Quotes of the Day:
"I have what I call an 'iron prescription' that helps me keep sane when I drift toward preferring one intense ideology over another. I feel that I'm not entitled to have an opinion unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people who are in opposition. I think that I'm qualified to speak only when I've reached that state...
"That is probably too tough for most people, although I hope it won't ever become too tough for me... This business of not drifting into extreme ideology is very, very important in life. If you want to end up wise, heavy ideology is very likely to prevent that outcome."
- Source: Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
"When a man finds no peace within himself, it is useless to seek it elsewhere."
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
"Lasting change is a series of compromises. And compromise is all right, as long as your values don't change."
- Jane Goodall
1. Biden Foreign Policy Tracker: Korea
2. From BTS to ‘Squid Game’: How South Korea Became a Cultural Juggernaut
3. China, Russia urge UNSC to end key sanctions on North Korea
4. North Korea may launch space rocket next year: expert
5. Senior U.S. diplomat for East Asia policy to visit Seoul next week
6. N.Korea Shows up at UN Climate Conference
7. Chinese public security officials carry out surprise searches of female North Korean defectors' homes
8. N. Korean workers in China are making clothes for South Korea
9. North Korea seeks to boost education with toy-like robots
10. Moon's ideological thinking of North Korea
11. Seoul-Tokyo business leaders seek to expand economic exchanges
12. S. Korea pledges to annually cut greenhouse gases by 4.17%
13.North Korea’s Long-term Prison-Labor Facility Kyo-hwa-so No. 3 T'osŏng-ni, Sinŭiju-si, P’yŏngbuk
14. North Korea and China restart rail freight, ending pandemic trade ban
15. ＜Interview with a single mother＞ Young women who avoid marriage is on the rise. (north Korea)
1. Biden Foreign Policy Tracker: Korea
Korea
By David Maxwell
Previous Trend: Neutral
Sanctions enforcement activities and human rights are putting pressure on the regime, demonstrated by its condemnation of French and Canadian efforts to thwart North Korean sanctions evasion. The regime has also pushed back on the latest UN human rights report calling it “malicious slander.”
ROK President Moon Jae-in stated that a strong defense is necessary for peace. But Seoul is also pressing for an end-of-war declaration, which the Moon administration mistakenly believes will bring North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to the negotiating table. The Biden administration supports a declaration in principle but argues it should not happen until negotiations with the North take place.
2. From BTS to ‘Squid Game’: How South Korea Became a Cultural Juggernaut
South Korea: Masters of Soft Power. This is one line of effort for how the ROK can defeat north Korea, prepare for unification, and gain international support for a United Republic of Korea (UROK). KimJong-un is deathly afraid of the ROK's soft power as it undermines his legitimacy. (even when that soft power may be critical of South Korea society and culture - I know that is counterintuitive for some but there can be no criticism of north Korean society and culture and the fact that it can be done in South Korea has a positive influence on the Korean people in the north).
From BTS to ‘Squid Game’: How South Korea Became a Cultural Juggernaut
The country was once largely known for cars and smartphones, but a global audience has become mesmerized by its entertainment, and creators say success didn’t happen overnight.
The actress Kwon Nara on the set of “Bulgasal: Immortal Souls,” a South Korean TV drama that is expected to be released on Netflix in December.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
By
Nov. 3, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
PAJU, South Korea — In a new Korean drama being filmed inside a cavernous studio building outside of Seoul, a detective chases down a man cursed to live for 600 years. Pistol shots crack. A hush follows. Then, a woman pierces the silence, screaming: “I told you not to shoot him in the heart!”
South Korea has long chafed at its lack of groundbreaking cultural exports. For decades the country’s reputation was defined by its cars and cellphones from companies like Hyundai and LG, while its movies, TV shows and music were mostly consumed by a regional audience. Now K-pop stars like Blackpink, the dystopian drama “Squid Game” and award-winning films such as “Parasite” appear as ubiquitous as any Samsung smartphone.
Jang Young-woo, the director of “Bulgasal: Immortal Souls.” He hopes it will be the latest South Korean phenomenon to captivate an international audience.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
In the same way South Korea borrowed from Japan and the United States to develop its manufacturing prowess, the country’s directors and producers say they have been studying Hollywood and other entertainment hubs for years, adopting and refining formulas by adding distinctly Korean touches. Once streaming services like Netflix tore down geographical barriers, the creators say, the country transformed from a consumer of Western culture into an entertainment juggernaut and major cultural exporter in its own right.
In the last few years alone, South Korea shocked the world with “Parasite,” the first foreign language film to win best picture at the Academy Awards. It has one of the biggest, if not the biggest, band in the world with BTS. Netflix has introduced 80 Korean movies and TV shows in the last few years, far more than it had imagined when it started its service in South Korea in 2016, according to the company. Three of the 10 most popular TV shows on Netflix as of Monday were South Korean.
“When we made ‘Mr. Sunshine,’ ‘Crash Landing on You’ and ‘Sweet Home,’ we didn’t have a global reaction in mind,” said Mr. Jang, who worked as co-producer or co-director on all three hit Korean Netflix shows. “We just tried to make them as interesting and meaningful as possible. It’s the world that has started understanding and identifying with the emotional experiences we have been creating all along.”
The South Korean dystopian drama “Squid Game” became the most watched show on Netflix.Credit...Netflix
The growing demand for Korean entertainment has inspired independent creators like Seo Jea-won, who wrote the script for “Bulgasal” with his wife. Mr. Seo said his generation devoured American TV hits like “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “Miami Vice,” learning “the basics” and experimenting with the form by adding Korean colors. “When over-the-top streaming services like Netflix arrived with a revolution in distributing TV shows, we were ready to compete,” he said.
South Korea’s cultural output is still tiny compared with key exports like semiconductors, but it has given the country the sort of influence that can be hard to measure. In September, the Oxford English Dictionary added 26 new words of Korean origin, including “hallyu,” or Korean wave. North Korea has called the K-pop invasion a “vicious cancer.” China has suspended dozens of K-pop fan accounts on social media for their “unhealthy” behavior.
The country’s ability to punch above its weight as a cultural powerhouse contrasts with Beijing’s ineffective state-led campaigns to achieve the same kind of sway. South Korean officials who have attempted to censor the country’s artists have not been very successful. Instead, politicians have begun promoting South Korean pop culture, enacting a law to allow some male pop artists to postpone conscription. This month, officials allowed Netflix to install a giant “Squid Game” statue in Seoul’s Olympic Park.
Seo Jea-won, the writer behind “Bulgasal.” The show’s supernatural plot recalls American TV favorites like “X-Files” and “Stranger Things.”Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
The explosive success didn’t happen overnight. Long before “Squid Game” became the most watched TV show on Netflix or BTS performed at the United Nations, Korean TV shows like “Winter Sonata” and bands like Bigbang and Girls’ Generation had conquered markets in Asia and beyond. But they were unable to achieve the global reach associated with the current wave. Psy’s “Gangnam Style” was a one-hit wonder.
“We love to tell stories and have good stories to tell,” said Kim Young-kyu, CEO of Studio Dragon, South Korea’s largest studio, which makes dozens of TV shows a year. “But our domestic market is too small, too crowded. We needed to go global.”
It wasn’t until last year when “Parasite,” a film highlighting the yawning gap between rich and poor, won the Oscar that international audiences truly began to pay attention, even though South Korea had been producing similar work for years.
“The world just didn’t know about them until streaming platforms like Netflix and YouTube helped it discover them at a time when people watch more entertainment online,” said Kang Yu-jung, a professor at Kangnam University, in Seoul.
A scene from “Parasite,” the first foreign language film to win best picture at the Academy Awards.Credit...EPA, via Shutterstock
Before Netflix, a select number of national broadcasters controlled South Korea’s television industry. Those broadcasters have since been eclipsed by streaming platforms and independent studios like Studio Dragon, which provide the financing and artistic freedom needed to target international markets.
South Korean censors screen media for content deemed violent or sexually explicit, but Netflix shows are subject to less stringent restrictions than those broadcast on local TV networks. Creators also say that domestic censorship laws have forced them to dig deeper into their imagination, crafting characters and plots that are much more compelling than most.
What to Know About ‘Squid Game’
Have you heard about this dystopian South Korean drama yet? It was released on Netflix on Sept. 17 and has quickly earned a worldwide audience. Here’s a look at this unique hit:
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An Interview With the Show’s Star: Lee Jung-jae discusses the message of the series, possibilities for a Season 2 and why he thinks critics should watch it again.
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Behind the Global Appeal: “Squid Game” taps South Korea’s worries about costly housing and scarce jobs, concerns familiar to its U.S. and international viewers.
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What to Read About the Show: Wondering if you should dive in? We’ve gathered what’s worth reading from the oceans of ink about the show.
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What is Dalgona Candy?: Interest in the South Korean treat has spiked since the show debuted. Here’s why.
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What to Watch Next: Done with “Squid Game” and loved it? Add these six TV shows and movies to your streaming queue.
Scenes often overflow with emotionally rich interactions, or “sinpa.” Heroes are usually deeply flawed, ordinary people trapped in impossible situations, clinging to shared values such as love, family and caring for others. Directors and producers say they deliberately want all of their characters to “smell like humans.”
Kim Young-kyu, CEO of Studio Dragon, which makes dozens of South Korean TV shows a year. Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
As South Korea emerged from the vortex of war, dictatorship, democratization and rapid economic growth, its creators developed a keen nose for what people wanted to watch and hear, and it often had to do with social change. Most national blockbusters have story lines based on issues that speak to common people, such as income inequality and the despair and class conflict it has spawned.
“Squid Game” director Hwang Dong-hyuk first made a name for himself with “Dogani,” a 2011 movie based on a real-life sexual abuse scandal in a school for the hearing-impaired. The widespread anger the film incited forced the government to ferret out teachers who had records of sexual abuse from schools for disabled minors.
Although K-pop artists rarely speak about politics, their music has loomed large in South Korea’s lively protest culture. When students in Ewha Womans University in Seoul started campus rallies that led to a nationwide anti-government uprising in 2016, they sang Girls’ Generation’s “Into the New World.” The boy band g.o.d.’s “One Candle” became an unofficial anthem for the “Candlelight Revolution” that toppled President Park Geun-hye.
The K-Pop band Blackpink, which has conquered markets in Asia and beyond.Credit...Netflix, via Associated Press
“One dominating feature of Korean content is its combativeness,” said Lim Myeong-mook, author of a book about Korean youth culture. “It channels the people’s frustrated desire for upward mobility, their anger and their motivation for mass activism.” And with many people now stuck at home trying to manage the enormous angst caused by the pandemic, global audiences may be more receptive to those themes than ever before.
“Korean creators are adept at quickly copying what’s interesting from abroad and making it their own by making it more interesting and better,” said Lee Hark-joon, a professor of Kyungil University who co-authored “K-pop Idols.”
On the set of “Bulgasal,” dozens of staffers scurried around to get every detail of the scene just right — the smog filling the air, the water drops falling on the damp floor and the “sad and pitiable” look of the gunned-down man. The show’s supernatural plot recalls American TV favorites like “X-Files” and “Stranger Things,” yet Mr. Jang has created a uniquely Korean tragedy centered on “eopbo,” a belief among Koreans that both good and bad deeds affect a person in the afterlife.
Based on the recent success of Korean shows abroad, Mr. Jang said he hopes viewers will flock to the new series. “The takeaway is: what sells in South Korea sells globally.”
Construction of new studios at the complex where “Bulgasal” was filmed. “Our domestic market is too small, too crowded. We needed to go global,” Mr. Kim said.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
3. China, Russia urge UNSC to end key sanctions on North Korea
I think we are going to see aggressive trilateral political warfare in the coming days, weeks, and months. The target is the US as the roadblock to peace on the Korean peninsula because we will not lift sanctions as a concession to the Kim family regime. We need to address this with an effective influence program and our own superior form of political warfare.
Political warfare is the use of political means to compel an opponent to do one's will, based on hostile intent. The term political describes the calculated interaction between a government and a target audience to include another state's government, military, and/or general population. Governments use a variety of techniques to coerce certain actions, thereby gaining relative advantage over an opponent. The techniques include propaganda and psychological operations (PSYOP), which service national and military objectives respectively. Propaganda has many aspects and a hostile and coercive political purpose. Psychological operations are for strategic and tactical military objectives and may be intended for hostile military and civilian populations. Smith, Paul A., On Political War (Washington: National Defense University Press, 1989)
China, Russia urge UNSC to end key sanctions on North Korea
A draft resolution stresses the economic difficulties in North Korea and says these and other sanctions should be lifted “with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population.”
A draft resolution stresses the economic difficulties in North Korea and says these and other sanctions should be lifted “with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population.”
China and Russia are urging the U.N. Security Council to end a host of sanctions against North Korea ranging from the export of seafood and textiles to the cap on imports of refined petroleum products and the ban on its citizens working overseas and sending home their earnings.
A draft resolution circulated to council members and obtained on Tuesday by The Associated Press stresses the economic difficulties in North Korea and says these and other sanctions should be lifted “with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population.” The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test in 2006 and made them tougher and tougher in response to further nuclear tests and an increasingly sophisticated ballistic missile programme. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said in 2018 that the sanctions had cut off all North Korean exports and 90% of its trade and disbanded the pool of workers whom North Korea sent abroad to earn hard currency.
The draft resolution expands on a similar resolution Russia and China had circulated in December 2019. It faced opposition from Western nations when it was discussed and was never formally introduced at the council for a vote.
Several U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft has not been made public, indicated it would likely face a similar uphill struggle today, pointing to North Korea’s continuing violations of U.N. sanctions.
The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said North Korea has failed to comply with sanctions on its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and the Biden administration “remains committed to the sanctions regime” and calls on all member states to enforce the measures.
On October 19, North Korea fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in its fifth round of weapons tests in recent weeks, all of which violated U.N. sanctions. It was the North’s first underwater-launched test since October 2019 and the highest-profile test since President Joe Biden took office in January.
The China-Russia draft resolution makes no mention of the missile tests. Instead, it notes that the North has refrained from conducting nuclear tests since September 2017, has kept to a moratorium on further nuclear tests and test launches of intermediate-range and intercontinental missiles from April 21, 2018, and has taken additional denuclearisation measures since.
The proposed resolution underscores “the necessity to respect the legitimate security concerns of the DPRK and ensure the welfare, inherent dignity and rights of people in the DPRK,” using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It reaffirms that U.N. resolutions “are not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences” and notes “the serious impact of sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic” within the country.
North Korean is struggling to deal with soaring prices of goods and shortages of medicine and other essential supplies that have accelerated the spread of water-borne diseases such as typhoid fever. The country has yet to report any cases of the coronavirus though experts have questioned its claim of a perfect record.
The China-Russia draft calls on all U.N. member nations to intensity their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance, “including but not limited to food, fertilizer and medical supplies,” and to provide goods, materials, technology and financial services needed by North Korea to combat COVID-19, improve livelihoods and develop the economy.
The draft resolution would lift a ban on North Korea importing some industrial machinery and transport vehicles used to build infrastructure that can’t be diverted to the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
The long list of construction and humanitarian items that would be exempt from sanctions includes bulldozers and firefighting vehicles; materials for railways and traffic control; air conditioners and radiators for heating; iron or steel parts for roofs and windows; screws and bolts; sewing needles and vacuum cleaners; kitchen utensils and equipment; agricultural equipment, bicycles and fire extinguishers.
On the political front, the China-Russia draft welcomed “the positive outcomes” of talks between the DPRK and South Korea and between former President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. At Kim’s second summit with Mr. Trump in Hanoi in February 2019, negotiations faltered after the U.S. rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of the North’s nuclear capabilities.
The proposed resolution calls on the U.S. and DPRK to resume dialogue aimed at building lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. It calls on all parties to consider taking further steps to reduce military tension and the risks of military confrontation, including by adopting a declaration or peace treaty ending the 1950-53 Korean War. The war ended with an armistice, leaving the peninsula technically in a state of war.
South Korea, which has expressed a desire for engagement with the North within the boundaries of the U.N. sanctions, did not immediately react to China and Russia’s proposals for lifting sanctions on the North.
During a period of diplomacy in 2018, South Korean President Moon Jae-in met three times with North Korea’s leader and vowed to resume inter-Korean economic cooperation when possible, expressing optimism that the sanctions would end and allow such projects.
But North Korea cut off cooperation with South Korea as its diplomacy with the Trump administration derailed in 2019.
4. North Korea may launch space rocket next year: expert
Excerpts:
Ko also added that the North could likely go ahead with launching the new advanced weaponry it showcased at the recent defense expo, like it did with testing a new submarine-launched ballistic missile right after the exhibition.
“The North, considering the situation on the Korean Peninsula, is expected to continue testing the new weapons,” he said. “Taking the situation and the condition into account, Pyongyang could test-launch new strategic weapons that it showcased at the expo, but haven’t tested yet.”
North Korea has been upping the ante with back-to-back weapons tests this year, despite Washington and Seoul’s repeated calls for dialogue.
The North’s firing of a new SLBM on Oct. 19 marked the regime’s eighth weapons test this year and its fifth launch since September -- others have included a long-range cruise missile, a train-launched ballistic missile and what it said was a hypersonic missile.
North Korea may launch space rocket next year: expert
Published : Nov 3, 2021 - 14:51 Updated : Nov 3, 2021 - 17:36
Map of North Korea with a figure of a missile on a transporter erector launcher (123rf)
North Korea may launch a space rocket next year as part of the regime’s program to enhance weapons capabilities amid long-stalled denuclearization talks with the US, a state-run think tank report says.
Ko Jae-hong, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea’s spy agency, released a report Tuesday examining the North’s weapons expo held last month and the country’s defense outlook.
Ko said that it is likely that the North could launch a space rocket next year, in time for the country’s major holidays in the first half of 2022. They include the 80th birth anniversary of Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s late father, in February and the 110th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, the nation’s founder and leader Kim’s grandfather, in April. North Korea has conducted military parades and staged provocations on or around major holidays in the past, holding bigger events every fifth or 10th year.
South Korea’s plan to launch its self-developed Nuri rocket for the second trial next May could be another factor, as the two Koreas are locked in an emerging arms race over technological advances in weaponry.
“If the UN or the US strongly condemn North Korea’s possible rocket launches and toughen sanctions, the North could strongly assert for (the US and South Korea) to withdraw ‘double standards,’ and in the worst case, the possibility of military tension on the Korean Peninsula cannot be ruled out,” said Ko.
Pyongyang has been demanding Washington and Seoul end what it calls double standards -- of condemning the North’s weapons development tests as “provocations” and “threats” while the allies are building up its own military capabilities.
Ko also added that the North could likely go ahead with launching the new advanced weaponry it showcased at the recent defense expo, like it did with testing a new submarine-launched ballistic missile right after the exhibition.
“The North, considering the situation on the Korean Peninsula, is expected to continue testing the new weapons,” he said. “Taking the situation and the condition into account, Pyongyang could test-launch new strategic weapons that it showcased at the expo, but haven’t tested yet.”
North Korea has been upping the ante with back-to-back weapons tests this year, despite Washington and Seoul’s repeated calls for dialogue.
The North’s firing of a new SLBM on Oct. 19 marked the regime’s eighth weapons test this year and its fifth launch since September -- others have included a long-range cruise missile, a train-launched ballistic missile and what it said was a hypersonic missile.
5. Senior U.S. diplomat for East Asia policy to visit Seoul next week
The US is sustaining high level diplomatic engagement in Korea and the Asia-Pacific.
Senior U.S. diplomat for East Asia policy to visit Seoul next week | Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs is expected to visit Seoul next week in his first Asia trip since taking office in September, sources said Wednesday.
Seoul and Washington's diplomatic officials were arranging the details of Daniel Kritenbrink's Seoul visit, scheduled for Nov. 10-13, during which he is expected to meet with his South Korean counterpart, Yeo Seung-bae, and discuss North Korea and other regional issues, according to the sources.
Kritenbrink's envisioned visit comes as Seoul and Washington are in brisk talks to bring the North back to denuclearization negotiations, which have been virtually frozen since the U.S.-North Korea Hanoi summit in February 2019.
A career diplomat, Kritenbrink spent time working in Tokyo and Beijing, and served as the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam from 2017 until taking up the position as assistant secretary of state.
(END)
6. N.Korea Shows up at UN Climate Conference
The regime must think there is an advantage to be gained or conditions to be exploited for its benefit.
N.Korea Shows up at UN Climate Conference
November 03, 2021 12:33
A delegation of North Korean officials unexpectedly showed up at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland on Monday. The North is among 190 countries that have signed up to the 2015 Paris Climate Accords and has sent representatives to subsequent meetings.
But instead of a team from Pyongyang, the North's ambassador to the U.K. attended the meeting because North Korea's borders are completely sealed and nobody can come in or out.
Ambassador Choe Il and other delegates were almost barred from the venue when they tried to attend the opening ceremony and speeches delivered by world leaders without special tickets. They were finally able to enter after showing their North Korean passports.
North Korean Ambassador to the U.K Choe Il (front) listens to President Moon Jae-in's speech at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on Monday. /Yonhap
When asked by reporters about the latest state of U.S.-North relations, Choe declined to answer. When asked if he intends to contact U.S. officials at the climate meeting, he replied, "No comment." Instead he told reporters that he came to the meeting to engage in "debate."
But the North Koreans did not greet the South Korean officials. Environment Minister Han Jeoung-ae, who is attending the conference, said, "We did not have a chance to speak with the North Korean delegation since they did not come to the meeting [after the opening ceremony.] We hope to hold talks with them during the remainder of the event."
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
7. Chinese public security officials carry out surprise searches of female North Korean defectors' homes
China is complicit in north Korean human rights abuses.
Chinese public security officials carry out surprise searches of female North Korean defectors' homes - Daily NK
Sources say that the authorities are conducting the investigations at the provincial level, not the city or county level
2021.11.03 3:00pm
Chinese public security authorities are reportedly carrying out surprise searches of homes of female North Korean defectors in China, as well as inspecting their mobile phones. In particular, multiple sources say Chinese law enforcement agents are even threatening the defectors, telling them they could be repatriated to the North if they are found to have contacted people in South or North Korea.
In a telephone conversation Daily NK on Monday, a source in China said in late September, public security agents barged into the homes of Chinese men living with North Korean women in Changbai, Jilin Province. The agents inspected and took down the women’s mobile phone records.
Another source in China said security agents in Heilongjiang Province were going around a certain village to check on the activities of North Korean women living there. He said the agents were carrying out sweeping investigations to get a handle on any “ideological problems.”
According to the sources, the authorities are conducting the investigations at the provincial level, not the city or county level. This means Chinese authorities greatly influenced the launch of the sweep.
Particularly interesting is that agents are making no effort to hide their intention to block possible connections with not only North Korea, but South Korea as well. That is to say, the authorities reportedly stressed that defectors who have continuously called North or South Korea should turn themselves in, and that they should confess if there are other North Korean women who made frequent calls to the countries.
A detention facility in Jilin Province. / Image: Daily NK
They have not shied away from threats, either, warning that women caught connecting to South or North Korea would be kicked out “without mercy.” Worth noting here is that they raised the possibility of being repatriated to the North.
This is because Chinese public security officials previously employed an inducement strategy with North Korean women, telling them they could remain where they were if they pledged to “stay with their families.” Now, they are suddenly employing threats.
That authorities are dredging through the past and present of North Korean women living with Chinese men after illegally crossing the border is extraordinary.
One source said the measure follows an order from the Chinese government to prevent illegal border crossings and human trafficking, which could potentially increase. There is the belief that the authorities are employing harsher threats against contact with North Korea to prevent their Chinese families from potentially “breaking apart.”
Locally, people are offering mixed responses.
Chinese families of men living with North Korean women believe the measure is preparing the ground to classify defector women as a vulnerable class in connection with Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” drive. They believe the authorities are actively working to give defector women “identification cards,” including measures to prevent potential “incidents.”
However, sources say female defectors cannot hide their concern, believing the investigations are aimed at making them cut contact with their relatives and families and “putting them in another kind of prison.”
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
8. N. Korean workers in China are making clothes for South Korea
Hmmm... a sanctions issue. I would bet the labels say made in China and do not say made by north Koreans in China.
N. Korean workers in China are making clothes for South Korea - Daily NK
Most of the South Korean clothing being processed by North Korean workers is hiking wear, exercise wear or jumpers
By Seulkee Jang - 2021.11.03 1:34pm
With some 50,000 North Korean workers continuing to earn foreign currency in China despite international sanctions on Pyongyang, North Korean workers are reportedly making clothes to be delivered to South Korea.
A Daily NK source in China recently said with clothing manufacturing orders from South Korea rising from the second half of the year, even clothing factories that employ North Korean workers are making clothes for South Korea.
Most of the South Korean clothing being processed by North Korean workers is hiking wear, exercise wear or jumpers.
In fact, a Chinese manager of a clothing company told Daily NK that North Korean workers were making clothing products such as Fila and Le Coq Sportif destined for South Korea.
He said if it were not for South Korean orders, factories with North Korean workers would have had to close down. He said orders for South Korean products were previously few, but subcontract orders have noticeably risen from July.
In 2020, companies and factories in China ceased operations in 2020 due to COVID-19, with factories employing North Korean workers shutting their doors, too. From the second half of last year, however, factory operations have returned to normal, with orders climbing this year.
In particular, the low wages North Koreans receive appear to be having an impact on the increase in factory orders.
The average monthly wage of North Korean workers in Chinese factories recently climbed to RMB 2,800-3,200 (USD 437 – 500), roughly 20 to 30% higher than last year.
North Korean workers at a textile factory in Jilin Province, China, in 2017. / Image: Daily NK
Nevertheless, because North Korean workers make just a quarter what their Chinese counterparts make, Chinese companies reportedly prefer North Korean workers as well.
Chinese workers in toll manufacturing make between RMB 8,000 to 12,000 (USD 1250 – 1875) a month.
UN Security Council Resolution 2397, adopted in December 2017, called for the repatriation of all North Korean nationals earning income abroad by December 2019.
However, North Korean authorities have not been repatriating North Korean workers overseas since closing the nation’s borders due to COVID-19 concerns.
In fact, the authorities are expanding the number of new workers being sent overseas to Russia, Mongolia and elsewhere, actively using them to earn foreign currency.
In the past, South Korean clothing orders to China were often subcontracted to North Korean clothing factories.
However, limits to the import of raw materials and export of finished goods imposed since North Korea closed the border has reportedly put a nearly complete stop to the practice.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
9. North Korea seeks to boost education with toy-like robots
From eating back swans to robot education, the regime always seems to be chasing gimmicks and shiny things.
North Korea seeks to boost education with toy-like robots
1/5
A North Korean student sits in front of a robot in Pyongyang, North Korea November 3, 2021, in this still image obtained from REUTERS TV/KRT via REUTERS
SEOUL, Nov 3 (Reuters) - A toy-like robot with scowling blue eyes and a North Korean flag across its chest roams around a classroom at a university in Pyongyang in a recent demonstration of tools aimed at helping children learn basic maths, music and English.
The footage, broadcast by North Korean state television KRT, also showed two other larger plastic robots, each with a vaguely humanoid appearance.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been pushing for education reform in recent years by spurring technological and scientific innovation.
"I help teach educational technology that enhances children's intelligence," said the 80-centimetre (31.5 inches) tall robot in a female voice, waving its arms.
A second robot featured a smiley face on a screen embedded inside a white round head, while another wore a blue plastic suit and white-rimmed glasses, the KRT footage showed.
Park Kum Hee, a professor at a university in Pyongyang, told KRT that the development of the educational robots had its challenges initially, with the robots often shaking their heads when asked questions in both Korean and foreign languages.
"Upgrading this robot's intelligence was difficult for me as someone who majored in psychology," said Park.
"It was the words of our respected Comrade General Secretary (Kim Jong Un) on adopting artificial intelligence technology in education that has always guided me on the right track."
The KRT footage showed primary school students wearing masks repeating after the robot in music, math and English class.
"Hello? Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. What's your name?" said two children in English at the front of the class.
North Korea reopened schools in June of last year, but made it mandatory for children to wear masks in classes and washing stations were installed.
The reclusive country has not officially reported a single coronavirus case, but it has imposed strict anti-virus measures, including border closures and domestic travel curbs, and experts have said an outbreak there cannot be ruled out. read more
Reporting by Sangmi Cha; Additional Reporting by Yeni Seo; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa
10. Moon's ideological thinking of North Korea
I am reminded of this quote:
Political ideology can corrupt the mind, and science.
- E. O. Wilson
Unfortunately we can only cope, contain, and manage the situation in north Korea until there is change. I cannot agree more with Dr Park in that we need to have a common understanding of the assumptions about the nature, objectives, and strategy of theKim family regime.
Conclusion:
The pursuit of a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue has now shifted back to a long-term trajectory; there can be no quick fix. If Moon rushes to hold another summit with the North Korean leader, it will be a meaningless political stunt. Since the perception of "North Korea" in South Korean society has long been discussed within the framework of biased ideological thinking, or "camp logic," the problem of inter-Korean relations has also been framed according to progressive and conservative viewpoints rather than an accurate assessment of the situation. Now is the time to abandon this lunacy.
Moon's ideological thinking of North Korea
By Park Jung-won
In his speech at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 21, President Moon Jae-in once more proposed a declaration to formally end the Korean War and asked for the international community's support. That he would make a desperate attempt to rekindle a spark in the peace process before his term of office ends in May 2022 is quite understandable, yet in actuality this was an admission that his policy toward North Korea has failed.
Aside from historical ideological disagreement, the greatest obstacle to peace with North Korea is now the nuclear issue, which can be divided into the periods before and after Nov. 29, 2017. This was the day when North Korea demonstrated its nuclear capability to strike the United States with the launch of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile and declared the completion of its nuclear force.
Since then, the nuclear issue has taken on a totally different dimension. North Korea is no longer just a problem between the two Koreas or a regional security problem in Northeast Asia, but rather a global issue. North Korea's external strategy is now driven by the confidence it derives from this enhanced nuclear capability.
More than a few pro-Moon policy analysts have argued that the current stalemate between the two Koreas stems from the U.S.'s failure to be fully cooperative with the inter-Korean peace process initiated in 2018 through the April 27 Panmunjeom Declaration, the June 12 Singapore Joint Statement and the Sept. 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration.
According to these analysts, the underlying cause of the stalemate is the absence of genuine will on the part of the U.S. to sustain and advance the denuclearization process. In particular, they point to the U.S.'s walking out of talks at the U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi on Feb. 28, 2019, as the key cause. But is that really the case?
The reason the Hanoi summit collapsed was because of the divergent understandings North Korea and the U.S. held of what the denuclearization of North Korea means. As North Korea understood it, the core of the deal in Hanoi was that it would give up its Yongbyon nuclear complex, with the removal of U.N. sanctions in return. However, for its part, the U.S. wanted North Korea to give up more than Yongbyon because it knew that North Korea possessed additional, undeclared uranium-enrichment plants.
Immediately after the Hanoi talks broke down, then North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met with South Korean reporters and expressed dissatisfaction, describing the U.S.'s logic as strange. North Korea had ceased nuclear weapons and missile tests, so why wasn't the U.S. lifting sanctions? But this characterization was flawed.
The sanctions were not imposed because of nuclear and missile tests per se, but rather were a response to the enhancement of nuclear capabilities demonstrated by those very tests. Therefore, sanctions will not be eased until the reduction of this nuclear capability is implemented; a mere suspension of testing is insufficient. It was North Korea, and not the U.S., that had got its logic wrong.
Pro-Moon policy experts say that a promise to declare an end to the war affirmed in the aforementioned declarations and statements was not kept. It is theoretically possible to achieve denuclearization by first declaring an end to the war as a gateway toward an eventual peace process. However, this scenario entails peace being "secured" despite North Korea being able to keep its nuclear weapons for some indefinite period.
Moreover, North Korea is not offering to "end the war" at the stroke of a pen. It demands conditions: the elimination of "double standards," such as the disparate treatment of each side's missile launches, and the ending of the so-called "hostile policy," which includes joint military exercises by the U.S. and South Korea and raising North Korean human-rights issues.
Why are North Korea's missile launches considered a provocation, whereas South Korea's missile launches are just a normal part of a military build-up? Because North Korea has developed nuclear weapons that have been outlawed by U.N. Security Council resolutions. This is the fundamental reason why the "denuclearization of North Korea," and not the "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," has become the key issue at the U.N. Nevertheless, Moon mentioned but failed to demand the denuclearization of North Korea in his speech at the U.N.
Certain government practices can develop and eventually become established through continued justification backed by persuasive arguments. Moon's administration has failed to persuade the South Korean people why its policies and actions toward North Korea, at every stage of the so-called peace process, are justified.
North Korea's destruction of a joint liaison office, largely paid for by South Korea, in Kaesong on June 16, 2020, in protest of the South's failure to stop anti-North Korean leaflets from being sent over the border is a typical example. Moon's administration has not asked the North for compensation nor an apology.
The pursuit of a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue has now shifted back to a long-term trajectory; there can be no quick fix. If Moon rushes to hold another summit with the North Korean leader, it will be a meaningless political stunt. Since the perception of "North Korea" in South Korean society has long been discussed within the framework of biased ideological thinking, or "camp logic," the problem of inter-Korean relations has also been framed according to progressive and conservative viewpoints rather than an accurate assessment of the situation. Now is the time to abandon this lunacy.
Park Jung-won (park_jungwon@hotmail.com), Ph.D. in law from the London School of Economics (LSE), is professor of international law at Dankook University.
11. Seoul-Tokyo business leaders seek to expand economic exchanges
Maybe this will help if we could get business to trump history.
Seoul-Tokyo business leaders seek to expand economic exchanges
Posted November. 03, 2021 07:30,
Updated November. 03, 2021 07:30
Seoul-Tokyo business leaders seek to expand economic exchanges. November. 03, 2021 07:30. by Hyun-Seok Lim lhs@donga.com.
Business leaders of South Korea and Japan said the two countries need to start improving the strained relations through economic cooperation.
During the 53rd conference hosted by the Korea-Japan Economic Association at Lotte Hotel in Seoul and Okura Hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday, SK Group Chairman and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won said the two countries should expand the breadth and depth of their cooperative relations by establishing a cooperation platform at the industry level, adding if the business circles of the two countries join forces, it will help restoring bilateral relations in the political and diplomatic spheres.
Kim Yoon, chairman of Samyang Holdings Corp. and the Korean head of the association, said business leaders of South Korea and Japan should strengthen their strategic partnership, taking the launch of Japan’s new cabinet as an opportunity.
Since their first meeting in 1969, the conference has been held every year as a place to discuss economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries. This year, it is being held virtually in Seoul and Tokyo due to the spread of COVID-19.
Mikio Sasaki, chairman of the board of Mitsubishi Corp and the Japanese head of the association, said expanding economic exchanges between the two countries will not only enhance economic competitiveness but also strengthen bilateral ties.
12. S. Korea pledges to annually cut greenhouse gases by 4.17%
S. Korea pledges to annually cut greenhouse gases by 4.17%
Posted November. 03, 2021 07:31,
Updated November. 03, 2021 07:31
S. Korea pledges to annually cut greenhouse gases by 4.17%. November. 03, 2021 07:31. .
At the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, the U.K., South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 2018 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. However, the annual average reduction commitment of South Korea stands at 4.17%, which is above that of Japan (3.56%), the U.S. (2.81%), and the E.U. (1.98%). Even President Moon said that this is an “extremely challenging task,” which requires South Korea to sharply reduce emissions in a short period of time in accordance with a new target raised by 14 percentage points compared to the previous one.
Critics point out that South Korea’s carbon neutrality target is unrealistic. In G20 Summit held in Rome on Saturday and Sunday, the main agenda of which was setting the deadline for net zero emissions, world leaders failed to come to terms. The U.S. and the U.K. pushed for 2050; China and Russia suggested the target date of 2060; and India targeted 2070. The summit was wrapped up by the leaders agreeing on a vague commitment to seek carbon neutrality “by or around mid-century.”
Reducing greenhouse gases and the timing of carbon neutrality are directly related to national interest. Countries where the manufacturing industry accounts for a large share may deal a heavy blow to economy by a challenging net-zero goal due to rising costs. This is why nations strive to come up with a viable plan by comprehensively taking into account industry and energy policies. In the international community, those that make commitments and fail to meet them are no longer deemed trustworthy.
At the G20 Summit, world leaders agreed to abide by the Paris agreement where they pledged to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and commit to the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, emphasizing “1.5 degrees Celsius” as a main objective. Carbon neutrality is an irreversible trend. However, running towards the goal at the expense of South Korean business competitiveness by placing heavy burden on them is not a good idea. We might be taking a risk by trying to kill two birds—the phase-out of nuclear power and carbon neutrality—one stone, which might instead bring about the erosion of our business competitiveness.
13. North Korea’s Long-term Prison-Labor Facility Kyo-hwa-so No. 3 T'osŏng-ni, Sinŭiju-si, P’yŏngbuk
As if we needed more evidence that north Korea is its own evil empire on the Korean peninsula.
HRNK REPORT LAUNCH:
North Korea’s Long-term Prison-Labor Facility
Kyo-hwa-so No. 3
T'osŏng-ni, Sinŭiju-si, P’yŏngbuk
BY JOSEPH S. BERMUDEZ, JR. ET AL.
November 3, 2021
Washington, D.C.
BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY ANALYSIS (1968 to 2021), HRNK ISSUES BASELINE REPORT ON DETENTION FACILITY LOCATED IN KEY BORDER TOWN, JUST ACROSS THE AMNOK RIVER AND “FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE” FROM THE CHINESE CITY OF DANDONG. ROWS OF PRISONERS VISIBLE IN RECENT SATELLITE IMAGERY. COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE EVOLUTION AND HISTORY OF THE CAMP. THE ROLE OF KYO-HWA-SO NO. 3 IN INTENSIFIED CRACKDOWN UNDER THE PRETEXT OF COVID, TO BE FURTHER DETERMINED.
WASHINGTON, November 3, 2021. The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) releases today an update on Long-Term Prison Labor Facility No. 3, T’osŏng-ni. This report is part of a comprehensive long-term project undertaken by HRNK to use satellite imagery and former prisoner interviews to shed light on human suffering in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, more commonly known as North Korea) by monitoring activity at detention facilities throughout the country.
This is the first time HRNK investigates this particular facility. The report provides baseline analysis of Camp No. 3. Based on satellite imagery analysis, Kyo-hwa-so No. 3 was established around 1968 and remains a fully operational prison. This detention facility is well maintained by North Korean standards, as indicated by activity and general good maintenance inside the prison and in adjacent areas.
Both satellite imagery coverage of the facility and interviewee testimony indicate that Camp No. 3 prisoners are forced to work in agricultural production as well as in some light manufacturing, likely including clothing and bicycles.
This kyo-hwa-so is reported to be subordinate to the Prisons Bureau of the Ministry of Social Security (사회안전성, Sa-hoe An-jeon-seong). During early 2020, North Korea is reported to have changed the name of the Ministry of People’s Security back to its older name of Ministry of Social Security. Specifically, Camp No. 3 would be under the control of the Ministry’s P’yŏng-buk Bureau. However, it cannot be ruled out that it is subordinate to the Ministry’s Sinŭiju-si Bureau. The Ministry of Social Security itself directly reports to the State Affairs Commission, chaired by Kim Jong-un.
Report author, HRNK Principal Investigator and Senior Imagery Analyst Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr. pointed out: “Over nine years since its inception, HRNK’s satellite imagery-based monitoring of North Korea’s detention facilities has gained depth, breadth, and sophistication. The resolution of open-source imagery has been constantly improving. We can now see rows of prisoners at Camp No. 3.”
Bermudez further added: “Human intelligence relating to the camps has also been improving. In June 2019, with the great help of Mr. Ishimaru Jiro and Asia Press, HRNK was able to publish both ground and satellite imagery of Kyo-hwa-so No. 4 in Kangdong. Our ever-improving methodology, combining satellite imagery analysis and escapee testimony, provides a roadmap to seeking accountability, justice, and redress in North Korea.”
HRNK Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu underlined the importance of the location of Long-Term Prison-Labor Facility No. 3: “T’osŏng-ni is located in (South) Sinŭiju, across the Freedom Bridge from the Chinese border city of Dandong. This is a location of great importance to both the illicit border trade fueling North Korea’s informal markets and the routes followed by North Koreans who attempt to escape the reclusive country. Under the pretext of COVID prevention, the Kim Jong-un regime has been cracking down hard on both markets and attempted escapes. Through further investigation and analysis, HRNK intends to better understand the role of Camp No. 3 in the ever-intensifying repression of the North Korean people.”
HRNK Director of International Advocacy and Development Amanda Mortwedt Oh emphasized that “thousands of miles away, we see North Korean prisoners in satellite imagery and, based on repeated testimony, know prisoners at these types of facilities are forced to work under inhumane prison labor conditions causing great suffering, sometimes to the point of death.” Mortwedt Oh further added: “People should not have to die in the name of ‘re-education through labor.’ This is 100% preventable by the North Korean leadership, particularly Kim Jong-un.”
RELEASE DETAILS
The report rollout and presentation by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. will be held via Zoom virtual conference, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), on Wednesday, November 3, 2021. HRNK Director of International Advocacy and Development Amanda Mortwedt Oh and HRNK consultant and North Korean escapee Doohyun (Jake) Kim will be discussants. HRNK Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu will moderate.
Please find the Zoom link enclosed below:
If you are unable to participate, a video recording will be made available on HRNK’s YouTube channel after the event.
HRNK was founded in 2001 as a nonprofit research organization dedicated to documenting human rights conditions in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as North Korea is formally known. Visit www.hrnk.org to find out more.
14. North Korea and China restart rail freight, ending pandemic trade ban
The regime must restart trade or there is no "relief valve" for the Korean people and that could cause unrest.
North Korea and China restart rail freight, ending pandemic trade ban
Imports from China will once again flow into North Korea, providing relief to the starving, unemployed.
North Korea and China resumed cross-border rail freight shipments on Monday, promising much needed relief to desperate North Koreans suffering from food shortages and economic upheaval under a trade ban that had been put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trains are once again moving from Dandong, China, across the Yalu River border to Sinuiju, North Korea, and business is booming, sources in North Korea and China told RFA.
“Since the end of October, trading companies have been busy transporting various materials to the Sinuiju and Uiju areas to prepare them for export to China,” an official working at a trade agency in Sinuiju’s surrounding North Pyongan province told RFA’s Korean Service Oct. 31.
“They are also drawing up contracts with their Chinese counterparts for materials to be imported from China,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Prior to the closure of the Sino-Korean border in January 2020, China had accounted for more than 90 percent of North Korea’s annual international trade. The sudden stoppage in trade wrecked the North Korean economy. Entire towns saw their commercial activity dry up as freight ships rusted in their harbors from disuse. People who had made a living through the purchase and sale of goods from China were left with no way to support themselves.
The trade ban’s cascading effect ultimately led to food shortages, as a lack of farming equipment, fertilizers and pesticides led to lower-than-expected crop yields. Flooding in the Korean peninsula over two consecutive summers compounded the problem, pushing farm outputs even lower. And with the border closed, food imports from China were not available to help match demand with supply, raising fears of mass starvation.
The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated in a recent report that North Korea would be short about 860,000 tons of food this year, or about two months of normal demand.
Starvation deaths have been reported, and residents were told to prepare for a food crisis similar to the 1994-1998 famine that killed as much as 10 percent of the population, according to some estimates.
A scheduled passenger train crosses the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge from North Korea, to the Chinese border city of Dandong, in China's northeast Liaoning province on February 23, 2019. Credit: AFP
Authorities had been reluctant to reopen the border despite the deteriorating economic situation out of fear that a resumption of trade could spread the coronavirus and endanger public health in the capital Pyongyang. Prior to the pandemic, rail freight from China was processed at Pyongyang’s Seopo Station before heading to its destination.
But a new quarantine and cargo processing facility in Uiju, about 14 miles east of Sinuiju, will ensure that freight from China is safe before it is distributed within North Korea, an official from another North Pyongan trade agency told RFA.
RFA reported in March that the new line was built from Sinuiju, across the river from Dandong, to Uiju, and its new processing facility.
All international freight from China will come from Dandong and proceed to Uiju for processing, said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
“Imports from China must stop at Uiju station for customs and disinfection, then move to the quarantine facility for a one-week period before they can be distributed to other areas in North Korea,” said the second source.
Though cross-border rail freight has resumed, transporting freight on trucks is still restricted, a North Korean trade worker in Dandong told RFA.
“Train freight has little human contact, so the freight quarantine will prevent any problems with the coronavirus. On the other hand, if truck traffic resumes through the Dandong-Sinuiju customs office, hundreds of truck drivers will have to come and go every day,” said the trade worker.
“That would be a huge risk and could cause problems if they were to spread the coronavirus.”
Shipments of medical supplies from China to North Korea by the World Health Organization resumed in late September.
North Korea also covertly accepted food aid by train from China in April, when a freight train loaded with Chinese corn left Dandong for Sinuiju under cover of night.
Sources in Dandong told RFA that the corn had been declared as animal feed.
Reported by Hyemin Sohn for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
15. ＜Interview with a single mother＞ Young women who avoid marriage is on the rise. (north Korea)
I wonder if there is also influence from South Korea where women are also waiting longer and even avoiding marriage.
I wonder how motivating this is. This is not why people have children:
The authorities are urging people to have children for the sake of the revolution.
＜Interview with a single mother＞ Young women who avoid marriage is on the rise.
A young woman sits and sells potatoes in an apartment block in central Pyongyang (ASIAPRESS).
In North Korea, the declining birthrate is becoming a problem. This is because, in addition to the continuing trend of not having children due to prolonged economic hardship, more and more young women are avoiding marriage. The authorities consider this a problem and are reportedly stepping up their intervention and pressure to "encourage women to contribute to the Korean revolution."
North Korea advocates socialism but has a strong tendency toward male chauvinism. We interviewed a single mother living in the northern part of the country about women "rebelling" against the male-centred society. She is raising her junior high school daughter on her own after her divorce.
◆Young women who do not marry are increasing rapidly.
"In North Korea, men want to get married, but more and more young women want to stay unmarried somehow. The attitude toward marriage has changed drastically. As long as you have money, you can survive. Money is more important than marriage. That seems to be the watchword. Once you get married, it is difficult to divorce. Many women cannot divorce and live separately from their spouses."
――Why do they not want to get married?
"It's because only women have to bear more burden. Men have to go to work where they don't get paid or food rations, so women have to go out and do business to support their husbands and children. Women talk about marriage as having a guard dog whose only function is to stay at home. Even so, they are forced to have sex at night, so " I don't need a man anymore!" is becoming a slogan around me. Asking "Why don't you get married?" is too obvious an answer even to ask. Many unmarried women are making good money in the market, and widows who don't have to take care of their husbands are better off."
※If a man leaves the workplace and engages in commercial activities, he will be punished.
A scene from the construction of the Yalu River embankment. The people are believed to be mobilized from workplaces and women's alliances—North Pyongan Province, photographed from the Chinese side in mid-July 2021 (ASIAPRESS).
◆The authorities are urging people to have children for the sake of the revolution.
The diffusion of such a trend is making the authorities nervous. This is because the birthrate is seriously declining. However, since the North Korean regime does not release any population-related statistics, the actual situation is unknown. Still, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates that the total fertility rate (the estimated number of children a woman will have in her lifetime) as of July this year was 1.91. Thus, the country has already entered an ageing society.
The Kim Jong-un regime, through the Korean Socialist Women's League (Women's League), a women's organization under the Workers' Party, continues to apply pressure on women to marry and not to remain unmarried.
――Does the authority intervene in the issue of personal marriage?
"For women over 30, their organization changes from the Youth League (Socialist Patriotic Youth League) to the Women's League. The Women's League used to be an organization for married women. Still, now unmarried women are coming in one after another. Since the top management instructed us to manage the unmarried women properly and make them marry, every time we had a meeting or gave a speech, we would say, 'We must eliminate the phenomenon of avoiding marriage so that we can fulfil our role as mothers and help the revolution with the feeling that we are one of the wheels of the North Korean revolution.' In addition, the chairperson of the Women's League said that 'There are many women who are blinded by the desire to make money and avoid marriage, but this is not right. This is not the right thing to do. Even if one earns money and lives a rich life alone, it does not help the country.' In short, they want us to get married and have lots of children."
――Are there any common-law marriages in North Korea?
"Yes, it is increasing. Because divorce is complicated in North Korea. Many people live for a long time without registering their marriage. However, the government criticizes cohabitation without marriage, saying that it is an 'unsocialist act.' Through the People's Unit, they investigate and summon people and try to force them to register their marriage. It is hard when they break up the cohabitation and meet secretly because they crack down on that too."
――The criticism that it's "unsocialistic" is excessive.
"There are sometimes people who do not get married but only have relationships and receive support from their partners. Of course, the authorities crack down on it, saying that "it is an act of concubinage and therefore 'unsocialism.' common-law marriage is not allowed." But what are they going to do about the young women who still don't want to get married?"
(end)
※ASIAPRESS contacts its reporting partners in North Korea through smuggled Chinese mobile phones.
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.
