For any North Korea apologist out there reading this, can you tell me why the Kim regime cannot afford Tamiflu, but they can afford a nuclear weapons program?:
South Korea will send the flu medicine Tamiflu to North Korea as part of an inter-Korean cooperation project on influenza prevention.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry unveiled this plan on Friday and said it will notify the North on related plans in the near future and begin working-level talks to discuss details.
Speaking to reporters after working group discussions with the U.S. held in Seoul Friday, chief nuclear envoy Lee Do-hoon said the issue of providing Tamiflu to North Korean residents has been settled.
It appears the Kim regime wants the Moon administration just to bust international sanctions without the approval of the US:
A North Korean propaganda outlet accused South Korea of what it claims to be stalled inter-Korean cooperation on Friday, saying that Seoul cannot make a single step it wants to due to pressure from Washington. The criticism comes as Seoul and Washington held their second “working group” meeting in Seoul to discuss coordination on how to deal with North Korea and its nuclear weapons program. “South Korean authorities should feel responsible for depressing the inter-Korean relations on the back of the U.S.’ maneuver for sanctions and pressure before talking about its ‘driver theory,'” the website Uriminzokkiri said, referring to President Moon Jae-in’s pledge to take the initiative by sitting in the “driver’s seat” when handling North Korean affairs. “Nothing would be resolved as long as (Seoul) continues to curry favor with the U.S., tied by its dependence on outside powers and blind following of the U.S.,” it added.
It looks like the Trump administration may be giving into ROK demands to provide humanitarian assistance to South Korea. I wish someone would ask President Moon why a country with a massive military, a nuclear weapons program, and the regime elite living lavish lifestyles needs humanitarian aid?:
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun speaks to reporters after arriving at Incheon International Airport, Thursday. Yonhap
Hopes are growing for a possible breakthrough in the stalemate in denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington, after a key U.S. official visiting South Korea referred to possible resumption of humanitarian aid to the North.
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said the U.S. is reviewing possible exemptions to the ban on U.S. citizens traveling to North Korea regarding humanitarian aid. He also referred to improving 70 years of hostile relations after arriving at Incheon International Airport.
“We will also review American citizens’ travel to North Korea for the purpose of facilitating the delivery of aid and ensure that monitoring in line with international standards can occur,” he said.
Improving bilateral relations is among the agreements North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump reached at their historic summit in June.
The U.S. official had refrained from making any public remarks on his previous visits. His statement this time is seen as a message from Washington to Pyongyang. Biegun stated the review on the travel ban for humanitarian aid purposes was a direction from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
#MoonJaein, just because he was elected #SouthKorea's president, obviously thinks he has a mandate to end the existence of the South Korean state. I suspect most voters don't want to surrender their freedoms to him or his buddy, #KimJongUn. https://t.co/ywVEVJuxl6
A few immutable conditions of the confederation model NK wants: 1) a co-equal governing body (which will actually favor NK’s preferences); 2) a neutral state (i.e., no US alliance/footprint); 3) reduced military on both sides (of course, NK has nukes, so they enjoy supremacy). https://t.co/hnCt3vryC7
Found on my doorstep this morning, this flier calls for creating a new unified flag to greet Kim Jong Un when the "noble guest of unification" comes to Seoul. The zeal of nationalism is indeed palpable, and pervasive these days. pic.twitter.com/eYTE0MaTEH
Via a reader tip comes the below video of a conference held recently by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think tank. The conference featured a number of ROK Drop favorites such as Dr. Tara O, Joshua Stanton from One Free Korea, David Maxwell, and Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt.
A lot of great points were made by the speakers during the conference. For example Dr. O points out the jailing of conservative media figures and how the ROK media is suppressing coverage of anti-Moon administration protests. For example below is a picture of a protest that was not covered by the media. She even discussed an example of how Kim Jong-un could become the President of South Korea if a confederation is created.
Dr. Tara O discusses freedom of speech in the ROK.
Joshua Stanton also provided a lot of great examples of how Korean politicians have suppressed the media though it is in overdrive now.
The Moon administration in South Korea has decided to increase funding for North Korea spending next year:
President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands after signing a set of agreements at their summit in Pyongyang in September. / Korea Times file
The government has allocated 1.1 trillion won ($977 million) for inter-Korean affairs for next year, according to the unification ministry, Monday.
This is up 15 percent from the 959 billion won fund this year, reflecting the reconciliatory mood that developed between the Koreas, as the leaders held three summits and reached agreements to promote peace.
“The budget was drawn up to give an impetus to carrying out agreements reached between the South and North and develop sustainable inter-Korean ties,” a unification ministry official said.
The budget includes 5.9 billion won that was set up to enable video meetings between family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
You can read more at the link, but what is interesting about this announcement of $977 million set aside for Kim Jong-un is that the cost sharing talks between the US and the ROK restart again this week. The US has been asking South Korea to increase their funding for USFK from the $850 million a year it currently pays. South Korean negotiators say that crossing the one trillion won mark is “psychologically important” to not cross. However it was clearly not important when they decided to budget over one trillion won for North Korea spending next year.
So as it stands now the ROK government is willing to pay Kim Jong-un more than USFK.
This shouldn’t come as any surprise because the former Roh Moo-hyun administration that current President Moon Jae-in was the Chief of Staff for also paid then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il more money than they were willing to fund the US-ROK alliance. I would hope US negotiators at the cost sharing talks this week would at least bring this fact up.
Why would a president, who's responsible for providing security & protect people/way of life, get rid of defenses & its surveillance (ability to monitor the adversary's threats & verify its adherence to military agreement)? Give up its border NLL? https://t.co/vIGMX8x1ga
