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Quotes of the Day:
“The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.”
– Lord Acton
"A room without books is like a body without a soul."
– Marcus Tullius Cicero
“It is the right of a free individual to be unhindered in their liberty!
Especially to fail in their endeavors!
Only in this manner are they truly free.”
– Keith Parfitt
1. S. Korea, U.S. experts to meet in Seoul on 10th anniv. of U.N. report on N.Korea
2. N. Korea says it newly developed shells for multiple rocket launcher
3. N. Korea moves to complete construction of general hospital in Pyongyang
4. Yoon's approval rating inches up to 39.2 pct
5. Japan, US, South Korea swiftly shared radar information for first time
6. ‘BTS and BLACKPINK are treated like slaves’, North Korea's outrageous claims spark social media frenzy
7. Kim Jong-un spends £122k importing lingerie for North Korea's 'pleasure squad'
8. Tenth Anniversary of UN Commission of Inquiry Report on Human Rights Abuses in North Korea
9. North Korea criticizes U.S. influence in Israel and the Middle East
10. North Korea develops new rocket launcher controller, KCNA reports
11. Korea sees surge in number of asylum seekers from Russia
12. Kim Jong-un’s rhetorical aggression to intensify throughout year: experts
13. Poland, South Korea wrangle over big-ticket weapons financing
1. S. Korea, U.S. experts to meet in Seoul on 10th anniv. of U.N. report on N.Korea
Human rights up front. The UN COI is the gold standard of UN reports.
S. Korea, U.S. experts to meet in Seoul on 10th anniv. of U.N. report on N.Korea | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · February 12, 2024
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- Experts from South Korea and the United States will gather in Seoul this year to discuss North Korea's human rights situation in celebration of the 10th anniversary of a U.N. report on the North's rights violations.
The U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in North Korea was established in March 2013 to investigate the widespread human rights violations in the North.
In February 2014, the COI released its landmark report that accused North Korean officials of systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations and made related recommendations.
The international forum, to be held in the first half of this year, will be attended by government officials and experts joining in both online and offline, according to the foreign ministry.
The participants are expected to discuss the ongoing human rights violation in the North and ways to improve the rights situation in the reclusive country.
Last year, the ministry held a forum to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the COI.
Former Foreign Minister Park Jin (5th from L), Lee Shin-hwa (5th from R), South Korea's envoy for the North's human rights, and other officials and experts pose for a photo on Sept. 15, 2023, prior to their talks to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea. (Yonhap)
julesyi@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Yi Wonju · February 12, 2024
2. N. Korea says it newly developed shells for multiple rocket launcher
N. Korea says it newly developed shells for multiple rocket launcher | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · February 12, 2024
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Monday it has newly developed controllable shells for a multiple rocket launcher and its ballistic control system as part of its push to expand its weapons arsenal.
The Academy of Defence Science conducted a test firing of 240 mm-caliber controllable multiple rocket launcher shells on Sunday in a bid to evaluate their accuracy and prove their advantages, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"The development of 240 mm-caliber controllable multiple rocket launcher shells and its ballistic control system will make a qualitative change in our army's multiple rocket launcher force," the KCNA said.
North Korea said the latest technical improvement will help reevaluate the strategic value and utility of the 240 mm-caliber rocket launcher and increase the role of such a weapon in battlefields.
North Korea has dialed up tensions on the Korean Peninsula with weapons tests in the new year, including launches of cruise missiles from sea and land.
In January last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called a new super-large 600-mm rocket launcher an "offensive weapon" capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads that could put the entire South Korea within its range.
These images, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 12, 2024, shows North Korea conducting a ballistic control test firing of 240 mm-caliber controllable multiple rocket launcher shells the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Kim Soo-yeon · February 12, 2024
3. N. Korea moves to complete construction of general hospital in Pyongyang
If I am not Kim Jong Un originally called for this hospital to be completed in October 2020 during COVID. "Chollima speed" has sputtered out in north Korea.
N. Korea moves to complete construction of general hospital in Pyongyang | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · February 12, 2024
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has been stepping up efforts to complete the stalled construction of a general hospital in Pyongyang by the end of the year, state media reports showed Monday.
North Korea held a groundbreaking ceremony of the envisioned Pyongyang General Hospital in March 2020, with leader Kim Jong-un attending the event and calling for the completion of the hospital in the "shortest time" by setting it as a "top priority project."
The North had initially planned to open the hospital on the occasion of the 75th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party that year, but the completion was delayed, raising speculation over difficulties in securing construction material and medical equipment amid strict COVID-19 lockdowns and U.N. sanctions on its nuclear and missile programs.
Recent reports by the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed that the North appears to be working to complete the construction of the hospital by the end of the year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) attends the construction site of a project to build a general hospital in Pyongyang in this footage from the North's Korean Central Television on July 20, 2020. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
In a policy speech on Jan. 15, Kim called for an improvement in the public health sector, saying that health facilities "suited for the new era" will be available should the Pyongyang General Hospital go into operation this year.
On Feb. 2, Premier Kim Tok-hun visited the hospital construction site and instructed officials and builders to complete a "modern medical service base as early as possible," according to the KCNA.
Reports based on interviews with North Korean defectors have shown that the health rights of North Koreans are being severely breached due to the apparent collapse of the country's public health system.
Defectors were quoted as saying that they have to individually hire doctors or bribe health officials to receive medical treatment, according to a human rights white paper published by the Korea Institute for National Unification, a state-run think tank.
The white paper also said that North Korean residents tend to use drugs for medical treatment due to a lack of medicine and medical knowledge, which resulted in cases of fatal drug addiction.
A recent unification ministry report on North Korea's economic and social situations showed 39.6 percent of the respondents had no experience of receiving medical treatment at a hospital, citing in-depth interviews with 6,351 North Korean defectors conducted between 2013 and 2022.
Some 45 percent of the respondents said they had to buy medicine at the North's unofficial private markets, known as "jangmadang." Only 21.3 percent said they were prescribed medicine for free at hospitals.
mlee@yna.co.kr
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en.yna.co.kr · by Lee Minji · February 12, 2024
4. Yoon's approval rating inches up to 39.2 pct
Yoon's approval rating inches up to 39.2 pct
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · February 12, 2024
By Yonhap
Published : Feb. 12, 2024 - 09:59
President Yoon Suk Yeol writes in a guestbook during a visit to the Marine Corps 2nd Division in Gimpo, just west of Seoul, on Saturday, on the Lunar New Year holiday, in this photo provided by the presidential office. (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating rose slightly to 39.2 percent from a week earlier, a survey showed Monday.
According to the Realmeter survey, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance rose 1.9 percentage points from the week earlier, while the negative assessment fell 1.7 percentage points.
The survey was conducted on 2,011 adults from Monday to Thursday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.
The rise can be attributable to favorable assessment of a series of policies announced last week, such as a plan to expand afterschool programs at elementary schools and a decision to significantly increase the number of medical school seats. (Yonhap)
koreaherald.com · by Yonhap · February 12, 2024
5. Japan, US, South Korea swiftly shared radar information for first time
Trilateral cooperation on a path to integrated missile defense (hopefully).
Japan, US, South Korea swiftly shared radar information for first time
americanmilitarynews.com · by Asia News Network · February 11, 2024
Japan, the United States and South Korea immediately shared radar information for the first time when North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Jan. 14, amid the Japanese government’s increasing sense of urgency about progress in Pyongyang’s ballistic missile technologies.
The three countries’ forces shared the radar data to strengthen their countermeasures against North Korea’s missile threat. As a result, the Self-Defense Forces were able to start tracking the missile’s course more quickly than before. However, SDF radar appears to have been unable to track the missile through its terminal phase, when it fell into the Sea of Japan.
It is therefore urgent for Japan to enhance its defense capabilities.
According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, North Korea fired the ballistic missile toward the northeast from an inland site in the afternoon on Jan. 14. Sources in the Japanese and South Korean governments said an early-warning satellite belonging to U.S. forces detected the missile launch and the South Korean military tracked the missile as it was ascending.
The SDF also obtained this information through U.S. forces and began tracking the missile. Japan immediately provided the information it obtained to the South Korean side.
A system for such immediate information-sharing was launched on Dec. 19 last year. The Jan. 14 missile launch marked the first time it was put into use.
Information that South Korea obtained beyond the sea horizon, which is a blind angle for Japan, was immediately shared with the SDF. This made it easier for SDF radar to get the missile in its sights, and thus tracking could begin earlier.
In order for Aegis-equipped destroyers to shoot down a missile with their interceptor missiles, they need to track the target for a certain length of time after detecting it via radar.
A source in the Defense Ministry said this was significant because “the rate of sucessful interceptions can rise if the tracking of a target can begin even a second faster.”
However, there was a significant gap between Japan and South Korea’s announcements regarding the missile’s flight distance. Japan said the distance was at least about 500 kilometers, while South Korea put it at about 1,000 kilometers.
Because the missile was a hypersonic weapon that can fly on an irregular course at low altitude, tracking it via radar was difficult. Therefore, the SDF likely could not follow it through the end of its flight because the missile disappeared from its radar sights.
If the missile flew for 1,000 kilometers, Japan could have been within its strike range. This would directly threaten Japan’s security.
It is essential to further enhance the SDF’s detecting and intercepting capabilities, utilizing the immediate sharing of radar data.
The Japanese and U.S. governments aim to build satellite networks for enhanced capabilities to detect hypersonic weapons, and also plan to jointly develop a new type of interceptor missiles. The Japanese government aims to speed up a plan to have counterattack capability to strengthen the nation’s deterrence power.
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(c) 2024 the Asia News Network
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
americanmilitarynews.com · by Asia News Network · February 11, 2024
6. ‘BTS and BLACKPINK are treated like slaves’, North Korea's outrageous claims spark social media frenzy
The regime cannot stop information penetration so now the Propaganda and Agitation Department must try to discredit and undermine the legitimacy of Korean soft power.
‘BTS and BLACKPINK are treated like slaves’, North Korea's outrageous claims spark social media frenzy
North Korean report resurfaces, criticizing treatment of South Korean idol groups
hindustantimes.com · February 11, 2024
Amid South Korea's Seollal festivities, a previous report from a North Korean media outlet resurfaced on February 10, causing a stir on social media. Originally released in 2021, the report openly criticized the treatment of South Korean idol groups like BTS and BLACKPINK. It shed light on the alleged harsh conditions enforced by prominent South Korean entertainment companies, drawing social media frenzy from Korean netizens.
BTS and BLACKPINK dominated Spotify Wrapped List
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Old report of North Korea surfaces criticising the K-pop labels
“They are criticised for being treated like slaves, with their bodies, minds, and souls taken away by the vicious and corrupt presidents of these major entertainment corporations.” A paragraph from the 2021 report which resurfaced on The Qooforum read. Likening the treatment of idols to "slavery," the report highlights how entertainment executives exert immense control over these young performers.
Gaining traction after a popular online forum post, the report has garnered attention beyond Korea. The report emphasizes that idols are bound by exclusive contracts from a young age, leading to their isolation from the broader world. It also added, Western media’s approach and said they too have highlighted the injustices faced by these idols.
“Not only South Korean media but also Western media have reported that South Korea’s young singers are tied to unbelievably unfair contracts from a young age, spending their lives confined to training camps.”
Mentioning the global K-pop phenomenon like BTS and BLACKPINK in their report, they said, “Many teenage singers, including BTS and BLACKPINK, are being trained to become pop singers at a young age from elementary and middle school by signing exclusive contracts with SM Entertainment and other big corporates."
With the global ascent of the K-pop industry, it's clear that the report has stirred considerable dismay. Fans and observers argue that considering the achievements of BTS and BLACKPINK, who have opened doors for other K-pop acts to thrive on Western front, such grueling practices seem out of place.
According to the article, idols and trainees are subjected to severe training schedules that include cutting down on their sleep duration to two to three hours each night, isolating them from the outside world, and withdrawing a sizeable amount of their salary to meet training costs.
Netizens react
To many, these sensational claims hold little weight as they are seen as mere attempts to criticize South Korea's flourishing idol culture and popularity, often dismissed as 'propaganda' pieces.
A user wrote, “Yeah maybe the kpop system is kinda broken, but I think NK isn't allowed to comment on that. Their system is more slavery than the kpop industry ever could.”, others joined in, “No one cares what they say anws”, “So BTS and Blackpink have a nation-level hater”, “What kind of slave earns hundreds and billions of dollars?", "Well, if they are the slaves, I want to be a slave too lmao", "BTS and BLACKPINK must be also well known in North Korea lol.”
hindustantimes.com · February 11, 2024
7. Kim Jong-un spends £122k importing lingerie for North Korea's 'pleasure squad'
Sigh.... We must remember how the regime elite treats people.
Excerpt:
The underwear cost, however, pales in comparison to the £2.7 million the state coughed up in 2016. The struggling country is reported to have imported a huge quantity of pants from China, doubling 2015's record, for the Kippumjo, or 'Pleasure Squad'. Defectors have spoken candidly about the horrifying reality of the collectives 'maintained' by generations of North Korean leaders, expected to perform sexualised entertainment to high-ranking party officials and their families, as well as foreign guests.
Kim Jong-un spends £122k importing lingerie for North Korea's 'pleasure squad'
North Korean elite officials enjoy lives of relative luxury while the vast majority of the population are left to scrape a living with many starving to death
Mirror · by Paul Donald · February 10, 2024
A despot in a tiny 'communist' country has splashed cash on luxury goods for a tiny elite in a state where the majority can barely eat.
Kim Jong-Un, the brutal leader of North Korea spent £122,000 on racy women's underwear, including bras, girdles, corsets, braces, suspenders and garters in the space of a year as his population suffers in destitution, new data has suggested. Trade figures show the oppressive regime brought in a range of highly expensive goods in 2022, the most recent year with data available.
These included the underwear, which, it is thought will eventually be found in the wardrobes of the country's narrow elite and so-called 'Pleasure Squad' of 2,000 women and girls reportedly hired to provide officials and guests with entertainment. However, the shocking spending also included some £2,675,000 worth of spirits and liqueurs, mostly coming from China. And North Koreans could access £12.6 million worth of tobacco products that year, including cigars, cigarettes and cigarillos.
Life for certain members of North Korea's elite can be very comfortable (
Image:
KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)
The exclusive upper tier of the regime also enjoyed champagne, with sparkling wine imports valued at just £15,000, which would be paired with a tiny £38,000 worth of Chinese cheese. And the entertainment spending did not stop there with senior officials able to enjoy a game of pinball, the country importing some £203,000 worth of video game consoles and parlour games, while ordinary citizens say food is so scarce they often have to watch their neighbours starve to death.
The underwear cost, however, pales in comparison to the £2.7 million the state coughed up in 2016. The struggling country is reported to have imported a huge quantity of pants from China, doubling 2015's record, for the Kippumjo, or 'Pleasure Squad'. Defectors have spoken candidly about the horrifying reality of the collectives 'maintained' by generations of North Korean leaders, expected to perform sexualised entertainment to high-ranking party officials and their families, as well as foreign guests.
It has been alleged that some of the unlucky girls chosen to be a part of this sordid 'tradition' are as young as 13 and have been taken from school before being subjected to medical tests to check they are virgins prior to a horrendous fate of a life of sexual servitude. Citizens who have managed to escape the regime have alleged that they attended drunken sex parties where women would have their pubic hair shaved as a forfeit if they lost games.
The trade data has also suggested that the country's elites enjoy a luxury while the wider population subsists on average wages as low as £4.40 per day. Sweet-toothed North Koreans imported £2.1 million worth of chocolate in 2022 – a recovery to pre-pandemic highs after slumping to just £738,000 in 2020 and £566,000 in 2021.
Beer is also making a comeback, with the £113,000 spent dwarfing the paltry £7,000 figure recorded in 2021, however, again, that figure is nowhere near the £10.8 million coughed up in 2019. There is also some confusion about toilet habits, with the population spending just £80,000 on imported toilet paper in 2022 after spending £675,000 in 2020 and £1.13 million in 2019.
Some foreign cuisines may have been on the menu in 2022, with the country importing £521,000 worth of pasta. Italy herself imported £90 million worth in the same year. Fruit was not so popular for the regime, with no recorded imports of pineapples, avocados or mangoes in 2022. And melons seemed to be off the shopping list too, down from £73,000 worth in 2020, £2.66 million in 2019 and £2.77 million in 2018.
There was also little space for entertainment in North Korea's economy. Some £2,000 was spent on festival/carnival entertainment including magic tricks and novelty jokes, a fall from £61,000 in 2019. Sweets, too, proved unpopular, making up just £86,000 worth of imports. North Korea did import some games, however, spending £203,000 on foreign video game consoles/parlour games (such as pinball machines) in 2022.
Musicians also lost out, with just £4,000 worth of stringed instruments (guitars, violins etc) coming into the country compared to £201,000 worth in 2018. China provided the country's elite with some £46,000 worth of perfume but has stopped exporting fancy foreign wrist-watches, the data suggests. In 2018, the country sold North Korea just £31,000 worth of watches, a figure with which you would struggle to buy a top-end Swiss timepiece.
Trade with China has become progressively more important to the regime, with £729,871,000 worth of products in 2022 – 98.1 percent of all items brought into the country – up from 2021 (£188,000,000) and 2020 (£382,000,000) but far way from the £1.66 billion recorded for 2018. The UK's total product imports in 2022 were calculated to be £665,635,859,000. Data on North Korean compiled by Trade Map is based on bilateral trade flows reported by the country's trading partners.
Mirror · by Paul Donald · February 10, 2024
8. Tenth Anniversary of UN Commission of Inquiry Report on Human Rights Abuses in North Korea
Conclusion:
As the tenth anniversary of the UN COI report on North Korean human rights approaches, North Korea continues to be one of the UN members states with the most deplorable human rights record, but UN organizations have increasingly documented and publicized the abuses. This information, widely available internationally, is pressuring the authoritarian regime. Some information is also reaching North Korean citizens, although the regime continues to carefully control access to information about the country’s human rights record. The report of the COI 10 years ago was an important part of the effort to press for progress on human rights.
Tenth Anniversary of UN Commission of Inquiry Report on Human Rights Abuses in North Korea
csis.org · by Commentary by Robert R. King Published February 6, 2024
In March 2013, the UN Human Rights Council established a temporary Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The COI was directed “to investigate systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights” in North Korea and to report to the Council in March 2014. The report was publicly released on February 7, 2014, and it has been a key part of the effort to press for human rights progress.
In 2004, the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution highly critical of North Korea’s human rights practices and directed the Chair of the Human Rights Commission to designate a “special rapporteur” to examine the country’s human rights practices. Over 20 years, that mandate has been extended annually by the Council with the requirement for annual reports on human rights in North Korea for the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly.
The first special rapporteur (2004–2010) was Vitit Muntarbhorn, professor of law at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He was succeeded by Marzuki Darusman (2010–2016), former attorney general of Indonesia and a prominent advocate for the rule of law. Darusman led the effort to establish the COI in 2013.
Creation of the COI
In January 2013 at Darusman’s urging, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay issued a strongly worded statement and “lamented the ‘deplorable human rights situation’” in North Korea, "which in one way or another affects almost the entire population and has no parallel anywhere in the world."
The following month, Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman told the UN Human Rights Council that human rights are routinely denied the North Korean people, and he urged the Human Rights Council to establish a COI. International NGOs strongly endorsed Darusman’s call for the creation of a COI. On March 21, 2013, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution directing the establishment of the COI. North Korea had so little influence and support in the UN Human Rights Council that North Korea and its handful of supporters did not even demand a recorded vote on the resolution.
Three outstanding human rights leaders were named to serve on the COI. Chair of the commission was Michael Kirby, a former justice of the High Court of Australia (1996–2009), and a prominent legal academic. Commission member Sonja Biserko was a former Yugoslav diplomat and founder and president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia. Marzuki Darusman, then serving as UN special rapporteur for North Korean human rights and a key advocate for creation of the COI, was the third member. He served simultaneously as UN special rapporteur on North Korean human rights from 2010 to 2016, both before and after serving on the COI. The panel was assisted by UN human rights experts.
Establishment of the COI was a step beyond the appointment of the UN special rapporteur. The special rapporteur investigates human rights issues and presents a report annually to the UN Human Rights Council and later to the UN General Assembly. These reports traditionally focus on aspects of North Korean human rights issues over the previous year, but they are an update and not a comprehensive analysis. The special rapporteur is appointed for a one-year period, and can be reappointed annually, but for no more than a total of six years.
The North Korea COI came together quickly. The three commission members met in Geneva in July 2013. In August they had a week of hearings in Seoul to gather information from North Korean refugees, South Korean experts, and government officials. That same month two days of hearings were held in Tokyo, principally to focus on North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens. A day of hearings was held in London in August, and in October the commission held two full days of hearings with North Korean refugees and U.S. experts in Washington.
The final COI report on North Korea human rights is 36 pages in length (the maximum permitted by Human Rights Council regulations), but the “full report and supporting documentation” totaled 372 pages in the English-language version. It covers in detail the full scope of human rights abuses identified in North Korea.
UN Consideration of the COI Report
When the report was released on February 7, 2014, senior UN officials praised it and urged tough action. UN Secretary General, former South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon, said he “remains seriously concerned about human rights and the humanitarian situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK),” and he was “deeply disturbed by the findings.” Pillay, then UN high commissioner for human rights, urged “strong international leadership to follow up on the grave findings of the Commission of Inquiry,” and “referral to the International Criminal Court.”
In March 2014, the UN Human Rights Council received an oral report from Chair Michael Kirby, and then adopted a resolution endorsing the report and called upon North Korea to take action to eliminate human rights abuses. The resolution said that the Council “Condemns in the strongest terms the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations and other human rights abuses committed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” (emphasis added). The resolution was adopted by a vote of 30 to 6, with 11 abstentions. The six states voting against the resolution were China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam.
When the report was considered by the UN General Assembly in the fall of 2014, Special Rapporteur Darusman urged that it be referred to the UN Security Council. A General Assembly resolution also called for the issue to be referred to an “appropriate international criminal justice mechanism” (the International Criminal Court) because of the seriousness of the issues raised. The General Assembly approved the resolution with 116 in favor, 20 against, and 53 abstentions.
The COI report was considered by the Security Council on December 22, 2014. The 15 member countries on the council include five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and 10 rotating members which each serve staggard two-year terms. Any one of the five permanent members can veto Security Council action, regardless of the number of other countries on the council who may support it. China and Russia were opposed to taking up the North Korea human rights issue, and they made clear they would veto a referral to the International Criminal Court.
Placing an item on the Security Council agenda for discussion, however, requires the support of 9 of the 15 member countries, but permanent member countries cannot veto the council agenda. In December 2014, 10 of the 15 council signed a letter calling for a discussion of the issue because “the scale and gravity of human rights violations detailed in the comprehensive report undertaken by the Human Rights Council commission of inquiry.”
The Security Council met on December 22, 2014, to discuss North Korea human rights. The meeting included presentations by the UN assistant secretary general for political affairs and the UN assistant high commissioner for human rights. Both UN officials gave strong statements of support for the COI findings. Official statements by Security Council members showed little support for North Korea. Only China and Russia voted against placing the issue on the Security Council agenda.
North Korea could have spoken at the Security Council session although it was not a member of the council but chose not to attend the meeting. North Korea’s permanent representative to the United Nations sent a harsh letter to the president of the Security Council. He denounced the council for discussing his country’s human rights, and he attached a similar statement from North Korea’s foreign minister.
Human rights groups welcomed the Security Council discussion. The New York Times reported, “[Human] rights activists who have long pressed for North Korean accountability said the meeting itself was an important advance.” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said, “The Security Council signaled that Pyongyang’s decades-long regime of massive cruelty against its own people must end.”
China and Russia were and remain opposed to discussing North Korea’s human rights at the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.
Initial Response of North Korea to the COI Report
Officials in Pyongyang were suspicious and hostile toward the COI. During the drafting of the COI report, Michael Kirby, chair of the commission, wrote North Korean officials explaining the objective of the commission’s work and requesting meetings with appropriate government officials. North Korean officials did not even acknowledge his request.
When North Korean human rights was discussed at the UN General Assembly in October 2014, North Korean diplomats asked to meet with Special Rapporteur Darusman. This was his first meeting with North Korean officials, although he had served four years as Special Rapporteur and had repeatedly but unsuccessfully sought to meet government officials.
Darusman said, “Perhaps prompted by the intensive focus that has been brought to bear by the Commission of Inquiry,” North Korea may have “shown the beginnings of a disposition toward re-engagement with the international community on human rights.” The special rapporteur optimistically suggested “We are at the beginning of a process,” and he expressed the view that more progress was made “in the last three months than in the last 10 years in terms of the openness and readiness of the North Koreans to come out of their shell.”
Another more cynical view was that North Korea was merely seeking to soften the blows and protect the reputation of leader Kim Jong-un. As one journalist described the effort, “In a rare flurry of talks, North Korean diplomats at the United Nations lobbied frenetically to get Kim’s culpability out of the resolution,” but their effort was unsuccessful.
Six weeks after the Security Council discussed North Korea in February 2015, Darusman expressed concern that human rights improvement in North Korea was unlikely with the country’s current leadership. In a public statement, North Korea branded Darusman as “a puppet acting in the interests of the United States’ hostile policy towards Pyongyang,” and the North Korean Foreign Ministry said that Darusman “has slung dirt at the DPRK top officials.”
Since the initial Security Council discussion, North Korea’s human rights record has been discussed repeatedly in the UN Security Council. The first Security Council discussion was held on December 22, 2014, shortly after the COI Report was issued. Similar public Security Council discussions were held in the three following years—2015, 2016 and 2017. The first three Security Council meetings took place during the Obama administration, and the meeting in 2017 was in the first year of the Trump presidency.
In 2018 and 2019, the administration did not support UN Security Council discussions of North Korea human rights violations. Trump held summits with Kim Jong-un in June 2018 in Singapore and in February 2019 in Hanoi. The two leaders also met informally in June 2019 at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. The summit meetings had no lasting consequences in terms of improving relations between the United States and North Korea, but they prevented Security Council discussions of North Korea’s human rights abuses.
The Security Council discussed North Korea’s human rights with U.S. support in December 2020 (Trumps last full month in office). After Biden assumed the U.S. presidency there were discussions in 2021 and 2022. The meetings were not open to the media because that was during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, but representatives of the United States and other Security Council member countries who supported the discussions reported to the news media following the meetings. In August 2023, the first public Security Council session on North Korean human rights in over five years was held again.
COI Report Pressures Pyongyang on Human Rights
Clearly North Korea was concerned with the impact of the COI report, and very modest but positive improvements were made. Just before the UN General Assembly took up the COI report in fall of 2014, the North Korean Association for Human Rights Studies issued a lengthy report defending its human rights record. The document was more fiction than fact, but its publication was a clear indication of concern that human rights record was harming its global image.
North Korea made a noteworthy shift in its participation in the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Each UN member country undergoes a UPR every four years. Each country presents a self-critical review of its legislation and policies to respect human rights and discusses changes to improve respect for human rights over the past four years. All other UN member countries then have an opportunity to comment, question and make suggestions on the self-review. North Korea participates, like all UN member countries.
The first UPR involving North Korea was in March 2010. During the discussion, 167 recommendations were made by representatives of other UN member countries. In the final session, North Korean officials addressed the recommendations, and dismissed most as inaccurate or hostile. No recommendations were accepted. That response generated uproar in the Human Rights Council which brought the proceedings to a halt, because other UN countries responded with respect to such recommendations.
The second UPR cycle took place in spring 2014, shortly after the COI report was presented to the Human Rights Council. This time, the North Koreans were much more engaged. The North Korean delegation commented positively on issues raised by other countries. Most recommendations, however, were not subsequently implemented. Surprisingly, North Korean officials raised recommendations made four years earlier in the first UPR, which were initially ignored, and in several cases announced steps to make changes.
One area North Korea has highlighted was dealing with rights of people with disabilities. It was easy for Pyongyang to embrace this issue since progress represents little threat to government control, and undoubtedly some regime leaders have family members with disabilities. Clearly, making an effort to improve its image in this easy area was a consequence of the COI report. North Korea acceded to the Convention on Protecting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2016 and participated in the Winter Paralympics in South Korea in 2018. The UN special rapporteur for persons with disabilities was welcomed on a visit to Pyongyang in 2018. She is the first UN official with human rights responsibilities who was invited to North Korea. The topic was not a controversial one for North Korea since it did not threaten regime control.
A direct outgrowth of the COI report was the UN decision to establish an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul. When the office was officially opened in June 2015, High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said, “The Seoul office will monitor and document [human rights] violations in the DPRK, building on the landmark work of the COI and special rapporteur. We firmly believe this will help lay the basis for future accountability.” The Seoul office plays an important role in gathering and disseminating information on human rights and humanitarian conditions in North Korea.
As the tenth anniversary of the UN COI report on North Korean human rights approaches, North Korea continues to be one of the UN members states with the most deplorable human rights record, but UN organizations have increasingly documented and publicized the abuses. This information, widely available internationally, is pressuring the authoritarian regime. Some information is also reaching North Korean citizens, although the regime continues to carefully control access to information about the country’s human rights record. The report of the COI 10 years ago was an important part of the effort to press for progress on human rights.
Ambassador Robert R. King is a senior adviser in the Office of the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Previously, Ambassador King served as special envoy for North Korean human rights issues at the U.S. Department of State from November 2009 to January 2017.
csis.org · by Commentary by Robert R. King Published February 6, 2024
9. North Korea criticizes U.S. influence in Israel and the Middle East
Excerpts:
Yang Myong-sung, secretary-general of the DPRK-Arab Association, released a statement published by the North Korean Foreign Ministry in which he said international condemnation of the United States for its unwavering support of Israel has grown.
"International condemnation is mounting against the United States and the West for unilaterally supporting the inhumane genocidal behavior of the Israeli Jewish revivalists," Yang said.
North Korea criticizes U.S. influence in Israel and the Middle East - UPI.com
By Adam Schrader
upi.com
North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un (L) meets with to Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) during the Russia - North Korea Summit on September 13, 2023. File Photo by Kremlin POOL/UPI | License Photo
Feb. 11 (UPI) -- North Korea has criticized the influence of the United States in Israel and the Middle East as world leaders cozied up to Iran on Sunday in the wake of Israel's war in Gaza.
Yang Myong-sung, secretary-general of the DPRK-Arab Association, released a statement published by the North Korean Foreign Ministry in which he said international condemnation of the United States for its unwavering support of Israel has grown.
"International condemnation is mounting against the United States and the West for unilaterally supporting the inhumane genocidal behavior of the Israeli Jewish revivalists," Yang said.
Yang pointed to what he called "double standards" in how the United States responded to the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza. Concerns of such "hypocrisy" have been raised by world leaders in the global south since October 7, when tensions between Hamas and Israel escalated.
"This is a righteous condemnation of the U.S. and the West's reluctance to condemn the innocent Russia as an 'aggressor' in the context of Ukraine, while turning a blind eye to Israel's beastly crimes," Yang said, before referring to Israel as a "poisonous mushroom" planted by the West.
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He characterized the United States and the West as using Israel to "maintain dominance" in the Middle East by fomenting contradictions between Jewish and Arab people.
"It was the U.S. and Western countries that engineered the draconian decision to partition Palestine and establish an Arab state and a Jewish state at the second session of the U.N. General Assembly in November 1947," Yang said.
"And it was the U.S. and Western countries that handed over tons of armaments to the Jewish revivalists after the creation of the State of Israel to fuel their territorial expansion ambitions."
Yang accused the United States of condoning "mass murder" by providing Israel with weapons including white phosphorus bombs and bunker-buster missiles. The Washington Post reported in December that Israel used white phosphorus in Lebanon, provided by the United States.
Meanwhile, countries from North Korea to Saudi Arabia offered congratulatory messages on Sunday to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to celebrate the birth of the country's republic after the toppling of the monarchy in 1979. Though a small measure, the moves show solidarity between Muslim nations and supporters historically at odds with one another as the war in Gaza continues.
upi.com
10. North Korea develops new rocket launcher controller, KCNA reports
The KCNA report is pasted below.
North Korea develops new rocket launcher controller, KCNA reports
Reuters
February 11, 20248:14 PM ESTUpdated 9 hours ago
SEOUL, Feb 12 (Reuters) - North Korea has successfully developed a new ballistic control system for a multiple rocket launcher along with controllable shells, state media KCNA reported on Monday.
The Academy of Defence Science, which oversees the country's missile development, conducted a "ballistic control" test firing of 240-mm calibre controllable multiple rocket launcher shells on Sunday, KCNA said.
KCNA said the strategic value of the 240 mm-caliber multiple rocket launcher will be "reevaluated" its role in battlefields will also increase due to what it called "rapid technical improvement."
The development of the shell and the ballistic control system will make a "qualitative change" in its army's multiple rocket launcher force, the report added.
Sunday's launch comes amid multiple missile tests by North Korea in recent weeks and growing ties between Pyongyang and Moscow - moves that have been criticized by the U.S. and its allies as escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has accused the U.S. and South Korea of escalating tensions with their large-scale military drills.
Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Josie Kao and Lincoln Feast.
Controllable Shells for Multiple Rocket Launcher Newly Developed in DPRK
https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1707691107-31728029/controllable-shells-for-multiple-rocket-launcher-newly-developed-in-dprk/
Date: 12/02/2024 | Source: KCNA.kp (En) | Read original version at source
Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- The Academy of Defence Science of the DPRK succeeded in developing new controllable shell and ballistic control system for multiple rocket launcher.
The Academy of Defence Science conducted a ballistic control test firing of 240 mm-caliber controllable multiple rocket launcher shells on February 11 to evaluate their accuracy and prove their advantages.
The development of 240 mm-caliber controllable multiple rocket launcher shell and its ballistic control system will make a qualitative change in our army's multiple rocket launcher force.
The Academy of Defence Science of the DPRK is convinced that the strategic value and utility of the 240 mm-caliber multiple rocket launcher will be reevaluated and its role in battlefields be increased, according to such rapid technical improvement. -0-
www.kcna.kp (Juche113.2.12.)
11. Korea sees surge in number of asylum seekers from Russia
Excerpt:
A total of 18,838 refugee applications were reported last year, a 63 percent increase from the previous year. Russians accounted for over 30 percent, followed by Kazakhstan nationals with 2,094, Chinese with 1,282, Malaysians with 1,205 and Indian nationals with 1,189.
Korea sees surge in number of asylum seekers from Russia
koreaherald.com · by Choi Jeong-yoon · February 12, 2024
By Choi Jeong-yoon
Published : Feb. 12, 2024 - 16:27
(123rf)
South Korea saw a significant rise in the number of Russian asylum seekers last year, with over 5,000 submitting refugee applications, a government report found Monday.
According to the latest monthly report by the Korea Immigration Service under the Ministry of Justice, the number of Russian nationals who sought refugee status in Korea last year stood at 5,750, a five-fold increase from the number of asylum applications by Russian nationals in 2022, which stood at 1,038. The number is also almost equivalent to the total number of Russian asylum seekers over 26 years between 1994 and 2019.
A total of 18,838 refugee applications were reported last year, a 63 percent increase from the previous year. Russians accounted for over 30 percent, followed by Kazakhstan nationals with 2,094, Chinese with 1,282, Malaysians with 1,205 and Indian nationals with 1,189.
The dramatic increase is believed to be due to growing concerns among Russians over the possible additional conscription of citizens for Moscow's war against Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin began a military mobilization in September 2022, putting many men at risk of getting drafted.
According to the government report, the most common reason for applying for asylum was due to "political opinions," including objecting to getting conscripted (4,580), followed by religion (2,665), membership in a particular social group (1,205), uniting the family (887) and due to race (719).
There are no exact figures on how many people have left Russia since the Ukraine war started, but the BBC has reported estimates could vary from hundreds of thousands to several million people. Forbes also cited sources within Russia's authorities as saying that between 600,000 and 1 million people crossed Russia's borders in 2022.
Despite the surge in the number of applications for asylum in Korea, out of 5,950 cases last year, only a mere 1.7 percent (101) were officially granted refugee status.
From January 2014 to May 2023, over 85,000 people sought asylum. Only 2.06 percent out of some 47,000 cases that went through the evaluation stage were accepted, which is significantly lower than the Organization for Economic Cooperation's average of 24.8 percent.
koreaherald.com · by Choi Jeong-yoon · February 12, 2024
12. Kim Jong-un’s rhetorical aggression to intensify throughout year: experts
He has to do this. His policies have failed and his promise to the elite and the people is broken. When nuclear weapons and missiles were stockpiled they were supposed to bring peace and prosperity. Because he cannot reform (because it would undermine his legitimacy and cause his collapse) he cannot bring prosperity. And he must shift the blame for the "lack of peace" to the South and the US.
Kim Jong-un’s rhetorical aggression to intensify throughout year: experts
koreaherald.com · by Kim Arin · February 12, 2024
In fresh threats, North Korean leader vows to wipe out enemies if provoked
By Kim Arin
Published : Feb. 12, 2024 - 15:02
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (center) and his daughter, Ju-ae (left), visit the defense ministry on Feb. 8, 2024, to mark the 76th founding anniversary of the North’s Korean People’s Army, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency the next day. (KCNA-Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will likely continue his verbal aggression, on top of weapons tests and military exercises through the remainder of the year, experts in Seoul believe.
In the latest threats made on the founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army on Thursday, Kim said he was willing to obliterate the country’s enemies -- namely South Korea and the US -- stressing the North’s “combat readiness.”
“If hostile forces attempt to touch the dignity of our nation and people even by a hair’s breadth, it is the unwavering will of the Korean People’s Army to wipe out their strongholds without a trace with a force that is beyond imaginable,” a statement carried by the state official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, read.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha University in Seoul, said the threats from the North Korean leader were only going to continue in keeping with the US presidential election timetable.
While South Korea has a parliamentary election coming up in April, “there seems not much Kim can do to solicit the kind of response he desires from the South,” Park said in a phone call with The Korea Herald. “But he will definitely want to turn things around with the next US president, whether it be Biden or Trump.”
Park said that Kim, in order to “assert his presence” in the months leading to the election in Washington, would “seek to elevate the level of the perceived risks North Korea poses” by intensifying threats “to gain leverage in a possible bargain with the incoming US administration.”
He said the “most striking bit” about Kim’s threats last week was stating a “forcible occupation of South Korea” in the event of a contingency -- but that the possibility of that happening is “practically zero.”
“North Korea maintains its stance that it would not undertake a preemptive attack against the South. There is no reason for South Korea and the US to strike North Korea first,” he said.
Yang Uk, a senior researcher at the Asan Institute of Policy Studies, agreed that the North Korean leader’s goal appears to be to “continue to push to create a crisis” throughout the year.
“The statement from Kim is the most aggressive yet, and that is because he is operating with the US and South Korea elections in sight,” he told The Korea Herald.
Russia blames US and allies for North Korean hostilities
In a demonstration of Russia’s deepening ties with North Korea, a senior foreign official of Moscow said Sunday that the US and its allies are responsible for what he called “North Korea increasing efforts to protect its sovereignty.”
The North Korean threats to “wipe out hostile forces” are a “clear illustration of sharply increased risks of a direct military clash on the Korean Peninsula,” said Ivan Zhelokhovtsev, the director of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s first department of Asia. He was speaking during an interview with Russian state-owned news agency, RIA Novosti.
These “warnings,” he said, “must be viewed in the context of the dangerous steps being taken by the US and its allies,” such as joint drills against possible North Korean attacks. He cited such “aggressions and provocations” by Washington as “the root cause of the worsening situation that poses a threat to peace and security in Northeast Asia.”
He said that under the circumstances, Pyongyang is being “forced to take reasonable measures” to “protect against any external attacks on its sovereignty.”
On Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Pyongyang, Zhelokhovtsev said the invitation by Kim was confirmed and that specific dates would be “agreed upon through diplomatic channels.”
The senior Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry official added that the relations between Seoul and Moscow were “now going through difficult times.”
“Largely due to its allied relations with Washington, Seoul was forced to support the collective West in the hybrid war unleashed against Russia, in which Ukraine is an instrument,” he said.
South Korea and Russia recently engaged in verbal saber-rattling over the situation surrounding the war in Ukraine. After Shin Won-sik, the South Korean defense minister, told an interview with The Korea Herald last month that he personally believes in full support for Ukraine, Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, issued a warning against the South Korean government.
Zhelokhovtsev said whether the two countries could “return to the trajectory of a mutually beneficial partnership” depends on the South Korean side. He said the sincerity of South Korea’s intentions not to sever ties with Moscow will be “judged by specific actions,” in a reference to the fresh set of export restrictions on Moscow that Seoul is introducing in February.
koreaherald.com · by Kim Arin · February 12, 2024
13. Poland, South Korea wrangle over big-ticket weapons financing
Challenges for the partner in the arsenal of democracy.
Poland, South Korea wrangle over big-ticket weapons financing
Defense News · by Jaroslaw Adamowski · February 9, 2024
WARSAW, Poland — As Poland’s new government weighs whether to continue acquisitions of South Korean weapons initiated by the previous Cabinet, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz criticized Seoul’s financial terms for further deliveries as unfavorable to Warsaw.
“The offer that was, in part, presented by the [South] Koreans for co-financing or crediting [weapon purchases by Poland] is unacceptable,” Kosiniak-Kamysz told local broadcaster Radio Zet in an interview. “It is simply too weak, it is impossible to be implemented,” he said, adding that talks with the Asian country’s government were ongoing.
The latest meeting took place on Feb. 7 between a South Korean delegation and Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Bejda.
“There is a share of executive contracts, which are ongoing, and a share of framework contracts, which will be subject to further negotiations,” Kosiniak-Kamysz explained.
Poland’s previous government of the right-wing Law and Justice party had inked a number of deals to buy South Korean weapons worth billions of dollars. The orders included FA-50 light attack aircraft, K9 howitzers, K2 Black Panther tanks, and K239 Chunmoo multi-barreled missile launchers.
Deliveries began last year, but the majority of the units covered by framework deals are subject to a second loan to be provided to Poland by South Korea’s financial institutions.
Upon taking office in December, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk quickly declared there was a “problem” with the loan Seoul was expected to provide to Warsaw, as officials began to scrutinize the preceding Cabinet’s defense acquisitions.
Meanwhile, decision-makers in Seoul are readying for the April 10 parliamentary election, and the campaign is delaying legislative work required to pave the way for the provision of a second loan to Poland, local observers say.
The state-run Export–Import Bank of Korea, which is the country’s official export credit agency, has almost reached its lending cap as a result of last year’s string of major arms deals with Warsaw. For the bank to be able to provide another loan to Poland that could cover pending purchases, South Korean lawmakers need to amend relevant legislation before the National Assembly’s term concludes.
Ju Hyung Kim, a researcher at the Seoul-based Security Management Institute, told Defense News that South Korean lawmakers seem to share an understanding that the legislation requires a revision to prevent defense contracts awarded by Poland from getting canceled by its government.
“However, within the National Assembly, there are voices suggesting that this law overly concentrates on a particular country, Poland, and a specific industry, defense,” he said.
A victory of South Korea’s conservative, ruling People Power Party could push legislative work necessary for the provision of a second loan, but it will not eliminate all the challenges that could hamper the two countries’ cooperation, according to the researcher.
“While the outcome of the general election could potentially increase the likelihood of the law being passed, assuming the conservative party prevails in the April election, there are no guarantees that it will be easily approved even after the election. Part of the challenge lies in the credibility issues stemming from the change in the Polish government last year which has impacted decision-makers in South Korea,” said Kim.
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the country’s embassy in Warsaw did not reply to a request for comment.
Leilani Chavez contributed to this report from Manila, Philippines.
About Jaroslaw Adamowski
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
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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