Tag: North Korea

That is what the below report in the Hankyoreh is speculating could happen if North Korea launches a rocket in October:

The main variable in future diplomatic trends is the question of whether North Korea will launch a long-range rocket. There has been discussion of the possibility of North Korea testing a long-range rocket on the pretext of putting a satellite into orbit on Oct. 10, the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean Workers’ Party.

Indeed, a video was posted on Uriminzokkiri, a website that North Korea uses to send propaganda to South Korea, in which the anchor said, “South Korea’s opposition parties, press, and experts urged the government not to cast a chill on inter-Korean relations, which are starting to thaw at last, simply because North Korea launches a satellite.”Experts suspect that North Korea’s suggestive comments are intended to provide justification for the upcoming rocket launch.   (………………)

This could also lead to renewed calls from the US and Japan to deploy THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) on the Korean Peninsula to defend against North Korean rockets. If South Korea is dragged into a discussion of THAAD, opposition from China could strain relations between the two countries.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read more at the link.

On July 31, Yonhap News came into possession of the North Korean monthly pictorial publication “Joseon” September edition, featuring five female flight attendant models on the cover.

The flight attendants are walking with their luggage, attired in navy blue uniforms, a change from the red uniforms worn in 2013, and wearing a badge on the left side of the chest featuring Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. An aircraft from Koryo Air can be seen in the background.

With their beautiful smiles, and wearing short skirts, black shoes, sophisticated makeup, necklaces, and other accessories, the flight attendants do not look any different from attendants of other airlines.

The change in the eye-catching and elegant appearance of the flight attendants is an effort by Kim Jong-un’s regime to stimulate tourism by improving the quality of airline service.  [Korea Bang]

You can read the rest at the link.

This article by Professor Hong Sung Ki of Ajou University further demonstrates the failure of the Sunshine Policy and how giving economic aid to the Kim regime does nothing to help the North Korean people or reform their economy.  I have said for years that the Kim regime will never give up their nuclear weapons or commit to Chinese style economic reforms because it would threaten the stability of the regime and Professor Hong also agrees with this assessment.  I highly recommend reading the whole thing, but here are Professor Hong’s key points:

President Park’s July 1st, 2015 suggestion that steps towards nuclear disarmament be traded for infra development in North Korea’s SEZs certainly fits within the conservative party’s mold. But these tactics have continually failed in the past and we have no expectation that things will change for the better in the future. Once the North gets rid of their nuclear capabilities, they know that the South and the world at large will be able to simply ignore them.

In this light, North Korea really does not need our economic assistance at the moment. As we have seen from Jang Hyeong Soo’s paper, the North is skilled at bringing in and retaining foreign currency, which it can use to put out any economic fires should they arise. The real explanation for their economic depravity is hidden within the nature of the regime itself. The upper elite feed off the misery and suffering of the common citizens. Without this oppression, they would not long be able to retain their positions of authority. For these reasons, North Korea has an incentive to continue antagonistic behaviors on the world stage in order to get attention. South Korean presidents have a one term (five year) limit, which gives them little time to make progress in the face of such antagonism. North Korea is the only winner in this game of chicken, of provocation and aid solicitation. That’s why South Korea’s policies have been so inept at dealing with the Kim Dynasty up to this point.

South Korea should respond in kind to the North’s antagonistic behaviors. South Korea needs to continue the legal and large scale introduction of foreign ideas and information into North Korea while simultaneously pressuring the regime to disarm their nukes. It’s time to stop looking at the North as a little brother in need of economic assistance. Now is the time to look for the regime’s breaking point in order to stop the horrors that they regularly commit on their people in order to retain their authority. The time has come for a fundamental shift in policies regarding North Korea. Considering the fact that the North will never willingly throw away their nuclear capabilities, the South needs to develop a system of political and military counter measures in tandem with a new diplomatic approach.  [Daily NK]

Read the whole thing at the link.

Activity significantly increases at N. Koreas nuclear site: http://t.co/dxXIZYqLs0 via @YonhapNews

— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) September 9, 2015

If North Koreans would be so shocked to see President Park seated next to Chinese President Xi maybe the activist groups should start launching their propaganda balloons into North Korea with DVDs and images of this fact:

Park Geun Hye’s recent visit to China to attend 70th anniversary celebrations marking the end of WWII has been the subject of much attention and analysis, a fair amount of which speculated that the special treatment bestowed on the South Korean leader by Beijing portends stronger bilateral ties between the two nations going forward.

Lee Tae Hwan, head of the Chinese research center at Sejong Institute, said that South Korea and China’s joint criticism of North Korea’s aggravations on the Korean Peninsula sends a strong message to the North that it should cease and prevent further provocations.

“This comes ahead of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party in October, when many expect the North to launch a missile or execute another show of strength. Remarks coming out of the China-South Korea meeting will undoubtedly place major pressure on the North,” he explained.

Cho Bong Hyun, a senior researcher from IBK Economic Research Institute, surmised that North Korea “must feel cornered,” after China backed South Korea’s stance that further provocations by North Korea on the Korean Peninsula are “unacceptable.”

“As a nation that was trying to recover its ‘blood-ally’ relationship with China, North Korea probably feels left out in the cold as China is trying to press ahead with a trilateral summit meeting among South Korea, China, and Japan,” Cho asserted.

The marked absence of commentary regarding North Korea’s nuclear development on China’s part, however, divided opinions on the implications for the recent Sino-South Korea interactions. The less skeptical of those watching the issue assert that China’s overt criticism of North Korea’s provocation is a clear indication of its stance and proof positive of consensus with South Korea on the nuclear issue as well.

Cho does urge caution and hasty conclusions from one meeting, noting that “it’s too much to expect denuclearization of North Korea through a single discussion between China and South Korea.” Now, he added, “it is imperative to devise strategies and continuously cooperate with China in order to realize a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.”  [Daily NK]

You can read more at the link.

As the statistics in the below article show, Kim Jong-un’s tightening of border security has worked in regards to stemming the tide of defections across the DMZ:

A total of 65 North Koreans have crossed the tightly-patrolled land and sea borders with South Korea to defect to the capitalist country since 2010 with 15 of them breaking the borders undetected, a military report showed Tuesday.

The North Korean conscript who made it to a South Korean guard post near the eastern part of the military demarcation line (MDL) in June was among those who have crossed over, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s report submitted to Rep. Shon In-choon of the ruling Saenuri Party.

The soldier was not detected until after he had crossed the heavily-fortified border, spent one night near the South Korean military outpost and turned himself in the next day.

The episode sharply stoked skepticism over the South Korean military’s border guarding after a similar case was reported in the eastern section of the border in 2012.

Fifteen of the total 65 defectors have crossed the borders without being caught by border guards before the defectors turned themselves in or civilians reported them, according to the report.

The number of defections through borders reached 10 in 2010 and increased to 39 in 2011 before sinking to 5 the next year.

The number plunged to 1 in 2013 before edging up to 6 last year, a downward trend attributable to tightened border security under North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who took office in 2012.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

It is always heart warming to see the images of the separated families meeting during these infrequent family reunions, but I always wonder how much the Kim regime receives from the ROK in return for hosting them?:

Ryoo Si-bong, 76, cannot sleep well these days on anticipation that South and North Korea’s recent landmark deal on easing military tension may make his lifelong wish come true: meeting his older sister living in North Korea.

Until the 1950-53 Korean War broke out, Ryoo, who used to live in China’s northeastern region of Manchuria, never thought he would not be able to see his sister again when she moved to North Korea after marriage.

Following several failed attempts to join the state-arranged family reunions, Ryoo is now voicing hope that he may have a chance to meet his 92-year-old sister as the two Koreas agreed in late August to resume the much-awaited reunions of families separated by the war.

“I want to know whether she is alive or not. My lifelong wish is to meet my sister before I die,” Ryoo said, showing an undelivered letter that he wrote to her two years ago while missing her. “This time, I want to be picked for the upcoming reunion event.”

Ryoo is among more than 66,000 surviving South Korean family members separated by the Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving South and North Korea technically at war.

Inter-Korean relations have long been strained amid North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations, but burgeoning signs of better ties are now growing, backed by the two Koreas’ deal on easing a recent military standoff.

South and North Korea have agreed to make efforts to improve their ties and push for the resumption of the family reunions on the occasion of Korea’s fall harvest holiday, Chuseok, slated for late September. The family reunions were last held in February 2014.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Portraits to inspire and intimidate: North Korea's omnipresent leaders via@guardian http://t.co/1Ot3j4WsIT

— HanVoice (@HanVoice) September 4, 2015

.@SteveKroft reports on North Korea's cyberattack on @SonyPictures, tonight on #60Minutes http://t.co/pLOolANFyd pic.twitter.com/cqd5XsPp9O

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 6, 2015

I guess the good news is that if you take the Chinese government at their word they are not planning to send troops into downtown Seoul again to destroy the ROK.  On the other hand I think everyone knows peaceful reunification is never going to happen as long as the Kim regime remains in power in North Korea:

President Park Geun-hye on Friday said South Korea and China could quickly begin various discussions on how to achieve a peaceful unification between South and North Korea.

“Peaceful unification is the fundamental and the quickest way to resolve nuclear and other issues,” Park said in a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on the way back to Seoul from a trip to China, referring to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Tensions persist on the divided peninsula over the North’s pursuit of its missile and nuclear weapons program. The communist country has a track record of staging provocations against South Korea.

The North — which conducted three nuclear tests — has repeatedly vowed to develop its economy and nuclear arsenal in tandem, viewing its nuclear programs as a powerful deterrent against what it claims is Washington’s hostile policy against it.

South Korea “would cooperate with China for a peaceful unification,” Park said. “Various discussions could begin as soon as possible on how to achieve a peaceful unification.” She did not provide a specific time frame.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.