Shown is the photo of the Genesis Essentia, a luxury grand touring electric vehicle from Genesis, provided by Hyundai Motor Group on May 28, 2018. The concept car was dislayed at the Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este exhibition in Lake Como, Italy, on May 26-27. (Yonhap)
The Butcher of the Cheonan is to visit New York and meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It seems whenever Kim Jong-un is serious about getting something done this is the thug he sends:
Kim Yong-chol
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Tuesday that North Korean vice chairman Kim Yong-chol is heading to New York as part of ongoing preparations for his talks with the communist country’s leader.
“We have put a great team together for our talks with North Korea. Meetings are currently taking place concerning Summit, and more. Kim Young Chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea, heading now to New York,” Trump said in a message posted on Twitter.
Calling the official’s visit to the U.S. a “solid response to my letter,” Trump said “thank you.”
Kim Yong-chol arrived in Beijing earlier in the day en route to the United States, with sources saying he is expected to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to get prepared for the high-stakes talks between Trump and Kim Jong-un. [Yonhap]
ROK Heads may remember that when Kim Yong-chol visited South Korea protesters tried to block his entry at the DMZ, but were foiled by ROK authorities. Human Rights group should go and protest against this guy in New York.
I would think that North Korea would be jubilant if a deal was agreed to with President Trump that leaves them with a Pakistan like nuclear arsenal:
So are there any models of “rogue” regimes with nuclear programs that might appeal to North Korea? The answer is yes. But, unfortunately, it’s a state that kept its nuclear deterrent intact: Pakistan. If Pyongyang is weighing up two possible futures—Libya vs. Pakistan—it’s not much of a choice.
Pakistan began to seriously pursue nuclear weapons in the 1970s, motivated by a desire to deter its more powerful rival India, as well as match India’s nuclear capability. The Pakistani politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who later became prime minister, claimed, “If India builds the bomb, we will eat grass or leaves—even go hungry—but we will get one of our own.” In 1998, on a clear and bright day in the Chagai district, Pakistan carried out a series of nuclear tests. Pakistan’s chief scientific officer said “All praise be to Allah” and pushed the button, causing the mountain to shake in a vast explosion.
In 2016, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientistsestimated that Pakistan had 130 to 140 warheads and predicted that it would nearly double its arsenal by 2025. Islamabad could deliver nuclear weapons by medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, F-16 fighters, and tactical systems for short-range use on the battlefield. [The Atlantic]
You can read more at the link, but President Trump has said that he wants North Korea to follow the South Korea model of using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. So the Pakistan model is likely off the table. However, if the Pakistan model is being considered, from the US perspective leaving North Korea with a short range nuclear arsenal is in the US’s interest since these missiles cannot target the US mainland, Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam.
However, the Pakistan model would not solve the issue of proliferation. Strict inspections would be needed to ensure nuclear technology is not being proliferated. What kind of inspections will the Kim regime agree to? The other major issue with the Pakistan model is would the North Koreans agree to give up medium range missiles that could target Japan? I just don’t see the President Trump agreeing to any deal that will allow the North Koreans to keep nuclear weapons to target Japan with, not only because they are a US ally, but because of the multiple US military bases in Japan.
The final issue I foresee is trying to get a Pakistan model deal passed through the Senate as a binding treaty. I don’t think President Trump could get enough support of such a deal in the Senate especially in a Congressional election year.
I wonder how much effort the Moon administration is putting into stopping these phone calls from Kim regime operatives to North Korean defectors?:
As North Korea makes increasingly aggressive calls for the return of a group of restaurant workers in China who defected en masse to South Korea in 2016, it has come to light that the regime is also making efforts to persuade other defectors in South Korea to return to the North.
“Anti-espionage agents from the provincial Ministry of State Security offices are calling up defectors in South Korea in an effort to get them to return to the country,” said a Ryanggang Province-based source to Daily NK on May 23.
“The agents tell the defectors point-blank that they will be met by agents in China and even give them telephone numbers to call once the defectors arrive in China. They are trying to bring them back to the country.”
A “Lieutenant Colonel Choe” of the Ryanggang Province Ministry of State Security (MSS) Anti-Espionage Unit is calling defectors living in South Korea on a frequent basis, according to the source. The agent tells defectors that “they will not be asked about their past history and will be guaranteed the same position they had when they left the country.” He also tells them that they should “[…] relax and return home. The motherland will always accept you if you decide to come back.”
The Ryanggang Province source provided details about how MSS agents are conducting calls with the defectors in South Korea. When a defector reaches out to brokers in North Korea to send money back to their family, sometimes these brokers are arrested by the MSS.
The MSS becomes aware of defectors the brokers have had contact with during the interrogation process and collects information such as their phone numbers. The MSS agents then directly contact the defectors to threaten or entice them to return to North Korea. A defector who was contacted by MSS agents recalled that, “[The agents] were really persistent in sending text messages and making phone calls.” [The Daily NK]
A mural depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looms over a passerby near the Koreatown neighborhood in Los Angeles, Thursday. Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a planned summit with Kim Jong-un. [Korea Times]
Just another example of something I can point to the next time someone tries to tell me that South Korea is a conservative Confucian country:
South Korea held its first ever drag parade this weekend, a small but significant step for rights activists in a country that remains deeply conservative when it comes to gender and sexuality.
Dozens of drag queens and kings marched through Itaewon on Saturday, a suburb of Seoul best known for its nightlife and a nascent but vibrant gay scene.
Carrying rainbow flags, they cheered and strutted their best outfits, receiving shouts of support and the odd baffled look from those they passed.
While homosexuality is not illegal in South Korea, same-sex marriage is not recognised and people cannot legally change their birth gender.
The country is home to a large evangelical Christian community and LGBT people feel pervasive pressure to stay closeted.
“When it comes to South Korea, human rights guarantees for sexual minorities are insufficient,” Yang Heezy, a drag queen and the organiser of Seoul Drag Parade, said.
“Today’s drag parade and more queer culture festivals should take place to bring attention to sexual minorities and help those who are not from those minorities learn more,” he added, sporting a flame red wig and floral dress. [South China Morning Post]
The North Koreans don’t need economic aid for the US considering that President Moon is figuratively willing to drive the Bank of Korea armored truck directly to Kim Jong-un’s palace. They just need the US to drop the sanctions on the Kim regime so the payoff aid can be legally delivered to North Korea:
North Korea on Sunday fumed at U.S. reports that the country is seeking economic assistance from the United States in return for denuclearization.
The ruling Workers’ Party’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun commented that Fox News TV, CBS and CNN were “as impudent as to make rubbish that if the DPRK meets the requirements of the U.S., it can get ‘large-scale non-governmental economic aid.'”
“This is nonsense of hack media on the payroll of power,” according to its commentary carried in an English dispatch by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
“U.S. media is still building up public opinion that the DPRK comes to the negotiating table with the U.S. in a hope to get ‘economic aid,'” the report said using the initial of the North’s full name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “We can not but make the fact clear. It is the U.S. that asked for DPRK-U.S. talks first,” the North claimed.
“As far as the ‘economic aid’ … is concerned, the DPRK has never expected it.” [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but most of the US media is completely uninformed about North Korea
There is a new curfew policy that was recently implemented by the 2nd Infantry Division:
A 2nd Infantry Division policy memo published Tuesday says soldiers are required to be on base, at a residence or inside a hotel room by the new deadline, instead of the U.S. Forces Korea standard of 1 a.m. followed until Monday.
The curfew, which officials called a “readiness recall,” still ends at 5 a.m.
2ID did not identify any specific incident that sparked the change to the policy, but said readiness of the unit’s 12,000 troops was its main concern. South Korean police outside of Camp Casey and Camp Humphreys said Wednesday they had not noticed a significant increase of incidents involving U.S. personnel.
“The recall readiness time was moved one hour earlier in order to ensure that the division is consistently and completely in compliance with the U.S. Forces Korea readiness recall policy,” 2ID spokeswoman Lt. Col. Junel Jeffrey told Stars and Stripes Wednesday. [Stars & Stripes via a reader tip]
You can read more at the link, but the change by one hour to a midnight curfew is not the biggest issue I see with this memo. The policy memo also states that commander must account for 100% of personnel to the 2ID command staff on non-duty days by 12:30 AM.
It seems to me requiring servicemembers to sign in to the CQ desk each night would be the easiest way of doing this. However, a 12:30 AM report time hardly gives units any time to consolidate a report after curfew which means people would likely need to sign in earlier than the curfew time.
I would be interested to hear from 2ID servicemembers in the comments section on how they saw units meeting this requirement over the long holiday weekend.
BREAKING: A team of U.S. officials led by Sung Kim crossed into North Korea today to hold summit preparation talks, despite uncertainty surrounding the June 12 Trump-Kim meeting. The North Korean delegation is led by vice foreign minister Choe Son Hui. https://t.co/eLPZiB68cCpic.twitter.com/XwRwNqYtxo
