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Quotes of the Day:
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men, True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.”
- Ernest Hemingway
"Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well."
- Dwight Eisenhower
"Instead of simply claiming to have read books, demonstrate how they have enhanced your critical thinking abilities and help you develop a discerning and contemplative mindset."
- Epictetus.
1. U.S. continues to seek safe return of service member in N. Korean custody: state dept.
2. N. Korea warns U.S. nuclear submarine visit to S. Korea may fall under conditions for its nuke use
3. S. Korea visit by USS Kentucky aimed at promoting peace: Pentagon
4. It’s time to end the forever war on the Korean Peninsula - Responsible Statecraft
5. Press Conference on Campaign for ‘REAL’ Peace on the Korean Peninsula, Countering H.R. 1369 and the ‘FAKE Peace’ Initiative
6. Mongolia and Korean Unification: a Bridge Between North and South
7. US, South Korea, Japan to hold summit in August
8. Foreign Korean War veterans, families to visit S. Korea on 70th armistice anniv.
9. Why Travis King, the U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea, may prove to be a "nuisance" for Kim Jong Un's regime
10. S. Korea to seek 'substantive' approach in dealing with N. Korea: minister nominee
11. BREAKING: PV2 King "Don't Defect to North Korea" training NOT current
12. US and North Korea still have ways to talk though no diplomatic ties
13. North Koreans mobilized to prevent monsoon damage – at personal cost
14. South Koreans shocked, confused over US soldier's defection
15. South Korea’s Deepening Political Divide Is Mapping Onto Its Foreign Policy
16. Hyunmoo-V missile built for S Korea’s nuclear ambitions
17. Defectors fear impact of mounting skepticism over accounts told by celebrated N. Korean escapee
18. How It Got So Easy to Breach North Korea’s Notorious Border
19. Hamhung child starves to death after being left alone at home
20. The U.S.-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group’s Successful Launching
21. [Herald Interview] Young professionals from NK seek to bring change to Pyongyang
22. US soldier’s dash to North Korea puts focus on border weak spot
23. What is the DMZ? Map and pictures show the demilitarized zone Travis King crossed into North Korea
1. U.S. continues to seek safe return of service member in N. Korean custody: state dept.
Here is the difference between America and north Korea. Regardless of what this young man has done, regardless of the disdain he may have for America and the embarrassment he has caused we will work as hard as possible to ensure his safe return because we know in America he will be subjected to a fair hearing for his offenses and will be given a chance to return to the fold as a good American. The regime of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State of the north would only seek the return of escapees (they do not defect from the north, they escape) to punish and most likely execute them. The US is genuinely concerned with the safety of this American defector because we know the terrible fate that is in store for him in the north and leaving him to suffer such punishment is inhumane. Living in north Korea itself is cruel and unusual punishment. Therefore we must seek to bring him home where he can be subject to punishment for his transgressions in a way that is not cruel and unusual. (That is my proposed narrative - I know others have a different visceral emotional reaction -I have to suppress mine too)
(LEAD) U.S. continues to seek safe return of service member in N. Korean custody: state dept. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Duk-Kun Byun · July 21, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks from a NSC official in last 4 paras)
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, July 20 (Yonhap) -- The United States is continuing to work for the safe return of a U.S. service member who crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea this week, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Thursday.
The department spokesperson, however, declined to comment on whether North Korea has responded to U.S. outreach.
"I will say the case continues to be extremely high priority for the department," he told a press briefing when asked about the case.
State Department Press Secretary Matthew Miller is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on July 20, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)
The soldier, identified as Pvt. 2nd Class Travis King, crossed the military demarcation line at the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone on Tuesday (Korea time).
"The White House, the state department, the Pentagon, of course, are all continuing to work together on this matter to ascertain information about the well being and whereabouts of Private King," Miller said.
The state department spokesperson noted Wednesday that Pyongyang had not answered U.S. requests to confirm the safety of King.
"As I said yesterday, those discussions are quite sensitive ... So I'm not going to go into further details at this time," he told the press briefing when asked if the North has responded to U.S. messages.
Miller also declined to comment when asked if the North has at least acknowledged receiving U.S. messages sent earlier, saying, "All I am prepared to say today is that we have made clear to them, we have relayed messages to them that we are seeking information about his welfare and want him returned safely."
"I am just going to say we have confidence in our ability to send messages that they receive," he added.
John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) coordinator for strategic communications, hinted at an apparent lack of communication with North Korea during a press briefing.
"We don't know the conditions in which he (King) is living right now and it's the not knowing that is deeply concerning to us, and we are trying as best as we can to get as much information as we can," he told a telephonic press briefing.
The NSC official added the government is unaware of King's motivation for crossing the inter-Korean border, saying, "At this point, he is the only one that really knows, and we haven't been able to speak to him."
Kirby noted the U.S. is doing its utmost to bring him back safely, saying, "Of course we are concerned about his well-being. This is not a country that is known for humane treatment of Americans, or, frankly, anybody else for that matter."
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Duk-Kun Byun · July 21, 2023
2. N. Korea warns U.S. nuclear submarine visit to S. Korea may fall under conditions for its nuke use
This high level of bombastic rhetoric highlights Kim Jong Un's strategic failure. A major line of effort of his strategy is to drive a wedge in the ROK/US alliance and unhinge trilateral cooperation. Yet with every provocation US alliances in Northeast Asia and trilateral cooperation grow stronger. In addition, this is something that China does not want to occur. But north Korean actions are undermining Chinese interests as well. The bottom line is north Kore's strategy is failing and north Korean actions harm Chinese interests.
How should we respond to this rhetoric? With a superior political warfare and information strategy.
(LEAD) N. Korea warns U.S. nuclear submarine visit to S. Korea may fall under conditions for its nuke use | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · July 20, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more remarks)
SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's defense chief warned Thursday a U.S. nuclear-capable strategic submarine's port visit to South Korea this week may fall under the legal conditions for his country's use of nuclear weapons.
Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam made the remarks, issuing an anticipated criticism of the visit here by the USS Kentucky, an 18,750-ton Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), and the inaugural meeting of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) this week.
"I remind the U.S. military of the fact that the ever-increasing visibility of the deployment of the strategic nuclear submarine and other strategic assets may fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons specified in DPRK law on nuclear force policy," he said in a press statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kang pointed out that the North's nuclear doctrine allows for the execution of necessary procedures in cases where a nuclear attack is launched against it or it is judged that the use of nuclear weapons against it is imminent.
"The U.S. military side should realize that its nuclear assets have entered extremely dangerous waters," he said.
Last year, North Korea enacted the law on nuclear use, raising fears that it would allow for the preemptive use of nuclear weapons in the face of what it views as an imminent threat.
The minister claimed the first SSBN deployment here since 1981 posed "the most undisguised and direct nuclear threat" to the North.
"This shows that the U.S. scenario for a nuclear attack upon the DPRK and its implementation have entered the most critical stage of visualization and systemization and the phase of a military clash on the Korean peninsula has surfaced as a dangerous reality beyond all sorts of imagination and presumption," he said.
Kang also said the U.S. and South Korea have gone beyond the "red line."
"I seriously warn once again the U.S. and the 'ROK' military gangsters' group daringly touting the 'end of regime' in our country," he said. "Any use of their military muscle against the DPRK will be their most miserable choice by which they will have no room to think of their existence again."
ROK stands for the South's official name, the Republic of Korea.
He was referring to the U.S.' warning that any nuclear attack by the North against the South will result in the end of the North Korean regime.
The USS Kentucky arrived in the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday. Its arrival coincided with the first NCG session.
The U.S. pledged to enhance the "regular visibility" of its high-profile military assets, including SSBNs, in the Washington Declaration that Presidents Yoon Suk Yeol and Joe Biden issued during their summit in April.
In the declaration, the two sides announced the creation of the NCG aimed at enhancing America's extended deterrence commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its ally.
This photo, provided by the Defense Daily on July 19, 2023, shows the USS Kentucky nuclear ballistic missile submarine at a key naval base in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · July 20, 2023
3. S. Korea visit by USS Kentucky aimed at promoting peace: Pentagon
Peace through strength. Peace through superior (nuclear) firepower.
S. Korea visit by USS Kentucky aimed at promoting peace: Pentagon | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Duk-Kun Byun · July 21, 2023
By Byun Duk-kun
WASHINGTON, July 20 (Yonhap) -- The ongoing visit by a U.S. nuclear capable submarine to South Korea is in response to North Korea's evolving threats and is aimed at promoting peace and stability in the region, a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday, dismissing North Korea's claim that it leads to further escalation.
The Department of Defense spokesperson, Lisa Lawrence, also stressed that the port call by USS Kentucky, an 18,750-ton Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), is not in violation of any international rules unlike North Korea's illicit missile tests.
"The actions taken by the U.S.-ROK alliance in the Washington Declaration and through the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) are a prudent response to the DPRK's escalatory and dangerous behavior, and further the alliance's goal of promoting peace and stability in the region," Lawrence told Yonhap News Agency in an email, referring to South and North Korea by their formal names, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, respectively.
USS Kentucky (SSBN 737) is berthed at Busan naval base, southeast of Seoul, on July 19, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to a port visit by an SSBN under the Washington Declaration they signed during their bilateral summit in Washington in April. The Washington Declaration also established the NCG which is aimed at bolstering U.S. extended deterrence to South Korea.
The allies held their first NCG meeting in Seoul this week.
North Korea's defense minister argued Thursday (Korea time) that the visit by the U.S. submarine to South Korea posed the "most undisguised and direct nuclear threat" to North Korea, adding that increasing visibility of U.S. strategic assets in the region may "fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons specified in the DPRK law on the nuclear force policy."
The Pentagon spokesperson rejected the North's claim.
"The DPRK's continuing efforts to advance its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities greatly undermine regional security and stability," said Lawrence.
"Unlike the DPRK's actions, U.S.- ROK efforts to improve our defense posture and protect our citizens from overt DPRK threats to use nuclear weapons are not in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," added the Pentagon spokesperson.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Duk-Kun Byun · July 21, 2023
4. It’s time to end the forever war on the Korean Peninsula - Responsible Statecraft
Sigh... So much to say. Where to begin with some of this revisionist history.
First of all, the US government did not sign the Armistice and neither did the Chinese government. The Armistice was signed by military officers representing the military commands that were participating in the war, north Korea, the Chinese People's Volunteers, and the UNited Nations. South Korean forces were under the command of the Un Command at the time. The US did not declare war on the north. And if you read the UN Security Council resolutions 82-85, the UNSecurity Council identified the north as the aggressor and requested members states to come to the defense of freedom in the South. The Korean War was in fact a Korean civil war between the north and South. technically a peace treaty should be negotiated between north and South but that is not politically acceptable (and would violate the COnstitutions of both countries that claim sovereignty over all Korean territory and all Korean people).
Provocations diminished in the 1990s? What about the Sango submarine infiltration, the Yugo sub infiltration, the sinking of ISILC over the southern Korean coast, the Taepodong Missile launch over Japan? And all during this time from 1994 on the north was embarked on an HEU program even removed US nuclear weapons in 1991-1992 and ended the largest exercise in the free world, Team Spirit in 1993, while we were providing (however reluctantly after the Republicans took control of the House in 1994), 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil annually and the international community had begun building two light water nuclear reactors for peaceful energy purposes. Provocations subsided in the 1990s? That is revisionist history.
Why did the author overlook the Six Party Talks and the September 2005 when Kim Jong Il pledged denuclearization the year before he tested the first nuclear device?
The author said the for decades "deterrence efforts" failed to prevent the north from developing nuclear weapons. The purpose of deterrence is not to prevent the development of nuclear weapons. Deterrence and Extended Deterrence is specifically and sole for the purpose of deterring a resumption of hostilities and the USE of nuclear weapons. Preventing the development of nuclear weapons can only be done in two ways: through diplomacy and agreement and through the use of force. Deterrence is not part of that equation. We have sucesffully deterred a resumption of hosltiies for 70 years. And the main contributor to deterrence has been the sustained presence of US troops to demonstrate strategic reassurance and strategic resolve.
In addition, the Armistice has successfully manage conditions to help prevent a resumption of hostilities and resolve issues between north and South.
But this excerpt is the most troubling and is such an affront to the sovereignty of the ROK.
The reason why the United States is at the center of this issue is because the Armistice Treaty was signed by North Korea, China, and the United States. South Korea never signed the Armistice and, as such, has no official say in whether a peace treaty will be signed or not. The decision ultimately falls to Washington and Pyongyang (China has previously expressed support for ending the Korean War).
As I said, the ROK military was under the UN Command. Yes of course Syngman Rhee did not want the Armistice signed. He wanted to continue to fight to unify the peninsula. Again, as I wrote the UNSC recognized the north as the aggressor and that the South's freedom was to be defended. The war was between the north and South and the only two actual legitimate signatories to a peace treaty should be the north and South (again acknowledging the political issues with each nations' constitution).
Lastly, the author seems somewhat concerned with the security of the ROK (though blames all tensions on alliance exercises and deterrence measures). She fails to acknowledge that the north has a stated policy (in its constitution and party documents to complete the revelation and dominate the entire Korean peninsula under the rule of what I like to call the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State. She fails to acknowledge that nKPA forces are postured for the offense and it continues to develop and deploy offensives forces to be bale to target the ROK in depth. In the South, ROK forces are arrayed for defense operations and not for an attack. Given the correlation of forces and force posture the author must be able to answer the question of how will a piece of paper ensure the security of the ROK. The north poses an existential threat to the ROK. How will a piece of paper protect the ROK, especially given the fact that the north has broken nearly every agreement it has made.
Sigh... I am tired of reading such inaccurate descriptions of the Korean security situation. I could write much more but I will stop here
It’s time to end the forever war on the Korean Peninsula - Responsible Statecraft
responsiblestatecraft.org · by Gabriela Bernal · July 20, 2023
It’s time to end the forever war on the Korean Peninsula
On the 70th anniversary of the armistice, a new call for a peace treaty between Washington and Pyongyang
July 20, 2023
Written by
Gabriela Bernal
It’s time to end the forever war on the Korean Peninsula
This article is part of our weeklong series commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War armistice, July 27, 1953.
When talking about “war” in the year 2023, most people will immediately think of Ukraine and then possibly mention Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, or Afghanistan. Very few people would think of Korea first when the word “war” is mentioned, let alone when talking about a “forever war,” a term many, including current U.S. President Joe Biden, use to describe the war in Afghanistan.
The war on the Korean Peninsula, however, has been ongoing for over 70 years. Just because there is no active fighting taking place does not mean there is peace. Fighting ceased in 1953, three years after the start of the war, as a result of an Armistice Agreement, not a peace treaty. While signing such a treaty has not been a priority over the last seven decades, the increasingly volatile and risky military situation on the Korean Peninsula can no longer be ignored.
The Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950 when the North invaded the South in hopes of quickly reunifying the country under Kim Il-sung’s leadership. The North’s plan was foiled, however, when President Truman announced the intervention of the U.S. in the war two days later. The United Nations Command (UNC) was subsequently established on July 7, 1950, which resulted in 22 countries contributing various forms of support to South Korea throughout the war.
With the help of the U.S.-led UNC, the South quickly gained the upper hand and was able to drive North Korean forces back north of the 38th parallel by mid-September. The tide of the war changed again, however, when China sent troops to support North Korea in late November. After a series of back-and-forth wins and losses, fighting stalled around the 38th parallel in May 1951. Peace talks then commenced in July which ultimately resulted in the Armistice Agreement signed on July 27, 1953.
Although the fighting between North and South ended on paper, various provocations and military incidents continued throughout the Cold War period. Some examples include the 1968 Blue House raid when North Korean agents tried to assassinate South Korean President Park Chung-hee; the 1976 Axe Murder Incident when North Korean soldiers killed two US Army officers; the 1983 Rangoon Bombing when North Korean agents attempted to assassinate South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan; and the 1987 bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 by two North Korean agents.
As inter-Korean diplomacy gained momentum in the 1990s, provocations by North Korea started to diminish. This was followed by significant progress towards peace in 2000 when the leaders of the two Koreas met for their first summit.
But despite such progress, North Korean provocations continued and evolved into more threatening actions culminating in its first-ever nuclear test in October 2006. That year marked a pivotal moment in the history of the Korean War. The nation that was once considered significantly inferior to South Korea in almost every aspect had acquired the ultimate means of defense and attack: nuclear weapons.
That the two sides have avoided the resumption of all-out conflict since the Armistice does not mean this grim possibility is non-existent. In fact, the frequency of military provocations has sharply increased over the past year, with the North firing over 90 missiles in 2022 alone. For its part, South Korea’s increasing military cooperation with the United States and Japan, combined with powerful voices in Seoul calling for its own nuclear weapons program, has not helped defuse the situation.
For decades, deterrence efforts have failed to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear and missile programs. The time to achieve denuclearization through deterrence and unilateral demands has passed. The focus must now be placed squarely on arms control and accepting the reality that North Korea has indeed become a nuclear state. Without taking this first basic step, resuming diplomacy—let alone getting to a peace treaty—will be highly difficult.
Once this step is taken, however, regular communication and negotiations can follow. These efforts should also go hand in hand with steps to expand the scope of U.S.-DPRK relations with the goal of normalizing diplomatic ties.
The reason why the United States is at the center of this issue is because the Armistice Treaty was signed by North Korea, China, and the United States. South Korea never signed the Armistice and, as such, has no official say in whether a peace treaty will be signed or not. The decision ultimately falls to Washington and Pyongyang (China has previously expressed support for ending the Korean War).
Still, this does not mean there is no place for Seoul in this process. One way South Korea can help is to play a facilitating role in improving U.S.-North Korea ties and resuming inter-Korean dialogue to lower tensions, build trust, increase cross-border exchanges, and establish bilateral relations based on a strong foundation. The current Yoon Suk-yeol administration should build on the efforts made by the previous Moon Jae-in government instead of expanding military drills and engaging in repeated tit-for-tat provocations with the North. These provocations could easily lead to accidents and misunderstandings that could trigger the resumption of full-blown war. None of this serves South Korea’s national interests.
With every year that goes by without a peace treaty, North Korea continues the development of ever more advanced nuclear weapons, missiles, and military technology. The resumption of conflict on the peninsula in current times could lead to a catastrophic nuclear war that would affect the entire world, not just Northeast Asia. The United States can no longer afford to be distracted by other global issues, as pressing as they may be.
The situation on the peninsula demands resolution, and the only way to ensure lasting peace is by ending the Korean War and signing a peace treaty.
Gabriela Bernal
North Korea analyst specialized in North Korean foreign policy, inter-Korean relations, and the Korean Peninsula peace process.
5. Press Conference on Campaign for ‘REAL’ Peace on the Korean Peninsula, Countering H.R. 1369 and the ‘FAKE Peace’ Initiative
I would attend if I were not in Korea at that time.
PRESS RELEASE
One Korea Network (OKN) and the Korea-US Alliance Foundation USA (KUSAF-USA) to Hold Press Conference on Campaign for ‘REAL’ Peace on the Korean Peninsula, Countering H.R. 1369 and the ‘FAKE Peace’ Initiative, Wednesday, July 26, 2023
By
OKN Correspondent
July 20, 2023
https://onekoreanetwork.com/2023/07/20/one-korea-network-okn-and-the-korea-us-alliance-foundation-usa-kusaf-usa-to-hold-press-conference-on-campaign-for-real-peace-on-the-korean-peninsula-countering-h-r-1369-and-the/
July 20, 2023, Washington, D.C. –
One Korea Network (OKN) and the Korea-US Alliance Foundation USA (KUSAF-USA) will be holding a Press Conference on Wednesday, July 26th, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., from 11 am to 12:30 pm.
This Press Conference will highlight the Campaign led by OKN along with KUSAF-USA for ‘REAL’ Peace on the Korean Peninsula and to counter the ‘fake peace’ initiative led by pro-North Korean and leftist supporters of H.R. 1369, the “Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act.”
“OKN was one of the main organizations that led a successful campaign to counter the fake peace initiative of HR3446, which included petition drives in South Korea and the US that collected tens of thousands of signatures from citizens in both countries against the bill; publishing a book highlighting the folly of HR3446 written by 18 experts; and various events, panel sessions, community events, and Congressional briefings and visits,” said Henry Song, Director of One Korea Network (OKN) in DC.
“Unsurprisingly, the backers of the fake peace initiative have introduced a reincarnated version of HR3446, now called HR1369, which is doomed to fail again, but not without the supporters of this initiative trying to hoodwink the public and Congress with the sweet, alluring pursuit of fake peace, while giving a free pass to the dictatorship of North Korea,” continued Song.
The Press Conference on Wednesday, July 26, at the National Press Club will feature remarks from members of Congress *; select authors who contributed to OKN’s book, “The Quest for Peace on the Korean Peninsula” **; and other experts on this issue.
On the 70th anniversary of the ROK-USA Alliance, OKN will continue to work to highlight the unique alliance and expose the truth of bills such as HR1369 and the supporters of the fake peace initiative.
“OKN, along with our partner organizations and allies, is planning a variety of events and projects throughout this year and into next year, to not only commemorate and highlight the anniversary of the alliance, but also to educate the public and highlight issues such as North Korean human rights; the situation in South Korea and the Indo-Pacific region; and other important topics of relevance. This Press Conference and our Campaign for ‘REAL’ Peace on the Korean Peninsula is just one part of the work we are doing,” said Henry Song.
To attend, please RSVP HERE. Limited seating. Priority given to members of the media.
For media inquiries and other questions regarding the Press Conference, please contact: 202-394-7005; info@onekoreanetwork.com
* A detailed list of speakers will be ready as the date nears.
** Copies of this book (along with other materials) will be available at the Press Conference.
원코리아네트워크(OKN) 및 한미동맹재단-USA (KUSAF-USA), 한반도평화법안 (H.R. 1369) 등 “가짜” 평화 활동을 저지하고 한반도의 진정한 평화를 위한 캠페인 일환으로 7월 26일에 기자회견 개최
2023년 7월 20일, 워싱턴 D.C.
원코리아네트워크 (OKN) 및 한미동맹재단-USA (KUSAF-USA)가 7월 26일 수요일 오전 11시부터 오후 12시 반까지 내셔널 프레스 클럽에서 기자회견을 개최한다.
기자회견에서는 OKN과 KUSAF-USA가 주도하는 한반도의 “진정한” 평화를 위한 캠페인을 알리는 한편, 한반도평화법안(H.R. 1369)을 지지하는 친북 및 좌파 활동가들의 “가짜” 평화 활동을 반대할 예정이다.
원코리아네트워크의 헨리 송 디렉터는 “OKN은 당시 HR3446 법안 등 가짜 평화를 막기 위해 활동한 주요 단체들 중 하나”라며, “대한민국과 미국에서 이 법안에 반대하는 수천 명의 사람들의 서명을 받았고, 18 명의 전문가들이 집필한 한반도평화법안 반대 소책자를 출간했으며, 다양한 이벤트, 패널 토론, 의회 브리핑을 가졌다”라고 말했다.
송 디렉터는 또한, “가짜 평화를 추진하려는 사람들은 HR3446 법안과 같은 내용을 역시나 이번 회기에서 HR1369라는 이름으로 재발의했다. 이 법안이 상정되지는 않겠지만, 가짜 평화 지지자들이 북한의 독재정권에 무임 승차권을 주는 한편, 달콤하고 유혹적인 (가짜) “평화”라는 이름으로 대중과 미 의회를 기만한다면 상황이 어떻게 바뀔지 모르는 일이다”고 전했다.
7월 26일 수요일 내셔널 프레스 클럽에서 열릴 기자회견에는 연방의원들, 그리고 OKN이 출간한 “한반도 평화 수수께끼” 소책자를 집필한 한반도 전문가들이 발언할 예정이다.
OKN은 또한 한미동맹 70주년을 맞는 올해 동안 계속해서 동맹의 특수성을 부각하고, 한반도평화법안 HR1369의 실상을 알리는 활동을 이어나갈 것이다.
헨리 송 디렉터는 “OKN은 뜻을 같이 하는 파트너 단체들과 함께 남은 한 해 동안, 그리고 내년에도 다양한 행사와 프로젝트를 기획 중이다. 한미동맹을 기념하는 것을 넘어서 북한 인권, 대한민국과 인도태평양 지역의 현안, 그리고 이와 관련된 다양한 이슈를 대중에게 알리는 활동을 할 것이다. 한반도의 “진정한” 평화를 위한 캠페인 및 이번에 열리는 기자회견은 OKN이 하는 활동의 일환으로 보면 된다”고 말했다.
참석을 원하시면 “여기“를 클릭해 주세요. 인원 제한이 있으며, 언론사를 우선적으로 받습니다.
취재 문의 및 기자회견에 관한 다른 문의사항은 아래로 연락해 주십시오:202-394-7005; info@onekoreanetwork.com
* 스피커 명단은 빠른 시일 내에 공개될 예정입니다.
** OKN이 발간한 소책자는 기자회견 때 배부될 예정입니다.
6. Mongolia and Korean Unification: a Bridge Between North and South
A longer version of my "trip report" for Mongolia than was published in the Korean Times.
JULY 20, 2023
Mongolia and Korean Unification: a Bridge Between North and South
By
David Maxwell
Photo Credit: MAJ Lindsey Elder, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
South Korean marines conduct the riverine training portion of exercise Khaan Quest 2014 at the Five Hills Training Area in Mongolia June 27, 2014.
From Communism to Democracy Mongolia is the exemplar for positive political change
Since Mongolia transitioned from communism to democracy it has been quietly working behind the scenes as a peacebuilder serving as a convening location for numerous talks, dialogues, processes, workshops, and forums. June was a busy month with several events including the Ulaanbaatar (UB) Dialogue and the Mongolia Forum. The UB Process for Peace in Northeast Asia is ongoing. In addition, the U.S., the Republic of Korea, and Mongolia held talks on north Korean denuclearization. All have a common theme: working for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia. However, the “Mongolia Forum for Peace and Development in Northeast Asia and Korean Unification” is unique in that it advocates for a free and unified Korea as a path to peace and prosperity.
The Mongolia Forum (June 20-24, 2023) is a Track II event for scholars, practitioners, journalists, and prominent members from civil society in many countries including Mongolia, Korea, China, Russia, India, the U.S., Japan, and Malaysia, and was organized by the NGO Blue Banner, led by the indefatigable Ambassador Jargalsaikhan Enkhsaikhan of Mongolia, with conveners the Global Peace Foundation (GPF), the One Korea Foundation (OKF), Action for Korea United, the Mongolian Forum for Korean Unification, and the National Strategy Institute of the Chungnam National University.
The forum began with a retreat for all the speakers and conveners in the Gorkhi-Terelg National Park. For three days the participants held small working groups, one on one discussions and a plenary session while enjoying Mongolian culture and hospitality. Despite the complexity of ongoing strategic competition and war around the world, candid but collegial engagement led to greater understanding of the issues from opposite viewpoints. Discussions were wide ranging from nuclear weapons and ongoing conflicts to human rights to environmental issues, people to people engagement, tourism, and the continued evolution of civilization.
Dialogues were informed by a common understanding of “hongik ingan” defined as “living for the greater benefit of humanity” which is the founding philosophy of Korea. It is a central feature of Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon’s “Korean Dream” which is a vision of a unified Korea “led by Korean civil society as the only way to solve the security, economic, and social problems created through the more than 70 years of division.” Most discussions centered around Korean unification. The presentations and discussions concluded that a unified Korea would contribute to Northeast Asia peace and stability as well as economic co-prosperity.
The main conference focused on three topics:
- “A Free and Unified Korea: Catalyst for Northeast Asia Peace and Development”
- “Lessons from Mongolia’s Peaceful Transition for Northeast Asia Peace and Development”
- “Role of Economy and Tourism for Northeast Asia Peace and Development”
This was followed by a very important session:
- Mongolia Youth Leadership Forum “Moral and Innovative Entrepreneurship”
Speakers from throughout the world presented thoughtful, creative, controversial, thought-provoking, and constructive ideas based on deep experience and knowledge in their respective areas of expertise.
The presentations and discussions were inspirational and personally reaffirmed my belief that the achievement of a free and unified Korea is the only acceptable durable political arrangement that will end the human rights abuses being committed in the north and the nuclear and missile threats against the South, Northeast Asia, and the world. In fact, it is the nuclear threat and the human rights abuses that have paralyzed governments from focusing on unification. In my opinion the only way to overcome this paralysis is by reversing the conventional wisdom of denuclearization first and then unification someday and focus on unification as the path to denuclearization, peace, and security in the region.
70 years ago the military leaders who signed the Armistice Agreement understood that there is no military solution to the end the 1950-1953 war. Paragraph 60 called on all parties to come together to create a political solution to the “Korea question,” which is the unnatural division of the peninsula. For seventy years the governments have not been able to solve this problem. The time is now for civil society to engage with like-minded organizations to challenge governments to drive a solution to the “Korea question.”
There are two areas that civil society can immediately affect: human rights and the demand for information for the Korean people in the north. The Korean people in the north are suffering terribly and every effort must be made to help them obtain relief. Civil society must support the recommendations in the 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) and set an example for governments to focus on human rights. Human rights are not only a moral imperative but a national security issue because Kim Jong Un denies the human rights of the Korean people in the north in order to remain in power.
One of the human rights abuses identified in the COI is the isolation of the Korean people and the denial of the free flow of information into the north and to all Korean people. Escapees tell us there is a high demand for all types of information from the outside world. Civil society can make a tremendous contribution to this effort by using four principles of information.
First, the people need massive quantities of information from entertainment to news reports. They need information about the outside world. They will benefit from understanding life in other countries so civil society members should send information about their own countries and cultures since they are not exposed to any of them due to the regime’s Propaganda and Agitation Department strictly controlling access to information.
Second, the people need practical information that is not filtered through the Juche ideology so they can implement best practices in agriculture, science, and market operations. They need educational curriculum untainted by the Juche ideology. They must be exposed to such concepts as land ownership which will be a key element of the unification process. In addition, they should be exposed to methods of collective action so they can improve their lives.
Third, they must have the truth. There is no need for propaganda. They need objective information about life in the north and South and around the world.
Fourth, they need understanding – they must understand what are the universal human rights to which they are entitled just as every human being on the planet.
One of the ways to conduct effective messaging to establish a Korean Escapee (Defector) Information Institute to harness the expertise of key communicators from the North to shape themes and messages and advise on all aspects of the information campaign.
The most important message to transmit to the Korean people living in the north is there are people around the world concerned with their welfare and who are working to help Koreans in the north and South to achieve unification as a path to peace and prosperity. It is natural that Korea should follow in the footsteps of Mongolia and make a major political transition. Korean unification can serve as modern global beacon and inspire political change around the world as civil society collectively works for peace and prosperity.
Civil society and governments should have a vision of the future of Korea. On April 26, 2023, Presidents Yoon and Biden established the vision for that both countries seek: “The two presidents are committed to build a better future for all Korean people and support a unified Korean Peninsula that is free and at peace.” The two presidents have provided strategic clarity for their policy makers, strategists, and planners.
Civil society should seek a similar vision. It must begin with the realization that the only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and military threats as well as the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity being committed against the Korean people living in the north is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a free and unified Korea. This new Korea must be secure and stable, non-nuclear, economically vibrant, and unified under a liberal constitutional form of government based on individual liberty, free market economic principles, rule of law, and human rights as determined by the Korean people. This is the vision for a free and unified Korea or in short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
Members of civil society in the South combined with escapees from the north should resurrect the 1919 Korean Declaration of Independence to serve as a foundational document for a United Republic of Korea. These words still resonate for the Korean peninsula: ““We claim independence in the interest of the eternal and free development of our people and in accordance with the great movement for world reform based upon the awakening conscience of mankind.” They should begin work now on a new Constitution for a UROK. By drafting a new Constitution these young Koreas will become the founding mothers and fathers of a UROK.
Members of civil society from around the world should continue to meet in Mongolia as long as Mongolian leaders desire to be both a bridge between north and South and are willing to help achieve political change. Mongolia should be the focal point for candid exchanges of views among countries that have political differences yet recognize the importance of Korean unification to their country, the future of the region and the world.
It is clear that the participants in the Mongolian Forum seek the peaceful unification of Korea. I would challenge all who support unification, from private citizens, to businesspeople, to public servants and government officials to examine their work and continually ask a single question: How does this action support achieving Korean unification? It is time to overcome unification planning paralysis caused by nuclear weapons and threats of war and develop the necessary synergy among like-minded members of civil society to bring peace and security to the region. Working together civil society can support Korea in achieving unification and a United Republic of Korea (UROK) that will be a model for political change in the 21st century.
Author profile
David Maxwell
David Maxwell is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel and has spent more than 30 years in Asia as a practitioner and specializes in Northeast Asian Security Affairs and irregular, unconventional and political warfare. He is the vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy and a senior fellow at the Global Peace Foundation (where he focuses on a free and unified Korea) and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He is the editor of Small Wars Journal.
7. US, South Korea, Japan to hold summit in August
Yes this is the first official trilateral summit for the three leaders that was not conducted in conjunction wit other meetings on the sidelines This is really putting on "exclamation point" on the importance of and high priority for trilateral cooperation.
Despite the recent ICBM test and the high level of bombastic rhetoric this trilateral summit highlights Kim Jong Un's strategic failure. A major line of effort of his strategy is to drive a wedge in the ROK/US alliance and unhinge trialter cooperation. Yet with every provocation US alliances in Northeast Asia and trilateral cooperation grow stronger. In addition, this is something that China does not want to occur. But north Korean actions are undermine Chinese interests as well. The bottom line is north Kore's strategy is failing and north Korean actions harm Chinese interests.
US, South Korea, Japan to hold summit in August
Reuters · by Reuters
SEOUL, July 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with the leaders of Japan and South Korea in August in the United States, South Korea's presidential office said on Thursday.
Biden had invited South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a meeting in Washington when they met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan in May.
South Korean and Japanese media reported the meeting will be held at Camp David, Maryland, on Aug. 18. Yoon's office said the exact date and location will be announced soon.
The White House had no comment. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters plans were not finalized.
Yoon has been pushing to mend strained ties with Tokyo following years of feuds over historical issues which undercut cooperation between the U.S. allies despite increasing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.
Biden in May praised Yoon and Kishida for their "courageous work to improve their bilateral ties", saying the trilateral partnership is stronger because of their efforts.
Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Ed Davies and Angus MacSwan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Reuters · by Reuters
8. Foreign Korean War veterans, families to visit S. Korea on 70th armistice anniv.
Foreign Korean War veterans, families to visit S. Korea on 70th armistice anniv. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · July 21, 2023
SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- The veterans ministry said Friday a large group of foreign Korean War veterans and their family members will visit South Korea next week under a program aimed at commemorating their service during the 1950-53 conflict.
Some 200 people from 21 countries, which sent troops or other forms of support to South Korea during the war, will be here from Monday through Saturday, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted the conflict, according to the ministry.
Among them are 64 war veterans, including Harold R. Throm, a 95-year-old retired U.S. lieutenant colonel, and Patrick J. Finn, a 92 year-old former U.S. Marine, as well as Vincent Courtenay, an 89-year-old former Canadian soldier.
Throm took part in the Incheon landing operation and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in 1950, while Finn also fought alongside Throm at the Chosin Reservoir battle.
Courtenay is known for his suggestion of an event to commemorate the sacrifices of U.N. troops killed during the Korean War. Since its launch in 2007, the "Turn Toward Busan" event has been observed annually.
Some veterans expressed their wish to reunite with their long-lost Korean friends.
William Word, a 91-year-old U.S. veteran, is looking to meet a man with the name "Chang" who he said helped him with the laundry work during his service in the southeastern port city of Busan during the war.
Edward Buckner, a 91-year-old Canadian veteran, wants to meet "Cho Chock-song" who he said did the cleaning work at his squad during his service here.
The group's program here includes a visit to the U.N. Memorial Cemetery in Busan and the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul.
Veterans Minister Park Min-shik (C) and foreign Korean War veterans pose for a photo during an event welcoming their visit to South Korea on Sept. 30, 2022, in this file photo released by Park's office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · July 21, 2023
9. Why Travis King, the U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea, may prove to be a "nuisance" for Kim Jong Un's regime
Yes, because of his disciplinary issues Kim and the Propaganda and Agitation Department may soon realize that he will be of little propaganda value. They are probably deciding how they return him and gain the maximum benefit - e.g., extract something from the US. They will probably do anything until Pv2 King recovers from his interrogation and the bruises subside. There could be a show trial where he pleaded guilty to violating the border and illegally entering the Socialist Workers Paradise with malice aforethought. He will probably be sentenced to hard labor for a number of years for violating the sovereignty of north Korea. His sentence will then be commuted and he will be forcibly returned to the US (hopefully after some concession from or at least some embarrassment for the US).
The bottom line is the regime was caught off guard as much as we were and is now trying to figure out what to do with him and exploit him as much as possible. Kim Jong Un will decide his fate.
Why Travis King, the U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea, may prove to be a "nuisance" for Kim Jong Un's regime
CBS News · by Elizabeth Palmer
The U.S. military in Korea is examining the possibility that Private 2nd Class Travis King had planned for some time to defect to North Korea.
That may come as unwelcome news to Kim Jong Un's regime.
Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected some years ago to South Korea, wrote on Facebook:
"U.S. soldiers who have crossed/defected to North Korea are inevitably a nuisance because the cost-effectiveness is low in the long run."
An undated file photo obtained by Reuters shows Private 2nd Class Travis King of the U.S. Army. Reuters
Thae, who is now a lawmaker, recalled the case of another defector whose care and management proved an expensive burden for Pyongyang.
"A professional security and monitoring team had to be set up … an interpreter, and a private vehicle, driver, and lodging had to be arranged," he wrote.
While King's decision to make a dash into North Korea may have some propaganda value for Kim Jong Un, the soldier also poses a problem for a regime bound by its own rigid rules.
To start with, his arrival broke North Korean law.
It is illegal to enter North Korea without documents or official approval. While this may sound absurd to most people, Pyongyang believes with some justification that it's necessary to deter people who might have a mission – think religious aid groups – from sneaking into the Hermit Kingdom.
One former U.S. official who specialized in North Korea told CBS News that when the U.S. complained about the treatment of several Americans who had entered the North illegally, Pyongyang responded by asking the U.S. to do a better job of keeping its citizens under control.
That means that King's fate won't be decided in a hurry. At the very least North Korea must go through the motions of trying him for illegal entry and sentencing him. Only then, perhaps, will it send him back across the border – technically known as the Military Demarcation Line – to face the music at home.
Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul told CBS News that even if King defected with the intention of staying, he's likely to change his mind.
"He would not blend in with the North Korean society and would ask to be sent back to the States," he said.
Over the past three decades, 11 U.S. citizens were detained, having accidentally or on purpose entered North Korea illegally. All of them were eventually released, though some required high-level diplomatic intervention.
Since then times have changed. Diplomatic intervention has become virtually impossible since North Korea sealed its borders at the start of the pandemic. Almost all foreign officials were forced to leave the country. That includes representatives from Sweden, the "protecting power" for the United Sates in the North who could have lobbied for access to King.
Even though as a private, he has limited intelligence value to the North Koreans, King is bound to be de-briefed by state security.
They will evaluate whether he is really a defector, and whether his fantastic story about slipping out of the airport and onto a DMZ tour bus holds up. They will also have to satisfy the leadership that he is neither a provocateur nor an undercover agent.
Only then might he be allowed to stay. One expert suggested he could be useful as an English teacher, or perhaps as a copywriter for the English versions of state media. Back in the 1960s after the Korean War, some U.S. military defectors ended up playing the roles of Ugly Capitalist American Villains in North Korean movies.
If Pyongyang decides he's more trouble than he's worth, Professor Yang suggested Kim Jong Un might even use him to kick start negotiations.
North Korea could welcome a high-level U.S. envoy to negotiate King's return, Yang suggested, and use it as a catalyst for direct U.S.-DPRK talks.
But the U.S. says it's already open to talks. It's just that for the moment Kim Jong Un isn't interested. It's unlikely the unexpected arrival of a 23-year-old American defector will change his mind.
Elizabeth Palmer has been a CBS News correspondent since August 2000. She has been based in London since late 2003, after having been based in Moscow (2000-03). Palmer reports primarily for the "CBS Evening News."
CBS News · by Elizabeth Palmer
10. S. Korea to seek 'substantive' approach in dealing with N. Korea: minister nominee
But the real question is will the MInistry of Unification make planning for unification its main effort?
S. Korea to seek 'substantive' approach in dealing with N. Korea: minister nominee | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 21, 2023
SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- The nominee to serve as South Korea's new point man on North Korea said Friday he will prioritize "substantive" results over dialogue in dealing with North Korea, in an apparent reaffirmation of the government's hard-line stance against the recalcitrant regime.
Kim Yung-ho, the minister nominee for Seoul's unification ministry, made the remarks during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly. The conservative scholar, also known as a vocal critic of human rights conditions in the North, was nominated for the post late last month.
"Rather than (holding) dialogue for the sake of (holding) it, (I) will take an approach that could lead to substantive outcome," the minister nominee told lawmakers.
Unification Minister nominee Kim Yung-ho attends his parliamentary confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul on July 21, 2023. (Yonhap)
Kim's remarks were seen as reflecting President Yoon Suk Yeol's call for a change in the ministry's role.
In a meeting with his staff earlier this month, Yoon said the ministry should no longer act like a support agency for North Korea, saying it is "time for the unification ministry to change."
During Friday's hearing, Kim said he will push for inter-Korean exchange based on law and principle while ramping up efforts to improve human rights conditions and the humanitarian situation of the North Korean people, saying such efforts will serve as preparation for unification.
Referring to the North's latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch last week, Kim said Pyongyang continues to treat the South in a hostile manner and that peace on the Korean Peninsula has become "more unstable."
"North Korea has repaid our goodwill for the peace of the Korean Peninsula and the future of our people with reckless provocations and threats, and took numerous inter-Korean agreements back to square one," Kim said.
"We need to maintain principle against North Korea's provocations and respond in a stern manner."
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · July 21, 2023
11. BREAKING: PV2 King "Don't Defect to North Korea" training NOT current
I can just retire now. There is no greater goal left to achieve. I have been satirized in the Duffleblog. And promoted too. https://www.duffelblog.com/p/breaking-pv2-king-dont-defect-north-korea-annual-training-not-current?utm
But seriously, the amount of issues satirized by the Duffleblog writers is, as always, pretty amazing. They know how to push all the right buttons and irreverently attack so many key issues.
BREAKING: PV2 King "Don't Defect to North Korea" training NOT current
https://www.duffelblog.com/p/breaking-pv2-king-dont-defect-north-korea-annual-training-not-current?utm
Pentagon spokesman: "There WILL be a low level fall guy."
G-Had & Thunder Chicken
July 21, 2023
This international debacle has a very simple answer.
CAMP HUMPHREYS, Pyongtaek, S. Korea — Standing before an audience of senior military staff and commanders as well as the world press, a grim-faced Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, Commander, U.S. Forces Korea acknowledged investigators have determined the critical factor in PV2 Travis King’s defection 48 hours ago.
“I am not going to sugarcoat this. Responsibility inherent to command means I can’t. Simply put, King’s troop-level leadership failed to ensure he completed his annual ‘Don't Defect to North Korea’ training.“ Following a collective gasp, the room fell silent.
Annual training is widely seen as an efficient, time-effective means of ensuring members of the Department of Defense receive critical instruction and training on issues vital to defending the nation. Universally applicable matters such as records retention regulations for members of the infantry, wilderness survival training for administrative clerks, and how to cut and paste a squad’s worth of names over that of the new guy forced to actually complete mind-numbing training are just a fraction of the matters vital to America’s warfighters.
Gen. LaCamera continued speaking as one visibly relieved Col. wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. “Sure, MP’s allowed a soldier fresh from seven weeks in South Korean custody to wander the airport unaccompanied. But, I mean, come on, MP’s gonna MP, am I right? So yeah, a PV2, a mouth-breathing Cav Scout no less, was able to Jason Bourne his way 75 miles from the Incheon Airport to the DMZ, buy a souvenir hat, and then parkour his way across the most heavily guarded international border outside of Ukraine. All of that was wholly unforeseeable.”
Looking at the briefing room ceiling, LaCamera exhaled loudly.
“Still accountability matters, we know what right looks like, and one team one fight, so what is clear is that this is the fault of the following people: Cpl. Steven Angstrom, Staff Sgt. Jack O’Toole, Sgt. 1st Class Dave Maxwell — who should definitely know better because he’s been in Korea a long time — and 2nd Lt. Cheryl Dunton. They should all just go ahead and report to their squadron commander — who we are also looking at as a possible scapegoat, but probably not if he’s a guy someone senior likes and has plans for — to get career-ending counseling.”
LaCamera paused and looked down at the lectern he gripped with knuckles turning visibly white.
“So…yadda, yadda, yadda, intrusive leadership, something-something kneecap to kneecap counseling, blasie-blasie brilliance in the basics. People first or whatever. Leaders eat last and such. Any questions? No? Good, let’s consider this matter resolved,” he said, quickly exiting the room.
At the Pentagon, tensions were palpably lowered by the clear and appropriate absolution of higher staff and commanders.
“Secretary Austin, who is in no way influenced by his status as a former four-star commander, is pleased and proud to see decisive action taken to blame people who are barely out of high school for failing to ensure one of at least one hundred pedantic, cover your ass exercises masquerading as ‘training’ was completed as they prepared for potential apocalyptic warfare on the Korean Peninsula as part of America’s longest running, unresolved conflict,” said retired Radm. and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs John Kirby.
Reached by text message, 2nd Lt. Dunton said, “King did what? Holy shit, LOL! Can’t talk now. Must complete information assurance training so I can go to field & shit in a box for 30 days”
G-Had hates your freedoms. Thunder Chicken freely hates.
12. US and North Korea still have ways to talk though no diplomatic ties
LTG Chun is right. If anyone was working on an information campaign for deterren and basing in on the nuclear submarine in Pusan and the Nuclear Consultative Group meeting they were defeated by PV2 King's actions which overshadowed the two important events. IN some ways you have to wonder how Kim made that happen.
But on the other hand I disagree that we have to be embarrassed. We should maintain the moral high ground and work for the return of the soldier despite his transgressions. "Sh..." er.. things happen and some things cannot be easily prevented such as a bolt across the MDL. But we should not be embarrassed by a disgruntled soldier facing disciplinary action.
Excerpts:
King’s entry to North Korea is an embarrassment to the U.S., said Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general who commanded South Korea’s special forces, noting that it came the same day that the United States took major steps toward boosting its security commitment to South Korea. It deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in four decades and held the inaugural meeting of a bilateral nuclear consultative body with South Korea. North Korea test-fired two missiles on Wednesday, apparently in response.
“The news of the nuclear submarine and the nuclear consultative body were both buried by him,” said Chun.
US and North Korea still have ways to talk though no diplomatic ties
militarytimes.com · by Hyung-Jin Kim, The Associated Press · July 20, 2023
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A pink phone. A New York mission. Swedish diplomats. A North-South Korean hotline.
The United States and reclusive North Korea have no diplomatic ties — but they still have ways to contact each other. An American official said Wednesday that the U.S. government had reached out to the North as it tries to discuss a U.S. soldier who dashed into North Korea during a tour of a border area this week. The North has not yet responded, according to the U.S.
Here’s a look at possible channels the rivals could use to discuss Pvt. Travis King, the first American held in North Korea in nearly five years.
___
PINK PHONE
One of the most reliable ways for the U.S. to reach North Korea is via a light pink-colored, touch-tone phone at the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the Korean border village of Panmunjom, the place where King bolted into the North on Tuesday. The telephone line connects the liaison officers from each side — whose offices are reportedly only 40 meters (130 feet) apart.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday that the Pentagon reached out to its counterparts in the North’s Korean People’s Army but “those communications have not yet been answered.”
Miller didn’t elaborate. But observers say the U.S. likely used the “pink phone.”
In January, the U.N. Command tweeted that it had maintained “24/7/365″ contact with the North’s army throughout 2022.
“Talking via the ‘pink phone,’ we passed 98 messages & held twice-daily line checks for timely & meaningful information exchange,” it said.
Moon Seong Mook, a retired South Korean brigadier general, said North Korean liaison officers appear to not be answering the calls made by the U.N. Command at the order of their higher-ups.
When North Korea previously suspended that telephone line, U.N. officers used a megaphone, Moon said.
The exact motive for King’s border crossing is unclear. He was convicted of assault in South Korea and could be discharged from the military and face other potential penalties.
___
NEW YORK MISSION
Miller said the U.S. retains a number of channels to send messages to North Korea.
One of those is North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in New York that has provided a back-channel negotiation option for the two countries, serving as a kind of substitute embassy since they don’t have embassies in each other’s capitals.
The mission played an important role in working out details for the high-stakes summitry between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018-19. At the start of their second summit in Vietnam, both Kim and Trump said they supported the opening of a U.S. liaison office in Pyongyang, but the idea was shelved after their diplomacy broke down.
___
SWEDISH EMBASSY
Sweden, which does have relations with the North and an embassy in Pyongyang, has offered consular services for U.S. citizens, including those who had been detained in North Korea on charges of illegally entering the country or engaging in espionage acts.
Miller said State Department officials have reached out to Sweden on King’s case.
But a mediator role for Sweden could be complicated by the fact that its diplomats based in Pyongyang reportedly haven’t returned to the North since leaving the country due to its severe COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. Still, experts say the North’s Embassy in Sweden could be a channel for communications
__
OTHER HOTLINES
The rival Koreas have a set of phone and fax channels of their own to set up meetings, arrange border crossings and avoid accidental military clashes. But North Korea has been unresponsive to South Korean attempts to exchange messages via those channels since April at a time of heightened animosities over the North’s nuclear program.
Kim Yeol Soo, an expert at South Korea’s Korea Institute for Military Affairs, said communication could happen via a hotline between the two Koreas’ spy agencies. That line was reportedly previously active when others stalled. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Seoul and Washington were in contact, without elaborating.
___
PROSPECTS
Kim, the expert, said North Korea won’t respond to the U.S. outreach until it completes its investigation of King, and that will likely take at least two weeks. After the investigation, he said that a protracted negotiation between the U.S. State Department and the North Korean Foreign Ministry is expected.
While King’s custody could provide North Korea with a tool to wrest diplomatic concessions from the U.S., the country would also find it difficult to detain a low-ranking solider without much high-profile intelligence on the U.S. for an extended period, Moon said.
“If he expresses his hopes to return home, it would be burdensome for North Korea to hold him but they would still try to reach a deal with the U.S. to get what it wants,” Moon, now an analyst with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said.
In the past, North Korea released U.S. civilian detainees after high-profile Americans such as former presidents travelled to Pyongyang to win their freedoms. Kim said similar steps could be required in King’s case.
King’s entry to North Korea is an embarrassment to the U.S., said Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general who commanded South Korea’s special forces, noting that it came the same day that the United States took major steps toward boosting its security commitment to South Korea. It deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in four decades and held the inaugural meeting of a bilateral nuclear consultative body with South Korea. North Korea test-fired two missiles on Wednesday, apparently in response.
“The news of the nuclear submarine and the nuclear consultative body were both buried by him,” said Chun.
13. North Koreans mobilized to prevent monsoon damage – at personal cost
The bankrupt policies of Kim Jong Un. The only resource Kim has left is the Korean people living in the north. And he is slowly working them to death.
North Koreans mobilized to prevent monsoon damage – at personal cost
Pyongyang is prioritizing crops and forests, but ignoring homes and closing markets, the people say.
By Son Hye-min and Kim Jieun for RFA Korean
2023.07.19
rfa.org
Facing the threat of widespread flooding during the summer rainy season, North Korean authorities have established nationwide emergency response committees, putting citizens to work preventing damage to crops and infrastructure projects – but neglecting people’s homes and livelihoods, residents say.
The directive is typical of those ordered by the Kim Jong Un regime, which often deploys stopgap measures to address immediate concerns without assessing their broader impact.
A resident of South Pyongan province, northeast of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA Korean that on July 10, the Party Organization of Unsan County “organized an emergency committee to prevent crop damage from floods.”
The committee, temporarily organized under the direction of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee, was “organized in each city and county nationwide” and will operate until the end of the monsoon season, said the source who, like others interviewed for this report, requested anonymity citing security concerns.
“The committee has been preparing for flood damage beginning last week by mobilizing factory workers to dig ditches at cooperative farms that have outdated water pumps that are not functioning properly.”
The source said that while the county experienced about an hour of rain on July 14, most of the farmland was well drained, so no crops were damaged.
“However, 10 houses on the lowland in Jehyeon-ri [village] were submerged, causing damage,” she said.
The resident said that South Pyongan’s Unsan county and Tokchon city, located northeast of the county along the Taedong River, are known to have poorly equipped sewage systems. She said rainwater causes flood damage to low-lying areas – including residential zones – on an annual basis.
If the emergency response committee had instead ordered ditches to be dug at the front of Jehyeon-ri, “flooding of the low-lying houses could have been prevented,” she said.
The source said authorities were “ignorant” about the flooding of homes, despite the poor sewage systems, and the resulting inundation destroyed the homes’ kitchens and adjacent pigpens, killing the livestock.
Residents must ‘deal with’ damage
A second source in South Pyongan told RFA that the rain had a similar impact in Tokchon city, where a local emergency response committee had undertaken preventative work, and while no crops were damaged, “the residential village [of 15 households] in the lowlands was submerged up to the kitchen floor.”
She said that authorities “mobilized residents every day for labor,” sometimes to put sand in sacks collected from the local populace to repair river embankments, or to cover corn fields to protect it from the rain and wind.
However, they “paid no attention to concerns about the flooding of homes.”
Water swept into yards and homes, flooding rooms and destroying property, including blankets and televisions, she said.
“However, the emergency response committee is showing no interest in responding to the damage of private homes caused during the monsoon season,” she said. “Rather, they are telling residents to deal with it on their own, causing them to resent the authorities.”
Priority on saving crops
Experts say it is rare for an emergency committee to be organized under the direction of North Korea’s Central Committee, but note that protecting grain crops is the top priority among policy tasks set by Kim Jong Un this year.
The resident said that the Central Committee’s orders to prevent crop damage from flooding had been “specifically issued to each city and county party.”
“The emergency response committee, which is run by the chief secretary of the county party, plays a role in preventing the flooding of farmland growing corn and rice crops, and is fully implementing its orders at each county’s cooperative farm,” she said.
Koo Byoungsam, the spokesperson for the Unification Ministry of South Korea, which is also at risk of flooding during the monsoon season, confirmed to reporters at a press conference on Monday that the North had “recently placed an emphasis on minimizing the extent of damage” from heavy rains by issuing weather warnings through state media.
However, the extent of damage in the North so far remained unclear, he said.
In addition to monitoring the impact of heavy rain in the North, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification has repeatedly urged Pyongyang to give prior notice before discharging dams and releasing water on rivers shared by the two nations.
Forest restoration
Meanwhile, officials in northern North Korea’s Ryanggang province, along the country’s border with China, have mobilized inhabitants of Hyesan city to “restore the forest” amid damage from a sudden torrential downpour on July 13-14, according to a provincial resident.
To do so, authorities temporarily suspended operation of the city’s four main marketplaces, cutting off residents’ access to critical income, he said.
“All residents must start restoring the forest under the instruction of the provincial party,” the resident said. “[A] terrace field [on a nearby mountain slope] planted last year collapsed due to the rainfall and the marketplaces were suspended for a day to restore the damage.”
The source said that the Central Committee had ordered Hyesan residents to construct terrace fields with rock walls along nearby mountain slopes as part of a tree planting initiative in 2022.
“But they collapsed in the recent rain, so [authorities] issued a mobilization order to all residents [to restore the trees],” he said. “The provincial party stopped all market operations in the city … It is a major blow to the livelihood of most residents who make their daily living through market business.”
According to the source, Hyesan residents have been complaining about the forest restoration order, questioning what good trees will do “when we are starving because there is nothing to eat right now.”
The source said that any resident who does not want to take part in the forest restoration must “prepare a lunch box [for others who are mobilized] and pay 10,000 won (US$1.20) in cash” – a substantial amount for the average North Korean.
“The party’s mobilization directive is an ‘anti-people’ policy that threatens livelihoods,” he said.
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
rfa.org
14. South Koreans shocked, confused over US soldier's defection
Yes, this event is being exploited by those who seek to drive a wedge in the ROK/US alliance. This is a ready made event for those who are conducting subversion operations in the ROK. The Kim family regime can use the indirect approach operating through by and with sympathizers or useful idiots in the South and the US who will use this event to try to discredit the US and the US military.
South Koreans shocked, confused over US soldier's defection
The Korea Times · by 2023-07-20 17:00 | Foreign Affairs · July 21, 2023
South Korean soldiers stand guard during a media tour at the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, March 3. Reuters-Yonhap
Expert points out lack of communication between USFK and UNC
By Lee Hyo-jin
South Koreans are shocked and embarrassed over American soldier Travis King's deliberate border-crossing to the North, with some people drawing connections between this event and what they perceive as a lack of discipline in U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) personnel.
A former Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) soldier in his 30s, who wished to be identified only by his surname Kim, said he couldn't believe that a U.S. soldier fled north.
"I've seen some U.S. soldiers with behavior issues getting into trouble, but not to this scale," he told The Korea Times.
"I noticed that a lot of U.S soldiers deployed here are relatively young and less experienced. And due to the emotional stress of being stationed far away from home, some of them ended up causing trouble involving alcohol and violence. I think King may have been one of those troublemakers who required more attention."
King, a 23-year-old Army private second class, dashed across the inter-Korean border during a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the border truce village of Panmunjeom, in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday.
Until recently, he had been jailed in a South Korean prison for about 50 days after failing to pay a 5 million won ($3,900) fine on charges of damaging a police vehicle. The soldier was to be flown to Fort Bliss in Texas on Monday, where he would have faced additional disciplinary measures and discharge from the military.
Instead of boarding the flight to the U.S., however, King walked out of the airport and somehow joined a pre-booked JSA group tour.
A portrait of American soldier Travis King is displayed as his grandfather, Carl Gates, talks about his grandson in Kenosha, Wis., July 19. AP-Yonhap
Kim pointed out that the USFK's relatively lax personnel management could have made it easier for the troubled soldier to flee to the North. "Generally speaking, I felt that the USFK isn't very strict on its troops," he said, mentioning that he once witnessed a drunk U.S. soldier sneaking off the base at night.
US soldier's defection sheds light on failure of USFK to manage offenders
King's abrupt border-crossing has sparked confusion among the South Korean public, some of whom demand transparency and thorough investigations. Many are expressing their concerns and views on the incident, voicing their questions about the lax security measures that might have led to this situation.
Park Sang-hyuk, a 42-year-old Seoul resident, said the USFK should conduct a thorough investigation into King's defection and disclose the results to the public.
"I don't know the exact rules and regulations of the U.S. military, but I think there should be a thorough investigation to determine who is responsible for the soldier's desertion," he said.
While an investigation by the U.S. authorities is ongoing, criticisms are rising as to why the military escorts left the airport after seeing King pass through customs, without verifying whether or not he boarded the flight.
"This whole story is absurd and confusing," said Kim So-hyun, a 30-year-old office worker in Gyeonggi Province. "Who would have imagined that crossing the border would be this easy?"
It took only seconds for King to run across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) at the heavily fortified inter-Korean border. Some 10 military personnel from the United Nations Command (UNC) and the Republic of Korea Army chased after him, but he evaded them.
"This incident has revealed the bitter reality that South Korea's sovereignty cannot be fully exercised regarding issues to the USFK," said Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification. "Even though King's escape from the airport and his trip to Panmunjeom occurred on our soil, the South Korean government had limited access to what was going on."
Cho also said the fact that King was able to join the JSA tour, for which visitors are required to present their passports, has exposed a lack of communication channels between the USFK and the UNC.
"Had there been a channel through which the USFK could swiftly notify the UNC about problematic soldiers or deserters, the UNC wouldn't have approved King's application, or would have been able to identify him when he showed up for the tour," he said.
In response to The Korea Times' inquiry on its personnel management, Friday, the USFK said, "We are currently conducting an investigation into the incident. We will publish more information once the investigation is complete."
A North Korean guard post is seen from Imjingak Park on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
While North Korea remains silent about King's condition and whereabouts, the U.S. Department of Defense described the soldier's current duty status as "absent without leave."
"We have not heard any communication or correspondence from the North Koreans on this incident," Defense Department spokesperson Sabrina Singh said during a briefing on Thursday (local time).
The Korea Times · by 2023-07-20 17:00 | Foreign Affairs · July 21, 2023
15. South Korea’s Deepening Political Divide Is Mapping Onto Its Foreign Policy
In South Korea domestic politics will not stop at the shoreline or DMZ.
Excerpts:
In the realm of cross-party dialogue, it is vital for the government and the ruling party to proactively engage the opposition in discussions concerning national issues. The absence of communication intensifies public doubts regarding cooperation and may suggest the government’s lack of interest in securing public and oppositional support. Although high-level engagements are desirable, alternative channels for dialogue and cooperation can be explored, such as the Foreign Affairs Committee at the National Assembly. Channels that are less visible to the public could provide an easier path to initiate dialogues and reach essential consensus on pressing foreign policy matters.
Both parties should strive to identify common ground as a foundation for cooperation and continuously seek avenues for further collaboration, potentially through the establishment of a bipartisan caucus or special committee focusing on specific foreign policy issues.
From a strategic perspective, the party that boldly reaches out for cooperation stands to gain favor among undecided voters, who are growing weary of political division and polarization. Conversations and collaboration in the midst of China-U.S. rivalry should not be seen as compromises but as opportunities for the polarized parties to enhance their prospects in the 2024 legislative election.
South Korea’s Deepening Political Divide Is Mapping Onto Its Foreign Policy
South Korea’s political parties have taken divergent stances on how Seoul should position itself amid intensifying China-U.S. rivalry
thediplomat.com · by Jinwan Park · July 20, 2023
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Historically, South Korea has engaged in a delicate balancing act between the United States and China, with its domestic priorities oscillating between economic considerations and values. As the China-U.S. rivalry intensifies in their quest for global dominance, both countries have been exerting pressure on South Korea to pledge its allegiance to their respective sides.
A review of the foreign policies rolled out during the first year of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration suggests that South Korea has made a choice. However, it is important to recognize that this decision appears to reflect the stance of the administration itself and not necessarily a consensus within the country, especially from the opposition party. Ironically, despite Yoon’s concerted efforts on foreign policy, it is this very area of external strategy that the main opposition, the Democratic Party, is exploiting as a means to critique him and his People Power Party (PPP).
South Korea’s positioning in the geopolitical tensions between the United States and China has developed into a domestic conflict between the two major parties. Each offers a distinct diplomatic vision, intensifying the already heightened polarization within the electorate.
The PPP’s Standpoint: Aligning with the U.S. and Japan
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The heightened tensions between China and South Korea, characterized by sharp criticisms from the Chinese side, seem to have been exacerbated by recent events. The Yoon-Biden summit in April and Yoon’s collaboration with allies in the G-7, including Japan, contributed to the momentum of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy aimed at containing China. Additionally, Yoon’s interview with Reuters, in which he criticized China’s actions toward Taiwan, further aggravated the situation.
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The infuriated reaction from the Chinese end, as demonstrated by the Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming’s recent remarks, dampened the optimism for positive relations between South Korea and China. The episode also showcased the domestic political tensions lying underneath Seoul’s foreign policy, as Democratic Party leader, Lee Jae-myung, was sitting next to the Chinese envoy while Xing delivered his criticisms.
The PPP has defended Yoon’s pro-American Indo-Pacific strategy, the stance they maintained since the presidential election. PPP figures vehemently criticized the remarks made by the Chinese ambassador, but also lambasted Lee for aligning with criticisms of Seoul’s foreign policy made by a foreign government representative. In an official statement released after Lee’s meeting with Xing, the PPP described the event as a “diplomatic tragedy” that undermines South Korea’s national stature.
Since then, the ruling party has furthered their efforts against China, as signaled by PPP leader Kim Gi-hyeon, who proposed revoking the voting rights of Chinese residents in South Korea. While the bill based its rhetoric on reciprocity, this proposal reflects the escalating tensions and the deepening divide in South Korean politics concerning the nation’s diplomatic direction and relations with major global powers, notably China and the United States.
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The Democratic Party’s Orientation: Leaning Toward China, Critical of Japan
While the Yoon administration is focused on strengthening the value-based alliance with the United States and its main allies, the Democratic Party (DP), which holds a majority in the Korean National Assembly, is taking a different approach by calling for more cooperation with China. The DP is critical of Yoon’s policies, which emphasize strengthening ties with close allies, labeling this approach as confrontational and biased. They argue that these policies jeopardize the security and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula.
In addition to their domestic political maneuverings, the Democratic Party is actively pursuing its own diplomatic channel with China. In addition to Lee’s meeting with the Chinese ambassador, the DP has dispatched delegations of lawmakers to engage with Chinese government officials and business representatives, signaling an effort to maintain and foster bilateral relations independent of the administration’s policies.
Moreover, the DP is notably critical of Japan. They have been vocally opposing the Yoon government’s decision to engage with Japan concerning the forced labor dispute, part of a broader attempt to fortify the South Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral alliance.
The DP’s skepticism extends to environmental issues; recently, DP politicians have been particularly active in criticizing the administration and the PPP’s perceived tacit support of Japan’s plan to release Fukushima wastewater into the ocean. Using the nationalist rhetoric of framing Seoul and PPP members as pro-Japanese traitors, the opposition is seeking ways to bolster their position while vilifying their opponents as National Assembly elections draw closer.
The Risks of Continued Division
The discord over South Korea’s foreign policy direction is exacerbating the already substantial polarization within Korean politics. A recent poll conducted by the Eurasia Group Foundation indicates that more than two-thirds of South Koreans are anxious about the China-U.S. conflict, as they believe it will further intensify domestic polarization due to political parties taking sides between the two superpowers. Unfortunately, the political struggle between the two major parties in South Korea – the People Power Party and the Democratic Party – is expected to persist.
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The biggest impeding factor is the severe lack of cross-party dialogue. The PPP and DP haven’t engaged in meaningful dialogue since the presidential election. It seems that both the leadership of the ruling party and Yoon, who openly displays his party allegiance, are hesitant to engage in dialogue with the DP leader, who was also Yoon’s rival in the 2022 presidential election. Since the conclusion of the election, both Yoon and the PPP leadership have persistently declined Lee’s invitations for a meeting, seemingly out of concern that it could provide Lee with a platform to solidify his image as a competent leader.
Meanwhile, Lee is embroiled in ongoing legal allegations of corruption during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam city. Lee and the DP have decried the criminal probes as politically motivated.
The political division poses a significant risk to South Korea by undermining its foreign policy credibility and sustainability. When foreign leaders, particularly those in the United States and Japan, perceive the South Korean public and opposition party as consistently unsupportive of Yoon’s foreign policy, concerns may arise regarding the potential reversal of agreed-upon policies after Yoon’s term ends. This apprehension may cause allies to hesitate in establishing long-term agreements essential for the alliance’s future and mutual benefits.
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Moreover, this internal discord can, on occasion, be exploited by China or North Korea, who may use the division to impede South Korea’s efforts to strengthen alignment with the U.S. and Japan.
It is crucial for Seoul to exert efforts toward building a robust and enduring framework that is pivotal to both alliances and South Korea’s economy. Engaging in an economic strategy that tangibly and gradually benefits South Korean citizens and corporations will likely dissuade future administrations from retracting from such engagements, as doing so could result in public repercussions. Joining economic frameworks like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) can be particularly beneficial.
Concurrently, the government should capitalize on existing diplomatic achievements, like the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group, by expanding and showcasing their pragmatic benefits and long-term assurances of security. This would garner public support assuring the imperative of the closer alliance, potentially leading the opposition to align themselves at least with these popular policies. It is essential for Seoul to enhance its policy’s appeal by emphasizing practical benefits that are more visible to the public rather than adhering solely to value-based approaches that can sound ideological.
In the realm of cross-party dialogue, it is vital for the government and the ruling party to proactively engage the opposition in discussions concerning national issues. The absence of communication intensifies public doubts regarding cooperation and may suggest the government’s lack of interest in securing public and oppositional support. Although high-level engagements are desirable, alternative channels for dialogue and cooperation can be explored, such as the Foreign Affairs Committee at the National Assembly. Channels that are less visible to the public could provide an easier path to initiate dialogues and reach essential consensus on pressing foreign policy matters.
Both parties should strive to identify common ground as a foundation for cooperation and continuously seek avenues for further collaboration, potentially through the establishment of a bipartisan caucus or special committee focusing on specific foreign policy issues.
From a strategic perspective, the party that boldly reaches out for cooperation stands to gain favor among undecided voters, who are growing weary of political division and polarization. Conversations and collaboration in the midst of China-U.S. rivalry should not be seen as compromises but as opportunities for the polarized parties to enhance their prospects in the 2024 legislative election.
Jinwan Park
Jinwan Park is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied political science after spending two years at Keio University Japan.
thediplomat.com · by Jinwan Park · July 20, 2023
16. Hyunmoo-V missile built for S Korea’s nuclear ambitions
Just as an aside, I seem to recall that the original Hyunmoo missile (decades ago) was actually a repurposed/reverse engineered Nike Hercules missile. Although the Nike Hercules was a nuclear armed air defense missile, it was also extremely accurate in its secondary role as a surface to surface nuclear delivery system. So we could say the ROK has long had a nuclear capable delivery system.
Seom background:
The NHK-1 (Nike Hercules Korea 1) was a short-range, solid-fueled ballistic missile. It was reverse-engineered from the U.S. MIM-14 Nike Hercules, from which it derives its name. The NHK-1 was the first ballistic missile indigenously produced in South Korea. It had a range of 180 km.
...
The NHK-1 missile was prepared to enter operational service in 1978, but was never deployed at the request of the United States, likely due to arms control and regional proliferation concerns. 6 It was replaced by the NHK-2/Hyunmoo-1 SRBM.
https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/nhk-1-nike-hercules-korea/
The NHK-2 (Nike Hercules Korea II) is a South Korean, short-range, solid-fueled ballistic missile. It was the first ballistic missile indigenously produced in South Korea to be deployed. It has a standard range of 180 km, but with modification this can be increased to 250 km. The missile’s longer range and ability to carry a submunitions warhead differentiates it from the NHK-1.
https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/nhk-2/
Hyunmoo-V missile built for S Korea’s nuclear ambitions
New missile designed to equip Joint Strike Ship with Mac 10 punch for destroying underground command centers and nuclear missile bases
asiatimes.com · by Gabriel Honrada · July 21, 2023
South Korea has tested a new type of ballistic missile for its new arsenal ships, a move that may have more to do with techno-nationalism and masking its nuclear ambitions than improving its defenses vis-à-vis North Korea.
This month, Defense Post reported that South Korea announced the successful test of the Hyunmoo-V ballistic missile after undergoing trial blasts earlier this year.
Defense Post notes that South Korea plans to begin Hyunmoo-V mass production this year, with an annual capacity of 70 missiles and a production target of 200 units. They will equip the Joint Strike Ship now under development by Hanwha Ocean.
The report notes that Hyunmoo-V is the latest in South Korea’s Hyunmoo ballistic missile family, with a maximum range of 3,000 kilometers and an eight-ton warhead designed to destroy enemy underground command centers, nuclear missile bases and other critical facilities at speeds close to Mach 10.
Defense Post also reports that the Hyunmoo V delivers massive “earthquake power”, which can reportedly trigger tunnel collapses through artificial earthquakes.
Naval News reported this month on South Korea’s Joint Strike Ship, a model of which was unveiled last month at the MADEX exhibition in Busan. That report mentions that the Joint Strike Ship is based on the upcoming KDDX-class destroyer hull and is envisioned to carry as many as 100 missiles.
Naval News notes that while legacy arsenal ship concepts have been criticized for being slow, large and vulnerable targets, the Joint Strike Ship features heavy defensive armament.
That includes two LIG Nex1 Close-in Weapons Systems-II (CIWS-II) at the bow and stern for point defense against short-range missiles and aircraft, and 48 KVLS-I cells loaded with K-SAAM surface-to-air (SAM) missiles for medium-range air defense.
The Joint Strike Ship features an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar on the same I-MAST integrated mast on the KDDX for detection and fire control. The ship also has two MASS chaff decoy launchers for use against missiles and two anti-torpedo decoy launchers on top of its superstructure and aft.
The Joint Strike Ship has a formidable main armament. Naval News reports that it has 32 KVLS-II cells behind the integrated mast amidships, which can hold Haesung-II cruise missiles and new L-SAM versions that have just started development.
The report also says the ship has 15 missile tubes for ballistic missiles, which are thought to be the Hyunmoo-IV-2, a surface ship version of the Hyunmoo-IV.
A model of the Joint Strike Ship, which has been developed by Hanwha Ocean in anticipation of a Republic of Korea Navy requirement for such a vessel. Photo: Janes / Facebook / Screengrab
The Joint Strike Ship also has two erectable stern launchers for the Hyunmoo-V missile, with their placement meaning that the ship would need a resupply vessel to reload at sea.
Asia Times noted in April 2023 that the Joint Strike Ship’s design reflects South Korea’s strategic constraint from officially being prohibited from having nuclear weapons as a signatory to the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Seoul is also restrained by a 1991 Joint Declaration with North Korea in which both sides agree not to test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons.
North Korea has blatantly violated the agreement by conducting six nuclear tests since 2006 while so-called Six-Party Talks on its nuclear program have indefinitely stalled.
Given all that, South Korea has been developing conventional deterrents such as aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines, and has recently raised the possibility of acquiring nuclear weapons.
However, it may be challenging for South Korea to maintain Joint Strike Ships at round-the-clock readiness compared to traditional land-based ballistic missiles. The ships would inevitably be a priority target for North Korean attacks.
Furthermore, South Korea’s large fleet of conventional submarines can launch missiles deep into North Korea’s territory, conducting the same missions as the Joint Strike Ship while being more survivable.
In April 2022, South Korea successfully tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from the ROKS Dosan Ahn Changho, a missile that analysts say may be too expensive to be used with anything less than a nuclear warhead.
Asia Times reported in June 2022 that South Korea may be planning to build nuclear-powered submarines following an agreement with the US regarding the sharing of small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) technology that has been used in such vessels for decades.
The critical technology could pave the way for Seoul’s longstanding plans to acquire such naval vessels. The publicly announced agreement marked a significant change in US nuclear policy towards South Korea dating back to 1972, which restricts the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology.
South Korea launched a nuclear submarine development program in 2003. It was terminated the following year after it was discovered that its scientists had enriched uranium in 2000, dabbling in a technology that could be used to make nuclear weapons.
That setback notwithstanding, South Korea never gave up its nuclear submarine ambitions, partly driven by fears that the US might not fully come to its defense in a conflict with North Korea.
South Korea’s political and military rationale for acquiring nuclear-powered submarines is unclear given its conventional military overmatch versus North Korea, capable conventional submarine fleet and divergence with the US position regarding China, North Korea’s longtime military ally and economic lifeline.
What is clear is that South Korean political and popular sentiment in favor of having nuclear weapons is steadily rising.
The Hyunmoo-V is built for Seoul’s nuclear ambitions. Image: KBS
Asia Times reported in January 2023 on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s announcement that he might consider building tactical nuclear weapons, marking the first time a South Korean leader raised the possibility since 1991.
South Korean public sentiment in favor of acquiring nuclear weapons is running high, with a February 2022 study by the Carnegie Endowment for Regional Peace showing that 71% of the South Korean public favor having nuclear weapons. The same study found 56% of South Koreans support US deployment of nuclear weapons in their country.
Regarding whether South Korea should have an independent nuclear arsenal, the study shows that 67% prefer it, with only 9% opposing the placement of US nuclear weapons in the country.
While South Korea’s Joint Strike Ships and nuclear-powered submarines may make questionable strategic sense, techno-nationalism may be its driving factor in building large warships that are more international prestige symbols than effective combatants.
Given that, South Korea’s deterrent strategy may be to maintain nuclear latency by researching the technologies necessary for a nuclear arsenal, with the Hyunmoo-V a potential delivery system for a nuclear warhead should the contingency arise.
Related
asiatimes.com · by Gabriel Honrada · July 21, 2023
17. Defectors fear impact of mounting skepticism over accounts told by celebrated N. Korean escapee
Yes, Ms. Park is doing a great disservice if not damage to the escapee community.
Defectors fear impact of mounting skepticism over accounts told by celebrated N. Korean escapee
The Korea Times · July 21, 2023
North Korean defector and U.S. celebrity Park Yeon-mi / Korea Times file
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Some North Korean defectors are growing concerned about the possible impact on their community from media reports focusing on Park Yeon-mi, another escapee from the North who became a celebrity in the U.S. for her outspoken criticism of the repressive regime.
Park, 29, is accused of making inconsistent remarks about her upbringing and experiences, as well as questionable descriptions of her country of birth.
"She has gone too far," Kim Byeong-uk, a North Korean defector and the founder and president of the small think tank North Korea Development Institute in Seoul told The Korea Times, referring to Korean media reports that quoted a recent article about her in the Washington Post.
"I think she exaggerated her past experiences and the way of the North, probably because she wanted to be at the center of attention."
Park arrived in Seoul in 2009, two years after escaping from the North. She drew media attention in 2012 for her tearful testimony about her family on a TV show, titled "Now On My Way to Meet You."
On the show, she told a heart-wrenching story of her father. According to her, she, along with her father and mother, escaped from the North and lived in China for two years.
Her harrowing story reached a peak when she spoke about a silent funeral she and her mother held for her father who passed away. She said as illegal aliens living in China, she and her mother had to hold back their tears due to fears of getting caught by Chinese security agents. They buried him in a mountain near their home at night.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke about the experience. Other participants on the show were crying too.
Park went to study in the United States in 2017 and settled there after marrying an American. The couple later divorced.
Park gave a contradicting narrative about her father on a U.S. YouTube channel. She said she and her mother left her father behind in the North without telling him about their defection.
She is also accused of having exaggerated the life she lived in North Korea.
Her inconsistent narratives have called into question the credibility of her testimonies.
Kim Seong-min, the president of Free North Korea Radio, said he regrets the allegations about Park.
"She was a teen when she arrived in South Korea," he said. "She was and still is young and I'm a little bit skeptical about an activist like her, partly because, compared to other North Korean defectors-turned-human rights activists, she didn't have many experiences to tell."
Kim stopped short of criticizing Park directly, and declined to comment in great detail about her. But he cautiously expressed worries about the possible repercussions of media reports about Park on other human rights activists working in Europe or the United States.
"Europe and the United States are certainly two great places for North Korean human rights activists. There are audiences who are interested in and aware of the issue. Because the audiences are willing to listen, launching a human rights movement there is much more effective than in any other region of the world. I mean it's easier to make our voices heard there," he said.
The Washington Post on Sunday published an investigative story about Park, questioning her inconsistencies. Other defectors living in South Korea learned of the news after a couple of Korean media outlets ran similar stories, quoting the U.S. media outlet.
Before the allegations, Park was a rising star who captured the hearts of right-wing Americans by pitching conservative ideas.
An Chan-il, chairman of the World North Korea Research Center in Seoul, said other defectors could suffer the consequences of Park's actions.
"People may think North Korean defectors are liars," he said.
Park did not respond to requests for comments from this reporter through her Twitter account.
The Korea Times · July 21, 2023
18. How It Got So Easy to Breach North Korea’s Notorious Border
Ouch. The subtitle is so misleading and BS. The JSA is a different animal than the rest of the DMZ. But of course the headline editors are all about clickbait.
How It Got So Easy to Breach North Korea’s Notorious Border
NO MAN’S LAND
The border on the Korean Peninsula is supposed to be one of the most heavily guarded on earth. But a U.S. soldier ran right through it this week.
Donald Kirk
Published Jul. 21, 2023 4:35AM EDT
The Daily Beast · July 21, 2023
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
The “truce village” straddling the line between North and South Korea where the Korean War armistice was signed 70 years ago is now more like a sieve than a barrier to anyone thinking of leaping to the other side.
Bizarrely, it’s North Korea’s caution that has left them so exposed.
“There are no North Korean guards because of the COVID lockdown on their side,” said Victor Cha, who served as Asia director at the National Security Council when George W. Bush was president. Once Army Private Second-Class Travis King “made a break for it,” Cha told The Daily Beast, the American and South Korean military guides “can't run after him.”—that is, across the line into the North in the truce village of Panmunjom 35 miles north of Seoul.
In the face of rising tensions and threats of reprisals by both sides, the ease with which the disgruntled soldier made it into North Korea exposes the sheer weakness of what is supposed to be the world’s most highly defended border between two hostile states.
“The North Koreans have been almost invisible since COVID,” said Steve Tharp, a retired U.S. army officer who often was detailed to the JSA. He said they’re rarely seen where they once stood on their side, sometimes muttering obscene insults to American and South Korean soldiers a few feet away.
When they do appear, said Tharp, they are generally wearing hazmat suits to shield them from contamination by the South Koreans, whom North Korea blames for spreading COVID on breezes blowing from south to north. North Korea closed its borders in early 2020 after COVID was first reported in China.
“King simply broke away from the tour group and crossed the line into North Korea,” said David Maxwell, a former army special forces colonel who served five tours in South Korea.
Unlike the North Koreans, South Korean and U.S. soldiers “are not going to chase or shoot at a defector,” said Maxwell, now with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. “Anyone with the intent to cross the military demarcation line at the Joint Security Area could do so easily. The only thing that could be done was to put up a wall of guards or simply cancel tours (which I am sure has been done).”
Evans Revere, one-time chief of mission of the American embassy in Seoul, recalled there’s almost nothing to stop a determined bolter from dashing across the line. “I’ve been to the JSA dozens of times,” he said. “Once you are present on Conference Row there are no real impediments to crossing over to the other side, if that is your intention.”
When Revere was based in Seoul, armed guards from both sides faced one another between aluminum-roofed structures built right on the line. Under the Comprehensive Military Agreement reached between North and South Korea four years ago, the guards are not only unarmed but no longer standing between the buildings.
“There's no physical barrier,” said Revere. “There are several places on Conference Row where a determined individual could easily wander off from the tour group.” It’s all a matter of the would-be defector’s willingness to expose himself as a target for North Korean soldiers.
“Defecting at Panmunjom is risky,” said David Straub, who served for years as political officer at the American embassy in Seoul and has visited North Korea on official missions. “The defector himself could be shot, and defection risks triggering a shootout among the armed guards there.”
Still, said Straub, “a number of people on both sides have defected via Panmunjom over the decades because it is less risky and requires far less knowledge and planning than crossing elsewhere in the DMZ”—that is, the 2-1/2 mile-wide demilitarized zone that runs 154 miles across the peninsula where the shooting stopped on July 27, 1953.
These days, since they are unarmed, American and South Korean soldiers within the Joint Security Area would not be able to open fire even if they wanted to. Nor are the North Koreans supposed to be carrying weapons, though it is not clear how closely they’re sticking to a deal that was intended to ease North-South tensions.
Tharp saw the danger of anyone defecting from South to North Korea as having appeared so slight as not to have been a serious concern until it happened.
“Because defecting to North Korea is not normal, that is not a high priority—until now,” he said. “All that someone needs is the element of surprise and a small gap, and they can get across the line before being caught.”
Cha, long-time Korea director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said, “Tour groups usually are not allowed to walk up to the military demarcation line but are allowed to loiter on the United Nations side… That probably won't be allowed anymore. One person ruins it for everyone.”
Maxwell defended the record of the Americans and South Koreans in guaranteeing security, at least outside the JSA.
“The accusation that security is lax is just not warranted,” he said. “Neither the South Korean nor U.S. soldiers are on the lookout for defectors. They are more concerned with threats to the people from the North Koreans even though they are now generally completely out of sight since COVID.”
The southern barrier of the DMZ, he said, “is heavily patrolled, has cameras, and raked sand to reveal footprints.”
For the North Koreans, he said, “the focus is on infiltrators from the North not defectors from the South.” Maxwell recalled seeing a mine detonate on the northern side on Christmas Day in 1987 while he was on a daylight reconnaissance patrol with his scout platoon.
To the American and South Korean commands, however, King’s defection says much more about security on the South Korean side despite repeated threats from North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and little sister Kim Yo Jong of nuclear attack and the launch of intermediate-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to targets in the U.S.
Both American and South Korean border soldiers were “riding herd” on the group from which King suddenly defected, said Tharp. “The guards were shadowing the tour,” he said, but obviously were not nearly close enough to grab King after he laughed loudly and ran for the line.
No North Korean soldiers were visible on their side, but they presumably grabbed King when he reached the two-story building known as Panmungak another 100 meters inside North Korea.
Now, said Tharp, “the tours will be closed for an indefinite period” while the Americans and South Koreans “do a review and figure out changes”—undoubtedly in the form of posting more unarmed guards and vetting all those who want to join DMZ tours.
Had they bothered to check out King, they would have discovered that he had been jailed in South Korea for assault and was to have been flown to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he was to face U.S. military charges. After U.S. military police let him go at airport security, he sneaked out of the airport and signed up for the Panmunjom tour.
Tharp doubted the North Koreans would release him, just as they never released other American soldiers who defected to the North.
The last of six to cross into the North before King was Private First Class Joseph White, who North Korea said had drowned in a river in August 1985 three years after defecting on a patrol several miles from Panmunjom.
King is the first American soldier to have defected across the DMZ. The other six, including White, defected by leaving their patrols or bases, penetrating mine-infested territory, and breaching the barbed-wire barricade of the Demilitarized Zone,
All the others have died, most recently Charles Jenkins six years ago in Japan. Drunk on beer, he walked across the line while on patrol in 1965. Tortured and beaten, he was eventually allowed to marry a Japanese woman whom the North Koreans had kidnapped from a beach in Japan and told to teach Japanese. She was returned to Japan in 2002, and he and their two daughters were freed two years later.
“Something like this could obviously cause an international incident,” said Bruce Bechtol, a former intelligence analyst in the marines in Korea and then at the Pentagon. Jenkins “essentially walked across the DMZ,” said Bechtol, author of numerous books and articles on North Korea’s military leadership. “The North Koreans ended up using him for propaganda.”
The latest defection comes as the Americans and South Koreans step up joint military exercises amid escalating North Korean rhetoric. The nuclear submarine USS Kentucky, docking at the port of Busan, is the first nuclear sub to visit South Korea since 1981. The incident also coincides with a meeting in Seoul of the newly formed Nuclear Consultation Group in which Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council’s Indo-Pacific coordinator, is leading a large delegation, raising speculation about negotiations.
Colonel Maxwell doubted the North Koreans would succeed in using King's defection as a bargaining tool. “We will not back down or make concessions to the North,” he told The Daily Beast. “There will be no such negotiation with a concession such as to make the submarine depart in return for the soldier.”
He believed, however, the North Koreans and the Americans might get into talks. “If the KPA is not picking up the phone at the JSA,” he said, “the UNC side will be broadcasting with a bullhorn requesting a meeting.”
Maxwell predicted that Smith’s defection might at most briefly serve propaganda purposes as tensions rise on the Korean peninsula. Pfc. White “was used for propaganda for a while but later died,” said Maxwell. “A similar fate probably awaits PC1 King.”
“This won’t resolve soon,” Victor Cha told The Daily Beast. “North Korea will maximize propaganda value. In the past detainees are held for weeks to months sometimes with a show trial, sentence, and then coerced apology. It usually takes someone to go get their release too. The only silver lining is that NK will have to answer the phone from the Biden administration to resolve this, which they have been unwilling to do thus far.”
The Daily Beast · July 21, 2023
19. Hamhung child starves to death after being left alone at home
Kim Jong Un is still exploiting the "COVID paradox" to further oppress the population. The Korean people in the north suffer because of the deliberate policy decisions of Kim Jong Un
Hamhung child starves to death after being left alone at home
After law enforcement began cracking down on street vendors last year, the boy's family began suffering from severe hardship
By Lee Chae Un - 2023.07.21 11:59am
dailynk.com
A photograph of Hamhung taken in 2014. (Clay Gilliland, Flickr, Creative Commons)
A seven-year-old boy abandoned by his caregivers recently starved to death in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in the province told Daily NK on July 13 that the boy was found unconscious at his home in Hamhung in early July. He was immediately taken to the hospital but eventually died.
The deceased boy had been raised by his grandparents from the age of three, after his parents got divorced.
The boy’s family had managed to get by on what his grandmother made from selling vegetables on the street. But after law enforcement began cracking down on street vendors last year, the family began suffering from severe hardship.
Given the grandmother’s advanced age, she couldn’t slip away from police patrols, so she was repeatedly apprehended and all her stock confiscated. With nothing left to sell, she had trouble keeping the family fed.
Facing those difficulties, the boy’s grandparents moved to a temporary shelter in another region to plant crops for the spring, leaving the boy alone at home.
The boy’s mother had died in a car accident after her divorce, and his father had a new family, leaving nobody to look after him, the source said.
“If you want something to eat, you have to start the fire and prepare the food. How could a seven-year-old boy handle all that by himself? He went hungry more and more often and then fainted from hunger before finally expiring,” the source explained.
Locals were saddened to hear about the boy’s death and criticized the authorities for focusing solely on law enforcement and social controls without seeking fundamental solutions to public livelihood issues, the source said.
“This is the sort of tragedy that happens when the police find any old excuse to arrest and punish people who are just selling stuff on the street to get by. It’s not like they’re asking for handouts, even though the government has stopped giving us rations,” one of the locals was quoted as complaining.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. 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 dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
20. The U.S.-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group’s Successful Launching
Excerpts:
One should not underestimate the importance of these political theatrics. Credible nuclear deterrence, both toward the adversary and for the ally, is a combination of two elements: capabilities and reassurance. There is no denying that the United States and South Korea possess the capabilities to defend and deter North Korean aggression of any kind. But reassurance has less of a material basis. It requires signaling and messaging on the part of the patron ally that the United States is singularly focused on enhancing nuclear deterrence and that it is constantly building capabilities and consultations for that purpose. The coordination of events this past week served that purpose very well—it sent clear signals to North Korea that U.S. strategic assets would be regularly present around Korea going forward; and it sent assurances to South Korea that the United States is working on making its ironclad nuclear commitment even stronger.
Substantively, the NCG established an agenda of 1) improved security for intelligence sharing; 2) nuclear command and control coordination processes; 3) development of planning, operations, exercises, and training; and 4) joint planning of South Korean conventional support to U.S. nuclear operations. This is a robust list of activities that will greatly enhance confidence in nuclear deterrence on the peninsula. In sum, the NCG is a unique alliance institution in Asia, unlike any other of the U.S. alliances to deal with the enhanced threat from North Korea.
...
The only silver lining from this apparent defection is that the North Koreans may eventually be compelled to have contact with the administration, which it has thus far been unwilling to do. The irony is that in the past, the United States insisted that the dialogue should be focused solely on securing the release of the detained American. Now, the Biden administration, which has been seeking to re-establish dialogue about the weapons programs, may use the opportunity to send a high-level official to talk about more than the individual’s release.
The U.S.-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group’s Successful Launching
csis.org · by Commentary by Victor Cha Published July 20, 2023
Photo: KIM HONG-JI/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
Amid all of the commotion on the Korean peninsula this past week with a U.S. soldier dashing across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) into North Korea and two short-range ballistic missile tests conducted by North Korea, the most significant event for lasting peace on the peninsula was the successful start of the new Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) between the United States and South Korea.
Established out of the state visit between Presidents Yoon and Biden last April, the NCG is designed to shore up extended nuclear deterrence commitments to South Korea and to integrate the ally into U.S. planning for contingencies on the peninsula that might involve nuclear use. While other bilateral defense and deterrence dialogues continue between Washington and Seoul, the NCG is distinctly at a higher level as this first session was led by Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, and his South Korean counterpart Kim Tae-hyo, principal deputy national security adviser.
The NCG meetings were coordinated with the port call of the USS Kentucky, a U.S. nuclear submarine, the first such visit since 1981. This is a nuclear ballistic missile capable submarine that the North Koreans would find impossible to track in waters around Korea. President Yoon visited the Kentucky in port in Busan. And Campbell made the dramatic statement of its arrival at the start of the NCG press availability in Seoul: “As we speak an American nuclear submarine is making port in Busan today. It’s the first visit of an American nuclear submarine in decades.”
One should not underestimate the importance of these political theatrics. Credible nuclear deterrence, both toward the adversary and for the ally, is a combination of two elements: capabilities and reassurance. There is no denying that the United States and South Korea possess the capabilities to defend and deter North Korean aggression of any kind. But reassurance has less of a material basis. It requires signaling and messaging on the part of the patron ally that the United States is singularly focused on enhancing nuclear deterrence and that it is constantly building capabilities and consultations for that purpose. The coordination of events this past week served that purpose very well—it sent clear signals to North Korea that U.S. strategic assets would be regularly present around Korea going forward; and it sent assurances to South Korea that the United States is working on making its ironclad nuclear commitment even stronger.
Substantively, the NCG established an agenda of 1) improved security for intelligence sharing; 2) nuclear command and control coordination processes; 3) development of planning, operations, exercises, and training; and 4) joint planning of South Korean conventional support to U.S. nuclear operations. This is a robust list of activities that will greatly enhance confidence in nuclear deterrence on the peninsula. In sum, the NCG is a unique alliance institution in Asia, unlike any other of the U.S. alliances to deal with the enhanced threat from North Korea.
Unfortunately, most of the headlines this week were grabbed by the now-routine North Korean missile tests and, in particular, by a U.S. soldier who ran across the MDL in the Joint Security Area during a Panmunjom tour. Having crossed the MDL on official travel, this author can attest that the transfer point adjacent to T2 (the “temporary” oblong structure for Military Armistice Commission meetings), while appearing relatively unguarded with no razor wire or checkpoints, is subject to very specific and strict protocols for any crossing. However, it is not well-defended against a random tour attendee suddenly sprinting and hopping over the slightly raised four-meter-wide concrete sidewalk-like structure that divides the two zones.
There have been about 20 Americans detained in North Korea since the mid-1990s, but the holding of a U.S. serviceman is relatively rare, with the most well-known case being in 1968 when North Korea held the crew of the USS Pueblo. In general, these incidents do not resolve quickly. North Korea will interrogate the individual, and will maximize propaganda value, probably doing a show trial and executing a sentence for alleged espionage. This could take on the order of weeks or months. To assure a retrieval of the individual, the Biden administration might have to send a current or former U.S. official. For example, former U.S. president Clinton was sent by the Obama administration to extricate two detained American journalists. Former president Carter also played such a role. Former governor Bill Richardson has always sought to play such a role as well. But it is still early in the process before any such decisions need to be made.
The only silver lining from this apparent defection is that the North Koreans may eventually be compelled to have contact with the administration, which it has thus far been unwilling to do. The irony is that in the past, the United States insisted that the dialogue should be focused solely on securing the release of the detained American. Now, the Biden administration, which has been seeking to re-establish dialogue about the weapons programs, may use the opportunity to send a high-level official to talk about more than the individual’s release.
Victor Cha is senior vice president for Asia and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Commentary is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s).
© 2023 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. All rights reserved.
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21. [Herald Interview] Young professionals from NK seek to bring change to Pyongyang
I am proud of my good friend Hyun Seung Lee for organizing and leading the North Korea Young Leaders Assembly last week. These young leaders have so much to offer as we pursue a free and unified Korea.
[Herald Interview] Young professionals from NK seek to bring change to Pyongyang
koreaherald.com · by Kim So-hyun · July 19, 2023
Members of the North Korean Young Leaders Assembly pose with US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield (fourth from right) after their meeting in New York last week. (Courtesy of Lee Seo-hyun)
Lee Seo-hyun grew up as a proud North Korean elite, always thinking about what she could do to help make her country a better place.
That was until she saw North Korean agents abruptly take her best friend and roommate Su-jeong away from their school dormitory in Beijing in December 2013. A text message from Su-jeong that she would not be able to come back and that she was throwing away her phone at a highway rest stop was the last she heard from her. Lee later learned that Su-jeong’s father had been executed for his association with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s uncle Jang Song-thaek, who had been purged earlier that month, and that her family had been sent to a camp for political prisoners.
Kim Jong-un continued to brutally execute people who worked under Jang, beginning a reign of terror that tightened his grip over the regime. Under a system of guilt by association, if a North Korean defects or is accused of other treason, the entire family can be sent to a political prison.
“The North Korean elite live under extreme surveillance, are forced to be loyal to the Kim regime out of fear and live every day like they are walking on thin ice,” Lee said in an interview with The Korea Herald on a video call on Sunday.
“Many (North Korean elites) are now aware of the problems of the country’s system, and know that it has to change, but they cannot initiate change because of guilt by association. I understand this as I have experience of being held hostage in the North while my family was overseas.”
Lee defected to South Korea in 2014 with her family while they were living in China, and moved to the US in 2016. Having studied foreign languages at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang and finance at Dongbei University of Finance and Economics in Dalian, China, she is now doing a master’s program in international relations at Columbia University in New York.
Last week, she joined a group of fellow defectors in meetings with US policymakers and think tanks in Washington to make North Korea-related proposals, and to speak to diplomats from around 100 countries in New York to urge that the UN must keep North Korean defectors in China from getting sent back to the North.
Called the North Korean Young Leaders Assembly, the group consists of professionals in international relations, law, architecture, IT, cinema, journalism, politics and education.
Whereas North Korean defectors in the past appealed to the international community by mostly testifying to their suffering in the North and China, the new group of highly educated young professionals with diverse experiences hope to present solutions to bring about real change based on their personal experiences.
“We all share the pain of leaving behind our loved ones, as well as a sense of duty and responsibility to contribute toward bringing change to the North Korean system,” Lee said.
“(In the young leaders' group) is a film director who said he wanted to make a story for North Koreans by North Koreans. He said he believes in the power of storytelling and that he wanted to improve the situation in the North by telling the world about it. There is also a lawyer who studied the law after experiencing the fear of being sent back to the North as he could not be recognized as a refugee in China.”
Lee Seo-hyun (center) speaks at a meeting of the North Korean Young Leaders Assembly at the nonprofit Committee for Human Rights in North Korea in Washington last week. (Lee Seo-hyun)
Lee was told that the diplomats who listened to the group at the US mission to the UN last week found their ideas, perspectives and deeply moving stories on why the North Korean human rights issue should be on the UN Security Council agenda “impactful.”
“The North Korean human rights issue is not separate from the regime’s nukes and missiles,” Lee said. "The regime was able to develop nuclear weapons to sustain itself because it exploited its people by terrorizing them through human rights violations."
The young leaders’ group seeks to encourage more people in the international community and civic society, as well as people in North Korea, to take part in efforts toward peaceful regime change in Pyongyang.
“In the past, the target of information delivery from outside was regular North Koreans. They all know now that South Korea is well off, as they have been exposed to South Korean movies or television shows over the past 20-plus years,” Lee said.
“Now, we want to educate or influence those who can actually bring about change.”
Lee’s father had served as a high-level official of Office 39, a North Korean Workers’ Party organization that manages foreign currency slush funds for the country’s leaders, and was chief executive of a shipping and trading company under Office 39. He has said in media interviews that he was responsible for operations that exported North Korean oil, minerals and agricultural products, and brought in between $50 million and $100 million a year for the regime.
Other young leaders
Among the 10 members of the North Korean Young Leaders Assembly, organized by Lee’s brother Hyun-seung, is Harry Kim, a graduate of a top university in Pyongyang who had worked overseas as an IT engineer for the North. Kim was paid $1,000 in monthly wages at the time, but he could keep only $20 for himself, as the rest went to the North Korean regime.
He made suggestions on how to approach the issue of North Korea’s hackers.
Meanwhile, Lim Cheol, a lawyer working in South Korea, said the Chinese government’s repatriation of North Korean defectors to the North was “illegal and anti-humanitarian.”
Beijing’s position is that those who fled the North illegally crossed the border with China due to poverty and do not meet the definition of refugees under the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. But if there is a risk of persecution after they have escaped, they can be seen as refugees, according to Lim, whose own family crossed the border to China for survival but could not return home for fear of persecution. His father was once sent back to the North and was tortured.
Noting that North Korean escapees in China are suffering severe human rights violations due to their unstable legal status in China, Lim called on the Chinese government to abide by the UN Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Lee Hyun-seung, Seo-hyun’s brother who had worked in shipping and mining industries to facilitate North Korea’s trade with China, is now a fellow at the nonprofit Global Peace Foundation as well as adviser to the Washington-based nongovernmental research organization Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. He organized the series of meetings last week at the White House, the US State Department, the Heritage Foundation and the UN.
Other members of the group include Park Dae-hyeon, leader of the Seoul-based nongovernmental organization Unity of Bridge Woorion that has helped over 11,000 North Korean escapees adjust to life in South Korea; Kim Mi-yeon, a Fulbright scholarship grantee who studied international relations in the US; Joh Kyeong-il, a political consultant and leader of a public forum for unificiation called Peace Agora, as well as author of the book “To Aoji;” journalist Jeong Gwang-seong; filmmaker Cho Eui-seong; and architect Nam Song.
By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)
koreaherald.com · by Kim So-hyun · July 19, 2023
22. US soldier’s dash to North Korea puts focus on border weak spot
Sigh.... Weak spot? It is tiring listening to all the armchair quarterbacks who know so little about the DMZ and JSA. Our guards do not defend against defectors going north. They are to protect the visitors on the southern side.
Why do we allow visitors in the JSA? To allow the public to view not only an important historical site but to provide them with an understanding of the ongoing threat from the north. But to call it a weak spot is really a mischaracterization.
US soldier’s dash to North Korea puts focus on border weak spot
Financial Times · by Christian Davies · July 21, 2023
For most of the border along the 38th parallel, the two Koreas are divided by fences, anti-tank barriers and a wide no-man’s-land filled with millions of landmines.
But nothing separates the two warring parties at the “joint security area” in the village of Panmunjom, where an armistice ending fighting in the Korean war was signed in 1953. For some, that can make it a source of temptation.
Jacco Zwetsloot, a former border zone tour guide for US troops stationed in South Korea, said many visitors to the JSA have admitted to a strange urge to step over into the isolated dictatorship ruled by the family of Kim Jong Un for the past 75 years.
“For some, it’s simply the lure of the forbidden,” Zwetsloot said. “For others, it is the absurdity of the situation.”
While only a handful people have ever yielded to the temptation, the ease of the crossing was dramatically demonstrated this week when US Army Private Travis King made a sudden dash across the border.
King’s flight added a potential complication to escalating tensions between Pyongyang, and Washington and Seoul. It also sparked intense international speculation about the motivations of the 23-year-old serviceman from Wisconsin and how he could have been allowed to make his way to the border in the first place.
According to US officials, King had been escorted by US soldiers to security control at Seoul’s Incheon international airport on Monday afternoon.
King had been due to fly to Dallas for military disciplinary proceedings after serving time in South Korea for assault and criminal damage. Instead, he found his way back through security and into Seoul. The next day, he boarded a coach for a pre-booked tour of the border’s demilitarised zone, or DMZ.
The tour included entry to the JSA at Panmunjom, where tour groups are closely supervised by unarmed US and South Korean troops serving under the United Nations Command.
According to a witness account, King suddenly dashed over the gravel and concrete slabs marking the border.
“To our right, we hear a loud HA-HA-HA and one guy from OUR GROUP that has been with us all day runs in between two of the buildings and over to the other side!!” Mikaela Johansson, a member of the tour group, wrote on Facebook.
US Army Private Travis King is seen wearing a black cap during a tour of the ‘joint security area’ in South Korea on Tuesday © Sarah Leslie/Reuters
Steve Tharp, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel who has served in the JSA, said it was plausible that a fit young soldier with a head start could make it across before UN Command troops could respond.
While their precise rules of engagement are classified, he said it was unlikely that US or South Korean soldiers were authorised to chase someone into North Korean territory.
King remains in the custody of North Korean authorities, who have not commented on the episode. His reasons for his actions remain unclear.
US Army secretary Christine Wormuth said on Thursday that Washington had been unable to make contact with North Korean authorities about the case.
Wormuth confirmed King had been facing military discipline. “I am sure that he was grappling with that . . . we obviously don’t know what was going through his mind,” she said, adding that she had no information suggesting he had ideological sympathies with Pyongyang.
The private’s uncle, Myron Gates, told NBC News that King had been grieving the death of a young cousin and his actions were “out of his character”.
It was not the first time a US soldier crossed the inter-Korean border at a time of apparent personal crisis.
In 1962, Private Larry Abshier, who was under the threat of disciplinary proceedings relating to alleged drug use, crossed the DMZ. A few months later, he was joined by Private James Dresnok, who had been caught forging an officer’s signature for permission to leave his base.
Two other US soldiers defected in 1965: Corporal Jerry Parrish and Charles Jenkins, a sergeant who wanted to avoid being sent to fight in Vietnam.
Private Larry Abshier © US Army
Private James Dresnok © US Army
According to Jenkins’ memoir, the US servicemen were forced to study the teachings of North Korea’s founding ruler Kim Il Sung for 10 hours a day. They were also paraded to the outside world as proof of the superiority of the North’s political system and played villains in a TV series, Unsung Heroes, about a spy operating in Seoul.
Of the four, only Jenkins left North Korea alive. After marrying a Japanese abductee in 1980, he was allowed in 2004 to move to Japan, where he died in 2017. The others died in Pyongyang.
Andrei Lankov, professor of history at Kookmin University in Seoul, said King would probably hold little value for North Korea, either as an intelligence asset or propaganda tool.
“They are no longer interested in the external promotion of their own ideology,” said Lankov.
North Korea has occasionally released American captives after visits to Pyongyang by high-level US delegations.
But Kim Jong Un has in effect sealed the country’s borders since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and appears uninterested in engaging with the US over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
“[King] could be released quite soon, or alternatively they could hold him for years, even decades,” said Lankov. “What is certain is that his own views on the subject are no longer relevant.”
The episode raises questions about public access to the JSA, which was created in 1953 as a zone where personnel from both sides could move freely to facilitate negotiations for a full peace treaty.
The treaty was never agreed, but the area was retained to maintain direct communications. The boundary line within it was created after an incident in 1976 when two US soldiers were hacked to death by North Korean counterparts in a dispute over the pruning of a poplar tree.
Zwetsloot, who now presents a podcast for Seoul-based news service NK News, said: “The very existence of the zone can make people want to make a mockery of it.
“Animals don’t respect it — birds fly over it, insects walk over it, a stray cat could come back and forth — yet still humans cannot cross.”
Additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Aspen, Colorado
Financial Times · by Christian Davies · July 21, 2023
23. What is the DMZ? Map and pictures show the demilitarized zone Travis King crossed into North Korea
A two minute video that provides a useful view of the JSA as well as photos are at the link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-the-dmz-demilitarized-zone-north-south-korea-border/
What is the DMZ? Map and pictures show the demilitarized zone Travis King crossed into North Korea
CBS News · by Caitlin O'Kane
This week U.S. soldier Travis King crossed the Demilitarized Zone, often called the DMZ, which separates South Korea and North Korea. King went into North Korea "willfully and without authorization" and is believed to be in the custody of North Korean forces. What is the DMZ and what does it look like?
What is the Demilitarized Zone?
The DMZ is a 148-mile-long strip that incorporates territory from both North and South Korea. It is about 35 miles from South Korea's capital, Seoul, and runs along the 38th parallel, the line that divides the two countries, along which much of the Korean War occurred.
The DMZ was created at the end of the Korean War in 1953, when an armistice was signed. Both countries are still divided and technically at war, but the DMZ ensures the demarcation between them remains peaceful. It is protected by heavily armed troops on both sides.
The area is a tourist destination in South Korea and is rated the 10th best thing to do on a visit to Seoul, according to U.S. News and World Report. There are monuments and a lookout into North Korea, and several tour companies take groups there.
American troops with the United Nations Command Security Battalion are stationed at the Joint Security Area, an area of the DMZ in Panmunjom, according to the U.S. military. The unit has been standing at the site since 1952 to help protect the armistice, which was signed there by representatives from North Korea, the United States, China and the United Nations in 1953.
"The only thing related to the United Nations about the U.N. command is its name," U.N. Secretary-General Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told CBS News.
"In actuality, there is no organizational link between the U.N. command in Korea and the United Nations. It's a relic of the Korean War," Dujarric said.
Can you cross the DMZ?
In most cases, there is no crossing the DMZ. Tourists who visit the Joint Security Area can place their feet on either side of the line separating the two countries, according to U.S. News and World Report.
You can travel to each country separately, but according to a company that coordinates tours in North Korea, you can't travel to North Korea through South Korea. Usually, people visiting North Korea go through China or Russia.
In 2019, President Donald Trump crossed the DMZ into North Korea, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to go to the country. It was there that he met with the country's leader, Kim Jong Un. "I never expected to meet you in this place," Kim told Trump through an interpreter.
Trump met with leaders in both North and South Korea to try and broker a denuclearization deal.
Some people risk their lives crossing the DMZ to flee North Korea. In 2020, a total of 229 North Koreans defected to South Korea, according to local media, citing South Korea's Unification Ministry. Earlier this year, Unification Minister Kwon Youngse said the "attitude towards North Korean defectors needs to be more open and positive."
A resettlement program is being designed to offer more support to defectors from North Korea, a country run by a dictator and accused of human rights violations.
In 2017, a North Korean soldier defected to South Korea via the Joint Security Area. He was shot by fellow North Korean soldiers and taken to a hospital in South Korea.
That same year, an American man was detained in South Korea for allegedly attempting to cross the DMZ into North Korea. He was later deported back to the U.S.
In 2020 South Korean media reported a former North Korean gymnast jumped over a nearly 10-foot fence to flee North Korea, but in 2022 the South Korean military said that defector went back to the North.
Other people have crossed into North Korea, including U.S. soldier Charles Jenkins, who was serving in South Korea in 1965 when he fled to the North, according to the Associated Press. In North Korea, he married a Japanese nurse who was abducted in 1978 by agents from the country and was later allowed to return to Japan.
Jenkins was eventually allowed to leave for Japan as well, and when he did in 2004, he surrendered to the U.S. military and was charged with abandoning his unit and defecting to North Korea.
Pictures of the DMZ
A map depicting the DMZ that acts as a buffer between North and South Korea. Library of Congress
North Korea's propaganda village Kaepoong is seen from the Unification Observation Platform, near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on July 19, 2023, in Paju, South Korea. Getty Images
Tourists look over North Korea at the Unification Observation Platform, near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on July 19, 2023, in Paju, South Korea. A U.S. soldier who had served in South Korea crossed the military demarcation line separating the two Koreas into North Korea without authorization. The man moved into the North during a tour at the Panmunjom Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Getty Images
In a photo taken on August 2, 2017 South Korean soldiers stand guard before North Korea's Panmon Hall (rear C) and the military demarcation line separating North and South Korea, at Panmunjom, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Ed Jones / AFP/Getty Images
In this file photo taken on June 30, 2019, US President Donald Trump steps into the northern side of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea, as North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un looks on, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized zone (DMZ). BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty Images
A handout photo provided by Dong-A Ilbo of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the South and North Korea on June 30, 2019 in Panmunjom, South Korea.
U.S. Private 2nd Class Travis T. King, wearing a black shirt and black cap, is seen in this picture taken during a tour of the tightly controlled Joint Security Area on the border between North Korea and South Korea, at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, July 18, 2023. Sarah Leslie/Handout via Reuters
CBS News U.N. correspondent Pamela Falk contributed to this report.
Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.
CBS News · by Caitlin O'Kane
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: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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