Quotes of the Day:

"The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth." 

– Garry Kasparov

"The key to successful influence operations lies in credibility, consistency, and patience."

– Robert Gates

"In the wars of the future, special operations forces will be critical to identifying and eliminating threats before they can reach our shores. Their ability to operate in the shadows and adapt to evolving threats makes them indispensable in the fight against terrorism and other unconventional adversaries." 

– Robert Gates

1. A harsh fate for a North Korean defector

2. North Korea tests liquid propellant rocket engine: research group

3. N. Korean minister says Pyongyang ready to cooperate with Iranian carmaker Saipa

4. N. Korea promotes maternity protection policy amid low birthrate

5. FM's China visit to offer chance for improved relations

6. N. Korea's premier calls for enhancing irrigation amid food shortages

7. U.S. Soldier Detained in Russia (was serving in South Korea)

8. Secure at Home, Putin Builds on the Alliances He Needs to Prevail in Ukraine

9. Top S. Korean envoy to Russia attends Putin's inauguration ceremony: Seoul official

10. N. Korean military creates new department to boost use of AI technology

11. N. Korean police crack down on non-socialist behavior on trains

12. Outlines of China-North Korea agreement on defector repatriation shared with N. Korean public

13. Remains of N. Korean workers who died in Russia returned to families

14. The Secret to Japanese and South Korean Innovation

1. A harsh fate for a North Korean defector

Excerpt:

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik has ordered the South Korean military to respond to North Korea’s provocations immediately and strongly. How about using former North Korean elites like Ryu to promote the morale and discipline of our soldiers? They will be the best assets to accurately tell the truth of the cruel regime in Pyongyang and convince the soldiers that they should defend our liberal democracy.

Monday

May 6, 2024

 dictionary + A - A 

Published: 06 May. 2024, 20:10

A harsh fate for a North Korean defector

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-05-06/opinion/columns/A-harsh-fate-for-a-North-Korean-defector/2040700

Chang Se-jeong

The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

Ryu Hyun-woo, a 51-year-old North Korean who defected to South Korea in September 2019, was the North’s acting ambassador to Kuwait. After studying Arabic at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies, Ryu joined the Foreign Ministry and worked for nearly 20 years. He is the son-in-law of Jon Il-chun, former deputy director of the Workers’ Party’s Finance and Accounting Department, who was nicknamed the “safe keeper of the Kim family.” Ryu defected to the South with his wife and daughter, but other family members were not able to join him.

In addition to the pain of separation and displacement, Ryu experienced extreme mental stress during the Moon Jae-in presidency. He blamed himself many times, wondering why he had decided to come to the South. But why would an elite diplomat, who had risked his life to defect to the South, resent the country?

His motivations were surprising. The North Korean embassy in Kuwait had to move to a cheaper location to save money as part of the Foreign Ministry’s efforts to downsize its diplomatic missions abroad. During the relocation process, portraits of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong-il went missing. After being summoned to Pyongyang for the incident, he decided to defect.

He browsed South Korean YouTube channels in preparation. A video about a former defector who had come to the South in 2000 while working as a trade attaché at the North Korean embassy in Thailand, was a great help. “If you go to South Korea, they will allow you to work according to your capabilities,” the former defector said in the video. It moved Ryu’s heart.

But after arriving in the South in September 2019, Ryu was in shock for a while. After three months of joint interrogation from intelligence authorities, he was released directly into society without spending even three months in Hanawon, an institution that helps North Korean defectors assimilate into the South.

Ryu and his family were assigned a 253-square-foot apartment and a police officer visited them once. That’s all. As Jon’s son-in-law, Ryu could’ve received security measures against possible terrorist attacks, but none materialized. The family received the resettlement subsidy required by law, but the money disappeared quickly as they had no jobs, and they could not make ends meet after rent and utility bills. Starting in February 2020, the family received a basic allowance for the poor, which was 1.1 million won ($808) per month at the time.

A generous church offered donations, but Ryu needed a way to feed his family. Jo Song-gil, North Korea’s acting ambassador to Italy who defected to the South in 2000, reportedly suffered similar hardships under the Moon administration. Ryu was told that a deliveryperson would earn good money during the Covid-19 pandemic, but he gave up on landing such a job due to the difficulty of securing a type 1 driver’s license.

Just a month after South Korean media first reported his defection in January 2021, Ryu booked an interview with CNN. “Because Kim Jong-un believes nuclear weapons are the key for survival, North Korea will never denuclearize,” he said, creating a stir. The Moon administration, which had kept a low profile toward the North, was apparently jolted by Ryu’s comments. A government worker, when the top spy agency was headed by Park Jie-won, proposed collaboration with Ryu. The defector rejected the offer, saying, “I won’t do anything with the Moon administration.” Ryu said he was enraged because the government had secretly repatriated two young North Korean fishermen who had escaped to the South and because the government had distorted facts after North Korea killed a South Korean fisheries official.

Ryu’s family lived on its basic allowance for over two and a half years until the summer of 2022, after President Yoon Suk Yeol took office, . After the administration change, he was able to work on projects at a state-run research institute and barely make ends meet. “I hope that more than 34,000 defectors can contribute to South Korea by utilizing their talents and capabilities,” he said.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik has ordered the South Korean military to respond to North Korea’s provocations immediately and strongly. How about using former North Korean elites like Ryu to promote the morale and discipline of our soldiers? They will be the best assets to accurately tell the truth of the cruel regime in Pyongyang and convince the soldiers that they should defend our liberal democracy.

2. North Korea tests liquid propellant rocket engine: research group

North Korea tests liquid propellant rocket engine: research group

It also boosts resources for satellite launching station.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/nkorea-engine-test-05062024235451.html

By Taejun Kang for RFA

2024.05.06

Taipei, Taiwan

A rocket carrying a spy satellite Malligyong-1 is prepared to be launched, as North Korean government claims, in a location given as North Gyeongsang Province, North Korea in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on Nov. 21, 2023.

 KCNA via Reuters

North Korea tested a liquid propellant rocket engine last month and bolstered construction resources and funding for its satellite launching station as it aims for more launches in defiance of U.N. sanctions, U.S.-based researchers said. 

Citing satellite images, the research project Beyond Parallel, said on Monday that the test was conducted at the Yunsong vertical engine test facility within the Sohae Satellite Launching Station during the fourth week of April 2024.

“This test is a clear indication that North Korea is continuing to pursue the development of liquid propellant rocket engine technology for both its ballistic missile and SLV [space launch vehicles] programs,” said the project, which is affiliated with the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“It is unknown if [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un was present for this test,” it said.

Beyond Parallel said an exceptional amount of construction resources and finances had been allocated to the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, underscoring North Korea’s “stated intention to field a diverse rocket and missile complex capable of supporting the development and launch of larger and more sophisticated SLV, satellites, and long-range ballistic missiles.”

North Korea conducted its first successful launch of a three-stage Chollima-1 SLV on Nov. 21 last year, at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, placing a Malligyong-1 “military reconnaissance satellite” into low Earth orbit.

“Work is now concentrated on constructing a large new processing/assembly building and an associated underground facility. Several smaller construction projects are also being pursued,” the research project said.

It added that any future launches of reconnaissance satellites or ballistic missiles from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station would “inevitably use a combination of domestically developed and covertly acquired ballistic missile technology,” which is banned by the United Nations. 

North Korea had announced that it planned to launch three more reconnaissance satellites this year. 

“If successful, a second reconnaissance satellite would provide an immensely improved capability to monitor locations within East Asia and the world,” the research project said.

Edited by Mike Firn. 

3. N. Korean minister says Pyongyang ready to cooperate with Iranian carmaker Saipa

Do they make trucks that can be modified into TELs? (tele-erector launcher)

Is exchanging ballistic missile technology the right description? Or is it that the north provided Iran with such technology?

Excerpts:

It is rare for a ranking North Korean official to visit Iran. The last such visit took place in 2019, when Pak Chol-min, then North Korean vice chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, visited Iran to discuss cooperation.

Having established diplomatic ties in 1973, Pyongyang and Tehran are known to have close ties while under international sanctions for their weapons programs. The countries have been suspected of exchanging ballistic missile parts and technology, especially during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.

(LEAD) N. Korean minister says Pyongyang ready to cooperate with Iranian carmaker Saipa | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · May 7, 2024

(ATTN: ADDS remarks, details in paras 6-9)

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's external economic relations minister has expressed intent for his country's cooperation with Iranian automaker Saipa during a recent rare trip to Tehran.

Yun Jong-ho made the remark as he visited a booth run by Iran's second-largest automaker at a trade show in Tehran during his 10-day stay in Iran, according to posts shared on the company's Instagram account on April 29.

"North Korea is ready to cooperate with Saipa Automotive Group," Yun was quoted as saying. "Given favorable bilateral political ties, the two countries could cooperate in the automotive industry."

But it remains unclear to what extent the two countries will be able to cooperate, with the passenger carmaking industry in North Korea known to have ground to a halt as the North focuses on manufacturing military vehicles.

North Korea took part in the inter-Korean carmaking joint venture Pyeonghwa Motors with the Unification Church foundation in South Korea in the early 2000s, but the foundation handed over management to the North in 2013.

This photo, taken from the Instagram account of Iranian carmaker Saipa on May 7, 2024, shows North Korean External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho in a Saipa car during a trade exhibition in Tehran last month. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

An official at South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs pointed out that economic cooperation, in the form of a joint venture or cooperative entity, would breach a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions resolution against the North's missile and nuclear programs.

"All forms of joint ventures, as well as the establishment, maintenance and operation of cooperative entities with North Korea, are banned under UNSC resolution," the official said.

"Against such a backdrop, it is highly likely that any meaningful cooperation with the North likely breaches the sanctions resolution," the official added, calling on all nations to abide by them.

Resolution 2375, which the UNSC adopted in response to the North's sixth nuclear test in September 2017, prohibits all joint ventures or cooperative entities and the expansion of existing joint ventures with North Korean entities or individuals.

It is rare for a ranking North Korean official to visit Iran. The last such visit took place in 2019, when Pak Chol-min, then North Korean vice chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, visited Iran to discuss cooperation.

Having established diplomatic ties in 1973, Pyongyang and Tehran are known to have close ties while under international sanctions for their weapons programs. The countries have been suspected of exchanging ballistic missile parts and technology, especially during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.

mlee@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · May 7, 2024

4. N. Korea promotes maternity protection policy amid low birthrate

N. Korea promotes maternity protection policy amid low birthrate | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · May 7, 2024

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Tuesday promoted its maternity protection policy amid its low birthrate, saying the country provides pregnant women with pre-and post-natal care services 11 times.

The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said the country held an event to mark the International Day of the Midwife at the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital the previous day.

In 1992, the International Confederation of Midwives designated May 5 as the International Day of the Midwife and has celebrated it annually.

Citing a participant in the event, the newspaper stressed the need to offer "good environment and conditions" to pregnant women, those who delivered a child, and their babies and highlighted midwives' role in protecting their health.

Naenara, a propaganda media outlet, also promoted the country's maternity protection policy, saying that ordinary pregnant women are receiving pre-natal care services six times and post-natal ones five times.

"Those considered in a high-risk group are taking antenatal care in an unlimited number of times for safe childbirths," it said, citing an official at the maternity hospital in Pyongyang.

North Korea is suffering from low childbirths, prompting its leader Kim Jong-un to call for measures to prevent a fall in the country's birthrate at the first national meeting of mothers in 11 years in December last year.

North Korea's total fertility rate -- the number of children that are expected to be born to a woman over her lifetime -- came to 1.8 in 2023, according to data posted on the website of the U.N. Population Fund.

North Korea's maternal mortality ratio, the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 newborns, came to 107 in 2020, down from 186 in 2000, according to the "Trends in Maternity Mortality 2000 to 2020" report estimated by the World Health Organization and other U.N. agencies.

The figure compared with eight for South Korea in 2020.

This image, captured from footage of North Korea's state-run Korean Central Television on Nov. 21, 2023, shows nurses caring for babies at the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital, as the country saw a total of three triplets being born in the year alone. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

sooyeon@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · May 7, 2024

5. FM's China visit to offer chance for improved relations

"Strategic ambiguity."

FM's China visit to offer chance for improved relations

The Korea Times · May 7, 2024

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul speaks during bilateral talks with his Australian counterpart in Melbourne, May 1, in this photo provided by Cho's office. Yonhap

China expert recommends Seoul adopt strategic ambiguity on Beijing's disputed territorial claims

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul’s visit to China, preceding an envisaged trilateral summit involving South Korea, Japan and China, is anticipated to represent a crucial opportunity for diplomatic progress between Seoul and Beijing following recent strains in bilateral relations, experts said, Tuesday.

According to the South Korean Embassy in China, it is coordinating the date of Cho’s upcoming visit to Beijing, which would mark the first visit by a South Korean foreign minister to the country in more than six years.

Experts said the meeting between Cho and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi would hopefully provide mutual assurance that both sides want to stabilize ties. The current relationship between China and South Korea is at its lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992.

“President Yoon Suk Yeol is counting on successfully hosting the three-way summit because he wants to tout his diplomatic achievements, especially as he is facing huge political setbacks after the ruling party’s defeat in the general elections last month. South Korea is trying to give assurance to China following the latter’s reluctance to confirm its participation in the leadership summit,” said Kim Heung-kyu, director of the U.S.-China Policy Institute at Ajou University.

However, he refrained from expressing optimism about the meeting between Cho and Wang.

“It remains to be seen how the Yoon administration will navigate Korea's relationship with China,” Kim said.

Kang Jun-young, a Chinese studies professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said Cho’s visit is aimed at fixing a date and agenda for the upcoming trilateral summit, which is expected to focus primarily on fostering economic and people-to-people exchanges.

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit in Bali, Indonesia, in this Nov. 15, 2022, photo. Yonhap

“Bilateral talks may also take place during the summit. I think Seoul-Beijing talks will largely be related to facilitating people-to-people exchanges as well as economy and trade, as geopolitical issues may hamper discussions,” Kang he said.

He pointed out that a recent diplomatic thaw between South Korea and Japan could obstruct Beijing’s bilateral ties with Seoul, but a trilateral summit is necessary for China, too.

“The summit will practically be Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s debut on the international stage,” he said.

The three countries are in talks to hold a high-level summit likely on May 26 or 27. Hosted by South Korea, the meeting is expected to bring together Yoon, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Li.

They said the North Korea issue could be addressed, but their talks would likely end without any progress being made.

“South Korea would want Beijing to play a role in making North Korea stop developing its nuclear weapons and missiles. However, China will maintain its regular stance of saying ‘We condemn North Korea’s nuclear test and we support maintaining peace and stability in the region,’” Kim said.

Kang said South Korea should refrain from commenting on the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as it can stoke anger in China.

“South Korea should remain ambiguous about its position on the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as it could negatively affect relations with China. China may be in ‘wait-and-see mode’ until the May 20 inauguration of new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te to see how neighboring countries react,” Kang said.

The Korea Times · May 7, 2024

6. N. Korea's premier calls for enhancing irrigation amid food shortages

The regime never addresses the real cause of food shortages. That is that the regime prioritizes nuclear weapons and missiles over the welfare of the Korean people in the north. You cannot eat nuclear weapons.

N. Korea's premier calls for enhancing irrigation amid food shortages | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · May 7, 2024

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's premier has inspected regional farms and called for enhancing an irrigation system to cope with droughts and heat waves, state media reported Tuesday, amid the country's chronic food shortages.

Premier Kim Tok-hun visited farms in the South Pyongan, North Hwanghae and Jagang provinces and checked the agricultural situation, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim called for "ramping up irrigation works qualitatively in a bid to timely deal with abnormal climate such as droughts and high temperature," the KCNA said.

The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said Tuesday that the very existence of the country relies on the success of farming as the rice planting season started.

"People should practically contribute to achieving the goal of grain production and increasing agricultural output," the newspaper said, praising the Korean People's Army for improving the situation on farms.

This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on May 7, 2024, shows North Korean Premier Kim Tok-hun (C) inspecting a farm in Singye County of the North Hwanghae Province. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

North Korea is known for chronic food shortages that have been apparently aggravated in recent years by global sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs, unfavorable weather and yearslong border lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The North's crop production is estimated to have increased 310,000 tons on-year to 4.82 million tons last year, according to South Korea's Rural Development Administration.

But it was still below 5.76 million tons, the annual amount that the North needs to feed its people, according to a projection by the Food and Agriculture Organization for the North.

Last month, Ri Chol-man, chief of the North's state agricultural commission, visited Russia amid deepening bilateral cooperation with Moscow and the North's food woes.

Ri said his country had sown wheat seeds, provided by Russian specialists earlier in April, in several counties near Pyongyang and northern provinces in order to determine the most suitable wheat varieties for cultivation in the North, the Russian Embassy in North Korea said on its Facebook page.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · May 7, 2024

7. U.S. Soldier Detained in Russia

Did he meet a Russian girlfriend online or in South Korea?

U.S. Soldier Detained in Russia

Arrest of unidentified Army staff sergeant follows charges of theft

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/u-s-soldier-detained-in-russia-ce8cbccb?mod=latest_headlines

By Gordon Lubold

Follow

Updated May 7, 2024 3:55 am ET

The Kremlin has denied that Russia is intentionally victimizing U.S. nationals. PHOTO: VLADIMIR SMIRNOV/ZUMA PRESS

WASHINGTON—A U.S. soldier was arrested in Russia after being charged with theft, the Pentagon said, the latest case of an American being detained by Russian authorities since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The soldier, an Army staff sergeant who hasn’t been identified, was arrested in the port city of Vladivostok in eastern Russia on Thursday, according to officials, allegedly after he stole from a woman there.

“The Army notified his family and the U.S. Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the soldier in Russia,” the Army said in a statement without disclosing his name. “Given the sensitivity of this matter, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”

The U.S. learned about the arrest after Russia notified the State Department, according to Army officials. NBC earlier reported the soldier’s arrest.

There are two Americans considered to be wrongfully detained in Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and Paul Whelan, a corporate security director and former U.S. Marine. Gershkovich was detained in 2023. He is being held on an allegation of espionage that he, the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny. Whelan was arrested in 2018 before the Ukraine invasion. Whelan and the U.S. government deny charges against him.

Alsu Kurmasheva, who holds dual U.S.-Russian citizenship and works for Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was taken into custody in October on a charge of failing to register as a foreign agent. Kurmasheva has denied wrongdoing. The White House has called for Kurmasheva’s release. State Department officials have said Russia has brought baseless charges against her. The U.S. is closely monitoring Kurmasheva’s detention but hasn’t reached a decision on whether she is being wrongfully detained, a State Department official has said. Several other U.S. citizens are also in Russian custody, awaiting trial or serving prison sentences.

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President Biden called on Russia to immediately release WSJ’s Evan Gershkovich and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva at the 2024 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty

The Kremlin has denied that Russia is intentionally victimizing U.S. nationals.

It wasn’t clear why the soldier who was on leave had traveled to Russia or if he had permission to go there. He had finished a deployment in South Korea and was expected to relocate to a base in Texas, officials said.

The State Department advises Americans not to travel to Russia, citing a variety of reasons including the unpredictable consequences of Russia’s war with Ukraine and “the potential for harassment and the singling out of U.S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials.” The advisory also warns of “the arbitrary enforcement of local law.”

U.S. military members who go on leave are generally expected to inform their superiors if they are traveling to a country considered a U.S. adversary or that is sensitive politically.

The case is reminiscent of the case of Travis King, an American soldier in South Korea who crossed the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea without permission in 2023.

King had faced punishment by the U.S. Army and was expected to board a flight home, then inexplicably left the airport and made a run for the border, where he entered North Korea. He was held for about two months in North Korea before being deported. There was no indication so far that the soldier detained in Russia faced any disciplinary action.Write to Gordon Lubold at gordon.lubold@wsj.com

Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the May 7, 2024, print edition as 'American Soldier Detained In Russia'.

8. Secure at Home, Putin Builds on the Alliances He Needs to Prevail in Ukraine

Excerpts:

Since the invasion two years ago, Putin has nurtured close relationships with a host of countries who share his wariness of the U.S. and the West. Iran has provided missiles and drones. North Korea has sent ammunition and other weapons. In Africa, Putin’s efforts to cast himself as a defender of traditional religious values have won him admirers across a slice of nations that used to look to the West, while the Russian leader’s media handlers played up the positive response he received during a tour to the Middle East in December, where he tried to drive a wedge between Arab nations and the U.S. over the war in Gaza.

None are closer than China, however. There are signs that their interests will align more tightly in the months and years to come after China’s President Xi Jinping earlier declared that their relationship would have “no limits.”

Secure at Home, Putin Builds on the Alliances He Needs to Prevail in Ukraine

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/putin-inauguration-russian-president-524636fe?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration took place nearly two months after his win in a carefully choreographed election. PHOTO: SERGEI BOBYLYOV/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

By Ann M. SimmonsFollow

May 7, 2024 6:39 am ET

Vladimir Putin was inaugurated as Russia’s president for another six-year term in lavish style at the Kremlin after sidelining or eliminating his rivals, and is now focused squarely on the war in Ukraine—and the alliances he needs to secure a victory.

Since the invasion two years ago, Putin has nurtured close relationships with a host of countries who share his wariness of the U.S. and the West. Iran has provided missiles and drones. North Korea has sent ammunition and other weapons. In Africa, Putin’s efforts to cast himself as a defender of traditional religious values have won him admirers across a slice of nations that used to look to the West, while the Russian leader’s media handlers played up the positive response he received during a tour to the Middle East in December, where he tried to drive a wedge between Arab nations and the U.S. over the war in Gaza.

None are closer than China, however. There are signs that their interests will align more tightly in the months and years to come after China’s President Xi Jinping earlier declared that their relationship would have “no limits.”

In his inauguration address at the Grand Kremlin Palace Tuesday, Putin returned to his familiar theme of creating what he called a multipolar world order, which could challenge the influence of the West. 

“We have been and will be open to strengthening good relations with all countries that see Russia as a reliable and honest partner. And this is truly the global majority,” he told the 2,600 or so guests gathered in the hall.

Soldiers march during the inauguration ceremony of Vladimir Putin as Russian President in the Kremlin. PHOTO: ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

“We do not refuse dialogue with Western states,” he continued. “The choice is theirs: Do they intend to continue trying to restrain the development of Russia, continue the policy of aggression, continuous pressure on our country for years, or look for a path to cooperation and peace.” 

Putin “obviously values the China relationship above all and the Chinese seem to be tilting toward Russia now more than ever before,” said Donald Jensen, a senior advisor for Russia and Europe at the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace.

Beijing played a crucial role in the early days of the war by providing a destination for Russian oil and gas after Western sanctions closed off markets in Europe and much of the rest of the world, giving Russia time to put its economy on a war footing. While China has refrained from supplying weapons and ammunition, it does provide crucial microelectronic components and other materials from routers to ball bearings that the U.S. says can be used to support Russia’s war effort. Putin has said he plans to visit China later this month, when he and Xi are expected to deepen their political and economic ties, countering what they have said are U.S. attempts to dominate the world order.

Xi is visiting Europe this week, where, among other things, he will visit Serbia to mark the 25^th anniversary of NATO’s bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, which killed three people and badly rattled China-U.S. relations. The U.S. apologized for the bombing, which it blamed on outdated maps, but China has persistently used the incident as an argument against NATO’s expansion and widening reach.

China’s President Xi Jinping, as part of a diplomatic tour of Europe, attended a state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron, at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Monday. PHOTO: NATHAN LAINE/BLOOMBERG NEWS

The Chinese leader is also traveling to Hungary to meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has forged close economic ties with Beijing and has consistently pushed back against EU initiatives to help Ukraine.

“China is a lifeline” for Russia, said Leon Aron, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. But while there is “no love for Iran or North Korea,” Putin needs those countries, too, he added

Besides its drones, U.S. officials have warned that Iran might soon send ballistic missiles to Moscow. After North Korea provided materiel, Russia blocked the United Nations from monitoring international sanctions against Pyongyang, questioning their value and proposed a time limit be imposed on them. Washington and its allies have said they believe Moscow’s move is aimed at preventing scrutiny of the growing arms pipeline between Pyongyang and Moscow, a claim Russian officials have dismissed.

“What you have is those four countries forming, indeed, an axis,” Jensen said. “It’s a partnership of convenience and it serves Moscow’s interests at the moment to keep them more or less together, despite their differences,” he added.

Putin also plans to hold talks with the leaders of Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau after the inauguration, in another indication of his focus on deepening Russia’s overseas relationships.

Guests gather before Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin. PHOTO: MIKHAIL SINITSYN/SPUTNIK/AFP

Putin can afford to place nearly all his attention on the war and these foreign alliances because there is very little in the way of domestic opposition anymore. An escalating wave of repression has silenced nearly all his critics. The best known, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison camp in February in circumstances that still haven’t been fully explained. Others have fled into exile or, like Vladimir Kara-Murza, are serving long prison terms.

Aron described Tuesday’s inauguration, which took place nearly two months after Putin’s win in a carefully choreographed election, as far removed from a democratically structured process. Rather, “it’s the final phase in self-coronation,” he said.

Political analysts expect Putin’s domestic concerns to center solely on perpetuating his increasingly centralized command. There is growing anticipation that an expected cabinet reshuffle will see some prominent figures edged out with die-hard loyalists moved closer to Putin’s inner circle. On Thursday, the country will commemorate Victory Day, Russia’s most important civic holiday, which commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, where observers expect Putin to make hayof Moscow’s recent battlefield gains after months of fighting.

His longer-term focus, though, will likely be on maintaining and building the relationships that have put Russia on the cusp of achieving a decisive edge in the war while undermining the U.S., which has its own presidential election due later this year.

Putin “will be spending most of his time thinking about the war and that includes thinking about foreign relations because Russia is not in a position economically to take on the entire West by itself,” said Brian Taylor, a professor of political science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Kate Vtorygina contributed to this article.

Write to Ann M. Simmons at ann.simmons@wsj.com

9. Top S. Korean envoy to Russia attends Putin's inauguration ceremony: Seoul official

Top S. Korean envoy to Russia attends Putin's inauguration ceremony: Seoul official

koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · May 7, 2024

By Yonhap

Published : May 7, 2024 - 20:09

Russian president-elect Vladimir Putin walks prior to his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 7, 2024. (AFP-Yonhap)

South Korean Ambassador to Russia Lee Do-hoon attended the inauguration ceremony of its leader Vladimir Putin, who began his fifth term as president on Tuesday (local time), Seoul officials said.

Lee's attendance at the event held at the Kremlin came in contrast to counterparts from South Korea's ally, the United States, and many Western countries that boycotted the event over its war in Ukraine. European Union nations were also divided over sending delegations to the inauguration, according to news reports.

The decision was made after careful consideration of various pending bilateral issues and the need to manage bilateral relations with Moscow, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

The government also reportedly took into account its responsibility to protect the rights and interests of South Korean nationals and businesses in Russia.

Whether to send a presidential letter to Putin for his reelection victory is still under consideration, a foreign ministry official said.

Bilateral ties between Seoul and Moscow have chilled since South Korea joined a U.S.-led move to impose sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has labeled South Korea as one of the unfriendly nations, calling for the withdrawal of a string of economic sanctions Seoul has imposed on Moscow.

Russia revealed early last month that a South Korean missionary has been held in the Lefortovo detention facility in Moscow since late February on espionage charges, a claim denied by the Christian aid group he works for.

koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · May 7, 2024

10. N. Korean military creates new department to boost use of AI technology

Hmmm... does this bear watching/? What will the nKPA be able to do with AI? Could it be a game changer?

I am playing around with a new AI tool I heard about this week at SOCOM, called perpellectity. 

So I asked this question: How should Kim Jong Un solve the north Korean food problems?

Here is the response:

Kim Jong Un should take the following steps to address North Korea's food crisis:

He must allow imports of food and humanitarian aid into the country. North Korea heavily relies on imports, especially from China, to meet its food needs. However, Kim has kept the borders closed citing COVID-19 concerns, severely restricting essential imports.

1

Kim should reform the country's agricultural policies and allow more market mechanisms. Experts suggest giving farmers more autonomy, incentives, and access to markets rather than reverting to a stricter socialist-style planned economy which has proven ineffective.

3

He needs to prioritize resources towards improving food production and distribution instead of diverting funds to nuclear weapons and the military. Currently, North Korea spends an estimated 25-30% of its GDP on defense while its people go hungry.

4

Kim must accept international food assistance and cooperate with UN agencies to ensure aid reaches the most vulnerable groups like children, elderly, and prisoners who face starvation.

1

Ultimately, denuclearization and improving relations with the international community is crucial for lifting sanctions and reviving trade to address the food shortages in the long run.

4

5

In summary, Kim must open borders for imports, reform agricultural policies, reallocate resources from military to food production, accept international aid, and pursue denuclearization - steps he has so far been unwilling to take comprehensively

I am not sure KJU would be happy with the response.

I also asked this: How will the north Korean People's Army exploit artificial intelligence?

Here is the response:

Based on the provided search results, the North Korean People's Army (KPA) is actively exploring ways to exploit artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies for both military and cyber warfare capabilities. Here are some key points:

Military Applications

• North Korea is developing an AI-based wargaming simulation program using machine learning to enhance its military preparedness and combat training.3 This allows them to simulate complex combat scenarios through techniques like transfer learning.
• They are applying AI/ML for sensitive military applications like wargaming and surveillance.3 This could help improve their intelligence gathering and targeting capabilities.
• The KPA views cyber operations as an asymmetric means to disrupt enemy command and control systems during combat operations.4 AI could potentially be leveraged to automate and scale up cyber attacks.

Cyber Warfare Exploitation

• North Korean hackers are employing generative AI tools to identify targets and facilitate cyber attacks against other nations.12 This allows more sophisticated social engineering and phishing attempts.
• The KPA likely sees cyber warfare as a force multiplier and is studying offensive and defensive cyber tactics.4 AI could automate certain cyber reconnaissance and attack methods.
• North Korea has large cyber units dedicated to asymmetric warfare.5 AI capabilities could enhance the scale and effectiveness of their cyber operations against adversaries.
• They may seek to exploit AI/ML expertise from international conferences and cloud computing services, raising risks of technology transfer violations.3

In summary, while still an emerging capability, the KPA is actively pursuing AI/ML for military simulations, cyber attacks, surveillance and as a broad asymmetric warfare tool to compensate for technological shortfalls against superior adversaries.

N. Korean military creates new department to boost use of AI technology - Daily NK English

The country's military leadership believes the development of systems using AI technology is crucial to boosting the speed and efficiency of electronic warfare responses in wartime, a source told Daily NK

By Jeong Tae Joo - May 7, 2024

dailynk.com · by Jeong Tae Joo · May 7, 2024

On Aug. 9, 2023, the Eighth Expanded Meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea was held at the Central Committee Headquarters, according to Rodong Sinmun. Kim unfolded a map of the South and instructed the military to "aggressively intensify war preparations." (Rodong Sinmun-News1)

North Korea’s military recently created a new department tasked with boosting the use of AI technology for national defense, Daily NK has learned.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in the North Korean military said Thursday that the General Staff Department’s Combat Training Bureau “created a new subordinate department called the Electronic Warfare and AI Operation Command in late March, which has been filled with capable technical people in the national defense and military sectors.”

According to the source, the new department’s operational goal is to improve the nation’s arsenal of modernized electronic weaponry and bolster the military’s operational command capacity using AI technology.

Accordingly, the department is working on developing and adopting AI-based electronic warfare support systems in cooperation with the defense ministry’s General Bureau of Equipment, the source said.

In fact, the department is drawing up plans to construct an AI-based electronic warfare support system by developing programs to automate data analysis and operational planning by late October. The goal is to use the system to improve the military’s operational command capacity by enabling fast, accurate decisions during war.

The General Staff Department believes the development of systems using AI technology is crucial to boosting the speed and efficiency of electronic warfare responses in wartime, the source said.

The North Korean military’s move appears geared to the growing importance of electronic warfare in modern combat. Essentially, the military is creating a basis to maximize its combat command capacity by developing programs that apply the latest technology.

“The General Staff Department is emphasizing that the new department will play an important role in national defense,” the source said. “Internally, the department predicts that if the program development goes as planned, the operational and combat command organizations of some electronic warfare units could change before the start of winter training in December.”

Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.

Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.

Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

dailynk.com · by Jeong Tae Joo · May 7, 2024

11. N. Korean police crack down on non-socialist behavior on trains

"hotbeds."  "impure recorded materials."

Excerpts;

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Thursday that the country’s national police agency, the Ministry of Social Security, has been conducting raids on all trains entering Pyongyang since Apr. 15 on the grounds that trains are a hotbed for the various kinds of non-socialist behavior.

According to the source, the ministry believes that “impure recorded materials” from other countries are one of the causes of capitalist culture making inroads in the public, along with sudden changes in the ideological mindset of young people and university students. As such, the ministry has been seeking ways to eliminate those videos.

N. Korean police crack down on non-socialist behavior on trains - Daily NK English

“The most impure video recordings were found in trains bound for Pyongyang that had stopped at Sinsongchon Station,” a source told Daily NK, referring to a station in South Pyongan Province

By Jong So Yong - May 7, 2024

dailynk.com · by Jong So Yong · May 7, 2024

FILE PHOTO: A freight train pictured in Pyongyang (Daily NK)

The North Korean police have been deploying special teams to crackdown on illegal behavior on trains traveling between Pyongyang and other cities. In particular, the authorities believe that the trains are a conduit for videos from other countries.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Thursday that the country’s national police agency, the Ministry of Social Security, has been conducting raids on all trains entering Pyongyang since Apr. 15 on the grounds that trains are a hotbed for the various kinds of non-socialist behavior.

According to the source, the ministry believes that “impure recorded materials” from other countries are one of the causes of capitalist culture making inroads in the public, along with sudden changes in the ideological mindset of young people and university students. As such, the ministry has been seeking ways to eliminate those videos.

In the ministry’s view, the reason that foreign visual content continues to spread in the society rests in the government’s failure to prevent their circulation. That gave the ministry the idea of searching the trains, which are often used to transport the videos, the source said.

“The police agency sent special teams to all trains traveling on the Pyongyang-Hyesan and Pyongyang-Onsong lines that searched for any impure video recordings that they might be transporting. The agents found illegal merchandise, SD cards containing large numbers of impure video recordings, and illegal publications and printed materials being transported in the baggage and cargo compartments of several trains,” the source said.

“The most impure video recordings were found in trains bound for Pyongyang that had stopped at Sinsongchon Station,” the source added, referring to a train station in Songchon County, South Pyongan Province.

Police probe corruption within railway agencies

The ministry suspects that the only way the trains could have hosted such illegal activities was if the offenders were being aided and abetted by the Pyongyang Rolling Stock Depot and the Pyongyang Railroad Safety Department, and it has launched an investigation to collect evidence to back up those vague suspicions. However, the two agencies are attempting to evade responsibility by claiming they had nothing to do with the activities in question.

The ministry informed the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in writing that the its discovery of foreign videos being transported on trains reveals the extent of illegal activities on the national railroad. The ministry argued that there is an urgent need for more transparency and accountability at the agencies involved.

“The Ministry of Social Security requested permission to closely monitor internal affairs and carry out regular audits [at the agencies] to prevent similar incidents. It also asked for permission to investigate any illegal activities that may turn up and to harshly discipline the guilty parties,” the source said.

Article 7 of the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act, which North Korea enacted in late 2020, outlines the principles for punishing offenders as follows. “When an individual commits the act of importing, viewing or circulating reactionary ideology and culture, the offender will be subjected to harsh legal sanctions up to and including execution, depending on the severity of the act, and regardless of the offender’s station in society or the reasons for their behavior.”

Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.

Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.

Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

dailynk.com · by Jong So Yong · May 7, 2024

12. Outlines of China-North Korea agreement on defector repatriation shared with N. Korean public

Another indicator that the regime is having difficulties controlling the people. Hopefully the human rights advocates at the hUN can use this information to expose Chinese complicity in north Korean human rights abuses.

Outlines of China-North Korea agreement on defector repatriation shared with N. Korean public - Daily NK English

dailynk.com · by Jong So Yong · May 7, 2024

A marker delineating the border between China and North Korea (Wikimedia Commons)

North Hamgyong Province’s state security and police departments have been instructed by the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea to inform residents of the border region about North Korea and China’s agreement regarding the repatriation of defectors.

“State security and police departments in the province were sent information at the end of April about the Central Committee’s close deliberations with the Chinese government and China’s agreement to repatriate people who crossed the border illegally and are currently in Chinese prisons,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The Central Committee ordered state security agents and police officers at various levels to quickly visit organizations, companies and neighborhood watch units in the border region and inform them about the discussion about repatriating illegal border crossers and about China’s decision. This is an overt and public attempt to terrify people living near the border,” the source added.

According to the source, the main point of the document sent by the Central Committee is that China has agreed to step up efforts to apprehend and repatriate everyone who crosses the border illegally. The Central Committee also said in the document that China’s measures will leave defectors with nowhere to turn and make it even harder for them to reach South Korea.

The document when on to say that any defectors who are repatriated will be treated the same, whether they had intended to stay in China or to continue on to another country, such as South Korea. It added that there will be consequences for any family members left behind in the North.

“The objective behind revealing this information to the public is to prevent defections by pressuring anyone who had been considering that course of action to abandon the idea. The Central Committee stressed that its goal is to prevent defectors from passing through China to other countries, including South Korea, and in so doing to preserve national security,” the source said.

After this information was shared with residents of the border region in North Hamgyong Province, locals have been expressing not only fear, but also disappointment and frustration about the increasing difficulty and danger of defecting, the source said.

“Economic conditions are as tough as they were during the ‘Arduous March,’ and the non-tax burdens are ten times worse than they used to be. People wish they had a way to escape the state’s harassment, but the border is being policed ever more heavily, which has caused an atmosphere of terror. Many people find all this very disturbing,” the source said.

Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.

Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.

Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

dailynk.com · by Jong So Yong · May 7, 2024

13. Remains of N. Korean workers who died in Russia returned to families

Remains of N. Korean workers who died in Russia returned to families - Daily NK English

“The highest number of deaths occurred in the logging camps of Tynda, Amur Oblast, so repatriations from there continued until recently,” a source told Daily NK

By Jeong Tae Joo - May 7, 2024

dailynk.com · by Jeong Tae Joo · May 7, 2024

North Korean state media reported on Sept. 14 that Kim Jong Un met with Vladmir Putin the previous day. (Rodong Sinmun-News1)

The remains of North Korean laborers who died while working in the Russian cities of Krasnoyarsk and Tynda were recently turned over to their bereaved relatives in North Korea, Daily NK has learned.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in North Korea said Tuesday that the “remains of workers who died in Russia during the four-year COVID-19 pandemic but could not be returned to their families have been sent back over the last year, with the repatriations coming to an end in late April.” He added, “The families find solace amid great sadness in safely receiving the remains after a long wait.”

Efforts to repatriate the remains of the workers from Russia had been quietly ongoing since early last year, he added.

Most of the deceased workers died in Russia from construction or logging accidents or disease. The remains could not return home due to North Korea’s closure of the border to block COVID-19, so they were stored at the workers’ businesses or workplaces.

Then, last year, North Korea began regular repatriations of remains every couple of months using flights and trains.

“The highest number of deaths occurred in the logging camps of Tynda, Amur Oblast, so repatriations from there continued until recently,” the source said.

Logging considered most dangerous type of work

In response, some workers now preparing to be sent to Russia and their relatives believe logging is several times more dangerous than construction work, and an increasing number of workers wish to avoid being sent to logging camps.

In response to this sentiment, North Korean authorities are intensifying crackdowns on the public to prevent unnecessary feelings of insecurity or fear caused by the spread of rumors concerning the repatriation of remains.

Meanwhile, the authorities are trying to put soon-to-be dispatched workers at ease by telling them they will take prompt measures to ensure their safety in cooperation with their Russian counterparts.

“In fact, after the latest set of remains were repatriated, the government placed emphasis through workplaces in Russia about the improvement of work and safety conditions at Russian logging camps and the good management and supervision of workers’ health,” the source said. “[Nonetheless], the latest repatriations of remains are becoming an opportunity to spotlight once again that logging is more dangerous than construction work overseas.”

Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.

Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.

Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

dailynk.com · by Jeong Tae Joo · May 7, 2024

14. The Secret to Japanese and South Korean Innovation

Excerpts:

Startup capitalism’s ability to boost technological supremacy therefore gives a country a competitive edge over friends and foes alike. Government support allows startups and especially big conglomerates with large financial and human resources to take a long-term approach toward economic planning, aware that funding will continue even if there are short-term economic disruptions such as a financial crisis or a pandemic. This approach also means that the government will underpin research and firms moving into new sectors where success isn’t guaranteed, a risk that often stifles private-sector innovation in other countries.

As a case in point, South Korea and Japan are world leaders in energy-efficient shipping because their governments bet on the long-term importance of this sector, while the United States and Europe gave up on a competitive shipping industry decades ago. In late February, U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro toured Japanese and Korean shipyards, promoting the collaboration taking place with their American counterparts to revive the U.S. shipbuilding and maintenance industry. South Korea and Japan produce a large share of the world’s most technologically advanced vessels, such as the ships that carry liquefied natural gas and ammonia. Their strength in this sector is at least partly driven by government-conglomerate-startup cooperation. In the case of South Korea, startups developing new technologies are paired with large conglomerates via a network of government-funded Creative Economy Innovation Centers, where they can gain access to mentoring, space, and funding while sharing their ideas and products. The center in Ulsan focuses on shipbuilding specifically, with Hyundai Heavy Industries as the anchor partner. Meanwhile, graduates from the national university in Busan, a traditional feeder of engineers for the shipping industry, have close links with shipbuilding conglomerates throughout their studies, even if they want to develop their own projects and launch their own firms. As for Japan, the government recently announced plans to promote startup-large incumbent collaboration to create a national champion for next-generation shipbuilding. The United States does not have similar programs that encourage specialized training cohorts at specific universities.

The Secret to Japanese and South Korean Innovation

How Tokyo and Seoul Partner With Startups—and What Silicon Valley Can Learn

By Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Robyn Klingler-Vidra

May 7, 2024

Foreign Affairs · by Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Robyn Klingler-Vidra · May 7, 2024

Japan and South Korea are innovation and tech powerhouses. They are home to leading firms in many of the high-tech sectors powering global economic growth and usually rank near the top of innovation indexes. To get to where they are today, both countries harnessed the combined power of their public and private sectors for decades. The innovation strategies they used challenge the model mythologized by Silicon Valley: the individual genius who comes up with a brilliant idea and receives funding from venture capitalists acting in a private capacity. In the United States, the perception is that startups should work by themselves, often with the aim of disrupting existing companies and industries.

Despite rhetorical claims about their goals to build their own Silicon Valleys, the governments and firms of Japan and South Korea believe that cooperation among new startups and existing conglomerates is crucial to boosting economic competitiveness, especially in frontier technologies, such as semiconductors, robotics, energy-efficient shipping, and electric batteries. Japan and South Korea have created an open innovation ecosystem in which government agencies, large firms, and smaller startups all support one another.

As competition between the United States and China heats up, the model pursued by Seoul and Tokyo suggests that startups are central to a competitive economy, but their potential is limited if they are working on their own. A national economy benefits more when startups work with government and existing big companies. Today, the United States is not the paradise for maverick entrepreneurs depicted in television shows and Hollywood movies. Instead, it already has traces of the approach found in Japan and South Korea. American policymakers should acknowledge this reality and lean into it to increase the country’s economic and technological competitiveness.

CHANGE FROM WITHIN

Japan and South Korea publicly embrace the sentiment that startups are open innovation resources for large conglomerates. Their national policies foster smaller, more agile firms and encourage them to work with their bigger peers to support the innovativeness of the country as a whole. Startups inject new ideas, talent, and ways of working into large Japanese and Korean firms so that they can compete with American, Chinese, and European rivals. The director of a startup support center funded by the Korean government put it to us this way: the government wants to inject “innovative DNA” into the country’s chaebol, or large industrial conglomerates, so that the countries’ legacy firms do not go the way of Motorola or Nokia, two tech companies that were known for their earlier pathbreaking products but lost their innovation mojo along the way and got left behind.

Take the case of Korea’s K-Startup Grand Challenge, a government program providing support for startups to become internationally competitive. Launched by the conservative government of Park Geun-hye in 2016, the program was continued by the liberal Moon Jae-in and continues to thrive today under the administration of independent-turned-conservative Yoon Suk-yeol. Funded and managed by the government and based at Pangyo Techno Valley—South Korea’s version of Silicon Valley, in the Seoul metropolis—the program brings together startups from across the world competing for the chance to join an accelerator in South Korea. This program serves as a springboard for these firms to expand in South Korea and across Asia thanks to a combination of funding, mentorship, peer learning, office space, and connections with the chaebol. A crucial metric of the success of the program is to identify licensing and partnership agreements with the country’s chaebol, which are also involved in mentoring. That is, government largess is contingent on startups partnering with Samsung, Hyundai, LG, or any other of the big South Korean firms.

Japan and South Korea don’t see the point of undercutting their existing large companies.

Japan launched a nearly identical program in 2018. Under the J-Startup Initiative, Japan’s postwar conglomerates, known as keiretsu, partner with the country’s main banks to fund and support potential “unicorns”—privately held startups that achieve a valuation of $1 billion. The program was not construed as a vehicle for startups to displace incumbents but to encourage them to work hand in hand. Six years later and after two changes in government, the initiative continues with the same ethos of large conglomerates providing support to new startups. Its initial goal was to help build 100 unicorns by 2023. The J-Startup Initiative has yet to achieve this, although Japan has produced 20 unicorns during that time (as well as what are called “hidden unicorns,” companies that achieve valuations of more than $1 billion by way of acquisition). In 2022, the government of Fumio Kishida announced its goal to foster 100 new unicorns by 2027 and spark the creation of 10,000 startups during that time.

These are just two examples of the many ways in which Seoul and Tokyo bring together government, large legacy firms, and startups to promote innovation and economic growth. Similar startup initiatives in the United States, such as Small Business Innovation Research, invest in startups directly but without involving large firms as collaborators, judges, or mentors. Silicon Valley promotes stories of David-sized startups defeating Goliath-like conglomerates, but Japan and South Korea don’t see the point of excluding, or even undercutting, their existing large companies. In this way, David works with (or even for) Goliath, fueling national capabilities at the world’s technological frontier.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’

Most people think of Silicon Valley as a land where the invisible hand of the market ensures the survival of the fittest: startups steered by young minds with brilliant ideas working out of garages while getting their funding from venture capitalists to develop the next big thing. These entrepreneurs will one day become the next Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, or Mark Zuckerberg. Central to the myth of Silicon Valley is the idea that upstart entrepreneurs will create new companies that will replace today’s big firms, thus disrupting industries when not creating entirely new ones. As PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel’s Zero to One book title suggests, many aspiring tech founders understand their mission as “building the future.” On their minds are Microsoft and Apple and the personal computer in the 1980s or Tesla and electric vehicles today. Those without the imagination to come up with the next world-changing product fear they won’t receive funding or, worse, will lose millions, if not billions, of dollars and will have to leave Silicon Valley to pursue other lines of work.

Although this concept of Silicon Valley is based on truth, it does not exactly reflect reality. Today, the U.S. technology sector is dominated by only a handful of companies that make some of the world’s most valuable products. These big firms, such as Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft, also act as technology platforms for today’s startups, hosting research campuses and running accelerators -- programs for coaching and mentoring fledgling startups. They are also the key acquirers of new inventions. In the past, these young companies forced Altavista or Packard Bell into bankruptcy. Now, they are seeking to guard against others who could put them out of business. The big tech firms thwart any threat posed by co-opting startups as users of their technologies, as recipients of their investment, and as mentees.

A ship at Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, May 2015

Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters

This integration of startups into industrial dynamics is part of what we call “startup capitalism,” an economic model in which startups contribute to employment, innovation, and growth. Startup capitalism is increasingly ubiquitous globally, with policymakers around the world striving to create their own high-tech cluster, often signaled by the use of a local Silicon Valley (such as the Chilecon Valley in Santiago or Silicon Roundabout in London). Though startups are often hailed as crucial innovation agents, as the reality of today’s Silicon Valley shows, they are more often open innovation tools for incumbent firms to boost their own competitiveness. Big firms invest in new potential unicorns that, in turn, leverage the distribution channels and talent pools of the big firms.

Despite these changes to how Silicon Valley functions, U.S. policy remains in an antagonistic relationship with today’s tech giants. On the one hand, small startups continue to be celebrated, while large firms, especially technology firms, are summoned to congressional hearings for aggressive questioning, and they are increasingly the targets of antitrust lawsuits. On the other hand, the U.S. government is a huge technology customer and is actively limiting rival countries’ access to the country’s cutting-edge technologies, especially semiconductors. The U.S. government tries to keep Big Tech in check but also understands its importance to U.S. national security. Government support is not given, for fear of being seen as wasting taxpayers’ money on companies that are already among the world’s most valuable.

American policy therefore misses out on the power that an open innovation model could bring. U.S. policymakers do not actively engage their country’s large firms as partners in startup policy. This helps explain why the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act are spending billions of dollars in grants and rebates to attract foreign semiconductor, electric battery, and electric car firms to the United States. Simply put, American firms cannot compete with their foreign peers in some areas of hardware and manufacturing that demand long-term thinking and huge upfront investment. The governments of Japan and South Korea have not made this same mistake.

INNOVATE OR DIE

Japanese and South Korean policymakers realized much earlier the role startups can play in their countries’ national security strategies. Startups fuel Japan’s and South Korea’s prowess in technologies that are critical to national security—such as semiconductors, AI, and advanced materials. Defense contractors are no longer the main drivers behind a country’s competitive edge. Instead, getting ahead also hinges on national supplies of cutting-edge technologies and the inventive people behind them. The United States’ consideration of banning or forcing the sale of TikTok—and China’s opposition to the move—underscores the centrality of technology competition today. Although full-blown war between the superpowers remains unlikely, the United States and China know they can inflict pain on each other when it comes to achieving technological superiority.

Startup capitalism’s ability to boost technological supremacy therefore gives a country a competitive edge over friends and foes alike. Government support allows startups and especially big conglomerates with large financial and human resources to take a long-term approach toward economic planning, aware that funding will continue even if there are short-term economic disruptions such as a financial crisis or a pandemic. This approach also means that the government will underpin research and firms moving into new sectors where success isn’t guaranteed, a risk that often stifles private-sector innovation in other countries.

As a case in point, South Korea and Japan are world leaders in energy-efficient shipping because their governments bet on the long-term importance of this sector, while the United States and Europe gave up on a competitive shipping industry decades ago. In late February, U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro toured Japanese and Korean shipyards, promoting the collaboration taking place with their American counterparts to revive the U.S. shipbuilding and maintenance industry. South Korea and Japan produce a large share of the world’s most technologically advanced vessels, such as the ships that carry liquefied natural gas and ammonia. Their strength in this sector is at least partly driven by government-conglomerate-startup cooperation. In the case of South Korea, startups developing new technologies are paired with large conglomerates via a network of government-funded Creative Economy Innovation Centers, where they can gain access to mentoring, space, and funding while sharing their ideas and products. The center in Ulsan focuses on shipbuilding specifically, with Hyundai Heavy Industries as the anchor partner. Meanwhile, graduates from the national university in Busan, a traditional feeder of engineers for the shipping industry, have close links with shipbuilding conglomerates throughout their studies, even if they want to develop their own projects and launch their own firms. As for Japan, the government recently announced plans to promote startup-large incumbent collaboration to create a national champion for next-generation shipbuilding. The United States does not have similar programs that encourage specialized training cohorts at specific universities.

EMBRACE REALITY

U.S. policymakers need to help facilitate this marriage between big firms and new startups. Because, although appealing, the Silicon Valley myth is, well, a myth. Startups are already providing solutions to problems that keep incumbent firms up at night rather than posing an existential threat to them. The origin story of Silicon Valley was also never fully true. The government has long been a key protagonist in Silicon Valley’s success. Billions of dollars in federal and state funding—including Small Business Innovation Research—were crucial in developing Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as early as the 1950s. Government largess in support of American entrepreneurs has continued over the decades. As a case in point, Tesla has dramatically benefited from federal tax credits offered consumers for the purchase of electric cars. It is estimated that the firm has received almost $3 billion in state and local subsidies and incentives since its launch. And last year, when Silicon Valley Bank—favored by startups—was about to go bust, the U.S. Treasury Department, the U.S. Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, came to its customers’ rescue.

Similar to Japan and South Korea, the United States has a fairly high industrial concentration. This means that different industries are dominated by a small number of large firms. This truth is widely accepted in Japan and South Korea, even if politicians and the public sometimes decry this state of affairs. The United States should also accept reality and embrace the value of large firms, particularly in high-tech sectors. As Robert Atkinson and Michael Lind argued in their 2018 book, Big Is Beautiful, the U.S. government should accept that big companies are driving American prosperity. Although antitrust oversight is necessary, market-power concerns should not preclude cooperation with big firms when beneficial for the U.S. economy, innovation, and national security. The relationship between the U.S. government and its leading tech firms is now largely one of apprehension and mistrust. And there are good reasons for this, such as threats to the health of the country’s democracy or the harm that tech can do to children and teenagers. Government regulators and lawmakers should rightly hold monopolistic and competition-busting firms and businesspeople to account.

Silicon Valley promotes stories of David-sized startups defeating Goliath-like conglomerates.

At the same time, there should be a more open approach toward the role of large firms in the modern startup-fueled economy. To begin with, U.S. policymakers should be unafraid of pairing innovative startups with large incumbents. After all, startups can have more innovative thinking, and many entrepreneurs welcome rather than reject stronger ties with big firms from which they feel they can learn and partner to achieve scale. This could take the form of government-sponsored competitions in which successful startup applicants, whether American or foreign, are paired with preselected big firms willing to support their growth. The government would act as the matchmaker and also provide the funding for startups to be able to work together with their larger peers. The U.S. government should also consider launching a program to provide long-term support for startups in sectors that may be crucial to the country’s future growth and prosperity—but which could prove to be a bust. Take the case of robotics. A U.S. government body could set up a ten-to-20-year strategy to support startups that may or may not produce the next generation of, say, humanoid robots. The bet may fail, but if successful, it could make the United States one of the leaders in this industry for decades to come. This strategy should not avoid working with big firms already focusing on this sector but rather welcome them as partners with government and startups themselves. And the Biden government seems to be moving in this direction. The recently launched CHIPS Women in Construction Framework counts Intel and Micron as anchor partners in U.S. efforts to boost the number of women in the construction sector, with special focus on the semiconductor industry.

The Silicon Valley myth fuels the idea that large firms should not be viewed as sources for innovation and therefore should not work with government and startups. The United States, as a result, is inhibiting its own productive potential. It supports startups directly while challenging its own lead firms and investing billions in foreign companies to operate in the United States. In Japan and South Korea, the cooperation between startups and large firms is openly pursued because the national benefits are apparent to all.

• RAMON PACHECO PARDO is Professor of International Relations at King’s College London and the KF-VUB Korea Chair at Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
• ROBYN KLINGLER-VIDRA is Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship and Sustainability at King’s Business School.
• They are the authors of the forthcoming book Startup Capitalism: Northeast Asia’s Startup-Fueled Innovation Strategies.

Foreign Affairs · by Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Robyn Klingler-Vidra · May 7, 2024

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