Category: North Korea

It looks like serious talks to organize a summit are happening behind closed doors right now:

South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be held at any time, citing possible signs of dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) made the assessment during a closed-door briefing to the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, according to Rep. Youn Kun-young of the ruling Democratic Party and Rep. Yoo Yeong-ha of the main opposition People Power Party.

“Regarding a North Korea-U.S. summit, we should consider it possible at any time,” the NIS was quoted as saying. “No concrete facts of dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. have been confirmed, but there are signs of dialogue.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This would be an easy initiative that the U.S. has done before to pay Pyongyang to allow recovery of Korean War era remains. However, right now North Korea really doesn’t need the money like before. We will see if this goes anywhere:

The White House has asked a Pentagon agency what it could do should U.S. President Donald Trump be able to reach a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the agency’s director said Monday, another sign that Trump is looking to resume summitry with Kim.

Kelly McKeague, director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), made the remarks during an online forum, noting that the DPAA has told the White House and the Defense Department that it is “ready” for engagement with Pyongyang for recovering the remains of U.S. troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War. POW and MIA stand for prisoner of war and missing in action.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I can’t believe I find myself agreeing with Chung Dong-young, but he is right:

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday North Korea’s nuclear capabilities have grown 100,000 times over the past 30 years, insisting that pursuing North Korea’s complete denuclearization is no longer sustainable.

Chung made the remarks at a forum, as Pyongyang has continued to advance its nuclear capabilities and claimed its nuclear status is “irreversible,” while ruling out denuclearization talks.

“It is evidently the harsh truth that the approach of pushing for the complete denuclearization (of North Korea) pursued in the past is no longer sustainable,” Chung said in his opening speech at the annual Global Korea Forum.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Bruce Klingner has the same opinion I have that Kim Jong-un right now doesn’t really need anything from the U.S. to warrant a summit. Right now all their needs are being met due to their growing relationship with Russia. Why would Kim chum up to Trump now and possibly upset Putin? Trump would have to offer a deal Kim can’t refuse in order to secure a summit. I think at best what happens is that at the regional forum in China in November the two get pictured greeting each other and shaking hands:

A prominent expert said Tuesday that he sees a “slim-to-none” chance of another meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, noting that the resumption of their summitry depends on how low the United States sets the bar or how willing Trump is to make concessions.

Bruce Klingner, senior fellow at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, made the remarks during a forum in Washington, amid speculation that Trump could seek a summit with Kim during his next trip to Asia, likely to attend a regional forum in Shenzhen, China in November.

“I think overall, the chance of a meeting is sort of slim to none, and slim just rode out of town,” he said during the forum hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America.

“But it could still happen. It depends on sort of how low the U.S. sets the bar or how willing Trump is to offer concessions,” he added. (……..)

The expert pointed out that Pyongyang does not feel the need to engage with the U.S. for assistance given its deepening cooperation with Russia and improved ties with China.

“North Korea right now feels (it is) in the strongest position it’s been for quite some time. It’s getting 14 to 20 billion or more, or billions of dollars in food, fuel, funding, and military technology from Russia. Its trade with China has largely resumed to pre-COVID levels,” he said.

“It’s getting about a billion dollars a year from cryptocurrency crime, so it doesn’t need the U.S. and sanctions relief as it did several years ago.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Considering the benefits of troop dispatches to both Russia and North Korea, it makes sense they would continue:

No signs have been detected of any imminent dispatch of additional North Korean troops to Russia, a lawmaker said Sunday, citing a report from the South Korean military.

North Korea, however, is believed to continue making preparations for a possible deployment of additional troops to Russia, according to Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the main opposition People Power Party.

In a report submitted to the lawmaker, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said, “North Korea continues to prepare for deployment, but no sign of an imminent deployment of additional troops has been identified.”

The assessment comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed last month that Russia was preparing to bring in an additional 30,000 North Korean troops to a border region in the southwest to assist its war against Ukraine.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

My assumption would be is that there is some new tech that North Korea must be trying out on these recent launches. The more capable missiles they can manufacture would likely mean more money from the Russians:

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, marking the second such launch in less than a week in an apparent protest against an upcoming combined military exercise between the South and the United States. 

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile launched from the Wonsan area on the east coast at around 6 a.m. 

The missile flew more than 700 kilometers, with a detailed analysis on its specifications under way by South Korean and U.S. authorities, according to the JCS.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Another major organization is advocating for the myth that North Korea should denuclearize:

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday denounced regional calls for denuclearization, reaffirming that North Korea’s nuclear arsenal would be “updated steadily.”

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yo-jong criticized a joint statement released Saturday after the annual foreign ministers’ meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila, which reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea.

The ARF statement called for international efforts toward “the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.”

“Resolute and clear is the DPRK’s stand that nuclear deterrence is the ultimate shield for national sovereignty and the supreme guarantee for defending sovereignty,” Kim said in the statement. DPRK is short for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“Whatever others may say, the position and significance of existence of the DPRK as a responsible nuclear weapons state to keep the balance of strength and ensure the geopolitical security in and over the Korean Peninsula are final and irreversible,” she said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I have yet to hear one good argument on how and why North Korea should denuclearize? At this point it is just not going to happen. In my opinion the best that can be done is to negotiate with Pyongyang on limitations on numbers of nuclear weapons, anti-proliferation efforts, and stopping their ICBM program.

It will be interesting see if anything appearance wise changes with North Korea’s long time border building at Panmunjom:

North Korea has installed screens around its building inside the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom to block it from public view, apparently for ongoing renovation work, military sources said Monday.

The screens covering the Panmungak facility, located on the northern side of the Joint Security Area (JSA), were erected in April in what appeared to be part of renovation efforts, military sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is going to put further strain on Ukraine to sustain their own manpower requirements in this war:

Russia is preparing to bring in an additional 30,000 North Korean troops to its war against Ukraine, with Pyongyang also planning to send more missile launchers to Moscow to support the war effort, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy made the remarks in an X posting summarizing his nightly video address, saying that Moscow has been preparing since last month to deploy the troops to a border region in the southwest. 

“Russia wants to receive another 30,000 troops from North Korea. Since June, preparations have been under way in Russia’s Voronezh region to receive them,” Zelenskyy said in the posting.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If you are an American who has been dreaming of planning a holiday to North Korea, you will have to wait at least another year:

The United States will extend its ban on its citizens’ travel to North Korea for another year, a State Department notice showed Tuesday, citing “serious” risks associated with travel to the reclusive state.

The department posted the notice on the Federal Register on Monday, announcing the decision on the extension, which will make the restriction valid from Sept. 1 this year to Aug. 31 next year, as the current measure is set to expire on Aug. 31.

Under the measure, all U.S. passports are to be declared invalid for travel to, in or through the North unless specially validated for such travel.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.