Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners

Quotes of the Day:

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”

– William James

"The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be."

– Socrates

"A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions."

– Confucius

1. North Korea’s Kim Flaunts New ICBM Able to Reach U.S.

2. Why Should We Care About the Indo-Pacific? (Timothy Cho and north Korea)

3. Despite massive military might, Kim Jong-un is caught in his own trap

4. Time to resume broadcasting to North Korea

5. Seoul's ambiguous approach to Pyongyang meets a harsher reality

6. North Korea displays new long-range missile at military parade celebrating Kim Jong Un’s leadership

7. The U.S. and South Korea need to salvage their tariff and investment agreement—for the sake of the alliance

8. ＜Inside N. Korea＞Continuing to Heroize Russian Deployment War Dead with Propaganda... Videos Have Significant Effect: "Some People Cry Along with Kim Jong-un's Tears”

9. Senate approves annual defense policy bill including restrictions on USFK troop cut

10. N. Korea's Kim tells Russia's Medvedev that he hopes to further develop alliance

11. Presidential office says closely monitoring developments regarding N. Korea's military parade

12. Trump threatens to cancel meeting with Xi at APEC, unveils plan for additional 100 pct tariffs on China

13. Kim Jong-un's Daughter Absent From North Korea Military Parade

14. US jury orders Samsung to pay $445.5 mil. in patent infringement suit: reports

1. North Korea’s Kim Flaunts New ICBM Able to Reach U.S.

Photos at the link: https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/north-korea-military-parade-kim-jong-un-9ff47edc?st=F3EWi9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

North Korea’s Kim Flaunts New ICBM Able to Reach U.S.

Alongside guests from China and Russia, Kim challenges West with unapologetic military parade, including unveil of the ‘Hwasong-20’ long-range missile

In a photo released by North Korea, the country’s leader Kim Jong Un waves to a crowd during a military parade in Pyongyang. Photo: KCNA/Reuters

By Dasl Yoon

Oct. 10, 2025 10:07 pm ET

Quick Summary

North Korea showcased its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-20, at a military parade.View more

SEOUL—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, armed with nuclear weapons and powerful friends, signaled his determination to stand up to Washington with an elaborate military parade Friday night that featured advancements in an arsenal capable of striking the U.S.

Fresh from staking his place on the global stage at Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s parade of military firepower in Beijing last month, Kim oversaw a display starring his new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile Friday at Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party. The ICBM was called the “Hwasong-20.”

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, the country’s No. 2 official, and Russia’s ruling-party chief and former president, Dmitry Medvedev, were among the dignitaries to join Kim at the event, reuniting a loose anti-Western axis of nations. Top officials from Vietnam and Laos also attended.

“Our army should continue to grow into an invincible entity that destroys all threats approaching our range of self-defense,” Kim said in a speech, according to a Saturday report by state media.

Kim has projected confidence in his nuclear program, with allies helping him circumvent international sanctions. Amid efforts to be recognized as a regional power, Kim hasn’t sat down with the U.S. president for talks since 2019.

Clockwise from top left: North Korea’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-20, which has the range to strike the U.S.; a new drone launcher equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles; a nuclear-capable 600mm multiple launch rocket system; and a short-range ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle first unveiled at a defense exposition earlier this month.

Yekaterina Shtukina/TASS/ZUMA Press

President Trump, who met the North Korean leader three times during his first term, has expressed interest in another get-together. But Kim, the 41-year-old dictator, said last month that he would sit down with Trump only if the U.S. drops its policy of trying to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

An opportunity for a meeting could come soon, with Trump potentially meeting Xi in South Korea at the end of October. On Friday, Trump threatened to cancel the planned exchange with Xi, after trade tensions escalated between the two countries. Kim and Trump previously met at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, the heavily fortified border area separating North and South Korea.

A standout in the display on a rainy Friday evening was the public debut of the Hwasong-20 ICBM, a weapon mentioned by Kim for the first time shortly before his trip to Beijing in September. The missile appeared encased at the parade. North Korea first launched an ICBM—dubbed the “Hwasong-14”—in 2017.

The missile, though believed to still be in development, could give Kim a more powerful deterrent and greater leverage in any negotiations, with the U.S. mainland in range and a solid-fuel engine that would allow it to be deployed faster and make it harder to detect.

The parade included a long line of weaponry that Pyongyang has tested in recent years, including attack drones, rocket launchers and battle tanks.

North Korean servicewomen march in formation during a military parade in Pyongyang. Yekaterina Shtukina/Zuma Press

Thousands of soldiers marched through downtown Pyongyang in the parade, a relatively small contingent representing the roughly 1.2 million troops of one of the world’s largest standing armies. The Russian delegation to the parade included the acting governor of Kursk, the Russian region where North Korean troops helped drive out Ukrainian forces.

The parade also featured troops goose stepping through the square led by a North Korean commander who fought in Russia. North Korea has provided troops, artillery shells and missiles for Russia’s war against Ukraine. The accuracy of the North Korean-produced missiles have been improved following lessons learned from the battlefield, Ukrainian intelligence officials have said.

Pyongyang unveiled an array of upgraded weapons at a defense expo last week, including a short-range ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle.

At the expo, Kim threatened to take military measures to respond to a growing U.S. presence on the Korean Peninsula, accusing Washington of an arms buildup aimed at launching pre-emptive strikes. The U.S. military said in late September that it had permanently stationed MQ-9 reaper drones in South Korea to support surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com

2. Why Should We Care About the Indo-Pacific?

Listen to our good friend from north Korea now living and working safely in the UK advocating/fighting for human rights and freedom in the north. This 54 minute is very much worth the time to watch/listen. Summary below.

Why Should We Care About the Indo-Pacific?

2,103 followers

Visit website

13h •

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/why-should-we-care-about-the-indo-pacific_northkorea-dprk-china-activity-7382557094417424384-pZhH?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAATdOABkUSZTLkjmdMYdsJiW0YPss5RU7o

13 hours ago • Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn

New: Why Should We Care What it’s Really Like Living in (and Escaping From) North Korea?

North Korean defector and human rights advocate Timothy Cho joins hosts Ray Powell and James Carouso for a deeply personal account of his life in and escape from hashtag

#NorthKorea. He recounts his childhood poverty, four imprisonments, harrowing escape, and ultimate rescue that finally brought him to freedom. His story reveals the hashtag

#DPRK's total information control, systemic persecution, and brutal detention conditions, while also highlighting the power of compassion, civil society, and diplomacy to intervene.

Total information blackout: North Korea remains the only country without internet, cross-border communication, or social media—leaving 25 million people completely isolated from the outside world.

Childhood indoctrination and famine: Timothy grew up worshiping the Kim family from infancy. His parents fled the country during the starvation that swept the country in the 1990s, which led him to being labeled "enemy class" for their defection.

First escape and capture: After crossing the river into hashtag

#China, Timothy experienced shock at the open markets and fashionable clothes he saw there. However, he fled in terror from Christian missionaries who wanted to help, as he had absorbed many years of propaganda that painted religion as barbaric.

Prison hell: After he was arrested at the Mongolian border, Timothy was sent to North Korean detention cells so overcrowded that detainees couldn't lie down. He witnessed death, torture, forced abortions, and other traumas that left him deeply scarred.

Second crossing: Assisted by his grandmother to escape a second time, he was wrapped in plastic for another river crossing into China, where he found unexpected help from strangers.

Rescue: After a 13-year-old student's email sparked international media coverage of the plight of North Korean refugees, public protests and diplomatic pressure led China to deport Timothy and eight others to the Philippines.

Today's advocacy: Today, Timothy serves as Secretariat of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, speaking at the UN and urging sustained attention to the "voiceless" millions under DPRK repression.

North Korea's unique isolation underpins mass repression through complete information control. The regime punishes families of defectors, while detention is often lethal by design. However, civil society and diplomatic action can save lives—one student's message triggered multilateral intervention. Of 34,000 estimated escapees, most remain fearfully silent to protect themselves and loved ones still inside.

Available now on:

- YouTube: https://lnkd.in/e5MW5qqE

- Apple: https://lnkd.in/ev5Xpd2S

- Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e6aTMYhg

- RSS: https://lnkd.in/e9zQ3Rv4

+ More

Despite massive military might, Kim Jong-un is caught in his own trap

Overweight armory, dictatorial rule doom economic and social development

By Andrew Salmon - The Washington Times - Friday, October 10, 2025

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oct/10/despite-massive-military-might-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-caught-trap/?utm

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, inspects the military exercises at an undisclosed place in North Korea, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event … more >

washingtontimes.com · Andrew Salmon

By - The Washington Times - Friday, October 10, 2025

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has been celebrating the 80th anniversary of the foundation of its ruling Korean Workers’ Party with a roster of global VIP guests and an after-dark parade of military might.

Midnight military spectacles have become a trademark of national leader Kim Jong-un.

Mr. Kim’s ever-expanding nuclear stockpile, massive intercontinental ballistic missiles and 1.2 million-strong armed forces offer him world-class military muscle.

They also represent a black hole at the heart of his rule.

His colossal investments in raw military force, combined with the dictatorial nature of his governance, leaves him with virtually no fiscal or policy wriggle room to upgrade his economy or improve his citizens’ lives.

Those behind-the-veil problems were not apparent in Pyongyang Thursday and Friday.

Basking in the enhanced national stature that the Ukraine War has brought North Korea’s soldiers, and the related polarization between the world’s democratic and authoritarian blocs, Mr. Kim’s guest list was impressive.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and former President Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam and multiple diplomatic delegations were in Pyongyang for the “10/10” celebrations.

Speaking at a packed May Day Stadium late Thursday, Mr. Kim called his nation “a bulwark for independence” against U.S. hegemony. He promised to “turn this country into a more affluent and beautiful land and into the best socialist paradise in the world.”

Outside experts warn, however, that the systems and investments that enable the “bulwark” negate the promises of a “paradise.”

Hard power prevents soft power

Friday’s events were held just days after the country’s fourth international arms expo concluded.

Hardware showcased at the expo included new classes of claimed hypersonic missiles — weapons that, via extreme speed and high maneuverability, can evade most air-defense systems. South Korean media called them a direct threat to military bases on its soil.

New ground combat systems included a vehicle-mounted anti-tank missile system, a tracked air-defense system — likely based on Russia’s Pantsir missile system — and a wheeled armored personnel carrier mounting a Russian-style cannon.

North Korea boasts zero soft power: No globally famed artist, writer, singer, philosopher, scientist, humanitarian, entrepreneur or technology whiz has emerged. Its hard power, however, underwrites its successful defiance of the U.S.-led international community.

Powerful interests are invested in keeping the military-industrial complex — the only globally competitive sector of the economy — churning. Those interests are backed by the personal interests of Mr. Kim himself, a graduate of the Kim Il Sung Military Academy.

“Elements of the [military-industrial complex] — the engineers, the rocket forces and the generals — are saying, ’These capabilities are good, but we need to develop them further,’ to justify their existence,” said Peter Ward, a North Korea watcher at Seoul’s Sejong Institute. “Kim reportedly sits up late at night reading military blogs, as he wants to have the same stuff, to be on equal terms, with the South Koreans and the Americans.”

Despite his nuclear deterrent, Mr. Kim continues to upgrade his country’s conventional weaponry, from predator drones to naval destroyers. For the outside world, those optics are scary.

While NATO nations struggle to raise defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product, Pyongyang’s military industrial complex consumes 26-27% of GDP, South Korean experts calculate.

“He may be overdoing it, he has enough for self defense,” said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Kookmin University. “The rest looks like overkill or preparation for an invasion of South Korea.”

As a supplier for Russia’s war against Ukraine, North Korea’s armory is generating income. On Oct. 7, Ukrainian media, citing the national intelligence agency, reported that Pyongyang supplies 35%-50% of the Kremlin’s front-line ammunition: 200,000-260,000 artillery shells per month, plus tactical rockets and short-range ballistic missiles.

Mr. Kim also may be able to parlay parts of his vast armory into negotiation leverage. Feasibly, he could freeze or scrap some capabilities in return for sanctions relief or other concessions from the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. or South Korea.

But he has repeatedly, publicly and vocally made clear he will never denuclearize. That indicates that in both the strategic and policy spheres, Mr. Kim is caught in a trap of his own making.

“He clings to nuclear weapons, missiles and defense as his primary achievements,” said North Korean defector Lee Hyun-seung.

With state media constantly playing up U.S. — and to a lesser extent, South Korean and Japanese — threats, Mr. Kim can claim to be his citizens’ protector against a hostile outside world.

He is keeping Pyongyang’s elite and lesser members of North Korea’s “loyal” class on his side.

“Short-term projects like water parks, ski resorts and housing” represent “quick victories,” Mr. Lee said. But they “cannot address fundamental economic stagnation, making a true pivot to an economy-first era under Kim unlikely without significant external factors like sanctions relief.”

But his relentless emphasis on arms, arms and more arms erases the chance of raising the living standards for larger swaths of his populace.

“I think there are things he would like to do If he could: If he grows the economy, military spending might shrink as a share of GDP,” Mr. Ward said. “He would like to see U.N. sanctions gone, and some foreign investment, but the military is the number one priority.”

Business bets on North Korea historically have turned bad. European investment banks, Egyptian telecommunications companies, Swiss watchmakers and South Korean mineral-water enterprises and electronic component assembly plants have all lost money.

Hopes of a social and economic opening are “Western propaganda,” Mr. Lankov said.

“If Kim chose to surrender his nukes and opened his borders and got foreign investment and built Trump Towers, he would lose, not just his power, but his life,” he said.

Opponents of systemic change are not angry peasants but defensive elites.

“If the system collapses, up to one million members of society — the best educated in the country — will have no future,” Mr. Lankov said. “They will do everything possible to keep the populace under control and ensure the prison camps are always full, not because they are sadistic, but because it’s a survival game.”

• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.

washingtontimes.com · Andrew Salmon

4. Time to resume broadcasting to North Korea

Despite what Ms. Lake said in court, as far as I can tell VOA hasn't resumed broadcasting into north Korea. I do not think there are any government broadcasts from the ROK or the Us being transmitted into north Korea.

For those who are interested in putting pressure on north Korea, the ROK and US governments have arguably removed one of the greatest capabilities to exert pressure: information. Information is so important for two reasons: since sanctions have been neutered by China and Russia information exerts greater pressure than sanctions and second, Kim Jong Un fears the Korean people more that he fears the combined ROK and US militaries and information is the fuel that creates resistance to his rule.

But the excerpt below illustrates the problem we have. We need to ask what we have used information and what we are trying to accomplish by sending information into north Korea. What effects are we trying to achieve? Is it merely to exert pressure on the regime and use it as a bargaining chip? I would argue against that. We should never give up information transmission into the north. The purpose of information is to empower the Korean people in the north and to create the conditions for change inside north Korea. The Korean people in the north need and yearn for information; therefore, we should never cut it off especially for a deal that Kim Jong Un will break as the regime has broken all others. We need to use information for strategic effects and those effects are to help the KOrean people in the north create change. By cutting offf infomraiton we are snetneicng 26 million Korean people in the north to certain suffering, torture, and death at the hands of the most despotic regime in the modern era that should not be allowed to stand.

Excerpts:

At the time of the suspension, Seoul described the halt as temporary. The military even removed loudspeakers while retaining the option to reinstall them, depending on the response from the North. The recent restoration of U.S. broadcasts shows that Washington is prepared to use information tools to get its message across. Seoul should not lag behind.

Any resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts should be calibrated and reversible. Resume transmission, monitor Pyongyang's reactions and adjust volume and content as required.

If North Korea's response proves tepid or hostile, Seoul must be prepared to drop its conciliatory posture and re-emphasize deterrence and alliance solidarity. No Korean citizen -- neither conservative nor progressive -- will celebrate a government that lets itself be publicly humiliated by Pyongyang. National dignity is not a partisan matter.

From the latest U.S. actions, one can draw a clear hint about direction: coordinate with the alliance, restore the flow of truthful information to the North and reestablish clear boundaries on strategic issues.

Voices Oct. 10, 2025 / 3:43 PM

Time to resume broadcasting to North Korea

By Nohsok Choi

https://www.upi.com/Voices/2025/10/10/perspective-US-policy-North-Korea/9751760121712/

upi.com

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Two recent shifts in U.S. policy toward North Korea deserve careful attention.

One is the resumption, after a six-month hiatus, of Voice of America broadcasts directed at the North. The other is the permanent deployment of the U.S. MQ-9 "Reaper" drone to Gunsan Air Base.

At first glance, these moves sit uneasily alongside President Trump's conciliatory signals about a possible summit with Kim Jong Un. Yet, they also send a clear message -- particularly to the Lee Jae Myung administration, which has pursued a distinctively engagement-focused policy toward Pyongyang: When it comes to North Korea, Washington still expects close coordination with Seoul.

That reality should serve as a sober reminder that South Korea needs to align its approach with allied strategy on matters of national security.

Begin with the VOA decision. In March, an executive order from President Trump cut funding for Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, prompting VOA's Korean-language radio service to suspend its broadcasts to the North.

For years, that service had been beaming into the peninsula on medium wave and shortwave at schedules timed to reach North Korean listeners in the early morning and late evening.

On Aug. 28, six months after the shutdown, VOA resumed broadcasts -- a rapid recovery from the roughly 80% drop in transmission volume recorded in May. The acting director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Kari Lake, who oversees VOA and RFA, has explained that the president's social media posts about developments in South Korea factored into the decision to restore service.

The second development is more consequential militarily. On Sept. 29, the U.S. Air Force announced the permanent basing of an MQ-9 Reaper-equipped unit at Gunsan -- the newly constituted 431st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron.

While Reapers have visited South Korea for training, this is the first time a unit organized around the platform has been stationed here. The timing is striking. The move came only weeks after Kim Jong Un stood beside President Xi Jinping at a large military parade in Beijing.

The unit's designation -- a revival of the 431st name used during World War II -- underscores the symbolic, as well as the operational, intent.

The Reaper is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned aircraft designed for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as precision-strike missions.

With a range exceeding 1,600 miles and the ability to remain airborne indefinitely with midair refueling, a Reaper unit based in Gunsan can operate not only over the Korean Peninsula -- roughly 150 miles to the north -- but also across broad swaths of the Yellow Sea and as far as Taiwan and the Chinese coast.

The platform can carry everything from Hellfire missiles to laser-guided bombs. Its demonstrated effectiveness in targeted-strike roles in other theaters makes its presence here an unmistakable enhancement of allied deterrence.

This deployment follows an earlier operational consolidation. Since July, the United States. has been relocating F-16 fighters from Gunsan to Osan Air Base, closer to the Demilitarized Zone, to create a larger, more forward-postured combat wing.

The transfer, involving 31 F-16s and about 1,000 personnel, is intended to "maximize airpower and improve combat efficiency" in the theater, according to the U.S. Air Force.

Against this backdrop of renewed U.S. informational and military pressure, the Lee administration continues to emphasize a policy of peace and reconciliation.

At the Sept.19 commemorative ceremony marking the seventh anniversary of the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, Lee pledged to restore the spirit of the accord and to pursue peace and shared prosperity on the peninsula.

He has reiterated three principles articulated in his Aug. 15 address: respect for North Korea's political system, rejection of forced absorption and a renunciation of hostile acts. The administration has pointed to its early actions -- suspending loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North and halting leaflet drops -- as evidence of its good faith.

Pyongyang's response has been unambiguous and hostile.

Kim Yo Jong's barbed rhetoric-- dismissing outreach as "a vain dream" and branding the Lee Jae Myung government Washington's "top lapdog" -- signals no softening of tone.

Kim, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has not only reviled South Korean leaders in personal terms, but has stepped up demands that Seoul and Washington recognize the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a legitimate state, even pressing for constitutional changes and for the dismantling of joint operational plans and nuclear consultative mechanisms.

Those specific operational and institutional targets - from the early-response "5022" contingency plan to the U.S.-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group - go to the heart of the alliance and constitute red lines for Seoul and Washington alike.

Given this reality, it is time for the Lee administration to ask whether its posture, which echoes past progressive governments' confidence in grand gestures of reconciliation, adequately protects South Korea's core security interests.

Washington's recent moves suggest that the alliance expects Seoul to make clearer, firmer demarcations on matters such as denuclearization and the preservation of joint operational readiness. Strategic ambiguity or unilateral concessions carry real risks when the other side openly demands the dismantling of deterrent structures and the constitutional redefinition of the Korean state.

Under these circumstances, the Lee administration should resume loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at the North along portions of the Demilitarized Zone -- a measure the government suspended immediately after taking office.

That suspension resembled earlier progressive administrations' pattern of reciprocating conciliatory steps; it produced a short-term thaw, and Pyongyang did briefly silence its own cross-border transmissions.

But that reciprocal pause did not bring a durable easing of demands. Instead, North Korea intensified efforts to undermine the U.S.-ROK alliance -- precisely the outcome Seoul cannot accept.

At the time of the suspension, Seoul described the halt as temporary. The military even removed loudspeakers while retaining the option to reinstall them, depending on the response from the North. The recent restoration of U.S. broadcasts shows that Washington is prepared to use information tools to get its message across. Seoul should not lag behind.

Any resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts should be calibrated and reversible. Resume transmission, monitor Pyongyang's reactions and adjust volume and content as required.

If North Korea's response proves tepid or hostile, Seoul must be prepared to drop its conciliatory posture and re-emphasize deterrence and alliance solidarity. No Korean citizen -- neither conservative nor progressive -- will celebrate a government that lets itself be publicly humiliated by Pyongyang. National dignity is not a partisan matter.

From the latest U.S. actions, one can draw a clear hint about direction: coordinate with the alliance, restore the flow of truthful information to the North and reestablish clear boundaries on strategic issues.

Truth is what unnerves authoritarian regimes; it is the most dangerous thing for them. Let Seoul join Washington in letting that voice be heard again.

Nohsok Choi is the former chief editor of the Kyunghyang Shinmun and former Paris correspondent. He currently serves as president of the Kyunghyang Shinmun Alumni Association, president of the Korean Media & Culture Forum and CEO of the YouTube channel One World TV.

upi.com

5. Seoul's ambiguous approach to Pyongyang meets a harsher reality

We must deal with Kim Jong Un as he really is and not as we would wish him to be. We must approach dealing with him with a full understanding of the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime.

And it is time for a new strategy in 14 words: "Unification first, then denuclearization; the path to unification is through information and human rights."

Voices Oct. 10, 2025 / 12:52 PM

Seoul's ambiguous approach to Pyongyang meets a harsher reality

https://www.upi.com/Voices/2025/10/10/perspective-reunification-recognition-north-korea/5841760111658/

By Youngjun Kim

upi.com

SEOUL, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- President Lee Jae Myung has presented himself as a realist who believes dialogue with North Korea must continue, even in the absence of progress.

Yet, his government's overtures now confront a new strategic landscape: Pyongyang no longer speaks of reunification. It seeks recognition -- as one of two sovereign states on the Korean Peninsula and as a nuclear power -- and is moving decisively to make that status official.

A new doctrine of division

In early 2024, Kim Jong Un declared that "the North and South are two hostile states." That message has since been written into party doctrine, military propaganda and constitutional reform. What once appeared as a pause in diplomacy has hardened into policy.

Recent border incidents -- including warning shots fired by South Korean forces in April, August and September after North Korean soldiers or vessels crossed the demarcation line --- show that Pyongyang is not testing dialogue. It is asserting jurisdiction.

The shift is clear: Confrontation is now part of statecraft. What North Korea wants is not reconciliation, but rather the international validation of a permanent division -- one secured by force and framed as sovereignty.

Lee's dilemma: diplomacy behind the curve

Lee's policy of "peaceful coexistence" and his END initiative -- an acronym for Engagement, Neutrality and Dialogue -- aim to stabilize relations through restraint and communication. His administration suspended loudspeaker broadcasts, reopened military hotlines and avoided talk of reunification, arguing it could be misread by the North as talk of absorption.

But those gestures look increasingly out of sync. North Korea is not waiting for conciliation; it is aligning itself with new partners.

Troubling legacies inside the administration

Several of Mr. Lee's key allies carry histories that sit uneasily beside the alliance with Washington.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, as a student in 1985, took part in the occupation of the U.S. Cultural Center in Seoul, for which he was detained. He later said it was a protest against America's silence over the Gwangju uprising, not hostility to the United States. Still, occupying a U.S. diplomatic site is a radical gesture by any measure.

Party Leader Jung Chung-rae went further. In 1989, he joined the break-in at the U.S. ambassador's residence, carrying homemade explosives -- an episode reported by the Los Angeles Times and prosecuted under South Korea's National Security Act. He served prison time for it.

And Kim Min-woong, President Kim's older brother and a professor-pastor, continues to voice open anti-U.S. sentiment. At a Candlelight Cultural Festival in Yeosu on Sept. 28, broadcast by Seoul Economic TV, he told the crowd that "the United States is obstructing peace on the Korean Peninsula" and that "the two Koreas must prepare for unification without U.S. approval."

Two weeks earlier, BreakNews reported that he had written on Facebook that America's "Cold War mindset divides our people while North Korea is unfairly demonized."

These are not marginal figures. Their words and records shape how Seoul's intentions are perceived abroad -- and how Pyongyang reads them at home.

A prophetic warning from Seoul

At the Global Peace Leadership Conference and One Korea Forum in Seoul on Aug. 14, Hyun Jin Preston Moon, chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, offered a blunt warning: "North Korea has abandoned its unification policy and now propounds the logic of two hostile states."

He argued that treating such a regime as a potential partner is not diplomacy but wishful thinking -- a moral and strategic confusion that risks normalizing division.

Pyongyang's anniversary and the message from its guests

That warning came into focus this week. On Friday, North Korea marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of its ruling party with an elaborate ceremony that China's Premier Li Qiang, Russia's Dmitry Medvedev and Vietnam's General Secretary To Lam attended.

Their presence spoke volumes. Beijing and Moscow -- both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- effectively endorsed Pyongyang's "two-state" narrative. For China, which remains South Korea's largest trading partner, the optics were striking: a show of solidarity with the North that dismissed Seoul's standing and its president's overtures.

North Korea, in other words, is not isolated. It is being courted.

The president's words and the question of trust

Lee once remarked of former President Park Geun-hye, "Because I said I respect her, she thought I truly respected her." The comment, intended as irony, has become shorthand for his political style -- courteous, clever and carefully ambiguous. Applied to foreign policy, that ambiguity can look less like tact than equivocation.

Toward a unified vision for the Korean future

North Korea's "two-state doctrine" is not a mere declaration of separation; it is a political design to erase the shared roots of the Korean people and redefine the peninsula through division and fear. Recognizing that intent is the first step toward a different future.

What Korea needs now is not another cycle of tactical engagement, but rather a unifying vision grounded in the nation's own history and identity -- the Korean Dream, a vision first articulated by Hyun Jin Preston Moon, chairman of the Global Peace Foundation.

Rooted in the ancient ethos of Hongik Ingan -- "to live for the benefit of all humanity" -- the Korean Dream envisions one people beyond two systems and calls for moral and spiritual renewal as the foundation of national unity.

That vision requires bringing together not only North and South Koreans, but also the global Korean diaspora, while securing the support of allied democracies led by the United States.

Only through such unity -- moral, historical, and strategic -- can Koreans fulfill the long-held aspiration of their civilization: to build a peaceful, reunified nation that stands as a beacon of freedom and harmony in Northeast Asia and beyond.

upi.com

6. North Korea displays new long-range missile at military parade celebrating Kim Jong Un’s leadership

Understand the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime. Kim is showing us his intent.

North Korea displays new long-range missile at military parade celebrating Kim Jong Un’s leadership

Chicago Tribune · Kim Tong-Hyung · October 11, 2025

SEOUL, South Korea — At a massive military parade attended by foreign leaders, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rolled out his nuclear-armed military’s most powerful weapons, including a new intercontinental ballistic missile he may be preparing to test in coming weeks.

The parade, which began Friday night in the rain and marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party, highlighted Kim’s growing diplomatic footing and his relentless drive to build an arsenal that could viably target the continental United States and his rivals in Asia.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the parade featured a new, yet-to-be-tested intercontinental ballistic missile called the Hwasong-20, which it described as the “most powerful nuclear strategic weapons system.”

Other weapons on display included shorter range ballistic, cruise and supersonic missiles, which the North previously described as capable of delivering nuclear strikes against targets in rival South Korea.

In a speech at the parade, Kim said his military “must continue to evolve into an invincible force that eliminates all threats,” but made no direct mention of Washington or Seoul, according to comments published by KCNA.

Photos and videos from Russia’s TASS news agency showed thousands of spectators packing the brightly lit Kim Il Sung Square, named after Kim Jong Un’s state-founding grandfather, as missile-mounted vehicles rolled past.

KCNA said the columns of soldiers who marched during the parade included “the invincible overseas operations unit that fully demonstrated the spirit of the Korean people,” suggesting they were troops Kim had sent to Russia to join the war effort against Ukraine.

The parade took place as Kim hosted a rare group of high-level foreign officials to attend the anniversary celebrations, including Chinese Premier Li Qiang; former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of Moscow’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin; and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam. The optics are likely to be used by state media to highlight Kim’s increasingly assertive foreign policy, as he embraces the idea of a “new Cold War” aimed at breaking out of isolation and seeks a larger role for North Korea in a united front against the U.S.-led West.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kim has made Russia the priority of his foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large shipments of weapons, including artillery and ballistic missiles, to help fuel Putin’s warfighting. Kim also visited China last month, and shared center stage with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin at a massive military parade, in another step aimed at strengthening his diplomatic leverage.

Kim’s government has repeatedly dismissed calls by Washington and Seoul to restart long-stalled diplomacy aimed at winding down his nuclear weapons and missile program, which derailed following the collapse of his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019 during his first term.

Originally Published: October 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM CDT

Chicago Tribune · Kim Tong-Hyung · October 11, 2025

7. The U.S. and South Korea need to salvage their tariff and investment agreement—for the sake of the alliance

We must protect the alliance or we risk cutting off our nose to spite our face. And there are those in both Seoul and Washington who no longer see the incredible strategic importance of the alliance to both countries. We need to be aware of those who are at best ambivalent and at worst would be pleased to see the alliance end and the withdrawal of US troops.

Excerpts:

South Korea’s priority is to get tariff rates down to 15% as soon as possible. Japan and the European Union now have tariffs at that level, putting South Korea at a competitive disadvantage. If Seoul walks away from its $350 billion commitment, Trump might slap even more tariffs on the country.

If the commitment is too large, the two governments can look for workarounds, such as lengthening the period of performance, contributing to the investment fund project by project, or credit recent Korean investments. Other refinements could include a dispute resolution mechanism and a joint task force to assess project viability.

But it’s in the interests of both Washington and Seoul to view these adjustments as fine-tuning an agreement both sides can tolerate, rather than as part of make-or-break negotiations where each side is ready to walk away.

The U.S. and South Korea need to salvage their tariff and investment agreement—for the sake of the alliance | Fortune

By Victor Cha

Victor Cha is president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and professor of government at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

October 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM EDT

https://fortune.com/2025/10/10/us-south-korea-tariff-trump-agreement-salvage-alliance-victor-cha/

Fortune · Victor Cha

But—as is now common under the Trump administration—those good feelings quickly soured. A brewing crisis now threatens the 72-year-old alliance and South Korea’s hosting of the APEC Summit at the end of this month.

The first sign of trouble was the lack of a joint statement at the Lee-Trump summit on August 25. That worried me, given my own experience managing U.S. alliances in Asia: These statements, often produced after the first meetings between presidents, are critical in charting out the path for both governments to follow in the coming years.

Second, disagreement over the terms of a $350 billion investment commitment made by Seoul as part of its tariff deal continues to plague Korea-U.S. relations. The Korean government agreed to capitalize a fund, plus $100 billion in U.S. energy purchases, that Trump could invest in U.S. business and manufacturing as he chooses.

But now Lee argues that the $350 billion investment agreement is too large for Korean coffers. Seoul claims the amount equals 84% of its foreign exchange reserves. Thus, fulfilling its commitment would bankrupt the Korean economy—unless Seoul gets loan guarantees and a currency swap agreement with the U.S.

Yet for Trump, a deal is a deal. He wants the full $350 billion—and he wants it in cash equity, not loans. He wants complete control over how to invest the money into U.S.-owned companies, and both sides disagree on how to share the returns from the fund’s investments.

And to make matters worse: U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly wants the Koreans to commit even more funds, approaching the $550 billion promised by Japan.

Third, ICE’s raid on the $4.3 billion Hyundai-LG EV battery plant in Georgia and the deportation of over 300 workers has outraged South Korea. The U.S. has a right to enforce its immigration laws, yet Koreans saw the raid as ill-timed and inappropriate. Seoul has now paused the massive investments that Trump hopes will bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

The alliance now looks like a train wreck in slow motion.

Trump, who once called South Korea a “money machine,” will likely scoff at Seoul’s pleas of insolvency. He’s holding off on reducing tariffs on South Korea as leverage to get what he wants on his investment demands.

It’s not clear how much longer the South Korean economy can manage the damage wrought by Trump’s tariffs. Already, the country’s No. 1 export to the U.S., autos, is down by 15% year-on-year due to new import duties. Overall, South Korea’s exports to the U.S. are down 4.1%.

Koreans, angered by images of their countrymen shackled by ICE, may choose to play hardball and continue withholding their investments. That may push Trump to double down, whether by hiking tariffs on autos and auto parts above the current 25%, or trying to use U.S. troops on the peninsula—a long-standing Trump complaint—as a bargaining chip.

Both governments must prevent these disagreements from spiraling out of control. Korean firms invest in everything from chips to ships, with U.S. investments since 2017 totaling over $500 billion, making South Korea the U.S.’s top greenfield investor.

Yet U.S. visa policies haven’t caught up to this surge in business travel spurred from this abundant investment. Trump’s administration was right to send an emissary after ICE’s Hyundai raid to express regret and negotiate a new business visa process for South Koreans, despite criticism from the more anti-immigrant MAGA base.

South Korea’s priority is to get tariff rates down to 15% as soon as possible. Japan and the European Union now have tariffs at that level, putting South Korea at a competitive disadvantage. If Seoul walks away from its $350 billion commitment, Trump might slap even more tariffs on the country.

If the commitment is too large, the two governments can look for workarounds, such as lengthening the period of performance, contributing to the investment fund project by project, or credit recent Korean investments. Other refinements could include a dispute resolution mechanism and a joint task force to assess project viability.

But it’s in the interests of both Washington and Seoul to view these adjustments as fine-tuning an agreement both sides can tolerate, rather than as part of make-or-break negotiations where each side is ready to walk away.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

Fortune · Victor Cha

8. ＜Inside N. Korea＞Continuing to Heroize Russian Deployment War Dead with Propaganda... Videos Have Significant Effect: "Some People Cry Along with Kim Jong-un's Tears”

What will be the long term effects of the war on the Korean people in the north. Will the propaganda effort keep their emotions (and more importantly for KJU their potential actions) in check? Or will there be blowback some day?

＜Inside N. Korea＞Continuing to Heroize Russian Deployment War Dead with Propaganda... Videos Have Significant Effect: "Some People Cry Along with Kim Jong-un's Tears”

asiapress.org

Photo of a body released by Ukrainian authorities in December 2024, said to be a dead North Korean soldier. South Korean authorities estimate 2,000 have died in combat.

The North Korean government is actively continuing its propaganda campaign to "lionize" young people who were deployed to Russia and died in combat. Using footage showing Kim Jong-un shedding tears, the authorities are vigorously conducting propaganda and education portraying the war dead as "heroes who sacrificed their lives for the fatherland." This report comes from a female reporting partner residing in the northern region of the country at the end of September. (ISHIMARU Jiro / KANG Ji-won)

◆ South Korean Authorities Estimate 2,000 War Dead

The Kim Jong-un regime began deploying troops to Russia, which continues its invasion of Ukraine, around October 2024. The South Korean government reports that the number has reached 15,000 so far, with war deaths estimated at 2,000.

Ukrainian authorities have released numerous videos of killed or captured North Korean soldiers since around November, but North Korea officially acknowledged the Russian deployment on May 9 of this year, when Kim Jong-un mentioned it during a speech at the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang.

It wasn't until late June that they suggested there were war casualties. Footage was released showing Kim Jong-un kneeling beside a coffin draped with the North Korean flag, placing his hand on it while shedding tears.

On August 22, Korean Central TV broadcast a ceremony honoring soldiers deployed to Russia. There were scenes of Kim Jong-un attaching medals below photos of soldiers believed to be war dead. Additionally, on the 30th, it was reported that Kim Jong-un gave a tearful speech before people identified as bereaved families of the war dead, stating they were "heroes who received the fatherland's orders and charged forward without fear of death."

asiapress.org

9. Senate approves annual defense policy bill including restrictions on USFK troop cut

This is not a guarantee. Nor should we do strategy with only a number of troops. We must think in terms of proper capabilities, forces structures, and units, not simply a number of troops.

Congress should direct that we develop the optimal force posture to secure US and alliance interests on the Korean peninsula and in the Asia-Indo-Pacific.

Senate approves annual defense policy bill including restrictions on USFK troop cut | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · Song Sang-ho · October 11, 2025

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Senate has passed an annual defense policy bill that includes a measure to restrict the Pentagon from reducing American troops in South Korea, about a month after the House of Representatives endorsed its version that calls for maintaining the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) troop level.

The upper chamber approved the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026 in a 77-20 vote on Thursday, Congress' website showed. The final text of the Senate version was not immediately available, but reports said it included the measure restricting a USFK troop reduction.

The Washington Post said that it featured a requirement for the Pentagon to brief lawmakers before pulling out any U.S. troops from Europe or South Korea. Politico, a U.S. media outlet, reported that the bill would restrict the Pentagon from paring down U.S. troop levels in Europe and South Korea.

The House passed its version in a 231-196 vote on Sept. 10.

The House bill noted the "sense of Congress" that the U.S. defense secretary should continue efforts to strengthen alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific by maintaining the presence of around 28,500 U.S. service members, affirming the U.S.' "extended deterrence" commitment and enhancing mutual defense base cooperation.

Extended deterrence refers to the U.S.' pledge to use the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend its ally.

Before its finalization, the defense bill is set to go through a series of congressional procedures, including the process of narrowing gaps between the House and Senate versions and merging their respective texts.

This file photo, taken Aug. 17, 2025, shows U.S. military helicopters parked at Camp Humphreys, a sprawling U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, some 65 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

sshluck@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · Song Sang-ho · October 11, 2025

10. N. Korea's Kim tells Russia's Medvedev that he hopes to further develop alliance

Keep the money flowing to Kim's coffers.

N. Korea's Kim tells Russia's Medvedev that he hopes to further develop alliance | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · Kim Soo-yeon · October 11, 2025

SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has told Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, expressing his hope to further develop alliance between the two nations, the North's state media reported Saturday, as Pyongyang has voiced unconditional support for Moscow's war against Ukraine.

Kim met with Medvedev, chief of the ruling United Russia party, the previous day and exchanged views on issues of mutual concern, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim welcomed his trip that was made to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Oct. 10 founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).

Medvedev's visit "will serve as a significant opportunity in more vigorously expanding and developing the fresh high level of DPRK-Russia relations into the strong and comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance," Kim said, using the acronym of North Korea's official name.

Kim hoped the WPK and Russia's party will "steadily boost cooperation and more closely conduct many-sided exchange and contact," according to the KCNA.

In response, Medvedev said the "bravery and self-sacrificing spirit" of North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia for the Ukraine war "proved the solidity of the fraternal ties between the two countries, the special relations of trust and the invincibility of the alliance forged at the cost of blood," the KCNA added.

Medvedev is among foreign guests invited to the North's events marking the party anniversary, including Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Vietnam's leader To Lam.

In a joint statement with the WPK on Thursday, United Russia expressed "firm support" for measures taken by North Korea to bolster its defense capabilities. It did not specify what "measures" means, but experts said Russia's ruling party appears to acknowledge North Korea's nuclear weapons development.

The North's leader Kim Jong-un (R) speaks with Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, at a stadium in Pyongyang, where celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea were being held, on Oct. 9, 2025, in this photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

sooyeon@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · Kim Soo-yeon · October 11, 2025

11. Presidential office says closely monitoring developments regarding N. Korea's military parade

The most used "strategic word" when it comes to north Korea is "monitor."

Presidential office says closely monitoring developments regarding N. Korea's military parade | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · Oh Seok-min · October 11, 2025

SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office said Saturday it is closely monitoring developments related to North Korea's military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of its ruling party.

"It is fundamentally an internal event of North Korea," an official from the presidential office said. "We are keeping a close watch on related movements."

North Korea held the massive parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang the previous day to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, which was attended by leader Kim Jong-un; Chinese Premier Li Qiang; Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council; and Vietnam's leader To Lam, among others.

During the event, Pyongyang showcased its new Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, along with hypersonic missiles and other weapons systems, in a show of its advanced missile capabilities.

North Korea shows off a newly developed Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile during a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on Oct. 10, 2025, to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party of Korea, in this photo captured from the North's Korean Central TV the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

graceoh@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · Oh Seok-min · October 11, 2025

12. Trump threatens to cancel meeting with Xi at APEC, unveils plan for additional 100 pct tariffs on China

A damper on South Korea's APEC party?

(4th LD) Trump threatens to cancel meeting with Xi at APEC, unveils plan for additional 100 pct tariffs on China | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · Song Sang-ho · October 11, 2025

(ATTN: RECASTS headline; ADDS more info in paras 5-6)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Friday to cancel a plan to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a multilateral forum in South Korea late this month, criticizing Beijing's move to impose export controls on rare earths, but he said he will be in Korea "regardless."

Excoriating Beijing for taking an "extraordinarily aggressive position" on trade, Trump also announced plans to impose an additional 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods, starting Nov. 1, and implement export controls on all critical software on the same day.

"I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so," he wrote in a post on Truth Social, referring to the multilateral gathering that Korea will host in the southeastern city of Gyeongju from Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

His remarks cast uncertainty over the prospects of the much-anticipated meeting between Trump and Xi, at which the two sides are expected to primarily discuss pending trade issues. The fate of the meeting is expected to hinge on how Beijing responds.

During a press availability later in the day, Trump struck a more cautious tone when he responded to a question about whether he has called off the meeting with Xi.

"I don't know that we're going to have it," he told reporters at the White House. "But I'm going to be there regardless. So I would assume we might have it."

In the post, Trump said that China is sending letters to countries to tell them that it wants to impose export controls on "each and every element of production having to do with rare earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it's not manufactured in China."

"Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would 'clog' the Markets, and make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Oct. 10, 2025, in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap)

The United States and other countries have been sensitive to China's restrictions on rare earths as they are critical elements used in the production of electronic devices, weapons systems and other consumer tech products.

Trump said that his administration has been contacted by other countries that are "extremely angry" about China's move.

"Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one," he said.

He went on to say that there is no way China should be allowed to "hold the world captive."

"But that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the 'Magnets' and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least," the president said.

In a separate post later in the day, Trump said that China's trade measure affects all countries "without exception," arguing that it is "absolutely unheard of in International Trade and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations."

"Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100 percent on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying," he said.

"Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software."

Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that with the APEC summit in just over two weeks, it is unclear whether Washington and Beijing are willing to de-escalate at this juncture to save the meeting between Trump and Xi.

"Seoul must be watching this back and forth with dismay, particularly if it makes Trump a 'no show' for the APEC meeting, the first it has hosted in twenty years," she said in her commentary.

She also said that Trump's latest post shows "how fragile the emerging detente between the two countries really is."

"Beijing has become increasingly assertive, believing it has the upper hand in the bilateral relationship. Moreover, the Chinese seem to have concluded that Trump so desperately wants a face-to-face meeting with Xi that he is willing to overlook China's recently announced restrictions on rare-earth metals," she said.

"The Truth Social post ... clearly shows otherwise. It shows that two can play this game, threatening new tariffs and even a cancellation of his upcoming meeting with President Xi. The China hawks in the Trump administration must be thinking, 'I told you so.'"

sshluck@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · Song Sang-ho · October 11, 2025

13. Kim Jong-un's Daughter Absent From North Korea Military Parade

Oh no. Perhaps she could not get a pass to get out of school?

Kim Jong-un's Daughter Absent From North Korea Military Parade

Analysis Suggests Absence Aimed at Highlighting Diplomatic Solidarity With Socialist Allies

https://www.chosun.com/english/north-korea-en/2025/10/11/FCAA2VO74RFS7JSDIUVZSUAFSQ/

By Kim Dong-ha

Published 2025.10.11. 15:08

Updated 2025.10.12. 00:35

At a civil defense forces military parade marking the 75th anniversary of North Korea's government establishment in September 2023, Park Jeong-chun, head of the military's political guidance department and a key figure in North Korea's military, whispers to Ju-ae, the daughter of Kim Jong-un. /KCNA-TV·Yonhap

At the military parade held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on the 10th, the reviewing stand where Kim Jong-un was seated was joined by second-in-command figures from China and Russia. To Kim Jong-un’s right stood Li Qiang, the State Council Premier and second in power in China; to his left was Tô Lâm, the Communist Party Secretary-General and top leader of Vietnam; and next to him stood Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and Chairman of the United Russia Party, a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae has not been mentioned in North Korean media as of the 11th and has not appeared in any reported photographs.

Ju-ae was seen accompanying Kim Jong-un when he arrived at Beijing Station on the 2nd of last month to attend the Chinese victory day military parade and when he returned to Pyongyang on the 5th after all schedules were completed. However, she did not appear at the Chinese victory day military parade on September 3rd, where the leaders of North Korea, China, and Russia gathered.

As this military parade was an internal political event in North Korea, attention was focused on Ju-ae’s appearance. However, based on the photographs and reports released by North Korea so far, it appears more likely that she did not attend the parade.

It is analyzed that Kim Jong-un may have intentionally not featured Ju-ae to highlight the purpose of strengthening solidarity with socialist countries and expanding diplomatic reach through this military parade.

Ju-ae has previously attended two North Korean military parades. She was on the reviewing stand at the 75th anniversary military parade for the founding of the Korean People’s Army in February 2023 and the 75th anniversary military parade for the founding of the government (September 9th) in September of the same year. At the time, a scene was also publicly released where Park Jeong-chun, a vice chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission and the highest-ranking officer in the North Korean military, knelt down and whispered to Ju-ae.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a nighttime military parade held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on the 10th to mark the 80th anniversary of the party's founding with key foreign guests. From left: Li Qiang, Chinese Premier of the State Council, Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party, Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council. /Rodong Sinmun·News1

According to the Ministry of Unification, North Korea marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party this year with a more grandiose commemoration ceremony than ever before. During the 70th anniversary event in 2015, party and government delegations from six countries, including China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines, and Russia, attended, while no foreign guests were invited for the 75th anniversary in 2020 due to the aftermath of COVID-19.

This year, a total of 11 foreign guests from countries including China, Russia, Vietnam, Laos, Nicaragua, Mexico, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Iran, Venezuela, and Indonesia attended.

Prior to the 2015 and 2020 commemorations, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not separately visit the Party Founding History Museum or hold an ‘armed equipment exhibition,’ but this year, Chairman Kim delivered a speech at the Party Founding History Museum on the 8th and also held an armed equipment exhibition to showcase North Korean weapons to foreign guests.

· This article has been translated by Upstage Solar AI.

14. US jury orders Samsung to pay $445.5 mil. in patent infringement suit: reports

US jury orders Samsung to pay $445.5 mil. in patent infringement suit: reports - The Korea Times

The Korea Times · ListenListenText SizePrint

A U.S. federal jury has ordered Samsung Electronics to pay $445.5 million in damages after finding that the South Korean company infringed multiple wireless network technology patents held by an American firm, according to foreign media reports Saturday.

According to the reports from Reuters and other outlets, the federal jury in Marshall, Texas, ruled Friday (U.S. time) that Samsung violated four patents owned by Collision Communications, a New Hampshire-based company specializing in wireless network efficiency technologies.

The jury determined that Samsung's products, including its Galaxy smartphones and notebook computers with wireless functions, infringed the patents in question.

Collision Communications filed the lawsuit against Samsung in 2023, claiming infringement of its proprietary technology.

The Korea Times · ListenListenText SizePrint

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

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com

If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:

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

Access NSS HERE

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