Remember the happy news the S. Korean NSA brought us a mere two days ago, that Kim Jong Un purportedly did not object to the presence of USFK. So, does this mean KCNA = independent media? Or that Kim, perish the thought, was lying? https://t.co/VPnriRKVqB
#NorthKorea keeps using "denuclearization of KOREAN PENINSULA" because it means–>"..of #SouthKorea, which has no nukes–>no nuclear umbrella, no U.S. military capab–>US mil w/drawal, end alliance. So NK's "denuke of Korean Pen"=US military withdrawal, end alliance. A word play. https://t.co/i2gwg6uurD
It appears that the North Koreans are still trying to use flattery with President Trump to get sanctions removed instead of denuclearizing:
U.S. President Donald Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and pledged to work together with him on Thursday after Kim said via a South Korean envoy that his faith in Trump remains unchanged.
“Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims ‘unwavering faith in President Trump.’ Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!” Trump tweeted.
South Korea’s chief presidential security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, made a one-day trip to Pyongyang on Wednesday and held talks with the North’s leader amid a deadlock in denuclearization negotiations between the United States and the North.
During the talks, Kim told Chung’s delegation that he remains firmly committed to denuclearization and that his faith in Trump remains unchanged, even though nuclear negotiations with the U.S. encountered difficulties, according to Chung.
Kim was also quoted as saying he’s never spoken ill of Trump to anybody. [Yonhap]
Kim Jong-un best be careful, Bob Woodward will probably claim he found an anonymous source that he talked bad about President Trump.
Moon's budget bill for the NK Human Rights Foundation is set to $0.72m down 92.6%; budget for the organization's database set to $0.43m down nearly 71%; assistance to the defectors has been reduced by more than 31%. This is huge. https://t.co/ofLPR7nLnF
The main objective of this delegation was to figure out a way to continue denuclearization talks between the US and North Korea. Good luck with that:
Chung Eui-yong (3rd from R), a special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in to North Korea, bows before heading for Pyongyang from Seoul’s Seongnam airport on Sept. 5, 2018, along with four other members of a high-profile delegation. They are Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung (2nd from R); Chung; National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon (C); Kim Sang-gyun (3rd from L), a senior NIS official; and Yun Kun-young (2nd from L), presidential secretary for state affairs. (Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with a special delegation of South Korean President Moon Jae-in Wednesday, possibly reaffirming his commitment to establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula and denuclearizing his country.
“The special delegation met with Chairman Kim Jong-un to deliver the personal letter (from Moon) and exchange their opinions,” Seoul’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said in a brief statement.
The statement came hours after Chung Eui-yong, top security adviser to Moon and head of the presidential National Security Council, arrived in the North on what is still expected to be a one-day trip.
“The special delegation is scheduled to leave (Pyongyang) after attending a dinner,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, adding it was not clear who would host the dinner.
The Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said the outcome of the delegation’s trip to Pyongyang will be released Thursday, considering their late return. [Yonhap]
Based on Japan’s recent military budget proposal I think we can infer that they expect the current peace initiative between North Korea, South Korea, and the United States will not last:
Aegis Ashore Deckhouse
Japan’s Defense Ministry is seeking to more than double spending on missile defense, including purchases of costly American arsenals, to defend against North Korean threats.
The record-high 5.3 trillion yen ($47 billion) request for fiscal 2019, approved Friday by the ministry, is up 2.1 percent from last year. The military spending has risen seven consecutive years under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The request related to missile defense rises to 424 billion yen ($3.8 billion) from about 180 billion yen last year. The overall government budget plan is to be submitted for Cabinet and parliamentary approval later this year.
The final budget could still grow because the request leaves out spending to reduce Okinawan communities’ burden of hosting many of 50,000 American troops stationed on the southern island and a relocation cost for some troops to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.
A big chunk would buy a pair of land-based Aegis missile defense systems and a ship-to-air SM-3 Block IIA interceptor with an expanded range and accuracy developed jointly by the U.S. and Japan, as well as upgrading of fighter jets and destroyers to make them compatible with advanced interceptors. [Stars & Stripes]
Sankei reports China conducted its own "decapitation exercise" targeting KJU's vacation homes, key nuke facilities and NK command centers. The training was conducted in April near NK border, after the 1st KJU visit but before the inter-Korean summit (4.27) https://t.co/5qV419tYHF
Via a reader tip comes news that a South Korean think tank is recommending one of the worst Inter-Korean ideas yet, a single currency between North and South Korea:
South and North Korea should use a single currency to form an economic union in the mid to long term, the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF)noted in a report Sunday.
“When investment increases in North Korea along with inter-Korean trade of goods and services, the flow of capital will naturally follow. It will lead to problems such as settlements and which currencies should be used,” said Lee Yoon-sok, a senior research fellow at the KIF.
To deal with such problems, the two governments may allow residents to exchange their money with other currency when traveling North or South.
They may also allow the currencies of the two countries to be freely used in both countries. The researcher added that some North Koreans are known to be holding South Korean currency, expecting economic integration. [Korea Herald]
You can read more at the link, but if we thought North Korean counterfeiting was bad now, just wait until there is a single currency the Kim regime can control and print at will and call it inflation. I wonder who’s face would go on the bills?
Also of interest is that the KIF believes that sanctions will be eased on North Korea before the mid-term elections by President Trump to give him a foreign policy win. As long as North Korea does not commit to real denuclearization I don’t see sanctions being dropped, but I guess we will see what happens.
Notice that the ROK ambassador said nothing about North Korea wanting to maintain momentum to denuclearize. The Kim regime is of course willing to talk in hopes of gaining concessions for little to nothing in return:
South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Cho Yoon-je (Yonhap)
North Korea remains determined to maintain the momentum of dialogue with the United States despite a recent hiccup, South Korea’s top envoy in Washington said Thursday.
Ambassador Cho Yoon-je dismissed a view that Pyongyang and Washington are shifting back to a confrontation after months of diplomatic engagement.
“North Korea’s intention of maintaining dialogue momentum is certain,” he told South Korea’s Washington, D.C. correspondents.
He was referring to “various speculations” driven by media after President Donald Trump called off Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip to Pyongyang this week. [Yonhap]
