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Quotes of the Day:
“A man may plant a tree for a number of reasons. Perhaps he likes trees. Perhaps he wants shelter. Or perhaps he knows that someday he may need the firewood.”
– Joanne Harris, Runemarks
“It was badly received by the generation to which it was first addressed, and the outpouring of angry nonsense to which it gave rise is sad to think upon. But the present generation will probably behave just as badly if another Darwin should arise, and inflict upon them that which the generality of mankind most hate—the necessity of revising their convictions. Let them, then, be charitable to us ancients; and if they behave no better than the men of my day to some new benefactor, let them recollect that, after all, our wrath did not come to much, and vented itself chiefly in the bad language of sanctimonious scolds. Let them as speedily perform a strategic right-about-face, and follow the truth wherever it leads.”
– Thomas Henry Huxley
“If you don't have a righteous objective,eventually you will suffer. When you do the right thing for the right reason,the right result awaits.”
– Chin-Ning Chu
1. Action for Korea United chair blasts unification minister's ‘two-state framework'
2. Advice to Trump on the next steps for engagement with Pyongyang
3. Unification ministry reviewing permitting public access to N. Korea's newspaper
4. N. Korea's Kim calls for expanding missile, shell production capacity
5. Russia, N. Korea developing joint tourism programs: report
6. S. Korean envoy, Russian vice FM hold talks on regional, int'l issues
7. National security adviser reportedly asks U.N. chief to visit N. Korea: sources
8. Ruling party to launch inter-Korean peace strategy committee
9. Defense chief vows to 'swiftly' push for project to build nuclear-powered subs
10. Kim Chang-son, close aide of N. Korean leader, dies: KCNA
11. N. Korean border guards borrow soybeans from civilians to pass inspection
12. How an Elusive Banker Allegedly Kept North Korea’s Dirty Money Flowing
13. Ex-top security officials acquitted over alleged cover-up of 2020 border killing by N. Korea
14. Editorial: West Sea Cover-Up Acquittal: Bereaved's Tears Unanswered
15. South Korean webtoon slammed for heroine resembling Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae
16. In 2025, K-Pop Battled Its Demons
1. Action for Korea United chair blasts unification minister's ‘two-state framework'
Summary:
Action for Korea United co-chair Seo In-taek sharply criticized Unification Minister Chung Dong-young’s push for a “peaceful two-state framework,” arguing it is unconstitutional and risks signaling abandonment of unification. The article notes internal dissent within the Lee Jae Myung administration, including National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac publicly stating the government does not support or recognize any two-state frameworks. Seo says Kim Jong Un’s 2024 renunciation of unification reflects ideological defeat and growing awareness among north Koreans of South Korea’s prosperity. He faults Seoul’s inconsistent approaches across administrations and proposes dissolving the Ministry of Unification in favor of a nongovernmental advisory body, while mainstreaming the “Korean Dream Vision” in education.
Comment: Seo In-taek (In Taek Soe) is correct. I believe this plays right into Kim Jong Unn'spolicial warfare strategy to undermine and subvert South Korea and enhance the legitimacy of the Kim family regime. We should be using Kim's new policies to show the moral high ground of those who support unification as the only path to freedom, security, stability, prosperity, and denuclearization.
My fourteen words: "Unification first, then denuclearization; the path to unification is through informational and human rights."
Action for Korea United chair blasts unification minister's ‘two-state framework' - The Korea Times
The Korea Times · ListenListenText SizePrint
By Jhoo Dong-chan
- Published Dec 23, 2025 12:00 pm KST
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyle/people-events/20251223/action-for-korea-united-chair-blasts-unification-ministers-two-state-framework
Action for Korea United (AKU) co-Chair Seo In-taek speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the nongovernmental organization's office in Seoul, Dec. 17. Courtesy of AKU
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has been at the center of controversy for his policy drive promoting the so-called “peaceful two-state framework,” which claims the North and South now function as “two separate countries in reality.”
Chung’s theory provoked an immediate backlash not only from academic and diplomatic circles but also within the Lee Jae Myung administration.
National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac rebutted the unification minister’s claims during his September visit to Washington, D.C., saying that “the government does not support or recognize any two-state frameworks.”
Action for Korea United (AKU) co-Chair Seo In-taek also expressed his concerns about the Lee administration’s internal muddle in North Korea policy, noting that any perception of Korea as two separate countries could signal the abandonment of unification aims.
“It is not only nonsense but also very unconstitutional,” Seo said during an interview with The Korea Times.
“North Korean leader Kim Jong-un started fundamentally reshaping the regime’s official stance by formally renouncing the goal of unification with the South in 2024, a sea change from the North’s three-generation-long ‘juche,’ meaning self-reliance,” Seo said. Juche has been the state ideology of the North since the 1970s, its conceptualization widely attributed to Kim Il-sung.
Seo said North Korea’s new stance clearly demonstrates that the regime’s long-term vision for unification has failed, and its ideological competition against Seoul has suffered a defeat.
“Most North Korean people now understand how wealthy the South has become. They long for freedom. They want to be rich like South Koreans,” Seo said.
“Now is the threshold-like moment for unification, but the Lee Jae Myung administration is sitting on its hands. Likewise, previous governments were also incompetent in achieving unification. Every time leftist governments come to power, they come up with Sunshine Policy-like approaches. Rightist governments, on the other hand, have utilized a hawkish stance towards Pyongyang. There’s no consistency here. This is why we always fail to properly address North Korea policies,” he added.
Seo has a bold proposal for the government. “It needs to dissolve the Ministry of Unification and install a nongovernmental advisory committee in order to take the politics out of the unification agenda. It should also make the Korean Dream Vision a mandatory part of the curriculum in Korean education,” he said.
Korean Dream Vision refers to Global Peace Foundation (GPF) Founder and Chairman Hyun Jin Preston Moon’s concept of peaceful unification. Unlike past efforts focusing mostly on methodology, the vision aims to draw a picture of how a unified Korean Peninsula can bring hope for all of humanity.
“It is also a hope for youngsters in Korea,” Seo added. “The country’s economy has peaked, and is facing a long downhill. More than 1.5 million youngsters in their 20s and 30s are experiencing difficulties in landing a job. I am sure unification will be a solution for the young generation in the two Koreas.”
According to recent government data, North Korea’s current economic situation could be as bad as the Arduous March in the early 1990s, when a severe famine resulted in increased defection from the North. The country is known to annually need 5.9 million tons of food, but secured only 4.5 million in 2022.
Additionally, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said that North Korea’s gross domestic product has decreased by about 12 percent between 2017 and 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, its trade with China was halted due to border closures. The BOK has estimated that it will require at least $250 billion — and perhaps as much as $2 trillion — over 10 years to build a unified Korea.
The Korea Times · ListenListenText SizePrint
2. Advice to Trump on the next steps for engagement with Pyongyang
Summary:
Ralph Cossa argues POTUS should pursue engagement with Pyongyang cautiously and on U.S.-ROK terms, not as a concession to Kim Jong Un’s elevated leverage from Moscow and Beijing. He says Washington must restate that the long-term objective remains Korean Peninsula denuclearization, warning that abandoning it would normalize north Korea as a nuclear state and could trigger allied proliferation in South Korea, Japan, and possibly Taiwan. If a summit occurs on the Peninsula, Cossa urges it be trilateral with President Lee Jae Myung to avoid reinforcing Pyongyang’s “vassal” narrative. If POTUS insists on a bilateral meeting, he recommends holding it off the Peninsula, ideally on U.S. territory such as Guam, to underscore U.S. power and control the optics.
Comment: Engagement with north Korea must not be conducted in a way that Kim Jong Un can assess his political warfare and blackmail diplomacy strategies are working. I seriously doubt that we will get KJU to Guam or any US territory. He is too paranoid for that.
Advice to Trump on the next steps for engagement with Pyongyang - Asia Times
asiatimes.com · Ralph Cossa
Don’t take steps that would ultimately legitimize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state while letting additional nuclear dominos fall
by Ralph Cossa
December 26, 2025
https://asiatimes.com/2025/12/advice-to-trump-on-the-next-steps-for-engagement-with-pyongyang/
This article published by Pacific Forum is a version of an earlier story published by Korea On Point. It is republished with permission.
What in the world is going on? It was not that long ago when North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was seen and treated as a pariah. Moscow shunned him, Beijing treated him as a ungrateful supplicant and Washington made it clear that the cost of progress in its relationship with Pyongyang was movement, perhaps not immediately but still as a goal (or at least as a possibility), toward CVID: complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization.
Fast forward to today: Russian President Vladimir Putin comes to Kim with hat in hand, Chinese President Xi Jinping gives Kim a place of honor at his major parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and US President Donald Trump is heard literally begging Kim to meet with him during Trump’s recent visit to Seoul. Suddenly, Kim Jong Un is everybody’s favorite prom date.
The Russian turnaround is easiest to explain. Putin desperately needs Pyongyang’s help, in the form of ammunition and cannon-fodder troops, in his thus far unsuccessful effort to subjugate Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Xi seems concerned that Kim will play a Russia card against China’s interests and is openly wooing him, despite the embarrassment it should have caused the other international visitors to his gala parade. (If dignitaries like Indian Prime Minister Modi were not informed in advance that they would share a podium with Kim, they should be incensed. If they were advised and came anyway, they should be embarrassed.)
Most unsettling of all has been President Trump’s (over)eagerness to resume his bromance with Kim, even as Kim has thus far spurned his advances, warning that the US must first get over its “delusional obsession with denuclearization” before he is willing to sit down, as an equal, with the world’s most powerful leader.
Why President Trump is so eager to meet again with Kim, given the fruitlessness of his previous encounters, is anyone’s guess. Some speculate this is part of his very transparent drive to obtain a Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps – but, if so, it could have the opposite effect (more on this point later).
Others fear it is a first step toward terminating or at least seriously downgrading or refocusing the long-standing US-ROK alliance, which has kept the peace on the Peninsula for over 70 decades. Those concerns were somewhat (but not completely) alleviated by Trump’s statements during his late October visit to both Korea and Japan, which underscored the importance of the US defense relationships with both allies to regional and global peace and security.
(The recently-released US National Security Strategy also calls Washington’s Indo-Pacific alliances and partnerships “the bedrock of security and prosperity long into the future.”)
If President Trump meant what he said, and I am prepared to take him at his word, then his administration needs to proceed cautiously with future overtures toward Pyongyang.
First and foremost, the Trump administration needs to make it crystal clear that its long-term goal remains Korean Peninsula denuclearization. To abandon this goal is to accept North Korea as a de facto nuclear weapons state, which would undermine the international non-proliferation regime. It would also most likely open the nuclear door for South Korea, perhaps Japan, and most likely for Taiwan as well. This would reverse decades of US policy and strategic thinking.
Should the administration decide that nuclear proliferation among its allies is in America’s best interest, this policy reversal should come about due to serious deliberation. It should not happen as a side effect of some visit. Once the nuclear genie is deliberately let out of the bottle in Northeast Asia, we should expect to see its emergence elsewhere around the globe as well.
Should President Trump, under any conditions (hopefully including CVID), agree to meet with Kim in Korea, he should insist that it be a trilateral meeting including South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (who is otherwise very supportive of a Kim-Trump Summit).
When Trump last meet with Kim Jong Un in the Korean DMZ in June 2019, then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in was allowed to appear for a brief photo op and then waited in the car while Trump conducted a 53-minute private session with Kim. This was not only truly insulting to Moon and the people of South Korea but it also fed into Pyongyang’s long-standing narrative that South Korea was a mere vassal of the United States and not a sovereign entity in its own right.
The above comment assumes Trump and Kim will again meet in the DMZ. It’s hard to imagine Kim agreeing to come to South Korea – and Trump traveling to the North, after having previously stepped into North Korea during the DMZ visit, would also further Pyongyang’s narrative that Kim Jong-Un is a highly important, powerful world leader and that Washington is at his beck and call.
If Trump insists on another private bilateral meeting, then it should not happen on the Korean Peninsula. I would suggest Trump invite Kim to meet on US territory; after all it’s Kim’s turn to come to Trump. I would further suggest Guam as an ideal meeting place, where Kim could witness, firsthand, the extent of US air power (and air defenses) readily available to the US should the North Korean ruler ever contemplate an attack on a US ally (Korea or Japan) or US territory.
I have great admiration for President Trump’s efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, first through the Abraham Accords and now through his UNSC-endorsed 20-point ceasefire peace plan. If the Gaza ceasefire holds and hope remains for an eventual Palestinian state, that alone should more than justify his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The best way to ensure that such a prize will never be awarded, however, would be to take steps that would ultimately legitimize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, while letting additional nuclear dominos fall. Instead of being a demonstration of “peace through strength,” such a move would qualify Trump to become the new international poster child for appeasement as the 21st century version of Neville Chamberlain. When it comes to North Korea, the US/South Korea are in the driver’s seat; they, and not Pyongyang, should be driving the agenda.
Ralph A. Cossa (ralph@pacforum.org) is chairman, president emeritus, and Worldwide Support for Development-Handa Haruhisa chair in peace studies at the Pacific Forum, a Honolulu-based foreign policy research institute.
asiatimes.com · Ralph Cossa
3. Unification ministry reviewing permitting public access to N. Korea's newspaper
Summary:
South Korea’s Unification Ministry is coordinating with the NIS and other agencies to broaden public access to north Korean publications, including the Rodong Sinmun, by reviewing reclassification from “special materials” to “general materials.” President Lee Jae Myung criticized the current restrictions as paternalistic, arguing they treat citizens as susceptible to propaganda. If reclassified, access to the print newspaper could become easier beyond designated government facilities that currently require identity and purpose checks. However, online access to the Rodong Sinmun website would remain blocked for now. The NIS said it is “positively” reviewing wider access to north Korean materials and will also examine whether to lift bans on online access to north Korea-related websites, currently restricted under the Information and Communications Network Act.
Comment: Not just the Rdong Shinmun, but all north Korea media. Let it all in. Noone is going to be swayed by it and most will soon become bored with it and more importantly it will expose how ideologically bankrupt is the Kim family regime. But at the same time that information is allowed into the South, the South should allow maximum efforts to get information to the Korean people in the north.
This is actually a good action to take by the ROK government. It will now hold the moral high ground for sending information into north Korea. Recall that the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry stated that the forced isolation of the Korean people in the north and the denied access to information is one of the many major human rights abuses.
Let information flow - both ways. We know which side will benefit more (the Korean people on both sides of the DMZ).
Unification ministry reviewing permitting public access to N. Korea's newspaper | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Soo-yeon · December 26, 2025
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20251226005400315?section=nk/nk
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- The unification ministry said Friday it is in talks with related government agencies to review measures to allow public access to the Rodong Sinmun, the main newspaper of North Korea's ruling Worker's Party, and other North Korean materials.
In South Korea, public access to North Korean media and publications, including the Rodong Sinmun, is denied as they are classified as "special materials" due to concerns that they include content praising and promoting North Korea.
President Lee Jae Myung took issue with a ban on public access to the North's materials during last week's policy briefing by the unification ministry. Lee said the current ban amounts to "treating the public as those who can fall for propaganda and agitation" by the North.
Later in the day, the unification ministry, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and other government agencies are believed to hold a meeting to review ways to reclassify the Rodong Sinmun as "general materials," not as special ones under the spy agency's guidelines.
"We are considering measures to allow public access to North Korean materials in a more open manner," Chang Yoon-jeong, deputy spokesperson at the ministry, told a press briefing Friday.
Chang Yoon-jeong, deputy spokesperson at the unification ministry, speaks during a regular press briefing at the government complex building in Seoul on Dec. 12, 2025. (Yonhap)
The NIS earlier said it is "positively" reviewing steps to permit the people to access North Korean materials to ensure the public's right to know and facilitate inter-Korean exchanges.
Currently, the Rodong Sinmun can be read at designated facilities, such as the ministry's information center on North Korea, only after an applicant's identity and purpose for accessing the content are verified.
But if the Rodong Sinmun is reclassified as general information, South Koreans can easily access the paper version of the newspaper. Still, online access to the newspaper's website will continue to be banned.
In a report to the National Assembly, the NIS said it will also "proactively" review whether to lift a ban on online access to North Korea-related websites.
The government has restricted online access to around 60 North Korean websites in accordance with the Information and Communications Network Act.
The act stipulates the government can restrict the public's online access to information related to activities banned under the national security law.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Soo-yeon · December 26, 2025
4. N. Korea's Kim calls for expanding missile, shell production capacity
Summary:
Kim Jong Un ordered an expansion of missile and artillery shell production after inspecting major munitions enterprises and reviewing fourth-quarter output, according to KCNA. He called the missile and shell sector central to strengthening “war deterrence” and directed continued modernization through new munitions factories, with construction plans to be decided at the upcoming Workers’ Party congress. The visit appears tied to preparations for the ninth party congress expected early next year and follows KCNA reporting that Kim inspected an 8,700-ton “nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine” under construction. The report notes Kim has repeatedly emphasized scaling munitions output, amid speculation the push supports weapons transfers to Russia alongside reported troop deployments.
Comment: I think there should be a north-South run-off/competition to see which side can produce the most and best ammunition. Which side wins: The Arsenal of Democracies or the Arsenal of Authoritarians?
(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim calls for expanding missile, shell production capacity | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Soo-yeon · December 26, 2025
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20251226000351315?section=nk/nk
(ATTN: REWRITES lead; CHANGES photos throughout)
By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a plan to build new munitions factories to expand the production capacity of missiles and shells, stressing that raising their production is critical in bolstering the war deterrent, state media reported Friday.
Kim made the remarks during his visit to major munitions industry enterprises as he inspected the missile and shell production in the fourth quarter, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It did not elaborate on the date of his inspection or the factories' locations.
He ordered expanding the production capacity of missiles and shells, noting that plans to construct new munitions factories will be decided at the upcoming party congress, according to the KCNA.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) inspects major munitions factories while calling for expanding the production of missiles and shells, in this photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 26, 2025. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
"In order to satisfy the prospective demands of the missile and artillery forces of the Korean People's Army, it is necessary to continuously raise the level of modernization of the munitions industry by establishing new munitions industry enterprises as planned," Kim said, according to the KCNA.
"In particular, the missile and shell production sector is of paramount importance in bolstering up the war deterrent," he added.
Kim's entourage included Jo Chun-ryong, a party secretary, and Kim Jong-sik, the first vice director in charge of the munitions industry at the Workers' Party of Korea.
His inspection appears to be aimed at reviewing the accomplishment in the defense sector ahead of the ninth party congress set for early next year. North Korea's state media reported Thursday that Kim inspected an 8,700-ton "nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine" under construction.
The North's leader has consistently called for expanding the production of missiles and shells during his visits to key munitions factories, raising speculation that the move was related to the North's weapons exports to Russia.
Since North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to support Russia's war with Ukraine, Kim has highlighted the need to modernize conventional weapons and strengthen combat capabilities.
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 26, 2025, shows a major munitions factory that the North's leader Kim Jong-un inspected to review the production of missiles and shells in the fourth quarter. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Soo-yeon · December 26, 2025
5. Russia, N. Korea developing joint tourism programs: report
Summary:
Russia and north Korea are developing joint tourism programs and may pursue shared infrastructure projects, citing Russia’s natural resources minister Alexander Kozlov. He said both sides are prioritizing transport links to increase tourist flows, pointing to a newly opened Pyongyang–Moscow rail connection and an air route between the capitals. Kozlov, who co-chairs the bilateral intergovernmental cooperation committee, claimed Russian tourism to north Korea has more than doubled versus pre-COVID levels. He cited about 4,000 Russian visitors in 2024 and an estimated 7,000 in 2025, driven by interest in Masikryong ski resort and the newly opened Wonsan Kalma coastal area, and predicted further increases in 2026.
Comment: Putin and Kim BFFs.
Russia, N. Korea developing joint tourism programs: report | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Park Boram · December 26, 2025
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20251226009700315?section=nk/nk
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea and Russia are jointly developing new tourism programs, a Russian news agency reported Friday, citing Russia's natural resources minister.
"We are working on the development of new tourism programs. I am confident that we will also move on to joint projects to create tourism infrastructure," RIA Novosti quoted Minister Alexander Kozlov as saying.
Kozlov currently co-chairs the North Korea-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology.
Kozlov said the two countries are paying special attending to developing transport links needed in increasing tourist flows, referring to the recent opening of a direct rail line between Pyongyang and Moscow, and the launch of the Pyongyang-Moscow air route.
The minister noted that tourists from Russia to North Korea more than doubled in 2024 and 2025 compared with the pre-COVID-19 period, with about 4,000 Russians visiting the North last year and an estimated 7,000 this year.
He attributed the growth to rising interest in the Masikryong ski resort, as well as the newly opened Wonsan Kalma coastal region.
"Given the region's unique cultural and natural features, we believe that in 2026 we will once again see an increase in these figures," the minister was quoted as saying.
This undated file image from Tass shows Alexander Kozlov, Russia's natural resources minister. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Park Boram · December 26, 2025
6. S. Korean envoy, Russian vice FM hold talks on regional, int'l issues
Comment: I doubt there can be any serious cooperation on north Korean issues. But the ROK government is correct to try.
S. Korean envoy, Russian vice FM hold talks on regional, int'l issues | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Kang Jae-eun · December 26, 2025
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20251226009800320?section=nk/nk
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Ambassador to Russia Lee Sok-bae held talks with a Russian vice foreign minister Friday to discuss regional and international issues, Russia's foreign ministry said.
Lee and Deputy Minister Sergei Ryabkov exchanged their views on pending global and regional issues during their meeting held in Moscow, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said in a statement.
It marks the first time Russia has made public a meeting between Lee and a Russian vice foreign minister since the ambassador took office last month for his second term.
Their meeting comes amid reports that a South Korean foreign ministry official handling North Korean nuclear issues recently met with Oleg Burmistrov, the Russia's ambassador-at-large for North Korean nuclear issue, in Moscow.
The Russian ministry has denied the reports, saying it was not having any consultations with Seoul.
This undated file photo shows Lee Sok-bae, South Korea's ambassador to Russia, speaking. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
fairydust@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Kang Jae-eun · December 26, 2025
7. National security adviser reportedly asks U.N. chief to visit N. Korea: sources
Comment: Given the perception (in his mind) of Kim Jong Un's rising stature he may actually want this to happen to further raise his reputation as a player on the world stage. All in support of his border political warfare strategy.
National security adviser reportedly asks U.N. chief to visit N. Korea: sources | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Kang Jae-eun · December 26, 2025
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20251226009900320?section=nk/nk
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac has requested that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visit North Korea as part of efforts to bring it to dialogue, sources said Friday.
Wi made the request during a meeting with Guterres in New York on Dec. 18 to discuss South Korea-U.N. cooperation and exchange views on issues involving the Korean Peninsula, according to the sources.
During the meeting, Wi reportedly delivered a letter from President Lee Jae Myung, asking him to play an active role in bringing Pyongyang to the dialogue table, including through a visit to the North.
The presidential office said it cannot disclose details of the Wi-Guterres meeting, saying only that the two shared views on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea's National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac (L) shakes hands with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during Wi's visit to the U.N. headquarters in New York on Dec. 18, 2025, in this photo provided by the United Nations. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
fairydust@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Kang Jae-eun · December 26, 2025
8. Ruling party to launch inter-Korean peace strategy committee
Summary:
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea will launch an internal “inter-Korean peace strategy” committee to bolster the Lee Jae Myung administration’s engagement with Pyongyang. Party chair Jung Chung-rae said the committee will supply “cards” to support normalization of the ROK–U.S. alliance and inter-Korean relations and will recruit outside experts. It will be led by former Unification Ministers Chung Se-hyun and Lee Jae-jung and former security adviser Moon Chung-in, figures associated with an “autonomy-minded” approach that emphasizes Seoul’s independent policy space, versus an “alliance-first” camp. The move follows renewed bureaucratic friction over which ministry should lead inter-Korean policy. Jung also used the event to attack the opposition over Unification Church-linked allegations.
Comment: I fear that Moon Chung In's leadership will lead the committee to believe peace can only be achieved with the removal of US troops which he believes is an immediate to peace. Of course others believe it is US troops that are the "impediment" to the domination of the entire peninsula by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State of north Korea .
Ruling party to launch inter-Korean peace strategy committee - The Korea Times
The Korea Times · ListenListenText SizePrint
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Jung Chung-rae speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) will launch an internal committee focused on inter-Korean peace to support the government's engagement efforts with North Korea, party chairman Rep. Jung Chung-rae said Friday.
The liberal party leader said the move is intended to support the Lee Jae Myung administration's push for rapprochement with Pyongyang.
"President Lee needs a variety of cards to normalize the South Korea-U.S. alliance and inter-Korean relations. The DPK will not hesitate to play a leverage role," Jung said at his first press conference since taking office in August.
"To that end, we will establish a new strategy committee for peace on the Korean Peninsula within the party by inviting distinguished experts."
The committee, to be launched in the near future, will be led by former Unification Ministers Chung Se-hyun and Lee Jae-jung, as well as former special adviser for security affairs Moon Chung-in.
The three figures named to lead the committee are widely seen as representing the "autonomy-minded" camp within South Korea's foreign and security policy circles, in contrast to the "alliance first" camp. The former emphasizes Seoul's independent policy space in engaging Pyongyang, while the latter prioritizes coordination with Washington.
Moon Chung-in, left, special adviser for foreign affairs and national security, speaks with Chung Se-hyun, vice chairman of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council in this April 20, 2020 photo. Newsis
Tensions between the two camps have resurfaced following recent clashes between the foreign and unification ministries over which organization should take the lead in inter-Korean affairs.
The DPK's decision to place these figures at the forefront of its committee suggests that the autonomy-minded camp may gain greater sway over the Lee administration’s approach to North Korea.
However, Jung stopped short of endorsing either approach, saying that "black-and-white thinking" should be avoided to achieve tangible progress in engagement with North Korea.
During the hour-long press conference, the DPK chairman sharply criticized the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), saying it should be disbanded if its ties to the Unification Church are legally confirmed.
"Through a special prosecutor investigation into the Unification Church, the allegations surrounding the PPP's acceptance of political donations during the 2022 presidential election must be thoroughly probed," he said.
Citing the Constitution's prohibition on collusion between religion and politics, he stressed that "a political party whose objectives or activities violate the basic democratic basic order is subject to dissolution."
His remarks come as growing bribery allegations linked to the Unification Church have roiled political circles in recent months.
What began as a special counsel probe into former first lady Kim Keon Hee's improper ties to the Unification Church has expanded to include alleged links involving former PPP leader Kweon Seong-dong. Kweon is currently standing trial on charges of accepting 100 million won ($75,000) in illegal donations from the church.
The scandal has since widened to include figures from the ruling party as well. Earlier this month, Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo, a DPK member, stepped down from his post amid suspicions that he received 20 million won from the church.
Jung also reaffirmed his commitment to push ahead with judicial reform bills as part of his legislative priorities.
"I will keep pressing the pedal of reform without letting up," he said.
The DPK has been seeking to pass judicial reform bills, arguing that court proceedings linked to former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law case have been repeatedly delayed or dismissed.
The proposed legislation includes measures to punish judges, prosecutors and police officers found to have distorted the law, as well as plans to increase the number of Supreme Court justices. The move has drawn strong opposition from PPP, which accused the bills of undermining the independence of the judiciary.
The Korea Times · ListenListenText SizePrint
9. Defense chief vows to 'swiftly' push for project to build nuclear-powered subs
Comment: What is the definition of swiftly?
Defense chief vows to 'swiftly' push for project to build nuclear-powered subs | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Hyun-soo · December 26, 2025
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20251226007100315?section=national/defense
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Friday vowed to "swiftly" push ahead with South Korea's bid to build its nuclear-powered submarines during his visit to a Navy submarine unit.
Ahn made the remarks at the Submarine Force Command in Changwon, some 380 kilometers southeast of Seoul, ahead of the retirement of the country's first naval submarine next week.
The defense chief said the spirit of the ROKS Jang Bogo will live on through the country's push for nuclear-powered submarines, according to the defense ministry.
The 1,200-ton submarine is set to retire Wednesday after 34 years in service.
"We will swiftly push ahead with the long-sought nuclear-powered submarine program, including by forming a permanent interagency task force next year to complete negotiations with the U.S. within two years," he added.
Ahn also visited the Navy's UDT/SEAL special operation forces and the Sea Salvage and Rescue Unit to oversee the special operations at work on site.
His visit also included inspecting the military readiness posture of the 1st Marine Division and the Marine Corps' education and training group.
This photo, provided by the defense ministry, shows Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (front, C) posing with the Submarine Force Command in front of the ROKS Jang Bogo on Dec. 26, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sookim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Hyun-soo · December 26, 2025
10. Kim Chang-son, close aide of N. Korean leader, dies: KCNA
Summary:
KCNA announced the death of Kim Chang-son, a key aide to Kim Jong Un who served as protocol chief and was widely viewed as his de facto chief of staff. KCNA said Kim expressed “deep” condolences and sent a wreath, but gave no cause of death. Kim Chang-son was a visible figure during the 2018–2019 summit period, conducting advance preparations for Kim’s meetings with POTUS in Singapore and Vietnam. He also played a central role in 2018 inter-Korean diplomacy, including preparations for the Moon Jae-in–Kim Jong Un summit and the PyeongChang Olympics delegation logistics. He previously served in support roles under Kim Jong Il.
Kim Chang-son, close aide of N. Korean leader, dies: KCNA | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Soo-yeon · December 26, 2025
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20251226001100315?section=nk/nk
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- Kim Chang-son, who had served as the protocol chief to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has died, according to the North's state media Friday.
The North's leader expressed "deep" condolences over his death and sent a wreath to the bier the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, without saying the cause of his death.
The report said Kim Chang-son had worked in important posts of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and the state for a long time under "the special loving care and deep trust of the peerlessly great men."
He "made a distinguished contribution to defending the prestige of our Party and enhancing the external prestige of the country with his steadfast honesty and sincerity," the KCNA said.
Kim Chang-son (R), department director of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, accompanies leader Kim Jong-un (C) on a visit to the venue of the announcement of the New Year's message, in this file image captured from footage from North Korea's state-run TV station on Jan. 1, 2019. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Kim Chang-son, known as the de facto chief of staff to Kim Jong-un, served as the protocol chief, notably appearing on the sites of the North Korean leader's summit diplomacy.
In the height of Kim Jong-un's summit diplomacy in 2018-2019, highlighted by summit talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore and Vietnam, Kim Chang-son visited summit facilities in advance to check his leader's route and schedule.
He also visited South Korea in 2018, when the North's high-level delegation, led by Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of Kim Jong-un, attended the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
In April 2018, Kim Chang-son served as the North's chief delegate for working-level talks on protocol, security and media to prepare for summit talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un.
Under the rule of former leader Kim Jong-il, the late father of the incumbent leader, Kim Chang-son also worked at the office of the secretariat to support the ruler and his family.
Kim Chang-son (C), department director of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, looks around the truce village of Panmunjom on June 30, 2019, to prepare for leader Kim Jong-un's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Soo-yeon · December 26, 2025
11. N. Korean border guards borrow soybeans from civilians to pass inspection
Summary:
Daily NK reports a Ryanggang province case in which north Korean border guard commanders borrowed soybeans from nearby civilians to meet unit crop targets ahead of a late November in-person inspection. Because soybean yields were poor at one company, commanders solicited bags of beans from residents, who felt unable to refuse due to fear of retaliation or future inconvenience from local military authorities. Although commanders promised to return the soybeans after the inspection, soldiers allegedly siphoned off a portion during transport and traded it for alcohol and cigarettes. The episode underscores chronic food shortages and shows how crop production metrics shape commanders’ evaluations, while petty theft from unit farming has become a routine “survival strategy” for troops.
Comment: "Borrow?" So many things are wrong here. But this needs to be exploited. If RFA was operating their journalists would be reporting this story to other Koreans in the north.
N. Korean border guards borrow soybeans from civilians to pass inspection
Civilians afraid to refuse commanders' requests lend soybeans despite burden, resigned to inevitable theft as soldiers use crops as survival strategy
By Eun Seol - December 23, 2025
https://www.dailynk.com/english/n-korean-border-guards-borrow-soybeans-from-civilians-to-pass-inspection/
FILE PHOTO: In this undated photograph, North Korean soldiers are seen walking near Namyang, North Hamgyong Province. (Daily NK)
Border guards borrowed soybeans from nearby residents to pass a November inspection, then kept some to trade for alcohol and cigarettes despite promises to return them.
A source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK recently that the leaders of the Border Guard’s 25th Brigade had gone around each unit in late November to check on their soybean crop.
Since the crop had been particularly small at one company in the 3rd Battalion, the company commanders went around to the homes of nearby civilians before the inspection began and explained the situation. The civilians lent the company bags of soybeans that helped it pass the inspection without comment.
Given the chronic food shortage in North Korea, military units have long been managing farms to make up the shortfall in cereals and vegetables.
Soybeans are an important part of these agricultural efforts. Each year, the brigade leadership reportedly gives units a soybean crop target and checks on their performance after the fall harvest.
Civilians afraid to refuse commanders’ requests despite burden
While soybean farming isn’t, strictly speaking, a military matter, the crop tallies are a factor in evaluations of unit commanders’ capabilities. As such, the source said, commanders are anxious about being written up for not meeting the year’s crop targets.
“In the past, commanders would just pass along falsified reports, but this time they were notified that the brigade leaders would be dropping by to check on the crops in person. So the company commanders rushed off to ask for help from the civilians they know,” the source said.
Unfortunately, locals don’t feel comfortable refusing requests made by the company commanders.
“Civilians with ties to the company commanders or commissars are not keen to turn down requests of this sort. People who live next to a military garrison are afraid that bad blood with the military commanders could negatively impact their lives. So while lending the soybeans is a burden, refusing to lend them would also be a liability,” the source said.
The civilians reluctantly lent the soybeans to the company commanders given their promise to return the soybeans after the inspections. But while the soybeans were in transit, soldiers apparently filched some of them, which they traded for alcohol and cigarettes for their own private use.
Locals seemed resigned to this kind of thing. “I knew that would happen,” one remarked. “What did you expect?” another said.
Others said that the incident is a stark illustration of the true nature of military-public relations, where civilians have to bend over backward to accommodate troops in the area.
Crop theft becomes survival strategy amid chronic food shortage
Relatedly, the theft of crops is a chronic problem in the military’s farming operations.
“Every year, military units plant corn, potatoes and vegetables, among other crops. But many soldiers who work the fields pocket some of the crops for sale at the marketplace to help them get through their military service. As the food shortage continues, such behaviors have basically become a kind of survival strategy inside the military,” the source said.
12. How an Elusive Banker Allegedly Kept North Korea’s Dirty Money Flowing
Summary:
U.S. prosecutors and crypto analysts tracking Sim Hyon Sop, a north Korean banker accused of laundering millions for Pyongyang through front companies, crypto wallets, and brokers. Indictments allege he moved funds that touched U.S. dollar clearing, with major U.S. banks unknowingly processing roughly $74 million tied to sanctions evasion. Investigators link him to purchases for the regime, including communications gear and a helicopter, and to financing counterfeit cigarette production via raw tobacco procurement routed through firms in China and the UAE. A U.S. crypto developer’s $216,000 payment allegedly ended in Sim’s wallet; the FBI offers a reward.
Comment: It should go without saying: follow the money. And there is a lot to follow.
How an Elusive Banker Allegedly Kept North Korea’s Dirty Money Flowing
WSJ
By Patricia Kowsmann
Follow and Dasl Yoon
Follow
Dec. 24, 2025 11:00 pm ET
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/how-an-elusive-banker-allegedly-kept-north-koreas-dirty-money-flowing-ba258fa7
A few years ago, a California cryptocurrency developer hired a freelance coder remotely for a project. What he didn’t know: The salary he paid landed in the hands of North Korea.
The $216,000 paid in cryptocurrency was supposed to go to the coder in Singapore. Instead, it went to a digital wallet controlled by a North Korean named Sim Hyon Sop, according to crypto-analytics firm TRM Labs, which tracked the transactions.
U.S. prosecutors allege that Sim has engaged in money laundering and sanctions evasion on behalf of the Kim Jong Un regime.
Sim has allegedly used money he manages to buy communications equipment and a helicopter for Pyongyang, according to two U.S. indictments against him. He once paid over $800,000 in $100 bills for tobacco to help North Korea make counterfeit cigarettes, according to a third U.S. indictment against him.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering millions of dollars for his arrest.
Efforts to reach Sim, who U.S. officials say is living in China, were unsuccessful.
An FBI poster asking for information leading to Sim's arrest. FBI
Sim is one of several dozen North Korean bankers working abroad who are trying to make sure Pyongyang’s financial needs are met, despite heavy sanctions meant to totally isolate the country, according to U.S. officials. Thanks to those bankers, North Korea’s connectivity to the world financial system has only grown, according to the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, which sets standards for anti-money-laundering rules.
Every year, thousands of undercover North Korean workers and cyber thieves generate hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains for Pyongyang from places such as Russia, China and Africa, U.S. law-enforcement officials and cybersecurity analysts say. That cash is used to buy luxury goods and fund Kim’s weapons arsenal.
But the money has to be laundered and spent in ways that hide all traces to North Korea, or it will get blocked. That is where people like Sim come in, according to U.S. officials, who as part of their investigations accessed Sim’s emails and a spreadsheet he kept listing transactions.
They say much of the money Sim moves has touched the U.S. financial system, which clears U.S. dollar transactions. In one of Sim’s schemes, U.S. banks including Citibank, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo unknowingly processed at least 310 transactions worth about $74 million for Pyongyang, according to one of the indictments and related court documents.
Citibank, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo declined to comment.
An image provided by the state news agency shows a military parade in North Korea. Pyongyang continues to fund its weapons program using the global financial system. KCNA/AFP/Getty Images
In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, vowed to “doggedly investigate and charge North Korea’s agents who use U.S. bank facilities and U.S. infrastructure to defraud America, in order to generate revenue for weapons of mass destruction.”
Catching Sim is proving to be nearly impossible. The U.S. Treasury, which sanctioned Sim in 2023, said he moved to Dandong, China, after being kicked out of the United Arab Emirates in 2022. United Nations sanctions that took effect in late 2019 forbid member countries from hosting North Korean workers.
China is unaware of Sim’s activities and is opposed to what it sees as unilateral U.S. Treasury sanctions, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement to the Journal.
The go-getter
Although much is unknown about Sim, the U.S. Justice Department said he is 42 and 6 feet 1 inch tall—unusual for someone from North Korea, where the average male height is 5 feet 4 inches.
He attended an elite university in Pyongyang, where he likely learned English and Chinese, according to Ryu Hyeon Woo, a former North Korean acting ambassador in Kuwait who says he met Sim more than 10 times before defecting to South Korea in 2019.
A classroom at a university in Pyongyang said to have been attended by Sim. Xinhua/ZUMA Press
Ryu’s job in Kuwait included facilitating visas for all North Koreans living in the Middle East at the time. It also included monitoring the activities of North Koreans—who are only allowed to leave their home country with the government’s permission—to make sure they fulfilled obligations to Pyongyang and didn’t defect.
Ryu and U.S. officials say Sim was sent abroad to represent an affiliate of North Korea’s state-run Foreign Trade Bank, which is in charge of the regime’s foreign-currency transactions.
The bank, like others in North Korea, is under international sanctions for helping fund Pyongyang’s weapons program. Efforts to obtain comment from the bank were unsuccessful. North Korea has called sanctions against the country “a foolish attempt to isolate and stifle it economically and bring down the socialist system chosen by its people themselves.”
As of mid-2024, more than 50 North Korean bankers were operating outside the country, according to the Financial Action Task Force.
A redacted copy of Sim's U.A.E. residency card was included in a complaint filed by the Justice Department. U.S. Justice Department
In 2016, Sim arrived in the U.A.E., where he lived for a time with his wife and daughter. Ryu said many North Koreans worked in the country as computer programmers and some stole crypto on the side—and someone had to handle their funds.
Ryu said that when he traveled to Dubai from Kuwait, Sim would pick him up in a Toyota Land Cruiser and they would frequently dine with other North Korean operatives. He said that Sim described to him how he would launder money, including how Sim moved it between different countries and shell companies, and paid brokers to obscure the sources of the funds.
“Sim was a go-getter,” said Ryu. He “was the most useful person in the Arab region for anything relating to money laundering.”
The U.A.E. said it canceled Sim’s residence visa in 2019 in line with U.N. sanctions against North Korea. But it took roughly another three years for him to leave, which the U.A.E. attributed to pandemic border closures. The U.A.E.’s Foreign Ministry said an investigation regarding his alleged illegal activities continues.
Here’s how Sim typically operates, according to Ryu, U.S. officials and crypto researchers:
North Korean IT workers and cryptocurrency hackers remit their gains in the form of cryptocurrency to Sim. The cryptocurrency is funneled through multiple digital wallets to help make it untraceable.
Sim or his associates then pay brokers in places such as the U.A.E. or China to take the cryptocurrency and cash it out.
Later, they transfer the money into a bank account of a front company working on behalf of Sim.
With clean cash at his disposal, Sim can manage purchases for the Kim regime, without the money ever going in or out of North Korea.
In 2019, Sim bought a helicopter in Khabarovsk, Russia, to be delivered to a port in North Korea, according to one of the U.S. indictments. Sim allegedly used his network to camouflage his country’s involvement, routing the payments through a law firm in Zimbabwe for the $300,000 deal.
Crypto laundromat
The biggest source of funds for North Korea’s bankers is stolen crypto, netting more than $6 billion for the regime over the years, according to data from Chainalysis, which tracks crypto theft.
In one case, Sim tapped funds from a 2017 heist to buy an undisclosed communication device for Pyongyang, according to a U.S. indictment, which accused Sim of conspiracy to launder money.
Under Sim’s instructions, an associate transferred about $50,000 worth of bitcoin from a North Korean-controlled digital wallet to another wallet controlled by an over-the-counter trader, the indictment said, citing communication between the men. The trader allegedly converted the cryptocurrency into U.S. dollars and deposited them into a bank account of a Hong Kong-based front company. From there, prosecutors say the money was transferred to the sellers of the communication device in Thailand.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it doesn’t comment on individual cases, but that it has effective anti-money-laundering controls in place.
Fake Marlboros
Sim has also been involved in financing sales of counterfeit cigarettes, another big earner for Pyongyang, according to the FBI and one of the U.S. indictments against Sim. North Korea produces millions of packs of fake Marlboros and other brands, selling them in places such as the Philippines and Vietnam, the indictment said. To make the fakes, sanctioned North Korean companies must procure raw tobacco from around the world.
The U.S. prosecutors said Sim used a group of companies in China, the U.A.E. and elsewhere as fronts to purchase the supplies. The companies, controlled by Chinese nationals, would contact producers of raw tobacco and arrange for shipments to North Korea, in violation of sanctions.
Banks in the U.S. that unknowingly processed the dollar-denominated payments included Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Bank of New York Mellon in addition to Citibank, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, according to U.S. court documents.
Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Bank of New York Mellon declined to comment.
Sometimes banks would be suspicious and freeze payments. As part of an investigation, a U.S. law-enforcement agent went undercover at one of the tobacco suppliers in 2019, according to the U.S. indictment. It said that the representative of a group of companies used by Sim discussed a payment to the supplier that had been blocked by a bank.
“No problem,” the representative told the undercover agent, according to the indictment. “We have a lot of ideas.”
The representative allegedly suggested the supplier could register as a company and open an account in Dubai, Hong Kong or Singapore to receive the payment.
The representative, Jin Guanghua, was arrested in Australia and tried in the U.S. recently. He pleaded not guilty and the jury couldn’t agree on a verdict. A lawyer for Jin declined to comment.
IT theft
Zaki Manian Alex Flynn/Bloomberg News
The case involving the California crypto entrepreneur who needed coding help got rolling in 2021 when the businessman, Zaki Manian, was hired to build a blockchain called Cosmos Hub. The coders he hired remotely said they were based in Singapore, Manian told the Journal.
Manian said that in 2023, he was contacted by the FBI. Payments Manian had made in crypto to one of the coders, who said his name was Sarawut Sanit, ended up with Sim, according to an analysis from Nick Carlsen, a former FBI analyst now at TRM.
As the money moved through multiple wallets, it was merged with payments received by other North Korean workers, before it landed in a Sim-controlled wallet, Carlsen said. He said the funds were then transferred to the wallet of an over-the-counter trader based in the U.A.E. who has been sanctioned by the U.S. for converting crypto into cash for Sim.
The Iran link
U.S. prosecutors filed their first indictments against Sim in 2023. But China has no extradition treaty with the U.S. Crypto researchers say he continues to operate.
In February, a digital wallet controlled by Sim made transfers worth at least $67,000 in crypto that ended up in a wallet later identified by Israeli authorities as belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian armed forces that the U.S. designated a terrorist organization, according to an analysis from TRM’s Carlsen.
Carlsen said North Koreans could be swapping crypto for dollars with the Iranians or settling payment for oil or a service.
In another case tracked by TRM, a digital wallet that U.S. authorities said had received salaries from North Korean IT workers then transferred cryptocurrencies to a Sim wallet in July, indicating he continues to launder workers’ income.
The FBI recently increased its reward for anyone who can help it catch Sim, from $5 million to $7 million.
Write to Patricia Kowsmann at patricia.kowsmann@wsj.com and Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com
WSJ
13. Ex-top security officials acquitted over alleged cover-up of 2020 border killing by N. Korea
Summary:
A Seoul court acquitted five former senior officials from the Moon Jae-in administration accused of covering up the September 22, 2020 killing of South Korean fisheries official Lee Dae-jun by north Korean soldiers near the Yellow Sea maritime boundary. Prosecutors argued the government falsely framed the incident as a defection to avoid damaging inter-Korean relations and ordered deletions of intelligence and documents. The court cited insufficient evidence, questioned any clear motive, and noted that Moon had directed disclosure of confirmed facts, making a deliberate disobedience claim hard to accept. The victim’s brother condemned the ruling as nonsensical and vowed to continue the fight.
Comment: A terrible tragedy/atrocity. And no closure for the family.
(2nd LD) Ex-top security officials acquitted over alleged cover-up of 2020 border killing by N. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Chae Yun-hwan · December 26, 2025
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20251226005952315?section=national/national
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details; CHANGES photo)
By Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- Former top security officials from former President Moon Jae-in's administration were acquitted Friday on charges of involvement in an alleged cover-up of the 2020 murder of a South Korean fisheries official by North Korea.
The Seoul Central District Court found former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won and former Defense Minister Suh-wook not guilty for allegedly trying to cover up the incident, citing a lack of evidence.
Former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee and former NIS chief secretary Noh Eun-chae were also acquitted.
Former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won and former Defense Minister Suh Wook (from L to R) arrive at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Dec. 26, 2025, for their trial on charges of involvement in an alleged cover-up of a fisheries official's death by North Korea in 2020. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
The case goes back to Sept. 22, 2020, when the fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, was fatally shot by North Korean soldiers near the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, a day after going missing while on board a fishery inspection ship. His body was burned by the North.
At the time, the Moon administration said Lee had sought to defect to the North, but prosecutors have argued the announcement was driven by concerns the incident could worsen inter-Korean relations and that officials attempted to cover it up.
The court determined that the defendants lacked sufficient motive to cover up the official's death and the subsequent burning of his body, citing the former president's orders at the time to disclose confirmed facts to the public.
"By the prosecution's arguments it would mean they disobeyed the president's orders, which is difficult to accept," the court bench said.
It also found it difficult to clearly recognize that the defendants allegedly pushed to portray the incident as a defection.
The bench said the judgment of a defection should be respected even if it is false as it was made with limited information available at the time.
The former national security adviser and the former spy chief voiced relief at the court ruling, with the latter vowing to push for reform to prevent the politicization of the prosecution and the intelligence service.
Meanwhile, the late official's brother, who attended the hearing, told reporters he found the ruling "nonsensical," saying he would work with others to determine how to fight it.
Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of a South Korean fisheries official shot to death by North Korean soldiers in 2020, speaks to reporters ahead of a trial of former top security officials charged with allegedly covering up the official's death at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Dec. 26, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
The case received renewed attention after the launch of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration in 2022, with the state audit agency requesting the prosecution investigate the case.
Prosecutors indicted the former security adviser on charges of instructing the military and the Coast Guard the day after Lee's killing to keep the case confidential.
The former Coast Guard chief was indicted on charges of acting on Suh's orders and distributing alleged false documents about the possibility of the official's defection.
The former defense minister, Park and Noh were charged with ordering the deletion of intelligence and documents as part of the alleged cover-up.
Prosecutors had requested a four-year prison term for the former security adviser, a two-year term for Park and a three-year term for the former defense minister.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Chae Yun-hwan · December 26, 2025
14. Editorial: West Sea Cover-Up Acquittal: Bereaved's Tears Unanswered
Summary:
The Chosun Ilbo argues the court’s acquittal of former Moon administration officials in the 2020 West Sea killing case leaves the bereaved family without answers. The editorial accepts the court’s finding of insufficient proof but questions key facts: the deletion of more than 5,000 intelligence documents after a Cheong Wa Dae meeting, testimony that some aides objected to a perceived cover-up, and the Coast Guard’s persistence in a “voluntary defection” narrative despite crewmate statements and other anomalies. It also cites Moon’s refusal to disclose records and the 15-year sealing of materials as fueling suspicion and deepening the family’s grief.
Editorial: West Sea Cover-Up Acquittal: Bereaved's Tears Unanswered
Court clears Moon administration officials despite document deletions and defection narrative; family demands justice
By The Chosunilbo
Published 2025.12.27. 00:21
Updated 2025.12.27. 00:28https://www.chosun.com/english/opinion-en/2025/12/27/B7GUJJJXYFDFTESEWAMV7NH7FU/
Lee Rae-jin (left), a bereaved family member of a West Sea shooting victim, holds a press conference on the additional indictment of former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon and one other person at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on July 21, 2023, in the morning. Lee Rae-jin states that he additionally indicts former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon and one other person on charges of destruction of presidential designated records related to information that former President Moon Jae-in received and instructed at the time of the late Lee Dae-jun's death due to a North Korean shooting in the West Sea. /Courtesy of Jang Su-young
All defendants, including former Cheong Wa Dae National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, former NIS Director Park Jie-won, and former Defense Minister Seo Wook, were acquitted in the first trial on charges of covering up the “killing of a government official in the West Sea.” This verdict came three years after they were indicted for allegedly concealing the fact that Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, was shot and killed by North Korean forces in September 2020 and his body was incinerated, as well as pushing the narrative that Lee had voluntarily defected to North Korea. The court stated, “There is insufficient evidence to acknowledge the charges.” However, there are multiple points that are hard to accept.
The core of this case is whether the Cheong Wa Dae Office of National Security, the Ministry of National Defense, and others attempted to conceal Lee’s death. The court noted that President Moon Jae-in, upon receiving reports of Lee’s shooting, instructed, “Confirm the facts and inform the public truthfully,” suggesting there was no cover-up.
However, prosecutors’ investigations revealed that the Ministry of National Defense and the NIS deleted over 5,000 intelligence reports and documents shortly after a countermeasure meeting at Cheong Wa Dae. If the intent was not to conceal, why were so many documents deleted? Testimonies also emerged that Cheong Wa Dae secretaries protested, “Is this something to be covered up?” Despite this, the court ruled, “The deletion was merely to prevent exposure to employees unrelated to the work,” dismissing it as a cover-up. It is difficult to dispel suspicions that the court selectively used evidence favorable to the defendants.
Regarding the charge that the Moon administration pushed the narrative of voluntary defection, the court stated, “There is no evidence that Seo and others directed or were involved in pushing the ‘voluntary defection’ narrative.” However, the Coast Guard at the time proceeded with the defection narrative despite unanimous statements from Lee’s crewmates that “defection was impossible.” Investigations showed the Coast Guard Commissioner insisted, “No other possibilities. Defection is correct,” overriding his team’s opposition. Even after being informed that the life jacket Lee wore had Chinese characters—indicating it was not a domestic or Coast Guard-issued one—he stated, “I will act as if I didn’t see it.” The Coast Guard then announced that Lee likely defected due to gambling debts. Without instructions, why would the Coast Guard Commissioner act this way?
According to the court’s ruling, the Moon administration had no reason to hide the incident. However, President Moon rejected the bereaved family’s request for information disclosure. He appealed the court’s decision to disclose records and designated related materials as presidential archives, sealing them for 15 years. If they were innocent, why did they do this? The Democratic Party called the verdict a “Christmas gift.” The bereaved family said, “We are shedding tears of blood.” Who will wipe these tears?
15. South Korean webtoon slammed for heroine resembling Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae
Summary:
A South Korean webtoon, Princess Goes to School on Naver, is drawing backlash because readers say its heroine, Kim Seol, resembles Kim Ju-ae, the only publicly known child of north Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Critics argue the romantic-comedy premise, a “secret heir” living a normal school life guarded by an undercover agent, risks normalizing a regime associated with severe human rights abuses. The debut episode was hit with hostile comments and a very low rating, around 2 out of 10, unusual for the creator’s otherwise highly rated work. The controversy also reflects Seoul’s sensitivity to Ju-ae’s rising visibility alongside her father, which has fueled speculation about succession and concern over image-softening narratives.
Comment: Free speech. But rather than censor or suppress this, use it to the nation's benefit. Use it to educate the Korean people everywhere about the nature of the Kim family regime. There are so many ways to exploit this for positive benefits. But the default and knee jerk reaction (and naive and uninformed reaction) is that by watching this Koreans in the South will be positively influenced about the regime in the north. We can do better. Only those who are weak, lack confidence, are paranoid, and do not truly believe their ideological position are afraid of information (even webtoons). That certainly describes Kim Jong Un. Do not be like Kim.
South Korean webtoon slammed for heroine resembling Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae
Critics say the romantic comedy ‘Princess Goes to School’ risks softening perceptions of North Korea’s regime
SCMP’s Asia desk
Published: 4:47pm, 24 Dec 2025Updated: 4:53pm, 24 Dec 2025
A webtoon in South Korea has come under fire for a protagonist some say resembles the only publicly known child of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with critics arguing the series normalises a clandestine regime notorious for alleged human rights abuses.
Princess Goes to School, a fictional romantic comedy released last week on platform giant Naver, centres on Kim Seol – a seemingly ordinary high school student in South Korea who is unaware she is the scion of Pyongyang’s rulers – and her relationship with a young covert agent assigned to protect her.
In the story, Kim Seol lives a normal campus life while the so-called “black agent”, acting as her undercover bodyguard, infiltrates the school to shadow and protect her.
Webtoons are South Korea’s digital comic strips, akin to Japan’s manga, created by independent artists who publish online in the hope their work will be adapted into television dramas, films, animation or games.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un tours new mountain resort with daughter
According to the Korea Herald, critics have drawn parallels between Princess Goes to School’s premise and Kim’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, arguing that its sympathetic portrayal risks softening perceptions of the North Korean regime.
The series was hit by a wave of negative user comments, initially receiving an online rating of 1.9 out of 10 after its first episode was released last week, before edging up to 2.02. The artist, who goes by the username “Mute” on the platform, has six other series, all rated above nine.
Among the throngs of comments panning the first episode, one user said: “Why create a webtoon glorifying North Korea? North Korea is our enemy and still threatens us.”
Another questioned the “person in charge of passing this”, taking issue with Naver’s decision to publish the work.
Seoul has taken a hawkish view of Kim Ju-ae, who has appeared with her father with increasing frequency over the past year. She accompanied the senior Kim at China’s Victory Day events in September, fuelling speculation about a possible succession.
In the same month, The Chosun Daily quoted former vice unification minister Kim Hyung-seok as saying: “Judging solely from the way Kim Ju-ae is making public appearances, it would not be unreasonable to view her as a potential successor.
“I suspect this is also part of a strategy to soften the negative image of Kim Jong-un’s regime, which has been racing ahead with nuclear and missile development.”
Kim Ju-ae is believed by Korean affairs experts to be around 12 years old. Her existence first became widely known in 2013, when former American basketball star Dennis Rodman, a frequent visitor to Pyongyang, said he had met Kim’s infant daughter.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrives with his daughter Kim Ju-ae at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre in Pyongyang on June 29. Photo: KCNA via AP
“I held their baby Ju-ae and spoke with Ms Ri [Sol-ju, Kim’s wife] as well. He’s a good dad and has a beautiful family,” Rodman told The Guardian at the time.
Kim Ju-ae made her first public appearance in November 2022, when state media reported the successful launch of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile.
Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said Kim “guided the launch alongside his beloved child and wife”, releasing images of Ju-ae in a white coat.
She had not initially been regarded as a serious contender to lead the country, amid speculation Kim may have an older son born in 2010 and assumptions that North Korea’s patriarchal system would make a female successor unlikely.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in 2017 that Kim had a third child, though the child’s gender was never confirmed.
Since her public debut in 2022, Kim Ju-ae’s status has appeared to rise steadily, with frequent appearances alongside her father at key military sites, during troop inspections and among those seated at leadership podiums.
State media has carefully styled her to appear mature beyond her years, often with hair similar to her mother’s and dressed in high-heeled shoes.
This Week in Asia reported in September that her presence at Beijing’s Victory Day event had fuelled speculation that Pyongyang was accelerating preparations for Ju-ae’s role as a fourth-generation successor.
16. In 2025, K-Pop Battled Its Demons
Summary:
The New York Times argues that 2025 showcased K-pop’s global triumph and its internal strains. Netflix’s animated hit “KPop Demon Hunters” became a mass phenomenon, signaling how familiar K-pop aesthetics have become worldwide. Yet the year’s defining drama was NewJeans’ legal battle with Hybe subsidiary Ador, which stalled the genre’s most innovative group and spotlighted the industry’s rigid, top-down control. With BTS poised to return and hybrid projects like Katseye and cross-genre collaborations multiplying, K-pop is becoming an influence rather than a closed system. Meanwhile, Korean pop experimentation is thriving outside conglomerates, hinting at the next disruption for its future.
In 2025, K-Pop Battled Its Demons
NY Times · Jon Caramanica · December 25, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/arts/music/k-pop-newjeans-katseye-kpop-demon-hunters.html
The genre peaked in terms of global awareness with “KPop Demon Hunters,” while the industry’s most promising new act was mired in a legal morass.
Listen to this article · 8:37 min Learn more
Danielle from NewJeans onstage in Hong Kong in March. The group had hoped to kick off a new era with a fresh start, but remains in its old recording contract.Credit...Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
By
Dec. 25, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET
This year, from a distance, the cultural phenomenon that revealed the most about K-pop’s place in the global zeitgeist was the Netflix animated film “KPop Demon Hunters.” Among the most consumed cultural products of 2025, this parable about good and evil — framed as a tug of war between competing K-pop groups — became the most watched film in Netflix history, and its songs topped the charts here and abroad. It seemed to clearly cement the universal embrace of K-pop as a sound, style and milieu.
But take a slightly closer look, and the fissures beneath this top-level triumph become evident. The true gauge of K-pop’s power, and the shape of its future growth, was playing out between lawyers in the struggle between NewJeans, the most innovative group of the past few years, and its label, Ador, a subsidiary of the entertainment conglomerate Hybe, over claims of workplace hostility and creative sabotage. The members of NewJeans tried to break their contract, but in October a South Korean court upheld its validity. In November, the label announced the return of two of the group’s members; the other three announced their intention to return soon after, though no announcements about the full group have been made since. NewJeans’s contract is set to expire in 2029.
K-pop is over three decades old as a form, and in the past 10 years has asserted itself worldwide, remaking pop music in the macro by out-innovating its competitors. The K-pop industry is highly restrictive, highly regulated creatively and largely managed top-down, led by a handful of entertainment conglomerates that have attempted to streamline and scale the creation of pop stars. But K-pop also has become a playground for pop experimentalists and eccentrics, and for some groups, NewJeans among them, musical innovation became crucial to their thrill.
Originality of that sort, however, is almost impossible to manufacture at scale. And so 2025 has been a year that underscored the tension between K-pop as an industry and K-pop as an art form, testing its scale and durability as a cultural force.
“KPop Demon Hunters” cleanly distills what it took to get to this point. (And it proves that K-pop is big enough to be gently parodied.) In the film, a girl group, Huntr/x, is tasked with protecting the world — its fans, really — from the encroachment of evil as literalized through zombielike demons, who are sophisticated enough to present as an equally compelling pop group, Saja Boys. The songs are lithe and peppy, and the frenzied relationship between artists and the fans who adore them is played as lightly silly, as if underscoring how fandom can be a force of unquestioning allegiance and dubious good.
“KPop Demon Hunters” was a genuine phenomenon in 2025.Credit...Netflix
Read broadly, the plot can symbolize the tension between manufactured pop and artistic freedom, or serve as a cautionary tale about how mass media dulls the receptors of its most voracious consumers, leaving them susceptible to manipulation.
The movie is also, simply, an undeniable smash. Several of its songs became fixtures at or near the peak of the Hot 100 — Huntr/x’s “Golden” topped the chart for eight weeks, and is also nominated at the 2026 Grammys for song of the year, among other categories.
This sign of global visibility is a logical outgrowth of how the last decade has unfolded. It owes heavily to the rise and dominance of BTS, the boy band that became the genre’s true global breakout in the 2010s, and whose members have recently completed mandatory military service. In BTS, K-pop found unimpeachable ambassadors — musically nimble, personable and doggedly dedicated to craft. The biggest K-pop story of next year will be the group’s return to recording and touring, which will inject revenue and energy into the industry, but won’t be much more than a bandage atop an unhealed wound: The scale of the group’s power has been essentially impossible to replicate, and the system that created it has been fragmenting, sometimes for the better.
The most literal example of this is the rise of Katseye, a girl group whose assembly by Hybe and Geffen Records was recounted on “Pop Star Academy: Katseye,” a reality show that streamed on Netflix. It is global by design, with members from various countries, and largely performs in English.
Part of the charm of Katseye is the way in which it chafes against K-pop formalities. The group’s best hit, “Gnarly,” is a chaotic industrial shredder, and “Gabriela” is cheekily melodramatic. The group’s members — some of them at least — are comfortable with profanity. They starred in a saucy Gap ad. On its recent live tour, Katseye blended the metronomic skill set imprinted onto its members by their training with a sense of abandon and mild chaos that would typically have no place at a K-pop performance.
The formation of the girl group Katseye was chronicled on “Dream Academy,” a reality show that streamed on Netflix.
This heralds an era in which K-pop is an influence, a starting point, but perhaps not a destination. It’s a move echoed by some of the bigger stars of the genre’s last wave — for example, Rosé, of Blackpink, whose collaboration with Bruno Mars, “Apt.,” came out in late 2024 but continued to dominate pop charts well into this year. That was one of numerous collaborations putting K-pop stars in partnership with artists from other genres, an indicator of widening acceptance and also increased tolerance for musical risk: Jisoo and Zayn; J-Hope with Don Toliver and Pharrell Williams; J-Hope with GloRilla, Seventeen and PinkPantheress; Jennie and Doechii.
There’s also a new reality competition on Apple TV premised upon these mutually beneficial alliances: “KPopped,” in which English-language pop stars like Spice Girls, Boyz II Men and Kylie Minogue team with established K-pop groups to remake their signature songs in K-pop style.
These kinds of collaborations take the musical importance of K-pop as a given, but they are also the sort of creative bursts that tend to happen once a genre has reached an era of saturation, and needs new oxygen to thrive.
Of all the new K-pop acts of the 2020s, the internal candidate most likely to expand the reach and sound of the genre has been NewJeans. From 2022 to 2024, it proposed a realignment of K-pop along looser and more musical lines, with songs that were gentle, sophisticated and sweet, while never spilling over to saccharine. But for the last year, the quintet has been navigating contentious legal proceedings over the validity of its contract, and the ouster of Min Hee-jin, its creative director and the chief executive of its imprint, Ador.
It attempted to rebrand as NJX, and performed one concert under that name in Hong Kong in March, but has essentially been silenced and musically sidelined while its claims were assessed in court.
NewJeans is the most innovative K-pop group of the past few years.Credit...Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
The specter of the NewJeans debacle hangs over the industry both from business and artistic standpoints. But a NewJeans reboot under these conditions is unlikely to be as radical or satisfying as its earlier burst of creativity, whether because of the enforced split from Min, who’d guided the group from its beginning, or the near impossibility of creative freedom under fraught business circumstances.
The eventual outcome of the face-off will indicate whether K-pop as an industry is interested in aesthetics or simply scale, bottom-up innovation or top-down domination.
In the meanwhile, K-pop’s mainstream is trapped in a creative cul-de-sac — groups like Stray Kids, Twice, Enhypen and Seventeen are commercially thriving, but the musical frameworks they’re deploying are redundant and increasingly dull. (A promising outlier: “Cerulean Verge,” a solo EP by Wendy of the girl group Red Velvet, full of bright and slightly cheeky ’80s pop.)
More important, though, there is ample innovation happening in South Korean music outside of the conglomerate system. Much of the best feels as if it’s in an unspoken dialogue with the K-pop that for many years hungrily ate up influences from abroad, and then assembled them into an unlikely and overwhelming new package. That maximalism had a lot in common with the hyperpop production that began to rise to dominance in the late 2010s, and which has found new life in a crop of young Korean artists — Effie, the Deep, Kimj and more — who are making some of the most provocative pop of today.
It’s the sound of a generation of path breakers raised under a suffocating system that they wish to both exist outside of and also indirectly comment on, if only to eye-roll. It has shards of K-pop bombast buried deep within, but what’s built atop it is novel, challenging and utterly modern. As the K-pop industry fends off fatigue and anxiety from within, it may have already inadvertently given birth to the sound that will upend it.
Jon Caramanica is a pop music critic who hosts “Popcast,” The Times’s music podcast.
A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 28, 2025, Section AR, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: K-Pop Battled Its Various Demons
See more on: Blackpink (Music Group), NewJeans (Music Group)
NY Times · Jon Caramanica · December 25, 2025
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
Senior Fellow, Global Peace Foundation
Editor, Small Wars Journal
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
Phone: 202-573-8647
email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
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