Quotes of the Day:
"The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom."
– John Locke
"I despise people who go to the gutter on either the right or the left and hurl rocks at those in the center."
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being."
– Jackie Robinson
1. South Korea Arrests President on Second Attempt. It Took 1,000 Police.
2. The Arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol
3. Impeached Yoon detained over failed martial law declaration
4. Probe team set to leave no stone unturned in interrogation of Yoon over martial law bid
5. North Korean Troops Become Cannon Fodder for Russia
6. Wagner Soldiers ‘Are Just Children’ Compared to North Korean Troops – Ukrainian Commander
7. South Korea Detains Its President, but Crisis Is Far From Over
8. South Korea’s impeached president detained over martial law gambit
9. South Korea, Japan, US hold air drills following North’s missile tests
10. U.S. stands firm in support for Koreans, appreciates Korea's efforts to act in accordance with Constitution: White House
11. President Yoon to be kept in solitary at Seoul Detention Center
12. North Korea in 2025: Make Money Not War
13. South Korea in no political condition to deal with Trump
14. U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee: “North Korea is a nuclear state”… Giving up on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula?
15. Bush Center proposes 'comprehensive reorganization of North Korea policy centered on human rights'
1. South Korea Arrests President on Second Attempt. It Took 1,000 Police.
See org chart and photos at the link.
I have seen other reports that say President Yoon's support is 40% while the Minjoo party is 38%.
A useful summary:
Special investigators now have 48 hours to request a formal arrest warrant that would keep Yoon in detention as the criminal investigation against him unfolds. If a judge declines, Yoon would walk free.
Yoon, by South Korean law, has the right not to answer questions from investigators, legal experts say. Insurrection is one of the few crimes that fall outside of South Korea’s presidential immunity. Investigators say they have prepared roughly 200 pages of questions. During the first hours of questioning, Yoon refused to testify, investigators said.
South Korea’s leadership vacuum has paralyzed Seoul at a critical moment, with President-elect Donald Trump taking office on Jan. 20, North Korea test-firing missiles and the country reeling from a plane crash that killed 179 people.
The country is now led by the No. 3 official in line for the presidency, following the impeachments last month of Yoon and his successor, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was criticized for not making judicial appointments to the court reviewing Yoon’s impeachment.
The partisan sparring, impeachments and failure of the initial arrest attempt have stirred even more turmoil in a country that was rocked by Yoon’s stunning martial-law decree on Dec. 3. In the immediate aftermath, nearly half of South Koreans said they backed the opposition Democratic Party, while support for Yoon’s conservatives tumbled to 24%, according to Gallup Korea polling.
Now the Democratic Party has the approval of just 36% of South Koreans, falling by 12 percentage points, while the conservatives surged 10 percentage points to 34%, Gallup says. That is the highest level of support for Yoon’s People Power Party since last summer.
South Korea Arrests President on Second Attempt. It Took 1,000 Police.
Authorities detained the impeached Yoon Suk Yeol, a move some say prolongs divisions that have racked South Korea since he declared martial law in December
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/south-koreas-impeached-president-is-arrested-over-martial-law-move-9947a51c?mod=Searchresults_pos2&page=1
By Dasl Yoon
Follow, Soobin Kim and Timothy W. Martin
Follow | Photographs by Tim Franco for WSJ
Updated Jan. 15, 2025 3:30 am ET
SEOUL—The arrest of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ends a dayslong standoff with the country’s investigators. But the move to detain him has proved deeply divisive in a country still reckoning with last month’s short-lived declaration of martial law.
Yoon had been holed up at South Korea’s fortified presidential residence in a wealthy riverside neighborhood in central Seoul. He was protected by the country’s Secret Service, which has said it felt legally obligated to shield the 64-year-old conservative leader from arrest.
On Jan. 3, some 200 of Yoon’s security team repelled an attempt to detain him for questioning regarding possible allegations of insurrection and other charges. The drama surrounding that unsuccessful try catalyzed support for the ruling conservatives and drove down the popularity of the opposition Democratic Party, which has pushed for Yoon’s arrest.
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South Korean authorities arrested and detained the country’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, for questioning over his short-lived martial-law declaration. Yoon is being investigated on possible allegations of insurrection. Photo: Jean Chung/Bloomberg News
The second attempt to arrest the president was different. Unlike the rushed initial try, special investigators spent days planning with police. Yoon’s security forces outnumbered them last time, when just three investigators could deliver the arrest warrant. But before dawn on Wednesday, some 1,100 police and investigators had turned up, nearly triple the number of Yoon’s security personnel.
No Secret Service bodyguards actively blocked the arrest and no physical confrontations occurred, investigators said. Instead, dozens of Yoon’s ruling party lawmakers and officials blocked the entrance. Thousands of protesters who opposed the arrest, waving red glow sticks from the sidewalks, shouted: “President Yoon Suk Yeol!”
After about six hours, Yoon acquiesced. Around 10:30 a.m., he slid into a black SUV, where he was whisked to the investigator’s office in a Seoul suburb.
In a prerecorded address released after his detainment, Yoon slammed the investigation against him, as well as the arrest warrant, as lacking legal merit. He said he decided to submit himself for questioning to prevent “unfortunate and violent incidents,” as investigators that morning scaled buses with the aid of step ladders.
“Unfortunately, the rule of law in this country has collapsed completely,” said Yoon, wearing a black suit.
Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the building of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. Photo: Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images
Political chaos
Special investigators now have 48 hours to request a formal arrest warrant that would keep Yoon in detention as the criminal investigation against him unfolds. If a judge declines, Yoon would walk free.
Yoon, by South Korean law, has the right not to answer questions from investigators, legal experts say. Insurrection is one of the few crimes that fall outside of South Korea’s presidential immunity. Investigators say they have prepared roughly 200 pages of questions. During the first hours of questioning, Yoon refused to testify, investigators said.
South Korea’s leadership vacuum has paralyzed Seoul at a critical moment, with President-elect Donald Trump taking office on Jan. 20, North Korea test-firing missiles and the country reeling from a plane crash that killed 179 people.
The country is now led by the No. 3 official in line for the presidency, following the impeachments last month of Yoon and his successor, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was criticized for not making judicial appointments to the court reviewing Yoon’s impeachment.
The partisan sparring, impeachments and failure of the initial arrest attempt have stirred even more turmoil in a country that was rocked by Yoon’s stunning martial-law decree on Dec. 3. In the immediate aftermath, nearly half of South Koreans said they backed the opposition Democratic Party, while support for Yoon’s conservatives tumbled to 24%, according to Gallup Korea polling.
Now the Democratic Party has the approval of just 36% of South Koreans, falling by 12 percentage points, while the conservatives surged 10 percentage points to 34%, Gallup says. That is the highest level of support for Yoon’s People Power Party since last summer.
Who will take charge next?
Yoon Suk Yeol
President
Age: 64
The conservative leader, who is about halfway through a five-year term that ends in 2027, said he declared martial law on Dec. 3 to protect the country’s “constitutional freedom.”
If Yoon is removed
from office
ACTING PRESIDENT
Han Duck-soo
Prime Minister
Age: 75
Lee Jae-myung
Leader of the opposition Democratic Party
Age: 61
A Harvard-educated former ambassador to the U.S., Han had been acting president for less than two weeks when South Korea's legislature voted to impeach him for refusing to make judicial appointments.
Lee is considered the front-runner for the nation’s top job if a snap election is called, though his legal woes could block him from running for president. He has five ongoing trials now.
Choi Sang-mok
Minister of Economy and Finance
Age: 61
Lee Ju-ho
Minister of Education
Age: 63
Choi also serves as the deputy prime minister and steps in as acting president with Han Duck-soo's impeachment.
Lee, appointed by Yoon in 2022, also serves as the deputy prime minister. He is next in line to
Choi Sang-mok.
Photos: Bloomberg; AFP (2); AP , Zuma
Source: staff reports
Roughly two-thirds of South Koreans support Yoon’s impeachment. But the opposition might have offended conservatives, as well as some moderates, by casting Yoon as the ringleader of an insurrection, a crime technically punishable by death, said Jeong Han-wool, director at the Korean People Research Institute.
Yoon’s resistance drove the urgency to frame the issue on such stark terms, he added, though South Koreans may now expect the opposition party to work to normalize state affairs.
“I am worried that we are rushing into a confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties and their supporters,” Jeong said.
‘Not a crime’
The rush to arrest Yoon comes as his separate impeachment trial begins. South Korea’s constitutional court, which plays a similar role to the U.S. Senate in impeachment cases, has until mid-May to certify the legislature’s mid-December impeachment of Yoon. But it is expected to move much more quickly than that.
Yoon skipped the trial’s opening hearing on Tuesday, with his lawyer citing security concerns. If the court upholds the impeachment, Yoon will be ousted from office, losing his presidential immunity and Secret Service protection. A snap election must then be held within 60 days. Opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung is the current front-runner.
People celebrate the arrest of South Korea’s impeached president in Seoul.
Yoon supporters after the impeached president’s arrest in Seoul.
Yoon, a career prosecutor who is about halfway through a five-year term set to end in 2027, has said that the move to impose emergency powers was to save the country from falling prey to North Korean “communist forces” and to ward off a constitutional crisis brought about by the opposition-controlled legislature, which he called a “den of thieves.”
On Wednesday, Yoon’s lawyers again questioned the validity of the warrant and claimed the special unit didn’t have the authority to investigate the president.
In a handwritten letter uploaded to his Facebook page after his arrest Wednesday, Yoon said he should have listened more. His move to declare emergency powers last month, which would have brought political activity, the media and health services under government control, was an act of governance and therefore not subject to legal scrutiny.
“Citizens, martial law is not a crime,” Yoon wrote. “Martial law is the exercise of the president’s authority to overcome a national crisis.”
A motorcade exits the presidential residence in Seoul after the arrest of the impeached South Korean president.
Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com and Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com
Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the January 15, 2025, print edition as 'South Korea Leader Arrested in Standoff'.
3. The Arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol
Living in interesting times in Korea to say the least.
The Arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol - Beyond Parallel
beyondparallel.csis.org · by Victor Cha, Ellen Kim · January 15, 2025
The Arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol
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Yoon Suk Yeol, the lionized prosecutor-turned-politician who led the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye before becoming president himself, was arrested this morning at 10:33 am Seoul time on charges of insurrection related to his declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. He is the first sitting South Korean president ever to be arrested.
Q1: Why was Yoon arrested?
A1: After the National Assembly impeached Yoon on December 14, 2024, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) has been leading a joint criminal investigation into Yoon’s abuse of power and insurrection charges over his declaration of martial law. CIO investigators summoned Yoon three times for questioning, but Yoon refused to comply with each summons, insisting that the CIO has no legal authority to investigate insurrection charges.
In response, the CIO obtained detention and search warrants from the Seoul Western District Court at the end of last year to detain Yoon. They failed the first time 12 days ago, but today, the CIO arrested Yoon shortly after a standoff with the Presidential Security Service (PSS).
Q2: Why was there a standoff between the CIO and PSS?
A2: Two government agencies were pitted against each other. The CIO, as the legal branch of government, was trying to enforce the law, while the PSS was bound to protect the president, who remains in office but has been suspended from his duties. Amid rising tensions between Yoon’s supporters and those calling for his arrest outside the presidential residence, the potential for these two branches of government to come in conflict with each other was real, but thankfully averted.
Q3: What is the relationship between the criminal investigation and the impeachment judgment?
A3: There are two legal processes taking place against the president — an impeachment judgment and a criminal investigation. The impeachment trial is distinct from regular court trials as it takes place at the Constitutional Court and reviews violations of the Constitution and other laws. If the Court upholds the impeachment motion, Yoon will be removed from office. However, if he is convicted of abuse of power or insurrection charges in the criminal investigation, he could face imprisonment. The implication is that the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Yoon’s impeachment motion will likely be reached more quickly than the criminal trial, especially since the Court’s proceedings started this week.
Q4: What are the next steps going forward in each track?
A4: Under criminal investigation, the COI will detain Yoon for up to the next 48 hours for interrogation. Yoon could be indicted depending on the investigation outcome. The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to make its decision, and it appears intent on speeding up the hearing process due to the gravity of the presidential impeachment case.
Overall, Yoon’s arrest, which took place 43 days after his declaration of martial law, is an unprecedented event that has plunged South Korea into uncharted territory. The process—starting from his martial law declaration to his arrest—revealed both the resilience and fragility of South Korean democracy, leaving the country further divided.
However, a prolonged political crisis poses even greater dangers, making it time to concentrate on stability to minimize any political fallout and economic repercussions. The government has expressed confidence that the Korean economy can remain resilient despite the ongoing governance crisis, pointing to past performance in the 2004 and 2016 impeachments of Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye respectively. While such assessments are meant to instill investor confidence, they do a disservice for two reasons.
First, projecting false confidence in the economy removes the pressure for political actors to step back from self-absorbed infighting and find the quickest and most effective path back to effective governance.
Second, unlike the presidential impeachments in 2004 and 2016, when China’s economic growth and semiconductor export performance helped South Korea’s recovery from the impeachment crises, the current economic conditions surrounding Yoon’s impeachment are far less favorable – two wars in Europe and the Middle East, slow Chinese economic growth, impending U.S. tariffs, semiconductor export controls. Time is of the essence in resolving the political crisis.
Victor Cha is the president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Ellen Kim is senior fellow at the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Headline image: The Presidential Office/Handout
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beyondparallel.csis.org · by Victor Cha, Ellen Kim · January 15, 2025
2. Impeached Yoon detained over failed martial law declaration
I hope the Korea people continue to realize that the opposition Minjoo/DPK Party is is more interested in taking power than protecting democracy or the Republic of Korea. President Yoon's decision to implement marital law may have been misguided and subject to impeachment but the opposition party is showing that it really intends to "blow up" the government so that it can pick up the pieces and assume power which will likely be more along the line of an authoritarian rule than democratic rule since they have now exposed that the leaders of the Minjoo Party are not supporters of true democracy.
(10th LD) Impeached Yoon detained over failed martial law declaration | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · January 15, 2025
(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks by lawyer close to Yoon)
By Lee Haye-ah and Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- Investigators detained impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence on Wednesday in their second attempt to take him into custody for questioning over his short-lived imposition of martial law.
Yoon, the first sitting president to be arrested, underwent questioning for 2 1/2 hours at the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, after traveling there in a convoy that left the presidential residence compound shortly after 10:33 a.m., the time the CIO executed its warrant to detain Yoon.
"My understanding is that he is currently refusing to testify," a CIO official told reporters. "The afternoon session is scheduled to begin at 2:40 p.m."
The morning session was held inside an interrogation room and led by Lee Jae-seung, deputy chief of the CIO, with Yoon's legal representatives present. The questioning was not being recorded on video due to Yoon's objections, according to the CIO.
Yoon was spotted only once as he stepped out of a car and entered the CIO office. Investigators have 48 hours from the time of his detention to seek a warrant for his formal arrest.
Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appears at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials inside the government complex in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, on Jan. 15, 2025, after investigators from police and the anti-corruption agency executed a warrant to detain Yoon in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Yoon, who is suspended from duty following his impeachment by the National Assembly on Dec. 14, faces charges of insurrection and abuse of power.
He is accused of sending troops to the National Assembly after declaring martial law on the night of Dec. 3 to stop lawmakers from voting down the decree.
Yoon is expected to be held at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, near the CIO's office, following questioning.
The president has defended his declaration of martial law as an "act of governance" meant to send a warning to the main opposition Democratic Party over what he described as its abuse of legislative power.
In a recorded video message released after his arrest, Yoon remained defiant, saying, "Although it is an illegal investigation, I decided to agree to appear at the CIO in order to prevent ugly bloodshed."
Yoon has consistently denied the legality of the CIO's probe, noting the agency is not technically authorized to investigate insurrection charges.
Instead, he has stated plans to appear before the Constitutional Court to defend himself there during a trial on whether to remove him from office or reinstate him.
"It's highly likely he will be kept in custody due to the CIO's cruel execution of detention, but I think he will attend (the trial) without being intimidated," Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer and Yoon's longtime friend, told reporters outside the Seoul High Prosecutors Office in southern Seoul.
With the CIO's questioning set to last through Thursday, however, Seok suggested the president will not appear at the second formal hearing of the trial scheduled for that day.
The arrest followed hours of talks between investigators and Yoon's side at his residence over how to detain him and take him away for questioning.
A convoy of cars presumably carrying President Yoon Suk Yeol leaves the presidential residence in Seoul to head to the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on Jan. 15, 2025. (Yonhap)
"At this point, we are not considering his voluntary appearance and our aim is to execute the warrant," a CIO official told reporters earlier.
"Unlike during the first attempt, there were no personnel or Presidential Security Service (PSS) staff actively resisting the execution," the official added. "There were practically no physical clashes today."
Investigators used ladders to enter the presidential residence compound after being blocked by the PSS, which set up a barricade using vehicles near the entrance. They were also blocked by a group of lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party and Yoon's lawyers at the entrance.
Some investigators appeared to attempt to secure access to the compound through a nearby hiking trail.
"This is not a just enforcement of the law," Yun Gap-geun, one of the lawyers, said, calling the investigators' attempt "illegal."
Police deployed some 3,000 personnel to secure access to the compound, with physical clashes taking place between investigators and Yoon's supporters. Fire authorities arrived at the scene to treat a middle-aged woman on the ground.
President Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters protest against his arrest near the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on Jan. 15, 2025. (Yonhap)
Thousands of protesters for or against Yoon's arrest have rallied outside the compound for weeks, with some camping out during the night in subzero temperatures.
When news of Yoon's detainment was heard, his supporters protested vehemently, hurling insults at the anti-Yoon ralliers and the "commie CIO."
Some stood up to take their protest to the CIO office, and by 11:30 a.m., people were gathering on a sidewalk across from its entrance.
Investigators' first attempt to detain Yoon failed early this month after an hourslong standoff with his security staff at the residence.
The Seoul Western District Court had issued warrants to search the presidential residence and detain Yoon after he snubbed three summonses from investigators to appear for questioning.
The warrants, which were granted extensions last week after they expired, were valid until Jan. 21.
Investigators from police and the anti-corruption agency arrive at the sentry post of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence in Seoul on Jan. 15, 2025, after they began their second attempt to execute a warrant to detain Yoon in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law. (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Haye-ah · January 15, 2025
3. Yoon detained for questioning, 43 days after surprise martial law bid
(News Focus) Yoon detained for questioning, 43 days after surprise martial law bid | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · January 15, 2025
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol became the nation's first sitting president taken into custody for questioning Wednesday, 43 days after his surprise martial law bid plunged South Korea into unprecedented political turmoil.
After snubbing multiple requests by law enforcement authorities for Yoon to appear for questioning and the first attempt to detain Yoon failed earlier this month, investigators detained him over charges of leading an insurrection that supersedes his presidential immunity from criminal prosecution
Yoon's detention also came 15 days after a court issued a warrant to arrest him, as he snubbed three summonses for questioning over his failed attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3.
The first attempt to arrest him was thwarted by the Presidential Security Service on Jan. 3 following an hourslong standoff.
People watch news of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's arrest on Jan. 15, 2025, at Seoul Station in the capital. (Yonhap)
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said it began questioning Yoon at its office in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, at 11 a.m, but he has refused to testify.
The anti-corruption body has 48 hours to decide whether to request a court to issue an arrest warrant for Yoon.
Yoon lamented that "the nation's rule of law has completely collapsed," saying he decided to comply with the CIO's investigation to prevent physical clashes between the investigators and his security team.
"Although it is an illegal investigation, I decided to agree to appear at the CIO in order to prevent ugly bloodshed," Yoon said in a video message recorded before heading to the CIO's office.
Yoon's lawyers have said the arrest warrant is illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the team set up to investigate him had no legal mandate to do so.
Yoon, who is suspended from duty following his impeachment by the National Assembly on Dec. 14, faces charges of insurrection and abuse of power.
Although he has presidential immunity from criminal prosecution, the privilege does not extend to insurrection or treason charges.
Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appears before the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, on Jan. 15, 2025, for questioning over his short-lived martial law declaration. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
He is accused of sending troops to the National Assembly after declaring martial law to stop lawmakers from voting down the decree.
Yoon, a former star prosecutor, has claimed the martial law decree was an act of governance and cannot be subject to a court judgment.
Separate from the criminal investigation, the Constitutional Court is deliberating whether to remove Yoon from office or restore his powers, a process that could take up to 180 days.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · January 15, 2025
4. Probe team set to leave no stone unturned in interrogation of Yoon over martial law bid
Will this be a partisan "interrogation?"
(News Focus) Probe team set to leave no stone unturned in interrogation of Yoon over martial law bid | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · January 15, 2025
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- Law enforcement officials were expected to conduct an intense grilling of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol to delve into allegations that he was the mastermind behind the Dec. 3 martial law attempt that plunged the country into an unprecedented political chaos.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) began its interrogation of Yoon at 11 a.m. Wednesday, hours after it succeeded in executing the court warrant to detain him following a thwarted attempt earlier this month.
The CIO will have up to 48 hours to question Yoon under the warrant issued for his temporary pretrial detention, before it decides whether to seek his arrest, a step it is widely expected to take once the interrogation ends.
The interrogation, with over 200 pages of questions prepared, is expected to focus on substantiating key allegations surrounding the failed martial law imposition, ranging from the planning stages leading up to the event to its execution on the day.
The CIO has been investigating Yoon for actions that may amount to insurrection, abuse of power and other charges.
President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials building in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on Jan. 15, 2025, to undergo questioning over his botched Dec. 3 martial law attempt. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
At the center of the allegations is the question of whether Yoon ordered the military and police to drag a handful of lawmakers out of the National Assembly building on the night he declared martial law and arrest them.
Prosecutors suspect Yoon made the order to lock down parliament to prevent opposition lawmakers from entering the compound to vote to stop the martial law.
The indictment against the now-arrested former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun shows the prosecution alleging that Yoon ordered the capital defense commander to "shoot if necessary, break the windows and drag them out."
Yoon is suspected of having named the politicians that they must arrest. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung and Han Dong-hoon, the then leader of the ruling People Power Party, were allegedly among the list.
Prosecutors have secured a testimony from Hong Jang-won, one of the deputy spy chiefs at the time, claiming that Yoon told him over the phone to "round everybody up."
Military officers questioned by the prosecution have said that they were told to arrest 14 key figures and hold them at an underground bunker near the Capital Defense Command in southwestern Seoul.
The CIO is also likely to question Yoon to determine whether he deployed the military to seize the main network servers at the National Election Commission over what Yoon has called "election fraud" -- one of the reasons he cited for imposing martial law.
The CIO believes Yoon sought to establish an extraordinary legislature to replace the opposition-controlled parliament that has blocked him from pursuing his agenda. It suspects that Yoon also considered imposing another martial law after the Assembly voted to lift the order.
Prosecutors were expected to press Yoon to find out how he orchestrated the martial law from the start.
A vehicle carrying President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials building in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on Jan. 15, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
The opposition parties have alleged that Yoon discussed martial law plans with Kim, the former defense minister, and Yeo In-hyung, the counterintelligence commander, as early as in August last year.
The CIO is expected to question Yoon about how the martial law decree was drafted. The decree banned political activities by parliament and parties, a clause that has been criticized by the opposition and critics as a violation of the Constitution.
Suspicions over whether Yoon lawfully proceeded with the martial law declaration will also likely be a key focus of the interrogation.
Under the Constitution, the president is entitled to declare a state of emergency during wartime or a national emergency or crisis equivalent to such situations. Critics have argued that Yoon's martial law did not meet these standards.
Yoon has justified his martial law as a measure to defend the country from "anti-state forces" that are plundering the country's freedom and to protect the constitutional order.
The CIO suspects that Yoon's decision was intended to paralyze the functions of the Assembly in order to relieve the political pressure he was facing from opposition parties.
Yoon needed a Cabinet review and two-thirds approval from his Cabinet members in order to declare the martial law.
Through questioning the ministers who attended the Dec. 3 Cabinet meeting, the CIO has determined that Yoon did not inform them in advance about the purpose of the meeting, only notifying them on the spot that he would be declaring martial law shortly.
Media personnel and crew gather at the main entrance of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials building in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on Jan. 15, 2025, waiting for President Yoon Suk Yeol to arrive for questioning. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · January 15, 2025
5. North Korean Troops Become Cannon Fodder for Russia
I bet Seth Jones regrets not including Kim Jong Un in his book Three Dangerous Men. (I hate to say I told you so).
There are other assessments that say thenKPA forces are not being used as cannon fodder.
The point not made is that we should draw from this conclusion is the Russia-north Korea alliance will never have what the ROK-US Alliance has (mutual trust and shared operational capabilities - as well as shared values which is stronger than "ideological alignment"). And those whose only experience is in Iraq and Afghanistan have difficulty grasping the nature of the ROK/US alliance.
Excerpt:
As the failure of North Korea’s troops in Russia shows, coalition warfare requires more than ideological alignment. It requires shared operational capabilities and mutual trust—elements conspicuously absent in the Russia-North Korea partnership. If Ukraine and President Trump can continue to exploit these problems, then they can keep the axis on its heels.
North Korean Troops Become Cannon Fodder for Russia
A chance for Ukraine and Trump to set Putin back and drive a wedge between Pyongyang and Moscow.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/north-korean-troops-become-cannon-fodder-for-russia-shows-weakness-in-autocracy-axis-50c0a832?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1
By Seth G. Jones and Benjamin Jensen
Jan. 14, 2025 4:46 pm ET
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un smile together in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 19, 2024. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/Associated Press
North Korea’s deployment of soldiers to the battlefield in Ukraine has been an operational disaster. Their troops have performed poorly in combat, failed to integrate with the Russian military, and suffered significant casualties. The debacle calls attention to a larger trend: the critical weaknesses of the axis of autocracies consisting of Russia, North Korea, China and Iran.
Many of the roughly 12,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to the war have been sent to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine conducted a daring counteroffensive and seized Russian territory in August 2024. Although the forces deployed reportedly came from North Korea’s elite Storms Corps, they’re being used in a similar way as Russian prison units: for mine clearance and frontal assaults on fortified positions.
The combined North Korean-Russian forces have failed to take back significant territory in the face of a ferocious Ukrainian defense. The Ukrainian military has even seized additional territory around the Russian town of Sudzha. With distributed company-size attacks, Ukraine destroyed a battalion of North Korean and Russian soldiers. Ukraine effectively used electronic warfare, drone strikes, precision artillery and mechanized-infantry advances to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy. Battlefield footage confirms North Korea’s ill-preparedness, showing disorganized retreats and valuable equipment left behind.
South Korean intelligence estimates that North Korea’s forces have suffered around 3,000 casualties—a quarter of the fighting force. At least 300 have been killed. In many battles, such as one near the village of Plekhove, North Korean formations launched costly “meat assaults” that consisted of human-wave attacks. Such casualties are astonishing. For comparison, this rate puts North Korean casualties nearly on par with one of the bloodiest battles of World War I, the Battle of the Somme.
Internal friction between North Korean and Russian forces—sparked by language barriers and insufficient training—is widely reported. In at least one case, these differences led to friendly fire when North Korean troops mistakenly attacked a convoy of Russian paramilitaries, killing eight soldiers.
The Kremlin’s reliance on North Korean forces creates an opportunity for Ukraine. By targeting these vulnerable units, Ukrainian forces can erode Russian combat effectiveness while sowing discord within the axis’s coalition. And they can create domestic problems for Vladimir Putin too: He acquired these foreign troops to avoid another mobilization. Destroying them will strip him of that luxury.
The Moscow-Pyongyang alliance extends beyond the front lines, however. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, North Korea has exported to Moscow several million artillery shells, short-range ballistic missiles and other munitions. In return, Moscow has supplied Pyongyang with advanced technology for satellites, air-defense equipment and millions of barrels of oil. There are even reports that North Korea plans to ask for nuclear technology from Russia. China and Iran have helped as well.
But the Trump administration can exploit these growing relationships too. By highlighting Mr. Putin’s treatment of North Korea’s troops as mere cannon fodder, Donald Trump can drive a wedge between Moscow and Pyongyang. The administration should also push back on the false narrative that the axis of Russia, North Korea, China and Iran is on the ascendancy. The North Korean failure in Russia, combined with the fall of Iran’s proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, points to the axis’ weakness.
As the failure of North Korea’s troops in Russia shows, coalition warfare requires more than ideological alignment. It requires shared operational capabilities and mutual trust—elements conspicuously absent in the Russia-North Korea partnership. If Ukraine and President Trump can continue to exploit these problems, then they can keep the axis on its heels.
Mr. Jones is president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mr. Jensen is a senior fellow for the department’s Futures Lab and a professor at the Marine Corps University School of Advanced Warfighting.
6. Wagner Soldiers ‘Are Just Children’ Compared to North Korean Troops – Ukrainian Commander
Another view of the nKPA (from a single Ukrainian soldier).
Where you stand depends on where you sit.
But what soldier makes a statement like this and how do front line soldiers judge whether the enemy is "morally stable?" Must be a translation issue.
Who is Yuri Bondar? Since this was posted on social media we should ask who may have really posted this? Are these really the words of a Ukrainian soldier (or even a Ukrainian "commander")? Is this someone who is from north Korea or a north Korean sympathizer trying to paint a picture of the nK soldiers?
Ten years of military service yields results? Some nKPA soldiers fire only three live rounds in their entire 10 yer enlistment.
Or maybe on this deployment north Korean soldiers have grown to be 10 feet tall.
Excerpts:
“They are extremely resilient, extremely well-trained, and morally stable.”
He went on: “Their level of small arms proficiency is extremely high – ten years of military service yields results. The number of defense force drones that the enemy managed to shoot down just using small arms is seriously surprising.”
Bondar said that DPRK troops carry out dynamic attacks, often catching Ukrainian defenders “off guard,” capturing positions even when outnumbered. He said that one of the commanders in Kursk told him, “… compared to the soldiers of the DPRK, the Wagner model of 2022 are just children – and I believe him.”
Wagner Soldiers ‘Are Just Children’ Compared to North Korean Troops – Ukrainian Commander
A Ukrainian soldier has described North Koreans fighting in the Kursk region as ‘disciplined, determined and fearless,’ in a post on social media on Saturday.
by Kyiv Post | January 14, 2025, 3:04 pm
kyivpost.com · by Kyiv Post · January 14, 2025
A Ukrainian soldier has described North Koreans fighting in the Kursk region as ‘disciplined, determined and fearless,’ in a post on social media on Saturday.
by Kyiv Post | January 14, 2025, 3:04 pm
Image from a November video by Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsaplienko showing North Korean troops undergoing training in the Kursk region. Photo: Telegram
Yuriy Bondar, who served in Ukraine’s 80th separate airborne assault “Galician Lions” brigade, writing on Facebook said his unit was one of the first of Ukraine’s armed forces (AFU) to engage with North Korean troops in the Kursk region, adding that Pyongyang’s troops should not be underestimated:
“They are extremely resilient, extremely well-trained, and morally stable.”
Screenshot from video released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky allegedly showing a captured North Korean soldier fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk, Jan. 12. 2025.
He went on: “Their level of small arms proficiency is extremely high – ten years of military service yields results. The number of defense force drones that the enemy managed to shoot down just using small arms is seriously surprising.”
He then went on to corroborate reports, based on a notebook recovered from the body of a North Korean soldier killed, of the tactic they were using to take on Ukrainian drones which he put down to their “psychological resilience.” He said one of the group will act “as bait” to attract the attention of the drone while the others try to ambush it, shooting it down with their personal weapons.
Other Topics of Interest
The BBC reported on Tuesday how the Kyiv housewife was promised her POW husband would be better treated if she committed acts of treason.
Much of what Bondar wrote was supported in comments made to the New York Times (NYT) by “anonymized” Ukrainian soldiers at the weekend, who said that since the North Koreans had arrived fighting in the Kursk region had become “far more ferocious than before.”
An AFU lieutenant using the call sign “Alex” said, “The Koreans … are quite skilled in shooting, they have repeatedly destroyed drones, obviously they were primarily trained for this, so they try to destroy everything in the air.”
A platoon leader, identified as “Oleksii,” told the NYT: “The situation worsened significantly when the North Koreans started arriving. They are pressing our fronts en-masse, finding weak points and breaking through them.”
Bondar said that DPRK troops carry out dynamic attacks, often catching Ukrainian defenders “off guard,” capturing positions even when outnumbered. He said that one of the commanders in Kursk told him, “… compared to the soldiers of the DPRK, the Wagner model of 2022 are just children – and I believe him.”
He said that the DPRK soldiers rarely surrender. If they are wounded, their comrades just step over them leaving them where they lie and they use grenades to blow themselves up as Ukrainian troops approach. He added that the dead are doused with flammable liquid; their faces burned to disguise their identity.
To date Ukrainian authorities say they have only managed to capture three North Koreans, since they arrived in the Kursk region, one succumbing to his wounds shortly after being apprehended and the other two, who were also wounded, have been moved to Kyiv for questioning.
7. South Korea Detains Its President, but Crisis Is Far From Over
It is far from over because President Yoon's supporters are not giving up on democracy and are going to fight for it against the Minjoo/DPK party.
South Korea Detains Its President, but Crisis Is Far From Over
Yoon Suk Yeol became the first South Korean leader to be held by criminal investigators, ending a long standoff after he imposed martial law.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/world/asia/south-korea-yoon-detain.html
A motorcade taking President Yoon Suk Yeol away from his residence in Seoul on Wednesday morning. He will be questioned about his declaration of martial law last month.Credit...Jun Michael Park for The New York Times
By Choe Sang-HunJin Yu Young and Victoria Kim
Choe Sang-Hun and Jin Yu Young reported from Seoul
Published Jan. 14, 2025
Updated Jan. 15, 2025, 5:47 a.m. ET
President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea sounded defiant just over a year ago when the opposition-dominated National Assembly began threatening to impeach him. “I say, ‘Try it, if you want!’” he said during a town-hall meeting.
Mr. Yoon has not only been impeached, but on Wednesday he won an ignominious place in South Korean history when he became the first sitting president to be detained in a criminal investigation.
His detention ended a weekslong political standoff and hand-wringing over what South Korea should do with a leader who declared martial law last month, a move that threatened decades of hard-won democracy in the country.
But Seoul’s inability to deal with the question quickly — and the fact that it had to mobilize an army of law-enforcement forces to make him surrender — exposed how deep the fractures are in its politics. This entrenched political polarization, combined with Mr. Yoon’s uncompromising style and his personal animus toward his political enemies, led him down a path to the showdown with police Wednesday at the hilltop residence where he had retreated.
Image
Police officers entering Mr. Yoon’s residential compound on Wednesday.Credit...Jun Michael Park for The New York Times
Since he won his election by a razor-thin margin in 2022, Mr. Yoon has constantly clashed with the majority opposition over policies, scandals involving his wife and his hostile relationship with dissidents, including journalists he accused of spreading “fake news.”
His anger exploded on Dec. 3, when he declared martial law, calling his liberal enemies “anti-state forces” and the opposition-dominated National Assembly “a monster.” The law placed a ban on all political activities and put news media under military control, though the National Assembly killed his martial law decree before Mr. Yoon could enforce such moves.
During the six hours of martial law, he ordered military commanders to break the Assembly’s doors down “with axes” or “by shooting, if necessary” and “drag out” lawmakers, according to prosecutors who have indicted the military generals on charges of helping Mr. Yoon commit insurrection.
Even after the Assembly voted down his decree and then impeached him, Mr. Yoon vowed to “fight to the end.” He holed up in his hilly residence in central Seoul — behind bodyguards, rolls of razor wire and barricades of buses. Mr. Yoon repeatedly ignored summons from investigators to face questioning for insurrection charges.
A visual guide to the multiple government agencies that are investigating whether President Yoon Suk Yeol committed insurrection.
When they visited his presidential compound on Jan. 3 to serve a court warrant to detain him, he refused to surrender, and his 200 presidential security officials formed human barricades to repel 100 investigators and police officers. On Wednesday, the investigators mobilized 1,000 police officers, including units specializing in targeting drug and organized crime gangs, to storm the compound again in overwhelming numbers.
Some carried aluminum ladders to clamber over barricades of buses that blocked the road leading to Mr. Yoon’s residence. His bodyguards put up no resistance after warnings from the investigators that if they did, they would be arrested on charges of obstructing justice. At the gate of his residence, investigators haggled for two hours with supporters of Mr. Yoon. The president’s lawyers suggested that if the investigators withdrew, Mr. Yoon would visit their headquarters with his presidential security details to submit himself to questioning.
Image
A police officer climbing a ladder to get over a bus blocking the road to Mr. Yoon’s residential compound in Seoul on Wednesday.Credit...Jun Michael Park for The New York Times
But the investigators would have none of it. At 10:33 a.m., they served the warrant.
Mr. Yoon did gain some concessions: He was not handcuffed when he was taken to the investigators’ headquarters south of Seoul in a motorcade through busy morning traffic. He was escorted straight to a third-floor room where he faced a marathon interrogation. The investigators have said they had 200 pages of questions to ask, but a governing-party lawmaker who met Mr. Yoon before his detention indicated that the president would insist on his right to remain silent.
In a video message released shortly after he was taken away, Mr. Yoon said he agreed to submit to questioning in order to prevent a “bloody” clash between his bodyguards and the police. But he called the investigation and the warrant to detain him illegal.
To many analysts, however, his fate appears to have been set.
The investigators have 48 hours to interrogate him but can then seek a separate court warrant to formally arrest him. Since courts have already agreed to the arrests of Mr. Yoon’s associates in his imposition of martial law, they are likely to agree to his arrest as well, analysts said. If he is arrested, the investigators and prosecutors must indict him within 20 days.
Image
Hundreds of supporters of Mr. Yoon gathering outside the office of investigators on Wednesday, after the president was detained and brought there for questioning in the morning.Credit...Jun Michael Park for The New York Times
Separately this week, the country’s Constitutional Court began deliberating whether the Assembly’s vote on Dec. 14 to impeach Mr. Yoon was legitimate and if he should be formally removed from office.
“Since people will take it for granted that courts will likely allow his arrest and uphold his impeachment, the national attention will now quickly migrate to who should become the next president,” said Park Sung-min, head of MIN Consulting, a Seoul-based political advisory company.
An election — which must take place within two months of a court ruling if it removes Mr. Yoon — could add to a deepening political tribalism in South Korea that has fueled street protests both for and against Mr. Yoon.
A detailed look at each stage of the impeachment process against President Yoon.
When conservative activists have rallied in recent weeks, they vilified Lee Jae-myung, the main opposition leader and presidential hopeful, as a dangerous left-wing radical. Mr. Lee has himself been fighting legal charges under Mr. Yoon that he says are politically motivated.
Conspiracy theories quickly spreading through YouTube and other social media platforms have only helped deepen the political division. A man who subscribed to such theories stabbed Mr. Lee in the neck with a knife last January.
In a lengthy statement posted on his Facebook account on Wednesday, Mr. Yoon again peddled a conspiracy theory popular among his followers, saying that his declaration of martial law was driven in part by widespread voting fraud in South Korea.
“Yoon’s detention is the first step toward restoring the constitutional order, democracy and rule of law,” said Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party. “It was belated, but it also confirmed that our nation’s law enforcement and justice are still alive.”
Image
When investigators first tried to serve a warrant on Jan. 3, they were outnumbered by members of Mr. Yoon’s Presidential Security Service, which foiled the attempt.Credit...Jun Michael Park for The New York Times
But Mr. Yoon’s People Power Party refused to accept Mr. Yoon’s impeachment and his detention. It pushed out a party leader who supported Mr. Yoon’s impeachment and has demanded that a lawmaker who backed the impeachment leave the party.
“The reason they insisted on detaining the president was that they wanted to humiliate him,” Kwon Young-se, an interim leader of the party, said on Wednesday. “They wanted to elevate their status by detaining a sitting president.”
The cutthroat rivalry among parties leaves little room for debate and compromise as the nation struggles to overcome its worst political crisis in decades. The approval ratings of Mr. Yoon’s party, which took a nosedive in the wake of his martial law, began climbing back up in the past week as polarized politics kicked in again.
South Korea’s Political Turmoil
With South Korea in Crisis, Eight Justices Will Decide President’s Fate
Jan. 13, 2025
Who Is Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s Leader?
Dec. 3, 2024
South Korea’s Leadership Crisis, Explained
Dec. 14, 2024
Choe Sang-Hun is the lead reporter for The Times in Seoul, covering South and North Korea. More about Choe Sang-Hun
Jin Yu Young reports on South Korea, the Asia Pacific region and global breaking news from Seoul. More about Jin Yu Young
Victoria Kim is a reporter based in Seoul and focuses on breaking news coverage across the world. More about Victoria Kim
A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 15, 2025, Section A, Page 9 of the New York edition with the headline: 2nd Attempt to Detain Korean Leader Is Made. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
8. South Korea’s impeached president detained over martial law gambit
South Korea’s impeached president detained over martial law gambit
Prosecutors now have 48 hours to formally arrest Yoon Suk Yeol, who is facing insurrection charges after his effort to impose martial law last month.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/14/south-korea-president-detain-insurrection-charges/
UpdatedJanuary 15, 2025 at 1:39 a.m. ESTtoday at 1:39 a.m. EST
5 min
318
South Korean president detained over martial law declaration
0:41
South Korean authorities detained impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol on Jan. 15 for questioning on criminal charge related to his Dec. 3 martial law declaration. (Video: The Washington Post)
By Jintak Han, Andrew Jeong, Bryan Pietsch and Michelle Ye Hee Lee
SEOUL — Yoon Suk Yeol became South Korea’s first sitting president to be detained, surrendering himself for questioning Wednesday after a weeks-long standoff that resulted in a dramatic predawn raid on the official presidential residence.
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Police used ladders to climb over barricades made of buses to get into the residence and enable prosecutors to speak directly to Yoon, who was impeached last month after making a brief but botched attempt to impose martial law and exert political control.
Prosecutors had a warrant for Yoon’s arrest, which a Seoul court issued after the president ignored three summonses to appear for questioning over whether his actions amounted to insurrection. Yoon’s presidential security detail offered little resistance on Wednesday, in sharp contrast to an earlier attempt to detain him.
“I decided to cooperate with the summons order despite its illegality … this does not mean I view the warrant as valid,” Yoon said in a video message released shortly after he was detained. He said he had decided to surrender himself because of the potential for bloodshed as police and his presidential security service faced off.
Following World news
Following
Local television stations showed a convoy of black SUVs leaving the presidential residence, transporting Yoon to the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading the probe into Yoon’s Dec. 3 attempt to impose martial law.
The CIO said its prosecutors have started working through their 200 pages of questions for the impeached president. But Yoon, who is accompanied by a lawyer, has so far refused to provide any answers, a CIO representative said on condition of anonymity at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.
Yoon is set to be held in a detention center near the CIO headquarters while the questioning continues. Prosecutors have 48 hours to formally arrest or release the president.
Police officers patrol in front of the presidential residence as anti-corruption investigators and police prepare to execute a warrant to arrest impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday. (Jintak Han/The Washington Post)
Yoon’s detainment came after scenes that were extraordinary even by the tumultuous political standards of South Korea.
In the below-freezing early hours of Wednesday morning, some 3,200 police officers massed outside the presidential residence in one of Seoul’s ritziest neighborhoods.
The breadth of Wednesday’s operation dwarfed an attempt earlier this month to detain Yoon, when about 100 prosecutors and police tried to arrest the president but relented after an hours-long standoff with his security team.
Officials quickly became locked in another power struggle with the president’s security service as the sun rose Wednesday morning. Although Yoon’s powers were suspended when he was impeached Dec. 14, he remains the elected president, and his security team still reports directly to him.
Yoon’s supporters gather in front of the presidential residence as police launch an operation to detain him for questioning over his decision to impose martial law last month. (Jintak Han/The Washington Post)
The standoff led police to take unconventional measures during their second attempt to detain Yoon.
Some officers tried to enter the compound through a mountainside trail at the back of the residence, while others were seen carrying ladders and wire cutters. They used the ladders to scale barriers — including rows of parked buses — and enter the residential compound. The presidential security detail allowed them to enter.
The country’s acting president had earlier urged calm, saying it would cause “irreparable damage” to public trust should the standoff turn violent.
“This is a very important moment for maintaining order and the rule of law” in South Korea, Choi Sang-mok said in a statement. “The eyes of the entire nation and the international community are watching this situation.”
People gather at the barricade blocking the road leading to the Yoon’s residence in Seoul early Wednesday morning. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)
Outside the residence, police faced off against throngs of Yoon’s supporters, some of whom were carrying “Stop the Steal” signs, calling the president’s impeachment invalid. Earlier, lawmakers from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party formed a human chain in an effort to block the authorities.
Anti-Yoon protesters — many of them wearing silver thermal blankets to ward off the cold, leading to them being nicknamed Hershey Kisses — continued their days-long demonstration in front of the residence.
As the morning wore on and police closed in on the residence, Yoon’s aides indicated the president would submit to questioning and he released the video statement.
Wednesday’s scenes were the latest spectacle in the turbulent events following Yoon’s decision to declare martial law last month in an effort to exert political control in Seoul.
Yoon faces multiple investigations, including a criminal probe, for his effort to institute martial law and has been banned from leaving the country. Sitting South Korean presidents have immunity except on insurrection or treason charges.
Separately, the Constitutional Court is now weighing whether to uphold the legislature’s vote to impeach Yoon and remove him from office. It held its first hearing Tuesday, but it lasted only four minutes as Yoon did not attend, with his defense team citing safety concerns.
Yoon has claimed that his attempt to impose martial law — the first such decree in more than four decades — was intended to be a warning against opposition lawmakers, who control the National Assembly and whom Yoon accused of “anti-state” activities that “paralyzed” his ability to govern the country.
But a review of testimony by key officials involved in the incident shows that his plan had probably been months in the making and that he intended to use martial law to target political opponents and pursue baseless election fraud claims.
The night of the martial law order, Yoon sent troops to the National Assembly in an unsuccessful attempt to stop lawmakers from getting into the voting chamber and overturning his decree. An Army commander testified during a parliamentary hearing that Yoon gave an order to “drag out” the lawmakers.
The lawmakers’ vote and an eruption of public anger caused Yoon to rescind the decree barely six hours later. But the night’s events precipitated the worst political crisis in South Korea in decades.
Han, Jeong and Lee reported from Seoul. Pietsch reported from Washington.
9. South Korea, Japan, US hold air drills following North’s missile tests
Despite the political turmoil the three militaries continue to do their jobs.
South Korea, Japan, US hold air drills following North’s missile tests
Exercises come as hundreds of police detain impeached President Yoon over his short-lived martial law.
By RFA Staff
2025.01.15
https://www.rfa.org/english/korea/2025/01/15/south-korea-japan-us-joint-drills/
U.S. B-52H bombers, center, and F-16 fighter jets and South Korean Air Force F-35A fighter jets, right bottom, fly over the Korean Peninsula during a joint air drill in South Korea on April 14, 2023.
(South Korean Defense Ministry via AP)
South Korea, Japan and the United States held their first combined air drills of the year on Wednesday, a day after North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s defense ministry said.
The trilateral drills came as hundreds of South Korean police and corruption investigation officers stormed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s residential compound and arrested him.
Yoon faces insurrection charges after a failed attempt to impose martial law last month. Yoon said military rule was necessary to safeguard South Korea “from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and eliminate anti-state elements.”
Wednesday’s exercises involved a U.S. Air Force B-1B long-range bomber, South Korean F-15K fighter jets and Japanese Air Self Defense Force F-2 fighters, the Yonhap News Agency reported. The three sides last held exercises together in November. South Korea and the U.S. also held a separate aerial live fire exercise on Wednesday.
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North Korea conducts missile tests days before Trump takes office
North Korea’s claim of hypersonic missile launch likely ‘deception’: Seoul
South Korea, Japan stress importance of trilateral ties with US
Tuesday’s North Korean missile tests came just a week before Donald Trump is sworn-in as U.S. president. On Jan. 6, North Korea tested an intermediate range missile as outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul for talks.
This week’s test also came a day after Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, met in Seoul and reaffirmed their commitment to trilateral collaboration with the U.S. to counter the threat from North Korea.
“South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will strengthen cooperation to jointly deter North Korea’s threats and respond to them while continuously expanding trilateral drills based on close cooperation,” South Korea’s defense ministry said on Wednesday.
The United States has about 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who begins his second term as president on Monday, raised questions during his first term about the costs of maintaining the U.S. force in South Korea.
Edited by Mike Firn.
10. U.S. stands firm in support for Koreans, appreciates Korea's efforts to act in accordance with Constitution: White House
U.S. stands firm in support for Koreans, appreciates Korea's efforts to act in accordance with Constitution: White House | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · January 15, 2025
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- The United States on Wednesday reiterated its "firm" support for the South Korean people and appreciated efforts by the Asian country to act in line with its Constitution, after impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was detained over his botched martial law bid last month.
A White House National Security Council spokesperson issued a statement, reiterating America's "ironclad" commitment to South Korea.
"The United States stands firm in our support for the Korean people. We reaffirm our shared commitment to the rule of law, and we appreciate all efforts made by the Republic of Korea and its citizens to act in accordance with its Constitution," the spokesperson said.
"The United States remains committed to working with Acting President Choi and the ROK Government. We reaffirm the United States' confidence in the enduring strength of the U.S.-ROK Alliance and our ironclad commitment to the defense of the ROK," the official added.
ROK is short for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
The White House in Washington (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Song Sang-ho · January 15, 2025
11. President Yoon to be kept in solitary at Seoul Detention Center
If the police, courts, and CIO had any respect and honor they would allow the President to remain at the presidential residence. It is not as if he is a flight risk.
The martial mistake was one thing but the continued actions of the opposition party risk making the South appear like a banana republic.
Wednesday
January 15, 2025
dictionary + A - A
President Yoon to be kept in solitary at Seoul Detention Center
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-01-15/national/politics/President-Yoon-to-be-kept-in-solitary-at-Seoul-Detention-Center-/2222848
Published: 15 Jan. 2025, 13:55
President Yoon Suk Yeol walks into the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi on Jan. 15. [NEWS1]
President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was arrested on Wednesday on insurrection charges for declaring martial law on Dec. 3, will have to stay in solitary confinement at the Seoul Detention Center after the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) finishes questioning him.
The CIO has questioned Yoon in a video recording room since 11 a.m. Wednesday. As Yoon does not recognize the CIO as a legitimate investigative agency, will likely refuse to testify and has failed to appear for questioning three times, the CIO plans to request a detention warrant immediately.
A detention warrant must be requested by 10:33 a.m. on Friday, 48 hours after the arrest.
Accordingly, after the CIO investigation, Yoon is expected to be detained at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi, and await substantive examination of the warrant. However, if the investigation is prolonged, he may be moved from the CIO building to the courthouse to undergo the warrant examination immediately.
Related Article
If an arrest warrant is issued, Yoon is expected to be imprisoned in a solitary cell. If the warrant is rejected, he will be released immediately.
In previous cases, former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye were also assigned to a space that 6-7 general inmates typically share as a courtesy. Park lived in a solitary cell at the Seoul Detention Center from March 2017 until her release in December 2021. Lee stayed in a solitary cell at the Seoul Eastern Detention Center after being arrested in March 2018.
Correctional authorities are currently discussing the level of security, guards and courtesy Yoon will receive as this is the first time a sitting president has been imprisoned at a detention center.
Opposition figures such as Cho Kuk and Yoon Kwan-suk were also previously imprisoned at the Seoul Detention Center.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
12. North Korea in 2025: Make Money Not War
Ironically it was the Sunshine Policy of Kim Dae Jung in 10997 (followed by the Peace and Prosperity Policy of his Successor Roh) that saved the Kim familyre time from collapse.
Now it is Putin's War in Ukraine, China's third "no" (no regime collapse), and the regime's global cyber enabled economic warfare and other global illicit activities that are providing support to sustain the regime.
If only we had executed a comprehensive strategic strangulation campaign.
But I disagree with Dr. Khang Vu's assessment.
Unfortunately the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime reveal that it remains focused on the single outcome that will ensure regime survival: domination of the Korean peninsula by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State. That may be in the distant future but in my opinion all north Korean actions are focused on moving toward that end (which is not the END that we want).
Excerpts:
North Korea’s growing investments in the defense industry, rural development, and tourism business in service of national economic growth after the pandemic provide a comprehensive picture of its money-making intention. Although North Korea’s decision to send troops to Russia contributes to its deteriorating relations with the United States and South Korea, the decision is more about earning Russian cash than to invite a war with the South. If North Korea was eager for a fight, it would have capitalized on Yoon’s anti-North rhetoric in his martial law declaration to strike.
With its eyes set on financially benefiting from the Russia-Ukraine War, Pyongyang will continue downplaying the return of U.S. President Donald Trump, especially if Trump fails to come up with a lucrative enough deal to compete with Russia’s technological and economic rewards. Whether North Korea will have to fight a war against the South in 2025 depends more on South Korea’s ability to restrain itself than on Pyongyang’s willingness to fight a war of unification.
North Korea in 2025: Make Money Not War
thediplomat.com · by Khang Vu
A country on the precipice of war with its neighbors would not be selling arms and sending troops off to fight in a distant conflict.
By
January 14, 2025
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North Korea welcomed 2025 in a much stronger position than it was at the start of 2024, thanks to a revived alliance with Russia, an amicable relationship with China, and weakened international sanctions. The Korean Central News Agency described 2025 as a “year of great turn for raising the overall development of socialism onto a higher stage.” North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un stressed the importance of bolstering the country’s defense industry and improving the economic efficiency in rural areas under the “Regional Development 20×10 Policy.”
Despite some assessments that North Korea had made the strategic decision to go to war against South Korea after Pyongyang shunned peaceful reunification with Seoul, North Korea exercised a degree of restraint throughout 2024. Although Pyongyang sent 10,000 troops to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine, in exchange for Russian economic and technological rewards, those troops do not wear North Korean military uniforms, arguably an effort to conceal their identities. When South Korea sent drones to drop anti-North leaflets over Pyongyang in October, North Korea did not resort to the use of force as a means of retaliation. Some analysts have suggested that South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol was trying to provoke North Korea with the leaflet drops, in hopes of justifying his plans to declare martial law. North Korea even kept silent in the early days of South Korea’s political turmoil after Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration last month, and only commented on the development after the motion to impeach Yoon was introduced by the opposition Democratic Party.
North Korea has been too occupied with helping Russia in Ukraine, and making money, to care about South Korea’s political crisis. There are many indicators that North Korea will double down on making money for itself instead of making war against South Korea in 2025.
The first indicator is Pyongyang’s investment in its defense industry. Russia’s need for ammunition and ballistic missiles is proving to be a godsend to the North Korean military-industrial complex, as North Korea now finds itself with a massive consumer for military exports. Before the war in Ukraine, North Korean weapons plants struggled to operate at full capacity due to a lack of raw material and power despite its existing weapons exports to Iran and Syria. Pyongyang has significantly increased the productivity of its existing weapons factories to meet Russia’s needs. Pyongyang also channeled Russian payments in flour to its workers in war-relevant factories to keep them running at full capacity. Kim’s frequent visits to these factories since the Russia-Ukraine War began, his showcase of North Korean weaponry at the 2023 defense expo to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and his initiative to establish “national defense industrial enterprise under the Second Economy Commission” in early 2024 underline North Korea’s strategy to boost weapon exports to capitalize on the war in Ukraine for financial gains.
In addition to selling arms to Russia, each North Korean soldier is paid $2,000 per month by the Russian government. U.S. intelligence claimed that North Korea sending troops to Russia was Kim’s idea, highlighting his need to make money. The technological assistance that Russia has offered in exchange for North Korea’s weapons and manpower will be vital to reviving the latter’s defense industry and to expanding the number of potential arms buyers going forward. The bottom line is that North Korea’s investment in its defense industry is not necessarily preparation to wage a war of unification against South Korea. A country on the precipice of war with its neighbors would not be selling arms and sending troops off to a distant conflict.
North Korea’s growing attention to rural development is also a reliable indicator of its peaceful intention vis-à-vis the South and its focus on making money. In January 2024, Kim admitted that the government’s failure to provide basic necessities and food to the people posed a “serious political problem.” The post-COVID-19 economic hardship demands government action to soothe public discontent. Pyongyang’s solution has been to invest more in producing consumer goods and to bridge the urban and rural living standards by building modern factories in 20 cities over the next 10 years.
However, rural areas seriously lack labor and raw materials and the government is also short of capital to purchase equipment and upgrade infrastructure. There are internal doubts whether the government can meet the 20×10 target. To make up for these shortages, besides ramping up its propaganda on the importance of the 20×10 Policy, North Korea has enlisted the military in constructing new factories. Assigning the military with domestic economic tasks highlights North Korea’s intention to not wage a war against South Korea anytime soon.
Russian money in exchange for North Korea sending troops will also provide the capital for domestic economic development. At the same time, expanding trade relations with China will assist Pyongyang with its domestic economic priorities and requires North Korea to commit to non-aggression with South Korea. In short, North Korea’s dismal economy and its serious implementation of the 20×10 Policy counsel against war.
Efforts to revive the tourism industry provide the last clear indicator of North Korea’s money-making objective. North Korea attempted to make good use of its charm offensive in 2018 and 2019 to invite more foreign guests; however, such a plan was halted due to the pandemic. In 2024, North Korea opened itself to a limited number of Russian and Chinese tourists. 2025 will be the year the country is fully back in the tourism business. In preparation for the grand reopening, Pyongyang is expanding the tourism facilities in Mount Chilbo in North Hamgyong Province bordering both China and Russia and in Mount Paektu in Yanggang Province. It is also reshuffling old personnel with younger people trained by tourism colleges at key resort facilities in the Mount Kumgang tourism zone to boost efficiency. Kim’s recent visit to the new Wonsan-Kalma resort area, which he considers central to North Korea’s tourism industry, highlights his intention to use money from tourism to fund his regional economic development project. A country contemplating war with its neighbor is not about to welcome back foreign tourists.
North Korea’s growing investments in the defense industry, rural development, and tourism business in service of national economic growth after the pandemic provide a comprehensive picture of its money-making intention. Although North Korea’s decision to send troops to Russia contributes to its deteriorating relations with the United States and South Korea, the decision is more about earning Russian cash than to invite a war with the South. If North Korea was eager for a fight, it would have capitalized on Yoon’s anti-North rhetoric in his martial law declaration to strike.
With its eyes set on financially benefiting from the Russia-Ukraine War, Pyongyang will continue downplaying the return of U.S. President Donald Trump, especially if Trump fails to come up with a lucrative enough deal to compete with Russia’s technological and economic rewards. Whether North Korea will have to fight a war against the South in 2025 depends more on South Korea’s ability to restrain itself than on Pyongyang’s willingness to fight a war of unification.
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thediplomat.com · by Khang Vu
13. South Korea in no political condition to deal with Trump
In this case I hope President Trump allows his professionals/Korea hands to manage the alliance until South Korea works through its domestic political turmoil. I would hate to see the new administration kick a man when he is down and risk the alliance in the face of the real threats from north Korea and China in return for some short term tactical gain it could extract from South Korea.
South Korea in no political condition to deal with Trump - Asia Times
Political vacuum disadvantages Seoul in what will surely be tough military spending and trade negotiations with Trump 2.0
asiatimes.com · by Lee Seung-ku · January 14, 2025
SEOUL – South Korea’s political chaos, sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s temporary declaration of martial law and his subsequent impeachment by parliament, has shaken the nation’s standing ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
That’s raising concerns that Seoul’s negotiating leverage vis-à-vis the incoming American leader, who in his previous term called on South Korea to pay more for US troops stationed there, may be compromised at a crucial juncture for bilateral ties and the power balance on the Korean Peninsula.
“The current political crisis only dilutes South Korea’s ability to forge more resilient foreign policies and to mitigate outstanding national security threats,” said Lee Chung-min, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank.
Lee noted intensifying regional security threats from China, North Korea and Russia and Trump’s threatened trade wars, including with China, as key challenges for South Korea in what some see as an emerging political vacuum.
Trump’s “America First” agenda and recent rhetorical lurch toward possible US expansionism in shock comments about incorporating Greenland, Panama and Canada have highlighted once again the populist leader’s preference for interest-based policies over traditional alliances.
While Trump has been mum about his second-term intentions for South Korea, many experts and observers suspect he will dust off a diplomatic playbook that pressures allies to spend more on defense, thereby allowing the US to cut its military costs overseas.
In October, the US and South Korea agreed on a new five-year cost-sharing plan to maintain 28,500 American troops in South Korea, stationed to deter nuclear-armed North Korea, that raised defense costs by 8.3% to 1.52 won (US$1.13 billion) by 2026. Earlier under Biden, Seoul agreed to increase its contribution by 13.9%, its biggest annual rise in nearly two decades.
On the campaign trail, Trump suggested he would make South Korea pay much more. “If I were there now, [South Korea] would be paying us $10 billion a year, and you know what? They’d be happy to do it,” Trump said during an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago on October 15, 2024. “It’s a money machine. South Korea.”
During his first term (2016-2020), Trump accused South Korea of “free-riding” on US military might during his previous presidency and demanded Seoul pay $5 billion annually for the US deployment.
Now, South Korea is concerned it may draw Trump trade war fire as well. Trump’s implementation of a threatened 10-20% blanket tariff and rollback of Biden-era subsidies would be detrimental to South Korea’s trade-geared economy, which sent $127.8 billion worth of exports to the US in 2024.
South Korea’s now-robust trade surplus with the US could fall by as much as $15.2 billion if Trump imposes a low-end 10% blanket tariff, according to the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, a think tank.
Meanwhile, if Trump, a vocal opponent of Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act, repeals these subsidy programs, South Korean conglomerates like Samsung, Hyundai Motor Group, LG Energy Solution and SK Hynix may suffer significant losses in the US market.
LG Energy Solution logged a second-quarter operating profit of $195.3 billion in 2024, according to regulatory filings. However, without the $447.8 billion US tax cut, this profit would reverse to a $252.5 billion net loss.
“Currently, it is uncertain if Trump will provide the subsidies. That is because Trump does not always honor previous commitments,” said Lee Jae-mook, a political science professor at the Seoul-based Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. “Trump does not always play by the rules,” Lee added.
Lee also raised concerns that Seoul’s prevailing political vacuum may cause Trump to bypass South Korea when negotiating with Pyongyang.
“To Trump, what is important is not South Korea’s interests or the interests of his allies, but rather, it is the interest of the US, including diminishing North Korea’s nuclear threat,” Lee said.
“South Korea has a lot of room to leverage its interests when the US and North Korea negotiate, especially if there is an area where Seoul’s interests align with that of Washington. However, the lack of proper leadership here means that there could be a risk of ‘Korea passing,’” Lee added.
During Trump’s first presidency, then-South Korea President Moon Jae-in facilitated Trump’s meetings with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. Those overtures landed South Korea an inter-Korean military deal that lasted until 2024.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said on January 13 that it speculates that Trump will hold new talks with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
It also projected the possibility of a “small deal” which could include “nuclear freeze and disarmament.” However, South Korea’s role in brokering such a deal would likely be slim, according to Hankuk University’s Lee.
“Frankly, the Constitutional Court could uphold President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, but it could also reinstate Yoon. From Trump’s perspective, it is unclear who his counterpart in Seoul is,” Lee said. “As of now, we are the bigger uncertainty than Trump.”
South Korea’s acting-President Choi Sang-mok said he would curb such uncertainties during a January 13 cabinet meeting.
“After the new US administration is launched, [South Korea] will mobilize all methods to communicate and coordinate with [the] US’ new government,” said Choi, who assumed the national leadership role on December 27, 2024, after his predecessor, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, was also impeached after just 13 days in office.
“We will focus on alleviating the current uncertainties and managing the country’s economic stability,” Choi added.
Choi’s ability to bring stability is uncertain, particularly amid politicized accusations he’s impeding the arrest of Yoon, who failed to appear at his first impeachment case hearing at the Constitutional Court on January 14.
As acting president of an interim government, Choi’s decision-making authority is limited, adding to the sense of political paralysis in Seoul.
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“It is difficult for Choi to assert himself when it comes to politics or security,” said Lee. “The best he can do is maintain the status quo.”
Different tactics have been proposed to prepare for Trump’s presidency amid the political turmoil. International trade expert Heo Yoon, for one, has suggested that Seoul work with local conglomerates to informally approach Trump.
Trump prefers “a top-down summit diplomacy,” which South Korea currently lacks, said Heo, who noted the leverage certain Korean big businesses have in the US economy in an interview with the local Herald Business newspaper.
Others have argued that the legislature must take a more active role in diplomacy. “South Korea must send a special envoy in the name of the National Assembly Speaker to explain our diplomatic policies,” said former deputy foreign affairs minister Choi Jong-gun.
Lee, the professor, said that it is important to signal to the US that there will be no change in the US-South Korean alliance regardless of whether Yoon or the opposition prevails in the current chaos. He believes this signaling should come from the legislative chamber.
“We must show that it does not matter whether or not the impeachment of Yoon is upheld by the court. [South Korea’s] internal stance on the economic and security relationship with the US will not change,” said Lee.
“For example, leaders of the ruling and opposition parties could give a joint message saying that the US-Korea alliance is strong and that we can give a unified voice when it comes to the security threats from North Korea … We must actively put out the message that our strife is only a domestic problem.”
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asiatimes.com · by Lee Seung-ku · January 14, 2025
14. U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee: “North Korea is a nuclear state”… Giving up on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula?
Words have meaning. I do wonder how much he has been briefed on north Korea? (I doubt very much).
This is a Google translation of an RFA report.
U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee: “North Korea is a nuclear state”… Giving up on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula?
https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/nk_nuclear_talks/north-korea-nuclear-power-us-defense-secretary-nominee-01142025143656.html
WASHINGTON-Lee Sang-min lees@rfa.org
2025.01.14
Pete Hagseth, nominee for Secretary of Defense, answers questions during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on the 14th.
/Capture video of personnel hearing
00:00 /02:31
Anchor : The Trump administration's nominee for the second term US Secretary of Defense referred to North Korea as a " nuclear power . " There are growing doubts as to whether the US is giving up its original goal of " complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula . " Reporter Lee Sang-min reports .
Pete Hagseth, the nominee for Secretary of Defense, referred to North Korea as a nuclear state in a written response submitted in advance to the Senate Armed Services Committee's confirmation hearing on the 14th .
Asked how he assesses the threat posed by North Korea, Hagseth said, “ The DPRK's status as a nuclear power, its intense focus on increasing the range of missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads , and its growing cyber capabilities pose a threat to the stability of the Korean Peninsula , the Indo - Pacific region, and the world . ”
He stressed that " this threat is particularly concerning given the close proximity of North Korea to America's close allies, where American troops are stationed . "
The United States has so far aimed for the ‘ complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula ’ and has not recognized North Korea as a nuclear state .
In response to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi's remark last September that North Korea was a de facto nuclear state, a State Department spokesperson at the time disagreed with that statement, telling RFA , " Our goal is the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula . "
However, with the recent re-election of President Donald Trump, some have raised the prospect that, once in office, President Trump may recognize North Korea as a nuclear state and implement arms control ( nuclear freeze ) instead of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in order to negotiate with North Korea . Among these, attention is being paid to whether the fact that nominee Hegseth referred to North Korea as a nuclear state shows that the Trump administration is actually willing to give up its goal of " complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula . "
North Korean General Secretary Kim Jong-un inspects a nuclear weapons research institute and weapons-grade nuclear material production facility in September last year. /Yonhap News
“Kim Jong- un secretly sends message of ‘interest in US-North Korea negotiations’”
IAEA, “ Reaffirmation of Security Council Resolutions and Emphasis on Dialogue” in Response to Secretary-General’s Statement of ‘ North Korea = Nuclear State’
Meanwhile, in his written response, nominee Hegseth said it was important to not only counter North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities and work to deter them, but also to improve missile defenses, particularly for the U.S. homeland .
He said the most important priority was to implement missile defense systems such as Israel's " Iron Dome " to strengthen missile defense capabilities for homeland defense . " Iron Dome " is Israel's surface-to-air missile defense system that has been protecting Israeli territory from rocket attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas .
He continued, " In recent years, China , Russia , and North Korea have significantly expanded and modernized their nuclear capabilities ," and " North Korea is expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal and developing miniaturized nuclear warheads and mobile launch systems . "
He also stressed that " we must continue to be vigilant " regarding North Korea's space capabilities .
The 44-year-old Hegseth was commissioned as a National Guard member and served in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. military held a terrorism suspect detention camp, and in Iraq and Afghanistan, and worked as a host on Fox News, a conservative U.S. media outlet .
This is Lee Sang-min from RFA Radio Free Asia .
Editor Park Jeong-woo, Web Editor Kim Sang-il
15. Bush Center proposes 'comprehensive reorganization of North Korea policy centered on human rights'
Excellent. We need more voices proposing this.
This is a Google translation of an RFA report.
Of course Dr. Robert Joseph (et. al.) proposed this in 2023.
Robert Joseph, Robert Collins, Joseph DeTrani, Nicholas Eberstadt, Olivia Enos, David Maxwell, and Greg Scarlatoiu, National Strategy for Countering North Korea, No. 545, January 23, 2023
National Strategy for Countering North Korea
https://nipp.org/information_series/robert-joseph-robert-collins-joseph-detrani-nicholas-eberstadt-olivia-enos-david-maxwell-and-greg-scarlatoiu-national-strategy-for-countering-north-korea-no-545-january-23-2023/
From Dr. Joseph's report:
Placing the promotion of human rights with North Korea at the center of U.S. strategy will be vehemently opposed by Pyongyang, as it was by the Moscow when President Reagan insisted that human rights be a core element of U.S. policy with the Soviet Union. But continuing the current course will result in even greater threats to the U.S. and allies. A course change in U.S. strategy that facilitates the people of North Korea determining their own future provides the most viable alternative to the failed policies of the past.
Bush Center proposes 'comprehensive reorganization of North Korea policy centered on human rights'
https://www.rfa.org/korean/news_indepth/george-bush-institute-crink-north-korea-human-rights-policy-trump-01142025145127.html
WASHINGTON-Handeok In hand@rfa.org
2025.01.14
Exterior of the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas
/AP
00:00 /06:00
Anchor : The Bush Center, a policy research institute founded by former US President George W. Bush, recently released policy recommendations suggesting that the incoming Donald Trump administration and the US Congress comprehensively reorganize their North Korea policy by making North Korean human rights a key axis of diplomacy and security.
It also recommended that the U.S. administration and Congress demonstrate clear political will to protect human rights by actively supporting the activities of North Korean defectors and North Korean human rights activists.
This is reporter Han Deok-in reporting.
The George W. Bush Institute, located in South Texas, USA.
The Bush Policy Institute, in its “ Recommendations for Key Domestic and International Policy Challenges Facing the Donald Trump Administration and the 119th Congress ” released on the 13th, analyzed that the so-called “authoritarian coalition,” or “CRINK,” consisting of China, Russia, and Iran, including North Korea, is shaking the international order and liberal democracy.
In doing so, it recommended that the next Trump administration and Congress comprehensively reorganize their North Korea policy by making human rights a core axis of diplomacy and security. (The Trump Administration and Congress should ensure that human rights are part of an integrated strategy to address the comprehensive challenge posed by CRINK)
What is needed is a comprehensive North Korea strategy centered on protecting human rights and safeguarding democracy.
The recommendations cover a broad range of issues within the United States, including international cooperation on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, an economic and diplomatic strategy to advance American interests abroad, and policies to counter the “new axis of evil” of North Korea, China, Russia, and Iran.
Chris Walsh, director of global policy, and Joseph Kim, a research fellow who co-authored the report (Countering the China, Russia, Iran, North Korea Challenge), urge the incoming Trump administration and Congress to “adopt policies that reaffirm the public’s understanding that human rights and security are closely linked.”
In addition, while emphasizing the need to strengthen the integrated strategy centered on North Korean human rights, he also emphasized the urgent need for a human rights-centered strategy in which the U.S. State Department officially defines North Korea’s crimes against humanity and the international community unanimously condemns them.
In particular, by redefining North Korea's crimes against humanity based on the 2014 report of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in North Korea, the United States and its allies need to strengthen the moral and legal basis for North Korea's crimes against humanity, and visibly increase the level of pressure on human rights through an official resolution regarding North Korea's crimes against humanity, as in previous cases such as the Islamic State (IS), China's oppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and the massacre of the Rohingya in Myanmar.
Last February, Elizabeth Salmon, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea, speaks at an international conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report on human rights in North Korea, hosted by the Seoul office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). /Yonhap News
In this regard, Olivia Enos, a senior researcher at the Hudson Institute in the United States, emphasized in a report titled “Priority Actions after the Update of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea ” released on the 23rd of last month that the United States and South Korea must officially declare the North Korean regime’s systematic and brutal crimes against humanity.
In particular, Senior Researcher Enos said that if the U.S. State Department or Congress makes an “Atrocity Determination” on North Korea and the South Korean government joins in, a joint message could be sent, further strengthening cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. on the North Korean human rights issue. By reaffirming to the international community the severity of the North Korean human rights situation, this could pressure governments around the world to take strong measures.
The Bush Institute also repeatedly emphasized that the U.S. State Department should not only officially acknowledge the North Korean regime's crimes against humanity, but also continuously inform the international community that China and Russia are complicit in these crimes.
It also recommended increasing diplomatic pressure to stop China and Russia’s collaboration in forced labor and the repatriation of refugees from North Korea, and mentioned the need for secondary sanctions on Russian and Chinese companies involved in cybercrime, cryptocurrency theft, and foreign currency earning through forced labor.
Last November, the North Korean human rights group PSCORE and the Lee Je-seok Advertising Research Institute jointly attached a public service advertisement poster with an image of Chairman Kim Jong-un and the English phrase, “ARREST ONE, SAVE MILLIONS,” to the iron gate of the North Korean mission in Geneva, Switzerland, to protest against North Korea’s human rights oppression and inform the international community of the reality. /Yonhap News
US administration , North Korean human rights activists also propose solidarity event for North Korean defectors
The Bush Policy Institute also suggested that the White House and Congress actively support the activities of North Korean defectors and North Korean human rights activists to clearly demonstrate the political will to protect human rights.
It also recommended strengthening protections for asylum seekers, supporting defectors and democracy activists in the U.S., and inviting North Korean human rights activists and defectors to solidarity events. For example, if human rights activists from North Korea (Ji Seong-ho), Russia (Vladimir Karamurza), and Uyghur (Rushan Abbas) were to hold a public event with the U.S. president, it would send a very powerful and symbolic message.
The recommendation also added that international civic groups and refugee support organizations should work together to strengthen solidarity in supporting North Korean defectors, and that international cooperation is needed to resolve the issues of abductees, detainees, and prisoners of war through international organizations such as the United Nations.
The recommendation also proposed to include the North Korean human rights issue in the international security strategy through a tripartite consultative body involving the United States, South Korea, and Japan, and to strengthen the democratic alliance and multilateral cooperation.
Even after the Trump administration takes office, there is a need to expand cooperation on North Korean human rights discussed at the South Korea-US-Japan summit.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a meeting with North Korean defectors at the White House on February 2, 2018. /AP
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken also emphasized at a joint press conference between the foreign ministers of South Korea and the U.S. held in Seoul on the 6th that the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), which was launched at the end of last year, would play a key role in implementing the agreement.
[ Blinken ] At the ROK- US-Japan Secretariat Meeting, we had an in-depth exchange of opinions on North Korea , the nuclear issue, and illegal military cooperation with Russia . We shared the view that it is more important than ever to implement UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea and to uncover North Korea’s sanctions evasion activities in order to induce North Korea’s denuclearization , and we promised to continue to cooperate in this regard . We condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launch today and pledged to thoroughly prepare for further provocations by North Korea through a robust combined defense posture and strengthened extended deterrence .
Ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20, attention is focused on whether the next Trump administration will be able to pursue a North Korea policy that emphasizes human rights issues in North Korea and induces a change in the Kim Jong-un regime’s behavior.
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This is Han Deok-in from RFA Free Asia Broadcasting.
Editor Noh Jeong-min, Web Editor Kim Sang-il
De Oppresso Liber,
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Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
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