
Understanding the need for regular communications or meetings on activities, they plan to hold phone or Zoom calls one or twice a year.
"I strongly believe that this MOU will commit us to work together more closely toward the next level. We will pursue many significant activities and events, such as forums, community fundraising events, charity activities and group programs to strengthen the Korea-U.S. alliance," the KVA chairman said.
Currently, the Wall of Remembrance is being built in Washington, D.C. that will display the names of 36,595 U.S. soldiers and 7,174 KATUSA soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the 1950-53 Korean War. As part of efforts to enhance the Korea-U.S. alliance, the KVA has raised funds for the construction of the wall, the KVA chief added.
15. N. Korean middle school student sentenced to 14 years of forced labor for watching S. Korean film
Imagine your middle school child being sent to prison for 14 years of hard labor for watching 5 minutes of video. How would you handle that?
N. Korean middle school student sentenced to 14 years of forced labor for watching S. Korean film
North Korea's anti-reactionary thought law calls for anywhere from five to 15 years of forced labor for individuals caught watching, listening to or storing South Korean films
A middle school student was recently sentenced to 14 years of forced labor for watching just five minutes of a South Korean film.
The heavy sentence, which has sparked controversy in the country, comes as North Korea’s government continues to emphasize the need to promote “ideological education” among young people.
A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Tuesday that on Nov. 7, a 14-year-old middle school student in Hyesan — identified only by his middle name of Han — was arrested after watching the South Korean film “The Man from Nowhere.” He said the student was sentenced to 14 years of forced labor, despite being busted just five minutes into the film.
According to explanatory material for North Korea’s law against “reactionary” thought and culture obtained by Daily NK, Article 27 calls for anywhere from five to 15 years of forced labor for individuals caught watching, listening to or storing South Korean films, recordings, edited material, books, songs, drawings or photos.
The law does not explicitly call for punishing teenagers, but Han’s harsh sentence suggests that the law is being applied in full to minors as well. The long sentence also appears aimed at sending a message; namely, teens will get no passes on account of their youth.
Also noteworthy is that Han received such a heavy sentence despite watching just five minutes of the film. North Korean authorities — aware that South Korean films and TV programs are quite popular among North Korean youth — may be trying to generate a climate of fear by applying the law to the letter.
“The Man from Nowhere” movie poster / Image: Movie poster capture
In September, the Supreme People’s Assembly adopted a law to strengthen youth education, calling for bolstered ideological education. Since then, North Korean media outlets have been engaged in a propaganda effort calling for an intensive struggle against anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior.
The student’s parents could also face punishment as they would be “guilty by association.”
In fact, articles 34 to 38 of the September education law calls for fines of KPW 100,000 to 200,000 if “irresponsible” educational efforts result in young people committing crimes related to “reactionary thought and culture.”
However, rather than simply paying a fine, offenders could instead be exiled or dragged off to a political prison.
Since last year, North Korean authorities have opened three new political prison camps in Sungho-ri and Pyongsan County in North Hwanghae Province and Pihyon County in North Pyongan Province. People imprisoned in these new camps have been found guilty of violating the law against “reactionary” thought and culture, including those who watched foreign TV programs or films, or who used foreign-made cell phones. Some have even been imprisoned along with their families.
The source said that recently, the “unified command on non-socialist and anti-socialist behavior” has been busier than ever. He added that with Han, the middle school student, receiving such a heavy sentence, the authorities will likely come down hard on his parents, too, believing his “bloodline” to be a problem.
16. Ask a North Korean: What do North Koreans think of regime sympathizers?
A very important article with some very insightful perspectives in this interview with my good friend from north Korea Hyun-seung Lee.
Unfortunately it is behind the paywall so apologies for the cut and paste format.
Ask a North Korean: What do North Koreans think of regime sympathizers?
Former Pyongyang elite says few care about overseas supporters and responds to those who doubt defector stories
Image: KCTV | A screenshot from a short North Korean documentary about U.K. Korea Friendship Association Chairman Dermot Hudson
“Ask a North Korean” is an NK News series featuring interviews with North Korean defectors, most of whom left the DPRK within the last few years.
Readers may submit their questions for defectors by emailing ask@nknews.org and including their first name and city of residence.
Today’s question is from Evan Sutton, who asks what North Koreans think about those in the West who support the Pyongyang regime.
Hyun-seung Lee — who comes from an elite North Korean family and defected in 2014 — spoke with NK News about state propaganda on overseas sympathizers, how DPRK spy agencies leverage such support and how he would respond to those who deny his and other defectors’ testimonies about North Korea.
Lee now resides in the U.S. and runs the Pyonghattan YouTube channel with his sister.
The UK branch of the Korean Friendship Association pickets the South Korean embassy in London, Nov. 2013 | Image: NK News
NK News: What do you think of Westerners who defend North Korea and its government, such as those who claim that every single bad thing about North Korea is CIA propaganda and that defectors are fake?
Lee: That they believe the North Korean line — that American propaganda paints North Korean in a bad light — really surprised me at first. I couldn’t wrap my head around there being foreigners who support the North Korean government and believe that defectors are liars.
I lived a life of the North Korean elite class for 29 years. It was after I understood the true nature of the Kim Jong Un regime that I defected. Why do these pro-North foreigners have no regard for the suffering of North Korean people? I sometimes feel angry when I see these supporters of the DPRK government refusing to listen to the testimonies and laments of scores of North Korean defectors.
I went through over 20 years of anti-American education in North Korea. In kindergarten, I learned of how the American imperialists invaded the Korean Peninsula and started a war. It was drilled into me that they were demons who murdered countless people … However, I’ve lived in America for five years now and haven’t seen anti-North Korean education anywhere.
I do see many books containing analysis of the North Korean government’s actions, and the testimony of defectors. If those supporters of North Korea say that such books are CIA propaganda, then I must disabuse them of such a delusion.
Pins from the DPRK | Image: Wikimedia Commons
NK News: How would you counter those who deny the experiences of defectors like yourself?
Lee: To those defenders of North Korea in the West and elsewhere, who claim that the North Korean government can do no wrong, as well as to those Korean Americans who lay the blame on America for North Korea’s nuclear program, I have three important facts regarding North Korea I would like to remind them of.
First, the problem of whether North Korea is a country that safeguards human rights and freedom. There’s no beating around the bush: North Korea habitually violates universal human values. The DPRK is also a country where the people’s right to pursue happiness is not guaranteed.
Second, it is only when one considers North Korea’s inhumane domestic policies — the cruel executions and political prison camps that have been run for decades now — that one approaches a better understanding of the country. I have witnessed with my own eyes friends being executed by anti-aircraft artillery and being dragged off to political prison camps. I’ve also had friends who I assumed dead return from political prison camps.
Lastly, guess how much the average North Korean citizen lives off per year? If only it were possible for them to live in the DPRK not as a privileged foreigner but as an ordinary North Korean … After living as a North Korean, they will soon understand clearly.
KFA President Alejandro Cao de Benos (left) shakes hands with KFA imposter Ulrich Larsen in the film “The Mole” | Image: Piraya Film & Wingman Media
NK News: DPRK propaganda regularly features the Korean Friendship Association (KFA), aiming to give the impression North Korea’s government and the Juche ideology have many followers in foreign countries. Do most North Koreans believe this?
Lee: People who haven’t had much contact with the outside world tend to believe North Korean propaganda. Such propaganda is repeated a hundred, two hundred times over, and people subconsciously come to believe it. For decades, North Korea has put great effort into propagating the lie that its leaders are like gods.
North Korean people have little interest in the specifics of individuals or groups supporting the country from the outside. Only specific institutions such as the Workers’ Party of Korea’s United Front Department (UFD) and the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (CCRFC) take an interest in this. This is because it is their job to win over foreigners and get them to praise the Pyongyang regime. Other than these state institutions, nobody else has any interest in groups such as Women Cross DMZ or Korean Americans who support the North.
North Korean elites are well aware that these groups are little more than pawns in North Korea’s propaganda operations. Even if they might have heard some specific names, they will treat this area as something they don’t need to know. There’s always the fear that being too involved with such people might lead one to be accused of being a spy, which needless to say has dire consequences. Thus North Koreans generally have no interest in pro-North outsiders.
KFA U.K. Chairman Dermot Hudson | Image: KCTV
NK News: Had you heard of KFA Chairman Alejandro Cao de Benós or KFA UK Chairman Dermot Hudson while living in North Korea?
In North Korea, there are literally only a handful of people who know about them. Regardless of them having been in documentaries, most North Korean people couldn’t care less. This is because these people are merely propaganda tools that are being mobilized to promote the regime in and outside North Korea.
The UFD specifically manages these people, as well as Korean Americans friendly to North Korea. They act according to UFD directives.
An acquaintance’s father was a UFD vice director, and I also have several friends who work for the UFD. Thus I’ve heard accounts of the activities and roles of such pro-North groups and individuals from those in the know.
Former DPRK diplomat Thae Yong-ho (center, holding newspaper) with the U.K. branch of the KFA | Image: Friends of Korea
NK News: KFA works with CCRFC as their North Korean partner. Do you have any insight into the relationship between the two groups?
The South Korean government classifies CCRFC as a civilian-run nongovernmental organization that deals with the outside world. However, CCRFC is actually a pseudo-espionage organization engaging in operations for the North Korean government under the guise of civilian exchange. The CCRFC was initially a separate entity but merged under the UFD in the early 2000s. It is more like a spy agency, while UFD is focused more on community building with pro-North Korea groups.
CCRFC’s main task is to groom spies in South Korea, Japan and America who can carry out pro-North work on the ground as well as provide information to Pyongyang. It is likely that many of those engaged in such pro-North work are themselves unaware of this, and that North Koreans have brainwashed and won them over.
Also, in spite of how short of money North Korea is, CCRFC and other spy organizations have no limitations on how they use money. In the past, they received money from the party, but now they make and use their own money. The department is not tasked with raising money for the regime.
Edited by Bryan Betts
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V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
