Tag: North Korea

The North Koreans are still trying to get the ROK to cancel the Inter-Korean military agreement signed under the previous Moon administration with their provocations:

North Korea fired some 130 artillery shells into eastern and western maritime “buffer zones” Monday, in what Seoul called a violation of a 2018 bilateral military agreement, amid the South Korea-U.S. live-fire drills in a border region.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected the artillery firings, thought to involve multiple rocket launchers, from Kumgang County in Kangwon Province and Jangsan Cape in South Hwanghae Province, from 2:59 p.m.

The shells splashed into the maritime buffer zones north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto sea border, which were set under an inter-Korean military accord signed on Sept. 19, 2018, to reduce border tensions.

The JCS communicated warnings to the North multiple times, pointing out the violation of the military accord and calling for the immediate cessation of the provocation, the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if the ROK was to cancel the agreement the Kim regime could claim this as a “hostile act” as part of a justification for their long anticipated nuclear test.

I mean really what is South Korea going to do in response to a nuclear test that hasn’t already been done in the past? The only thing I see getting the Kim regime’s attention and more importantly President Emperor Xi’s attention, is if the ROK develops their own nuclear capability, which I doubt the U.S. will support. That leaves the ROK with its usual response options of show of forces which has not deterred the North Koreans:

President Yoon Suk-yeol said any new nuclear test by North Korea will be met with an international response “not seen in the past” and called on China to play a greater role to deter the North’s provocations.

Yoon made the remarks in an interview with Reuters, released Tuesday, amid growing concerns the North could conduct its seventh nuclear test after a series of recent missile launches.

Should the North forge ahead with a test, Yoon vowed a response “not seen in the past” by South Korea and its partners.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Little Kim was recently out with her father Big Kim again:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a second public appearance with his daughter during a photo session with officials involved in this month’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, state media said Sunday.

Photos published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed the daughter, presumed to be Kim’s second child, Ju-ae, dressed in a long black winter coat with a fur collar and with her hair partially tied back, as she walked hand in hand or linking arms with her father.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but some of the speculation I have read is that Kim Jong-un is show casing his daughter now to set her up for succession. She is believed to be 10 years old so I find it hard to believe she is being set up for succession at that age.

I think it is more likely that Kim is using his daughter to soften his image in preparation for any future negotiations. His sister has long been playing the bad cop with bombastic language and threats while Kim Jong-un is the good cop where he speaks more measured and is mostly smiling in photo ops.

It is interesting that Kim Jong-un is showing off his daughter now to the world. Was it take your kids to work day in North Korea? 😉

North Korea revealed leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter for the first time Saturday in photos showing them attending the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the previous day.

The North’s state media reported that Kim inspected the launch of a Hwasong-17, the country’s largest ballistic missile, at Pyongyang International Airport on Friday. 

He was present at the scene “together with his beloved daughter and wife,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

Photos released by the news agency showed his daughter in a white winter jacket and black pants standing and walking together with Kim in front of the missile that sat on a launch truck. 

The daughter apparently in her tweens was also seen along with her mother, Ri Sol-ju, watching her father as he instructed military officials.

It marked her first official appearance in state media.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-un is believed to have two daughters and one son.

Chongryon has long been a pro-Kim regime organization in Japan affiliated with organized crime and North Korea propaganda:

North Korea warned Wednesday that Japan will “pay a high price” if it continues to unduly persecute and oppress a group of pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans in Japan, mentioning its firing in October of a ballistic missile over the neighboring country.

North Korea regarded “persecution and oppression” against the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also known as Chongryon, and North Koreans living in Japan as a challenge to its dignity and sovereignty, according to a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“We’ve solemnly stated that the Oct. 4 firing of a new type of a ground-to-ground intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a warning to our enemies over instability on the Korean Peninsula,” the KCNA said, referring to the North’s launch of the Hwasong-12 ballistic missile over Japan.

“Whether this warning will lead to actual results will depend on attitudes of hostile forces, including Japan,” it said, warning Japan will “pay a high price” against anti-North Korea acts.

The commentary appears to refer to an increase in hate crimes reported against students at schools for ethnic Koreans in Japan.

Chongryon is the largest organization of pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans in Japan that was established in 1955.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.