Category: Inter-Korean Issues

Russia invites two Koreas to discuss trilateral cooperation on cross-border economic zone http://t.co/7wcmllAVhJ

— KEI (@KoreaEconInst) August 19, 2015

According to the below article there is not much that the South Koreans can do in regards to the recent mine attack that wounded two South Korean troops.  I disagree, just for starters the ROK government should have Park Sang-hak and his team on speed dial to go launch some of their propaganda balloons with DVDs of “The Interview” on them.  Announcing government funding for defector radio stations is another option.  The biggest trump card the ROK government has is to end the near-slave labor operation going on at Kaesong that is a major Kim regime cash cow:

South Korea announced a series of measures this week aimed at deterring another North Korean land mine attack, from broadcasting anti-Pyongyang messages across the Demilitarized Zone to changing patrol times for its soldiers.

But in a climate where military officials fear that even the smallest exchange of fire could escalate into a full-blown conflict, there might be little Seoul will do to punish the North or discourage further provocations, some experts say.

Two South Korean soldiers were maimed Aug. 4 after triggering several recently planted land mines during a routine morning patrol at the DMZ, near Paju. The blasts happened about 1,440 feet south of the Military Demarcation Line, which marks the actual border between the two Koreas. One of the soldiers lost his legs, and the other lost a foot.

The land mine attack, while tragic, is a relatively minor incident in the larger picture of inter-Korean relations, and the appropriate response for Seoul is unclear, said Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.

“It’s this real kind of gray area that doesn’t rise to the level of triggering some kind of military counter attack,” he said.

South Korean forces will vary patrol times so they cannot be tracked by North Korea, and will increase the number of search and reconnaissance missions along the DMZ. Troops will also conduct a sweep for additional land mines this month, and will toughen engagement rules for North Korean troops who cross into the South’s territory, according to South Korean media reports Tuesday.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

You expect something wacky like creating your own timezone from the North Koreans, but the fact that politicians in South Korea want to inconvenience their own citizens just to stick it to Japan is even wackier in my opinion:

You can read more at the link.

You know the propaganda balloon campaign continues to be effective when the group continues to get this kind of reaction from the Kim regime:

North Korea threatened to attack South Korean activists, Monday, for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the inter-Korean border.

The threat by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) came three days after a conservative civic group flew about 10,000 leaflets to the North from Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, located close to the border.

The leaflets featured an “execution list after Korean unification” that included North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the North’s party officials and military brass, along with Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju.

“We regard the leaflet distribution as an apparent act of war and are running out of patience with it. Such a small action can lead to the destruction of the group,” the CPRK said.

“The leaflets carry unacceptable and offensive crap. It is another military provocation.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but these balloon launches are one of the few ways that the South Koreans are able to get through the information blockade that insulates much of the interior of North Korea.  The border area have long been the source of the majority of the refugees due to the proximity of the border and the fact that outside information from China is available via radio and cell phone towers.

Instead of trying to use claims of setting up a Social Security system for the Kaesong workers, the North Korean negotiators now appear to be trying to make use of the minimum wage fight in the US and claim it is their sovereign right to wage the minimum wage for Kaesong workers:

The two Koreas are holding talks to settle the dispute over the wages of North Korean workers employed at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North.

The sixth round of talks of a joint inter-Korean committee in charge of running the complex is under way at the complex in the North Korean border city.

During a plenary session Thursday morning, the two Koreas exchanged opinions on the wage dispute, issues concerning border passage, customs and communications as well as improving working conditions at the factory zone.

In the afternoon, Lee Sang-min from the Unification Ministry, heading the talks, and his North Korean counterpart Pak Chol-su, a vice director of the North’s special economic zone development department, held two chief delegates’ meetings and discussed the wage concern.

A Unification Ministry official in Seoul said the mood in the talks was not bad, but results of the meeting are not yet known.

Before the morning session began Thursday, Lee welcomed news of Pak expressing hope that the day’s meeting would serve as “welcome rain” for cross-border relations.

The North Korean official went on to metaphorically say that recent downpours have in fact considerably helped harvest conditions in the North.

He said that he believes the latest talks can produce good results just like a long awaited rain after a drought for business people hoping for the success of the complex and all Koreans longing to see inter-Korean relations improve.

The Thursday talks are known to have particularly focused on the contentious issue of revising labor regulations including a five percent cap on minimum wage growth.

North Korea contends setting the minimum wage is a sovereign right while the South calls for an inter-Korean agreement on the issue per the previous rule.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link.

I guess we will see if this inter-Korean project will end up just like all the other ones, as a negotiating chip to increase the wealth of the Kim regime while doing little to nothing for average North Koreans:

South Korea’s unification minister expressed hope on Sunday that the reconnection of the railway linking Seoul and the North Korean city of Wonsan will be a “starting point” for inter-Korean cooperation down the road.

The 223.7-km-long railway was built in 1914 and served as a major supply route from Seoul to Wonsan before it was severed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Seoul government earlier said that it will start construction of the 11.7-km-long section of the railway running through Gangwon Province next month in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of its independence from Japan.

“I want to see the railways between the two Koreas be reconnected as quickly as possible,” Unification Minister Hong was quoted as saying during his visit to the area. “I want it to be a major starting point.”

“Railways are actual linking channels for the two Koreas and I wish to discuss many other issues and cooperative projects based on this railway reconnection business,” he said.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

North-South family reunions: contact cut off afterwards and gifts confiscated http://t.co/xeC3AIEKZn

— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) June 16, 2015

These workers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex only make $70 a month with most of it going to the Kim regime. I don’t know what to call this other than near slave labor:

South Korean firms in an inter-Korean factory park in North Korea plan to pay wages to their North Korean employees this week, a government official said Monday.
The move came days after Pyongyang accepted Seoul’s tentative offer of wage payments for North Korean workers at the factory park in North Korea’s border city of Kaesong at a previously agreed level until separate consultations are held.
The deal on Friday would allow South Korean firms to pay the wage based on the US$70.35 per month that was originally set. But it called for the 124 South Korean firms to provide retroactive pay based on the outcome of separate consultations.
The official said North Korea demanded that South Korean firms in Kaesong pay March and April wages by the end of this month. The official asked not to be identified, citing policy.
The sides have yet to produce a deal over the more sensitive issue of a wage cap, which has been set at 5 percent per year.

In February, North Korea unilaterally decided to hike the minimum wage by 5.18 percent to US$74 per month for about 53,000 North Korean workers in the factory park.  [Yonhap]

Some more strategic messaging to the ROK from the North Koreans in regards to the NLL:

The blue line is the current NLL while red line is what the North Koreans believe should be the NLL.

North Korea carried out a firing drill near the tensely patrolled western maritime border with the South for a second consecutive day on Thursday, raising tension on the peninsula following its new missile test.

The North fired about 190 rounds of shells from a warship and its coastal artillery from 7:10 p.m. to 9:40 p.m. near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), but none of the artillery rounds landed on the south side of the sea border, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.  [Yonhap]

Maybe they are spies or are just making a false confession under duress, but the fact that the North Koreans are publicizing this shows that they want to use them as bargaining chips in future negotiations:

Two South Koreans detained in North Korea told CNN on Sunday that they spied for South Korea.

South Korea has flatly rejected the accusations and urged Pyongyang to release them.

The interviews came after North Korea announced on Saturday that it arrested a South Korean student studying in the U.S. on charges of illegal entry into the country, the fourth South Korean citizen detained in the North.

South Korean missionary Kim Jung-wook has been held there since October 2013.

Sunday’s interviews as well as the new detention could be an attempt by Pyongyang to pressure South Korea to shift its policy toward the communist nation. The North could also use the detainees as a negotiating chip should inter-Korean talks reopen.

When announcing last month the arrest of the two CNN interviewees — Kim Kuk-gi and Choe Chun-gil — North Korea accused them of working as spies for South Korea’s main intelligence agency National Intelligence Service (NIS), branding them “heinous terrorists.”

In Sunday’s interviews, both Kim, 61, and Choe, 56, admitted to the charges against them and said they would accept any punishment the North Korean government decided. North Korean minders were present during the interviews, CNN said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.