You have to love the hypocrisy of this statement from North Korea in regards to their frustration with the Trump administration for not dropping sanctions for little to nothing in return:
South Korean soldiers leave a guard post in the demilitarized zone. (South Korean Defense Ministry/Getty Images)
“These acts by the U.S. apparently came from a medieval-era way of thinking that only threatening, coercive and barbarian tactics could enhance its negotiating leverage,” DPRK Today, a state-sponsored website, said Monday, also complaining about recent military exercises with Japan involving nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and bombers. Those “illogical” tactics won’t work, it said. [Washington Post]
This statement is coming from the regime that has launched countless threats, provocations, and attacks over to the decades against South Korea and the US. Here is what the ROK government has to say:
In Seoul, the government is wary of criticizing the United States directly. But behind the scenes there is a real sense that Washington needs to move the needle forward by building trust with the North.
So why is it always that the US need to build trust with North Korea? The Kim regime are the ones that have broken multiple agreements. The onus is on them to build trust with the United States not the other way around. The easiest way to build trust is by disclosing their nuclear sites and allow inspectors to begin to dismantle them. If this happens I have no doubt the Trump administration will drop sanctions.
The fact that they Kim regime are not doing this shows they have no desire to denuclearize. They clearly believe that they can have it both ways by having sanctions dropped and then pretend to denuclearize. By the time anyone catches on to the fact that they don’t plan to denuclearize, they will have had an influx of cash and moved so far forward on their confederation strategy with the Moon administration in South Korea that any reimplementing of sanctions will be too late.
The North Korean economy should be put into receivership, like the Teamster's Union was in the 70s. Freeze all state actors' assets & release them to buy food, medicine & EAR-99 consumer goods only. Appoint an honest & experienced auditor to manage it. Call it coal-for-food. https://t.co/3QJXImP5wZ
The Jangmadang Generation, our doc about North Korean millennials and their role in NK’s social change, was a privilege to work on and is one of my favourite projects.
And it’s now available in TEN languages! Watch here (and please RT😊)👇https://t.co/ckWCHt45e2
How can the ROK defend NK’s undisclosed operational missile bases? For the sake of “fake diplomacy”? Just read the UN Security Council resolutions —which ban ALL ballistic missiles from NK. Seriously, how contorted can these rationalizations for NK weapons possession get?? https://t.co/qif9Ogwfzq
Any bets on the mental state of this guy just deported from North Korea?:
North Korea will deport a U.S. citizen detained since October after he entered illegally from China and told his captors he was manipulated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the North Korean state news agency reported on Friday.
The KCNA news agency identified the American as Bruce Byron Lowrance and said he was detained on Oct. 16 as he crossed the border.
An American man of the same name was deported from South Korea in November 2017 after being found wandering near the heavily fortified border with North Korea, but there was no immediate confirmation of the identity of the man held by North Korea. [Reuters]
North Korea seems to be sending a message that they are growing impatient waiting for the sanctions to be dropped:
In this undated photo released Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, listens to a military official as he inspects a weapon testing at the Academy of National Defense Science, North Korea. Kim observed the successful test of a newly developed high-tech tactical weapon.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed the successful test of an unspecified “newly developed ultramodern tactical weapon,” state media reported Friday, in an apparent bid to apply pressure on the United States and South Korea.
It didn’t appear to be a test of a nuclear device or a long-range missile with the potential to target the U.S. A string of such tests last year had many fearing war before the North turned to engagement and diplomacy. Still, any mention of weapons testing could influence the direction of stalled diplomatic efforts spearheaded by Washington and aimed at ridding the North of its nuclear weapons.
The North hasn’t publicly tested any weapons since November 2017, but in recent days Pyongyang reportedly expressed anger at U.S.-led international sanctions and ongoing small-scale military drills between South Korea and the United States.
Earlier this month, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry warned it could bring back its policy of bolstering its nuclear arsenal if it doesn’t receive sanctions relief.
“It’s North Korea-style coercive diplomacy. North Korea is saying ‘If you don’t listen to us, you will face political burdens,'” said analyst Shin Beomchul of Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies. [Reuters]
You can read more at the link, but of course the Moon administration in South Korea is playing down this weapons test:
North Korea’s test of an unspecified high-tech weapon should not be interpreted as a sign that the regime is abandoning denuclearization talks with the United States, a senior South Korean official said Thursday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the “successful” test of a “high-tech tactical weapon” at a national defense institute, state media reported early Friday (local time).
It marked the first such inspection by the leader following his viewing of an intercontinental ballistic missile launch in November 2017.
“It’s clearly something that we should watch carefully,” the senior government official who was visiting Washington told reporters on condition of anonymity. “But it’s still early to view this as a change of heart in terms of the North Koreans’ intention to have denuclearization talks or its intention to resolve the issue of regime security and improve ties with the U.S. through talks.” [Yonhap]
The big question remains what was tested? My guess would be is that they tested their multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) called the KN-09.
This photo from the North Korean daily Rodong Sinmun on March 4, 2016, shows a test fire of the country’s new multiple rocket launcher.
They last test fired their MLRS in 2016 and it reportedly has a range out to 200 kilometers. Maybe their new “ultramodern” weapon is an MLRS with greater range? Regardless a 200 kilometer range already threatens Osan Airbase and Camp Humphreys, the two major US military installations in South Korea.
President Moon said KJU is not deceiving anyone because he never agreed to close SRBM bases, and they aren't related to ICBMs or IRBMs. Which means he's ok with NK pointing SRBMs at SKorea.
I love this feeling of schadenfreude watching Moon make a total ass of himself. https://t.co/niYIL7VHhE
— John Lee (The Korean Foreigner) (@koreanforeigner) November 13, 2018
You would think that with the close ties the US and Poland have, that the Trump administration would have convinced the Poles to not use North Korean near-slave labor:
North Korean slave laborers are paid only US$27 a month on average working 12 to 16 hours a day in Polish shipyards, according to a Dutch academic. Most of their nominal wages go straight into the coffers of the North Korean regime.
Prof. Remco Breuker of Leiden University in the Netherlands told Voice of America on Saturday, “After the obligatory expenses, they would be left with about 27 dollars a month. That’s what they would be able to send home.”
A former North Korean worker at a shipyard in Poland is suing a Dutch shipbuilder over the slave-like conditions under a Dutch law that makes profiting from exploitation a crime even if the alleged offender is not the victim’s direct employer, which has turned the spotlight on the abuses.
The North Korean regime typically takes 70 to 90 percent of the wages of laborers it sends overseas to earn hard currency. [Chosun Ilbo]
👇1. Exactly what I told @washingtonpost@mradamtaylor but this part of my quote didnt make it in story (it's ok, it happens; @ArmsControlWonk said it but slightly differently). NK is doing what KJU ordered it to do in Jan 1 – mass produce missiles and nuke warheads… https://t.co/EIxd86U2X2
I really hope no one is surprised by any of this; next someone will take notice that the artillery that threatens Seoul is still in place:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a constructions site of Yangdeok, in this undated photo released on October 31, 2018 by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA/via REUTERS
A U.S. think tank said on Monday it had identified at least 13 of an estimated 20 undeclared missile operating bases inside North Korea, underscoring the challenge for American negotiators hoping to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
In reports released by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, researcher Joseph Bermudez said maintenance and minor infrastructure improvements have been observed at some of the sites, despite the ongoing negotiations.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to work toward denuclearization at their landmark June summit in Singapore, but the agreement was short on specifics and negotiations have made little headway.
Shortly after that summit, Trump tweeted that “there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” [Reuters]
You can read the rest at the link, but the plan all along for the Kim regime was to get a peace treaty signed and sanctions dropped for little to nothing in return. As long as the sanctions remain in place it is still not a complete win for the Kim regime.
