Quotes of the Day:

“War throughout history has taken many forms. Let us know to hear that its essence is fighting, but that not all fighting involves physical violence, at least not at all stages. The threat of violence can be an act of war, indeed, the absence of violence, as in the case of a state failing to act within its own jurisdiction, against terrorists attacking citizens, in property of another state, can be an act of war. Gifts, concealing violence, such as the Trojan horse, are clearly acts of war. Gifts innocuous in themselves, when offered with hostile intent, or commonly described as acts of war. To limit the concept of war to ask a violence conducted within a framework of formal military organization may be bureaucratically satisfying, but it is analytically weak. It is a poor guide to the policy maker. War is power applied with hostile intent. Now, and throughout history, war has been pursued to channels intended to conceal or blunt that simple fact concealment of that fact, is one aspect of political war.”

– Paul A. Smith, Jr., On Political War

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA233501

“It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a Decisive Naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it everything honorable and glorious.” 

–George Washington

"The practical success of an idea, irrespective of its inherent merit, is dependent on the attitude of the contemporaries. If timely, it is quickly adopted; if not, it is apt to fare like a sprout lured out of the ground by warm sunshine, only to be injured and retarded in its growth by the succeeding frost." 

– Nikola Tesla

1. N. Korea decides to send around 10,000 soldiers to support Russia in Ukraine war: Seoul

2. NK leader calls S. Korea 'foreign country,' 'hostile country,' warns of using physical force

3. Yoon holds emergency security meeting amid N. Korea's alleged troop deployment to Russia

4. Army stages live-fire rocket artillery drills near border with N. Korea

5. Editorial: N. Korea's outrage over drone leaflets exposes fear of losing control

6. South Korea hits back at NK's photo copyright claims

7. N. Korea's support to Russia may be civilian personnel rather than troops: S. Korean vice defense minister

8. Top military officers of S. Korea, US denounce N. Korea-Russia military cooperation

9. Pyongyang Worries About the Collapse of Its Won

10. Nearly 11,000 North Korean Troops In Russia Preparing To Enter The Fight Says Ukraine's Spy Boss

11. Seoul envoy calls for stronger defense industry cooperation, cautions against protectionism

12. 1 in 7 willing to fight if war breaks out: survey

13. N. Korean spy agency seeks underground expansion for "modern warfare"

14. National Intelligence Service: “North Korean Special Forces Participate in Ukraine War… Troop Movement Begins”

15. [Room 39, Lee Jeong-ho's Eyes] "North Korea's Successive Provocations Are a Target of a Powerful Leader"

16. Canada sends frigate to monitor North Korea sanctions

17. For Korean Americans, 'reverse migration' brings joy — and pain

18. Dan Leaf and Christine Ahn: The next president must defuse the Korean crisis to avoid nuclear catastrophe

1.  N. Korea decides to send around 10,000 soldiers to support Russia in Ukraine war: Seoul

A lot of reporting on this issue. Does that make it true? The NIS is confirming it here.

Now we have to consider how we can exploit this. There are opportunities here.

(5th LD) N. Korea decides to send around 10,000 soldiers to support Russia in Ukraine war: Seoul | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Chang Dong-woo · October 18, 2024

(ATTN: UPDATES with response from NATO chief in paras 17-18)

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's spy agency on Friday confirmed that North Korea has decided to send around 10,000 troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine and has already begun deployment.

The National Intelligence Service's (NIS) confirmation came after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol convened an emergency security meeting amid mounting speculation that the North may be providing its soldiers to fight Russia's war in Ukraine.

Following the meeting, the NIS said it has confirmed the "beginning of the North's direct involvement" in the Ukraine war, after having learned that troops from the North were moved aboard Russian Navy transport ships.

The NIS also said it has confirmed that Pyongyang began transporting its special forces troops to Russia from Oct. 8 to 13.

This photo, provided by the South Korean National Intelligence Service on Oct. 18, 2024, shows recent satellite imagery of a Russian vessel departing North Korea's port of Najin with North Korean weapons headed to Russia. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

According to the NIS, approximately 1,500 North Korean soldiers were transported during the first phase, using four amphibious landing ships and three escort vessels owned by Russia.

These troops were moved from areas near the North's cities of Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan to Vladivostok. The NIS said it expects that a second phase of transport will occur soon.

A Seoul intelligence source said North Korea is expected to deploy a total of 12,000 troops, including those from the country's most elite military units, to the war in Ukraine.

North Korean troops deployed to Russia have been stationed across various locations in the Far East, including Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk, where they are currently integrated with Russian military units.

According to the Seoul spy agency, they have been issued Russian military uniforms and weapons.

Additionally, fake identifications disguising them as locals were also provided, apparently to conceal their participation, by making them appear as part of the Russian forces.

Once they complete their adaptation training, they are expected to be sent to the front lines, according to NIS officials.

Seoul's presidential office said South Korea has been closely tracking North Korea's troop movement to Russia from the beginning in coordination with its allies, and will continue to monitor the situation and take all necessary measures proactively.

The North's deployment signals a major development in the military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang besides their suspected arms trade, already criticized by the international community.

Moscow and Pyongyang have recently forged closer ties, with President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signing a new partnership treaty that includes a mutual defense clause during their summit in Pyongyang in June.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited Ukrainian intelligence reports indicating that North Korean personnel have already been deployed in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, with an additional 10,000 troops being prepared to join the fight.

Zelenskyy suggested that Russia is relying on North Korean forces to compensate for its substantial troop losses, as many young Russians seek to avoid conscription.

Following the NIS announcement, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said at a press conference in Brussels that the organization was in "close contact with all our partners, particularly with the Republic of Korea," regarding the development between North Korea and Russia, but stressed that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization needed further confirmation to reach a conclusion.

In his response to an inquiry from Yonhap News Agency, Rutte stressed North Korea was helping to fuel Russia's aggression against Ukraine even if it wasn't physically in the battlefield helping Moscow.

A spokesperson of the European Union also said it is monitoring developments in connection with Russia-North Korea ties and is "ready to take action," including additional sanctions, if allegations are confirmed.

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said in a statement sent to Yonhap News Agency, "Continued military support from the DPRK to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine will be met with an appropriate response." DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (in leather jacket) waves toward soldiers during a visit to a special operations unit's training base in western Pyongyang on Oct. 2, 2024, a day after South Korea's Armed Forces Day, in this file photo provided by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

julesyi@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Chang Dong-woo · October 18, 2024

2. NK leader calls S. Korea 'foreign country,' 'hostile country,' warns of using physical force

I will continue to emphasize that what is behind this is the internal threats that Kim perceives. To deal with them he must externalize the threat and create the threat perception from the South and the US.

But rather than show fear we should exploit the opportunity that Kim is presenting us. He is handing us a template for information and influence operations.

(LEAD) NK leader calls S. Korea 'foreign country,' 'hostile country,' warns of using physical force | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · October 18, 2024

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info throughout; CHANGES photos)

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has referred to South Korea as "a foreign country and an apparent hostile country," warning that physical force will be used if the North's sovereignty is violated, state media reported Friday.

The remarks were made during his inspection of the headquarters of the 2nd Corps of the Korean People's Army on Thursday, two days after Pyongyang blew up roads and railways connected to South Korea that were once considered key symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation.

"He stressed that our army should keep in mind once again the stark fact that the ROK is a foreign country and an apparent hostile country," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language dispatch.

ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) points to a spot on a large map during his inspection of the 2nd Corps of the Korean People's Army on Oct. 17, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

It is widely speculated that Pyongyang has recently amended its constitution to define Seoul as a hostile state to align with Kim's directive to formally designate the South as an enemy, rather than a partner for reconciliation and reunification.

"And he added that it also means the last declaration that when the DPRK's sovereignty is violated by the ROK, a hostile country, its physical forces will be used unhesitatingly, without sticking to conditions any longer," the KCNA said.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim said that blocking roads and railways not only means the physical closure but also the end of the evil relationship with Seoul and the complete removal of the unreasonable idea of reunification.

During the inspection, Kim again cited the importance of bolstering the war-fighting capability and defending the security of the country through the permanent overwhelming combat readiness, including nuclear deterrence.

"The impact of the changed nature of the ROK-U.S. alliance and the more developed different enemy military maneuvers of aggressive nature on the DPRK's security more clearly highlights the importance of strengthening its nuclear deterrent and proves its validity," Kim said.

Photos released by the KCNA show Kim pointing to a large map on a table, mostly blurred but revealing Seoul, indicating that the 2nd Corps of the Korean People's Army may have formulated an attack plan targeting the South Korean capital.

The photos also show a large TV screen behind Kim displaying a map of the Korean Peninsula, with a thick blue line drawn in a location close to the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

Kim was accompanied on his field inspection by Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, and No Kwang-chol, minister of National Defence of the DPRK.

Gallery Gallery画报写真ギャラリーألبوم الصورGalería

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is greeted by military officials during his visit to the 2nd Corps of the Korean People's Army on Oct. 17, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

khj@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Han-joo · October 18, 2024

3. Yoon holds emergency security meeting amid N. Korea's alleged troop deployment to Russia

I hope that they discussed the opportunities that Kim is creating by this action.

This also should provide the rationale for the ROK to step up further as a partner in the Arsenal of Democracy and begin to provide direct lethal aid to Ukraine. ROK lethal aid in quantity could be a game changer for Ukraine.

Yoon holds emergency security meeting amid N. Korea's alleged troop deployment to Russia | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · October 18, 2024

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL. Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday convened an emergency security meeting amid revelations of North Korea's apparent decision to send troops to Russia to support its war in Ukraine, the presidential office said.

The meeting involving senior officials from the National Security Council, the Ministry of National Defense and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) took place to discuss the latest developments regarding North Korean troops' participation in Russia's conflict with Ukraine.

Following the meeting, the NIS said it believes Pyongyang has recently decided to deploy four brigades, totaling 12,000 soldiers, including special forces, to the war in Ukraine, which would mark North Korea's first large-scale deployment of ground forces.

"The participants agreed that the current situation, in which the military ties between Russia and North Korea have developed from the transfer of military supplies to actual troop deployments, poses a significant security threat not only to South Korea but also to the international community," the presidential office said in a release.

"They also decided not to stand by and will respond by mobilizing all available means in cooperation with the international community," it added.

South Korea has been closely tracking North Korea's troop movement to Russia from the beginning in coordination with its allies, and will continue to monitor the situation and take all necessary measures proactively, according to the office.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited Ukrainian intelligence reports indicating that North Korean personnel have already been deployed in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, with an additional 10,000 troops being prepared to join the fight.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian media reported that six North Koreans were among those killed after a Ukrainian missile strike in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region on Oct. 3. Russia denied using North Korean troops for its war.

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an event held in Gangneung, about 240 kilometers east of Seoul, on Oct. 17, 2024. (Yonhap)

ejkim@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Eun-jung · October 18, 2024

4. Army stages live-fire rocket artillery drills near border with N. Korea

Good.

Army stages live-fire rocket artillery drills near border with N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency

en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · October 18, 2024

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- The Army said Friday it has staged rocket artillery drills near the inter-Korean border, firing live rounds into waters off the east coast in a show of its firepower against possible North Korean provocations.

The drills, involving Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers, took place Thursday night in the border county of Goseong, 159 kilometers northeast of Seoul, with troops firing 130 millimeter rockets to strike a target 17 km off the coast, according to the Army.

"Through the Chunmoo that possesses formidable firepower, range and accuracy, this live-fire training took place to demonstrate the Army's resolve and capabilities to retaliate immediately, strongly and until the end if the enemy undertakes a provocation," it said.

The rocket artillery system is designed to strike North Korean long-range artillery pieces, many of which are stationed within range of South Korea's broader capital area -- home to half of the country's 51 million people.

The wheeled mobile system is capable of launching 130 mm rockets at a maximum range of 36 km and firing up to 12 rockets before reloading.

Cross-border tensions have heightened after North Korea accused South Korea of flying drones over Pyongyang multiple times this month and blew up parts of major inter-Korean land routes just north of the border on Tuesday.

Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers under the Army's I Corps fire live rounds into the East Sea from a training ground in the border county of Goseong, 159 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on Oct. 17, 2024, in this photo provided by the Army. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr

(END)

en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · October 18, 2024

5. Editorial: N. Korea's outrage over drone leaflets exposes fear of losing control

As Dr. Jung Pak always asks: WHo is Kim more afraid of : the ROK/US military or the Korean people in the north. It is the Korean people especially when they are armed with information.

This is why we indeed have a comprehensive holistic information campaign to achieve desired strategic effects.

Editorial: N. Korea's outrage over drone leaflets exposes fear of losing control

https://www.chosun.com/english/opinion-en/2024/10/14/BVLLFB43J5GWZEN4YY5SAAS66Q/

By The Chosunilbo

Published 2024.10.14. 09:00

North Korea's Foreign Ministry released this image of leaflets through the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 11, claiming they were dropped by a South Korean drone over central Pyongyang on Oct. 10. /Yonhap News

North Korea has claimed that South Korea infiltrated a drone over Pyongyang at night to scatter anti-regime leaflets. The North’s Foreign Ministry condemned the act as a “serious political and military provocation,” threatening to use “all available means of attack.” Kim Yo-jong also warned, “The moment a South Korean drone is spotted again, a terrible disaster will surely occur.”

The origin of the drone is unclear. South Korea’s military initially denied the accusation but now says, “We cannot confirm the facts.” Kim Yo-jong’s remark that the North is indifferent to who sent the drone suggests Pyongyang might not fully understand the situation either. However, the real question is not who sent the drone, but whether North Korea has any right to criticize.

In December 2022, North Korea sent five military drones into South Korean airspace, including over Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon. One drone breached the no-fly zone over Yongsan, where the president’s office and residence are located. In 2017, another drone launched from near Mount Kumgang crashed in Gangwon Province, carrying 551 photos of South Korean military installations, including the THAAD base in Seongju.

North Korean drones have violated South Korean airspace for over a decade, with more than 10 confirmed incidents. In 2013, Kim Jong-un personally oversaw drone training, instructing his forces to “thoroughly grasp the coordinates of enemy targets in the South.” In 2014, three North Korean drones crashed in Paju, Samcheok, and Baengnyeong Island, with flight coordinates indicating they originated from and were set to return to North Korea. Despite photos taken over Cheong Wa Dae, North Korea denied responsibility, dismissing the incident as fabricated.

North Korea has labeled the alleged drone infiltration a “blatant violation of international law” and a “serious crime.” This can be seen as an admission of guilt, given their own history of violating international law for over a decade. Their bluster likely stems from the content of the leaflets scattered over Pyongyang. The blurred-out materials released by the North reportedly contained phrases like “Kim Jong-un, preoccupied with lining his own pockets” and images of luxury goods linked to the Kim family. North Korea’s outrage reflects its fear that the truth about the regime might finally reach its people.

6. South Korea hits back at NK's photo copyright claims

Im Jong Seok has long been collecting royalties on use of copyright media from the north in South Korean media.

South Korea hits back at NK's photo copyright claims

The Korea Times · October 18, 2024

This combined photo shows footage of North Korea blowing up part of the Donghae Line road near the inter-Korean border, Tuesday. On the left is footage provided by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Thursday, and the photo on the right was released by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on the day of the explosion. Yonhap

JCS says Pyongyang's false statement aims to cover up its mistake

By Lee Hyo-jin

North Korea's accusation of unlawful use of its photos by South Korean media is "groundless," the military said Friday, reiterating that it is, in fact, the North that recently used the South's photos without authorization.

"The fact that Kim Yo-jong is addressing even such trivial issues suggests that North Korea’s system is not functioning properly. Her false statements may be an attempt to cover for the military’s failure to photograph the road explosions," a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official said during a closed-door briefing.

Earlier in the day, Kim, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement through the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), refuting claims that the regime had used photos from South Korea's JCS in reports published earlier this week.

"I want to inform those idiots that the photo is a screenshot from one of the video clips released by NBC, Fox News, Reuters, and other foreign media," Kim said in the statement.

"We couldn’t have taken a photo from that angle, so we used it because it fit our needs, with good visual quality and excellent composition. Is that problematic?" she added.

Her statement followed speculation raised by the South Korean military that the North had used unauthorized footage from the JCS in KCNA’s reports on Pyongyang's recent demolition of roads on the Donghae and Gyeongui railway lines near the border.

One of the three photos released by KCNA on Thursday resembled footage captured by South Korean military surveillance equipment. The JCS said it is considering the possibility that North Korea used the footage released by the military without authorization.

Although Kim claimed that KCNA used images from NBC, Fox News, and Reuters, those media outlets had sourced the images from the JCS. In other words, Kim’s statement has virtually confirmed that North Korea used photos originally taken by the South Korean military.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, arrives at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia, for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the North Korean leader, Sept. 13. Reuters-Yonhap

Kim also accused South Korean media outlets of frequently using images and video clips released by North Korea in their reports, calling it a "double standard" to raise such accustations toward Pyongyang.

In response, the JCS official said, "North Korea may have mentioned our media because they are unaware that South Korean outlets legally use KCNA photos. This suggests their internal reporting system isn’t functioning properly."

According to the Ministry of Unification, South Korean media outlets legally use photos provided by KCNA by paying copyright fees through a Japanese intermediary.

In a briefing, also on Friday, the ministry's deputy spokesperson Kim In-ae dismissed North Korea's claims on South Korean media's copyright infringement as "groundless."

She urged the regime to act responsibly under the Berne Convention, an international copyright agreement established in 1886.

The latest development comes as inter-Korean tensions have reached their highest level in years, with the North pushing a "two-state system" that defines the two Koreas as hostile nations. The reclusive regime blew up parts of roads near the inter-Korean border, Tuesday, signaling its intent to sever ties with South Korea.

The Korea Times · October 18, 2024

7. N. Korea's support to Russia may be civilian personnel rather than troops: S. Korean vice defense minister

Many of north Korea "civilians" working overseas are military personnel. Many of the "construction" workers overseas are military personnel.

N. Korea's support to Russia may be civilian personnel rather than troops: S. Korean vice defense minister

The Korea Times · October 18, 2024

South Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho, right, poses with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte, center, and the defense ministers of Australia, Japan and New Zealand at the defense ministers' meeting of NATO in Brussels, Oct. 17, in this photo provided by NATO. Yonhap

North Korea might be providing Russia with civilian personnel rather than sending its own troops for the war effort in Ukraine, a senior South Korean defense official has said.

Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho made the remarks amid mounting speculation that the North is providing its soldiers to fight Russia's war in Ukraine, a claim also reinforced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week, who argued that Pyongyang is preparing to send more troops.

"We say that it's significant as it is possible that North Korea has provided personnel rather than military forces," Kim said Thursday in an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Brussels.

Kim was in the Belgian capital to attend the defense ministers' meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"Whether it is personnel or troops will be determined once more information is gathered, put together and evaluated," Kim said.

The North's deployment, if confirmed, would mark a significant development in its relationship with Moscow, since they have forged closer ties with the announcement of a new bilateral treaty at the June summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The treaty calls for either side to provide military assistance to the other "without delay" in the event of an armed attack, in what is viewed as the revival of a de facto mutual defense treaty.

The United States and its allies have not confirmed Ukraine's claims about North Korean troops, saying there is no evidence and that they are evaluating the situation.

Kim said if the deployment was true, it would demonstrate the reclusive regime's "desperate" last-ditch efforts to gain security assurances from Russia.

"If they indeed sent their troops, it would be because the North feels the need to do so to maintain their regime, seek assurances from Russia for that purpose," Kim said, on the premise that it is his personal opinion.

"The arms trade with Russia is also an act born out of desperation on the brink," Kim added.

Since the nuclear diplomacy with the U.S. ended with a no-deal summit in 2019, the North has stepped up to enhance its relations with Russia. North Korea has been accused of supplying Moscow with weapons and munitions in support of its invasion of Ukraine.

At the NATO meeting, the vice defense minister said he felt the "enormous interest" from NATO members in their four Indo-Pacific partners — South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand — known as the "IP4."

"There was significant interest in the defense industry sector," Kim said. "Which in turn, I think, shows that the military threat perceived by NATO is much greater than we might think."

South Korea and NATO have been pushing to bolster their partnership, particularly in information-sharing, with the common goal of addressing challenges such as disinformation and cybersecurity, as well as supporting Ukraine amid Russia's war.

It marked the first time for the IP4 countries to join the NATO defense ministerial talks. Kim attended the meeting on behalf of Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who was unable to be present due to scheduling issues. (Yonhap)

The Korea Times · October 18, 2024

8. Top military officers of S. Korea, US denounce N. Korea-Russia military cooperation

Yes it must be denounced but we must also ask how we can exploit this.

Top military officers of S. Korea, US denounce N. Korea-Russia military cooperation

The Korea Times · October 18, 2024

JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo, right, holds the annual Military Committee Meeting in online, Oct. 18. Yonhap

The top generals of South Korea and the United States on Friday reaffirmed their "unwavering" commitment to the combined defense posture and condemned North Korea's deepening military cooperation with Russia, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., held the annual Military Committee Meeting virtually to discuss ways to deepen security cooperation against North Korea's continued nuclear and missile threats.

"Both leaders affirmed, in the strongest words possible, their unwavering commitment to the combined defense posture under the U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty, emphasizing their dedication to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region," the South's JCS said in an English-language release.

ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. The two countries signed the bedrock alliance document in 1953.

During the talks, Kim and Brown voiced concerns over key security challenges in the region and on the peninsula, including the North's increasing missile capabilities, nuclear threats and cyberattacks, as well as deepening military cooperation with Russia, according to the release.

"Both leaders underscored that the DPRK's provocative acts, and the DPRK's enhanced military cooperation with Russia destabilize peace and security on the Peninsula and across the globe," it said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim specifically highlighted North Korea's trash balloon campaign and how the North has defined the South as a hostile state. Since late May, the North has launched more than 5,000 balloons toward the South in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent to the North by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.

Against such a backdrop, both sides commended efforts to enhance trilateral security cooperation, also involving Japan, as seen in the Freedom Edge exercise, a trilateral multidomain exercise first launched in June.

The latest meeting was also joined by Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, the United Nations Command and the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

This year's meeting was initially scheduled to be held in the U.S., but Kim canceled his trip amid heightened cross-border tensions following North Korea's explosions of major roads connecting the two Koreas on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

The Korea Times · October 18, 2024

9. Pyongyang Worries About the Collapse of Its Won

This bears watching for indicators of potential instability. WIllam Brown, who is one of the most knowledgeable economists on the north Korea economy, provides important analysis and insights here.

Excerpts:

Not Just Hyperbole

These concerns may not be entirely hyperbolic. The last major foreign exchange (FX) crisis occurred in 2009, as Kim Jong-un was preparing to take over the government from his ailing father. Rare street demonstrations even forced an official public apology from the North Korean government. This occurred as market pricing was expanding rapidly, the won was replacing ration tickets, and the state’s command economy system was eroding. Some in the North Korean ruling circles may remember that similar issues preceded the failed Tiananmen protests in China in 1989 and that money control problems contributed to the collapse of the Korean royal family in the late 1890s.

Pyongyang Worries About the Collapse of Its Won - Korea Economic Institute of America

keia.org · by intern · October 17, 2024

Pyongyang Worries About the Collapse of Its Won

Published October 17, 2024

Author: William Brown

Category: North Korea

North Korea’s won has fallen in half against the US dollar since July for unclear reasons. An internal North Korean document collected by Daily NK blames perverse psychology for the trouble and warns that the won must be protected from further devaluation, suggesting high-level concerns of destabilizing inflation and a potential new banking crisis. The instructions, which issued dire warnings, are said to have been distributed by the cabinet, the government’s top administrative organ, to party and local government officials but not to the public.

Not Just Hyperbole

These concerns may not be entirely hyperbolic. The last major foreign exchange (FX) crisis occurred in 2009, as Kim Jong-un was preparing to take over the government from his ailing father. Rare street demonstrations even forced an official public apology from the North Korean government. This occurred as market pricing was expanding rapidly, the won was replacing ration tickets, and the state’s command economy system was eroding. Some in the North Korean ruling circles may remember that similar issues preceded the failed Tiananmen protests in China in 1989 and that money control problems contributed to the collapse of the Korean royal family in the late 1890s.

Dual Implications of Tight Monetary Policies

Kim’s best economic success to date has arguably been managing North Korea’s currency, fixing the dollar rate at close to 8,000 won in informal markets, and stopping inflation—something his father and grandfather were never able to do. He did this by using what could be considered standard capitalist measures: severely restricting the issuance of new cash and bank credit, casting a blind eye toward the surging internal use of US dollars and Chinese yuan, and balancing the budget without resorting to selling bonds. These measures—likened to a severely tight monetary policy without the use of interest rates—shoved the economy into a recession as state enterprises were starved of new cash. For the first time, the public was able to save money in banks and hold large denomination US dollar bills in their homes, withdrawing money from circulation and slowing inflation. Enterprises and even state agencies would have been unable to borrow, resulting in slower investment spending, a large part of North Korea’s GDP.

In 2015, after monetary stability had been achieved, Kim ordered financial authorities to modernize the banking system and promote won stability by inducing civilians to deposit their savings in state banks, offering high interest rates and guaranteeing that the won would no longer be deflated. The banks then could lend the funds, with interest, to state enterprises. As the won slowly returned to newly established “commercial” bank branches, foreign currency could be taken out of circulation. A near-normal capitalist banking system would thus develop, except that lending would be exclusively controlled by state enterprises—or at least that may have been the plan.

Trouble quickly ensued in 2017, however, as further nuclear tests led to additional sanctions from the UN Security Council. Export earnings collapsed as China jumped on board with imposing sanctions. Imports continued for a while, indicating a large current account outflow, with dollars and yuan leaving the country. The won remained glued to the dollar at 8,000, much like it would in a currency board system, but likely at a huge cost to the government. Pandemic-related border closures in 2020 fortuitously stopped the FX hemorrhage as imports were also stopped. The economy, however, was now starved of investment, which stalled exports.

Autarky and Currency Instability

In a key decision following the 2019 US-North Korea summit in Hanoi with then President Donald Trump, Kim decided to turn the economy inward, adopting an import substitution policy to rebuild domestic demand and limit the outflow of money. This partly worked, and the won even appreciated in value. But as border controls were slowly lifted in 2022 and 2023, North Korean imports of Chinese consumer products surged, whereas exports remained low, still stymied by UN sanctions and not prioritized in Kim’s plans. The trade surplus with China—a close proxy for North Korea’s deficit—again surged, which likely put pressure on the won. The outbreak of the war in Ukraine likely led North Korea to earn large sums in artillery sales to Russia. Additionally, its earnings from cyber theft and remittances from overseas North Korean workers and residents may have offset some of the rising trade deficit.

The North Korean document also says for the first time that the official exchange rate has been set at 8,900 won to the dollar—this after having been greatly overvalued for decades but largely ignored by the regime. Banks and money changers were ordered to use this new rate, apparently even after the market rate had soared. Details are publicly unavailable, but unifying the official and market rates is an important move to create a more rational monetary system, giving better market incentives to exports and imports. Setting the dollar a little higher might have been thought to diminish the inevitable skepticism that the won would again be devalued. If so, this did not work, and the public might have instantly thought another major devaluation was in the works. By dumping won and buying dollars, they could have forced that to happen. If they withdrew funds from their bank accounts to convert into dollars, this could have forced the central bank to relieve liquidity pressures by printing more cash, encouraging a further downward spiral in the won.

Difficult Reforms Needed

Immediate repercussions of the won’s abrupt fall are varied but can change quickly if the regime regains control. If not, momentum can build, causing the won to spiral down, with everyone bailing out and buying available dollars and yuan. The implications are as follows:

• There would have been big winners (mostly the rich who own assets in dollars or the Chinese yuan) and big losers (anyone who had borrowed dollars and now must pay back in inflated won). Social and even political repercussions would be inevitable.
• Potential disruptions in banks if depositors suddenly withdraw their won to buy dollars. Interest rates would likely soar on won accounts while dropping to zero on dollar accounts.
• Rational export and import decisions would be invalidated. Imports of grain will be more expensive to ordinary citizens, and market data shows that prices of rice and other commodities have already risen. Exports, on the other hand, will be more lucrative and might be incentivized.
• Most worrisome to the state are big jumps in prices for imported goods, which would lead to citizens’ demand for higher state wages and an unstoppable surge in overall inflation. This is likely what the regime hopes to thwart by producing these instructions.

The longer-term impact is no doubt a setback in Kim’s decade-long effort to build trust in the won and his creation of a modern economy. Solutions include shifting to an export-driven economy and focusing on products that are not sanctioned or poorly policed, such as hair products and artillery shells; a massive domestic sale of state property—or privatization—to pull in the won and limit inflation by running a state budget surplus; offering higher interest rates on won deposits, thus an even sharper turn to capitalism; or making a nuclear deal to eliminate sanctions on exports and resuming its sales of high valued coal and metal resources. Notably, North Korea has some of the world’s largest resources of zinc and other non-ferrous metals and rare earth minerals, which are now in great demand.

However, these solutions—in effect, opening the country up to the largely capitalist global economy—are not easy for an ideologically constrained regime such as North Korea.

William B. Brown is the principal of Northeast Asia Economics and Intelligence, Advisory LLC (NAEIA.com) and interim Senior Advisor at the Korea Economic Institute of America. The views expressed here are the author’s alone.

Photo from Shutterstock.

KEI is registered under the FARA as an agent of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, a public corporation established by the government of the Republic of Korea. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

For additional information, see:

William Brown, “Barely Afloat: A Depreciating Won Risks Financial Instability for Kim Jong-un,” Korea Economic Institute of America, August 28, 2024, https://keia.org/the-peninsula/barely-afloat-a-depreciating-won-risks-financial-instability-for-kim-jong-un/.

William Brown, “Is Tight Money and Sanctions Driving North Korea into Depression,” Korea Economic Institute of America, July 5, 2019, https://keia.org/the-peninsula/is-tight-money-and-sanctions-driving-north-korea-into-depression/.

“North Korean Economy Update,” Northeast Asia Economics and Intelligence, March 6, 2024, https://naeia.com/home-1/f/north-korean-economy-update.

“North Korea’s Monetary and Exchange Rate Pressures,” Northeast Asia Economics and Intelligence, September 24, 2023, https://naeia.com/home-1/f/north-koreas-monetary-and-exchange-rate-pressures.

William Brown, “UN Sanctions Continue to Devastate North Korean Trade,” Korea Economic Institute of America, February 8, 2019, https://keia.org/the-peninsula/un-sanctions-continue-to-devastate-north-korean-trade/.

Return to the Peninsula

keia.org · by intern · October 17, 2024

10. Nearly 11,000 North Korean Troops In Russia Preparing To Enter The Fight Says Ukraine's Spy Boss

Howard Altman provides the most comprehensive reporting on this.

Nearly 11,000 North Korean Troops In Russia Preparing To Enter The Fight Says Ukraine's Spy Boss

Ukraine Situation Report: Lt. Gen. Budanov claims the first 2.600 North Korean troops will help Russia's attempt to defeat the Kursk invasion.

Howard Altman

Posted on Oct 17, 2024 8:14 PM EDT

215

twz.com · by Howard Altman

There are now nearly 11,000 North Korean infantry troops training in eastern Russia to fight in Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) told The War Zone Thursday afternoon.

“They will be ready [to fight in Ukraine] on Nov. 1,” Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told TWZ.

The North Korean troops will be using Russian equipment and ammunition, said Budanov. The first cadre of 2,600 soldiers will go to Kursk, where Ukraine has established a heavily fought-over foothold (more on that later). It is unclear where the remaining North Korean troops will go, he added.

“We don’t have the full picture right now,” said Budanov.

Pyongyang’s forces, as we previously noted, have already been killed in Ukraine.

There are 11,000 North Korean troops training in Russia to fight Ukraine, Ukrainian Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, commander of the Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR), told us.(Howard Altman) Howard Altman

Budanov’s comments came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Brussels that there are about 10,000 North Korean troops preparing to fight his country on behalf of Russia.

Zelensky warned that a third nation wading into the hostilities would turn the conflict into a “world war,” The Associated Press reported. The Ukrainian leader did not go into further details.

Zelenskyy claims 10,000 North Korean troops are preparing to enter the war with Russia and some officers already been in occupied Ukraine helping the Russian armed forces use weapons provided by Pyongyang. via @HenryJFoy https://t.co/uqS2koDQLB

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) October 17, 2024

A day earlier, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said in Seoul that Washington and its allies are alarmed by North Korea’s military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine but couldn’t confirm Ukrainian claims that North Korean soldiers were sent to fight for Moscow.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian media reported that about 3,000 troops were forming part of the “Special Buryat Battalion,” organized within the 11th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces to fight in Ukraine.”

As we previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a draft law to the Russian State Duma on Monday seeking ratification of a strategic partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang, hammered in June. It calls for each side to provide military assistance to each other in the event of war.

In another sign of the burgeoning relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang, a report emerged on Thursday claiming that Russian troops are training to use North Korean self-propelled artillery.

The Ukrainian-aligned ATESH group claimed on Telegram that a Russian soldier who is part of the organization said the training is underway at the Higher Artillery Command School in Saratov, about 300 miles east of Ukraine. ATESH did not specify what variant of self-propelled artillery North Korea provided.

While The War Zone cannot independently verify this, we have written frequently about how North Korea is supporting Russia, including supplying ballistic missiles, artillery ammunition, and now, apparently, troops.

russian military begins training on North Korean self-propelled guns

An agent of the ATESH movement from the russian Armed Forces reports that in Saratov, at the recently restored Higher Artillery Command School, training of artillerymen on North Korean self-propelled… pic.twitter.com/gL5flsTOZa

— Lew Anno Suport#Israel #Ukraine 24/2-22 (@anno1540) October 17, 2024

The Pentagon is looking into reports about North Korean troops fighting on behalf of Russia, but could not confirm them, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told The War Zone during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

“If true, that would demonstrate an increase in the cooperation between Russia and North Korea, and I think that would also demonstrate the dire situation [Russia] finds itself in, in terms of its forces on the battlefield,” said Ryder. “As you heard us recently say, the casualties that Russia is experiencing on the front lines are extremely significant, upward of 600,000 killed or wounded, and so it just demonstrates the desperation in terms of identifying additional forces for their military. It’s something that will continue to keep a close eye on.”

By deploying troops to Ukraine, North Korea may lead South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol government to rethink its policy of not providing direct military support to Ukraine, a U.S. expert said Thursday.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, made the remarks following media reports that the Russian military is organizing the aforementioned special battalion of North Korean personnel amid manpower shortages.

“I would imagine, it would make President Yoon very upset, and who knows what he’s going to do if he’s really upset?” Cha said at a forum co-hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies and the Brussels-based Center for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy.

Reports of N. Korea sending troops to Russia may prompt Yoon to reconsider its support for Ukraine: U.S. expert https://t.co/0mvd4K5KPH

— Yonhap News Agency (@YonhapNews) October 17, 2024

Budanov’s statement is another indication of North Korea’s growing role in Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine and that it seems the size of the troop contingent that will participate has already grown larger than some had originally thought.

The Latest

On the battlefield, more than two months after Ukraine first launched its invasion of Russia’s Kursk region, one news organization is making a contested claim about the status of that operation.

Ukrainian troops have lost about half the territory captured, according to the Telegraph.

“A senior Russian commander from Chechnya said that an estimated 50,000 troops were pushing back Ukrainian forces, who either had to ‘flee or end up in the cauldron,’” the publication reported.

Russia has regained approximately half of the territory it lost in the Kursk region.

— Russian forces have recaptured about 46 square miles (approximately 120 square kilometers) of territory, which had been under Ukrainian control since an incursion in August 2024.

— Russian… pic.twitter.com/Kc9Zmjb3lY

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 16, 2024

“Approximately half of the territory that was occupied by the enemy has already been liberated,” said Major General Apty Alaudinov.

Well-connected Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers have been reporting since Saturday that Moscow’s troops have punched through sectors of Ukraine’s front lines in Kursk, the publication noted.

Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, last week confirmed that 50,000 Russians were fighting in Kursk, according to the Ukrainian Suspline news outlet. He stressed, however, that such actions led to the weakening of Russian groups in other areas, in particular in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions and the Kramatorsk direction.

“The situation in the Kursk region remains difficult, but under control,” the Ukrainian DeepState open-source intelligence group said on Telegram last week. “It was a difficult and tense night, the Defense Forces of Ukraine are indeed carrying out stabilization actions, but it has not yet been possible to regain control over everything that was lost.”

Russians have “suffered considerable losses during the assault, so it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold,” DeepState added. “The worst is now, probably, in Lyubimovka, but we have to wait for the end of the new round of maneuver warfare.”

Ryder on Thursday pushed back on the assessment that Russia has recaptured about half the territory it lost in Kursk.

“Based on the information I have, that is not accurate,” he told The War Zone. “There has been a small amount of territory retaken by the Russians in Kursk, but at this stage, nothing that we would consider significant.”

DeepState’a interactive battle map shows that Ukraine has lost territory in Kursk in the past few weeks, mostly in the northwestern sector of its salient. However, it does not appear to be as much as The Telegraph asserted.

The gray shows the position of Ukrainian troops in Kursk on Sept. 21. (DeepState)

Much of that territory has been recaptured by Russia as of Oct. 16, according to DeepState (DeepState)

Some Russian milbloggers meanwhile have reported a slowdown in the effort to repel Ukrainian forces.

Some Russian channels report a slowdown in efforts to repel an "attempted invasion" in the Kursk region. According to them, despite initial partial success, the Ukrainian Armed Forces regrouped, preventing further advances.

This is also evidenced by videos that emerged today,… pic.twitter.com/Y5CJNKvExc

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) October 16, 2024

Zelensky told Donald Trump during their meeting last month that Ukraine needs to be part of NATO, or it would pursue nuclear capabilities to protect itself. He made those comments Thursday during a press conference in Brussels, after presenting his “Victory Plan” to European Union leaders.

“Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, which will serve as protection, or it must be part of some kind of alliance,” he said he told the former U.S. president and current Republican presidential nominee, according to the Kyiv Independent. “Apart from NATO, we do not know of such an effective alliance.”

“I believe Trump heard me and said that it was a fair argument,” he added.

Zelensky also invoked the Budapest Memorandum, in which Ukraine agreed in 1994 to give up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the U.S., and the U.K., the publication noted.

“The agreement resulted in Ukraine losing its nuclear shield, Zelensky argued, while other powers that have maintained their nuclear arsenal have not suffered from a full-scale war,” according to the Kyiv Independent. Zelensky emphasized that he would choose NATO membership over pursuing nuclear weapons.

️ Zelensky spoke to Trump and said:

"There are two choices. Or Ukraine will have nuclear weapons, or we should have some kind of alliance, and apart from NATO we do not know any functioning alliances today. We want to choose NATO, not nuclear weapons."

He added that the… pic.twitter.com/MgXNH1WGhT

— NOELREPORTS (@NOELreports) October 17, 2024

Ukraine does not have any nuclear weapons and officials there are pushing back on a claim by the German Bild news outlet that Kyiv is on the verge of producing some.

“We have the material, we have the knowledge. If the order is given, we will only need a few weeks to have the first bomb,” an official reportedly said at the time, Bild stated. The publication did not state when exactly the “closed meeting” took place.

Presidential advisor Dmytro Lytvyn denied that claim and compared the statements by reporter Julian Röpcke to Russian propaganda, accusing him of spreading misinformation, according to the Kyiv Post.

Ukrainian officials have dismissed Bild's claims about restoring nuclear weapons stockpiles as "nonsense." Presidential advisor Dmytro Lytvyn compared the statements by 'journalist' Julian Röpcke to Russian propaganda, accusing him of spreading misinformation. According to… pic.twitter.com/LWeGNprR5O

— NOELREPORTS (@NOELreports) October 17, 2024

Zelensky unveiled that “Victory Plan” to his nation’s parliament on Wednesday. That introduction came after Zelensky toured Europe but failed to drum up international support for the effort.

The plan outlined by Zelensky consists of five key points, according to BBC:

• Inviting Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance
• Strengthening of Ukrainian defense against Russian forces, including getting permission from allies to use their long-range weapons on Russian territory, and the continuation of Ukraine’s military operations on Russian territory to avoid the creation of the “buffer zones” in Ukraine
• Containing Russia via a non-nuclear strategic deterrent package deployed on Ukrainian soil
• Joint protection by the U.S. and the EU of Ukraine’s critical natural resources and joint use of their economic potential
• Replacing some US troops stationed across Europe with Ukrainian soldiers in the post-war period.

Three “addendums” remain secret and will only be shared with Ukraine’s partners, Zelensky said.

You can really see the confidence in #Zelensky's "Victory Plan" during the applause in the Verkhovna Rada. pic.twitter.com/4TMdwdJStX

— Medan (@sumnjam) October 16, 2024

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola lauded Zelensky’s plan, calling it “a peace with integrity, a peace with justice, peace with dignity.”

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola: " We welcome his [President Zelenskyy's] Peace Plan. It is a peace with integrity, peace with justice, peace with dignity."pic.twitter.com/4JICH2nZUt

— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) October 17, 2024

Ukraine will become a member of NATO in the future, according to the alliance’s new Secretary General Mark Rutte.

“In the future, NATO will have as a 32 or 34th member,” he told reporters Thursday in Brussels. “We will have Ukraine. At the moment, it seems that it will be Ukraine as number 33 but maybe somebody else pops in front of them, but Ukraine will be a member of NATO in the future. That’s how we decided in Washington.”

Rutte did not offer any specifics about when that might happen.

️ Ukraine will join NATO as its 33rd or 34th member in the future, says NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO HQ in Brussels. He didn't mention within which timeframe.

"At the moment, it looks like Ukraine will be the 33rd member. Maybe someone else will come out ahead… pic.twitter.com/3UCk7WAXDr

— NOELREPORTS (@NOELreports) October 17, 2024

Ukrainian authorities “ordered the evacuation of a key city and three other localities in northeastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday as Russian forces press closer and officials face difficulties in providing services through the winter,” Reuters reported. “The order applied to Kupiansk, a rail hub lying astride the Oskil River, as well as the town of Borova, further south, near the city of Izium, another major logistics center.”

All civilians must be evacuated from Kupyansk and three other communities in the Kharkiv region, – OVA

Families with children will be forcibly evacuated from the Borivska community. pic.twitter.com/0E5G5OlOp5

— MAKS 24 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) October 15, 2024

Ukrainian officials bristled at the news the U.S. is sending Israel one of its seven prized Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries to protect against another Iranian ballistic missile barrage.

Officials in Kyiv complain of a double standard because a THAAD battery has not been assigned to protect Ukraine, Politico noted.

“The reason why the U.S. acts boldly in Israel and cautiously in Ukraine is clear: Russia is armed with nuclear weapons and Iran isn’t,” a source told the publication.

“The tough answer that Ukrainians may not like to hear but is unfortunately true is that we can take the risk of shooting down Iranian missiles over Israel without triggering direct war with Tehran that could lead to nuclear war,” a senior U.S. Senate aide who works on Ukraine policy told Politico. “There’s a lot more risk in trying that with Russia.”

The announcement of its pending delivery comes ahead of an expected Israeli retaliation for Tehran’s massive missile barrage earlier this month.

Ukrainian officials are expressing frustration over the United States' strong military support for Israel, contrasting it with what they perceive as a lack of equivalent assistance for Ukraine.

“If the allies shoot down missiles together in the sky of the Middle East, why is… pic.twitter.com/wxxll30pSV

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 16, 2024

The Pentagon on Wednesday announced a new $425 million aid package to Ukraine. The 67th tranche of Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) assistance provided by the Biden administration, it includes additional air defense capabilities; air-to-ground weapons; munitions for rocket systems and artillery; armored vehicles; and anti-tank weapons.

The capabilities in this announcement include:

• Additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS):
• RIM-7 missiles and support for air defense;
• Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
• Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
• Air-to-ground munitions;
• 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition;
• Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles;
• Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
• High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);
• Small arms and ammunition;
• Grenades, thermals, and training equipment;
• Demolitions equipment and munitions; and
• Spare parts, ancillary equipment, services, training, and transportation.

The Pentagon is sending Ukraine an unspecified number of additional 155mm shells. (Photo by Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Norway will soon deliver half of the 12 F-16 fighters it is expected to provide Ukraine, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

To date, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway have collectively pledged some 85 F-16AM/BM jets to Ukraine and Greece may be moving to commit 32 additional F-16C/D variants.

Norway will provide Ukraine with 6 F-16 jets in the near future — Minister @rustem_umerov.

 pic.twitter.com/n8kefUHZaA

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 17, 2024

The U.S. “is refocusing its training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots on younger cadets rather than experienced air force members,” The Wall Street Journal reported today. It is a decision” that could extend by many months the timeline for when Kyiv will have a full squadron of the Western-built aircraft ready for the battlefield.”

The new direction” is the result of the lack of experienced Ukrainian pilots with requisite English-language abilities who can be spared from the battlefield,” the publication reported, citing U.S. officials. “Some officials also said that the U.S. believes younger cadets would be more open to Western-style instruction.

The training course has been a subject of debate recently, particularly after an August mishap that killed Oleksiy Mes, a former MiG-29 squadron commander with the callsign “Moonfish” who had recently graduated from the program. In addition to the loss of Mes, that incident destroyed one of Ukraine’s few F-16s. The mishap is still under investigation.

Ukrainian F-16 pilot Oleksii Mes was killed in an August mishap still being investigated. (Ukrainian Air Force photo)

Ukraine showed off one of its IRIS-T SLM surface-to-air missile systems, among several donated by Germany.

️The Air Force of Ukraine showed the German Iris-T SLM air defense system pic.twitter.com/u44h4sfS7F

— MilitaryNewsUA (@front_ukrainian) October 17, 2024

Speaking of Germany, opposition leader Freidrich Merz of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party said he would give Russia a 24-hour ultimatum to stop bombing Ukrainian civilian infrastructure or he would approve providing Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missiles to Ukraine should he become chancellor. That’s according to Bild war correspondent Julian Röpcke.

The stance is counter to that held by current Chancellor Olaf Scholz as well as the German parliament, which in January overwhelmingly voted down a non-binding measure on delivering those weapons to Ukraine.

The weapon, which first entered German service in 2005, has a stated range of around 300 miles.

#Breaking

German oppositional leader, and likely next chancellor @_FriedrichMerz says he would give Russia at 24 hour ultimatum to stop bombing civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. If it doesn’t do so, he would provide Taurus w/o restrictions to Ukraine.

pic.twitter.com/5j7udc950B

— Julian Röpcke (@JulianRoepcke) October 16, 2024

The U.S. imposed sanctions on three entities and one person involved in the development and production of Russia’s Garpiya series of long-range attack drones, the State Department announced Thursday morning.

The Garpiya is “designed and produced in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in collaboration with Russian defense firms” and has been used “to destroy critical infrastructure and has resulted in mass casualties,” the department said in a release.

These are the first U.S. sanctions imposed on PRC entities directly developing and producing complete weapons systems in partnership with Russian firms, the State Department noted.

“Today’s action is part of our continued effort to disrupt attempts by PRC-based and Russia-based entities and individuals to support Russia’s acquisition of advanced weapons technology and components,” according to the release. “We will continue to impose costs on those who provide support to Russia’s military-industrial base.”

You can read more about who was sanctioned in this Treasury Department release.

US goes after Chinese firms for manufacturing drones for Russia. Good move. In its press release, Treasury warns that any bank financing this activity is liable to be sanctioned. Even better to act on that warning. ⁦@ACGeoEcon⁩ https://t.co/C0qgeTkztU

— Daniel Fried (@AmbDanFried) October 17, 2024

A Russian hacking group has accelerated cyber attacks against Ukraine and Poland to suck up data “of strategic interest,” according to a new report by the Cisco-Talos cyber security firm.

The group, UAT-5647, also known as RomCom, “has long been considered a multi-motivational threat actor performing both ransomware and espionage-oriented attacks,” the report states. “However, UAT-5647 has accelerated their attacks in recent months with a clear focus on establishing long–term access for exfiltrating data of strategic interest to them. Our assessment, in line with recent reporting from CERT-UA and Palo Alto Networks, indicates that the threat actor is aggressively expanding their tooling and infrastructure to support a wide variety of malware components authored in diverse languages and platforms such as GoLang, C++, The RUST and LUA.”

The cyber attack on high-profile Ukrainian entities is likely part of a two-pronged effort to steal data and place malware on these systems in order to disrupt and seek financial gain from the targets, the report concluded.

“It is also likely that Polish entities were also targeted, based on the keyboard language checks performed by the malware.

In another cyber attack Russian hackers used Telegram to target the devices of Ukraine’s draft-aged men with the MeduzaStealer malware, Ukraine’s government computer emergency team stated in a separate report.

MeduzaStealer “was previously used by Russia-linked threat actors to obtain login credentials, computer information, browsing history and data from password managers,” according to The Record. “Last year, a threat actor known as UAC-0050 deployed the malware against targets in Ukraine and Poland.”

Hackers are targeting Ukrainian conscripts' devices via MeduzaStealer malware – a tool previously linked to Russia, spread through Telegram. The scheme manipulates a new government app designed for military service updates. https://t.co/3QrJTQSK2m

— The Record From Recorded Future News (@TheRecord_Media) October 16, 2024

Given the mounting losses on the battlefield and the need for new troops, a Ukrainian officer called for the recruitment age to be lowered from the present 25 years of age

“It is necessary to lower the mobilization age to 21 so that we have young motivated soldiers in the army, Col. Ihor Obolenskyi commander of the 13th Brigade of the National Guard, said on national television, according to the Ukrainian Unian media outlet. “The more our youth can feel what war is now, the easier it will be for us in the future. Hard times give birth to strong people.”

The commander of the Ukrainian National Guard's 13th "Khartia" Brigade, Colonel Ihor Obolenskyi, believes the mobilization age should be lowed to 21.https://t.co/3rbIVGv8Ze pic.twitter.com/HE3URAg7mT

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) October 15, 2024

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter Mark Krutow compiled an interesting Twitter threat about his geolocation of Russian Pantsir air defense systems. By examining the locations, he noticed Russia had created a ring pattern of those systems around Moscow since 2022.

He also “noticed a few ‘gaps’ in the ring, one of which was in the northwest area,” Krutow explained.

3/7 I noticed a few 'gaps' in the ring, one of which was in the northwest area. pic.twitter.com/QVu80pCAFv

— Mark Krutov (@kromark) October 16, 2024

Back in 2022, we wrote about how a Turkish Ada class corvette eventually bound for Ukraine was launched at the RMK Marine shipyard in Istanbul Turkey during a ceremony attended by Olena Zelenksa, wife of the Ukrainian president.

The corvette – which Zelensky in 2021 named Hetman Ivan Mazepa in honor of Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa, a Ukrainian Cossack military leader – was expected to be delivered sometime this year. New video shows it conducting work-up operations off the Turkish coast. The ship has reportedly completed torpedo firing drills, and flight operations with Turkish Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopters.

Footage of the Ukrainian Navy’s newest and largest ship, the Ada-class multimission corvette Hetman Ivan Mazepa, conducting work up operations off the coast of Turkey

The ship has completed torpedo firing drills, and flight operations with Turkish Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopters. pic.twitter.com/UvNHvutefs

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 17, 2024

The deputy head of a Russian special operations unit and officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) was assassinated in the Moscow region Wednesday, according to the Moscow Times.

An unknown suspect fired eight shots at Nikita Klenkov from the window of a Mitsubishi Outlander, according to the Russian Baza news agency.

Klenkov has previously served in Ukraine. The motive for his killing in not yet known.

This morning, a car was gunned down in the Moscow region, carrying a soldier who had recently returned from the war against Ukraine. It was later revealed that the killed serviceman was a high-ranking GRU officer and the deputy commander of the Special Operations Forces Training… pic.twitter.com/cHD04Knw1S

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) October 16, 2024

CNN was given unprecedented access to a GUR drone strike against a Russian ammunition depot. The segment shows the dangerous nature of the strike, which has to be carried out quickly before the Russians can spot it. It also highlights how Ukraine uses tinfoil-wrapped decoy drones to draw attention from the real ones.

We got unprecedented access to strike drone mission deep into Russia with Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency GUR. They allowed us to film everything from the planning to the launch. They say their drones are effective but they need Western long range weapons and permission to… pic.twitter.com/5T2MG7DTdF

— Frederik Pleitgen (@fpleitgenCNN) October 16, 2024

France has produced its first kamikaze drones and will deliver them to its troops and Ukraine “in the coming weeks,” French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on Twitter.

Known as the Colibri loitering ammunition, it has “been under development by France’s Delair and KNDS [companies] since last year,” the Kyiv Independent reported. “The Calibri project was launched to develop a system with a radius of 5 kilometers at a cost of less than 20,000 euros ($22,000) per unit.”

The drones should be delivered to Ukraine in between this year and next, according to the publication, adding that Delair has previously provided Ukraine with 100 UX-11 reconnaissance drones and 50 larger DT-26 drones.

Earlier this year, Lecornu said the French military would order 2,000 kamikaze drones, with the first 100 to be sent to Ukraine.

Succès des essais de la première munition télé opérée – aussi appelée drone kamikaze – française.

Reconquête de souveraineté sur ce segment clé pour nos armées, en moins de deux ans.

Livraisons à l'Ukraine et à nos forces dans les prochaines semaines. pic.twitter.com/QfewB0gIAm

— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) October 16, 2024

Cluster munitions from an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS struck a Russian training ground on the southern front. The following video shows the submunitions striking an area where the troops were gathered.

More HIMARS cluster munition strikes on Russian training grounds. Southern front. https://t.co/9WSO417O9V pic.twitter.com/ZpmmRmWGD3

— Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) October 16, 2024

At a very close range, a Ukrainian tank is seen firing at a Russian armored personnel carrier. Though the two vehicles were just yards apart at the time, at least some Russian troops managed to scamper out.

️A Ukrainian tank close-range destroys a Russian armored personnel carrier with infantry in the Kursk region pic.twitter.com/f8D8jiPLII

— MilitaryNewsUA (@front_ukrainian) October 16, 2024

A helicopter parts shop in St. Petersburg, Russia was destroyed by six ax-wielding masked men, the Russian Baza news agency reported Thursday on Telegram.

“On the night of October 14, six masked men climbed onto the plant’s premises on Kingiseppskoe Highway,” according to Baza. “They were armed with axes and hammers. According to workers in the shop at the time, the unknown individuals began to smash the machines using improvised means. At the same time, one of the criminals ran up to the workers and forced them to give him their phones.”

One theory that emerged is that instead of this being a Ukrainian-connected sabotage operation, it could have been carried out by the company’s competitors, Baza posited.

Unknown persons smashed a helicopter parts manufacturing plant in St. Petersburg, – BAZA

On the night of October 14, 6 masked men climbed onto the plant's premises. They were armed with axes and hammers, and began to smash everything. pic.twitter.com/t7hW4jbjH0

— MAKS 24 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) October 17, 2024

Russia claims to have recovered another Ukrainian jet-powered drone. It has no name and there is no indication by the Ukrainian Powerful Informant Telegram channel that posted the images when or where it was recovered Among the components visible on the drone is a U.S.-made CubePilot Orange flight controller, which you can see below in the picture on the right.

More photos of another Ukrainian kamikaze jet drone with an unknown name published by Russians. https://t.co/HykOqkDXeN https://t.co/3cd1HZHTZd pic.twitter.com/3zCrjejqqA

— Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) October 16, 2024

Heavy bomber drones launched by Ukraine reportedly destroyed a Russian 2S4 Tyupan 240mm self-propelled heavy mortar. They also struck a TOS-1 220mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) vehicle, with unknown results.

Ukrianaian heavy bomber drones destroy Russian 2S4 Tyulpan 240 mm self-propelled heavy mortar.

And target TOS-1 220mm MLRS, with an unknown result.https://t.co/7VpxsYAdfRhttps://t.co/FAt0WogZsx pic.twitter.com/aX2GEI07Dt

— Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) October 16, 2024

Though it does not get as much attention, there is still a fight going on in the southern front. The following video shows a Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) drone destroying a Russian boat.

️A Ukrainian FPV drone destroyed a Russian boat with infantry in the Southern direction pic.twitter.com/wui1QT1jqS

— MilitaryNewsUA (@front_ukrainian) October 16, 2024

The Ukrainian-made drone-launched revolving drum seen in the following video can hold up to five warheads, each released as the device spins around.

Drum system of projectile discharge pic.twitter.com/WzVq4ywMha

— UkraineNewsLive (@UkraineNewsLive) October 17, 2024

The Ukrainians aren’t the only ones improvising in this war. Russia too is coming up with ad-hoc solutions to battlefield problems.

Fire missions in the Orekhov direction of the Zaporizhia region are carried out using a robotic ATGM. It was designed and constructed by one of the servicemen of the Dnepr group of forces, the Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) said on Telegram. The soldier was an engineer by education.

“We found a man, a fighter, who designed and created a model from scratch,” the MoD said. “‘First on a computer, and then brought it to life. Everything from scratch to the final result,’ said the ATGM battery commander with the call sign ‘Tourist.'”

A combat UGV that was apparently put together by Russian soldiers at the front https://t.co/PzkMXwDPvX https://t.co/gohE1H7K0t pic.twitter.com/jx9IvKfXAk

— Samuel Bendett (@sambendett) October 16, 2024

The Russian Two Majors Telegram channel released video showing a tracked uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) sporting a 300×7.62mm machine gun.

Another Russian combat UGV from the “Dva Mayora” volunteer project. https://t.co/0UDto1jTax https://t.co/lZ1QK3e4nx pic.twitter.com/oBMReeklvU

— Samuel Bendett (@sambendett) October 16, 2024

Russia continues to increase the use of FPV drones with fiber optic wires connecting them to their controllers instead of a radio link. This makes them impervious to jamming and allows them to navigate at very low level without degrading the operators feed. Although the very long trailing wire is a major drawback.

Russian forces continue using fiber-optic drones in Kursk region.

These drones can be used even in dense forests, but it requires some skill. pic.twitter.com/WkyzHEBOqX

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 15, 2024

To avoid being struck by Ukrainian drones, Russia has turned to dummies to distract operators and get them to waste munitions.

Russians have started using dummies at the front so that Ukrainian UAV pilots are distracted by them and waste shells during drone attack. pic.twitter.com/9Eq9JzSnGe

— MAKS 24 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) October 17, 2024

However, not all Russian improvisions are working well. in the case of this Kapyushon K-8 anti-drone electronic warfare system, the troops receiving the equipment expressed displeasure with the workmanship.

“Question, is this a beer can?” one Russian soldier wondered about one of the system’s antennae. “…Don’t send this to us.”

Review of a Russian Kapyushon K-8 EW system with antennae made out of beer cans. pic.twitter.com/eDYR3JNZ1y

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) October 17, 2024

The EW system wasn’t the only piece of equipment Russian troops griped about. The video below shows them complaining about the welding quality in the new body of a Bukhanka van produced by the UAZ company, noting that this vehicle costs 1.5 million rubles (over $15,000).

Russians are complaining about the welding quality in the new body of the 'Bukhanka,' produced by the UAZ company, noting that this vehicle costs 1.5 million rubles (over $15,000). pic.twitter.com/uSKvP61D67

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) October 16, 2024

Special capes designed to help Russian troops hide from the thermal cameras on Ukrainian drones do not appear to be having the intended effect. A soldier scurrying through the forest tried to hide in one, only to have the drone find and strike him.

Russian soldiers with thermal capes that are supposed to make them less visible to drone thermal cameras https://t.co/9xQm68My9c pic.twitter.com/lTFjFpyA3x

— Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) October 17, 2024

And finally, photos of warplanes making close passes never get old. Such is the case in this photo of a Ukrainian Air Force Su-24 Fencer swing-wing attack jet buzzing a group of farmers in the central part of the country.

Central Ukraine, a Ukrainian Air Force Su-24 Fencer buzzes a group of farmers. https://t.co/g0SCKWd3qd pic.twitter.com/ZN0QfLKVN4

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 16, 2024

That’s it for now.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Howard Altman

Senior Staff Writer

Howard is a Senior Staff Writer for The War Zone, and a former Senior Managing Editor for Military Times. Prior to this, he covered military affairs for the Tampa Bay Times as a Senior Writer. Howard’s work has appeared in various publications including Yahoo News, RealClearDefense, and Air Force Times.

• Around The Globe
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twz.com · by Howard Altman

11. Seoul envoy calls for stronger defense industry cooperation, cautions against protectionism

The US needs to rethink the concept of the Arsenal of democracy and how to integrate our most capable allies.

Seoul envoy calls for stronger defense industry cooperation, cautions against protectionism

The Korea Times · October 18, 2024

South Korean Ambassador to the United States Cho Hyun-dong speaks during a meeting with reporters in Washington, D.C., Sept. 25. Yonhap

Seoul's top envoy to Washington cautioned Thursday against economic "protectionism" as he highlighted the need to address barriers that preclude full defense industrial cooperation between South Korea and the United States.

Speaking at a think tank forum, Ambassador Cho Hyun-dong pointed to a U.S. legal mandate requiring U.S. naval ships to be built in America as a challenge limiting efforts to expand collaboration between the U.S. and its foreign partners.

"This issue is particularly salient right now as the approaching election increased the call to protect American manufacturing and the associated jobs," he said during the forum hosted by the Washington-based Hudson Institute.

"Nevertheless, this is a pivotal moment, and we must recognize that cooperation offers greater benefit than protectionism," he added.

Expounding the global security landscape marked by Russia's war in Ukraine, its military alignment with North Korea and conflicts in the Middle East, Cho underscored the importance of tighter cooperation among allies and partners.

He cited shipbuilding as one potential area of cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. as he noted the disparity in shipbuilding capacity between the U.S. and China. He cited a congressional report that China has over 230 times the shipbuilding capacity of the U.S. and possesses the world's largest maritime fighting force operating 234 warships to the U.S. Navy's 219.

"Korea is the world's second-largest shipbuilding country, with a 30 percent market share, and a reputation for efficiency and excellence," he said.

While the U.S. remains "unmatched" in its ability to produce the most technologically advanced military assets for its naval force, expanding ship production and strengthening the industrial base cannot be accomplished "overnight" or "by itself," he said.

"We can best enhance our capabilities and accelerate innovation to ensure us a secure future at sea only by working together with the trusted partners whose strengths complement our own," he said.

Cho enumerated South Korean firms' efforts to find "innovative" ways to enhance cooperation with the U.S., including acquiring a U.S.-based shipyard and participating in the maintenance, repair and overhaul of ammunition ships.

"The momentum is there, but we must do more," he said. "This is a moment to deepen our partnership and strengthen our industries even further."

Also during the forum, Cho said he does not have any confirmed intelligence about whether North Korea has sent troops to support Russia in the war against Ukraine. But he said that it is "quite likely that it might have already happened."

"But if that is the case, I think this is something that we have to deal with in a very serious manner together, not just between Korea and the United States, but also together with allies and partners from NATO members," he said, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

He added that the situation shows that the security of the Indo-Pacific is closely linked to the security of the Euro-Atlantic region. (Yonhap)

The Korea Times · October 18, 2024

12. 1 in 7 willing to fight if war breaks out: survey

Kim Jong Un is reading this and saying "my political warfare strategy is working. I may be able to win without fighting." 

Since he has 6 in his pocket he only needs to focus on the last one to fully erode South Korean society. (yes that is my hyperbolic comment - I also take these surveys with a huge grain of salt and I believe if there is a war the numbers will be reversed, 6 of 7 will be willing to fight to defend freedom in South Korea).

1 in 7 willing to fight if war breaks out: survey

koreaherald.com · by Shin Ji-hye · October 18, 2024

By Shin Ji-hye

Published : Oct. 18, 2024 - 10:45

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency reports Thursday on North Korea's destruction of inter-Korean roads and railways along the Gyeongui and Donghae lines that occurred two days earlier. (Yonhap)

As tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula, a recent survey shows that just some 1 in 7 people here would be willing to participate in a war if conflict erupts.

According to a survey released Thursday by opposition Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Hwang Hee, 13.9 percent of respondents said they would join the war effort. The survey, conducted by the Korean National Defense University in 2023, involved 1,200 people aged 18 to 75. The figure has dropped from 22.7 percent in 2014 and 20.9 percent in 2020.

However, 48.2 percent of respondents said they would “support the military from the rear, even if they cannot participate directly,” the highest rate recorded since the survey began in 2014. Additionally, 27.3 percent of respondents said they would flee to a safer area within the country, while 3.2 percent indicated they would leave the country entirely.

Regarding South Korea’s security situation, 41.6 percent of respondents expressed concern. Specifically, 38.9 percent said they were “somewhat concerned,” while 2.7 percent reported being “very concerned.” On the other hand, 28.7 percent labeled it as “stable.” The percentage of those who were “somewhat” or “very concerned” rose by 10.7 percentage points from 2022, while those who felt it was “stable” dropped by 9.8 percentage points.

koreaherald.com · by Shin Ji-hye · October 18, 2024

13. N. Korean spy agency seeks underground expansion for "modern warfare"

Self preservation of the RGB.

We estimate they already have some 5000 underground facilities of various types.

And Hamas and Hezbollah have demonstrated the utility of tunnels (which were built with north Korean advice and assistance).

N. Korean spy agency seeks underground expansion for "modern warfare" - Daily NK English

The expanded tunnels would provide a protected space for commanding operations, storing advanced equipment and strategic assets, and ensuring swift deployment during conflicts

By Jeong Seo-yeong - October 18, 2024

dailynk.com · by Jeong Seo-yeong · October 18, 2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was accompanied by his daughter during a visit to the country's defense ministry on Feb. 8, 2024, which is foundation day for the DPRK military. (Rodong Sinmun-News1)

The Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), the North Korean military’s spy agency, has submitted a proposal to leader Kim Jong Un to expand tunnels beneath its headquarters, citing modern warfare requirements.

A Pyongyang source revealed recently that the RGB deemed the current tunnels under its Sopo-3 neighborhood headquarters in Hyongjesan district “very inadequate for modern warfare” and sent a written expansion proposal for Kim’s approval earlier this month.

The RGB framed the tunnel expansion as an urgent task to complete combat preparations and enhance national defense. The bureau emphasized its importance in preparing for modern warfare by improving the spy agency’s capabilities and creating a secure command and control facility safe from enemy airstrikes or precision attacks.

According to the proposal, the expanded tunnels would provide a protected space for commanding operations, storing advanced equipment and strategic assets, and ensuring swift deployment during conflicts. The RGB also cited the need for additional supply storage and emergency escape routes.

“The RGB clearly stated that expanding the tunnels would contribute to strengthening overall combat preparations and play a decisive role in maintaining combat strength,” the source said. The bureau urged Kim’s swift approval, calling the expansion “an urgent task that can no longer be delayed.”

The spy agency’s personnel are anticipating a stronger role in enemy intelligence gathering and tactical response if Kim approves the proposal.

The Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.

Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.

Read in Korean

dailynk.com · by Jeong Seo-yeong · October 18, 2024

14. National Intelligence Service: “North Korean Special Forces Participate in Ukraine War… Troop Movement Begins”

Makes sense. north Korea has the largest special operations forces in the world. What good are they if you do not use them? (as the late Secretary Albiright might have asked).

National Intelligence Service: “North Korean Special Forces Participate in Ukraine War… Troop Movement Begins”

https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/k101824le1-10182024070244.html

Seoul-Lee Jeong-eun leeje@rfa.org

2024.10.18

South Korea's National Intelligence Service announced on the 18th that North Korea began moving special forces for dispatch to Russia on the 8th, and released related data including satellite photos on the 18th. The photo is a satellite photo taken on the 16th of a military facility in Ussuriisk, Primorsky Krai, Russia. Through analysis of the satellite photo, the National Intelligence Service estimated that around 400 North Korean personnel were gathered in the parade ground in this photo.

 federation

00:00 / 04:32

Anchor : South Korean intelligence authorities have officially confirmed that North Korea has decided to send special forces to the war in Ukraine to help Russia and has begun moving troops . Lee Jeong-eun reports from Seoul .

South Korea's National Intelligence Service announced on the 18th that North Korea began moving special forces for dispatch to Russia on the 8th .

The National Intelligence Service said in a press release on the same day that it had detected North Korea transporting special forces to Russian territory via a Russian naval transport ship from the 8th to the 13th , confirming the start of the North Korean military's participation in the war .

According to this, four landing ships and three escort ships belonging to the Russian Pacific Fleet initially transported approximately 1,500 North Korean special forces from the areas near Chongjin , Hamhung , and Musudan in North Korea to Vladivostok, Russia , and a second transport operation is scheduled to take place soon .

This is the first time that a Russian naval fleet has entered North Korean waters since 1990. Large transport aircraft , such as the Russian Air Force's AN-124 , also frequently travel between Vladivostok and Pyongyang .

General Secretary Kim Jong-un inspected the special forces twice ahead of the deployment, on the 11th of last month and the 2nd of this month .

The North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia are currently stationed at Russian military bases in the Far East, including Vladivostok , Ussuriysk , Khabarovsk , and Blagoveshchensk , and are expected to be deployed to the front lines as soon as they complete their adaptation training .

The dispatched North Korean soldiers were issued Russian military uniforms and Russian-made weapons , and were also issued forged ID cards of residents of the Yakutia and Buryatia regions of Siberia who looked similar to North Koreans .

In response, the National Intelligence Service said that the North Korean military appeared to be disguising itself as the Russian military in order to hide the fact that it had been deployed to the battlefield .

Regarding North Korea's support of weapons to Russia, it was assessed that North Korea has provided Russia with weapons capable of killing people, including more than 13,000 containers worth of shells, missiles, and anti-tank rockets, on a total of 70 occasions since August of last year .

A National Intelligence Service official said that suspicions of direct military cooperation between North Korea and Russia raised by foreign media outlets have been officially confirmed, and that they will continue to track and confirm North Korea-Russia military cooperation movements through close intelligence cooperation with allied countries .

North Korea is known to be sending its 11th Army Corps , an elite special operations force unit known as the " Storm Corps ," to Russia .

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported today, citing a government source, that North Korea is expected to dispatch around 12,000 troops from four brigades under the Storm Corps to the war in Ukraine . 

North Korea has dispatched fighter pilots and military advisers to Vietnam and the Middle East in the past, but this is the first time it has dispatched large-scale ground troops overseas .

- EU hints at additional sanctions on 'North Korean troops dispatched to Russia'

- US Department of Defense: “ If North Korea dispatches 10,000 troops , it is proof of serious situation in Russia ”

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol presided over an ' Emergency Security Meeting on the Deployment of North Korean Troops to Russia ' on this day, where he reviewed the impact of North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia and its participation in the Ukraine War on South Korea's security and discussed future response measures .

According to a press release distributed by the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea on the same day, key officials from the National Security Office , the Ministry of National Defense , and the National Intelligence Service attended the meeting, where they shared information on recent North Korean military movements in Russia and support for the war against Russia .

Participants assessed that the current situation, in which military ties between North Korea and Russia have expanded beyond the movement of military supplies to the actual dispatch of troops, poses a serious security threat to not only South Korea but also the international community .

We have also decided not to sit idly by and watch this situation unfold, but to respond by mobilizing all available means in cooperation with the international community .

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference after attending the European Union (EU) summit on the 17th that there is information that North Korea is preparing to send about 10,000 troops to Russia .

[ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ] North Korea is preparing a total of 10,000 soldiers to help Russia . Some officers have already been deployed to occupied Ukrainian territory .

Russia denies Ukraine's claims that North Korea is providing troops to Russia . Russia has also consistently denied allegations that North Korea is providing weapons to Russia .

This is Lee Jeong-eun of RFA's Radio Free Asia in Seoul .

Editor Yang Seong-won

15. [Room 39, Lee Jeong-ho's Eyes] "North Korea's Successive Provocations Are a Target of a Powerful Leader"

A lot to parse in this now regularly scheduled interview with Ri Jong Ho. He is exposing Kim Jong Un's strategies which must be a fundamental part of US information operations. Thank you to RFA for doing this. And it is also important for north Korean voices to be broadcast back into north Korea.

Here is one insightful excerpt:

[ Reporter ] Another thing I'm curious about is this . Every time North Korea reveals its nuclear facilities or launches a missile provocation, there is a lot of analysis that this is a message to pressure the United States . Is it really because North Korea is aware of the United States and is doing this to pressure it ?  

[ Lee Jeong-ho ] I think it is absurd to claim that Kim Jong-un’s disclosure of nuclear facilities or missile provocations are a message to pressure the United States . Why would the United States, the world’s greatest military power, be pressured by North Korea’s missile provocations ? Kim Jong-un’s actions seem to be largely domestic in nature , and he appears to be trying to establish regime stability while promoting his image as a great leader both domestically and internationally . That’s because North Korea always brags about how the United States and the rest of the world evaluated its nuclear tests or ICBM test launches, and they do similar propaganda domestically as well . On the other hand , I think the United States is reacting to North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations not because it feels pressured , but rather as a response aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and maintaining the international community’s nuclear nonproliferation regime .

This is a Google translation of an RFA report.

[Room 39, Lee Jeong-ho's Eyes] "North Korea's Successive Provocations Are a Target of a Powerful Leader"

https://www.rfa.org/korean/news_indepth/provocations-series-10172024084607.html

WASHINGTON-Noh Jeong-min nohj@rfa.org

2024.10.17

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands ahead of their summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 27, 2019.

/AP

00:00 /14:51

“ Hello . I am Ri Jeong-ho, a former high-ranking official from the Daeheung General Bureau of Room 39 of the North Korean Workers’ Party .”

[ Based on the experience of a former high-ranking North Korean official, we dig into the secrets of the Kim Jong-un regime and its core power circles , examine the truth and lies of North Korea's policies today, and analyze politics , economy , and society through ' Room 39, Lee Jeong-ho's Eyes ', with Lee Jeong-ho, head of the Korea Prosperity Development Center (KPDC) .] 

“ Because the term of office of the American president is only four or eight years, we closely analyze the characteristics of that government and employ thoroughly calculated strategies accordingly .”

With the US presidential election scheduled for November 5th just around the corner , North Korea’s strategy toward the US is likely to change depending on who becomes the next president . It has been pointed out that North Korea basically views the US president as someone with a term of only 4 to 8 years .

“ Therefore , any president of the United States must devise a strategy to solve the problem within his or her term . Otherwise , he or she will continue to be swayed by North Korea’s strategy .”

If former President Donald Trump is re-elected, there is a possibility that another US-North Korea summit will be held, but skepticism is being raised that no matter how many summits there are , they will be useless if they cannot bring about real change in North Korea .

The US President has a four- year term … A thoroughly calculated strategy

[ Reporter ] Hello , Mr. Lee Jeong-ho . The US presidential election is just around the corner. Depending on who becomes president, the US policy toward North Korea is expected to change . If former President Donald Trump is re-elected, there is much speculation that he will resume talks with North Korea . Mr. Lee, you remember the first US-North Korea summit in 2018. You even gave advice directly to the US White House .  

[ Lee Jung-ho ]  Yes. In 2018, it was unprecedented for Kim Jong-un to come out on the international stage and have a direct conversation with then-US President Donald Trump . At that time, Kim Jong-un was very flustered because all exports were completely banned under the UN’s ultra-strong sanctions against North Korea 2371 due to his excessive nuclear development . At that time, before the US-North Korea summit, I met with Matthew Pottinger , Senior Director of the White House National Security Council (NSC), and Allison Hooker, Director of the Korean Peninsula Affairs Office, in Washington. I advised them , “ Kim Jong-un will never give up nuclear weapons because they are directly related to his survival . Nevertheless, it is very effective for the US president to meet with Kim Jong-un . ” I also thought that if the veiled North Korean leader spoke in public, it would be an opportunity to properly learn about his will to denuclearize .

At that time, the most pressing issue for Kim Jong-un was lifting sanctions on the North, and he seemed to have attempted only small-scale denuclearization measures to achieve this . I told him to ask , “ How about giving up your nuclear weapons in exchange for building a Trump Tower in the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area that he is obsessed with ?” I don’t know if he actually asked that , but former President Trump’s unique diplomatic style is one that suits a dictatorship like North Korea . Meeting and talking with North Korean diplomats a hundred times will have no effect on the top leader’s nuclear policy . I think that if former President Trump is re-elected, there is a high possibility that another US-North Korea summit will be held. It is not yet known whether that dialogue will be a symbolic meeting or whether there will be progress, but if it fails to bring about real change in North Korea , I think there will be no meaning in holding ten US-North Korea summits .

[ Reporter ]  Basically, what is North Korea's strategy toward the United States ? Doesn't North Korea only want to negotiate with the United States ? 

[ Lee Jung-ho ]  North Korea's strategy toward the United States is to ensure the security of the regime and the survival of the Kim Jong-un regime. To this end, North Korea sees only the United States, a great power, as a negotiation partner. On the other hand , it believes that South Korea is a puppet of the United States . North Korea's diplomatic tactic is a "fog tactic that prevents the enemy from seeing our intentions and internal affairs while gaining practical benefits, like a thick fog . " This is what I received as instructions from Kim Jong-il in North Korea . The United States has been fooled by North Korea's fog diplomacy tactic for more than 30 years, allowing North Korea to possess nuclear weapons today . In a word, it can be said that it has failed .

The Kim regime's strategy toward the United States is characterized by a close analysis of the characteristics of the government, as the term of office of the US president is only 4 or 8 years, and a thoroughly calculated strategy is used accordingly . Therefore, any US president , when dealing with the long-term North Korean regime, must devise a strategy that can definitely solve the problem within his term . Otherwise , no matter how powerful the US is, it will continue to be swayed by North Korea's strategy .

[ Reporter ] In addition to gaining political achievements from the United States, is North Korea also seeking economic benefits ? 

[ Lee Jung-ho ]  North Korea is clearly seeking economic benefits from negotiations with the United States. While the Kim Jong-un regime seeks regime security , it also aims to recover the economy through sanctions relief and support . In the past, North Korea received $ 4.6 billion worth of light-water reactors, 500,000 tons of heavy oil per year , and hundreds of thousands of tons of food aid through negotiations with the United States . North Korea will also seek to lift sanctions on the North through negotiations with the United States and secure necessary funds through economic cooperation . In addition, it will likely make plans to meet basic needs in food , energy , health, and medical care through humanitarian aid . If negotiations with the United States are successful , North Korea will seek to secure economic cooperation with South Korea as well as the United States, as well as investment in the tourism and energy sectors .

 [ Ryu Hyun-woo's Black North ] No Denuclearization for North Korea , No Matter Who Becomes US President Harris : " We Will Not Be Friends with a Tyrant and Dictator Like Kim Jong- un "

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (right) and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump (left) debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, U.S., on September 10. / Reuters 

“ Disclosure of nuclear facilities and missile provocations are not ‘ for pressuring the US ’ but ‘ for domestic use ’”

[ Reporter ] However, negotiations broke down at the 2019 US- North Korea summit held in Hanoi , Vietnam .  At the time, North Korea demanded that sanctions be eased in exchange for giving up Yongbyon, but the US demanded that it give up other nuclear facilities as well, so no agreement was reached . This led to no further US-North Korea talks . Some have pointed out that the US should have accepted the negotiation proposal as an interim step toward resolving the North Korean nuclear issue . What do you think ? 

[ Lee Jung-ho ]  The breakdown of the 2019 Hanoi summit between the US and North Korea is very telling . At the time, North Korea’s proposal to hand over the Yongbyon nuclear facility was significant , but its sincerity could not be trusted, and the US wanted more . At that time, what the US demanded was additional nuclear facilities in addition to Yongbyon , especially those operated secretly, as the first step toward complete denuclearization . From the US’s perspective, it would have been dangerous to offer the great benefit of sanctions relief based on only a small part of what North Korea was showing . At the time, Kim Jong-un was so hurt by the extremely strong sanctions against North Korea that he attempted to lift sanctions by handing over the Yongbyon nuclear facility. However , denuclearization was not in his mind . This is because nuclear weapons are a powerful weapon that guarantees his survival and the security of his regime . He also fears that if he gives up nuclear weapons, he will lose the upper hand in the confrontation with South Korea , and that South Korea will invade .

Some experts claim that " the negotiations at that time should have been accepted as an intermediate step to denuclearization " because they do not understand the nature of the North Korean leader . Even if the North Korean leader dismantles the old nuclear facility in Yongbyon while remaining in power , what will happen to the other underground nuclear facilities ? What will happen if another nuclear facility is built ? In order to denuclearize North Korea, there must be a bold attempt to completely destroy or relocate all the facilities irreversibly . In fact , I think that an intermediate step that cannot be verified is a dangerous act that will fall into North Korea's trap . 

[ Reporter ]  Let's go back to the US presidential election . North Korea is probably also watching the US presidential election next month . It's hard to predict the results because the race between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Trump is so close .  What strategy do you think North Korea is pursuing now ?

[ Lee Jung-ho ]  North Korea will certainly be closely watching the U.S. presidential election. Since the U.S. policy toward North Korea greatly affects the safety of the Kim Jong-un regime, North Korea’s response will also differ depending on who becomes the next U.S. president . Currently, the approval ratings of Vice President Harris of the Democratic Party and former President Trump of the Republican Party are evenly matched, so North Korea will prepare by comparing the two sides’ policies toward North Korea . Many speculate that Kim Jong-un would like former President Trump to become president. From Kim Jong-un’s perspective, since he has had the experience of talking directly with Trump, he will be able to expect the possibility of sanctions relief if he is elected. However, if Vice President Harris becomes the next president , North Korea will have to expect gradual sanctions relief in line with progress in denuclearization, as it does now . 

North Korean General Secretary Kim Jong-un inspects a nuclear weapons research institute and weapons-grade nuclear material production facility in September. / Yonhap News

[ Reporter ] Another thing I'm curious about is this . Every time North Korea reveals its nuclear facilities or launches a missile provocation, there is a lot of analysis that this is a message to pressure the United States . Is it really because North Korea is aware of the United States and is doing this to pressure it ?  

[ Lee Jeong-ho ] I think it is absurd to claim that Kim Jong-un’s disclosure of nuclear facilities or missile provocations are a message to pressure the United States . Why would the United States, the world’s greatest military power, be pressured by North Korea’s missile provocations ? Kim Jong-un’s actions seem to be largely domestic in nature , and he appears to be trying to establish regime stability while promoting his image as a great leader both domestically and internationally . That’s because North Korea always brags about how the United States and the rest of the world evaluated its nuclear tests or ICBM test launches, and they do similar propaganda domestically as well . On the other hand , I think the United States is reacting to North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations not because it feels pressured , but rather as a response aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and maintaining the international community’s nuclear nonproliferation regime .

“ Nuclear disarmament negotiations are an unrealistic plan that is being dragged around by North Korea ”

[ Reporter ]  Now, there is speculation that North Korea wants to engage in nuclear disarmament negotiations rather than denuclearization negotiations with the United States . That is more realistic .  In the end ,  North Korea needs to admit that it possesses nuclear weapons and  negotiate to freeze or reduce them .  Will that work out as North Korea wants ? But that doesn't mean North Korea will change, right ? 

[ Lee Jung-ho ]  The observation that North Korea prefers nuclear disarmament negotiations to denuclearization is based on their strategic calculations. Since North Korea wants to be recognized as a nuclear state, nuclear disarmament negotiations are one way to formalize that goal, so nuclear freeze or reduction negotiations would be a better option than denuclearization . However, it is a very complicated matter for the United States to officially recognize North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons and begin nuclear disarmament negotiations . This is because it threatens the security of Northeast Asia , can serve as a pretext and temptation for South Korea to develop nuclear weapons , and can weaken the nonproliferation regime . Furthermore, since North Korea has many past cases of benefiting from negotiations and then breaking promises , it is difficult to see nuclear disarmament negotiations as fundamentally changing them . It is also uncertain how transparently North Korea will reduce its nuclear weapons, so this is also an unrealistic measure that is being dragged around by North Korea .

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that North Korea blew up part of the Gyeongui Line and Donghae Line inter-Korean connecting roads on October 15. The photo shows the scene of the Donghae Line road blasting captured on South Korean military CCTV. / Yonhap News

[ Reporter ]  Lastly, I remember that during the time of Chairman Kim Jong-il, American civilian organizations and scholars would often travel to North Korea for civilian exchanges .  This helped open the door to US-North Korea dialogue . However, since General Secretary Kim Jong-un came to power, everything from American travel to civilian exchanges has been blocked . When you compare the past, when you could at least maintain civilian exchanges with the US, to the present , is there anything you regret or are most concerned about ?

[ Lee Jeong-ho ]  Since Kim Jong-un came to power, civilian exchanges with the United States have been virtually completely cut off. This is mainly because the Kim Jong-un regime, conscious of the instability of its regime, has severely restricted contact with the outside world . In the past, civilian exchanges enabled access to information and humanitarian aid to North Korea , but as the Kim Jong-un regime has thoroughly blocked contact with the outside world, North Korea has become increasingly isolated from the outside world . Ultimately , in order for normal exchanges between the United States and North Korea to continue, North Korea must change its closed system and open up , establish diplomatic relations with the United States, and establish a system in which the people of both countries can freely travel .

[ Reporter ]  Yes ,  so far, we have been looking into ‘ North Korea’s strategy and intentions regarding the U.S. presidential election in November ’ with Ri Jeong-ho, head of the Korea Prosperity Development Center and former high-ranking official of Room  39 of the North Korean Workers’ Party .  Thank you for speaking with us today ,  Representative Ri Jeong-ho .  

This is Jeongmin Noh of RFA  Radio Free Asia . 

Web editing by Kim Sang-il

16. Canada sends frigate to monitor North Korea sanctions

Canada sends frigate to monitor North Korea sanctions

https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/nk_nuclear_talks/canadasanction-10172024145852.html

WASHINGTON-Cho Jin-woo choj@rfa.org

2024.10.17

The Canadian Halifax-class frigate Montreal, docked at the Port of Busan, is seen with the Canadian, South Korean, and UN flags flying on it.

/ RFA photo

00:00 /02:55

Anchor : Canada has dispatched a frigate to monitor violations of UN sanctions against North Korea .  Reporter Jinwoo Cho reports .   

The Canadian Department of National Defence recently issued a press release on the 16th, stating that the naval patrol frigate  ' HMCS Ottawa  ' has departed for the Indo - Pacific region .

This deployment is part of the Canadian-led Operation Horizon and Operation Neon, which supports enforcement of UN sanctions on North Korea ,  and is designed to support international efforts to curb North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs .

 “ From  2006 to  2017 , the United Nations imposed a series of sanctions in response to North Korea’s nuclear tests and missile launches ,  and these were measures to pressure North Korea to give up its weapons of mass destruction programs ,” the Canadian Department of National Defence said  . “ The Ottawa will be tasked with overseeing the implementation of these UN sanctions and  will monitor North Korea’s illicit maritime activities . ”

He  added , “ Canada plays a critical role in working with the international community to monitor violations of sanctions against North Korea and ensure enforcement of sanctions . ”

The Ottawa, which set sail that day, is a Halifax-class ship that can accommodate about 240 naval personnel and air force pilots , and  is also equipped with one  CH -148  Cyclone helicopter specializing in  anti-submarine warfare, maritime surveillance , and rescue operations . 

The Ottawa is scheduled to conduct a mission in the Indo-Pacific region for approximately six months .

Canada is actively participating in monitoring the implementation of sanctions against North Korea ,  and has already dispatched patrol aircraft and escort ships three times this year to monitor North Korea's illegal maritime activities .

Captain Travis Bane of the Montreal, which was deployed for Operation Neon  in  July , told  RFA,  which  exclusively covered the entire operation, that " monitoring activities to prevent violations of UN sanctions against North Korea are showing effectiveness . "

[ Captain Bane ] The fact that we haven't found any suspicious vessels here yet is a good indication that the actions of other partners like Canada are effective in upholding UN Security Council resolutions .  We are preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and  the various fuels and weapons that support them . 

A view of the Canadian Navy's Cyclone helicopter, dubbed the 'eye of North Korea sanctions surveillance' / RFA Photo

New Zealand launches  second UN North Korea sanctions monitoring operation this year

New Zealand  : “  4 Suspected Illegal Shipment Activities from North Korea Detected in Two Months ”

Meanwhile, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs  issued a press release on the 15th , stating that the French Navy's F-200 patrol aircraft would participate in monitoring activities to prevent violations of UN sanctions against North Korea from  mid -October  to early  November .

This is the  fifth time since  2019 that French aircraft have taken part in such activities .

North Korea strongly opposes maritime surveillance activities by UN member states .

In a statement released in April, the director of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Foreign Policy Office claimed that Germany  , France ,  New Zealand  , and others were sending warships and military aircraft to the waters around the Korean Peninsula and the Asia-Pacific region, violating the security interests of regional countries and heightening military tensions in the region .

Editor Park Jeong-woo ,  Web Editor Lee Gyeong-ha

17. For Korean Americans, 'reverse migration' brings joy — and pain

For Korean Americans, 'reverse migration' brings joy — and pain

Los Angeles Times · by Max Kim · October 17, 2024

SEOUL —

John Tae-yu Kim arrived in the United States in 1990 as a 30-year-old seminary student from South Korea — only to quit his studies in a spell of doubt.

He eventually married, started a family and became an American citizen. Drifting from Baltimore to Anaheim, he worked at a fish shop, a deli, an ice factory and a painting company before settling in Seattle, where he opened a teriyaki restaurant. Then, before he knew it, he was 60.

Three years ago, he and his wife moved to South Korea, where he vowed to never again do manual labor.

John Tae-yu Kim returned to South Korea with his wife three years ago.

(Courtesy of John Tae-yu Kim)

“I always wanted to return,” said Kim, 63. “There’s a certain stress and sorrow that comes from living away from home for so long.” With his adult sons settled into stable careers in the U.S., Kim and his wife moved into a retirement community in Gochang, a rural town at the southwestern tip of the country. About a third of the community’s 800 or so residents are also first-generation Korean American immigrants who have come here for similar reasons.

The amenities on offer include a hot spring, golf, table tennis and plenty of walking paths. Kim has time to practice calligraphy and write poetry.

The enclave points to a growing immigration trend: In the decades since South Koreans immigrated en masse to the United States in search of better livelihoods, many are now coming back to retire amid the comforts of home. Last year, 9,379 Korean Americans got their Social Security payments in South Korea, compared with 3,709 in 2013.

They are joined by reverse migrants of a younger, different mold: American-born Koreans who, disillusioned with life in the U.S., are now seeking new ones in the country their parents left behind. Some are led here by vivid memories of childhood visits or the urban conveniences of Seoul, others by a desire to shed their status as a racial minority.

But in South Korea, those joys are complicated by new questions of belonging.

At times, Kim wonders whether he was happier in the U.S. He misses the casual friendliness of Americans, the spaciousness, the more relaxed pace of life.

“It was just so different when I returned after so many years,” he said.

John Tae-yu Kim says he “wanted to return” to South Korea. “There’s a certain stress and sorrow that comes from living away from home for so long.”

(Courtesy of John Tae-yu Kim )

By some measures, Koreans are one of the most scattered ethnic groups in the world, with over 7 million living across more than 180 countries.

More than a third of them — around 2 million — live in the U.S., where large waves of Koreans settled in cities like L.A. and New York after race-based immigration restrictions were lifted in 1965.

But in recent years, amid mounting alarm over its plummeting fertility rates, South Korea has been redoubling its decades-long efforts — such as ethnic identity-building campaigns and employment programs — to bring them back.

“Encouraging our compatriots to return and creating a stable environment where they can settle down can be a solution to South Korea’s population decline and labor shortage,” Lee Sang-deok, chief of the newly created Overseas Korean Agency, said in an interview this month.

In contrast to ethnic Koreans from China and former Soviet republics, who are increasingly being called upon to provide cheap labor for declining industries like manufacturing, Korean Americans are being recruited by companies and universities as skilled workers and students with a Western cachet.

“Even our administration team knows that I am a full-fledged foreigner,” Krystal Woo says, “but they expect so much more of me compared to, say, my white counterparts.”

(Jean Chung / For The Times)

There are currently 47,406 Korean Americans residing in South Korea, up from 35,501 in 2010, according to data from the Ministry of Justice.

They are driving the record high number of diaspora Koreans reclaiming their South Korean citizenship, making up more than 60% of the 4,203 such cases last year.

Among those seeking to capitalize on this trend is the city of Wonju, whose mayor traveled to San Francisco in May to urge the diaspora population to move to his city. Officials say they are planning to launch a program that will allow older Korean Americans to do a monthlong trial stay in the city later this year.

“The idea is that when elderly Korean Americans come to Korea, they’ll buy real estate and spend money in the country,” said Lee Jean-young, a scholar of the Korean diaspora at Inha University in Incheon.

He believes this is just the beginning.

Since the peak immigration years of the 1970s, when the majority of Koreans were still heating their homes with coal briquettes, the country has become the 14th-largest economy in the world and a global cultural force.

“Many younger Korean Americans are also starting to identify with their Korean heritage more,” he said. “To them, South Korea has become a place of opportunity.”

Brian Kim commutes to work on a subway in Seoul.

(Jean Chung / For The Times)

: :

Cha Deok-hee, an 80-year-old retired nurse from Temecula who left South Korea in 1960, says it was more than just nostalgic longing that brought her back: It was boredom.

“There was nothing to do but play golf,” she said. “Then all our golfing friends left, one by one.”

Three years ago, she and her husband settled in Daejeon, a city of 1.5 million south of Seoul.

The city is lively and safe. Public transportation is accessible and free for senior citizens, eliminating the need to drive. She has made friends from church. Korean food is plentiful. Best of all, she and her husband are covered under South Korea’s single-payer national health insurance plan, and hospitals are close and affordable.

“The process of seeing a doctor in the U.S. was so frustrating sometimes that we used to say you might as well save yourself the time and die,” she said.

“It was one of the few situations where I felt the language barrier. It was always so stressful trying to express exactly what I wanted to say.”

Others — particularly those from a younger generation who grew up hyper-aware of their racial identity — describe a similar feeling of ease that comes from no longer being a visible minority.

“At first I didn’t know what this feeling was but I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t feel like people are staring at me in a certain way,’’’ said 38-year-old Crystal Kim, who grew up in Mobile, Ala., but moved to Seoul in 2016.

With a special visa that allows diaspora Koreans to freely work and live in the country, Kim is working part-time as an English teacher while getting her freelance photography career up and running.

She pays around $650 in rent for a spacious studio loft in a city that is both walkable yet big enough to have international art exhibitions, and where convenience stores are open all night.

“People ask me all the time, ‘Don’t you want to move back home?’ And I’m like, ‘No I think I’m good,’” she said.

“Especially with current politics and stuff, the more that I live here and then every time I go back to the States, it doesn’t feel like home anymore.”

: :

Yet the reception from South Korean society isn’t always one of warmhearted kinship.

“I guess it’s almost like I have the same problem from the States, just in a different context,” Kim said.

As in the 1970s, when South Korean society regarded immigrants to the U.S. with a mixture of envy, admiration and disdain, local perceptions of Korean Americans today are no less conflicted.

Compared with Chinese Koreans — known as joseonjok — who are frequently portrayed in the media as gangsters or grifters, Korean Americans — or gyopos — are represented by celebrities like singers Jay Park or Jessi, both of whom launched their careers in South Korea. Seen as worldly and well-credentialed, they are helped by what many describe as an invisible boost in career or academic advancement.

Leo Rhee, a 54-year-old pastor from Chicago who is working on a doctoral dissertation about the reverse Korean American diaspora at Torch Trinity Graduate University in Seoul, recalled a Korean American friend who had gotten into legal trouble in the U.S. for dealing drugs before coming to Korea, where he was accepted by one of the SKY schools — South Korea’s equivalent of the Ivy League — and graduated with a business degree.

Leo Rhee is working on a doctoral dissertation about the reverse Korean American diaspora at Torch Trinity Graduate University in Seoul.

(Courtesy of Leo Rhee)

“Koreans here have been busting their butt since the day they’re born just to take the college entrance examinations to get into one of these SKY schools,” he said.

“But then guys like us could get into schools like Seoul National University or Yonsei University relatively easily, even if you mess up in America.”

Rhee noted that such privileges have fed into less favorable views of Korean Americans as spoiled opportunists — fair-weather Koreans who had left the country when things were tough only to return now that the going is good.

At his retirement community in Gochang, John Tae-yu Kim has been feeling this same gaze from the native Korean residents.

“These prejudices randomly surface during conversations, like this idea that we came back just to take advantage of the medical care, despite not having paid taxes,” he said.

: :

For Brian Kim, a 41-year-old L.A. native who moved to South Korea 12 years ago, it sometimes feels like no amount of assimilation is ever enough.

Kim, who is a postdoctoral candidate researching the reverse Korean diaspora at Seoul National University, completed two years of South Korean military service in 2020, a rite of passage for Korean men that granted him South Korean citizenship — and he hoped it would lend his scholarship more legitimacy.

Brian Kim shops at a local market in Seoul.

(Jean Chung / For The Times)

“When I was a foreigner, legally speaking, I was very skeptical or very uncomfortable with expressing my views of Korean society or politics outright because of this idea that I have no right to say it,” he said.

“But for some of my friends and peers, I feel they still think, ‘But yeah, you’re not really Korean.‘ It’s this sort of forever foreigner mentality.”

Meanwhile, those working in the English education market, an entry point for many expats wishing to establish themselves in South Korea, describe the opposite problem: being seen as “too Korean” in an industry where it is widely known that employers prefer Caucasians — because they can more easily be billed as “native speakers” to parents.

“Before I got this job, I think I applied to maybe 20 different places and I only heard back from maybe four — even with a master’s degree in education and a teaching license, just because I was a gyopo,” said Krystal Woo, a 39-year-old manager at an English kindergarten who moved from L.A. in 2015.

Krystal Woo says she has started to think about returning to the U.S.

(Jean Chung / For The Times)

On the other hand, once they do get jobs, many gyopos say there is a perverse incentive to downplay their Koreanness. If they appear too assimilated, they may be more expected to understand certain Korean social codes that they find alien, such as workplace expectations, gender roles or seniority-based formalities.

“They just expect gyopos to have an understanding of the Korean mentality and if we don’t, then yeah, we definitely are penalized a lot more than we would be if we looked foreign,” she said.

“Even our administration team knows that I am a full-fledged foreigner, but they expect so much more of me compared to, say, my white counterparts. They’re just like, ‘Oh, you know, it’s fine because they’re white’ or ‘You’re a gyopo so you should know better’ — that kind of thing.”

: :

Woo, who just had her second son three months ago and is planning for a third child, might be considered a poster child for South Korea’s strategy of bringing in ethnic Koreans to help stave off demographic collapse.

But recently, she has begun to think about moving back to the U.S.

Krystal Woo takes care of the newborn while her husband, Lim Jong-jin, carries their toddler.

(Jean Chung / For The Times)

One major reason is South Korea’s intensely competitive education system. She criticized it for placing excessive testing pressures on children and financial burdens on parents; it is also one of the factors said to be driving down local birth rates.

“I definitely do not want my children growing up in the Korean education system,” she said. “There’s no long-term future there for us.”

Woo acknowledges the strange privilege of her situation: For anyone with the option to move away, living in a country gripped by alarm over fertility rates has been a boon.

Because her husband is a Korean citizen, she has been eligible for all of the benefits that the South Korean government has rolled out in a desperate attempt to encourage more births: heavily subsidized IVF treatments; free vaccinations; discounted pediatric care; monthly maternity leave stipends; about $3,000 in one-off pregnancy gifts; and around $750 in monthly support for the first year of each child’s life.

“It’s kind of to the point where I feel a little guilty for reaping so many benefits from Korea,” she said.

Like many of her female friends who are in a similar boat, Woo plans to stay until her oldest reaches schooling age, and then move back to the U.S.

Krystal Woo, right, and her husband, Lim Jong-jin, go for a walk in Anyang, South Korea.

(Jean Chung / For The Times)

But the idea has been a hard sell for her husband, for whom immigration no longer holds the same allure it did for earlier generations.

“My husband is actually terrified. He’s so sure that if we were to move to the States that someone in our family will get shot,” Woo said.

“And as much as I try to convince him, ‘No, all you’re seeing is just the instances in the news,’ it’s happening so much more frequently now that, yeah, I kind of have doubts too.”

After nine years of watching from afar, all of the issues in California that had seemed simply part of the landscape — homelessness and the housing crisis, the job market, “the rise of the MAGA people” — have come to feel forbidding and foreign.

“I guess I really am torn on all this,” she said.

“I feel like the California that I’m going to return to, it already sounds and feels so different from the one I left.”

More to Read

Los Angeles Times · by Max Kim · October 17, 2024

18. Dan Leaf and Christine Ahn: The next president must defuse the Korean crisis to avoid nuclear catastrophe

So much to disagree with. Let me just say that the General and I have a difference of opinion on the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim Family regime and that is what guides our views of the north and our approaches to security on the Korean peninsula. Here is my belief that is fundamentally at odds with the General:

The only way we are going to see an end to the nuclear program and military threats as well as the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity being committed against the Korean people living in the north by the mafia-like crime family cult known as the Kim family regime is through achievement of unification and the establishment of a free and unified Korea that is secure and stable, non-nuclear, economically vibrant, and unified under a liberal constitutional form of government based on individual liberty, rule of law, and human rights as determined by the Korean people. A free and unified Korea or in short, a United Republic of Korea (U-ROK).

I do worry about the General's relationship with Christine Ahn because of her known relationship with north Korean operatives (through the New York Channel).

See this article here: https://freekorea.us/2015/04/why-people-call-christine-ahn-pro-north-korean/

It is sadly ironic that Dr. Sue Mi Terry is investigated for FARA while Christine Ahn appears not to be investigated at all.

Dan Leaf and Christine Ahn: The next president must defuse the Korean crisis to avoid nuclear catastrophe

Chicago Tribune · by Dan Leaf · October 17, 2024

Hubris is, by definition, dangerous. Today, we face three examples of risky self-confidence on the increasingly unstable Korean Peninsula with catastrophic nuclear consequences.

In a blunt signal to adversaries in September, North Korea released rare photos of Kim Jong Un inspecting a previously undisclosed nuclear enrichment facility, highlighting Kim’s directive to “exponentially increase” the country’s nuclear weapons. This month, Kim repeated an explicit threat to use nuclear weapons in the event of conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Such a conflict seems even more probable as South Korea’s spy chief warns that North Korea may conduct a nuclear test around the U.S. election, North Korea accuses South Korea of flying drones over Pyongyang and the Kim government blows up roads connecting the two Koreas.

But Kim isn’t the only one showing risky self-assurance. So have Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in response to one of the most urgent and consequential foreign policy perils facing our nation: the rising threat of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula. With 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, an accidental or intentional confrontation on the Korean Peninsula threatens to drag the United States into a nuclear conflict. It is of vital U.S. interest to promote a peaceful resolution to the Korean crisis, yet neither presidential candidate is providing off-ramps to war.

“I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un,” Harris declared in her Democratic National Convention speech. Trump countered that “getting along” with the North Korean leader is a “good thing.” But rhetoric aside, neither candidate nor their respective party platforms present a strategy for reducing the all-too realistic threat of war with North Korea, demonstrating a hubris American voters should not tolerate.

As a warrior and a peace activist, we are united in demanding the next president — Harris or Trump — take this existential threat seriously, as tensions are now at their worst in Korea. Otherwise, we fear that the United States would be embroiled in a conflict in Korea that would trigger World War III.

Since the 2019 Hanoi talks collapsed, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has become more dangerous than ever. The U.S. has tried to wish away the threat but has failed to deter provocations, dissuade nuclear ambitions or do anything about the humanitarian crisis in North Korea. In the last two years, North Korea has tested nearly 100 missiles, including five capable of striking the U.S. homeland. Meanwhile, we have lost all official avenues for engagement — or crisis management — with Pyongyang.

Inter-Korean relations have also reached a postwar nadir, with Seoul and Pyongyang declaring each other the chief “enemy.” In the past year, Kim signed a mutual defense treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin, urged his military to plan to “conquer” South Korea and rejected peaceful unification very publicly. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol responded with his own hard-line vision of regime change and absorbing North Korea. Seventy percent of South Koreans now want their own nuclear weapons.

The United States must signal a new path before something inevitably breaks in Korea. The next president must place Korea higher on their foreign policy priorities before it rises to the top due to a catastrophic crisis with nuclear consequences.

Naysayers will argue that the United States has tried for 30 years to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and improve the country’s human rights, but that the Kim regime will not cooperate. Yet both Democratic and Republican administrations have proved that engagement works to de-escalate tensions and scale back North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

We recommend two concrete steps the next president can unilaterally take without lengthy negotiations with North Korea to set the conditions for a lasting peace: Prepare for peace and rebuild people-to-people ties.

First, the next president should formally begin the process of resolving the fundamental issue, the enduring technical state of war since the 1953 Armistice, which paused but did not end the Korean War. Seventy-one years later, we need a peace agreement.

A formal agreement might sound legalistic, but it holds game-changing potentials. This is because U.S. goals of advancing North Korean human rights and denuclearization ultimately require diplomatic engagement with the Kim government, but that diplomacy is nonexistent after Trump disgraced Kim by walking away from talks and President Joe Biden pushed Kim into Putin’s corner through an “all-stick-no-carrot” approach. We need a fundamental reset to get out of the current impasse, and steps toward a formal peace agreement could very well provide that needed jolt.

The next president should embark on the formal resolution of the Korean War with personnel and funding. We must do the long-overdue work of ending America’s oldest war by transitioning armistice legacy entities, clarifying U.S. treaty obligations, and establishing truth and reconciliation efforts.

Second, the next administration must eliminate the U.S. ban on travel to North Korea. This exceptional prohibition is in contravention to U.S. sanctions policy and contrary to national interests. The State Department cites the risk of wrongful detention — possible but highly unlikely — as the reason for the ban, even though thousands of Americans have traveled without incident. Last year, after Army Pvt. Travis King illegally entered the country, North Korea immediately released him. This draconian ban impedes humanitarian efforts, prevents 100,000 Korean Americans from seeing their family and cuts off the only current avenue for people-to-people contact essential to peacemaking.

The next administration must abandon the failed “more of the same” approach to the deteriorating situation in Korea. The hubris in refusing to change course in the face of mounting evidence will continue the suffering of ordinary North Koreans and likely drag the United States into nuclear war. The American public deserves and should demand realistic and actionable plans from the next president on this most dangerous national security matter.

Dan Leaf is a retired Air Force lieutenant general and a former deputy commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Christine Ahn is founder and co-director of Women Cross DMZ.

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Chicago Tribune · by Dan Leaf · October 17, 2024

De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell

Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy

Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation

Editor, Small Wars Journal

Twitter: @davidmaxwell161

Phone: 202-573-8647

email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com