The current situation for defectors paints a rather grim picture for future N.Koreans if unification were to happen https://t.co/DSCcueU0N1
— Andrei Lankov (@andreilankov) May 8, 2017
It looks like the Kim regime is once again playing the Russians against the Chinese like they did during the Cold War:
Moscow may be looking to take advantage of the nuclear standoff between Pyongyang and the international community . As cracks deepen in the decades-old friendship between China and North Korea amid increasing U.S. pressure, Russian President Vladimir Putin stands ready to fill Beijing’s shoes.
“ Russia (has) begun quietly laying the groundwork that would strengthen its ties to North Korea, thus increasing its global political leverage should it need it,” analysts at political intelligence firm Stratfor explained in a May 5 report, referring to Putin’s strained ties with the West.
Both countries share a long history of ideological and economic relations — in 2014, Moscow wrote off 90 percent of Pyongyang’s $11 billion debt from the Soviet-era — but recent projects indicate an even cozier relationship.
A new ferry service between Rajin and Vladivostok is due to begin on May 8 that’s expected to carry up to 200 passengers and 1,000 ton of cargo six times a month. Meanwhile in April, Russian military hardware was seen transported to the country’s border with North Korea but the Kremlin claimed the action was part of pre-planned military exercises, Reuters reported. [CNBC]
You can read the rest at the link, but expect the North Koreans to also play the new ROK government against the United States as well in order to secure aid and political support while they continue their nuclear weapons development just like during the Sunshine Policy years.
I would love to see what “evidence” the Kim regime has gathered on this supposed assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un to warrant an extradition request:
Pyongyang will seek the extradition of anyone involved in what it says was a CIA-backed plot to kill leader Kim Jung Un last month with a biochemical poison, a top North Korean foreign ministry official said Thursday.
Han Song Ryol, the vice foreign minister, called a meeting of foreign diplomats in Pyongyang on Thursday to outline the North’s allegation that the CIA and South Korea’s intelligence agency bribed and coerced a North Korean man into joining in the assassination plot, which the North’s Ministry of State Security has suggested was thwarted last month.
The North’s state media have been running stories about the plot since last week. The security ministry has vowed to “ferret out” anyone involved in the alleged plot, which it called “state-sponsored terrorism.” [Associated Press]
I am beginning to think that maybe the Kim regime is pushing this story for domestic consumption in order to make it appear that the CIA killed his older brother Kim Jong-nam? The defector groups have been sending balloons across the border informing North Koreans of the murder of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia.
By claiming the assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un used a bio-chemical substance that makes it appear the same group that killed his older brother was trying to kill him too. Though I think these claims are targeted towards a domestic North Korean audience, the claims may have some carry over effect internationally as well. Considering how there are still people who don’t believe the North Koreans sunk the Cheonan, there will probably be people who think the CIA is behind some plot to kill the Kim family as well.
I hope some journalist at some point asks President Moon why doesn’t Kim Jong-un honor the promise his father Kim Jong-il made and instead travel to South Korea? Why does the ROK President always have to be the one traveling to North Korea and serve as a Pyongyang propaganda puppet?:
President Moon Jae-in took the oath of office Wednesday, and offered to visit Pyongyang if conditions were met to help resolve the deadlock over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
In a message to the people delivered at the National Assembly, he said he would also go to Washington as soon as possible if necessary.
To address security problems on the Korean Peninsula, Moon said after taking the oath, “I’ll fly to Washington, Beijing and Tokyo soon if necessary. And I’ll go to Pyongyang if conditions are met. I’ll do everything I can for peace on the peninsula.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link.
Dudes under 40 with nukes: pic.twitter.com/3jOrygkApk
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) May 8, 2017
The Kim regime is cheering for a liberal to win the upcoming Presidency likely in hopes they will get another pay day for little or nothing in return like during the Sunshine Policy years:
With South Korea’s presidential election just one day away, North Korea on Monday called for an end to the history of inter-Korean confrontation.
“The tragic North-South Korea relations today have been wrought by the conservative groups which, having been in power for the past 10 years, revived the foregone period of confrontation and maximized the political and military rivalry between the same race,” the leading ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in a column on its Monday issue.
On Tuesday, South Korea is to pick a new president to replace Park Geun-hye who was removed from her presidency in March over corruption charges.
The last poll before the election showed Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party leading the race by a wide margin. If elected as president, Moon is likely to tilt toward engagement with North Korea, a departure from the sanctions-focused policy under Park and her previous conservative administration led by Lee Myung-bak.
“Our people’s yearning for peace has been mercilessly trodden by the conservative groups, manic followers of confrontation,” the North Korean newspaper said. “The history of inter-Korean confrontation, led by the conservatives, should be put to an end and a new era of unification should open up in collaboration between our race .. To that end, the conservative groups’ scheme to seize power again should be resolutely shattered.” [Yonhap]
The State Dep't's official view = North Korea has not supported acts of terrorism since 1987. Discuss.https://t.co/gwdsIEXtQZ via @nbcnews
— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) May 7, 2017
A set of photos carried by the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s main newspaper, on May 5, 2017, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspecting military detachments on two islets in waters off the country’s southwest front. (Yonhap)
So what else does North Korea have to do to the ROK to gain primary enemy status?:
Yoo: “Is North Korea our primary enemy?”
Moon: “Such a designation must not be made by president. If you become president, Mr. Yoo, you yourself would also have to solve inter-Korean problems.”
Yoo: “This is nonsense the commander in chief cannot call North Korea our primary enemy.”Bareun Party candidate Yoo Seong-min asked Democratic Party’s Moon Jae-in if North Korea is the primary enemy.
Moon responded that presidents should not label the North as such as the job requires solving inter-Korean problems.
As Moon avoided answering the question, Yoo said it was nonsense that a candidate for commander in chief cannot identify North Korea as an enemy. [KBS World Radio]
You can read more at the link.
North Korea continues to build up their collection of bargaining chips and human shields in response to any potential negotiations or conflict with the US overs its nuclear program:
North Korea detained a U.S. citizen tied to a Christian-backed university in Pyongyang, state media said, just two weeks after arresting one of his colleagues.
The arrest on Saturday of Kim Hak-song for committing “hostile acts” brings the number of known U.S. citizens detained in North Korea to four, adding another twist to troubled relations between Washington and Pyongyang as the U.S. seeks ways to slow the North’s nuclear and missile program.
According to the report on Sunday by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, Mr. Kim works for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, a university founded in 2010 by James Kim, a Korean-American Christian businessman. [Wall Street Journal]
You can read more at the link, but it is just incredible to me that despite all these Americans being taken hostage in North Korea Americans keep going there.
