Category: Inter-Korean Issues

Declassified Documents Show Former President Carter Tried to Hold Summit with Kim Il-sung

| November 27, 2018

I don’t think anyone will be surprised to find out that former President Jimmy Carter tried to hold a peace conference with the North Koreans back in 1979:

The United States pushed for high-level talks with South and North Korea on reducing military tensions in the late 1970s amid a controversy over a troop pullout or reduction plan, declassified diplomatic documents showed Sunday.

The rift between the presidents of the allies at that time — Park Chung-hee and Jimmy Carter — about the size of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) was highlighted in a transcript of their talks in Seoul on June 30, 1979.

“I can’t promise that we will freeze forces levels,” Carter told Park, according to a White House document on their hourlong conversation.

Carter questioned South Korea’s commitment to a hike in defense budgets to counter North Korea’s rapid military buildup.

Park stressed his military was making efforts to beef up combat power but needed more time.

Cater asked, “My understanding is that you are particularly concerned about the presence of the Second (Infantry) Division and the Combined Forces Command. Do you also want the U.S. to maintain its protective nuclear umbrella as well?”

Park said yes. And Carter asked again, “If we decide to modify or reduce other force levels, you would like adequate notification and consultations?”

Park also said yes.

In the summit, Carter confirmed South Korea’s clear opposition to either the withdrawal of the USFK or a scale-down, with the North’s military threats growing. The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Carter soon accelerated a drive for dialogue with North Korea on easing tensions.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but Carter tried to hold a summit with the ROK and North Korea in Jakarta, Indonesia.  It never happened because the Kim Il-sung regime blew him off.

UN Security Council Approves Sanctions Exemption for North Korean Railway Survey

| November 27, 2018

Another UN sanctions exemption for little to nothing in return from North Korea:

The United Nations Security Council has granted a sanctions exemption that will allow North and South Korea to move forward with a joint railway project, according to a report.

Seoul had requested an exemption for the delivery of fuel and other material needed to conduct a survey in North Korea focused on reconnecting cross-border railways.

The request was approved Friday by the security council’s North Korea sanctions committee, a foreign ministry official said according to the Yonhap News Agency.

The decision comes days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the South that it should not improve ties with the North without marked progress in nuclear talks.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Tweet of the Day: Who Is On the Wrong Side of History?

| November 19, 2018

South Korean Government Says There Was Never Any Agreement to Dismantle Secret North Korean Missile Bases

| November 14, 2018

Like I said when this story initially broke, next someone is going to point out that the Kim regime still has artillery pointed at Seoul like it is some big revelation:

A satellite photo, taken by DigitalGlobe on March 28, 2018, and provided by Reuters, shows the Sakkanmol missile operation base in North Korea. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s presidential office on Tuesday played down a new report on North Korea’s “undisclosed” missile sites, saying the state intelligence communities of South Korea and the United States earlier acquired relevant information.

Cheong Wa Dae added that it’s going too far to call the North’s continued activity a “great deception” given that it has no specific agreement to dismantle or disclose the facilities mentioned in the report issued by Beyond Parallel, a group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The group said it has located 13 out of an estimated 20 missile operating bases undeclared by the secretive communist regime.

“The dispersed deployment of these bases and distinctive tactics employed by ballistic missile units are combined with decades of extensive camouflage, concealment and deception practices to maximize the survival of its missile units from pre-emptive strikes and during wartime operations,” the report said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more a the link, but the South Korean government has basically took a nothing to see here, this is just business as usual approach to the news.

Tweet of the Day: Raise Suspicion?

| November 13, 2018

Tweet of the Day: Cash Planes?

| November 12, 2018

Moon Administration’s $315 Million Railroad Upgrade in North Korea Blocked By the United Nations Command

| November 11, 2018

It looks like the United Nations Command is still upholding sanctions though the Moon administration doesn’t want them to:

The unification ministry set aside around 350 billion won ($315 million) to connect the rail and road networks of the two Koreas according to documents that were initially undisclosed.

The documents obtained by Rep. Choung Byoung-gug of the Bareunmirae Party from the ministry and National Assembly, stated that 352.6 billion won out of a 1.97 trillion won fund for inter-Korean affairs had been set aside to link transport networks with North Korea. The documents for the first time showed the government’s budget for the project.

Specifically, the ministry had set aside 134.1 billion won for rail connections and 54.8 billion won for roads. The ministry also reportedly drew up another 163.7 billion won for “establishing infrastructure for inter-Korean economic cooperation.”

The budget was drawn up at a time when the project has been put on hold as the Koreas have yet to conduct inspections on train tracks in the North. This is because the United Nations Command, which is in charge of approving personnel and equipment crossing the military demarcation line (MDL), has barred South Koreans from crossing to survey the North’s transport infrastructure.

This is due to the fact that a South Korean train carrying oil needs to cross the MDL. The United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea ban this. Resolution 2397 states “all member states shall prohibit the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to North Korea, through their territories or by their nationals, or using their flag vessels, aircraft, pipelines, rail lines, or vehicles, of all refined petroleum products.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Tweet of the Day: Working for Kim Jong-un?

| November 9, 2018

President Moon Says Kim Jong-un Visit to Seoul Linked to 2nd Summit with Trump

| November 6, 2018

What I would not be surprised to see happen is that Kim Jong-un cancels the visit to Seoul because sanctions are not dropped by the US:

President Moon Jae-in told parliamentary floor leaders Monday that it is unclear whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit Seoul within this year as promised because the visit is linked closely to a second summit between the North and the United States, officials said.

Moon also said during a meeting with the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties that the government is thinking about whether Kim’s visit should take place before or after the North-U.S. summit that has been postponed until early next year.

“For now, we’re making preparations on the assumption that it’s going to take place within this year,” Moon said during the meeting, according to participants from the parties.

Moon said he hopes Kim’s visit to Seoul will be realized so that it can serve as a dramatic turning point in relations between the two sides. Moon also said he hopes the National Assembly will release a statement welcoming Kim’s visit.  [Yonhap]

Tweet of the Day: Scolded for Not Having A Nice Watch

| November 5, 2018