"In Korea the Government forces, which were armed to prevent border raids and to preserve internal security, were attacked by invading forces from North Korea....The attack upon Korea makes it plain beyond all doubt that communism has passed beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations and will now use armed invasion and war."
- President Harry Truman
"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right."
- Rosa Parks
"To the wrongs that need resistance,
To the right that needs assistance,
To the future in the distance,
Give yourselves."
- Carrie Chapman Catt
1. Legislation banning anti-North Korea leaflets new thorny issue between South Korea, US
2. A deep dive into N. Korea's new "anti-reactionary thought" law
3. North Korea's Nuclear Coercion As Diplomatic Statecraft - Analysis
4. Defector Thae Yong-ho: Seoul's parliament 'capitulating' to North Korea
5. South Korea: Promote Human Rights in North Korea
6. Defector activist mulls constitutional complaint over ban on anti-Pyongyang leafleting
7. N. Korea begins regular wintertime drills, no unusual signs detected yet: JCS
8. US military reports 33 new coronavirus patients in Japan and South Korea
9. Time to prepare for the post-Biegun era
10. Korea losing faith in Moon as Covid cases surge
11. Photo studios in Chongjin raided by the authorities
12. JoongAng-CSIS forum warns that North may provoke Biden
13. Anti-North Korea leaflet law faces backlash from within and outside South Korea
14. With year-end parties canceled, alcohol industry targets home drinkers (South Korea)
15. S. Korea to buy MH-60R Seahawk to boost Navy's anti-submarine capabilities
16. Train derailment in mid-November leads to hundreds of casualties
17. North Korea Halts All Public Transportation Outside of Pyongyang to Stop Coronavirus
18. North Korea Vows Merciless Punishment for Smugglers to Stop COVID-19
1. Legislation banning anti-North Korea leaflets new thorny issue between South Korea, US
The first crisis for the Biden administration in Korea may have to do with values and human rights differences between South Korea and the US. The fundamental question for the alliance is are we going to return to an interest based and values based alliance - the shared values of freedom and individual liberty, liberal democracy, free market economics, rule OF law, and human rights. This new law is in contravention to a number of these shared values.
Note this:
The latest criticism of the proposed law came from Chris Smith, a veteran Republican Congressman who co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the House of Representatives, a bipartisan congressional body that promotes, defends and advocates for human rights.
In addition, Senator Chris Coons, a close aide to President-elect Joe Biden, also said he will explain the problems of the bill to the transition team after a meeting with Ji, the lawmaker noted.
Appeasing north Korea does not work. It has never worked. This is aptly called the "KIm Yo-jong law" since it is a direct result of her threats in June.
But doesn't the ROK government see how this looks to its citizens and to the outside world? This is a major mistake and one that could do irreparable damage to the Moon administration (but hopefully South Korea and the alliance can recover from it).
Legislation banning anti-North Korea leaflets new thorny issue between South Korea, US
North Korean defectors and activists fly anti-Pyongyang leaflets tethered to balloons across the border in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in this April 2, 2016 photo. / Korea Times fileBy Kang Seung-woo
The government's plan to legislate a ban on anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns may become a matter of contention with the United States, as concern over the move is coming to the fore in Washington, according to diplomatic experts, Monday.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has sought to pass a bill that will prevent mainly North Korean defectors and human rights activists from flying propaganda leaflets or other materials critical of the Kim Jong-un regime over the border into North Korea with the claim that it will help protect residents in border regions and ease cross-border tensions.
The latest criticism of the proposed law came from Chris Smith, a veteran Republican Congressman who co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the House of Representatives, a bipartisan congressional body that promotes, defends and advocates for human rights.
"I am troubled that legislators in an ostensibly vibrant democracy would contemplate criminalizing conduct aimed at promoting democracy and providing spiritual and humanitarian succor to people suffering under one of the cruelest communist dictatorships in the world," Smith said on his official website, Friday (local time).
Saying the party's move was in violation of South Korea's Constitution and its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Smith added, "We see undue acquiescence not only to the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea - as evidenced by this inane legislation criminalizing humanitarian outreach to North Korea - but also a diplomatic tilt towards communist China."
Furthermore, Smith said he will call upon the U.S. Department of State to critically reevaluate the Republic of Korea's commitment to democratic values in its annual human rights report, as well as in its report on international religious freedom in the event of the bill being passed, adding this may put South Korea on a watch list.
According to Rep. Ji Seong-ho of the main opposition People Power Party, he had a State Department-organized meeting in Washington, D.C., last week, which also included Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom; Morse Tan, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice; and senior officials from the State Department among the participants.
During the meeting, Ji, a North Korean defector-turned-politician, explained the unconstitutional factors of the bill to the Americans and they voiced concern over it, according to the lawmaker.
In addition, Senator Chris Coons, a close aide to President-elect Joe Biden, also said he will explain the problems of the bill to the transition team after a meeting with Ji, the lawmaker noted.
Earlier this month, New York-based Human Rights Watch also accused the anti-leaflet bill of violating South Koreans' rights to freedom of expression and making engaging in humanitarianism and human rights activism a criminal offense. The Moon Jae-in administration has been under fire for putting diplomacy and engagement with the North before human rights, thereby undermining the North Korea-focused human rights campaigns. In fact, critics are denouncing the legislative measure as a "disgraceful submission" to Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader's sister who strongly criticized the South Korean government over the propaganda leaflet campaigns in June.
"The law banning the sending of propaganda leaflets to the North could be a thorny issue between the South and the U.S., given that the incoming Biden administration's foreign policy centers on democratic values," said Shin Beom-chul, a director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.
The analyst said while seeking to denuclearize the North through dialogue, the Biden team is also expected to address human rights issues in the North, which it believes could help resolve the nuclear issue.
"In that sense, after the inauguration of the Biden administration, the U.S. government is expected to want the South Korean government to jointly address the matter and it could sow the seeds of conflict between the two countries," he said.
In response to a series of criticisms and concerns linked to the law, a unification ministry official said, also on Monday, it was the minimum action to protect residents in border regions. The distribution of leaflets has long been a major source of tension between the two Koreas and has led to exchanges of fire in the past.
2. A deep dive into N. Korea's new "anti-reactionary thought" law
What is the best action in support of the north's "anti-reactionary thought law?" South Korea's Kim Yo-jong law outlawing leaflets sent to north Korea by escapees.
We should never forget the greatest threat to the Kim family regime is the Korean people in the north armed with information and the truth about their plight and the outside world.
The timing of the South's anti-information law is very coincidental and appears to be in full support of the north's law.
The threat that information poses to the regime is why we recommended these efforts in support of information and influence activities. Unfortunately current ROK domestic politics prevents many of these recommendations.
The United States and South Korea should implement a comprehensive and aggressive IIA campaign in North Korea. The focus should be three-fold: create internal threats against the regime from among the elite, provide the second-tier leadership with alternative paths to survival, and prepare the Korean people for eventual unification under a United Republic of Korea. To do so, we recommend the following steps:
Develop organizational infrastructure to facilitate IIA: The United States and South Korea lack a single organization to direct IIA against North Korea. Washington and Seoul should establish institutions that would work together to plan and shape combined IIA. Fortunately, as discussed earlier, the United States already has numerous tools at its disposal, such as the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Voice of America; and Radio Free Asia. The United States should centralize these activities under an oversight organization. This organization would coordinate all agencies and departments and work with non-government organizations. Under the Moon administration, there will likely be concerns that IIA could upset diplomatic conditions. Admittedly, an IIA campaign targeting Pyongyang could risk stirring additional short-term tensions with Pyongyang. But U.S. diplomats should remind their ROK counterparts that those tensions may ultimately forge a path to the peaceful denuclearization of North Korea. U.S. diplomats also need to remind their South Korean allies that Seoul's persistent use of concessions has not elicited progress with Pyongyang.
Encourage Moon's government to increase intra-Korean people-to-people exchanges: Washington should encourage intra-Korean engagement by sponsoring people-to-people educational and cultural exchanges. Such exchanges could expose North Korea's intelligentsia and emerging elites to democratic concepts as well as personal relationships with South Koreans.241
Implement aggressive IIA targeting the North Korea regime: After building a baseline consensus, the United States and South Korea should implement increasingly aggressive IIA targeting the North Korean regime. These activities should inform North Koreans of their universal human rights and civil liberties that the regime is failing to respect. This will undermine the legitimacy of the Kim family regime and give hope to the people living in the North. Alternate sources of information can put regime propaganda in perspective. This campaign could also help lay the initial groundwork for emergent leaders who could replace Kim and who might seek to unify with the South as equal partners under the values of individual liberty and freedom, liberal democracy, and a free market economy. At a minimum, this campaign could help persuade Kim that the status quo poses a greater threat than good faith negotiations with the United States and South Korea. The ultimate goal is to create internal divisions and threats that will influence Kim to denuclearize.
Increase exposure of North Koreans to the outside world: IIA must exploit North Koreans' growing access to DVDs, USB drives, and smart phones from outside the country.242 These media devices can carry content popular among North Koreans, such as South Korean dramas, which can implicitly help Koreans in the North better understand the difference between the regime they have and the government they deserve.243
Establish a Korea Defector Information Institute (KDII): There is no single organization in the United States or South Korea that harnesses the information of defectors to support IIA. If both nations worked together to establish a KDII, it could serve as a repository for defector information to inform policymakers, strategists, and those responsible for developing IIA themes and messages. This institute should utilize defector knowledge and advice in devising appropriate messages and communications techniques. It could also encourage North Koreans to defect, particularly members of Office 39 (also known as Department 39), who are knowledgeable of the Kim family regime's finances.
Provide military support to ROK-U.S. government programs for IIA: S. Psychological Operations (PSYOP) forces should be deployed on a permanent basis to support ROK PSYOP forces as part of a national-level alliance IIA campaign. ROK and U.S. PSYOP forces should advise and assist defector organizations to synchronize themes, messages, and dissemination methods to ensure unity of effort.
A new law against "reactionary thought" that the North Korean authorities adopted during a recent presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly comprehensively strengthens controls on not only the entry and distribution of outside information such as news and foreign cultural materials, but also the outflow of internal information such as propaganda materials idolizing the regime.
Based on a Daily NK investigation into the law, it defines a wide range of acts as illegal, including: listening to, recording or distributing foreign radio radio broadcasts; importing and distributing "impure" foreign recordings, video content, books or other published materials; and copying or distributing music unapproved by the state.
While it is unclear how exactly the law is organized, the law's introduction appears to focus on restrictions regarding foreign radio broadcasts. Basically, this seems to suggest that the authorities are very sensitive about radio broadcasts because of their reach to many people in the country.
The law's ban on "foreign videos," which largely refers to content created in South Korea, appears to be a response to the growing frequency in which North Koreans are enjoying South Korean television programs and films following the closure of the Sino-North Korean border.
The law's ban on "foreign published materials" includes the Bible, which suggests that the country's suppression of religion will continue.
Moreover, the law specifies that if several people are caught watching or reading "impure" recordings, video material or books, the "masterminds" will receive a public trial and all others involved will face "legal punishments."
The law reportedly states that those who import or distribute video material or books that have not received state approval will face public trials. This suggests that public trials may increase in frequency after the country's criminal code is amended. In fact, Daily NK understands that revisions to the code, which will set out the specific punishments called for in the new law, will be passed during a presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly at the end of January.
North Korea's latest smartphone, the Pyongyang 2425. Image: Daily NK
The law further includes restrictions on devices that can be used to play all sorts of content, whether it be music or videos. The law reportedly emphasizes that anyone caught using an electronic device that has not undergone an official "technical inspection," will have their device confiscated without compensation.
Electronic devices refers to TVs, DVD players, computers, and mobile phones that have not been registered with Bureau 27 of the Ministry of State Security.
Early this year, North Korean authorities handed down an order to "intensify" the management of electronic devices as part of efforts to stop the flow of internal and external information across the border.
The law also sets out punishments for those who save images, e-books or music unapproved by the state on their mobile phones or those who make illegal copies of materials from a photo studio printer.
Furthermore, the law subjects those who smuggle or distribute unapproved consumer goods, sundries or electrical appliances in border regions to punishment.
North Korean authorities have continuously curbed and blocked "industrial goods not approved by the state," which refers to South Korean goods. This is because they believe North Korean may suffer "delusions" if they use high-quality South Korean products. What is striking about the new law is that it explicitly bans the copying, saving, or distribution of books that glorify the ruling Kim family such as "Immortal History," "Immortal Guidance" and "Immortal Journey."
North Korea already bans locally published books from being taken abroad, but the ban on storing files on personal mobile phones is apparently aimed at shutting down even the possibility of people leaking propaganda materials.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to [email protected].
3. North Korea's Nuclear Coercion As Diplomatic Statecraft - Analysis
A very good and important essay. Note the discussion of the north Korean objective of unification. There should be no doubt about this objective and how the regime is using all means at hand to pursue this strategic aim. This essay describes in another way how I view the regime's strategy: It is a seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime.
Another name for coercion as diplomatic statecraft: Blackmail diplomacy.
North Korea's Nuclear Coercion As Diplomatic Statecraft - Analysis - Eurasia Review
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a historical anomaly within international politics and security. Considered a backwater, renegade, and impoverished country by the United States and much the international community, North Korea has managed to maximize its strategic leverage. North Korean diplomatic initiatives have involved extorting international humanitarian aid, undermining United States security measures and partnerships in proximity to the Korean Peninsula, utilizing blackmail as a diplomatic option, and fostering the development of a nuclear weapons program with a range that has given rise to a new security crisis for various historical adversaries.
The acquisition of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang is essential to regime sustainability; it protects the Kim dynasty from threats foreign and domestic, and can be wielded as a diplomatic tool against the United States, South Korea, Japan, and China. While garnering international attention with grandiose nuclear threats and theatrical military parades, North Korea continues to covertly modernize its arsenal, develop second-strike capabilities, and complicate relations between the United States and China, all while slowly achieving the status of an internationally recognized nuclear-armed state, capable of deterring the United States, and in a stronger position to negotiate the future of the Korean Peninsula.
The wielding of nuclear weapons is paramount to the legitimacy of the North Korean regime in the modern era in relation to its neighboring foes and its near abroad foe: The United States. The diplomatic strategy of the DPRK comprises of three main pillars: the status of the DPRK within the international community, the termination of the hostile actions the United States conducts toward Pyongyang in the form of US-South Korea military exercises and economic sanctions, and political settlements for the Korean Peninsula that include eventual reunification of Korea into a single polity. For all three foundations to the North Korean diplomatic effort to succeed, the possession of a robust nuclear arsenal, including second-strike capabilities, is essential to accomplishing all three objectives.
DPRK diplomatic strategy
North Korean diplomacy is ingrained in the strategic culture of the country. It is infused with the myths and lore of the Kim family and the sustained psychological trauma of the legitimization of Japanese occupation via the 1905 Portsmouth Treaty and 1919 Treaty of Versailles. This trauma from Japanese occupation, Korean independence, and the Korean War are the three main sources of public diplomacy coercion by the Kim dynasty, to be wielded not just internationally, but domestically against the citizens of the DPRK. The number one objective for the DPRK's diplomatic strategy is the survival of the Kim regime through the paradox of stabilized instability. According to this paradox, whenever the Kim dynasty believes that the United States and South Korea are considering a pre-emptive assault on the DPRK, Pyongyang will seek to diplomatically defuse tensions, all while covertly advancing North Korea's nuclear arsenal. Conversely, Pyongyang when is confident in the power of its nuclear deterrence mechanisms, North Korea becomes more assertive in its claims against the United States, Japan, and South Korea. To bolster the legitimacy of the Kim dynasty as sole authority and sovereign on the peninsula, being recognized as a nuclear state is paramount.
For Pyongyang, recognition as a nuclear state, despite its economic realities, must be secured from South Korea, the United States, China, Russia, and Japan to elevate the stature of North Korea as a great power peer in international relations and security. In light of the fact that recognition as a nuclear power from China, Russia, South Korea, and Japan has not been garnered, the Singapore diplomatic summit between Kim Jung-un and President Donald Trump was a strategic maneuver by Pyongyang to secure international recognition of North Korea as a nuclear armed state without any agreements of substantial concessions that could potentially undermine the political legitimacy of the Kim regime. Evan Medeiros, former Director of U.S. National Security Council for Asia under President Barack Obama stated that the Singapore summit validated and advanced "Kim's goal of being recognized as a de facto nuclear state." The legitimacy of the Kim dynasty was heightened with Pyongyang positioning itself as an international negotiating power determining the future of the Korean Peninsula, including the process and scope of denuclearization. For North Korea, demilitarization involves the complete withdrawal of the United States from East Asia, diminishing the presence of U.S. anti-ballistic missile defense systems, and the disavowal of the U.S. security and nuclear defense guarantees for South Korea and Japan. These diplomatic successes are featured prominently in domestic propaganda to bolster national loyalty and obedience to the Kim dynasty.
Emphasis on the necessity of a nuclear arsenal only grew amid US military interventions in Iraq, Libya, and the Balkans. For Pyongyang, the surrendering of nuclear weapons tended to portend a grim fate: military intervention and regime change by the United States and coalition forces. In 2018, Kim Jong-un emphasized in a speech that "as a responsible nuclear weapons state, our Republic will not use a nuclear weapon unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by an aggressive hostile force with nukes."
More importantly, just as nuclear weapons are meant to deter the United States and coerce South Korea toward favorable peninsula reunification terms, so too are DPRK nuclear weapons utilized to coerce and deter the Chinese and Russians. North Korean mistrust toward Beijing stems from 1964 when Mao Zedong denied the request of Kim Il-Sung to acquire Chinese nuclear military technology and the Soviet abandonment of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Political legitimacy is further bolstered through the establishment of a balance of power with Washington, namely through the upending of American security agreements in the region via a combination of North Korean bilateral initiatives and nuclear provocations. The possession of nuclear weapons represents a double-pronged strategy to portray an image to the Korean populace that Kim Jung-un is infallible, omnipotent, and represents the only figure able to dictate the affairs of the Korean peninsula.
DPRK nuclear diplomacy
Part of this coercive strategy includes highlighting and testing the DPRK's nuclear program to heighten Pyongyang's strategic gains in the military sphere, fueling an international crisis that ultimately necessitates diplomatic summits between North Korea and regional and global powers. By precipitating these summits, North Korea contorts the international political arena into a satisfactory condition that favors the advancing of Pyongyang's national security and strategic interests over the Peninsula. The main strategic interest for Pyongyang regarding the Korean Peninsula is to force the United States into a position that acknowledges North Korea as a nuclear power and to reverse America's multilateral diplomatic approach within the Six-Party Talks by conducting increased bilateral engagement with China and Russia.
Pyongyang's coercive nuclear diplomacy is changing the dynamics of regional security talks and placing the United States in a position where it is now openly questioning the wisdom of strategic patience. Such doubts stem from the idea that continual sanctions are ineffective in containing North Korea and destabilizing the Kim regime, as Pyongyang consistently reroutes economic pressures through nuclear intimidation and strategic threats that could also affect Chinese and Russian regional interests, bringing the United States into strategic conflict with Beijing and Moscow.
Moments of coercive diplomatic success on the part of the DPRK are seen in the rapprochement between Seoul and Pyongyang amid the revelation of North Korean ICBM capabilities that can target the mainland United States. With new national security dangers to mainland United States, South Korean opinions have shown indications of support toward an independent policy for stability on the Korean Peninsula between Seoul and Pyongyang, including increased support for a unified Korea with an alliance with China.
For Pyongyang, deployment of coercion and nuclear diplomacy is more about the survival and longevity of the DPRK's political institutions. Insistence on nuclear weapons as a diplomatic tool and a strategic military asset is further exacerbated by the Kim Jong-Il policy of Songun, or 'military-first' policy, and the Kim Jong-un policy of Byungjin, which is the parallel development of the North Korean economy and nuclear program.
Between the two military-first policies of Songun and Byungjin, the diplomatic priorities of Pyongyang are to guarantee the regional permanence and global legitimacy of the Kim regime. Through the military-first lens of North Korea's diplomatic efforts, there are three main goals: manipulate the regional geopolitical environment by negotiating deterrence with the United States, engage in public diplomacy for economic expansion, and pursue bilateral rapprochement with South Korea to acquire vital economic aid for political survival. North Korea asserts that its military-first diplomatic approach is "the strongest measure of unification our generation can use to realize our nation's long-cherished wish for unification...it hinders the United States' attempts at wars of aggression and thus provides the fundamental setting for a peaceful environment for our nation's unification." The nuclear diplomatic posturing of North Korea will remain a primary method of ensuring the survival of the Kim dynasty until Pyongyang is capable of acquiring physical guarantees to its political system against the United States and neighboring hostile countries.
The physical guarantees are realized when North Korea is officially recognized as a nuclear power and invited to participate in international nuclear arms reduction summits, while simultaneously receiving economic security through aid, bilateral agreements, connectivity to global international trading, and international financial institutions without having to denuclearize. However, just as the DPRK seeks entry into the international system and recognition as a nuclear armed state, so too does North Korea understand that the opening of the economy and decentralization of financial institutions directly threatens the state-owned economy and, therefore, the totalitarian system as a whole.
Pyongyang's diplomatic successes are reinforced by strategic deception and projecting an image of a reasonable cooperative partner. By issuing continual promises to engage and return to diplomatic talks with the United States and regional neighbors, North Korea appears more than willing to negotiate; however, it simultaneously is rejecting diplomatic preconditions that are deemed averse to its core interests. Through this diplomatic strategy, North Korea utilizes control over diplomatic initiatives and summits with the United States and neighboring countries, determining through raising tensions what outcomes are desirable for Pyongyang without having to make any concessions that negatively impact the legitimacy and stability of the Kim regime domestically.
On consistent theme is that Pyongyang has historically sought to advance various ambitious demands, including the end of US-South Korean military exercises; removal of bilateral defense agreements between the United States and South Korea; dismantling of the United States nuclear arsenal and reduction of extended-deterrence guarantee to Japan; establishment of formal diplomatic relations with the United States; removal of all United Nations, United States, and European Union sanctions; and suppression of publications in South Korea that reflect anti-DPRK public sentiment.
As much as nuclear diplomacy and coercion are the preferred modus operandi of the Kim dynasty, its usage has a domestic factor as well. The longevity of the Kim regime is dependent upon the subjugation of the people and the obedience of the military to the protection and veneration of the god-like personification of the Kim family. The establishment of the North Korean Strategic Rocket Force in 2014, and the declaration that it falls under the direct control of the Workers' Party of Korea through the Central Military Commission, shows how Kim Jung-un is dependent on public displays of progress in the DPRK's nuclear weapon modernization efforts. Such efforts act as a deterrent mechanism, not necessarily against foreign actors, but against the North Korean populace and military officials that may otherwise have questionable loyalty to the regime.
Reunification: the ultimate goal of DPRK nuclear diplomacy
North Korean diplomacy is meant to pave a route to political settlements regarding the future of the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea recognized as a fully independent signatory on equal footing and stature with the United States. One-sided bilateral negotiations with the United States have the goal of signing an official peace treaty to end the Korean War while North and South Korea negotiate peninsula security assurances, including the dismissal of the United States despite the United States and South Korea expanding political agreements to include a partnership in energy and health security and the economic elevation of women in 2018. Not only is North Korean diplomacy directed at depicting Pyongyang as capable of directly challenging the United States, but it's also meant to demonstrate independence from Beijing. Since the 1961 Sino-North Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, Beijing has been required to come to the defense of North Korea in the event of direct warfare between the DPRK, South Korea, and the United States; however, Beijing has proclaimed that China will remain neutral if North Korea instigates war with the United States.
Since North Korea has remained skeptical of the allegiance and priorities of China since 1964, North Korean nuclear diplomacy is directed at China as well: forcing Beijing to incorporate security and peace on the Korean Peninsula into Chinese national security, and to counterbalance the United States in the region. The implications of a failed North Korean political system, which could result in mass migrations across the Yalu River into China in addition to indiscriminate nuclear warfare and economic destabilization of the region, make the fate of North Korea a strategic imperative for China. This puts China in a position of having to defend Pyongyang politically and economically, and creates hesitance in Beijing to support additional sanctions against the DPRK.
With the end of diplomatic efforts between the United States and North Korea, the DPRK has increased efforts in nuclear weapon production and modernization, military parades, and prioritized ICBM development. Furthermore, in a display of coercive public diplomacy, North Korea demolished the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office - a provocative statement that "abandons the hopes of everyone who wanted the development of inter-Korean relations and peace settlement in the Korean Peninsula." By ramping up military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Pyongyang is repositioning itself yet again into a negotiating stance of attempting to acquire international aid and attention while promoting the political security of the Kim dynasty.
The central goal of North Korea's coercive diplomacy is to support political legitimacy and international recognition of the Kim dynasty, casting it as sole sovereign political entity within North Korea and a unifier of the Korean Peninsula. The diplomatic approach is designed to be multifaceted in its intended audience, adjusting as needed to shifting dynamics between the domestic population of Korea, the United States, Japan, China, and Russia. The utilizing of nuclear weapons is more focused on preserving and guaranteeing permanence of the Kim dynasty, and as a deterrence tool against the United States, rather than a first-strike option. DPRK strategic deception as a diplomatic tool undermines US strategic patience while nuclear advances stress American-ROK, American-Japanese, and Sino-American security and economic relationships, allowing Pyongyang to unravel multilateral containment strategies promoted by the United States and strengthen North Korean bilateral initiatives that elevate the DPRK to a nuclear-armed great power peer in the international arena.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com or any institutions with which the authors are associated.
4. Defector Thae Yong-ho: Seoul's parliament 'capitulating' to North Korea
Note that the Institute of Corean American Studies (ICAS) will be hosting Thae Young-ho this Thursday evening at 7pm for a virtual seminar. You may register at this link:
These are my submitted questions for him: Can you provide recommendations to the ROK/US alliance and the international community about information and influence activities targeting the regime elite, the 2d tier leadership (those leaders outside the corp elite but who possess military power and political influence when the regime becomes unstable) and the general populace of the north Korea? Specifically what kinds of themes and messages will resonate with the elite, the 2d tier leadership and the population and influence their behavior in a positive way to achieve ROK/US Alliance desired effects and objectives? What are the most effective means to transmit information? If you were to design an information and influence activities campaign who would you target and what kind of influence objectives would you seek to achieve?
In my previous meetings with Thae he has provided very important insights and information on influence operations and human rights in north Korea. I hope he will share some of those insights publicly.
Defector Thae Yong-ho: Seoul's parliament 'capitulating' to North Korea
Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A high-profile North Korean defector serving in the South's parliament condemned a controversial bill banning anti-Pyongyang leaflets, which passed at Seoul's National Assembly Monday.
Thae Yong-ho, a former senior diplomat at Pyongyang's Embassy in London, said Thursday during a 10-hour filibuster the law banning activists from launching anti-North Korean flyers is capitulation to Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of leader Kim Jong-un, Donga Ilbo reported Monday.
"If Kim Yo-jong did not propose such a law be made, would they have made such a law," Thae said, referring to South Korea's ruling party. "It is a pity the National Assembly follows the instruction of Kim Yo-jong."
In June, Kim had issued a statement condemning defectors, describing the group of North Koreans in the South campaigning against the North as "human scum."
South Korean opposition politicians also attempted to block a bill that would transfer investigation powers of the National Intelligence Service to Seoul's National Police Agency. The bill passed with support from Democratic Party lawmakers, who form a majority in parliament.
Critics of the law say the ruling party's decision reflects lack of preparation because the police is not ready to take on probes into anti-state espionage.
Spy agency reform has "been discussed for a long time among ruling party constituents, but unexpected results can occur, such as those we witnessed in real estate policy," said Cho Jin-man, a professor of political science at Duksung Women's University. Housing prices have skyrocketed in the South despite tax hikes this year.
The bill and police reform means turning the NPA into an agency similar to the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to JoongAng Daily.
Seoul's spy agency is to also disclose more than 640,000 documents related to the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster to the Special Investigation Committee on Social Affairs, Hankyoreh reported Monday.
Not all Sewol documents are to be available, and restrictions will remain if there are domestic security concerns, according to the report.
5. South Korea: Promote Human Rights in North Korea
Yes he should but sadly the suffering of the Korean people in the north is not part of his agenda. As a human rights lawyer I would think President Moon would have taken a strong human rights approach toward north Korea. Unfortunately his focus on "human rights" has been on developing the and supporting the narrative surrounding the democracy movement of the 1980s and specifically the Kawngju episode. I do not think he has ever done anything is his career concerning human rights in north Korea.
South Korea: Promote Human Rights in North Korea
Coalition Urges President Moon to Take Stronger Stance on Abuses
(Seoul) - South Korea's government should strengthen its efforts to promote human rights in North Korea, a coalition of rights-oriented groups said today in an open letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), joined by 45 other groups, representing over300 civil society groups, and 7 concerned individuals, expressed concern about the South Korean government's increasingly weak stance on human rights violations and accountability in North Korea.Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "President Moon should be addressing North Korea's lack of cooperation with the United Nations system and recommitting to raising human rights issues in future negotiations."
In November 2020, South Korea decided for the second consecutive year not to co-sponsor a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly condemning the human rights situation in North Korea. The South Korean government's reluctance to make North Korea's human rights record a priority is made worse by North Korea's increased isolation. The North Korean government reportedly intensified surveillance on people breaking Covid-19 related restrictions, and created a buffer zone near the northern border with China, with guards ordered to "unconditionally shoot" on sight anyone entering without permission. In September, the North Korean navy shot and killed a 47-year-old South Korean fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, on a boat near North Korea's western sea border, also under the pretext of Covid-19 prevention.
"The human suffering and human rights violations caused by North Korea's disproportionate and unnecessary measures on Covid-19 are directly related to the lives of the South Korean people and the future of larger negotiations on the Korean Peninsula," said Eun-Kyoung Kwon, secretary general at ICNK. "President Moon Jae-in should condemn North Korea's abusive measures on Covid-19, not look the other way for the sake of inter-Korean diplomacy."
The coalition urged the South Korean government to demonstrate leadership, rejoin the co-sponsors of the UN General Assembly resolution on North Korea in December, and clarify what steps South Korea is taking to help improve the country's human rights situation.
"South Korea's leadership on North Korean human rights, especially at the UN, has always been absolutely vital," said Benedict Rogers, senior analyst for East Asia at Christian Solidarity Worldwide. "The current South Korean government should not downplay or be silent on the crimes against humanity which a UN inquiry has itself accused Kim Jong Un's regime of committing, but rather step up again and renew its leadership position on these issues. Lasting peace can only be achieved with justice."
6. Defector activist mulls constitutional complaint over ban on anti-Pyongyang leafleting
Maybe this will be a wake up call for the Moon administration. BUt based on past actions I expect it to only double down on its mistakes.
(3rd LD) Defector activist mulls constitutional complaint over ban on anti-Pyongyang leafleting | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS foreign ministry's comments in last 4 paras) By Koh Byung-joon
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- A high-profile North Korean defector activist is considering filing a constitutional complaint against the recently legislated ban on the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the communist nation, his lawyer said Tuesday.
On Monday night, the National Assembly, controlled by the ruling Democratic Party, passed the bill penalizing the sending of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into the North despite strong objection by opposition party lawmakers.
Critics, including Park Sang-hak, a defector who heads Fighters for a Free North Korea, have strongly opposed the ban, saying it would violate the right to freedom of speech.
"Park believes that the anti-leaflet law is an unconstitutional and bad law that tramples on the freedom of speech," Lee Heon, his legal representative, said in a message sent to reporters, adding he will file a complaint with the Constitutional Court if the law goes into effect.
Fighter for a Free North Korea is one of the defector groups involved in actively pushing to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border despite the government's repeated appeals against such activity.
The government and the ruling party have been seeking to ban the leafleting after North Korea bristled at such activity and even blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in June in anger.
Pyongyang has denounced the leafleting as a violation of inter-Korean agreements and demanded that Seoul take preventive measures.
In July, the unification ministry revoked operation permits for two defector groups, including Park's, saying their campaigns to send leaflets into the North have gravely hindered the government's unification policies and jeopardized the lives and safety of residents.
Critics have claimed that such a ban is tantamount to caving to Pyongyang's pressure, violating the right to the freedom of speech, and blocking information from the people living in the reclusive and oppressive country.
The ministry refuted those claims, saying that the freedom of expression is an important constitutional right but it cannot take precedence over the life and safety of people in border regions.
"Scattering anti-North Korea leaflets infringes upon other people's right to life, safety and properties by causing North Korean provocations, and undermines national security by heightening inter-Korean tensions," the ministry said.
The ministry, however, noted that the ban would not be applied to the delivery of non-sensitive items through a third country, such as China, into the North and any leafleting via such countries could be subject to local laws.
The foreign ministry said it will continue communication with other countries, including the U.S., about the issue.
"Human rights are a value that we cannot compromise on. We respect it more than anything else. Yet we'd also like to emphasize that this bill is a minimal measure to protect the safety of the people in border areas," ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a press briefing.
"We will continue to make efforts to communicate with the international community, including the United States, about the matter based on this position of ours," he said.
7. N. Korea begins regular wintertime drills, no unusual signs detected yet: JCS
Please remember that for the past 2 plus years we have been tailoring ROK/US military training to support diplomacy. But north Korea has never reciprocated and continues to conduct its winter and summer training cycles. We should not sacrifice ROK/US combined military readiness in pursuit of the impossible objective of "appeasing" north Korea with reduced exercises anand training in the hopes that it will positively affect north Korean decision making.
My PIR (priority information requirements) for the WTC: How much of the modern military equipment we observed in the October 10th parade has been fielded to operational units? What units received the equipment? How is it being employed?
(LEAD) N. Korea begins regular wintertime drills, no unusual signs detected yet: JCS | Yonhap News Agency
(ATTN: ADDS more comments, chances of another military parade in paras 5, 10-11, 2nd photo)
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has begun regular wintertime military drills, and no unusual movements have been detected so far, the South Korean military said Tuesday.
"We believe that North Korea began their regular wintertime drills," Col. Kim Jun-rak, spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told a regular briefing.
The drills have yet to be in full swing, and there are no signs indicating any imminent provocative acts, according to another JCS officer.
The communist country usually kicks off their exercise for winter in December to continue through early spring, and the program has often involved artillery firing drills.
This year's drills could be held in a smaller scale due to the new coronavirus, though it depends on its political decision, the officer said. North Korea has issued the highest level of alert to stave off the virus.
Early this month, the U.S. flew several types of surveillance aircraft over South Korea in an apparent move to monitor the North.
Pyongyang has not made major military moves in recent months, though it unveiled a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), along with diverse military assets, during a military parade on Oct. 10, to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.
In the face of difficulties caused by the new coronavirus and prolonged international sanctions, North Korea launched the "80-day campaign" in October to achieve the country's national and economic goals by the end of the year.
Some speculate that it could make provocations, such as missile launches, around the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden in January.
Asked about the chances of the North's staging of another round of a military parade next month, the spokesperson only said, "South Korea and the U.S. intelligence authorities are closely monitoring related movements in close coordination."
Last month, Seoul's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers that the North could again hold a military parade during a planned party congress in January. Some military equipment mobilized for the October parade was known to have been left in Pyongyang.
A sign reminds patrons to practice social distancing inside the exchange at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020.
AARON KIDD/STARS AND STRIPES
By JOSEPH DITZLER | STARS AND STRIPES Published: December 14, 2020
Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription.
TOKYO - The U.S. military over the weekend and Monday added 16 new coronavirus cases in Japan and 17 in South Korea, where the government is contemplating tougher pandemic measures.
U.S. Forces Korea announced 16 people tested positive going back to Nov. 28, according to a Sunday press release. They are new arrivals to the Korean Peninsula.
The command reported one new case of COVID-19, the coronavirus respiratory disease, on Monday. An individual at Camp Casey, an Army post 40 miles north of Seoul, acquired the case locally, according to a USFK email alert.
South Korea reported a new one-day record, 1,030 newly infected people, on Sunday. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun in Seoul on Monday said the government may ask all but essential workers to remain home and some businesses to close.
The government also ordered schools in Seoul and the surrounding area to close starting Tuesday, the Nikkei Asia news service reported Monday.
The government is stockpiling hospital beds to cope with the surge, Chung said.
"However, if the spread of coronavirus ... does not stop, our health care system would not be able to cope with the COVID-19 crisis even though we secure sickbeds," he said.
USFK commander Gen. Robert Abrams, speaking Monday on American Forces Network Radio, said he expected the Moderna version of the coronavirus vaccine, if approved, to arrive for U.S. troops on the peninsula early in the new year.
"What everyone needs to understand is we are not going to get enough vaccine for everybody. It is going to come out in stages. So, the tier one, the top tier, is going to be everybody that works at a hospital, the clinics, our first responders, all those that are on the front lines every day," Abrams said. "We owe it to them to get them vaccinated."
USFK has put the largest cities in South Korea, including Seoul and Busan, off-limits to U.S. personnel except for those who live there or have official business.
In Japan, U.S. commands reported 16 people tested positive in the past two weeks.
Two individuals at Misawa Air Base, in northern Japan, developed COVID-19 symptoms while in isolation and tested positive. The two, the only active cases on base, are recent arrivals to Japan, according to a Facebook post Monday by Misawa.
Far to the south, Sasebo Naval Base, on Kyushu island, said two people tested positive for the disease on Friday and Saturday after becoming ill, according to a Monday post on Facebook. The base now has five active cases.
U.S. Army Japan on Monday said a patient tested positive after 11 days in isolation, according to a news release. Someone with the Army being screened for a routine medical procedure at Yokosuka Naval Base on Friday also came up positive, according to a Sunday news release.
Four people have tested positive since Dec. 8 at Yokota Air Base, headquarters in western Tokyo of U.S. Forces Japan, according to a Facebook post Saturday. The base said all four are quarantined but provided no further information. Sixteen active cases are under observation at Yokota, according to the 374th Airlift Wing.
Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on Sunday said three individuals, including two employees at the base exchange, have tested positive. All three had become ill, two on Dec. 4 and the third on Thursday, according to an 18th Wing Facebook post.
The exchange employees did not work after experiencing coronavirus symptoms, according to the post. "Both work centers where they were assigned have been cleaned/sanitized thoroughly," the post said.
They are the fifth and sixth base employees to become infected with the coronavirus, according to Kadena. In October, three workers became infected, one at a restaurant inside Rocker Enlisted Club, one at the base Pizza Hut and another at the arts and crafts shop. On Dec. 2, another Pizza Hut employee, a delivery driver, also acquired the virus.
The Marine Corps said three people on Okinawa tested positive, one Sunday at Camp Schwab and two Saturday at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Another 65 were deemed fit to exit quarantine.
Stars and Stripes reporters Yoo Kyong Chang and Matthew Keeler contributed to this report.
9. Time to prepare for the post-Biegun era
There should be no doubt that Steve Biegun and his Korea time worked tirelessly to maintain the ROK/US alliance in the face of nearly impossible conditions posed by both the Kim family regime and the Moon administration's "world view" toward north Korea. This OpEd rightly recognizes those contributions and also that the professional diplomats in South Korea recognizes and appreciates those contributions as well. But it also notes that the Moon administration and political leaders need to make changes in their policies.
Conclusion: "Experts point out that Seoul should take Biegun's departure as Deputy Secretary of State as an opportunity to make a "strategic shift" that could break the repetitive pattern. Seoul made an unrealistic suggestion, placing high hopes on Biegun's respect for South Korea, and failed to produce the result they want. Seoul should make productive preparations for the post-Biegun era, discussing cool-headed and reasonable strategies for denuclearization of North Korea with the U.S. based on mutual consensus."
Time to prepare for the post-Biegun era. December. 15, 2020 07:46. by Gi-Jae Han [email protected]. Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed regret over the departure of Stephen Biegun, who left South Korea last week after finishing his last trip to Seoul as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea. In fact, during the past couple of years when Biegun sat at the negotiating table with North Korea, Washington did not make clear concessions to Pyongyang as Seoul expected them to.
Nevertheless, Biegun tried to understand Seoul's stance in negotiations, respecting the legitimate right of South Korea as a sovereign state. Thanks to this, government officials had a sense of relief when heading to the U.S. for negotiations, thinking that there will be no bickering since Biegun will listen to us first. It is understandable that the foreign ministry considered Biegun, who is the second man in power in the U.S. State Department, as their diplomatic asset.
Biegun also had a personal interest in South Korea. He had a love for Korean chicken stew that he visited the diner every time he came to Korea. He also showed great interest in the history of Korea. During his early days as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, he visited South Korea's National Palace Museum of Korea to see the Royal Vehicle of Emperor Gojong and even memorized the names of kings of the Goryeo Dynasty, helping the South Korean government consider him a great man to work with for Seoul.
This is why all high-ranking officials from the foreign ministry met Biegun during his recent four-day trip to Seoul. Biegun had dinner with key Korean officials every night during his trip. Despite the fact that having a group dinner could cause a controversy due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made an exception, renting out Biegun's favorite chicken stew diner in Jongno in central Seoul. However, it is time for the South Korean government to leave hospitality and regret behind and pay extra attention on who will be in charge of future negotiations with North Korea under the new administration in Washington. It is highly unlikely, however, that there will not be another U.S. official who will be favorable to Korea like Biegun. The Biden administration places great importance on the South Korea-U.S. alliance but is expected to take a principled approach when it comes to nuclear weapons and human rights issues in North Korea.
Experts point out that Seoul should take Biegun's departure as Deputy Secretary of State as an opportunity to make a "strategic shift" that could break the repetitive pattern. Seoul made an unrealistic suggestion, placing high hopes on Biegun's respect for South Korea, and failed to produce the result they want. Seoul should make productive preparations for the post-Biegun era, discussing cool-headed and reasonable strategies for denuclearization of North Korea with the U.S. based on mutual consensus.
10. Korea losing faith in Moon as Covid cases surge
In President Moon's "defense" it is "normal" for Korean presidents to have significantly declining approval ratings in the latter years of their mandatory five year one term presidency.
Korea losing faith in Moon as Covid cases surge
President's popularity is falling coincident with a fast-surging viral outbreak that is daily hitting new record highs
asiatimes.com · by Andrew Salmon · December 14, 2020
SEOUL - South Korea is holding its breath to see what Tuesday's Covid-19 caseload will bring as the country teeters on the brink of imposing its most stringent social distancing measures ever.
The country has been touted as a model for non-lockdown pandemic containment measures and it was all systems go on Monday as President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun separately spoke about crisis countermeasures.
Moon's popularity has been falling coincident with the rising caseload.
Hundreds of troops - doctors, nurses and even special forces - were deployed on Monday to assist health officials in 150 specialized testing stations that have been established around the Seoul capital area.
The number of new cases recorded on Monday was 718, but that number is widely believed to be low as testing usually drops over the weekend. Over the previous two days, the country had seen consecutive record daily highs.
A medical worker takes test samples for Covid-19 from a South Korean police officer at Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's headquarters in Seoul on August 19, 2020. Photo: AFP
On Sunday, South Korea reported a record daily caseload of 1,030 new coronavirus cases, breaking the record set the day before of 950 cases. Up until this weekend, the record high had been 909 new cases.
That record had been set in the first wave of infections in February. And as recently as October, daily caseloads had been in the double digits.
But as the cold weather rolls in, the numbers in South Korea have been rising, as they have across much of the world. The average number of new Covid-19 cases last week was 662, well north of the prior week's 487.7.
A mass outbreak in the densely and heavily populated greater Seoul area, home to half of South Korea's 52 million population, is the nightmare scenario. On Monday, of 718 nationally reported cases, there were 474 infections in the capital area, which is now under Level 2.5 social distancing guidelines, the second-highest level.
Seoul City Hall said Monday it would open 18 more residential treatment centers in the city this week, with 1,577 additional beds for patients with mild symptoms. Five centers, with 659 beds, opened Sunday and a further 13 will open over the coming weekend.
The question on everyone's lips is whether the capital area goes to the highest tier of social distancing - Level 3 - in the days ahead.
A medical staff member wearing protective gear takes a swab from a woman to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus at a temporary testing station outside Seoul station in Seoul on December 14, 2020. Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je
Level 3 can be instituted if there are three consecutive days of 800-1,000 cases, or if the caseload doubles over the previous day. It would represent the closest thing to a lockdown South Korea has instituted since the start of the pandemic.
Under it, gatherings of 10 or more people are banned, all schools are shut and all sports events are halted. Moreover, trains and express buses can only run at half capacity, the populace is advised to stay home and companies are mandated to have nonessential employees work from home.
Still, Level 3 does not quite mark the limits of government authority to restrict public activities. Extra ad hoc measures could be authorized.
So far, South Korea has handled the pandemic with subsidized mass testing, extensive, high-tech contact tracing and a reliance on the good sense of the public to keep personally clean, masked up and socially distanced.
And Prime Minister Chung, who heads the national Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, remains wary about pulling the trigger on Level 3.
Speaking at Seoul's City Hall on Monday, Chung called it "the last resort" and said its implementation requires "cautious deliberation, as it calls for confidence and social consensus on its effectiveness."
President Moon, speaking on Monday with his aides, said separately: "Providing small and medium-sized businesses and self-employed people with support is especially urgent."
He also called for the front-loading of relevant budgetary spending to create more than one million "emergency jobs" in the public sector in 2021.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in talking on the phone on September 24, 2020. Photo: AFP/Handout/The Blue House
In recent months, Moon's Democratic Party of Korea has failed to contain soaring real estate prices in the capital and his Justice Minister has lost the latest round of a fierce, long-lasting and high-profile battle with the nation's chief prosecutor.
A political showdown is expected with the right-wing People's Power Party in April, when by-elections, including that for Seoul's mayor, are contested.
South Korea is still in the process of negotiating deals with three separate vaccine providers. It expects to begin vaccination programs in March.
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11. Photo studios in Chongjin raided by the authorities
Do not be misled by the title. This is about cracking down on information flow inside north Korea. The biggest threat to the regime is the Korean people in the north armed with information.
Photo studios in Chongjin raided by the authorities - Daily NK
The local state security agency branch may hand out fines or other punishments to the operators
Daily NK has learned that security officials recently carried out a crackdown on photo studios in downtown Chongjin, seizing equipment such as computers and printers, as part of efforts to eliminate the printing and distribution of illegal publications.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Thursday that agents from the provincial branch of the Ministry of State Security launched the crackdown late last month. The agents seized all devices or items they deemed inappropriate, such as printers.
According to the source, the ministry carried out the search of photo studios as part of a crackdown during the so-called "80-day battle." The goal was to eliminate people from passing around USBs containing foreign films and TV programs, and ensure people did not print or distribute textbooks and party materials without permission from the authorities.
"It's true that photo studios have drawn the attention of security officials with a growing number of people, including students, recently seeking them out to print textbooks and other required reading materials, as these are in short supply," said the source. "The Ministry of State Security raided the photo studios this time because they'd already detected that [these studios] are printing not only books students need, but also foreign publications people aren't supposed to read so they can make money on the sly."
Musan County, North Hamgyong Province. / Image: Daily NK
The Ministry of State Security agents that raided the studios in the Chongjin's Sunam District reportedly declared all printers and computers not registered with the state "illegal" and seized them. According to the source, the agents threatened the studio operators, telling them that "since all the confiscated devices and items now belong to the state, don't even think about getting them back."
The source told Daily NK that ministry officials are questioning studio operators and claiming that they had declared at a previous time that the printing and publishing of textbooks and other reading material at photo studios is illegal. The source said the ministry may hand out fines or other punishments to the operators when the interrogations are over.
The source added that the ministry has also decided to "forcefully expel" these studio operators from the August 3 Management Committees or Convenience Facility Management Committees in the districts where they are registered as part of efforts to "completely suspend their operations."
The crackdown on photo studios appears to be related to a new law banning "reactionary thought" that was passed during a Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. In short, the authorities appear to consider the printing of various materials, including foreign books, as an act of "bringing in and distributing anti-socialist ideology and culture."
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to [email protected].
Korean and American experts and former officials discuss the Seoul-Washington alliance after the U.S. presidential election at the JoongAng Ilbo-CSIS Forum, marking its 10th anniversary, held in a hybrid in-person and virtual format Tuesday. From left: CSIS President John Hamre, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas and former U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert, a CSIS senior adviser, join in from Washington, while Hong Seok-hyun, center, chairman of JoongAng Holdings and the Korea Peace Foundation, participates with Korean panelists from JTBC's Ilsan studio in Gyeonggi. [JANG JIN-YOUNG]
Washington needs to pursue "creative engagement" to prepare for any provocation from North Korea early in the incoming Joe Biden administration, said Rep. Joaquin Castro, vice chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, speaking in a forum Tuesday.
"The Kim regime has usually greeted new American presidents with major provocations early in their term," said Castro, a Democrat from Texas, in his keynote address to the 2020 JoongAng Ilbo-CSIS Forum.
"We must prepare for that unprovoked escalation to occur with the incoming Biden administration. This would require strengthening our alliance with South Korea but also a creative engagement with North Korea and the rest of the world."
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based foreign policy think tank, and the Korea Peace Foundation held the annual forum, which marks its 10th anniversary, virtually for the first time.
During the potentially pivotal transition between U.S. administrations, current and former officials and renowned scholars from Korea and the United States addressed the forum's overarching theme of "Morning in America: The ROK-U.S. Alliance After the Election."
The Korean panelists came together at JTBC's Ilsan studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi, while the American speakers joined via videoconference. The forum was streamed live over YouTube and Facebook.
President-elect Joe Biden "faces a North Korean nuclear program that is far more developed than it was four years ago," Castro pointed out in his speech, noting that Washington could follow the model of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (Jcpoa), in dealing with Pyongyang.
Castro said that the North Korean nuclear and missile programs should be seen as an "arms control challenge" and that the United States should be "prepared to work towards a strategic, step-by-step process to get our ultimate goal."
He continued, "This could begin with a verifiable freeze in North Korea's fissile material and missile production, followed by a gradual denuclearization process. Although Iran and North Korea are at very different stages with their nuclear programs, the Jcpoa model can offer some lessons for our dealings with North Korea."
While Castro noted that he is not "inherently against holding leadership summits to address difficult issues," he said that U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to Pyongyang suffered from minimal groundwork and were photo-ops rather than summits geared toward achieving results.
Castro added that he is "confident" that Biden will bring a "serious, experienced approach to this issue as well as a team of first-class experts to help tackle it."
He also stressed that he is "optimistic" about the "endurance of the U.S.-South Korea alliance" under a Biden government, a turnaround from Trump, who didn't appear to "value our longstanding alliances as a president of the United States should have."
Castro said, "In light of the growing threat from North Korea, it's more important than ever for our military alliance to be ironclad. Unfortunately, President Trump used America's alliance with South Korea as a money-making enterprise. He believes American soldiers are in South Korea to act as mercenaries."
Consequently, he said, Seoul and Washington's defense cost-sharing deal expired at the end of last year, and the two sides have struggled to strike a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA).
However, Castro noted that President-elect Biden "recognizes that having a military presence in South Korea is essential to protect U.S. interests."
On Sino-U.S. rivalry, Castro said, "The U.S. will continue to make good faith efforts to cooperate with the Chinese government wherever we can, including global health and threats like climate change. Still, the United States and our allies must stand up for our values and interests when it comes to China."
Referring to China's tactics of pressuring smaller countries in the region, he added, "The United States stands with its allies, and together, we must use our collective strength to deter the Chinese government from using its economic power to bully other countries."
Korean and U.S. experts, including renowned American national security analyst Graham Allison, a Douglas Dillon professor of government at Harvard University, took part in three sessions on the alliance after the U.S. election; the implications of the U.S.-China competition; and restoring cooperation between the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States and Japan.
"The last four years were confusing because President Trump gave the impression that we were doing a favor to Korea by having our troops there," said John Hamre, the president and CEO of CSIS in welcoming remarks. "That was wrong. We weren't rewarding Korea by having troops in Korea. We were helping ourselves because we are deep partners with Korea. Our whole goal is to ensure that there is democracy and freedom on the Eurasian continent, and Korea is the great champion of that."
He continued, "We're not giving you anything. This isn't a tributary relationship and it's not a mercenary relationship. We are partners because it's in our mutual interest."
Hamre said he supports the reunification of the Korean Peninsula to prevent North Korea from becoming "a tributary state of China" and also supports the "campaign to try to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula," calling for "sensible policies" to achieve that.
Hong Seok-hyun, chairman of JoongAng Holdings and the Korea Peace Foundation, said in his opening remarks that South Korea needs to "actively engage in President-elect Biden's foreign policy plan to build strong democratic alliances" and also "deepen the U.S. understanding of the geopolitical circumstances of the Korean Peninsula."
He added that the United States should take into account the "geopolitical circumstances" of South Korea and that "Korean Peninsula issues should therefore be considered separately from the context of U.S.-China competition."
Hong added that the impasse in Seoul-Tokyo relations should be "resolved pre-emptively."
"In order to convince the new U.S. administration of these conditions surrounding Korea, we need to present the big picture for future foreign and security policy," said Hong. "The key is to strengthen the major pillars of the alliance including democracy, multilateralism, market economy, openness and transparency for stronger ROK-U.S. ties. Inter-Korean relations must proceed forward in water-tight cooperation with the United States on the premise of North Korea's complete denuclearization."
Victor Cha, a CSIS senior adviser and Korea chair, said in the first session on the alliance after the election, "Going forward I think that President Biden will do a great deal to reinvigorate or rejuvenate the U.S.-Korea alliance," and that he will "see alliances like Korea as power assets, not power liabilities" that enhance and extend U.S. power.
Cha expects a Biden administration to "move away from having the alliance be completely obstructed by negotiations over how much to pay for U.S. Forces in Korea," which is "not a negotiation that should occupy the entire time of our alliance managers."
Sue Mi Terry, a CSIS senior fellow and Korea chair, like Cha, expects a "reasonable resolution" to the SMA negotiations next year.
On the new U.S. administration's policy on North Korea, she pointed out that while Biden is "unlikely to rush into a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un," he is seen to be "open to a step-by-step approach" and an interim deal.
She noted that Tony Blinken, Biden's secretary of state nominee, said that the best model to follow in dealing with North Korea is the Jcpoa with Iran.
However, she said that the Biden administration's "first and foremost priority would be on deterrence," and warned that as Washington and Seoul struggle to get on the same page on Pyongyang policy, North Korea could revert to provocations in the coming months.
She continued, "Our immediate priority should be preventing the North from going down that path," which in turn could push Washington to adopt a more hard-line policy on North Korea.
Other panelists in the first session included former Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, who stressed that the Biden administration's first open message to North Korea "should be based on principles," while Ahn Ho-young, a former Korean Ambassador to the United States, stressed the need to "rebuild trust" between the two countries to overcome existing paradoxes.
In the second session addressing U.S.-China competition, Harvard Prof. Allison said, "This is not going to be the third term of the Obama administration," noting that China's place in the world has changed since the Barack Obama presidency, and that Biden now will be the "decider."
He added Biden's presidency also is not going to be the second term of the Trump administration.
He introduced the "Five Rs" on Biden's approach to China that mark a change from the previous administration: Restoration of normal foreign policy practices; Reversal of Trump's harmful initiatives; Review of Trump's 159 accomplishments in dealing with China interests; Recognition that China is not just a great power but a classic Thucydidean rival; and Realism about the inescapable fact that the United States and China live on a small globe where they each face existential threats neither can defeat by itself. This includes MAD, or a mutually assured destruction, dating from the Cold War era, but also a climate version of MAD.
Allison said that if the United States and China are going to be "ruthless rivals," the question is, can they also "be intense partners at least to the extent necessary to prevent them getting dragged into war," and if they can cooperate "sufficiently to constrain greenhouse gas emissions so that everyone can live in a climate that has not been so severely disrupted."
He continued, "I'm hopeful with President Bidenthat if any American president could do that, I think this one can."
Bonnie Glaser, a CSIS senior adviser for Asia and director of the China Power Project, agreed that U.S.-China strategic competition will endure.
She, however, noted a few changes under a Biden presidency, such as all agencies of the U.S. government focusing on reinvigorating the United States rather than confronting China, closely working with allies and partners to protect shared interests and re-engaging with multilateral organizations.
Glaser said there will be "a change in tone," and that the United States will seek to cooperate with China where interests converge, such as climate change, global health and pandemics. She said North Korea is another "potential area of cooperation, though not a priority, although provocations by Pyongyang can push it to the front of the agenda."
Shin Jung-seung, a former Korean ambassador to China, addressed the possibility of Washington pushing Seoul to join an expanded Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, involving U.S. regional allies Australia, Japan and India, which could put Korea in an awkward position.
He said that the "geopolitical situation in South Korea is different from Japan and Australia, noting its proximity to China and the division of the Korean Peninsula, adding, "in order to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, Korea needs to work with China." He noted that South Korea has to "promote the alliance with the United States and strengthen economic cooperation with China."
Former Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan, a professor emeritus of Seoul National University, also noted Seoul's geopolitical situation and said that U.S. policy on the alliance "shouldn't be one-size-fits-all" and should be "customized" for South Korea, actively supporting the role Seoul plays on the peninsula in security cooperation.
In the final session on "Restoring ROK-U.S.-Japan Cooperation," experts stressed the need to restore tense bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo, plagued by longstanding historical issues, and Washington's role to facilitate this. Panelists included Caroline Kennedy, the former U.S. ambassador to Japan; Michael Green, CSIS senior vice president for Asia and Japan chair; former Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan; and former Korean ambassador to Russia Wi Sung-lac.
"Japan and Korea are two of the United States' most important allies," said Kennedy. "The relationship between them is vitally important to the United States. I know that relations right now are extremely difficult but I also know that they can improve, and I saw that happen during my time in Japan."
Kennedy said that former Vice President Biden during this time "felt very strongly that the U.S. role was to support their efforts to build a stronger relationship, not to dictate or tell them what they do."
She added, "It would be in Korea's interest to think about what steps they can initiate to start this process of improving relations. I know that the United States will support that effort wholeheartedly. In addition to Vice President Biden's personal involvement, he spent a lot of time working on Asian issues when President Obama was working on other matters."
The panelists agreed that the inauguration of a new prime minister in Japan and a new U.S. president is a very important moment to improve Seoul-Tokyo relations, and Kennedy said this was a "very important chance for something positive to happen and the United States will support that and work hard with our allies."
Green noted, "When Japan and Korea are not aligned, both lose leverage in the United States."
If both Seoul and Tokyo reach out to Washington jointly on an issue, he said "we have to listen," calling this a "very powerful instrument."
He also noted that a strong trilateral alliance has more leverage to deal with North Korea diplomatically and may pressure China to cooperate as well.
13. Anti-North Korea leaflet law faces backlash from within and outside South Korea
Resistance to this terrible law both inside and outside Korea. It is too bad the Moon administration will not heed this criticism and likely willd double down on it. The Korea Times strategically used the photo of Kim Yo-jong with Moon and Kim and in the background to emphasize this is the "Kim Yo-jong command law."
Excerpt: "The Kim Yo-jong command law is a humiliation and an encroachment on the freedom of expression. We will file a petition with the Constitutional Court when the law takes effect," Park said in a statement. His group has been one of the most active in sending anti-North Korea leaflets."
Anti-North Korea leaflet law faces backlash from within and outside South Korea
North Korea leader's sister Kim Yo-jong is seen during the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, Sept. 18, 2018, in this file photo. The new anti-leaflet law is being criticized for following Kim's June statement calling on the South to stop the sending of anti-North Korea leaflets toward the North. Korea Times fileBy Do Je-hae
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) passage of a bill at the national Assembly prohibiting the sending of leaflets with anti-North Korea messages across the border is facing a strong backlash from defectors' groups and the opposition as well as the international community.
Park Sang-hak, the head of the Fighters for a Free North Korea, a North Korean defectors' group, said Tuesday that he will file a petition with the Constitutional Court against the so-called "anti-leaflet law," which can hand down a prison term of three years or a maximum fine of 30 million won to people sending messages critical of the North Korean regime via leaflets or broadcasts.
The DPK pushed ahead with passing the bill despite a protest from the conservative opposition People Power Party late Monday evening. The bill came after a statement from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong in June in which she strongly denounced such leaflets and called on Seoul to do something about them. The opposition and activists for North Korean human rights such as Park have derided it as legislation "submitting to Kim Yo-jong's order."
"The Kim Yo-jong command law is a humiliation and an encroachment on the freedom of expression. We will file a petition with the Constitutional Court when the law takes effect," Park said in a statement. His group has been one of the most active in sending anti-North Korea leaflets.
The law is also triggering negative reaction from the U.S. Congress, stoking concerns that the legislation could impact relations with the U.S. under the incoming Joe Biden administration.
Republican Congressman Chris Smith voiced "serious concern" over South Korea's growing disregard of fundamental civil liberties, in a statement.
"I am troubled that legislators in an ostensibly vibrant democracy would contemplate criminalizing conduct aimed at promoting democracy and providing spiritual and humanitarian succor to people suffering under one of the cruelest communist dictatorships in the world," Smith said. "The people of North Korea are suffering under a brutal regime. Humanitarian and religious non-governmental organizations launch balloons containing Bibles, videos and information denied people living in the North, giving them hope and objective information instead of despair and communist propaganda. Why in the world would legislators in the free South want to not only stop that, but also put people in jail for simply sharing information?"
The legislation came as the international community also protested the government's weak stance on the issue of human rights in North Korea. The International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), an association of 47 groups representing 300 non-governmental organizations, wrote an open letter to President Moon Jae-in, Tuesday.
"We greatly regret your recent decision again not to co-sponsor a resolution on human rights situation in North Korea at the United Nations General Assembly," the ICNK said.
The coalition said it was not enough for the South to say it would work with the international community to improve the human rights situation in North Korea. "This abandonment of South Korea's crucial leadership in promoting human rights issues in North Korea sends the message to North Korea that human rights issues can be ignored for the sake of political negotiations."
The presidential office said it had no comment on the letter.
14. With year-end parties canceled, alcohol industry targets home drinkers (South Korea)
This should not be a problem if you are like me and only drink on two occasions: alone or with someone.
But maybe home drinking will produce more moderate drinkers: "Compared to going out for a drink with other people, home drinkers consume a much more moderate amount of alcohol when they are alone," the official at HiteJinro said.
With year-end parties canceled, alcohol industry targets home drinkers
A shopper checks out the alcoholic drinks aisle at a supermarket in Seoul. (Yonhap)
Alcohol companies are eyeing home drinkers rather than bar goers during the first pandemic year-end season as a third wave of the COVID-19 outbreak threatens hospitality businesses across South Korea.
In a more normal setting, restaurants and bars would be packed with group dinner reservations as the year draws to a close. But not this year, with venues being forced to close after 9 p.m. in Seoul and surrounding areas under strict social distancing rules.
"As the hospitality sector has had its business capacity limited by the over 1,000 daily coronavirus cases, the industry is in poor shape at the moment," one official at liquor manufacturer HiteJinro said. The country's daily virus tally came in at 880 on Tuesday.
"It's the government's policy (to limit opening hours) which is for the good of public health and we are in no place to protest that. But we are nonetheless taking a hit, which is forcing us to focus on the home drinking market instead."
December is the peak sales season for the industry, along with the summer months.
Indicative of that, nearly 20 percent of wine sales at convenience store chain Emart24 last year occurred during the month, with over half of the monthly sales generated in the last ten days, including Christmas and New Year's Eve.
As the pandemic decimated restaurant sales and changed people's drinking patterns, wine has enjoyed a surge in popularity, as it is preferred by home drinkers.
HiteJinro posted an annual sales growth of 11.2 percent for wine on Monday. Imported whiskey and beer, which are more reliant on bar sales, are set to shrink in volume this year, according to data from the Korea Customs Service.
While work dinners and group drinking typically involve large quantities of somaek, which is made of soju and beer, alcohol beverage makers are prioritizing packaging and diversifying their range of products for those drinking at home.
Oriental Brewery is releasing a "winter special package" of its malt lager brand OB Lager featuring its mascot LalaBear on Thursday.
"Since year-end parties are not taking place, we have released limited editions and at-home party packs for those drinking at home," one OB official said.
OB Lager's new package design (Oriental Brewery)
HiteJinro's popular liquor brands Chamisul and Jinro have also released Christmas limited editions while Pernod Ricard, the drinks giant behind Absolut Vodka and Ballantine's, recently unveiled the ready-to-drink Kahlua Espresso Martini Can -- described by the company as a "cocktail that reflects trend of drinking alone."
Earlier this year, the French company also released smaller bottles of its rum brand Malibu that are the size of a regular soju bottle, targeting millennial and Gen Z consumers.
As efforts to prioritize a different audience continue, about 60 percent of sales now occur from off-premise retail outlets while 40 percent come from drinking establishments, the HiteJinro official explained, adding the figures had swapped places during the pandemic.
But the rise of home drinkers in sales share does not translate to an overall surplus for alcohol companies as sales generated from home drinkers are not enough to make up for the dent in sales made at restaurants, bars and clubs.
"Compared to going out for a drink with other people, home drinkers consume a much more moderate amount of alcohol when they are alone," the official at HiteJinro said.
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Tuesday decided to buy U.S. aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky's MH-60R Seahawk helicopter to bolster the Navy's anti-submarine capabilities, the arms procurement agency said.
South Korea will sign a contract with the Lockheed Martin Corp. subsidiary this year for the 960 billion won (US$878 million) project to purchase maritime choppers to boost the Navy's detection and attack capabilities against enemies' vessels and submarines, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
The decision was made during a defense project promotion committee meeting.
A total of 12 Seahawks will arrive here by 2025 in phases, an agency official said.
The 19.76-meter-long and 5.1-meter-high chopper with the maximum cruising speed of 267 kilometers per hour can handle multiple missions, including operations of warfare, search, rescue, and medical evacuation.
16. Train derailment in mid-November leads to hundreds of casualties
Interesting that half the dead and injured were military personnel. Was this an accident or sabotage? If so by whom? An indication of nascent resistance inside north Korea?
Excerpts:
The part of the train carrying liaison officers and communication troops suffered terrible losses. In fact, about 140 military personnel were killed while another 230 were injured in the accident, more than half of the total casualties.
"There were terrible losses in Car No. 5, which was carrying liaison officers dispatched from above to convey training orders, communication troops who carry military mail every day, and personnel returning to their units prior to the start of winter training in December," said the source. "The fatalities included the commander of the technical department of Chagang Province's district command [a 56-year-old senior colonel] and the head of the political department of Lee Jae Sun Military Academy [a 55-year-old colonel]."
With many officers and soldiers being killed or injured while on official business, the authorities reportedly consider the derailment "a national matter."
Train derailment in mid-November leads to hundreds of casualties - Daily NK
With many officers and soldiers being killed or injured while on official business, the authorities reportedly consider the derailment "a national matter"
A train derailed in Chagang Province about a month ago, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries, Daily NK has learned. The accident is being treated very seriously given that more than half the dead and injured were military officers and soldiers.
According to a Daily NK source in Chagang Province on Monday, about 600 people were killed or wounded when the train derailed between Pusong and Hoichon stations in Chagang Province on Nov. 15.
The part of the train carrying liaison officers and communication troops suffered terrible losses. In fact, about 140 military personnel were killed while another 230 were injured in the accident, more than half of the total casualties.
"There were terrible losses in Car No. 5, which was carrying liaison officers dispatched from above to convey training orders, communication troops who carry military mail every day, and personnel returning to their units prior to the start of winter training in December," said the source. "The fatalities included the commander of the technical department of Chagang Province's district command [a 56-year-old senior colonel] and the head of the political department of Lee Jae Sun Military Academy [a 55-year-old colonel]."
With many officers and soldiers being killed or injured while on official business, the authorities reportedly consider the derailment "a national matter."
Chagang Province's party committee called the accident a "grave matter that could have undermined the security of our revolutionary leadership had [North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's] train been passing at the time." It has reportedly mobilized as many military personnel and civilians as possible to fix the train track and clear the accident site, efforts that are apparently nearing completion.
"Based on the investigation, the train derailed because several spikes were missing from the rails in the section of track managed by Pusong Station," said the source. "With the accident being designated a national incident, those responsible for it - the stationmaster of Pusong Station, and railway patrol personnel and maintenance personnel of the section of track in question - have been detained by the Chagang Province branch of the Ministry of State Security."
A train can be seen travelling in an area of Chagang Province near the Sino-North Korean border. / Image: Daily NK
Ordinarily, the individuals would have been sent to the Ministry of State Security headquarters in Pyongyang for questioning. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, they are being detained locally and are being investigated by ministry officials dispatched from Pyongyang.
The results of the investigation may emerge closer to the end of the year. The source told Daily NK that some North Koreans believe the authorities will go relatively light on the station master and the others to "promote the grace and magnanimity of the Party and its benevolent policy ahead of the Eighth Party Congress."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of State Security is reportedly claiming the accident was the work of spies employed by South Korea's National Intelligence Agency.
The source said that during North Korea's so-called Arduous March of the 1990s, it was often said that South Korean intelligence "would give people thousands of dollars if they removed even a single rail spike." The source said some North Koreans even believe what the ministry is saying: They may believe that with the nation suffering because of COVID-19, the lack of rations, and people stuck at home because of lockdowns, "there could be people removing spikes and handing them to South Korean intelligence."
Other North Koreans are reportedly refuting the ministry's claims, arguing that it is unlikely anyone would go around taking railway spikes. They are placing blame on railway authorities for failing to check whether any spikes were missing.
There are also reportedly wild rumors among locals that it was "no accident that there was a sudden accident on a stretch of track regularly used by trains going from Pyongyang to Manpo" and that "it could be the work of internal [reactionaries]."
"People also say it's possible the patrol guarding the railway removed the spikes out of spite since they have nothing at all to eat, they have a long stretch to track to watch, it's cold, there's nobody who wants to do what they do, and even if they try to quit, [the authorities] won't let them go," the source said.
Pusong Station - the station involved in the accident - is located between Hyangsan Station in North Pyongan Province and Hoichon Station in Chagang Province. Given that North Korea's railway network is mostly single-tracked, it is reportedly a "technical way station" where trains can change tracks and wait while others pass by.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to [email protected].
North Korea has suspended all public transportation nationwide except for in the capital Pyongyang, the latest measure by the self-proclaimed "virus-free" nation to stop the spread of coronavirus within its borders, sources in the country told RFA.
Despite the government having banned travel between provinces earlier in the year, many residents were still able to move across the country on public transportation.
"From the beginning of this month, all public transport networks linking the whole country were stopped under the direction of the Central Committee [of the Korean Workers' Party.] Trains, buses, and private couriers were banned as part of measures to stop the coronavirus," a resident of North Hamgyong province in the country's northeast told RFA's Korean Service Nov. 8.
"Earlier this month, the Central Committee ordered residents of the city of Chongjin to stop using the roads. The authorities, which had been limiting the movement of residents to other areas of the country, are now blocking public transportation because of the virus," said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
The measures suggest that the country has a spreading virus problem, but North Korea to date has not confirmed a single case of COVID-19.
Pyongyang claimed to be completely virus free to foreign media in April, the same month it warned people in public lectures that the virus was spreading in three geographically distant parts of the country.
Extensive measures to prevent public transmission of COVID-19 have included cancelling major cultural events, temporarily locking down entire cities and counties, and delaying and then cancelling planned school openings.
The government then fired its senior health officials that month for their failure to effectively lead the country's quarantine effort, and increased preventative measures nationwide.
On the Oct. 10 75th anniversary of the 1945 Korean Workers' Party, the country's leader Kim Jong Un is said to have been overcome by emotion, thanking the people in a speech for their success in preserving North Korea's virus-free status.
But by late October, the WHO reported several thousand "suspected cases" in North Korea, but none has been confirmed.
News of the virus spiking in November has spread among the people, and the government is now trying to "flatten the curve" by stopping public transit.
"Residents were still using trains at Chongnyon station in Chongjin until earlier this month. Now that the order to suspend public transit, travelers and merchants have all but disappeared from the station square. In addition to the trains, the intercity buses and private couriers from Chongjin to other provincial areas are also suspended, so there's no way to get out of Chongjin to anywhere else." the North Hamgyong resident said.
"Yesterday afternoon, I went to the intercity bus station in the Sunam district of Chongjin and all bus routes to the whole country stopped running, so there were no people, and the buses were just packed in the parking lot," the source said.
The source said that even local bus routes that carry passengers around Chongjin have also closed down.
Another source, a resident of Sinuiju, across the border from the Chinese city of Dandong, confirmed that the public transit ban was in effect there as well.
"Although measures have been in place to prevent residents from moving around for a long time, public transportation was still running. So they issued this order to stop all movement," said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
"Since the beginning of this month, the Sinuiju Automobile Transport Center, the Provincial Long-Distance Transportation Unit, and the Sinuiju Passenger Transportation Center have all been shut down. The bus stop in the station square, which was always crowded with people, is now completely empty," the second source said.
Residents of the city of 360,000 know the travel ban - formally known as the "Suspension of Public Transportation in Order to Fundamentally Prevent the Movement of Residents" -- is "all related to the coronavirus quarantine," the second source said.
"The virus has started spreading again since November. The Central Committee saw that people were still using public transit, and so proposed this special measure," said the Sinuiju source.
Meanwhile in the capital Pyongyang, public transit within the city is still operational, a resident who declined to be named told RFA.
"All means of transportation that link Pyongyang to provincial cities, including trains and buses have been banned. The roads to and from Pyongyang are strictly monitored by the police and military, so no people or objects can enter or leave Pyongyang, but the metro and local buses are still running here," the third source said.
An official from the South Korea-based Korean Transport Institute said that since the coronavirus outbreak, no unusual developments related to the operation of North Korean public transportation have been identified.
Reported by Jieun Kim for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
18. North Korea Vows Merciless Punishment for Smugglers to Stop COVID-19
Again, we should acknowledge the great work of RFA and VOA and their ability to bring us news about what is happening inside north Korea (and of course provide this information to the Korean people in the north because the regime's Propaganda and Agitation department does not allow the north Korean "media" to report on what is happening inside north Korea and especially the effects of the draconian population and resources control measures that are ostensibly designed to mitigate the effects of COVID but are really designed to the tighten the shackles that are oppressing the Korean people in the north.
North Korea Vows Merciless Punishment for Smugglers to Stop COVID-19
Authorities in North Korea have begun threatening harsh punishments for residents caught smuggling goods to and from China, as earlier warnings went unheeded by desperate citizens, sources in the border area told RFA.
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in January, Beijing and Pyongyang closed their 880-mile border and suspended all trade to prevent the spread of the virus, but the closure had disastrous effects on an economy already crippled by international sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Citizens who made their living by trading with China, or by selling goods from China in local markets suddenly saw their livelihoods evaporate. With no other way to make ends meet, many ignored the restrictions and illegally crossed the border to smuggle in and out of China, an act that Pyongyang is now punishing with increasingly harsh measures, including public execution.
"Since last month, the judicial authorities intensified their efforts against smuggling at the border," a resident of Ryanggang province in the country's central northern region, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA's Korean Service Dec. 5.
"This is because there was a direct order from the Highest Dignity that a fierce struggle was needed to push back against the anti-socialist activities of smugglers during this period of ultra-high-level quarantine," the source said, using an honorific term to refer to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In April, Pyongyang extended to the end of the year an "emergency quarantine posture" in effect since the beginning of the pandemic. Since then, it has used several incidents where people illegally crossed borders and returned to the county to introduce even stricter measures.
Fearful that frequent border crossers could bring the virus back with them from China, North Korea has imposed a series of ever harsher measures in late 2020.
Authorities beefed up the frontier guard corps with special forces and ordered soldiers to shoot anyone within a kilometer (0.6 miles) of the border regardless of their reason for being there, before deploying landmines to increase deterrence.
In November, Pyongyang deployed anti-aircraft units in some areas of the border not only to prevent civilians from crossing, but to stop corruption from soldiers stationed there who assist smugglers in exchange for bribes or engage in the activity themselves.
RFA reported earlier this month that after several smuggling incidents in October and November, North Korea increased this posture in late November to the "ultra-high-level," and publicly executed a smuggler to drive the point home.
"They are now defining smuggling activities at the border as reactionary. They are holding lecture sessions, threatening residents that smugglers will face punishment without mercy," the source said.
"According to the lecture materials sent out by the Ryanggang Provincial Party Committee to the local party committees, smugglers are like poisonous mushrooms, who have turned their backs on the party. They stress that smuggling is an unforgivable reactionary act, citing how it was smugglers who caused the recent lockdown of the entire city of Hyesan," the source said.
RFA reported in November authorities sealed off the entire city of 200,000, allowing none to enter or exit, after two members of the military were caught trying to smuggle gold bars across the border into China. After detaining one of the soldiers, investigations revealed that six civilians were involved in the scheme, and they had moved gold worth about U.S. $6.5 million into China over five previous trips.
"The lecture materials pointed out how smuggling at the border is an anti-state and anti-socialist act that must never be tolerated in order to protect the lives of the people. Anyone who is preparing for or who has been involved in smuggling are asked to make a confession at their local law enforcement agency," the source said.
Another resident of Ryanggang, who requested anonymity to speak freely, confirmed the lectures to RFA.
"The lectures show that the authorities are acknowledging that both large and small-scale smuggling is still happening at the border," the second source said.
"Even with the increasingly vicious crackdowns, residents who make their living from small-scale smuggling are still risking their lives to smuggle. The authorities say they will go easy on anyone who confesses, but who in their right mind would do such a thing in this fearful atmosphere?" said the second source.
The source said that during weekly meetings held by companies, citizens' organizations and neighborhood watch units, leaders are asking attendees to confess to any and all past involvement with smuggling.
"The party has created a brutal atmosphere against cross-border smuggling and warns of merciless punishment. Who would want to come forward and confess? With the border closed under the pretext of the emergency coronavirus quarantine, residents are struggling to make ends meet. They have no choice but to risk their lives to smuggle, because they are dead either way."
Reported by Jieun Kim for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:
"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."
North Korean defectors and activists fly anti-Pyongyang leaflets tethered to balloons across the border in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in this April 2, 2016 photo. / Korea Times file
North Korea leader's sister Kim Yo-jong is seen during the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, Sept. 18, 2018, in this file photo. The new anti-leaflet law is being criticized for following Kim's June statement calling on the South to stop the sending of anti-North Korea leaflets toward the North. Korea Times file
