|
Quotes of the Day:
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.”
– Oscar Wilde
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
– Marie Curie
"Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization."
– Peter Kropotkin
1. Seoul unveils ambitious plan to raise awareness about North Korean human rights
2. North Korea's Kim boasts of achievements as he opens key year-end political meeting
3. South Korean capital drills to guard against surprise attack by North
4. N. Korea will seek to increase nuclear weapons to improve 'second-strike capability': experts
5. Ghost Ships at Reawakened North Korea Port Put Ukraine in Peril
6. Israeli Embassy in Seoul removes footage depicting hypothetical Hamas attack on S. Korea
7. ＜Urgent Report＞ Public execution takes place again on December 19, the third in Hyesan this year…large numbers of people mobilized to witness event
8. O come all ye faithful – or else! (north Korean mourning)
9. S Korea issues unilateral sanctions on 8 N Korean individuals
10. Russia tells South Korea not to be surprised if Moscow retaliates over sanctions
11. South Korea inks $2.9b fighter purchase with US
12. N. Korean officials show up for year-end party meeting in luxury sedans
13. Life satisfaction rate among North Korean defectors hits record high
14. Employment rate of N.K. defectors in S. Korea hits record high of 60.5 pct: report
15. Ex-USFK commander calls for deployment of US tank battalion to S. Korea against NK threats
16. South sanctions North's head of intelligence, 7 others for illegal arms trade, cyber crimes
17. South to prosecute North's human rights violators after unification
1. Seoul unveils ambitious plan to raise awareness about North Korean human rights
This is really an important initiative. It is the most substantive effort to support a human rights upfront approach. I recommend the Yoon administration and Minster Kim Yungho for this. Sure there are naysayers but this can do so much to bring attention to the human rights issue and serve as a focal point for all human rights activities as well as civil society to support human rights in north Korea. With the upcoming 10th anniversary of the UN Commissions Inquiry which documented that the human rights abuses in the north and crimes against humanity being committed on a scale not seen since WWII this is really an appropriate action. The political opposition in Korea that is against this is showing its true colors toward being north Korean apologists.
Seoul unveils ambitious plan to raise awareness about North Korean human rights
Three-year road map calls for research center and sending info to DPRK citizens, but experts say some goals unrealistic
https://www.nknews.org/2023/12/seoul-unveils-ambitious-plan-to-raise-awareness-about-north-korean-human-rights/
Ifang Bremer | Joon Ha Park December 26, 2023
SHARE
A North Korean mother and child push a heavy trolley in Pyongyang | Image: Eric Lafforgue (April 2010)
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification unveiled a three-year road map to promote North Korean human rights on Tuesday, outlining plans to build a national human rights center and to disseminate information to DPRK citizens.
While experts welcomed the Yoon administration’s strategy to improve the rights of DPRK citizens, they raised concerns that domestic politics could hinder the government’s plans, while expressing skepticism about a planned push to persuade Pyongyang to change its laws.
According to Tuesday’s unification ministry press release, the new road map seeks to “increase the human rights awareness of North Korean residents and to promote human rights-friendly policies to North Korean authorities.”
Seoul has released a human rights road map every three years since the enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Act in 2016. The law also requires the government to create an annual execution plan and report it to the National Assembly.
The ministry divided the latest plan into eight stages as follows:
- Systemize and effectively investigate the actual conditions of North Korean human rights violations
- Strengthen North Koreans’ right to access information
- Resolve issues related to separated families, abductees and prisoners of war
- Promote domestic and international consensus on the reality of North Korean human rights
- Enhance cooperation with the international community for the improvement of North Korean human rights
- Strengthen the foundation for implementing North Korean human rights policies
- Actively improve the humanitarian situation for North Korean residents
- Promote inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation on human rights
Each of the stages includes short, medium and long-term goals, which range from continuously publishing an annual report on North Korean human rights to “regularizing” the North Korean Human Rights Policy Council through collaboration with the National Assembly.
In the short term, the Yoon administration wants to support projects to develop content that will help “inform” North Koreans about “the reality of their human rights” — a section notably missing from the previous plan announced in 2020.
The road map does not specify how the government will achieve this but appears to be referring to various strategies to distribute anti-regime propaganda into the DPRK.
Other short-term goals include “informing the international community of the reality of North Korean human rights and to indirectly convey them to North Koreans” and urging Pyongyang “to abolish laws and systems that block North Koreans from accessing external information, such as the Reactionary Culture Exclusion Act.”
Martyn Williams, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, told NK News that “informing the international community of the North Korean human rights situation is easily achievable, as is funding private groups to send human rights content into North Korea.”
“But getting the state to abolish that law? Virtually impossible,” he said.
“The problem with North Koreans getting free access to information is linked with regime survival. Giving citizens the ability to access the truth rather than a propaganda diet determined by the party could spell the end of the regime, so it’s totally against their interests,” he explained, adding that “it’s difficult to imagine what South Korea could propose in return.”
The DPRK has increasingly cracked down on the spread of outside information in the country in recent years, ratcheting up penalties on the consumption and distribution of foreign media and intensifying a campaign to combat “anti-socialist behavior” among youth.
Unification minister Kim Yung-ho at the 2023 International Dialogue on North Korean Human Rights held in December | Image: Ministry of Unification, edited by NK News
‘SOUTH KOREA’S HOLOCAUST MUSEUM’
One notable goal under the fourth stage of Seoul’s plan is to establish a “National North Korean Human Rights Center” in the medium term to “foster both domestic and international understanding of actual human rights violations in North Korea.”
South Korean media and Ji Seong-ho, a defector lawmaker with the ruling People Power Party, have dubbed the planned center as akin to a “South Korean Holocaust museum.”
According to the road map, the center should be a “central hub” for research and efforts to educate the public about North Korean human rights violations. The budget to set up the center is set at 26 billion won ($20 million).
Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy at the Sejong Institute, told NK News that the center could help establish a more systematic and centralized basis for research on DPRK human rights.
The absence of such an institute has resulted in a fragmented landscape of nongovernmental organizations and rights groups researching these issues, which leads to problems like “dependence on external funding and low salaries for researchers,” he said.
“A central government-led organization will allow for the fostering of specialized researchers, cultivate expertise and enable stable research on North Korean human rights,” Cheong explained.
But the expert stressed that domestic politics could limit the center’s success since conservative and progressive governments have taken dramatically different approaches to human rights issues.
The Yoon administration has made raising awareness about the Kim regime’s rights violations the centerpiece of its inter-Korean policy, but the previous Moon administration downplayed human rights issues to facilitate diplomacy with Pyongyang, raising the possibility that a progressive government could walk back plans to build the center.
“There is a need to publish credible research results and operate the institution regardless of the political landscape,” Cheong emphasized.
Activists have largely welcomed the Yoon administration’s revival of North Korean human rights policies, but recently some have questioned the effectiveness of Seoul’s spending on the issue.
Last week, several experts and North Korean escapees raised concerns about the optics of lavish, tax-funded conferences on human rights issues, lamenting the superficial involvement of North Korean defectors and questioning whether such events are capable of driving real change.
Under the new road map, the unification ministry plans to organize several more international conferences on DPRK human rights in 2024. This includes two editions of the International Dialogue on North Korean Human Rights, an international forum to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the U.N.’s Commision of Inquiry report and a dialogue with the U.N. special rapporteur on North Korean human rights.
Pyongyang sharply criticized Seoul’s first three-year road map on DPRK human rights, released in the early days of the Moon administration in April 2017. An article in the state-run Rodong Sinmun called the plan a “vicious challenge” to the DPRK, warning Seoul not to behave “recklessly.”
Edited by Bryan Betts
2. North Korea's Kim boasts of achievements as he opens key year-end political meeting
Kim and the Propaganda and Agitation Department are students of the doctrine of MSU - "Make stuff up."
North Korea's Kim boasts of achievements as he opens key year-end political meeting
The Washington Post · by Hyung-Jin Kim | AP · December 27, 2023
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised what he called achievements and victories that strengthened national power and boosted the country’s prestige this year, as he opened a key political meeting to set new policy goals for 2024, state media reported Wednesday.
Experts said that during this week’s year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, North Korea would likely hype its progress in arms development because the country lacks economic achievements amid persistent international sanctions and pandemic-related economic hardships.
In his opening-day speech at the meeting that began Tuesday, Kim defined 2023 “as a year of great turn and great change both in name and reality, in which (North Korea) left a great trace in the glorious course of development in the efforts to improve the national power and enhance the prestige of the country,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
KCNA said North Korea achieved a rapid advancement in its defense capabilities this year in the wake of the launch of its first military spy satellite in November and the introduction of other sophisticated weapons.
KCNA said North Korea also reported a rare good harvest this year as the country finished building new irrigation systems ahead of schedule and met major agricultural state objectives. It said that modern streets, new houses and other buildings were built in Pyongyang and elsewhere across the country.
According to a recent assessment by South Korea’s state-run Rural Development Administration, North Korea’s grain production this year was estimated at 4.8 million tons, a 6.9% increase from last year’s 4.5 million tons, thanks to favorable weather conditions. But the 4.8 million tons are still short by about 0.7 million tons of sufficient annual levels, as experts say North Korea needs about 5.5 million tons of grain to feed its 25 million people each year.
Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, said that during the first day of the Workers’ Party meeting, North Korea avoided publicly detailing this year’s economic projects but used rhetoric to boast of its advancing military programs.
The party meeting, expected to last several days, will review state projects from this year and establish new objectives for next year. In recent years, North Korea has published the results of its meeting, including Kim’s closing speech, in state media on Jan. 1, allowing him to skip his New Year’s Day address.
Hong said that attention outside North Korea will focus what it will say about relations with the United States, China and Russia, and steps it would take to solidify Kim’s leadership as he turns 40 next month.
Last week, North Korea test-fired its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, the solid-fueled Hwasong-18, which is designed to strike the mainland U.S. North Korea said the Hwasong-18 launch, the third of its kind this year, was meant to warn the U.S. and South Korea over their confrontational moves against North Korea.
On Nov. 21, North Korea put its first military spy satellite into orbit, though outside experts question whether it can send militarily useful high-resolution imagery.
The launches of the Hwasong-18 missile and the spy satellite were part of an ongoing run of weapons tests by North Korea since last year. Kim has maintained he was forced to expand his nuclear arsenal to cope with increasing hostilities from the U.S. and its allies toward the North, but foreign experts say he eventually hopes to use an enlarged arsenal to win greater outside concessions when diplomacy resumes.
Last Thursday, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik told lawmakers that North Korea appeared to be speeding up its weapons testing activities to highlight its achievements in defense sectors because it lacked major progress in the economy and public livelihoods.
In recent years, North Korea’s fragile economy was severely battered by pandemic-related curbs, U.S.-led sanctions and the North’s own mismanagement. But monitoring groups say there are no signs of a humanitarian crisis or social chaos that could threaten Kim’s absolute rule at home.
In August, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers that North Korea’s economy shrank each year from 2020 to 2022 and that its gross domestic product last year was 12% less than in 2016.
__
Associated Press writer Jiwon Song contributed to this report.
The Washington Post · by Hyung-Jin Kim | AP · December 27, 2023
3. South Korean capital drills to guard against surprise attack by North
The Yoon government has made a number of important changes to the ROK from a realistic understanding of the threat from the north, to enhancing the alliance, to human rights, to unficiaiton.
South Korean capital drills to guard against surprise attack by North
By Daewoung Kim and Jimin Jung
December 27, 20233:53 AM ESTUpdated 4 hours ago
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korean-capital-drills-guard-against-surprise-attack-by-north-2023-12-27/
[1/5]South Korean firefighters take part in an anti-terror drill against North Korea's possible provocations amid mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula, in Seoul, South Korea, December 27, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji Acquire Licensing Rights
SEOUL, Dec 27 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 South Korean military, police and emergency personnel joined rare defence drills on Wednesday that simulated an attack by North Korea on Seoul, to counter fears the city is in striking distance of Pyongyang's weapons and covert attack.
The exercise comes amid heightened tension after the North tested an intercontinental ballistic missile and launched its first military spy satellite, with the neighbours reinstating last month some military measures eased after a 2018 pact.
"There was a big lesson for us when Israel's world-class advanced defence system helplessly buckled under a surprise attack by Hamas armed with conventional artillery and primitive means," said Oh Se-hoon, the capital's mayor.
He said the militant group's cross-border rampage on Oct. 7 through towns in Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people at the time, showed that superior military capabilities did not mean much if the enemy mounted a successful surprise attack.
Wednesday's drills simulated attacks on a major water supply facility, telephone network stations, and an underground communications and power cable corridor.
Seoul's distance of just 38 km (24 miles) from the military border with the North makes it particularly susceptible to an attack at any time, Oh added.
The densely populated centre of government, business and finance is home to 9.4 million people, with an additional 1.4 million who work and go to school there each day.
Oh has adopted a hardline position against North Korea, arguing that the South must possess its own nuclear weapons as the only way to neutralise the threat from Pyongyang.
However, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has ruled out owning nuclear weapons, making it a priority instead to bolster a military alliance with the United States and restore security ties with Japan.
The drills came on a day that South Korea imposed new sanctions on eight North Koreans linked to nuclear and missile programmes.
The neighbours have clashed at sea and one of the South's islands was bombed by the North, killing scores on both sides, but there has been no direct attack on Seoul since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
This month's test of the North's latest ballistic missile followed November's successful launch of its first military spy satellite, while a constitutional revision in September enshrined use of nuclear weapons as a national defence policy.
Reporting by Daewoung Kim, Jimin Jung and Jack Kim; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
4. N. Korea will seek to increase nuclear weapons to improve 'second-strike capability': experts
Of course this is what the regime seeks as it is a key deterrent capability. But can it attain such a capability? Or will US capabilities trump any chance of the regime ever having it?
N. Korea will seek to increase nuclear weapons to improve 'second-strike capability': experts | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · December 27, 2023
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will continue to escalate its nuclear threats against the United States and South Korea next year while seeking to improve its capabilities to strike back with a nuclear weapon if it comes under a nuclear attack, experts said Wednesday.
Jun Bong-geun, a professor emeritus at the state-run Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), made the point at a briefing on the prospects of international relations for next year, stressing that North Korea has taken the "most aggressive nuclear posture in the world" due to its inadequate "second-strike" capability.
"The nuclear doctrine prevalent among those with second-strike capabilities is 'if you strike me, I will strike back with my nuclear weapons so you will die anyways if you strike me,'" he said.
However, North Korea, with a limited arsenal of only around 50 nuclear weapons, is unlikely to have the capability to launch a nuclear retaliatory attack after sustaining a "first strike" from an adversary, he added.
Pyongyang will seek to increase its number of nuclear weapons to more than 100 "in the shortest possible time," he said.
Choi Woo-seon, a professor at the KNDA, echoed Jun's views, saying North Korea can carry out a provocation any time next year, though it will likely be "limited" under the U.S. extended deterrence.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) talks with officials during a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute in Pyongyang on March 27, 2023, in this file photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim guided the work for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles, and the institute reported to Kim on recent years' work and production for bolstering the North's nuclear forces both in quality and quantity, according to the KCNA. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
On growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Jun saw it unlikely for Moscow to transfer arms related to intercontinental ballistic missiles.
"Russia will not do anything to neglect its responsibility at the very least as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and a nuclear country under the Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.
In October, the U.S. government said the North had shipped more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia.
The revelation came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport, in September, raising concerns about a possible arms deal between the two countries.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · December 27, 2023
5. Ghost Ships at Reawakened North Korea Port Put Ukraine in Peril
It would be nice to see these "ghost ships" ghosted and just disappear. But of course we would be blamed and it would be touted as an act of war.
Images and graphics at the link below.
Ghost Ships at Reawakened North Korea Port Put Ukraine in Peril
By Jon Herskovitz
December 26, 2023 at 4:00 PM EST
Updated on December 27, 2023 at 1:00 AM EST
A dormant North Korean port near the border with Russia has sprung back to life, fueling what experts say is a burgeoning trade in arms destined for the frontlines in Ukraine that is simultaneously bolstering the anemic economy managed by Kim Jong Un.
Satellite imagery of the Najin port taken from October to December shows a steady stream of ships at the facility, hundreds of shipping containers being loaded and unloaded, and rail cars ready to transport goods.
The activity appears to have picked up since early October, when the US accused North Korea of sending munitions to Russia. The White House provided imagery it said showed weapons later being delivered thousands of miles away to a depot in the Russian town of Tikhoretsk for use in Ukraine.
North Korean Munitions Routes Into RussiaSource: White House
The flow of munitions that the US and South Korea say have included hundreds of thousands of artillery shells could grow far greater in importance as divisions in the US Congress and European Union over military aid threaten Kyiv’s ability to repel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
“Pyongyang’s decision to deliver munitions at scale once again underscores the grave threat that North Korea poses to international security, this time feeding a conflagration on European soil that has already cost the lives of tens of thousands of Ukrainians and consumed tens of billions of dollars in Western military support,” according to a report by the Royal United Services Institute, a UK security think tank.
Pyongyang, which has been banned from arms sales for about 15 years, has repeatedly rejected accusations it is supplying Russia.
Analysis of the satellite data suggests otherwise. In a recent example, an image from Dec. 9 seems to show the Russian container ship Angara, sanctioned by the US, in Najin’s port unloading cargo while containers from North Korea await loading at an adjacent pier.
Port of Najin in North Korea on Dec. 9. Analysis by Open Nuclear Network.Source: Planet Labs Inc.
“Satellite imagery shows that round trips of cargo vessels between Najin, North Korea, and Dunay, Russia, have continued unabatedly despite additional US sanctions and widespread reporting on this activity in the past few months,” said Jaewoo Shin, an analyst at the Open Nuclear Network in Vienna.
Shin said that while the nature of the cargo can’t be confirmed with available imagery, the number of round trips and transferred containers suggest a significant and ongoing exchange, possibly including weapons and other military supplies.
As the North Korea-Russia trade picks up, the flow of US military aid to Kyiv has been increasingly under threat, with the Pentagon saying it will run out of money to replace weapons sent to Ukraine by Dec. 30 unless Congress approves additional funding. That’s unlikely now, with most lawmakers out of Washington for the year-end holidays.
With an effective stalemate on the battlefield, the Kremlin is increasingly confident Russia can consolidate its control over occupied regions of eastern and southern Ukraine and wait for international support for Ukraine to erode. Putin said this month that “there’ll be peace when we achieve our goals.”
For many US partners, the flagging support for Ukraine is tied in part to a much-vaunted counteroffensive during the spring and summer that failed to deliver on the high expectations of allies.
Read: Zelenskiy Feels the Chill From Ukraine’s Allies in a Tough Week
While satellite imagery shows steady activity at Najin, the vessels docking there appear to have turned off international maritime transponders that give their location, effectively turning them into ghost ships as they make the relatively short trip between Najin and Dunay — also written as Dunai — about 180 kilometers (110 miles) away. The Central Intelligence Agency identified the port as a Soviet submarine base during the Cold War, according to a document obtained by RUSI, the UK think tank.
RUSI’s October report analyzed dozens of high-resolution images that it concluded showed a few cargo vessels repeatedly making the trip between Najin and Dunay, likely packed with North Korean arms that are then sent across Russia.
That trade appears to have continued in the time since the report was published, according to Joseph Byrne, a research fellow at RUSI and co-author of the report.
“There has been a continuation of deliveries by these vessels,” he said, adding there is “a continuation of the unloading of boxes loaded in Russia and delivered to North Korea and then the loading of containers that have seemingly comes down from rail cars from other places in North Korea to apparently be shipped back to Russian military facilities.”
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in November there had been about 10 shipments of weapons from North Korea to Russia since August, likely encompassing more than 1 million rounds of artillery. North Korea holds some of the world’s largest stores of munitions, much of it interoperable with weapons Russia has on the front lines.
“About six weeks later, I’ve seen no signs of the transfer rate slowing down — so for all we know that’s another half million shells,” said weapons expert Joost Oliemans, who co-authored the book The Armed Forces of North Korea.
Oliemans said he’s identified four types of munitions that have been a part of recent deliveries: 120 millimeter mortars, 122mm and 152 mm artillery shells and 122 mm rockets based on an analysis of what is making its way to the front lines.
“The situation on the battlefield is impacted” by those deliveries, he said. “Rather than seeing a notable change in tactics or swaths of land suddenly changing hands, it will allow Russia to keep up much higher pressure for longer on Ukrainian forces.”
An extra one million shells means about 2,700 rounds more per day Russia could fire at Ukraine, which is already having trouble procuring artillery and may face more difficulty if aid from the US isn’t secured.
“How much exactly North Korea will be able to deliver is anyone’s guess,” Oliemans said, adding that deliveries will likely slow down once inventories become depleted, with North Korea’s manufacturing capabilities insufficient to keep up with the pace of demand.
The Russian-North Korean Trade Connection
Two ports suspected of being hubs for an arms trade
Source: Bloomberg
Russia’s importance to North Korea had waned after the end of the Cold War, with China becoming Pyongyang’s biggest benefactor. Trade between Russia and North Korea slowed to a trickle when Kim shut the borders at the start of the pandemic.
But as Covid protections eased, and international sanctions hung over Moscow and Pyongyang, the two rekindled ties, finding they each had something the other wanted and could trade without real repercussions from the outside world.
Kim heralded “the glorious course of development” his country has been taking over the past year as his ruling party opened a policy-setting meeting, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
The assistance Kim receives from Russia is easing the pressure of years of sanctions over his increasing nuclear arsenal and potentially making the already-tense situation on the Korean Peninsula worse.
“With both Kim and Putin recognizing the utility and benefits of partnership, cooperation is likely to continue between North Korea and Russia into next year,” said Soo Kim, a former Korea analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, who now works at US-based management consulting firm LMI.
“The give-and-take between the two countries is unlikely to be stopped so long as the international consequences — sanctions, reputational shaming — remain symbolic and largely insufficient to deter bad behavior,” she said.
— With assistance from Kevin Varley
(Updates with North Korea’s policy meeting.)
6. Israeli Embassy in Seoul removes footage depicting hypothetical Hamas attack on S. Korea
Intelligent men learn from their mistakes. Wise men learn from the mistakes of others.
Interesting timing with the defense exercises taking place two days after the Israeli video of a simulated attack on Christmas Day. Was someone synchronizing influence activities?
Israeli Embassy in Seoul removes footage depicting hypothetical Hamas attack on S. Korea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · December 27, 2023
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- The Israeli Embassy in South Korea on Wednesday deleted a self-produced controversial video featuring an imaginary case of Seoul being attacked by the Hamas group, after the South Korean government expressed concern over the matter.
On its social media channels, the embassy on Tuesday uploaded the video featuring a potential terror attack in Seoul on a Christmas day.
In the footage, a young mother looks at her cellphone as it suddenly issues an air raid warning while she is watching her daughter sing carols at a school talent show. Soon the sounds of gunfire and explosions run through the city.
The mother, covered in blood, is kidnapped by armed men. She searches for her little girl, but all she sees is her daughter's red mittens left on the ground.
The footage then shows subtitles reading, "Imagine if it happened to you. What would you do?" and lists the fatalities and other facts about Hamas' attacks on Israel.
The Israeli Embassy said the footage was made to help South Koreans better understand the feelings of its own people. But it removed the post from its social media accounts Wednesday as public criticism grew.
"Hamas' killing and kidnapping of Israeli civilians cannot be justified, but it is not considered appropriate for the Israeli Embassy in Korea to produce and distribute a video comparing this to the security situation of another country," Seoul's foreign ministry said.
"We conveyed our position to the Israeli Embassy in Korea, and the Israeli side deleted the video," the ministry said.
This AFP photo shows a smoke plume erupting over Khan Yunis from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during an Israeli bombardment on December 27, 2023. (Yonhap)
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Seung-yeon · December 27, 2023
7. ＜Urgent Report＞ Public execution takes place again on December 19, the third in Hyesan this year…large numbers of people mobilized to witness event
Evil. Pure evil.
＜Urgent Report＞ Public execution takes place again on December 19, the third in Hyesan this year…large numbers of people mobilized to witness event
asiapress.org
A picture drawn by defector Jang Han-gil recreating a public execution he witnessed. The picture was created around the year 2000 while Jang was in China.
On December 19, a large number of people were mobilized to watch the execution of a young man in Hyesan, Yanggang Province. The man was killed by firing squad. A reporting partner in Hyesan provided more details. (KANG Ji-won / ISHIMARU Jiro)
◆ The man allegedly killed a businesswoman and stole grains she was transporting
According to the reporting partner, the man who was killed by firing squad was a young man in his early twenties. He was accused of beating a businesswoman to death with a rock and stealing the grains she was transporting from an agricultural village.
On the morning of December 19, local authorities alerted people through their workplaces and neighborhood watch units to unconditionally participate in a public trial. The public trial was held from 2 PM at an airport in Hyesan in front of a large number of people mobilized for the event.
Another trial was held at the same time as the execution by fire squad. The trial sentenced 12 male and female defendants on charges of attempted murder, assisting defections and smuggling, and smuggling illegal drugs to eight to ten years of reeducation (prison time).
The December 19 execution is the third time this year that a public execution has been held in Hyesan. On August 30, seven men and two women were executed for selling a cow they slaughtered. On September 25, one man was executed by firing squad for siphoning off medicine.
On December 20, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on the December 19 execution. RFA’s reporting had many similarities to the information ASIAPRESS was able to receive from its reporting partner.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
A map of North Korea (ASIAPRESS)
asiapress.org
8. O come all ye faithful – or else! (north Korean mourning)
False motivation will get you nowhere (Ranger Instructor SGT. Pugh from the PT platform at Ranger School).
O come all ye faithful – or else!
North Koreans are forced to visit historical sites during Kim Jong Il’s mourning period.
By Moon Sung Hui for RFA Korean
2023.12.26
North Korean youths visit the “secret camp” in the Mount Paektu area where Kim Il Sung is said to have led an army of guerrillas against the Japanese. It’s also allegedly the birthplace of his son, Kim Jong Il.
rfa.org
Between Dec. 17 and 27, while many countries are immersed in holiday cheer, North Koreans are being required to study intently, brave freezing temperatures to visit cultural sites, then have their loyalty scored in exams – all to mark the life of former leader Kim Jong Il, the father of current leader Kim Jong Un, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.
And if they don’t pass the test, they could face public criticism.
Kim Jong Il died on Dec. 17, 2011, and every year since, the following 10 days have become an annual mourning period for a man who during his life carefully crafted a cult of personality around himself, including his mythical birth on a sacred mountain, complete with multiple rainbows, a new star that lit in the sky and the changing of seasons from winter to spring, even though it was still February.
During most years, North Koreans were required to visit their local statue of Kim Jong Il to give tribute, and then retire to their homes to watch documentaries to learn about his life and accomplishments.
But this year, the government wants to step things up to make it a bigger, more serious affair, a resident of the northern province of Ryanggang told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“On the 16th, the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Party issued an instruction to all institutions, companies, organizations and to residents to solemnly create an atmosphere of remembrance throughout the country on the anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death,” he said.
“New educational content for the commemoration period of Kim Jong Il’s death included in-depth lessons about the leadership achievements that the greats had accomplished in each resident’s hometown.”
The phrase “the greats” refers to Kim Jong Il and his father, national founder Kim Il Sung.
“The content added visitations to learn about revolutionary historic sites and revolutionary sacred sites, which had not existed before,” the resident said.
‘Always together’
On the actual anniversary, the residents of the city of Hyesan attended a two-hour memorial event at 7 a.m., where they presented flowers to the statues of both the late leaders and remained silent for one minute.
“Afterwards, the provincial party and provincial People’s Committee officials who participated in the event visited the Ryanggang Province historic sites,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials from city-level organizations took a tour of Kim Jong Suk University of Education, where Kim Jong Il gave field guidance, and workers of factories, cooperative farms and members of each labor organization visited the greenhouse housing Kimjongilia, an orchid named after the late Dear Leader.
There they saw a newly created mosaic mural of the father-and-son duo, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, titled “Always together on the road for the people,” he said.
The mandatory excursions would continue on the 18th, the resident said.
“Workers at factories and cooperative farms, students of elementary, middle, and high school, and members of each labor organization will visit the revolutionary memorial stones erected in various units of Hyesan,” he said. “They have to study the content written on the revolutionary memorial stone as well.”
Braving the cold
Another resident said that many of the sites in Ryanggang province are related to the purported heroic acts of Kim Il Sung during the time he led an army of guerillas against Japanese forces before and during World War II.
“Learning is conducted in the form of directly visiting revolutionary sacred sites and historic sites and studying the stories behind them,” the second resident said.
“The fact that there are more sacred sites and historic sites [in Ryanggang] compared to other regions means that the amount of learning to be done is greater than in other regions.”
The cold weather makes touring remote battlefields a chilly proposition, he said.
“These days, the weather in Ryanggang Province is hovering around minus 20 degrees [Celsius] (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit), causing great suffering to those who are forced to tour the sites,” he said. “Elementary, middle and high school students are also forced to visit revolutionary sacred and historic sites in this weather.”
Tours of historic and sacred sites are carried out by workers and students not only after work and school, but also during work hours, as many organizations are scheduled back-to-back, he said.
Residents cannot simply go through the motions. At the end of their visits, they must take a test.
“There is a study review held on the 23rd,” he said. “If you do not successfully pass the question-and-answer format of the study review, you may be put on the stage for public criticism at the annual study review.”
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
rfa.org
9. S Korea issues unilateral sanctions on 8 N Korean individuals
S Korea issues unilateral sanctions on 8 N Korean individuals
They bring the total to 83 individuals and 53 institutions under the current Yoon administration.
By Lee Jeong-Ho for RFA
2023.12.26
Seoul, South Korea
A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location Dec. 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency.
rfa.org
South Korea imposed unilateral sanctions on North Korean individuals involved in illicit financing of the country’s high-stake nuclear programs that have posed threats to the United States and its regional allies.
New sanctions target eight individuals, including the Director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau Ri Chang-ho, and the CEO of a company called Beijing New Technology Park Yong-han, South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday. The ministry asserted that the individuals were actively involved in generating income for supporting Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs through what it described as “illicit trading and cyber operations.”
The individuals were involved in “foreign currency acquisition, technology theft, and the trading of sanctioned materials, including weapons,” the statement added.
A former North Korean diplomat stationed in China, Yoon Chol, for instance, was allegedly involved in the trading of Lithium-6 – a mineral that falls under the United Nations sanctioned items list for North Korea, it claimed.
Under South Korean regulations, South Korean nationals must obtain permission from the governor of the Bank of Korea or the Financial Services Commission if they wish to engage in financial transactions with sanctioned individuals.
The U.S. ally’s latest sanction marks the 14th time the current Yoon Suk Yeol administration has imposed sanctions on North Korea, bringing the total to 83 individuals and 53 institutions since October last year.
“We have consistently made it clear that there will be consequences for North Korean provocations,” the ministry statement said. “We will continue to closely coordinate with the international community, including the United States and Japan.”
South Korea’s announcement comes as North Korea is expected to determine its major policy direction for 2024 this week, where it is likely to put an increased focus on further boosting its nuclear capabilities.
Last week, North Korea fired its latest solid-fueled ICBM, the Hwasong-18, with the launch reaching a maximum altitude of about 6,500 kilometers (4,040 miles) and flying a distance of around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before hitting its target off its eastern coast.
Although the test was conducted at a high angle, it still represented a potential threat to the U.S. If launched at a lower trajectory, this missile may be capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
The International Atomic Energy Agency announced on Dec. 22 that that a new nuclear reactor is apparently operational at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex, suggesting the country’s acquisition of additional means to obtain plutonium for nuclear weapons.
The nuclear watchdog’s discovery came as the North’s official state media reported Kim Jong Un emphasizing the country’s implementation of its “assertive response strategy,” which includes the potential for a nuclear attack in retaliation against the allies.
Meanwhile, the leader’s sister Kim Yo Jong issued a fresh warning that the allies should consider how Pyongyang might respond to what it perceives as their hostile actions.
Edited by Elaine Chan and Taejun Kang.
rfa.org
10. Russia tells South Korea not to be surprised if Moscow retaliates over sanctions
Russia and north Korea diplomatically scratching each other's back.
Russia tells South Korea not to be surprised if Moscow retaliates over sanctions
https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-tells-south-korea-not-be-surprised-if-moscow-retaliates-over-sanctions-2023-12-27/
Reuters
December 27, 20234:56 AM ESTUpdated 3 hours ago
MOSCOW, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Russia told South Korea on Wednesday not to be surprised if Moscow retaliates against Seoul for expanding the list of goods which cannot be exported from the East Asian nation to Russia without special permission.
Seoul said this week it would add over 600 types of goods which could potentially be used for military purposes to its export control list for Russia.
The list includes heavy construction equipment, rechargeable batteries, aeronautical components, and some cars.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Wednesday:
"This is an unfriendly move taken at Washington's behest. It will damage South Korea's own economy and industry.
"We reserve the right to take measures in response, and not necessarily symmetrical ones. They (the South Koreans) should not be surprised (if and when we do)."
Reporting by Dmitry Antonov Editing by Andrew Osborn
11. South Korea inks $2.9b fighter purchase with US
Keeping F-35 costs down.
South Korea inks $2.9b fighter purchase with US
Stars and Stripes · by David Choi · December 27, 2023
A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II photographed during flight training over the Utah Test and Training Range on Feb 14, 2018. (Andrew Lee/U.S. Air Force)
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — South Korea agreed this month to purchase 20 additional F-35A Lightning II fighter jets to respond to “power imbalances” stemming from North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, according to a news release Wednesday from the Ministry of National Defense procurement agency.
The additional F-35As will have “significantly improved performance,” such as data encryption, over the approximately 40 F-35As already in South Korea’s air force, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said in the release.
The deal was finalized earlier in December; the new F-35As are expected to be operational by 2027, the administration said.
The administration in March proposed buying 20 fighter jets from the United States for nearly $2.9 billion. In addition to serving as a deterrent against North Korean threats, the new F-35As could fill the void left by jets that are undergoing maintenance, the ministry said at the time.
The U.S. State Department on Sept. 13 approved the sale of up to 25 F-35As and related equipment to South Korea for around $5.06 billion, according to a news release from the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The sale will improve South Korea’s “capability to meet current and future threats by providing credible defense capability to deter aggression in the region and ensure interoperability with U.S. forces,” the agency said.
Interoperability is a term used by militaries to describe the ability of one nation’s forces to use another’s training methods and equipment.
The State Department also approved the sale of several F-35 munitions, including 39 AIM-120C-8 advanced medium range air-to-air missiles, to South Korea for around $271 million on Dec. 1, according to a separate release.
South Korea began receiving F-35As for its air force in 2019 after agreeing to a $7 billion deal with the United States.
The fifth-generation aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin comes in three variants: the F-35A conventional takeoff-and-landing, F-35B short takeoff and vertical-landing and the F-35C designed for aircraft carriers.
U.S. and South Korean F-35As took to the skies for aerial drills earlier this year. On Nov. 15, U.S. F-35Bs, and F-16 Fighting Falcons flew alongside South Korean F-35As and F-15K Slam Eagles to escort a U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bomber from Seoul to the Yellow Sea in an airpower demonstration.
David Choi
David Choi is based in South Korea and reports on the U.S. military and foreign policy. He served in the U.S. Army and California Army National Guard. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Stars and Stripes · by David Choi · December 27, 2023
12. N. Korean officials show up for year-end party meeting in luxury sedans
We forget that the royal court economy is functioning just fine in north Korea.
N. Korean officials show up for year-end party meeting in luxury sedans | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · December 27, 2023
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- Key North Korean officials arrived for a year-end meeting of the ruling Worker's Party in luxury vehicles, state media footage showed Wednesday, despite international sanctions banning the supply of luxury goods to the North.
Footage from the North's Korean Central Television showed Premier Kim Tok-hun; Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizations affairs at the ruling Workers' Party; and Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, using Mercedes-Benz S-class cars as they made their way to the party meeting.
This photo, taken from footage aired by the North's Korean Central Television on Dec. 27, 2023, shows Premier Kim Tok-hun (L) arriving for a year-end plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang the previous day in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Earlier Wednesday, North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong-un presided over the plenary session of the ruling party to review state policies for this year and discuss those for 2024.
The footage showed a soldier escorting Premier Kim as he emerged from the rear seat of the eighth-generation S-class limousine, Jo and Choe each appeared from the driver's seats of luxury cars presumed to be ninth- and eighth-generation S-class sedans.
The 10-minute video from the state media also showed a second-generation model of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class vehicle parked nearby, presumed to belong to the North Korean leader.
Kim has made public appearances in different Mercedes-Maybach S-class vehicles, including a limousine when attending a ceremony congratulating soldiers on the launch of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile this month.
This photo, taken from footage aired by the North's Korean Central Television on Dec. 27, 2023, shows Jo Yong-won (R), secretary for organizations affairs at the ruling Workers' Party, arriving for a year-end plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang the previous day in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
In August 2020, he was spotted in the driver's seat of an SUV presumed to be a Lexus LX 570.
Such vehicles are subject to U.N. sanctions that ban the supply of luxury automobiles to North Korea.
In October, South Korea's unification ministry said Kim and his family are spending up to millions of dollar a year on luxury goods despite chronic food shortages and economic difficulties worsened by sanctions and COVID-19.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) gets out of a Mercedes-Benz vehicle to attend a photo session with participants of the 5th National Conference of Mothers on Dec. 8, 2023, in this file photo taken from the North's Korean Central Television. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · December 27, 2023
13. Life satisfaction rate among North Korean defectors hits record high
Some apparent good news here.
Life satisfaction rate among North Korean defectors hits record high
The Korea Times · December 27, 2023
Cho Min-ho, president of the Korea Hana Foundation, speaks during a press conference at a hotel in central Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Unemployment rate falls to 4.5% as economic conditions improve for them
By Jung Min-ho
The rate of North Korean defectors satisfied with their lives in South Korea hit a record high of 79.3 percent this year amid an overall improvement in their economic conditions.
According to an annual report released Wednesday by the Korea Hana Foundation, which supports North Koreans trying to resettle here, their life satisfaction rate rose by 1.9 percent from in 2022 ― a continuation of the upward trend in recent years.
Meanwhile, their employment rate increased by 1.3 percent to reach a record high of 60.5 percent, and their unemployment rate decreased to a record low of 4.5 percent from 6.1 percent.
Moreover, their average monthly salary increased to 2,457,000 won ($1,900), narrowing the gap further with South Korean natives who earn about 3 million won on average.
When asked why they were satisfied with their new lives here, 41 percent chose freedom as their reason, followed by a better economic situation (23.6 percent) and being able to earn income for the time they work (20.5 percent).
All these are positive signs of their successful integration into South Korean society, said Cho Min-ho, president of the foundation.
“They have experienced both North Korea’s totalitarian system and the free democratic one in South Korea,” he said during a press conference in Seoul. “I think the more success stories they make, the more steps we take toward unification eventually.”
A woman checks a bulletin board set up for a job fair for people from North Korea at COEX in southern Seoul, Dec. 1. Yonhap
However, challenges remain. Among 18.1 percent of survey respondents who said they were dissatisfied with life in South Korea, 20.6 percent cited “fierce competition” as the reason, while 17.7 percent picked “discrimination.”
Asked whether they had experienced discrimination or social isolation because of their North Korean origin, 16.1 percent responded positively. The figure is an improvement, down from 19.5 percent last year. But many of them (72.8 percent) said cultural differences, including ways of communication such as their North Korean accents, often become the subject of discrimination, and over 45 percent said they believe South Koreans are prejudiced against them.
The rate of those with such unpleasant experiences had been on a steady downward curve from 25.3 percent to reach 16.1 percent in 2021. But after the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate bounced back to exceed 19 percent again — the highest level since 2018.
As life became more difficult for everyone due to the global health crisis, they might have felt more discriminated against as they tried to find or maintain jobs, according to staff at the foundation.
The study also suggests — interestingly — that North Korean escapees view the future of their children and themselves far more positively than those born in South Korea.
Asked whether they were satisfied with their socioeconomic achievements, 59.8 percent of North Korean defectors said they were. Only 31.8 percent of South Koreans gave the same answer for themselves.
Asked about the prospects of improvement in their socioeconomic status, 71.3 percent of North Korean respondents said the possibility is high. A little more than 26 percent of their South Korean counterparts gave the same answer.
In response to the same question regarding their children, 66 percent of North Koreans said the possibility is high. Among South Koreans, the rate was just 29.1 percent.
The Korea Times · December 27, 2023
14. Employment rate of N.K. defectors in S. Korea hits record high of 60.5 pct: report
But that would seem to mean that some 39.5% are not employed. Of course not every escapee may be employable due to age (too old or too young) or health or skills.
Employment rate of N.K. defectors in S. Korea hits record high of 60.5 pct: report | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · December 27, 2023
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- The employment rate of North Korean defectors in South Korea reached a new high of 60.5 percent earlier this year, a report showed Wednesday, in a sign of improving living conditions for those who fled from the North.
The April figure -- which serves as annual statistics for North Korean defectors -- marked a 1.3 percentage point increase from the same period of last year and the highest rate since 2011, when the Korea Hana Foundation, affiliated with the unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs, began compiling relevant data.
The figure mostly hovered below the 60 percent mark before peaking at 60.4 percent in 2018. In 2011, the employment rate came to 49.7 percent.
Other figures also indicated an overall improvement in economic circumstances of North Korean defectors.
This Dec. 1, 2023, file photo shows people attending a job fair organized by the unification ministry for North Korean defectors at COEX in southern Seoul. (Yonhap)
Their jobless rate fell 1.6 percentage points on-year to a record low of 4.5 percent in April while the monthly average wage rose 73,000 won (US$56.3) to 2.46 million won in the same month, according to the report.
The report was based on a survey of 2,500 North Korean defectors aged 15 and older who arrived in South Korea between January 1997 and December 2022.
To put that into perspective, South Korea's jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage point on-year to 2.8 percent in April. South Korea's employment rate for people aged 15 and older reached 62.7 percent in April, up 0.6 percentage point from the same period of last year.
In a separate survey conducted in May and June, a record 79.3 percent of the 2,500 North Korean defectors said they were satisfied with their new lives in South Korea.
Among those who said they were happy, 41 percent attributed this to being able to live a free life, while 28.3 percent of those who were not satisfied picked being separated from their families.
The report showed that a majority of the respondents had optimistic outlooks for their lives in South Korea.
Some 59.8 percent said they were satisfied in terms of socioeconomic achievements, compared with South Korea's average of 31.8 percent. Some 71.3 percent of the North Korean defectors said there is a possibility of improving their socioeconomic positions, compared with 26.4 percent of average South Koreans.
"Overall figures appear to have stabilized as the number of fresh arrivals in South Korea has dropped and most of the respondents have lived in South Korea for some time now," an official at the organization said.
"This trend is likely to continue but figures may turn out differently when the number of incoming defectors again soars to the 2,000-3,000 level," the official said.
South Korea has a longstanding policy of accepting any North Korean defectors who want to live in the South and repatriating any North Koreans who stray into the South if they want to return.
South Korea is now home to more than 34,000 North Korean defectors, and the flow of defectors continues amid chronic food shortages and harsh political oppression in North Korea.
The number of North Koreans who arrived in South Korea hit a record low of 63 in 2021 as North Korea kept its borders closed to fend off the COVID-19 pandemic. This marks a dramatic decline from a record high of 2,914 in 2009, according to the ministry.
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · December 27, 2023
15. Ex-USFK commander calls for deployment of US tank battalion to S. Korea against NK threats
He is also the former Commander of the ROK/US Combined Forces COmmand and the UNited Nations Command. Why does the Korean press insist on using USFK?
Ex-USFK commander calls for deployment of US tank battalion to S. Korea against NK threats
The Korea Times · December 27, 2023
Gen. Burwell B. Bell speaks at a press conference in Seoul, Sept. 29, 2009. Joint Press Corps
A former U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander on Wednesday called for the deployment of a U.S. tank battalion to South Korea to strengthen defense capabilities as he warned of North Korean military threats in the new year.
Ret. Gen. Burwell B. Bell, who led the USFK from 2006 to 2008, made the call in a New Year's message sent to the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation, noting "escalating" challenges faced by the allies from North Korea.
"Clearly, the United States needs to send a tank battalion to South Korea to fall in on prepositioned tank stocks and thus augment the Infantry Stryker brigade," he said in the message.
Last year, the U.S. Army transitioned its rotational force in South Korea to a new brigade combat team employing the Stryker armored fighting vehicle from the existing one operating M-1 Abrams tanks and M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
It, however, decided to maintain the previous armored combat team's equipment, including the Abrams tanks and the Bradleys, on the Korean Peninsula to ensure defense capabilities.
Bell said the next year will present the "most serious" threat to peace and stability on the peninsula since the North's 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship, which claimed 46 lives, calling on the allies to bolster readiness.
"The very best way to ensure continued peace and stability is for both Alliance members to stand together in public solidarity and simultaneously demonstrate enhanced military ground unit commitment and readiness," he said.
The USFK maintains some 28,500 troops as well as around 280 armored vehicles, according to South Korea's 2022 Defense White Paper. (Yonhap)
The Korea Times · December 27, 2023
16. South sanctions North's head of intelligence, 7 others for illegal arms trade, cyber crimes
The Yoon administration is taking the lead in all things related to north Korea from security and sanctions to human rights to unification. That is a good thing.
Wednesday
December 27, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Published: 27 Dec. 2023, 09:00
Updated: 27 Dec. 2023, 19:22
South sanctions North's head of intelligence, 7 others for illegal arms trade, cyber crimes
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-12-27/national/northKorea/South-Korea-sanctions-the-Norths-head-of-intelligence/1944824
An Israeli soldier walks near armaments during an official media tour organized by the Israeli military on Oct. 26, where it displayed a variety of weapons recovered from areas hit by the Palestinian Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 attack on communities across southern Israel. Israel's military on Oct. 26 said a portion of the weapons used by Hamas during the militant group's Oct. 7 attacks were made in Iran and North Korea. [AFP/YONHAP]
The South Korean government sanctioned eight North Korean individuals, including the head of the North's intelligence bureau, for their illegal arms trade and cyber activities on Wednesday.
The sanctioned individuals include Ri Chang-ho, head of the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau; Yun Chol, third secretary of the North Korean Embassy in China; and Ri Sin-song, affiliated with Pan Systems Pyongyang, according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.
They were "earning foreign currency through illegal cyber activities," stealing technology, engaging in arms deals and trading other sanctioned materials to fund the North's missiles and nuclear weapons program, the ministry said.
Ri Chang-ho, in particular, as head of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, was involved in the North's hacking groups Kimsuky, Lazarus and Andariel's illegal cyber activities.
Yun was involved in the illegal trading of nuclear material lithium-6 in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions on the North, according to the Foreign Ministry.
It was the 14th unilateral sanction on the North by the Yoon Suk Yeol government, which altogether has sanctioned a total of 83 individuals and 53 institutions as of Wednesday.
"Our government urges North Korea to stop its illegal nuclear development and provocations and quickly return to the path of denuclearization," said Lim Soo-suk, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, in a press briefing in Seoul on Tuesday.
Any Korean entity wishing to engage with sanctioned individuals or organizations for financial transactions will need the approval of the Bank of Korea or the Financial Services Commission.
BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
17. South to prosecute North's human rights violators after unification
Transitional justice will be very important during the unification process. it is imperative that it is done right and there must be specifical policies established bfore unification. But the fear of trasniational justice will also inhibt the unificaiotn process so again it is imerative that the korean people in the north be inforemed of the policies understand how the due process will to reduce resisitance.
Tuesday
December 26, 2023
dictionary + A - A
Published: 26 Dec. 2023, 18:48
Updated: 26 Dec. 2023, 18:49
South to prosecute North's human rights violators after unification
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-12-26/national/northKorea/South-to-prosecute-Norths-human-rights-violators-after-unification/1944689
Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks at a forum in Seoul on Dec. 18. [NEWS1]
The perpetrators of human rights violations in the North will face criminal punishments once the two Koreas are unified, said the government in Seoul on Tuesday.
“We will hold accountable these perpetrators in the North once the two Koreas are united and we can hold relevant judicial proceedings,” said the Unification Ministry in announcing the updated government plan to address North Korean human rights violations jointly with the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry on Tuesday.
The plan is updated every three years and announced by the unification minister once a bipartisan committee at the National Assembly approves it. The last plan the Moon Jae-in administration announced expired at the end of 2022.
The Democratic Party has not responded to repeated requests by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and the Unification Ministry to recommend members to the committee to approve a new plan for 2023 onward, according to the Unification Ministry, hence its decision to announce an updated plan jointly with the other ministries on Tuesday.
The plan includes a deeper interview process for North Korean defectors to record in detail the human rights violations they had experienced in the North. According to the ministry, this will add to records the South Korean government can use to hold human rights violators in the North accountable.
The joint ministerial statement also included plans to raise awareness of the egregious human rights violations in the minds of North Korean residents.
“We will inform North Korean residents of the human rights situation they face by improving their access to information,” said the ministries in their statement, adding that they will support private organizations’ projects and activities to feed various content and information to the people of North Korea.
Following the escalation of tensions between the two Koreas, marked by the North’s continued ballistic missile launches, the Unification Ministry warned in September that it is considering resuming loudspeaker broadcasts at the border.
The broadcasts ended in April 2018 with the enactment of a law during the former Moon Jae-in administration.
However, the law articulates that the president of South Korea can announce a short-term hiatus of the law’s application, enabling a legal resumption of the loudspeaker broadcasts.
An amendment that banned activists from flying leaflets across the border from the South since 2020 was recently ruled unconstitutional in Seoul.
The plan announced by the ministries on Tuesday also stressed a need to raise awareness of the human rights situation in the North with the public in South Korea.
The National Unification Advisory Council’s survey in May this year found that seven out of 10 people in their 20s and 30s in Korea were positive about raising awareness about North Korean human rights violations.
The ministries also vowed to update the official records on the separated families.
Many separated families from the 1950-53 Korean War are in their 80s or 90s, with around 39,000 surviving. Another 94,000 died between 1988 and Nov. 30 this year, according to the Unification Ministry.
“We will continue to conduct the DNA surveys,” said the Unification Ministry, adding that it will continue to stress to the North Korean regime the need to prioritize the separated families’ reunions.
The last reunion was held in 2018, when 833 family members in South Korea could participate in the reunion in the North organized by the two Koreas, according to the ministry.
The ministry will also collect the DNA information of the second and third generations of separated families to ensure a means for the extended families to reconnect in the future.
“Ultimately, we want a future where the residents of two Koreas can travel freely across the Korean Peninsula,” said the ministry.
BY PARK HYUN-JU,ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
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
| 
