Category: North Korea

Here is the latest on a second Trump-Kim summit:

United States President Donald Trump has reportedly proposed holding the second summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in mid-February in Vietnam.

Quoting a source familiar with the matter, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported on Sunday that North Korea is reviewing the U.S. proposal and has yet to give a formal response.

The report said that Indonesia and Mongolia are also being mentioned as possible candidates, but Vietnam is actually being considered as a venue.

Yomiuri said the focus of the second summit, if held, would be how the two sides will reach agreement on the North’s steps for denuclearization and the corresponding measures by the United States.

KBS World Radio

It seems to me that Kim Jong-un would only show up to this summit if he felt that he is going to get something he wants like dropping sanctions for little to nothing in return. I guess we will see what happens.

The Moon admin agreed to spend 3.56 bil won ($3.2 million) to provide enough Tamiflu medication for 200,000 people to #NorthKorea. It agreed to buy not SK-made generics, but the Swiss originals–much easier for NK to resell for hard currency. #sanctionshttps://t.co/xpDOmSqEYD

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) January 9, 2019

Kim Jong-un has finished getting his marching orders from Emperor President Xi and is on his way back home:

After holding meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has left Beijing and is now headed for Pyongyang aboard his special train. Kim is expected to have coordinated strategies with Xi ahead of his envisioned meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping for about an hour on Tuesday.

After their fourth summit, Xi hosted a banquet for Kim which lasted for more than four hours. Tuesday is believed to be Kim’s 35th birthday.

On Wednesday, Kim and Xi are believed to have met again for a luncheon at a hotel in Beijing.

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link.

The left wing South Korean newspaper, the Hankyoreh, has an editorial published saying that to move the peace process forward we all just need to learn to live with a North Korea with nuclear weapons:

During a seminar last year, an expert on the North Korean nuclear issue said the end point of denuclearization talks would be “a situation where a peace regime is so firmly in place that it wouldn’t even matter if North Korea were hiding a few nuclear weapons.” We might describe it as an approach of “killing the North Korean nuclear issue through a peace process.” Quite a few of the participants vehemently objected. “Are you suggesting we accept a nuclear North Korea?” they asked, insisting that the North should not be allowed to have even a single nuclear weapon.

(………) Even if Kim’s “complete denuclearization” is a different proposition from the one the North put forth at the time of the Agreed Framework, we have no way of knowing the timeline or conditions. The least we can say is that it doesn’t appear to be the “swift surrender” envisioned by the West. (……….)

A world where North Korea does not possess a single nuclear weapon does not appear to be on the horizon for now. We need to practice somehow living with a nuclear-equipped North Korea. We will soon be facing a moment of truth where we will need to confront the reality of North Korea’s nuclear program.

Hankyoreh

You can read the whole thing at the link, but I think this is clearly a trial balloon by the Korean left. They realize that the Kim regime is not going to give up its nuclear weapons and now want to start socializing the concept of letting them keep some of their nukes to keep the peace process moving forward.

This all plays into the Kim regime’s confederation strategy where they can end the US-ROK alliance, withdraw US troops, remove the US nuclear umbrella, and then dictate terms of the confederation because they have the military advantage with their nuclear weapons.

I would expect the US will keep this defection very quiet until a way ahead on a second Trump-Kim summit is figured out:

The disappearance and alleged request for asylum by former North Korean defector Jo Song-gil are posing a challenge for North Korea and the United States as they prepare to meet, as the former acting ambassador to Italy is reportedly seeking asylum in the United States.

Washington remains mum over these reports from the Italian media, apparently wary of the fallout from the issue ahead of their possible second summit set to take place in the near future.

The U.S. Department of State declined to confirm anything on the reports on Friday that Jo, who has reportedly been in hiding for weeks, has expressed hopes to settle in the U.S.

The 44-year-old North Korean diplomat has been missing with his family since early November without prior notice. Jo’s specific whereabouts remain unknown. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but former diplomat defector Thae Yong-ho has request that Jo seek asylum in South Korea. Considering the Moon administration’s cozy relationship with the Kim regime I can understand why he doesn’t want to go to South Korea.

It is not surprising that the Kim regime would have someone with strong ties to the regime elite serving as the ambassador to Italy because you would think they would have a higher level of loyalty:

According to an informed source who spoke to Asia Times on condition of anonymity, Jo – described as “more important than the ambassador” – is the son of the late deputy head of Pyongyang’s Organization and Guidance Department, or OGD.
The OGD, an ultra-select body of the Korea Workers Party’s Central Committee, was seen by inside sources as the most important state organ under the regime of the late Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011. Defectors such as Hwang Jang Yeop, the highest-level North Korean official ever to come to the South, and Jang Jin Sung, a former regime propaganda officer, considered the OGD of critical importance to state affairs.
Though it is not clear if the OGD is as central to Kim Jong Un’s governance as it was to his father’s, Jo, given his family connection, would be extremely well acquainted with Pyongyang’s top-level elites and the inner workings of and processes of the regime.
His present whereabouts are unknown, but he is thought to be under the protection of Italian authorities.

Asia Times

You can read more at the link.

My guess would be is that North Korea is sending out the telemetry data not as a test of anything but rather as a warning to the Trump administration to hurry up and drop sanctions or testing will begin again:

North Korea has continued its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles despite declaring a halt to launches, having conducted a missile-linked radio wave experiment early this month, it has been learned.
Despite sanctions limiting the North’s petroleum supply, the North Korean military is continuing to train at its usual levels. In response, the Japanese and U.S. governments plan to increase their surveillance of smuggling and other activities on the high seas, according to military and diplomatic sources.
North Korea conducted a launch test of its radio telemetry, which is transmitted from equipment in a missile’s components such as a warhead. When a ballistic missile is launched, telemetry provides essential information about the missile’s angle, location, speed and other factors to observers on the ground.
In 2016 and 2017, North Korea launched about 40 missiles, including ICBMs. Ground-based telemetry tests are often conducted prior to an ICBM launch, and are considered an important sign of an impending missile launch.

Yomiuri Shimbun

You can read more at the link.

There may be a lot of internal infighting in the White House that has led to a number of personnel changes, but at least no one is being sent to a concentration camp or shot which is what happens with senior leader disputes in North Korea:

Kim Yong-chol visited the White House early last June. Trump provided him with state-of-the-art security, including a number of trained bodyguards and his own Cadillac. Satisfied with the letter from Kim Jong-un’s letter that Kim Yong-chol delivered, Trump went so far as to walk him back to his car to see him off.

A couple of weeks later, Kim’s political profile hit an all-time high during the North-U.S. summit in Singapore, in which he stood next to leader Kim Jong-un. 

According to the source that leaked Kim Yong-chol’s secret meeting with Andrew Kim, “Meeting Pompeo when he visited North Korea and his visit to Singapore with leader Kim were Kim Yong-chol’s way to solidify his position as a negotiator.” This was most likely the reason why he tried to strike a deal with the United States. 

That meeting with Andrew Kim may have been a step too far, and it was only a matter of time before Kim Yong-chol’s request reached the ears of high-ranking North Korean officials, namely Choe Ryong-hae – who is far more frequently described as the second most powerful man in the North. According to an official who recently visited North Korea, “The Workers’ Party is looking into Kim’s recent request and the problematic issues that occurred because of it.” This “looking into” could be interpreted as Choe’s attempt to eliminate or at least curb Kim Yong-chol’s boosted political influence. 

Experts are pointing out how Choe’s recent actions mirror the steps he took to eliminate Hwang Pyong-so, then director of the Army’s General Political Bureau. In October 2017, Choe implemented an internal investigation of Hwang and the political bureau he was in charge of. This investigation uncovered the supposed fact that Hwang disregarded orders and fabricated reports that were sent to Kim Jong-un. Hwang had to step down from his position as second in command and was ordered to spend time in a concentration camp. Experts say Choe was exacting revenge from Hwang, who took his position in 2014. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read much more at the link.

The new format/setting of KJU's NYD address is trying to show he/NK is a modern, normal country and no longer the backward, hermit kingdom. I knew it wasn't live. Then saw evidence: the clock behind him keeps jumping time and its face gets covered too 👀😅 https://t.co/WVfLDUgCgT

— Duyeon Kim (@duyeonkim) January 1, 2019

The most interesting fact about this alleged defection is that he chose to not defect to South Korea. That should be an indication to everyone of how little trust potential defectors have in the Moon administration:

South Korea’s spy agency says it has yet to make contact with North Korea’s top diplomat in Italy, who has vanished from the public for months in a reported bid to seek asylum. 

According to Representative Kim Min-ki of the ruling Democratic Party, the National Intelligence Service(NIS) told him that Acting North Korean Ambassador to Italy Jo Song-gil has gone into hiding with his wife since leaving the North Korean diplomatic mission in Rome early November. 

The NIS said Jo began his stint in the North Korean mission in Italy in May of 2015 as third secretary, and was later promoted to first secretary, adding his term in Italy was set to expire at the end of November. 

Asked whether he thinks Jo will seek asylum in a third country rather than in the South, the South Korean lawmaker said it is easy to guess, citing the NIS’ comment that it had no contact with him since he disappeared. 

KBS World Radio

It will be interesting to see where Jo Song-gil ultimately ends up. If he comes to America will this be something the Trump administration will make known or keep quiet to not upset North Korea? I guess we will eventually find out.