Tag: North Korea

This is a really interesting read from a North Korean defector that had a very different upbringing from most defectors:

It has been said “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.” My name is Lee Seo-hyun. I am a North Korean escapee who gave up the certain opportunity to thrive in hell, and instead fled my native country to face certain uncertainty.

My experience as a North Korean escapee might surprise you. I did not grow up in extreme poverty; I was not coerced into human trafficking; nor do I have horrific stories of being a political prisoner. My father was a senior-level government officer for the North Korean regime, and his loyal commitment to the nation and the leader allowed our family to live in the capital Pyongyang, a privilege as North Koreans. 

Like most people in North Korea, I had no doubts about the regime because I was brainwashed. I truly believed what our leader said: “Our country is the envy of the world!” Yes, I was living in a bubble. Not of my choosing ― I wasn’t even aware of it ― but a bubble, nonetheless. 

What about you? Have you ever even considered the possibility that you may be living in a bubble, regardless of your politics or religion, regardless of the color of your skin or your perceived status in life?

What if the ‘Bubble’ ― the truth I had accepted without question ― is in some way no different from yours ― although yours probably doesn’t include political oppression and torture? 

Korea Times

I highly recommend reading the whole thing at the link.

This is really a continuation of long standing ROK policy of maintaining the status quo which has allowed South Korea to continue to be a prosperous country. Seeking regime change that would lead to a massive war with a possible nuclear exchange and humanitarian crisis is clearly not in the ROK’s national interest:

President Yoon Suk-yeol said, Wednesday, that South Korea will not pursue any efforts for regime change or any other intervention that can alter the current political system of North Korea, adding that Seoul is not in a position to guarantee Pyongyang’s security. 

The president also ruled out the possibility of South Korea acquiring its own nuclear weapons against evolving North Korean nuclear threats, saying the country is committed to the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.

He made the remarks during a press conference held to mark the 100th day of his presidency. 

“Guaranteeing the security of the North Korean regime is not something that South Korea can provide,” Yoon told reporters. “But neither I nor the government wants the status quo changed unreasonably or by force in North Korea.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

North Korea provided some fireworks for President Yoon’s 100th day in office:

North Korea test-fired two cruise missiles toward the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, a South Korean military official said, as President Yoon Suk-yeol held a press conference to mark the 100th day since taking office.

“(The military) has detected two cruise missiles launched by North Korea from Onchon, South Pyongan Province, into the Yellow Sea early this morning,” the official said on the customary condition of anonymity without providing further details, including the exact type of missiles and time of the firing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but with the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise kicking off this month expect more provocations from North Korea.

President Yoon has to know the Kim regime is not going to denuclearize for any amount of economic aid. However, they would happily pretend to denuclearize for economic aid like they have done in the past:

President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged Monday to swiftly improve relations with Japan based on a 1998 joint declaration between the two countries while offering to significantly rebuild North Korea’s economy if Pyongyang takes steps toward substantial denuclearization.

Yoon made the remarks in a Liberation Day speech marking 77 years since Korea’s independence from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. (…….)

Yoon also laid out the details of his “audacious plan” to improve North Korea’s economy in the event it takes steps to denuclearize, an offer he first made during his inauguration speech in May.

He said North Korea’s denuclearization is “essential” for sustainable peace on the peninsula, in Northeast Asia and around the world.

“The audacious initiative that I envision will significantly improve North Korea’s economy and its people’s livelihoods in stages if the North ceases the development of its nuclear program and embarks on a genuine and substantive process for denuclearization,” Yoon said.

“We will implement a large-scale food program; provide assistance for power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure; and carry out projects to modernize ports and airports for international trade.”

Yoon also offered to help enhance North Korea’s agricultural productivity, modernize its hospitals and medical infrastructure, and implement international investment and financial support initiatives.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This hopefully does not come as a surprise to anyone that North Korea has no intention of giving up their nukes:

 North Korea accused U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday of lacking impartiality as head of the global agency, taking issue with his denuclearization-related remarks during a visit to Seoul last week.

In a press statement, Kim Son-gyong, vice foreign minister for international organizations, denounced the U.N. chief for his reported expression of “full support for the complete, verifiable and irretrievable denuclearization (CVID)” of North Korea.

Guterres met with President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday.

According to an English-language report of the Korean Central News Agency, Kim said, 

“I cannot but express deep regret over the said remarks of the UN secretary-general that grossly lack impartiality and fairness and go against the obligations of his duty, specified in the UN Charter, as regards the issue of the Korean peninsula.” 

“The so-called CVID, touted by the U.S. and its vassal forces, is just an infringement upon the sovereignty of the DPRK as it demands the unilateral disarmament, and Secretary-General Guterres perhaps knows well that the DPRK has totally rejected it without any toleration,” the vice foreign minister added. The DPRK is the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise is coming up later this month so the Kim regime now the Kim regime is using activist balloons as the excuse they need to launch a provocation:

South Korea’s unification ministry on Thursday voiced strong regret over North Korea’s claim that its COVID-19 outbreak had originated from the South and its threats of an unspecified retaliatory step.

Earlier in the day, Pyongyang’s state media reported that leader Kim Jong-un held a national meeting the previous day and declared victory in the campaign against COVID-19.

During the session, his younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, who serves as vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, reiterated Pyongyang’s assertion that leaflets from the South carried the virus into the North and raised the need to take “deadly retaliatory” countermeasures.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

At this point anyone living along the Imjim River should avoid it during heavy rain periods because the North Koreans are likely going to flood the river with no notification:

 North Korea appears to be releasing water from a dam near the inter-Korean border without giving prior notice to the South, a South Korean government official said Monday, as the North is drenched by heavy downpours.

“As rain has fallen heavily in North Korea, the North is repeatedly opening and closing the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam,” the unification ministry official said. “It seems (the North) is adjusting the Hwanggang Dam’s water level based on the rainfall situation.”

The official said there was no prior notification from the North on the move.

Under an inter-Korean agreement signed in October 2009, the North is supposed to notify the South in advance of its plans to release dam water.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I do not see this many Soldiers being sent to fight in Ukraine by North Korea, but it appears that the Russian propaganda apparatus is trying to will this into existence:

Korotchenko does not cite the source for his claim, which he made in a Thursday, August 4 broadcast, and there does not appear to be any public announcement by Moscow or Pyongyang to support it.

While some Russian outlets have repeated his claims after they were picked up by national and international news outlets, the only earlier mention of such “offer” and the “100,000” figure appears on report by the Russian news agency REGNUM, which the EU has accused of spreading “aggressive and biased propagandist narratives against Ukraine, and to promote a positive attitude to the annexation of Crimea and the actions of separatists in Donbas.”

The article, dated August 2, cites a Russian MP, who referenced North Korea’s “offer” to help in a speech in the Duma.

Newsweek

You can read more at the link, but North Korea has not publicly commented on any of these claims. North Korea definitely has the manpower, but this could be a huge embarrassment for the Kim regime if the Soldiers do not perform well or even worse start defecting. The Russian army has already lost massive prestige by being smacked around by an inferior Ukrainian military.

Part of Kim Jong-un’s deterrence strategy is the prestige of having a massive military that provides a legitimate threat to South Korea. Losing in Ukraine and having a bunch of Soldiers defect takes away from that deterrence factor.