I was wondering as well if the North Koreans staying at the Walker Hill Hotel had some kind of symbolic meaning to it, but apparently is was all about security:
Walker Hill Hotel
North Korea again chose Seoul’s Walkerhill Hotel for its high-level delegation’s lodgings during the delegates’ three-day visit. The North Korean leader’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, and other delegates stayed there three weeks ago.
A question then arises: why does the North prefer the hotel out of numerous luxury five-star hotels in Seoul?
An irony lies in the hotel’s name. It was named after U.S. Army general Walton Harris Walker, who died in an unfortunate car accident during the 1950-53 Korean War. Walker was credited with crushing North Korean troops in many battles, paving the way for the ultimate victory of the combined forces of South Korea and the United Nations.
Experts cite security as the first and foremost reason.
Unlike other luxury hotels in central Seoul with many access routes, Walkerhill is surrounded by Mount Acha and linked with only a handful of narrow roads.
For that reason, Walkerhill was a favorite venue for secret inter-Korean meetings in the 1980s and ’90s. [Korea Times]
Considering how little North Korea depends on the Internet that cyberattacks would be of limited value compared to other nations:
North Korea on Saturday denounced reported U.S. preparations for possible cyberattacks against the communist nation, saying it is ready and willing to respond to “any type of warfare.”
Earlier this month, U.S. media outlet Foreign Policy reported that for the past six months, Washington has been laying the groundwork in countries including South Korea and Japan for possible cyberattacks on the North. The process involved installing fiber cables as bridges into the region and setting up remote bases and listening posts.
“The United States must discard its silly dream of realizing its ambitions for invasion through cyberattacks on us,” the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in a commentary.
“As (we) have everything we need, and we are prepared, we can respond to any type of warfare that the U.S. wants,” it added. [Yonhap]
Something I have been advocating for, for many years the interdiction and inspection of North Korean ships may finally become a reality:
The United States is imposing a fresh set of sanctions on North Korea – the “largest ever”, President Trump says.
The measures target more than 50 ships and maritime transport companies in North Korea, but also China and Taiwan.
North Korea is already under a range of international and US sanctions over its nuclear programme and missile tests.
But it continued tests last year, including tests of a nuclear weapon and a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the US.
The US says the new sanctions are designed to put a further squeeze on North Korea, cutting off sources of revenue and fuel for its nuclear programme and clamping down on evasion of already existing restrictions. [BBC]
Here is how the US may enforce the inspections:
The Trump administration and key Asian allies are preparing to expand interceptions of ships suspected of violating sanctions on North Korea, a plan that could include deploying U.S. Coast Guard forces to stop and search vessels in Asia-Pacific waters, senior U.S. officials said. [Reuters]
It will be interesting to see how vigorously these sanctions are enforced by other nations because the US Coast Guard can’t be everywhere at all times to enforce these sanctions. I fully expect the Chinese government will do what it can to help the Kim regime circumvent the sanctions. If the sanctions don’t work President Trump says he is ready to implement Phase 2:
Speaking at a new conference on Friday, President Trump warned of serious consequences if the latest round of sanctions did not generate results.
“If the sanctions don’t work we’ll have to go phase two – and phase two may be a very rough thing, may be very, very unfortunate for the world,” he said.
“It really is a rogue nation. If we can make a deal it’ll be a great thing and if we can’t, something will have to happen.”
He did not specify what “phase two” would entail. [BBC]
Here is what ROK Drop favorite One Free Korea has to say about this news:
If China claims the unilateral right to make artificial islands, we can claim the unilateral right to make some artificial reefs. https://t.co/o1E6F7DQ31
Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates notable progress has been made on a new structure near the launch pad at North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station.https://t.co/gD7m0yIImh
Kim Jong-un’s older brother, Jong-chul who was passed over for the North Korean leadership supposedly lives a normal family life in Pyongyang:
Kim Jong-chul
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s older brother Jong-chol is married and has a son, according to a North Korea source on Wednesday.
Kim Jong-chol was passed over for the leadership for various obscure reasons, with rumors ranging from a dangerous penchant for rock dinosaur Eric Clapton to “effeminacy.” But the source said he leads “a normal life.”
The source did not reveal when Kim tied the knot and had a child.
Kim Jong-un himself has two sons and a daughter and his sister Yo-jong a boy and is expecting another child. [Chosun Ilbo]
Apparently there was a meeting after all with the North Koreans that Vice President Pence was scheduled to attend last week with the North Koreans:
Vice President Mike Pence was all set to hold a history-making meeting with North Korean officials during the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but Kim Jong Un’s government canceled at the last minute, the Trump administration said Tuesday.
A potential meeting between Pence and the North Koreans had been the most highly anticipated moment of the vice president’s visit to Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he led the U.S delegation to the opening ceremonies. Ahead of Pence’s visit, Trump officials had insisted they’d requested no meeting with North Korea, but notably left open the possibility one could occur.
There was no indication that a meeting had indeed been planned — and then canceled on short notice — until Tuesday, more than a week after Pence returned to the United States. The State Department said that Pence had been “ready to take this opportunity” but would have used it to insist Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. [Associated Press]
You can read more at the link, but here is why the meeting was likely called off:
“North Korea dangled a meeting in hopes of the Vice President softening his message, which would have ceded the world stage for their propaganda during the Olympics,” Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, said in a statement.
But after Pence condemned North Korean human rights abuses and announced plans for new economic sanctions, “they walked away from a meeting or perhaps they were never sincere about sitting down,” Ayers said. [Korea Times]
It is pretty clear the North Koreans are not serious about denuclearization or ending their ICBM program.
How come I get the feeling there is more to this story?:
A North Korean defector has been arrested and indicted on charges of supporting the North and preparing to defect back to Pyongyang in violation of the National Security Law, prosecutors here said Sunday.
The defector identified only as a 49-year-old woman is accused of sending 130 tons of rice worth about 105 million won (US$97,000) to North Korea’s State Security Ministry, according to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office.
The rice was sent via a broker in China on two occasions last year, the prosecutors said.
Prior to her arrest, the defector again attempted to send additional rice to the North by remitting 80 million won to the broker, they noted.
The former North Korean woman is also suspected of having attempted to return to the North, as she has sold her house in the South and disposed of other personal belongings.
It is rare for a North Korean defector to voluntarily send rice to a North Korean government organ.
The woman came to the South in 2011 and began contacting the North’s government early last year, prosecutors said, adding she told investigators she wanted to return to the North to be reunited with her son. [Yonhap]
I would not be surprised if this woman was being blackmailed with threats by Kim regime agents against her son if she did not send the payments.
