"The unparalleled perseverance of the armies of the United States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle."
- General (and future President) George Washington, 1783, in his farewell orders to the Continental Army.

"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S.; let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship."
- Civil rights leader and ex-slave Frederick Douglass, 1863, in remarks encouraging the enlistment of African-American soldiers during the Civil War.

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory."
- President Woodrow Wilson, 1919, in proclaiming Armistice Day (which would later become Veterans Day) on the anniversary of the end of World War I. 


1. Signs point to renewed talks between U.S., North Korea
2. US-South Korea Alliance Under Pressure as Deadlines for Military Pacts Approach
3.  Defying darkness, Moon shines on (South Korea)
4.  In South Korea, the chips - and ships - are down
5.  Conservative merger hinges on Park issue


1. Signs point to renewed talks between U.S., North Korea
The onus is on Kim to allow substantive working level talks.
There was no substantial meeting between U.S. and North Korean officials at a key nuclear nonproliferation conference in Moscow over the weekend, but signs are emerging that talks between the two sides could resume in coming weeks.
U.S. and South Korean officials held a strategy meeting Saturday on the sidelines of the 2019 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference to discuss ways to breathe new life into the talks that broke down last month, and a top official in Seoul said he believes the Trump administration is "very actively" trying to persuade Pyongyang back to the table.
Chung Eui-yong, the national security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, made that assertion at a news conference Sunday, citing North Korea's ongoing threat to kill the prospect of future talks if Washington does not soften its negotiating posture by the end of the year, according to wire reports.
A top North Korean official, meanwhile, renewed the ultimatum during the nonproliferation conference in Russia at the start of weekend. Jo Chol-su, the North Korean Foreign Ministry's director general for North America, spoke Friday on the matter in Moscow, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

Signs point to renewed talks between U.S., North Korea

washingtontimes.com · by Guy Taylor
U.S. and South Korean officials held a strategy meeting during the 2019 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference to discuss ways to renew talks between the U.S. and North Korea that broke down last month. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) more >
There was no substantial meeting between U.S. and North Korean officials at a key nuclear nonproliferation conference in Moscow over the weekend, but signs are emerging that talks between the two sides could resume in coming weeks.
U.S. and South Korean officials held a strategy meeting Saturday on the sidelines of the 2019 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference to discuss ways to breathe new life into the talks that broke down last month, and a top official in Seoul said he believes the Trump administration is "very actively" trying to persuade Pyongyang back to the table.
Chung Eui-yong, the national security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, made that assertion at a news conference Sunday, citing North Korea's ongoing threat to kill the prospect of future talks if Washington does not soften its negotiating posture by the end of the year, according to wire reports.
A top North Korean official, meanwhile, renewed the ultimatum during the nonproliferation conference in Russia at the start of weekend. Jo Chol-su, the North Korean Foreign Ministry's director general for North America, spoke Friday on the matter in Moscow, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
"We have given considerably much time to the U.S., and we will wait for some results until the end of this year," Mr. Jo said in an answer to a conference participant's question. "Though we expect everything to go into a positive direction, I want to say that the window for opportunity is closing bit by bit every day."
Mr. Jo's comments underscored Pyongyang's adherence to an April ultimatum circulated in North Korea state media that President Trump start offering serious concessions - including sanctions relief that Mr. Trump repeatedly has rejected - by the end of 2019 if Washington wants the nuclear talks to continue.
While Mr. Trump has described the opening of denuclearization talks with North Korea as a "huge win" of his first term in office, the push for diplomacy has essentially gone nowhere since February's high-stakes second summit between the president and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam. The summit ended abruptly when Mr. Trump walked out after refusing to offer sweeping sanctions relief to Pyongyang unless North Korea agreed upfront to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
The period since has been one of fits and starts, underscored by 23 short-range ballistic missile launches by North Korea and threatening propaganda emanating from the Kim regime. Messages in North Korean state media still praise Mr. Trump personally, but many have had a hostile tone.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim held an impromptu handshake meeting at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing North and South Korea in June, but there haven't been any substantive or "working level" nuclear talks since February.
The Kim regime agreed to participate in such talks with a team led by U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen E. Biegun last month in Stockholm, Sweden, but negotiations broke down after less than a day. North Korean officials accused Washington of "hostile" posturing.
Sources say that despite such rhetoric, Mr. Kim may seek a third direct summit with Mr. Trump by the end of the year, although most analysts fear the relationship with Pyongyang is likely to worsen before it improves because the North is expected to ramp up provocations to U.S.-South Korean military drills in December.
There was speculation heading into the weekend that State Department Director for Korea Policy Mark Lambert - a key member of Mr. Biegun's negotiating team - may hold talks with North Korean officials at the nonproliferation conference in Moscow.
Mr. Jo, the North Korean Foreign Ministry's top North America-focused official, is considered to be Mr. Lambert's counterpart in Pyongyang. Yonhap reported Sunday that no formal talks had occurred between the two men in Moscow, but they did have a five-minute conversation during a reception for participants at the non-proliferation conference.
Mr. Lambert separately held a breakfast meeting on the sidelines of the conference with South Korea's top nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, to discuss how to deal with North Korea. Yonhap cited the South Korean Foreign Ministry as revealing the meeting without elaborating further.
There was no immediate comment from the State Department.

washingtontimes.com · by Guy Taylor


2. US-South Korea Alliance Under Pressure as Deadlines for Military Pacts Approach
Comments from a number of us. Does DOD have a plan to withdraw 28,500 troops, equipment, and dependents if POTUS makes a Syria-like decision because we cannot get an SMA acceptable to him?

US-South Korea Alliance Under Pressure as Deadlines for Military Pacts Approach

voanews.com · by Christy Lee
WASHINGTON - The U.S.-South Korean alliance is strained by their differences over military pacts, and if the allies fail to reach agreements, Seoul's national security could be at risk, experts said.
The pressure stems from two military agreements nearing expiration: Seoul's intelligence sharing pact with Tokyo, set to expire Nov. 23, and Seoul's defense cost sharing deal with Washington, expiring Dec. 31.
"There's a lot of pressure on the alliance right now," said Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corp. research center. "Because of that pressure, the alliance is not quite as strong as it's been at some points in the past."
Seoul has been refusing Washington's demands to reverse its decision to terminate an intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo.
Withdrawal from GSOMIA
In August, Seoul announced it would withdraw from General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Tokyo. That came during a trade row that broke out in the summer, a disagreement rooted in South Korea's historical grievances over forced labor during the Japanese colonial period from 1910 to 1940.
Washington sees GSOMIA as a crucial vehicle for its two allies to share sensitive military information, such as threats from North Korea or to communicate during a crisis.
"The U.S. government has ratcheted up considerable public pressure on South Korea not to go through with its GSOMIA nonrenewal decision," said Scott Snyder, director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"The U.S. sees GSOMIA less as a Japan issue than a regional security issue, while South Korea seems to be approaching GSOMIA solely in the context of bilateral relations with Japan," he said.
FILE - South Korean protesters shout slogans during a rally demanding withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Korea Peninsula near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, July 31, 2019.
Defense cost sharing
Adding to the pressure is Washington's push for Seoul to pay $5 billion next year to share the costs of maintaining 28,500 American troops in South Korea.
The U.S. made the request during the last round of negotiations for the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) in Honolulu in October, and the increase is more than five times the $924 million that South Korea agreed to shoulder this year.
"Seoul and Washington will have to eventually compromise on defense cost sharing," Snyder said, adding, "But how the issue is managed will have an impact on the quality of the relationship. Both sides need to bear that in mind."
In considering how to reconcile the differences, Bennett said the allies have to bear in mind Pyongyang's objective, which is to break the alliance so North Korea can have military superiority over South Korea, which it sees as a threat.
North Korea's objective "has been to break the alliance totally, have U.S. forces completely withdrawn from Korea, no plan to bring them back to Korea, end the nuclear umbrella," Bennett said. "If it's got military superiority, the question is how does it decide to use that superiority? Does it invade the South? Perhaps, but maybe it only coerces the South and tells the South, 'Look, we're prepared to live peacefully. Just give us a hundred trillion won (about $85 billion) a year to help us build up our economy.'"
David Stilwell, U.S. assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, answers reporters' questions after a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Cho Sei-young at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 6, 2019.
David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, met with South Korean officials in Seoul this week to discuss GSOMIA.
James DeHart, U.S. negotiator in the defense cost-sharing talks with South Korea, is in Seoul to gauge public sentiment ahead of another round of negotiations to take place in Seoul later this month.
According to a survey published by the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), 96% of  South Koreans do not want Seoul to pay an increased share of its defense cost, although 91% think the U.S. military presence is necessary in South Korea.
FILE - U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper clasps hands with South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo during their meeting in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 9, 2019.
Annual defense talks
The Pentagon on Thursday said Secretary of Defense Mark Esper will be in Seoul Nov. 15 to attend annual defense talks, the Security Consultative Meeting. He will meet with South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and discuss security issues surrounding the alliance and "bilateral defense cooperation."
Experts think Seoul should renew GSOMIA but that the U.S. has overburdened Seoul with a steep increase in SMA.
David Maxwell, a former U.S. Special Forces colonel and current fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the relationship of the allies could be further strained if Seoul does not renew GSOMIA.
"The best way out of this is for [South Korean] President Moon [Jae-in] to seize the moral high ground, and he needs to stand up and say he is not going to withdraw from GSOMIA because he is going to put the national security of Korea and the alliance with the United States and trilateral coordination with the United States and Japan first," Maxwell said.
He continued, "If he doesn't, I think there will be further strain in the ROK-U.S. alliance ... because I think the United States is going to remain very disappointed."
Gary Samore, White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, expects the GSOMIA issue to be resolved but said, "SMA is more difficult to resolve because [President Donald] Trump is asking for an unreasonable increase."
Bennett thinks Seoul would not be able to meet the increased cost demand in SMA because of constraints in its defense budget.
"That's a major hit and a major disruption of the alliance for South Korea to have to give up that much money," he said. "I just don't see that as being feasible. If you look at the defense budget, you can't cut salaries. You can't do much to cut operations and maintenance. Acquisition [for weapons] is what you'd have to cut to provide even one trillion won [$850 million], and there's just no slack there."
If Seoul does not renew GSOMIA with Tokyo against the U.S., and if Washington and Seoul do not come to a compromise on SMA by the deadline, experts believe South Korean national security could be at risk.
South Korean Army soldiers participate in the 71st anniversary of Armed Forces Day at the Air Force Base in Daegu, South Korea, Oct. 1, 2019.
Far-reaching effect
Consequences of Seoul's permanent decision to terminate GSOMIA could have a far-reaching effect in a wartime crisis, Bennett said, because Japan plays a critical role in the U.S. military support for South Korea. He added GSOMIA is more than just for sharing intelligence during peacetime.
"If a war suddenly broke out, it gives us a vehicle through which other sensitive information about military operations and so forth could be shared. This is really about can the U.S. support Korea as well as it would like to given that it needs Japan's assistance to do that?" Bennett said.
GSOMIA is particularly crucial, he said, when South Korea is expected to slash its military manpower by 2020 and American troops would need to be brought from the U.S. through Japanese military bases to reinforce military forces on the Korean Peninsula in wartime, which requires Seoul to share information with Tokyo.
"The question is: Does South Korea really want to delay the deployment of U.S. forces to South Korea when it's also reducing its own ability to repel a North Korean invasion?" Bennett said.
The South Korean government said it will  reduce the number of its troops to 500,000 by 2020. In 2018, it had 599,000 troops, and the number is expected to fall to 225,000 in 2025 because of the country's declining fertility rate.
As a tradeoff, South Korea is looking into reforming its military to rely more on technologies such as unmanned aircrafts and weaponized drones.
South Korean Air Forces' KF-X Mock-up is displayed during the press day of Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2019 at the Seoul Military Airport in Seongnam, South Korea, Oct. 14, 2019.
However, this clashes with Washington's demand that Seoul pay more for its share of defense costs, which Bennett said most likely needs to come out of Seoul's defense budget marked for the research and development and acquisition of weapons. In that case, Seoul's ability to devote funds to develop and purchase military technologies could be curtailed.
"Everything South Korea is trying to acquire are critical systems," Bennett said. "It would be interesting to ask the Americans to propose what exactly [South] Korea should cut from its defense budget in order to provide the money that President Trump is asking because that puts it into more realistic terms."
If the allies do not come to a comprise on SMA, Seoul faces a potential risk of U.S. troops being withdrawn from South Korea, Maxwell said.
If the SMA expires Dec. 31, U.S. forces in Korea will be not be able to function normally because military personnel will need to be diverted from their regular duties, such as performing military operations and trainings, to support logistics and administrative work provided by South Korean workers who will be furloughed, Maxwell said.
"If there is not an agreement, then we are in a real difficult situation because we cannot leave the U.S. military forces on the peninsula and not be able to train and maintain readiness," he said. "The question is going to be how long will the U.S. government, the U.S. military in the U.S. government allow that to go on before they make a decision [to withdraw], which of course, is the most damaging thing to the alliance."
voanews.com · by Christy Lee


3. Defying darkness, Moon shines on (South Korea)
Excerpts:

Some former supporters are looking askance at Moon. Student Park Ji-na told Asia Times she was drifting away, 'because of Cho Kuk." She continued, "His daughter had issues with fraud. That is not acceptable."
"The conservatives are gaining strength and momentum," noted Lee - but added: "The corruption and ineptitude the conservatives displayed [while in power]are still fresh in people's minds."
And the right is not shifting stance.
"The conservatives got away with it too long until the [Park Geun-hye] debacle, when it kind of crumbled, the whole structure, and because of that, we got Moon," said Kwon. "I don't think there will be any big changes in the status quo until the conservatives learn what they need to and bring meaningful change, but I see none. They cling to their diehard habits."
And there is a final reason why Moon's ratings are holding firm - Moon himself. No scandals have yet besmirched him or his family, and in person, the president is affable, well-presented and charismatic.
"Korean politics has always centered around individuals rather than policy positions," said Lee. "For all of President Moon's faults, he remains personally likable."

Asia Times | Defying darkness, Moon shines on | Article

The South Korean president can point to few policy successes, but his ongoing high ratings confound his critics
ByANDREW SALMON
asiatimes.com · by Asia Times
"Moon Jae-in is worse than Adolf Hitler!" thundered the Reverend Jeon Gwang-hoon, a prominent figure in Protestant religious circles, to a group of visibly astonished foreign correspondents last Wednesday.
"Hitler made bad decisions to promote the benefits of Germans!" the hard-right opponent of the Korean president and a prominent organizer of flag-waving conservative demonstrators added, by way of explanation. "What Moon Jae-in is doing promotes the benefits of North Korea!"
While few sane persons with knowledge of the Third Reich would dream of comparing the president of democratic South Korea with the dictator who launched the world's bloodiest war and oversaw industrial genocide, Jeon's hyperbole is emblematic of the soaring emotions that are dredging a deep divide in South Korea's body politic.
Many of these high feelings swirl around the person of President Moon Jae-in.

It's about politics, not policies

Every Saturday, thousands of conservatives rally and protest in central Seoul; a hardcore of hundreds are permanently camped outside the gates of the president's Blue House. Last month, huge numbers - estimates range from the high hundreds of thousands to the low millions - protested both for and against Moon's government. The issue was the president's appointment of  a controversial close associate, Cho Kuk - whose daughter stood accused of gaining university entrance through familial influence - as justice minister.
That issue has died down,  following Cho's resignation barely a month into his term. Even so, every Saturday, thousands of conservatives rally and protest in central Seoul; a hardcore of hundreds are permanently camped outside the gates of the Blue House.
The right lambasts Moon's policies - few of which could, objectively, be considered successful. Yet Moon's ratings, midway through his single, constitutionally mandated five-year term, remain solid: The latest Gallup poll, from the first week of November, found 45% approve of him.
"President Moon's popularity might not be as high as it was when he was first elected, but it remains a lot higher than most democratically elected officials in spite of his many failures," columnist and commentator Lee Jong-won told Asia Times.
Korea's political battleground, it appears, is less about current policies, more about broader political ideologies.

Policies founder...

On the policy front, Moon can point to few successes.
GDP growth is stalling: early forecasts for 2% by year-end look increasingly out of reach. The micro economy, judging by the endless  imdae ("for sale") signs posted on shopfronts in multiple Seoul neighborhoods tell their own story.
At the top of the economy, conglomerate reform, a promise of all progressive presidents, has gone nowhere. At the bottom of the economy, consecutive annual rises of 16.4% and 10.9% in the minimum wage, together with a cap of 52 hours in the working week, have been massively criticized by small business groups. In July, facing dire macro numbers, Moon apologized, making it clear he would not continue the rises next year.
Looking overseas, Moon's flagship policy - upgrading relations with North Korea - is in tatters. With North Korea-US denuclearization talks frozen, Moon's hopes of being an intermediary have evaporated; his oft-repeated vow to establish a cross-DMZ "peace economy" now looks like wishful thinking.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom Moon was so chummy last year, is putting the boot in. He has ordered the destruction of South Korean-owned buildings at a mothballed joint-tourism resort and is ignoring Seoul's pleas for talks. Pyongyang is also silent on Seoul's repeated offers of food aid.
Relations with China, Korea's top trade partner, stagger on. Beijing remains angry at the 2015 deployment of THAAD, a US anti-missile system, on Korean soil. No K-pop acts have been allowed to perform in China since, and Korean game-companies are refused licenses. Major business groups, such as Hyundai Motor and Lotte have also suffered fallout in terms of sales and operations in China.
Relations with Japan have plummeted. After Seoul contravened two bilateral agreements, dating to 1965 and 2015, Japan retaliated with trade curbs. Moon recently reached out to Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe in an apparent effort to repair the damage; it is unclear whether Abe will respond.
Meanwhile, Seoul's only ally, Washington, is urging it, in unusually frank terms, to reverse its decision to nix an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan - a weapon Seoul deployed in its dispute with Tokyo.
Still, Moon's battle with Abe, while diplomatically problematic, may be politically favorable amid a stridently anti-Tokyo populace. "President Moon has used voters' anti-Japanese sentiment to his advantage," Lee said. "He was able to deflect much of the voters' anger over the economy away from himself and aimed it straight at Tokyo."
In Seoul, leftist protesters hoist effigies of Kim Jong Un (right) and Moon Jae-in (left), towering over a caricature of Shinzo Abe (bottom right), his hands raised in surrender, The banner urges Koreans to seize their own destiny. Photo: Andrew Salmon/Asia Times

....politics harden

Moon entered the presidential Blue House on an ultra-low baseline: He surged into office on a wave of public hysteria aimed at his conservative predecessor as president, Park Geun-hye.
Park herself was the daughter of the late president Park Chung-hee. Many old- generation Koreans revere him as the visionary who lifted South Korea from economic basket case to industrial powerhouse; many younger Koreans lambast his power grab and his authoritarian politics.
The father's legacy hovered over the daughter's presidency from day one. Subsequently, Park Junior would be accused of boudoir management - relying for counsel not on ministers or aides, but on crony Choi Soon-shil. Choi not only held no official position, many Koreans believed she had a psychological or even supernatural hold over Park.
Park was embroiled in Choi's corrupt schemes, which also entangled some of Korea's Inc's biggest corporate names, notably Samsung and Lotte.
After millions-strong "Candlelit Protests" resulted in Park's impeachment, Moon was elected in 2017. He vowed to eradicate "deep rooted evils" - the legacies of authoritarian presidents who ruled Korea prior to democratization in 1987.
This is where the ideological fault line in Korean politics lies.

A long, lingering legacy

Conservatives. predominantly older citizens, laud those leaders for defending the South from communist North Korea, for forging an alliance with hyper-power the United States, for eradicating poverty and for building a world-beating industrial base from nothing.
But many young and/or leftist Koreans see related "evils" as myriad. They consider conservative presidents collaborators with Japanese colonialists; mass murderers of leftist Koreas before and during the Korean War; dictators who suppressed democracy; and mandarins who oversaw the creation, empowerment and entrenchment of a corrupt corporate-government nexus.
This indicates Moon's key selling point may be less himself, more what he stands against.
"I don't think Moon is strong," Kwon Hee-jong, a translator based in the city of Chuncheon, told Asia Times. "[But] his supporters are very strongly and powerfully and loyally entrenched against hardcore conservatives, as they know the malice and evils they have done. It is not far removed in time from our current life."
Under Moon, both Park and her right-wing predecessor, Lee Myung-bak, ended up in jail, along with most of Park's cabinet.
Moreover, Since Park's 2017 downfall, Korea's right - thought, in toto, holding more seats than Moon's Democratic Party - has splintered into two main parties, and lacks a clear leader. It is unclear whether they can rally before next April's National Assembly elections.
A conservative bookseller in central Seoul retails works covering God and Donald Trump, the late President Park Chung-hee, and a critique of Korea's anti-Japanese sentiment. Photo; Andrew Salmon/Asia Times

Hard right vs hard left

In the heated political climate it is strangely difficult to find experts willing to speak on the record. Two Seoul think tanks contacted by Asia Times declined to comment for fear of appearing partisan.
Radicals and rally organizers on both sides are happier to speak up.
"It is our conclusion that President Moon is coordinating with North Korea to spread communist despotism throughout the country, consuming our rights and limiting our freedoms," Reverend Kwan alleged. "Moon is set on destroying the relations with our traditional allies, including the United States and Japan....to draw this country closer to continental influences that encompass China, North Korea and Russia."
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Park Eun-jong, a leftist activist, recently stated to foreign reporters that Korea has a history of "5,000 years of revolution" and believes that right-wing politics are "like a false religion" that are "brainwashing" citizens. He calls far-rightists "native raiders" descended from historical Japanese aggressors.
Park's associate Oh Sang-gyu, leader of the Solidarity for Civil Rights Equal Action Movement for Justice System Reform, or SCREAM, claimed to see no negatives in current relations with China or the United States.
Still, more moderate political voices are willing to offer more nuanced analyses.

Mr Clean, Mr Nice Guy

Some former supporters are looking askance at Moon. Student Park Ji-na told Asia Times she was drifting away, 'because of Cho Kuk." She continued, "His daughter had issues with fraud. That is not acceptable."
"The conservatives are gaining strength and momentum," noted Lee - but added: "The corruption and ineptitude the conservatives displayed [while in power]are still fresh in people's minds."
And the right is not shifting stance.
"The conservatives got away with it too long until the [Park Geun-hye] debacle, when it kind of crumbled, the whole structure, and because of that, we got Moon," said Kwon. "I don't think there will be any big changes in the status quo until the conservatives learn what they need to and bring meaningful change, but I see none. They cling to their diehard habits."
And there is a final reason why Moon's ratings are holding firm - Moon himself. No scandals have yet besmirched him or his family, and in person, the president is affable, well-presented and charismatic.
"Korean politics has always centered around individuals rather than policy positions," said Lee. "For all of President Moon's faults, he remains personally likable."
asiatimes.com · by Asia Times


4. In South Korea, the chips - and ships - are down



In South Korea, the chips - and ships - are down

Exports for the first 10 days of November plunged by 21% compared with the same period in 2018
ByANDREW SALMON AND WIRES
asiatimes.com · by Asia Times
Negative trade data continues to flood in as one of Asia's manufacturing powerhouses saw its exports plunge nearly 21% for the first two weeks of November, year-on-year.
South Korea's exports fell 20.8% in the first 10 days of this month - largely on the back of decreased shipments of semiconductors and ships, data showed Monday, according  to Yonhap news agency.
Exports shipped from Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at US$11.9 billion in the November 1-10 period. That compares with $15 billion from the same period last year, according to figures released by the Korea Customs Service.
According to the data, exports of semiconductors and ships fell 33.3% and 64.4%, respectively. Outbound shipments of petroleum products and passenger cars also declined by 27.1% and 3.8%.
South Korea's import data for the period also lagged the previous year's numbers. Goods imported for the 10 days were worth $12.3 billion - down 21.5% from a year earlier.
While there has been a slow recovery in South Korean shipyards' order books this year, the global chip sector remains stuck in a cyclical demand slump, which the industry had hoped - so far in vain - would ameliorate from the second half of this year.
Meanwhile, the two leading export destinations for South Korea - and Japan - are China and the United States. The two countries' cross-Pacific trade war is causing collateral damage to Asian exporters, while also impacting global supply chains.
Monday's grim numbers are only the latest. Last month's trade figures had marked the  11th consecutive monthly downturn for South Korea. Questions are also hovering over whether South Korea will be able to achieve an already negatively revised forecast of 2% GDP growth this year.
And the bad news appears to be getting out. TV news noted that foreign players were net sellers of Korean stocks for the third straight month in October.
asiatimes.com · by Asia Times



5. Conservative merger hinges on Park issue
Excerpt:

When Hwang held a media conference on Wednesday, he made an ambiguous remark about the Park issue. "I, the LKP and all other conservative politicians are responsible for the situation that led to the impeachment," Hwang said. "We cannot be free from the responsibility that we failed to stop a high-handed, incompetent leftist administration take power."

Yoo made clear that he has no intention of cooperating with the Our Republican Party. "It is unrealistic to rebuild the conservatives with people who are still obsessed with the impeachment, which happened three years ago," Yoo said. "I don't think a big tent plan [that includes the Our Republican Party] will succeed."

Yoo also said he will push a plan to establish a new, reformist, moderate conservative party, rather than just waiting for the LKP to make a decision and facilitate a merger. "I have strong faith in what we want to do," Yoo said. "This is not a temporary plan."

Conservative merger hinges on Park issue

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Nov 08,2019
Hwang Kyo-ahn, chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), speaks at the LKP's Supreme Council meeting in the National Assembly on Thursday. [LIM HYUN-DONG]Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a leader of the Bareunmirae Party, said Thursday that a grand merger of conservative parties will only be possible if the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) admits the legitimacy of President Park Geun-hye's removal from office.

In a meeting with reporters Thursday, Yoo, a fourth-term lawmaker and presidential candidate in 2017, responded to LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn's proposal from the previous day of a grand merger. "I will actively pursue a political union with everyone who upholds values of our liberal democratic constitution and market economy," Hwang said in a press conference.

Hwang's proposal was directed at the Bareunmirae Party, the third-largest political party with 28 lawmakers, and the Our Republican Party, which has two lawmakers. The Bareunmirae Party is a center-right party, while the Our Republican Party is a far-right party known for its aggressive campaign to exonerate Park.

Shortly after Hwang's Wednesday announcement, Yoo said he would seriously consider the offer. "If it is intended to fundamentally rebuild the conservatives for the sake of the Korea's future, I will seriously consider it," Yoo said.

In contrast, the Our Republican Party denounced the proposal, making clear that it wouldn't cooperate with anyone who supported Park's 2016 impeachment and removal in 2017, including Yoo.

On Thursday, Yoo elaborated on his stance. He described three preconditions for the creation of a new conservative group: The group must be a reformist conservative party; the participants must shelve all their old political practices and build a completely new system; and the new group must acknowledge the legitimacy of Park's removal.

"I know that these three principles are extremely difficult for LKP members to accept because I was with that party for 17 years," Yoo said. "If the LKP doesn't take seriously my preconditions or tries to trick me, a merger will never happen."

Yoo started in politics in 2004 with the Grand National Party, a predecessor of the LKP. He was the chief of staff for Park in 2005, when she was the chairwoman of the party.

Once a key ally, he fell out with Park when she was president over a political deal he had made with opposition parties to pass sensitive bills. She issued a lengthy, angry criticism at his "politics of betrayal" in 2015. Yoo, the party's floor leader at the time, stepped down from the post.

After becoming a leader of the anti-Park faction, Yoo left the party and successfully ran for a National Assembly seat as an independent in 2016. He eventually founded the splinter conservative Bareun Party, which later merged with Ahn Cheol-soo's People's Party to form the Bareunmirae Party.

When he talked to reporters on Thursday, Yoo was adamant that the LKP must admit the legitimacy of Park's removal. "The conservatives are still pointing fingers at one another about an issue that happened three years ago," Yoo said. "If they continue to blame one another and hold one another responsible, it will be impossible to unite the conservatives.

"The impeachment was a constitutional decision, and it is now history," Yoo continued. "If they insist they won't accept this, it is against my principles. The LKP must make its position clear about it."

When Hwang held a media conference on Wednesday, he made an ambiguous remark about the Park issue. "I, the LKP and all other conservative politicians are responsible for the situation that led to the impeachment," Hwang said. "We cannot be free from the responsibility that we failed to stop a high-handed, incompetent leftist administration take power."

Yoo made clear that he has no intention of cooperating with the Our Republican Party. "It is unrealistic to rebuild the conservatives with people who are still obsessed with the impeachment, which happened three years ago," Yoo said. "I don't think a big tent plan [that includes the Our Republican Party] will succeed."

Yoo also said he will push a plan to establish a new, reformist, moderate conservative party, rather than just waiting for the LKP to make a decision and facilitate a merger. "I have strong faith in what we want to do," Yoo said. "This is not a temporary plan."

BY SER MYO-JA [ ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]


koreajoongangdaily.joins.com


De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
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If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:

"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."