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Quotes of the Day:
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."
– Winston Churchill
“What is success?
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We call them leaders because they go first, because they take the risk before anybody else does, because they will choose to sacrifice, so that people will be safe and protected.”
– Simon Sinek
1. N.K. leader says he has 'no intention of avoiding war' with S. Korea
2. What's behind North Korea's increasing belligerence?
3. Kim Jong Un Calls South Korea ‘Principal Enemy,’ Turning Up Heat
4. North Korea's WMD Arsenal: Unveiling the Hidden Threat of Chemical and Biological Weapons
5. Top S. Korean, NATO military officials hold phone talks ahead of major NATO gathering
6. Multicultural student ratio exceeds 70% in 2 Seoul elementary schools
7. Kim Jong Un labels S Korea as ‘principal enemy,’ boasts war readiness
8. N. Korea conducts public execution over COVID-19 violations: human rights white paper
9. N. Korea likely to carry out psychological warfare ahead of general elections: official
10. Demand for Chinese yuan grows in N. Korean private markets: report
11. Editorial : Some S. Korean factions still stick to ‘Sunshine Policy’ even after the North denied it
12. Editorial: North Korea’s strategic provocations require strong, measured response
13. North Korea doubles down on reign of terror: white paper
14. Russia fired more N. Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine: White House
15. Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: January - KOREA
16. 800,000 Korean men facing challenges in marrying Korean women
1. N.K. leader says he has 'no intention of avoiding war' with S. Korea
I know everyone is getting alarmed over this rhetoric. But we have heard it all before (does no one remember turning Seoul into a "sea of fire?"). Kim is playing from the Kim family regime playbook. Yes he is tweaking the plays since he has developed his nuclear and missile arsenal but he continues to speak and act like the leader of the Kim afamily regime. But if we are going to fear this rhetoric and allow that to drive us to make concessions to get it to stop we must realize that we are playing right into his political warfare strategy.
And I really believe this rhetoric is an attempt to increase tension to "externalize" his problems because his real problems are internal. We must be observant for internal instability and threats to the regime. Something may be going on that we cannot see. And we must operate from a clear understanding of the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime
(2nd LD) N.K. leader says he has 'no intention of avoiding war' with S. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · January 10, 2024
(ATTN: ADDS Seoul foreign ministry's comments in paras 7-9)
By Lee Minji and Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called South Korea the country's "principal enemy" and said he has "no intention of avoiding war," state media said Wednesday.
Kim also threatened to annihilate the South if it attempts to use force against the North, as he inspected major munitions factories Monday and Tuesday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
"Predicating that the ROK clan is our principal enemy, he said what the DPRK should prioritize in the relations with the hostile state" is "to bolster up the military capabilities for self-defense and the nuclear war deterrent first of all," the KCNA said, using the acronyms for the official names of the South and the North.
Kim said he will not start a war unilaterally but has "no intention of avoiding a war as well."
Should the South attempt to "use armed forces against the DPRK or threaten its sovereignty and security and such opportunity comes, we will have no hesitation in annihilating the ROK by mobilizing all means and forces in our hands," Kim was quoted as saying.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) talks to officials while inspecting a major munitions factory, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 10, 2024. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Kim also expressed satisfaction over the factories' deployment of new types of weapons and equipment and ordered them to more strictly boost the country's war preparedness, the KCNA reported.
South Korea dismissed Kim's threat to annihilate the South as "mere wordplay."
"(Kim's statement) presupposes South Korea using force against the North despite the fact that it has never initiated any," a foreign ministry official said.
"The government will firmly respond to any provocations by North Korea ... Any attempts to create tensions on the Korean Peninsula will ultimately cause harm to the North Korean regime itself," the official said.
Kim's remarks came after he characterized inter-Korean relations as those of "two nations hostile to each other," saying there is no point in seeking reconciliation and unification with South Korea during a key year-end party meeting.
Pyongyang has since been ratcheting up tension on the Korean Peninsula, firing hundreds of artillery shells from its west coast into the maritime buffer zone near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, between Friday and Sunday.
On Monday, the South's military said it will resume artillery firing and drills near the sea and land border, noting Pyongyang's recent shelling nullified the zones where live-fire and large-scale drills are banned.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (3rd from R) visits a major munitions factory, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 10, 2024. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · January 10, 2024
2. What's behind North Korea's increasing belligerence?
Sure, trying to influence ROK elections could be on objective (and US elections for that matter as well. All of the analysis here is about the regime's external actions. I think they are missing the possibility that internal problems are contributing to or driving Kim to take these external actions and use this rhetoric.
What's behind North Korea's increasing belligerence?
Julian Ryall in Tokyo
01/08/2024January 8, 2024
https://www.dw.com/en/north-korea-whats-behind-pyongyangs-rising-belligerence/a-67918587
North Korea's recent missile tests signal a strategic shift, raising global concerns. Could Pyongyang be hoping to use military threats to push its agenda as South Korea heads toward new elections?
Experts think that 2024 could be a restive year on the Korean Peninsula
North Korea has ushered in the new year with threats of violence and three days of live-fire artillery exercises near two South Korean islands.
The South Korean military reported that more than 200 artillery rounds were fired into the sea and that civilians from Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands were ordered to evacuate and seek shelter. It was among the fiercest North Korean barrages in the region since November 2010.
The South Korean military responded with artillery rounds into the sea over the weekend. While there have been no reports of additional firing on Monday, analysts have said that 2024 is likely to be a tense year on the Korean Peninsula.
They are predicting Pyongyang could use military threats and aggression as a tool to push for a relaxation of sanctions and influence the outcome of the upcoming South Korean legislative electionsslated for April 10, 2024, by weakening the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. The elections are expected to be closely contested.
"North Korea is extremely dissatisfied with the sanctions-driven policies of the Yoon administration," said Lim Eul-chul, a professor of the economy and politics of North Korea at The Institute of Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul.
"The goal is to express that dissatisfaction through actions, to justify their nuclear buildup and to create negative public opinion in South Korea against Yoon's policies," Lim told DW.
Increasing tension
North Korea has already been using military threats and actions in an attempt to push its agenda. Yoon, a conservative, took over as president in May 2022 from his left-leaning predecessor Moon Jae-in, and has adopted a far firmer stance against North Korea. This included the forging of a three-way security alliance with the United States and Japan. Pyongyang respondedby scrapping in November an agreementreached with Seoul in 2018 that was designed to reduce military tensions along the border.
Since then, it has sent more troops to the border region, and the North in November launched its first reconnaissance satellite. Kim used a meeting of his politburo at the end of December 2023 to announce plans to launch at least three more satellites in the coming year. He additionally ordered his munitions sector and nuclear weapons production lines to accelerate war preparations.
Kim underlined the schism that has developed between the two Koreas by declaring that North and South are no longer made up of the same peoples, but have become two hostile countries.
Rah Jong-yil, a former diplomat and head of the South Korean intelligence department charged with monitoring North Korea, agrees that Pyongyang is likely to continue to ramp up the pressure before the April 10 elections in the South.
"They are hoping that candidates favorable to better ties to the North and politicians who might be willing to drop some of the sanctions will be elected," he said. "This is effectively interference in the South's elections, which is not desirable but something that we have had to put up with in the past."
Image: KCNA via REUTERS
North Korea's military capabilities
How well North Korea's military threats hold up depends on the strength of its military capabilities as well as its readiness to deploy them. Some analysts think there is room for concern. They suggest that while the North is hampered by an outdated military, it does have a disproportionately large armed forces. Heavy investment has additionally given the regime nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets anywhere in South Korea and even reaching the mainland of the United States.
The North is understood to have a conscript army of nearly 1.3 million men and women, along with an estimated 560,000 reservists. Its tanks and fighter aircraft are old though, purchased from the Soviet Union in the 1960s. However, it is believed that Pyongyangis obtaining more modern aircraft from Russia in return for missiles and artillery rounds that it is providing for the war in Ukraine.
The North has long subscribed to the belief that its national defense relies on the potent threat posed by its growing nuclear arsenal. It has an estimated 30 nuclear warheads assembled. Those warheads can be fitted to a growing array of ballistic missiles, including a nascent submarine-launched missile program.
It has also invested heavily in chemical and biological weapons and it is understood that the North has an army of skilled computer hackers.
Rah believes that North Korea has been emboldened by its closer ties with Russia, which has emerged as a major supporter willing to trade military hardware and technology for the North's vast stockpiles of missiles and artillery rounds."Kim is taking advantage of the situation quite well and senses that he is no longer as isolated on the world stage as he was even a few years ago," Rah said.
2024 is 'different'
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, points out that while military exercises are commonly conducted by North Korea around this time of year, this feels different.
"What is different this year is that the two Koreas have recently backed away from the military confidence-building agreement and Kim has publicly disavowed reconciliation and unification with the South," he said.
The danger, he said, is that any clash along the border could very quickly escalate and, as the two sides are not in direct contact, become a generalized conflict.
"Even though the Yoon government has pledged to respond sternly to any attack, Pyongyang could miscalculate that its claimed nuclear weapons give it control over an escalation in the case of a deadly incident," he said.
Edited by: Kate Martyr
3. Kim Jong Un Calls South Korea ‘Principal Enemy,’ Turning Up Heat
That is better than pond scum and some of the other names it has called the South.
Some real mirror imaging here. This is what the Kim family regime has been doing since 1945.
Excerpt:
He added that Seoul “has pursued a history of vicious confrontation with bloodshot eyes to overthrow our regime and social system for nearly 80 years.”
Kim Jong Un Calls South Korea ‘Principal Enemy,’ Turning Up Heat
- North Korea has fired artillery shells near border island
- Pyongyang tends to escalate pressure before elections
-
By Jon Herskovitz
- January 9, 2024 at 7:21 PM EST
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-10/kim-jong-un-calls-south-korea-principal-enemy-turning-up-heat?sref=hhjZtX76
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stepped up a pressure campaign on South Korea by calling it the “principal enemy,” in an apparent effort to influence his neighbor’s upcoming elections.
Kim said on a visit to munitions factories that the time has come to define South Korea as the most hostile state toward North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
He added that Seoul “has pursued a history of vicious confrontation with bloodshot eyes to overthrow our regime and social system for nearly 80 years.”
The comments add to the pressure Kim has put on the government of conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol by conducting live fire drills near a nautical boundary that has been the scene of deadly confrontations. He’s also said North Korea should “no longer make the mistake” of considering Seoul a partner for reunification.
Kim pledged North Korea was ready to fight a war but had no intention of starting one. He has ratcheted up tensions by firing off artillery near the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.
In 2010, the island suffered the first attack on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 war when it was bombarded by the North’s artillery. Yeonpyeong has about 2,000 inhabitants, including hundreds of military personnel.
<br>
South Korea’s spy agency said in a rare public statement in late December that it sees North Korea launching military and cyber provocations as Kim’s regime aims to attract attention before South Korea’s parliamentary elections. Yoon’s People Power Party is seeking to wrestle a majority in the body in April from the progressive bloc led by the Democratic Party.
North Korea has a habit of conducting tests of ballistic missiles and nuclear devices to coincide with voting, as it rails against conservative politicians like Yoon who take a tough stance on Pyongyang. North Korea has called Yoon “a puppet traitor” and threatened to turn the Pacific Ocean into a firing range in response to greater military cooperation among the US, South Korea and Japan.
North Korea has been able to win concessions from progressive leaders in South Korea with pledges of cooperation. But those promises can often be short-lived.
After a period of rapprochement under the previous government of President Moon Jae-in, North Korea went on to brand Moon a meddlesome mediator. Pyongyang ignored his calls for talks and blew up a $15 million liaison office north of the border that had symbolized the South Korean leader’s moves to improve relations.
Kim has tested more than 100 ballistic missiles over the past two years under the governments of Moon and Yoon. This has enhanced North Korea’s ability to deliver a nuclear strike on the US and America’s allies in the region.
Follow all new stories by Jon Herskovitz
4. North Korea's WMD Arsenal: Unveiling the Hidden Threat of Chemical and Biological Weapons
Yes, we must not ignore these threats. I hope I did not get the anthrax vaccines for nothing! I wonder if we are still vaccinating the force for anthrax?
North Korea's WMD Arsenal: Unveiling the Hidden Threat of Chemical and Biological Weapons
As Pyongyang continues to make nuclear threats, a detailed analysis of the country’s true nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities is important. But its stockpiles of chemical weapons should also be considered a grave threat.
The National Interest · by Maya Carlin · January 9, 2024
Summary: This article delves into the persistent threats and belligerent actions coming from North Korea toward the United States, Japan, and South Korea, with a specific focus on its nuclear arsenal and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) capabilities. It offers insights into the historical context of North Korea's nuclear program, its withdrawal from the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and its extensive nuclear testing. Moreover, the article sheds light on North Korea's suspected offensive chemical and biological weapons program, which dates back to the 1960s and includes the acquisition of dangerous agents like anthrax, cholera, and bubonic plague.
North Korea: A Chemical Weapons and Biological Weapons Threat?
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s government has threatened nuclear war and kinetic war with Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. in recent months. Pyongyang has also increased the pace of missile launches in the region, indicating that the nation is willing and capable of provoking its adversaries.
While analysts mostly focus on the threat of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, Pyongyang’s arsenal of chemical and Biological weapons is also a worry.
What We Know About North Korea’s WMD
North Korea turned to the Soviet Union after World War Two to give its nuclear program a start. It paid dividends when the USSR built the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, finishing construction by the mid-1960s.
North Korea did ratify the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1985, but it did not abide by the Treaty for very long, withdrawing officially in 2003. Since that time, Pyongyang has carried out several increasingly sophisticated nuclear tests.
In addition to its nuclear stockpiles, the DPRK is not a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention and is believed to oversee an offensive biological and chemical weapons program.
According to author Robert Collins, a former intelligence analyst with the U.S. Forces Korea Command, Pyongyang started to research biological weapons in the 1960s. Around this time, a germ weapons research organization was developed under the National Defense Science Institute, which led to the DPRK’s acquisition of anthrax, cholera and the bubonic plague. In an interview with The Hill, Collins added that Pyongyang’s hackers endanger South Korean chemical plants: “These hackers have also hacked into South Korea’s Chemical Accident Response Information system for the purpose of understanding where the South’s chemical plants are located and how much damage would result locally if they were subject to explosions.”
Seoul outlined the DPRK’s possession of anthrax, smallpox, and the plague in a 2018 white paper released by South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense. Analysts believe that North Korea in a future war could weaponize its stocks of phosgene, sarin, mustard and V-type chemical agents. At least 12 facilities are believed to be responsible for developing these chemical agents, according to industry experts.
According to IHS Jane, a 2017 analysis of Pyongyang’s biological weapons capabilities cites the following evidence:
-“On 17 June (2015), the RoK MND issued a report that stated North Korea possesses an assortment of biological agents - including anthrax and smallpox - and the ability to weaponize them within 10 days. The report also stated that the North did not yet possess warheads to employ bioweapons.”
-“During June 2015 North Korea announced that it has created a vaccine, known as Kumdang-2, that could treat Ebola, HIV, ‘a number of cancers,’ and MERS. Kumdang-2 was reportedly manufactured from ginseng grown in fertilizer made from ‘rare-earth elements’ and ‘micro-quantities of gold and platinum.’ Most serious researchers have significant reservations concerning these claims.”
-“In the aftermath of Kim Jong-nam's death in February 2017 due to toxic nerve agent VX, South Korea's MND was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying that North Korea's military is probably operating a regiment-level biochemical weapons unit.”
As Pyongyang continues to make nuclear threats, a detailed analysis of the country’s true nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities is important. But its stockpiles of chemical weapons should also be considered a grave threat.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. You can email the author at [email protected].
Image Credit: North Korean State Media.
The National Interest · by Maya Carlin · January 9, 2024
5. Top S. Korean, NATO military officials hold phone talks ahead of major NATO gathering
Top S. Korean, NATO military officials hold phone talks ahead of major NATO gathering
m.koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · January 9, 2024
National Defense
Jan. 9, 2024 - 20:30 By Yonhap
Joint Chiefs of Staffs Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo speaks over the phone with Adm. Rob Bauer, chair of NATO's military committee on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
The top military officials of South Korea and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization held phone talks Tuesday ahead of a major NATO meeting next week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, amid joint efforts to deepen cooperation.
JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo spoke by phone with Adm. Rob Bauer, chair of NATO's military committee, on the two-day NATO Military Chiefs of Defense meeting in Brussels starting next Wednesday to be attended by South Korean officials, according to the JCS.
South Korea is not a NATO member state but has been invited to the meeting set to discuss the alliance's key challenges along with other Asia Pacific partner nations -- Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
During the talks, the two sides noted the security of the Atlantic region is inseparable from that of the Indo-Pacific region, and reaffirmed their stance against "changes to the status quo by force," according to the JCS.
They also agreed on the need to expand cooperation to maintain a "rules-based international order," it said.
Meanwhile, Kim stressed that North Korea's nuclear and missile threats pose grave challenges to peace and security in the world beyond the Korean Peninsula, and expressed concerns over recently growing military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
For next week's NATO meeting, South Korea will be represented by JCS Vice Chairman Lt. Gen. Hwang You-sung, according to the JCS.
Seoul has recently made efforts to strengthen ties with NATO, with President Yoon Suk Yeol pledging to increase military information sharing with NATO during a summit involving the alliance's member states and partner nations in Vilnius last year.
6. Multicultural student ratio exceeds 70% in 2 Seoul elementary schools
Multicultural student ratio exceeds 70% in 2 Seoul elementary schools
m.koreatimes.co.kr · January 8, 2024
Elementary school students walk to school in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-hyun
Amid a rise in the number of foreign residents and international marriages in Korea, two schools in Seoul stand out with over 70 percent multicultural students, a regional education office found, Sunday.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), Seoul Younglim Elementary School and Daedong Elementary School, both of which are in Yeongdeungpo District, boast multicultural student ratios of 70.93 percent and 70.88 percent, respectively.
Additionally, there are seven other elementary schools in Seoul with multicultural student ratios exceeding 40 percent.
While the southern regions of Seoul, such as Yeongdeungpo, Guro and Geumcheon, have housed a significant number of multicultural students, there are also noticeable increases of multicultural students across various regions recently.
As of last year, out of 384,439 elementary school students in Seoul, 13,049 were multicultural students, constituting 3.43 percent of the total. This marks a 0.34-percentage-point increase from five years ago in 2019.
The proportion of multicultural students is anticipated to continue growing, especially as the number of new students in elementary schools in Seoul has dropped to 50,000 for the first time in history this year.
In response to these demographic shifts, changes are underway in education policies.
The SMOE is actively implementing multicultural education for all students to provide support for the rising number of multicultural students.
Additionally, it is now mandatory for all teachers to undergo more than 15 hours of multicultural awareness education within three years.
"We will continue to enhance support to ensure that multicultural students can adapt successfully to their educational environment," said an official at the SMOE.
m.koreatimes.co.kr · January 8, 2024
7. Kim Jong Un labels S Korea as ‘principal enemy,’ boasts war readiness
Again, before we start hyperventilating over this rhetoric let's think about this. It is all from the KFR playbook (political warfare and blackmail diplomacy). Yes we must be cautious about the threats especially because it may be Kim externalizing the threat because of internal problems. But that may be the real concern we should have.
Kim Jong Un labels S Korea as ‘principal enemy,’ boasts war readiness
The North is ready to ‘devastate’ the South if the latter contemplates use of force or poses a threat, Kim says.
By Lee Jeong-Ho for RFA
2024.01.09
Seoul, South Korea
rfa.org
The North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared that South Korea is now officially Pyongyang’s “principal enemy,” openly stating his readiness for war – as foreign ministers from 48 countries issued a joint statement condemning the threat posed by North Korea to have extended well beyond the Korean peninsula.
“The ROK scums are our principal enemy,” Kim proclaimed, referring to South Korea’s formal name, as cited by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency Wednesday. “While we will not unilaterally decide on a major upheaval in the Korean peninsula through the overwhelming force of ours, we also have no intention of avoiding war,” he warned.
Speaking during his two-day inspection of a military factory that began on Monday, the North Korean leader reaffirmed his commitment to the ongoing development of nuclear capabilities. “In response to a hostile nation that is adopting an aggressive stance towards us, and actively strengthening its military power, our top priorities must be to enhance our self-defensive national defense capabilities and to reinforce our nuclear deterrence against war.”
Calling the South’s Yoon Suk Yeol administration a “self-destructive” and “gangster regime,” Kim added: “If the ROK dares to contemplate the use of force against our nation, or threatens our sovereignty and safety, we will not hesitate to mobilize all means and capabilities at our disposal to completely devastate the ROK.”
Kim’s seemingly emotional comments come as the Yoon administration has been implementing a hardline policy towards Pyongyang, with his conservative government openly vowing to proceed with reciprocal responses to Pyongyang’s military provocations.
For instance, when North Korea launched some 200 artillery shells into waters off its western coast near South Korea’s Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands Friday, Seoul conducted “naval fire” drills to reciprocate the provocation.
On Monday, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also officially declared that the maritime buffer zone with North Korea no longer exists, setting a precondition for Seoul and Washington to conduct reconnaissance operations near the border – a move that has been strongly protested by Pyongyang.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul who had advised South Korean administrations, sees Kim’s emphasis on strengthening nuclear war deterrence capabilities as an open acknowledgment that its nuclear weapons are being targeted at South Korea.
“The declaration of a willingness to completely devastate ROK in the event of a war is not just a strategic position but also a calculated move to foster animosity towards Seoul. This serves as a tool to justify and legitimize the enhancement of Pyongyang’s military capability,” Yang said.
As Kim escalated tensions on the Korean peninsula on Wednesday, foreign ministers from 48 countries – including South Korea, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine – issued a joint statement, expressing their growing concern that the threat from Pyongyang has extended beyond the peninsula.
Last week, the White House announced that Russia has been using Pyongyang-supplied ballistic missiles in Ukraine, highlighting the repercussions of the conflict in Europe as well as the security implications for the Korean peninsula.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) export and Russia’s procurement of DPRK ballistic missiles, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles against Ukraine on December 30, 2023, and January 2, 2024,” the joint statement said Wednesday, referring to North Korea’s formal name.
“We urge all UN Member States, including all members of the United Nations Security Council, to join us in condemning Russia and the DPRK’s flagrant UNSCR violations,” the statement added.
“As Russia launches waves of missiles and drones against the Ukrainian people, we will continue to stand together in support of Ukraine. We further call on the DPRK to respond to the numerous and genuine offers to return to diplomacy, the only path to an enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
Edited by Elaine Chan and Taejun Kang
rfa.org
8. N. Korea conducts public execution over COVID-19 violations: human rights white paper
A 5 page White Paper (dated 22 DEC 2023) can be downloaded at this link at the KINU website: https://www.kinu.or.kr/eng/module/report/download.do?id=22158. It does not mention the executions.
The last English White Paper on Human Rights is from 4 May 2023 for the year 2022. Unfortunately the file will not download correctly (https://www.kinu.or.kr/eng/module/report/view.do?idx=114277&nav_code=eng1674806000).
I do not think the 2023 White Paper is available yet in English.
N. Korea conducts public execution over COVID-19 violations: human rights white paper | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · January 10, 2024
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has carried out a public execution of people for violating the country's COVID-19 regulations, a South Korean human rights white paper showed Wednesday.
A North Korean defector who arrived in South Korea last year testified about the public execution, according to the white paper published by the Korea Institute for National Unification, a state-run think tank.
Still, it did not elaborate on the details of the public execution, such as when and how it took place, due to concerns about possible reprisals against the North Korean defector's family members and relatives who remain in the North.
The white paper, which also interviewed 70 other defectors who came to South Korea between 2018 and 2023, said it has obtained testimonies signaling a possible decline in public executions but it is too early to conclude whether public executions have actually become less common or whether they are being carried out away from the eyes of the public.
North Korea has long been accused of egregious human rights abuses, ranging from holding political prisoners in concentration camps to committing torture and carrying out public executions.
The white paper said the North has been moving to strengthen its grip on residents by increasing the number of crimes punishable by death by legislating special laws on antivirus measures, drug crimes and access of outside information.
It also showed that North Korea has been blocking access to outside information more strictly.
In 2020, the isolated country adopted a new law on "rejecting the reactionary ideology and culture," which bans people from distributing or watching media originating from South Korea, the United States and other countries.
North Korea is concerned that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to its leader Kim Jong-un.
This image, captured from footage from North Korea's Korean Central Television in February 2023, shows a program promoting antivirus measures against COVID-19. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
One defector was quoted as saying that a person was sentenced to seven months of labor in 2019 for watching a South Korean soap opera, while another defector said impromptu crackdowns of computers, mobile phones and voice recorders are common.
The report also pointed out that the health rights of North Koreans are being severely breached due to the apparent collapse of the country's public health system.
Defectors were quoted as saying that they have to individually hire doctors or bribe health officials to receive medical treatment.
The report said that North Korean residents tend to use drugs for medical treatment due to the lack of medicine and medical knowledge, which resulted in cases of fatal drug addiction.
North Korea has been seeking to improve women's rights through policy measures and the social status of women in households has improved due to their bigger economic roles, but women are still exposed to domestic violence and rape in the military, it said.
This photo, provided by the Korea Institute for National Unification on Jan. 10, 2024, shows the cover of its annual white paper on North Korean human rights. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · January 10, 2024
9. N. Korea likely to carry out psychological warfare ahead of general elections: official
I concur with Vice Minister Moon. north Korea is all about conducting political and psychological warfare.
N. Korea likely to carry out psychological warfare ahead of general elections: official | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · January 10, 2024
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea could continue its psychological warfare against South Korea ahead of the South's general elections in April, a senior official in Seoul said Wednesday.
South Korea will beef up measures against cyberattacks and dissemination of false information by North Korea, Vice Unification Minister Moon Seoung-hyun said.
The warning came three days after Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, claimed the North conducted a "deceptive operation" by detonating explosives simulating the sound of coastal artillery to test the South Korean military's detection capabilities.
"The upcoming general elections are very important and North Korea will continue with its psychological warfare against the South to split public opinion and pressure the government," Moon said in a television interview.
Earlier this month, the ministry denounced North Korea for attempting to divide South Korean society with threats and far-fetched criticisms ahead of the general elections in April.
North Korea has a track record of staging provocations before South Korea's general elections.
In the months before South Korea's parliamentary elections in April 2016, North Korea carried out a series of provocations, including a fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range missile in February.
In 2020, North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles on four occasions in March alone, just weeks before South Koreans went to the polls to elect lawmakers in April.
This Sept. 1, 2023, file photo shows Vice Unification Minister Moon Seoung-hyun. (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · January 10, 2024
10. Demand for Chinese yuan grows in N. Korean private markets: report
Foreign currency keeps the markets operating in the north. That is why the regime has been trying to eliminate its use. Markets and money are a threat to Kim.
Demand for Chinese yuan grows in N. Korean private markets: report | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · January 10, 2024
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) -- Demand for the Chinese yuan appeared to be growing in North Korea's private markets, a report showed Wednesday, in a sign of rising distrust over the North's own currency.
Some 68.4 percent of North Korean defectors who left their home country between 2016 and 2020 said they used the Chinese yuan in unofficial private markets, known as "jangmadang," compared with 6.4 percent of those who defected before 2000, according to a draft report on the North Korean economy and society compiled by the unification ministry.
Some 25.7 percent of the respondents in the first group said they used the North Korean currency in such markets, sharply down from 81.6 percent in the latter group.
The document also showed that 58.7 percent of those who defected in the 2016-2020 period owned foreign currency, such as the Chinese yuan and the U.S. dollar, compared with 10.7 percent who said they only owned local currency.
The figure marked a sharp increase compared with 3.9 percent of North Koreans who defected before 2000 who owned foreign currency. Some 53 percent had said they owned no cash, while 27.4 percent said they only owned the North Korean currency.
The report comes as the North Korean economy has been trending toward marketization in the past decade as state benefits, such as food rationing, appeared to be worsening amid economic woes deepened by sanctions.
The North Korean economy shrank for a third consecutive year in 2022 amid international sanctions and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by South Korea's statistics agency.
The unification ministry is expected to release its findings from the report based on information obtained from 6,351 defectors later this month.
This file photo from September 2020 shows a private sector market in North Korea. (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · January 10, 2024
11. Editorial : Some S. Korean factions still stick to ‘Sunshine Policy’ even after the North denied it
The Sunshine Policy" saved" the Kim family regime from the aArduous March of the famine of 1994-1996 and provided resources for the development of nuclear weapons (Sunshine Policy 1997-2007 - first nuclear test 2006). But it was the growth of markets that saved the Korean people when the party's public distribution system failed.
Editorial : Some S. Korean factions still stick to ‘Sunshine Policy’ even after the North denied it
https://www.chosun.com/english/opinion-en/2024/01/08/UHSMOR3U5VDKPOXBWJXSZ5H4JI/
By The Chosunilbo
Pubilshed 2024.01.08. 08:42
Former President Moon Jae-in is delivering a congratulatory speech at the 100th anniversary celebration of Kim Dae-jung's birth on Jan. 6, 2024. /News1
The North Korean military fired about 200 artillery shells towards Baengnyeongdo and Yeonpyeongdo on Jan. 5, 2024. That night, N. Korea also declared that the concept of ‘Same ethnicity’ between South Korea had been erased from their beliefs.
On the 6th and 7th, they also fired dozens of shells into the Yellow Sea. These provocations followed a week after Kim Jong-un had declared that the North and South Koreas are no longer those of the same peoples but have become those of two hostile countries
Kim criticized, “Whether S. Korean regimes claimed to be ‘democratic’ or wore the guise of ‘conservative,’ there was no difference,” denouncing all of S. Korea’s past policies towards North Korea and unification. This was effectively a death sentence for the Sunshine Policy, long supported by the Democratic Party and so-called progressive factions.
N. Korea’s abandonment of the concept of kinship(same ethnicity) is a measure to resolve the contradiction of developing nuclear weapons that could annihilate the Korean peninsula while rhetorically promoting national unity.
N. Korea indeed has both the intention and capability to launch a nuclear attack on S. Korea. This is the result of certain political factions blindly believing in the ‘Sunshine Policy’, providing cash and indirect support to N. Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
These factions defend N. Korea’s nuclear program as a tool for negotiations with the U.S. or as a ‘nuclear weapon of the nation’. They are not free from responsibility for promoting the denuclearization intentions of Kim Jong-un, which does not exist, giving time for nuclear development to N.Korea. To the N. Korean regime, these factions will likely be regarded as ‘useful fools’.
For S. Korea, there seems to be no way to improve the relationship between N. Korea, as long as the N.Korean regime remains obsessed with nuclear weapons. It means that the abolition of North Korea’s nuclear program is urgent if the two Koreas are to return to traditional inter-Korean relations that recognize their ethnic unity.
Despite the invalidation of the Sunshine Policy by North Korea’s abandonment of the concept of kinship, the Democratic Party and the so-called progressive factions have not made a proper statement, only pouring out criticism of the S. Korean government.
On the first day of the shelling, a defense spokesperson of the Democratic Party accused the Yoon Suk-yeol government of intensifying military tension with its hardline policy towards the North.
Members of the Democratic Party in the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee warned of inevitable public judgment against the government’s decision to dissolve the Gaeseong Industrial District Foundation.
At the 100th anniversary event of former President Kim Dae-jung’s birth, attendees, including former President Moon Jae-in, called for reviving Kim Dae-jung’s spirit and uniting under the value of peace, with no words of condemnation for N. Korea or regrets of the Sunshine Policy. Despite being betrayed by the North, they still seem unaware of what went wrong and continue to chant the concept of ‘peace’.
12. Editorial: North Korea’s strategic provocations require strong, measured response
Editorial: North Korea’s strategic provocations require strong, measured response
https://www.chosun.com/english/opinion-en/2024/01/07/XJOG2TARIFCJBF5EY74SAVO3LU/
By The Chosunilbo
Pubilshed 2024.01.07. 10:39
North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells off its west coast on Jan. 5, according to South Korea’s military. / News1
North Korea fired more than 200 rounds of artillery shells off its west coast toward Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong Island between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Jan. 5. The shells fell into the waters north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The South Korean military responded by firing more than 400 rounds six hours later, but the timing of the response has raised questions about its effectiveness.
Despite promises that South Korea would follow principles of “act first, report later” and respond “immediately, firmly, and conclusively” to North Korean threats, this approach has not been properly implemented.
The North’s latest provocation came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for accelerated war preparations in response to what he described as “unprecedented confrontation moves” led by the U.S. and South Korea. North Korea’s threats are part of a longstanding strategy to put pressure on South Korea and gain leverage in future negotiations. The North has used this tactic since the end of the Korean War, often timed to coincide with key political events in the South, such as elections.
North Korea’s attack on the Cheonan warship in 2010 was also strategically aligned with South Korea’s local elections. In the run-up general elections in April this year, similar attempts will be made by the North to stir security concerns in South Korea. These may include covert military provocations like the Cheonan attack, cyberattacks, simulated tactical nuclear tests, and even interference in electoral processes such as hacking of voting systems. With the U.S. presidential election in November, threats involving the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) are also possible.
North Korea’s provocations around major political events in the U.S. and South Korea may raise the possibility of reigniting internal conflicts within South Korean society. This is exactly what the North wants.
North Korea’s actions are more about political and psychological warfare than actual military confrontation. The North cannot afford a full-scale counterattack by South Korea. North Korea is trying to maximize political and psychological impact without triggering a significant military response. Recognizing this intention is important for the South. South Korea must maintain a strong, measured response that doesn’t play into North Korea’s strategy.
13. North Korea doubles down on reign of terror: white paper
The "paradox of the pandemic." The regime was deathly afraid of an outbreak that it might not be able to contain. But it also provides the regime with the golden opportunity to implement draconian population and resources control measures to further oppress the people, deny their human rights, and ensure the regime remains in power.
North Korea doubles down on reign of terror: white paper
The Korea Times · January 10, 2024
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a munitions factory in an undisclosed location in North Korea, in this photo released on Wednesday by its state media. Despite international calls for the improvement of human rights, the regime in Pyongyang is doubling down on its reign of terror with draconian new laws and cruel practices, according to this year's white paper on North Korea's human rights. Yonhap
Witnesses say pandemic rule violator publicly executed, crackdown on K-content rampant
By Jung Min-ho
Despite international calls for the improvement of human rights, the Pyongyang regime is doubling down on its reign of terror with draconian new laws and cruel practices, according to a white paper released, Wednesday.
In one example, a person who violated North Korea’s pandemic rules amid its effort to contain COVID-19 was publicly executed, an eyewitness who escaped North Korea last year said.
Speaking at Wednesday’s press conference for the 2023 White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea, those who participated in the study refused to disclose the details of the killing due to safety concerns for their families in the North.
However, based on interviews with 71 people, including 32 who arrived in South Korea last year, the researchers said North Korea is tightening control over its people, particularly in the cultural sector.
According to the report, many witnesses said media content from South Korea, such as music, films and TV shows, are among the regime’s key targets; they said its crackdown on such content had intensified in recent years due to its growing influence over how people talk, dress and behave there.
“I heard that watching one of those anti-socialist South Korean videos may get you executed publicly,” a North Korean defector said.
Those unfortunate to be caught watching South Korean content during its clampdown could be punished severely as a warning to others, said another defector.
“I didn’t recognize that it was from South Korea at first as what was shown in the video was very different from what I had learned about the country. Many people in their 20s started to mimic South Korean style as they perceived it as a rich country,” the interviewee added.
Kim Chun-sig, president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, speaks during a media conference for the 2023 White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea at Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Korea Institute for National Unification
In line with the regime’s tough stance against the infiltration of South Korea’s culture, North Korean authorities began enforcing the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act in 2023 to preserve its version of the Korean language. Those who are caught using South Korean slang terms or its distinctive way of speaking could face hard labor for life or execution under the law.
The report also said that there are at least four political prison camps currently under operation ― in Chongjin, Myonggan County and two in Kaechon. Anyone who condemns the regime or attempts to escape its violent rule by crossing its borders could be detained there for months, years or even decades.
But little is known about the legal basis or proceedings concerning who is detained in those facilities. “Such decisions are made solely by its ministry of state security without trial. Those decisions are not notified even to their families,” the white paper said.
If there is any aspect that North Korea seems to have made progress in, it was in the status of women.
The report says women’s rights have improved under Kim Jong-un, its 40-year-old leader. Many witnesses said an increasing number of women are now working for the state or its agencies. But they said their expanding roles have also created more social problems in the male-centric country such as a rising number of divorces.
The Korea Times · January 10, 2024
14. Russia fired more N. Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine: White House
Russia fired more N. Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine: White House
The Korea Times · by 2024-01-10 11:57 | Defense · January 10, 2024
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House, Jan. 4, in Washington, D.C. North Korea has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine, the White House said Thursday. "This is a significant and concerning escalation," Kirby said at the briefing. AFP-Yonhap
Russia recently fired additional North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine following earlier such launches, a White House official said Tuesday, reiterating the arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang violate multiple U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, disclosed Russia's additional missile strikes on the war-torn country on Saturday, while noting its earlier launches of North Korean missiles on Dec. 30 and Jan. 2.
"Since then, Russian forces again launched multiple North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine," Kirby told a press briefing. "We are still assessing the impacts of these strikes, but we can confirm that at least one of them landed in Kharkiv."
Last Thursday, Kirby announced that the North recently provided Russia with several dozen ballistic missiles, as well as ballistic missile launchers.
Security advisers of S. Korea, US decry N. Korea's missile transfer to Russia for use in Ukraine
Kirby said that Washington will discuss the arms transfers between the North and Russia at the UNSC on Wednesday. The transfer of any weapons and related materials from the North is banned under UNSC resolutions that Russia itself voted for.
"Russia's transfer of ballistic missiles from the DPRK directly violates multiple UNSC resolutions," he said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Tomorrow, we will raise these arms deals at the UNSC alongside our allies and partners and demand that Russia be held accountable for yet again violating international obligations that it signed up to," he added.
Meanwhile, top diplomats from nearly 50 countries, including South Korea, the United States and Japan, issued a joint statement condemning in the "strongest terms" the arms transfers between the North and Russia.
"The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia's war of aggression, and undermines the global non-proliferation regime," the statement read.
"We are deeply concerned about the security implications that this cooperation has in Europe, on the Korean Peninsula, across the Indo-Pacific region, and around the world," it added.
In October, the White House revealed that the North had delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for use in Ukraine.
The transaction came amid persistent speculation that the Sept. 13 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Russian spaceport might have led to an arms deal. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · by 2024-01-10 11:57 | Defense · January 10, 2024
15. Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: January - KOREA
Needless to say I would have a different assessment. While all the information below is accurate I would also assess the strength of the alliance and what it is doing militarily to counter the actions of the north. Also, Kim is following the decades old playbook. I would not assess only our lackluster sanctions but emphasize that our deterrence and defense posture is better than it has been in recent years. In addition I would asses that Kim is exposing his failed strategies and providing us with the opportunity to shift strategies if we were willing to make some changes. I would assess the Korean peninsula to be at least neutral. But I guess I am a glass half full guy. But on the negative side I worry that the externalizing of the problem by Kim indicates internal problems that could lead to a crisis - more so than some kind of large scale deliberate military action most people seemed concerned about.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: January - KOREA
Access the Korea tracker here: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/01/10/biden-administration-foreign-policy-tracker-january/#Korea
KOREA
Anthony Ruggiero
Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow
Trending Very Negative
Previous Trend:
Very Negative
North Korea launched five intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), more than 25 other ballistic missiles, and three satellite launch vehicles in 2023. The United States and nine other countries condemned these launches “in the strongest terms” on the margins of a United Nations Security Council meeting that discussed Pyongyang’s December 17 ICBM launch. China and Russia protected North Korea at the meeting, preventing any substantive result.
Pyongyang continued to export artillery munitions and other materiel to Russia. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed that North Korea has provided Moscow with “several dozen” short-range ballistic missiles. In return, “Pyongyang is seeking military assistance from Russia, including fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or materials, and other advanced technologies,” Kirby said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that North Korea’s light water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex may be operational. The IAEA has not visited nuclear sites in North Korea since Pyongyang stopped all cooperation with the agency in April 2009.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Pyongyang will launch three additional military reconnaissance satellites in 2024 after having placed one in orbit, likely with Russian help, in November.
The Biden administration responded to these developments with strongly worded statements. Washington did not issue any North Korea sanctions in December, concluding a largely lackluster effort for the year. The administration is distracted by other foreign policy priorities, increasing the danger that Kim could coerce South Korea and Japan into actions contrary to U.S. interests.
16. 800,000 Korean men facing challenges in marrying Korean women
800,000 Korean men facing challenges in marrying Korean women
donga.com
Posted January. 10, 2024 07:58,
Updated January. 10, 2024 07:58
800,000 Korean men facing challenges in marrying Korean women. January. 10, 2024 07:58. clearlee@donga.com.
"Among Korean men born in the 1980s and 1990s, an estimated 700,000 to 800,000 may encounter challenges in finding Korean spouses."
As concerns about Korea's declining fertility rate intensify, an American statistician has predicted that gender imbalance will emerge as a persistent social issue in Korea, attributable to the historical preference for boys.
"As a result of the gender ratio imbalance in Korea from 1980 to 2010, approximately 700,000 to 800,000 more boys were born than girls," Dudley Poston, a sociology professor at Texas A&M University, stated in an article published in the online academic journal 'Conversation.’
According to Professor Dudley, under natural conditions, the typical gender ratio at birth is 105 to 107 boys per 100 girls. In the United States, the gender ratio of newborns in 2021 was 100 to 105. In Korea, the ratio was within the normal range from 1950 to 1980, but in 1985, it increased to 100 to 110, and in 1990, the number surged to 115 boys. "Although the gender ratio returned to the normal range in 2010, the seeds of gender ratio imbalance had already sprouted by then," Professor Dudley said.
The imbalance in gender ratios was attributed to the prevailing preference for boys and low fertility rates in Korea during that period. Despite a rapid decline in the number of children born per woman from 6 in 1960 to 0.82 last year, the analysis suggests that the decreasing preference for boys has not kept up with the overall decline in fertility.
"The consequent rise in the number of single men could evolve into a persistent social issue in Korea for decades to come," Professor Dudley added.
한국어
donga.com
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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