Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners

Quotes of the Day:

"This was to be a new instrument of war and I should be responsible for shaping it. Its purpose was to coordinate all action by way of subversion against the enemy overseas. A new organization was being created which would absorb some small elements of existing organizations but would be on a much greater scale, with wider scope and largely manned by new personnel. It would be a secret or underground organization. . . . Subversion was a complex conception. It meant the weakening by whatever "covert" means of the Enemy's will to make war and the strengthening of the will and power of his opponents including in particular guerrilla and resistance movements. . . . I accepted the Prime Minister's suggestion with great eagerness and satisfaction. "And now," he exhorted, "set Europe ablaze."

- Hugh Dalton, quoted in "On Political Warfare" by Paul Smith

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche

"Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils."

- Thucydides

1. N. Korea fires multiple cruise missiles toward East Sea: S. Korean military

2. Spate of missile launches triggers call for unity on Korean Peninsula

3.. North Korea rehearses ‘nuclear counterattack’ scenario with latest missile test

4. S. Korea, U.S. set for 'largest-ever' live-fire drills to mark alliance's 70th anniv.

5. U.S. condemns N. Korean missile provocation, urges U.N. members to hold Pyongyang accountable

6. S. Korea, Japan to wrap up removal of export curbs, WTO complaint this week

7. Kim Jong-un spends quality time with daughter, 10, at another missile test

8. North Koreans are at growing risk of starvation

9. North Korea removes fishing restrictions in the Yellow Sea

10. N. Korea convenes meeting to discuss natural disaster prevention measures

11.North Korea "power struggle" seen among Kim Jong Un's sister, wife, child

12. N. Korea conducts training in response to joint military training

13. US State Department releases Report on Human Rights Practices

14. Korea and Japan try and try again for a reset

15. U.S. Chips Act offers some comfort to Korean chip makers

16. Expression restrictions, corruption are concerns in South Korea: U.S. report

17. Korea, U.S. to hold joint training of unprecedented scale in June

1. N. Korea fires multiple cruise missiles toward East Sea: S. Korean military

Kim Jong Un's keeping up with the joneses. It seems he is going to continue to test for as long as Freedom Shield continues. Or this is also the culmination of the north's Winter Training Cycle and they are showing us all they've got. We are seeing no reports of major maneuver exercises (but we have seen reports of the training being canceled because of lack of food for some units). Kim needs the three from the alliance for domestic political purposes and his missile tests ensure that threat is visible. And Kim has little else for deterrence - he has to use these exercises because he has not been able to bring the conventional maneuver forces to their highest state of readiness which is the norm at the end of the annual Winter training Cycle in March.

(2nd LD) N. Korea fires multiple cruise missiles toward East Sea: S. Korean military | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · March 22, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more details in 3rd para)

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles toward the East Sea on Wednesday, the South Korean military said.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Hamhung area on the North's east coast from 10:15 a.m. It did not immediately provide other details.

Observers raised the possibility that the launch might have involved a long-range strategic cruise missile known as the North Korean version of the U.S.' Tomahawk missile.

The launch came as South Korea and the United States are conducting the combined Freedom Shield (FS) command post exercise as well as the concurrent field training exercise, called the Warrior Shield. The 11-day FS is set to end Thursday.

"Under the firm combined defense posture, our military will successfully wrap up the FS and continue to carry out the ongoing Warrior Shield in a high-intensity manner," the JCS said in a press release.

The North fired a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea during what it claimed to be tactical "nuclear counterattack" drills on the weekend.

This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 15, 2023, shows the North firing two ground-to-ground ballistic missiles from Jangyon, South Hwanghae Province, the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

sshluck@yna.co.kr

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en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · March 22, 2023

2. Spate of missile launches triggers call for unity on Korean Peninsula

From the UN.

Spate of missile launches triggers call for unity on Korean Peninsula

news.un.org · March 20, 2023

20 March 2023Peace and Security

Raising alarms that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is heading in the “wrong direction”, a senior UN official appealed to the UN Security Council for unity on Monday, following a spate of missile launches in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas Miroslav Jenča told the Council that the Korean Peninsula must be “an area for cooperation” and not for escalating tensions. In this regard, the Security Council’s unity is “essential” to ease tensions and overcome the diplomatic impasse.

Tweet URL

"With the current heightened tensions with the DPRK, any security misstep could trigger significant escalation with drastic consequences for human rights," Special Rapporteur Elizabeth Salmón warned the Human Rights Council.

#HRC52 report https://t.co/KdffdRcDPK @UNrightsSeoul https://t.co/0a2hGz3zq5

UN Human Rights Council #HRC52

UN_HRC

March 20, 2023

Drill simulates ‘nuclear counterattack’

DPRK has conducted 14 launches of ballistic missile systems in 2023. Pyongyang called its latest launch, fired on Sunday, a “drill simulating a nuclear counterattack”, he said, briefing on the latest developments.

“The situation on the Korean Peninsula continues to head in the wrong direction,” he said. “Tensions continue to increase, with no off-ramps in sight.”

Sunday’s ballistic missile launch was the fourth in 11 days in DPRK, which is more commonly known as North Korea. The systems tested on 16 March and 18 February, as well as on two occasions last year, are capable of reaching most points on the Earth, he said, reiterating the UN Secretary-General’s condemnation of the launches and repeated calls on DPRK to immediately desist from taking any further destabilizing actions.

Pyongyang had announced that the 16 March launching drill involved the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, which flew a distance of 1,000 kilometres to an altitude of 6,045 kilometres, he said.

This heightened frequency of activities comes on the heels of a sharp rise in missile launches in 2022, including approximately 70 launches using ballistic missile technology, he cautioned.

“The DPRK characterised these launches as involving systems with nuclear weapon roles, including so-called ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons,” he said, adding that most of the systems tested are capable of striking countries in the immediate region.

Pyongyang had not issued airspace or maritime safety notifications, he said, adding that unannounced launches represent a “serious risk” to international civil aviation and maritime traffic.

Indeed, DPRK is actively pursuing its nuclear weapons programme, having approved a new law in September setting out conditions in which it could use nuclear weapons, including pre-emptively in certain circumstances, he said.

‘Remains prepared for nuclear test’

At the same time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in early March that the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site remains prepared to support a nuclear test, he said. A nuclear test – the nation’s seventh – would be a flagrant violation of Security Council resolutions and undermine the international norm against nuclear testing.

Highlighting concerns regarding the humanitarian situation in the country, he said the UN stands ready to assist in addressing medical and other basic needs of vulnerable populations.

“We reiterate our call on the DPRK to allow the unimpeded entry of international staff, including the UN Resident Coordinator, and of humanitarian supplies, to enable a timely and effective response,” he said.

Children wait to receive nutritional supplements at a clinic in Nampo City, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (file)

New Human Rights Council report

Presenting her first report to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on Monday, Elizabeth Salmón, the new UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in DPRK, said that given the current heightened tensions, any security misstep could trigger significant escalation with drastic consequences for human rights.

Meanwhile, the 2020 border closure continues to raise grave concerns, she said.

“Access to food, medicines and health care remains a priority concern,” she said, adding that UN engagement and access to information is at its “lowest point ever”, allowing authorities to tighten control over its people and prioritize the development of weapon systems.

New ‘shoot-on-site’ policy

“People have frozen to death during the cold spells in January,” she said. “Women have lost the means to make a living because of reduced market activities. The country also has introduced more severe penalties for accessing information from outside of the country, further limited domestic travel and further strengthened border security, including introducing a ‘shoot-on-site’ policy.”

The international community should approach human rights violations in the country from two tracks: engage in reflective thinking and make repeated efforts to re-engage authorities and take action and advocate to end impunity and achieve accountability.

Security and rights ‘closely interlinked’

“It’s urgent to address human rights concerns in possible negotiations on denuclearization and work towards a peaceful resolution of tensions because human rights and peace and security are closely interlinked,” she said, also highlighting elements of the report, which focuses on girls and women.

Reiterating the need to refer relevant cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC), she said in the meantime, the Human Rights Council should press for comprehensive negotiations with Pyongyang that comprise peace, security, economic development, and humanitarian and human rights issues.

“The current stalemate in dialogue and diplomacy only enables the further deterioration of the human rights situation under the cloak of secrecy and facilitates the further development of the country’s weapons programme including nuclear weapons,” she said. “That surely isn’t something the international community would want to settle with.”

Special rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and work on a voluntary and unpaid basis, are not UN staff, and work independently from any government or organization.

news.un.org · March 20, 2023

3.. North Korea rehearses ‘nuclear counterattack’ scenario with latest missile test

I side with Mr. Pinkson. The US commitment to support South Korea is NOT "weak-kneed."

Excerpts:

Mr. Pinkston, too, is not convinced that U.S. support for South Korea – two nations linked by a mutual defense treaty signed in 1953, the year the Korean War rumbled to an uneasy halt — is weak-kneed.

“If you think you are going to invade South Korea and the U.S. is not going to intervene, you are just mistaken, and the North Koreans know that,” Mr. Pinkston said. “If North Korea nukes Guam, or Kadena or Busan, no American president can sit by and do nothing.”

These risk calculations pose problems for Mr. Kim, who has invested a huge proportion of his state’s economic resources into weapons of limited real-world utility.

Just as nuclear-armed America was unable to prevail against non-nuclear Vietnam, and nuclear-armed Russia is struggling to overcome non-nuclear Ukraine, Mr. Kim‘s nuclear arsenal may be equally useless in a conventional war on the divided Korean peninsula.

“Nuclear arms are credible for deterrence,” Mr. Pinkston said. “But nobody has been able to demonstrate how to use nuclear arms for compellence.”

North Korea rehearses ‘nuclear counterattack’ scenario with latest missile test

Focus on doctrine, launch protocols, as U.S.-South Korean drills proceed

washingtontimes.com · by Andrew Salmon

Subscriber-only

SEOUL — Furious over U.S.-South Korean war games it insists are a rehearsal for an invasion, North Korea tested another short-range ballistic missile on Monday which it says is part of a broader push to revamp and sharpen its own warfighting doctrines.

The two-day North Korean exercises, staged amid the revived “Freedom Shield” drills involving U.S. and South Korean forces, included the management of nuclear strike control systems, the transition of troops to a nuclear counterattack posture, and the launching of a tactical ballistic missile tipped with a mock nuclear warhead, monitors in South Korea said.

As is becoming customary, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his newly prominent 10-year-old daughter, Ju-ae, oversaw the launch from the country’s northwestern province. The missile flew over North Korean territory and splashed in the Sea of Japan, having traveled 500 miles.

From a state accustomed to unleashing missiles of all types, a short-range ballistic test is not especially noteworthy. But North Korea‘s official media stressed that this week’s exercises came with a wider, more comprehensive strategic heft.

Mr. Kim stressed that his forces need to be “familiar with any unexpected circumstances, and … [be] perfectly prepared in their active posture of making an immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack anytime,” North Korea‘s state-controlled press reported.

To the south, Seoul and Washington are staging the largest annual version of their “Freedom Shield” military exercises since 2017. The drills, which run through Thursday, are aimed at countering the North’s evolving threats. Shortly after the North Korean missile launch was spotted, the U.S. and South Korean militaries were scheduled to conduct large-scale marine landing exercises.

The South Korean drills follow a closed-door tabletop exercise held in the United States in February, which focused specifically on how to respond to a nuclear weapon attack by Pyongyang.

In an eye-catching series of tests last week, the North launched its giant new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile and two submarine-launched missiles. It also claimed that some 1.4 million citizens have volunteered for the nation’s military.

But South Korean analysts said the North’s public emphasis on the rewriting of its nuclear protocols and the stress-testing of its missile units marks a distinct shift in the isolated nation’s weapons of mass destruction programs, experts say.

“A threat is a capability and an intention, and North Korea has been working intensively on acquiring capabilities over the past 10 years,” said Daniel Pinkston, a Seoul-based international relations professor at Troy University. “Now it has come to fruition, we are seeing deployment and preparation. the intention part: ‘What do you do with it?’”

Many in Seoul fear Mr. Kim could follow Russian President Vladimir Putin’s playbook in Ukraine — launching a conventional invasion bracketed by the threat of a nuclear strike to keep outside states from intervening.

Another possibility is the North could use a smaller, “tactical” nuclear strike to prevent American reinforcements from reaching the peninsula in time.

“U.S. deterrence relies on the ability to air-land a brigade combat team, within days, followed by a division plus within one or two months, and this requires fully functioning and air and sea points of disembarkation,” said David Park, a retired U.S. Army major who has taken part in the annual spring drills. “If these are knocked out, along with major existing U.S. Forces Korea massed formations in the first 24 hours of hostilities, the U.S. counterattack plan needs to be redone.”

U.S. freedom of action might also be restrained by Tokyo, fearing that its own soil could be struck, Mr. Park said. Indeed, regional U.S. troop concentrations — in locations such as Guam, Okinawa and Kadena in Japan, and southern South Korea — are in range of Mr. Kim‘s arsenal.

And if the U.S. government countered with its own nuclear strikes, risks to America itself would spiral. “If it is Pyongyang for Washington D.C., is the U.S. up for that?” asked Mr. Park, a Korean American.

Biden administration officials have been seeking to reassure South Korea of the U.S. commitment, deploying B-1 strategic bombers as part of this week’s exercise and reiterating pledges to defend its ally.

The ongoing drills have included the deployment of U.S. B-1 strategic bombers, and repeated a long-standing U.S. message on March 14.

“We have been very clear that were North Korea to employ a nuclear weapon, it would be the end of the North Korean regime,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told a recent briefing.

Chun In-bum, a retired South Korean general, warned that if North Korea launched a nuclear strike, there would be powerful reasons for America to return the destruction — with interest.

“There are around 5,000 [military dependent] U.S. children in South Korea,” he told foreign reporters. “If North Korea killed American children, the wrath of the American people would be terrible.”

Mr. Pinkston, too, is not convinced that U.S. support for South Korea – two nations linked by a mutual defense treaty signed in 1953, the year the Korean War rumbled to an uneasy halt — is weak-kneed.

“If you think you are going to invade South Korea and the U.S. is not going to intervene, you are just mistaken, and the North Koreans know that,” Mr. Pinkston said. “If North Korea nukes Guam, or Kadena or Busan, no American president can sit by and do nothing.”

These risk calculations pose problems for Mr. Kim, who has invested a huge proportion of his state’s economic resources into weapons of limited real-world utility.

Just as nuclear-armed America was unable to prevail against non-nuclear Vietnam, and nuclear-armed Russia is struggling to overcome non-nuclear Ukraine, Mr. Kim‘s nuclear arsenal may be equally useless in a conventional war on the divided Korean peninsula.

“Nuclear arms are credible for deterrence,” Mr. Pinkston said. “But nobody has been able to demonstrate how to use nuclear arms for compellence.”

• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.

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washingtontimes.com · by Andrew Salmon

4. S. Korea, U.S. set for 'largest-ever' live-fire drills to mark alliance's 70th anniv.

In June and October it seems.

Excerpts:

The allies have fleshed out the program amid joint efforts to reinforce deterrence against North Korea's continued provocations, including the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile last week.

For the live-fire training set for June, the two sides will mobilize high-tech military equipment, including pieces integrating both manned and unmanned assets, to demonstrate the alliance's firepower and maneuverability.

The allies have carried out massive combined live-fire drills less than 10 times, including the last in 2017.

South Korea is also seeking to hold the Armed Forces Day ceremony with the participation of the U.S. Forces Korea in late September to demonstrate the alliance's "overwhelming" deterrence and response capabilities against North Korean threats, according to the ministry.

S. Korea, U.S. set for 'largest-ever' live-fire drills to mark alliance's 70th anniv. | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · March 22, 2023

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States plan to conduct their "largest-ever" combined live-fire drills in June as part of a program to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their alliance, Seoul's defense ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry unveiled the program designed to strengthen the allies' solidarity, demonstrate their militaries' technological edge and highlight their focus on "realizing peace through strength via action," according to the ministry.

The allies have fleshed out the program amid joint efforts to reinforce deterrence against North Korea's continued provocations, including the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile last week.

For the live-fire training set for June, the two sides will mobilize high-tech military equipment, including pieces integrating both manned and unmanned assets, to demonstrate the alliance's firepower and maneuverability.

The allies have carried out massive combined live-fire drills less than 10 times, including the last in 2017.

South Korea is also seeking to hold the Armed Forces Day ceremony with the participation of the U.S. Forces Korea in late September to demonstrate the alliance's "overwhelming" deterrence and response capabilities against North Korean threats, according to the ministry.

In addition, Seoul and Washington are working to craft a future defense vision of the bilateral alliance to be announced at their annual defense ministerial talks, called the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), expected to come in October.

During the SCM, the allies plan to jointly host the first-ever meeting with defense ministers from member countries of the United Nations Command to reaffirm their support for security on the Korean Peninsula and strengthen solidarity with them, the ministry said.

The South and the U.S. signed their mutual defense treaty, a bedrock alliance document, in October 1953, after the Korean War ended in a truce three months earlier.

This file photo, taken Aug. 31, 2022, shows the U.S. military's M1A2 tank engaging in a South Korea-U.S. combined live-fire exercise in Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, 41 kilometers north of Seoul. (Yonhap)

sshluck@yna.co.kr

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en.yna.co.kr · by 송상호 · March 22, 2023

5. U.S. condemns N. Korean missile provocation, urges U.N. members to hold Pyongyang accountable

(LEAD) U.S. condemns N. Korean missile provocation, urges U.N. members to hold Pyongyang accountable | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · March 22, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks from a Pentagon spokesperson in last 3 paras)

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Yonhap) -- The United States strongly condemns North Korea's latest missile provocation, a state department spokesperson said Tuesday, while calling on all United Nations member countries to play their role in holding the country accountable.

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, said the North's latest missile launch on Monday (Korea time) was especially concerning as it simulated the use of a tactical nuclear weapon.

"The United States condemned the DPRK's March 19 ballistic missile launch, which came just three days after the DPRK's most recent ICBM launch," the spokesperson told a daily press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, is seen speaking during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on March 21, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile this week following its second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch of the year on Thursday (Korea time).

"This launch is in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions, and it's the latest in a series of launchers that pose a threat to the DPRK's neighbors," Patel added.

The department spokesperson said the latest missile launch was "particularly concerning" that the DPRK has characterized it as the "simulated use of a tactical nuclear weapon."

Pyongyang said Monday's missile launch was observed by leader Kim Jong-un, who stressed the need to make an "immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack" when necessary.

Patel underscored the need for international action to hold North Korea to account.

"We continue to believe that all members of the (U.N.) Security Council have a role to play in holding the DPRK accountable, especially those that have influence over Pyongyang," he told the press briefing.

His remarks come one day after the Security Council failed to produce any outcome in a meeting held to discuss measures against North Korea due to opposition from China and Russia, both veto power-wielding permanent members of the council and friendly neighbors of North Korea.

"Now's not the time to be using vetoes to cover up DPRK," said Patel.

A Pentagon spokesperson said the U.S. was closely watching North Korea's missile program.

"I think we have been aware for a very long time (of) the challenges associated with North Korea's missile program," Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said when asked in a daily press briefing if the North Korean missile launched Monday had been fired from an underground silo as reported earlier, making it more difficult to detect North Korean missile launches in advance.

"(It) is something that we continue to watch, monitor very closely, something we continue to consult about with our allies and our partners in the region," the Pentagon spokesperson added.

Youtube

https://youtu.be/Bzz48uRMpaw

bdk@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 변덕근 · March 22, 2023

6. S. Korea, Japan to wrap up removal of export curbs, WTO complaint this week

Continued progress. Keep up the momentum.

S. Korea, Japan to wrap up removal of export curbs, WTO complaint this week | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · March 22, 2023

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Japan are expected to wrap up necessary procedures this week to lift export restrictions and withdraw a complaint with the World Trade Organization on the issue, Seoul's industry chief said Wednesday.

Last week, Japan vowed to lift export curbs on key industrial materials to South Korea, which had been in place since July 2019 in apparent retaliation against the South Korean Supreme Court rulings in 2018 that ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to victims of Japan's forced labor during its 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.

In response, South Korea announced its decision to withdraw a complaint it filed with the WTO against Japan on the issue, as the two sides agreed to improve strained bilateral ties amid decadeslong rows over shared historical and other issues during last week's summit talks between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

"Necessary procedures for those issues will be completed within this week," Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang told reporters. "We will also get down to a process of revising rules for swiftly putting Japan back onto our trade whitelist and have consultations with Japan regarding the matter."

Following the summit meeting, Seoul and Tokyo also agreed to have close consultations on reinstating each other to their respective "whitelist" of trusted trading partners.

In 2019, Japan also removed South Korea from the list of nations with fast-track trade status, requiring tough screening on exporting hundreds of "strategic items" that could potentially be diverted for military use.

In a tit-for-tat move, South Korea delisted Japan from its trade partners given preferential treatment.

"South Korea and Japan were able to resume government-level consultations after a yearslong hiatus, which is expected to boost cooperation between companies of the two nations and to reinvigorate sizeable investment," Lee said, stressing joint work with Japan will help South Korea better respond to global challenges.

A series of reconciliatory measures came after the Yoon government announced plans earlier this month to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor without asking Japan for contributions.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (C) speaks during the South Korea-Japan Business Roundtable at the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, in Tokyo on March 17, 2023. (Yonhap)

graceoh@yna.co.kr

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en.yna.co.kr · by 오석민 · March 22, 2023

7. Kim Jong-un spends quality time with daughter, 10, at another missile test

Kim Jong-un spends quality time with daughter, 10, at another missile test

MetroUK · by Craig Munro · March 20, 2023

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Ju-ae enjoy a warhead missile launch exercise simulating a tactical nuclear attack (Picture: Getty Images)

Kim Jong-un has capped off a week of angry rhetoric and regular missile tests with a bit of father-daughter time.

The North Korea dictator’s child Kim Ju-ae, who is believed to be around ten years old, joined him yesterday to watch a military exercise involving a mock nuclear warhead.

State media Rodong Sinmun said today that the missile launch was planned to ‘substantially bolster the country’s war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability’.

Pictures showing the high-stakes Bring Your Child to Work Day were released soon afterwards, including one of the pair strolling through a misty forest surrounded by military figures.

Ju-ae has become a regular fixture by her dad’s side in the past few months, after making a sudden entry into public life in November.

The frequency of her appearances has led to some speculation the dictator is setting the youngster up to be his successor.

She was pictured earlier this month sitting next to her dad to watch the army simulating an attack on an unspecified South Korean airfield, as they both wore matching black overcoats.

Ju-ae could also be seen by his side at the test launch of the country’s Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile last Thursday, which the elder Kim said was intended to ‘strike fear into the enemies’.

Kim Ju-ae has been popping up at official events fairly often since November (Picture: Getty Images)

She came along to a banquet marking the 75th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army (Picture: Getty Images)

The state denied the child existed for some time, but now she is often referred to as the ‘most beloved daughter’.

In an unlikely turn of events, her name was first revealed in the West by US basketball star Dennis Rodman, who held her as a baby on one of his much-publicised trips to North Korea.

He told the Guardian in 2013: ‘I held their baby Ju-ae and spoke with Ms Ri [Sol-Ju, Kim’s wife] as well.

‘He’s a good dad and has a beautiful family. Kim told me, “I’ll see you in December.”‘

An unverified photo provided by the North Korean government shows what it says is a ballistic missile launch which took place yesterday (Picture: AP)

South Korean news coverage of the test launch showed the tranjectory of the missile (Picture: EPA)

Earlier this month, the South Korean National Intelligence Services (NIS) said Ju-ae is ‘living a life of luxury’ as most of her fellow citizens face a food crisis that is leaving them undernourished, according to the United Nations.

The NIS claimed the leader’s daughter is home-schooled in Pyongyang, and spends her free time skiing and swimming.

They said Kim is particularly happy that she’s ‘very good’ at horse-riding.

Sunday’s launch of a short-range ballistic missile into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula was condemned as a provocation by the chief nuclear envoys to the US, Japan and South Korea.

The range of the weapon – it travelled a distance of around 500 miles – suggests South Korea could be among its potential targets.

It was tested amid an increasingly tense atmosphere on the peninsula.

The US has recently been carrying out the biggest military drills of their kind in years in the region alongside their allies in the South.

In response to the latest launch, South Korea said the drills would continue as it maintains a readiness to ‘overwhelmingly’ respond to any provocation by their neighbour.

MetroUK · by Craig Munro · March 20, 2023

8. North Koreans are at growing risk of starvation

Starvation alone will not lead to change in the north. In fact, counterintuitively, the food shortages are a useful control measures for the regime as it makes it easier to repss the population. We can assess that Kim thinks so in his recent statement calling humanitarian and food assistance "poison candy" and saying the north cannot accept it.

But we are seeing signs of resistance at low levels. Despite the crackdowns by the regime and the shortages due to the border closures, markets continue to function - they are the people's only relief mechanism. Despite the enactment of new laws against foreign information and brutal punishments, the people still seek outside information. This is why information is so important because it can help the people find ways forward with collective action.

North Koreans are at growing risk of starvation

Reports of terrible hunger are emerging from the closed-off state

Mar 21st 2023 | SEOUL

The Economist

Hunger makes people desperate. On February 10th a starving man in his 70s took a stand outside the communist party office in Hyesan, a city in the northern part of North Korea. As party members arrived for work, he called out, “I’ll die of starvation if things continue like this, please give me food.” Other famished people quickly joined him. When security guards tried to dispel the crowd, a skirmish ensued. In a country where causing a disturbance can get you sent to the gulag, or worse, dissent of this kind appears to be vanishingly rare.

Such incidents, reported by Rimjin-gang, a secretive group of journalists operating inside North Korea, offer a glimpse of the closed-off state’s growing food crisis. The UN reckons that between 2019 and 2021, 42% of North Koreans were malnourished. And as a result of poor weather conditions and a shortage of fertiliser—in part due to the country’s self-imposed three-year quarantine—it had an especially poor harvest last year. Total food production was only 4.5m tonnes, down by 3.8% compared with the year before, according to South Korea’s rural development agency. That is more than 1.2m tonnes less than the UN’s World Food Programme estimated in 2019 was needed to feed the country.

Its statist agricultural system has long failed to produce enough food for North Korea’s 26m people. A famine in the 1990s cost at least 200,000 lives—and by some estimates as many as 3m. The current hunger is less serious. “‘We’re certainly not there yet,” says Lucas Rengifo-Keller of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. But, he adds, “it won’t take much to reach that level.” South Korea’s government is increasingly sounding the alarm. It believes some North Koreans are already starving. Horrifying reports, including one of a seven-year-old found starved to death with two family members, are seeping across the border.

Trade is the likeliest source of relief, says Choi Eun-ju of the Sejong Institute, a think-tank near Seoul. But though official cross-border trade has been increasing, it is well below pre-covid-19 levels; Chinese trade data suggest that in 2022 North Korea imported more than 56m kg of flour and 53,000kg of cereals. In the past, moreover, much of North Korea’s food was imported off-the-books. And a decision by the regime of Kim Jong Un to close its borders in January 2020, ostensibly as a pandemic defence, has limited such food imports, as well as those of fertiliser. Newly built border fences guarded by soldiers with shoot-to-kill orders have apparently reduced food smuggling close to zero.

The prices of rice and maize, which make up 98% of the country’s cereal production, hint at the seriousness of the situation. Both are at five-year highs for March, according to DailyNK, a Seoul-based outlet with contacts inside North Korea. The cost of maize is rising fastest, suggesting that North Koreans are being forced to opt for that less calorific crop. DailyNK reports that ordinary people have also been called on to contribute “patriotic rice” to the country’s armed forces.

The situation may be about to deteriorate further; the lean season before the first rice and maize harvest, known as the “barley hump”, is imminent. And the weather promises no relief. Winter snow, which provides meltwater for irrigation, has been below average. North Korean media, which are admittedly less than reliable, warn of a possible drought.

The regime of Kim Jong Un is sufficiently worried to have acknowledged the crisis on several occasions. At a communist party meeting earlier this month, Mr Kim called on his cadres to usher in a “new era” of rural development. This intervention is additionally worrying. The famine of the 1990s was ultimately ended by small-scale private farming and trade, which sprang up amid the ruins of the country’s Stalinist agriculture and distribution systems, notes Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein of the Stimson Centre, a think-tank in Washington. He and other North Korea watchers believe these markets should be sufficient to prevent another severe famine. Yet the Kim regime appears to be intent on tightening its grip on them.

Rimjin-gang reports the state has banned the sale of food in markets in some cities to give state-run food shops, which are selling grain at below-market prices, a monopoly. Other elements of Mr Kim’s “new era”, such as new irrigation systems and farming equipment, are longstanding but unfulfilled regime promises. North Koreans who spoke to DailyNK said they wished the government would focus on distributing food and fertiliser. “People on the verge of starvation aren’t likely to do a great job [of farming],” said one.

The UN’s World Food Programme has tripled its budget for North Korea for the first half of 2023. But the UN agency’s staff are barred from the country and there is no sign that that will change. In February North Korea’s regime newspaper derided foreign aid as “poison candy” and an insult to the country’s “honour and dignity”.

South Korea has also offered aid, with the proviso that the North must resume negotiating a possible end to its nuclear-weapons programme. But Mr Kim sees nuclear arms as the guarantor of his regime’s continued existence. In March alone North Korea has launched five missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile and what state media claimed was the country’s first submarine-launched cruise missile. For the Kim regime, guns will always beat butter.■

The Economist

9. North Korea removes fishing restrictions in the Yellow Sea

West Sea.

Excerpts:

Fishing on the Yellow Sea, called the West Sea by Koreans, remained suspended until last week, and now the Ministry of Fisheries is trying to get every available fishing boat out on the water as soon as possible.

“In the West Sea, the emergency measures for COVID-19 quarantine that had been in place for almost three years have been lifted,” a source from South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Ships from fisheries offices were allowed to go out and were also given quotas of fish they must give to the state.”

The source said that anchovies and clams caught in the sea are immediately sent to the fisheries office’s refrigerated warehouse and donated to the state.

North Korea removes fishing restrictions in the Yellow Sea

Authorities promise a ‘great wind’ of freshly caught fish, but people doubt the fish are for them.

By Hyemin Son for RFA Korean

2023.03.21

rfa.org

North Korea has reopened the Yellow Sea to its fisheries after banning fishing there for around three years due to COVID-19 concerns, sources in the county told Radio Free Asia.

North Korea declared a national emergency at the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020, shutting down its border with China and suspending fishing operations in the seas adjacent to the country.

With a lack of imports and dwindling food supplies, authorities reopened limited maritime trade in the second half of 2021, and reopened the fisheries in waters east of the peninsula in August 2022.

Fishing on the Yellow Sea, called the West Sea by Koreans, remained suspended until last week, and now the Ministry of Fisheries is trying to get every available fishing boat out on the water as soon as possible.

“In the West Sea, the emergency measures for COVID-19 quarantine that had been in place for almost three years have been lifted,” a source from South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Ships from fisheries offices were allowed to go out and were also given quotas of fish they must give to the state.”

The source said that anchovies and clams caught in the sea are immediately sent to the fisheries office’s refrigerated warehouse and donated to the state.

Authorities are propagandizing the reopening of the Yellow Sea to fisheries, telling the people that they anticipate a “great wind” of freshly caught fish, a source in the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

“The authorities are promoting that fish will soon be on everyone’s plates, adding a huge improvement to our diets,” the source said. “The people are laughing at this, saying, ‘When has the country EVER supplied us with fish?”

Though the authorities are urging that every fishery start operations immediately, many of the ships and equipment are badly in need of repair, according to the source.

“Managers are troubled by the authorities’ instructions to figure out funding for ship repair and maintenance on their own,” the source said. “The fisheries officials therefore have no choice but to borrow funds from rich moneylenders … and the anchovies and shrimp netted by smaller ships are sold in the marketplaces to pay back the lenders.”

The wealthy are also able to net significant profits by renting the larger ships, according to the source.

“They buy the nets and fuel … set sail to distant seas and catch lots of fish,” the source said. “They hand over 60% of their catch to the fisheries office, and sell the rest themselves in the marketplace.”

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.

rfa.org

10. N. Korea convenes meeting to discuss natural disaster prevention measures

Except they will not discuss the biggest "natural disaster" in north Korea: the existence of the Kim family regime.\

The root of all problems in Korea is the existence of the most evil mafia-like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime that has the objective of dominating the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.

N. Korea convenes meeting to discuss natural disaster prevention measures | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by 채윤환 · March 22, 2023

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has convened a meeting of its national crisis response committee to discuss ways to strengthen the country's capability to tackle natural disasters and other challenges, state media reported Wednesday.

The meeting took place virtually Tuesday to discuss progress in natural disaster prevention projects, such as recovery efforts from last year's floods and measures to "swiftly" deal with various disasters, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The session came as the North has ramped up efforts to address its chronic food shortages that have apparently been aggravated by natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years.

This file photo, captured from North Korea's official Korean Central TV on June 29, 2022, shows the Pothong River in Pyongyang after heavy rains. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

In October, the North adopted a crisis response law that outlined the establishment of the national crisis response committee in the wake of heavy flooding and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The North designated the scope of the "crisis" as the inflow and spread of malicious diseases, and the occurrence of natural disasters, such as floods, typhoons and earthquakes, according to state media reports.

Meanwhile, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly held a separate meeting to review revisions to laws on public health, health care and transportation, according to the KCNA.

Laws on public health and health care were revised to better protect people's health, while new issues were addressed in the transportation law to stamp out traffic violations, the KCNA said without providing details. It did not specify when the session took place.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by 채윤환 · March 22, 2023

11. North Korea "power struggle" seen among Kim Jong Un's sister, wife, child

Are we reading too much into the reports we are seeing? Or is Mr. Ko providing us with useful insights? I look forward to hearing the analysis of other escapees from north Korea.

Excerpts:

Ko told Newsweek that he remains in contact with those still living in North Korea and he presents an elusive insight into the current state of the country, from its foreign policy to the succession of its three-generation leadership.

He took particular note of the introduction to the world last November of Kim Jong Un's daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, at a launch site of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile. Prior to that moment, the only evidence of her existence outside of intelligence reports was a first-person account by former U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman following his 2013 trip to North Korea. But a decade later she has emerged as an increasingly important component of her father's public messaging.

Ko told Newsweek that the decision to introduce her was taken "to imply the fourth-generation power transfer to senior officials and military elite as well as, externally, that Kim Jong Un wants to portray his image as 'daddy,' loving his own daughter and caring for the future of the nation."

North Korea "power struggle" seen among Kim Jong Un's sister, wife, child

Newsweek · by Tom O'Connor · March 21, 2023

In an interview with Newsweek, the first senior diplomat to defect from North Korea has revealed his views on a potential power struggle emerging at the highest levels of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un's dynasty, and his plan for a possible path forward to engage the ruler of the isolated, nuclear-armed nation on human rights issues.

Ko Young Hwan, 69, served on the front lines of the diplomatic war that played out for decades in Africa between Pyongyang and Seoul as they competed for recognition among nations of the continent. Amid a reported spat with his superiors over the tenets of communism, the man who had served as a French interpreter for North Korean founder Kim Il Sung escaped his posting in the Congo and ultimately claimed asylum in South Korea in 1991, where he went on to work as an expert at the National Security Strategy Institute until his retirement in 2016.

Showing Kim Ju Ae alongside Kim Jong Un at missile sites, live-fire launches and military events indicates that the ruler "thinks that the transfer of nuclear weapons to the future is a means to protect his own nation and he wants to portray that image," according to Ko.

In her most recent appearance released Monday, she accompanied her father during what the official Korean Central News Agency reported to be a two-day "combined tactical drill to substantially bolster the country's war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability."

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, his daughter and senior officials attend a "a combined tactical drill to substantially bolster the country's war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability and let relevant units get familiar with the procedures and processes for implementing their tactical nuclear attack missions" held March 18-19. Korean Central News Agency

There is precedent for official introductions of members of North Korea's first family to be linked to the succession of its leadership. Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il, first showed off his youngest son in 2010, only about a year before he would take power following the elder Kim's death in late 2011.

And though secrecy continues to surround the Kim family, Kim Jong Un has a record of breaking the traditionally male-dominated mold.

Kim Ju Ae's rise to "most beloved" daughter has come in the wake of two other North Korean women ascending to the spotlight. Kim Jong Un's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, has climbed the ranks to vice director of the ruling Korean Workers' Party Propaganda and Agitation Department under his rule, and Kim Jong Un also broke precedent in formally introducing his wife, Ri Sol Ju, to the public shortly after taking power.

The prominence of Kim Jong Un's sister at the forefront of international exchanges has garnered significant attention inside and outside of North Korea. But Ko said that, "after the introduction of Kim Ju Ae, Kim Yo Jong is sidelined," leading to potential tensions among contenders for the future of the number one seat.

Ko highlighted evidence of insider frictions leading up to Kim Ju Ae's public debut in an account of an alleged altercation between Kim Yo Jong and influential former Propaganda and Agitation Department Director Kim Ki Nam. Despite Kim Ki Nam's powerful position, rumors among North Koreans are that "she shouted and threw documents" during this dispute and that "she was very angry."

Questions also continue to surround the nearly year-long absence between June 2021 and April 2022 of Korean Workers' Party Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Ri Pyong Chol, one of the central figures of North Korea's nuclear weapons program and believed to be either the father or grandfather of Ri Sol Ju. He attended an enlarged meeting of the commission last month but did not appear present at subsequent gatherings.

Since Kim Ju Ae's introduction, there have been even more potentially significant public indications that something has changed with respect to Kim Jong Un's sister and daughter. Ko pointed out that Kim Yo Jong, who was previously seen in positions very close to her brother at major events, has since been present at the periphery from the center stage occupied by Kim Jong Un alongside Kim Ju Ae and Ri Sol Ju.

Recent examples include the absence of any clear shots of Kim Yo Jong throughout state media coverage of a February 8 military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Korean People's Army, possibly only appearing in a barely recognizable cameo in the far background as Kim Jong Un walked the red carpet with his wife and daughter. Then, Kim Yo Jong was also sat at the end of a back row far from her brother and niece during a soccer game held between the North Korean Cabinet and National Defense Ministry to commemorate the birthday of the two siblings' late father on February 17.

Ko emphasized that "all Koreans" watched these scenes, and that this shift "proves that Kim Yo Jong is losing ground to Kim Ju Ae."

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, sit front and center, while his sister, Agitation and Propaganda Department Vice Director Kim Yo Jong, is seated in the background for a soccer match between members of the North Korean Cabinet and the National Defense Ministry held to commemorate their father's birthday, the Day of the Shining Star, on February 17. Korean Central News Agency

But it remains unclear how exactly Kim Yo Jong may react as she remains a powerful part of her brother's government at a time when her niece is estimated to be only about 10 years old. Unverified reports citing intelligence assessments have emerged of at least two other children between Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol Ju, one born in 2010 and the other in 2017, though they too would likely be too young to fill the footsteps of their father, who is now believed to be in his late 30s or early 40s and became the country's youngest leader at approximately age 27.

"Kim Yo Jong is at the center of the regime and is a close aide to Kim Jong Un, handling a lot of tasks of North Korea," Ko said, "and Ri Sol Ju is worried that, while her children are very young, Kim Yo Jong is overly active."

"So, I think some kind of power struggle is going on between Kim Yo Jong and Ri Sol Ju," he added.

An additional "rising star" identified by Ko is Korean Workers' Party Organizational Affairs Secretary Jo Yong Won, also often described as one of Kim Jong Un's closest aides. While "Kim Yo Jong is the second-in-command by bloodline," Ko said that "Jo Yong Won is the second-in-command by power."

In a potential further complication, Ko speculated that Kim Jong Un may be suffering from health issues, given his decision to introduce Kim Ju Ae while the ruler himself is still relatively young. Amid these uncertainties, Ko predicted that "the North Korean political landscape will be very dire in the coming months."

But even with these variables at play, Ko sees an opportunity to engage with Kim Jong Un on an issue on which he has regularly been criticized by Western powers, especially South Korea, Japan and their mutual ally, the United States: human rights. Although North Korea consistently rejects such criticism, Kim Jong Un has admitted that his nation is facing economic woes likely exacerbated by ongoing tight border restrictions adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic and recent floods.

Ko suggested that "[South] Korea, the U.S. and Japan should put aside issues of North Korean nuclear weapons and first discuss human rights issues and think of providing rice and flour and other assistance if there is a remarkable progress on human rights issues."

Kim Jong Un, who oversaw reforms upon coming to power aimed at allowing citizens to keep more of the food they produced, has since used the term "Arduous March" to describe the current situation. The reference appears to draw a comparison to the 1990s famine in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse and is believed to have led to mass starvation.

Still, in the midst of current geopolitical tensions, he has pressed on with advanced military development.

So while Ko said that "Kim Jong Un will never give up nuclear weapons, even if we impose stronger sanctions or add pressures on North Korea," he argued that government officials, including diplomats, were particularly "sensitive" to the issue of human rights and the dire economic situation they and their compatriots faced.

And though Pyongyang's outspoken rivals including Seoul, Tokyo and Washington may find difficulty in gaining ground on this topic given underlying political disputes, Ko said there may be an opportunity for other powers viewed as less partisan to step up.

"My personal sentiments are that it would be more effective for neutral European countries like Switzerland, Sweden or Austria that harbor less hostility toward the North to come together in one voice with one consistent message," Ko said, "not just in formal settings such as the U.N."

Former North Korean diplomat Ko Young Hwan is seen in this undated photo. Ko Young Hwan

With Japan, South Korea and the U.S. "on the sidelines," Ko said that these "more neutral countries," also potentially including France, "should propose ideas like providing food and assistance like rice and oil on the condition that they improve human rights remarkably." That, he argued, "could be a package" that "would be effective."

"If policymakers or foreign ministers of European countries suggest the provision of food aid on the condition of showing reeducation facilities or political camps," he said, "North Korea is likely to accept that."

Yet Ko emphasized that pressing North Korea on other fronts, including the nuclear file, should not be abandoned altogether, as he believed in a multifaceted strategy toward engaging with a country that has once again withdrawn from international diplomacy in the wake of the historic 2018-2019 trilateral peace process that ultimately failed to achieve lasting progress.

"What I think is that we need to put all the cards on the negotiating table—human rights, denuclearization, easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, improvement of the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea—all the cards," Ko said. "We need to start the dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, and the two Koreas and the U.S. We need to take that path."

"And the key to that solution," he added, "is that we should normalize North Korea."

Newsweek has reached out to the Permanent Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations for comment.

Newsweek · by Tom O'Connor · March 21, 2023

12. N. Korea conducts training in response to joint military training

Typical press reporting. Apparently they are not aware that north Korea conducts its Winter Training Cycle (WTC)from December through MArch every year. Some just assume that the north's actions are in response to the combined ROK/US alliance training.

As I have mentioned many times inthe past, we traditionally conducted Team Spirit (until cancelled after 1993. it was the largest exercise in the free world)) because north Korea would conduct its WTC every year, December through March. It would bring its forces to the highest state of readiness at the optimal time to attack the South - which is MArch because the ground is hard from the winter freeze and the South has not yet planted its rice fields therefore it is a good time for maneuver of armored and mechanized vehicles. The alliance would mobilize ROK forces for training and with its active duty forces and the US would reinforce the peninsula from Japan and the US and the ROK and US would conduct major field training to ensure interoperability, readiness, and deterrence.

So are the north's exercises in response to outs?

N. Korea conducts training in response to joint military training

donga.com

Posted March. 21, 2023 07:46,

Updated March. 21, 2023 07:46

N. Korea conducts training in response to joint military training. March. 21, 2023 07:46. .

A North Korean media reported Monday that the country’s tactical nuclear forces conducted a virtual comprehensive tactical training for nuclear counterattacks on Saturday and Sunday. The issuance and receipt of nuclear attack orders, handling of nuclear weapons, and operation procedures were inspected on the first day, followed by a launch of a tactical ballistic missile loaded with a simulated nuclear warhead, which was detonated at an 800-meter altitude after traveling 800 kilometers and reaching the target location. “We need to fully prepare the arrangement for nuclear attacks, which can be quickly and accurately operated any time, to be committed to a strategic mission of deterring wars,” said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

According to the North’s claim, its capabilities of tactical nuclear weapons have become technologically sophisticated and entered the operation phase with preparedness for actual nuclear attacks. It is indeed noticeable that North Korea showed off its technological capabilities for detonation control: launching a nuclear missile to a target location in the sky and detonating it at a specific altitude. However, attention should be paid to the fact that the country conducted a practice for nuclear attack commanding system management on the previous day. This means that the country developed a nuclear command and control (NC2) system, from issuing an order for nuclear attacks, combining nuclear weapons, and launching them, and conducted training to learn the procedures.

North Korea enacted the national nuclear force policy in September, which states that nuclear attacks can be launched if the country’s leadership is in danger or if a war unfolds unfavorably against the country. It practically institutionalized the dangerous operation of the ‘Doomsday Machine,’ which means nuclear weapons can be automatically launched if the leadership experiences special incidents. It’s unlikely that the country’s nuclear attack system, which will be quickly operated at an arbitrary time and under unexpected circumstances, is equipped with safety measures to prevent accidental nuclear wars caused by misjudgment or accidents.

It is concerning what kind of crises the Korean Peninsula will be driven to by the ‘nuclear fanatics’ of North Korea who simply believe in the terrifying power of nuclear weapons. North Korea conducted the nuclear attack posture training during a large-scale joint training called ‘Freedom Shield’ between South Korea and the U.S. North Korea used to remain quiet during the deployment of the U.S.’s strategic assets or joint training between South Korea and the U.S. However, it committed bold provocations by launching ballistic missiles right before B-1B strategic bomber entered the operations area above the Korean Peninsula. South Korea and the U.S. should have tighter surveillance and a more dominant ability to punish the North to make a firm warning against the apocalyptic outcomes that Kim Jong Un’s reckless gambling would bring.

한국어

donga.com

13. US State Department releases Report on Human Rights Practices

Some useful anecdotes from the report to illustrate the abuses. This one also illustrates that information is getting into the north.

Excerpt:

“In November 2021, RFA reported that a man in North Hamgyong Province who smuggled the South Korean Netflix drama Squid Game into the DPRK and sold it on flash drives was sentenced to death by firing squad, while a high school student who bought a drive received a life sentence, six other students who watched the show were sentenced to five years’ hard labor, and the students’ principal and homeroom teachers were fired.” the report said.

US State Department releases Report on Human Rights Practices

donga.com

Posted March. 22, 2023 08:00,

Updated March. 22, 2023 08:00

US State Department releases Report on Human Rights Practices. March. 22, 2023 08:00. weappon@donga.com.

The U.S. State Department’s 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: North Korea revealed that the country committed extensive acts of human rights violations such as deliberately breaking the legs or severing Achilles tendons of North Korean laborers working in China, Russia, etc. to prevent them from escaping and suffered repatriation. Reportedly, those who watched the South Korean Netflix series “Squid Game” were punished severely, defining Korean culture as antiregime.

In the report released by the State Department, North Korea was referred to as “an authoritarian state led by the Kim family.” “Significant human rights issues included credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings and torture by the government, tri-national repression, and unlawful interference with privacy,” the report said. The State Department publishes the report, providing an overview of human rights practices in countries. This year, reports of 198 countries were published.

According to a North Korean defector who had worked in Russia, all workers there knew that the “Ministry of State Security’s repatriation procedures” meant breaking the legs of would-be defectors and repatriating them in wheelchairs. A high-ranking source in the DPRK reportedly verified that Chu Kyong Chol, a North Korean worker in Russia who attempted to defect, was repatriated in an anesthetized state with injured Achilles tendons after his arrest by a Ministry of State Security team sent to Russia.

The report said most North Korean laborers work overseas in Russia and China, and in some regions, forged IDs are used to employ them. They work up to 20 hours per day but only receive 270,000 to 900,000 won per month, of which the North Korean government takes 70-90%. Also, the government demanded that trade businesses should pay loyal funds to celebrate the “Day of the Sun” (Kim Jong Un’s birthday) during the pandemic, even though national barriers were closed. It also forced North Korean medical professionals in Laos to pay loyal funds.

“In November 2021, RFA reported that a man in North Hamgyong Province who smuggled the South Korean Netflix drama Squid Game into the DPRK and sold it on flash drives was sentenced to death by firing squad, while a high school student who bought a drive received a life sentence, six other students who watched the show were sentenced to five years’ hard labor, and the students’ principal and homeroom teachers were fired.” the report said.

한국어

donga.com

14. Korea and Japan try and try again for a reset

Excerpts:

In short, the affair turned out to be expensive theater for the benefit of nationalist politicians on both sides. South Korean semiconductor production was not seriously disrupted and Japanese companies continue to dominate the markets for the three chemical products.

This helps to explain how South Korea and Japan can cooperate in the development of leading-edge technologies. While Korean companies have become world leaders in memory chips, batteries and other high-tech products, they depend on Japanese production equipment and materials. And there are many opportunities for joint R&D.

The Federation of Korean Industries and Keidanren gave high marks to Yoon and Kishida. They want to increase trade and investment and plan to establish a fund to promote exchanges between South Korean and Japanese young people.

Back in Korea, the leftist opposition called Yoon a sell-out and public opinion polls showed that a majority of South Koreans thought he had given away too much for too little in Tokyo.

But hostility toward Japan has started to fade. The same polls show that younger people have a more positive attitude toward their neighbor and South Koreans have recently accounted for about 40% of Japan’s inbound tourists.

At a joint news conference with Yoon, Kishida said, “We will open a new chapter in the Japan-South Korea relationship.” If they can stay in office long enough to make it stick, the prospects for a bilateral reset are good.

Korea and Japan try and try again for a reset

Leaders make positive pronouncements and restore broken trade links in meeting that looked beyond the past and to the future

asiatimes.com · by Scott Foster · March 22, 2023

TOKYO – South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s recent visit to Japan took an often backward-facing relationship and reset it looking forward, at least for the time being. The US was pleased to see its two allies working together rather than arguing about history.

Yoon spent two days in Japan, meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday, March 16, and attending the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable and visiting Keio University the following day. At Keio, Yoon talked to South Korean and Japanese students about the importance of building a prosperous common future.

It was the first visit of a South Korean president to Tokyo since Lee Myung-bak met with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda here in 2011. After that, during the tenure of nationalist Shinzo Abe, relations dissolved into acrimony over abuses suffered by Korea during the colonial period (1910 – 1945) and World War II.

Yoon also met with other leading Japanese politicians, including former prime ministers Taro Aso and Yoshihiko Suga. Suga will be the next head of a group of Japanese Diet members dedicated to promoting good relations with South Korea.

Yoon and Kishida agreed to restore cooperation between the two countries in matters of national security and economics. The urgency of the former was underscored by North Korea, which fired another missile into the Sea of Japan just a few hours before Yoon arrived in Tokyo.

After talking with Kishida, Yoon told the media: “We agreed to quickly restore dialogue channels discussing our common interests. I expect to keep communicating through various channels including the launch of a dialogue channel on economic security issues at the level of the National Security Council.”

“We declared complete normalization of GSOMIA so that both countries can share intelligence on launches and the routes of North Korean missiles,” he said, referring to the bilateral General Security of Military Information Agreement that facilitates the monitoring of North Korea.

South Korean soldiers stand guard as their comrades conduct landmine clearing operations inside of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas in Cheorwon, south of the DMZ. Photo: AFP/Song Kyong-Seok

Seoul threatened to withdraw from GSOMIA in 2019 during a dispute over forced wartime labor. It never did but the intelligence-sharing agreement was downgraded.

At the business roundtable, which was held by the Federation of Korean Industries and the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), Yoon said:

“To overcome the complex crisis the world faces, it is important for the countries that share common values to join forces and cooperate. South Korea and Japan should work together to handle various global agendas, such as securing supply chains, climate change, advanced science technologies and economic security.”

“We need to cooperate especially in the fields of cutting-edge technologies and new industries of digital transition, semiconductors, batteries and electric vehicles.”

As a first step, it was announced that Japan had lifted restrictions on exports to South Korea of three chemical products used in the production of semiconductors and flat panel displays.

The restrictions were imposed in July 2019 after the South Korean Supreme Court ruled that Japanese companies must compensate Koreans forced to work for them during World War II. Earlier this month, Yoon announced that the South Korean government would do it instead.

The products in question were photoresists used in the semiconductor lithography process; hydrogen fluoride, which is used in semiconductor etching and cleaning and many other industrial processes; and fluorinated polyimide, which is used in the production of organic light-emitting displays (OLED).

In March 2023, Japan’s Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) – a Japanese public policy think tank that works with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and other government offices – observed that:

The restrictions caused a large decline in Japanese exports to South Korea of hydrogen fluoride, but not photoresists or fluorinated polyimide.
Japanese exports of hydrogen fluoride were diverted to the US while South Korea turned to suppliers in Europe, the US and Taiwan.
Production of these products by Korean companies and the Korean affiliates of Japanese companies increased.

The restrictions were loose in areas. In August 2019, it was reported that Japanese photoresist maker JSR had been allowed to resume shipments to Korea. Its competitors Tokyo Ohka and Shin-Etsu Chemical probably did, too, although it did not make the news.

In 2021, Tokyo Ohka, doubled its photoresist production in South Korea. In 2022, Japanese specialty chemical maker Daikin began producing hydrogen fluoride in Korea. And photoresists that Korea imported from Belgium were made by a JSR subsidiary.

In short, the affair turned out to be expensive theater for the benefit of nationalist politicians on both sides. South Korean semiconductor production was not seriously disrupted and Japanese companies continue to dominate the markets for the three chemical products.

This helps to explain how South Korea and Japan can cooperate in the development of leading-edge technologies. While Korean companies have become world leaders in memory chips, batteries and other high-tech products, they depend on Japanese production equipment and materials. And there are many opportunities for joint R&D.

South Korean technology firms found alternative sources for key items due to the deterioration of trade ties with Japan. Photo: AFP

The Federation of Korean Industries and Keidanren gave high marks to Yoon and Kishida. They want to increase trade and investment and plan to establish a fund to promote exchanges between South Korean and Japanese young people.

Back in Korea, the leftist opposition called Yoon a sell-out and public opinion polls showed that a majority of South Koreans thought he had given away too much for too little in Tokyo.

But hostility toward Japan has started to fade. The same polls show that younger people have a more positive attitude toward their neighbor and South Koreans have recently accounted for about 40% of Japan’s inbound tourists.

At a joint news conference with Yoon, Kishida said, “We will open a new chapter in the Japan-South Korea relationship.” If they can stay in office long enough to make it stick, the prospects for a bilateral reset are good.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @ScottFo83517667

asiatimes.com · by Scott Foster · March 22, 2023

15. U.S. Chips Act offers some comfort to Korean chip makers

Wednesday

March 22, 2023

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U.S. Chips Act offers some comfort to Korean chip makers

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/03/22/business/industry/Korea-Chips-and-Science-Act-Samsung-Electronics/20230322182806150.html

Representatives of Samsung Electronics and Chinese government officials celebrate the opening of its second chip plant in Xi'an in March 2018. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will be able to maintain and upgrade their manufacturing facilities in China — albeit marginally — even after the implementation of Washington’s proposed rules aimed at preventing U.S. subsidies from being used in China, Korea’s Trade Ministry said Wednesday.

The U.S. Commerce Department announced Tuesday that it will limit recipients of Chips and Science Act funding from investing in the expansion of semiconductor manufacturing in the "foreign countries of concern" including China and Russia.

But the limit was not an outright ban on investment in China since the department allows the recipient firms to expand production capacity by 5 percent for advanced chips and 10 percent for those made with relatively old manufacturing processes.

“It seems possible for Korean companies to maintain or partially expand and upgrade technologies" used in semiconductor manufacturing at their production facilities in China, said the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy after it reviewed details of the so-called guardrails of the Chips and Science Act that passed last year.

“When upgrading the technologies, chip makers can increase the number of chips per wafer by upping density, which translates into a capacity expansion,” the ministry said in a statement released Wednesday.

With Samsung Electronics' manufacturing complex in Xi’an, China is responsible for supplying about 40 percent of Samsung’s NAND flash memory products.

SK hynix plants in Wuxi, China, make 96-layer and 144-layer NAND flashes as well as about 40 percent of its DRAMs.

The two chip makers said they are thoroughly reviewing the details of the proposed rules.

"We have been in close discussions with the relevant government agencies of the U.S. and Korea, and plan to determine our next steps after reviewing the details of today's announcement," Samsung Electronics said in a statement.

A source in the semiconductor industry said that the decision helped the Korean chip makers avoid the worst-case scenario.

“There had been concern that the two companies could be forced to shut down their chip plants in China because initial media reports said that the U.S. will impose a 10 year-ban on chip factories’ expansion in China,” the source said.

Still, the companies face trouble keeping their facilities running and aligning them with the latest technologies as the U.S. has imposed a multitude of restrictions on top of the Chips and Science Act.

Last October, the Commerce Department mandated companies to acquire approval from the U.S. government to supply their factories in China with technologies for the making of DRAM memory chips rated 18 nanometers or less and NAND flash memory chips with 128 layers or more.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix received one-year waivers for the October rule.

Meanwhile, a Korean legislative committee agreed to table a bill aimed at increasing tax incentives for semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Korea. Lawmakers will cast votes in a plenary session set for March 30.

The amendment would give big corporations a tax credit of up to 15 percent for investments in semiconductor manufacturing, up from the previous 8 percent.

For small and mid-sized enterprises, the percentage will be revised up to 25 percent from the current 16 percent.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]

16. Expression restrictions, corruption are concerns in South Korea: U.S. report

From the State Department Human Rights Report.

Wednesday

March 22, 2023

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Expression restrictions, corruption are concerns in South Korea: U.S. report

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/03/22/national/diplomacy/Korea-US-State-Department-human-rights/20230322155154325.html

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

The U.S. Department of State expressed some concern over possible restrictions on the freedom of expression and corruption in South Korea in its annual human rights practices report.

In its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released Monday, the State Department said South Korea is a constitutional democracy, noting that observers considered last year's March 9 presidential election and June 1 local elections to be "free and fair."

It also noted that the South Korean government took steps to identify, investigate, prosecute and punish officials for corruption and human rights abuses.

However, the report noted that significant human rights issues in South Korea included credible reports of "restrictions on freedom of expression, including the use of criminal libel laws; government corruption; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence; and laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults in the military."

The report recognized that the Korean government "generally respected" freedom of expression, including for the press.

However, it claimed that the Korean government's interpretation and implementation of the National Security Act, the country's anti-communist law, among other laws and provisions, have limited such freedom and restricted internet access.

It went on to site President Yoon Suk Yeol's hot mic incident in New York in September last year on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

It said that Yoon "stated that broadcaster MBC could put the country's security at risk by damaging its relations with key foreign partners after the broadcaster released a tape of what it reported as President Yoon criticizing a foreign legislature."

The report explained that a lawmaker filed a complaint against MBC with police, "accusing the broadcaster of defamation and disrupting presidential duties," and that a coalition of video journalists released a statement on Sept. 24 that they were "concerned regarding attacks and reports slandering video journalists" by the presidential office. It added that the presidential office stated it had barred MBC from boarding the presidential aircraft on Nov. 10 to cover an overseas trip because of its "repeated distorted and biased coverage of foreign policy issues recently."

On Tuesday, the State Department deleted a subhead entitled "Violence and Harassment" to describe the MBC hot mic incident, acknowledging that the description was not well-suited for this particular case.

A senior presidential official told reporters in Seoul on Wednesday on the State Department’s deletion of the subhead, "Immediately correcting the report means acknowledging that the report was not accurate."

The latest human rights report also said that the Korean government and public figures sometimes used "libel and slander laws, which broadly define and criminalize defamation, to restrict public discussion and harass, intimidate, or censor private and media expression."

As one example, it cited how police last August raided the office of a YouTube channel after Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) sued the channel for allegedly slandering the president's wife, Kim Keon-hee.

The report said South Korean government officials "sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity, and there were numerous reports of government corruption at all levels."

Under the corruption section, it listed Yoon's decision to pardon Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, both of whom were implicated in a corruption scandal related to former President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in 2016 and eventually removed from office.

It also noted under this section the controversy surrounding the Daejang-dong land development scandal involving figures close to Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung.

The State Department announced as it released the report that U.S. President Joe Biden will co-host the second Summit for Democracy with leaders including Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on March 29 and 30.

Earlier this month, the presidential office confirmed Biden formally requested Yoon to chair a plenary session of the virtual summit. Yoon was asked to lead one of the five plenary sessions in a letter sent by Biden. This session is entitled, "Democracy Delivering Economic Growth and Shared Prosperity."

Other co-hosting countries are Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Zambia.

"Together, we will showcase the great progress made by Summit partners and the importance of working together to meet the many challenges to democracy," the State Department said in the preface of the report.

The State Department also listed North Korea's human rights violations in its latest report.

Significant human rights issues included unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government; torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment by government authorities; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; and total state control of expression and media through censorship and repression.

A letter sent by U.S. President Joe Biden inviting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to chair a plenary session of the second Summit for Democracy later this month. [YONHAP]

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]

17. Korea, U.S. to hold joint training of unprecedented scale in June

Wednesday

March 22, 2023

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Korea, U.S. to hold joint training of unprecedented scale in June

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/03/22/national/defense/korea-us-military/20230322144803329.html

The Korea-U.S. Navy amphibious task force participating in the 2023 Ssangryong training in the waters near Pohang on Tuesday. From right in the front row, ROKS Dokdo (LPH), Marado (LPH), and USS Makin Island (LHD) of the U.S. Navy. [NEWS1]

Korea and the United States plan to execute a joint training of unprecedented scale in June to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance.

The joint firepower annihilation drill, called the Integrated Firepower Exercise, is an exercise in which the combined forces of Korea and the United States mobilize the latest, cutting-edge weapons on land, sea and air to demonstrate their ability to retaliate and destroy enemies in a military contingency or provocation, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

It has been held nine times between 1977 and 2017, the last time being in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, close to the inter-Korean border. Korean forces brought in K2 tanks and K21 armored vehicles, in addition to F-15K combat helicopters, while the United States Forces Korea showcased A-10 combat jets, Apache helicopters and Bradley fighting vehicles.

A total of 2,000 troops were involved in the last drill.

This year, the drill is expected to include both manned and unmanned collaborative combat systems.

To mark 70 years of the alliance this year, which also coincides with the anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, President Yoon Suk Yeol will be meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington in April, marking the first Korean presidential state visit to the United States in 12 years.

The Foreign Ministry also announced a schedule of events to mark the occasion on Wednesday, including a forum hosted with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in April on the Korea-U.S. alliance, and another with Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, to discuss the latest bilateral agenda on economy, technology and cyber security with experts and officials.

A Korea-U.S. forum on space technology will also be held, as well as on bilateral cooperation on overseas development organized by the Korea International Cooperation Agency and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

To engage students and the younger population, Korean and American diplomats will be visiting middle and high schools in both nations throughout the year, the ministry added.

A number of cultural festivals have been planned to take place across the United States, such as a Korean speaking contest in New England in April, a Taekwondo competition in Boston, Massachusetts in June, a Korean film festival in Boston in October, and several Korea Week and Korea Festival events planned throughout the year in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California and Houston, Texas.

U.S. veterans of the Korean War will be invited to a commemorative event in Hawaii in April and Guam in November.

The United States committed 1,789,000 troops to the Korean War, which made up the largest contingent among the United Nations forces. The war claimed the lives of 33,739 Americans, while another 103,284 were wounded and 7,140 were taken captive, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

U.S. soldiers take a position as a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter prepares to land during a field artillery battalion gun raid drill at a military training field in Pocheon on Sunday, as part of the Freedom Shield joint military exercise. [AFP/YONHAP]

The Korean War ended on July 27, 1953, with an armistice not a peace treaty, meaning the two Koreas are still technically at war.

North Korea fired a record number of ballistic missiles last year — over 90 — a streak that continued this year. The regime has fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) this year as of last week, including its largest and most powerful ICBM the Hwasong-17.

Korea and the United States, in addition to levying sanctions on the North for its weapons development and provocations, have expanded their joint military exercises in recent months, including the Freedom Shield exercise held from March 13 to 23, which was their biggest combined military exercise in five years.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

Phone: 202-573-8647

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

Phone: 202-573-8647

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com

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."

Access NSS HERE

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