The Moon administration is now playing defense over the reports of ships carrying North Korean coal being allowed to dock in South Korea:
A Belize-flagged ship, the Jin Long, is docked at a port in Pohang, on South Korea’s east coast, on Aug. 7, 2018. (Yonhap)
The South Korean government on Tuesday dismissed a report that another foreign vessel carrying North Korean coal has entered a southeastern port in the country, potentially in breach of U.N. Security Council sanctions.
VOA, a U.S.-based broadcaster, reported earlier that a Belize-flagged ship, the Jin Long, docked at South Korea’s southeastern port of Pohang on the weekend and is still believed to be at the port. It cited the MarineTraffic vessel locating service.
The ship had been spotted at the Russian port of Nakhodka, along with black materials believed to be North Korean coal, days before arriving in Pohang, it added.
Rep. Yoo Ki-june, a South Korean opposition lawmaker, also said the freighter suspected of carrying 5,100 tons of North Korean coal is anchored at the Pohang port.
South Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed the entry of the ship itself but said it’s carrying Russian coal.
“There has been no confirmation of a violation of the (U.N.) Security Council resolution in an inspection of the ship by related authorities,” the ministry’s spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said at a press briefing. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but of course the documents are going to say it is “Russian coal”. These would not be very good smugglers if they are advertising they are shipping North Korean coal. What are the intelligence agencies saying that it is because they have the assets to determine where the coal actually came from.
This article sent to me via a reader tip is a couple of months old, but it is yet another example of what the Moon administration really want to do with the US-ROK alliance even though officially they will say something different:
Chung In Moon, a special adviser to President Moon Jae In for foreign affairs and national security
A top adviser to South Korea’s president says he would eventually like to see the U.S.–South Korea alliance end. In language that sounded almost Trump-like, Chung In Moon, a special adviser to President Moon Jae In for foreign affairs and national security, said in an interview that alliances in general are a “very unnatural state of international relations” and said that, “for me, the best thing is to really get rid of alliance.” In the meantime, he says, he “strongly” supports “the continued presence of American forces” in Korea, despite hoping for an arrangement that he thinks would better serve his nation’s interests.
It was a remarkable statement coming from a South Korean official who is playing a prominent advisory role in current negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program. South Korea has relied on its U.S. alliance since the 1950s to deter threats from its north—and the fate of that partnership, which North Korea has long sought to end, has been a contentious question as a summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump approaches. U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly insisted that the alliance is not a bargaining chip with North Korea. And Moon, who presented his ideas as his personal views, was discussing the future of the alliance as a theoretical question about Asia’s security architecture, not as a matter to be determined in nuclear talks. But his comments nevertheless suggested that if those talks succeed and overhaul geopolitics on the Korean peninsula, the alliance could come due for a reckoning. [The Atlantic]
You can read much more at the link, but President Moon is a very skilled politician that needs to keep the Korean right at bay and public anxiety down. If he advocated openly for a USFK withdrawal that would give the South Korean right an issue to strongly attack him with and cause much public anxiety after decades of security guarantees provided by US forces.
However, if a peace treaty is signed to end the Korean War do not be surprised if the Moon administration allows left wing groups begin to put pressure on the US to withdraw. Think of it as a macro version of the current THAAD issue. The left wing groups have protested and sealed off the THAAD site making life difficult for the soldiers there. The Korean government could easily end the blockade, but choose not to. What if in the future if these groups are allowed to blockade and make life difficult for US personnel at for example Camp Humphreys?
President Moon will say all the right things that he supports USFK, just like he supposedly supports the THAAD site, but will set conditions to make it difficult for its continued existence.
This photo shows only a few people enjoying swimming at the Daecheon beach on the west coast on Aug. 5, 2018, as the country has been suffering from a scorching heat wave for weeks. (Yonhap)
You would think this would be bigger news that the South Korean government is intentionally allowing North Korea to violate sanctions using their ports 52 times over the past year:
This file photo shows Yoo Ki-june of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party. (Yonhap)
An opposition lawmaker claimed Sunday that three more foreign vessels suspected of carrying North Korean coal, a banned item under international sanctions, entered South Korean ports 52 times since August last year.
Yoo Ki-june of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party made the claim, arguing that the Seoul government did not take due steps such as the interdiction of the suspicious vessels in line with U.N. Security Council (UNSC) mandates.
Adopted in December last year following the North’s launch of a long-range missile, UNSC Resolution 2397 allows a country to capture and look into a vessel suspected of engaging in prohibited activities with North Korea. Resolution 2371, passed in August last year, imposes a blanket ban on the overseas sale of North Korean coal, iron ore and other mineral resources.
Yoo’s argument came amid media speculation that Seoul, which has been pushing for inter-Korean rapprochement, has not been thoroughly monitoring foreign vessels that enter South Korea with North Korean coal disguised as Russian products, possibly in violation of the sanctions regime. [Yonhap]
It is bad enough that the Chinese and the Russians are helping the North Koreans to bypass the coal sanctions and new the ROK is as well. If President Trump wants to Tweet about something, this should be it.
Expect more articles like this in the future out of South Korea in an effort to try and pressure the Trump administration to drop sanctions against North Korea:
“We cannot go further,” said Moon Chung-in, an influential adviser to the South Korean president. “Why? Because of the sanctions regime.”
There is growing frustration that a slow pace on sanctions could dash renewed hopes for a connection.
“It’s so stressful that the United States is so controlling,” said Song Young-gil, a South Korean politician who recently inspected North Korea’s railways for the president’s office. (……)
But while a west coast railroad would connect political capitals, an east coast line through Jejin would be important for two key areas of Moon’s plans for cooperation with North Korea: trade and tourism.
Following existing tracks, this line would start at Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city and one of the world’s busiest seaports. Train service would run through Jejin and on into North Korea, passing through the Mount Kumgang tourist zone and then Wonsan, a weapons-industry hub converted into a beach resort. The service would continue to Hamhung, an industrial city and the second largest in North Korea.
Eventually, it would reach Rason, an ice-free seaport close to North Korean natural resources. From there, travelers would go on to the Russian border, where there are links to the Russian seaport of Vladivostok and beyond. In theory, a train could continue to Europe on what’s been dubbed the “Iron Silk Railroad. [Washington Post]
You can read more at the link, but this is why South Korea wants the sanctions dropped. North Korea has a number of tourism projects on their East Coast ready for ROK investment and tourists to create a cash cow for the Kim regime. The only thing stopping this are the sanctions. In the article South Korean politicians say that if the US drops the sanctions this will give Kim Jong-un the leverage he needs to get his military to give up its nukes.
Probably the most laughable line in the article is that South Korea experts told the Washington Post that the train line could open up North Korea politically. The Kim regime is not going to agree to do anything that will threaten the stability of their regime. Any tours into North Korea will be highly controlled just like all the other foreign tours into North Korea currently are.
I guess we will see what happens, but expect the South Korean government and their media allies to continue to put pressure on the Trump administration to drop the sanctions on the Kim regime for little to nothing in return.
I think it is pretty clear that the Chinese government is using the North Korea issue to put pressure on the ROK to remove the THAAD battery:
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (L) holds talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Singapore on Aug. 3, 2018. (Yonhap)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asked South Korea on Friday to resolve the issue of an advanced U.S. missile defense system deployed on the peninsula.
Wang made the request in bilateral talks with his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, in Singapore on the margins of annual ASEAN-hosted sessions, according to a South Korean government official.
He cited the need for a “compete resolution” to the matter, a repeat of Beijing’s demand, which comes amid a peace mood in Korea. [Yonhap]
As I have been saying, the South Korean leftists want to get rid of the Defense Security Command and then claim they are conducting “reforms”:
A committee studying how to reform the military’s Defense Security Command (DSC) recommended on Thursday to abolish all legal underpinnings for the 70-year-old intelligence unit and substituting it with something new.
The committee also called for cutting the DSC’s workforce by at least 30 percent and shutting down all its regional units.
It was revealed last month that the DSC drew up contingency plans for martial law last year in case the Constitutional Court rejected the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye and chaos ensued.
Chang Young-dal, head of the committee, said at a press conference that after two months of deliberation, it recommended abolishing the legal foundation for the current DSC and setting up a new intelligence unit with a new name.
“We assess that if we achieve all reform measures, there will not be illegal meddling in political affairs or illegal surveillance of civilians,” said Chang, adding that a reformed DNC would not conduct activities that would negatively “affect the morale” of military officials by exerting a sense of “privilege.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but is there anyone that does think that whatever the reformed DSC becomes it won’t be stocked with leftists? Maybe Moon can have Im Jong-seok chair the “reformed” DSC?
Here is the latest on the so called attempted coup that South Korea’s political left is claiming the Defense Security Command was planning to execute:
Rival parties on Wednesday exchanged barbs over a controversy surrounding the military intelligence unit’s documents written last year to prepare for the imposition of martial law to curb anti-government protests.
The war of words further intensified after the floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) claimed Tuesday that the Defense Security Command (DSC) had also devised a similar plan in 2004, when former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached.
In March 2004, Roh was impeached by parliament on charges that included illegal electioneering, but he was reinstated by the top court about two months later.
The controversy was sparked as a civic group disclosed DSC documents last month that showed the unit had set up detailed plans for declaring martial law last year to curb civilians’ candlelight protests against then corruption-ridden President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached by parliament.
The group also claimed Monday that the DSC allegedly wiretapped phone conversations between Roh and his defense minister more than a decade ago and carried out illegal surveillance on millions of civilians.
President Moon Jae-in earlier ordered an independent probe into the DSC.
The LKP raised doubts about how the Center for Military Human Rights Korea could secure such classified documents.
Kim Sung-tae, the floor leader of the LKP, even said Tuesday that it is absurd that military reforms are being moved by a civic group, whose chief is struggling with his sexual identity.
The ruling Democratic Party (DP) condemned Kim’s remarks.
“The floor leader of the largest opposition party is misleading public sentiment. It is questionable that the LKP is trying to defend the DSC,” said Baek Hye-ryun, a spokeswoman at the party.
The ruling party regarded DSC documents as evidence for a de facto coup. But the LKP, which was the ruling party under Park’s government, claimed that they might have been just drawn up to prepare for emergency situations, not for rebellion.
“The DSC documents were kind of the risk management manual, not documents over an attempted rebellion or coup,” said Kim Byong-joon, the LKP’s interim leader. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but considering the DSC’s charter planning for the defense of the ruling government is part of their job description. If thousands of protesters showed up and stormed the Blue House to remove President Park if the Constitutional Court did not approve of her impeachment, should the DSC be expected to sit back and let it happen?
If so, that means South Korea’s left believes in mob rule and not a constitutional government.
