Guards carrying a portrait and the remains of the deceased secret commandos trained to infiltrate North Korea during the Cold War era leave a funeral hall in Goyang, north of Seoul, after their joint funeral on Aug. 23, 2017. Unit 684, better known as the Silmido unit, named after the island off the west coast where it was secretly based, was established in 1968 by the government following North Korea’s failed attempt to attack the presidential office in Seoul earlier that year, but their existence became useless amid the reconciliation between the two Koreas. The existence of the anti-communist unit had been thoroughly denied by the government, and a group of 24 surviving commandos blew themselves up while trying to enter Seoul on a stolen bus. In 2010, the court ordered the state to compensate the bereaved families of the commandos. (Yonhap)
It looks like there is once again a path towards deescalation with North Korea:
(President Donald Trump speaks at a “Make America Great Again,” rally at the Phoenix Convention Center, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona.Alex Brandon/AP)
North Korea has made no provocations since its July 28 test-firing of what it claimed was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), though it has more recently threatened to fire missiles toward Guam.
President Trump said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has begun to “respect” Washington, suggesting his administration is taking a positive view on a possible thaw in U.S.-North Korea relations.
“I respect the fact that I believe he (Kim) is starting to respect us,” Trump said at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, according to Bloomberg. “Maybe, probably not, something positive will come out of it.”
Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said dialogue between the United States and North Korea could be possible in the “near future,” welcoming what he called the “restraint” the Kim regime had shown recently with its nuclear and missile programs.
“I think it is worth noting, we have had no missile launches or provocative acts on the part of, or provocative actions, on the part of North Korea since the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution,” Tillerson said at the State Department.
“I am pleased to see that the regime in Pyongyang has demonstrated restraint. We hope this is the signal we have been looking for, that they are ready to restrain provocative acts. And perhaps we are seeing a pathway in the near future to having some dialogue.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but I would be some what surprised if they don’t fire at least a short range test missile into the Sea of Japan in response to the ongoing UFG military exercise.
Just another example of the lucrative weapons trade the North Koreans continue to have Syria:
North Korea has twice been caught attempting to ship material to Syria’s chemical weapons agency in the past six months, according to a confidential UN report prepared by a panel of experts. (……)
The shipments were sent by KOMID, the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation – an organisation blacklisted by the UN security council in 2009, and described as Pyongyang’s key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. (…….)
“Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria.
“Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria.”
The UN experts said activities between Syria and North Korea they were investigating included cooperation on Syrian Scud missile programmes and maintenance and repair of Syrian surface-to-air missiles air defence systems. [The Telegraph]
You can read more at the link, but long time readers may also remember North Korea’s attempt to build a nuclear reactor in Syria that the Israelis bombed back in 2007:
This is sad news for his family, but if what has been written about him is true I can’t say I am sad to see him go:
James Dresnok in 2006. The former US soldier, who defected to North Korea in 1962, died last year, his sons said. Photograph: Alamy
The only US soldier known to still be living in North Korea after defecting more than five decades ago died last year, pledging his loyalty to the “great leader Kim Jong-un”, his sons have said.
James Joseph Dresnok was among a handful of American servicemen to desert following the Korean war, crossing the heavily fortified demilitarised zone in 1962.
He went on to appear in North Korean propaganda films and was believed to be the last US defector in the country, the others all having died or been allowed to leave. [The Guardian]
You can read much more at the link, but include a video of his two sons giving an interview about his death wearing North Korean uniforms.
The North Korean propaganda apparatus is working overtime with the UFG exercise kicking off this week:
Less than a week after backing off its threat to strike waters near Guam with a barrage of missiles, North Korea has released a video depicting such an attack on the tiny U.S. island territory.
The video – titled “What will the cost be for Americans, who are losing sleep at night?” – was released just before the start of Ulchi Freedom Guardian war games between the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang claims the annual computer-simulation drills, which kicked off on Monday, destabilize the peninsula and simulate decapitation strikes on its leadership.
A third of the way through the incendiary video, North Korean missiles are launched and then fly through clouds before coming down toward a map of Guam. Later, an image of President Donald Trump is shown overlooking a field of crosses as the words, “The fate of the U.S., with its many crimes, ends here,” are displayed in Korean. [Stars & Stripes]
Here is the North Korean propaganda video in its entirety:
It seems President Moon has made himself a pretty specific red line with North Korea that in my opinion he has no intention of actually enforcing:
The President’s definition of a “red line” for North Korea has fueled controversy, with critics questioning its adequacy.
At a press conference to mark his 100th day in office Thursday, President Moon Jae-in said that he would consider North Korea had crossed a red line “if it completes development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and weaponizes it by fitting a nuclear warhead on it.”
He also said, “North Korea is nearing the threshold of the red line.”
Some people, including Moon’s aides, interpreted the rare remarks as a warning to the North on its rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons and missiles. But criticism of his “diplomatic immaturity” was prevalent.
Pundits expressed concerns that the statement narrowed the Moon administration’s policy options in dealing with North Korea.
“Moon must be the first leader in the world who went into details of what constitutes a red line,” said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University’s department of unification and diplomacy. “Keeping ambiguity suits national interests. Moon may have said so to prevent a U.S. preemptive attack, but still, it exposed our intentions.” [Korea Times]
Latest North Korean propaganda posters do away with their trademark subtlety, show attacks on USA, dramatic ripping up of UNSC 2371. pic.twitter.com/U0t9SLSRUh
It is pretty amazing to me that someone from the White House would just call up a random reporter and be this open about their views, but as we have seen there is nothing conventional about Steve Bannon:
Steve Bannon
“We’re at economic war with China,” he added. “It’s in all their literature. They’re not shy about saying what they’re doing. One of us is going to be a hegemon in 25 or 30 years and it’s gonna be them if we go down this path. On Korea, they’re just tapping us along. It’s just a sideshow.”
Bannon said he might consider a deal in which China got North Korea to freeze its nuclear buildup with verifiable inspections and the United States removed its troops from the peninsula, but such a deal seemed remote. Given that China is not likely to do much more on North Korea, and that the logic of mutually assured destruction was its own source of restraint, Bannon saw no reason not to proceed with tough trade sanctions against China.
Contrary to Trump’s threat of fire and fury, Bannon said: “There’s no military solution [to North Korea’s nuclear threats], forget it. Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that ten million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s no military solution here, they got us.” Bannon went on to describe his battle inside the administration to take a harder line on China trade, and not to fall into a trap of wishful thinking in which complaints against China’s trade practices now had to take a backseat to the hope that China, as honest broker, would help restrain Kim.
“To me,” Bannon said, “the economic war with China is everything. And we have to be maniacally focused on that. If we continue to lose it, we’re five years away, I think, ten years at the most, of hitting an inflection point from which we’ll never be able to recover.” [The American Prospect via a reader tip]
You can read much more at the link, but in regards to threat to Seoul Mr. Bannon is correct that it continues to restrain US actions against North Korea. The fact that Bannon is willing to consider a freeze deal with North Korea in exchange for the removal of US troops I find very interesting. I think everyone pushing for the freeze deal are now going to push it even harder if they see an opening that the White House might accept it.
Bannon in the article also talks about trying to get more hawks into the administration that don’t want to play nice with China. He feels there are too many people in the government that think playing nice on trade with China will encourage them to help us with North Korea.
As far economic war with China it seems to me that a lot of the economic problems are self inflicted with the exporting of manufacturing jobs to China. I don’t know if someone can even live a modern life any more if they made a conscious decision to not buy anything made in China.
With the vast majority of Guam’s tourists coming from Japan and South Korea it makes sense that they are unfazed by the recent rhetoric from North Korea which they have grown accustomed to:
Tourists haven’t been deterred from visiting the tropical island of Guam even though the U.S. territory has been the target of threats from North Korea during a week of angry words exchanged by Pyongyang and Washington.
Chiho Tsuchiya of Japan heard the news, but she decided to come anyway with her husband and two children. “I feel Japan and Korea also can get danger from North Korea, so staying home is the same,” said the 40-year-old.
Won Hyung-jin, an official from Modetour, a large South Korean travel agency, said several customers called with concerns, but they weren’t worried enough to pay cancellation fees for their trips.
“It seems North Korea racks up tension once or twice every year, and travelers have become insensitive about it,” Won said. His company has sent about 5,000 travelers to Guam a month this year, mostly on package tours. [Bloomberg]
