Tag: North Korea

It looks like the North Korean military is now dragging their feet in regards to cooperation with the ROK military:

 South and North Korea appear to have struggled to move forward their 2018 military accord aimed at reducing tensions and building trust amid a lack of progress in denuclearization and a focus on a second summit between Washington and Pyongyang, observers said Tuesday.
Since the beginning of this year, the two Koreas have held few talks over the implementation of the accord, in stark contrast to fast progress in the first three months after their defense chiefs signed it in September.
Pyongyang has recently been preoccupied with preparations for the second summit between leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, scheduled to take place on Feb. 27-28 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
If the summit produces tangible results, it could help facilitate the implementation of the military agreement and other peace-building measures on the peninsula.
“This year, inter-Korean consultations have rarely been held, though there have been exchanges of documents (about the accord),” a government source said on condition of anonymity.

Yonhap

It appears the North Korean military did what they had to do to create the perception of progress. They are likely not going to do much more until they get what they want such as a peace treaty and sanctions dropped.

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.

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.

So now it looks like the Korean War Peace Treaty is off the table for the Trump-Kim II Summit:

Kyodo News reports Washington has floated to Pyongyang the idea of adopting a nonaggression or peace declaration act as they prepare for summit talks in Vietnam later this month.

The Japanese news agency on Friday quoted a number of U.S. and Japanese government sources familiar with the matter. 

The sources said Washington made the proposal in order to entice North Korea into making concessions related to denuclearization by guaranteeing the security of the North Korean regime. 

However, the report said it is uncertain whether an agreement will be reached before the second U.S.-North Korea summit, given Pyongyang’s continued reluctance to declare its nuclear weapons and missile programs.  

The report said the U.S. initially sought to declare an official end to the Korean War but decided against the idea after assessing that it would be difficult to get support on the matter from relevant countries, including South Korea and China, in a short period of time.

KBS World Radio

Two years ago today(2/13), Kim Jong-un assassinated his half-brother using VX chemical nerve agent in an airport. People easily forget… pic.twitter.com/x1rmCu0HXV

— William Kim 김영권 (@NKMESSENGER) February 13, 2019

North Korea is trying to get their people to show more pride in their nation’s flag:

North Korea is stepping up a new loyalty campaign as leader Kim Jong Un prepares for his second summit with President Donald Trump.
The campaign began last month with the introduction of a song in praise of the nation’s flag.
A video now being aired on state-run television to promote the song — called “Our National Flag” — shows repeated images of the flag being raised at international sports competitions and being formed by a sea of people holding up colored lengths of cloth at a parade and rally on Kim Il Sung Square. Other images show recent improvements in the economy and standard of living, a reflection of a current government policy shift that focuses on development and prosperity.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This seems like more evidence that US negotiators are focusing more on the ICBM threat than trying to eliminate the North Korean nuclear program:

The United States has asked North Korea to hand over a list of nuclear experts who were directly involved in the development of its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), according to sources, Friday.

They said U.S. officials engaged in working-level discussions in Pyongyang for the second summit between the U.S. and North Korea ― scheduled for later this month ― were focusing on the dismantlement of the North’s ICBMs, as well as the complete closure of its Yongbyon nuclear facility.

“Among Washington’s demands was for Pyongyang to list its ICBM developers,” one source said. Cheong Wa Dae officials declined to comment on the issue.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

As I have said before why can’t a country that can afford a nuclear weapons program buy its own Tamiflu?:

South Korea has no problem in drawing global cooperation for its planned delivery of antiviral medication to North Korea, a unification ministry official said Thursday.
The government promised to send 200,000 doses of Tamiflu to North Korea via a land route over their western border, but delivery has been repeatedly put off as Seoul says more time is needed for relevant preparations.
Speculation arose that Washington’s discomfort with the plan’s potential undermining of a global sanctions regime against Pyongyang might be behind the prolonged delay.

Yonhap

The hesitation from Washington is probably because they realize the Tamiflu is likely going to be sold on the blackmarket for millions as yet another illicit Kim regime money making operation to avoid sanctions.

It has been speculated that the Trump administration would agree to end the Korean War and it appears that is the direction Trump-Kim II Summit negotiations are going:

President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping may join the summit to be held between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this month in Vietnam to declare an end to the Korean War.

As U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun stated last week, President Trump is open to formally ending the war as part of measures to spur denuclearization talks with North Korea. This is an idea Moon, Xi and Kim have all been supporting.

One major obstacle was North Korea’s opposition to the continued presence of U.S. troops in South Korea. However, the North has reportedly changed its stance on this.

U.S. and South Korean officials said ending the Korean War is a major topic in the ongoing pre-summit talks in Pyongyang.

Korea Times

You can read more a the link, but I have said this repeatedly, North Korea does not have to call for a withdrawal of US troops when its surrogates in South Korea will do it for them.

Anti-US leftist groups will claim that a peace treaty calls into question why US troops are needed in Korea. Two of the largest anti-US leftist groups, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Minbyun-Lawyers for a Democratic Society are already advancing this idea.

The PSPD and Minbyun are both extreme left wing pro-Pyongyang organization that have long been anti-US.  For example PSPD is one of the groups behind the ongoing THAAD protests, blamed the US for Christian missionaries kidnapped by the Taliban, was a member of the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA that even had one of their own set himself on fire outside one of the FTA meetings in Seoul.  PSPD was also one of the lead organizations against the relocation of US forces to Camp Humphreys.

Minbyun on the other hand, have been used to legally attack North Korean defectors, one of the groups behind the US beef riots, and have long attacked the USFK relocation plan.

I would not be surprised that these groups and other large anti-US leftist groups eventually mobilize to protest and blockade US military bases to disrupt operations and make life miserable for US servicemembers in Korea. The THAAD site is already experiencing this.

If the traffic at Camp Humphreys is already bad can you imagine what would happen if people had to deal with protesters as well while trying to get through the gates?

The protests combined with the ROK government playing hardball on USFK cost sharing would be intended to convince President Trump to withdraw some if not all of the US troops. This is why North Korea doesn’t have to call for US troop withdrawals when they have surrogates to do it for them.