It's remarkable how far down you have to read in some news articles to see that these “reunions” are closely monitored & brief visits, terminated by the abductee’s return to captivity & isolation. What a heartbreaking “reunion” that must be. https://t.co/WgCK1McSnQ
I wonder how much money the Kim regime pocketed for allowing this hike? Important information that was not included in the article:
In this Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, photo, Sinead of Australia, left, and Tarjei Naess Skrede of Norway walk past North Korean soldiers during a hike arranged by Roger Shepherd of Hike Korea on Mount Paektu in North Korea. Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, Shepherd, a New Zealander who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea is leading the first group of foreign tourists allowed to trek off road and camp out under the stars on Mount Paektu, a huge volcano that straddles the border that separates China and North Korea.
Foreign tourists looking to go off the beaten path in North Korea can now camp out on the country’s biggest volcano.
Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, a New Zealander who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea is leading the first group of foreign tourists allowed to trek off road and camp out under the stars on Mount Paektu, a huge volcano that straddles the border that separates China and North Korea.
Paektu was in 946 AD the site of one of the largest eruptions in history. It is considered one of the most beautiful natural sites in North Korea and is still active, though there haven’t been any big eruptions in recent years.
It’s revered in the North for its links to the ruling Kim family and is considered the spiritual home of the Korean revolution. Trips to the mountain are popular with North Koreans who visit with their schools, work units or other social groups on excursions that are part indoctrination and part recreation. It’s also popular with Chinese tourists and smaller foreign tour groups who can stay in nearby hotels and drive right up to its crater to see the blue waters of Lake Chon in Paektu’s caldera.
But Roger Shepherd, founder of Hike Korea, which is based in the South, managed to convince North Korean government officials to let him take his guests off the beaten path for the first time.
The area around the mountain features several reconstructed “secret campsites” said to have been used by national founder Kim Il Sung and his guerrillas in the fight against the Japanese colonial rulers before 1945 — a possible reason why the idea of allowing a foreign camping excursion clicked with the local authorities. But Shepherd’s group has for the most part managed to avoid the typical mini-bus and propaganda lecture experience that often awaits foreign tourists here.
On Saturday, the group climbed the mountain from near its base, walked to the lake from the rim and then hiked out across a volcanic plateau to pitch their tents for the first of five nights they were to spend on the hike. [Associated Press]
You can read more at the link, but this hike that was allowed by the North Korean authorities, is clearly being used to draw more western tourists to hike Mt. Paekdu. More tourists means more foreign currency for the Kim regime.
If people’s conscious is okay with their money supporting a regime that operates gulags, launches deadly provocations, sends out hitmen to kill people, and threatens neighbors in the region with nuclear weapons then feel free to go hiking in North Korea.
North Korea has agreed to provide key information to the United States about its nuclear warheads and secret test sites, sources said Tuesday.
“North Korea plans to hand over a list of its secret nuclear test sites as well as information about its nuclear warheads to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when he visits Pyongyang this month,” one source told The Korea Times.
He said chances are high that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet Pompeo in person to discuss details about how and when the North will abandon its nuclear weapons. During his previous visit to Pyongyang, Pompeo said his team was hoping that “we can make a big step here before too long.”
“Washington was demanding Pyongyang hand over a list of all things relating to its nuclear capabilities. It’s uncertain whether the North accepted this request; but submitting a list of nuclear capabilities including sites will push forward the nuclear disarmament talks which have been stalled,” said another source asking for anonymity. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but this is just a list and who knows if it is a complete list? Judging by past North Korean behavior it is likely incomplete. Additionally a list is not denuclearization, this is just more pretend denuclearization. When the warheads and nuclear material begin to flow out of the country that is when I will be convinced the Kim regime is serious about denuclearizing.
According to the article the Moon administration supports pretend denuclearization. With the submitting of the list the Moon administration is expected to ask the Trump administration to drop sanctions and give Kim Jong-un his long awaited pay day for doing little in return. I guess we will see in the coming weeks if the Trump administration will support pretend denuclearization or not.
So will this be the visit where the Trump administration gives in and allows sanctions to be dropped against North Korea for little to nothing in return? I guess we will see:
Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s upcoming Pyongyang visit is expected to break the ongoing political stalemate surrounding the timeline of North Korea’s denuclearization, experts said Monday.
The sign of hope comes at a time when no outstanding progress has been made over the issue following the historic June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
A specific timeline for Pompeo’s visit to the North Korean capital has yet to be confirmed. But with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton saying recently that Pompeo will “soon” make his fourth visit to Pyongyang, expectations are he will visit the regime sometime between the end of this month and the beginning of next month.
“Pompeo has failed to generate specific outcomes over the denuclearization dialogue with North Korea during his previous visits to Pyongyang,” said Kim Sang-ki, director at the Korea Institute for National Unification’s policy division.
“My view is that his upcoming visit is aimed at creating tangible achievements to put an end to the ongoing deadlock in denuclearization talks with North Korea. In this regard, Washington may push for conditions that would lead to declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.” [Korea Times]
I met a group of NK defectors from SK recently. Asked whether I should refer them as "defectors" or "new settlers" they said smiling: "freed people." https://t.co/I3nupZ52Yu
South Korean participants arrive at an immigration office on the east coast to cross into North Korea for a reunion event for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s east coast on Aug. 20, 2018. The family reunion event, the first of its kind in nearly three years, will be held there till Aug. 26. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Here is an update on the Inter-Korean family reunions that the North Koreans are currently holding at the Kumgang Resort on the country’s east coast:
This photo taken by Joint Press Corps shows Lee Keum-seom (L), 92, with her son during a family reunion event held at a Mount Kumgang resort on North Korea’s east coast on Aug. 20, 2018, after nearly seven decades of separation caused by the Korean War. (Yonhap)
The first session of reunions will be followed by a dinner to be hosted by the North Korean side later in the day.
Some of them appeared to be a little uncomfortable at first, apparently reflecting the decades without contact, but the awkwardness soon melted away and they engaged in conversation, asking each other about how they have lived.
On the second day, the families will be granted more time to meet, helping them become closer. They will see each other again Tuesday morning and have lunch together in their hotel rooms, the first time the separated families will have had such a private meeting since the start of the reunion event.
They will have six meetings totaling 11 hours by Wednesday, according to the unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affair.
In subsequent reunions planned to take place from Friday to Sunday, 83 North Koreans will also meet their relatives found to be alive in the South. More than 300 South Koreans will travel to the venue later this week for the event.
The two rounds of family reunions are a follow-up on an agreement the leaders of South and North Korea reached in April to address humanitarian issues arising from nearly seven decades of division caused by the Korean War.
The event came amid a thaw in relations between the two Koreas after a yearslong hiatus and tensions heightened by the North’s continued pursuit of nuclear and missile programs. [Yonhap]
You can read much more at the link, but I have to wonder how much money was transferred to host this event? Family reunions has long been used by the Kim regime as a bargaining chip to get what they want from the ROK and a cottage industry to make money. We know that South Korea had to renovate the Kumgang Resort for the North Koreans. How much did that cost?
If DPRK is saying they will allow monitors in and inform ICAO of missile tests, does not bode well for freeze. Perhaps timed to apply pressure on admin to come to agreement with DPRK while hinting could restart tests in future under ICAO monitoring.
Members of a unified Korean men’s rowing team catch their breath after finishing last in their qualification group in the team’s Asian Games debut at Jakabaring Lake inside Jakabaring Sports City in Palembang, a co-host city of the 2018 Asian Games along with Jakarta, on Aug. 19, 2018. (Yonhap)
This seems an awful lot of fencing to be removed from the border areas:
South Korea’s defense ministry plans to gradually remove more than half of all coastal and riverside barbed wire fences across the country to help ease residents’ inconveniences, officials said Thursday.
The move, which is part of the Defense Reform 2.0 initiative aimed at creating a smaller yet stronger military, came amid Seoul’s push for inter-Korean cooperation and rapprochement.
The ministry plans to inspect all fences across the nation, which measure about 300 kilometers in total, to determine which can be eliminated in a way that does not hurt the country’s coastal defense.
“At this point in time, we think that some 57 percent of the fences can possibly be removed,” a ministry official said, declining to be named. “We will take action this year as to the sections that the military can eliminate on its own, while we plan to take care of other fences in stages.” [Korea Times]
