Marine Corps chief pays tribute to marines killed in N.K. shellingSouth Korea’s Marine Corps Commander, Lt. Gen. Jun Jin-goo, burns incense in front of the graves of two marines killed in North Korea’s 2010 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island on the western sea border as he attends a memorial at the National Cemetery in Daejeon, central South Korea, on Nov. 23, 2018. (Yonhap)
You have to love the hypocrisy of this statement from North Korea in regards to their frustration with the Trump administration for not dropping sanctions for little to nothing in return:
South Korean soldiers leave a guard post in the demilitarized zone. (South Korean Defense Ministry/Getty Images)
“These acts by the U.S. apparently came from a medieval-era way of thinking that only threatening, coercive and barbarian tactics could enhance its negotiating leverage,” DPRK Today, a state-sponsored website, said Monday, also complaining about recent military exercises with Japan involving nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and bombers. Those “illogical” tactics won’t work, it said. [Washington Post]
This statement is coming from the regime that has launched countless threats, provocations, and attacks over to the decades against South Korea and the US. Here is what the ROK government has to say:
In Seoul, the government is wary of criticizing the United States directly. But behind the scenes there is a real sense that Washington needs to move the needle forward by building trust with the North.
So why is it always that the US need to build trust with North Korea? The Kim regime are the ones that have broken multiple agreements. The onus is on them to build trust with the United States not the other way around. The easiest way to build trust is by disclosing their nuclear sites and allow inspectors to begin to dismantle them. If this happens I have no doubt the Trump administration will drop sanctions.
The fact that they Kim regime are not doing this shows they have no desire to denuclearize. They clearly believe that they can have it both ways by having sanctions dropped and then pretend to denuclearize. By the time anyone catches on to the fact that they don’t plan to denuclearize, they will have had an influx of cash and moved so far forward on their confederation strategy with the Moon administration in South Korea that any reimplementing of sanctions will be too late.
The North Korean economy should be put into receivership, like the Teamster's Union was in the 70s. Freeze all state actors' assets & release them to buy food, medicine & EAR-99 consumer goods only. Appoint an honest & experienced auditor to manage it. Call it coal-for-food. https://t.co/3QJXImP5wZ
In this photo, released by the South Korean defense ministry on Nov. 20, 2018, a North Korean guard post is demolished inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the Koreas. North Korea exploded 10 guard posts in the DMZ the same day as part of an inter-Korean agreement to withdraw them to reduce tensions and prevent accidental clashes, Seoul’s defense ministry said. (Yonhap)
The Jangmadang Generation, our doc about North Korean millennials and their role in NK’s social change, was a privilege to work on and is one of my favourite projects.
And it’s now available in TEN languages! Watch here (and please RT😊)👇https://t.co/ckWCHt45e2
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits the Taegwan Glass Factory in North Pyongan Province, in the country’s northwest, in these photos published by the Rodong Sinmun on Nov. 18, 2018. The plant was put on South Korea’s sanctions list in 2016 for producing lenses for military use. (Yonhap)
This report shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that regularly reads the ROK Drop:
China isn’t as committed to North Korea’s denuclearization as Washington or Seoul and aims to weaken the South Korea-U.S. alliance, according to an annual report on the U.S.-China economic and security relationship submitted to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.
Beijing also appears to have already relaxed its enforcement of sanctions on North Korea, “undermining the U.S. ‘maximum pressure’ campaign,” according to the extensive report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
The report, which also outlined China’s North Korea strategy, stressed that the “timeline for cutting sanctions is perhaps the most prominent process issue.” It added that “harmonizing the timeline and sequencing for implementing a comprehensive agreement” will be a priority for negotiators.
U.S. officials prefer “speedy steps toward ending North Korea’s nuclear and long-range missile programs, with the bulk of actions from Pyongyang coming up front before sanctions relief” and have some “potential for flexibility,” according to the report. In turn, China has pushed for a “phased and synchronous” approach, with reciprocal actions from each side. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but what this report has wrong is that I believe it is arguable whether South Korea is committed to North Korea’s denuclearization as well. The fact that the Moon administration has been pushing for the dropping of sanctions for little to nothing in return from North Korea is evidence of this.
When in history has "the right side of history" denied overwhelming evidence of concentration camps that hold 80,000 to 120,000 men, women & children? Or defended, in the name of feminism, a state that gives impunity to its officials who rape? This profanes history and peace. https://t.co/2ig4hR5Rrm
How can the ROK defend NK’s undisclosed operational missile bases? For the sake of “fake diplomacy”? Just read the UN Security Council resolutions —which ban ALL ballistic missiles from NK. Seriously, how contorted can these rationalizations for NK weapons possession get?? https://t.co/qif9Ogwfzq
Any bets on the mental state of this guy just deported from North Korea?:
North Korea will deport a U.S. citizen detained since October after he entered illegally from China and told his captors he was manipulated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the North Korean state news agency reported on Friday.
The KCNA news agency identified the American as Bruce Byron Lowrance and said he was detained on Oct. 16 as he crossed the border.
An American man of the same name was deported from South Korea in November 2017 after being found wandering near the heavily fortified border with North Korea, but there was no immediate confirmation of the identity of the man held by North Korea. [Reuters]
