I really hope it is true that Kim Jong-un wants to denuclearize, but we don’t know what his definition of denuclearization is:

North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun said there’s not “any room to turn around or go back” from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s “unexpected and groundbreaking decision to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.” This basically emphasizes that the “complete denuclearization” that Kim expressed during three inter-Korean summits and the North Korea-US summit last year and during his 2019 New Year’s address is an “irreversible decision.”

This is the first time the Rodong Sinmun has run a story explaining the significance and background of the “complete denuclearization” that Kim has repeatedly promised. Though the newspaper had emphasized Kim’s commitment to complete denuclearization by printing the full texts of the Apr. 27 Panmunjom Declaration, the June 12 North Korea-US Summit Statement and the Sept. Pyongyang Joint Declaration, it hadn’t run any articles elaborating on their meaning.

Hankyoreh

You can read the rest at the link because of course the left wing Hankyoreh gets all excited about this news. However, Kim Jong-un’s definition on denuclearization will likely mean an end to the US nuclear umbrella which could lead to the end of the US-ROK alliance. His definition of denuclearization may also mean that North Korea gets to keep the nuclear weapons it currently has and just not develop new ones.

It looks like the Kim regime is not happy with what the Trump administration is offering for the Trump-Kim II Summit and have had President Moon send out his trial balloon guru Moon Chung-in to let Washington know of their displeasure:

Only North Koreans can dismantle nuclear and missile facilities in North Korea, not international experts, according to President Moon Jae-in’s security adviser, Moon Chung-in.

Moon said Washington should offer some substantial concessions beyond opening a liaison office in Pyongyang to make the upcoming second Washington-Pyongyang summit successful.

He made the remarks in an interview with Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun.

“Only North Korean technicians are able to disband its nuclear warheads safely and completely,” said Moon, special adviser for unification, diplomacy and national security.

“This is because the North Korean experts designed and outlined core specifics of its nuclear facilities and entirely handled the nuclear development. It’s required for the United States to offer a rewards programs to help the regime remain cooperative in the ongoing collective work toward dismantling its nuclear program.”

The adviser didn’t say whether the U.S. officially asked North Korea to hand over a list of nuclear experts who were directly involved in the development of its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) as one of the prerequisites to comply with Washington’s repeated calls to disband its nuclear program, verifiably and completely.

North Korea tested its first ICBM ― the Hwasong-14 ― on July 4, 2017, shocking the world by demonstrating advanced capabilities beyond what many believed possible for the rogue country.

The Trump administration initially refused to believe it, but later acknowledged that North Korea had, in fact, launched an ICBM. ICBMs are regarded as a direct threat to the U.S. mainland, though it’s still unconvinced North Korea has mastered warhead miniaturization, re-entry systems and missile guidance due to technological challenges. 

The presidential aide told the Japanese daily that North Korea “would be dissatisfied” if the United States only agreed to end the Korean War and open a liaison office in the North Korean capital as these are “superficial and not something relating to actual economic benefits the North want.”

“An early restart of economic projects with South Korea such as reopening of Gaeseong Industrial Complex and other economic projects are needed, as one evident point is Kim Jong-un most wants sanctions relief to revive his country’s dilapidated economy with financial assistance from the restarts of now-halted inter-Korean business projects,” Moon said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

“[T]he only way to solve the nuclear threat is the final elimination of Kim Jong-un and the regime. I think in order to eliminate…the regime…the most realistic and effective is to disseminate the outside information in order to educate North Korean people.” – Thae Yong Ho https://t.co/WABxjeFOr5

— Edward Oh 🇺🇸 (@EdwardHBOh) February 16, 2019

USFK should expect that every incident involving US soldiers that the Korean media becomes aware of will be publicized:

Two female U.S. army soldiers have been questioned for allegedly assaulting a Korean man and a police officer in Dongducheon, police said Monday.

According to Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency, a private, 20, from the U.S. Eighth Army and a private first class, 19, from the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division were questioned in the early hours of the day after allegedly kicking and punching a man, 58, and a police officer.

This came after an altercation between the soldiers and the man at around midnight. How the trouble started is still unclear.

Police said the soldiers refused to say anything and returned to their units later.

Police plan to summon them again for questioning after checking surveillance cameras in the area.

We are not at the point that the Korean media will sensationalize these incidents yet. They will just matter of factly report every little incident to keep the GI crime narrative simmering with the public.

I suspect that after a peace treaty is signed and the Korean left mobilizes surrogates to push for US troop withdrawals that is when they will sensationalize every little incident that happens like they did in the late 90’s to early 2000’s timeframe.

Every Korean leftist’s favorite news presenter, Sohn Suk-hee is in trouble:

 Sohn Suk-hee, the chief and well-known news presenter of the cable channel JTBC, faced police questioning Saturday over an allegation that he used violence against a freelance journalist.
Sohn was accused of punching the journalist in the face several times during a dinner meeting in Seoul in January.
The journalist, identified only by his surname, Kim, insisted that Sohn offered him a job at JTBC, then assaulted him after he rejected the offer. Kim said he was reporting on a car accident in which Sohn was involved a few years ago.
To undergo the police questioning, Sohn arrived at a police station in western Seoul at 7:40 a.m. for his first police questioning since the scandal arose in early January.
The JTBC chief has denied the allegation against him. He has filed a charge accusing Kim of extortion.

Yonhap

ROK Heads may remember that Sohn is in charge of JTBC which was the news station that aired the report about the tablet PC that led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. However, since Park’s impeachment conservative journalists have proven that JTBC aired fake news to help bring her down.

Sohn Suk-hee then sued these journalists for libel that challenged JTBC’s reporting even though the reports were based on facts. The journalists were then sent to jail. It will be interesting to see if Sohn who committed a real crime, if the report of the assault is true, is sent to jail. If so he should be put in a cell right next to the journalists he had jailed.

It looks like Kim Jong-un may visit a Samsung factory during his trip to Vietnam. I suspect that such a visit will be used to further the perception that he has changed and really wants to advance the DPRK economy and thus why sanctions should be dropped before denuclearization:

 A senior North Korean official is believed to have looked around areas near a smartphone factory in Vietnam owned by South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co., sources said Sunday.
The move is prompting speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may seek to visit the Samsung factory when he travels to Vietnam for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim Chang-son, known as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s de facto chief of staff, and other officials arrived in Hanoi Saturday to check logistics for a second summit between Trump and Kim slated for Feb. 27-28.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Again: North Korea’s greatest strategic weapon is a longer attention span.

Also, the ability to get the words “verification,” “inspection,” “dismantling,” and “nuclear facility” into the int’l news cycle all over again, without giving up anything important. https://t.co/9iYiRBm1Hl

— the oranckay (@oranckay) February 16, 2019

It is looking more and more like not much is going to come out of the Trump-Kim II Summit:

Anchor: U.S. President Donald Trump said sanctions will remain on North Korea and he is not in a rush to remove the regimes’ nuclear arsenal. Instead, ahead of his planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump tried to highlight what the North can achieve through denuclearization. 
Kim Bum-soo has more on Trump’s latest news conference.

Report: Ahead of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this month, U.S. President Donald Trump has again highlighted the economic potential of the reclusive state.

[Sound bite: US President Donald Trump] 
“… we think that North Korea and Chairman Kim have a tremendous potential as an economic force, economic power.  Their location between South Korea and then Russia and China — right smack in the middle — is phenomenal.”

Speaking during a White House news conference on Friday, the American president addressed a wide range of issues, including the denuclearization of North Korea. 

[Sound bite: US President Donald Trump] 
“But we hope we’re going to be very much equally as successful.  I’m in no rush for speed.  We just don’t want testing.  The sanctions, as you know, remain.  Everything is remaining.” 

Just a day earlier, U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo hinted that at the upcoming meeting Washington may be more focused on further easing the military tension on the peninsula rather than immediately lifting sanctions.

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link.