Considering that the North Korean leader did not attend the parade I think that his delegate deserved to get the second class status he received from the Chinese:
North Korean Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae watches a military parade in Beijing, marking the seventieth anniversary of China’s war victory over Japan, Sep. 3. Choe was seated far away from President Park Geun-hye, who was seated near the center. (Yonhap News)
The North Korean delegation that attended China’s military parade was headed by Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae.On Sep. 3, Choe was present at the military parade on the parapet of Tiananmen – the Gate of Heavenly Peace – in Beijing. Choe was standing almost at the end of the line of dignitaries, to the right side of Chinese President Xi Jinping. This was a sharp contrast with Park Geun-hye, who was only one person away from Xi.There is speculation that China‘s decision to position the North Korean envoy toward the end of the line of dignitaries reflects China’s relations with North Korea, which have been chilly in recent years.Another interpretation is that China placed Choe at some distance from Park out of consideration for the South Korean president.But it‘s also possible that, considering that Choe was just an envoy, and not the leader of North Korea, his position on the parapet should not necessarily be seen as a snub. When China announced on Aug. 25 the figures who would be attending its ceremony commemorating the victory over Japan in World War II, its inclusion of Choe in a list of 30 national leaders including Park and Russian President Vladimir Putin was regarded as a sign of respect. [Hankyoreh]
Also unsurprisingly is that the North Korean state media did not report President Park Geun-hye’s attendance at the military parade where she received the VIP treatment.
This photo released on Sept. 2, 2015, by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, shows North Korea’s national female choir Chongbong staging a performance, along with the North’s State Merited Chorus, at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow on Aug. 31, 2015. It marks the first time the all-female band, founded by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in July 2015, has performed to the public. (Yonhap)
I like this type of engagement with North Korea where reforesting the environment is beneficial to both sides, however Seoul should not have agreed to pay for their studies in Germany. Instead they should have offered them to train in South Korea. If the Kim regime can afford nuclear weapons and ICBMs, they can afford to send their own scholars to school in Germany. By the way I guess this guy won’t be going to training in Germany:
Seoul plans to provide funding for North Korean forestry specialists to study in Germany, a U.S. news report said Saturday, in its latest effort to restore deforested mountains in the North.
Under the plan, South Korea will help around 30 North Korean experts study in Germany by providing US$70,000, according to the Voice of America (VOA), which cited the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
The specialists will visit Germany in four batches between September and November. Germany, with forests covering one-third of its area, has one of the world’s leading forestry industries. [Korea Times]
The report doesn’t say whether the changes were made after or before the recent cross border incident that led to a negotiated settlement between the North and the South. If these changes were made afterwards maybe Kim Jong-un was not aware of the operation to plant landmines on the southern side of the DMZ? It seems unlikely to me though because that would be something pretty audacious for a military commander to think he could get away with doing something like that without consulting the regime inner circle first:
Kim Jong Un, the querulous North Korean leader, said the recent standoff with South Korea was resolved not through negotiation but “thanks to the tremendous military muscle” of the country’s nuclear weapons.
Some analysts have suggested that Pyongyang’s recent eagerness to hold talks with Seoul could be a sign of domestic vulnerability for Kim, whose official titles include first chairman of the National Defense Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army.
But according to North Korea’s version of events, last weekend’s standoff with South Korea was a sign of the former’s strength.
“We protected the dignity and sovereignty of the country, the gains of the revolution and the happiness of the people by our own efforts amid the tempest of the history without anybody’s support and sympathy,” Kim told officials at a meeting to analyze and review the “revolutionary measures” the regime had taken over the past week, according to the country’s official Korean Central News Agency.
The news report, published Friday, also said that the 30-something leader had dismissed some members of the Central Military Commission, which is responsible for the Korean Workers’ Party’s military policies, and appointed new ones. But it did not say which officials had been replaced. The dismissals come after an extended period of sometimes-brutal personnel changes in North Korea, notably Kim’s execution of his defense minister this year. [Stars and Stripes]
Here is an interesting analysis by a North Korean defectors on how the Kim regime is using propaganda to influence their domestic audience that the recent provocation cycle was a success. Also of note is how the defectors believe that the ROK propaganda speakers were of great concern to the Kim regime:
One of the most notable aspects about the joint statement issued by South and North Korea is that Pyongyang expressed regret over the land mine incident that maimed two South Korean soldiers. It’s not unprecedented, but it’s certainly not common for the North to do so. Today we sat down with our reporters Choi Song Min and Kang Mi Jin, who both are from North Korea, to get some more insight about the matter.
My first question goes to Choi Song Min. Pyongyang has failed to apologize for its many previous provocations in the past. Why do you think it took such a different path this time?
CHOI: It’s because the loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts on the border can do much more harm to Kim Jong Un’s leadership than any other weapons of mass destruction. Just as Kim Jong Il said, ‘You may not be able to gain surrender with bullets and shells, but propaganda broadcasts can change the hearts of ten million.’ He himself knows just how powerful broadcasts can be. It’s because it exposes the many atrocities committed over the three-generation leadership, and it could lead to discontent and resistance against the current leader.
In expressing its regret, Pyongyang specifically referred to itself as ‘the North’. By doing so, it in some ways claimed responsibility — completely different from the many times in the past when it denied its involvement. How are we to interpret this action?
KANG: That’s right. Just until a few days ago, the North was out with its ambassador to the UN, its General Reconnaissance Bureau chief Kim Yong Chol, and its diplomats all over the world to publicly deny its involvement in the land mine incident that occurred on the southern side of the demilitarized zone. Having been so stubborn about this matter but then going along to express its regret over it and admitting to it is akin to bowing in front of the world.
What I think is more interesting is not the use of the word ‘the North’ but the word ‘regret’, which even to the smallest extent expresses its acknowledgement of wrongdoing. As mentioned earlier, in the past, North Korea has always denied its involvement, so for it to express regret shows just how desperate it was to get those loudspeakers to stop, as they could play a role in changing people’s perceptions.
The joint statement was also made public to people in the North through state-run media. What do you think people there are making of this?
CHOI: Based on the fact that the North’s media reported on the joint statement very quickly, it’s very likely it has branded this whole incident as one of ‘Kim Jong Un’s great achievements’ and a ‘grand victory in a fight against the South’. It will play it up through public lectures and broadcast propaganda and paint it as a victory ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Party Foundation. Casting aside its regret over the land mine victory, it will promote the fact that the South halted propaganda broadcasts and agreed to hold reunions for separated families. But, North Koreans all know the typical methods used by Pyongyang, so they will have a bitter smile for themselves. [Daily NK]
In this photo taken from an observatory on South Korea’s Ganghwa Island on Aug. 26, 2015, a North Korean soldier takes a nap at a sentry post in Kaepung on the North’s western front-line bordering South Korea, one day after North Korea lifted the quasi-war state of its armed forces. The two Koreas’ reached an agreement the previous day on defusing tensions after four days of intensive inter-Korean talks. (Yonhap)
Senior North Korean officials hold a national meeting at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang on Aug. 24, 2015, to mark the 55th anniversary the next day of the day of “songun,” or the North’s military-first policy, in this photo released on Aug. 25, 2015, by the North’s Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)
