Tag: North Korea

I would love to know what the Kim regime’s internal timeline is for when they expect sanctions to be dropped?:

North Korean state media urged the country’s people to be ready for “belt-tightening” Monday amid signs of stalled denuclearization talks with the United States.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, reminded them of the harsh period of Arduous March in the 1990s, when the country suffered from extreme poverty and massive starvation in the wake of the collapse of socialism in Russia and Eastern Europe.

“Even if (we) have to travel a long distance through snowstorms with our belts tightened, we will go straight to the people’s road which was proved as immortal in the process of the 70-years-long struggle and to the road of socialism,” the newspaper said.

The call comes as concerns are growing about the denuclearization talks between the North and the U.S. The slower-than-expected progress clouds the prospects for any immediate sanctions relief, which Pyongyang might be pursuing to bolster its anemic economy in return for giving up its nuclear weapons.

The call for belt-tightening might be intended to tamp down expectations among its people that have been high since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, followed by his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, observers said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

No surprises here since I would not be surprised that the Chinese and Russian operatives are actively helping them smuggle the oil:

China and Russia have reportedly put the brakes on the United States for trying to persuade the international community to stop selling refined oil to North Korea this year.

According to international news agencies, including the Associated Press and Reuters, Beijing and Moscow on Thursday blocked Washington from getting the United Nations to publicly blame the North for smuggling more petroleum products beyond the limit imposed by UN sanctions.

Their actions and claim that time is needed to investigate the U.S. allegations automatically delay any U.S. action for six months.

Last week, the U.S. requested the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee to publicly rebuke the North for violating the quota and enact a ban so countries could not export more petroleum products to the regime for the rest of the year.

U.S. documents sent to the UN committee claim that refined oil was illegally shipped to North Korea through at least 20 ships on 89 occasions between January and May, allowing the regime to secure at least 759-thousand-793 barrels so far this year, above the annual limit of 500-thousand barrels.  [KBS World Radio]

I think deep down most South Koreans know this guy is right, but prefer the current fantasy that things will be different this time with Kim Jong-un:

Hong Joon-pyo, the former chief of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), has reiterated his opposition to the government’s North Korea policy.

Writing on Facebook on Saturday, the conservative politician, who is visiting the U.S. at the moment, argued that North Korea’s attitude has not changed at all.

He said that in order to seek a breakthrough in the Cold War situation on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and compromise, a change in the other side’s attitude and posture is required.

But Hong insisted that North Korea has not changed at all and is only putting on a show, adding that leading the South Korean public to believe the North has changed could bring about an even bigger catastrophe.

The former LKP chief said that North Korea will never give up its nuclear program. He added that if it did attempt to, leader Kim Jong-un would immediately be purged by his hawkish military.  [KBS World Radio]

Good luck trying to make this happen:

The United States on Friday welcomed the U.N. Security Council’s united support for the fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and pressed China and Russia to strictly enforce U.N. sanctions to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused North Korea of violating an array of tough sanctions imposed by the council. He warned that ”when sanctions are not enforced, the prospects for the successful denuclearization of North Korea are diminished.”

Nonetheless, Pompeo told reporters after meeting behind closed doors with the 15 council members that President Donald Trump ”remains upbeat about the prospects for denuclearization” following his historic summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. ”So do I, as progress is happening,” he added without elaborating.

The Trump administration hopes that one day North Korea will be at the United Nations ”not as a pariah but as a friend,” Pompeo said. But ”it will take full enforcement of sanctions for us to get there” as well as Kim following through ”on his personal commitments” to Trump.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I have to hand it to Secretary Pompeo, he is doing everything possible to not be seen as the belligerent whenever the breaking point with North Korea’s foot dragging on denuclearization happens.

There are probably going to be many people surprised slavery exists in North Korea after reading this, but the gulags and forced labor of its citizens for regime projects has been going on for decades:

North Korea has the highest prevalence of modern slavery in the world, with 1 out of every 10 citizens victims under the practice, according to estimates included in a new report.

More than 2.6 million people live under modern slavery in the country, the 2018 Global Slavery Index found, with the vast majority forced to work by the state. The report also argued that the North Korean government had the weakest response to slavery out of all the countries surveyed, as the North Korean state itself is involved in forced labor both inside and outside of the country.

The report defines modern slavery as slavery itself, as well as human trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, forced or servile marriage, and the sale and exploitation of children.  [Washington Post]

You can read more at the link, but remember this number does not include the near slave labor that were once employed at the Kaesong Industrial Complex.  Restarting the near slave labor project at Kaesong is one of the South Korean governments top priorities and why they want the US to drop sanctions against North Korea.

South Korea’s delegation heads for North Korea through the North and South Entry Office in Paju, north of Seoul, on July 20, 2018, for joint railway inspection. The two Koreas agreed in June to modernize and link their currently severed railways and conduct pre-inspections. They will look at the system along the eastern coast on the day and inspect the system along the western coast next week. (Yonhap)

It didn’t take long for the North Koreans to use the proposed family unions as leverage against the South Korean government:

North Korea’s state-run media released a string of articles on Friday that criticized the South Korean government, hinting that planned reunions for families split between the two nations could be canceled. An editorial in the official state newspaper of the North Korean ruling party, Rodong Sinmun, argued that South Korea had been exaggerating its role in denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington. South Korea’s role in the talks does “not even amount to that of an assistant,” the editorial stated. The same article described comments made by South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Singapore last week as “presumptuous” and “flippant.”  [Washington Post]

You can read more at the link, but it appears the North Koreans are trying to put the ROK government back in its place as being subservient to the Kim regime with the denuclearization talks solely between the US and North Korea.

Here is the main reason they are threatening the cancelation of the family reunions:

In another attack against the Moon administration, Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, urged it to repatriate a dozen North Korean restaurant workers who came to the South in 2016.

The 12 had worked at a North Korean restaurant in China. Pyongyang claims they were abducted by South Korean authorities. The South has said the workers defected of their own free will.

Uriminzokkiri said there could be an “obstacle” in the planned reunion of families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War next month if the workers are not returned.

It lashed out at Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon by name, accusing him of “siding with” the former government which it said plotted the workers’ defection. [Reuters]

I think even for a left wing administration like President Moon’s, this will be politically very difficult to do.  Could you imagine the backlash of forcibly removing these defectors from South Korea and handing them over to the Kim regime?

Because nothing bad has ever happened to tourists who visited North Korea, and it's absolutely guaranteed that nothing bad will ever happen to those who visit in the future. https://t.co/cKBrbnTAnU

— John Lee (The Korean Foreigner) (@koreanforeigner) July 18, 2018

Now there is supposedly not a time limit on North Korean dencuclearization:

U.S. President Donald Trump says that there is “no time limit” on North Korea’s denuclearization, reiterating that negotiations with Pyongyang are a process.

Trump made the remarks to reporters on Tuesday at a meeting with members of Congress at the White House, explaining the outcome of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

Trump said that discussions on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are ongoing and progressing well, but stressed that there is “no rush for speed” to achieve the goal.

He added that the sanctions against Pyongyang are still in place and referenced the improving U.S.-North Korea relations as the North has refrained from missile tests for nine months and released three U.S. detainees in May.   [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link, but it may seem like more of the same in regards to North Korea negotiations.  However, I would not hit the panic button on this as long as the sanctions remain in place. The big question though is what is Kim Jong-un’s time limit?  At some point the regime is going to want the sanctions dropped for little to nothing in return.

A possibility is that the Trump administration’s new strategy may be to wait out the Kim regime.  Maybe the Trump administration understands now that the Kim regime will not denuclearize and instead just play along with negotiations while keeping the sanctions in place.  If North Korea eventually returns to making provocations this could be the excuse the Trump administration needs to take other actions against the regime.

It is bad enough that Russia and China actively undermine United Nations sanctions against the Kim regime, but now even South Korea is reportedly helping North Korea evade sanctions as well:

North Korea reportedly transported its coal to a third country via South Korea last year in violation of UN sanctions.

The Voice of America(VOA) issued the report on Tuesday, citing information released by an expert panel under the UN committee monitoring sanctions against North Korea.

The panel said that North Korea shipped its coal from Kholmsk Port in Russia to a third country two times via South Korean ports in Incheon and Pohang on October second and 11th last year.

Earlier this year, the panel said in its previous report that the South Korean ports were the final destinations of the North Korean coal. However, in the latest report, it said the shipments were likely headed to a third country, although it is unconfirmed.

Meanwhile, an official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry said that there is a need to confirm the findings of the report.

The UN Security Council Resolution 2371 adopted in August last year imposed a total ban on all exports of North Korean coal.  [KBS World Radio]