Quotes of the Day:
“We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now because I’ve been to the mountaintop… I’ve looked over and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King
“I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run, than monarchy or aristocracy. Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either. … Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty. When clear prospects are opened before vanity, pride, avarice, or ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate philosophers and the most conscientious moralists to resist the temptation. Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large bodies of men, never.”
- John Adams, The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.”
- Plutarch
“The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law.”
- Aristotle
1. Pay attention: Missile tests put Kim back in the news
2. N. Korea fires 2 apparent ballistic missiles eastward from Pyongyang airfield: S. Korean military
3. Nuke envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan hold phone talks over N. Korea's latest projectile launches
4. Yoon vows to secure preemptive strike capability after N.K. launch
5. Lee, Yoon offer diverging views on dealing with N. Korea
6. Japan’s North Korea Missile Woes
7. North Korea likely to keep China-North Korea border generally closed into 2022
8. South Korea, UAE strike $3 billion missile deal
9. State-run food shops may be helping to stabilize N. Korean grain prices
10. Seoul condemns Tokyo's sovereignty claim to Dokdo
11. Another N. Korean cargo train arrives in Chinese border city: sources
12. North Korea's border opening no guarantee for vaccine offers by South Korea, US
13. North communicates with UN in hopes of getting good jabs
14. Could China Cut North Korea Loose?
15. Court rejects case brought by POWs forced to labor in the North
1. Pay attention: Missile tests put Kim back in the news
It is so much more than seeking attention. It is about Kim trying to set conditions on his terms both for political warfare and warfighting.
ANd too often we overlook the simplests reason:
With weapons of mass destruction being the state’s “sacred sword,” Chun, Go and Pinkston agree that Kim’s military has real reasons for tests. Multiple units and capabilities – moving missiles to firing points, fueling them, establishing command and control nets, launching – all need to be drilled, tested and monitored.
Pay attention: Missile tests put Kim back in the news
Latest test launched from Pyongyang airport suggests besieged state is revving up provocations after hiatus in 2020 and 2021
SEOUL – North Korea fired two missiles eastward today, (January 17), in what is becoming an intense barrage of test launches: It is the fourth since January 5.
Even though Sunan is one of the world’s least busy international airports, and North Korea is in deep border lockdown over Covid-19, the fact that the missiles were fired from, or close to, the civil facility – the rough equivalent of a missile being tested at New York’s JFK or London’s Heathrow – shows massive confidence, an analyst told Asia Times.
And even by the standards of North Korea, the tempo of recent tests is extreme.
North Korea’s ballistic missiles on parade on North Korea Victory Day in 2013. Photo: WikiCommons
Multiple missiles, multiple platforms
Although UN Security Council Resolutions ban the state from owning or testing ballistic missile technologies, Pyongyang routinely flouts the international community.
The secretive state tested a hypersonic ballistic missile on January 5 and another on January 11. The latter test was attended in person by state leader Kim Jong Un and appeared to have proven the ultra-high speed and defenses-evading maneuverability of that weapons class.
Another test, conducted on January 14, featured rail-launched ballistic missiles, state media subsequently reported.
Trains are an unusual platform for missile launches, offering both survivabilities – the launch platform can shelter in railway tunnels – and mobility – the weapons can be conveyed around the country on the rail network, possibly disguised as civilian carriages, at a higher speed than on road-bound transporter erector launchers, or TELs.
Train-launched missiles were first tested last year.
The location of Monday’s missile launch – some 24 kilometers from the showpiece capital of the state, with its population of 2.8 million people – was highly unusual.
Only one such test is known to have been conducted from the airport before: A Hwasong 12 intermediate-range ballistic missile was fired in September, during the high tension year of 2017.
Given the potential for a poorly constructed or controlled missile to go out of control and crash in a densely populated area, the test shows a high degree of risk tolerance.
“This could be a signal of both resolve and willingness to accept risks,” Dan Pinkston, a Seoul-based international relations expert at Troy University, told Asia Times. “If you launch this from near your capital, this shows ‘we know this works.’”
That confidence suggests an upgrade from testing to drilling – and from development to deployment.
“These missiles don’t need a tower or anything, all they need is an erector launcher,” Chun In-bum a retired South Korean general, told Asia Times. “They are confident, they have the procedures and they are showing they can launch at any time, anywhere – they are operational. This is no longer at the development stage.”
This screen-grab image taken from North Korean broadcaster KCTV in 2019 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watching the launch of a ballistic missile at an unknown location. Photo: AFP / KCTV
What is Kim thinking?
It is not only the variety and tempo of recent test flights but also their timing that has taken the world by surprise. Experts had expected North Korea to scale-up provocations in March this year.
That month follows the conclusion of the Beijing Winter Olympics and it was expected that Pyongyang would not want to irk its key benefactor by raising cross-Pacific tensions during the event.
A South Korean presidential election and joint South Korean-US war games are also scheduled for March.
One clue to the recent tests may be the lack of strategic messaging delivered over the new year.
“A lot of eyes were on Kim Jong Un giving a speech on New Year’s Day and nothing came out – all [North Korea] has been talking about is agricultural policies,” Go Myong-hyun, a North Korea analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute, told Asia Times.
“Now, North Korea is following the absence of a statement with action.”
Most experts believe North Korea has both political and military reasons to test missiles – its most high-profile weapons systems, given that the state is nuclear-capable. However, it is far from clear at whom the Pyongyang leadership may be aiming its signaling arm.
“For the domestic target audience, missile tests send signals of strength and awe and national pride and so forth,” said Pinkston.
Given the hardships, namely a collapse trade and fall in food imports, the North Korean populace is believed to have been suffering since the strict closure of borders early in 2020, the missile tests could be designed to bolster flagging national morale.
Another target audience lies south of the DMZ.
“You have South Korea which has a ‘lame duck’ president and an election coming up [on March 9], and there is a long history of trying to influence or intimidate incoming presidents,” Pinkston said.
And there are more varied audiences – including those in the global arms market.
“There are regional and international actors: China, Japan, the US, the UN, the international community,” Pinkston added. “And you could add potential buyers – like this is an ad campaign for missiles.”
A North Korean navy truck carries the ‘Pukkuksong’ submarine-launched ballistic missile during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of country’s founding father, Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, April 15, 2017. Photo: Agencies
Back in the news
With weapons of mass destruction being the state’s “sacred sword,” Chun, Go and Pinkston agree that Kim’s military has real reasons for tests. Multiple units and capabilities – moving missiles to firing points, fueling them, establishing command and control nets, launching – all need to be drilled, tested and monitored.
“There could be a missile unit near that airport,” said Chun. “And they have stated that they are going through inspections of their troops.”
Hypersonic missiles were mentioned, along with a range of weapons including submarine-launched ballistic missiles and tactical nuclear weapons, in a Five Year plan announced in January 2021.
These and other capabilities may be tested to put further pressure on Washington, North Korea’s key competitor.
“Their baseline strategy is to keep developing nuclear and missile capabilities,” said Go. “[US President Joe] Biden has not assigned any priority to North Korea, so I think they will wait until Biden feels he is compelled to reach out to North Korea.”
Mid-term elections in the US are set for November this year and Biden’s Democratic Party is looking increasingly wobbly. But whatever the exact thinking may be in Pyongyang, current indications are that North Korea has returned to provocative “business as usual.”
After successfully testing both nuclear devices and intercontinental ballistic missiles, the country launched a surprise diplomatic track in 2018. That saw Kim hold summits with world leaders, including then-US president Donald Trump. That track ran out of line in 2019, when a Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi fell through without a result.
Subsequent working-level negotiations led nowhere and North Korea went into deep hibernation during the Covid-19 pandemic, closing its borders to the outside world. Any hopes of a reset in negotiations fell apart after Trump’s re-election bid failed.
Meanwhile, multiple indications are that the country is suffering major economic pressures due to both sanctions and reduced border trade with China.
Due to all these matters, North Korea kept a generally low profile in 2020 and 2021. But its regional and global profile has been massively raised with the recent tempo of missile tests.
“This year, North Korea is back on track in terms of provocations and pressure,” said Go.
Follow this writer on Twitter @andrewcsalmon
2. N. Korea fires 2 apparent ballistic missiles eastward from Pyongyang airfield: S. Korean military
Excerpts:
The North's latest weapons test appears aimed at enhancing its ability to consecutively launch missiles with increased accuracy, a JCS official said on condition of anonymity.
"For additional information, including intentions behind the North's recent series of short-range ballistic missile launches, the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis," the official told reporters.
The official added that South Korea's military possesses capabilities to both detect and intercept the projectiles in question, and has continuously been reinforcing its system to respond to them.
As to the type of the missile launched Monday, the JCS is looking into "various possibilities," including the projectile being the KN-23 modeled after Russia's Iskander mobile ballistic missile, according to the official.
(4th LD) N. Korea fires 2 apparent ballistic missiles eastward from Pyongyang airfield: S. Korean military | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in 9th para)
By Song Sang-ho, Kang Yoon-seung and Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles eastward from an airfield in Pyongyang on Monday, South Korea's military said, in the recalcitrant regime's fourth show of force this year.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the projectiles fired from the Sunan airport at 8:50 a.m. and 8:54 a.m., respectively, and that they flew about 380 kilometers at an altitude of 42 km.
The missiles traveled at a top speed of Mach 5, five times the speed of sound, according to an informed source.
The North's latest weapons test appears aimed at enhancing its ability to consecutively launch missiles with increased accuracy, a JCS official said on condition of anonymity.
"For additional information, including intentions behind the North's recent series of short-range ballistic missile launches, the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis," the official told reporters.
The official added that South Korea's military possesses capabilities to both detect and intercept the projectiles in question, and has continuously been reinforcing its system to respond to them.
As to the type of the missile launched Monday, the JCS is looking into "various possibilities," including the projectile being the KN-23 modeled after Russia's Iskander mobile ballistic missile, according to the official.
The KN-23 missile is known to employ a so-called pull-up maneuver -- a technique designed to avoid interception and thus complicate South Korea's missile defense efforts.
Some observers raised the possibility that Monday's missile could be the North Korean version of the U.S.' Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), called the KN-24. It is also known to fly on a complicated trajectory to evade interception.
Monday's launch came just three days after the North launched two suspected short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea that it later claimed to be guided missiles fired by a railway-borne regiment during a firing drill.
Soon after the latest launch, South Korea's presidential National Security Council held an emergency meeting and called the North's continued weapons tests "very regrettable."
Separately, Seoul's unification ministry urged the North to restart dialogue rather than missile launches for the goal of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it was aware of the "ballistic missile launches" but assessed the latest event "does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory or to our allies."
"These missile launches highlight the destabilizing impact of the DPRK's illicit weapons program," it said in a press release, referring to the North's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The U.S. commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad."
Monday's firing from Pyongyang appears to underscore the North's evolving capabilities to launch missiles from various platforms, including trains, subsurface assets and land-based facilities.
Last week, the North warned of a "stronger and certain reaction" to the United States' recent imposition of fresh sanctions on six North Koreans involved in the regime's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
The warning was followed by the North's test-firing of two projectiles from a train-based platform Friday.
The North also test-fired its self-proclaimed hypersonic missile on Jan. 5 and on Tuesday last week, ratcheting up tensions amid an impasse in nuclear negotiations with the U.S.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
conlin@yna.co.kr
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. Nuke envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan hold phone talks over N. Korea's latest projectile launches
Nuke envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan hold phone talks over N. Korea's latest projectile launches | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a discussion Monday about North Korea's latest apparent missile test and agreed to maintain the close trilateral cooperation in the region, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, had the emergency consultations with his American and Japanese counterparts -- Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi -- hours after the North lobbed two suspected short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, the fourth show of force this year.
The envoys shared the assessment of Monday's projectile launches and discussed countermeasures, the ministry said.
"Paying keen attention to North Korea's next moves, they agreed to maintain close trilateral cooperation for the stable management of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and resumption of dialogue (with the North) at an early date," it said in a press statement.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. Yoon vows to secure preemptive strike capability after N.K. launch
Yoon vows to secure preemptive strike capability after N.K. launch | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday vowed to secure a preemptive strike capability after North Korea conducted its fourth missile test this year.
Yoon of the conservative People Power Party previously mentioned the need to carry out a preemptive strike in the event North Korea appears ready to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the South.
In a Facebook post Monday, hours after North Korea launched two suspected short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, Yoon doubled down on his position.
"I will secure a preemptive strike capability known as Kill-Chain and build the surveillance and reconnaissance capability needed to monitor all parts of North Korea," he wrote, before listing a series of steps he will take to boost South Korea's missile defenses.
"Only strong deterrence against the North can guarantee the Republic of Korea's peace," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
5. Lee, Yoon offer diverging views on dealing with N. Korea
I still think national security and foreign affairs will not play a decisive role in the South Korean election.
Lee, Yoon offer diverging views on dealing with N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has called for simultaneously pursuing North Korea's denuclearization and sanctions relief, while his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to strengthen the extended deterrence provided by the United States.
Lee of the liberal ruling Democratic Party and Yoon of the conservative People Power Party detailed their plans for dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapons program in written interviews with the Korean-American Club, a group of former and current South Korean correspondents to the U.S.
The interviews were conducted early this month and published in the club's quarterly magazine Monday.
"The best solution is conditional sanctions relief and phased simultaneous action," Lee said, referring to the use of a snapback mechanism under which sanctions would be restored in the event North Korea fails to live up to its denuclearization obligations.
If North Korea takes denuclearization steps, there would be "corresponding sanctions relief measures in phases and simultaneously," he said.
Lee objected to the idea of South Korea going nuclear or reintroducing tactical nuclear weapons or entering into a NATO-like nuclear-sharing arrangement, saying such notions are "unrealistic, irresponsible and dangerous."
He said the extended deterrence provided by the South Korea-U.S. alliance is enough to deter North Korea's nuclear threats.
He also promised to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un early in his term if elected.
Meanwhile, Yoon shared in Lee's opposition to South Korea's nuclear armament or a nuclear-sharing arrangement between South Korea and the U.S., saying the North could use them as pretexts to justify its own possession of nuclear weapons and turn denuclearization negotiations into nuclear disarmament talks.
But Yoon emphasized the importance of enhancing cooperation with the U.S. and the international community to deal with the North Korean threat.
"I will pursue ways to significantly strengthen the extended deterrence provided by the United States through close strategic talks between South Korea and the U.S.," he said.
Yoon also said it is "important to thoroughly implement sanctions on North Korea in conjunction with the international community."
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
6. Japan’s North Korea Missile Woes
Japan and South Korea (and the US) would benefit from a trilateral integrated missile defense system.
Excerpts:
Japan and North Korean relations are in a state of breakdown and North Korea-U.S. talks on denuclearization have stalled since the collapse of the 2019 summit in Hanoi. An important factor for the Kishida administration will be to assess North Korea’s true nuclear and military strength before setting the tone of its diplomatic position on North Korea.
North Korea has launched 40 missiles since May 2019, with the aim of improving its missile technology. But it is also likely to be in reaction to new U.S. sanctions, with North Korea issuing a statement condemning the U.S. sanctions on six North Korean individuals involved in the regime’s weapons development. They warned that if the U.S. takes a confrontational stance North Korea will be forced to react even more strongly.
Japan’s North Korea Missile Woes
Japan is on high alert after a frenzied series of North Korean ballistic missile tests.
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Japan has condemned North Korea after a string of ballistic missiles launched this month landed in the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea. On Friday afternoon North Korea is believed to have fired two short-range ballistic missiles from North Pyongan province, which flew approximately 400 kilometers to the east. The missiles are believed to have fallen into the ocean outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The firings marked the third and fourth North Korean missile launched so far this year, highlighting an unprecedented succession of missile tests as the Kim Jong Un regime pushes forward with nuclear and missile development.
The two short-range ballistic missiles are believed to have flown at a lower altitude and a speed of Mach 10, which is 10 times the speed of sound. According to South Korea, the missiles were more technologically “advanced” than the missile launched on January 5 but reached the same speed of the missile launched on January 11. According to North Korea, both the January 5 and January 11 tests involved “hypersonic” missiles, although that claim has been disputed. It’s unclear whether North Korea’s newly tested missiles are in an early phase, in the middle of their process of development, or nearing completion.
The rapid pace of missile launches raises concerns about Japan’s current defense capacity and whether it can depend on the U.S. to intercept a possible missile attack from North Korea.
Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa strongly condemned the latest launch as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo said Japan will continue to monitor the situation. Kishi stated, “We are determined to protect the lives of our citizens and our peaceful lifestyle in close cooperation with the U.S., South Korea and other countries.” He also instructed the defense ministry and Self Defense Forces (SDF) to do their utmost to collect and analyze information in close cooperation with the United States and other countries.
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio expressed “deep regret” over the continued missile launches and lodged a formal protest with North Korea. He stressed they would consider all means of response, including the ability to attack enemy bases, and will work to strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities. There were no reports of damage to aircraft or ships.
Security experts and Japan’s SDF members have voiced doubts over Japan’s ability to attack an enemy base or prevent a missile attack considering both China and North Korea have more than 1,000 ballistic missiles, as well as mobile launchers, in their arsenal. The mobilization of Japan and the United States’ reconnaissance satellites and high-altitude surveillance aircraft would not be enough to detect all potential attacks ahead of time.
On June 22 the government abandoned the planned construction of two land-based sites for the missile defense system Aegis Ashore due to escalating costs, which were estimated to have run over $8 billion. The Aegis Ashore system is considered the only reliable defense as it has the ability to automatically intercept incoming ballistic missiles. The government has opted instead to pursue the installation of the land-based system on a maritime destroyer – an unprecedented project on which the design and construction costs are yet to be determined. The string of missile launches by North Korea may spark conversations on requesting a budget for a sea-based Aegis missile defense system, which remains in limbo. Japan does have four Aegis-equipped destroyers, which use the ship-based version of the system.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged countries not to make hasty decisions or to overreact to the launches. Beijing also called on North Korea, the U.S., and others to resume dialogue.
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Meanwhile, the United States condemned the missile launch as a threat to peace in the region and called on North Korea to stop provocations. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command responded by saying, “The U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan and South Korea is unwavering,” but added that it “remained committed to a diplomatic approach.”
Japan and North Korean relations are in a state of breakdown and North Korea-U.S. talks on denuclearization have stalled since the collapse of the 2019 summit in Hanoi. An important factor for the Kishida administration will be to assess North Korea’s true nuclear and military strength before setting the tone of its diplomatic position on North Korea.
North Korea has launched 40 missiles since May 2019, with the aim of improving its missile technology. But it is also likely to be in reaction to new U.S. sanctions, with North Korea issuing a statement condemning the U.S. sanctions on six North Korean individuals involved in the regime’s weapons development. They warned that if the U.S. takes a confrontational stance North Korea will be forced to react even more strongly.
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR
Thisanka Siripala
Thisanka Siripala is an Australian-Sri Lankan cross platform journalist living in Tokyo.
7. North Korea likely to keep China-North Korea border generally closed into 2022
This counters the reports we are hearing. (and the hopes of many)
North Korea likely to keep China-North Korea border generally closed into 2022
North Korean authorities have chosen to ease inter-regional movement slightly as part of a bid to dial down discontent caused by strict quarantine controls
North Korean authorities have recently been signaling a change in the tenor of their quarantine policies, leading to speculation that they may open the China-North Korea border. Barring any major unseen variables, however, North Korean authorities are likely to keep the border closed through 2022 while continuing restricted “state-led trade.”
According to a high-ranking Daily NK source in North Korea last Thursday, North Korean authorities have decided to ease inter-regional movement, even while strengthening quarantine efforts in regions bordering China this year.
North Korean authorities currently ban travel between different regions except for people engaged in government business or those who have received prior permission. Ordinary people cannot travel between regions unless they are going to family funerals or weddings, which means they are generally unable to visit their relatives or hometowns.
North Korean authorities have tightly controlled things along the border in particular, placing entire cities on lockdown when people have crossed the China-North Korea border illegally or engaged in smuggling.
North Koreans have expressed a considerable amount of discontent toward these quarantine policies, which have been in place for around two years. The authorities have chosen to ease inter-regional movement slightly as part of a bid to dial down this discontent, according to the source.
The Rodong Sinmun reported on Jan. 10 that the authorities must constantly “innovate their quarantine efforts to thoroughly ensure their perfection.” It said that quarantine efforts should shift their focus from “quarantine through control” to a more “advanced, people-focused quarantine” based on the foundations of the “strong emergency quarantine wall built up until this point.”
A border patrol checkpoint in Pungso County, Yanggang Province. This photo was taken in February 2019. / Image: Daily NK
According to the source, many North Koreans believe that COVID-19 infections have been limited thanks to the state’s quarantine measures and that relaxing controls somewhat on inter-regional movement should be fine if, that is, China-North Korea border controls are maintained.
Daily NK was unable to find out in detail just how far North Korean authorities will relax inter-regional movement, but a greater movement of people could lead to an increase in the distribution of goods along with an expansion in market activities.
One North Korea expert, who requested anonymity, told Daily NK that greater market activity in North Korea would lead to a “brisker circulation of funds” and “personal and small-business activity could get a shot in the arm.”
He noted further that North Korean authorities could amend their economic policies by increasing taxes people have to pay while encouraging commercial activity through the easing of restrictions on inter-regional movement.
Meanwhile, it appears likely North Korean authorities will maintain their current controls on the China-North Korea border.
That is to say, they will strictly ban illegal entry into the country of both people without prior entry approval and goods without proper quarantine procedures.
Moreover, in terms of trade, the authorities plan to engage in limited imports and exports of permitted goods through trading companies and trade officials that have been authorized to do so.
According to the source, North Korean authorities do plan to expand state-led trade a bit as part of efforts to increase imports and exports past last year’s levels.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Seulkee Jang is one of Daily NK’s full-time journalists. Please direct any questions about her articles to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
8. South Korea, UAE strike $3 billion missile deal
South Korea, UAE strike $3 billion missile deal
Moon administration seals richest weaponry deal ever as Seoul’s global arms exports report explosive growth
SEOUL – In a deal hailed as the biggest single defense equipment export ever by South Korea, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will reportedly buy a surface-to-air-missile system for 4 trillion won (US$3.3 billion).
According to South Korean reports from the Middle East, the two countries exchanged preliminary contracts on Sunday (January 16) for the Cheongung-II M-SAM system made by South Korean firms LIG Nex1, Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Defense.
The contracts were exchanged in the presence of visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in and UAE Prime Minister and Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The system is designed to combat lower-tier ballistic missiles at altitudes of less than 40 kilometers. The two countries also signed memoranda of understanding on the sharing of defense techn0logies.
Separate reports also stated that Moon’s meeting with the country’s leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, had been canceled for unexplained reasons – an “unforeseen matter of state.”
The duo of events – a massive deal and a surprise non-meeting – are somewhat emblematic of the two countries’ defense partnership.
That relationship was pioneered in opaque circumstances by former President Lee Myung-bak, who under Moon was jailed for corruption and admitted to hospital for a chronic illness on Monday.
South Korean commandos board a stranded submarine in 1996. Photo: Asia Times / Andrew Salmon
Nuclear reactors, commandos and a secret pact
In 2009, South Korea and the UAE signed an agreement under which Seoul would sell the Emirates nuclear reactors priced at $18.6 billion. The South Korean offer beat bids from French and US rivals.
However, it was revealed in a media interview in 2018 that the deal was supposed to be a secret pact between the two parties.
The 2009 deal was undertaken under conservative President Lee Myung-bak as part of his so-called “Energy Diplomacy.” Then and now, the UAE serves as a major supplier of crude oil to South Korea, a net energy importer. The deal was reportedly followed up by his successor, Park Geun-hye, who took office in 2013.
The liberal Moon, who took office after Park’s overthrow in 2017, vowed to clear up the “deep-seated evils” of past, conservative Seoul administrations.
These house-clearing moves by the Moon administration were not welcomed by the UAE, which reportedly pressured South Korean firms SK and GS, both engaged in projects in the Emirates, while a shadow was cast over the nuclear plant deal.
A flurry of diplomacy followed. Embarrassingly, a number of allegations were raised by lawmakers during a 2018 visit to Seoul by UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan’s aide, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak.
The Ahk unit remained in the UAE, and, according to Sunday’s news, relations between the two countries’ defense establishments continue to flourish.
Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak arrives at a court in Seoul on September 6, 2018. Photo: AFP / Jung Yeon-je
Arms sales explode
Moon, who took office in 2017 and leaves office next spring, has overseen a massive expansion of South Korea’s overseas arms sales.
South Korea was the world’s 9th largest arms exporter between 2016 and 2020, accounting for 2.7% of the global market.
Meanwhile, Lee, the ex-president who oversaw the original power plant-defense pact with the UAE, was, during Moon’s Blue House tenure, sentenced to a 17-year jail term for corruption.
9. State-run food shops may be helping to stabilize N. Korean grain prices
I don't expect significant economic improvements any time soon.
State-run food shops may be helping to stabilize N. Korean grain prices
Just how well the state food shops can perform their function will become clearer after March and April, when the so-called “barley hump” begins
With North Korean leader Kim Jong Un emphasizing a “complete” solution to the nation’s food problems during the recent Fourth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee, local grain prices have apparently been relatively stable as of late. Within North Korea, there is even talk that state-run food shops are playing a role in stabilizing grain prices.
According to a survey of multiple Daily NK sources on Jan. 11, a kilogram of rice cost KPW 4,500 in Pyongyang, KPW 4,600 in Sinuiju and KPW 4,700 in Hyesan. This was about KPW 100 more than it was in each region half a month ago on Dec. 27, but still within the KPW 4,000 – 5,000 range.
Of course, grain prices stabilize every year between the start of the harvest in October and the Lunar New Year the following year; compared to previous years, however, the price of rice was relatively less volatile between last fall and the present.
Between October 2020 and the end of January 2021, the price of rice continued to fluctuate between KPW 3,500 and 5,000.
Not only did the price fluctuate by KPW 1,000 a kilogram over 15 day periods, but regional prices differed by up to KPW 1,000, too.
In contrast, rice prices per region have been falling relatively smoothly between last October to the present, while regional price differentials are just KPW 100 to 500.
Corn prices, too, have been smoothly fluctuating by just KPW 100 to 200 from KPW 2,000 a kilogram between October and the present.
As of Jan. 11, a kilogram of corn cost KPW 2,200 in Pyongyang, KPW 2,150 in Sinuiju, and KPW 2,400 in Hyesan.
Prices have increased since November of last year, but not sharply as of yet.
A “grasshopper market,” or unofficial market, in a village near Pyongyang. / Image: Posted online by a Chinese blogger named Lóng Wǔ*Láng Zhī Wěn (龙五*狼之吻 )
Meanwhile, North Koreans are reportedly saying that state food shops have played a positive role in stabilizing grain prices, at least to a certain extent.
Sources in North Korea say the state has apparently prevented market prices from steeply climbing by selling rice and corn at set prices through the food shops. While some people complained about the state’s attempt to control food prices at first, more people praise the shops now, they claimed.
Unified Command 82, the unit tasked with curbing so-called “anti-socialist and non-socialist” activity, has also apparently played a role in stabilizing grain prices by cracking down on grain merchants engaged in hoarding or profiteering.
However, just how well the state food shops can perform their function and role will become clearer after March and April, when the so-called “barley hump” begins.
This is because the state food shops can prevent market prices from rising by selling rice and corn at low prices when supply shortages lead to price hikes.
Grain merchants speculate that grain prices may increase from the end of January, when preparations begin for the Day of the Shining Star, the holiday marking the birthday of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. This is because demand for grain spikes to produce candy, oil, alcohol, and other gifts for the holiday.
One merchant told Daily NK that even if the state food shops say they will sell rice and corn at lower-than-market prices, they will not be able to do so when warehouses have no rice. He said the time will come when the state cannot sell food even when prices are rising unless, of course, the country receives food imports from China.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Seulkee Jang is one of Daily NK’s full-time journalists. Please direct any questions about her articles to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
10. Seoul condemns Tokyo's sovereignty claim to Dokdo
A reminder of one of the roadblocks to good trilateral cooperation.
Seoul condemns Tokyo's sovereignty claim to Dokdo | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Monday denounced Japan's repeated sovereignty claim to the easternmost islets of Dokdo and urged the neighbor to face up to history in order to improve bilateral relations.
The foreign ministry lodged a strong protest after Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi reiterated Tokyo's stance on the East Sea outcroppings in his parliamentary speech earlier in the day.
"The Japanese government should stop its unreasonable claim to Dokdo, which is clearly our inherent territory historically, geographically and by international law," ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a statement.
"It will have to clearly recognize that right history perceptions serve as the foundation for the development of forward-looking bilateral relations," he noted.
The islets, effectively controlled by South Korea with a small police unit stationed, have long been a source of diplomatic stand-offs between the two sides as a legacy of Japan's imperialistic past.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
11. Another N. Korean cargo train arrives in Chinese border city: sources
Most likely to bring goods to the elite in Pyongyang.
(2nd LD) Another N. Korean cargo train arrives in Chinese border city: sources | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS unification ministry's comment at bottom; CHANGES dateline)
SHENYANG/SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean freight train crossed a border bridge into the Chinese city of Dandong on Monday, sources said, following another train's return to the North apparently with daily necessities and emergency relief items aboard.
The empty second train arrived in the Chinese border city earlier in the day, shortly after the first train departed the city at around 7 a.m. to return to the North's Sinuiju, they said.
The first train had arrived in Dandong the previous day, marking the first such train operation in 1 1/2 years after the North shut down its borders to stave off the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was not immediately clear what the train carried home, but the sources said daily necessities, medical supplies and other emergency relief items seem to have been on board, with the train consisting of around 15 cars.
The train services came ahead of such key events as the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 1 this year, the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 4 and the Feb. 16 birthday of Kim Jong-il, the late father of the current leader, Kim Jong-un.
Sources said the North could continue shipping necessary materials via land routes starting with the latest train operation.
South Korea's unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said it will keep monitoring related moves to see if such train transportation continues and leads to the resumption of trade and people-to-people exchanges between the neighbors.
"The government will keep a close tab on the frequency, volume and quarantine procedures of North Korea-China train operations to make a comprehensive assessment about its impact on the North's antivirus policy, external cooperation, such as trade with China and inter-Korean relations," ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo told a regular press briefing.
(END)
12. North Korea's border opening no guarantee for vaccine offers by South Korea, US
Kim Jong-un must accept the offers of help.
North Korea's border opening no guarantee for vaccine offers by South Korea, US
People at Seoul Station watch a TV screen showing a news report about a North Korean missile launch, Monday. AP-Yonhap
By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea's long-awaited border opening is not likely to extend to Pyongyang accepting vaccine offers from South Korea or the United States, according to diplomatic observers, Monday.
Additionally, the border opening will not clear the ground for any possible progress in nuclear talks or improvement in inter-Korean ties, they added.
In the wake of China's COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019, the reclusive state quickly closed its borders to prevent the spread of the disease, but the move has been dealing a heavy economic blow to the country.
On Sunday, a North Korean freight train crossed the Yalu River railroad bridge from Sinuiju into China ― the first time that the North open its land border with China in two years ― and the same train is expected to return home with medical supplies and everyday necessities, probably as part of preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, raising speculation that Seoul and Washington may find an opportunity to send vaccines into the reclusive state.
Another North Korean freight train crossed a border bridge into the Chinese city of Dandong, Monday, according to diplomatic sources.
South Korea has repeatedly floated unrequited vaccine offers to its northern neighbor, amid relevant negotiations with the U.S as part of efforts to get the deadlocked inter-Korean relations back on track.
"I think that North Korea is likely to reject offers by South Korea or the U.S. to provide COVID-19 vaccines. Rather, it may be okay with vaccine provision from China as well as the global vaccine sharing program, COVAX," said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
During the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee plenary late last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said emergency epidemic prevention work should be made a top priority of the state and it was the most important task to be powerfully conducted with no allowance given to even slight slackness or drawbacks.
Kim also pointed to "firmly preparing the material and technological foundation of the epidemic prevention sector" and "switching our epidemic prevention to an advanced and people-oriented one" as new directions in disease prevention.
"Considering his remarks, North Korea is focused on normalizing damaged trade with foreign countries by opening its borders, and to this end it is now working on acquiring vaccines and antiviral treatments in advance," Hong said.
The Kim regime still claims that no COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the isolated nation, meaning there is no immunity to the disease and therefore the country is highly vulnerable to mass infections when it fully opens its borders.
"Although North Korea needs vaccines and antiviral treatments, it could depend on the global vaccine distribution platform and China, lowering the possibility that South Korea and the U.S. could provide vaccines to the North," Hong said.
Currently, both nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea and inter-Korean ties have been stalled since February 2019 when former U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim failed to reach a nuclear deal at the Hanoi summit.
Some speculated the border opening could pave the way for North Korea to reach out to South Korea or the U.S. for fence-mending.
However, Hong said it had nothing to do with it.
"I think North Korea is separating anti-virus measures from improving ties with South Korea or the U.S.," he said.
"While North Korea is now seeking to earn the right to defend itself by developing tactical weapons, it is strategically unreasonable for it to extend an olive branch to the South or the U.S."
On Monday, North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles eastward, which was the regime's fourth show of force in 2022.
13. North communicates with UN in hopes of getting good jabs
The beggar is a chooser. Kim only wants the best vaccines.
Monday
January 17, 2022
North communicates with UN in hopes of getting good jabs
North Korean envoy to the United Nations Kim Song, in this file photo dated May 21, 2019. [YONHAP]
North Korea has been communicating for months with the United Nations on receiving vaccine support, multiple sources told the JoongAng Ilbo.
“There were some communication on vaccine support, via the 'New York channel,' in October and November last year,” a source told the JoongAng Ilbo on Sunday.
The New York channel represents U.S. communications with North Korea through the North’s diplomatic mission at the United Nations in New York.
“The UN intends to support the North with around 60 million [vaccine] doses, and [the North Korean delegation in the UN] is said to have communicated this with those at the top in Pyongyang,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The 60 million doses will be enough to fully vaccinate North Korea's entire population.
The regime closed its borders at the start of the pandemic in January 2020 and has continued to maintain it has had zero Covid-19 cases.
It rejected, or responded in a lukewarm manner, to offers of vaccine support from various institutions.
Since last March, North Korea has been assigned 8.11 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the Covax Facility, the World Health Organization-led global vaccine-sharing mechanism, most of them being AstraZeneca vaccines.
Last July, Gavi, the vaccine alliance, said that North Korea has not been complying with the administrative steps required for the delivery of Covax-allocated vaccines.
Two months later, the country rejected the offer of nearly 3 million doses of Sinovac vaccines from Covax.
The country may have been biding its time for Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, according to a source.
“The North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song is said to have asked the UN what type of vaccines the organization was thinking of supporting Pyongyang with,” said a source. “He is said to have asked if it was going to be Pfizer or Moderna.”
The source added that the type of vaccine, so far as they are aware, has not yet been decided on by the UN.
South Korean officials were allegedly involved in conversations in the United States on supporting the North with vaccines.
“When the South’s National Intelligence Service director Park Jie-won visited the United States in May last year, he is said to have met with senior-ranking officials in the U.S. government and suggested North-bound vaccine support,” a diplomatic source told the JoongAng Ilbo. “It is my understanding that it was after Park’s trip that the United States and the UN discussed the idea. The South Korean government is reviewing what role it should play, should UN-supported vaccines to the North be accepted.”
The U.S. Joe Biden administration officials have often been quoted in the media for their willingness to share coronavirus vaccines and other humanitarian assistance to help North Korea combat the pandemic.
The administration has at the same time maintained that it will not be giving incentives to the North, such as sanctions relief, just for the sake of resuming dialogues.
Pyongyang has refused to engage in denuclearization talks with Washington since 2019, when the summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un fell through without an accord.
BY JEONG YONG-SOO, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
14. Could China Cut North Korea Loose?
Interesting analysis from Professor Kelly.
This is an important conclusion:
China’s support for North Korea alienates much of the world. It undercuts any claim to Chinese principled or benevolent leadership. It tars Beijing with partial responsibility for every outlandish act the Kim family of Pyongyang engages in. It provides ongoing justification for a large US presence in northeast Asia. It empowers a nuclear-armed regime that does not listen to Beijing and routinely violates the most basic norms of global governance. It spreads corruption and rot in the Chinese banking system, and among party and military elites with connections to North Korea. And the conventional deterrent value purchased for all this headache is decreasing as the US and allied technology outstrips anything the North can field. The equation is changing.
Could China Cut North Korea Loose?
In the debate on North Korea, China inevitably plays a large role. It is a treaty ally of Pyongyang, and more than 90% of North Korean trade goes through that ally’s territory. The North shares a long border with China, and Beijing understandably worries about the basic disposition of the Korean peninsula. If North Korea implodes or war breaks out again, China will obviously be affected. At a minimum, a large wave of North Korean refugees would flood across the border in event of a major crisis. At worst, China and the United States could find themselves in stand-offs around North Korea in a post-collapse scramble for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons.
North Korea also routinely provokes South Korea and the United States, such as this month’s missile tests. This regularly puts China in the unenviable position of defending the rogue state against the international community’s understandable desire to keep WMD out of the hands of a cultish, Orwellian tyranny. Hence China, despite its alliance with North Korea, has supported the expanding sanctions regime on North Korea. The UN Security Council has voted for nine sanctions resolutions between 2006 and 2017. China has supported every one.
Why Has China Supported North Korea in the Past
Since the Korean War, China has helped North Korea. When that war turned against the North in the fall of 1950, the Chinese army intervened to save the regime. With American forces permanently entrenched on the peninsula, and in post-war Japan, communist China struck a formal treaty with North Korea, which the two partners described ‘as close as lips to teeth.’
That relationship ebbed and flowed with the Cold War events, particularly the Sino-Soviet split. But after the implosion of the Soviet Union, China eventually stepped into the role of full-time patron of the North. For a brief moment in the 1990s, North Korea stood alone, between patrons. The USSR and its support were gone, and the Chinese had not fully stepped up to bail out the country’s disastrous economic dysfunction. North Korea nearly collapsed at this time and suffered a famine that killed around 10% of its population. The lesson to Beijing was that without external support, North Korea would likely implode, and Beijing has provided Pyongyang with varying levels of assistance ever since.
The logic for this, the Chinese freely admit, is that North Korea is a ‘buffer’ between them and the US, South Korea, and Japan. North Korea is heavily militarized and deeply anti-American. Its existence keeps the Americans far from the Chinese border and deeply distracted.
Why China Could Cut North Korea Loose Today
The argument for the buffer though is aging, and Chinese elites should re-consider the utility of propping up a cultish, opaque, Orwellian tyranny armed with a spiraling, unchecked nuclear missile program. Those missiles are also pointed at Beijing to keep it out of North Korea’s internal affairs, or those missiles (or at least parts of them) might be proliferated to unsavory groups or countries.
The logic of the buffer is territorial and military. Between the US in South Korea and Japan is 47,000 square miles of territory occupied by an anti-American military of 1.2 million soldiers and millions more in reserve. But the North Korean conventional military, while large, is increasingly obsolete; this is one of the major reasons the North has nuclearized. And a North Korea with nuclear weapons is an outcome China opposes.
In other words, the Northern buffer is no longer about bulky, slow-moving conventional warfare obstacles to the US and allied militaries. Instead, the buffer is now armed with dangerous nuclear and rocket capabilities which are easier to deploy, inflict far greater damage, are easy to sell overseas bidders, and entail significant risks of command, control, safety, and so on. At some point having a state like that on China’s border becomes more trouble than it is worth.
Next, China is militarily far more secure now than it was during the Cold War, reducing the military benefits of the buffer. China is wealthy now; its economy will likely be larger than America’s by the end of the decade. It fields a large modern military, including an enormous army. The US is unlikely to ever invade China, and if North Korea collapsed, the rationale for US forces on the Korean peninsula disappears.
Finally, cutting the North loose would dramatically bolster China’s claim to global leadership and trustworthiness. The world respects China for its rapid modernization, but few states trust it. China has no committed allies. Its pressure on Hong Kong and Taiwan will continue to push East Asian countries toward alignment with the US. Dropping North Korea would counteract this slide.
Unlikely but Worth Considering
As the US-China cold war worsens, the above scenario seems unlikely. China has traditionally opposed Korean unification to keep the Americans away and block a nationalistic unified Korean state on its border. This is still persuasive to the cold war mindset of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government. But the case for indefinitely bailing out North Korean bad behavior is weakening.
China’s support for North Korea alienates much of the world. It undercuts any claim to Chinese principled or benevolent leadership. It tars Beijing with partial responsibility for every outlandish act the Kim family of Pyongyang engages in. It provides ongoing justification for a large US presence in northeast Asia. It empowers a nuclear-armed regime that does not listen to Beijing and routinely violates the most basic norms of global governance. It spreads corruption and rot in the Chinese banking system, and among party and military elites with connections to North Korea. And the conventional deterrent value purchased for all this headache is decreasing as the US and allied technology outstrips anything the North can field. The equation is changing.
Dr. Robert E. Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly; website) is a professor of international relations in the Department of Political Science at Pusan National University. Dr. Kelly is now a 1945 Contributing Editor as well.
15. Court rejects case brought by POWs forced to labor in the North
A terrible situation. There were some 78,000 ROK POWs held in north Korea and never allowed to return. Only a handful have been able to escape over the years. These POWs from South Korea need to be properly cared for, respected, and remembered.
Court rejects case brought by POWs forced to labor in the North - OKN
No compensation due to technicality
The Seoul Eastern District Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by former prisoners-of-war (POWs) who asked the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation for compensation on behalf of the North Korean government.
The two former POWs surnamed Han and Nah sued the North Korean government and its dictator Kim Jong-un. They were awarded 21 million won ($17,676) each for labor they performed in captivity. The two POWs escaped North Korea between 2000 and 2001, nearly a half-century after their capture during the Korean War. This was the first court ruling acknowledging that a South Korean court has jurisdiction over North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un.
However, as it was nearly impossible to make North Korea pay the POWs, they filed another lawsuit to have the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation compensate them instead. Since 2005, the foundation has collected royalties from South Korean companies using copyrighted North Korean materials. The foundation, which collects royalties on behalf of the North Korean state television service KCTV, is managed by Im Jong-seok, the former chief of staff to South Korean President Moon Jae-in and a notorious student activist during the 1980s.
Judge Song Seung-yong from the Seoul Eastern District Court argued that there cannot be an obligation to seize such compensation from North Korea. “We cannot consider North Korea as an independent country that is similar to us,” Song said.
The court also argued that under Article 3 of the South Korean Constitution, the entire Korean peninsula is South Korean territory and that North Korea’s product copyrights are protected as South Korean products.
The court said that the foundation and North Korea’s copyright management office were middlemen that only had the role of delivering products to South Korean customers. The court argued that this is why the foundation is not obligated to pay on behalf of the North Korean government.
Dream Makers for North Korea, a South Korean civic group working on North Korean human rights issues that helped the POWs with their lawsuits, released a statement right after the court ruling calling it “sophistry.”
Eom Tae-sup, the POWs’ lawyer, said the KCTV copyrights are obviously controlled by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and that Pyongyang’s copyright management office should technically be representing the Kim regime. Eom argued that it cannot understand the court’s ruling considering the copyright management office as just a middleman. The legal team added that it will review the final ruling after obtaining the full text and consider appealing.
The Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation is a nonprofit organization established in 2004 to facilitate inter-Korean exchanges. In 2005, the foundation signed a contract with the North Korean cabinet dealing with copyright issues and collected royalties from the South Korean media using North Korean publications and video materials.
Major South Korean broadcasting companies, including state-run KBS, paid about 30 million won ($25,252) in royalties to the foundation. The foundation received nearly 790 million won ($664,983) from 2005 to 2007, and sent it to North Korea in U.S. dollars after receiving approval from the South Korean Ministry of Unification.
The foundation has been barred from transferring money to North Korea since 2008 after Seoul imposed a new set of sanctions after a North Korean soldier shot and killed a 53-year-old tourist at the North’s Mount Kumgang. From May 2009 to the end of last year, the foundation deposited about 2.09 billion won ($1.76 million) under court administration.
Meanwhile, Im Jong-seok, who served as chief of staff to Moon from 2017 to 2019 and has been quiet since his resignation, appears to be taking an important role ahead of the presidential election in March. The presidential Blue House announced that President Moon will embark on an eight-day trip to the Middle East on Saturday to engage in economic diplomacy with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. It added that Im Jong-seok will accompany the president on this trip as a special advisor for foreign affairs and security specializing in the UAE.
In an interview with the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper on January 13, Im attacked the conservative presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol for his latest comment that a preemptive strike would be the only option to avoid mass destruction from North Korea’s alleged “hypersonic” missile. Im argued that “regardless of who wins the election, if the next president does not understand diplomacy, the Republic of Korea cannot live well.”
Thae Yong-ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat and current lawmaker from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), criticized the Moon administration for appointing Im as a special advisor on January 14. He pointed out the fact that Im is the head of the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation, and noted: “What kind of government is this Moon Jae-in administration that appoints a person who says he can give money to North Korea but doesn’t have a single penny to give to the POWs as the special advisor for foreign affairs?”
Cho Tae-yong, former First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and a current lawmaker from the PPP, also released a statement criticizing the Blue House’s appointment of Im. “The foundation used sophistry, arguing that the royalties belong to North Korea’s central broadcasting committee, not the North Korean government,” Cho said. “In short, the Moon Jae-in administration’s stance is that they can give money to North Korea but not to the POWs. Is the special advisor’s role to stand on the side of North Korea against the POWs who sacrificed their lives for the country?”
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
