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Quotes of the Day:
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
― Samuel Adams
“The wisest thing in the world is to cry out before you are hurt. It is no good to cry out after you are hurt; especially after you are mortally hurt. People talk about the impatience of the populace; but sound historians know that most tyrannies have been possible because men moved too late. it is often essential to resist a tyranny before it exists.”
― G.K. Chesterton
“I am a strong believer in the tyranny, the dictatorship, the absolute authority of the writer.”
― Philip Pullman
1. North Korea’s New Satellite: A Threat?
2. Lawmakers to UN: Suspend China for Repatriating North Korean Defectors
3. Cry me a river: How North Koreans interpret Kim Jong Un’s tears
4. In global shipping, it’s China vs South Korea, and Seoul is securing its shipbuilding secrets
5. Defense chief meets 8 NATO representatives to expand security, defense industry cooperation
6. N. Korea likely to stage provocations next year to intervene in S. Korean, U.S. elections: think tank
7. N. Korea, Russia discuss ways to bolster regional economic cooperation
8. Korea, Netherlands form chip alliance for supply chain resilience
9. Defense chief warns N. Korea of 'hell of destruction' in event of reckless acts
10. N. Korea faces serious shortages of straw, hemp sacks used to hold harvested crops
1. North Korea’s New Satellite: A Threat?
An objective and dispassionate assessment.
Excerpts:
What does all of this mean? North Korea has sent itself on a path to real ISR capabilities. While a robust HUMINT network is important to ascertain the intentions and dynamics within an adversary government, it can rarely provide timely information on military movements, systems, and capabilities. North Korea is now on the path to giving itself technical capabilities—capabilities that will never match those of its two primary targets, the United States and South Korea.
Thus, while this is a new aspect of North Korea’s ongoing defiance of regional peace and security, it remains a capability that is far weaker for the foreseeable future than what it will face during wartime or any possible contingency.
North Korea’s New Satellite: A Threat?
North Korea’s recent satellite launch probably won’t add to the regime’s capabilities—at least for now.
The National Interest · by Bruce E. Bechtol · December 12, 2023
North Korea recently conducted a successful launch of a satellite from its Sohae facility. The satellite and the rocket are both, by North Korean standards, the most advanced to date. Much has been made of this launch and the fact that it went off (at least as far as most analysts can tell) without a hitch, put a satellite into space, and at least according to the North Koreans, was able to send back images of U.S. military facilities successfully. Thus, amid all of the discussion about this event, I believe it is important to focus on the actual threat this poses to the ROK-U.S. alliance and why the North Koreans are apparently pushing hard for a “space program.”
According to the North Koreans, the launched satellite provides new intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for the regime. The system in orbit appears to capture images of American facilities located around the world and, of course, in the region. While the satellite technology is primitive by modern standards, it does add another capability to Pyongyang’s toolkit, providing intelligence needed during or before wartime. Of course, this is only one satellite. North Korea would have to launch several more to give the regime any kind of significant additional capability.
As all North Korea analysts know, Pyongyang has recently (particularly in the past year) grown closer economically and militarily with Russia. That is to say, North Korea is now sending (for a price, of course) significant shipments of artillery shells and rockets to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. In addition, in recent months, Kim Jong-un visited Russia, where one of his key stops was a space launch facility. Reportedly, the Russians assisted the North Koreans with rocket engine challenges and may have even assisted with communications and command and control capabilities vital to launching and utilizing a satellite system in orbit. We should not be surprised if this assistance continues and, in fact, increases in terms of scope, focus, and technology.
It is obvious from both Kim’s visit to Russia and anecdotal reports we have seen coming out of North Korea that the “space program” has become a high priority. Thus, one is inclined to wonder why and why now. The fact is that joint ROK-U.S. ISR pointed at North Korea’s capabilities is probably more robust than any on Earth. Whether it is satellites, “air breathers,” reconnaissance aircraft and drones, or other more classified methods of intelligence collection aimed at North Korea, it is impossible to deny that this ISR is sophisticated, expansive, and effective in discerning the movement of troops and combat systems, and the construction of new facilities and nodes.
North Korea does not have this capability. What North Korea does have is a very robust and sophisticated HUMINT collection capability in South Korea—and elsewhere. But while this is important, it does not provide reliable and routine information on facilities, movements, and command and control. The North Koreans are now taking their first step in trying to change this. A new and advanced satellite network would give them an ISR capability that, to date, has never existed. No matter how many satellites the North Koreans put into space, its ISR capabilities would not come anywhere close to those of the ROK-U.S. alliance.
The next question then becomes, how much of a threat to allied capabilities is this? The answer is that it depends. It depends on how many satellites the North Koreans can maintain. It depends on the Pyongyang’s satellite network’s level of sophistication. Finally, it depends on how long it will take to send a large number of satellites in orbit necessary to collect a meaningful volume of intelligence on ROK and U.S. forces. Even at its best, and even with support from Russia and perhaps China, such a system would be significantly inferior to the systems that currently monitor its territory. Building and maintaining such a set of systems—which appears to be what Kim Jong-un wants—will take years to accomplish.
Of course, North Korea can also use this technology to improve its always-evolving and improving ballistic missile programs. Much of the technology used for the engines and the launch systems will be very similar. Indeed, actual ballistic missile launches could even be disguised as satellite launches if the North Koreans chose to do so.
What does all of this mean? North Korea has sent itself on a path to real ISR capabilities. While a robust HUMINT network is important to ascertain the intentions and dynamics within an adversary government, it can rarely provide timely information on military movements, systems, and capabilities. North Korea is now on the path to giving itself technical capabilities—capabilities that will never match those of its two primary targets, the United States and South Korea.
Thus, while this is a new aspect of North Korea’s ongoing defiance of regional peace and security, it remains a capability that is far weaker for the foreseeable future than what it will face during wartime or any possible contingency.
About the Author
Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. is a professor of Political Science at Angelo State University. He is also the president of the International Council on Korean Studies and a fellow at the Institute for Corean-American Studies. The author of five books dealing with North Korea, his latest work is entitled North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
The National Interest · by Bruce E. Bechtol · December 12, 2023
2. Lawmakers to UN: Suspend China for Repatriating North Korean Defectors
Excerpts:
Yet, the United Nations has had weeks to take action. In late October, the U.S. government accused China of human rights violations. Ambassador Julie Turner, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, expressed grave concern about the credible reports that China returned “large numbers of North Koreans” to their home country that month.
“The U.S. government has a long history of raising this issue with the PRC government,” Turner said in October. “We have, of course, raised the most recent cases, including last week.”
Despite the dangers of potential refoulement, North Koreans are continuing to flee the isolated communist country and oppressive conditions under leader Kim Jong Un’s regime. South Korean authorities say they are providing sanctuary for approximately 30,000 North Korean citizens, with more fleeing this fall. Most of those who have successfully escaped have traveled through China and Southeast Asia to South Korea.
The Chinese government considers undocumented North Koreans as illegal “economic migrants” and bars them from legally seeking asylum and resettlement. Instead, it deports them to North Korea under a 1986 bilateral border protocol. That agreement violates several other international pacts. China is a party to the United Nations Refugee Convention and Convention Against Torture, which bars the forced return of anyone at serious risk of persecution or torture.
A decade ago, a U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the People’s Republic of Korea warned the Chinese government that officials involved in refoulement were at risk of criminal liability for abetting crimes against humanity.
Lawmakers to UN: Suspend China for Repatriating North Korean Defectors
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/12/08/lawmakers_to_un_suspend_china_for_repatriating_north_korean_defectors_150171.html
By Susan Crabtree - RCP Staff
Lawmakers to UN: Suspend China for Repatriating North Korean DefectorsAP
Human rights defenders on Capitol Hill are imploring the United Nations to suspend China from its human rights council after Beijing has repeatedly broken international agreements by repatriating hundreds of North Korean defectors back to their home country to face torture, forced labor, sex trafficking, and possible execution.
The call for action from Washington comes the same week a human rights group based in Seoul reported that up to 600 North Koreans have “vanished” after China sent them back to the isolated communist country in October, in what activists regard as the largest mass repatriation of its kind in years. Concerns about forced returns have grown since the North Korean government announced the reopening of its borders in August. They had been closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though the identities of the repatriated North Koreans are largely unknown, an estimated 70% are women. Both China and North Korea have a well-documented and growing sex-trafficking trade, in which women are often subjected to sexual violence, forced abortion, and imprisonment in concentration camps, according to the Transitional Justice Working Group, or TJWG, based in Seoul, South Korea.
On Thursday, a bicameral group of members of Congress led by Rep. Michelle Steel, a California Republican and which includes Sens. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, sent a letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, pressing them to take bold action against China. They want to see a more forceful response aimed at stopping President Xi Jinping from continuing to repatriate an estimated 2,000 North Koreans that Chinese law enforcement authorities detained and held during COVID lockdowns and travel bans.
The group expressed deep concern that the United Nations is not holding China accountable for violating its commitment to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which prohibits signatories from expelling or returning refugees to their home countries. The repatriations also signal closer cooperation between the Chinese Communist Party and the North Korean regime.
“The U.N. must take bold steps to hold the CCP accountable for their failure to uphold any human rights standards and for their heartless refoulement of refugees to North Korea – where a refouler will be subjected to life-threatening penalties, severe dangers, loss of freedom and torture,” the members of Congress stated in the letter obtained by RealClearPolitics. “This starts with explicitly condemning the CCP and the [People’s Republic of China] for its crimes against North Korean refugees.”
Pyongyang views those who flee the country as treacherous traitors, a crime punishable by death or detention in abusive forced labor camps. Human Rights Watch reported it has confirmed that Chinese authorities forcibly repatriated 80 North Koreans on Aug. 29, 40 others on Sept. 18, and nearly 50 in July 2021.
“The U.N. must call out this blatant violation of the CCP’s own commitments to respect the principle of non-refoulement,” the members added. Others who signed the letter include Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Republican Rep. Young Kim of California, Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat from Virginia, and several others. All said they have constituents who have fled North Korea for a better life or had family members who have done so.
The members of Congress also pressed the United Nations to suspend China’s seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council until it complies with internationally recognized human rights obligations.
Many of the defectors are leaving because they are prohibited from practicing the religion of their choice in North Korea. A recent Human Rights Watch report quoted Stephen Kim, an underground missionary from South Korea, reporting that on Oct. 9, the Chinese government transported 500 North Koreans in vehicle convoys over five separate border crossings. Kim said some of the detainees had managed to persuade the Chinese guards to allow them to call family members in South Korea to inform them that they were being returned to North Korea.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China, co-chaired by Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, held a hearing on China’s mass repatriation of North Koreans in June. It also has sent numerous letters to the United Nations seeking answers and action. Last week, Smith also had what he characterizes as a “productive” conversation with Grandi on the topic. Meanwhile, there has been a lack of engagement between Capitol Hill and Turk beyond a letter Turk sent stating that he “urges all states to refrain from forcible repatriation.” He also responded to reports that North Korean defectors may have been repatriated from China by saying that his office “remains committed to continuing its monitoring and reporting on this critical issue.”
Smith told RCP he’s encouraged by the bicameral letter to the two United Nations high commissioners with direct jurisdiction.
“The more attention given to the issue, the better,” he said. A source close to the congressman said it’s gratifying that the CECC hearing spurred additional attention from the United Nations and Congress.
Kevin Keen, a spokesman for the UNHCR’s Washington office, acknowledged receiving the letter and said that the commission responds to these types of requests bilaterally with the inquirers in confidence. He noted that he would follow up with his colleagues to see if he could provide any other response.
Yet, the United Nations has had weeks to take action. In late October, the U.S. government accused China of human rights violations. Ambassador Julie Turner, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, expressed grave concern about the credible reports that China returned “large numbers of North Koreans” to their home country that month.
“The U.S. government has a long history of raising this issue with the PRC government,” Turner said in October. “We have, of course, raised the most recent cases, including last week.”
Despite the dangers of potential refoulement, North Koreans are continuing to flee the isolated communist country and oppressive conditions under leader Kim Jong Un’s regime. South Korean authorities say they are providing sanctuary for approximately 30,000 North Korean citizens, with more fleeing this fall. Most of those who have successfully escaped have traveled through China and Southeast Asia to South Korea.
The Chinese government considers undocumented North Koreans as illegal “economic migrants” and bars them from legally seeking asylum and resettlement. Instead, it deports them to North Korea under a 1986 bilateral border protocol. That agreement violates several other international pacts. China is a party to the United Nations Refugee Convention and Convention Against Torture, which bars the forced return of anyone at serious risk of persecution or torture.
A decade ago, a U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the People’s Republic of Korea warned the Chinese government that officials involved in refoulement were at risk of criminal liability for abetting crimes against humanity.
Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.
3. Cry me a river: How North Koreans interpret Kim Jong Un’s tears
Excerpts;
North Koreans will likely interpret Kim’s tears in different ways depending on the circumstances, according to one expert.
“The tears shed in 2020 are perceived not as a deliberate act of sentimental politics but rather as a reflection of Kim Jong Un’s loneliness and isolation amid the challenging domestic situation,” Hyun-seung Lee, a defector from an elite North Korean family, told NK News.
Kim’s tears at his father’s wake, on the other hand, can “naturally be attributed to the sorrow of losing his father,” he said.
Likewise, Lee interpreted Kim’s emotions at last week’s meeting as “likely due to thoughts of his own mother,” though the edited television footage did not make clear what triggered his tears.
“Dictators are solitary figures, and Kim Jong Un has hardly anyone around him with whom he can share his feelings of joy or sadness,” Lee noted.
...
The defector Lee believes that Kim’s tears reflect his own memories and emotions, as opposed to being entirely feigned.
However, he said he doubts that Kim is actually crying for his people.
“If he were a leader who shed tears for the people and the nation, North Korea would have long escaped from the nightmarish dictatorship and become a free and prosperous country,” he said. “Kim Jong Un’s tears are seen as a result of immaturity driven by emotional fluctuations.”
Cry me a river: How North Koreans interpret Kim Jong Un’s tears
Experts say state media coverage seeks to ‘humanize’ the leader, regardless of whether the tears are genuine or theater
https://www.nknews.org/2023/12/cry-me-a-river-how-north-koreans-interpret-kim-jong-uns-tears/?utm
Joe Smith December 13, 2023
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Kim Jong Un cries while paying respects to his father at Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Dec. 2011 (left), giving a speech at the 75th anniversary of the Workers’ party Oct. 2020 (center) and attending a Meeting of Mothers Dec. 4 2023 (right) | Images: KCTV, edited by NK News
The North Korean leader was seated on stage, apparently listening to a speech at a meeting of mothers from across the country last week, when the tears started to flow. He took a deep breath as if to hold it in. His eyes grew redder, and he dabbed at them with a handkerchief.
State television captured the moment and broadcast it to the nation, cutting between Kim Jong Un crying and shots of teary-eyed mothers in the crowd.
The images of a man widely regarded as a brutal dictator shedding tears have attracted the attention of international media, some of which made misleading claims about what triggered the emotional display.
But it is not the first time that state propaganda has shown Kim crying, and experts say that — irrespective of whether genuine or mere crocodile tears — this appears to be part of a deliberate strategy to humanize the leader to the country’s people.
Kim has cried in public at least a few times in the past.
The first time was when the newly appointed “supreme commander” teared up in Dec. 2011 while attending a wake for his father Kim Jong Il, who was lying in state at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun mausoleum. His sister Kim Yo Jong also appeared blurry-eyed behind him.
A photo published in the Rodong Sinmun also appeared to show Kim holding back tears at a funeral for party secretary Kim Yang-gon in Dec. 2015, though the low quality of the image and lack of video makes it difficult to confirm.
Then, at an event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Oct. 2020, the DPRk leader sobbed as he thanked the country’s citizens for remaining healthy during hard times during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the speech, Kim admitted his efforts had “not been sufficient enough to rid our people of the difficulties in their life.”
Fyodor Tertiskiy, a researcher at Seoul’s Kookmin University, told NK Newsthat it is not unheard of for North Korean leaders to cry. He noted that DPRK literature includes references to former leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sungshedding tears of compassion, showing that it “is not taboo and never has been” for the supreme rulers.
Kim Jong Un’s wife Ri Sol Ju also appeared crying while standing beside her husband during a Victory Day event in July 2022, and the biography of Kim Il Sung’s war heroine wife, Kim Jong Suk, is full of references to her crying.
Reports on Kim Jong Un’s tears, like those of his father and grandfather, are about the “humanization of the leader,” Tertiskiy said, though state media did not publish images and video of his predecessors crying.
Ri Sol Ju in tears next to Kim Jong Un during the 69th anniversary of Victory Day in July 2022 | Image: KCTV
North Koreans will likely interpret Kim’s tears in different ways depending on the circumstances, according to one expert.
“The tears shed in 2020 are perceived not as a deliberate act of sentimental politics but rather as a reflection of Kim Jong Un’s loneliness and isolation amid the challenging domestic situation,” Hyun-seung Lee, a defector from an elite North Korean family, told NK News.
Kim’s tears at his father’s wake, on the other hand, can “naturally be attributed to the sorrow of losing his father,” he said.
Likewise, Lee interpreted Kim’s emotions at last week’s meeting as “likely due to thoughts of his own mother,” though the edited television footage did not make clear what triggered his tears.
“Dictators are solitary figures, and Kim Jong Un has hardly anyone around him with whom he can share his feelings of joy or sadness,” Lee noted.
Balazs Szalontai, a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University, noted that it is extremely rare to see dictators cry, but he noted that Vietnam’s former leader Ho Chi Minh was accused of crying on command, likening this to Kim’s “similar public performance.”
“Kim’s actions were possibly motivated by a desire not to appear aloof and indifferent at a time when ordinary people were either expected to cry or had their own reasons to feel insecurity and grief,” Szalontai told NK News.
Gabriela Bernal, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Korean Studies, told NK News that Kim’s decisions about when to turn on the waterworks require a “careful balance.”
“On the one hand, he should look relatable, caring, like a father figure,” she says. “On the other hand, he also has to portray an image of strength, of a powerful military leader.”
Mourners at Kim Jong Il’s funeral in Dec. 2011 | Image: KCTV
While state media has shown Kim Jong Un crying on multiple occasions, it is far more common to see the tears of North Korean citizens, which are often related to their interactions with the leader.
State broadcasts regularly show emotional scenes of people crying as they receive aid, embrace Kim Jong Un or attend state funerals, images that attempt to highlight their deep emotional connection to the leader and the party’s actions.
While in many cases these tears may be genuine, defectors have also testifiedabout the need for citizens to exaggerate emotions in public when it comes to leadership. They have suggested that failing to demonstrate enough emotion, whether grief or enthusiasm, could result in punishment.
The defector Lee believes that Kim’s tears reflect his own memories and emotions, as opposed to being entirely feigned.
However, he said he doubts that Kim is actually crying for his people.
“If he were a leader who shed tears for the people and the nation, North Korea would have long escaped from the nightmarish dictatorship and become a free and prosperous country,” he said. “Kim Jong Un’s tears are seen as a result of immaturity driven by emotional fluctuations.”
Edited by Bryan Betts
4. In global shipping, it’s China vs South Korea, and Seoul is securing its shipbuilding secrets
Key point:
“We must admit that Korean firms are still leading in design, model development, standard-setting, construction management and branding and marketing,” Zeng said. “However, the manpower shortage [in South Korea] is a big drag.”
In global shipping, it’s China vs South Korea, and Seoul is securing its shipbuilding secrets
- Analysts say it is all hands on deck in South Korea to stave off the competition from China’s surging shipbuilders in the cutthroat industry
- Chinese industry expert concedes that Korean firms are still setting the standard, but their ‘manpower shortage is a big drag’
in Shanghai
+ FOLLOWPublished: 4:00am, 13 Dec, 2023
By Frank Chen South China Morning Post3 min
December 12, 2023
View Original
China’s rapid advancements in shipbuilding pose a rising challenge to one of South Korea’s darling industries while adding to expectations that a winner-take-all scenario could escalate the economic rivalry between the two nations.
In response to Beijing inaugurating its largest home-grown cruise ship and several LNG ships, Seoul has stepped up competition for global orders while striving to maintain an edge in high-value ship manufacturing.
Meanwhile, industry analysts say South Korea is looking to keep its shipbuilding expertise under wraps, for fear of being copied and losing business.
“Chinese firms aiming to move up the value chain will have to turn to somewhere else to seek the know-how,” said Li Zhenghao, a senior surveyor with the Shanghai office of ship-classification agency Korean Register.
He was speaking in Shanghai last week at Marintec China, a maritime conference and exhibition that was attended by hundreds of international marine firms, including Korean shipyards.
Shipbuilding is a pillar industry of South Korea. Its dominance in the high-end sector, however, is facing mounting challenges from China, which has already outpaced its neighbour in many general manufacturing sectors by embracing low-cost strategies and technological innovation.
Carl Martin, a technical researcher with MRC Inc, a Busan-based maker of hi-tech navigation and communications equipment for various sea vessels, said Chinese shipyards have more capacity for mainstream bulk and container vessels, but Korean builders have more of the necessary skills to build LNG tankers and more eco-friendly vessels.
“It makes the two nations a perfect pair that can serve the global shipbuilding sector,” he said at the expo. “All players want to develop sophisticated vessels, and my experience with Chinese engineers is that they move quickly up the learning curve.”
The Korean pavilion is seen at the Marintec China expo in Shanghai last week. Photo: Frank Chen
Industry insiders also point to de facto tech-export restrictions that Seoul enacted in late 2020. The restrictions, part of a list of core technologies compiled by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, covered high-value-added vessels such as super-container ships, low-temperature liquefaction tankers such as LNG tankers, large cruise ships, and vessels that use electric-propulsion systems.
They also included advanced engines; propulsion and automation systems; and core ship-material-manufacturing technologies.
Korean shipbuilders have largely pulled out of their Chinese factories – Samsung Heavy Industries closed its factory in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, two years ago and sold another China factory in Rongcheng, Shandong province, earlier this year. Bilateral exchanges of tech and cooperation in the field is very limited.
Last week, China’s vice-minister for commerce, Wang Shouwen, and South Korea’s trade minister, Ahn Duk-geun, met in Beijing and agreed to establish a dialogue mechanism on export controls and to activate a hotline for supply chains of major industry items. But details about the talks, such as whether they involved semiconductors or shipbuilding, were unavailable.
We must admit that Korean firms are still leading in design, model development, standard-setting
Zeng Ji, Shanghai Maritime University
Last year, Korean shipyards delivered 89 per cent of the world’s new LNG and large crude carriers with capacities of more than 250,000 deadweight tonnage, according to South Korea’s trade ministry.
However, Chinese builders excel in annual deliveries and order intake. Data from maritime consulting firm Clarksons shows that global ship-order volume was 38.03 million compensated gross tonnages (CGT) in the first 11 months of 2023, or 1,746 ships if converted into standard ship tonnages. China bagged the lion’s share with 21.89 million CGT, or 995 ships, while Korea’s orders slumped 39 per cent, year on year, to 9.55 million CGT, or 201 ships.
Zeng Ji, a professor of ocean science and engineering with Shanghai Maritime University, said China is developing its own technologies for home-grown LNG ships.
“We must admit that Korean firms are still leading in design, model development, standard-setting, construction management and branding and marketing,” Zeng said. “However, the manpower shortage [in South Korea] is a big drag.”
The manpower crunch was earlier mentioned by Clarksons, despite Samsung, HD Hyundai, Daewoo and Hanwha being inundated with orders.
Hu Shimin, a transport analyst with Beijing-based Citic Securities, said in a note that Korea’s production woes presented opportunities for Chinese shipyards to catch up, because China has growing market demand for huge LNG tankers, and there is room for it to advance in value chains and green shipping initiatives.
Christian Damsgaard, head of naval architecture at Danish ship-design company Knud E. Hansen, argued that when the world is facing a production bottleneck amid a green transition, competition should give way to collaboration.
“Builders from both countries can thrive when the industry is in a boom,” he said at the Shanghai fair.
5. Defense chief meets 8 NATO representatives to expand security, defense industry cooperation
Excerpt:
Their rare visit to South Korea, which is not a NATO member state, is seen as part of NATO's efforts to bolster regional security cooperation with South Korea in the Indo-Pacific, after President Yoon Suk Yeol's consecutive participation in two NATO summits last year and this year.
Defense chief meets 8 NATO representatives to expand security, defense industry cooperation | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · December 13, 2023
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Shin Won-sik met representatives of eight member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday to expand cooperation in security and the defense industry, the defense ministry said.
Shin held the meeting with the NATO representatives of the United States, Britain, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland, who began a three-day visit to Seoul earlier in the day.
Their rare visit to South Korea, which is not a NATO member state, is seen as part of NATO's efforts to bolster regional security cooperation with South Korea in the Indo-Pacific, after President Yoon Suk Yeol's consecutive participation in two NATO summits last year and this year.
During the meeting, Shin explained the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and shared the consensus that the international community's coordination is necessary to deter and respond to North Korea's provocations, according to the ministry.
"The forces threatening South Korea, including North Korea, will face resolute responses not only from the South Korea-U.S. alliance but also from the international community, including NATO," Shin was quoted as saying.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (C, first row) and the representatives of eight member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization pose for a photo after their meeting at the defense ministry building in Seoul on Dec. 13, 2023, in this photo provided by Shin's office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The two sides agreed that security cooperation between South Korea and NATO will contribute to global peace and stability, and vowed to implement practical cooperation measures to deepen their ties, the ministry said.
The NATO delegation promised to actively support collaboration with South Korea in security areas and the defense industry going forward, it noted.
In light of adopting the Individually Tailored Partnership Program in July, South Korea and NATO have been stepping up collaboration in 11 areas ranging from antiterrorism and nonproliferation to emerging technologies and cyberdefense.
Last month, South Korea attended NATO's flagship annual cyber exercise, called Cyber Coalition 2023, held in Estonia for the first time to enhance collaboration in the cyberspace domain.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · December 13, 2023
6. N. Korea likely to stage provocations next year to intervene in S. Korean, U.S. elections: think tank
It is pretty likely that the regime would like to interfere in both ROK and US elections. The question is will a provocation actually influence such elections. There is a history of the "northern wind" (north Korean provocations) influencing ROK elections but it is highly unlikely that provocations will influence US elections.
N. Korea likely to stage provocations next year to intervene in S. Korean, U.S. elections: think tank | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · December 13, 2023
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is likely to carry out provocative acts next year in an attempt to intervene in major elections in South Korea and the United States, a state-run think tank said Wednesday.
The Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) said North Korea could intensify psychological warfare or online and offline terrorist attacks against South Korea ahead of the South's parliamentary elections in April. The U.S. is scheduled to hold the presidential election in November.
"There is a need to prepare for the North Korean version of a hybrid war," Kim Jin-ha, a senior research fellow at the KINU, told reporters.
He said North Korea could stage major military provocations in a bid to press Washington to change its course on the U.S. policy on Pyongyang, while hoping former U.S. President Donald Trump wins the election.
This file photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 28, 2023, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (4th from R) guiding the country's nuclear weaponization project the previous day, while calling for expanding the production of weapons-grade nuclear materials. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Ahead of South Korea's elections, North Korea could continue to restore its military measures halted under a 2018 inter-Korean military accord, rather than staging provocations involving conventional weapons, according to Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the KINU.
North Korea has vowed to resume all military measures halted under the military tension reduction deal, after Seoul partially suspended it over Pyongyang's launch of a military spy satellite in November.
"The North is expected to additionally launch military spy satellites next year and seek to put sea-based tactical nuclear missiles into operation," Hong said.
North Korea has vowed to further launch spy satellites in a short span of time, after it successfully put the Malligyong-1 satellite into orbit in November following two previous failed attempts earlier this year.
Russia could provide North Korea with technology advice, components and space for satellite tests in a bid to help Pyongyang launch its second spy satellite next year, Hong added.
Hyun Seung-soo, a research fellow, said North Korea could press ahead with its seventh nuclear test next year, forecasting that Russia could conduct its first nuclear testing in about 30 years in 2024 to flex its muscle after President Vladimir Putin wins the presidential election in March.
This photo, provided by the Korea Institute for National Unification on Dec. 13, 2023, shows the state-run think tank holding a press briefing in Seoul over its 2024 forecast of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · December 13, 2023
7. N. Korea, Russia discuss ways to bolster regional economic cooperation
(LEAD) N. Korea, Russia discuss ways to bolster regional economic cooperation | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · December 13, 2023
(ATTN: CHANGES, ADDS photos)
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- A senior North Korean official has held talks with the governor of Russia's far eastern region of Primorsky Krai, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday, amid speculation that North Korea is seeking to send workers to Russia to earn much-needed hard currency.
North Korea's External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho and Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Russian region that borders North Korea, discussed issues of bolstering regional economic cooperation further to a high level in Pyongyang on Tuesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The KCNA did not provide any further details on what it meant by economic cooperation.
North Korea's External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho (4th from R) shakes hands with Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorsky region in the Russian Far East, during their talks at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang on Dec. 12, 2023, in this photo released the next day by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Kozhemyako told a Russian news media outlet ahead of his visit that he will discuss ways to boost cooperation in the fields of tourism, trade and agriculture.
There is speculation that the two sides may discuss the possible dispatch of North Korean workers to Russia, a move that is banned under United Nations Security Council resolutions imposed due to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.
The National Intelligence Service, South Korea's spy agency, said Tuesday it has detected signs of North Korea seeking to send workers to Russia and is closely monitoring the situation.
Kozhemyako arrived in North Korea on Monday as the two nations have been strengthening their ties following the summit of the North's leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September.
North Korea's External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho (4th from R) holds talks with Oleg Kozhemyako (4th from L), governor of the Primorsky region in the Russian Far East, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang on Dec. 12, 2023, to discuss issues of bolstering regional economic cooperation between the two countries, in this photo released the next day by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · December 13, 2023
8. Korea, Netherlands form chip alliance for supply chain resilience
Korea, Netherlands form chip alliance for supply chain resilience
The Korea Times · by 2023-12-13 21:21 | Companies · December 13, 2023
President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after their joint press conference at the prime minister's office in The Hague, Wednesday (local time). Yonhap
Yoon, Rutte say bilateral ties are 'better than ever'
By Nam Hyun-woo
Korea and the Netherlands agreed to form a semiconductor alliance to create synergy between Korean chipmakers and Dutch chipmaking equipment suppliers, President Yoon Suk Yeol and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced, Wednesday.
“The two countries decided to establish a semiconductor alliance encompassing governments, companies and universities,” Yoon said during a press conference after their summit at the prime minister’s office in The Hague.
“The Netherlands, which is the world’s largest semiconductor equipment supplier, and Korea, which is a powerhouse in manufacturing chips, each hold crucial positions in the global supply chain. Our two countries will combine each other’s strength to maximize the value and efficiency of their semiconductor partnership.”
Yoon and Rutte held their fourth summit during the Korean leader’s four-day state visit to the Netherlands. During the summit, the leaders explored ideas to deepen bilateral relations, which were already elevated to a strategic partnership during Rutte’s visit to Seoul last year.
The Korean president’s visit to the Netherlands has been touted as a trip for the semiconductor partnership between the two countries.
Before the summit, Samsung Electronics and Dutch equipment supplier ASML agreed to jointly invest 1 trillion won ($762 million) to build a research fab in Korea to develop chip manufacturing technologies using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment, while the two governments agreed to launch a semiconductor dialogue.
“Until now, the relations between Korea and the Netherlands in terms of semiconductors were a close partnership,” Yoon said. “On the occasion of my visit to the Netherlands this time, they were elevated to an alliance.”
“Allies share important military intelligence and plan operations together,” Yoon added. “When we say we have built a semiconductor alliance, it means that the two countries will closely share information, discuss and solve technological problems together in order to maintain the lead between us and followers in the semiconductor industry.”
President Yoon Suk Yeol is greeted by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte before their summit at the latter's office in The Hague, Wednesday (local time). Yonhap
It was the first time the two countries used the term “semiconductor alliance” in a joint statement with the leader of a foreign country.
“The term symbolizes the two countries’ relations overcoming supply chain disruptions together so that they can maintain a technological lead in the field of semiconductors, which is a pivotal area determining the core interests of economic security across all industries,” Seoul’s First Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo said.
“While pursuing close cooperation in normal times, the two countries will seek to jointly execute scenarios to overcome supply chain disruptions in times of crisis,” Kim added.
In the joint statement following the summit, Yoon and Rutte noted that the two countries will facilitate the chip alliance by enhancing intergovernmental knowledge and information exchanges to strengthen the resilience of supply chains for critical items. They also agreed to establish educational programs between their governments, businesses and universities to nurture semiconductor experts.
Following the agreement to form the alliance, the foreign affairs ministries of the two countries plan to set up an annual dialogue on economic security, a dialogue on semiconductor policy coordination between industry ministries and a new consultative body on supply chain partnerships.
During the press conference, Yoon and Rutte both said bilateral relations are “better than ever” and noted that their partnership is deepening not only in the semiconductor industry, but also in the fields of national security, economic security, energy, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges.
For this, the leaders agreed to establish a biennial two-plus-two foreign and industry ministerial dialogue to deepen the “strategic partnership.”
The Korea Times · by 2023-12-13 21:21 | Companies · December 13, 2023
9. Defense chief warns N. Korea of 'hell of destruction' in event of reckless acts
The MINDEF is pretty outspoken.
Defense chief warns N. Korea of 'hell of destruction' in event of reckless acts
The Korea Times · December 13, 2023
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, third from left, rear, presides over a meeting of top military commanders at the defense ministry's headquarters in central Seoul, Dec. 13. Courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
South Korea's defense chief warned North Korea on Wednesday only a "hell of destruction" awaits the country if it carries out "reckless" actions amid heightened tensions after Pyongyang scrapped a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik made the warning during a meeting of top military commanders after the North vowed last month to restore all military measures halted under the pact designed to reduce tensions and prevent clashes along the border.
"North Korea has only two choices — peace or destruction," Shin said. "If North Korea makes reckless actions that harm peace, only a hell of destruction awaits them."
"Our military must clearly imprint this on North Korea."
Last month, Pyongyang scrapped the 2018 agreement, signed under the previous liberal Moon Jae-in government, after Seoul partially suspended the deal in protest of the North's launch of its first military spy satellite on Nov. 21.
The agreement called for measures such as banning military drills and maneuvers near the land and sea borders, disarming the Joint Security Area (JSA) at the truce village of Panmunjom and withdrawing guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.
Since scrapping the accord, the North has begun reinstalling guard posts and deploying heavy arms within the DMZ, according to the South's defense ministry. North Korean soldiers in the JSA have been seen carrying pistols, according to people familiar with the matter.
Shin criticized the Moon administration's peace initiative, describing it as "fraud."
"'The Korean Peninsula peace process,' which relied on North Korea's goodwill and surreal optimism, was completely fake," he said. "It would not be an exaggeration to describe it as a well-planned fraud."
Shin called for educating troops for a strong combat mentality, describing it as the source of strength for Ukraine and Israel in their conflicts, according to his ministry.
During the meeting, the participants discussed ongoing and planned defense efforts, such as deploying more satellites and expanding trilateral security cooperation with Washington and Tokyo against North Korean threats, the ministry said.
Earlier this month, South Korea's first homegrown spy satellite entered orbit after being launched from the U.S. Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Seoul plans to place five spy satellites into orbit by 2025 to boost its surveillance capabilities.
The participants also discussed efforts to strengthen the "three-axis" deterrence system, such as the launch of a strategic command next year to establish a system for South Korea-U.S. joint nuclear and conventional operations, the ministry said.
The three-pronged system refers to the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation, an operational plan to incapacitate the North Korean leadership in a major conflict; the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike platform; and the Korea Air and Missile Defense system.
Meanwhile, Adm. Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was set to preside over a meeting of top military officers to assess North Korean military threats, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · December 13, 2023
10. N. Korea faces serious shortages of straw, hemp sacks used to hold harvested crops
N. Korea faces serious shortages of straw, hemp sacks used to hold harvested crops
The shortage is a result of trade restrictions North Korea implemented when it closed its border due to the pandemic in January 2020
By Mun Dong Hui - 2023.12.13 4:35pm
dailynk.com
N. Korea faces serious shortages of straw, hemp sacks used to hold harvested crops | Daily NK English
Sacks of grains at a farm in South Hwanghae Province (Rodong Sinmun-News 1)
While North Korea has finished its farmwork for the year, a serious shortage of the straw and hemp sacks used to hold the harvested grain has caused trouble for storage and transportation, Daily NK has learned.
“The sacks for storing the threshed grain are in short supply, which is disrupting grain processing,” a source in South Pyongan Province said on Dec. 7, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The threshing of the grain and purchasing by the North Korean government proceeded quickly after mid-October. But there are not enough sacks to hold the grain, which has reportedly complicated efforts to transport the grain to purchasers.
“It’s normal [in North Korea] for there to be a shortfall of the straw and hemp sacks that are typically used for storing and transporting rice and corn. As a result, even military units have to bring their own hemp sacks when picking up their rice,” the source said.
The inadequate supply of straw and hemp sacks is a result of trade restrictions North Korea put in place when it closed its border because of the pandemic.
“Prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, it was possible to compensate for the sack shortfall by purchasing more at the markets. But imports have fallen since trade was suspended, which has made it harder to find sacks,” the source said.
North Korea closed its border with China in January 2020 in an attempt to block the flow of COVID-19, and imports and exports have been spotty during the three years and seven months since then.
The North Korean authorities have taken some steps toward easing the border closure, such as by allowing North Koreans residing overseas to reenter the country in August. But since trade has yet to be normalized, the North still seems to be dealing with a shortage of imported goods.
While North Korea has been trying to deal with the issue by promoting local production of straw and hemp sacks, that has also proven difficult.
“Farms have been rushing to repair the machines used to make straw sacks and have begun production. But that hasn’t been easy because few farmers have the technical knowledge needed to deal with the sack-making machinery,” the source said.
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.
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Mun Dong Hui
Mun Dong Hui is one of Daily NK’s full-time journalists. Please direct any questions about his articles to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
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