Tag: North Korea

Below is an excerpt from ROK Drop favorite B.R. Myers who takes on Kim regime apologizers in regards to their recent military parade right before the start of the Olympic Games:

We have also been hearing that the parade of February 8 has nothing to do with the Olympics because a) the restoration of this day for commemorating the KPA’s founding took place in 2015, after a 37-year interval, and b) 2018 marks a “round” year in special need of a big splash. The obvious retort is to ask why the Kim Jong Il regime, for all its militarism, saw no reason to restore the holiday in time for the much “rounder” anniversary in 1998. Besides, in 2015 everyone already knew when and where the 2018 Winter Olympics would take place.

In line with an older tradition of South Korean apologism is the effort of the Unification Minister and other Pyongyang watchers to argue that the parade is no cause for alarm because these displays of resolve and might are merely for “domestic propaganda use,” for “unifying the North Korean people,” or for “maintaining the system.”

This recalls the wishful approach to propaganda with which many foreigners and even German Jews deceived themselves in the first years of the Third Reich. “Anti-Semitism,” they argued, “is too central to the legitimacy and popularity of Nazism for the regime not to profess it constantly in the strongest terms. Were Hitler to give the Judenhetze a rest even for a month or two, the public backlash would be swift and harsh. Yet we aren’t to worry too much, because he can’t possibly intend to act on that nonsense.”

If anything, the South Korean variant is even more irrational. After all, what the Nazis were planning was without precedent, whereas that same North Korean military whose founding is to be celebrated on February 8 once came very close to destroying the Republic of Korea.  [B.R. Myers]

You can read the rest at the link, but it is pretty convincing that this parade was organized specifically as a response to the Winter Olympics being hosted in South Korea since it wasn’t celebrated as a holiday until 2015.  The regime knew when the Winter Olympics were going to occur and this holiday fit nicely with the timeline.  If Park Geun-hye was still president I am sure the parade and rhetoric would have been more threatening to an external audience, however with President Moon in power they toned it down by North Korean standards.

Myers in his article goes on to explain how the regime must continue with bellicose rhetoric and threats domestically especially during a charm offensive like they are doing now with the Olympics.  The rhetoric and threats like this parade are used to remind North Koreans that final victory will only come through military strength that will defeat the evil American imperialists and their ROK lackeys.

It is this mentality which after the Olympics is over I suspect at some point the Kim regime will return to provocative behavior.  However, instead of blaming the ROK government they will likely try to blame the US in an effort to inflame anti-Americanism in South Korea.  The narrative will likely be that the Kim regime has tried to be peaceful and work towards unification during the Winter Olympics timeframe, but the evil American Imperialists continue with their aggressive behavior.  This will justify them conducting more nuclear and missile tests.

The earliest flashpoint to promote this narrative will be the Key Resolve military exercise coming up reportedly a month after the Winter Olympics are over.  This is assuming the exercise happens with reports that it may be cancelled.  Either way the Kim regime wins because both scenarios advance their effort to separate the ROK from the US.

I would not be surprised at all if this mask was intended by the North Koreans to look a little like Kim Il-sung just to stick it to South Korea’s conservatives who have been critical of the Kim regime’s participation in the Winter Olympics:

The unification ministry on Sunday denied a local news report that the image of North Korea’s late founding leader Kim Il-sung appeared on the mask worn by North Korean cheerleaders during an ice hockey match involving the unified team of the two Koreas.

The female cheerleaders, dressed in red, put the masks on while rooting for the women’s ice hockey team comprising athletes from the South and the North as the team played its first match Saturday against Switzerland during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The mask bore the image of a man, and a local media outlet reported that it was an image of the North’s revered founder when he was young. That report sparked criticism that the North was using the Olympic event for propaganda purposes.

But the South’s unification ministry said the report was based on an incorrect assumption.

“After checking with a North Korean official at the scene, it has been confirmed that there was no such meaning whatsoever, as assumed in the report,” the ministry said in a release, adding that the North Korean official also confirmed it was impossible to use an image of the North’s founding leader in such a way.

Officials said it was just an image of a good-looking man and the mask was worn when the cheerleaders sang a North Korean song, “Whistle,” whose lyrics are about a man’s unrequited love for a female neighbor.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the left in South Korea is claiming this is all fake news drummed up by South Korea’s conservatives.  Here is a picture of the young Kim Il-sung, I will let readers be the judge if it was a young Kim Il-sung mask or not.  Here is a picture of a young Kim Il-sung (center) with his wife Kim Jong-suk (right), and his son Kim Jong-il (left):

Is it just me or does Kim Jong-un sister, Kim Yo-jong have the smuggest smile I have ever seen?  Here is a picture of her arriving at the airport:

Kim Yong-nam (R), North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, and Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North’s top leader Kim Jong-un, walk into a reception room at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2018. The two are members of the North’s high-level government delegation that came to the South on the same day for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. (Yonhap)

Here she is at the welcome reception:

Kim Yo-jong lightly smiles during the welcoming reception hosted by South Korean unification minister at Incheon International Airport’s VIP reception room, Friday. / Yonhap

Here she is sitting next to US Vice President Pence at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.  This was probably a pretty awkward moment for everyone involved:

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attends the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in the host town of PyeongChang, east of Seoul, on Feb. 9, 2018. Seated behind Pence are Kim Yo-jong (R), the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Kim Yong-nam, the North’s ceremonial head of state. (Yonhap)

A unit of North Korea’s elite troops participate in a military parade in Pyongyang on Feb. 8, 2018, in this photo captured from footage released by the North’s state broadcaster.(Yonhap)

A ROK Drop favorite Tom Coyner explains the “wedge theory” in a recent article in the Joong Ang Ilbo:

If Washington affairs are unpredictable, the same can be said about the entirety of the Korean Peninsula. As such, there are various ideas and theories of what is the fundamental thinking and strategy of North Korea. The most likely scenario being played out is the so-called wedge theory. Many scholars disagree, but I subscribe to it as the most likely explanation for both obvious and insidious reasons.

North Korea is unintentionally serving China’s geopolitical interests. First and most obviously, it serves as a physical barrier between China’s capital and U.S. forces based in South Korea. More controversially, North Korea’s nuclear program is not being designed to start a nuclear exchange unless absolutely necessary. Rather, its weapons are like other nations’ nukes. The weapons are meant as deterrents. But unlike other nations’ arsenals, the DPRK’s nukes are serving the hegemonic interests of its neighbor, China.  (…..)

Many North Korea watchers believe the real aim of the DPRK nukes is to threaten the U.S. and intimidate Washington out of its ironclad guarantee to come to the aid of Seoul under all circumstances. Which is to say, be able to challenge the current or future American president into deciding whether to stand by Seoul or risk having one of America’s cities be nuked. Of course, such a scenario would lead to the total destruction of North Korea by a vengeful America. But beyond simply living with a nuclear DPRK, all military scenarios are high risk, including ending with the ultimate destruction of North Korea. (……..)

Consequently, the wedge theory is the most plausible. If the U.S. backs away from its 100 percent support of South Korea, North Korea can further its political agenda to ultimately achieve a peace treaty leading to confederation without need for U.S. forces.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I have long believed that the Kim regime and the Chinese government have a long term goal of driving a wedge between the US and the ROK.  That is what is behind the THAAD retaliation against South Korea by the Chinese government.  They know THAAD is not a threat to them, but it is an issue they can use to drive a wedge between the US and the ROK.  Likewise that is what North Korea is to the Chinese, yet another issue to drive a wedge between the US and the ROK.

It is pretty clear that the Kim regime is using the Winter Olympics to set a precedent for other countries to point to in order violate United Nations sanctions:

Both Kim Yo-jung and Choe Hwi are sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses. Kim because she is “part of the agency in North Korea who’s responsible for propaganda, for censorship, controlling information so that the people of the country do not know about the rest of the world,” says the Treasury Department. Choe is subject to United Nations sanctions, as well, which actually bar him from leaving his country.

Choe is “First Vice Director of the Workers’ Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department, which controls all Democratic People’s Republic of Korea media and is used by the government to control the public,” the United Nations says. The South Korean government is reportedly trying to get an exemption to the travel ban for the Olympics from the UN Security Council.  [Weekly Standard]

You can read more at the link.

A group of people stages a rally in Donghae, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 6, 2018, as the North Korean ship Mangyongbong-92 carrying the North’s Samjiyon art troupe arrived at the eastern port city. They opposed North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang Olympics. (Yonhap)

While North Korea’s propaganda troop is busy in South Korea promoting the Kim regime to an international audience, back in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un was busy promoting his rule domestically with a military parade:

North Korea has unveiled video footage of its massive military parade held in Pyongyang on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of its military.

The edited clips broadcast by the North’s state-run Korean Central Television later in the day showed a host of intercontinental ballistic missiles that are believed to be able to strike the U.S. mainland, including the Hwasong-15, Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-12, all of which the regime successfully test-launched last year.

The North also displayed its solid-fuel Pukguksong-2 ballistic missile in an apparent bid to show off what it claims is the completion of its nuclear forces.

The North’s military forces were smaller in scale than previous years possibly due to the fallout from strengthened international sanctions against the country’s nuclear and missile programs.

However, many observers suspect the downsizing was intentional as Pyongyang seeks to avoid international criticism ahead of the Winter Olympics set to kick off in South Korea on Friday.

Unlike past years, the parade was not broadcast live and foreign journalists were not allowed to cover the event.   [KBS Global]

You can read more at the link.

I guess Kim Jong-un wanted his sister to personally attend the Winter Olympics and relay his extortion demands to the ROK government:

Kim Jong-un’s dear sister, Kim Yo-jong, is set to become the first member of North Korea’s ruling dynasty to set foot in the rival South this week.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul announced Wednesday that Kim Yo-jong, presumed to be aged about 30, will be part of a high-ranking government delegation attending the Winter Olympic opening ceremony slated for Friday.

The team will be led by Kim Yong-nam, the nominal head of state. Kim Yo-jong is widely believed to be powerful and close enough to the leader to directly represent his views.

Kim’s visit could further boost the reconciliatory mood between the Koreas. Seoul wants to pave the way for the restoration of relations and possibly to talks for the denuclearization of the North.

Kim’s high status in the North Korean leadership and close blood tie with the leader raised expectations that she may serve as the reclusive brother’s representative to the South Korean government.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

In the middle of South Korea, there is a woman raising two teenagers who calls herself an ordinary housewife. Except 30 years ago, she was an elite North Korean agent who bombed an airplane in an attempt to derail the '88 Seoul Olympics. My story — https://t.co/AKXhy0Z1ko

— Chico Harlan (@chicoharlan) February 6, 2018