|
Quotes of the Day:
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.”
- Viktor Frankl
“You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea.”
- Sophocles
“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
- Malcolm X
1. Is the US-ROK Alliance Prepared for a Multipolar World?
2. S. Korea, US, Japan to launch high-level cyber consultation group
3. U.S.' increased deployment of strategic assets aimed at reassuring security commitment: Seoul official
4. U.S. envoy vows to make clear 'inextricable' link between N. Korea's human rights abuses, threats
5. S. Korea to continue to support suspended inter-Korean dictionary project: minister
6. Unification minister calls on China to enable N. Korean defectors to decide country of choice
7. U.S. expert voices concern over N.K.'s cooperation with Russia, abandonment of decadeslong effort to normalize ties with U.S.
8. South Korea to open 10 new embassies across the globe
9. Expert says North likely to ramp up production of munitions after Russia shipments
10. Korea to establish new diplomatic missions in 12 countries in 2024
11. NK's new holiday meant to enhance image of Kim's daughter: expert
12. UN's advice (to ROK)
13. The enduring strength of Korean culture By John Alderman Linton (Ihn Yo-han)
14. Race issue enters Korean politics15.
1. Is the US-ROK Alliance Prepared for a Multipolar World?
This conclusion should probably be read at the beginning of all ROK/US alliance meetings as a reminder of the importance of the alliance mission.
Conclusion:
In sum, as the realpolitik of an increasing China-Russia-North Korea collaboration sets in against the backdrop of Sino-Russo revanchism and the DPRK’s offensive nuclear doctrine, the US and South Korea must maintain alliance effectiveness through strong adherence to the MDT and the Armistice agreement and by demonstrating unfaltering readiness through the CFC. In this way, South Korea can continue down a prosperous path in a stable Northeast Asia while the US-ROK alliance works to deter and safeguard against all regional threats.
Is the US-ROK Alliance Prepared for a Multipolar World?
https://www.38north.org/2023/11/is-the-us-rok-alliance-prepared-for-a-multipolar-world/
In the seminal 1979 classic Theory of International Politics, Kenneth Waltz identified the benefits a state can derive if its security is underwritten. According to Waltz, if security is assured, a state can: “safely seek such other goals as tranquility, profit, and power.”[1] South Korea is an example of exactly that. From the ashes of the Korean War that raged on from 1950 to 1953 and the subsequent seven decades to follow, the United States-Republic of Korea (US-ROK) alliance has fostered an atmosphere of sustained peace and stability that has contributed to the ROK’s successful political and economic transformation. Today, South Korea stands among the world’s most productive and prosperous countries.
The US-ROK alliance recently commemorated two significant milestones this year: July 27 was the 70th anniversary of the armistice agreement, and October 1 marked 70 years since the signing of the US-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT). Another important milestone is set to occur this November 7, which is the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the Combined Forces Command (CFC)–the structure through which the alliance demonstrates US-ROK preparedness to deter threats and defend against a resumption of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula. Together, these instruments of the alliance have unassailably guaranteed South Korea’s security, which in turn has helped to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
For all that the alliance has done to ensure peace and stability over the past seventy years, Northeast Asia is still one of the toughest neighborhoods in the global system. The region is geographically dominated by China and Russia, both of which are calling for an alternative to a US-led order, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently joined the two countries in solidarity with his own calls to stand “against the US and the West’s strategy for hegemony” while boosting production of nuclear weapons. In the context of Northeast Asia, the newly emerging and increasingly nuclear China-Russia-North Korea bloc imperils South Korea, which has depended on its alliance with the US to ensure its security. The US-ROK alliance will be put to a new test in an increasingly multipolar order, but can effectively handle this new challenge by adhering to the principles and structure upon which it was built.
Challenges in a Changing World
For all its sustained success and longevity, the alliance’s greatest challenges still lie ahead. While South Korea has thrived under a US-led global system that accelerated after the US “unipolar moment“ began at the end of the Cold War, the current global system is fraying. It should be clear to even the most casual observer of foreign affairs that today’s global reality is in stark contrast to the US vision of a world embarking upon a “new age of liberty,” as described in September 1991 by George H. W. Bush in his address to the UN General Assembly.
Today, more than thirty years after the US-led neoliberal transition from the bipolar Cold War order began, the world is again experiencing conflict and shifts caused by competing centers of geopolitical power to a degree that has not been seen since World War II. The drift toward multipolarity is blatantly manifested by converging objectives within the respective China-Russia-Iran perceived spheres of influence and directly challenges the remaining US-led international order. As a result, US foreign policy is becoming increasingly distracted with wars now raging in Europe and the Middle East, and the potential for conflict still looms over the Taiwan Strait.
In Northeast Asia, Kim Jong Un’s budding partnership with Vladimir Putin–Xi Jinping’s “dear friend“–brings the reality of a China-Russia-North Korea axis to the region. The fact that this nuclear-armed triumvirate now surrounds South Korea also means it is positioned against the US-ROK alliance. Besides the obvious nuclear threat this triumvirate presents, there are additional foreign policy dilemmas that South Korea must grapple with. For example, the elephant in the room is its trade relations with China, as South Korea’s trade volume with China remains nearly double that of its trade with the US and is roughly four times greater than its trade with Japan. Although the ROK remains dependent on stable trade relations with China, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) maintains coercive military pressure on South Korea.
The PRC has increasingly applied military pressure on South Korea through joint military exercises with Russia via both naval drills and air operations that include unannounced bomber and fighter aircraft intrusions into the ROK’s air defense identification zone. Moreover, there is speculation that China and Russia will invite the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to participate in their next annual joint naval exercise, which is likely to be held in the East or West Sea of Korea in July of next year. For its part, North Korea has already established itself as a weapons supplier to Russia’s war effort with Ukraine, and there are suspicions that the DPRK may have supported Hamas with arms used in the October 7 attack against Israel. For South Korea, these moves require a diplomatic juggling act that not only addresses its security concerns, but also maintains its economic relations in the region while managing domestic affairs.
Navigating Diplomacy and Internal Politics
To its credit, South Korea has demonstrated a degree of skill in managing diplomacy with China and the US while keeping threats in check. The Yoon-Biden era of the alliance has produced a string of successes, including the creation and implementation of a strategic alignment on policies for preventing China from changing the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, the ROK’s President Yoon’s diplomacy push with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the first half of 2023 led to the August formalization at Camp David of a new US-ROK-Japan trilateral partnership. Yoon’s policies have also improved the operational effectiveness of the alliance, as seen through this year’s normalization of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system after years of delay during the previous Moon administration.
Despite the recent successes and built-in assurances to the alliance, the majority of South Koreans, regardless of political affiliation, want their own nuclear weapons, which should not come as a shock. North Korea has not only dramatically accelerated its missile launches in recent years but has also increased its production of atomic weapons and upgraded its nuclear doctrine to an offensive posture of preemption. Presidents Biden and Yoon have responded through the Washington Declaration, with the US recommitting to extend its nuclear deterrence to South Korea, the ROK reaffirming its commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and both countries agreeing to establish a Nuclear Consultative Group so as to strengthen US guarantees of extended deterrence.
Notwithstanding the exemplary alignment of the US-ROK alliance under the current Biden-Yoon administrations, there exists in both countries the potential for politics to turn on a dime.
With each election, the political pendulum swings wide from the left to the right and back in both countries, and these perennial shifts often create policy combinations that place stress on the alliance. The strains caused by discordant policies have even caused uncertainty over the future direction of the alliance. Examples abound from nearly every administration since Eisenhower, with the most recent occurring during the Moon-Trump administrations. Moon delayed timely operationalization of the THAAD system while former President Donald Trump threatened to pull US forces off the peninsula as he applied pressure on South Korea to increase its portion of defense cost-sharing.
The internal political dynamics of the ROK and US will likely continue to create policy dilemmas for the alliance to sort out in future administrations. However, as Sino-Russo revanchist objectives have come into alignment, policy rifts that have been smoothed over or waited out in previous US and ROK administrations could be more problematic as China-Russia-North Korea will collaborate assiduously to exploit fissures in US-ROK relations. Indeed, an increasingly multipolar world beset by a China-Russia-North Korea collaboration is an inescapable reality for Northeast Asia, and this calls into question whether or not the alliance is prepared to encounter this reality.
Preparing for an Uncertain Future
Multipolar challenges to the current global order will undoubtedly create uncertainties across the geopolitical landscape. While the US-ROK alliance has operated successfully since the end of the Korean War through bipolar and unipolar epochs, its effectiveness in a multipolar context is untested. In the regional context of Northeast Asia, the US-ROK alliance must not only continue to deter the North Korean threat but must also defend against an emerging China-Russia-North Korea bloc that seeks to revise the US-led order. We can, therefore, expect geopolitical competition to increase in Northeast Asia and presume that a nuclear-armed, offensively oriented North Korea will attempt to benefit in a revised order and will do its part to help shape it, while politics both within and between the US and ROK will continue to shift. If history serves as a bellwether, minor adjustments to the US forces’ footprint in Korea could occur, and there is no telling as to what extent recently enhanced ROK-US-Japan trilateral relations will continue to hold up.
Considering the challenges presented above, the keys to ensuring South Korea’s sustained peace and prosperity will be the very principles and structure upon which the US-ROK alliance was built. As the legal premise for the alliance, the MDT not only enshrines a US commitment to safeguarding the defense of the ROK, but also contains provisions that address responding to any potential aggressor in the region on either party to the agreement. The Armistice agreement continues to serve as an enforceable mechanism for the United Nations Command to ensure stability on the Korean Peninsula by facilitating diplomacy with North Korea and actions that can lead to lasting peace. Finally, in the event of a contingency, the alliance is equipped with a bilateral ROK-US command structure through the CFC that is fully integrated to the tactical level and honed through combined planning, training, and exercises.
In sum, as the realpolitik of an increasing China-Russia-North Korea collaboration sets in against the backdrop of Sino-Russo revanchism and the DPRK’s offensive nuclear doctrine, the US and South Korea must maintain alliance effectiveness through strong adherence to the MDT and the Armistice agreement and by demonstrating unfaltering readiness through the CFC. In this way, South Korea can continue down a prosperous path in a stable Northeast Asia while the US-ROK alliance works to deter and safeguard against all regional threats.
- [1]
-
Kenneth Watlz, Theory of International Politics (New York: Random House, 1979), 126, http://slantchev.ucsd.edu/courses/ps240/03%20Anarchy,%20Hierarchy,%20and%20Sovereignty/Waltz%20-%20Theory%20of%20International%20Politics%20(Ch%205-8).pdf.
2. S. Korea, US, Japan to launch high-level cyber consultation group
We must defend against the regime's all purpose sword.
S. Korea, US, Japan to launch high-level cyber consultation group
The Korea Times · November 6, 2023
South Korea's Deputy National Security Adviser In Seong-hwan, left, Anne Neuberger, center, U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, and Keiichi Ichikawa, deputy head of Japan's National Security Secretariat, pose in Washington, Oct. 31, after agreeing to details of a trilateral working group tasked with combating North Korea's cyberthreats and cryptocurrency theft, in this photo released by the presidential office. Yonhap
South Korea, the United States and Japan have agreed to launch a high-level cyber consultation group to come up with ways to block North Korean cyber activities that fund its missile and nuclear programs, the South's presidential office said Monday.
The decision was reached during a trilateral meeting involving Deputy National Security Adviser In Seong-hwan, U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies Anne Neuberger and deputy head of Japan's National Security Secretariat Keiichi Ichikawa in Washington on Tuesday (local time), the office said in a press release.
The aim of the new consultation group, which will meet every quarter, is to devise measures to block North Korea's cybercrimes and strengthen the joint response capability of the three nations against global cyberthreats.
The consultation body is a follow-up to an agreement reached by President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their trilateral summit at Camp David in August to establish a trilateral working group tasked with combating North Korea's cyberthreats and cryptocurrency theft.
While in Washington, In also met separately with Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator Darren Goldie last Monday, and the two sides agreed to work to jointly identify and respond to common threats, including by quickly forming a bilateral working group to define the scope of cooperation, the presidential office said. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · November 6, 2023
3. U.S.' increased deployment of strategic assets aimed at reassuring security commitment: Seoul official
Strategic reassurance. Strategic resolve.
U.S.' increased deployment of strategic assets aimed at reassuring security commitment: Seoul official | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · November 7, 2023
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- The United States has increased the deployment of nuclear-capable bombers and other strategic assets to South Korea to reassure its security commitment to Seoul as it issues warnings to North Korea, a senior Seoul official said Tuesday.
North Korea has ratcheted up its nuclear threat by amending the constitution in September to enshrine the policy of strengthening its nuclear force, with leader Kim Jong-un pledging to accelerate production of nuclear weapons.
In response to growing security concerns, a U.S. B-52 strategic bomber landed on South Korean soil for the first time, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier made a port call at the Busan Naval Base, and South Korean and U.S. officials jointly observed a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California last week.
Seoul officials say the latest move demonstrates Washington's efforts to reassure its "extended deterrence" commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend South Korea.
"Deployment of (strategic assets) reassures the U.S. commitment to the Korean people and gives warning to the Kim Jong-un regime, and North Korea has responded (to the move)," a senior defense ministry official told reporters on background.
"We believe North Korea is feeling threatened, and the frequency and intensity of the threat has also increased," the official said.
Tensions remain high as North Korea has launched a flurry of ballistic missile tests since last year, including a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile in April and July. It also made two failed attempts to put a military spy satellite into orbit earlier this year.
Against this backdrop, the allies conducted five joint aerial drills involving B-52 bombers this year, up from once in 2022 and none in 2021, according to the defense ministry. A U.S. nuclear-capable submarine made a port call at the Busan Naval Base in February for the first time since 1981.
The official said Seoul and Washington are expected to flesh out details of the Washington Declaration adopted at a bilateral summit in April in regard to information sharing, joint planning and joint execution of U.S. nuclear assets at the upcoming defense ministerial meeting next week.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin plans to visit Seoul for the annual Security Consultative Meeting, slated for Nov. 13, with his new South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik, and other events to highlight America's "ironclad" security commitment, according to his office.
The United States Forces Korea unveils a B-52H strategic bomber's landing at the South Korean Air Force base at Cheongju Airport, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, on Oct. 19, 2023, during a press event, in this file photo provided by Seoul's defense ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · November 7, 2023
4. U.S. envoy vows to make clear 'inextricable' link between N. Korea's human rights abuses, threats
I spent some time yesterday at the north Korean UN mission in New York with about 40 Koerans who have escaped from the north who were protesting the force repatriation of Korean refugees in China back to north Korea. The DPRK diplomats remained secluded in their 13th floor mission. I event called the mission only to reach their answering machine that didn't even have its voicemail set up so it could not record our messages. But it was so inspiring to hear about the hardship of these Koreans who had escaped from the north and to see how proud they were to exercise their right to assemble and their freedom of expression.
Excerpts:
"We cannot resolve the DPRK's threats to international security without addressing the human rights crisis in North Korea," she said at the Korea Global Forum co-hosted by South Korea's unification ministry and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"DPRK human rights violations and abuses are inextricably linked with the country's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," she added, using the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
(LEAD) U.S. envoy vows to make clear 'inextricable' link between N. Korea's human rights abuses, threats | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · November 7, 2023
(ATTN: RECASTS para 4; TRIMS para 8)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- The new U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights issues pledged efforts Monday to shine a light on the "inextricable" connection between Pyongyang's rights abuses and its security threats.
Ambassador Julie Turner made the remarks at a forum, underscoring that the "repressive political climate" in the North allows the recalcitrant regime to divert a large share of public resources to its weapons development programs.
Her remarks came as a debate lingers over whether the resolution of the North's nuclear quandary should take precedence over the North Korean human rights issue to ensure the growing security challenge can be more efficiently dealt with.
"We cannot resolve the DPRK's threats to international security without addressing the human rights crisis in North Korea," she said at the Korea Global Forum co-hosted by South Korea's unification ministry and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"DPRK human rights violations and abuses are inextricably linked with the country's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," she added, using the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Ambassador Julie Turner, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, speaks during the Korea Global Forum co-hosted by South Korea's unification ministry and the Center for Strategic and International Studies at the CSIS headquarters in Washington on Nov. 6, 2023. (Yonhap)
Turner took office last month, filling a vacancy that had lasted more than six years. Her official swearing-in ceremony took place Monday.
At the forum, Turner called attention to North Korean workers who have been forced to work at home and abroad to contribute to the North's weapons program.
"Forced labor, both domestically and overseas, also plays a key role in sustaining the government and generating the revenue it uses for its weapons program," she said.
"I look forward to working with the ROK government and other partners and allies to make clear the link between the regime's human rights violations and abuses and its weapons program," she added, using the acronym for the South's official name, the Republic of Korea.
In a similar vein, efforts for accountability and engagement are not necessarily in a "zero-sum" relationship, the ambassador pointed out.
"I will seek to coordinate with the ROK and other like-minded governments to advance accountability for those responsible for human rights violations and abuses in North Korea," she said.
Turner also underscored the importance of identifying areas of cooperation with the North, where the regime may be open to change through cooperation with the United States, international organizations and civil society.
"For example, in September, the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly discussed as its top issue laws guaranteeing the rights of persons with disabilities, which may provide an opening for conversations about progress on human rights," she said.
"These efforts hold the DPRK to account while also pursuing cooperation, and areas of opportunity are not oppositional but intertwined."
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · November 7, 2023
5. S. Korea to continue to support suspended inter-Korean dictionary project: minister
Peaceful unification planning requires planning for the reconciliation and integration of every area from security to the economic to the political to the cultural to include even the differences in languages. This may seem like a minor project but it will make some contribution to the unification someday in the future.
S. Korea to continue to support suspended inter-Korean dictionary project: minister | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · November 7, 2023
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea said Tuesday that Seoul will continue to support a long-suspended project to compile a unified Korean-language dictionary with Pyongyang despite frosty inter-Korean ties.
"The government will continue to support the project for its stable operation," Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said in a virtual message for an academic forum in Seoul. He did not elaborate.
The two Koreas have held 25 rounds of meetings with scholars since 2005, when they launched the project to publish a common Korean-language dictionary.
The divided Koreas use the same alphabet, known as hangeul, though decades of division following the 1950-53 Korean War have led to dialectical differences, deviations in the meaning of words and spelling differences in naming countries. This phenomenon often causes trouble in communication between South and North Koreans.
The project was suspended in 2010 after North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea has denied involvement in the sinking.
The two Koreas resumed the project in 2014 before halting it again in late 2015 amid heightened inter-Korean tensions.
Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho (on screen) speaks to a forum in Seoul in a video message on Nov. 7, 2023, about the government's plan to support an inter-Korean dictionary project. (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · November 7, 2023
6. Unification minister calls on China to enable N. Korean defectors to decide country of choice
At the protests in New York yesterday the escapees from the north had large banners detailing the abuses the Koreans from the north suffered at the hands of the regime after they were made to return to the north from China. China must also be held accountable for north Korea's human rights because it is complicit in those abuses.
(LEAD) Unification minister calls on China to enable N. Korean defectors to decide country of choice | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · November 7, 2023
(ATTN: ADDS more remarks in 8th para)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho renewed calls Monday for China to help North Korean defectors move to a country of their choice and ensure their human rights are protected based on the "international norm."
Kim made the remarks in a keynote speech read out by an aide to him at a forum amid concerns about reports that Chinese authorities repatriated hundreds of North Korean escapees against their wishes last month.
"I strongly urge the Chinese government for its coordination so that North Korean defectors in China can be protected of their human rights based on the international norm and be able to travel to the country that they desire," he said in the speech for the Korea Global Forum co-hosted by the unification ministry and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"I believe that the solidarity and cooperation of the international community will be of great help in resolving these issues," he added.
The minister reaffirmed Seoul's position that it will accommodate "all defectors" who wish to come to the South.
"I would like to use this opportunity to reiterate the ROK government's stance that no defectors should be forcibly repatriated to North Korea against their free will," he said. ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
Kim, in addition, highlighted Seoul's commitment to achieving the denuclearization of North Korea and fostering peace on the Korean Peninsula through "dialogue and cooperation."
"The ROK government's stance is clear that we do not desire to alter the status quo through force," he said.
But he said that Pyongyang is taking advantage of the "current international turmoil and factional divisions" to undermine peace endeavors.
"The North is strengthening its ties with China and Russia in order to disrupt the international coordination system for North Korea's denuclearization," he said.
Kim also pointed out the need to create a "strategic environment" where the North has no choice but to return to denuclearization negotiations.
"I have no doubt that if we continue to pressure and sanction North Korea with the unilateral action of the international community with its solid international coordination system, North Korea will have no other option but to change," he said.
He warned that if the North makes a "wrong decision," South Korea will "immediately and decisively" deter its actions through trilateral security cooperation with the United States and Japan.
Experts discuss Korean Peninsula issues at the Korea Global Forum jointly hosted by the unification ministry and the Center for Strategic and International Studies at CSIS headquarters in Washington on Nov. 6, 2023. (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · November 7, 2023
7. U.S. expert voices concern over N.K.'s cooperation with Russia, abandonment of decadeslong effort to normalize ties with U.S.
Answer these five questions:
1. What do we want to achieve in Korea?
2. What is the acceptable durable political arrangement that will protect, serve, and advance US and ROK/US Alliance interests on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia?
3. Who does Kim fear more: The US or the Korean people in the north? (Note it is the Korean people armed with information knowledge of life in South Korea)
4. Do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime?
5. In support of that strategy do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the objective to split the ROK/US Alliance and get US forces off the peninsula? Has KJU given up his divide to conquer strategy - divide the alliance to conquer the ROK?
The answers to these questions should guide us to the strategy to solve the "Korea question" (para 60 of the Armistice) and lead to the only acceptable durable political arrangement: A secure, stable, economically vibrant, non-nuclear Korean peninsula unified under a liberal constitutional form of government with respect for individual liberty, the rule of law, and human rights, determined by the Korean people. A free and unified Korea or, in short, a United Republic of Korea (UROK)
The root of all problems in Korea is the existence of the most evil mafia- like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime that has the objective of dominating the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State.
The way to counter provocations is to ensure that Kim does not achieve the effects he desires by conducting the provocation.
The Yoon and Biden administrations have an opportunity for a new approach to the Korean security challenge. The Alliance way ahead is an integrated deterrence strategy as part of the broader strategic competition that is taking place in the region. There is a need for a Korean “Plan B” strategy that rests on the foundation of combined ROK/U.S. defensive capabilities and includes political warfare, aggressive diplomacy, sanctions, cyber operations, and information and influence activities, with a goal of denuclearization but ultimately the objective must be to solve the “Korea question” (e.g., the unnatural division of the peninsula) with the understanding that denuclearization of the north and an end to human rights abuses and crimes against humanity will only happen when the Korea question is resolved that leads to a free and unified Korea, otherwise known as a United Republic of Korea (UROK).
The new approach can be summed up as a human rights upfront approach with a massive, sustained, and sophisticated information campaign, while pursuing a free and unified Korea.
“We claim independence in the interest of the eternal and free development of our people and in accordance with the great movement for world reform based upon the awakening conscience of mankind.” —Korean Declaration of Independence (1919)
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).
U.S. expert voices concern over N.K.'s cooperation with Russia, abandonment of decadeslong effort to normalize ties with U.S. | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · November 7, 2023
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made concerning "strategic" changes in the regime's decadeslong effort of seeking normalization with the United States, turning to Russia and China for cooperation instead, an American expert said Tuesday.
Siegfried Hecker, an emeritus professor at Stanford University known for his direct experience with Pyongyang's nuclear program, made the remarks during a press conference prior to his lecture at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, stressing that the recent link-up of Russia and North Korea is "really serious and significant."
"I think Kim Jong-un in the past year and half or so has made a fundamental strategic decision to give up a 30-year effort of all three Kims to seek normalization with U.S., and instead he turned back to China and Russia," he said. "If that's the case, that's what we have to worry about."
The nuclear expert added that he "worries much more" about Pyongyang's growing cooperation with Moscow and Beijing than the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Hecker is considered a top expert on North Korea's nuclear program. He is known for having had a firsthand look at North Korea's uranium-enrichment facility during his 2010 visit to the Yongbyon complex.
Siegfried Hecker, a professor emeritus at Stanford University and a renowned nuclear scientist with profound knowledge about North Korea's nuclear program, speaks during a press conference at Ewha Womans University in Seoul on Nov. 7, 2023. (Yonhap)
Hecker also called it "a very bad idea" for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons, saying its alliance with the U.S. will better counter North Korean threats.
"I believe it's a very bad idea for South Korea to develop its own nuclear program, and the main reason for that in my opinion is it will make the Korean Peninsula more dangerous," he said.
"The North Korean nuclear weapons should not be responded by the South, but by the combination of the alliance with the U.S. and with South Korea together," he added.
When asked whether the U.S. government will send its troops to defend South Korea as it did during the 1950-53 Korean War, he stressed the two countries are "close allies."
Hecker added that he believes the U.S. will "come and help defend" South Koreans against any external threats.
On sanctions, Hecker said sanctions on North Korea have not had the "right effect" of stopping the regime's nuclear program and may have instead increased its dependence on China.
"The bottom line is that North Korea has a very threatening nuclear program in spite of the sanctions, so I would say no, the sanctions have not been effective," he said. "For the most part, in my opinion, sanctions have actually worked the other way around, and that is, with sanctioning the economy, I believe it's moved North Korea more towards China."
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · November 7, 2023
8. South Korea to open 10 new embassies across the globe
Note that this comes at. a time when north Korea is claising almost as many around the world.
Remember that the ROK is a global pivotal state that chooses to be a peaceful nuclear power, that is a partner in the arsenal of democracy that seeks to protect the rules based international order while supporting free market economies, rule of law and human rights. That is the message for these new embassies.
Tuesday
November 7, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Published: 07 Nov. 2023, 18:49
South Korea to open 10 new embassies across the globe
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-11-07/national/diplomacy/South-Korea-to-open-10-new-embassies-across-the-globe/1907921
South Korean Foreign Ministry headquarters in Seoul. [[YONHAP]
The South Korean Foreign Ministry plans to open embassies in 10 countries in Europe, Africa, South America and the Pacific by the second half of next year, the ministry announced Tuesday.
This is the first time in 16 years that the South Korean government has opened 10 or more embassies in a year.
It is also the fourth time after 1973, 1974 and 2007.
Related Article
The Foreign Ministry said the move aims to expand South Korea’s diplomatic capability and network.
The countries where the new embassies will be opened are Luxembourg, Lithuania, the Marshall Island, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Armenia, Estonia, Jamaica, Zimbabwe and Georgia.
The South Korean government plans to open smaller offices in Botswana and Suriname as well.
While some countries are getting their first South Korean legation, Luxembourg and Jamaica already have South Korean consulates.
Luxembourg has had diplomatic relations with South Korea since 1962.
Eight countries on the list have embassies in Seoul, including Lithuania, Slovenia and the Marshall Islands.
The Marshall Island has only eight embassies in the world, including Korea.
The Korean Foreign Ministry noted that the embassy in the Marshall Islands will play a central role along with Fiji, which also has a Korean Embassy, in enhancing ties with the Pacific Island countries.
The Korean government said the Marshall Islands were one of Korea's biggest trading partners in the region.
After the new embassies are opened, South Korea will have diplomatic offices, including consulates, in 177 countries.
The ministry plans to hire 40 employees to work in the embassies. At least four employees will be stationed at the newly opening embassies, while two will work at the consulates in Botswana and Suriname.
“We decided the list of countries where the new embassies will be opening based on the Koreans living in the countries and the support that Korean companies need in entering markets,” a Foreign Ministry official said. “While experiencing several international votes, including the United Nation’s Security Council non-permanent membership, we realized the need to expand our network and diplomatic horizon.”
South Korea was elected as a non-permanent member in June.
The Yoon Suk Yeol government has also been aggressively meeting with representatives and diplomats of countries to promote Busan's bid to host the World Cup Expo in 2030.
The final vote in deciding the host city will be held at the Bureau International des Expositions in Paris later this month.
The latest announcement from the South Korean government is in stark contrast to North Korea, which has been closing down several of its embassies, including ones in Uganda, Angola and Spain.
North Korea claimed that the closing of its embassies is a strategic choice and blamed operational difficulties caused by sanctions led by the U.S. and EU.
However, there is speculation that rising operation costs have burdened North Korea.
North Korea has 46 embassies worldwide.
BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]
9. Expert says North likely to ramp up production of munitions after Russia shipments
This has allowed the KPA to rotate and expend their older munitions stockpiles and replace them. It will increase nKPA readiness with new munitions. We should also be tracking the effectiveness of the munitions being used in Ukraine, e.g., what is the dud rate for the north Korean ammunition?
Monday
November 6, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Published: 06 Nov. 2023, 19:02
Updated: 06 Nov. 2023, 19:53
Expert says North likely to ramp up production of munitions after Russia shipments
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-11-06/national/northKorea/Expert-says-North-likely-to-ramp-up-production-of-shells-for-Russia/1907006
In footage broadcast by the North's state-controlled Korean Central Television on Aug. 7, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a factory where 122-millimeter artillery ammunition is manufactured. [YONHAP]
North Korea is likely to ramp up production of munitions after shipping thousands of containers full of suspected artillery ammunition and weapons to Russia, according to an expert interviewed by the JoongAng Ilbo.
“North Korea is locked into the inter-Korean standoff, so if they gave up [weapons from] its inventory, they will have to replenish their supplies by a similar amount,” an expert told the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity.
An official from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters last week that Seoul’s military intelligence estimates about 2,000 containers of military equipment and munitions were shipped from Rajin, North Hamgyong Province, to Vladivostok in the Russian Far East.
The JCS believes that the containers could contain more than 200,000 rounds of 122-millimeter artillery shells or more than 1 million 152-millimeter shells, as well as other weapons, such as T-series tank ammunition, anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers, rifles and even possibly SRBMs.
Related Article
The expert interviewed by the JoongAng Ilbo said that North Korea “seems to have provided Russia with six months’ worth of production,” based on current South Korean estimates of the North’s annual production capabilities.
“Although exact production figures cannot be determined because the manufacturing process and raw materials vary according to the different types of artillery shells, we estimate that the North can produce around 2 million 152-millimeter shells per year,” he said.
The expert said that supplying Russia with six months’ worth of domestic artillery production was likely not an easy decision for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who agreed to heighten military and technological cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a rare summit held in September at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East.
Their meeting venue, joint visits to Russian aircraft factories and Putin’s comments to Russian state media suggested that Moscow could be willing to assist Pyongyang with its spy satellite and weapons programs in return for North Korean armaments.
Kim pledged that his regime would “always stand with Russia” in its “special military operation,” referring to the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Kim has to maintain his own military readiness posture against South Korea and the United States,” said the expert interviewed by the JoongAng Ilbo, who said it was “now likely that North Korean weapons factories are likely to operate full-time in the future.”
The expert also said that the North’s annual production estimate of 2 million 152-millimeter artillery shells is premised on peacetime manufacturing rates.
“If the North Korean regime mobilizes all of its weapons production capabilities, it could theoretically produce two to three times more,” he said.
In a report issued on Sept. 14, the Stimson Center’s 38 North think tank noted that the North’s “military-industrial complex” does not need to “turn to other sectors of the economy for raw materials and other inputs.”
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has estimated that Russia has already received about 1 million artillery shells from North Korea, which it believes would meet Russia’s battlefield needs for about two months.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) issued a report last month that offered a different estimate of the North’s ammunition shipments but was premised on a similar Russian consumption rate.
Col. Ants Kiviselg, the chief of the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center, was quoted by the ISW as saying the North may have provided 300,000-500,000 pieces of ammunition to Russia, which can last up to one month at the current daily firing rate of around 10,000 shells a day.
The expert interviewed by the JoongAng Ilbo warned that if Kim Jong-un fully commits to supporting the Russian war effort, Moscow could stockpile ammunition supplies that could last at least several more months.
Troy Stangarone, who serves as a senior director at the U.S.-based Korea Economic Institute (KEI), recently expressed concern that North Korea “is likely to provide millions of shells to Russia” at a forum hosted by South Korea’s Unification Ministry on Nov. 1.
The North Korean leader has also hinted that his regime could pour more resources into weapons production.
During Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to a previously undisclosed North Korean weapons factory in early August, Kim referred to his regime as running a “defense economy,” suggesting it could seek much needed foreign currency and support by manufacturing and selling weapons abroad.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, analyzed North Korean state media photos of their visit and concluded the factories they inspected could be Kanggye Tractor Plant and Kanggye General Precision Machine Plant in Chagang Province.
Other plants depicted in state media photos of Kim and Shoigu’s weapons factory tours indicated the pair inspected Thaesong Machine Plant, where the North is believed to manufacture its medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, and the January 18 General Machinery Complex, where it produces missile and tank components.
Both plants are located in South Pyongan Province.
In its Sept. 14 report, 38 North predicted that weapons exports to Russia would likely provide a short-term boost to the North Korean state and regions where the factories are located, but also cautioned the benefits could be limited.
“When Russia’s warfare in Ukraine eventually winds down or ends, the demand for North Korean weapons will very likely drop as quickly as it has risen,” the think tank said, adding that spillover effects of arms development “will be limited without radical changes to the [North Korean] economic system.”
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO, MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
10. Korea to establish new diplomatic missions in 12 countries in 2024
Now reports of a dozen, Korean soft power.
Korea to establish new diplomatic missions in 12 countries in 2024
The Korea Times · November 7, 2023
Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul / Yonhap
Korea plans to establish new diplomatic missions in 12 countries next year in an effort to expand its diplomatic capabilities and functions, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The 12 countries are: the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean; Botswana, Sierra Leone and Zambia in Africa; Suriname and Jamaica in Central and South America; Estonia, Luxembourg, Lithuania and Slovenia in Europe; and Armenia and Georgia in Southwest Asia.
Under the plan, the embassy branches in Jamaica and Georgia will be promoted to embassies, while new embassy branches will be built in Botswana and Suriname.
The remaining eight countries will have new Korean embassies established in accordance with the principle of reciprocity as they already have their embassies in Seoul.
"We expect that it will allow Korea to show leadership as a 'global pivotal state' and help boost our diplomacy," the official said.
That raises the total number of Korean diplomatic missions around the world to 177, which excludes embassy branches and consular offices. Korea has diplomatic relations with 192 countries.
"It is part of our efforts to build up our diplomatic infrastructure under the consideration that our existing networks of overseas missions may have not been sufficient as we went through some international elections, including reelection to the U.N. Security Council as a nonpermanent member," a foreign ministry official said.
Various factors have been taken into account in the selection of the 12 countries, including trade, tourism and the number of Koreans staying in those countries, officials said.
In case of the Marshall Islands, Korea is one of only eight host countries around the world in which the Pacific island country has a diplomatic mission.
Luxembourg and Suriname are two countries that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War.
The ministry said it plans to finalize the administrative and legislative process required for the opening of the new missions by the end of this month. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · November 7, 2023
11. NK's new holiday meant to enhance image of Kim's daughter: expert
We do love to speculate about succession and especially wonder about his daughter. I think we are being somewhat premature. I think this may be about enhancing Kim Jong Un's reputation and making him look like a "normal" and compassionate leader by presenting the image of a father and family man who takes his daughter to work like all regular people (note sarcasm).
NK's new holiday meant to enhance image of Kim's daughter: expert
The Korea Times · November 6, 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Ju-ae pose with top Navy officers during their visit to the reclusive nation's Navy command, Aug. 27, the day before the anniversary of the Navy's foundation. An expert said on Monday that the regime may seek to boost the daughter's image as his successor by designating a new holiday on Nov. 18, the day she made her first public appearance in 2022. Yonhap
Missile Industry Day designated on Nov. 18, the day of Ju-ae's first public appearance
By Jung Min-ho
Nov. 18 has been designated as a new holiday in North Korea to celebrate the anniversary of the successful test launch of its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in 2022. But the regime may have an ulterior motive for making the move, according to an analyst on Monday.
Speaking to The Korea Times, Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute, a think tank, said a hidden motive behind establishing Missile Industry Day is to boost the image of Kim Ju-ae, the first daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as his successor.
“On that day, Kim Ju-ae made her first public appearance with her father at the test site for the Hwasong-17 ICBM,” Cheong said. “But given that the Hwasong-17 is neither the first nor the latest ICBM of North Korea, the decision makes little sense.”
North Korea could have chosen another date, such as Nov. 29, the day Kim Jong-un declared the “completion” of its nuclear force in 2017 after the successful test launch of its Hwasong-15 ICBM, or it could have waited for the completion of the Hwasong-18, its first solid-fuel ICBM, he noted.
“North Korea chose that particular date mainly because its real aim is to boost her presence and build up her image as the next leader,” Cheong said. “Officially, the regime would celebrate the development of the Hwasong-17. But in doing so, it would show the public the file photos of Kim Ju-ae standing beside her father in front of the missile every year.”
To achieve that political objective, Kim Ju-ae will likely make another public appearance this month, possibly at North Korea’s launch site for its first military spy satellite, he added.
This assessment is in line with that of Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, who said the same day that “the possibility of Kim Ju-ae’s succession should not be ruled out.”
“She has made public appearances on 16 occasions, which appears to be the expression of the (regime’s) will for succession,” Kim told reporters, adding that the political intention may have been factored into the decision regarding the date of Missile Industry Day.
North Korea’s state media reported the previous day that the Supreme People’s Assembly made the decision to celebrate the country's status as “a world-class nuclear power and the strongest ICBM possessor.”
When Kim Jong-un's daughter was revealed to the world, many experts were skeptical of the possibility of her succession in a country where female political leaders are rare. But given how she has been portrayed in state media since then, some of them have become more open to that scenario.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, believes it still is too early to tell if she is the heir apparent. But he said the possibility is “evidently higher now than it was a year ago.”
However, he said the chief purpose of establishing the new holiday is to promote Kim Jong-un’s accomplishment. “This aims to cement his legacy as a leader and protector for his people, including future generations in North Korea,” Park noted.
At Monday’s press briefing, the Ministry of Unification said it is “deplorable” that Pyongyang created the holiday to celebrate the advancement of its weapons despite sanctions banning it.
“It is disappointing and deplorable that North Korea is celebrating an act that threatened the Republic of Korea as well as the international community, while blatantly violating U.N. Security Council resolutions banning its development of ballistic missiles," said Koo Byoung-sam, the ministry’s spokesman.
The Korea Times · November 6, 2023
12. UN's advice (to ROK)
Yes, it would be wise to heed he UN's advice. But we should also remind ourselves that the press in north Korea could never write an OpEd such as this for obvious reasons.
UN's advice
The Korea Times · November 7, 2023
A leader who cries for freedom must listen, follow
President Yoon Suk Yeol is a champion of freedom.
The president used the word freedom dozens of times in his inaugural speech and his address at the United Nations General Assembly. When Koreans think of their leader, they think of freedom.
However, a recent report from the global organization is quite dismaying. The U.N. Human Rights Committee released its fifth periodic report on Korea last Friday. Sadly, its observations and recommendations showed that the civil liberty situation in this country has regressed to 2015.
“The Korean government delegates’ responses were passive,” said Jose Manuel Santos Pais, a committee member. “Answers to many questions were virtually identical to those of the fourth review eight years ago.” The Portuguese official summed up the agency’s sentiments after analyzing Korea’s rights situations in various areas.
That also demonstrated how far Korea has to go before matching what Yoon preaches and his government practices.
Most noteworthy was the committee’s recommendations on the Itaewon disaster. It advised Seoul to launch an “independent and impartial body” to probe the incident and determine the truth; ensure that all officials responsible are brought to justice, including those in “senior positions,” and punished properly; and offer adequate reparation and memorization to victims and bereaved families. We can hardly agree more.
The government delegation reiterated its formal position that there were police probes and parliamentary audits, and it is supporting bereft families. However, no officers remain behind bars following the police’s internal investigation. No senior officials have been probed and prosecuted. All ranking officials, including the president, stayed away from a recent joint memorial, saying the event was partisan. Yoon and his aides should have attended the event, making it a bipartisan one.
More than a year has passed since the tragedy occurred, but the Board of Audit and Inspection has yet to launch a probe. Koreans cannot even rely on the judiciary branch to keep their right to life. Nothing showed this better than the Supreme Court’s recent acquittal of nine coastguards who failed to rescue victims during the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014.
The top court cited insufficient evidence to assume higher officials had known the victims might die based on their men’s reports. All this shows the establishment hasn’t moved one inch forward from nine years ago.
It also came as a rude awakening for Koreans, who did not know how to hold the state responsible for failing to respond to disasters. Will it be all right if they stop riding ferries or avoid crowded places altogether?
The former Park Geun-Hye administration went even further, reportedly obstructing the investigation and having the intelligence service track critics of the official response. In her recent interview with a vernacular daily, Park regretted failing to have more meetings with the bereaved families. We hope the incumbent leader will not repeat his predecessor’s regrets years from now.
However, few can say there will never be another Sewol or Itaewon tragedy in Korea.
Korea did not get good marks in other areas, either. The Human Rights Committee particularly pointed to labor rights and press freedom. That issue has long ceased to grab headlines in Korea. However, a recent episode revealed how Yoon regards people’s economic freedom.
At a meeting to discuss measures to improve the public's livelihood, Yoon cited examples of business owners hiring fewer than 50 workers. These managers complained about giving the same wages to migrant workers as Koreans and being punished for industrial accidents. They then requested the government to exit from ILO provisions regulating these matters. “The government will do its best to solve them quickly,” the president said.
The presidential office asked not to link the chief executive’s remarks to any immediate policy change. However, Yoon’s remarks revealed his concerns about people’s lives prioritizing business owners, not workers, and he discriminates against foreigners, running counter to the U.N. agency’s principle that bans all types of discrimination.
Yoon and his aides must read the committee's report carefully. That should be the start of narrowing the gap between their slogans and reality.
The Korea Times · November 7, 2023
13. The enduring strength of Korean culture By John Alderman Linton (Ihn Yo-han)
My wife (and I am too) is grateful to Dr. Linton for the medical care that he coordinated for her nearly two decades ago at Severance Hospital when the US military did not have the capability and they had to refer her for civilian treatment. He personally ensured my wife was properly cared for.
The enduring strength of Korean culture
The Korea Times · November 6, 2023
By John Alderman Linton
The story I’m going to share occurred about 20 years ago, during the presidency of Kim Dae-jung. I was part of a wide-ranging conversation at the Blue House when I perceived that President Kim was greatly troubled with the idea of lifting a ban on Japanese popular culture.
“Dr. Linton, do you think that Korea will be overwhelmed by Japanese culture if we let in Japanese culture?” President Kim asked me.
By way of response, I related the story of George W. Gilmore, a distinguished American professor who had been invited by Emperor Gojong to teach English to promising pupils during Korea’s enlightenment period, more than 120 years ago.
The American professor left a detailed account of his experiences in Korea, where he had lived for close to a decade. That account includes his observations about marriage in Korea, which began with the odd behavior of a scholar who had taught him the Korean language.
When the professor invited several guests to his house, the scholar showed up with his wife. As long as the other guests were present, the scholar didn’t so much as glance at his wife, but after the others had left, the scholar’s attitude underwent a sudden transformation.
At that point, the scholar drew his wife’s attention to the peculiar aspects of the Western-style house and gently explained Western culture to her with a loving smile. His genuine affection was evident in the way he looked at her.
The professor wondered why the scholar’s attitude toward his wife had suddenly changed after the other guests had left. But even more than that, he was baffled at the love the scholar had shown to his wife, considering their marriage had been arranged by family, rather than preceded by courtship.
The professor’s reflections on marriage can be briefly summarized as follows.
When a Korean boy came of marrying age in those days, his parents began discussing the matter with other families to find a good match, inquiring after the kindest and finest girls in other towns. After identifying a girl who would by all indications make a suitable bride, the boy’s father would drop in on the girl’s father, as if by chance.
The two fathers would repair to the men’s quarters and spend several hours playing janggi (Korean chess) and conversing about various topics, such as the weather, the government and the changing times.
Once the chessboard had been put away and the conversation was winding down, the boy’s father would rise from his seat and say, “I have a mediocre son I need to marry off. Do you happen to know of a girl he could marry?” He was fully aware, of course, that a potential bride was present in that very house.
If the girl’s father said he didn’t know of any such girls, there would be no match. But if he instead said, “It just so happens that I have a mediocre daughter of my own who I also need to marry off. Let’s see if we can make this happen,” then a marriage was in the offing.
With the fathers’ work complete, the two mothers began to hobnob, trading gifts of jewelry and consulting with a shaman to determine the ideal date for the wedding. Shockingly enough for the American professor, the bride and groom were never allowed to see each other until the day of their wedding and the beginning of their new life together.
In the West, of course, men and women made the decision about whether to get married after a period of courtship. The professor struggled to understand how people who first met on their wedding day could be as affectionate as his Korean teacher (even if that affection stayed under wraps as long as other people were around).
In the end, the professor concluded that Korea’s arranged marriages were so balanced and suitable because they joined not only the couple but also their families, which made them preferable to the Western practice of marrying for love. He suggested that the Korean approach might be more sophisticated and refined than that of the West.
After finishing my story, I advised the president to set his mind at ease about removing the barriers to Japanese popular culture. While some Japanese culture might make its way into Korea, I said, Korean culture was far too resilient for Japanese culture to ever become dominant here. I added that Korean culture was even stronger than Western culture, so there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
A year or so later, I was touring some historical sites in Istanbul ― at the crossroads of Eastern and Western culture ― when the intense heat drove me into a shop to find something to drink.
But when I tried to pay for my drink, there was no clerk in sight. I waited around, despite my parched throat, uncomfortable with the idea of drinking something I hadn’t purchased. Finally, I walked into the back of the store and asked if anyone was around.
A woman was sitting there engrossed in the television and completely ignoring me, much to my irritation. But when I saw she was watching a Korean historical drama dubbed into Turkish, I felt immense satisfaction.
It occurred to me that advising President Kim Dae-jung to throw open the doors to Japanese culture a year earlier had been the right call. That was when the Korean wave began sweeping over the world.
John Alderman Linton, an American-Korean whose Korean name is Ihn Yo-han, is a director at Yonsei University Severance Hospital International Health Care Center. He is currently the chairman of the innovation committee of the ruling People Power Party.
The Korea Times · November 6, 2023
14. Race issue enters Korean politics
Race issue enters Korean politics
koreaherald.com · by Son Ji-hyoung · November 7, 2023
Ex-ruling party chair's switch to English in addressing naturalized party reform head stirs debate over racism
By Son Ji-hyoung
Published : Nov. 7, 2023 - 15:01
Yohan Ihn, reform chief for the People Power Party, attends a conference where ex-party Chair Lee Jun-seok participated as a speaker, in Busan, Saturday. (Yonhap)
Naturalized South Korean doctor Yohan Ihn's appointment as reform head of the ruling People Power Party in October came as a surprise move in a country with a relatively short history of racial or ethnic diversity in politics.
Following his appointment, the 64-year-old Ihn, also known as John Linton, who is white and the descendant of US missionaries, has faced personal attacks over his ethnicity from political opponents who sought to undermine his power, overshadowing his reform agenda.
At the same time, the issue has opened up opportunities for counterattacks by Ihn's supporters over the bigoted nature of the attacks.
On Saturday, Ihn made a surprise appearance at a conference in Busan, where disgraced ex-People Power Party Chair Lee Jun-seok was scheduled to speak. Ihn attended the conference to meet Lee face-to-face, two days after his party membership suspension was lifted upon Ihn's recommendation.
Lee appeared to give Ihn the cold shoulder and, while onstage during the conference, switched to English and argued to Ihn that he thought it was not the right time to hold such a meeting.
Lee said that Ihn had "failed to meet the prerequisites" for an in-person meeting with him on the grounds that, he believes, Ihn represents the current leadership of the party over which President Yoon Suk Yeol holds sway. Lee further believes that the party leadership has not learned its lesson from its critical by-election loss in Seoul's Gangseo-gu in October.
"The reason I spoke to you in English is," Lee said in Korean, before switching back to English to continue: "You became one of us but you don't look like us as of now. Please be (on) our side, and speak in the same language as we do, and speak in the language of democracy with us, please. I said please."
Ihn later commented in Korean Monday, "Lee Jun-seok talked to me in English. I was very disappointed. ... It was hard being treated like a foreigner."
Despite Lee's claim that he wanted to convey his intentions accurately, Lee's use of English and reference to Ihn as "Mr. Linton" -- although Ihn, a doctor, was born and raised in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, and speaks Korean -- has sparked a debate over racism in the party.
Kang Sa-bin, a People Power Party spokesperson, criticized Lee on Saturday, accusing him of being "consumed by racial prejudice."
Peter Jongho Na, assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, noted on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, on Monday that Lee's switch to a foreign language to talk with Ihn resembles the "Go back to your own country" narrative that is often used to target immigrants.
"Lee's use of English and reference to Ihn as 'Mr. Linton' is obviously a form of racism," noted Na, writing in Korean, adding that Lee "needs to apologize publicly to Ihn."
The critical public reception of Ihn has not been hard to notice in Korea over the last few weeks. Citizens' Press Dandelion, a local citizens' media outlet, in October described Ihn as a "special Korean" who has a "lopsided and superficial understanding of Korea's history and politics."
The comments were made in criticism of Ihn's past remarks praising a controversial historical figure, the late former Gen. Paik Sun-yup, in a news report headlined, "Heavy burden on Yohan Ihn, who loves Korea but does not know much about it."
Experts said that political warfare has erupted over Ihn's background instead of his reform agenda itself.
"Whether (Lee) is making a racist statement or not, he is clearly using an 'ad hominem' pattern of speech and that should be recognized as illegitimate in political discourse," Mark Peterson, professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University, told The Korea Herald.
"(Lee's) choice of words make one believe it is personal, in addition to policy opinion," Peterson said.
John Lie, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, said Lee "appears to have been aggressively underscoring Ihn's non-Koreanness."
"There's a legacy of monoethnic nationalism (and attendant xenophobia) in contemporary South Korea," Lie added.
Ihn's reform agenda faces a bumpy road ahead, with his plans likely to be rejected as long as party members find it unfavorable to them.
For example, before his encounter with Lee, Ihn had urged veteran politicians, mainly in the pro-Yoon faction, not to vie for parliamentary seats in conservative strongholds like North and South Gyeongsang Provinces in the upcoming general election. Instead, he urged them either to take risks by competing in the Greater Seoul area or drop out.
Ihn had also been considering ways to bar a lawmaker from running for a fourth term or more while representing the same constituency, in an apparent bid to discourage veterans from being reelected for more than three terms in conservative strongholds. There are 31 People Power Party lawmakers who have served at least three terms.
"It seems to me that political rivals will find any excuse to discount an idea or person they don't like," Peterson said.
"It's unfortunate to see this kind of tactic, but if they think it will help them to win, they'll probably do it," he continued.
Ihn made his debut in politics in 2012 as a conservative by assuming a key role in the transition team of former President Park Geun-hye. Ihn is not the first naturalized Korean to step into the world of politics, however.
Jasmine Lee was the first lawmaker at the National Assembly affiliated with the conservative Saenuri Party, the precursor to the People Power Party. She was elected via the proportional representative system in 2012, in which a minority of lawmakers are elected according the percentage of votes their party gets in each election district.
Other naturalized Korean citizens, including Lee Charm and Judith Alegre Fernandez, have also been included on parties' proportional representation lists, but ultimately fell short of getting elected.
Foreign nationals -- even permanent residents -- are not permitted to vote or to get elected during a presidential or legislative election. According to Korea's Political Parties Act, they do not have the right to create or join a political party.
Permanent residents can vote in local elections, but beyond that, foreign nationals must become naturalized Korean citizens to take part in politics.
"South Korea is an aggressively globalizing country with a substantial minority of non-traditional South Korean citizens," Lie said. "Any effort to combat biases and to remedy them should be applauded."
koreaherald.com · by Son Ji-hyoung · November 7, 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
| 
