Category: North Korea

Look who made an appearance and is rocking a nice leather jacket:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has returned from a monthlong break from public view to inspect a major development project near the border with China, which he said epitomizes his country’s “iron will” to achieve prosperity in the face of international isolation and pressure. 

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that Kim expressed satisfaction during his visit to Samjiyon city over the progress of construction in an area he called the “sacred place of the sun.” Samjiyon is at the foot of Mount Paektu, the heart of North Korea’s foundation myth revolving around the Kim family and is described by official narratives as the spiritual center of the country’s revolution.

Building Samjiyon into a “model cultured city” was one of the main focuses of a nationwide construction campaign that North Korea had aimed to complete in time for the 75th anniversary of its ruling party’s founding in October last year. But construction was slowed amid pandemic border closures and international sanctions over Kim’s nuclear weapon and missile programs.

Kim has been struggling to overcome what appears to be his toughest period as leader with the country’s self-imposed COVID-19 lockdown creating a further shock for an economy battered by sanctions and decades of mismanagement.

KCNA said the construction at Samjiyon could be finished by the end of this year, which could give Kim a badly needed trophy achievement as he reaches a decade in rule since taking power following the death of his father in December 2011.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that follows North Korea:

 An accidental conflict with North Korea is unlikely anytime soon with Pyongyang maintaining a very tight grip on its military, the chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday.

Gen. Mark Milley also dismissed the possibility of something accidental taking place within the North or its military in the near future.

“I would say that the government of North Korea at this point in time appears to be stable and they have good control over their military and their systems and all of their weaponry, etc,” the top U.S. military officer said in a forum hosted by the Aspen Institute think tank in Washington.

“So I don’t think you would see something accidental happen from them. It could, but I don’t think that’s highly probable. They have very, very tight control over their system,” he added when asked about the level of control North Korea has over its weapons and internal security.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the military actions North Korea takes are highly calculated. The shelling Yeonpyeong Island or sinking the Cheonan were all highly calculated military decisions by the regime leadership, not just military commanders going rogue.

This is a standard Kim regime playbook item, make unreasonable demands for little to nothing in return:

North Korea is said to have demanded, as preconditions for talks on declaring the end of the Korean War, that South Korea and the United States stop their combined military exercises and that economic sanctions against Pyongyang be lifted.

A lawmaker who attended a parliamentary audit of the National Intelligence Service on Thursday told reporters later that the agency’s chief had made the revelation. 

South Korea and the US have already reduced their combined drills, both to ease inter-Korean tensions and due to the coronavirus pandemic, to the extent that there is great concern about preparedness.

Above all, there is no chance of Pyongyang giving up on its nuclear weapons. It has tested an array of missiles while reportedly reactivating its nuclear facilities. 

Korea Herald via OFK

Yet this is what the Moon administration wants to do. In fact President Moon wants the U.S. to agree to an end of Korean War peace treaty which even the Korean Herald has now picked up on what I have been saying for years is a very bad idea:

The Moon regime argues that an end-of-war declaration would open the way for denuclearization. But with the war over, North Korea would likely demand the dissolution of the United Nations Command and the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea. A formal end to the war would only obscure the mandate of the UN Command — created under US leadership after the Korean War broke out — and ultimately of the US forces stationed in South Korea.

Without a doubt, these are demands that would jeopardize the nation’s security, and yet the Moon administration is pushing almost blindly for an end-of-war declaration — or even for inter-Korean dialogue to that end. The North, which had been unresponsive to the South’s proposals at first, seems to be seeking to take advantage of Moon’s obsession. It has offered preconditions just for discussion of the issue, not for an end-of-war declaration itself. 

Fortunately so far the Biden administration has resisted these calls from the Moon administration and hopefully it stays that way.

According to the NIS, Kim Jong-un is not sick and instead must be hitting the local cross fit gym in North Korea:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has lost around 20 kilograms after previously weighing about 140 kg, but he appears to have no health issues, South Korea’s spy agency was quoted as saying Thursday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) gave the briefing during a closed-door parliamentary session, rejecting rumors that the communist regime was using a stand-in for Kim during recent public appearances, Rep. Kim Byung-kee of the ruling Democratic Party told reporters.

The NIS made the assessment after conducting a detailed study of the North Korean leader’s health using artificial intelligence and other scientific methods, the lawmaker said.

Kim’s health has been a frequent subject of speculation due to the political implications in the event that he is unable to perform his duties. No known successor has been appointed.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like some media outlets fell for some fake news:

South Korea’s spy agency said Sunday media reports of North Korean leader’s sister succeeding coup against her brother are not true at all. 

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) dismissed reports that claimed Kim Yo-jong ousted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after a coup. A separate government official also said such reports are not true. 

Citing a report from US-based tabloid “Globe,” some news outlets here said Kim Yo-jong staged a coup between May 6 and June 5, and removed Kim Jong-un from the post. 

The report claimed Kim Jong-un at recent events is actually an impostor, pointing out that his appearance is different than the past, with substantial weight loss. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Biden administration may be entertaining the idea of pursuing and end of the Korean War declaration with North Korea:

The U.S. special representative for North Korea said Sunday that he looks forward to continuing exploring different options with South Korea to resume dialogue with North Korea, including the proposed declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

Sung Kim also reiterated Washington’s willingness to help address the North’s humanitarian concerns for its people in need, while urging Pyongyang to stop missile launches, which he cast as “concerning and counterproductive.”

Kim made the remarks soon after he held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, to discuss joint efforts to resume stalled nuclear diplomacy.

“I look forward to continuing to work with special representative Noh to explore different ideas and initiatives, including the ROK’s end-of-war proposal as we continue to pursue our shared objectives on the peninsula,” Kim said, referring to South Korea’s official name, Republic of Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but that didn’t take long for the State Department to change their tune. The Kim regime launches a few missiles and State is now considering the end of war declaration. I guess we will see if they are actually serious about this or not. I would think Sung Kim is smart enough to realize why the North Koreans want the end of war declaration so badly.

The rhetoric for ending the Korean War has been going on for years because both the Moon administration and the Kim regime in North Korea want the peace treaty because it then challenges the legitimacy of the U.S. military presence in South Korea.  If there is peace why is USFK needed? The Korean left and the Kim regime have always wanted the U.S. out of Korea and a peace treaty with little to nothing in return from North Korea is one path towards doing that. 

The real question is if the Biden administration is going to take the bait on this or not? With all the bad headlines they may be eager for something that looks like a foreign policy victory by pursuing such a declaration. I guess we will see what happens.

This has been long suspected and would explain why the Kim regime murdered him in such a brutal way:

Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who was murdered in Malaysia in 2017, was linked to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), according to a report by South Korean broadcaster SBS, Tuesday.

SBS reported that it had confirmed from a number of former and current NIS officers that Kim Jong-nam had been providing information on top North Korean officials including Kim Jong-un for at least five to six years before he was killed.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.