|
Quotes of the Day:
“I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things humans make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion.”
- Yohji Yamamoto
"There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met."
- William Butler Yeats
“Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.”
- Ray Bradbury
1. North Korea warns US of ‘powerful’ response to allied drills
2. S. Korea co-sponsors U.N. draft resolution on N.K. human rights: ministry
3. South Korea admits police crowd control was ‘inadequate’ before crush
4. U.S. does not and will not recognize N. Korea as nuclear state: State Dept.
5. Analysis: U.S. and allies turn to deterring war with North Korea as options for preventing nuclear tests dwindle
6. Expert Explains Why Seoul's Tragic Crowd Surge Turned So Deadly
7. North Korea tensions: why is there a debate about accepting Pyongyang’s nuclear state status?
8. No tolerance of hate speech towards Itaewon tragedy
9. Ohio congressman's niece among those killed in Itaewon crush
10. U.S. takes North refugee as South's safe-haven status questioned
11. Seoul returns to criticizing Pyongyang at the UN
12. Running to the finish line (ROK and US nuclear power)
13. 'US stands with Korea to overcome tragic times,' says ambassador
14. ＜Inside N. Korea＞ Smuggling appears to restart on the China-North Korea border…
1. North Korea warns US of ‘powerful’ response to allied drills
We must keep in mind that Kim Jong Un fears the Korean people in the north more than he fears the combined ROK/US military forces. But he needs to build up the threat from the alliance to justify the sacrifice and suffering of the Korean people as he prioritizes nuclear and missile development and advanced warfighting capabilities.
North Korea warns US of ‘powerful’ response to allied drills
militarytimes.com · by Kim Tong-Hyung, The Associated Press · November 1, 2022
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s Foreign Ministry criticized the United States for expanding joint military exercises with South Korea that it claims are practice for a potential invasion, and it warned Tuesday of “more powerful follow-up measures” in response.
The statement from the ministry came as the U.S. and South Korea conduct aerial drills involving more than 200 warplanes, including their advanced F-35 fighter jets, as they step up their defense posture in the face of North Korea’s increased weapons testing and growing nuclear threat.
RELATED
US, allies warn decisive response if North Korea tests nuke
Officials from the United States and its Asian allies Japan and South Korea suspect North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test.
North Korea has ramped up its weapons demonstrations to a record pace this year, launching more than 40 ballistic missiles, including developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles and an intermediate-range missile fired over Japan. The North has punctuated those tests with an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes preemptive nuclear attacks in loosely defined crisis situations.
The U.S. and South Korea have resumed large-scale military drills this year after downsizing or suspending them in past years as part of efforts to create diplomatic space with Pyongyang and because of the pandemic.
The United States and South Korea’s “Vigilant Storm” air force drills, which are to continue through Friday, came after South Korea completed its annual 12-day “Hoguk” field exercises that officials say also involved an unspecified number of American troops.
North Korea’s latest statement came just days after the country fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, extending a barrage of launches since late September. Some of those launches have been described by the North as simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean and U.S. targets.
FILE - Flags of South Korea and the United States flutter before a joint river-crossing drill between South Korea and the United States in Yeoju, South Korea on Oct. 19, 2022. (Lee Jin-man/AP, File)
North Korea has said its testing activities are meant as a warning amid the joint military drills. But some experts say Pyongyang has also used the drills as a chance to test new weapons systems, boost its nuclear capability and increase its leverage in future dealings with Washington and Seoul.
In comments attributed to an unidentified spokesperson, the North Korean Foreign Ministry statement said the military drills exposed the United States as the “chief culprit in destroying peace and security.” It said the North was ready to take “all necessary measures” to defend against outside military threats.
“If the U.S. continuously persists in the grave military provocations, the DPRK will take into account more powerful follow-up measures,” the spokesperson said, using North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The statement did not specify what those measures could be.
South Korean officials have said North Korea could up the ante in coming weeks by detonating its first nuclear test device since September 2017, which could possibly take the country a step closer to its goals of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal capable of threatening regional U.S. allies and the American mainland.
In recent weeks, North Korea has also fired hundreds of shells in inter-Korean maritime buffer zones that the two Koreas established in 2018 to reduce frontline military tensions. North Korea has said that firing was in reaction to South Korean live-fire exercises at land border areas. The rival Koreas exchanged warning shots Oct. 24 along their disputed western sea boundary, a scene of past bloodshed and naval battles, as they accused each other of violating the boundary.
2. S. Korea co-sponsors U.N. draft resolution on N.K. human rights: ministry
A human rights upfront approach.
(LEAD) S. Korea co-sponsors U.N. draft resolution on N.K. human rights: ministry | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · November 1, 2022
(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 5-7; ADDS photo, byline)
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has co-sponsored a U.N. draft resolution condemning North Korea's human rights conditions in an about-face from a low-key approach for four years under the preceding liberal administration, according to Seoul's foreign ministry Tuesday.
"Our government has actively joined in discussions on the U.N. resolution on North Korea's human rights and has participated (in the campaign) as a co-sponsor country," the ministry's spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said, announcing the decision during a press briefing.
It "maintains the stance that North Korea's human rights issue is a universal rights issue that requires a consistent response based on principles," he added.
The draft resolution, led by the European Union, was submitted to the Third Committee of the 77th U.N. General Assembly on Monday (New York time).
A ministry official later said the text of the draft resolution can be modified after consultations with other participating countries.
In previous years, the Third Committee dealing with human rights and social matters passed a resolution on the North Korea issue in mid-November for approval at the plenary meeting of the U.N. in December.
"It remains undecided, as of now, when the committee will adopt it," the official said on background.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's human rights abuses for 20 consecutive years since 2003.
South Korea, however, has not co-sponsored such a resolution since 2019 under the Moon Jae-in administration that apparently sought to avoid antagonizing the North with more focus on inter-Korean dialogue and reconciliation.
The change of Seoul's stance on the matter followed the launch of the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol administration in May.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · November 1, 2022
3. South Korea admits police crowd control was ‘inadequate’ before crush
Excerpts:
Three days before the crush, according to Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo, businesses in the area asked the city to require subway trains to bypass the Itaewon station over the weekend, out of concern about the volume of people who frequently pour out in front of it. The site of the crush was just north of the station. The Seoul Transportation Corporation told Dong-A Ilbo that it did not receive such a request.
Saturday is the most crowded night of the Halloween weekend in Itaewon. Seoul subway records show Itaewon station saw a spike in traffic this year compared with Saturdays of Halloween weekends in prior years. About 130,000 people used the station on Saturday, up from 96,400 in 2019 and 102,200 in 2018, the data shows. In 2021, during coronavirus restrictions, there were about 59,220.
About 30 to 90 officers were dispatched every year from 2017 through 2021, Hong Ki-hyun, chief of the National Police Agency’s Public Order Management Bureau, said during a Monday briefing.
South Korea admits police crowd control was ‘inadequate’ before crush
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Min Joo Kim
Updated November 1, 2022 at 6:24 a.m. EDT|Published November 1, 2022 at 4:16 a.m. EDT
The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee Lee · November 1, 2022
SEOUL — South Korea’s police chief said Tuesday that crowd control was “inadequate” in the Itaewon area in Seoul where at least 156 partygoers were killed in a crush.
There were emergency calls from the area before the crush, warning of the large number of people gathered in the narrow alleyway where the surge later occurred, Yoon Hee-geun, the national police chief, said in a briefing. Independent investigators within the agency are now determining whether the response to those calls was sufficient, he said.
In the wake of the crowd crush, one of the deadliest incidents in South Korea in recent years, there is now scrutiny on efforts by police to handle such gatherings. Although there is heavy police presence at protests, festivals, concerts and other events where many people are expected, there was a significantly smaller law enforcement presence in Itaewon.
In his own briefing Tuesday, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo pointed to a lack of a “crowd management system” as a cause of the accident and called for measures to address the issues. “The government is responsible for lives and safety of the people, and it is our absolute duty.”
About 100,000 people were expected per night in the Itaewon area over Halloween weekend. There were 137 local police officers dispatched to the neighborhood — about one for every 730 people — whose primary role was to focus on petty crime, drugs and sexual and physical abuse.
In addition, there were eight U.S. Forces Korea personnel on patrol in the Itaewon area, according to the U.S. military, which has a base nearby and provides “courtesy patrols” there.
The Yongsan district office’s countermeasures ahead of the event did not include crowd control efforts. The oversight highlighted limitations in the nation’s policies governing mass gatherings in public places, experts say. Although detailed safety protocols are required for official events, such as festivals, the same disaster prevention methods do not apply to public spaces where large crowds are expected to gather informally, leading to ambiguous safety protocols and no clear agency being in charge, they said.
Nonetheless, members of the public and businesses in Itaewon are questioning why law enforcement failed to anticipate the spike in attendance this year.
The Halloween festivities in Itaewon, Seoul’s foreigner-friendly district popular among expats and younger Koreans, have grown increasingly popular over the past decade. This year was the first Halloween since the start of the coronavirus pandemic that didn’t include social distancing or outdoor masking restrictions, drawing even more enthusiastic crowds.
Police, however, did not expect Halloween crowds to be significantly larger than in previous years and did not deploy additional personnel ahead of the celebrations, South Korea’s minister of interior and safety, Lee Sang-min, said at a briefing Sunday. At that briefing, Lee said he did not believe a greater police presence would have mitigated the crowd — a comment that drew sharp backlash. On Tuesday, the ministry apologized for his remarks.
Three days before the crush, according to Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo, businesses in the area asked the city to require subway trains to bypass the Itaewon station over the weekend, out of concern about the volume of people who frequently pour out in front of it. The site of the crush was just north of the station. The Seoul Transportation Corporation told Dong-A Ilbo that it did not receive such a request.
Saturday is the most crowded night of the Halloween weekend in Itaewon. Seoul subway records show Itaewon station saw a spike in traffic this year compared with Saturdays of Halloween weekends in prior years. About 130,000 people used the station on Saturday, up from 96,400 in 2019 and 102,200 in 2018, the data shows. In 2021, during coronavirus restrictions, there were about 59,220.
About 30 to 90 officers were dispatched every year from 2017 through 2021, Hong Ki-hyun, chief of the National Police Agency’s Public Order Management Bureau, said during a Monday briefing.
In at least one instance in the past, law enforcement took steps to direct the crowd. In 2017, there was a police line in the area that directed partygoers to sidewalks to help them avoid auto traffic, Hong said.
“We will thoroughly investigate the adequacy of the overall on-site response, including the handling of the [emergency calls],” said Yoon, the national police chief. “We hope that this Itaewon accident will serve as an opportunity to comprehensively inspect and improve the safety system in our society as a whole.”
The Washington Post · by Michelle Ye Hee Lee · November 1, 2022
4. U.S. does not and will not recognize N. Korea as nuclear state: State Dept.
Enough said. Pundits can now stop calling for this (but they won't)
U.S. does not and will not recognize N. Korea as nuclear state: State Dept. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · November 1, 2022
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- The United States does not and will not recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state as it seeks to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, a state department spokesperson said Monday.
"That is not our policy. I do not foresee that ever becoming a policy," Ned Price told a press briefing when asked about the possibility of the U.S. ever recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state.
The remarks come as North Korea is widely anticipated to conduct a nuclear test, its seventh, in the near future.
Price has said Pyongyang continues to prepare for a nuclear test and that a test could take place "at any point."
North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in September 2017.
"There has been no change to U.S. policy. Our DPRK policy remains the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the spokesperson said when asked if the U.S. may consider engaging in arms control dialogue with the North.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
The department spokesperson, however, reiterated that the U.S. remains open to dialogue with Pyongyang without any "preconditions."
"We, of course, would like to see the DPRK engage in serious, substantial dialogue on this. Until now, they have not done so. We have made clear we don't have preconditions for dialogue," said Price.
"It sounds like the DPRK may be in a different position, but we believe that by engaging in dialogue and diplomacy we can most effectively bring about what is our ultimate objective and that is the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he added.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · November 1, 2022
5. Analysis: U.S. and allies turn to deterring war with North Korea as options for preventing nuclear tests dwindle
I am surprised how many reports we are seeing on this. When has deterrence of war not been the priority? It must be because for too long people have been talking about trying to deter provocations which is nearly impossible to do.
The priority has always been and must always be on deterring a resumption of hostilities and war: nuclear and conventional.
Analysis: U.S. and allies turn to deterring war with North Korea as options for preventing nuclear tests dwindle
Reuters · by Josh Smith
SEOUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The prospect of a new North Korean nuclear test underscores the limited options for Washington and its allies, who have embraced "deterring" Pyongyang through major military drills that some current and former officials say may exacerbate tensions.
South Korea said in October that a new nuclear test would face an “unparalleled” response from the allies - but it’s unclear what measures would not retread old ground.
Years of sanctions, diplomatic pressure, and shows of military force have not prevented North Korea from developing and expanding an arsenal of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles that could reach the United States.
Now that the North's nuclear weapons are mature and deployed, the United States and its allies are looking to simply dissuade the North from military action.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said last week the focus of efforts to deal with North Korea should be shifted from curbing nuclear weapons development to deterring their use.
“We plan to expand the scope of our involvement in intelligence sharing, planning, exercises and drills,” he told a panel of lawmakers.
A ministry official told Reuters that Lee was not throwing his support behind the idea of acknowledging North Korea as a nuclear state, but rather was emphasizing the immediate need to prevent North Korea from using the weapons.
“Lee is saying out loud what policy makers in Seoul and Washington are thinking — namely that while denuclearization is the ultimate goal, deterring North Korea is the here-and-now priority,” said Daniel Russel, a former senior U.S. diplomat.
FOCUS ON DETERRENCE
The United States and South Korea are in "lockstep" in their efforts to seek the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said when asked about Lee's comments.
“We continue to prioritize diplomacy, but simultaneously continue to jointly strengthen deterrence and work to limit the advancement of (North Korea's) unlawful weapons programmes,” the spokesperson said.
Some analysts saw Lee's comments as the latest sign that Washington and Seoul are facing the reality that North Korea is a nuclear state. But they noted the focus so far has remained on deterrence rather than risk reduction, such as negotiating to cap the number of North Korean weapons and prevent them from proliferating.
U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel declined to specify what measures Washington would take if North Korea tested a nuclear bomb for the first time since 2017, but cited sanctions and military drills as examples of tools it can use to “hold North Korea accountable."
Observers expect China and Russia would condemn a new nuclear test, but are unlikely to back new sanctions, which they say have failed and only harm ordinary North Koreans.
The newly released U.S. Nuclear Posture Review says Kim Jong Un's regime would be annihilated if it ever attacked with nuclear weapons.
'TURN THE VOLUME DOWN'
In early October, the commander of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the rare deployment of an aircraft carrier to South Korea “probably precipitated” part of a “tantrum” from Kim Jong Un.
Another major drill began on Monday with hundreds of South Korean and U.S. warplanes, including a rare deployment of American F-35B fighters.
The drills, a centrepiece of the allied response, have been met with new rounds of missile tests or military exercises by North Korea.
Patel has called suggestions that the drills are exacerbating tensions "baloney." Duyeon Kim, with the U.S.-based Center for a New American Security, noted that rising tensions are not always correlated with drills.
"Normalizing combined drills strengthens readiness and publicizing them again is intended to deter North Korea and reassure the South Korean people," Kim said.
One senior former U.S. defence official told Reuters that although the stepped up drills ensure readiness, the publicity and chest-beating surrounding them can be counterproductive.
"They're doing it because they want to send a message to North Korea, hey, we mean business," he said. "But it's not helping."
When political leaders said drills had been scaled back in previous years to enable diplomacy, that often meant that the exercises were just not being publicized, the former official said, adding that current rhetoric seems to have gone too far in the other direction.
"A way to reduce tension is to sort of turn the volume down a little bit, and see if that helps."
Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington. Editing by Gerry Doyle
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Reuters · by Josh Smith
6. Expert Explains Why Seoul's Tragic Crowd Surge Turned So Deadly
There are apparently videos of the tragedy on YouTube that show the wave effects as described here.
Medhi Moussaïd, a research scientist at the Max Plank Institute in Berlin who studies crowd dynamics, spoke to Insider about when crowding turns deadly
"Most people don't realize the danger," he said, arguing that people should be better informed as cities become denser and big crowds more common.
Crowd surging is driven by a simple principle. If a group of people becomes dense enough – more than six or seven people per square yard – a crowd starts acting like a fluid.
At this point, the people inside largely lose the power to control their own movement.
If someone is shoved, they will push their neighbor, who will fall on their neighbor, and so on and so forth.
"Then this movement is transmitted," Moussaïd said. It is a little like a ripple through water, as these movements spread, they grow bigger.
Expert Explains Why Seoul's Tragic Crowd Surge Turned So Deadly
ScienceAlert · by Business Insider · November 1, 2022
Crowd surging – the deadly phenomenon that claimed more than 150 lives in South Korea – is explained by simple physics, an expert told Insider.
At least 154 people died in Seoul on Saturday when a Halloween street party caused a crowd so dense it crushed people to death.
The crush took place in the busy Itaewon neighbourhood of Seoul, a popular nightlife spot that attracted tens of thousands of people on Saturday, The Guardian reported.
There was no single event planned, per Reuters. But crowds from bustling bars and nightclubs poured into a narrow, sloped alley connecting a subway station to a main street.
Sometime after 10 pm, the street became full beyond capacity. Social-media accounts of the night, compiled by Reuters, said that people near the top of the alley lost their footing and fell into crowds below, starting a fatal crush.
The tragedy prompted national mourning in South Korea and questions of whether more could have been done to prevent it.
Medhi Moussaïd, a research scientist at the Max Plank Institute in Berlin who studies crowd dynamics, spoke to Insider about when crowding turns deadly
"Most people don't realize the danger," he said, arguing that people should be better informed as cities become denser and big crowds more common.
Crowds acting like waves
Crowd surging is driven by a simple principle. If a group of people becomes dense enough – more than six or seven people per square yard – a crowd starts acting like a fluid.
At this point, the people inside largely lose the power to control their own movement.
If someone is shoved, they will push their neighbor, who will fall on their neighbor, and so on and so forth.
"Then this movement is transmitted," Moussaïd said. It is a little like a ripple through water, as these movements spread, they grow bigger.
The pressure from the wave can be too intense to bear for people in the crowd, especially if they are pushed into an obstacle. As seen in Seoul, it can be fatal.
"Those waves are pretty dangerous because people can be compressed against the walls and also against one another. And whenever two waves cross, people can feel the pressure from both sides," said Moussaïd.
What to do if you get caught in a crush
In the overwhelming majority of cases, crowded events will be safe. But Moussaïd listed some things that could help if things ever turn dangerous.
The main thing is awareness: if you feel too crowded, you're probably right. Move away quickly to a less dense spot. This can protect you and also relieve the pressure on others.
"If just a small part of people start doing that, it reduces the density and solves the problem," he said.
Once the crowd reaches that critical threshold, however, the pushing wave can build very quickly. Then it is a case of survival, said Moussaïd.
"If you feel the pushing wave, don't try to resist. Go with it and keep your balance."
Do your best to stay standing. If one person falls over, it will create a wave of people toppling. Those at the bottom of the pile are then likely to be crushed by the weight of the bodies above them.
Hold your arms up against your ribcage like a boxer to make it easier to breathe. The pressure from the wave can cause people to faint and fall.
Don't struggle against the flow of the crowd. If you push back, the pressure in the system will grow, which will make the situation worse for the next couple of seconds to minutes, Moussaïd said.
Information is key
This is not the first time crowd surging has killed. Previous examples include the Love Parade in Germany in 2010 where 18 people died and Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival in Houston last year where eight people died.
With events like these, proper planning can reduce the risk by ensuring that too many people don't gather at once.
But Moussaïd said the event in Seoul was different because it was a spontaneous gathering in the streets. It would have been very difficult to prepare for.
According to Reuters, authorities had expected a crowd of about 100,000 but did not think the area required more planning than a normal Halloween weekend.
"Many people gather for Halloween every year," said an unnamed woman who identified herself to Reuters as living nearby.
"But there were just so many last night, incomparably more than before COVID," she said.
As the world population grows and more and more people are packed into urban areas, this could happen more often, said Moussaïd.
"An easy fix would be letting people know that crowds can be dangerous."
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
More from Business Insider:
ScienceAlert · by Business Insider · November 1, 2022
7. North Korea tensions: why is there a debate about accepting Pyongyang’s nuclear state status?
Excerpts:
Lee Sung-yoon, a professor of Korean studies at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, said the only successful US denuclearisation project on the Korean peninsula was with South Korea. By threatening the withdrawal of all US forces in South Korea, Washington was able to compel Seoul to give up its nascent nuclear weapons programme in the early to mid-1970s.
“With North Korea, the US and other nations in the region have been repeatedly outmanoeuvred by Pyongyang in their denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula” talks over the past 30 years, Lee said.
North Korea tensions: why is there a debate about accepting Pyongyang’s nuclear state status?
By Maria Siow South China Morning Post5 min
View Original
Maria Siow
+ FOLLOW
Published: 11:00am, 30 Oct, 2022
Submarine-launched ballistic missiles are seen during a military parade celebrating the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea
As North Korea has taken steps to heighten tensions on the Korean peninsula in recent months, some analysts have floated the possibility of accepting the country as a nuclear state, arguing that it might actually make the region safer.
Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on nuclear non-proliferation at the US-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, argued earlier this month that Washington needs to contemplate the unthinkable, which is to accept that North Korea is a nuclear state.
“[This might] be the best way to reduce the persistent and growing threat of an inadvertent conflict on the Korean peninsula by removing a major obstacle that prevents North Korea and the United States from meeting to work out their differences,” Lewis wrote in The New York Times.
Brad Glosserman, non-resident senior adviser at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum, noted that North Korea’s belief that adversaries want it defenceless drives it to improve its capabilities.
“On all counts, then, it is better to acknowledge nuclear capability now,” Glosserman wrote in the Japan Times last week.
Speaking to This Week in Asia, analysts said even though accepting North Korea as a nuclear state may help manage tensions in the region, it would be impossible for Washington to accept.
Not only will the acceptance undermine the global non-proliferation treaty and encourage other countries to pursue their nuclear ambitions, it would also indicate that the US has failed in its North Korea policy, analysts added.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul said Pyongyang “wants a proliferation pass and to be periodically bribed to pause its weapons tests – in other words, ‘pay to de-escalate’”.
“Giving into nuclear blackmail would divide US allies and is not a sustainable strategy. Instead, now is a good time for the US, South Korea, Japan and Western partners to close ranks on multiple challenges in the Indo-Pacific by tightening sanctions, strengthening trade security, and better coordinating deterrence,” Easley said.
02:44
Raising the stakes: How North Korea became a nuclear state
Earlier this month, North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile towards its eastern waters after flying fighter jets near the border with South Korea.
The move reportedly came hours after Seoul scrambled F-35 fighter jets and other aircraft when about 10 North Korean warplanes were detected as close as 12km to the border, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Apart from carrying out a record number of weapons launches this year, North Korea passed a law in September declaring the country a nuclear weapons state. Its leader Kim Jong-un even described the designation as “irreversible” and ruled out further talks on denuclearisation.
In the past two months, Pyongyang has fired a dozen ballistic missiles and is boasting of the ability to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield. It is also expected to soon conduct another underground nuclear test – its seventh and the first in nearly five years.
On the possibility of accepting North Korea as a nuclear state, Nah Liang Tuang, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, said that even though nuclear disarmament negotiations are currently “a non-starter”, accepting Pyongyang into the community of nuclear-armed states is a “verboten option” as this will “terminally undermine” the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and even encourage other nuclear arms aspirants.
The NPT is aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, and to achieve nuclear and general disarmament.
“I would thus recommend that sanctions-based pressure be strictly upheld along with diligent efforts to undermine the Kim regime’s illicit revenue streams,” Nah said, referring to UN sanctions that include an arms embargo, export bans, prohibitions on mineral imports from North Korea and restrictions on Pyongyang’s investments and financial activities.
Among North Korea’s alleged illicit activities often cited include the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs, the manufacture and sale of counterfeit consumer goods, arms trafficking and counterfeiting foreign currency, especially the US dollar and Chinese yuan.
Khang Vu, a PhD candidate in political science at Boston College with a focus on East Asian politics and nuclear weapons, said that accepting North Korea as a nuclear state was the first step towards making real progress in managing escalation on the Korean peninsula.
“There is little chance that North Korea will give up its weapons after so many years of weapons development and sanctions,” Vu said, adding that arms controls limiting some parts of North Korea’s nuclear programme should be the next step as it allows for some degree of inspections that could prevent nuclear accidents.
Arms controls with North Korea would not undermine Washington’s non-proliferation efforts elsewhere as efforts to limit nuclear arms can continue even after a state is recognised to be a nuclear power, such as in the case of Israel or Pakistan, he said.
“However, this move is unlikely to be accepted at the policy level,” Vu noted, as accepting North Korea as a nuclear state “is tantamount to admitting failure and no administrations want to take the blame”.
In the unlikely scenario that the US and North Korea could enter into an arms control deal, Vu said there were problems with compliance and monitoring because both Pyongyang and Washington “have a bad record” of not fulfilling agreements.
“Low mutual trust puts into question the longevity of such a deal,” Vu said, adding that while “arms control is not a perfect option, it is the best option at the moment”.
Jae Jeok-park, an associate professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, said unless North Korea was equipped with technologies of re-entry and miniaturisation, Washington would not recognise Pyongyang as a nuclear state.
According to nuclear experts, North Korea still struggles to secure such advanced technology.
“The US recognition of North Korea as a nuclear state would indicate that Washington failed in its North Korea policy,” Park said, adding that regional states would also have doubts about Washington’s nuclear commitment to the region.
“Japan would go nuclear, so would Taiwan and South Korea,” Park said, adding that if this were to happen it would lead to more regional instability.
Lee Sung-yoon, a professor of Korean studies at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, said the only successful US denuclearisation project on the Korean peninsula was with South Korea. By threatening the withdrawal of all US forces in South Korea, Washington was able to compel Seoul to give up its nascent nuclear weapons programme in the early to mid-1970s.
“With North Korea, the US and other nations in the region have been repeatedly outmanoeuvred by Pyongyang in their denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula” talks over the past 30 years, Lee said.
Maria Siow
Maria Siow is a long-time China-based correspondent and analyst with keen interest in East Asia. Maria has a masters degree in international relations.
8. No tolerance of hate speech towards Itaewon tragedy
Excerpt:
Some make up rumors conspiring that drugs or gas leaks were the cause of the accident. The police and fire departments investigating the accident said no connection had been confirmed with such rumors. Spreading groundless rumors would not help manage the accident and might be subject to legal accountability. There is still unfiltered video footage of the accident scene being circulated online. It is inhumane to damage the dignity of victims and add to their wounds.
No tolerance of hate speech towards Itaewon tragedy
donga.com
Posted November. 01, 2022 07:53,
Updated November. 01, 2022 07:53
No tolerance of hate speech towards Itaewon tragedy. November. 01, 2022 07:53. .
As Korea enters a period of national mourning for the tragic accident in Itaewon over the weekend, some online communities are seeing derogatory remarks or condemnation towards the victims. Some people complain that they do not see any reason to mourn for those who lost their lives while entertaining themselves. Provocative videos of the accident are circulated, and there are rumors of false information about the cause. Such behavior is hate speech that is out of line, which can be held legally and ethically accountable for spreading false information.
Those who have passed away or suffered injury from the crush accident are victims of the disaster; they are not responsible for it. Students who have finished mid-terms, engaged couples, and young people celebrating their friends’ birthdays lost their lives due to an unfortunate accident. A young father held odd jobs struggling to put food on the table for his family. The Sri Lankan young man came to Korea with his pregnant wife of three months back home. Bereaved families of the victims say that their pain is like “being stabbed to death several times with a knife” and “deep sadness like the world is falling apart.” If people empathized with such emotions, they would not post comments of ridicule, blaming the victims.
Some make up rumors conspiring that drugs or gas leaks were the cause of the accident. The police and fire departments investigating the accident said no connection had been confirmed with such rumors. Spreading groundless rumors would not help manage the accident and might be subject to legal accountability. There is still unfiltered video footage of the accident scene being circulated online. It is inhumane to damage the dignity of victims and add to their wounds.
Citizens lined up to pay tribute at joint memorial altars in front of the Seoul City Hall, Noksapyeong Station plaza, and the accident scene. Couples with their children and foreign tourists from various countries laid flowers and mourned the death of the victims. The mourning is shared worldwide online as people join in praying for Itaewon. We should not forget that solidarity and sympathy with our community will drive efforts to build a safer and more robust society.
한국어
donga.com
9. Ohio congressman's niece among those killed in Itaewon crush
Tuesday
November 1, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Ohio congressman's niece among those killed in Itaewon crush
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/11/01/national/socialAffairs/korea-itaewon-itaewon-halloween/20221101161559552.html
Republican U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio [REUTERS]
Ohio congressman Brad Wenstrup said one of the two Americans who died in central Seoul's Itaewon on Oct. 29 in the Halloween crush was his niece, in a statement on Monday.
“Monica and I, and our entire family, are grieving the loss of our niece Anne Marie Gieske. She was a gift from God to our family. We loved her so much,” Wenstrup said.
Anne Gieske, 20, of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, died from the crowd crush in Itaewon on Saturday.
Gieske was a nursing student at the University of Kentucky, who came to Korea for an exchange semester at Hanyang University this fall.
“We are completely devastated and heartbroken over the loss of Anne Marie. She was a bright light loved by all. We ask for your prayers but also the respect of our privacy,” Gieske’s parents said in a statement.
“Anne’s final gift to us was dying in the state of sanctifying grace. We know we will one day be reunited with her in God’s kingdom.”
The University of Kentucky president Eli Capilouto also grieved the loss. “There aren’t adequate or appropriate words to describe the pain of a beautiful life cut short. It isn’t fair, nor is it comprehensible. It is loss and it hurts in ways that are impossible to articulate,” he said.
In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul reported that two U.S. citizens died in the tragedy and three were injured.
Steven Blesi was the other American killed in the Halloween crowd surge. He was a junior at Kennesaw State University in Georgia who also came to Korea as an exchange student.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday that at least 26 foreigners died in the tragedy.
BY KIM EUN-BIN, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]
10. U.S. takes North refugee as South's safe-haven status questioned
The second and third order effects of the forced repatriation incident during the Moon administration.
Excerpts:
His refugee status was made possible by the North Korean Human Rights Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2004 and signed into law by then-President George W. Bush, which authorized the U.S. government to offer humanitarian assistance to North Korean defectors.
Under the act, 225 North Korean defectors have been admitted as refugees to the United States.
While South Korea has its own law to provide assistance to people fleeing the North — the North Korean Defectors Protection and Settlement Support Act — Seoul does not categorize them as refugees, but rather as South Korean citizens in accordance with the South Korean constitutional claim over the entirety of the Korean Peninsula.
According to Jae Seong-ho, a professor of law at Chungang University, this approach means North Koreans are in an unusual position with regards to South Korean government policy.
“Since the Constitution regards North Koreans as South Korean citizens, neither international agreements on refugees nor South Korean refugee policy apply to them,” he said.
While Seoul’s longstanding policy is to admit North Koreans as South Korean citizens after having confirmed their intent to defect, the Moon Jae-in administration’s decision to repatriate two North Korean fishermen who crossed into the South via the East Sea in November 2019 has highlighted the downsides of this approach.
In that case, Moon administration officials claimed that the two men were merely evading justice for allegedly murdering 16 crewmembers aboard their fishing vessel, and that refugee policy did not apply to them.
Tuesday
November 1, 2022
dictionary + A - A
U.S. takes North refugee as South's safe-haven status questioned
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/11/01/national/northKorea/Korea-North-Korea-North-Korean-Human-Rights-Act/20221101184912547.html
Rep. Thae Yong-ho of the People Power Party, who was previously North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain before defecting with his family to South Korea in August 2016, speaks after being named to the National Assembly's foreign affairs and unification committee on Monday. [YONHAP]
The United States has admitted a North Korean defector as a refugee for the first time this year as South Korea's reputation as safe haven for those seeking to flee the repressive regime has been greatly diminished.
The defector was a North Korean worker dispatched to an unnamed country to earn foreign currency for Pyongyang. He escaped to another country and sought asylum at a U.S. embassy there, according to reporting by Voice of America (VOA).
His refugee status was made possible by the North Korean Human Rights Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2004 and signed into law by then-President George W. Bush, which authorized the U.S. government to offer humanitarian assistance to North Korean defectors.
Under the act, 225 North Korean defectors have been admitted as refugees to the United States.
While South Korea has its own law to provide assistance to people fleeing the North — the North Korean Defectors Protection and Settlement Support Act — Seoul does not categorize them as refugees, but rather as South Korean citizens in accordance with the South Korean constitutional claim over the entirety of the Korean Peninsula.
According to Jae Seong-ho, a professor of law at Chungang University, this approach means North Koreans are in an unusual position with regards to South Korean government policy.
“Since the Constitution regards North Koreans as South Korean citizens, neither international agreements on refugees nor South Korean refugee policy apply to them,” he said.
While Seoul’s longstanding policy is to admit North Koreans as South Korean citizens after having confirmed their intent to defect, the Moon Jae-in administration’s decision to repatriate two North Korean fishermen who crossed into the South via the East Sea in November 2019 has highlighted the downsides of this approach.
In that case, Moon administration officials claimed that the two men were merely evading justice for allegedly murdering 16 crewmembers aboard their fishing vessel, and that refugee policy did not apply to them.
Besides its criminal and political implications in South Korea, the fishermen's repatriation has had a chilling effect on maritime defection attempts by North Koreans, according to the office of conservative People Power Party lawmaker Thae Yong-ho, who served as Pyongyang’s deputy ambassador to London before he defected to Seoul with his family in 2016.
No defections or attempted defections by sea have been detected since the repatriation incident, according to data obtained by Thae’s office from the Unification Ministry.
By contrast, there were a total of 31 defectors who fled to the South by sea from 2015 and 2019.
Ji Seong-ho, another former North Korean defector-turned-PPP lawmaker, said the dramatic decrease in maritime defections highlighted the need for a clearer and more consistent policy regarding defectors.
“After the forced repatriation incident, North Korean officials are able to scare their people from escaping by claiming that even the South isn’t safe for defectors,” Ji said.
“Our government needs to reinforce its stance that it will accept all North Korean defectors and come up with institutional measures to better support the settlement of North Korean defectors so that perceptions in the North will change.”
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
11. Seoul returns to criticizing Pyongyang at the UN
South Korea is back. Human flights upfront.
Tuesday
November 1, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Seoul returns to criticizing Pyongyang at the UN
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/11/01/national/northKorea/north-korea-human-rights-UN/20221101175811126.html
A European Union representative to the UN speaks during the Third Committee meeting at the UN General Assembly's 77th session on Monday in New York. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Seoul has returned to co-sponsoring the annual UN resolution condemning North Korean human rights violations, according to the Foreign Ministry.
“Finally, a resolution on human rights in North Korea was proposed by the European Union at the Third Committee meeting of 77th session of the UN General Assembly held yesterday in New York,” Lim Soo-suk, the ministry’s spokesperson and deputy minister for public affairs, told the press on Tuesday.
“The Korean government actively participated in the discussions around the text of the North Korean human rights resolution and participated as a co-sponsor of the resolution.”
The Human Rights Council at the UN has annually adopted a resolution condemning Pyongyang’s human rights violation since 2003.
Seoul was a co-sponsor of the resolution from 2008 to 2018, but stopped in 2019 as the liberal Moon Jae-in administration tried to engage Pyongyang and not anger it.
The resolution, drafted by the European Union, has been proposed at the UN and is scheduled to be passed during the General Assembly session in December.
“We continue to reject unfair attempts to politicize the human rights [situations] on the UN stage and abuse them as political tools for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries,” said the North Korean representative during the Third Committee meeting of the UN General Assembly on Monday.
The text of the resolution this year is expected to be similar to previous resolutions, according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.
“It is still a draft, so there could be adjustments made until its expected adoption in December,” a ministry official told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Monday. “We are working closely with the members of the UN on the text.”
The resolution put forward last year by a number of European Union member states condemned “in the strongest terms the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights in and by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea," referring to North Korea by its full name.
The resolution addressed “gross” human rights violations in the North including torture and other inhuman punishments, the existence of political prison camps, all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, abductions of North Koreans and people from other countries, severe restrictions on freedom of thought of North Koreans in online and offline spaces, as well as exploitation of workers sent abroad.
“The government's position is that the North Korean human rights issue is a universal human rights issue that requires a consistent response based on principles,” Lim said.
BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
12. Running to the finish line (ROK and US nuclear power)
I had no idea this was an issue.
Tuesday
November 1, 2022
dictionary + A - A
Running to the finish line
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/11/01/opinion/editorials/nuclear-reactor-Poland-Korea/20221101194933220.html
On Monday, state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) signed a letter of intent to build Poland’s new nuclear power plant with Polish private energy company Zepak and public company PGE. The letter places the KHNP’s nuclear reactor technology in a favorable position to win the order from the Polish government which aims to build two nuclear plants with three reactors each for power security.
Poland has placed multibillion-dollar weapons orders with Korean companies in August and September. If Korea succeeds in finalizing the contract, it will be the first reactor export in 13 years after its first reactor project in the United Arab Emirates in 2009. It also would be the first meaningful reactor export to a member of the European Union.
Despite the much-hyped U.A.E. feat, Korean reactor supremacy was impaired under the policy of the former Moon Jae-in administration which pushed for a phase-out from nuclear power. The industry was entirely ruined over the last five years due to the cancellation of the construction of new nuclear plants. With nuclear technology being exited from the home country, Korea’s overseas sales were questioned. Chinese and Russian companies quickly widened their influence in the global reactor market.
Upon inauguration in May, President Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to revive the nuclear industry by procuring 10 new reactors by 2030. He bluntly criticized that the phasing out of nuclear power had been stupid. The new government expedited orders to restore the reactor ecosystem. In August, KHNP was consigned with the construction of turbine buildings for Egypt’s first nuclear power plant under the responsibility of Russian company Rosatom in a $2.25 billion deal.
Whether Korea can finalize a full reactor deal in Poland could hinge on Westinghouse. The U.S. reactor design house was chosen by Poland for its first government-led reactor last week. KHNP is pursuing a separate reactor project led by private companies. But Westinghouse has sued KHNP in a U.S. federal court for infringing on its original nuclear reactor design technology and using it for exports.
The nuclear power generation is an area known for Korean supremacy, along with memory chips. Nuclear power is essential for energy security and green growth. Korea must settle differences with America to ensure reliability in reactor exports. President Yoon and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden vowed to cooperate for a joint overseas foray in reactors in their summit talks in May. The U.S. and European Union are worried about Chinese and Russian reactor proliferation. It would be a win-win strategy if Korea and the U.S. cooperate in global reactor expansion. The Poland deal should come to fruition to help revive the struggling local industry.
13. 'US stands with Korea to overcome tragic times,' says ambassador
'US stands with Korea to overcome tragic times,' says ambassador
The Korea Times · November 1, 2022
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg walks past a backdrop mourning the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush during his meeting with the ruling People Power Party's interim chief Chung Jin-suk at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapBy Nam Hyun-woo
U.S. ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg said Tuesday that Washington will stand with Seoul to overcome the tragedy of the Itaewon crowd crush last weekend, adding deep and close relations between the two countries' peoples can be a source of comfort.
Goldberg made the remarks during separate meetings with the heads of South Korea's rival parties. The U.S. envoy said legislative engagement is the key element of multidimensional cooperation between the allies, and added that the U.S. is working to resolve South Korea's concerns on the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act "in a way that befits the alliance."
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg speaks during his meeting with ruling People Power Party interim leader Chung Jin-suk at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
"Words are insufficient to measure the grief that our two people share as we mourn the loss of so many young lives from both of our countries and from all over the world," Goldberg said during a meeting with ruling People Power Party (PPP) interim chief Chung Jin-suk. "As President Biden said the U.S. stands with the Republic of Korea during this tragic time. We offer our deepest condolences to families of the victims and our earnest hopes for the speedy recovery of those injured."
On Saturday, a huge crowd enjoying Halloween festivities resulted in a crush in a sloped and narrow alley in Itaewon, Seoul, resulting in at least 156 people dead and many more injured as of Tuesday morning. Among the non-Korean victims, two American students died and three were injured.
"Although we are in a difficult moment, we look forward to continuing our close engagement with the National Assembly under your leadership," Goldberg said. "Our alliance rests on many dimensions and legislative engagement is the key element of this. I hope that the deep and close relations between our peoples can be a source of comfort for you and the Korean people in the difficult days ahead."
The U.S. ambassador made similar remarks during his meeting with main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Jae-myung, adding "tragedies like Saturday's (has) no national boundaries."
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg, right, speaks during his meeting with main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Jae-myung, left, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapIt was the first time that Goldberg met the leaders of South Korea's rival parties since his arrival in the South as U.S. ambassador. Goldberg started his tenure in Seoul in July.
During the meetings, both party leaders emphasized the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance in deterring North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations.
"I believe it's important for the leaders of our two countries to work to reassure the [South] Korean public that we will be able to overcome the current crisis based upon the [South] Korea-U.S. alliance," the PPP chairman said. "I sincerely hope that we will continue to make efforts to maintain military preparedness."
The DPK chairman said Koreans have "full trust" in the U.S.' commitment to defend South Korea, and he is convinced that Seoul does not need any type of nuclear weapons as long as the U.S. maintains extended deterrence.
Extended deterrence refers to the U.S.' promise to provide protection to its non-nuclear allies by using its strategic assets. As North Korea's repeated missile and nuclear threats raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula, some members of the conservative ruling party have been calling for the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, while the liberal opposition is opposed to it.
"As you said in your remarks last month, the argument for the redeployment of tactical nukes is irresponsible and not worth our consideration," Lee said, referring to Goldberg's remarks during a forum organized by the Kwanhun Club on Oct. 26.
Goldberg responded by noting that the Seoul-Washington alliance will meet its 70th anniversary next year, and he is glad to see that the alliance has "bipartisan support."
In regards to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, whose incentive schemes are feared to discourage South Korean carmakers' electric vehicle sales in the U.S., Goldberg said the U.S. acknowledges the concerns of South Korean industries, and added, "We are working with our [South] Korean allies to try to resolve those issues in a way that befits our alliance."
The Korea Times · November 1, 2022
14. ＜Inside N. Korea＞ Smuggling appears to restart on the China-North Korea border…
They need the "safety valve" of smuggling.
＜Inside N. Korea＞ Smuggling appears to restart on the China-North Korea border…Would-be defectors are caught, and trading companies start “state-led smuggling”
asiapress.org
A sign put up by Chinese security authorities on the border saying, “The Purchase or Sale of Illicit Drugs is Prohibited.” China views the smuggling of stimulant drugs and other illicit drugs as a threat. Taken by ISHIMARU Jiro in July 2017.
In North Korea’s Yanggang Province, people are engaging in smuggling and illegal crossings of the Yalu River. In Hyesan, meetings for ordinary residents are placing an emphasis on the strong police response to these activities. An ASIAPRESS reporting partner in the country provided this report in late October. (KANG Ji-won)
The reporting partner said that a lecture was held by police officials at an inminban (people’s unit) meeting on October 18. The police officials claimed that several people had been caught trying to smuggle and crossing over the river into China near Samjiyon and Kimhyongjik County, and that “anyone smuggling or crossing the river will face severe punishment as their actions would go against (the country’s) COVID-19 quarantine measures.”
Following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, the Kim Jong-un regime began fortifying barbed-wire fences along the banks of the Yalu River, ostensibly as part of efforts to stop the virus from entering the country. More security forces were stationed along the border as well, and anyone without permission was banned from approaching the river banks. These measures led to the end of smuggling and river crossings in the border region.
According to the reporting partner, the police have given lists of “suspicious persons” involved in smuggling in the past to people’s unit leaders, who check to see whether these people leave their homes at night. They also go around the homes in their neighborhood to check conditions there.
The restart of smuggling and river crossings appear to be due to difficulties faced not just by ordinary people but also soldiers and police officers tasked with guarding the border. The COVID-19 pandemic has stabilized in the country, and people are hoping for the restart of their economic activities. Soldiers and others guarding the border appear to be turning a blind eye to smugglers in exchange for bribes.
◆ Trading companies restart “state-led smuggling”
Meanwhile, “state-led smuggling” appears to have restarted. “State-led smuggling” refers to North Korean trading companies conducting trade with China with the permission by the North Korean authorities. The reporting partner told ASIAPRESS:
“A person working at a large trading company I know said that there was a recent government order to check to see if it would be possible to smuggle in cars, car parts and other car-related equipment from China without anyone having to go back and forth across the border. (Trading companies) are also starting the purchase of medicinal plants and mountain greens to smuggle into China. There’s been a start of various consultations with Chinese companies (in this regard).”
※ Inminban are the lowest administrative units in North Korea. They typically manage 20-30 households in a particular area. Inminban leaders relay orders from local district offices to residents and are also in charge of keeping a close eye on the (ideological) tendencies shown by ordinary people.
※ ASIAPRESS smuggles Chinese cellphones into North Korea to maintain communication with its reporting partners.
Map of North Korea ( ASIAPRESS)
asiapress.org
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Senior Advisor, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
| 
