The North and South Korean governments are trying to use this week’s inter-Korean family reunions to create a strong emotional response both domestically and internationally to justify future economic cooperation. However, sanctions continue to be in place against North Korea over their nuclear program which prevents the South Korean government from giving the Kim regime the payday the Kim regime has long wanted. However, if the ROK government pushes the Trump administration on this issue President Trump should hold a press conference with Mr. Hwang In-cheol and other abductees and ask when their family reunions are going to happen?:
As a lucky few Korean families meet decades after being divided by war, Hwang In-cheol looks on lamenting the absence of his father, whose plane was hijacked by the North.
Hwang was only two when his father Won left for a business trip in 1969, never to return. Now 50, he has spent his life missing a man he only knows from pictures.
Scores of elderly North and South Koreans who were separated by the 1950-53 conflict met for the first time in decades Monday, hugging each other tearfully.
But none of them was among the thousands of South Koreans Seoul says were kidnapped by the North after the war.
“The sight of the families reuniting looks very nice but these one-time reunions are not a solution to the problem,” Hwang said.
“I hope that day for me comes soon. I’m hoping that my father will be alive until then.” [Japan Times via a reader tip]
You can read more at the link, but Mr. Hwang’s father was abducted as part of the hijacking of Korean Air YS-11 back in 1969. You can read about the hijacking at the below link:
This reminds me of the old Keys to the Kingdom book that used to be sold in Korean villes to GIs a long time ago:
Major book retailers have stopped selling an “obscene and racist” book about Filipinas.
Online retailers, including Aladin, Yes24 and Bandi & Lunis, have removed the e-book, “How to Treat Bar Hostesses in the Philippines.”
This move came after a tweet about the book was widely spread earlier this month. Many people have taken issue with the contents, which objectify Filipinas from a Korean man’s perspective.
“Once you go to the Philippines, you will soon be attracted to nightlife and meet many kinds of women there. Language won’t be a problem. A few words will be enough to communicate with them,” the book’s author, identified just as “Kevin Cho,” writes.
“Even if you are not a womanizer in Korea, you will definitely be one in the Philippines. This is not the case only for Koreans but also Japanese and Americans. The fact that the Korean Wave is sweeping across Asia makes you feel even more proud. While studying English there, women can be either medicine or poison.”
In the book, published three years ago by Scene in the Moonlight, Cho urges readers to “make the best use of Filipinas, who can give unforgettable memories.” [Korea Times]
It's remarkable how far down you have to read in some news articles to see that these “reunions” are closely monitored & brief visits, terminated by the abductee’s return to captivity & isolation. What a heartbreaking “reunion” that must be. https://t.co/WgCK1McSnQ
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un tours a hot spring resort in Yangdok, South Pyongan Province, in this photo carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Aug. 17, 2018. (Yonhap)
I wonder how much money the Kim regime pocketed for allowing this hike? Important information that was not included in the article:
In this Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, photo, Sinead of Australia, left, and Tarjei Naess Skrede of Norway walk past North Korean soldiers during a hike arranged by Roger Shepherd of Hike Korea on Mount Paektu in North Korea. Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, Shepherd, a New Zealander who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea is leading the first group of foreign tourists allowed to trek off road and camp out under the stars on Mount Paektu, a huge volcano that straddles the border that separates China and North Korea.
Foreign tourists looking to go off the beaten path in North Korea can now camp out on the country’s biggest volcano.
Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, a New Zealander who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea is leading the first group of foreign tourists allowed to trek off road and camp out under the stars on Mount Paektu, a huge volcano that straddles the border that separates China and North Korea.
Paektu was in 946 AD the site of one of the largest eruptions in history. It is considered one of the most beautiful natural sites in North Korea and is still active, though there haven’t been any big eruptions in recent years.
It’s revered in the North for its links to the ruling Kim family and is considered the spiritual home of the Korean revolution. Trips to the mountain are popular with North Koreans who visit with their schools, work units or other social groups on excursions that are part indoctrination and part recreation. It’s also popular with Chinese tourists and smaller foreign tour groups who can stay in nearby hotels and drive right up to its crater to see the blue waters of Lake Chon in Paektu’s caldera.
But Roger Shepherd, founder of Hike Korea, which is based in the South, managed to convince North Korean government officials to let him take his guests off the beaten path for the first time.
The area around the mountain features several reconstructed “secret campsites” said to have been used by national founder Kim Il Sung and his guerrillas in the fight against the Japanese colonial rulers before 1945 — a possible reason why the idea of allowing a foreign camping excursion clicked with the local authorities. But Shepherd’s group has for the most part managed to avoid the typical mini-bus and propaganda lecture experience that often awaits foreign tourists here.
On Saturday, the group climbed the mountain from near its base, walked to the lake from the rim and then hiked out across a volcanic plateau to pitch their tents for the first of five nights they were to spend on the hike. [Associated Press]
You can read more at the link, but this hike that was allowed by the North Korean authorities, is clearly being used to draw more western tourists to hike Mt. Paekdu. More tourists means more foreign currency for the Kim regime.
If people’s conscious is okay with their money supporting a regime that operates gulags, launches deadly provocations, sends out hitmen to kill people, and threatens neighbors in the region with nuclear weapons then feel free to go hiking in North Korea.
North Korea has agreed to provide key information to the United States about its nuclear warheads and secret test sites, sources said Tuesday.
“North Korea plans to hand over a list of its secret nuclear test sites as well as information about its nuclear warheads to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when he visits Pyongyang this month,” one source told The Korea Times.
He said chances are high that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet Pompeo in person to discuss details about how and when the North will abandon its nuclear weapons. During his previous visit to Pyongyang, Pompeo said his team was hoping that “we can make a big step here before too long.”
“Washington was demanding Pyongyang hand over a list of all things relating to its nuclear capabilities. It’s uncertain whether the North accepted this request; but submitting a list of nuclear capabilities including sites will push forward the nuclear disarmament talks which have been stalled,” said another source asking for anonymity. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but this is just a list and who knows if it is a complete list? Judging by past North Korean behavior it is likely incomplete. Additionally a list is not denuclearization, this is just more pretend denuclearization. When the warheads and nuclear material begin to flow out of the country that is when I will be convinced the Kim regime is serious about denuclearizing.
According to the article the Moon administration supports pretend denuclearization. With the submitting of the list the Moon administration is expected to ask the Trump administration to drop sanctions and give Kim Jong-un his long awaited pay day for doing little in return. I guess we will see in the coming weeks if the Trump administration will support pretend denuclearization or not.
So will this be the visit where the Trump administration gives in and allows sanctions to be dropped against North Korea for little to nothing in return? I guess we will see:
Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s upcoming Pyongyang visit is expected to break the ongoing political stalemate surrounding the timeline of North Korea’s denuclearization, experts said Monday.
The sign of hope comes at a time when no outstanding progress has been made over the issue following the historic June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
A specific timeline for Pompeo’s visit to the North Korean capital has yet to be confirmed. But with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton saying recently that Pompeo will “soon” make his fourth visit to Pyongyang, expectations are he will visit the regime sometime between the end of this month and the beginning of next month.
“Pompeo has failed to generate specific outcomes over the denuclearization dialogue with North Korea during his previous visits to Pyongyang,” said Kim Sang-ki, director at the Korea Institute for National Unification’s policy division.
“My view is that his upcoming visit is aimed at creating tangible achievements to put an end to the ongoing deadlock in denuclearization talks with North Korea. In this regard, Washington may push for conditions that would lead to declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.” [Korea Times]
I met a group of NK defectors from SK recently. Asked whether I should refer them as "defectors" or "new settlers" they said smiling: "freed people." https://t.co/I3nupZ52Yu
South Korean participants arrive at an immigration office on the east coast to cross into North Korea for a reunion event for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s east coast on Aug. 20, 2018. The family reunion event, the first of its kind in nearly three years, will be held there till Aug. 26. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
