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Quotes of the Day:
"There is a higher form of patriotism than nationalism, and the higher form is not limited by the boundaries of one's country; but by a duty, to mankind to safeguard the trust of civilization."
- Oscar Solomon Straus
"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself."
- Potter Stewart
"The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether or not it is the same problem you had last year."
- John Foster Dulles
1. S. Korea warns N. Korea to 'immediately stop' preparations for military spy satellite launch
2. N. Korea vows to step up 'war deterrence' against U.S arms sales
3. Unification minister discusses cooperation with UNC chief
4. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Seventy-Five
5. PUAC, Yonhap News Agency to host global forum on unification this week
6. Taiwan on South Korea’s regional defence agenda as military ties grow with US and Japan
7. SOFA committee discusses ways to boost exchanges between Koreans, U.S. troops
8. S. Korea issues rare advance warning as excuse to scrap inter-Korean military pact
9. Yoon urges China to decouple from NK, Russia
10. Japanese FM to visit S. Korea for trilateral talks involving China: report
11. Seoul and Beijing end up not having bilateral summit
12. President Yoon Suk Yeol says state visit to U.K. signals Korea's importance as a 'strategic partner'
13. ＜Inside N. Korea＞ Land-based trade restarts with China through Hyesan…Chinese trade delegation quarantined… “Lack of interest in trade with N. Korea due to distrust of trade policies”
1. S. Korea warns N. Korea to 'immediately stop' preparations for military spy satellite launch
Somehow I do not think Kim Jong Un will heed this warning.
(2nd LD) S. Korea warns N. Korea to 'immediately stop' preparations for military spy satellite launch | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · November 20, 2023
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 10-14; CHANGES 2nd photo)
By Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean military warned North Korea on Monday to "immediately stop" preparations for another military spy satellite launch, vowing to take "necessary measures" if it presses ahead with the launch.
Lt. Gen. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), made the warning, a day after South Korea's defense chief said Pyongyang may make another satellite launch attempt as early as "this week or so."
"(We) sternly warn North Korea to immediately stop the 'military reconnaissance satellite' launch, of which preparations are under way," Kang said. "If North Korea goes ahead with the military reconnaissance satellite launch despite our warning, our military will come up with necessary measures to protect the lives and safety of our people."
This photo provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on June 1, 2023, shows the launch of the North's new Chollima-1 rocket, allegedly carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, Malligyong-1, from Tongchang-ri on the North's west coast at 6:29 a.m. the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
He did not elaborate on what he meant by necessary measures, but the government is believed to be considering partially suspending a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement in case the North makes another launch.
The agreement calls for setting up buffer zones and no-fly zones near the inter-Korean border to ban artillery firing, naval drills and surveillance activities to prevent clashes between the two Koreas.
South Korea has said the agreement greatly hinders its readiness posture at a time when North Korea has repeatedly violated it over the years, rendering the 2018 agreement "in name only."
On Sunday, Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said the North's launch could take place before South Korea launches its first homegrown reconnaissance satellite on Nov. 30 in an interview with public broadcaster KBS.
North Korea made two botched attempts to put a reconnaissance satellite into orbit in May and August, respectively.
Kang called the potential launch a "provocative act" that threatens South Korea's national security, pointing out it would violate U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions that ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology.
When asked whether the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier's planned visit to South Korea this week is intended to pressure the North against the launch, a JCS official said "necessary measures" may be taken if a launch takes place.
"The port visit was already planned, so it is not directly related," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "However, if (the North) proceeds with the launch, necessary measures can be taken in connection with it."
The aircraft carrier's arrival will take place just over a month after the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier visited the southeastern city of Busan amid U.S. efforts to strengthen its deterrence commitment to South Korea against North Korea's military threats.
Another JCS official said the military is closely monitoring North Korea's preparations on the spy satellite launch, but declined to comment on the timing of the launch.
"North Korea has exhibited deceptive activity in the past, so we are unable to give a definite response," the official said.
The South's warning came amid concerns over North Korea receiving technology and support for its weapons program from Russia after the rare summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September.
Shin said in the interview that the North is believed to have "almost resolved" its engine problems "with Russia's help."
The North blamed the two failed launches this year on technical issues, such as the "abnormal" startup of the second-stage engine in its first attempt in late May.
Lt. Gen. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issues a warning against North Korea's potential launch of a military spy satellite at the defense ministry headquarters in central Seoul on Nov. 20, 2023, in this photo provided by the Defense Daily. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Chae Yun-hwan · November 20, 2023
2. N. Korea vows to step up 'war deterrence' against U.S arms sales
We Should expect the regime to use these arms sales more and more for propaganda and to justify its own actions to include its arms deals with Russia.
N. Korea vows to step up 'war deterrence' against U.S arms sales | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · November 20, 2023
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Monday that it will bolster its "war deterrence" capability as it accused the United States of heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula with planned arms sales to South Korea and Japan.
Last week, the U.S. announced the potential sales of AIM-9X air-to-air missiles, Standard Missile-6 shipborne missile interceptors and related equipment under a government-to-government foreign military sale to South Korea.
Washington also recently announced the approval of the potential sale of 400 Tomahawk missiles and related equipment to Japan.
"We warn that the more the U.S. earns from indiscriminate arms sales, the higher the price it would have to pay for a security crisis," an unnamed official of North Korea's defense ministry said in a comment carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
The criticism came as the recalcitrant regime is widely expected to make its third attempt to launch a military spy satellite in the coming days.
Earlier in the day, the South Korean military warned the North to "immediately stop" preparations for another military spy satellite launch, vowing to take "necessary measures" if it presses ahead with the launch.
On Sunday, Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said the North's launch could take place before South Korea launches its first indigenous reconnaissance satellite on Nov. 30.
This Aug. 24, 2023, file photo shows people watching a televised broadcast of North Korea's second attempt to launch a military spy satellite. (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · November 20, 2023
3. Unification minister discusses cooperation with UNC chief
Very interesting. First, I am pleased to see Yonhap put this in the context of the UN Command. (as opposed to USFK).
Second, it would have been useful for the new ROK/US alliance defense vision to recognize the strategic guidance from both presidents on the pursuit of a free and unified Korea. I am disappointed by this omission.
Third, this is also very timely. I will be hosting and moderating a virtual session on 27 November for the Global Peace Foundation on the potential UN Command support to the pursuit of a free and unified Korea.
I am waiting for confirmation of a fourth panelist but the three members are:
Hee-Eun Kim - https://apstrategy.org/people/hee-kim/
MG (RET) Urse Gerber https://apstrategy.org/people/urs-gerber/
MG (RET) Kwang-Hyun Chang https://apstrategy.org/people/kh-chang/
United Nations Command and United Nations Support for a Free and Unified Korea
Peace & Security
https://globalpeaceconvention.com/
USA EST: 7:00pm - 9:00pm (Nov 27)
More Time Zones:
Korea KST: 9:00am – 11:00am (Nov 28)
The purpose is to explore possible ways the United Nations military command in Korea might support the pursuit of a free and unified Korea across the spectrum of peace through conflict, and how various United Nations organizations will support unification.
Considering various scenarios: peaceful, war, regime collapse, or new emerging leadership who seeks peaceful unification respond to the following prompts:
What actions can and should the United Nations Command (UNC) take to support the Korean military and government in contingency operations focused on achieving unification?
In addition the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) will be hosting an event on 30 November, "Crafting Strategies for the Free & Peaceful Unification of the Korean Peninsula." https://mailchi.mp/d63f3755cc1f/fpu-11302023?e=46d109134b
This event will address the current status of international efforts to improve North Korea's human rights situation, as well as the connection between human rights and the denuclearization of North Korea.
(09:30 - 09:40) Introductory Remarks
Greg Scarlatoiu | HRNK Executive Director
Representative | ROK Ministry of Unification
(09:40 - 10:30) Session 1: The UN COI, Ten Years Later
Roberta Cohen | HRNK Co-Chair Emeritus
Amb. Robert King | HRNK Board Member; former U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights
Discussant: Olivia Enos | Senior Fellow, The Hudson Institute
Moderator: Hee-eun Kim | President, Center for Asia-Pacific Strategy
(10:30 - 10:40) Coffee Break
(10:40 - 11:30) Session 2: Linking Human Rights & the Denuclearization of North Korea
Amb. Robert Joseph | HRNK Board Member; former U.S. Special Envoy for Nonproliferation
Greg Scarlatoiu | HRNK Executive Director
Discussant: David Maxwell | Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Moderator: Nicholas Eberstadt | Henry Wendt Chair, American Enterprise Institute
Unification minister discusses cooperation with UNC chief | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · November 20, 2023
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea met with Gen. Paul LaCamera, chief of the United Nations Command (UNC), on Monday to discuss how to bolster cooperation, the unification ministry said Monday.
The trip to the UNC headquarters by Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho came as Seoul seeks to deepen ties with the U.S.-led multinational command, an enforcer of the Armistice Agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.
The trip, the first by a unification minister, is in line with the policy of the government of Yoon Suk Yeol that puts importance on the UNC, ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said in a regular press briefing.
"The meeting will serve as an opportunity to reaffirm the UNC's importance and value regarding the security situation of South Korea and bolster cooperative ties," Koo said of Kim's visit to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul.
Yoon praised the UNC's contribution to overseeing the armistice, and promoting peace and stability on the peninsula during a recent meeting in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.
During the previous liberal government, Seoul's relationship with the multinational command had faced frictions over access to the Demilitarized Zone for nonmilitary purposes, such as a joint field survey of a cross-border railway by the two Koreas in 2018.
The UNC has jurisdiction over the area that separates the two Koreas.
As part of efforts to strengthen ties with the UNC, the unification ministry plans to host a policy briefing Tuesday for ambassadors of countries that either sent troops or medical personnel to South Korea during the Korean War.
The current UNC member states are the United States, Britain, Canada, Turkey, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, the Netherlands, Colombia, Greece, New Zealand, Belgium, France, South Africa, Norway, Denmark and Italy.
This Nov. 15, 2023, photo shows Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaking to lawmakers at a parliamentary foreign affairs committee meeting in Seoul. (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · November 20, 2023
4. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Seventy-Five
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights needs to be regularly transmitted to the korean people in the north.
Excerpts:
All well and good, one might say, but what’s the point? Many people, after all, see the contestation of human rights and their uneven compliance as undermining the idea that they, or their moral underpinnings, could be universal.
This is a serious mistake. Although counter-intuitive, the disagreement present in drafting the UDHR by a diverse group of multinational and multicultural representatives supports the link between human nature and this standard of justice. So long, that is, that they manage to settle on a shared conception of justice.
How could this be the case?
Recall above how the optimal way to interrogate our moral capacity is not by asking questions about politics or other high-level social concepts, as these recruit more cognitive activity than we are interested in. Rather, we seek to clear up the distortions that cloud the moral capacity by pinpointing moral judgments made in suitably reflective conditions. Hot takes and emotionally charged judgments will not suffice.
However, the best way to clear up these distortions cannot be to withdraw into abstract reflection. Instead, through argument and disagreement, discourse between sufficiently diverse individuals recruits this cognitive mechanism in navigating disputes and settling as many tensions as possible. The resultant agreement will, ideally, give observers the clearest view into the moral capacity’s central properties as can reasonably be expected.
While far from ideal, the drafting of the UDHR took on this character. In a reassessment of the debates that drove its drafting, Joe Hoover recalled that “one is struck by how long the drafters spent suggesting, debating, and revising individual articles.” Indeed, in her study of the drafting process, Mary Ann Glendon noted: “It is unlikely that any other political document in history has ever drawn from such diverse sources, or received the same worldwide, sustained considerations and scrutiny as the Declaration underwent over its two years of preparation.”'
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Seventy-Five
The Universal Declaration will soon turn seventy-five, but its significance as a reflection of human moral psychology remains underappreciated. The realities of international relations need not contradict a natural basis for universal human rights norms.
The National Interest · by Vincent J. Carchidi · November 19, 2023
On December 10, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) will reach its three-quarters of a century milestone. Adopted on the same day by the UN General Assembly in 1948, the document enshrines fundamental civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights. Its preamble begins with a “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family,” followed by thirty articles detailing these rights.
The UDHR provided what scholars Margaret Keck and Kathyrn Sikkink call a “common language” for later transnational human rights activism. In Seyla Benhabib’s words, it serves as “the closest document in our world to international public law.” Jack Donnelly similarly observed that the UDHR sets “the basic parameters of the meaning of “human rights” in contemporary international relations,” marking its foundational status.
Yet, the promise of universal human rights is threatened from all sides. As we approach the UDHR’s seventy-fifth anniversary, the Russian invasion of Ukraine—inclusive of alleged Russian war crimes, including torture, rape, and the systematic abduction of Ukrainian children—will soon mark two full years of large-scale conflict. The October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, furthermore, echoes this brutality in gut-wrenching ways, while Israel’s retaliation in Gaza has moved rapidly from a desire for revenge to an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Jabalya. For over a decade, an intensifying feeling of hopelessness and pessimism has pervaded the cause of human rights from Egypt to China and even the United States.
The intellectual environment increasingly reflects this downcast perspective. The New York Times—just weeks before the Hamas attack—reported on an uptick in public doubt among think tank analysts, economists, and diplomats that there truly is a universal set of values that underpin international human rights norms and laws. These doubts come on the backs of speculations and assertions that the “liberal” or “rules-based” international order founded in part upon these values is fraying. The tumult of world politics and the perceived shift in the global distribution of power appear to undermine the universalist idea. Readers of the National Interest will intuitively recognize that existing debates over whether the international system underwent “great transformations” in the post-World War II era have intensified.
What are we to make of these claims and characterizations? Are universal human rights a bankrupt idea? Are the values that underpin such rights a mere illusion?
An idea in cognitive science—in the modern study of the architecture of the human mind—challenges these doubts: the values undergirding human rights, it indicates, are rooted in human nature. More specifically, the character of moral psychology is such that human rights are its optimal expression—not inevitable social constructs but the result of distilling shared cognitive resources into a social and political idea.
Quiet work done in cognitive science provides reason to believe that human beings possess a cognitive system responsible for the distinctive moral qualities of human life. This system provides the building blocks of human rights, with such rights representing the clearest view of this capacity to date.
The compliance—or lack thereof—of organizations, governments, and other actors with human rights is not, in this view, the proper metric to gauge the accuracy of the idea of human rights. Instead, we should look to those conditions in which our moral cognition has been put to the most sincere, rigorous, and sustained test by a representative sampling of humanity.
The drafting of the UDHR fits these conditions. On its seventy-fifth anniversary, we should reflect on its significance to human nature and international human rights. From this, we take away a central lesson about the future of human rights: that they always have existed in a conflicted world; the point, especially if one wishes to rescue them, is to understand why.
Universal Morality?
This idea in cognitive science—“Universal Moral Grammar”—sounds like a lofty one, exactly the loftiness with which some proponents of universal human rights have become disillusioned. However, Research in this domain started with exactly zero connections to international conventions like the UDHR. It instead operates on an apolitical, scientific, and bland assumption: that the study of moral cognition should proceed in the same way as other aspects of human biology. If we are prepared to assume that capacities like vision or hearing occupy distinctive roles within the human mind, why would we forgo this assumption in the study of moral cognition? Put another way, why would our capacity to hear be “grown” biologically, but our ability to morally evaluate be “learned” through culture?
We are attuned to inflate differences between individuals or groups given the importance of morality in human social life; not only do we conflate morality per se with cultural practices, but we also perceive moral diversity in a way that we would not with other cognitive mechanisms—it is akin to viewing near- and far-sighted individuals in possession of two, radically distinct visual systems. Few would accept this. The argument here is that morality is fundamentally no different.
This assumption is “boring” because we do not get excited by visual or auditory judgments. Morality is thought of differently—its role in human life is fundamental to organizing institutions, distributing resources, and interacting with one another. It is both commonplace and, at times, visceral. As philosopher and legal scholar Matthias Mahlmann puts it, there is a “mental space that has a normative dimension…a specific mental domain of morality….” Morality, as a human cognitive characteristic, exists.
The evidence is all around us. Virtually everyone in possession of the basic facts has a moral reaction to the October 7 Hamas attack and the subsequent Israeli response. Indeed, these moral judgments often feel as if they exist more in the gut and the heart than in the intellect—perhaps feeling more like facts than preferences. Individuals differ in their moral approval of these actions, but this does not detract from the normative dimension of their responses.
How individuals acquire this moral sense cannot be reduced merely to cultural particularities. As philosopher Susan Dwyer recognized, individuals do not learn the structure of moral dilemmas—the morally salient aspects of people, actions, and objects interacting with one another—but instead intuit it. We intuitively frame the world in normative terms.
Moreover, the various qualities individuals infer from or impose on moral dilemmas are not explicitly learned during development. Many scenarios involve interactions between people that can have multiple possible outcomes. Yet when tested, both adults and young children infer a “presumption of innocence,” or a good intention, from those performing the actions—despite not being told such intentions are present. (One can find this presumption embodied in Article 11 of the UDHR.) Humans may also possess an “acute sensitivity” to the legally defined actions constituting harmful battery “as a property of the human mind,” as legal scholar John Mikhail argues.
Relatedly, social psychologist Daniel Sznycer and legal researcher Carlton Patrick find experimental evidence indicating that criminal law originates, in part, in an innate “valuation grammar” of the mind, finding that “multiple types of lay justice intuitions vary in lockstep” across cultures and over long periods of time with respect to criminal legislation. Finally, and more broadly, International Relations scholar David Traven articulates connections between cognitive moral architecture and the laws and norms of war, arguing they “are a by-product of an evolved cognitive system in a changing contextual environment.”
Research such as this goes to show, as Sydney Levine, Alan Leslie, and Mikhail note, that how we cognize morality goes beyond “heuristics and biases.”
There is a complexity to our moral judgments that is frequently underappreciated—something the philosopher John Rawls observed in a substantive analogy to Noam Chomsky’s work on linguistics in his classic A Theory of Justice. There is an informational gulf between only the content of our moral judgments and the ability to morally evaluate that cannot be traced back to moral education or culture.
The outlines of an explanation for this remarkable ability thus posits that human beings are naturally endowed with a cognitive mechanism that is principally grown, not learned.
Recognizing even this requires a tricky distancing from ordinary life: we cannot simply pick our favorite examples of moral good or evil and move from there to understand morality. Nor can we ask individuals their opinions on social and political issues (e.g., “Do you approve or disapprove of the United States’ support for Israel?”). We cannot even begin with cliché ethical taxonomic categories, like the ethic of “community” contrasted with the ethic of “individualism.” These all unintentionally recruit far more cognitive action than is desired in the study of moral cognition.
The goal, as Mikhail puts it with a reference to Rawls, is to pinpoint those moral judgments that allow our moral capacity “to be displayed without distortion,” namely, those judgments made under conditions of sincere, rigorous, and sustained deliberation among culturally diverse individuals.
From Moral Cognition to Human Rights
All well and good, one might say, but what’s the point? Many people, after all, see the contestation of human rights and their uneven compliance as undermining the idea that they, or their moral underpinnings, could be universal.
This is a serious mistake. Although counter-intuitive, the disagreement present in drafting the UDHR by a diverse group of multinational and multicultural representatives supports the link between human nature and this standard of justice. So long, that is, that they manage to settle on a shared conception of justice.
How could this be the case?
Recall above how the optimal way to interrogate our moral capacity is not by asking questions about politics or other high-level social concepts, as these recruit more cognitive activity than we are interested in. Rather, we seek to clear up the distortions that cloud the moral capacity by pinpointing moral judgments made in suitably reflective conditions. Hot takes and emotionally charged judgments will not suffice.
However, the best way to clear up these distortions cannot be to withdraw into abstract reflection. Instead, through argument and disagreement, discourse between sufficiently diverse individuals recruits this cognitive mechanism in navigating disputes and settling as many tensions as possible. The resultant agreement will, ideally, give observers the clearest view into the moral capacity’s central properties as can reasonably be expected.
While far from ideal, the drafting of the UDHR took on this character. In a reassessment of the debates that drove its drafting, Joe Hoover recalled that “one is struck by how long the drafters spent suggesting, debating, and revising individual articles.” Indeed, in her study of the drafting process, Mary Ann Glendon noted: “It is unlikely that any other political document in history has ever drawn from such diverse sources, or received the same worldwide, sustained considerations and scrutiny as the Declaration underwent over its two years of preparation.”
These debates were largely sincere. According to Micheline Ishay: “Despite philosophical and political rivalries between these great minds [Peng Chun Chang, Charles Malik, and René Cassin], each human rights commissioner understood what was at stake, and all responded to their historical call by transcending personal and philosophical differences.” These individuals, among others like Eleanor Roosevelt and remarkable participation from sprawling groups and individuals, leveraged the “brief time” of relative goodwill between the United States and the USSR following World War II to draft the document.
What emerged from these debates is a “highly specific list of fundamental human rights.” As legal scholar Michael Perry observed, the contents of the UDHR “represent values—that is, valued states of affairs—to be achieved.” The mere existence of this list of fundamental human rights is, in Mikhail’s view, “remarkable” and indicates that morality is more constrained by the human mind than is commonly believed. Given this cognitive constraint, the agreement resulting from the drafting process—embodied by the eventual UDHR taken up in 1948—has an overlooked conceptual significance.
The beauty of this research program is simple but counterintuitive: Universal Moral Grammar does not deny the existence of moral diversity but “is largely predicted on the existence of diversity and is directed to understanding and explaining it…The key concept…is constrained diversity.” From this constrained diversity, and through an intentional hammering out of moral problems, the conceptual significance emerges of the UDHR as a document capturing—more clearly than any other—our moral nature.
Universal Human Rights in a Conflicted World
The UDHR’s seventy-fifth anniversary will occur in a conflicted world. Yet, even after seven decades of marking this document’s unlikely creation, its significance to human nature has been severely underappreciated.
To be sure, scholarly studies of the UDHR focusing on the anti-colonial movements of the first half of the twentieth century and the collapse of empires, the ideational influences stretching back decades or centuries through political activism and religious traditions, the re-definition of “human” in the early twentieth century, and the distribution of power across states each have their places.
Yet, these approaches neglect a simple but urgent question: how on earth do individuals make the moral judgments that underpin the rights enshrined within the UDHR? The failure to ask this question across a broad range of disciplinary traditions—and the implicit failure to recognize that this is a question not of political science but of cognitive science—has led to the UDHR’s underappreciated status.
There is no contradiction, to be sure, between the realist idea that the world is anarchic, populated by self-interested states, and lacking—at least in prominent variants—anything that can plausibly be called a “rules-based order” and the idea that human moral cognition provides the basis for—and is best represented by—universal human rights norms as enshrined in the UDHR. The problem is that too many International Relations scholars have implicitly subsumed a psychology of moral judgment into their theories, thereby conflating a lack of compliance with international human rights law with the intellectual foundations of human rights.
The fact is that assumptions about human nature matter for how we understand human rights. Human rights activism that detaches itself from human nature, especially in liberal-democratic societies, may hamper itself. The key is to realize that none of what has been said here must be surprising if one adopts a cognitive science perspective—one simply needs to be willing to recognize that moral or cultural diversity is not the silver bullet against the idea of universal human rights that they think it is.
Echoing Matthias Mahlmann’s conclusion based on his recent major contribution to moral cognition and human rights, to think of human rights as spontaneous beliefs that must be supported everywhere, at all times, to hold weight is a mistake. Human rights result from humanity’s struggle with social organization and represent the clearest view of our innate moral capacity and its social manifestations. The implementation and maintenance of universal human rights take work. The UDHR and International human rights norms have always existed in a conflicted world—now is the time to understand why.
Vincent J. Carchidi is an analyst working in technology, defense, and international affairs. He has an interdisciplinary background in cognitive science and philosophy. His work has appeared in outlets including the Human Rights Review, AI & Society, War on the Rocks, Defense One, National Interest, The Geopolitics Magazine, and Military Strategy Magazine, among others.
Image: FDR Library and Museum.
The National Interest · by Vincent J. Carchidi · November 19, 2023
5. PUAC, Yonhap News Agency to host global forum on unification this week
More reason why the ROK/US military alliance must include the political object of a free and unified Korea. The military must be prepared to support this political process.
PUAC, Yonhap News Agency to host global forum on unification this week | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · November 20, 2023
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- The Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC) and Yonhap News Agency will co-host a forum this week to assess the environment for unification and discuss international cooperation amid North Korea's evolving threats and other global security issues.
The two-day event will take place at Grand Walkerhill Seoul hotel on Thursday and Friday under the main theme of "International cooperation aiming to realize freedom, peace, and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula," bringing together former key government officials and security experts.
PUAC is a presidential consultative body established to draw up policies on democratic and peaceful unification.
The inaugural Global Dialogue on Korean Peninsula Unification comes as part of efforts to seek international cooperation amid North Korea's evolving missile and nuclear threats as well as a prolonged war in Ukraine and the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict.
This promotional image, provided by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, shows information on the two-day Global Dialogue on Korean Peninsula Unification forum set to be held from Nov. 23-24, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The first day of the forum will consist of closed-door discussions by experts on themes including public diplomacy on unification and North Korea's political situation.
The second day of the event will bring together speakers such as Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair at Hudson Institute, Lee Che-chuan, research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taiwan, Georgy Toloraya, director of the Center for Asian Strategy at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Ken Endo, a professor at the University of Tokyo.
The second-day sessions will kick off with speeches by Kim Kwan-yong, executive vice chairperson of PUAC, Seong Ghi-hong, CEO and president of Yonhap News Agency, and Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho. Hyun In-taek, chief of the Korea Defense Security Forum and former unification minister, will deliver a keynote address.
The second-day sessions -- organized under the themes of "Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity of Korean Peninsula: Vision and Strategy," "Democracy, Freedom, and Human Rights in North Korea" and "Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Future of Korean Peninsula" -- will be livestreamed via YouTube on PUAC's official channel.
This image, provided by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, shows the logo of the presidential consultative body established to draw up policies on democratic and peaceful unification. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · November 20, 2023
6. Taiwan on South Korea’s regional defence agenda as military ties grow with US and Japan
Taiwan on South Korea’s regional defence agenda as military ties grow with US and Japan
- Defence chiefs from South Korea, Japan and the US have put out a statement stressing the ‘importance of peace’ in the Taiwan Strait
- Analysts say though Seoul’s focus is on North Korea, the growing trilateral military ties will see it aligned with America over Taiwan
Seong Hyeon Choi
+ FOLLOWPublished: 8:30pm, 17 Nov, 2023
By Seong Hyeon Choi South China Morning Post4 min
November 17, 2023
View Original
And in another indirect criticism of China, the trio jointly “condemned recent dangerous activities” in the East and South China seas.
They also stressed the importance of continuing trilateral military exercises to “respond to threats in the Indo-Pacific” and agreed to conduct the drills “more systematically and efficiently” starting in January 2024.
It is the first time the defence chiefs have had an independent meeting. The last time they were together was during Asian defence summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue, in June 2022.
Raymond Kuo, director of the Taiwan Policy Initiative and a senior political scientist at US-based think tank the Rand Corporation, said the emphasis on Taiwan could be a result of South Korea’s effort to pursue a broader Indo-Pacific strategy.
“The [defence ministers’] statement strikes me as part of a broader shift in South Korea under the Yoon administration towards a more regionally oriented security policy,” Kuo said.
“We’re seeing the institutional foundations being laid for a regional alignment and coordination to manage Chinese threats and challenges, and that inevitably touches upon Taiwan.”
Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation chair of Korea studies at Washington-based think tank the Brookings Institution, said it reflected Seoul’s growing recognition that any outbreak of conflict in the Taiwan Strait would have “spillover effects” for the broader region.
“For the [South Korean] military, it’s … more about supporting the US in a potential fight with China, sustaining the US-ROK [Republic of Korea] alliance, and ensuring that the ROK military can sustain deterrence on the Korean peninsula should the US get bogged down in Taiwan,” Yeo said.
“Strengthened trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific signals more credibly to Beijing that US allies in the region would offer Washington their support – whether direct or indirect. This could help build greater deterrence from an unprovoked PLA attack,” he said, referring to the People’s Liberation Army.
Defence chiefs
Bruce Bennett, a defence researcher at Rand Corporation, said including the Taiwan Strait issue in the defence ministers’ statement meant the strategy to defend the island could also be reflected in the trilateral military exercises.
“By analogy, if I were the coach of an all-star soccer team, I would first need to decide the strategy that I would use in a game against an opponent and … train my players in implementing that strategy,” Bennett said.
Sunday’s meeting followed the Camp David summit in August between US President Joe Biden, his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that called for the peaceful resolution of the cross-strait issues – which Beijing slammed as interference in its internal affairs.
Beijing considers Taiwan an integral part of its territory to be brought under its control – by force if necessary. Washington does not recognise the self-ruled island as independent but is committed to supporting its defence.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also told Biden at a one-on-one meeting in California on Wednesday that the Taiwan issue was the “biggest, most potentially dangerous” issue in US-China relations.
In the past, Seoul has largely remained a bystander in cross-strait issues, partly because it was wary of angering Beijing, and also because any transfer of US troops from South Korea to Taiwan could lead to a potential security vacuum in deterring North Korean attacks.
South Korean, US and Japanese warships take part in a joint military exercise in the international waters of the East Sea. Photo: Defence Ministry via Zuma Press Wire/dpa
However, it has recently been raising its voice to oppose any use of force by Beijing against the island, with the Taiwan Strait issue first included in a joint statement between Biden and then-South Korean president Moon Jae-in in May 2021.
Seoul also recently took part in rare trilateral military exercises with Washington and Tokyo. Last month, the three air forces held the first-ever joint aerial exercise in the south of the Korean peninsula with the US nuclear-capable B-52 bombers as well as South Korea’s F-15K and Japanese F-2 fighter jets.
The three countries’ navies also held joint maritime interdiction drills in October for the first time in seven years in the East China Sea, with the US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan taking part.
Cho Sung-min, a professor at Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies, said trilateral ties were like an “insurance policy” against North Korea taking advantage of a potential invasion of Taiwan by China to provoke local skirmishes in the Korean peninsula.
“If South Korea-US-Japan cooperation cannot be effectively practised even on the existing North Korean nuclear issue, [it] may become even more difficult during a Taiwan crisis,” Cho said.
“Conversely, the closer the trilateral cooperation is prepared on the North Korean nuclear issue, the more it can serve as a basis for discussing new role divisions in the event of a Taiwan crisis.”
Kuo said though South Korea’s focus was on North Korea in joint exercises with the US and others, the drills could enhance interoperability between the militaries, which was essential for the rear area support operations that the US would need to send its forces to Taiwan.
“[South Korea’s] naval and air forces, in particular, could serve in a variety of non-combat roles, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; demonstrations of presence; and logistics and support,” Kuo said.
“Overall, trilateral cooperation will bolster deterrence against China, not just in case of Taiwan, but more generally … Trilateral cooperation is therefore a key component of a wider US strategy to solidify security and other networks in Asia.”
7. SOFA committee discusses ways to boost exchanges between Koreans, U.S. troops
SOFA committee discusses ways to boost exchanges between Koreans, U.S. troops | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · November 20, 2023
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States on Monday discussed ways to boost exchanges between local residents and American troops stationed here, the foreign ministry said.
The two sides held a regular meeting of the ROK-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) Joint Committee at the ministry in Seoul, the ministry said. SOFA governs the legal status of the 28,500 U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) soldiers stationed in South Korea.
ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.
The meeting was led by Kim Jun-pyo, director general for North American affairs, and Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus, the USFK deputy commander.
At the meeting, the joint committee agreed to continue to push for new civil-military projects that "can strengthen friendship between the Korean people and USFK in the future," it said in a press release.
The committee also recognized the need for allies' collaboration on illegal drug awareness and prevention, and the U.S. expressed thanks to the Korean side for producing and sharing an educational video on South Korean laws on drugs.
The allies agreed to continue close consultations to expedite the relocation and return of U.S. military bases in South Korea, as part of efforts to strengthen their combined defense posture.
South Korea and the U.S. have regularly held meetings on the civil-military relations under the SOFA Joint Committee to help foster stronger ties between local residents and U.S. military personnel.
Kim Jun-pyo (L), director general for North American affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, greets Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus, deputy commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, with a fist bump, during the 204th ROK-U.S. Joint Committee of the Status of Forces Agreement, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, on Nov. 20, 2023, in this photo provided by the ministry. ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · November 20, 2023
8. S. Korea issues rare advance warning as excuse to scrap inter-Korean military pact
S. Korea issues rare advance warning as excuse to scrap inter-Korean military pact
The Korea Times · November 20, 2023
This photo, carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 1, shows the launch of North Korea's first military spy satellite the previous day. Yonhap
Seoul warns Pyongyang to cancel spy satellite launch
By Lee Hyo-jin
South Korea threatened, Monday, to implement retaliatory measures if North Korea pushes ahead with its planned launch of a military spy satellite, sending a rare yet strong warning against Pyongyang's envisaged military action.
Although the military did not specify what measures it could take, analysts believe that South Korea's next move is most likely to involve the partial suspension of an inter-Korean military pact signed on Sept. 19, 2018, also known as the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA).
Military authorities anticipate that the launch — which would be the North's third attempt following two botched endeavors earlier this year — could take place as early as this week.
“The North Korean regime must face the stark reality of unanimous condemnation by the international community over its illegal actions. We strongly warn them to immediately cease the ongoing preparations for the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite,” Lt. Gen. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said during a media briefing.
"If North Korea proceeds with the launch despite the warning, our military will take necessary measures to protect the safety of our people," he added, without elaborating on what specific measures Seoul plans to take.
Monday's announcement by the JCS was unusual in that South Korea normally condemns North Korea’s military provocations after they take place, rather than issuing a warning in advance.
Experts said the rare warning issued through a public briefing can be seen as a preliminary step to scrap the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.
The military agreement, signed by the previous Moon Jae-in government, has been criticized by the incumbent administration for restricting South Korea's reconnaissance capabilities near the border.
“It is extremely rare for the government to issue a warning before North Korea conducts a military provocation. It seems that the announcement was aimed at developing a rationale to nullify the military pact if North Korea proceeds with the satellite launch, a position held by our military since Defense Minister Shin Won-sik took office,” said Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a think tank.
Lt. Gen. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), speaks during a briefing at the Ministry of National Defense headquarters in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
During Monday's briefing, Kang mentioned that Pyongyang violated the inter-Korean military agreement more than 3,400 times so far, beginning with artillery fire drills conducted in November of 2019 on the islet of Changrin near the maritime border separating the two Koreas, which is called the Northern Limit Line (NLL).
“The behavior exhibited by North Korea so far clearly indicates a lack of any willingness to comply with the agreement,” Kang said.
However, the South Korean military did not immediately confirm whether the "neccessary measures" would involve the suspension of the military agreement.
"It is not a matter for the JCS to decide. We believe it is an issue that will be addressed after a review by related government agencies," a JCS official told reporters during a closed-door briefing later in the day.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, also viewed that the warning reflects the South Korean government's intention to partially suspend the military pact following the North Korean satellite launch.
But at the same time, the professor stressed that the South Korean government should be prudent about making the first move to scrap the agreement, which may come at the cost of increased military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
“I do agree that the agreement limits reconnaissance capabilities and some of the clauses of the pact are flawed. But there are some positive aspects of the military agreement, such as bringing stability to the NLL,” he said.
“Plus, if the South becomes the first one to officially declare the end of the agreement, it could raise eyebrows in the international community," Park added.
Another expert on North Korea, asking not to be named, said South Korea could face a dilemma over the suspension of the Sept. 19 agreement.
“I think the government has not properly reviewed the consequences of suspending the military agreement. Once scrapped, there's no going back," he said. "And from what I understand, the United States does not support the idea of suspending the agreement. The U.S. doesn't want more tensions on the peninsula."
During a joint press conference with South Korea's defense minister in Seoul last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the two sides "agreed to stay in close consultation going forward" on the suspension of the military agreement.
The Korea Times · November 20, 2023
9. Yoon urges China to decouple from NK, Russia
Yoon urges China to decouple from NK, Russia
The Korea Times · November 20, 2023
President Yoon Suk Yeol, alongside his wife Kim Keon Hee, waves at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Monday, before leaving for the U.K. Yonhap
President departs for UK state visit, France for Busan's Expo bid
By Nam Hyun-woo
President Yoon Suk Yeol said he believes China’s interests do not align with those of North Korea or Russia, calling on Beijing to play its role in promoting freedom, peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia.
Yoon made those remarks in an interview with the Telegraph published on Sunday (local time), before his state visit to the United Kingdom upon the invitation of King Charles III. Yoon is scheduled to arrive in London on Monday (local time).
“China, Russia and North Korea each face different situations and external environments, thus I believe their subsequent interests also differ,” Yoon said. "China’s alignment with North Korea and Russia will not serve Beijing’s national interests.”
Yoon continued that Pyongyang and Moscow blatantly violated not only United Nations Security Council resolutions but also other international rules, and China will consider that pursuing a three-way cooperation with them will not be helpful for its international reputation and status.
“China plays an important role in improving the freedom, peace and prosperity of the Northeast Asian region and the international community, so the Korean government has been consistently pursuing healthy and mature Seoul-Beijing relations based on mutual respect and reciprocity,” Yoon said.
Yoon’s comments came amid growing international concerns that North Korea and Russia are deepening their military cooperation, with the North providing artillery shells and other conventional weapons to Russia in return for Moscow’s technological support for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.
“North Korea’s weapons support to Russia will protract the war in Ukraine, creating more casualties,” Yoon said. “And if Russia provides military tech support to North Korea, this will be a threat to the national security of South Korea and regional peace.”
Citing the North Korea-Russia military ties, the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the increasing tensions in the South China Sea, Yoon noted that the world is facing “a polycrisis” and he seeks closer security ties with the U.K., which is an important Indo-Pacific partner for South Korea.
Yoon’s state visit came as the two countries celebrate the 140th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.
During his stay in London, Yoon is expected to engage in talks to improve the free trade agreement between the two countries, so that it can reinvigorate their trade and investments against the backdrop that the U.K. is turning its eyes toward Asian economies after its exit from the European Union.
On Tuesday, Yoon will deliver an address at the U.K. Parliament, as well as having a luncheon and dinner with the king.
Yoon will have a summit with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday to discuss the two countries' partnerships in a variety of sectors including cybersecurity, defense, bio and clean energy. The outcomes of their talks will be released in a South Korea-U.K. Accord.
Following his stay in the U.K., Yoon will move to Paris to make last-minute efforts to promote Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030. There, Yoon will engage in luncheons and dinners with the members of the Bureau International des Expositions, who will vote on the host city on Nov. 28.
The Korea Times · November 20, 2023
10. Japanese FM to visit S. Korea for trilateral talks involving China: report
Japanese FM to visit S. Korea for trilateral talks involving China: report
The Korea Times · November 20, 2023
Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won, center, rear, Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi, third from left, and Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong, third from right, hold talks during a high-level meeting at a Seoul hotel, Sept. 26, to discuss three-way cooperation and explore the possibility of resuming the long-stalled summit of their leaders. Yonhap
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will visit Korea later this week for trilateral talks with her counterparts of Korea and China, a news report said Monday.
Japan's lower house of parliament approved a two-day trip to the southeastern city of Busan by Kamikawa that will begin Saturday, Kyodo news agency reported.
Korea has yet to make a formal announcement on the three-way ministerial meeting, but it has widely been expected that such talks will take place in Busan in late November.
The talks — among Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, Kamikawa and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi — will likely pave the way for the resumption of the long-suspended annual trilateral summit among the leaders of the three neighbors.
The trilateral summit has not been held largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a deterioration in bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo over the issue of compensating Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The trilateral summit was last held in China's southwestern city of Chengdu in December 2019.
Talks of reviving the summit gathered momentum after Korea said in March it will compensate the Korean victims on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.
The decision led to a dramatic warming of the Seoul-Tokyo ties and the resumption of reciprocal visits by their leaders.
In a senior officials' meeting in late September, the three sides agreed to hold the tripartite summit at an early date.
Park and Kamikawa reaffirmed the commitment when they met on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco last week. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · November 20, 2023
11. Seoul and Beijing end up not having bilateral summit
Seoul and Beijing end up not having bilateral summit
donga.com
Posted November. 20, 2023 08:21,
Updated November. 20, 2023 08:21
Seoul and Beijing end up not having bilateral summit. November. 20, 2023 08:21. .
South Korea and China did not hold a bilateral summit talk, even with all eyes on whether they would talk to each other during the APEC meeting held in San Francisco. Although the South Korean government said that it tried to arrange a meeting until the day before the closing of the APEC event, it was reportedly that the Chinese government did not respond. There was only a brief exchange of words for three minutes between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they encountered each other at an APEC venue.
China left out South Korea while having summit talks with other major regional nations such as the United States and Japan. It even held bilateral talks with Brunei, Fiji, and other countries but did not include South Korea on the list. Amid the growing concerns about the lack of momentum in their effort to improve their relations, a trilateral summit among Seoul, Beijing, and Tokyo will likely be put forward. However, it is expected to be held later this year. Inevitably, there will be some disruption in the South Korean government’s plan to start a conversation in a trilateral meeting this year and invite Xi to have a bilateral talk in Seoul next year.
Even with the two countries’ relations being soured for a long time, there were high expectations of recovering their relations as Seoul started trying to address its diplomatic relations with China. Likewise, polls said it is time to pay attention to China, given some progress made in the KORUS alliance and the trilateral relationship among South Korea, the United States, and Japan. Indeed, there were some signs of recovery when South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo had a face-to-face meeting with President Xi on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games in September, and the Chinese leader gave a positive reply saying that he would consider visiting Seoul. It is a worrisome development made in their discussion following the high-ranking level talks with some positive signs of recovery.
Beijing may be unable to expand its diplomatic efforts due to the ongoing strategic warfare with Washington outside the country and the slowing domestic market. However, it is not the right time for Beijing to put Korean Peninsula issues on the back burner. After all, North Korea is likely to launch another spy satellite no later than the end of this month with the help of Russian technology. China also feels an urgency to secure supply chains for mineral resources.
China should show sincerity in engaging in discussions with South Korea, including a summit, so they can cooperate in dealing with bilateral concerns and producing practical results. At the same time, South Korea needs to refine an agenda for the sake of each other’s interest and rationale. Also, it can bring back momentum at a foreign ministerial meeting with China and Japan scheduled next Sunday.
한국어
donga.com
12. President Yoon Suk Yeol says state visit to U.K. signals Korea's importance as a 'strategic partner'
Monday
November 20, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Published: 20 Nov. 2023, 16:50
President Yoon Suk Yeol says state visit to U.K. signals Korea's importance as a 'strategic partner'
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-11-20/national/diplomacy/President-Yoon-Suk-Yeol-says-state-visit-to-UK-signals-Koreas-importance-as-a-strategic-partner/1917140
Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, and first lady Kim Keon Hee depart on the presidential jet from the Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Monday morning, for a state visit to Britain and a trip to France. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
President Yoon Suk Yeol said that it was vital to deepen security and economic ties with Britain ahead of departing for London, taking into account the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict and rising tensions with Russia and North Korea.
Yoon told the Telegraph in an interview published Monday that his upcoming state visit "will serve as a catalyst for Korea to emerge as one of the United Kingdom's global strategic partners."
Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee departed on Monday on a two-leg, weeklong trip that will take them to Britain for a state visit and France to make a final pitch for Busan's 2030 World Expo bid.
The four-day state visit to London, which comes at the invitation of King Charles III, will be an opportunity to strengthen bilateral ties as the two countries mark their 140th anniversary of bilateral relations this year.
The Korean presidential couple will become Britain's first state guests since the king's coronation in May.
Yoon told the Telegraph that the world is facing a "polycrisis," ranging from pandemics, climate change, military conflicts and rising tensions in the South China Sea.
He said in the interview that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia was "a grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a provocative act that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula as well as in Northeast Asia and Europe."
Amid concerns about closer cooperation between North Korea, Russia and China, Yoon warned that these countries had "divergent interests."
He said it would not work to Beijing's benefit to align itself with Moscow and Pyongyang, noting that China had an essential role in "promoting freedom, peace and prosperity in East Asia," considering its international reputation and standing.
The Yoon administration, in turn, has been strengthening ties with NATO and building close security cooperation with the members of Aukus, a trilateral defense pact between the United States, Britain and Australia.
Yoon stressed the meeting would be a chance to build bilateral ties in digital and AI technology, cybersecurity, nuclear energy, the defense industry, health, space, semiconductors, offshore wind power, clean energy and maritime affairs.
The trip, he said, signals the importance of Korea as Britain's "strategic partner" in the Indo-Pacific, as the two sides work toward deeper cooperation to tackle geopolitical risks, including supply chain and energy security.
On Tuesday, Yoon and Kim will be greeted by Prince William and Princess Catherine of Wales at their hotel. They will head to the Horse Guards Parade, where King Charles will receive them in an official welcoming ceremony, marked with a 41-gun salute and an inspection of the honor guard.
Yoon and the king will travel in a carriage to Buckingham Palace, where they will have a welcome luncheon.
Later in the day, Yoon will deliver an address before the British parliament and attend a state banquet at the palace accompanied by some 180 dignitaries from Korea and Britain.
On Wednesday, Yoon will hold a bilateral summit with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to discuss ways to strengthen strategic cooperation.
Yoon will also attend economy-focused events, including a Korea-U.K. business forum.
Some 70 business leaders will accompany Yoon on his London trip.
The two countries are set to adopt a Korea-Britain Accord detailing the future direction of bilateral relations.
On Thursday, Yoon will visit the Churchill War Rooms and bid a final farewell to King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
The presidential couple later that day heads to Paris for a three-day trip ahead of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly vote for the World Expo host city on Nov. 28. Korea's Busan is in a fierce three-way race against Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and Italy's Rome.
The Europe trip follows hard on the heels of Yoon's visit to San Francisco for last week's APEC summit.
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
13. ＜Inside N. Korea＞ Land-based trade restarts with China through Hyesan…Chinese trade delegation quarantined… “Lack of interest in trade with N. Korea due to distrust of trade policies”
A lot will have to change for the international community to conduct real business in north Korea, from human rights, to acceptable standard business practices, to the rule of law.
＜Inside N. Korea＞ Land-based trade restarts with China through Hyesan…Chinese trade delegation quarantined… “Lack of interest in trade with N. Korea due to distrust of trade policies”
asiapress.org
Hyesan as seen from the Chinese side of the border. A bridge for trade can be seen at the center of the Yalu River. Taken by ASIAPRESS in July 2014
The restart of land-based trade between Hyesan in Yanggang Province and Changbai Korean Autonomous County in Jilin Province led to the recent visit to North Korea by a Chinese trade delegation. However, there’s reportedly little interest toward trade with North Korea among Chinese business people due to discontent about North Korea trade policies. (KANG Ji-won / ISHIMARU Jiro)
◆ Delegation members quarantined for two days
According to a reporting partner in Yanggang Province on November 13, a Chinese trade delegation visited North Korea in early November. Originally, the delegation was supposed to be made up of dozens of people, but a lack of interest in the restart of trade with North Korea led only five or so people to take part in the delegation.
The reporting partner told ASIAPRESS that it is “probably the first time since January 2020, when the borders were closed due to the pandemic, that Chinese people have entered North Korea through the Hyesan trade route.” He went into more detail:
“The Chinese people who entered the country were isolated in a government-designated facility for two days. Even after that, they were not allowed to meet with just anyone; only those who had registered to meet with them in advance. North Korean trade officials were required to wear masks, and only a limited number of people were allowed to have meals together. They also had to report their health to the Anti-epidemic Command for two days.
“The Chinese trade officials who visited the country focused on taking back capital that had been invested on certain projects in the past and confirmed conditions of imports and exports, not on exploring new investments in North Korea. Most members of the delegation were agents for (Chinese) business people.”
(FILE PHOTO) A truck involved in trade heading into Hyesan. Taken by ASIAPRESS in July 2014
◆ Chinese import volume small due to lack of funds
The reporting partner also explained what kinds of imports and exports are occurring between the two countries:
“With the start of November, North Korea has imported small amounts of rice, raw ingredients, cloth, and cooking oil from China. Imports do not include finished clothing products or consumer goods. The goods imported from China are not being distributed in Hyesan; rather, they are going to other areas. The goods aren’t going into markets like in the past, so commodity prices haven’t fallen.
“North Korea isn't exporting yet. Trading companies aren’t ready to export mountain greens or Korean medicinal products, and the government has yet to give permission for such exports.”
This reporting partner also said that one of the reasons why imports from China are so small in scale is because of a lack of money.
“The authorities tell enterprises to submit lists of products they want to import to the trade bureaus, but none of the companies have money, so they can’t do that. Moreover, members of the donju (North Korea’s wealthy entrepreneurial class) are not allowed to manage the distribution of food and goods domestically, so trading companies have no wholesalers to sell their imports to, and are forced to give the imports to state-run distribution networks. That’s why money isn’t circulating that much.”
Trends in China-North Korea trade volume (2016 to September 2013). Taken from statistics released from China Customs.
◆ Chinese business people distrust North Korean trade policies
In mid-November, ASIAPRESS asked a trade agent in Jilin Province well aware of conditions in North Korea about the restart of trade and the visit of the Chinese delegation. He told ASIAPRESS that most Chinese business people have a dim view of the restart of trade with North Korea.
The explanation provided by the agent is below:
“The North Koreans insist on importing raw materials rather than regular consumer goods. The Chinese are strictly limiting trade with North Korea due to economic sanctions, and Chinese customs closely look at whether sanctioned items are included in raw material exports to North Korea. Food, however, is exported without issue.
Up until now, Chinese trade companies that did business with Hyesan are content with a wait-and-see approach, and are not actively pursuing exports to North Korea. On a daily basis, five large trucks enter North Korea, with up to 10 trucks entering the country on busy days. China is probably not importing anything from North Korea.
North Korean authorities have talked about restrictions on trade and joint ventures with China. The Chinese are now negotiating directly with Cabinet-affiliated trade agencies, rather than negotiating with individual trade companies like in the past. There are probably few people who would invest in North Korea.
Moreover, North Korean authorities are demanding that restrictions be placed on Chinese business people. In short, they want to conduct transactions with large companies in China. They want to pursue joint ventures and investments in construction projects, but there’s issues regarding the US-China relationship and sanctions on North Korea. There’s also distrust by the Chinese in regards to North Korea’s long border shutdown due to the pandemic, so many people are very uninterested in new investment in North Korea.
The North Koreans are also proposing ways to promote tourism. However, there’s nobody in China who’d be interested in tourism yet because of North Korea’s quarantine policies. On the other hand, the Chinese are highly interested in North Korean labor deployments and contract manufacturing (in North Korea). There are trading companies that want to be part of those kinds of deals.”
◆ Trade activities restart in only western region of North Korea
North Korea-China trade recovered quickly following the end of China’s zero-COVID policies in late 2022. Chinese customs statistics show that trade totals up until June of this year have already surpassed last year’s total trade volume, and that trade volume has almost returned to levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, most China-North Korea trade is concentrated in two places: the water trade route centered at Nampo Port, and the railroad-centered trade route going through Sinuiju. It is still too early to tell when trade in other areas will restart.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
asiapress.org
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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