Tag: North Korea

Luckily that is less than the North Korean regime spent on luxury goods last year. Problem solved. https://t.co/Cr1KpECemX

— Bruce Klingner (@BruceKlingner) December 5, 2018

The Executive Editor for the Hankyoreh, Kim Jong-gu has written an open letter to the New York Times complaining about their bias against President Trump:

But as I read the newspaper’s reporting, I discovered that the Times’ reputation wasn’t grounded in fact. The pages of the newspaper were swamped with articles that openly supported Kerry. I also sincerely wanted Bush to lose the race, but the Times’ one-sided reporting made the allegations of bias in the South Korean press look like small potatoes.  (…………….)

As a South Korean citizen, however, I can’t help noticing a paradox: President Trump’s outsider status, his profound hostility to the foreign policy establishment, and his gambler-like drive to win have in fact improved the chances of peace on the Korean Peninsula. I find Trump’s unfiltered language, his wild behavior and his arrogant egotism as disgusting as anyone else. But there’s one thing for which he deserves credit, and that’s his boldness in negotiating with North Korea.

The Times is widely regarded as a progressive-leaning newspaper. Progressives believe in peace; they believe in reconciliation and win-win arrangements, not confrontation and quarrels. Obviously, it will be very difficult to bring about North Korea’s denuclearization and impossible to predict the outcome. Just as obviously, it’s the job of the press to offer a clear-headed analysis of these efforts and raise concerns when they fall short.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read more at the link, but it is a bit laughable that the Hankyoreh is complaining about bias when they are well known for being the most left wing biased major newspaper in South Korea.

I did find this statement quite entertaining from the article: “Progressives believe in peace; they believe in reconciliation and win-win arrangements, not confrontation and quarrels.”  Are South Korean conservative journalists thrown in jail for disagreeing with President Moon a sign of liberal “reconciliation”?  Is using labor unions to attack conservatives something that should be considered non-confrontational?  I could go on and on about the hypocrisy in the article which just shows the Hankyoreh should be the last newspaper in South Korea to complain about bias anywhere else.

The first part of the survey of North Korea’s railways has been completed:

The 28 South Koreans crossed into Dorasan Station, just south of the inter-Korean border, at around 5:11 p.m. following a six-day inspection that covered the rail line from Kaesong near the border with the South to Sinuiju near the border with China.

A train carrying six South Korean cars left for the North on Friday. It was taken over by a North Korean locomotive at Panmun Station, from which point five North Korean cars were connected to it for the joint work.

Why should a regime that has enough money to fund a luxurious lifestyle for Kim Jong-un and the regime elite as well as develop a robust nuclear program be given humanitarian aid?  It is pretty clear that the regime is using international organizations to help subsidize their nuclear program and lavish lifestyles by not having to divert resources to support their own people:

Bart Vermeiren, head of mission of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), made the remark in a recent interview in Seoul with Yonhap News Agency, amid growing calls for waiving sanctions for humanitarian projects.

“I think that humanitarian aid should remain depoliticized. It should not actually be linked to politics because it becomes dangerous. Then humanitarian aid becomes a tool, a negotiation tool so that should not be the case,” he said.

Still waiting to discover North Korea evading sanctions on items its apologists claim cause profound human suffering for lack thereof. But, priorities. https://t.co/KroAHgqAj7

— the oranckay (@oranckay) December 1, 2018

It looks like the capitulation to Kim Jong-un’s demands is being considered by the Trump administration:

The U.S. government is willing to lift some economic sanctions on North Korea if the regime demonstrates “sincere measures” toward denuclearization, a source with knowledge of Pyongyang-Washington talks exclusively told the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he wasn’t specifically told whether that meant the United States was willing to ease its own unilateral sanctions on the North or give sanctions exemptions to third countries, including South Korea, to carry out joint projects with Pyongyang.

The United States, one of five veto-wielding members in the United Nations Security Council, has a crucial say in UN sanctions on the North. Unanimous approval from a UN North Korean sanctions committee composed of the five countries – the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France – and 10 nonpermanent members on the UN Security Council is normally required for a sanctions waiver.

If the former hypothesis is true, it would mean Washington is willing to ease sanctions even before North Korean carries out total denuclearization, which goes against the long-held mantra of the White House that sanctions will not be eased before the North’s final, fully verified denuclearization, or FFVD.

The source told the paper that Washington’s definition of “sincere measures” from the North included a partial inventory of its nuclear weapons and facilities or allowing outside experts to inspect the Yongbyon nuclear plant.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

This is a perfect example of “pretend denuclearization” if this does in fact happen.  The Kim regime will have once again received a huge influx of cash for doing little to nothing in return and they get to keep their nukes.

Everyone needs to remember that Moon Chung-in is the trial balloon specialist for the Moon Jae-in administration.  Because the US will not drop sanctions until North Korea denuclearizes it appears that the South Koreans are instead going to try and get around sanctions by throwing around the term “humanitarian assistance” and even more strangely “humanitarian businesses”:

Moon Chung-in, a special presidential adviser for unification, foreign and security affairs, made the remark during a lecture in Seoul, reiterating President Moon’s earlier remark that rewards for the North’s denuclearization steps do not necessarily have to be a relaxation of sanctions.

“Many American citizens wish to conduct humanitarian businesses in North Korea, but cannot due to government restrictions,” the adviser said. “Relieving those restrictions could send a fairly positive message to North Korea.”

When asked which country poses the most serious threat, China, Russia, Iran or North Korea, Mattis says: "in terms of URGENCY, North Korea is the problem." #RNDF2018

— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) December 1, 2018

The only problem with this is that Kim Jong-un’s wish is to keep his nukes and have sanctions dropped:

US President Donald Trump will grant North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un his wishes if he delivers on denuclearisation, the South Korean president said Sunday, following talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

As officials work to arrange a second meeting between Trump and Kim, South Korea’s Moon Jae-in relayed a message to reporters given to him by the US president to pass on to the North’s leader.

“And the message was that President Trump has a very friendly view of Chairman Kim and that he likes him, and so he wishes Chairman Kim would implement the rest of their agreement and that he would make what Chairman Kim wants come true,” Moon told the Yonhap news agency while en route to New Zealand.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link.

I doubt this will become a major trend because the North Koreans will likely increase security on their side of the DMZ to prevent more defections:

With its surveillance equipment, the South Korean military detected the soldier crossing the military demarcation line at 7:56 a.m., the JCS said.

“Related agencies plan to investigate him regarding the details of how he came to the South,” the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters, adding that there were no “special activities” from the North Korean army on the front line.

“Following demolition of guard posts between the South and the North, our security operations on the front line have had no problem,” a JCS official said. “The soldier is safely in our custody.”