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Quotes of the Day:
“Mankind is at its best when it is most free. This will be clear if we grasp the principle of liberty. We must recall that the basic principle is freedom of choice, which saying many have on their lips, but few in their minds.”
- Dante.
“Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end.”
- Immanuel Kant
"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
1. S. Korea, U.S. must step up cooperation against Chinese, Russian disinformation: U.S. expert
2. S. Korea steps up diplomatic efforts to win U.N. Security Council seat
3. Yoon's approval rating rises to 44.7 pct: poll
4. Safeguarding cyber territory from the enemy
5. President Yoon holds bilateral meetings with leaders of Pacific Islands
6. Seoul's trade minister holds talks with US counterpart over IRA, IPEF
7. North Korea arrests 5 Christians during underground church service
8. North Korea spent the pandemic building a huge border wall
9. South Korea seeks to counter China's economic coercion, diversify trading partners: Report
10. Rumors circulate in border region that overland trade routes could open in mid-June
1. S. Korea, U.S. must step up cooperation against Chinese, Russian disinformation: U.S. expert
Subversion is subversion. We need to focus on all forms of subversion, not just "cyber enabled political subversion." And north Korea has been conducting subversion for seven decades.
But it is good that we have senior former officials recognizing and speaking out about the ongoing threat from subversion by China and Russia but we need to focus on north Korea too.
Recognize the subversion threats from China, Russia, and north Korea, understand them, EXPOSE them, and attack them with a superior political warfare strategy.
Excerpts:
"Over the decades, Moscow has pursued an aggressive, active measures program to sow dissent and chaos in free democratic societies with a program of disinformation to erode trust in our democratic institutions, attempted to control the foreign press, forging documents, disseminating rumors and lies, altering facts, and working with front organizations," DeTrani said.
He added Russia has exploited such information systems with the advent of social media platforms to sow chaos and discord within the U.S., and cautioned that it will use these "malicious tools" to attack any country not supportive of its policies.
Stressing that South Korea has also been exposed to these influence operations by Russia and China, the former envoy said the allies "must do more" to expose and defeat them.
...
H.R. McMaster, a former U.S. national security adviser, also called on Seoul to help counter such "cyber-enabled campaigns of political subversion" that seek to undermine alliances and partnerships.
S. Korea, U.S. must step up cooperation against Chinese, Russian disinformation: U.S. expert | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · May 25, 2023
SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States should step up their cooperation to counter disinformation and cyber operations by China and Russia, a former U.S. nuclear negotiator said Thursday.
Joseph DeTrani made the remarks during a conference hosted by the Korean Association of Area Studies via video link, saying Moscow and Beijing have engaged in information operations against Seoul on any issue that is "not in sync" with their interests.
"Over the decades, Moscow has pursued an aggressive, active measures program to sow dissent and chaos in free democratic societies with a program of disinformation to erode trust in our democratic institutions, attempted to control the foreign press, forging documents, disseminating rumors and lies, altering facts, and working with front organizations," DeTrani said.
He added Russia has exploited such information systems with the advent of social media platforms to sow chaos and discord within the U.S., and cautioned that it will use these "malicious tools" to attack any country not supportive of its policies.
Stressing that South Korea has also been exposed to these influence operations by Russia and China, the former envoy said the allies "must do more" to expose and defeat them.
DeTrani served as the U.S.' special envoy for six-party denuclearization talks with North Korea from 2003 to 2006 before working as North Korea mission manager at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence until 2010.
H.R. McMaster, a former U.S. national security adviser, also called on Seoul to help counter such "cyber-enabled campaigns of political subversion" that seek to undermine alliances and partnerships.
This file photo shows Joseph R. DeTrani, former U.S. deputy negotiator to the six party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons, during an interview with Yonhap News Agency at a Seoul hotel on June 22, 2018. He also served as the president of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance. (Yonhap)
[email protected]
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · May 25, 2023
2. S. Korea steps up diplomatic efforts to win U.N. Security Council seat
The correct action for the. Global Pivotal State and a partner in the arsenal of democracy.
Excerpts:
If elected, it will mark the third time for South Korea to serve as one of the 10 nonpermanent UNSC members. Previously, South Korea had served the seat during the 1996-1997 term.
South Korea hopes to return to the council as it seeks to expand its roles in U.N. activities for international peace and security. It would also help reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula, officials said.
(LEAD) S. Korea steps up diplomatic efforts to win U.N. Security Council seat | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · May 28, 2023
(ATTN: CHANGES photo)
NEW YORK, May 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is intensifying last-minute diplomatic efforts for Seoul's bid for a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), with just 10 days to go before the vote.
South Korea, which last sat on the council in 2013-2014, aims to return to the council for 2024-2025, and the U.N. will vote on the bid on June 6.
If elected, it will mark the third time for South Korea to serve as one of the 10 nonpermanent UNSC members. Previously, South Korea had served the seat during the 1996-1997 term.
South Korea hopes to return to the council as it seeks to expand its roles in U.N. activities for international peace and security. It would also help reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula, officials said.
North Korea, which has shown little signs of returning to dialogue, has ramped up developments of its nuclear and missile programs. In late March, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the expansion of the production of weapons-grade nuclear materials for an exponential increase in its arsenal.
Hwang Joon-kook, the South Korean ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on May 27, 2023 (New York time). Hwang previously served as the ambassador to Britain. (Yonhap)
South Korea's Ambassador to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook told Yonhap News Agency in an interview that Seoul would "gain a foothold" to play a leading role in global affairs if it wins a seat on the council.
"The Security Council is the most representative organization responsible for realizing a global central state, a global contributor state and a global responsible state," Hwang said.
If South Korea returns to the council, it "will serve as an opportunity to expand our diplomatic horizons," Hwang said.
Hwang said South Korea is likely to win a seat on the council because it is the only candidate nation in Asia.
The current nonpermanent members include: Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- the five countries that were newly elected last week -- and India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway.
This photo provided by the South Korean mission to the United Nations on June 19, 2020, shows a vote taking place at the general assembly hall in New York. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The council replaces half of its nonpermanent members for every two-year term.
To win a nonpermanent seat, a country needs to secure at least two-thirds of the votes from the countries attending the general assembly, out of the 193 member states.
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · May 28, 2023
3. Yoon's approval rating rises to 44.7 pct: poll
Perhaps the Korean people in the South are recognizing that President Yoon is doing as much for ROK's global reputation as BTS and Blackpink.
Yoon's approval rating rises to 44.7 pct: poll | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · May 28, 2023
SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating rose last week and was close to the 45 percent level, a poll showed Sunday.
Yoon's approval rating gained 3.2 percentage points from the previous week to 44.7 percent, while his disapproval rating fell 1.7 percentage points to 53.2 percent, according to pollster Rnsearch.
The poll, commissioned by broadcasting firm CBS, was conducted on 1,013 adults nationwide from Wednesday to Friday.
The same survey showed support for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) rose 1.7 percentage points to 41.6 percent, while that of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) inched up 1.1 percentage points to 43.3 percent.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
President Yoon Suk Yeol makes a speech at a ceremony marking Buddha's Birthday at Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul on May 27, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by 이원주 · May 28, 2023
4. Safeguarding cyber territory from the enemy
The author is saying the quiet part out loud. Few people like to use the words "unconventional warfare" and "psychological warfare". But I guess now that they are associating these activities with cyber it is now popular to use those words.
Excerpts:
In the era of digital transformation, all countries are carrying out hybrid warfare — a new mix of conventional and unconventional warfare — to protect their national interests. They mobilize not only military means but also various types of non-military means to carry out psychological warfare through fake news, public opinion manipulation and hacking on cyberspace.
...
But after the National Intelligence Service’s election intervention scandal in 2012, cybersecurity could hardly develop in the South. The past liberal administration even scrapped psychological warfare units in the military.
Such policy mistakes will certainly make the people and country pay the price.
On March 22, President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the Cyber Operations Command for the first time as the head of state. In that visit, the president stressed the role of cyber operations troops in modern warfare and a preemptive and proactive response to North Korean attacks. In a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden on April 26, President Yoon declared a “cybersecurity alliance” evolving through strategic cybersecurity cooperation with the ally.
Sunday
May 28, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Safeguarding cyber territory from the enemy
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/05/28/opinion/columns/column-international-community-personal-information/20230528152009805.html
Byun Jae-sun
The author, a former cyber commander in the military, is a guest professor at Sejong University.
Fifteen months have passed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At the start of the war, Russia spread fake news that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had fled Kyiv, the capital city.
Zelenskyy immediately proved it wrong by posting a video of him striding across the street with his aides on Twitter. Through social media, the young leader aroused a sense of resistance among the people and drew voluntary support from the international community. Above all, the Ukrainian president turned the tide by effectively neutralizing Russia’s ill-intended cyberattacks with a single stroke.
In the era of digital transformation, all countries are carrying out hybrid warfare — a new mix of conventional and unconventional warfare — to protect their national interests. They mobilize not only military means but also various types of non-military means to carry out psychological warfare through fake news, public opinion manipulation and hacking on cyberspace.
In March, the United States announced that it will ban government workers from using TikTok on their computers, smartphones and other electronic equipment out of the fear that their personal information, including behavioral patterns, collected by the short-video platform can be delivered to Chinese authorities or such information can be used as a tool for propaganda war in case China invades Taiwan.
North Korea has been attacking South Korea’s physical, informational and cognitive space through its sophisticated cyber tools to realize its long dream of communizing South Korea. For instance, the North stole $700 million from cryptocurrency exchanges through hacking last year.
That money was used to develop weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear missiles. North Korea reportedly hacked a total of 207 PCs in 61 government agencies, public corporations, media organizations and defense contractors through a watering hole attack.
South Korea established the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) in 2009 to protect the civilian sector from the North’s cyberattacks, and in 2010 founded the Cyber Command to cover the military field. In 2013, the government set four strategic goals in the comprehensive countermeasures for national cybersecurity to make the country an advanced cybersecurity power.
But after the National Intelligence Service’s election intervention scandal in 2012, cybersecurity could hardly develop in the South. The past liberal administration even scrapped psychological warfare units in the military.
Such policy mistakes will certainly make the people and country pay the price.
On March 22, President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the Cyber Operations Command for the first time as the head of state. In that visit, the president stressed the role of cyber operations troops in modern warfare and a preemptive and proactive response to North Korean attacks. In a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden on April 26, President Yoon declared a “cybersecurity alliance” evolving through strategic cybersecurity cooperation with the ally.
I would like to make a few additional points to help develop cybersecurity of the country.
First of all, top leaders of each organization in the government and private sectors must raise the level of their awareness about cybersecurity. They must demonstrate leadership in using cyber technology to carry out the mission of their organization, updating their information system and information protection system, designing and strengthening their information protection unit, ensuring members abide by security rules, and increasing budget for information protection.
Second, an efficient system for national cybersecurity governance is needed. To achieve it, the government must fix the laws and systems on the efficient operation of cybersecurity command center, streamlining the cyber psychological warfare units, enacting the basic cybersecurity law, and reflecting cybersecurity in the combined defense law as soon as possible
Third, the government must rapidly establish a healthy habitat for white hat hackers at national levels. Each organization must hire civilian talents for units developing cyberwar capabilities higher than the enemy through diverse cooperation and joint projects with competent white hat hackers or cybersecurity companies.
Fourth, the government must set up a global cooperation system for cybersecurity. To cope with borderless cyberwar efficiently, it must strengthen international coordination with cyber allies to the highest level.
The government must diffuse the national recognition and consensus that cybersecurity threat constitutes as grave a security threat as North Korean nuclear missile threats.
Safeguarding the country’s cyber territory and winning the cyberwar against enemies must be preceded by fixing the laws and systems, addressing the budget requirements, and executing them.
5. President Yoon holds bilateral meetings with leaders of Pacific Islands
President Yoon is putting words into action. These are actions of a Global Pivotal State executing its INDOPACIFIC strategy.
Sunday
May 28, 2023
dictionary + A - A
President Yoon holds bilateral meetings with leaders of Pacific Islands
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/05/28/national/diplomacy/Korea-Yoon-Suk-Yeol-KoreaPacific-Islands-Summit/20230528205205085.html
President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, holds a bilateral summit with Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Minister James Marape at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, Sunday, ahead of the inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands Summit set to kick off on Monday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]
President Yoon Suk Yeol held a series of bilateral meetings with leaders of Pacific Islands in Seoul Sunday ahead of the inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands Summit set to kick off on Monday, aimed at broadening diplomacy in the region.
The two-day event is the first in-person multilateral summit hosted by the Yoon government since it launched one year ago and brings together leaders and senior officials of the 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
The PIF is an intergovernmental body dating back to 1971 aimed at enhancing cooperation among Pacific Island countries and territories, and Korea is one of the regional bloc's 21 dialogue partners.
The members are: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Tonga, Palau, Niue, Nauru, Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia and New Caledonia.
On Sunday afternoon, Yoon held bilateral summits with Kiribati's President Taneti Maamau, Tonga's Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni, Tuvalu's Prime Minister Kausea Natano, Vanuatu's Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau and Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape at the Yongsan presidential office.
The theme of the first summit is: "Navigating towards Co-Prosperity: Strengthening Cooperation with the Blue Pacific."
It comes as Korea pledged to expand cooperation with Pacific Islands as a part of its new Indo-Pacific strategy announced last December and ambitions to become a global pivotal state.
The Pacific region is emerging as a new area of strategic competition amid rising U.S.-China rivalry.
Korea has stressed it will strengthen collaboration to address the needs of the Pacific Islands to support the implementation of the PIF's long-term development strategy, the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
The islands are referred to as the Blue Pacific Continent because of their massive exclusive economic zones, which are rich in marine produce and deep-sea mineral resources.
The area is vulnerable to rising sea levels and natural disasters related to climate change, another area for potential cooperation with Korea, according to Seoul officials.
On Monday, Yoon will host the first session discussing current and future cooperation between Korea and Pacific island nations.
The second session will be led by the Cook Islands, the PIF chair, and discuss the regional situation as well as international cooperation, including Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.
Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee will host an official dinner for the leaders on Monday evening.
On Tuesday, the leaders will travel to Busan to visit the potential venue of the World Expo 2030.
The PIF leaders' spouses will join in a separate program led by Kim.
"Expressing our willingness to actively contribute to the Pacific Island countries through this summit will serve as an opportunity to expand our diplomatic horizons in the Pacific and strengthen our contributions toward responsible diplomacy," presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon said in a statement on the upcoming summit.
At a Korea-Pacific Islands foreign ministers' meeting in 2021, an agreement was reached to elevate the ministerial dialogue mechanism, which dates back to 2011, to the summit level.
"This summit is meaningful as it is the first summit in Korea since the inauguration of the new government, inviting the leaders of various countries," said a Foreign Ministry official. "It will be a significant first step toward implementing our Indo-Pacific strategy in earnest."
Other countries that have held separate summits with Pacific Island countries are the United States, Japan, France, China and India.
The United States, along with allies Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, launched Partners in the Blue Pacific, an informal cooperative body to strengthen economic and diplomatic ties with Pacific Island countries in June 2022. Korea joined the U.S.-led initiative last November.
Cooperation with the PIF is an issue that has come up in trilateral talks between Korea, Japan and the United States.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden canceled what would have been a historic visit to Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders following his trip to Hiroshima for the Group of 7 Summit because of debt-ceiling negotiations in Washington.
A sign at the Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on Sunday announces that security screening measures are enhanced ahead of the inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands Summit to be held over Monday and Tuesday. [YONHAP]
BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]
6. Seoul's trade minister holds talks with US counterpart over IRA, IPEF
Sustained high level diplomatic engagement across all the elements of national power.
Seoul's trade minister holds talks with US counterpart over IRA, IPEF
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · May 27, 2023
By Yonhap
Published : May 27, 2023 - 15:32 Updated : May 27, 2023 - 15:32
Trade Minister Ahn Duk-guen (second from right) attends the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers meeting in Detroit, the United States, on Thursday. (Yonhap)
South Korea's top trade official has discussed a variety of issues, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with the United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, his ministry said Saturday.
On the sidelines of a meeting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers in Detroit earlier this week, Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun also discussed issues related to the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
Ahn also held talks with China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao over bilateral economic cooperation.
During the meeting, Ahn asked for support for stable supply of key raw materials and parts, according to the ministry.
(Yonhap)
7. North Korea arrests 5 Christians during underground church service
You may only "worship" the Juche ideology and the Kim family regime.
But the Korean people in the north long for something to really put their faith in.
North Korea arrests 5 Christians during underground church service
Religion is illegal in North Korea, so they will likely be sent to a labor camp.
By Son Hyemin for RFA Korean
2023.05.28
rfa.org
Just as they had every Sunday at 5 a.m., the five Christians gathered at the farmhouse for prayer and Bible study. But this time the police were waiting for them.
Tipped off by an informant, authorities arrested the believers on charges of believing in God, a crime in a country where all religion is illegal – except for the reverence everyone is required to show for the country’s leader Kim Jong Un, and its past leaders, his father and grandfather.
Sources told Radio Free Asia’s Korean Service that the Christians, arrested on April 30, are relatives who met weekly at the farmhouse in Tongam village, outside Sunchon city in South Pyongan province, in central North Korea.
“At the site of the worship service, the police retrieved dozens of Bible booklets and arrested all in attendance,” a resident of the province told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
She said that an informant tipped off the police about the secret Sunday morning gathering.
A South Korean Christian woman prays during a service denouncing North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's dictatorship and alleged human rights violations against North Koreans, at Imjingak in Paju near the border village of Panmunjom. South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009. Sources told Radio Free Asia’s Korean Service that 5 Christians arrested on April 30 during underground church service are relatives who met weekly at the farmhouse in Tongam village, outside Sunchon city in South Pyongan province, in central North Korea. Credit: Ahn Young-joon/AP
News of the raid spread quickly throughout Sunchon, another resident who witnessed the arrest told RFA.
“They were praying and reading the Bible together,” she said. “They got together with their relatives and [prayed] ‘Oh Jesus, Lord Jesus … ,’ like that. And then they got arrested.”
If the past is any indication, the believers will be sent to labor camps to serve time. RFA was not able to confirm their status after the raid.
Christian roots
It was not the first time that authorities had rounded up Christians in Tongam.
Underground churches in the village were raided in 2005 and 1997, and the believers were sent to do hard labor in concentration camps.
Tongam has a history with Christianity. It was once the site of a large church building that stood even after the Japanese occupied the Korean peninsula in 1905 and made Shinto the state religion.
“That church was at the foot of the mountain in Tongam village,” the second resident said. “I knew about it because my mother told me it was where the missionaries had been before liberation [from Japanese rule in 1945].”
Sunchon had two Catholic and 31 Protestant churches before the Peninsula was freed from Japanese rule, according to a pastor with experience leading missions in North Korea.
People bow to the statues of former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill to mark the 11th anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, Dec. 17, 2022. Credit: Cha Song Ho/AP
The Soviet-controlled northern half of Korea after 1945 adhered to the idea that religion was the opium of the masses, and therefore promoted atheism. When North Korea was established in 1948, all religions became illegal. It was then that many of the churches in Sunchon began to disappear, and believers in Tongam had to go underground.
North Korea is known to execute, torture and physically abuse individuals for their religious activities, the U.S. State Department’s 2022 International Religious Freedom Report said.
It is one of 17 countries identified to be involved in or condoning systematic, continuous and serious violations of freedom of religion and belief, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2023 annual report.
Bibles and other religious materials are typically smuggled into the country over the Chinese border, where they are distributed to underground churches through a secret network, the second source said.
Despite pressure from authorities, the five captured Christians have refused to renounce their religion, she said.
“A staff member of the judicial agency told us that the [believers] refused to tell where they got their Bibles and said, ‘All for Jesus, even in death.’”
Translated Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
rfa.org
8. North Korea spent the pandemic building a huge border wall
Build a wall.
Go to the link to view the images. https://www.reuters.com/graphics/NORTHKOREA-BORDER/byvrlwjreve/
North Korea spent the pandemic building a huge border wall
Reuters · by Josh Smith and Sudev Kiyada
As the pandemic began, North Korea moved to seal its northern borders, tightening control over informal trade routes and making escape harder for defectors.
The new security features include additional and upgraded fencing, walls and guard posts along the Yalu and Tumen rivers and in rugged areas such as the revered Mount Paektu.
These measures span hundreds of kilometers along North Korea’s borders with China and Russia.
Kim Jong Un upgraded security on the Chinese and Russian frontiers, blocking routes for smugglers and defectors
Published May 27, 2023
For North Koreans, the country’s northern frontier long offered rare access to outside information, trade opportunities, and the best option for those seeking to flee.
But as the pandemic gripped the world in 2020, Kim Jong Un’s regime embarked on a massive exercise to seal its borders with China and Russia, cutting off routes plied by smugglers and defectors.
Since then, Pyongyang has built hundreds of kilometers of new or upgraded border fences, walls and guard posts, commercial satellite imagery shows, enabling it to tighten the flow of information and goods into the country, keep foreign elements out and its people in.
The project’s scale is evident in the imagery analysed by Reuters and the U.S.-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, as well as accounts from seven defectors, activists and others familiar with activity along the border.
“The traditional North Korea-China route is now effectively over, unless there is a major change in the situation,” said Kim, a South Korean pastor who has helped North Koreans defect. He and others who conduct sensitive work on the border spoke on the condition of partial or full anonymity, citing concerns for their safety and a desire to protect their networks.
Only 67 defectors made it to South Korea last year, compared with 1,047 in 2019, official data show. The figure had been declining even before the pandemic due in part to tighter restrictions in China, the preferred route for defectors.
Nov. 16, 2019
Minimal security features visible along North Korea’s border with Russia.
Dec. 13, 2022
Double fencing appears, as well as possible guard posts.
North Korea’s government and state media have said little about the construction at the border, and its embassy in London did not answer calls from Reuters. But official North Korean organs have noted increased security to keep out the coronavirus and other “alien things”. In a speech declaring victory over COVID-19 last year, Kim Jong Un ordered officials to “ensure perfection” of an “overall multiple blockade wall in the border, frontline and coast areas and in the seas and air”.
The sealing of the border is likely to have lasting effects, including for North Korea’s nascent mercantile class and in the towns where thriving informal trade previously offered many people, particularly women, a chance to make their own way, said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, a non-resident fellow at the U.S.-based Stimson Center who researches North Korea’s economy.
Those towns “benefited from formal and informal trade since the famine in the 1990s, but really don't have many other economic advantages,” he said. “So the crackdowns are hitting two vulnerable groups, women and the population of the geographic periphery.”
Add a description of the graphic for screen readers. This is invisible on the page.
CHOKING A LIFELINE
Reuters and Middlebury examined Google Earth Pro satellite imagery of North Korea’s northern frontier, taken at various stages between 2019 and early 2023.
Constraints such as incomplete imagery, geographical features and weather conditions meant that not all of the roughly 1,400 km border with China and 18 km border with Russia could be examined, including about 353 km for which updated imagery was not available. Images from satellite operator Maxar Technologies Inc. were used to analyse half a dozen key areas in detail.
New or expanded security infrastructure could be seen along at least 489 km of the border, including simple wire fencing, robust concrete walls, double fencing, and additional guard posts, said Middlebury research associate Dave Schmerler. He noted that other areas also showed apparent changes, but limitations in the imagery prevented conclusive determinations.
Oct. 12, 2020
Minimal security features visible.
March 2, 2023
Double fencing appears, as well as possible guard posts.
Many of the installations appeared to be around populated areas without natural obstacles such as mountains, Schmerler said. But there were also new features in flat, agricultural areas near the northeastern border along the Tumen River.
“Those areas don’t necessarily have larger city or village infrastructure but lack the natural boundaries that could act as a barrier from getting into or leaving the country,” Schmerler said.
LeftTop Buildings in North Korea's Sinuiju with giant portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are seen from China's Dandong, Liaoning province, China April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
RightBottom Men at a field in North Korea's Sinuiju are seen from Dandong, Liaoning province, China April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
Defectors, human rights activists and sources in China involved in smuggling goods or people across the border said the new security features were choking economic lifelines for vulnerable people, closing paths of escape from the authoritarian country, and further limiting North Koreans’ access to outside information.
One defector who works along the border in China told Reuters that security cameras have been placed at regular intervals, and multiple layers of fencing installed, including barbed wire and electric fencing. His descriptions matched with features visible in the satellite imagery, as well as photos and video he took from the Chinese side and shared with Reuters.
Oct. 20, 2019
Minimal security features visible.
May 4, 2023
Double fencing appears.
Smugglers can sometimes get out of North Korea, but it is nearly impossible to get back in, leaving a number of people waiting in China, the defector said, adding that additional specialized border troops have been deployed as guards on the North Korean side.
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters that it was not aware of the situation, but that “China and North Korea have been maintaining communication and working together to maintain the security and stability of the border”.
North Korea has also ordered border guards to shoot anyone trying to cross, according to official notices issued by Chinese authorities in 2020 that warned residents of the risks. Kim, the pastor, and human rights organisations have said the orders to shoot remain in effect.
May 7, 2019
Minimal security features visible.
March 19, 2023
Double fencing appears, as well as possible guard posts.
The U.S. Treasury Department in December sanctioned North Korea's Border Guard General Bureau for human rights abuses, “including land mines and shoot-on-sight orders that have resulted in the deaths of numerous North Koreans”.
A November report by the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch examined a 7.4 km section of the border around Hoeryong city on the Tumen River, an area that in 2019 already had substantial fencing and five watchtowers. By April 2022, authorities had built another 169 guard posts and more than 9 km of new or improved fencing along that section, it said.
“The North Korean government has been using COVID-19 as an excuse to build these new fences, guard posts and other infrastructure,” said Lina Yoon, senior Korea researcher at Human Rights Watch.
EXERTING CONTROL
The new border barriers come as Kim Jong Un strengthens his grip inside the country, which is under international sanctions because of its nuclear-weapons development. Recent changes include increased national control over the “Party Life” mechanism, a form of social credit system that evaluates citizens’ loyalty.
Tightening control of international trade, both official and unofficial, is a way for Pyongyang to exert influence over the military and other party members far from the border who might otherwise build power bases and pose a threat to the leadership, said J.R. Kim, a former South Korean government official who is now vice president at the Council on Diplomacy for Korean Unification in Seoul.
Jan. 13, 2020
Minimal security features visible.
March 13, 2023
Double fencing appears, as well as possible guard posts.
The early years of Kim Jong Un's rule saw the rise of a class of entrepreneurs known as donju, which loosely translates as “masters of money”. Now, he seems to be trying to ensure those “petite bourgeoisie” stay in their place, J.R. Kim said.
“Controlling the border is key to this because most of these people make money through working on border smuggling,” he said.
Up to 80 percent of North Koreans depend on informal markets known as jangmadang for daily necessities, according to a report released in March by Elizabeth Salmon, the United Nations independent investigator for human rights in North Korea. But these markets have had their activities sharply curtailed, she wrote, noting that the border closures have forced a vulnerable population “to the brink”.
Food shortages in North Korea have worsened in recent months, due in part to the border closures, according to international experts. Kim Jong Un in February called for a transformation in agriculture and stressed the need to hit grain production targets.
Dec. 4, 2019
Minimal security features visible.
May 9, 2023
Double fencing appears, as well as possible guard posts.
Meanwhile, remittances sent by defectors to relatives in North Korea have declined since 2019, but requests for money from North Koreans have increased, suggesting that the border closures have not only made the process harder but have fueled demand for financial aid, the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights said in November, citing its annual survey of defectors in South Korea.
Sokeel Park of Liberty in North Korea, an organization that works with defectors, said the border tightening would slow down “positive changes” of recent years such as improved access to outside information, while increasing hardship.
Still, he said, there were reports of foreign shows such as the South Korean hit “Squid Game” finding their way into North Korea.
But as time goes by and the pandemic subsides, the government may find it harder to justify the restrictions, he added.
“It's all the more reason for the international community to step up efforts to support North Korean rights,” he said.
Additional reporting by
Soo-hyang Choi in Seoul and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing
Sources
Satellite images by Maxar Technologies; Dave Schmerler, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey; SRTM Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM; MODIS Terra Vegetation Index (NDVI)
Edited by
David Crawshaw and Anand Katakam
Reuters · by Josh Smith and Sudev Kiyada
9. South Korea seeks to counter China's economic coercion, diversify trading partners: Report
Allies need to come together to support each other against Chinese economic warfare. We need to learn from our mistakes over THAAD when we did not come to the aid of the ROK against PRC economic coercion.
South Korea seeks to counter China's economic coercion, diversify trading partners: Report
theprint.in · by ANI · May 27, 2023
Washington [US], May 27 (ANI): Despite the fact that China is South Korea’s largest commercial partner, observers say Seoul’s growing connections with the United States and other wealthy democratic countries demonstrate its desire to offset Beijing’s economic pressure, reported Voice of America.
After a month of diplomacy that included summits with the US and G7 leaders, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin stated Wednesday at a hearing in Seoul that “reducing our reliance on China” and “diversifying our trading partners will help our economy.”
President Yoon Suk Yeol convened a Cabinet meeting on Monday following the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, and stated that he had “secured the basis of cooperation” with G7 countries such as Canada, Australia, and Germany on “safeguarding supply chain networks” in crucial minerals and semiconductors, as per Voice of America.
Voice of America (VOA) is a US-based international broadcaster, that provides news and information in more than 40 languages.
South Korea was invited to the May 19-21 summit by Japan as a non-member of the G7, which comprises the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Seven of the world’s wealthiest countries said in a joint press release on Saturday that they would “foster economic resilience” and oppose Beijing’s “economic coercion” and “malign practises” by “de-risking and diversifying” their trade away from China.
In a separate statement issued the same day, they stated that countries that “attempt to weaponize economic dependencies” will “face consequences,” but they did not name any countries.
Experts believe Yoon’s attendance at the G7 summit, where the G-7 countries united against China’s economic coercion, as well as his close alignment with Washington, indicate that Seoul has joined their efforts.
“The Yoon government seeks to join Washington and other allies in addressing supply chain and other economic security issues,” states Andrew Yeo, the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies at the Brookings Institution.
“This may entail Seoul joining Washington to some degree in countering Chinese economic coercion, but the Yoon government will still move cautiously on how it navigates issues like export controls directed against China,” he added.
China, which is the world’s second-largest economy after the US, has been accused of using its economic clout for political and military purposes.
According to the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin, between February 2010 and March 2022, China engaged in 123 cases of economic coercion globally.
The Chinese Cyberspace Administration said on Sunday that Micron Technology goods posed security threats. It provided no details since China has prohibited the use of Micron’s high-end semiconductors in computers that carry sensitive data.
When then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 virus, which was first detected in humans in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, China blacklisted Australian coal and imposed tariffs on wine, lobsters, lumber, and barley in 2020. This January, Beijing lifted the coal ban, as per VOA.
Beijing also restricted its tourists from travelling to South Korea and cancelled K-pop concerts in China after the US missile defence system THAAD was deployed to South Korea in 2017.
Yoon also made a state visit to Washington in April.
Experts say one of the primary expectations Washington has for Seoul is that it restricts high-end chip exports to China. Samsung and SK Hynix of South Korea are among the world’s leading chip manufacturers.
Dennis Wilder said, “The administration has been very clear to South Korea that semiconductors used in Chinese supercomputers can help the Chinese military develop very sophisticated weapons in an area that the United States wants to see restricted. Wilder was senior director for East Asia affairs at the White House’s National Security Council during the George W Bush government.
“China’s building its military and I’m not prepared to trade certain items with China,” said President Joe Biden at a press conference after he wrapped up the summit on Sunday.
He added, “When I asked by (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping) why, I said, ‘Because you’re using them to build nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.”
The US President added, “We’ve now got a commitment from all our allies they’re not going to either provide that kind of material that allows them to do that.”
Experts said advanced Micron chips are not the type of high-tech semiconductors that Washington wants to prevent Beijing from accessing for its military, VOA reported. (ANI)
This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
theprint.in · by ANI · May 27, 2023
10. Rumors circulate in border region that overland trade routes could open in mid-June
But will reopening be sufficient to help the people recover? Will the reopening be accompanied by a reduction in the draconian population and resources control measures that are severely impacting market activities be lifted? I think probably not. Control of the Korean people in the north is more important to Kim Jong Unthan the welfare of the Korean people in the north.
Rumors circulate in border region that overland trade routes could open in mid-June
Yet the government still appears to be very hesitant about expanding trade beyond the limited degree of state-led trade that is occurring
dailynk.com
FILE PHOTO: North Korean trucks can be seen heading to the Chinese side of the border on the Sino-North Korean Friendship Bridge. (Daily NK)
Rumors are once again circulating in the China-North Korea border region that the DPRK will reopen overland trade routes in mid-June. Many people on the border, however, are dubious that the rumors are true.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a reporting partner in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK yesterday that word is going around among judiciary officials on the China-North Korea border that “orders have been issued in regards to normalizing freight traffic on the roadway connecting Sinuiju and Dandong by June 12.”
Many border residents, however, remain doubtful. While there have been many promising signs of a reopening in recent months, the border still remains closed. This has left many people thinking that “trade will start when it starts; orders alone can’t guarantee the complete reopening of trade.”
In the first two quarters of 2023, the most important goods to be imported from China were fertilizer, plastic film, and agricultural machinery. However, an expansion of trade in mid-June would come after the end of rice planting season – too late to be of much help to farming efforts.
North Korea still appears hesitant about fully reopening trade routes
Many trade officials in North Korea generally believe that even if overland trade completely re-opens between Sinuiju and Dandong, trading companies will not be able to enjoy the same freedom in conducting trade as they had prior to the pandemic.
At the 6th Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly held in February of last year, North Korea announced that “the government will continue to promote the revitalization of foreign trade through the state’s unitary trade system.”
Even now, the government still appears to be very hesitant about expanding trade beyond the limited degree of state-led trade that is occurring.
FILE PHOTO: The Sino-North Korean Friendship Bridge. (Daily NK)
As a result, some believe that the state-led trade infrastructure created over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic will not disappear overnight and that the government will continue to limit trade, only allowing certain trading companies to handle imports of items deemed essential by the state.
In fact, a very small number of freight trucks have recently been granted government permission to go back and forth between Sinuiju and Dandong. This suggests that a certain degree of trade is happening under government control.
In Hyesan, meanwhile, government-sanctioned freight trucks were reported to have passed through Hyesan Customs House on their way to China before returning again to North Korea. According to a Daily NK reporting partner in Yanggang Province, these freight trucks carried loads of medicinal herbs, goats, and piglets to China and returned with government-requested supplies like fertilizer.
The reporting partner in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK that “when the government needs something, one or two trucks might get sent out through Sinuiju Customs House. But, of course, the government also has the option to conduct the trade it needs through Hyesan Customs House and Wonjang Customs House in Rajin, so the government probably doesn’t feel any real need to greatly expand overland trade.”
He added: “It seems unlikely this year that the border will open up like it was before the pandemic, with people going back and forth and tourists entering the country.”
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea and China. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to [email protected].
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De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: [email protected]
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