Tag: North Korea

It will be interesting to see how long it takes the North Koreans to rescue the people on this ship:

This file photo, taken Oct. 27, 2017, shows a South Korean patrol ship departing a port in Sokcho, 151 kilometers northeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

A South Korean patrol ship on Sunday spotted a North Korean vessel stranded near the de-facto inter-Korean sea border in the East Sea and provided humanitarian assistance, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The patrol ship was dispatched after a maritime patrol aircraft spotted the distressed vessel drifting in waters 200 kilometers east of the coastal town of Jejin and around 3 km north of the eastern Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 2:16 p.m., according to the JCS.

The South Korean ship initially deployed one inflatable boat to approach the vessel and confirmed it as a North Korean ship.

The North Korean vessel is suspected to be a small commercial ship some 10 meters long, according to an informed source. The military reportedly did not inspect the identities of those on board as the ship was in waters north of the NLL.

The people on board the North Korean ship said they have been adrift for 10 days and wished to return to their homeland, requesting assistance with food and water.

The South Korean military provided food and water “on humanitarian grounds,” and notified the North of the situation through the United Nations Command and international maritime communication channels for its assistance.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I also wonder what this so called commerical ship was transporting and where from?

Here is rare type of defection if these four were in fact planning to defect:

A South Korean vessel tows a wooden boat that crossed the inter-Korean border to a port in the coastal county of Yangyang, 150 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on Oct. 24, 2023. (Yonhap)

 A group of four unidentified individuals from North Korea crossed the eastern maritime inter-Korean border on a wooden boat early Tuesday, officials said, in an apparent attempt to defect to South Korea.

The Coast Guard and military officials secured the 7.5-meter-long boat carrying the North Koreans in waters east of Sokcho, 151 kilometers northeast of Seoul, a military official said, after South Korean fishermen at the scene reported seeing an “unusual” boat at around 7:10 a.m.

The group consists of one man and three women, according to Coast Guard officials. Details of their identities have not been made known.

Lim Jae-kil, one of the fishermen who were at the scene, recalled seeing a man who appeared to be in his 30s wearing boots and oil-stained clothing, and two women, presumably in their 30s and 50s, respectively.

The individuals did not express their intent to defect to the South but asked where they were and remarked on how “nice” Lim’s boat was, he said.

Lim said he had never seen such a boat in his more than 40 years of life as a fisherman, adding it appeared to have the engine of a cultivator.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the last maritime defection from North Korea was back in 2019 according to the article.

It looks like things really are returning back to normal in post-COVID North Korea:

North Korea is witnessing an escalation in terror, as the totalitarian state has increasingly relied on public executions, a move by its dictator Kim Jong-un to strengthen his grip over national governance.

According to reports citing an informed source with insights into North Korean internal affairs, the number of public executions has been massively increased. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea saw an average of about 10 public executions annually, but over the past year, this number has surged to an estimated 100 or more.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea took measures to reduce public executions significantly in a bid to prevent the spread of infections. However, with the pandemic subsiding and human interactions increasing, these gruesome acts have resurged.

“North Korea public executions occur relatively frequently,” Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Department of Reunification Strategy Studies at the Sejong Institute, said.

“These executions cover a wide range of cases, including heinous crimes, drug smuggling, and, in rare instances, individuals caught producing and selling prohibited content, including South Korean dramas.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is how the Russians moved all the arms they received from North Korea into Russia for further movement to the battlefields of Ukraine:

This image, provided by the U.S. government, shows apparent arms transfers between North Korea and Russia. (Yonhap)

Two Russian ships made at least five round trips between North Korea and Russia, beginning mid-August, in what could be arms transfers, the Washington Post reported Monday, citing satellite imagery.

Based on analysis by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London-based think tank, the ships have been travelling between the northeastern North Korean port of Najin and a port facility in Dunay in Russia’s Far East between mid-August and Saturday.

The analysis came after the U.S. government revealed Friday that the North shipped more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine, highlighting burgeoning military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

North Korea once again spouting nothing, but a bunch of hot air. An attack on a U.S. aircraft carrier would lead to ending of the regime and they know it:

North Korea threatened Friday to stage the “most powerful and rapid first strike” against U.S. strategic assets deployed to the Korean Peninsula, in the latest bellicose rhetoric that underscored Pyongyang’s concerns about U.S. military capabilities in the region.

The nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier docked at the southeastern port of Busan on Thursday for a five-day visit — the first since September 2022 — in a show of force against North Korea. The visit came soon after trilateral naval drills involving the United States, South Korea and Japan.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Russians have a new source of munitions to help them in their continuing war effort in Ukraine:

North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine, a White House official said Friday, lambasting burgeoning cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow as a threat to regional stability.

In a press briefing, John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, disclosed the information, amid persistent speculation that the Sept. 13 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin might have led to an arms deal.

Kirby also voiced concerns about possible Russian assistance to the North in return for arms support, disclosing the U.S.’ observation that Russian ships offloaded containers in the North, which he said “may constitute the initial deliveries of material from Russia.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It sounds like the U.S. needs to invest in more missile defense to keep up with the threat:

North Korea is “on pace” to deploy sufficient nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to overcome the U.S. missile defense and may be preparing for a nuclear test to enable tactical nuclear operations, a congressional report showed Thursday.

The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States issued the final report. It was launched by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 to examine America’s long-term strategic posture.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If North Korea conducts a nuclear test getting international attention seems to be reason why they would do it, not a food crisis as the ROK government is speculating. A nuclear test may also be something done in coordination with Iran to divert U.S. resources from the Middle East as Iran continues to use its proxies there to wage war on Israel and Sunni Arab states:

The reigniting of the Israel-Hamas conflict, coupled with Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, could shift the United States’ attention further away from North Korea’s nuclear quandary, analysts said Tuesday.

The conflict flared up following the Palestinian militant group’s deadly surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, as Washington’s stated commitment to diplomacy with Pyongyang has fallen on deaf years amid the North’s unceasing drive for nuclear armament.

President Joe Biden pledged “full support” for Israel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean while Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the U.S.’ “solidarity” with Israel.

The U.S.’ apparent reapportioning of diplomatic and security resources for conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe has raised speculation that it would be harder for the U.S. to pay more attention to addressing the North Korean conundrum.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.