Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners

Quotes of the Day:

“A society without the means to detect lies and theft soon squanders its liberty and freedom.”
- Chris Hedges

“It is not to political leaders our people must look, but to
themselves. Leaders are but individuals, and individuals are
imperfect, liable to error and weakness. The strength of the
nation will be the strength of the spirit of the whole people.”
- Michael Collins

 Joint Publication 3-05, “Special Operations,” 
a resistance movement is:
"An organized effort by some portion of the civil population
of a country to resist the legally established government or
an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability."




1. N.K. propaganda website slams S. Korea for pushing ahead with upcoming joint military drill with U.S.
2. An Interview with NED President Carl Gershman
3. N.K. official paper calls for continued efforts for self-reliance even if economic conditions improve
4. U.S. possesses capabilities to counter cyber attacks: Pentagon
5. Appeal made to Britain's top envoy on North defectors
6. Lord David Alton's Letter on Human Rights (north Korea and China)
7. No secret: Kim is giving away military’s rice store
8. No breakthrough in sight for Seoul-Tokyo ties after summit called off
9. Defense minister apologizes for outbreak on destroyer
10. Could North Korea Be Sitting on Big Oil Reserves?
11. North Korea and Iran Have a Very Special Missile Relationship
12. Young generation arises as new center of Korean politics, economy
13. North Korean defector hits out at woke brigade: 'Even Kim isn't this crazy!'
 



1. N.K. propaganda website slams S. Korea for pushing ahead with upcoming joint military drill with U.S.
Do not overreact to this. But prepared for the possible nK provocation. This nK propaganda invokes the US "hostile policy" and the September 19th north-South agreement (Comprehensive Military Agreement) and of course the training on the defense plan against a north Korean attack of the South is touted by the regime as an invasion plan of the north.

My recommended six steps for dealing with a north Korean provocation:

First, do not overreact. But do not succumb to the criticism of those who recommend ending exercises. 
 
Second, never ever back down in the face of north Korean increased tension, threats, and provocations.
 
Third, coordinate an alliance response. There may be times when a good cop-bad cop approach is appropriate.  Try to mitigate the internal domestic political criticisms that will inevitably occur in Seoul and DC. Do not let those criticisms negatively influence policy and actions.
 
Fourth, exploit weakness in north Korea - cause internal pressure on Kim and the regime from his elite and military. Always work to drive a wedge among the party, elite, and military (which is a challenge since they are all intertwined and inextricably linked).
 
Fifth, demonstrate strength and resolve. Do not be afraid to show military strength. Never misunderstand the north's propaganda - do not give into demands to reduce exercises or take other measures based on north Korean demands that would in any way reduce the readiness of the combined military forces. The north does not want an end to the exercises because they are a threat, they want to weaken the alliance and force the US troops from the peninsula which will be the result if they are unable to effectively train.
 
Sixth, depending on the nature of the provocation, be prepared to initiate a decisive response using the most appropriate tools, e.g., diplomatic, military, economic, information and influence activities, cyber, etc. or a combination.

N.K. propaganda website slams S. Korea for pushing ahead with upcoming joint military drill with U.S. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · July 20, 2021
SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean propaganda outlet on Tuesday slammed South Korea for pushing ahead with a joint military drill with the United States set for next month, calling it a scheme to invade the North.
Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, made the point in an editorial as South Korea and the U.S. are expected to hold the annual summertime military exercise that Pyongyang has long branded as a rehearsal for invasion.
"It clearly shows the nefarious scheme of the fanatics that are pushing ahead with their war to invade the North and fight their own people," the website said.
The website also accused Seoul of violating the Sept. 19 military agreement and an inter-Korean declaration adopted during the first-ever summit in 2000, calling it the drill "a scheme to strengthen its armed forces."
Meari, another propaganda website, also slammed South Korea for planning the exercise despite the global coronavirus pandemic and accused it of threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the world.
North Korea has long denounced Seoul and Washington's military drills, calling on the U.S. to end its hostile policy. The South and the U.S. reject such claims, saying that the exercises are purely defensive in nature.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · July 20, 2021



2. An Interview with NED President Carl Gershman

NED - the best civilian NGO for providing support to civilian organizations conducting a form of unconventional warfare. (they will not like that I said that) :-) .

I am honored to serve with Carl on the board of the COmmittee for Human Rights in North Korea.

Advice for young people and Koreans living in the north:
Daily NK: Do you have any words of wisdom for the young people of today?
Gershman: Don’t take freedom for granted. The United States and South Korea are both very polarized politically today, and people have a lot of grievances. But we need to keep perspective and remember how fortunate we are to be living in free societies. Of course we need to make our societies better and more just, and to address the problems of the poor and the marginalized. But we also need to feel gratitude for the advantages we have and not to get cynical or negative.
Also, don’t get discouraged. As I reflect on my experiences at NED, I’ve come to understand that obstacles can often be opportunities for innovation. Back in 1987 we were the target of a really nasty attack in the press. It made me realize that we needed to tell our story to Congress and the public, and so we organized our first international conference, which we held in the US Congress. We brought to Washington many of the leading activists we were supporting all over the world, and it put us on the map. This and other such gatherings not only built support for the NED but eventually evolved into what is today the World Movement for Democracy, which is a global network of democracy activists and practitioners. There are a lot of other examples like that. Never give up and always try to see problems as opportunities and turn them into advantages.
Daily NK: Do you have a message you’d like to share with North Korea’s people?
Gershman: I’d like them to know that they’re not alone. I think they were alone back in the 1990s, during the terrible famine, but a lot has changed since then. There are organizations in many countries working to defend human rights in North Korea. There are governments that support human rights in North Korea, and it’s become an issue in the United Nations. There’s a long struggle ahead, and eventually, as the totalitarian system erodes, people in North Korea will become more politically conscious and better organized. It’s especially important for this message to get to the people in the prison camps, the North Korean Gulag. I know that’s very difficult. But messages of concern and solidarity have penetrated into such dark places before, so it’s not impossible.
An Interview with NED President Carl Gershman - Daily NK
dailynk.com · July 20, 2021
Daily NK recently conducted an interview with soon-to-be-retiring National Endowment for Democracy (NED) President Carl Gershman. NED is a long-time sponsor of Daily NK’s work.
Daily NK: Since its founding in 1983 by the US Congress, NED has long supported democracy organizations all over the world. You have been its chairman ever since its founding, so I was wondering what was the most memorable experience you had while working to promote democracy globally over the past 40 or so years?
Gershman: That’s a hard question since the world has changed dramatically and repeatedly since I started at NED in April 1984, as has the NED itself. The NED was a very controversial idea in the beginning since it was private and independent organization funded by the Congress, and it was also working on the sensitive issue of supporting democratic change in foreign countries. Members of Congress on both the left and the right worried that that we might become ideological and veer off to one side or the other. The left didn’t want us to be too anti-communist, and the right feared that we might become an instrument for opposing authoritarian governments allied with the US – what were called at the time “friendly tyrants.” We had to prove our bona fides, and slowly but surely we won over friends on both sides. Liberals applauded the role we played in supporting the transitions in Chile, South Africa, Taiwan, and South Korea, too. And conservatives liked our support for dissidents in Cuba and other communist countries. Everyone welcomed the very significant support we gave to Solidarity in Poland, where the victory for democracy helped bring the Cold War to an end. Probably the most memorable experience back then was the victory in Nicaragua of the democratic opposition under the leadership of Violeta Chamorro, which brought a democratic end to the Central America conflict that was the most divisive foreign-policy issue in American politics in the 1980s.
Of course there have been many other memorable and important struggles and experiences over the decades. For me the most satisfying experience was supporting and getting to know some of the very heroic fighters for freedom and democracy – from luminaries like His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Czech dissident, writer and president Vaclav Havel, to courageous heroes like Martin Lee in Hong Kong, the murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and Elena Bonner who was the widow of the Nobel Laureate Dr. Andrei Sakharov. I never had the honor of meeting the Chinese Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo, but I feel like I knew him since I’ve quoted him so frequently and met his widow Liu Xia when she was allowed to leave China after her husband’s death in prison, one of the CCP’s many human-rights crimes. I feel incredibly privileged to have known these and hundreds and even thousands of other brave people who are fighting for freedom and the defense of human dignity.
Daily NK: While NED has worked to promote human rights in Africa, Southeast Asia and other places throughout the globe, the organization has spent considerable effort on improving the human rights situation in North Korea. I wanted to ask why NED chose to place so much focus on the North Korean human rights issue.
Gershman: That’s a good question. In the 1990s, after the great democratic gains of the late 1980s, we were looking for new challenges. Two members of the NED Board insisted that we try to find a way to get involved in North Korea, which was the most closed country in the world. One of them was Dr. Fred Ikle, a former under-secretary of defense in the Reagan Administration and one of America’s leading strategic thinkers. The other was Stephen Solarz, a former Democratic Congressman who had made several visits to North Korea to meet with Kim Il Sung and who was also Kim Dae Jung’s best friend and most fervent supporter in the US Congress. Both of them have now passed away and I remember them with gratitude and affection.
In response to this Board pressure, we were looking for a way to get started on North Korea. But NED is a grant-making institution, and since we couldn’t find a group working on this issue that could carry out a good project, we were stymied. Then one day in 1996 we received a publication called “Life and Human Rights in North Korea.” It was published by a new organization – the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights. All of a sudden we had a potential grantee, a place to begin. Before long we were talking with the group’s founder, Rev. Benjamin Yoon, about a project that turned out to be the first International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees.
I attended that first conference, where I gave a talk called “Ending the Silence.” I said that there were three reasons for the silence: The closed nature of the North Korean system, which made it hard for human rights groups to gather and verify information about human rights abuses; the fear some had that raising the issue would provoke a conflict with North Korea; and finally the difficulty of separating the issue of human rights from what I called “the complex politics of the divided peninsula,” by which I meant the tendency of both right and left in South Korea to use the issue politically.
Rev. Yoon was very rare since he was interested only in human rights, not partisan politics. He had chaired Amnesty International in South Korea during the military dictatorship, and he had no hang-ups when he spoke about the terrible human rights situation in North Korea about having to prove his “progressive” credentials on having opposed the old authoritarian government in South Korea. He had a single standard on human rights and was a great person to work with.
Before long the silence ended. The UN appointed a special rapporteur for North Korea, and eventually there was a UN Commission of Inquiry that produced a landmark report on the crimes committed by the North Korean regime, including “extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation.”
We also supported programs in many other areas – short-wave broadcasting and other ways to break the information blockade imposed by the regime in Pyongyang; reporting from inside North Korea, which Daily NK does so well; helping human-rights groups started by the growing number North Korean defectors in South Korea; and supporting sophisticated human-rights documentation that is laying the foundation for what will eventually be a process of transitional justice following the demise of the totalitarian regime in North Korea, something that I think is inevitable.
Daily NK: Based on your long experience at NED, in what ways do you think that the organization has helped improve the human rights situation in North Korea?
Gershman: The programs I’ve described have definitely helped improve the human-rights situation in North Korea. They’ve given people information and raised their consciousness. They’ve saved North Korean refugees stranded in China. They’ve put the pressure of international public opinion on the North Korean regime, which has helped open up a small space for an emerging civil society, something that is starting to develop in the private markets or jangmadang. North Korea is not becoming democratic. But the totalitarian system is beginning to erode, and eventually this will bring about the system’s unravelling. This is a process that has happened before in other communist countries in the Soviet bloc, including the Soviet Union itself. It is a process that is driven not by NED or other external actors but by the internal contradictions of the communist system – the economic inefficiencies, the impossibility of preventing people from learning about the outside world, what Reagan in his Westminster Address called “the instinctive desire for freedom.” All we can do is to help people living in closed and repressive systems to begin to understand democracy and human rights, so that when the system does eventually open up they’re more prepared than they otherwise might have been to build a new system and not descend into chaos.
Carl Gershman / Image: Wikipedia, Creative Commons
Daily NK: Many point out that the North Korean government is more resilient than it may have seemed. Do you think it would be difficult to improve the human rights situation in North Korea if Kim Jong Un remains in power?
Gershman: That’s a tough question. I think dictatorships like the Kim Jong Un regime in North Korea and the Xi regime in China are very conscious of what happened in the Soviet Union when Gorbachev opened up the system with perestroika and glasnost and the communist regime quickly unraveled and collapsed. They want to hold on to the bitter end, and that means there will be no liberalization under their rule. But such closed systems have their own contradictions, as I’ve said. As the scholar Minxin Pei pointed out in his recent Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture, a totalitarian regime can slow the process of opening but it can’t prevent it entirely. North Korea has the added problem of having a free and democratic Korean society right across the border in the South. It’s a powerful attraction, and I don’t see how it can resist forever the gravitational pull of the South. As Abraham Lincoln said, a house divided against itself cannot stand.
Daily NK: We wanted to ask a somewhat personal question about you. We know that you have spent much of your life fighting to spread democracy; we’re wondering, however, how you define democracy. What is your own definition of democracy?
Gershman: Democracy is government by consent – government of the people, by the people, and for the people, as Lincoln said. That requires institutions and processes – free elections, the rule of law, a free press, an independent judiciary, checks and balances to prevent the concentration of power, the fundamental freedoms of expression and association, and so forth. I think it’s also essential to have a market economy since political freedom, as the Free Enterprise and Democracy Network points out, “depends on freedom in economic life and the limitation of political power over the economy.” A social welfare safety net to protect the poor is also important to make democracy inclusive. It’s really not that complicated, and one has to guard against hyphenated versions of democracy – managed democracy, for example, as Putin has called it, or China’s “socialist” democracy, Iran’s “Islamic” democracy, or the so-called Bolivarian democracy in Venezuela. Such adjectives are really just a way to rationalize the suppression of basic freedoms and democratic processes. The only adjective that one can put in front of democracy without distorting its meaning is the word “liberal” that can be used to distinguish democracy from all authoritarian and Orwellian perversions of the term. Democracy is a very difficult system to build and maintain because it requires finding the proper balance between rivalry and consensus, between the competition for power and the need for compromise, and between partisan differences and the common good. But it is the only system that can secure human freedom.
Daily NK: You have an unusual amount of experience in projects aimed at promoting human rights. What have you found to be the most effective ways to promote improvements in human rights in a particular country?
Gershman: Every country is different, but there are certain things that apply everywhere: strengthening an independent civil society that can be a check on corruption and the abuse of power; supporting a free press that can expose abuse and that enables people to be informed so that they can participate responsibly in the political process. Supporting the rule of law is also essential so that rights are not abused by authoritarian rulers; and obviously defending free elections and the right to vote are fundamental freedoms that are needed to hold governments accountable. Defending human rights is a constant process since, as the American abolitionist Wendall Phillips once said, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”
Daily NK: You and NED have been together since the organization’s founding. Do you believe the organization will change when you leave? What role do you think the organization should take on going forward?
Gershman: It certainly will change in small ways as it adapts to a rapidly changing political and social environment. NED is already becoming much more adept technologically, both in using technology to protect human rights and promote freedom of expression and civic participation; and in defending the NED and its partners from the abuse of technology and surveillance by malign foreign governments. The challenges today are enormous since democracy has been on the defensive for more than a decade. According to the last Freedom House survey, political and civil liberties in the world have declined for 15 consecutive years. That’s terrible, and the NED must try to help reverse this trend. This will involve helping pivotal democratic transitions to succeed in Sudan, Armenia, and other countries; sustaining democracy activists resisting despotic governments; countering authoritarian sharp power in the information space; building greater cooperation and shared learning among groups working to aid democracy; strengthening liberal values against the rising tide of illiberalism and extremism; and helping democrats compete with authoritarians in the arena of technology. The NED can’t do this alone, but it can be a catalyst, a coalition builder, and a source of practical support and moral solidarity. That’s an enormous job, to say the least.
Daily NK: What plans do you have following your retirement?
Gershman: I hope to write a book about my experience in building and managing the NED over these many years.
Daily NK: Do you have any words of wisdom for the young people of today?
Gershman: Don’t take freedom for granted. The United States and South Korea are both very polarized politically today, and people have a lot of grievances. But we need to keep perspective and remember how fortunate we are to be living in free societies. Of course we need to make our societies better and more just, and to address the problems of the poor and the marginalized. But we also need to feel gratitude for the advantages we have and not to get cynical or negative.
Also, don’t get discouraged. As I reflect on my experiences at NED, I’ve come to understand that obstacles can often be opportunities for innovation. Back in 1987 we were the target of a really nasty attack in the press. It made me realize that we needed to tell our story to Congress and the public, and so we organized our first international conference, which we held in the US Congress. We brought to Washington many of the leading activists we were supporting all over the world, and it put us on the map. This and other such gatherings not only built support for the NED but eventually evolved into what is today the World Movement for Democracy, which is a global network of democracy activists and practitioners. There are a lot of other examples like that. Never give up and always try to see problems as opportunities and turn them into advantages.
Daily NK: Do you have a message you’d like to share with North Korea’s people?
Gershman: I’d like them to know that they’re not alone. I think they were alone back in the 1990s, during the terrible famine, but a lot has changed since then. There are organizations in many countries working to defend human rights in North Korea. There are governments that support human rights in North Korea, and it’s become an issue in the United Nations. There’s a long struggle ahead, and eventually, as the totalitarian system erodes, people in North Korea will become more politically conscious and better organized. It’s especially important for this message to get to the people in the prison camps, the North Korean Gulag. I know that’s very difficult. But messages of concern and solidarity have penetrated into such dark places before, so it’s not impossible.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
dailynk.com · July 20, 2021


3. N.K. official paper calls for continued efforts for self-reliance even if economic conditions improve

And the "purity" of ideology is critical to the survival of the regime and control of the Korean people living in the north.
It also underlined the importance of "purity" of ideology, apparently in line with the North's recently ramped-up emphasis on safeguarding socialism against the inflow of capitalistic culture into the country.

N.K. official paper calls for continued efforts for self-reliance even if economic conditions improve | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · July 19, 2021
SEOUL, July 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's official newspaper on Monday called for continued efforts to realize a self-reliant economy even if the situation improves, saying the country would end up subservient to others unless it is able to stand on its own.
North Korea's emphasis on "self-reliance" appears intended to tighten internal discipline amid bleak economic conditions caused by prolonged global sanctions and border controls to ward off a coronavirus outbreak.
"Even if the room for exchanges and cooperation becomes larger and favorable conditions and environment are created going forward, absence of belief in its own power would inevitably lead to subjugation," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's official newspaper, said in a front-page commentary.
"Being blinded by sleek things owned by others and satisfied by a one-off achievement just before our eyes without strengthening our own power are a stupid act that would invite self-destruction," the paper added.
The paper urged party leaders to commit themselves to public service and work hard to eradicate bureaucracy, corruption and others that undercut people's creativity.
It also underlined the importance of "purity" of ideology, apparently in line with the North's recently ramped-up emphasis on safeguarding socialism against the inflow of capitalistic culture into the country.
Meanwhile, the paper's commentary was also carried by the party's monthly magazine Laborers. This marked the seventh time since the two party organs carried such a joint commentary since leader Kim Jong-un took office in late 2011.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 고병준 · July 19, 2021


4. U.S. possesses capabilities to counter cyber attacks: Pentagon


U.S. possesses capabilities to counter cyber attacks: Pentagon | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · July 20, 2021
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, July 19 (Yonhap) -- The United States maintains and continues to advance its capabilities to counter any cyber attacks from countries such as China and North Korea, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.
John Kirby made the remarks as the U.S., along with a long list of its allies including the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, called out China as a state sponsor of malicious cyber activities. accusing China's Ministry of State Security of hiring contract criminal hackers to carry out both "state-sponsored activities and cyber crime for their own financial gain."
"We are very confident that we have significant cyber capability, and those capabilities continue to advance every year," the Defense Department spokesman said when asked about U.S. cyber capabilities.
"I believe the (defense) secretary is very comfortable ... and he remains very impressed by the capability that we have in the cyber realm," added Kirby.

Kirby refused to discuss specific details when asked about possible collaboration between Chinese and North Korean actors in China, only reiterating that his country has enough capabilities to counter cyber attacks.
"With respect to cyber security, we have a range of capabilities that are at our disposal to do that (counter attacks)," he said.
He also noted the Department of Defense is "part of the interagency discussion about how to respond to cyber attacks and how to become more resilient as a government, as a society."
North Korea is said to have up to 6,000 trained hackers who are based in other countries, mostly in China, to avoid being tracked back to their homeland.
The U.S. has said North Korea stands out as an "unique" country among countries that pose a threat to cyber security in that the impoverished country has largely sought to steal money through its cyber activities.
A group of three North Korean actors was brought to the United States this year to face trial on charges of attempting to steal some US$1.3 billion in cash and cryptocurrency from foreign banks and businesses between 2014 and 2018.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · July 20, 2021


5. Appeal made to Britain's top envoy on North defectors

Again, and I will continue to beat this horse, China is complicit in north Korean human rights abuses and crimes against humanity. 

Excerpts:

“We are writing to bring to your attention the forcible repatriation of 50 North Korean escapees by Chinese authorities on Wednesday 14th July. These North Koreans will without doubt end up in prison and labour camps where they will very likely die, either by execution or as a result of the dire conditions and mistreatment,” reads a letter written by the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea on Monday.
 
“This must not be the fate of North Korean escapees who simply ask to be able to continue their journey via China to South Korea and other democratic nations.”
 
Around 50 North Korean defectors were deported from China to North Korea on July 14, according to the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia. They were reported to include North Korean soldiers, including an air force officer. 
 
Signed by Lord Alton of Liverpool, an independent and former member of the Liberal Party, and Timothy Cho, a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker in Britain and a member of the Conservative Party, the letter asked Raab to speak to the Chinese and South Korean ambassadors in London. 
 
Tuesday
July 20, 2021

Appeal made to Britain's top envoy on North defectors

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in a meeting at the headquarters of Korea's Foreign Ministry in central Seoul on Sept. 29, 2020. [NEWS1]
A British parliamentary group asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to get involved in hundreds of North Koreans trying to defect from China to South Korea. It asked Raab to meet with the South Korean and Chinese ambassadors in London.

 
“We are writing to bring to your attention the forcible repatriation of 50 North Korean escapees by Chinese authorities on Wednesday 14th July. These North Koreans will without doubt end up in prison and labour camps where they will very likely die, either by execution or as a result of the dire conditions and mistreatment,” reads a letter written by the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea on Monday.
 
“This must not be the fate of North Korean escapees who simply ask to be able to continue their journey via China to South Korea and other democratic nations.”
 
Around 50 North Korean defectors were deported from China to North Korea on July 14, according to the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia. They were reported to include North Korean soldiers, including an air force officer. 
 
Signed by Lord Alton of Liverpool, an independent and former member of the Liberal Party, and Timothy Cho, a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker in Britain and a member of the Conservative Party, the letter asked Raab to speak to the Chinese and South Korean ambassadors in London. 
 
"Meanwhile, there are several hundred more North Korean escapees detained in Shenyang, Tumen and other detention centres," said the letter. "We urge the international community [...] to call for these escapees to be deported to South Korea, which will automatically receive them under its ‘one Korea’ policy.
 
“We would therefore be grateful if the United Kingdom would organise a dialogue with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in London to raise this matter directly; and simultaneously raise this matter with the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in London,” said the letter.
 
Noting that China’s repatriation of North Korean defectors to North Korea is a violation of agreements outlined in the 1951 Refugee Geneva Convention, the 1967 Refugee Protocol, and the 1995 UN High Commissioners for Refugees, to which China is a signatory nation, the parliamentary group called for international attention to the matter and emphasized that Britain “should not remain silent."  
 
In recent press statements, the U.S. State Department has emphasized its resolve to address the human rights situation in the North.
 
“The United States is committed to placing human rights at the center of our foreign policy, including in the DPRK,” a press officer in the State Department told the Voice of America on Tuesday, using an acronym for the full name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “We will continue to prioritize human rights in our overall approach towards the DPRK. Even where we disagree with a regime like the DPRK, we must work to the best of our ability to alleviate the suffering of its people.”
 
According to a Politico report last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has asked American diplomats to prioritize human rights and democracy in their programs abroad.  
 
North Koreans trying to defect to the South often seek asylum at a Korean embassy in a third country. If they are caught during their escape, they can be sent to political prison camps or executed. 
 
Border closures in the North after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in fewer number of defections to the South in recent years. According to South Korea's Ministry of Unification, 31 North Koreans resettled in the South from January to March, and just two more from April to June. The numbers are significantly lower compared to last year: 147 North Koreans resettled in the South from January to June 2020. 

BY PARK HYUN-JU, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]



6. Lord David Alton's Letter on Human Rights (north Korea and China)


In advance of the launch tomorrow of a new report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea a letter has been sent today to Dominic Raab about the CCP’s forced repatriation of 50 North Korean escapees on 14th July. These North Koreans will without doubt end up in prison and labour camps where they will very likely die, either by execution or as a result of the dire conditions and mistreatment.
Jul 19, 2021 | Uncategorized

19 July, 2021
 
The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP
Secretary of State 
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
Dear Foreign Secretary,
 
We are writing to bring to your attention the forcible repatriation of 50 North Korean escapees by Chinese authorities on Wednesday 14th July. These North Koreans will without doubt end up in prison and labour camps where they will very likely die, either by execution or as a result of the dire conditions and mistreatment. China had delayed their repatriation for almost two years, holding these individuals in a Shenyang detention centre, until the sudden decision of the two countries made this week. According to our understanding, the complete border lockdown and a shoot-to-kill order of anyone approaching the border of North Korean authorities continue during the pandemic.
 
Meanwhile, there are several hundred more North Korean escapees detained in Shenyang, Tumen and other detention centres. We urge the international community to raise their cases with the authorities in China and to call for these escapees to be deported to South Korea, which will automatically receive them under its ‘one Korea’ policy. 
 
North Korean escapees have already endured enormous grief, pain and trauma, including severe violations of human rights in North Korea. The news of their forced repatriation creates significant fear, as they await their fate of interrogation, imprisonment, torture and even death in North Korea. 
 
Over the past two decades or more, China has forcibly repatriated hundreds of thousands of North Korean escapees, and most of whom ended up in the gulags and prison cells in desperate conditions. Only a small number of escapees have managed to escape again, including a few hundred North Korean defectors in the UK today.
 
This must not be the fate of North Korean escapees who simply ask to be able to continue their journey via China to South Korea and other democratic nations. It should remind us of the effort by Hungary and Austria to open their borders for East Germans to go to West Germany in the 1980s. Instead of China act responsibly according to humanitarian norms, the authorities in Beijing arrests North Korean escapees and sends them back to North Korea, in violations of its obligations as a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Geneva Convention, the 1967 Refugee Protocol, and the 1995 UN High Commissioners for Refugees.
The United Kingdom has a longstanding record of promoting and supporting human rights worldwide, and therefore should not remain silent on this profoundly important issue.
We would therefore be grateful if the United Kingdom would organise a dialogue with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in London to raise this matter directly; and simultaneously raise this matter with the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in London. We also encourage the United Kingdom to urge both China and South Korea to establish a constructive mechanism for the process of handling North Korean escapees in China. 
 
As Sir Winston Churchill said, “If we are together nothing is impossible.” Let us stand with North Korean escapees and work together with others to ensure they receive the assistance and protection they so desperately need. 
 
 
Yours sincerely,
 
 
Lord Alton of Liverpool, Co-chair All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea
 
Timothy Cho, Inquiry Clerk to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea
Benedict Rogers, Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission and Senior Analyst, East Asia, at CSW

V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Subscribe to FDD’s new podcast, Foreign Podicy
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.




7. No secret: Kim is giving away military’s rice store
These are interesting times in north Korea. We need to be wary and observant.

Excerpts:
What’s striking about the DailyNK story and headline is that such inroads into the war reserves – when, of necessity, they do happen – are supposed to be kept as a state secret.
Second-generation ruler Kim Jong Il warned in a 1996 speech to party officials that the country’s enemies
seeing our temporary troubles are crying out that our socialism has collapsed and are seeking the chance to invade. If the US imperialists know that we do not have rice for the military, then they will immediately invade us.
One of Kim’s highest-ranking listeners that day, already disaffected and soon to defect, recorded the speech and took the tape with him to South Korea. Its publication there did not trigger a US invasion.


No secret: Kim is giving away military’s rice store
But if you desperately order your wartime rice reserves distributed to the hungry, why let your enemies know you're doing it?

asiatimes.com · by Bradley K. Martin · July 19, 2021
“North Korea orders the release of military rice stores to general population” was the headline on a recent Daily NK article. Wow!
What’s surprising is not that the regime, confronted with undernourished people, many of them stunted from malnutrition and increasing numbers reported starving, would deplete its war-reserve rice stocks.
That had happened earlier – before and during the horrible famine of the mid-1990s. As former Korean People’s Army Second Lieutenant Kim Nam Joon told me when I interviewed him in 1994, five years after his 1989 defection:
We’re taught that we have a three-year supply of food and petroleum, but I speculate there isn’t much left. It’s just a pitiful situation. Even when I was there they would take rice from the wartime reserves. Now things are much worse, so it’s very probable they’re using the petroleum reserve now.
What’s striking about the DailyNK story and headline is that such inroads into the war reserves – when, of necessity, they do happen – are supposed to be kept as a state secret.

Second-generation ruler Kim Jong Il warned in a 1996 speech to party officials that the country’s enemies
seeing our temporary troubles are crying out that our socialism has collapsed and are seeking the chance to invade. If the US imperialists know that we do not have rice for the military, then they will immediately invade us.
One of Kim’s highest-ranking listeners that day, already disaffected and soon to defect, recorded the speech and took the tape with him to South Korea. Its publication there did not trigger a US invasion.
But then, the foe’s several missed opportunities over the decades since the 1953 signing of an armistice in the still officially ongoing Korean War (there’s been no peace treaty) do not seem to have prompted the Pyongyang regime to let down its obsessive guard.
Could recent major changes in Pyongyang’s thinking explain the episode? The need to respond to hungry North Koreans who are looking for someone to blame for their troubles, for example?

A propaganda billboard in a paddy field in Pyongan Province, Pyongyang. Photo: AFP / Eric Lafforgue / Hans Lucas
“My guess is that it ties into the public statements Kim has made recently, talking about the problems facing North Korea and even admitting/suggesting somebody in the regime is to blame – not him, of course,” says retired Colonel Grant Newsham, former reserve head of Asia-Pacific intelligence for the US Marine Corps and a former US State Department Foreign Service officer.
“Maybe this is designed to show he’s trying to help the people,” Newsham adds. “Like going on that Atkins Diet and dropping some pounds shows he’s tightening his belt just like everyone else. One should imagine life outside Pyongyang is worse than it’s been for a while. Why wouldn’t it be? Less trade with China, sanctions, Covid. So there may some good reasons to release some rice.”
At the same time that the regime has had to respond to the current economic crisis, Kim Jong Un has decreed a change in the military’s relative status among North Korean institutions. Kim Jong Il had instituted a military-first policy, but his son has moved to restore the ruling Workers’ Party to preeminence.
Additionally, Kim Jong Un’s administration recently cut back on the length of military hitches. Men who would have served 10 years will serve only eight. They are now considered to be needed for civilian labor and large numbers of them have been dispatched to remote areas to become miners, which is not what most were hoping for.
And, of course, Kim Jong Un has been developing new war toys that might obviate some of the requirement for huge numbers of ground troops, all needing to be fed as they slog it out over a period of years in a conflict resembling the original Korean War. He is reported to have reorganized his strategic missile force, for example, and his submarines have received a lot of attention and resources.

“If I had to guess,” says Newsham, now a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo, “I’d say North Korea’s military capability remains what it was overall, though the focus and effort are on the ‘big’ weapons — missiles, nukes and sub-launched missiles. Those are what get you taken seriously. Not so much a big ground-army of hungry dwarves – even if they are tough dwarves.”
Still, Newsham says, coming right out and announcing that the war reserves would be tapped “is odd – unless you don’t think the outside world will hear.”
Not thinking the outside world would hear may indeed be the answer. In fact, opening up the rice stores was not mentioned in the official North Korean media reports on the Pyongyang meeting at which, DailyNK reported, Kim gave the order. Kim may have thought the secret was safe from prying outside eyes.
DailyNK said it heard about the order’s specific contents not from the capital but from people out in two separate provinces who had received briefings on it locally. Assuming the story is true, if there was subsequently a successful attempt from Pyongyang to plug the leaks that could help to explain why other media organizations are not piling on.
In any case, for Seoul-based DailyNK, its scoop is the gift that has kept on giving. The outlet’s follow-up articles have included one that said “it appears that even military stores of rice were insufficient to meet demand” – so military officials, without Kim Jong Un’s knowledge and approval, imported grain and in the process failed to observe the Covid-19 quarantine procedures that Kim (peculiarly) insists on even for dry cargoes.

Then-Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Ri Pyong Chol, third from right, oversees a test firing of a new tactical guided projectile in an undisclosed location in North Korea. Ri, previously a hero for his weapons development feats, has been demoted after he and other officers angered Kim Jong Un by importing grain instead of providing it from their military storehouses for distribution to civilians. Photo: AFP / KCNA via KNS
The officials involved, right up to an extremely high level, were into serious trouble with Kim over that, said Daily NK.
Not to be a troublemaker, but I can’t help wondering: Were there really insufficient grain stores in the military storehouses for the generals to carry out Kim’s order? Or, on the other hand, did the generals simply prefer to keep what they had for soldiers who are already so hungry that many have taken to stealing food from (and in one recent case even murdering) civilians?
It would be hard to paint any of what’s been happening as anything less than gross incompetence. But that’s what we have long since come to expect from the three-generation Kim Dynasty.
Bradley K. Martin is the author of Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty.
asiatimes.com · by Bradley K. Martin · July 19, 2021



8. No breakthrough in sight for Seoul-Tokyo ties after summit called off

It does seem as if relations are deteriorating at a rate that is going to have a significant impact for the region and the US.
No breakthrough in sight for Seoul-Tokyo ties after summit called off
koreaherald.com · by Ahn Sung-mi · July 20, 2021
Published : Jul 20, 2021 - 15:23 Updated : Jul 20, 2021 - 18:04
Flags of Japan and South Korea (123rf)

President Moon Jae-in’s last-minute decision not to visit Japan has dashed hopes that the upcoming Tokyo Olympics might offer the bickering neighbors an occasion to make a breakthrough in their relations, which have been at their lowest ebb in decades.

Moon expressed disappointment after calling off a trip to Japan that may have included his first summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, his senior aide said Tuesday.

Park Soo-hyun, Moon’s press secretary, said in an interview with local radio station TBS that Moon was “very disappointed” after it was decided that he wouldn’t be heading to Japan later this week.

“Despite the situation, I hope the leaders of the two countries will meet at some time,” Moon was quoted by Park as saying, adding that the president called for working-level consultations to continue so they could lead to future talks.

But with the two sides still remaining miles apart on key issues -- including wartime history and export controls -- coupled with public outcry following a Japanese diplomat’s vulgar remarks against Moon, no breakthrough appears within sight, observers say.

On Monday, Moon decided not to visit Tokyo during the Summer Olympics, where it was hoped that an in-person meeting with Suga could occur. Cheong Wa Dae said it felt there was insufficient chance that a visit would yield a successful outcome, and also cited “other circumstances,” apparently referring to improper comments by a Japanese diplomat.

Hirohisa Soma, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Korea, had allegedly told a South Korean reporter that Moon’s efforts to improve ties with Tokyo were unrequited, likening the overtures to masturbating, according to a report by a local cable news channel.

Soma’s indecent remarks appear to have tipped the balance in Cheong Wa Dae’s final decision for Moon to skip a visit to Japan at the last minute.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said it had to consider the public sentiment and the internal mood of the presidential office, which turned “skeptical” following the report.

When asked whether Soma’s remark influenced Moon’s decision, First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun on Tuesday said it acted as a “significant obstacle” to the president’s trip to the Japanese capital.

Moon had expressed a willingness to meet with Suga in order to defuse diplomatic tensions with Tokyo, which are rooted in Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and that have morphed into the ongoing economic feud.

The Joe Biden administration is also pushing for tighter trilateral cooperation with its two Northeast Asian allies in the face of an assertive China and a defiant North Korea.

With the Olympics approaching, the two countries have been discussing for weeks to fine-tune the summit agenda. But they remained at odds over the format and length of a possible meeting, as well as the agenda.

Park said suggested items on the table included the feud over wartime history, Japan’s export restrictions against Korea and Tokyo’s planned discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima power plant into the Pacific Ocean, in another interview with KBS.

“There has been considerable progress, but it still fell short,” said Park.

Reports say while South Korea had put resolving the export restriction issue as the priority of the summit, Japan was insistent that Seoul come up with a solution on the wartime forced labor and sex slavery issues first for the talks to happen.

Compensation for Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula has been one of the major sticking points in the strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo.

In October 2018, Korea’s Supreme Court ruled that Japanese firms should pay compensation for the use of Korean workers during World War II, drawing strong rebuke from Tokyo, which says related issues were settled under a 1965 agreement.

In apparent retaliation, Tokyo imposed export restrictions on Korea that it has still not entirely retracted.

No summit has taken place between the two leaders since Suga assumed office in September last year. The last summit between the two countries was in December 2019, when Suga’s predecessor Shinzo Abe held talks with Moon in China.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)



9. Defense minister apologizes for outbreak on destroyer


Tuesday
July 20, 2021

Defense minister apologizes for outbreak on destroyer

Defense Minister Suh Wook, center, bows in apology for the Covid-19 outbreak aboard the Munmu the Great destroyer at a press briefing at the Defense Ministry in Yongsan District, central Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]
 
Following a Covid-19 outbreak on a Navy destroyer stationed in eastern Africa that infected an overwhelming majority of the crew, Defense Minister Suh Wook apologized for the military's failure to protect service members overseas.
 
“I feel a heavy responsibility as defense minister for the large number of confirmed cases because I failed to take care of the 34th contingent of the Cheonghae unit,” Suh said during a press briefing at the Defense Ministry in Yongsan District, Seoul, on Tuesday morning.
 
247 out of the 301 members, or 82 percent, of the 34th contingent of the Navy’s Cheonghae unit, which has been stationed in the Gulf of Aden aboard the Mumu the Great destroyer since March as part of the unit’s peacekeeping and anti-piracy mission, had tested positive for Covid-19 as of Monday.
 
The outbreak on the Munmu, the first signs of which began with a naval officer’s admission to a local hospital with pneumonia symptoms on Thursday, prompted the Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff to organize an airlift of the ship’s crew back to Korea and an unprecedented canceling of the 34th contingent’s mission.
 
All of the Munmu’s crew arrived in Korea on Tuesday afternoon on two KC-330 Cygnus multipurpose tanker airplanes dispatched by the Defense Ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
 

Navy crewmembers from the Munmu the Great destroyer disembark on Tuesday afternoon from one of two KC-330 Cygnus multipurpose tanker airplanes which airlifted them back to Korea. [YONHAP]
“I deeply apologize to the soldiers, family members and the people of the Cheonghae unit,” Suh said. “We have been actively pushing for vaccination of all soldiers, including troops who are dispatched overseas, but there was a lack of effort to vaccinate troops in the Cheonghae unit who departed in February,” he said. 
 
The apology issued by Suh is his sixth since assuming the post of defense minister in September.
 
The military has been engulfed by a series of crises under Suh, which includes the killing of a South Korean fisheries official in the Yellow Sea by a North Korean maritime patrol, complaints of substandard food being served to active-duty soldiers, security breaches along the eastern maritime border by North Korean defectors, and sexual harassment incidents in the armed forces.
 
Although the defense minister admitted responsibility for not sufficiently protecting Cheonghae unit crewmembers from exposure to Covid-19, neither his explanation nor the one given by Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), as to why the crew were not inoculated against Covid-19 managed to placate critics.
 
Jeong said in a press briefing Monday that vaccine distribution to overseas soldiers was deemed too difficult to execute because of storage and transport requirements, while Suh said during Tuesday’s press briefing that vaccination was not possible for Navy service members in the Cheonghae unit because they are part of an international peacekeeping mission.
 
However, one government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “The United States military, which leads several multinational missions and exercises, included the Korean Attachment to the U.S. Army (KATUSA) and Korean civilian personnel as part of its military vaccination program.”
 
He added, “If the government had requested vaccines from the U.S. military for the 34th contingent of the Cheonghae unit before they set sail in February, they could have secured enough vaccines for 300 people.”
 
Shortly before the defense minister issued an apology, President Moon Jae-in said at a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House on Tuesday that “although our military did what it could to respond to the situation, it is hard to avoid people’s judgement that it fell short.”
 
While Moon urged the military to “spare no energy in its anti-virus efforts,” he did not issue an official apology for the government’s handling of the outbreak aboard the Munmu the Great destroyer or the failure to vaccinate the crew.
 
Opposition People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Ha Tae-keung, who sits on the National Assembly’s defense committee, held a press briefing on Tuesday at the legislature where he quoted a father of one of the Munmu’s crewmembers who asked Ha on Monday to chastise the government.
 
“He told me that he was outraged that his son was endangered due to the government’s lack of preparation, and not as the result of being injured in battle,” Ha said. “What parent would send their son into a military such as this?”
 
Ha also mentioned the father's allegations that the military attempted to cover up the possibility of a Covid-19 outbreak aboard the ship in its early stages. 
 
“According to his son, someone in the unit came down with the flu on July 2. His son reported [to higher-ups] that this person probably had Covid-19 because he lost his sense of taste and smell. However, his son’s superiors ignored his report and that of others.
 
“Even as their body temperature rose to 39 to 40 degrees Celsius, they were told to get through it with two pills of Tylenol.”
 

BY MICHAEL LEE, PARK YONG-HAN [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]


10. Could North Korea Be Sitting on Big Oil Reserves?

I am skeptical but we will likely never know as long as the Kim family regime remains in power.

Could North Korea Be Sitting on Big Oil Reserves?
19fortyfive.com · by ByEli Fuhrman · July 20, 2021
One of North Korea’s most enduring domestic challenges has been its inability to reliably meet domestic energy demands – both in terms of electricity generation and the provision of fuel for commercial, industrial, and military vehicles. North Korea imports oil products from its neighbors – primarily from China – in an attempt to supplement domestic power generation, while North Korean vehicles are primarily powered by these fuel imports. While North Korea has no proven reserves of petroleum or other liquids, some experts have suggested that both onshore and offshore hydrocarbon reserves exist in and around North Korea, though both political and technical challenges will likely complicate any efforts to explore and exploit these.
Energy Rich, Electricity Poor?
Electricity generation is an ongoing challenge for North Korea. Previous assessments have found that as many as 19 million North Koreans may live without electricity and that only 36 percent and 11 percent of urban and rural areas are electrified, respectively. Those North Koreans for whom electricity is available at times may only have access to power for as little as two hours each day.
While in the past North Korea was able to receive subsidized oil imports from the former Soviet Union, today North Korea generates most – as much as 76 percent – of its power from hydroelectric sources, with the remainder supplied by the DPRK’s large coal reserves and by imported petroleum products.
Any Oil?
North Korea’s ability to import oil and petroleum products is limited by international sanctions, with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397 capping imports of refined petroleum at 500,000 barrels per year and limiting imports of crude oil to four million barrels per year. Beyond power generation, North Korea relies on imports of oil and petroleum products in order to power vehicles. Restrictions on North Korean oil imports have likely impacted the North Korean military, including limiting the number of hours North Korean pilots are able to train and constraining North Korea’s ability to stockpile wartime reserves, but may also have contributed to such things as a lack of needed fuel for agricultural equipment. North Korean has shown itself to be capable of evading sanctions related to its import of oil, including through the use of illicit ship-to-ship transfers, and the DPRK has also taken steps to find alternatives to traditional liquid fuels.
Over the past 50 years, North Korea has engaged in exploratory surveys and test drillings, but has yet not yet clearly identified any commercially viable sources of crude oil or natural gas. Competing maritime claims with some of its neighbors may have contributed to the lack of North Korea discovery of exploitable oil or gas reserves, but likely more significant has been the DPRK’s inability to acquire the necessary drilling equipment and technology as well as the substantial financial and political risks that exist for foreign corporations hoping to engage in exploratory efforts with North Korea.
But Getting It Out of the Ground…
One expert has suggested that North Korea may indeed demonstrate good hydrocarbon potential. Mike Rego – formerly in charge of oil exploration for British firm Aminex, which in 2004 signed an exploratory agreement with North Korea before withdrawing from the country in 2012 – has argued that past explorations both on and offshore suggest relatively promising prospects for the discovery of energy reserves.
Rego also notes, however, that the constraints which have limited exploration and exploitation in the past will likely continue to do so.
19fortyfive.com · by ByEli Fuhrman · July 20, 2021

11. North Korea and Iran Have a Very Special Missile Relationship

For those interested in the north Korea-Iran relationship (as well as north Korea's relationships in the Middle and Africa) I would commend to you Dr. Bruce Bechtol's research.


North Korea and Iran Have a Very Special Missile Relationship
19fortyfive.com · by ByEli Fuhrman · July 16, 2021
North Korea’s continued development of its strategic weapons program is a substantial security threat. North Korea may now have as many as eight intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of striking the continental United States, while its growing arsenal of increasingly advanced short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) may be capable of challenging ballistic missile defense systems deployed in South Korea. In addition, the DPRK’s stockpile of nuclear weapons and materials may be enough for as many as 60 weapons. As a result, North Korea poses a major security risk for South Korea, Japan, and the United States.
But the security threats emanating from North Korea are not limited to the DPRK’s ability to directly threaten its neighbors. North Korea’s proliferation of military equipment and technology also presents a challenge, one that has existed for decades. During the Cold War, for example, North Korea developed extensive partnerships with a number of countries in Africa, to which it exported both weapons and expertise, even going so far as to commit its own pilots to fly Egyptian military aircraft during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
North Korea and Iran: Missile Allies?
North Korea’s export of military hardware and technology has included ballistic missiles. To date, one of North Korea’s most significant partners for the export of ballistic missile systems – and perhaps also for cooperation in the development of ballistic missile technology – has been Iran.
The relationship between Iran and North Korea regarding ballistic missiles dates back several decades. For many years, this relationship was largely a transactional one, in which Pyongyang took advantage of Tehran’s need for defense equipment as a means to generate revenue. During its war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iran was at a disadvantage as a result of its lack of long-range strike options with which it could retaliate against Iraqi attacks on Iranian cities and oil infrastructure sites. To compensate, Iran turned to imports of ballistic missile systems, which initially came in limited numbers from both Libya and Syria in the form of Soviet Scud-Bs. Tehran quickly realized it needed a much larger missile arsenal, however, and would turn to North Korea as a supplier. North Korea as a result sent between 200 and 300 Soviet-built Scud-B and Scud-C ballistic missile systems to Iran. These weapons were renamed by Iran as the Shahab-1 and Shahab-2, respectively.
Longer Range Systems
This transactional-type missile relationship between Iran and North Korea would continue into the latter part of the 1990s, with North Korea continuing to support Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal in the form of both missile maintenance and training. North Korea would also supply Iran with another ballistic missile system in the form of its medium-range Nodong missiles. These would again be renamed by Iran as the Shahab-3, and Iran would test the system in 1998. Further testing of the system would form the basis for Iran’s development of an indigenous variant of the Shabab-3 that it would dub the Ghadr. The Ghadr was first flown in 2004, and there is no available evidence suggesting that there was direct cooperation between Iran and North Korea in its development.
There has been, however, speculation that Iran and North Korea may have cooperated in other areas regarding the development of ballistic missile systems, or at least that the missile relationship between the two has not remained as one-sided or transactional. North Korean successes in the early period of Kim Jong Un’s reign – including both the successful testing of a three-stage rocket and the launching of a satellite into orbit – led some analysts to suggest that Iran and North Korea had for many years been employing a mechanism for the sharing of technical data and expertise and the procurement of specialized parts. Other evidence – such as the appearance during a 2010 military parade of a warhead equipped on a North Korean Nodong missile that bore substantial design similarities to an Iranian triconic warhead for the Shahab-3 – suggests that the missile relationship between the two countries had evolved beyond the one-sided North Korean export of ballistic missiles to Iran.
More recently, a report submitted in February by the U.N. Panel of Experts on North Korean activity related to its weapons programs suggested that ballistic missile cooperation between North Korea and Iran had resumed with the transfer of missile parts and components. In 2016, the U.S. Treasury Department produced a sanctions notice related to Iranian work on a North Korean rocket booster with an 80-ton thrust. The Soviet RD-250 engine, with which North Korea powered its first successful ICBM flight in 2017, produces an 80-ton thrust. If the cooperation between North Korea and Iran has included the RD-250 engine, it could suggest North Korean support for the development of long-range Iranian missiles, possibly even including an ICBM.
19fortyfive.com · by ByEli Fuhrman · July 16, 2021


12. Young generation arises as new center of Korean politics, economy


I think this will be good for Korea -i t would be good for the US too if we had younger generations engage in politics. It is time to clear out the old politicians to make room for some new blood. Remember how young most of our founding fathers were.


Young generation arises as new center of Korean politics, economy

Posted : 2021-07-20 16:46
Updated : 2021-07-20 17:34







Millennails, Gen Z seen as swing voters for upcoming presidential election

By Nam Hyun-woo

Young people in their 20s and 30s are emerging as the new center of Korean politics and the economy, spearheading changes in various aspects of society.

Called the "MZ Generation" ― a combination of Millennials and Generation Z ― they show no hesitation in expressing their opinions on various issues; and political parties, businesses and civic groups are being compelled to listen to their voices. Many Koreans now agree that they exert an influence across all of society, and this growing influence is outpacing all other demographic groups

The MZ Generation is the most commonly accepted term in Korea to categorize those who were born between about 1981 and 2005. It is not an internationally accepted term, and there are arguments that Millennials ― born between 1981 and 1995 ― and Generation Z ― born between 1996 and about 2005 ― should be treated separately given their differences, but the term has now been widely accepted to categorize the attitudes and behavior of those in their 20s and 30s.

Compared to the previous Generation X, the MZ Generation is described as more individualistic and digitally fluent, as well as more practical in relationships with others. Particularly in Korea, these people are described as being more caring about fairness and are active in expressing their opinions on social matters compared to previous generations.

A recent poll of MZ Generation "members" provides grounds for such a description. According to a June 22 survey by Deloitte Global on 23,000 people in the MZ Generation in 45 countries including Korea, 73 percent of Millennials and 76 percent of Gen Zers in Korea said wealth and income were being distributed unfairly in the country, far higher than the global average ― 69 percent of Millennials and 66 percent Gen Zers.

People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok speaks during a party recruitment event for talented people in their 20s and 30s at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, July 19. Yonhap

And the domestic political circle is striving to attract these younger people to their folds. Korea's main opposition People Power Party (PPP) appointed 36-year-old Lee Jun-seok as its chairman, despite the Harvard graduate having no experience as an elected lawmaker.

Following his appointment, Lee hosted a debate contest to select the party's spokesperson, regarded as an experiment here, and appointed a pair of MZ Generation members as its spokesmen ― Lim Seung-ho, 27, and Yang Jun-woo, 26.

Despite initial concerns that the young "politicians" could end up being political accessories, their presence is generating appeal among the public. In a recent survey conducted by the Hyundai Research Institute on 1,208 adults, 50.3 percent of respondents said they have high expectations for Lee as PPP chairman.

Cheong Wa Dae also responded by appointing Park Seong-min, 25, a former Supreme Council member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, as presidential secretary for youth affairs, although the appointment drew a backlash from the public and opposition parties, which questioned her qualifications.

The shift to younger people became apparent after the April 7 by-elections to pick the mayors of Seoul and Busan, in which the liberal ruling party suffered crushing defeats after apparently losing support from younger voters. Pundits here are now saying the MZ Generation will be the swing voters in next year's presidential election, and winning their support will be critical for the candidates.

"I sense that the MZ Generation doesn't hesitate in expressing their opinions, and is less loyal to ideological thinking," an official of the ruling bloc said. "They don't care much about conventional political logic and rather focus more on practical things, which appeals to the public these days."

Lee Kun-woo, 27, head of Hyundai Motor Group's Office Workers and Researchers Union, submits documents on the union's establishment to the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in Seoul, April 26. Courtesy of Daesang Labor Law Firm

'MZ union'

The MZ generation's rise is not limited to the political circle ― it is solidifying its presence in business too.

On April 29, a group of office workers and researchers at Hyundai Motor Group companies organized a union. Led by Lee Kun-woo, 27, a researcher at Hyundai Kefico, the union's leadership is comprised of workers in their 20s and 30s.

It is not recognized as a bargaining entity by Hyundai Motor Group management ― these are currently only unions of factory workers on manufacturing lines. However, Lee's union, described as the "MZ union" by Korean newspapers, has secured more than 5,000 members in the three months since its establishment.

A month earlier, LG Electronics office workers also formed a union, and its establishment was led by Yoo Jun-hwan, 30, who has been working for the company for only three years. The union now has more than 3,000 members.

Unlike other unions at these companies, the new entities are reluctant to join umbrella groups such as the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) or Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU). The KCTU and FKTU are Korea's two largest umbrella unions, having influence on most unions at companies here, and are known for their aggressive stances in strikes and other types of labor disputes.

On June 25, Lee, Yoo and other young union leaders had a meeting with Presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council Chairman Moon Sung-hyun, during which they stressed that they believe "it is time for a paradigm shift in union activities," and that they were "skeptical about unions' militant actions, given their costs to society."

"Labor movements in the past used to highlight the combative side because labor conditions could not improve without disputes," Moon said. "I agree with the new unions' call for communication toward rationality and fairness, and the country's labor-management relations should reflect the new union model."

Customer base

As the MZ Generation's influence grows, businesses are considering them as a major customer base and are keen to draw their attention.

This trend is noticeable within the financial industry, which has long been considered one of the most conservative sectors in Korea.

According to the Korea Securities Depository, the number of investors in Korea stood at 9.14 million at the end of 2020, and 37.4 percent of them were under 30. Their total investments increased 98.2 percent from the previous year, reaching 67.8 trillion won.

Seen above is a lunch box co-released by E-mart 24 and Hana Financial Investment, July 14. The lunch box contains a coupon exchangeable for one share in one of the top 10 cap companies. Courtesy of E-mart 24
To attract their attention, brokerage Hana Financial Investment teamed up with convenience store chain E-mart 24 and launched a lunchbox set July 14, which came with a coupon that offered one share in one of the top 10 market capitalized companies on the Korean bourse, selected at random.

Kiwoom Securities and Samsung Securities are running YouTube channels each having 1.23 million and 1.09 million subscribers.

Recently, KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo and Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung sent messages to their senior executives telling them to pay greater attention to the voices of the MZ Generation.

"A number of big companies have disappeared from the market due to their failure to respond agilely to changes," Yoon said during a meeting with executives earlier this month. "KB's management needs to swiftly carry out tasks proposed by the MZ Generation, so as to establish itself as the No.1 financial platform."






13. North Korean defector hits out at woke brigade: 'Even Kim isn't this crazy!'



I have to call out Ms. Park here. She is being used by those with a political agenda. She is actually supporting those who advocate muzzling ideas because they do not like them. You are either for the 1st Amendment or you are not. But she is participating in an excellent propaganda effort that would make Kim Jong-un (and Kim Yo-jong) proud.
 


North Korean defector hits out at woke brigade: 'Even Kim isn't this crazy!'
Express · by James Bickerton · July 16, 2021
Meghan Markle and Harry: Brazier slams couple for 'woke-about'

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Yeonmi Park, who escaped to China in 2007, went on to study at an American university and warned “North Korea is not even this crazy”. After reaching China, Ms Park and her sister fell into the hands of people traffickers, before she escaped again and crossed the Gobi Desert to Mongolia by foot.
From here she was able to move first to democratic South Korea, then to the United States.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph she said: “North Korea is not even this crazy. Especially comparing the woke culture.
“Before the class, in this 120-person lecture hall, the first thing they ask is give us your pronouns.
“And then some people are gender fluid. So that morning they might identify themselves as a girl but afternoon they be a boy.

"North Korea is not even this crazy!" (Image: GETTY)

Yeonmi Park escaped from North Korea aged 13 (Image: EXPRESS )
“So instead of me trying to learn who this person as a character, all my energy is being spent on learning their pronouns so I don’t look like a bigot. Even North Korea don’t do this stuff.”
Ms Park went on to compare the principle of ‘white guilt’, which has become popular amongst sections of the academic left, to the North Korean regime’s deployment of collective guilt.
She said: “In North Korea there’s a thing called ‘guilt by association’.
“When I came [to the US] and spoke out against the dictator the family that I left behind, three generations of my family, were punished.


After escaping North Korea and China Yeonmi Park studied at an American university (Image: GETTY)
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“This collective guilt is the most inhumane thing. Individuals are responsible for their own behaviours.
“When I came to America there’s something called ‘white guilt’, and I was like ‘what do you mean by white guilt’, your ancestors might possibly have owned slaves therefore white people are guilty.
“This collective guilt is such a Marxist and Communist thing to do. You can never get over that – it’s not up to us choosing our ancestors.”
Ms Park has written a book, ‘In Order To Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom’, which covers her life in and escape from North Korea.
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'Woke' ideas have been gaining ground in western universities (Image: GETTY)

North Korea is ruled as a communist dictatorship (Image: GETTY)
North Korea has been ruled as a communist dictatorship since its creation in 1948.
It is currently ruled by Kim Jong-un, grandson of founder Kim Il-sung.
Speaking to Express.co.uk in late 2020, Ms Park revealed how North Korean propaganda work.
The Kim family, who have controlled the country since 1948, are portrayed as like “almighty Gods” to the North Korean people.
Trade Unionist says he 'loathes' what woke culture stands for

She commented: “What the North Korean regime did was copy the Bible.
“In Christianity they say God knows what you think and Jesus died but his spirit lives with us forever.
“That’s what the regime told us – Kim Jong-il died, but his spirit lives forever.”
However Ms Park said the propaganda has been less effective with Kim Jong-un, who became leader in 2011.

Ms Park said the Kim family are portrayed like "almighty Gods" to North Koreans (Image: GETTY)
She explained: “People genuinely believed they were Gods however after Kim Jong-un, the latest Kim, came in it’s been shifting way more.
“Outside information is going in and telling people actually Kims go to bathrooms, they cry, they are humans not Gods who can move the mountains and do miracles.
“More people in North Korea are realising the falsehood of this propaganda.”
Express · by James Bickerton · July 16, 2021







V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Subscribe to FDD’s new podcastForeign Podicy
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Subscribe to FDD’s new podcastForeign Podicy
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

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

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

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