Quotes of the Day:
“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
- Henry David Thoreau
"The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught."
- H. L. Mencken
1. Ruling party candidate challenges Constitution with idea on unification
2. How Kim Jong-un, once a young political novice, cemented power in N. Korea in 10 years
3. Chronology of N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un
4. Why is North Korea known as the most isolated country in the world?
5. Boycotts of Beijing Olympics threaten Moon's diplomacy
6. U.S. envoy to visit Seoul for conference on U.N. peacekeeping
7. Army officer wounded in unidentified blast (South Korea)
8. N. Korea dismisses UN human rights resolution as outcome of ‘hostile policy’
9. Under decade of Kim's rule, N. Korea makes strides in nuke, missile capabilities
1. Ruling party candidate challenges Constitution with idea on unification
This will not stand out on too many people's radar screens but this is a critical issue for defining the future of Korea and the Korean peninsula.
Article 4 of the ROK Constitution is too often overlooked by both Koreans and others concerned with the security and future of Korea.
Excerpt:
"The Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall formulate and carry out a policy of peaceful unification based on a basic free and democratic order."
But Candidate Lee's comments are really a litmus test for the future of Korea. It all comes down to whether there is sufficient understanding of the nature, objectives, and strategy of the Kim family regime. And another concern is whether the UNited Front Department and Bureau 225 from north Korea are achieving success in the subversion campaign against the ROK.
Ruling party candidate challenges Constitution with idea on unification
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, left, shakes hands with a supporter as he arrives in Boeun County in North Chungcheong Province, Sunday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has created a controversy by stating "it is too late to pursue the unification" between the two Koreas, as this challenges South Korea's Constitution as well as the DPK's manifesto.
During a meeting with university students in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Saturday, Lee made the statement, adding "there is no need to elevate hostility by denying each other's system and arguing over which can be absorbed by which."
Lee made the remarks in answering a question about what would distinguish his North Korea policies from that of previous administrations.
The DPK candidate noted that he prefers a "de-facto unification status," saying, "There is the argument that we should refrain from being too political and rather focus on practical approaches."
Lee's comments brought on a backlash as they go against South Korea's Constitution, Article 4 which stipulates: "The Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall formulate and carry out a policy of peaceful unification based on a basic free and democratic order."
The DPK manifesto also states: "The party seeks unification through peaceful measures." It continues: "Through peace, we pursue a peace economy in which South and North Korea can co-prosper, and we strengthen the foundation of an inter-Korean community for unification."
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung speaks during a meeting with university students in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Saturday. Yonhap
Regarding criticism that liberal administrations, including that of the Moon Jae-in government, have just tried to offer incentives to the North despite the latter not giving up its nuclear program, Lee said such an engagement policy and incentives were more beneficial from a broader and more comprehensive perspective.
"When inter-Korean relations deteriorate and military provocations take place, foreign investment (into South Korea) plummets and foreign exchange rates go up," he said. "This (negative impact of soured inter-Korean ties) alone costs a lot more (than the incentives)."
He also said Seoul's investment in Pyongyang will open an economic opportunity for South Korea to use North Korea's workforce the wages of which are one of the world's lowest.
2. How Kim Jong-un, once a young political novice, cemented power in N. Korea in 10 years
Let's think about one of the longest serving national leaders and how much more experience he has than most other leaders (certainly more than leaders of democratic countries)
(News Focus) How Kim Jong-un, once a young political novice, cemented power in N. Korea in 10 years | Yonhap News Agency
By Choi Soo-hyang
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- Many North Korea watchers were doubtful when Kim Jong-un, then 27, took over the Hermit Kingdom in December 2011 following the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong-il.
A decade later, apparently, few question Kim's grip on power, despite a host of challenges, such as its moribund economy, amid a wide web of sanctions led by the U.N. and the U.S. against his regime.
Through the past 10 years, Kim has effectively established his own leadership style using an extensive range of strategies, from building an image of a figure who cares about the lives of the people to the brutal killings of his own uncle and brother, outside watchers say.
Kim formally rose to power on Dec. 30, 2011, with the North's ruling Workers' Party announcing he "assumed the supreme commandership of the Korean People's Army." It was just 13 days after Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack.
Months later in April 2012, the party named him its "first secretary."
Efforts to groom the crown prince as the North's next leader began years earlier, but the 27-year-old still appeared to lack the political experience and close aides necessary to support a smooth father-to-son power transition and help solidify his leadership.
Kim Jong-il, for one, prepared for two decades to take over the helm of the North from his father and national founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994, as the succession process began in 1974.
One of the first things Kim did upon taking the throne was to restore the party system to keep the military -- which had developed immense power under his father's military-first policy -- in check and give authority to the relatively young leader's decision-making process.
In 2016, North Korea held a four-day party congress, the first of its kind in 36 years, and announced the "byongjin" policy of simultaneously pursuing nuclear weapons and economic development.
In January this year, the North held another party congress and endorsed Kim as the "general secretary," a title previously held by his father.
Having secured a political system to back his reign, Kim had no hesitation in eliminating those who were considered obstacles to his absolute power.
One of the most high-profile incidents that contributed to Kim's reputation on the global stage was the 2013 execution of his once-powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek on charges of treason.
In 2017, Kim's estranged half brother, Kim Jong-nam, was poisoned to death at a Kuala Lumpur airport, an assassination also blamed on Pyongyang.
Despite the brutality, Kim used tightly-controlled state propaganda outlets to position himself as a leader devoted to improving the lives of ordinary people across the nation while seeking to makeover the North's image into that of a "normal state."
Kim has put his wife, Ri Sol-ju, in the public eye, unlike his father, and released images of him drinking beer and smoking with party officials.
On the diplomatic front, Kim held a historic first summit with then U.S. President Donald Trump and met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in three times in 2018.
Though the nuclear talks and inter-Korean exchanges are both at a standstill, such a meeting with a U.S. leader was touted as a major achievement of the young leader inside North Korea.
"After achieving a certain level of diplomatic accomplishments, Kim no longer had to depend on the shadows of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to legitimize his leadership," Cheong Seong-chang, the director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, said. "He made that clear in the 2019 constitution revision by redacting all phrases related to his father's military-first policy."
The Seoul government also believes the young ruler has effectively secured a political status comparable to his predecessors.
The North has removed portraits of the former leaders from the backdrop of official meetings and is internally using the term Kimjongunism, like the former leaders' Kimilsungism and Kimjongilism.
Lawmakers said Kim has begun establishing his own ideological system, citing the National Intelligence Service's report to the parliament.
What remains to be seen, at the end of Kim's first decade in power, is how, and even if, Kim will manage to revive its economy struggling from a triple whammy of crippling sanctions, a prolonged COVID-19 lockdown and poor weather conditions.
Many experts say the economic development, as envisioned by Kim, will not be easy if the North continues to depend solely on self-reliance and its trade with China, the impoverished country's economic lifeline.
"North Korea apparently wants, or at least needs, to talk with the United States, but for now it just doesn't see what it can gain out of the negotiations," Professor Lim Eul-chul at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies said. "With lingering concerns over COVID-19, the situation doesn't seem too favorable for the North."
scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)
3. Chronology of N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un
A useful timeline.
Chronology of N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un | Yonhap News Agency
Seoul, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- The following is a chronology of major events related to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's ascent to power and his subsequent power consolidation, weapons development and handling of state affairs.
2010
Sept. 28 -- Kim Jong-un emerges as a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and vice chairman of the party's Central Military Commission in a move heralding him as heir to his father and then leader Kim Jong-il.
2011
Dec. 17 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies.
Dec. 30 -- Kim Jong-un is elected the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA).
2012
April 11 -- Kim Jong-il is posthumously named the "eternal general secretary" of the WPK. Kim Jong-un is elected the first secretary of the WPK, a member of the WPK Politburo Standing Committee, chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission.
April 13 -- North Korea admits its Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite failed to enter orbit after its launch aboard a long-range rocket, Unha-3.
-- Kim Jong-il is named the "eternal chairman" of the National Defence Commission (NDC).
-- Kim Jong-un is named the first chairman of the NDC in a constitutional revision.
April 15 -- Kim Jong-un makes his first public speech during a military parade to mark the centennial anniversary of the birth of his grandfather Kim Il-sung, saying he will "uphold Kim Jong-il's dying wishes."
July 6 -- Kim Jong-un's wife, Ri Sol-ju, makes her first appearance during a performance marking the launch of the Moranbong Band.
July 15 -- Ri Yong-ho, the Chief of the General Staff of the KPA, is purged.
July 17 -- Kim Jong-un is given the title of Marshal of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Dec. 12 -- North Korea launches the second Unha-3 rocket and successfully puts the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite in the Earth's orbit.
2013
Jan. 1 -- Kim Jong-un delivers the New Year's address -- the first verbal speech by a North Korean leader since his grandfather's address in 1994.
Jan. 23 -- The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) adopts Resolution 2087 on the North's launch of a long-range rocket.
Feb. 12 -- North Korea conducts its third nuclear test.
March 7 -- The UNSC adopts Resolution 2094
March 31 -- Kim Jong-un announces the "byongjin" policy of simultaneously pursuing nuclear and economic development.
April 2 -- North Korea says it plans to restart a 5-megawatt reactor at its mainstay Yongbyon nuclear complex.
Dec. 8 -- The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirms the purge of Jang Song-thaek, leader Kim's powerful uncle and former NDC vice chairman.
2014
Jan. 1 -- Kim Jong-un calls for improvement in inter-Korean relations in a New Year's message.
Feb. 12 -- The two Koreas hold high-level talks and agree to hold reunions of separated families and end mutual slander.
Feb. 20 -- The two Koreas hold reunions of separated families at Mount Kumgang on the North's east coast.
March 9 -- Kim Yo-jong, the leader's younger sister, makes her first appearance in North Korean media, which reported on her accompanying leader Kim at a public event.
April 9 -- Kim Jong-un is reelected as the first NDC chairman during the first session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly.
2015
Aug. 4 -- Two South Korean Army officers get seriously wounded after the explosion of North Korean wooden-box landmines in the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Aug. 20 -- The two Koreas exchange fire after the North launched shells toward a South Korean frontline Army unit in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province.
Aug. 22 -- The two Koreas hold high-level talks
Oct. 20 -- The two Koreas hold reunions of separated families at Mount Kumgang.
2016
Jan. 6 -- North Korea conducts the fourth nuclear test and claims its first hydrogen bomb test was carried out successfully.
Feb. 7 -- North Korea launches the long-range rocket "Kwangmyongsong" and places the "Kwangmyongsong-4" satellite into orbit.
Feb. 10 -- South Korea announces its decision to shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border city of the same name.
March 2 -- The UNSC adopts Resolution 2270 on the fourth nuclear test.
May 6 -- The WPK holds the seventh party congress. Kim Jong-un declares North Korea as a "responsible" nuclear weapons state. Kim, elected chairman of the WPK, puts forward a five-year economic development plan.
June 29 -- The State Affairs Commission (SAC) is created to replace the NDC. Kim Jong-un is elected the SAC chairman.
Sept. 9 -- North Korea conducts the fifth nuclear test.
Nov. 30 -- The UNSC adopts Resolution 2321.
2017
June 2 -- The UNSC adopts Resolution 2356 on ballistic missile launches and other related activities since September 2016.
July 6 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in unveils the "Berlin Initiative" aimed at promoting inter-Korean cooperation and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Aug. 5 -- The UNSC adopts Resolution 2371 in response to the North's launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
Sept. 3 -- North Korea conducts its sixth nuclear test. It claims the blast was a successful test of a hydrogen bomb designed to be mounted on an ICBM.
Sept. 11 -- The UNSC adopts Resolution 2375 on the sixth nuclear test.
Nov. 29 -- North Korea fires the new ICBM, the Hwasong-15. Kim Jong-un declares the completion of the country's nuclear force.
Dec. 22 -- The UNSC adopts Resolution 2397 for the ICBM test.
2018
Jan. 1 -- Kim Jong-un delivers New Year's message, saying he will consider sending a delegation to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Feb. 9 -- Kim Yo-jong and Kim Yong-nam, the North's ceremonial head of state, attend the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics.
Mar. 25-28 -- Kim Jong-un visits Beijing for his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
April 27 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un hold their first summit on the South's side of the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. They sign the Panmunjom Declaration, affirming their shared commitment to the complete denuclearization of the peninsula.
May 7-8 -- Kim Jong-un visits Dalian, China, for his second summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
May 24 -- North Korea shuts down its Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
May 26 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un hold their second summit on the North's side of the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom.
June 12 -- Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump hold their first summit in Singapore. They sign a joint statement under which the North agreed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the peninsula, with both sides committing to establishing new bilateral ties.
June 19-20 -- Kim Jong-un visits Beijing for his third summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Sept. 14 -- The inter-Korean liaison office opens in the North's border city of Kaesong to support cross-border exchanges and cooperation.
Sept. 18-20 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in visits Pyongyang for a third summit with Kim Jong-un. The two leaders sign the Sept. 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration on inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation.
Dec. 30 -- Kim Jong-un sends a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, calling for continued efforts to build peace and prosperity on the peninsula.
2019
Jan. 1 -- Kim Jong-un expresses willingness to resume a suspended tour program to Mount Kumgang.
Feb. 27-28 -- Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump hold their second summit in Hanoi. The summit ends without a deal.
April 25 -- Kim Jong-un visits Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok and holds a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
June 20 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visits North Korea
June 30 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim Jong-un, and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at Panmunjom.
Oct. 23 -- Kim Jong-un orders the removal of all facilities built by the South at Mount Kumgang.
2020
May 3 -- The two Koreas exchange fire after the North fired gunshots at a South Korean border guard post.
June 9 -- North Korea severs inter-Korean communication lines after criticizing anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets flown into the North by South Korea-based activists.
June 16 -- North Korea blows up the inter-Korean joint liaison office in Kaesong.
Sept. 22 -- North Korean soldiers shoot a South Korean fisheries official who went missing while on duty aboard an inspection boat off the South's western border island of Yeonpyeong.
Oct. 10 -- North Korea holds a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the WPK and unveils a new ICBM presumed to be Hwasong-17.
2021
Jan. 5-12 -- During the eighth WPK congress, Kim Jong-un is elected general secretary. He puts forward a new five-year economic development plan and proclaims his country's push to develop a nuclear-powered submarine and other high-tech equipment.
July 27 -- The two Koreas announce the restoration of cross-border communication lines as part of efforts to improve inter-Korean relations.
Aug. 10 -- Kim Yo-jong berates South Korea and the United States for holding a joint military exercise. North Korea again severs inter-Korean communication lines.
Sept. 28 -- North Korea test-fires the hypersonic Hwasong-8 missile.
Sept. 21 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposes declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War during a U.N. General Assembly session, calling it a gateway to achieve lasting peace on the peninsula.
Oct. 4 -- Inter-Korean communication lines are restored.
Oct. 11 -- Kim Jong-un says the country's enemy is "war itself" at a defense exhibition called Self-Defense 2021 in Pyongyang.
Oct. 28 -- South Korea's National Intelligence Service confirms the use of the term "Kimjongunism" in North Korea.
colin@yna.co.kr
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
4. Why is North Korea known as the most isolated country in the world?
Answer: the Kim family regime.
Why is North Korea known as the most isolated country in the world?
New Delhi, India Published: Nov 21, 2021, 03:15 PM(IST)
North Korea, also called the ''hermit kingdom,'' is the most isolated and secretive country in the world.
People living in the country need permission to keep pets, wear blue denim, keep long hair or even have a hot shower.
In 2020, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had asked the country's citizens to abandon their pet dogs to ensure restaurants have sufficient meat.
The country is a confusing mix of Confucianism, communism, dictatorship, tyranny, and monarchy.
This East Asian country shares its boundary with China and Russia.
Although it is one of the poorest countries in the world, a major chunk of its resources are used to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
According to a report by the United Nations World Food Programme, 10 million people living in North Korea are malnourished. The country has a total population of 25 million.
While a vast majority of North Koreans are unable to afford their livelihood, Kim Jong-un spends $3.5 million dollars on his laundry.
He also owns a luxurious yacht worth $8 million and a fleet of 100 Mercedes Benz worth $11.7 million dollars.
North Korea's GDP is ranked 208th in the world, which is just above poverty-stricken Rwanda located in eastern Africa.
The production quota system and price control policies of the government are an existential threat to social welfare in the country.
North Korea has been an unsafe shelter for its citizens because of the violation of civil rights and brutal federal rule.
Sanctions imposed by many big countries and the United Nations are the major cause of economic and external hostility in the country.
From the point of view of tourism, North Korea is an isolated country and the United States has labelled it as the least favourable nation to visit.
Thousands of people in North Korea are imprisoned and sent to labour camps because they dissent with the government.
North Korea is not self-sufficient in food production because of the lack of product diversification and old technology.
The poor infrastructure of this country has isolated it from all the global competition and contemporary world.
It has imported buses and planes from Russia, cars from Japan, buses from Germany and telephones from China.
The Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 had recognised Japan as the protectorate of Korea.
But when World War II came to an end in 1945, the Korean peninsula was left at the mercy of the Soviets and the Americans.
They divided it into two zones called the North and South Korea along the 38th parallel.
While the North was pro-USSR, the South was pro-US. They installed a communist gorilla leader or the first dictator of North Korea called Kim Il-sung.
He adopted the motto of 'Juche,' that is, self-reliance before the Korean war. During his tenure, state-controlled market policy was adopted which resulted in a short-lived economic boom.
He has been succeeded by Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un.
North Korea has followed the ten principles of one-ideology system ruled by family dictatorship since the beginning.
Kim Jong-il's shift in policy from self-reliance to military first further neglected the ordinary people living the country.
A pandemic struck in the country in the 1990s, in which 3 million people died. The country's leader rejected all foreign aid.
North Korea withdrew from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) that limits the escalation of the nuclear arms race. It conducted its first underground nuclear test in 2006.
Five years later, Kim Jong-il died due to a heart attack just like his father. Kim Jong-un, who is the current dictator of North Korea.
He got his uncle executed for disobeying him and boasting about getting him dead cut off to former US President Donald Trump.
Kim Jong-Nam was exposed to a nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017.
Between 2016 and 2018, North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests and 30 short and long missile launches along with an intercontinental missile launch.
Three dictators and 74 years of rule, by the Kim dynasty, the country is more isolated than ever.
5. Boycotts of Beijing Olympics threaten Moon's diplomacy
The ROK will continue to walk the tightrope.
Sunday
November 21, 2021
Boycotts of Beijing Olympics threaten Moon's diplomacy
U.S. President Joe Biden, right, in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the White House in Washington Thursday confirms that the United States is considering a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. [AP/YONHAP]
The United States and Britain are mulling diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Olympics next February, which could be a setback to South Korea's plans to engage North Korea at the Winter Games.
The Moon Jae-in government has been working with the United States to find a way to get North Korea to return to denuclearization negotiations. The Beijing Olympics has been considered a possible venue for key players to come together to restart engagement with the North.
But U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday for the first time that the United States is considering a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics to hold China accountable for human rights abuses.
During a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House Thursday, Biden told a reporter that a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics was "something we're considering."
Biden's remarks came just days after he held a virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to smooth over Sino-U.S. tensions. Xi was expected to invite Biden to attend the Winter Games, as is customary.
During his summit with Xi, Biden raised concerns about China's abuses in the Xinjiang region, Tibet and Hong Kong, according to the White House, while the Chinese leader warned the United States against supporting Taiwan.
The White House usually sends a delegation to Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.
A diplomatic boycott would mean that U.S. government officials, including Biden, would not attend the Beijing Olympics, though it would not prevent American athletes from competing.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also indicated Britain could diplomatically boycott the Games, and if the United States makes a formal announcement, other countries may follow suit. U.S. partners such as Canada and European countries are facing pressure to boycott the Games.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the New York Times last week that the United States was discussing with allies "how they're thinking about participation" in the Olympics.
Time is running out for the Moon administration, with less than half a year in office, to get traction for its peace initiative with the North.
A U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics would put a damper on such plans, including Seoul's push for a declaration formally proclaiming the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
In an address to the United Nations General Assembly in September, Moon proposed that the two Koreas, the United States, and possibly China, formally declare an end to the Korean War as a means to get the North to return to dialogue.
The armistice agreement signed by the U.S.-led UN Command, North Korea and China on July 27, 1953, brought a complete ceasefire to hostilities until a final peaceful settlement was achieved. Thus, the two Koreas remain in a technical state of war.
The South Korean government has seen the Olympics as an opportunity to get back on track inter-Korean and North-U.S. dialogue, in the spirit of sports diplomacy, reminiscent of the détente on the Korean Peninsula resulting from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games.
South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun on Friday concluded a weeklong trip to Washington to meet with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori, the latest round of consultations between Seoul and Washington officials on the end-of-war proposal.
Arriving in Washington on Nov. 14, Choi told reporters that he expected "good results soon."
Sherman in a solo press conference after a trilateral meeting Wednesday said on the end-of-war issue that Washington is "very satisfied with the consultations" with Seoul and Tokyo "on the best way forward to ensure the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
Unification Minister Lee In-young said in a forum Friday that Seoul and Washington are "entering a final stage" in their discussions on an end-of-war declaration.
Some analysts think the United States and Britain may stop short of actually following through with a diplomatic boycott in consideration of the Olympic spirit and to avoid worsening relations with China.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a briefing Friday in Washington on a diplomatic boycott "there hasn't been a final decision."
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
6. U.S. envoy to visit Seoul for conference on U.N. peacekeeping
But NOT peacekeeping on the Korean peninsula.
U.S. envoy to visit Seoul for conference on U.N. peacekeeping | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield will make her first visit to South Korea next month for a U.N. ministerial conference on peacekeeping operations, sources said Sunday.
South Korea is set to host the U.N. Peacekeeping Ministerial on Dec. 7 and 8, according to the diplomatic sources.
About 570 South Korean troops were operating for U.N. peacekeeping operations in seven countries, including Lebanon and South Sudan, as of last year, according to the 2020 edition of South Korea's defense white paper.
The trip by Thomas-Greenfield marks the third visit to Seoul by a top official under the Joe Biden administration.
In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Seoul for a joint meeting with their South Korean counterparts.
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
7. Army officer wounded in unidentified blast (South Korea)
It will be interesting to learn the rest of the story: specific location? a training accident? a leftover mine? What were the "defense operations" being conducted? e,g, counter infiltration patrolling?
Army officer wounded in unidentified blast | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- An officer of an Army unit in Gimpo, west of Seoul, was wounded Sunday after an unidentified explosive device detonated during defense operations, military officials said.
The officer was immediately rushed to a nearby civilian hospital following the blast at around 7:35 a.m., the officials said. Despite an injury to his ankle, he was not in critical condition.
The military authorities are looking into the exact cause of the explosion, including the possibility of a landmine blast.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
8. N. Korea dismisses UN human rights resolution as outcome of ‘hostile policy’
We must not be duped by the regime. By calling human rights part of a "hostile policy" the regime is trying to prevent a human rights upfront approach. The regime is providing rationale to those in South Korea and the US who argue that by focusing on human rights we cannot restart north-South engagement or dencurlaization negotiations. We must hold the line on human rights. It is a moral imperative and a national security issue. Kim Jong-un denies the human rights of the Korean people living in the north in order to protect his rule.
N. Korea dismisses UN human rights resolution as outcome of ‘hostile policy’
By Ji Da-gyum koreaherald.com3 min
Pyongyang “strongly” condemned the recent passage of the UN draft resolution on human rights violations in North Korea and reiterated its call for the UN to investigate the US for human rights abuses, state-run media reported on Sunday.
North Korea claimed that the US and other “hostile forces” forcibly adopted the draft resolution, in a press statement issued by an unnamed spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The press statement was released four days after the EU-led draft resolution was passed at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday for the 17th consecutive year by consensus, with more than 60 countries joining as co-sponsors.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK strongly denounces and categorically rejects the anti-DPRK human rights resolution of the hostile forces,” the spokesperson said, echoing North Korea‘s UN Ambassador Kim Song’s remarks during Wednesday’s meeting.
The MFA spokesperson dismissed the resolution as a “product of anti-DPRK hostile policy and double standards as well as a grave infringement upon the sovereignty aimed at tarnishing the prestigious image of our state.”
Pyongyang also pledged to firmly respond to any attempts to affront to the state sovereignty.
“To us, human rights are, after all, state rights,” the statement, which was carried by Korean Central News Agency primarily targeting external audiences, read.
“We will never tolerate any attempts that violate the sovereignty of our state, and we will continue to resolutely counter to the end the ever-worsening moves of the hostile forces against us.”
In Sunday’s statement, Pyongyang also specifically urged the UN to look into human rights violations associated with the US, which participated in the UN human rights resolution as a co-sponsor.
The MFA spokesperson said that the UN should put the “inhumane crimes committed by the US” on the agenda and bring the US to account for killing “a large number of civilians in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan under the pretext of democracy and protection of human rights.”
The condemnation is in line with the trend of the country’s foreign ministry releasing statements addressing US human rights issues more frequently since this August on its official website.
Sunday's denunciation is not fresh, but it is notable given that the Biden administration places human rights issues and democratic values at the center of US foreign policy, mainly to counter China.
Washington has reversed the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council. The Biden administration is set to return to the HRC next January after regaining a seat on the council this October.
North Korea’s foreign ministry also last Friday called for eradicating the US “double-dealing standards” over human rights issues in a statement uploaded on its online website.
In a separate statement, the MFA on the same day denounced the UN for arbitrarily addressing human rights issues in specific countries including Syria and Iran. Pyongyang also complained that the US and other western countries have been excluded from the target of UN investigation into violations and abuses of human rights.
9. Under decade of Kim's rule, N. Korea makes strides in nuke, missile capabilities
We must never forget that Kim Il Sung began the pursuit of nuclear weapons for north Korea in the 1950s not long after the Korean war ended. Kim Jong-il tested the first nuclear device following the 10 years of the Sunshine and the Peace and Prosperity Policies (and 12 years after the Agreed Framework).
No one should be surprised by Kim Jong-un's continued pursuit of advanced capabilities and that he most likely will never give up his nuclear weapons. And the suffering of the Korean people living in the north is solely because of Kim's decision to prioritize his nuclear program over the welfare of the people.,
(News Focus) Under decade of Kim's rule, N. Korea makes strides in nuke, missile capabilities | Yonhap News Agency
By Song Sang-ho
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- A decade after taking power, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un boasts significant progress in menacing nuclear and missile programs -- a pivotal element of his regime's security in the face of the close-knit South Korea-U.S. alliance, analysts said.
Since rising to power right after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in late 2011, Kim has pushed for a full-throttled security drive that has culminated in refined nuclear capabilities, long-range missiles and other formidable weapons like submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and a hypersonic one.
His focus on the military front, however, could come with a caveat: the pursuit of security against external threats -- at the expense of people's livelihoods -- could fuel public discontent and internal instability, the analysts pointed out.
With the North's weapons programs in high gear, Seoul and Washington have been striving to chart a diplomatic path to end those programs. But the allies' peace offensive has yielded little tangible progress amid the North's deep-seated distrust toward them.
"Over the past decade, the North Korean leader has made great strides, focusing mostly on strategic weapons like nuclear and long-range missiles," Kim Yeol-su, senior fellow at the think tank Korea Institute for Military Affairs, said.
"The North used to fear a possible U.S. attack. But with these strategic weapons under its belt, the North might think that it has achieved at least a minimum level of deterrence against its perceived threats," he added.
A key milestone in Kim Jong-un's security crusade came in November 2017, when the North's leader declared the completion of the "state nuclear force" following a test of the new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-15 capable of striking the continental U.S.
Questions still remain over the North's atmospheric reentry technology for its ICBMs. But its evolving missile program has spawned worries that the United States might not come to the aid of South Korea in a contingency for fear of an attack on its mainland.
Kim has also gone into overdrive with his project to "miniaturize, lighten and standardize" nuclear warheads. Under his leadership, the North carried out four nuclear tests from 2013-2017.
The 2017 test, which the North claimed to be of a hydrogen bomb, raised eyebrows in Seoul and Washington, as it marked a sign of palpable progress in its nuclear program. The country's first two atomic tests took place in 2006 and 2009 each when his father was in power.
Experts have already started to call the North a "de facto" nuclear power, given that countries like India and Pakistan are believed to have completed the development of nuclear bombs following five or six major tests.
Kim's preoccupation with the weapons programs has apparently been driven by his abiding sense of threats from the U.S., as evidenced by Pyongyang's persistent calls for Washington to drop "hostile policy" toward Pyongyang.
"Kim has been doubling down on his security campaign, with an initial, urgent focus on strategic weapons like nuclear arms for deterrence against the U.S.," a Seoul-based security expert said, requesting anonymity.
"Later, he started focusing on tactical-level weapons like shorter-range yet powerful missiles to achieve military superiority on the peninsula," he added.
The North's nuclear program appeared to have slowed when the Moon Jae-in administration's policy initiative for enduring peace on the peninsula accelerated in the wake of two inter-Korean summits and the first-ever summit between the U.S. and the North in 2018.
But nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have hit a deadlock since their Hanoi summit in February 2019 ended without a deal -- a result of the two sides having played hardball with little willingness to cede ground.
Pyongyang later shifted to a more provocative tack. It has test-fired a series of shorter-range missiles, including SLBMs. The SLBM is a formidable nuclear delivery vehicle that can launch a stealthy retaliatory strike even after surviving a preemptive attack.
The latest SLBM test in October indicated the country's technological advances, as the North claimed to have fired it from a submarine rather than a floating barge or a rudimentary underwater structure.
South Korean military officials are also said to presume that the North had used a submarine as a launch platform in the latest test, whereas it previously assessed that the North had yet to master the SLBM technology, which is widely regarded as another "game changer" in regional security.
The North's missile launches over the past years have highlighted its pursuit of diverse launch platforms, including underwater structures, mobile launchers and even trains -- an indication it has enhanced the survivability of its missiles.
During a key session of the ruling Workers' Party in January, the North also unveiled its push to develop "multi-warhead" rockets, unmanned striking equipment and other high-tech weapons systems.
The North Korean leader's emphasis on security might have channeled already scarce resources into military reinforcements, while the general populace's economic travails show no signs of easing amid the COVID-19 pandemic and economic sanctions, analysts said.
"With the limited state funds funneled into the military, people might grow disgruntled with poor infrastructure and the absence of welfare services, which would after all become a destabilizing factor for the country," Kim of the Korea Institute for Military Affairs said.
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
V/R
David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Phone: 202-573-8647
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
