Quotes of the Day:
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
- Marie Curie
“there are only two sources of human vice—idleness and superstition, and only two virtues—activity and intelligence.”
- Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
"Deep listening is miraculous for both the listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judgmental, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.”
- Sue Patton Soele
1. Large-scale defense exhibition to open next week (South Korea)
2. N.K. leader calls for boosting military capabilities but says enemy is 'war itself'
3. Top security adviser to discuss end-of-war declaration, other issues with U.S.
4. Kim Jong-un blames U.S. for tensions as Pyongyang showcases weaponry
5. North Korea Displays Large Missile Arsenal Amid Stalled Talks
6. At exhibition showing off nuclear arms, N. Korea displays apparent new weapon
7. North Korea: Kim Jong-un vows to build 'invincible military'
8. ROCKET MAN Kim Jong-un poses near HUGE nuclear missile and warns of war with US and South Korea
9. It's an Allegory: North Korea Website Says 'Squid Game' Reflects South Korea's 'Beastly' Society
10. Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Makes Important Speech
11. Kim Jong Un Makes Commemorative Speech at Defence Development Exhibition
12. North Korea’s costly COVID response is pushing Kim Jong-un to play political games
13. North Korea's Kim notes 'grim' economy while marking anniversary of ruling party
14. How to Counter North Korea’s Provocative Missile Threats
1. Large-scale defense exhibition to open next week (South Korea)
And how will this compare to north Korea's this week? :-)
Large-scale defense exhibition to open next week | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- A biennial defense exhibition will open in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, next week to showcase cutting-edge military hardware both at home and abroad, its organizers said Tuesday.
The Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2021 is set to begin its five-day run Tuesday at Seoul Air Base, with some 440 defense and other companies from 28 countries presenting their products, the organizers said.
Among the items on display will be large hydrogen-fuel drones, virtual reality-based training systems, laser weapons systems, multi-purpose unmanned vehicles, as well as dozens of military aircraft, such as FA-50 fighters.
Seoul's defense ministry will set up a promotional facility to showcase various unmanned military systems for aerial, ground and maritime operations, which are produced domestically and used by South Korea's armed forces.
Some 300 top military and defense officials from 45 countries, including defense ministers, will visit South Korea during the exhibition period, the officials said.
Organizers said thorough anti-virus measures will be in place, such as allowing only those who are fully vaccinated or have negative COVID-19 tests to enter the exhibition site and checking body temperatures of all visitors twice.
From Tuesday to Friday, the exhibition is open for those in industrial, research, academic and military fields. The general public can visit the exhibition Saturday.
The exhibition was first launched in 1996 as the Seoul Air Show with an aim to promote the country's defense firms, as well as to enhance exchanges of global technologies. It was expanded to incorporate ground military assets in 2009.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
2. N.K. leader calls for boosting military capabilities but says enemy is 'war itself'
I have to admit that Kim is executing a shrewd political warfare strategy. He is feeding right into exactly what all the Kim Jong-un apologists and appeasers want to hear as they ponce on every indication that Kim has changed his nature and his strategy.
Time for The Who: "Won't Get Fooled Again."
(LEAD) N.K. leader calls for boosting military capabilities but says enemy is 'war itself' | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with more remarks; ADDS photo)
By Choi Soo-hyang
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for boosting the country's military capabilities to counter what he called "hostile forces" against Pyongyang but said the move is not aimed at a war against South Korea or the United States.
Kim made the remarks Monday in a speech at a defense development exhibition to mark the 76th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party, criticizing Seoul and Washington over their combined military exercises and weapons development.
"The United States has been frequently signaling that it's not hostile to our country, but there has been no behavioral ground to believe that it is not," Kim said. "For our descendants we need to be strong. We need to first be strong."
The remarks came less than two weeks after North Korea tested a new anti-aircraft missile in its fourth missile launch in September alone.
"The military threats our country is facing is different from what we saw 10, five or three years ago," Kim said, adding that tensions on the Korean Peninsula will not be easily resolved "due to the U.S."
He accused Seoul of being "hypocritical" and having "double standards" for continuing to boost military capabilities, while talking ostensibly of "peace, cooperation and prosperity."
Expressing "strong regrets," Kim said the North will respond with "strong actions" if South Korea continues to "infringe upon our rights to self-defense."
Yet, Kim also said the enhancement of its military is not targeting South Korea, saying the "horrific history" of a conflict among the same people should not be repeated "on this land."
"Our enemy is war itself, not a certain country or forces like South Korea and the U.S.," Kim said. "But our external efforts for peace does not in any way mean giving up our rights to self-defense."
scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. Top security adviser to discuss end-of-war declaration, other issues with U.S.
Perhaps since Kim says the north is at war with war itself he will be amenable to an end of war declaration. But if we pursue this end of war declaration (which I think the Moon administration will press for between now and May to cement his legacy as the "peace president" ) we must ensure the security of the ROK is maintain and that means there must be a reduction in conventional forces from their offensive positions along the DMZ. An end of war declaration must include an end to the north Korean hostile policy which means removing all the artillery from the Kaesong Heights and front line position and as well as withdrawal of all maneuver forces (tanks, infantry, and mechanized vehicles) at least 20-40 KM north of the DMZ. Anything less than that means Kim continues implementation of his hostile policy toward the ROK.
Top security adviser to discuss end-of-war declaration, other issues with U.S. | Yonhap News Agency
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- A top South Korean national security official said Monday that he plans to discuss President Moon Jae-in's recent proposal for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and other issues with senior U.S. officials in Washington this week.
Suh Hoon, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, made the remarks upon arrival in the U.S., as Seoul strives to bring North Korea back to dialogue and pave the way for the resumption of nuclear talks between the United States and the North, following the recent reactivation of inter-Korean communication lines.
Suh, who serves as the national security adviser to Moon, is expected to meet with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan in Washington on Tuesday.
"As inter-Korean communication channels are back up and running, I believe we are at a time when there is a need to check inter-Korean ties and relations between the North and the U.S., and have overall consultations," Suh said.
Asked if he anticipates a positive response from the U.S. regarding the proposed end-of-war declaration, Suh said that the issue is among the agenda items.
During the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September, Moon renewed his proposal for the political declaration involving the two Koreas and the U.S. or the two Koreas, the U.S. and China, as he has pushed to advance his stalled agenda for a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Suh also plans to discuss the issue of sanctions relief with the U.S. side.
"Should nuclear negotiations proceed, the issue of sanctions relief is a matter to be discussed together anyway," Suh said.
South Korea and the U.S. have recently been strengthening their communication to resume engagement with the North through humanitarian and other incentives, with Washington stressing it has no hostile intent and is willing to meet with the North anywhere and anytime without preconditions.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. Kim Jong-un blames U.S. for tensions as Pyongyang showcases weaponry
Perhaps Kim Jong-un is holding his "convention" with displays of his weaponry to compete with the AUSA convention in DOC this week?
Every time Kim talks about the hostile policy of the US we need to remind the world of Kim's hostil policy toward the ROK? His forces are postured for offensive operations and pose an existential threat to the South. Nothing could be more hostile than that.
Kim Jong-un blames U.S. for tensions as Pyongyang showcases weaponry
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un surrounded by military members next to what appears to be a hypersonic missile at the National Defense Development Exhibition "Self-Defense 2021," according to the Korean Central News Agency. Photo: KCNA
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared while attending a weapons exhibition that the country had "invincible" defense capabilities as he accused the U.S. of being the source of regional tensions, state media reported Tuesday.
Why it matters: Kim said in a speech at Monday's event that the country was strengthening its weapons arsenal but didn't want a war, per the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
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He accused the U.S. of being "hostile" as he stood next to weapons including the "Hwasong-16, North Korea's largest ICBM, unveiled at a military parade in October 2020, but not yet test fired," Reuters reports.
Between the lines: KCNA released a photo of Kim standing next to what appears to be a hypersonic missile that the North Korean military claimed to have tested last month. The authenticity of the weapon could not be immediately verified and experts couldn't rule out it being fake.
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Vipin Narang, a nuclear security expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the Washington Post the weapon had a similar resemblance to China's hypersonic glider, the DF-17, but said it's too early to tell whether it's "legit."
- "More generally, Kim wants to show us that his deterrent is not only 'complete,' but that he continues to work on improving survivability and penetrability against both [South Korea] and the U.S., like 'normal' nuclear powers do," Narang added.
What else he's saying: Kim also criticized South Korea's government for having a "hypocritical attitude" for denouncing North Korea's weapons program while conducting its own tests and developing its own arsenal — including the purchase of U.S.-made F-35 stealth fighters, Reuters notes.
The big picture: The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency said in August that North Korea's military appeared to have resumed operations at a key nuclear reactor that's believed to produce fuel for nuclear weapons.
What to watch: A spokesperson for South Korea's defense ministry said that Seoul and Washington intelligence agencies were examining the images of the weapons featured at the exhibition, per Reuters.
- White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan was due to meet with his South Korean counterpart, Suh Hoon, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Reuters notes.
- The Biden administration did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
5. North Korea Displays Large Missile Arsenal Amid Stalled Talks
I guess the north outdid our AUSA convention with the fly by in the photo below.
North Korea Displays Large Missile Arsenal Amid Stalled Talks
The country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, says he doesn’t believe the Biden administration’s assertions that it has no hostile intent against his country.
Outside the exhibition hall in Pyongyang, North Korea, an air force squadron flew overhead, leaving behind streaks of red, blue and yellow smoke, in this undated photo released by state media on Tuesday.Credit...Korean Central News Agency/Via Reuters
By
Oct. 12, 2021Updated 1:05 a.m. ET
SEOUL — North Korea on Monday showed off its growing arsenal of missiles in one of its largest-ever exhibitions of military gear, as its leader, Kim Jong-un, said he didn’t believe repeated assertions by the United States that it harbored no hostile intent toward his country.
The display of might occurred a day after the North marked the 76th anniversary of its ruling Workers Party. It had often celebrated such anniversaries with large military parades. But this year, it instead staged an indoor exhibition of its missile forces on Monday, and on Tuesday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency carried the text of Mr. Kim’s speech at the event.
Mr. Kim vowed to further build up his country’s military might.
“The U.S. has frequently signaled it’s not hostile to our state, but there is no action-based evidence to make us believe that they are not hostile,” he said.
He called the United States “hypocritical” for helping South Korea boost its missile and other military forces in the name of “deterring” North Korea — just as it was condemning the North’s own development and tests of missiles as “provocations.” He said his missiles were for self-defense and peace, not for war, adding that he had no intention of giving them up.
“Our enemy is war itself, not a certain country or forces like South Korea and the U.S.,” Mr. Kim said. “But our external efforts for peace does not in any way mean giving up our rights to self-defense.”
Photos from the exhibition showed an array of new missiles that North Korea has tested or unveiled in the past five years. The display included what looked like a hypersonic missile, submarine-launched ballistics missiles and a new, untested intercontinental ballistic missile that made its first public appearance in a military parade last October. That missile looked bigger than the three long-range missiles North Korea launched in 2017, before Mr. Kim started his diplomacy with Donald J. Trump, then the U.S. president.
The exhibition was one of the biggest displays of weaponry North Korea has staged in recent years. It came as Washington repeatedly urged the country to return to nuclear disarmament negotiations.
The Biden administration has said that negotiations can be held “any time, anywhere” and “without preconditions,” adding that it has “no hostile intent” toward the isolated country.
But North Korea insists that it will consider resuming dialogue only if Washington proves it’s not hostile — and not just by word, but “through action.”
Kim Jong-un, speaking on Monday at the exhibition, said his missiles were for self-defense and peace, and that he had no intention of giving them up.Credit...Korean Central News Agency /Via Reuters
Such demands have complicated all previous efforts by the United States and South Korea to engage the North in dialogue. The allies previously coaxed North Korea into returning to the negotiating table by offering humanitarian aid and scaling down or canceling their joint military drills.
But multiple rounds of negotiations between North Korea and several U.S. administrations have all failed to end its nuclear weapons program.
Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump met three times between 2018 and 2019. But they failed to agree on how to roll back the North’s nuclear weapons program. Mr. Kim offered to dismantle only a portion of his country’s nuclear facilities in return for lifting sanctions. But the talks collapsed when Mr. Trump rejected that proposal, demanding a more comprehensive dismantlement of the North’s nuclear arsenal.
Since Mr. Kim’s second summit meeting with Mr. Trump ended without an agreement in early 2019, North Korea has refused to restart negotiations. Instead, it resumed missile tests — mostly with short-range ballistic missiles — and unveiled plans to build the kind of sophisticated weapons only the world’s major military powers possessed, such as a nuclear-powered submarine.
Among the military weapons on display were the country’s intercontinental ballistic missiles.Credit...Korean Central News Agency/Via Reuters
The military exhibition was meant to reassure North Koreans that their country’s military might has been expanding rapidly under Mr. Kim’s decade-old rule. It featured a new tank, as well as new solid-fuel missiles mounted on mobile launchers that the North has tested since 2019. The solid-fuel missiles signified major strides in the North’s missile technology because they are easier to transport and hide, and take less time to prepare for launching.
The display of might comes as his country’s economy has been hamstrung by the pandemic and years of international sanctions.
Outside the exhibition hall, North Korean soldiers displayed their martial-art skills while an air force squadron flew overhead, leaving behind streaks of red, blue and yellow smoke, photos released through state news media showed. Paratroopers descended from the sky with a Worker’s Party flag.
“We are a nuclear power with self-reliance,” a large banner said. Another banner read, “We are a great missile power.”
6. At exhibition showing off nuclear arms, N. Korea displays apparent new weapon
Kim Jong-un is getting what he wants: Media coverage in all the major news outlets. He wants to be seen and heard! The irony is that he may be getting more press by not holding the usually military parade.
At exhibition showing off nuclear arms, N. Korea displays apparent new weapon
TOKYO — North Korea showcased its latest nuclear and military weaponry during a “self-defense” exhibition on Monday, including a version of the “hypersonic” weapon that Pyongyang said it tested last month.
Officials displayed a variety of weapons at the event, including intercontinental ballistic missiles and a new long-range cruise missile, according to state media photos released Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a speech that the country was building up its self-defense capabilities according to its military plan and “not discussing war with anyone,” state media reported.
Among the weapons on display was the Hwasong-8, which North Korea claims to be a “hypersonic” glide vehicle and the latest advance in its expanding weapons program.
Hypersonic weapons fly at low altitudes and are much more maneuverable than traditional ballistic missiles, which makes them difficult to track and intercept. They are some of the latest warfare technology being developed by major military powers such as China, Russia and the United States.
The photo released Tuesday offers a glimpse into North Korea’s ambitions to develop its hypersonic weapon program, which South Korean officials have said appears to be still in its early stages. North Korea had previously released just one photo, which showed a silhouette of the hypersonic glide vehicle midflight.
While the new photo shows North Korea may have developed a viable aerodynamic design, the weapon’s in-flight capabilities remain unclear, experts said.
The photo provided a much clearer look at the apparent weapon, though Pyongyang might have displayed a mock-up, said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Even though the shape is right, it’s difficult to ascertain how it’d actually perform in flight.”
Panda added that the testing of hypersonic gliders require specialized facilities, including hypersonic wind tunnels, which are not known to exist in North Korea.
Vipin Narang, a nuclear security expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the missile had a similar look to the Chinese hypersonic glider, the DF-17.
“It’s very hard to tell publicly if the hypersonic missile is legit or how it performs. The intelligence community would have likely tried to characterize the [hypersonic glide vehicle] when it was tested, but the pictures released tonight are what North Korea wants us to see,” Narang said.
In recent weeks, North Korea has conducted several missile tests designed to showcase milestone developments in its military and nuclear weapons program.
Kim said in his Monday speech that Pyongyang is working toward developing defense capabilities in the face of growing military ambitions by South Korea and the United States, which raises “the urgency to further strengthen ourselves.”
“More generally, Kim wants to show us that his deterrent is not only ‘complete’ but that he continues to work on improving survivability and penetrability against both [South Korea] and the U.S., like ‘normal’ nuclear powers do,” Narang said.
7. North Korea: Kim Jong-un vows to build 'invincible military'
Photos at the link. Note the fashion statement Kim is making wearing open sandals with his western business suit. If the photo does not come through please go to the link.
Note the analysis from intrepid journalist Laura Bicker from the BBC:
Mr Kim, unusually, wore sandals with socks paired with a formal dark suit at the exhibition, prompting some renewed speculation outside North Korea that this could be related to his health.
Mr Kim is thought to have had medical problems linked to his weight, including gout which can result in foot swellings. He had been seen limping in public in the past.
Reuters quoted Colin Zwirko, an analyst with Seoul-based NK News, as saying: "He lost a significant amount of weight in a short period in May, and in September he was seen standing on padded mats during long speeches, which is not typical."
North Korea: Kim Jong-un vows to build 'invincible military'
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IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,North Korea says it needs to continue developing weapons for its protection
North Korea's leader has vowed to build an "invincible military" in the face of what it says are hostile policies from the United States, state media report.
Kim Jong-un added that weapons development was for self-defence, and not to start a war.
Mr Kim made the comments at a rare defence exhibition while flanked by a variety of large missiles.
North Korea has recently tested what it claims to be new hypersonic and anti-aircraft missiles.
The South meanwhile has recently tested its own submarine-launched weapon.
In his speech at the Self-Defence 2021 exhibition held in the North's capital, Pyongyang, Mr Kim addressed the military build-up in the South and said that North Korea did not want to fight its neighbour.
"We are not discussing war with anyone, but rather to prevent war itself and to literally increase war deterrence for the protection of national sovereignty," he said.
Mr Kim, surrounded by an array of military hardware including tanks, accused the US of stoking tensions between North and South Korea.
He said there was "no behavioural basis" to make North Korea believe that the US was not hostile.
The US under President Joe Biden has repeatedly said it is willing to talk to North Korea, but has demanded Pyongyang give up nuclear weapons before sanctions can be eased. North Korea has so far refused.
Kim Jong-un didn't just talk about his new military might - he showed it to us.
This was the equivalent of a military parade. We have not seen this kind of defence exhibition since Mr Kim took power.
Surrounded by intercontinental ballistic missiles and portraits of him dressed in military uniform, he told those gathered that he felt "bottomless pride" as he touched the missiles.
And he made it clear that he's not done building his arsenal, which he says he needs as a deterrent.
He vowed to continue work on his wish list of weapons, while noting that South Korea was doing the same by building up its defence force in recent years.
This is Mr Kim's way of telling those criticising his arms programme that they are hypocrites. He wants Pyongyang to have the right to build up its military - just like Seoul.
Yet, just days earlier he urged his officials to focus on improving the lives of North Korean people as they face a "grim" economic situation.
With limited funds and under strict economic sanctions, can he really build an "invincible" force and help his people?
And if it comes to a choice - what will it be?
North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons by the UN. It has repeatedly flouted these bans and has been heavily sanctioned as a result.
Last month, the UN atomic agency said North Korea appeared to have restarted a reactor which could produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, calling it a "deeply troubling" development.
North Korea has always maintained that it needs to continue developing weapons for defence.
But observers say it is also being used as a way to rally the impoverished country. North Korea is thought to be in dire economic straits after authorities shut borders to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Crucial supplies like food and fuel have been cut off from China, North Korea's main political and economic ally.
Mr Kim, unusually, wore sandals with socks paired with a formal dark suit at the exhibition, prompting some renewed speculation outside North Korea that this could be related to his health.
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,Kim Jong-un's choice of footwear was remarked upon
Mr Kim is thought to have had medical problems linked to his weight, including gout which can result in foot swellings. He had been seen limping in public in the past.
Reuters quoted Colin Zwirko, an analyst with Seoul-based NK News, as saying: "He lost a significant amount of weight in a short period in May, and in September he was seen standing on padded mats during long speeches, which is not typical."
Media caption,Why does North Korea keep launching missiles?
8. ROCKET MAN Kim Jong-un poses near HUGE nuclear missile and warns of war with US and South Korea
ROCKET MAN Kim Jong-un poses near HUGE nuclear missile and warns of war with US and South Korea
- Jack Williams
- 5:06, 12 Oct 2021Updated: 8:21, 12 Oct 2021
NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong-un posed next to a nuclear missile as he warned "hostile" policies from the US and South Korea could lead to war.
Kim made the remarks while standing beside North Korea's largest missiles, declaring that Pyongyang was only increasing its military in self-defence and not to start a war.
3
Kim Jong-un has claimed his country's weapons development is necessary in the face of hostile policies from the United States and a military buildup in South KoreaCredit: EPA
3
Kim made the comments in a speech at the Defence Development Exhibition on Monday, where he was seen next to a huge nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missileCredit: Reuters
The leader made the comments in a speech at the Defence Development Exhibition on Monday, according to a report by state news agency KCNA.
Kim was standing next to a variety of weapons, including the country's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), photos in the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed.
Among them was the Hwasong-16, North Korea's largest ICBM, unveiled at a military parade in October 2020, but not yet test fired.
'INCREASE DETERRENCE'
"We are not discussing war with anyone, but rather to prevent war itself and to literally increase war deterrence for the protection of national sovereignty," he said, adding that North Korea's main enemy is "war itself".
The two Koreas have been in an accelerating arms race, with both sides testing increasingly advanced short-range ballistic missiles and other hardware.
South Korea, which recently test fired its first submarine-launched ballistic missile, plans to build major new weapons include aircraft carriers, and has bought American-made F-35 stealth fighters.
North Korea has pushed ahead with its missile programme, and analysts say it has begun a major expansion of its main nuclear reactor, used to produce fuel for nuclear bombs.
The United States has said it is willing to hold diplomatic talks at any time with North Korea. Pyongyang has said it is not interested as long as Washington maintains policies such as sanctions and military activities in South Korea.
The United States' assertions that it holds no hostile feelings toward North Korea are hard to believe in the face of its continued "wrong judgments and actions," Kim said, without elaborating.
MISSLE PROGRAMS
South Korea's national security advisor, Suh Hoon, is expected to meet with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan in Washington on Tuesday to discuss North Korea.
When he arrived in Washington on Monday, Suh told reporters he planned to discuss President Moon Jae-in's proposal for a formal declaration ending the 1950-1953 Korean War - which ended in an armistice, not a formal peace treaty - and for possible easing of sanctions on North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.
Last week the two Koreas restored their hotlines that the North severed months ago, with Pyongyang urging Seoul to step up efforts to improve relations after criticising what it called double standards over weapons development. read more
South Korea's "unrestricted and dangerous" efforts to strengthen its military is "destroying the military balance in the Korean peninsula and increasing military instability and danger," Kim said in his speech on Monday.
"Under the absurd pretext of suppressing our threats, South Korea has openly expressed its desire to gain an edge over us in military power on various occasions," he added.
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Kim took aim at what he said are hostile policies by the United StatesCredit: Reuters
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Kim Jong-un ‘ramps up uranium production for nukes days after ballistic missile launches in chilling threat to West’
9. It's an Allegory: North Korea Website Says 'Squid Game' Reflects South Korea's 'Beastly' Society
No surprise that the regime's Propaganda and Agitation department would jump on this.
It's an Allegory: North Korea Website Says 'Squid Game' Reflects South Korea's 'Beastly' Society
By Health News U.S. News & World Report2 min
FILE PHOTO: The Netflix series "Squid Game" is played on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/IllustrationReuters
By Josh Smith
SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean propaganda website said on Tuesday that the international Netflix hit "Squid Game" exposes the reality of South Korean capitalist culture where "corruption and immoral scoundrels are commonplace".
North Korea's Arirang Meari site cited unnamed South Korean film critics as saying that the TV series shows an "unequal society where moneyless people are treated like chess pieces for the rich."
Made in South Korea, the nine-part thriller, in which cash-strapped contestants play deadly childhood games in a bid to win 45.6 billion won ($38 million), became a worldwide sensation https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-media-idUSKBN29P0C4 for Netflix when it was released in September.
"It is said that it makes people realize the sad reality of the beastly South Korean society in which human beings are driven into extreme competition and their humanity is being wiped out," the article said.
North Korea has been imposing stiff fines or prison for anyone caught enjoying South Korean entertainment or copying the way South Koreans speak as leader Kim Jong Un steps up a war on outside influences https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-media-idUSKBN29P0C4 and calls for better homegrown entertainment.
A sweeping new “anti-reactionary thought” law was imposed late last year, including up to 15 years in a prison camp for those caught with media from South Korea, according to summaries of the rules obtained by Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that reports from sources inside North Korea.
South Korean culture in routinely criticised in North Korea. In March, the Arirang Meari website said K-pop stars were treated like “slaves” by large companies and lived a “miserable life” in the South.
In February 2020, a pro-North Korea newspaper based in Japan praised Academy Awards best picture-winning South Korean movie “Parasite”, calling it a masterpiece https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-oscar-parasite-northkorea-idUSKBN20F1CU that “starkly exposed the reality” of the rich-poor gap in South Korea.
(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Copyright 2021 Thomson Reuters.
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10. Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Makes Important Speech
Interestingly I have not found the transcript to the actual speech from Sunday. This Is a report about the speech. However, there is a transcript of the speech he gave today at the "exhibition")
Just a reminder that north Korea is a revolutionary nation in addition to being a rogue power, founded on the myth of anti-Japanese partisan warfare.
Excerpts:
Briefing about the historic revolutions and grandiose changes that our Party with the strong root of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle have brought about while advancing policies toward socialism, ensuring the birth of the people's power and firmly maintaining the independent line and strategic and tactical policies from the very day of its foundation, he appreciated the exploits of the WPK which has defended the dignity, honor and heroic nature of our state and proved the viability of true socialism with its seasoned leadership, breaking through the unprecedented fateful difficulties facing the country.
He said the greatest exploit our Party performed in the whole course of its revolutionary leadership is that it has brought up the people of a distress-torn nation, small and weak, to be a great and excellent people single-heartedly rallied around the Party and the leader with strong self-esteem and creativity, noting that as it has always given precedence to educating, training and rallying the popular masses, the motive force for the revolution, it could have preserved the true nature of socialism and advanced the Korean revolution in the vortex of troublous history.
Making an analysis that the key to our Party's great ever-victorious record lies in that it has pioneered and invariably followed the most correct and scientific path of party-building, he stressed that in order to successfully lead the revolutionary struggle and construction, it is necessary to strengthen our Party itself, the general staff of the revolution, into the iron-willed vanguard and continuously deepen its strengthening along with the changes of the times.
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Makes Important Speech
Pyongyang, October 11 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), on Sunday made the important speech "Let Us Further Improve Party Work in Line with the Demands of the Period of Fresh Development of Socialist Construction" at a lecture to commemorate the 76th founding anniversary of the WPK.
The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un in his speech congratulated the participants in the lecture on the 76th founding anniversary of the WPK, and clarified important principled issues and ways for carrying them out for our Party to enhance its leadership and fighting efficiency in all the fields of the revolution and construction as required by the developing revolution.
He told about the intention of organizing the Party-wide lecture on the occasion of the Party founding anniversary.
Noting that through the several important meetings held in recent years, detailed discussions of the present reality of the state and the orientation of the future struggle were repeatedly made and short-, mid- and long-term duties and the tasks and ways for their implementation assigned, he said that the success in the state work for carrying out the strategy and tactics reflective of the organizational will of the whole Party depends on how correct leadership over the overall work of the revolution and construction our Party would ensure and how it would enlist the infinite might of the whole Party and all the people.
He said that the successes of relevant units hinge on how the Party organizations at all levels would accept and implement the revolutionary idea and struggle policies of the Party Central Committee and that only when such successes are organically linked and amplified, can our Party display its correct leadership to the revolution and construction and steer their dynamic development. He stressed that the Party-wide lecture was organized to comprehensively re-explain to the leading officials of the whole Party the main struggle policies which have been already set forth and to put emphasis on the principle of work, working spirit and style of work to be thoroughly maintained at present.
First, he referred to the fact that our Party has written the longest history spanning 76 years as a socialist ruling party and has performed great feats while leading the most arduous and complicated Korean revolution along the road of victory.
Briefing about the historic revolutions and grandiose changes that our Party with the strong root of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle have brought about while advancing policies toward socialism, ensuring the birth of the people's power and firmly maintaining the independent line and strategic and tactical policies from the very day of its foundation, he appreciated the exploits of the WPK which has defended the dignity, honor and heroic nature of our state and proved the viability of true socialism with its seasoned leadership, breaking through the unprecedented fateful difficulties facing the country.
He said the greatest exploit our Party performed in the whole course of its revolutionary leadership is that it has brought up the people of a distress-torn nation, small and weak, to be a great and excellent people single-heartedly rallied around the Party and the leader with strong self-esteem and creativity, noting that as it has always given precedence to educating, training and rallying the popular masses, the motive force for the revolution, it could have preserved the true nature of socialism and advanced the Korean revolution in the vortex of troublous history.
Making an analysis that the key to our Party's great ever-victorious record lies in that it has pioneered and invariably followed the most correct and scientific path of party-building, he stressed that in order to successfully lead the revolutionary struggle and construction, it is necessary to strengthen our Party itself, the general staff of the revolution, into the iron-willed vanguard and continuously deepen its strengthening along with the changes of the times.
He noted that our Party has displayed its originality in solving the issue of party-building and firmly kept the orbit proper to its development from the very start of its action.
He said that our Party defined the realization of the popular masses' independence as the essence of the revolutionary struggle and socialist and communist construction and made clear the justification for its existence as the Party formed and struggling for the people, noting that from this, the great Juche idea with the idea of "The People Are God" and people-first principle as its core was established as the guiding idea of our Party and has been steadily deepened and developed to meet the demands of the times and developing revolution and our Party's highest programme on modeling the whole society on the Juche idea was decided.
He said that President Kim Il Sung 's autographic proposition left for the first graduates of one-year course of the Central Party School in August 1948 reflects well the character and work style of our Party, adding that the proposition, indicating that Party and state work which is apart from people and does not rely on people are meaningless, is a great one of eternal value as it intensively enshrines the immutable guideline and principle consistently maintained in our Party building and activities.
He highly appreciated the fact that as our Party has consistently introduced into the party building and its activities the principles of the Juche idea-the popular masses are masters of the revolution and construction and they are also the motive force for the revolution and construction, unconditional service for the people was entrenched as the unique Party climate and our Party was honored with the title of mother Party for the first time in the history of building revolutionary party.
He said that the principle and stand of our Party have remained firm in the work for strengthening its leadership system, noting our Party made it clear that the Party's leadership system based on democratic centralism is, in its essence, the leader's monolithic ideological and leadership system over the revolution and construction and laid down the establishment of the Party's monolithic leadership system as the basic line of the party building, thereby hardening the ideological and theoretical backbone and political backbone for thoroughly overcoming mistakes and inclinations in the work.
He brought to light the brilliant achievements made in our Party building for the last ten years.
He made an analysis of the fact that entering the new period of carrying forward the cause of the Party and the revolution, the period of development, the party building for strengthening our Party into the powerful general staff of the revolution, the guiding force, has been further deepened and thus the guiding idea of our Party was formulated as Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism to meet the fresh demands of the developing revolution and its leadership and fighting efficiency were comprehensively and concretely rearranged.
He said that the overall work of the Party and the state has been propelled and developed with clear opportune character and motive power in accordance with the innovative measures taken for increased leadership function and role of the Party and the authority and fighting efficiency of the party leading the development of revolution have been drastically raised.
He noted that it has been pushed ahead with to form the ranks of cadres and Party ranks with elite ones, the missions of Party organizations at all levels ranging from the Party Central Committee to primary Party committees and Party cells were more clearly defined and it has been intensified to establish the well-organized work system and tougher discipline throughout the whole Party.
He made clear that with the 8th Party Congress as an occasion, our Party revised the Party rules, the main standards of the Party building and activities, as required by the developing revolution and the Juche-based principle of party building and the true nature and popular character of our Party have become more clear in the struggle for establishing the devoted service for the people as the revolutionary Party climate.
He stressed that our Party has built up the firm system and foundations for preserving its character and true nature as the militant general staff leading the revolutionary cause of Juche despite any hardships, the genuine Party serving the people and continuously strengthening its leadership by determinedly carrying forward the Juche-based idea of party building and exploits of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il . This is a brilliant success gained in party building for the last ten years, he said.
Noting that our Party faces the task of the times to build the Party more healthily and powerfully in response to the present revolutionary situation, he made analysis of the subjective and objective environment of our revolution facing the unprecedented difficulties, and of the significance of thoroughly implementing the important policy tasks set forth at the Party congresses and other important Party and state meetings to bravely break through the difficulties.
Huge tasks for adjusting and developing the state economy in an overall way require correct development plan and scientific guarantee, he said, adding that the only way for dynamically pushing forward the unprecedented crucial work despite grim situation is for the entire Party to get united in single mind and concentrate the Party guidance on one direction true to the fighting line and fighting principle set forth by the Party Central Committee.
Any tasks set forth by our Party and government can be certainly carried out if the Party organizations are mobilized and the masses turn out, he said, noting that if all the units ranging from those in the capital to those in the local areas creditably fulfill the revolutionary duties entrusted to them, our advance will be expedited several times more than it is now and better tomorrow craved by our people will come earlier as much.
He set forth important tasks for all the Party organizations and chief Party officials of the entire Party in dynamically hauling the new development of socialist construction by further improving the Party work, being well aware of the main fighting line and policies of the Party Central Committee and the government of the Republic.
He called for continuing to intensify the work for establishing the monolithic leadership system of the Party Central Committee, which constitutes the invincible and ever-victorious might of our Party.
The establishment of the monolithic leadership system in the entire Party is the noblest political achievement our Party has made in the grim and harsh struggle, he said, stressing that the might of the WPK, which has firm core of the leadership, unity and cohesion and which has achieved firm uniformity of ideology and leadership and which all the people are united around the Party Central Committee in single mind, constitutes the inexhaustible might which can surmount whatever hardships and challenges.
In the 1960s, the work of strengthening the monolithic leadership system was intensified as the task of top priority in the Party building under the gifted far-sightedness and outstanding leadership of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il , he said, adding that the high prestige and authority of our Party and the state shining all over the world today and all the miraculous victories won by our people in socialist construction and in the struggle for defending socialism would be unthinkable apart from the Party's monolithic leadership system. He added that herein lies a shortcut to the prosperity of our state and happiness of tens of millions of people.
To defend at the cost of one's life and thoroughly establish the monolithic leadership system of the Party Central Committee, that symbolizes the dignity and might of the Party and the state, is sacred and bounden duty of all the Party organizations and members and all the citizens on this land, he clarified.
The ideal goal of establishing the monolithic leadership system of the Party Central Committee is to make sure that the entire Party and the whole society form one head and one body, i.e. to make the whole country a single organism which shares the same thought and intention with the Party Central Committee and ensures uniformity in action with it, he emphasized, referring to the important issues for the Party organizations and the leading officials of the Party to be well aware of the requirements arising in establishing the monolithic leadership system at present and make it the main line of their work.
He clarified the importance of putting efforts into inner-Party work in improving and strengthening the Party work at present.
The inner-Party work is the one for strengthening the Party organizationally and ideologically and for rallying broad masses around the Party, and this is directly linked to the destiny of the Party and the revolution, he said, stressing that the prevailing subjective and objective situations and the huge and heavy fighting tasks facing us demand that efforts are put into the inner-Party work to increase the leadership ability and militant efficiency of the Party in every way.
He specified principled issues to be maintained in the Party organizational work including the issue of solidly building up the ranks of cadres, the issue of transforming the Party ranks into those of elites and strengthening Party life organization and guidance for the Party members, the issue of doing the work with the people well to suit the changed environment and the mental state of the people, the issue of strengthening control, inspection and guidance and the issue of strengthening Party inspection and guidance, all with emphasis put on the inner-Party work to meet the requirements of the changed times and the developing reality.
He clarified the need for the Party organizations and leading officials of the Party to improve and strengthen ideological work.
Ideological construction is a prerequisite to the existence and development of our Party and it is a fundamental guarantee for ensuring political guidance over the revolution and construction, he said, noting that ideology is the most powerful and unique weapon for our revolution which has to blaze an un-trodden path and accomplish the great cause of building a powerful and prosperous country with its own efforts.
Improving and strengthening ideological work becomes vital requirements, today when great changes are seen in the people's awareness and in the social environment, he said. He added that in recent years the people-first principle has definitely converted into the Party climate, state customs and social traits, and the era of our state-first principle has opened, further inspiring the loyalty, self-esteem and patriotic enthusiasm of our people.
Ideological work is the core item of the Party work that requires maximum attention and efforts all the time and there can never be any limit in enhancing its efficiency, he said, calling on the Party organizations and leading officials of the Party to deeply analyze the situation of ideological work in their fields and units and take decisive measures to improve the Party ideological work.
The main requirement of our Party ideological work at present is to prepare all the members of society to be genuine loyalists and ardent patriots who cherish the Party Central Committee's revolutionary idea as part of their faith and life and, at the same time, to bring about steady innovation in it to meet the needs of the times and the developing revolution while keeping the ideological work going nonstop at a high level.
The most important task proceeding from the basic requirements of the Party ideological work is to dynamically step up the work of imbuing the whole Party and the entire society with the revolutionary idea of the Party Central Committee, he said, adding that the Party organizations and the leading officials of the Party should thoroughly establish and keep ratcheting up the traits for raising enthusiasm for studying to firmly arm the Party members and other working people with the revolutionary idea of the Party Central Committee.
He gave detailed explanation about the issue of combining this work with the practical struggle for implementing the Party policies, the issue of steadily carrying on in depth the work of correctly conveying and disseminating new Party's policies from the central organs down to the lowest units in time, the issue of making sure that all the Party members and other working people regard the revolutionary idea of the Party Central Committee as the firm creed and absolute standard of their thinking and activities and the issue of substantially conducting five-point education.
He said that socialism is what keeps us alive and it represents our life and future, emphasizing the need to pay attention to strengthening education in faith in socialism.
He stressed the need to explain in principle the justice and invincibility of socialist cause, reactionary nature of capitalism and inevitability of its ruin, and for Party organizations to actively do good things for the promotion of well-being of working people in the regions under their charge and those in their units so as to make people keenly feel the gratitude for our social system. He also underlined the need to put efforts into education in advantages and vitality of collectivism peculiar to our own-style socialism so as to make sure that the noble collectivist spirit and traits are given full play.
He said that one of tasks which should always be given importance in our Party ideological work is to make sure that the three revolution red flag movement becomes a powerful mass movement propelling socialist construction, an efficient motive power for the development of relevant units.
The three revolution red flag movement is the mass movement of the highest form to which the Party organizations gives guidance with a direct grip on it, he said, stressing that the information and publicity departments of the Party committees at all levels holding direct charge of this movement should work out detailed plan and correct executive measures to conduct the movement on a high level as required by the times, steadily intensify guidance over the lower units and thus make the whole country seethe with the three revolution red flag movement.
He clarified a series of tasks arising in dynamically unfolding the Party ideological work.
He specified all the problems for the advance of the Party ideological work including the issue for the Party organizations to actively explore and apply new and efficient ideological work style and methods suited to the specific situations and characteristics of their own areas and units while complying with the mentality and desire of the people and the trend of the developing times, the issue of fully displaying the might of the information and publicity forces and means, the issue for the field of culture and art holding a big share in educating the masses and inspiring revolutionary enthusiasm to rise up and kindle the new flame of the revolution at an early date and the issue for the full-time Party information officials and primary information officials to raise their roles.
He also referred to improving and strengthening Party's leadership over the administrative and economic work.
He called on all the leading officials of the Party to admit that the state of their own fields and units means the guiding level and ability of their own Party organizations and themselves, and make redoubled efforts to bring about spectacular improvement in the Party's guidance over the administrative and economic work.
A key in the Party's guidance over the administrative and economic work is to firmly and consistently maintain the principle of political guidance and policy-oriented guidance, he said, stressing the need for the Party organizations to play the role of a steering wheel well when guiding the economic work of relevant units and, to this end, to properly operate the Party committee and strengthen collective negotiations and collective guidance.
A key element deciding the success of the economic work is the mental power of the popular masses and science and technology, he said, calling on the Party organizations and officials to arouse the enthusiasm of the working people by ensuring logistic supply while thoroughly maintaining the stand of giving precedence to political work in carrying out the economic tasks, and to augment their own scientific and technical force.
He stressed the need to enhance the role of Party organizations of ministries and national institutions in carrying out the Party's economic policies, and for the Party organizations and officials, chief secretaries of provincial, city and county committees of the WPK in particular, to deepen the Party guidance over law enforcement organs.
He noted the Party organizations and leading officials of Party should bear in mind that the Party guidance over working people's organizations is an important part of the Party work and do Party guidance over them well.
The Party organizations and leading officials of the Party should put the main emphasis of guidance on making sure that the working people's organizations fulfill their mission as ideological and educational organizations, and build up the ranks of the officials of the working people's organizations well and provide guidance and support in every way so that they can discharge their duty as political organizations loyal to the Party, he added.
In order to improve and strengthen the Party work, it is important for all the leading officials of the Party to maintain revolutionary, militant and healthy work style and fully display it, he stressed.
Whether the Party's line and policies are correctly carried out or not entirely depends on how the Party officials accept those line and policies and what fighting spirit they work with, he said, stressing that our Party demands that the Party officials renew their fighting spirit, revolutionary mettle and work style in implementing the fighting programme, line and policies for the new victory in socialist construction.
He dealt with issues concerning the senior Party officials, i.e. the need to firmly arm themselves with the revolutionary idea of the Party Central Committee and Party policies before anyone and enhance the political awareness, the need to make it a habit to thoroughly implement the Party policies at any cost, the need to thoroughly apply our own traditional work method which displayed a tremendous might in developing our Party and victoriously advancing our revolution, and the need to maintain the popular character in the Party work and possess wholesome morality and personality.
He earnestly said that the ideas and policies of our Party, the mother Party and the Party serving the people, which exists for the people and absolutely serves the people without any condition, are conveyed to the people through the Party organizations and officials and that the dignity, authority and image of the Party are shown to the people by the traits of Party officials.
Stressing that senior Party officials should certainly become models in preserving the popular character of our Party and realizing the people-first politics, he noted that they should always consider whether their work infringe upon the interests of the people or cause trouble to the people, and deal with the arising issues from the stand of the people on the principle of providing convenience to the people.
The Party officials who find a new work for the people in trifling words of the people, strive for solving the problems awaiting solution by the people and share bitters and sweets with the people can win support from the popular masses and be successful in their work, he noted. He also stressed that it is an important issue consistently emphasized by our Party for the Party officials to be upright and honest in life without wishing for any privilege and preferential treatment.
Saying that our Party which serves the people can never tolerate the acts of infringing upon the interests of the people and divorcing the Party from the popular masses, he underlined the need to make strict precautions against deviations manifested in the Party work.
Stressing the need for the senior Party officials to respect the people and practice modesty with noble moral virtues, he said that it is the demand of the Party Central Committee that the Party officials become the revolutionaries transparent in idea and best in moral virtues.
Saying that to be on guard against self-pride and self-admiration and to always worry about and rack their brains while self-reproaching and self-reflecting is a good step in checking the degeneration of officials and promoting the development in their work, he emphasized that those Party officials, who discipline themselves while reviewing their daily work to see if they fulfilled what they had planned to do that day and if there was not any point when they failed to properly behave, would not degenerate. He added that it is necessary to make more strict demand for oneself and be always on alert and steadily build up one's character, especially those who are promoted to higher positions and those at high positions.
He called upon the senior Party officials to become examples in improving their attitude towards Party organizations, voluntarily take part in the Party life and respect the dignity of the Party organizations.
Saying that the leadership of the Party Central Committee over the revolution and construction is realized through its departments, and the leading role of our Party is decided by how those departments fulfill their duties, he called upon them to increase their roles.
He clarified again the determination and will of our Party to make the period of five-year plan set forth at the 8th Congress of the Party the efficient five years in boosting the national economy and solving the people's food, clothing and housing problems and the five years of great innovation bringing about great change of the country by racing against time and thus build a powerful socialist nation envied by the world by successively unfolding a great project of the next stage.
Saying that the fundamental guarantee for accomplishing the above-said sacred cause as soon as possible lies in signally strengthening the leadership and militant efficiency of the Party, the guiding force of the revolution, and also greatly depends on the role of the senior officials of the Party committees at all levels, he stressed that all the participants should become true Party officials who cherish unconditional faith in our cause, who can feel great pride in the hard work, who can feel happy at the laughter of the people, and who can take to heart the slightest inconvenience of the people and who regards it as the due obligation and the greatest honor to repay their expectation.
Noting that the WPK has the irresistible might like the valuable trust of all the people and great single-minded unity, he ardently appealed to the participants to devote their wisdom and passion to bringing about rapid progress in socialist construction guided and encouraged by ever-victorious Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and bring earlier a great era in which the ideal and desire of the people are translated into a reality.
The historic speech made by Kim Jong Un at the lecture to commemorate the 76th founding anniversary of the WPK serves as an immortal programme of great significance in leading the construction of Korean-style socialism to a brilliant victory by further developing the Party building and activities and overall Party work as required by the new era of building a great and prosperous power which wins victory after victory on the people-first principle. -0-
11. Kim Jong Un Makes Commemorative Speech at Defence Development Exhibition
This long excerpt is the anti-ROK and anti-US section. It is worth reading and pondering as it expresses much of what we assess to be the nature and objectives of the Kim Family regime. It provides the "rationale" and justification for Kim's actions.
Comrades,
The core of our Party's defence policy is to defend our country and people by our own efforts, and contain any threat and challenge and reliably and steadfastly safeguard peace by means of steadily-developing, powerful defence capability.
Historically, our nation suffered trials owing to invasion by foreign forces and has had to build socialism under the constant threats by hostile forces from one century into the next.
In view of this lesson of the history of the nation and the demand and special character of the Korean revolution, building up national defence is an indispensable and vital state affair which our Party, government and people must not neglect even a moment.
If a country does not have self-defensive capability of a proper level, it will inevitably be left at the mercy of external military threat and, worse still, cannot safeguard the existence of itself and its people. It has been an immutable law of nature throughout human history.
The rapid development of military techniques and hardware is changing the aspect of military operations and the security environment of states in every region in the present world.
The military danger facing our state due to the military tension prevailing around the Korean peninsula is different from that ten or five, nay, three years ago.
Seeing the contents of various military exercises the United States and south Korea frequently wage on the pretext of coping with what they call threats while talking about peace, cooperation and prosperity in public and south Korea's attempt to modernize its armaments which has recently become intolerably undisguised, we can easily guess how military environment will change in the region of the Korean peninsula tomorrow.
Recently, south Korea has been trying to upgrade the fighting efficiency of its army under the powerful sponsorship of the United States, bringing in a large number of cutting-edge weapons of various kinds including stealth joint strike fighters and high altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
While explicitly underlining the importance of its own defence technology after the recent revision of its missile guidelines, it focuses on modernizing its strike weapons of various kinds-developing various warheads and extending the ranges of missiles so as to improve its missile capacity, whose objective is clear, and enhancing the combat efficiency of submarines and developing fighters.
South Korea's such attempt is too dangerous to be left to itself, but what is more dangerous is its justification for modernizing its armaments and its hypocritical and brigandish double-dealing attitude.
While doing everything they want to do, the south Korean authorities, with a view to depriving us of our self-defensive right to develop defence capability, volunteer to lead the anti-DPRK propaganda campaign of the hostile forces headed by the United States, wantonly labelling even our tests of conventional weapons as armed provocations, threats and inappropriate deeds aggravating tensions.
They are now using the words provocation and threat as terminologies exclusive to the north.
Trying to put our effort to develop self-defensive capability in fetters by invoking the illegitimate UN resolutions, they are bent on increasing military expenditure under the so-called righteous excuse of coping with what they have unilaterally defined as threats.
Their hypocritical attitude and the US tacit sponsorship continue to damage the inter-Korean feelings and emotions and their unlimited, dangerous attempts to strengthen military capability are breaking the military equilibrium in the region of the Korean peninsula and aggravating the military instability and danger there.
South Korea has been unhesitant on several occasions in disclosing its ambition for securing military supremacy over us under the preposterous excuse of deterring threat from us, and each time justified itself with the containment of our threat and defence of peace.
Designating us as a source of threat and a target to be contained, not as a partner of dialogue and cooperation, is a concentrated expression of their deeply-ingrained hostility towards our Republic which cannot be concealed no matter how hard they try to pretend otherwise.
We express deep regret over such avaricious ambition and their double-dealing, illogical and brigandish attitude that causes unfairness to and hurt the feelings of the other side; we will never ever tolerate but respond with powerful action if they continue to infringe upon even our right to self-defence in future.
But, if south Korea does not find fault with us in a stubborn manner and if it does not pick a quarrel even with our exercise of national sovereignty, I assure that no tension will be caused on the Korean peninsula.
Were it not for it, we will not be involved in verbal confrontation with south Korea nor have any reason to be so.
I want to reiterate that south Korea is not the target of our armed forces.
Undoubtedly, we are not strengthening our defence capability targeting at south Korea.
The dreadful history of having recourse to arms against the fellow countrymen must not be repeated on this land.
I want to make sure once again: We are not talking about a war with someone; we are building up war deterrent true to the meaning of the words in order to prevent the war itself and to safeguard the sovereignty of our state; our war deterrent and south Korea's so-called capability to contain the north are different concepts in vocabulary, meaning and essence.
Our arch-enemy is the war itself, not south Korea, the United States or any other specific state or forces.
Therefore, as I stated in the recent policy speech, all I want is that the authorities and the whole society of south Korea, in their viewpoint towards the north, get rid of their outdated and anachronistic worry and anxiety and illusory sense of mission that the north's threat should be contained, and free themselves from the excessive crisis-consciousness and persecution complex as soon as possible.
We should not judge the prevailing situation spontaneously, sentimentally or subjectively, but approach it cool-headedly and correctly.
The change in the military and political environment created around the Korean peninsula under the control of the United States, let alone the excessive military obesity and covetousness of south Korea at issue, portends much potential danger and presents pressing need for us to develop to a stronger entity.
Recently, the United States has frequently sent signals that it is not hostile to our state, but its behaviours provide us with no reason why we should believe in them.
Sure enough, it is not fools alone that live in the world. I wonder if there is any person or state who believes in its claim that it is not hostile to the DPRK and, if any, I am curious to know who they are.
The United States is still generating regional tension with its wrong judgment and acts.
What is clear is that the instable situation in the region of the Korean peninsula cannot be easily removed because of the United States.
In view of this reality, the military balance of the region may grow more perilous as the days go by and our state may face worse security concern and menacing situation if we, satisfied with the successes we have achieved in strengthening our national defence, slacken our pace for a respite on the road of development.
Under the prevailing unstable situation on the Korean peninsula, steadily strengthening our military might to cope with it is the demand of the times of our revolution and the supreme duty which we have assumed for the revolution and the future.
The reality demands that we refrain from resting on our laurels, marking time, and exert ourselves to possess the capability and means strong enough to control the existing concerns and threats.
The effort to possess strong military capability should be a natural, self-defensive and mandatory right and core policy which a sovereign state should not miss either in a peaceful environment or in a state of confrontation.
It is because the self-defensive power is the root of the existence of a state and a guarantee of its development.
We will confront with a decisive and resolute attitude all kinds of despicable actions by the hostile forces that are inciting military tension in the region of the Korean peninsula, and will do our best to achieve durable peace in the region by ameliorating and removing one by one the causes that are disturbing the foundation of peaceful environment.
However, any of our external efforts for achieving peace never means the abandonment of our right to self-defence.
Kim Jong Un Makes Commemorative Speech at Defence Development Exhibition
Pyongyang, October 12 (KCNA) -- The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un made a commemorative speech at the Defence Development Exhibition on October 11.
The following is the full text of the speech:
Comrades,
Today we will have an opportunity to see with our own eyes how the defence capability of our glorious motherland, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has developed.
I extend warm congratulations to you, who are participating in the Defence Development Exhibition, an epitome of the advanced, modern and courageous character of our Korea.
The Defence Development Exhibition Self-Defence 2021 opened today is adding lustre to the celebration of this year's anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea.
As its name denotes, this exhibition is a grand festival that will demonstrate intensively and visually the far-reaching ambition, leadership ability and practical executive capability of our Party that is bringing about a fresh turn in consolidating the defence potential of our state by invariably holding fast to the invincible line of self-defence, as well as the level of remarkable development of our state's defence science and munitions industry and their bright future.
Today's grand-scale exhibition, a crystallization of our Party's revolutionary defence policy and its robust viability, is an epoch-making demonstration of our national strength no less significant than a large-scale military parade.
Comrades,
I still remember vividly the road of do-or-die revolution in the defence industry, an untrodden road, which our Party had to follow over the past five years, shouldering the heavy historic mission of fostering a more powerful and absolute strength with which to reliably defend the security of the country and the eternal dignity, happiness and safety of posterity in line with the demands of the changed objective and subjective conditions and environment of our revolution and the rapidly-changing military balance worldwide.
Every step we have taken on the road of developing our defence capability over the past five years, in which are etched severe trials as well as moments of emotive delight, was a step for quite a glorious and worthwhile revolution and patriotism, a step for a great victory; we can be proud of this in front of our Party, country, people and posterity.
We should not be inadvertent in seeing the military hardware displayed in fine array here, which we have managed to develop over the past five years.
The more we stroke them and the more we see them, the greater dignity and pride we feel and the more valuable we feel they are; they are ours.
All our people have rendered an unconditional and absolute support to our Party's policy of strengthening the defence capability despite the fact that they had to experience more severe hardships and difficulties caused by the persistent anti-DPRK schemes by the hostile forces, who are desperate not to see us growing stronger. But for their trust and ardent patriotism, we would never ever have developed them.
Every piece of those military hardware tells many unforgettable tales about our defence scientists and technicians and workers in the munitions industry who, following the Party, have braved all manner of difficulties on the road of defence upbuilding; it is also permeated with the blood and sweat of these scientists, technicians and workers, who have worked self-sacrificingly by devoting their enthusiasm and wisdom.
They have always supported unconditionally and absolutely and accepted death-defyingly any of the demands and determinations of our Party, and displayed infinite loyalty and heroism on the road of accomplishing the historic cause of strengthening our defence capability.
Availing myself of this opportunity, I, on behalf of the Party, the government and all the people, extend warm gratitude to the scientists, technicians, persons of merits and all other workers in the munitions industry, who have rendered a contribution to achieving the outstanding, advanced successes that were conducive to building a world-class defence capability, the first of its kind in the history of our Republic, and to realizing our people's long-cherished desire.
I also extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the other people.
I am convinced that this exhibition will be a victors' exhibition that will review our great victories, an encouraging exhibition that will instil inexhaustible strength and courage in the defence field and the people across the country and an enterprising exhibition that will promote faster and more vigorous development of construction of our style of socialism.
Comrades,
The core of our Party's defence policy is to defend our country and people by our own efforts, and contain any threat and challenge and reliably and steadfastly safeguard peace by means of steadily-developing, powerful defence capability.
Historically, our nation suffered trials owing to invasion by foreign forces and has had to build socialism under the constant threats by hostile forces from one century into the next.
In view of this lesson of the history of the nation and the demand and special character of the Korean revolution, building up national defence is an indispensable and vital state affair which our Party, government and people must not neglect even a moment.
If a country does not have self-defensive capability of a proper level, it will inevitably be left at the mercy of external military threat and, worse still, cannot safeguard the existence of itself and its people. It has been an immutable law of nature throughout human history.
The rapid development of military techniques and hardware is changing the aspect of military operations and the security environment of states in every region in the present world.
The military danger facing our state due to the military tension prevailing around the Korean peninsula is different from that ten or five, nay, three years ago.
Seeing the contents of various military exercises the United States and south Korea frequently wage on the pretext of coping with what they call threats while talking about peace, cooperation and prosperity in public and south Korea's attempt to modernize its armaments which has recently become intolerably undisguised, we can easily guess how military environment will change in the region of the Korean peninsula tomorrow.
Recently, south Korea has been trying to upgrade the fighting efficiency of its army under the powerful sponsorship of the United States, bringing in a large number of cutting-edge weapons of various kinds including stealth joint strike fighters and high altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
While explicitly underlining the importance of its own defence technology after the recent revision of its missile guidelines, it focuses on modernizing its strike weapons of various kinds-developing various warheads and extending the ranges of missiles so as to improve its missile capacity, whose objective is clear, and enhancing the combat efficiency of submarines and developing fighters.
South Korea's such attempt is too dangerous to be left to itself, but what is more dangerous is its justification for modernizing its armaments and its hypocritical and brigandish double-dealing attitude.
While doing everything they want to do, the south Korean authorities, with a view to depriving us of our self-defensive right to develop defence capability, volunteer to lead the anti-DPRK propaganda campaign of the hostile forces headed by the United States, wantonly labelling even our tests of conventional weapons as armed provocations, threats and inappropriate deeds aggravating tensions.
They are now using the words provocation and threat as terminologies exclusive to the north.
Trying to put our effort to develop self-defensive capability in fetters by invoking the illegitimate UN resolutions, they are bent on increasing military expenditure under the so-called righteous excuse of coping with what they have unilaterally defined as threats.
Their hypocritical attitude and the US tacit sponsorship continue to damage the inter-Korean feelings and emotions and their unlimited, dangerous attempts to strengthen military capability are breaking the military equilibrium in the region of the Korean peninsula and aggravating the military instability and danger there.
South Korea has been unhesitant on several occasions in disclosing its ambition for securing military supremacy over us under the preposterous excuse of deterring threat from us, and each time justified itself with the containment of our threat and defence of peace.
Designating us as a source of threat and a target to be contained, not as a partner of dialogue and cooperation, is a concentrated expression of their deeply-ingrained hostility towards our Republic which cannot be concealed no matter how hard they try to pretend otherwise.
We express deep regret over such avaricious ambition and their double-dealing, illogical and brigandish attitude that causes unfairness to and hurt the feelings of the other side; we will never ever tolerate but respond with powerful action if they continue to infringe upon even our right to self-defence in future.
But, if south Korea does not find fault with us in a stubborn manner and if it does not pick a quarrel even with our exercise of national sovereignty, I assure that no tension will be caused on the Korean peninsula.
Were it not for it, we will not be involved in verbal confrontation with south Korea nor have any reason to be so.
I want to reiterate that south Korea is not the target of our armed forces.
Undoubtedly, we are not strengthening our defence capability targeting at south Korea.
The dreadful history of having recourse to arms against the fellow countrymen must not be repeated on this land.
I want to make sure once again: We are not talking about a war with someone; we are building up war deterrent true to the meaning of the words in order to prevent the war itself and to safeguard the sovereignty of our state; our war deterrent and south Korea's so-called capability to contain the north are different concepts in vocabulary, meaning and essence.
Our arch-enemy is the war itself, not south Korea, the United States or any other specific state or forces.
Therefore, as I stated in the recent policy speech, all I want is that the authorities and the whole society of south Korea, in their viewpoint towards the north, get rid of their outdated and anachronistic worry and anxiety and illusory sense of mission that the north's threat should be contained, and free themselves from the excessive crisis-consciousness and persecution complex as soon as possible.
We should not judge the prevailing situation spontaneously, sentimentally or subjectively, but approach it cool-headedly and correctly.
The change in the military and political environment created around the Korean peninsula under the control of the United States, let alone the excessive military obesity and covetousness of south Korea at issue, portends much potential danger and presents pressing need for us to develop to a stronger entity.
Recently, the United States has frequently sent signals that it is not hostile to our state, but its behaviours provide us with no reason why we should believe in them.
Sure enough, it is not fools alone that live in the world. I wonder if there is any person or state who believes in its claim that it is not hostile to the DPRK and, if any, I am curious to know who they are.
The United States is still generating regional tension with its wrong judgment and acts.
What is clear is that the instable situation in the region of the Korean peninsula cannot be easily removed because of the United States.
In view of this reality, the military balance of the region may grow more perilous as the days go by and our state may face worse security concern and menacing situation if we, satisfied with the successes we have achieved in strengthening our national defence, slacken our pace for a respite on the road of development.
Under the prevailing unstable situation on the Korean peninsula, steadily strengthening our military might to cope with it is the demand of the times of our revolution and the supreme duty which we have assumed for the revolution and the future.
The reality demands that we refrain from resting on our laurels, marking time, and exert ourselves to possess the capability and means strong enough to control the existing concerns and threats.
The effort to possess strong military capability should be a natural, self-defensive and mandatory right and core policy which a sovereign state should not miss either in a peaceful environment or in a state of confrontation.
It is because the self-defensive power is the root of the existence of a state and a guarantee of its development.
We will confront with a decisive and resolute attitude all kinds of despicable actions by the hostile forces that are inciting military tension in the region of the Korean peninsula, and will do our best to achieve durable peace in the region by ameliorating and removing one by one the causes that are disturbing the foundation of peaceful environment.
However, any of our external efforts for achieving peace never means the abandonment of our right to self-defence.
Comrades,
The Eighth Congress of the WPK has put forward the detailed tasks for making our superiority in military technology in our hands more irreversible by carrying out the second-stage revolution in the defence industry in the field of defence science and the munitions industry during the five-year plan period.
The main contents are to further strengthen the already-gained war deterrent in terms of both quality and quantity and further accelerate the development and production of strategic and tactical means essential for guaranteeing national security.
What our Party trusts are the indomitable revolutionary spirit, remarkable patriotism and outstandingly brilliant brains and talents of our defence scientists and working class in the munitions industry who create unprecedented miracles without fail if the Party and the revolution require them to do so and the powerful foundation of the munitions industry firmly consolidated amidst long-lasting hardships.
During the days of the first-stage revolution in the defence industry our Party got a full understanding of the loyalty and practical abilities of the defence scientists and technicians and potential of all units and talented persons, and fostered a firm belief that the goals of cutting-edge defence capability can be hit as long as we have the reliable revolutionary soldiers who are ready to sacrifice their lives for their country and fellow people.
What strengthens this belief and makes us optimistic about the victory in the new stage is that our Party has a huge army of up-and-coming creative young scientists, who always carry out any intentions of the Party without any conditions with an innovative approach.
These young talented persons are the pillars supporting the present and future of our defence industry and a source of great strength of our Party and state.
Along with them, we have the proud workers in the munitions industry, who have been unfailingly faithful to the Party and the revolutionary cause at all times.
The Party expects a great deal from our scientists and workers in the munitions industry.
Our self-defence capability will keep changing in the future, too.
As long as there are the strong will and correct leadership of our Party and there are the defence scientists and workers in the munitions industry unfailingly loyal to the Party and the revolution, more brilliant successes will be scored in carrying out our just and patriotic cause, in the course of which more perfect, more complete and more powerful strategic might, that is war deterrent, will guarantee the security and future of our country and people.
Comrades,
Today's large-scale exhibition is, of course, aimed at encouraging defence scientists and technicians and workers in the munitions industry and inspiring the people with fresh confidence and courage on this occasion. But the main purpose is to propel more powerfully the development of the country's defence capability.
We should not rest on our laurels while looking back upon the glorious history of the defence industry, in which we have so far built up our defence capability satisfactorily to the level required by the stage of the developing revolution. We must think about making a higher leap forward, regarding the tenacious efforts and achievements we have made for more than half a century shedding blood and sweat as a firm springboard.
The defence industry sector should, through this exhibition, analyze and appraise its successes and level of development in an accurate and comprehensive way, and on the basis of this, should draw up a plan and design for the rapid development of its every field, share the excellent experiences gained so far and take measures for a higher and faster leap forward in the future.
We should all bear in mind again the grand strategy for defence development set forth by the Eighth Congress of our Party, and thus contribute to its development with redoubled courage.
Comrades,
Our Party has been frank enough to tell you about the requirements of the revolution and the state of situation as they are and found great encouragement in your steadfast attitude and ardent patriotism.
I stress once again: It is our Party's invariable priority policy and goal and unwavering will to possess and further strengthen the military capability which no one would dare challenge.
All those present here should critically analyze the situation of their sectors and units in the light of the great successes achieved by our defence industry, decide once again on which results they would present in front of the Party, state and people in the future and make a fresh determination also in the aspect of fully supporting our defence industry for its further development.
Of course, the economic situation in the country is still difficult and other sectors must have important and pressing tasks. All the sectors, however, should never forget the overriding importance of consolidating the defence capability, but remember that any development and success of our revolution is inconceivable separated from the preferential development of the national defence capability.
Without strong self-defence capability we can neither expect successful progress of the internal and external policies of the Party and the government nor think about stability and peaceful environment of the country.
All the people, too, should support the consistent and iron will of our Party and government by regarding it as the highest expression of patriotism to strengthen the defence capability and rendering unsparing material and spiritual assistance to it.
We must be powerful also for our coming generations. This is our first and foremost task.
Let us all devote ourselves heart and soul, our wisdom and enthusiasm to the sacred cause of bolstering up in every way the defence capability of our great state without forgetting the pledges we made before the country, revolution and people and filled with conviction on and confidence in sure victory.
I once again welcome you for attending this event in which you will witness yourselves our proud military strength. -0-
12. North Korea’s costly COVID response is pushing Kim Jong-un to play political games
These are not games. It is war. Kim, like his fellow rogue and revisionist powers, believe that politics is war by other means. But Kim is probably facing some of the most difficult conditions since he assumed power in 2011.
Excerpts:
It’s interesting that North Korea’s head of state, Kim Jong-un, has made no attempt to hide these problems from his people. A positive public image of his regime is essential for its survival – but, over the summer, state television unexpectedly allowed a North Korean citizen to comment that Kim looked “emaciated”. He has indeed lost weight.
This suggests that for Kim, the combined impact of COVID-19 and sanctions is a serious matter. The dire situation the country is in – and the heightened threat of losing power as a result – is prompting Kim to change his behaviour. By being seen to lose weight, he’s claiming solidarity with the people by showing that he too is affected by shortages, deflecting blame onto the international system that has sanctioned the country.
Equally, Kim has worked to to cast his regime in a positive light by convincing the North Korean people that they are being protected from the virus by his government.
North Korea’s costly COVID response is pushing Kim Jong-un to play political games
In April 2020, I wrote about North Korea’s efforts to protect itself from COVID-19. The regime was genuinely afraid about the spread of the disease because it knew the country’s healthcare system wouldn’t cope if the virus took hold.
But even if true, the effects of the pandemic are being felt in other ways. North Korea closed its borders early in January 2020 to shelter from the virus. The cost of this has been enormous. The country is subject to international sanctions, which limit trade. In the past, it has mitigated their effects via informal trade and state-sponsored smuggling across the border with China. But with the border closed, this hasn’t been possible.
As a result, North Korea has experienced drastic food shortages. Reducing legitimate and illegitimate trade with China has also reduced economic activity, preventing North Korean goods from being sold across the border and industrial supplies, consumer goods and food being imported from China. With food scarce and incomes down, UN experts have warned that the risk of starvation looms for the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
Kim shows vulnerability
It’s interesting that North Korea’s head of state, Kim Jong-un, has made no attempt to hide these problems from his people. A positive public image of his regime is essential for its survival – but, over the summer, state television unexpectedly allowed a North Korean citizen to comment that Kim looked “emaciated”. He has indeed lost weight.
This suggests that for Kim, the combined impact of COVID-19 and sanctions is a serious matter. The dire situation the country is in – and the heightened threat of losing power as a result – is prompting Kim to change his behaviour. By being seen to lose weight, he’s claiming solidarity with the people by showing that he too is affected by shortages, deflecting blame onto the international system that has sanctioned the country.
Equally, Kim has worked to to cast his regime in a positive light by convincing the North Korean people that they are being protected from the virus by his government.
For instance, North Korea pulled out of the postponed Olympics in Tokyo over the summer, for fear that returning athletes would bring the virus home. This was the first time North Korea hadn’t entered a summer Olympics since boycotting the 1988 Seoul games. It was the only major country not to send athletes due to the pandemic.
The annual military parade to celebrate the founding of the country was noticeably scaled down this year. Korean Central News Agency/EPA-EFE
This stepping back from important events continued throughout 2021. In September, North Korea marked the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the country with a notably muted celebration compared to normal. Goose-stepping soldiers replaced their traditional military attire with hazmat suits and there were no lengthy displays of ballistic missiles. The fear and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, and its threat to power, has dictated domestic policy to emphasise promoting national unity rather than displaying military prowess.
No rush for vaccines
Yet alongside this fear and uncertainty, there have also been signs that North Korea is confident in its ability to keep the virus at bay. In late summer, the public ministry rejected 3 million doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine allocated to North Korea through the Covax vaccine-sharing programme. North Korea instead offered these to countries with low vaccine supplies and surging cases.
Although a spokesperson for the UN has confirmed recently that Pyongyang will continue to communicate with Covax to receive vaccines in the coming months, it’s important to note that this was not an isolated decision. In July, North Korea rejected a shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine too.
According to the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think-tank affiliated with South Korea’s intelligence agency, this was due to concerns over the blood-clot risk associated with the vaccine, while some experts have suggested the Sinovac vaccine was given away because of concerns over its effectiveness. If so, it would seem Pyongyang is confident enough in how it’s handling the pandemic to hold out for the vaccines it prefers.
Recent tests have included a new hypersonic missle. Korean Central News Agency/EPA-EFE
But that doesn’t mean North Korea is comfortable with its current position. It has recently conducted missile tests, while satellite images show that its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon has been expanded. Such actions have historically been used to draw attention to the country when it wants to talk.
Kim has demonstrated in the past his acute awareness and understanding of global politics. The recent decision of the US to leave Afghanistan and the silence of every country in the region bar China over the Aukus agreement have signalled how the balances of power are changing in Asia. Kim is well rehearsed in using the geopolitics of the region to press for North Korean advantages.
Given the country’s fear of the coronavirus and current lack of vaccines, if North Korea’s missile tests and nuclear expansion do result in negotiations, what it advocates for could be the means to get itself out of its current COVID-related hardship. North Korea did recently accept medical supplies from the World Health Organization. But this doesn’t necessarily indicate that it wants or needs additional help.
Equally, it may be that the country is comfortable to wait for more vaccines from Covax, and that all this posturing – from donating vaccines to testing missiles – is instead a way of pushing the regime’s big ongoing goal: the lifting of sanctions.
13. North Korea's Kim notes 'grim' economy while marking anniversary of ruling party
Not to beat the horse too badly but the economy has failed for one reason - the priorities of the Kiim family regime.
North Korea's Kim notes 'grim' economy while marking anniversary of ruling party
The Hill · by Joseph Choi · October 11, 2021
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday warned officials of his country's "grim" economic state during celebrations to mark the 76th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
Reuters reported Kim told officials to concentrate on improving the living conditions of North Koreans, saying in a speech that the isolationist country faces "huge tasks for adjusting and developing the state economy."
"The only way for dynamically pushing forward the unprecedented crucial work despite grim situation is for the entire Party to get united," he added.
The North Korean leader reportedly cautioned officials against desiring privileges and said they "should always consider whether their work infringe upon the interests of the people or cause trouble to the people."
The country marked the anniversary of the ruling party's founding with galas and fireworks shows, though Reuters noted that no military parades were reported to have been held. State-run media showed young people attending galas and laying flowers at statues of previous leaders.
Earlier this year in April, Kim issued a similar warning, telling citizens that the country could face difficult times like it saw during the 1990s when it endured famines.
Human Right Watch senior researcher Lina Yoon wrote a report in March detailing the food shortages that North Korea is currently facing.
“There is barely any food going into the country from China for almost two months now,” one missionary who helps North Korans told Yoon. “There are so many more beggars, some people died from hunger in the border area and there’s no soap, toothpaste, or batteries.”
Kim's warning on Sunday comes less than a week after Reuters reported that North Korea's most vulnerable are at risk of starvation brought on by the country's COVID-19 isolation and international sanctions. These warnings were made in a report from United Nations rights investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana seen by Reuters. Quintana recommended that U.N. sanctions on North Korea be lifted to relieve starvation risks.
"Sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council should be reviewed and eased when necessary to both facilitate humanitarian and lifesaving assistance and to enable the promotion of the right to an adequate standard of living of ordinary citizens," Quintana wrote, according to Reuters.
The Hill · by Joseph Choi · October 11, 2021
14. How to Counter North Korea’s Provocative Missile Threats
Somehow I do not think Moscow will help us constrain north Korea any more than Beijing will.
Excerpts:
The Soviet and Russian anti-BMD campaigns have further aimed to rally Russians behind the Putin regime, boost Russian military spending, and weaken U.S. alliances by threatening countries that cooperate with U.S. programs. Making deals with Moscow at the expense of capabilities that can protect U.S. partners from missile strikes would further damage these alliances.
Instead of pursuing elusive treaty limits with Moscow on missile defense, the United States and Russia can address BMD questions in their newly relaunched strategic stability talks. For example, the parties can exchange assessments about regional missile threats and potential risk reduction measures. U.S. military leaders are eager to expand dialogue to avoid confrontations.
Moscow and Washington should also intensify constraints on the main driver of U.S. BMD programs—North Korea’s increasingly sophisticated threats. They must urgently press Pyongyang to curtail its destabilizing missile programs. The United States should also invest in robust air and missile defenses for Guam, Hawaii, and Palau; superior global sensor systems; and the Next Generation Interceptor to deter North Korea from ever considering an attack.
How to Counter North Korea’s Provocative Missile Threats
Moscow and Washington should also intensify constraints on the main driver of U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense programs—North Korea’s increasingly sophisticated threats.
Of varying ranges and capabilities, these missiles threaten U.S. military forces throughout Asia. North Korea also has developed long-range missiles that can reach the continental United States. Many of these can carry nuclear, biological, or other unconventional munitions. Additionally, North Korea recently restarted its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor.
The United States counters this North Korean threat through diplomacy, sanctions, alliances, and military force. The latter includes offensive weapons, such as nuclear strike forces, and defensive systems, such as the means to intercept missiles through kinetic interceptors.
One advantage of having such ballistic missile defenses (BMD) is that they can obviate the need to employ nuclear weapons or other escalatory means. Though the original Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program, which protects the U.S. homeland, has a checkered test record since being rushed into operation in 2004, the United States will deploy a Next-Generation Interceptor to outpace the North Korean threat. To avoid a repeat of past problems, Congress recently urged the Pentagon to continue to leverage competition from the two contracting teams to deliver the most capable product in the most cost-effective and timely manner.
The Russian government has consistently opposed U.S. missile defense programs, whatever their capabilities and location. No effective U.S. BMD architecture would be acceptable to the Kremlin due to exaggerated Russian threat perceptions and Moscow’s desire to keep the West weak and divided.
Over the years, Russian officials have strived to delay and derail U.S. missile defense programs through multiple means, including denunciatory rhetoric, intimidating U.S. partners, and other initiatives. U.S. officials spent decades trying to address Russian concerns by offering Moscow various transparency and confidence-building measures. Washington was never able to overcome Russian objections since Moscow has, like Pyongyang, always dismissed and downplayed U.S. offers of compromise. Conversely, Republican and Democratic administrations alike have refused to renounce the means of protecting Americans and their allies, such as Israelis and South Koreans, from hostile missiles.
Notwithstanding these protracted BMD disputes, Moscow has repeatedly negotiated major arms control agreements with Washington. For example, the landmark 1972 Strategic Arms Limitations Talks agreement combined legally binding restrictions on both offensive and defensive forces. Though lamenting the growing U.S. interest in BMD capabilities after the Cold War, which was aimed at addressing threats from North Korea and other rogue states, the Russian government signed the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty. This so-called Moscow Treaty, which substantially reduced both sides’ nuclear weapons arsenals, lacked any binding limits on strategic defenses. While still trying to constrain U.S. missile defenses in the following years, Moscow accepted the ten-year New START Treaty in 2011, which both countries extended earlier this year.
History thus invalidates the argument that U.S. missile defenses present an insurmountable impediment to arms control negotiations between the United States and Russia. For more than fifty years, Moscow has repeatedly yielded on BMD to achieve other priorities, such as constraining U.S. offensive nuclear forces.
Another reason Russian officials have compromised on missile defenses is that the small number of U.S. national BMD interceptors could scarcely neutralize Russia’s enormous fleet of ballistic, cruise, and, most recently, hypersonic missiles. Soviet and now Russian officials have poured massive resources into strengthening and diversifying their strategic offensive forces. This has recently included developing frightening delivery systems such as nuclear-powered cruise missiles and long-range nuclear-armed torpedoes. Even without these terror weapons, Russia can readily overwhelm any U.S. defenses.
Even so, the Kremlin’s pride is hurt when the United States perceives North Korea, Iran, or China as a greater threat than Russia. Moscow’s attacks against U.S. BMD systems are also self-serving given that Russia has heavily invested in its own missile defenses. Indeed, Russian president Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia is building the world’s most effective defenses against hypersonic delivery systems.
The Soviet and Russian anti-BMD campaigns have further aimed to rally Russians behind the Putin regime, boost Russian military spending, and weaken U.S. alliances by threatening countries that cooperate with U.S. programs. Making deals with Moscow at the expense of capabilities that can protect U.S. partners from missile strikes would further damage these alliances.
Instead of pursuing elusive treaty limits with Moscow on missile defense, the United States and Russia can address BMD questions in their newly relaunched strategic stability talks. For example, the parties can exchange assessments about regional missile threats and potential risk reduction measures. U.S. military leaders are eager to expand dialogue to avoid confrontations.
Moscow and Washington should also intensify constraints on the main driver of U.S. BMD programs—North Korea’s increasingly sophisticated threats. They must urgently press Pyongyang to curtail its destabilizing missile programs. The United States should also invest in robust air and missile defenses for Guam, Hawaii, and Palau; superior global sensor systems; and the Next Generation Interceptor to deter North Korea from ever considering an attack.
Richard Weitz is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at Hudson Institute.
Image: Reuters.
