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Quotes of the Day:
“We live in a world in which speed is prized above almost all else, and acting faster than the other side has itself become the primary goal. But most often people are merely in a hurry, acting and reacting frantically to events, all of which makes them prone to error and wasting time in the long run. In order to separate yourself from the pack, to harness a speed that has devastating force, you must be organized and strategic. First, you prepare yourself before any action, scanning your enemy for weaknesses. Then you find a way to get your opponents to underestimate you, to lower their guard. When you strike unexpectedly, they will freeze up. When you hit again, it is from the side and out of nowhere. It is the unanticipated blow that makes the biggest impact.”
- Robert Greene, The 33 Strategies Of War
“First, as is often said, a samurai must have both literary and martial skills; to be versed in the two is his duty.”
- Miyamoto Musashi
"Joy can only be real if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness."
- Leo Tolstoy
1. U.S. envoy renews grave concerns over China's repatriation of N. Korean escapees (And Note Information and Escapee/Defectors comments )
2. S. Korea expresses gratitude to Japan for assisting return of Koreans from war-torn Israel
3. China’s graphite export control may have adverse effects on Korea
4. Biden accuses Russia of using N. Korean weapons to attack Ukraine
5. Activists lament South Korea's hollow promise of human rights diplomacy
6. Yoon embarks on state visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar
7. Putin, Kim Jong Un Portraits Pop Up at West Bank Protest Over Israel as Russia Says It's in Talks with Hamas on Hostages
8. S. Korea, Britain hold joint high-tech military training
9. Australia, South Korea ink defence deal
10. Top general inspects Hoguk military exercise at mechanized unit
11. Free homes for rural North Koreans are unfit for country living
12. N. Pyongan Province security agents raid homes of people suspected of secretly watching Hangzhou Asian Games
13. Hyesan schools demand firewood and cash from students to prepare for winter heating
14. A visit to Inha University: How Hawaii inspired and built the ‘MIT of Korea’
1. U.S. envoy renews grave concerns over China's repatriation of N. Korean escapees (And Note Information and Escapee/Defectors comments )
These are key objectives for Ambassador Turner: Information and escpee (defector) testimony. A number of organizations have worked hard to bring escapee(defector) testimony to light, from the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea to the Global Peace Peace Foundation. Both have allowed me to have tremendous access to escapees.
But not that emphasis on information. Below the excerpt is a list of considerations for information in support of a new strategy that is based on a human rights upfront approach, a sophisticated information campaign and the pursuit of a free and unified Korea.
Excerpt:
She underlined the need to craft "new" strategies for getting information into the North Korean community.
"It is also important to look at the type of information that resonates most strongly with North Koreans, such as stories of North Koreans who have successfully created lives for themselves after escaping," she said.
One of her primary goals as special envoy is to help make more defector testimonies available in the U.S., she said.
Information considerations:
•Support to internal resistance - Can we nurture and support internal resistance to influence the emergence of alternative leadership?
–Alternative leadership opposing current regime
–Alternative leadership post-conflict/collapse
–Guerrilla mindset – live to fight another day
•Resistance to all foreign intervention to include the ROK
–How to mitigate future resistance? Co-opt it now
•But an allied controlled guerrilla force is also likely not feasible
•Gulags/prisoners are not ready-made guerrillas – but there may be key communicators in the camps
–There is growing resistance potential
•The key is a comprehensive influence activities campaign NOW
–How to exploit escapees (defectors)
•Establish a Korea Defector Information Institute
Strategic Influence through Information Advantage
•Information and influence activities campaign to target regime elite, second tier leaders, and the population.
–Arguably the most important effort
–When is the best time to plant a tree? (20 years ago)
–So much potential
•Full spectrum of media
•7.5 million smart phones and growing
•Korean Dramas – Crash Landing On You
•Use of escapees (defectors) – Korean Defector Information Institute
•Themes and messages for short and long term effects
•north Korea is a laboratory for PSYOP innovation
•How to help our ally with effective influence operations
Information Response Template
Attack the Strategy
•Recognize KFR strategy
•Understand the strategy
•EXPOSE the strategy – inoculate the Korean and American people and international community against KFR strategy and influence
•Attack the strategy with information through a superior political warfare campaign
7 Basic Considerations for Information and Influence Activities in the north
1.Focus on creating divisions within the elite
2.Influence the 2d tier leadership – to not attack in crisis
3.Adopt simple concepts that are meaningful to the Korea people living in the north and support the idea of unification
4.Focus on human rights violations by the Kim Family Regime
5.Focus on educating people on the unification process (in the north and South)
–e.g., Korean Dramas
–Land ownership
–Political action at local level
–Bright future for those who engage in unification process
–Military leaders who secure WMD and prevent conflict will have a place in a unified Korea
6.Emphasize local leadership in the north during the unification process
7.Identify and support key communicators in the north
Sophisticated Influence Campaign
ØDesign an overt influence campaign targeting the Korean people based on Information, Knowledge, Truth, and Understanding
•Information – massive quantities of information from entertainment to news
•Knowledge – practical information on how to effect change, best practices for agriculture and market activity, educational lessons without Juche influence
•Truth – the truth about the regime and the situation in north Korea and the outside world
•Understanding – help the Korean people in the north to understand the inalienable and universal rights that belong to all human beings
Who is mapping the human terrain in north Korea?
•Governing structures down the village level and the inminban - Pyongyang and provinces
•3 military “chains of control”
•Human infrastructure for WMD
•Best practices for co-option and coercion
•What population and resources control measures will be most effective across likely scenarios
•400+ markets
•Cross border operations
•Key communicators inside and outside (escapees)
•ROK plans for occupation, administration, transition, and governance – compared to the reality on the ground
Current Situation and Proposed New Policy/Strategy Direction
•Although denuclearization of the north remains a worthy goal, it must be viewed as aspirational as long as the Kim family regime remains in power. The conventional wisdom has always been that denuclearization must come first and then unification will follow and that there should be no discussion of human rights out of fear that it would prevent Kim Jong Un from making a denuclearization agreement. Today even a blind man can read the tea leaves and know that Kim Jong Un will not denuclearize despite the fact that his policies have been an abject failure. His political warfare and blackmail diplomacy strategies completely failed in 2022 because Presidents Yoon and Biden, like their predecessors, refused to make the political and economic concessions he demanded just to come to the negotiating table: namely to remove sanctions.
•It is time for the U.S and the ROK/U.S. alliance to execute a political warfare strategy that flips the conventional wisdom and seeks unification first and then denuclearization. Everyone must come to the understanding that the only way to end the nuclear program and the human rights abuses is through unification of the Korean peninsula. The ROK and U.S. must continue to maintain the highest state of military readiness to deter war and then adopt a human rights upfront approach, a comprehensive and sophisticated information and influence activities campaign, and focus all efforts on the pursuit of a free and unified Korea- ultimately a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
Bottom line: We need as superior political warfare strategy
–Foundation of deterrence and defense
–Human rights upfront approach
–Sophisticated information and influence campaign
–Pursuit of a free unified Korea
(LEAD) U.S. envoy renews grave concerns over China's repatriation of N. Korean escapees | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · October 21, 2023
(ATTN: ADDS more remarks in paras 15-16)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) -- The new U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights issues reiterated "grave" concerns Friday over China's reported repatriation of North Korean defectors last week, as she stressed the international principle of non-refoulement should be upheld.
Ambassador Julie Turner, who took office a week ago, made the remarks in a forum, referring to reports that Chinese authorities repatriated around 600 North Korean escapees, who were detained in the bordering Chinese provinces of Jilin and Liaoning, on Oct. 9.
"I am gravely concerned by recent and credible reports that the PRC repatriated large numbers of North Koreans, including as recently as last week," she said in the forum hosted by the Institute for Korean Studies at the George Washington University. PRC stands for China's official name, the People's Republic of China.
"The State Department regularly raises such cases with the PRC and will continue to do so in the future, including in coordination with our partners," she added, underscoring the travails of North Korean escapees who she said overcame "unimaginable odds" in search of freedom.
This photo, taken on Oct. 18, 2023, shows Julie Turner, the new U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, meeting with reporters in Seoul. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Asked to share her conversations with Chinese officials over the issue, the envoy refused to comment, citing diplomatic protocol.
"The U.S. government has a long history of raising this issue with the PRC government," she said. "We have, of course, raised the most recent cases, including last week."
Her attendance at the forum came just after she visited Seoul this week. She met with South Korean officials, civic activists and others to discuss human rights in the North, which she described as being among the "most protracted crises" in the world.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has allowed (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un to further tighten his control over all aspects of life in the isolated country," she said.
"Although the DPRK borders are slowly reopening, we can expect many of the measures instituted under COVID to remain, such as restrictions on unofficial trade, the new border walls and repressive laws," she said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Turner, in particular, expressed concerns over the North's "anti-reactionary thought law" that she said limits North Koreans' access to information and ability to communicate with the outside world.
She underlined the need to craft "new" strategies fo getting information into the North Korean community.
"It is also important to look at the type of information that resonates most strongly with North Koreans, such as stories of North Koreans who have successfully created lives for themselves after escaping," she said.
One of her primary goals as special envoy is to help make more defector testimonies available in the U.S., she said.
"That means looking for opportunities to speak alongside many of the refugees, escapees and defectors that are here in the U.S.," she added.
Asked about methods to deliver information to the North, she said that the U.S. is looking to invest in technologies that could include satellite distribution.
"But I also want to emphasize that we see a lot of value in continuing the old-school techniques that have been used for decades that have been tried and true, and that includes the radio broadcasting," she said.
North Korea appeared to have been unnerved as a spokesperson for its Korea Association for Human Rights Studies went into a tirade over her activities in Seoul this week.
"Her political acts full of malice and plots go to clearly prove that the U.S. human rights policy is nothing but the false propaganda full of hostile prejudice and mud-slinging and its source is rooted in the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK," the official said in an English-language statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
Turner's swearing-in last Friday ended more than six years of vacancy in the post. The last special envoy was Robert R. King, who left the position in January 2017.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · October 21, 2023
2. S. Korea expresses gratitude to Japan for assisting return of Koreans from war-torn Israel
Again, it is good to see this cooperation. Good things do happen during crises.
S. Korea expresses gratitude to Japan for assisting return of Koreans from war-torn Israel | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · October 21, 2023
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government has expressed gratitude to Japan for helping bring back a group of Koreans from war-stricken Israel, a foreign ministry official said Saturday.
Earlier in the morning, a Japanese air tanker arrived in Tokyo from Israel, carrying dozens of its nationals, along with 18 South Koreans and a foreign family member of one of the Korean passengers.
The move was seen as reciprocation after a South Korean military aircraft brought back 51 Japanese people, along with 163 South Koreans, from Israel a week earlier.
"Foreign Minister Park Jin expressed gratitude to Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on behalf of the South Korean government for helping with the departure of 18 Korean nationals and a Korean descendant," a foreign ministry official said.
While expressing her gratitude to the Seoul government for assisting with the return of Japanese nationals from Israel in a telephone call with Park last week, Kamikawa had pledged Japan's "proactive" cooperation in the event of a similar situation facing South Korean nationals amid the Israel-Hamas war, according to Seoul officials.
The two countries plan to continue to cooperate closely for the protection of their nationals overseas amid the fast-changing international security situation, they said.
Koreans arrive at Tokyo International Airport on Oct. 21, 2023, from Israel via a Japanese air tanker. (Yonhap)
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
Related Articles
en.yna.co.kr · by Park Boram · October 21, 2023
3. China’s graphite export control may have adverse effects on Korea
Excerpts:
Export control does not equate to an outright export ban; exporters must secure permission from the authorities for each export. Furthermore, exporters are mandated to furnish authorities with information regarding overseas buyers. This approach allows China to effectively curtail exports whenever it wants.
Korea, which has a substantial reliance on China, is particularly vulnerable to the ramifications of this measure. According to the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, as of 2021, Seoul depended on Beijing for 87% of its artificial graphite imports and 72% of its natural graphite imports.
China’s graphite export control may have adverse effects on Korea
donga.com
Posted October. 21, 2023 08:12,
Updated October. 21, 2023 08:12
China’s graphite export control may have adverse effects on Korea. October. 21, 2023 08:12. by Ki-Yong Kim kky@donga.com.
China has decided to incorporate ‘highly sensitive graphite,’ a crucial raw material for secondary battery anode components, into its export controls. This latest step in China’s strategy to control key resources reflects a trend of ‘resource weaponization.’ Before this, China had already introduced export controls on materials like gallium and germanium and has now extended these measures to include graphite. Notably, this development is expected to affect Korean companies with significant reliance on Chinese graphite substantially.
On Friday, China's Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued a ‘Notice on the Enhancement and Adjustment of Temporary Export Control Measures for Graphite-Related Commodities,’ which is scheduled to take effect from Dec. 1. “We are including three susceptible graphite items in the control list of ‘dual-use item’ (referring to materials originally designed for civilian use but potentially adaptable for military applications),” a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce further elaborated on Friday. “This measure aligns with China’s national security and economic interests.”
Export control does not equate to an outright export ban; exporters must secure permission from the authorities for each export. Furthermore, exporters are mandated to furnish authorities with information regarding overseas buyers. This approach allows China to effectively curtail exports whenever it wants.
Korea, which has a substantial reliance on China, is particularly vulnerable to the ramifications of this measure. According to the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, as of 2021, Seoul depended on Beijing for 87% of its artificial graphite imports and 72% of its natural graphite imports.
한국어
donga.com
4. Biden accuses Russia of using N. Korean weapons to attack Ukraine
Overlooked by most of the media but not the Korean press. north Korea touches everything from Ukraine to Gaza.
Biden accuses Russia of using N. Korean weapons to attack Ukraine
donga.com
Posted October. 21, 2023 08:12,
Updated October. 21, 2023 08:12
Biden accuses Russia of using N. Korean weapons to attack Ukraine. October. 21, 2023 08:12. yea@donga.com.
U.S. President Joe Biden revealed on Thursday (local time) that Russia relies on North Korea to procure weapons for its attack on Ukraine. This implies that President Biden confirmed that Russia is using or intends to use North Korean weapons for its assault on Ukraine.
"Ukraine has regained more than 50 percent of the territory Russian troops once occupied, backed by a U.S.-led coalition of more than 50 countries around the world all doing its part to support Kyiv,” President Biden stated in a national address from the White House. " Meanwhile, Putin has turned to Iran and North Korea to buy attack drones and ammunition to terrorize Ukrainian cities and people."
According to the North Korean Central News Agency on Friday, North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who visited North Korea on Thursday and expressed his intention to "build a centennial plan for a stable and forward-looking new era of North Korea-Russia relations. North Korea stated that Chairman Kim and Minister Lavrov discussed proactively addressing regional and international situations and systematically expanding mutual ties in all areas, confirming that they shared the same views.
Based on this, it is anticipated that Putin will visit North Korea in the near future. The two leaders are expected to establish a long-term united front against the U.S., going beyond trade in weapons and military technology, such as North Korea's provision of weapons for the Ukrainian attack and Russia's provision of reconnaissance satellite technology.
한국어
donga.com
5. Activists lament South Korea's hollow promise of human rights diplomacy
Justified criticism? Undermining human rights or inconsistency in the application of human rights has long term negative effects. And coddling countries (e.g, China) on human rights will not have the positive effects that some hope for. It just indicates weakness to be exploited.
Activists lament South Korea's hollow promise of human rights diplomacy
The Korea Times · by 2023-10-19 16:27 | North Korea · October 20, 2023
Hwang Joon-kook, first row left, South Korea’s top envoy at the United Nations, speaks during a session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Wednesday (local time). Activists on Friday criticized South Korea’s rejection of joining other countries to condemn Beijing over key human rights issues at the U.N. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs
At UN, Seoul refrains from criticizing Beijing over repatriation, Xinjiang issues
By Jung Min-ho
South Korea’s rejection of joining other countries in condemning Beijing over key human rights issues at the United Nations is drawing criticism, with many activists expressing disappointment over its hollow promise regarding values-based diplomacy.
According to rights groups on Friday, South Korea refused to join the United States, Japan and 49 other member states in a joint statement voicing concerns over “the arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, northwestern China, at a session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Wednesday (local time).
Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea’s top envoy at the U.N., also omitted the name of China when he was calling for international support to protect the rights of North Korean escapees who were forcibly repatriated last week by Chinese authorities. He obliquely stated that the incident occurred “in a third country.”
“By refusing to directly mention the country’s name, South Korea gave China an opportunity not to clarify its position on the issue at a later session. For the families of those repatriated and rights advocates, the precious opportunity to listen was squandered,” Shin Hee-seok, a representative of Transitional Justice Working Group, a Seoul-based rights organization, told The Korea Times.
Mass deportations of North Koreans cause tragic family separation
“There seems to be little political will to resolve the issue, which I believe demonstrates how little value the government places on the lives of North Korean people.”
Peter Jung, head of Justice for North Korea, another Seoul-based group, said the way South Korean diplomats handled the international human rights issues on the U.N. platform was a “big disappointment,” to say the least. He said it was tantamount to “an insult” to everyone who cares deeply about the issue.
“The administration under President Yoon Suk Yeol has promoted its value-based diplomacy, with human rights on the top of the priority list. But its reluctance suggests that it may not be much different from the previous administration, which was largely silent on issues like its own deportations of North Korean fishermen,” Jung said.
“If the administration is to pursue value-based diplomacy, it should not be afraid of telling the truth about the violations of the victims’ human rights under the universal international law.”
In the joint statement, led by the United Kingdom, the participating countries said China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang include “large-scale arbitrary detention and systematic use of invasive surveillance on the basis of religion and ethnicity” among many others. Such practices “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” they noted.
At an afternoon session, Zhang Jun, China’s envoy there, strongly refuted those accusations, but he made no mention of the deported North Koreans. Beijing has avoided responding to calls to stop its decades-long practice of repatriating all North Korean escapees caught, which resumed recently after three years of the regime’s extreme pandemic isolation.
Rights activists and experts on foreign policy said the Yoon government’s effort to improve its diplomatic relationship with China may be the reason behind its unwillingness to openly talk about its human rights situation, to which Beijing tends to react sensitively. Japanese media outlets reported on Thursday that South Korea proposed holding top-level diplomatic talks with Japan and China late next month.
In a high-level meeting of foreign officials last month, the three countries agreed to resume their trilateral summit at the “earliest convenient time” and swiftly convene a ministerial meeting for preparations.
The Korea Times · by 2023-10-19 16:27 | North Korea · October 20, 2023
6. Yoon embarks on state visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar
(LEAD) Yoon embarks on state visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · October 21, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with departure; CHANGES headline, photo)
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol embarked on a series of state visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday with economic cooperation high on the agenda despite ongoing turmoil over the war between Israel and Hamas.
On the first leg of his trip, Yoon will visit Riyadh from Saturday to Tuesday, and hold a summit with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman before attending various economic events.
The summit will come nearly a year after the crown prince visited Seoul last November and the two countries' businesses signed 26 memorandums of understanding on projects worth some US$29 billion.
President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) and first lady Kim Keon Hee pose for a photo before departing from Seoul on Air Force One for state visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Oct. 21, 2023. (Yonhap)
On the second leg of his trip, Yoon will visit Doha from Tuesday to Wednesday and hold a summit with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Yoon will be the first South Korean president to make a state visit to either nation.
"As Saudi Arabia and Qatar are two of our main trading partners in the Middle East, and key players in regional politics and the regional economy, friendly cooperation with these nations is essential to our economy and national security," Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said during a press briefing Thursday.
"Through the upcoming trip, we will reinforce our existing cooperative relationship with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and explore new areas of cooperation. Now, our partnership with the Middle Eastern region will go beyond energy and construction to a new stage that encompasses hydrogen, IT, autos, shipbuilding, renewable energy, culture, entertainment and other future industry sectors," he said.
Yoon's trip comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region caused by the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"Given that the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which is walking on thin ice, is directly connected to peace in the Middle East and the regional order, we expect there to be discussions on the security situation during the summits with Saudi Arabia and Qatar," Kim said.
In Riyadh, Yoon will also attend a South Korea-Saudi Arabia investment forum, give a lecture to students at King Saud University and take part in a South Korea-Saudi Arabia technology forum attended by scientists from both nations.
In addition, he will attend a ceremony marking 50 years of construction cooperation between the two countries and attend the annual Future Investment Initiative forum as a guest of honor to explain South Korea's appeal as an investment partner, and discuss the present and future of cooperation between South Korea and the Middle East.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman hold a luncheon meeting at the presidential residence in Seoul on Nov. 17, 2022, in this file photo provided by the presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
From Riyadh, Yoon will head to Doha on Tuesday. The two-day state visit will come as the two countries are set to mark the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations next year.
In addition to holding a summit with the emir, Yoon will visit the 2023 International Horticultural Exposition, including the South Korean pavilion, attend a bilateral business forum joined by some 300 business leaders from both countries and visit Education City to speak with young Qatari leaders.
"Through the upcoming visit to Qatar, we plan to expand our cooperation, which has been centered on energy and construction, to investment, defense, agriculture, culture and people-to-people exchanges, and push for cooperation programs that will enable our people to feel the benefits," Kim said.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar together account for 38 percent of South Korea's crude oil imports and 21 percent of its gas imports.
Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, told reporters the president plans to use the two summit meetings to discuss ways to stabilize oil and gas supplies amid growing uncertainty and oil price volatility caused by the wars in Ukraine and Israel.
Yoon is accompanied by a 130-member business delegation to Saudi Arabia and a 59-member business delegation to Qatar.
The delegation to Riyadh will include Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo and other leaders of conglomerates.
Yoon will return home early Thursday. He is accompanied on the trip by first lady Kim Keon Hee.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · October 21, 2023
7. Putin, Kim Jong Un Portraits Pop Up at West Bank Protest Over Israel as Russia Says It's in Talks with Hamas on Hostages
Everything is interconnected.
Putin, Kim Jong Un Portraits Pop Up at West Bank Protest Over Israel as Russia Says It's in Talks with Hamas on Hostages
Protesters waved Russian and Hamas flags to express their fury about Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and US support for Israel
Published 10/20/23 11:07 AM ET|Updated 20 hr ago
Luke Funk
themessenger.com · October 20, 2023
Palestinian protestors in the West Bank waved Russian and Hamas flags and carried portraits of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to express their fury about Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and U.S. support for Israel.
Putin cropped up as Russia told Israel it was negotiating with Hamas for the return of some hostages.
View post on Twitter
Protesters took to the streets of Hebron to show solidarity with the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip. After the rally, some protesters threw stones at Israeli forces and set tire fires.
A CNN reporter was confronted by one crowd.
On Thursday, Russia's foreign minister proposed regular security talks with North Korea and China to deal with what he described as increasing U.S.-led regional military threats, as he met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top diplomat in Pyongyang.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was on a two-day trip to North Korea's capital with a focus on how to boost defense ties following a September summit between Kim and Putin, the Associated Press reported.
Kim has been boosting the visibility of his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing as he attempts to break out of diplomatic isolation and insert Pyongyang into a united front against Washington.
People wave Russian, Palestinian, Fatah and Hamas flags, and carry portraits of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Koren leader Kim Jong Un, as they take to the streets of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron to show solidary with the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip on October 20, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Hamas movement.Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images
Kim, in turn, has been boosting the visibility of his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing as he attempts to break out of diplomatic isolation and insert Pyongyang into a united front against Washington.
Meanwhile, an Israeli border police officer was killed during a military raid into a refugee camp in the northern West Bank, the police and border guards said in a joint statement.
Israeli forces killed at least seven Palestinians during the daylong raid Thursday of the Nur Shams camp, and prevented ambulances from retrieving the wounded, according to Palestinian state media.
themessenger.com · October 20, 2023
8. S. Korea, Britain hold joint high-tech military training
S. Korea, Britain hold joint high-tech military training
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · October 20, 2023
By Yonhap
Published : Oct. 20, 2023 - 11:01
South Korean and British troops take part in a combined military exercise at the Korea Combat Training Center, a facility employing advanced technologies for realistic ground drills, in Inje, 165 kilometers east of Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)
South Korea and Britain staged combined high-tech military drills this month, Seoul's Army said Friday, amid efforts to bolster military cooperation between the two nations.
The 11-day drills began last Tuesday at the Korea Combat Training Center, a facility employing advanced technologies for realistic ground drills, in Inje, 165 kilometers east of Seoul.
The drills mobilized over 4,000 troops, including a company of the British Army's Scots Guards, as well as some 270 pieces of combat equipment, such as tanks, helicopters and unmanned aircraft.
The exercise included two three-day parts of separate attack and defense operations against a specialized counterforce unit and focused on strengthening the troops' combat capabilities, the Army said.
British troops' latest participation in the drills marked an increase from last year, when the country sent a platoon-level unit, it added. (Yonhap)
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · October 20, 2023
9. Australia, South Korea ink defence deal
Australia, South Korea ink defence deal
thenewdaily.com.au · by Dominic Giannini · October 19, 2023
Live
Australia and South Korea have signed new agreements to enhance military co-operation.
Defence Minister Richard Marles met with his South Korean counterpart Shin Won-sik in Seoul on Thursday, where the pair inked new memorandum of understandings between both nations’ armies, navies and air forces.
They will enable more complex military drills to be conducted together.
Addressing the Seoul defence dialogue, Mr Marles declared “the shadow of war still haunts us”.
He warned of the potential for conflict in the region, including if Taiwan becomes a flashpoint between the US and China.
Marles said deterrence needed to be put in place to ensure China or North Korea didn’t follow Russia’s footsteps after it invaded Ukraine.
The decisions made by South Korea, the US and partners like Australia after the armistice helped uphold the peace that exists today, he said.
“This is a lesson we need to heed today because the choices we make today will be vital,” he said.
“North Korea remains to this day an enormous source of insecurity, impoverishing its people even as it invests in an illegal nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programs.”
The two ministers also signed a peace operations memorandum of understanding focused on training and co-operation.
An enhanced bilateral defence agreement is being explored.
‘Challenging new period’
Marles said Australia and like-minded nations needed to ensure the conclusion drawn from Russia’s invasion wasn’t that aggressive states can successfully use force to change the international order.
The continued support of Ukraine’s defence was to ensure Europe’s failure to deter Russia’s invasion wasn’t repeated in the Pacific, he said.
“We must work together to navigate this challenging new period with nuance and judgment, with statecraft that ensures that no country judges that the benefits of conflict might outweigh the consequences,” he said, referencing Taiwan.
Australia doesn’t have a position on the final status of Taiwan – which China wants to re-integrate – other than any outcome must be reached peacefully and in line with the will of the people on both sides “and not through the use of force or coercion”.
“But the consequences of US-China conflict over Taiwan are so grave that we cannot be passive bystanders,” Marles said.
This includes flexing both diplomatic and military muscles, he said.
“Getting the hard power equation right is only part of the picture.
“Australia’s first response is to deepen our network of strategic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, it will take a network of states acting together.”
–AAP
thenewdaily.com.au · by Dominic Giannini · October 19, 2023
10. Top general inspects Hoguk military exercise at mechanized unit
Top general inspects Hoguk military exercise at mechanized unit
The Korea Times · October 21, 2023
JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum and other military officials inspect an AH-64E Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Command in Icheon, 56 kilometers southeast of Seoul, Oct. 20, in this photo provided by his office. Yonhap
South Korea's top general visited a mechanized unit Friday to check its readiness and participation in an ongoing military exercise, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum made the inspection at the 7th Maneuver Corps' headquarters in Icheon, 56 kilometers southeast of Seoul, as the annual Hoguk exercise kicked off Monday.
At the unit, Kim called for troops to be equipped with the highest level of operational readiness through realistic training, according to the JCS.
He then visited the Army Aviation Command in the same city and instructed troops to strengthen response capabilities against unmanned enemy assets.
"The on-site inspections were made to emphasize thoroughly maintaining a readiness posture to overwhelmingly and decisively punish any enemy provocation and aggression," the JCS said.
This year's Hoguk exercise, which involves the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps., will run through Nov. 22.
North Korea has previously reacted angrily to the exercise, calling it a provocation.
During last year's drills, the North fired artillery shots into maritime buffer zones set under the 2018 inter-Korean military accord and ballistic missiles into the East Sea. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · October 21, 2023
11. Free homes for rural North Koreans are unfit for country living
The Socialist Workers Paradise really demonstrates that it is the land of not quite right. Its policies are bankrupt in more ways than one.
Free homes for rural North Koreans are unfit for country living
Designed for cities, the houses lack gardens and many have thin walls that provide poor insulation in the winter.
By Moon Sung Hui for RFA Korean
2023.10.20rfa.org
North Korea is building free homes for people in the countryside, but the homes are impractical for the realities of rural life, residents told Radio Free Asia.
A total of 650 homes were newly built between July and September in the mountainous northern province of Ryanggang. Some of the homes are individual one-story homes, but others are units in two or three-story apartment buildings.
State media, as usual, aired propaganda-laced reports showing happy residents moving in on Oct. 5, but their smiles quickly turned to frowns once the cameras were turned off, residents said.
Specifically, many of the apartments have thin, concrete walls that are cold in the winter, not brick-and-mud, which are thicker and provide better insulation. They also lack gardens for growing vegetables or places to keep animals, which is very common among rural families.
Plus, none of the homes have running water.
“The newly built homes are an urban style that completely ignores the conditions of rural areas,” a resident of the province, who requested anonymity for personal safety, told RFA Korean. “There are many complaints from residents who have moved in.”
New houses are seen in Upo Livestock Farm Village, Pungseo county, Ryanggang province, North Korea, Oct. 5, 2023. There is a theory in North Korea that two- and three-story and three floors are being built because Kim Jong Un, who studied abroad in Switzerland, likes modern homes. Credit: Korean Central News Agency
Simply plopping a three-story city-style apartment building next to a collective farm does very little for the people who have to live there, he said.
“A rural home must have a large garden and space to raise animals,” the resident said. “The new rural homes built on cooperative farms across the country are usually two or three stories … and have very little consideration for personal gardens or livestock farming space.”
Gift from the nation
It isn’t just anyone who can move into these new homes. Only men who finished their seven- to 10-year mandatory military service between 2019 and 2022 and who recently married were eligible to be awarded the home.
A shortage of homes in the rural areas means that many young people with families have had to shack up with their parents or siblings, so many jumped at the chance to move into the new ones, the resident said.
Some of them may be singing a different tune come winter, when temperatures can plunge to minus 36 degrees Celsius (minus 33 Fahrenheit), another resident told RFA.
Winter chills
“The two-story and three-story apartments were built with cement, while the one-story houses were built with mud bricks and plastered with mud,” he said. “Those who received an apartment were not happy, while those who received a single-story house looked fortunate.”
To make matters worse, the concrete apartments have thin walls. It is normal for homes in the area to have exterior walls that are 50 centimeters (about 20 inches) thick, but the apartment walls are between 35 to 40 centimeters (around 14 to 16 inches) thick.
“Apartment houses built with cement have a low thermal insulation effect, so they cannot withstand the cold in winter,” he said. “It is also inconvenient for gardening or raising domestic animals.”
In addition to the space and temperature problems, none of the homes have running water, the second resident said.
“There are water pipes and a toilet in every house, but there is no actual water network or water source,” the resident said, adding that there’s not even a plan to connect the homes to a water system at a later date.
“So having water pipes and a toilet in the house does nothing,” he said. “The first thing the residents did after moving in was to get drinking water from the nearby stream.”
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
rfa.org
12. N. Pyongan Province security agents raid homes of people suspected of secretly watching Hangzhou Asian Games
Even sports information is a threat to the regime.
N. Pyongan Province security agents raid homes of people suspected of secretly watching Hangzhou Asian Games
The first two days of the dragnet led to the arrests of dozens of people in Sinuiju and Uiju
By Jong So Yong - 2023.10.20 2:41pm
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-pyongan-province-raids-homes-people-suspected-secretly-watching-hangzhou-asian-games/
Players with North and South Korea's women's basketball teams congratulating each other after a match on Oct. 5. (Yonhap)
In early October, the North Pyongan Province branch of North Korea’s state security agency conducted surprise raids on the homes of people suspected of having secretly watched the Hangzhou Asian Games, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Oct. 13 that the provincial branch of the Ministry of State Security (MSS) “received tip-offs that many people in Sinuiju and Uiju were watching the Asian Games on TV in secret. The MSS responded by announcing internally that they would carry out a week of surprise home raids starting on Oct. 8.”
According to the source, as soon as the Hangzhou Asian Games kicked off, many people in Sinuiju, Uiju and other cities along the Chinese-North Korean border secretly watched the games on TV channels unapproved by the government. Soon after, debates about the games broke out and discussion of the games entered the broader public. Tips began to pour into the MSS from various areas of North Korean society, including neighborhood watch units, workplaces, and schools.
Some of the tips passed along to the ministry included comments about matches between the two Koreas, including: “Our women’s basketball team lost to South Korea, but I heard the South Korean team is even good at shooting three-pointers”; and, “the South Korean female table tennis athletes are great and they smile while they play.” Others commented on the rough play from the North Korean men’s soccer team, saying “our men’s football team was all over the place.”
“Different local branches of the MSS compiled the tips and sent them to the provincial headquarters, which presented a report to the provincial party committee. Orders then came down instructing the provincial headquarters to team up with the unified command on non-socialist and anti-socialist behavior to conduct a week of surprise inspections starting on Oct. 8.”
The searches began as planned on Oct. 8, and agents went house-to-house checking whether people’s TV channel dials were properly fixed in place or showed any traces of tampering.
The tips compiled by the MSS also suggested that people had used concealed mini-TVs to pick up signals from China, so inspectors left no stone unturned as they combed through houses looking for hidden devices.
The first two days of the dragnet led to the arrests of dozens of people in Sinuiju and Uiju. As the crackdown continued, a pile of confiscated LCD TVs began to stack up at the local MSS office, the source said.
“North Pyongan Province’s MSS branch knows that people even outside of Sinuiju and Uiju tune into Chinese TV signals, so they are also carrying out surprise household searches in other places like Cholsan and Sakju. They’re not only looking for hidden unregistered TV sets, but also for computers and cell phones. People are terrified.”
He added: “There are some people who watched the entire games, right up through the closing ceremony. Some of them have said that it was lucky the authorities waited to conduct the crackdown until after the competition was completely over.’”
Translated by Rose Adams. 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
13. Hyesan schools demand firewood and cash from students to prepare for winter heating
The Korean people in the north are likely to face suffering on a scale that has not been seen since the Arduous March of the famine of 1994-1996.
Hyesan schools demand firewood and cash from students to prepare for winter heating
School administrators are worrying that they might have to close their facilities this winter because they cannot heat the classrooms, a source told Daily NK
By Lee Chae Un - 2023.10.20 7:00pm
https://www.dailynk.com/english/hyesan-schools-demand-firewood-cash-students-prepare-winter-heating/
This 2010 photo shows North Korean girls on their way to school. (Roman Harak, Creative Commons, Flickr)
Schools in Yanggang Province’s city of Hyesan are demanding students contribute firewood or cash to purchase firewood to heat classrooms during the coming winter, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Oct. 12 that “schools in Hyesan that have to find ways to get firewood on their own to heat classrooms in winter are pressing students to contribute firewood or cash [to purchase firewood].”
Schools in North Korea typically begin to prepare firewood for the winter in late September or early October. This year, schools have ordered students to contribute firewood by Oct. 10 — or Party Foundation Day — or money in lieu of kindling.
Students in rural counties head into the mountains themselves to cut down trees or collect branches, but in urban areas — where people have little choice but to purchase firewood at markets — students usually contribute cash or firewood bought at markets.
“A cubic meter of firewood now costs about KPW 130,000 in Hyesan’s markets,” the source said. “Because firewood grows more expensive as winter approaches, now is the best time to buy.”
Schools in the city’s urban areas are asking students who prefer cash contributions to pay KPW 130,000 for the purchase of firewood in markets.
However, as only a handful of students have handed over the firewood or cash, some schools have convened emergency meetings with parents to urge them to contribute quickly.
One teacher at an elementary school in Hyesan convened an emergency meeting with parents on Oct. 7.
“It’s been two weeks since we instructed students to contribute firewood, but nobody has handed over any except one or two people,” she told the assembled parents. “If we don’t prepare the firewood now, the students will have to study in freezing rooms in winter. No matter how hard things are for you, please help so our students can study in warm classrooms.”
Some of the parents complained, however, that they would contribute money if they had any on hand because “nobody wants their children to study in cold classrooms.”
Meanwhile, school administrators are worrying that they might have to close their facilities this winter because they cannot heat the classrooms.
“Everything here in North Korea is resolved through non-tax burdens placed on ordinary people, but the worsening of people’s finances is leading to increased difficulties,” the source said, referring to items, such as firewood or manure, that the government demands from its people. “The reality faced by people here is shown by the fact that parents have to contribute firewood if they don’t want students to have a tough time this winter.”
Translated by David Black. 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.
14. A visit to Inha University: How Hawaii inspired and built the ‘MIT of Korea’
A visit to Inha University: How Hawaii inspired and built the ‘MIT of Korea’
hawaiinewsnow.com · by Annalisa Burgos · October 20, 2023
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Inha University in South Korea looks like any place of higher education – a sprawling campus with students pursuing careers and personal growth.
What makes Inha unique is that it’s rooted in aloha.
The first Korean immigrants in the United States arrived in Hawaii in 1903. They helped build Inha — one of the biggest universities in South Korea and transformed a nation.
“‘In’ stands for Incheon and ‘Ha’ stands for Hawaii. And Incheon is the starting city for them. And Hawaii is the destination city for them,” said Inha University President Myeong Woo Cho, through a translator. “So this is the meaning of the Inha University. I think that this kind of naming is one and only in the world.”
Inha was established in 1954 as a Korean-American collaboration school by the first president of the Republic of Korea and longtime Hawaii resident Syngman Rhee, with funding from the Korean diaspora.
Korean immigration to the US marks 120 years — and it started with Hawaii
“Hawaii is kind of the homeland of our mind because there are so many alumni of Inha University in Hawaii. And also it was starting from the meaningful willingness from the Korean communities in Hawaii,” said Cho.
It’s a willingness to give what they had to rebuild their home country, which had been devastated under Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War.
Rex Kim’s father moved to Hawaii during the Korean War and, like many others, believed a skilled workforce was key to recovery.
“The thought was to start a university in Korea that would help Korea as a country industrialize more efficiently and faster by educating young people,” Kim said.
The idea and funding started in Hawaii, at the Korean Christian Institute, a school set up for children of the first Korean immigrants. It was first built in Kaimuki, and relocated to this site where Kalihi Elementary School now stands. A plaque honors that history.
After the school closed in 1947, Rhee sold the 24-acre site to a developer who named the street Kula Kolea, which means Korean school.
Rhee used the money to build a polytechnic institute in Incheon.
“Koreans living in Hawaii wanted to establish the Korean version of the MIT,” said Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok.
Inha is now one of Korea’s top universities, built on the backs of Korean plantation workers and laborers thousands of miles away.
“Education, education, education, education. Why? Because they realized that Korea lost the country because people were ignorant. So that was the first thing they did,” said Duk Hee Lee Murayabashi, president of the Korean Immigration Research Institute.
Twenty years after Inha opened, the University of Hawaii’s Center for Korean Studies followed -- the first and largest Korean center in North America.
“So a third of the funds came from Korea, another third from the community but the last third came also from government. So it is kind of a collaboration, to preserve history, and to prepare for the future. I think, without that kind of help and support, the center cannot survive and sustain,” said Tae-Ung Baik, center director and UH professor.
A tale of two cities, two sister universities with student exchanges — two places forever connected in aloha — in name and spirit.
Copyright 2023 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
hawaiinewsnow.com · by Annalisa Burgos · October 20, 2023
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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